swan-naked raku-kierstincrowley.tumblr.com – I’m unsure of the spelling of Kierstin (Kiersten?) and I am unable to find the source again, but I think this piece is wonderful.
We will leave soon. My husband has a haircut, and then we’ll drive to Ft. Smith to sign our tax forms. Whenever we go to there, he wants to drive the Vette. His driving, while probably more competent than mine, has always scared my hair off – since in any given situation – he puts on the gas when I would put on the brakes. Now we’re “mature” (read older-than-dirt) and you can add another layer of tension to my trip.
If we get back in one piece, I’ll write more later.
“I didn’t get old on purpose, it just happened. If you’re lucky, it could happen to you.” ~ Andy Rooney
I’m feeling old this morning, mainly because I couldn’t care less about who wins the Academy Awards tonight. I’ve only seen one of the movies up for best movie of the year. I guess that alone shows the world has gone on without me. The thing is, it doesn’t bother me. :0)
I read that the ‘gift bag’ each person who attends the awards tonight is worth around $123,000. I guess it’s cynical to think about what could be done in the world if each recipient said, “Please send money equivalent to the gifts to people in the United States who really need it right now.” The cost of the show and the clothes, etc. could be sent, too, and just the list of the winners published.
The forecast here is for showers this morning and storms this evening – cloudy in-between.
freixenet.com
As I sit here, happily typing on my computer, warm, dry, with coffee beside me, I DO realize how fortunate I am to be able to quietly gripe that my weather isn’t ‘pretty’ today.
2Unstoppable
My friend Marsha and I are happily encouraging each other to get off our duffs and exercise, each putting another star on our individual calendars. Marsha bought a pedaler she can use inside and is also trying to walk to the post office when the weather permits. She is encouraging me to at least do my session of yoga each afternoon, if not also to try an exercise video, do some time on my elliptical trainer in the garage, or get out and work in the yard. It’s nice to be able to compare notes with a good friend, knowing that we’ll each be stronger, more flexible, and healthier together.
The Mercury News
I heard there was yet another bill in Congress to do away with Daylight Savings Time. I couldn’t be more in favor of this. It is my understanding that we started this in order to “help the farmers. ” I think farmers and ranchers are strong, independent people who don’t need everyone to change their clocks . They get up when they feel they need to in order to do what needs to be done each day. If I’m wrong, I would really appreciate it if someone would set me straight so that I can stop resenting it twice a year.
I’ve had a really nice birthday celebration, and am now ready to put thoughts of how old I am away for another year. Most of the time I don’t even think of it. The main thing is annoyance if I have trouble getting out of my recliner. :0)
We have Lunch Bunch today. I’m hoping we have a full contingent. I haven’t heard from anyone, and usually that means that everyone is planning to come. It will be good to see some much-loved faces, laugh, and share a meal.
There is not much going on here today otherwise. We have some errands to run after Lunch Bunch, but then a quiet day after with lots of sunshine.
I’m going to try to pay attention as we do our errands to see if the places in town are starting to stock spring plants. I’m itching to get our garden started, though it’s a bit early.
I hope you’re feeling happy and energized this morning. The rain washed our area clean overnight and it’s overcast now. More rain tonight and all day tomorrow, but it’s NOT raining now, NOT snowing now, NOT icing now, and there are NOT any flying hairballs, so absolutely no complaints. :0)
I’m feeling very lucky that we are retired and not having to report to work someplace on a regular basis. Neither of us sleeps ‘regularly,’ as we used to. We catch cat naps to try to get enough rest, simply falling asleep in our chairs, even when we’re trying not to. My husband’s sleep cycle is really wonky lately. He was up this morning at around 3 and was reading, waiting for me to get up. I went to get more coffee awhile ago and he was asleep in his chair with his tablet in his lap. Later he gave in and put his towel over his eyes, his chair stretched out.
Yesterday when we came back from running errands, we noticed our spring-like our yard looked. The daffodils are blooming their heads off all around the yard – some in the ground and others dotted around in planters. Then we have redbuds in bloom, the tulip tree, the forsythia, etc. Makes for a really nice ‘welcome home.’
Today is beautiful. Lots of sun and warm temperatures. It’s already 60 degrees. Can you believe it?
We’ll go see if our trash can has been emptied soon, get our mail, scoot to get some groceries, and then tie the trash can back up to the pole beside the driveway when we get back. That’s it for errands today. I’m hoping we can get the mailbox decoration changed.
My husband took the new/used computer out to the shop yesterday, thinking he had it working. It’s acting wonky, though, so he is back at it today.
A day to be outside, drinking in all the sunshine. Enjoy your Tuesday.
Today is supposed to be an absolutely beautiful day, sunny with a high of about 80 this afternoon. I’m ignoring the fact that Tues – Thursday will be really rainy, with our area to receive about 3 inches of rain. I’ll make a point of walking around outside today, looking at my pretty perennial plants that are turning their faces to the sun, drinking in the weather, oblivious to what is to come.
It’s too early yet to uncover my square foot garden (earlier photo above). I’m really pleased that our idea to put weed barrier, cut to size, into the planting boxes, seems to have worked well. The carefully placed bricks held the barriers in place, and hopefully, I’ll just need to uncover the Mel’s Mix in the boxes, hook up the irrigation hoses, and be ready to plant! :0)
Yesterday my husband asked me for help on his computer. He wasn’t receiving a code and was completely frustrated. It turned out that he was looking for it in his email when he should have been looking at his phone. I had to start over in order to fix it, then showed him where to look next time. Later I helped him again when he couldn’t access his email. Then, later, when we were watching 60 Minutes, he tried to explain ‘quantum computing’ to me, but couldn’t dumb it down enough for me to understand. Hahahahahaahah.
Email from my friend, Marsha ( I think the credit is netdesigner.ch)
I had a good day yesterday.
At Lunch Bunch, my good friend Linda and her daughter, Patty were there, and had decided to celebrate my birthday a week early! Needless to say, I was delighted to feel so special. Linda hasn’t been feeling well, so it was particularly wonderful to catch up with her and hug her neck. I have such great friends.
This is one of my birthday presents. The earrings are made of pop cans! I just love them. :0)
It was cold and rainy, with a pretty stiff wind, so we didn’t put up the mailbox decoration yesterday. We’re hoping to do that soon, probably the next time we go to town, since the weather looks really nice the next few days. This is what we’ll put up for March –
When it warms up a bit, I’m planning to take a walk around the yard, looking for more signs of spring. Such an exciting time of the year when ‘magic’ happens and plants sprout and bloom on their own.
As you can see, red and yellow blobs are coming for us today. Right now it’s just cloudy. We’re hoping that the used computer we’re expecting to be delivered will come BEFORE the blobs arrive.
Our pest spraying guy is supposed to be here around 11:00 this morning. Finding what was Tri-Hill Pest Control and is now West Termite, Pest & Lawn (with the same wonderful man coming to the house) was one of the best things we’ve done. I was stung/bitten (?) by a scorpion in our bed several years ago and still have nightmares about it from time to time. These people spray for everything – including elephants – at my request with stuff that is very deadly for bugs but safe for Amber and Abby. I feel quite lucky we’re so well taken care of.
I had a very happy thing happen yesterday. I received a birthday card from a dear friend who lives in Virginia. She used to be on my Creative Artworks website and is so talented that it wouldn’t surprise me if she crocheted a bus. It was great to hear from her. I’ll reach out to her today.
I discovered this morning that folding our laundry upstairs on our made bed is a time-saving and easier way to handle the task than using my fold-down table in the laundry room or asking my husband to help me and then hauling the full basket up the stairs. Especially easier was folding the sheets and the comforter I had washed. It has only taken me about 36 years to figure this out….
It’s cloudy here today with possibly severe storms including gusty winds predicted around midnight tonight. I hope we get through it all right.
I can’t tell you how happy I am that I figured out what was going on with my images saving and accessing, and that my husband is now waiting for a used computer to replace the one we were using in the shop. Things are calm around here now – a priceless thing. :0)
Unknown
I’m planning to spend some time in my art room this afternoon. I’m playing with things, experimenting with some new techniques and materials. I’m having a lot of fun.
We don’t have any big plans today, so we can take our time with things that we enjoy. My husband even found a frozen ribs dinner he wants to try tonight, so all we have to do is nuke a few things and eat.
Gradually I’m figuring out some things on my computer. My husband seems to have given up. He’s calm, so I’ve decided to be really happy about that and do what I can on my own.
Yesterday I figured out how to get the pics I have in alphabetical order so I don’t have to scroll and scroll again through everything in order to find one image. Hooray!
Yesterday afternoon I finally found the images I’ve been trying to save recently. This morning I figured out how to change things so they will hopefully go in the place they’re supposed to go, rather than in ‘downloads,’ where they have been going.
I had given up trying to write blog posts. It was just too frustrating. This morning I’ll try to write another post after this one and see what happens. :0)
Just in case I have to give up again, I hope your Saturday is a nice one.
It’s gray and gloomy-looking outside today, but it’s NOT snowing/sleeting here and our driveway is clear, so few complaints. We also have Lunch Bunch this morning, so it’ll be fun to catch up with friends later.
I’m having trouble saving new images to, and getting images from, the place I store stuff for the blog, so I’m a bit frazzled. My husband will try to fix it today when we get back from Lunch Bunch and errands.
My husband is working on all of our computers, trying to get them to “see” each other, share files, etc. This is causing daily changes to my computer and is quite a challenge for me, since I’m am almost a technophobe.
Today the type on this page is humongous, rather than the almost-too-small-to-work-with type I’ve been working with. I have no clue how to change it. Also, the way I find and save and use images here is completely different. When I ask my husband about it, he says he hasn’t done anything to change those.
So the sweet gif I found of a cat massaging a dog’s head that I wanted to use for this post to talk about the massage I’m getting this morning is saved somewhere not to be found. I thought maybe it was because it was a gif rather than a jpg extension, so tried to save a jpg. That didn’t work, either. My images aren’t all showing in the list and aren’t in alphabetical order, so trying to use anything is a real challenge.
He will be working on my computer again today, so I’m hoping things will eventually straighten out. I may also end up bald from tearing my hair out…
It’s quite rainy here this morning with possibly severe weather with gusty winds forecast for much of the day. We will stay in where it’s nice and dry.
My husband is still working on our computers. He finally gave up on the rebuild of the computer that lives in our shop, finding a used one he could order. This will hopefully arrive soon. Meanwhile, he’s working on the networking between his computer and mine in the office, and is having a hard time with it. He has been working with the techs at Microsoft, and I’ve been typing for him because he gets frustrated with typing since his strokes. I’ll be glad when we can get our problems fixed and we can go back to what passes for normal around here.
I will move between working at the computer, reading, playing in my art room, and cleaning things today.
We picked up our truck yesterday around 2pm. It was a delight driving it home because there was NO noise when I put on the brakes. NONE. :0) We had to have the rotors replaced on the front, but they said the back ones were fine. We have new brake pads all around. A new lease on life!
Today will be a quiet one with nothing we HAVE to do, other than pull the emptied trash can back up where we can tether it to the pole. We are due for thunderstorms tomorrow and don’t want the can to blow away. My husband scoffed at me when I mentioned that, but then had to admit we’ve learned the hard way about gusty winds here. Our 200+ pound robot has been blown off the side of the driveway and it about killed us to get him back up where he belonged. We now have a chain around his neck, tying him to poles front and back so he jut LEANS when the wind hits him just right. Straightening him up is enough of a job.
Women’s Health
A shout-out this morning to my dear friend Marsha. She has started walking each day and is ordering a pedal-type exercise thingie to use every day in order to build up her muscles and make her stronger. I know how hard it is to make the decision to move more and not let aging take your quality of life. Harder still to actually DO it every day. Walking and pedaling for her – yoga, elliptical and weights for me. We’ll encourage each other to keep it up. GOOOOO, MARSHA!
I’m trying to deep clean something each day. I’ve just finished the kitchen now, and today I’ll scrub the two half-baths on the first floor. I’ll try to contain my excitement. :0)
Drive our trash down to the bottom of the driveway
Take our truck to have new brake pads installed
Drive to Ft. Smith to take our tax stuff to our CPA
I’m not looking forward to the trip to Ft. Smith because I’ll ride with my husband in his Vette. I am a defensive driver. As always, this is a direct opposite of my husband, who puts on the gas when I would put on the brake in any given situation. Add to this the fact that his patience was used up years ago in the Marine Corp and you have the reason I’m dreading the trip.
I’ll write again later if we have lived through it.
It’s beautiful here in Arkansas today – 50 already and sunny, with a high of 67 forecast. I’ll take it and enjoy every minute!
This has been a productive week for me.
I lost 4 pounds this week, although no celebratory balloons yet. This is the loss of pounds I had GAINED over the past two months or so, so until I get into new territory, I’m just quietly pleased I’ve finally come up with an eating plan that seems to be working – at least so far.
I finished getting our tax stuff together. I’ll call first thing tomorrow to make sure they are open (President’s Day) before we make the trip to Ft. Smith, but we plan to leave it with our tax guy.
I’ve been spending time in my art room, working on a couple of projects and having a good time.
I’ve been cleaning some things in the house.
Also, in the “Big Relief” category –
My husband has ordered a used PC already assembled, that we hope we can use in the shop. After pricing the parts needed to rebuild one of the computers we had, we found out it was cheaper to do it this way. Hooray!
My husband suggested that we could have someone else change out the brake pads in the truck, rather than our trying to do this ourselves. Our appointment is tomorrow at 10:00. Hooray!
I’ve lost almost 3-1/2 pounds this week. I have found that the ‘big test’ on whether I’m actually hungry or not is when I will eat raw carrots. I like carrots just fine, but I NEVER crave them. The fact that the scales are noticing my efforts is encouraging. So far this week each morning I weigh a bit less. I know this won’t happen every morning, but it’s nice to know it MIGHT. ONE DAY AT A TIME…
I don’t know how long my husband was on Microsoft Chat, but he was still going when I went to bed at 1am this morning. I’m trying to keep Amber quiet so he can get some good rest. The computer rebuild is ongoing. I’m not sure what the status is at this point.
We’re supposed to get to 56 degrees this afternoon. The sun is up there, shining its heart out. A happy-looking day.
My other half requested I make spaghetti today, so I have things together to make that happen later.
Today is Lunch Bunch. I haven’t heard from anyone that they AREN’T coming, so I’m going, hoping to catch up with everyone. These days it’s almost like throwing a bottle in the ocean trying to reach my friends. I can leave a message on Kay’s phone, but Kay says it doesn’t show up. She also says it doesn’t ring, but hasn’t gotten a replacement phone yet. So, unless she answers, I’m not at all confident I can reach her. Linda’s phone message system hasn’t been set up. If she doesn’t answer, I can’t leave a message. Her daughter Patty says she often doesn’t hear the phone because she isn’t wearing her hearing aids. Getting older is SUCH a reminder to keep your sense of humor.
One good thing, my friend Nora has quit her full time job and is writing a children’s book with the idea of self-publishing via the Kindle app. She is a talented artist (pastels), so I don’t wonder that she’ll write well, too. I’m hoping to be able to recommend her book to you one day. In the meantime, I’m hoping she’ll start joining us at Lunch Bunch. She can’t come today, but I’ll text and remind her that this is a standing invitation. :0)
I had a really nice thing happen yesterday. I was getting the mail and a truck went by. We waved, then he stopped and backed up. He told me he loved the mailbox decorations and made it a point to drive by and see what we had up, even though he lives down the road in the other direction. He asked if we used a CNC setup to make them, so he knows his tools. I confirmed that and told him he made my day and that I would tell my husband. He said he’s a handyman! I asked if he had a card and he gave me one. I will keep this with the idea of getting his help in the future. I’ll let you know how he does.
We’re due for nicer and nicer weather the rest of the week. It’s really terrific to see the sunshine and have afternoon temperatures at 50 today and even warmer the rest of the week.
I’m about to leave to get a haircut. I look like a dandelion gone to seed. Tuesday Michael, our wonderful hair stylist, got my husband looking all spiffy, with hair, mustache, and beard all trimmed with expertise. I’m hoping he can work a miracle and get me to look as if someone-has-a-plan. :0) My hair is thin, fine, and does absolutely nothing good on its own. Michael has a way of cutting it so that all I have to do is wash it and blow it dry.
I’ll hit the grocery store before coming home, get our mail, and then we can stay inside our warm, dry house the rest of the day. We had quite a storm overnight, but I haven’t seen any damage yet. The biggest thing is that Mother Nature can’t figure out which season we’re having. One day is like spring. Yesterday the high was in the 60s. The cold front came in overnight with the storm and the high will be 41 today. It’s gloomy looking now, with enough wind that the cold blows right through you. I really hurried to feed the cat in the garage this morning.
My husband has now decided to merge the parts of two computers, get a new motherboard, and hope that the rebuild will work so he has a computer in the shop again. Working with him in the office when he’s working on a computer is more challenging that I would like, so I’ll give him the space we will both need.
An example – I’m trying to finish this post before leaving, concentrating on it. Suddenly, there is something in front of my face. It’s my husband, waving a package of AAA batteries, saying, get some of these while you’re out. We discussed the interruption. He said “I could have yelled, “Hey, YOU! Get some batteries!” I told him quietly that if he did that, he wouldn’t be around to NEED the batteries… I’ll be really happy when the computer rebuild is over.
I wish you a warm, dry day wherever you are today. I’m looking forward to cuddling with my cat under my throw after lunch. Amber might join us, too, but it’s a bit difficult to make enough room for me, Abby, and a 95 pound yellow lab…
I’m still happy that we aren’t snowed or iced in, but we’re facing possible severe weather this afternoon, evening, and overnight, with possible snow flurries tomorrow morning. It’s supposed to be really windy today, too. I would love to have a talk with Mother Nature and see what has her nose out of joint. Maybe I could calm her down.
We’ll need to re-tether our humongous trash can to the pole toward the bottom of the driveway today before gusty winds carry it somewhere else.
I hope that you and your Valentine had a happy day yesterday. Our day was calm and good. My husband and I drove the front half of the truck into our shop and took off the front tires to look at our brakes again. We couldn’t find any problem. My husband shocked me by saying first that we could change the brake pads all around ourselves OR take it to someone to have that done. I jumped on the latter. Once we came back inside I jumped to find someone in Greenwood who could do it for us. We have an appointment for next Monday morning. Hoooraaaaaay! I think yesterday’s session finally got through to him that both of us are a bit long in the tooth to be trying to do the heavy lifting required on some of our projects.
I talked to a really good friend yesterday via email, asking what was going on in her life now. She is now working in Greenwood, rather than Ft. Smith and sounded really happy, with lots of plans for the future. I couldn’t be happier for her and am waiting to hear details in another email. :0)
I received a Jacquie Lawson Valentine’s Day card from one of my long-time close friends this morning. It was a really nice way to start the day. My husband showed his romantic self yesterday while we were at the local grocery, asking, ‘You want flowers or something?” I swoon. :0)
I’ve always thought that Valentine’s Day, at least the way it’s celebrated, is awful. People all over the world, I guess, are pressured into getting ‘something’ for their significant other on a particular day of the year. I think that if you love someone, EVERY day is the time to show how you feel, with a smile, a kiss, a hug, or maybe even a nice gift if you find something you think they will like. When it’s NOT the ‘official’ time to show it, it’s REAL. Happily, my husband and I share this belief and we show each other often – when we’re not contemplating digging a hole in the back yard to stash the body….
It’s raining today, so I’m not looking forward to having to go out in it this morning. My husband has a haircut. I sold some earrings last night on my Etsy site, and so will mail them to my customer today. When we get back, hopefully, our huge trash can will have been emptied and we can pull it partially up the driveway to re-tether it to the pole.
We’ll spend time today with our truck in our shop. It’s making a grinding noise when we put on the brake. When we put the snow tires on, we checked the brake pads as we always do, and all was good. When the grinding noise started, we put the truck in the shop and took the back tires off again to see what problems we could find. We didn’t find anything. Today we’ll check the front again.
I hope that you have a happy Valentine’s Day with the one you love.
I’m cherishing every minute of our bright sunshiny day today, as the rest of the week is forecast to be quite rainy.
The Super Bowl game last night was one of the best I’ve ever seen. Two great teams, no bad sportsmanship, brothers on each team, some truly wonderful plays, strong, tight game until the last minute. Someone had to win. And lose. But I really think both of these teams were winners.
We’ll go out after lunch to take our trash down and do some errands. Just a quiet Monday.
My husband gave up on the shop computer and is now transferring parts that are still good from it into the shell of another one that was extra, hoping that he can build one to go out to the shop. Fingers crossed. He’s not stressed over it, so that’s really, really good.
I’m having fun in my art room the last few days. I’m doing a project where each part needs to dry before I do more, so I spend a small bit of time up there, then come down and read or do something else on my list, then maybe go back up, depending on what stage I’m in. FUN!
I’m on book #40 in re-reading the In Death Series by J.D. Robb. One of the perks of being older than dirt is that I remember many parts of each book that I can enjoy again, but don’t remember many of the details of how the person was caught. Sometimes, I even find things I swear I didn’t read before….hahahahaha
On my ongoing “wish list” I’m including ‘developing an aversion to most food.’ It would be SO much easier to lose the lard if I could ‘forget’ to eat, or just ‘not be hungry,’ so I could eat what was absolutely necessary for nourishment, do my exercise for the day, and concentrate on other things. It’s a thought.
Will you watch the Super Bowl today? We always do, even though we’re not big football fans. My husband doesn’t care who wins, and I just want a really competitive game where we won’t know who will win until the final nail-biting minutes.
I could never actually ATTEND a game because 1) I change who I’m routing for – switching to root for the one behind, and 2) I’m vocal about it. So fans of either team – or both – would probably want to pummel me. I appreciate expertise in most any form. Playing football well is an art and I love being able to watch the two teams with the best records this season duke it out.
I also love the commercials. My dad had his own one-man advertising agency in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He specialized in radio advertising and billed himself as ‘the 2nd worst radio voice in Tulsa.’ (The 1st was a woman florist who had a really raspy, grating voice.) I grew up admiring his creativity, his ability to make people smirk or laugh while buying his client’s products. He received an award from the Tulsa Chapter American Advertising Federation in 1984, that said, to Jim Wheaton “With admiration and Respect for His Unique Contributions in Advertising to Tulsa and All Other Markets.”
So I appreciate the creative minds that come up with unique commercials that make you laugh or cry while you consider buying the products. Standouts in my mind are the Budweiser Beer Commercials, where I hope the creators have won numerous awards – and I don’t even drink beer…
Here’s hoping we see a lot of skill and heart, a good, competitive game, a good halftime show, and lots of creative commercials.
The rain has FINALLY stopped, though we’ll have a rainy week ahead – Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and the following Monday if the forecasters are correct. If it’s ONLY rain, I’ll try not to gripe too much. :0)
Unknown
My husband is still trying to fix computer problems. Yesterday he finally got our two office computers to see each other, so now we’re able to share files, access what we need, send things to each other, etc. NICE. He was able to upgrade the operating system on the shop computer, but he is beating his head against the wall trying to get the updates downloaded to it. So that’s the focus today. I’ll do what I need to on mine asap and turn mine off, and we’ll also turn the DirecTV off so that all our rural Internet power can focus on that. Fingers crossed.
While he’s doing that, I’m enjoying time in my art room. I’m trying some new techniques and just generally smiling up there while listening to some music. I’m also on #38, Concealed in Death, on my re-reading of my J.D.Robb/Nora Roberts In Death series collection before diving into the newest paperback, #55, Desperation in Death. The newest book in the series, #56, Encore in Death will be out in hardback at the end of this month, but it’ll be awhile before I can order it in paperback.
Since the sun is shining today, I’ll try to do some walking in the yard this afternoon when it warms up. It’s 35 right now, but it’s supposed to get to 54 this afternoon, I think. It’s been so gloomy lately that it almost hurts to look out the window at the effect of the bright, happy sunshine!
Along with several gazillion others, we will plan to watch the Super Bowl tomorrow. I’m hoping for a really competitive game – a nail-biter to the last minute.
Today rain and a possible ‘wintry mix’ is forecast. We’re going to try to go to Lunch Bunch anyway. We want to splurge on a burger. We’ll also get our mail, stop for gas and groceries before coming home. I’m really keeping all appendages crossed that we JUST get a cold rain, rather than being snowed in yet again. It’s really getting old.
On the home front, my husband is still fighting to get the updates on the shop computer. It continues to fail. He’s on chat with Microsoft, but so far, they aren’t able to help. So I do what I need to do first thing in the morning on the computer, then shut it down, plus the TV, so that he has as much download speed as we can gather to try again.
I’m reading, spending time in my art room, cooking, cleaning, etc., all really exciting stuff while the computer fight continues.
I hope that you are doing well and that the weather is treating you right where you are.
“Keep your faith in beautiful things; in the sun when it is hidden, in the Spring when it is gone.” Roy R. Gibson
Earth.com
Quora
I’m thankful today that the precipitation we’re due to get all day today and tomorrow is JUST rain. No snow, sleet, ice, or severe storms – no flying hair balls – JUST rain.
As soon as it’s time for our mail to have been delivered, we’ll check to see if the trash people have made our trash disappear this week. They didn’t last week, I assume because of the weather. I would imagine that if the school buses can’t make it around up here, neither can the trash trucks, mail delivery, etc. Hopefully, they’ll get it today.
My husband is in a ‘death fight’ with the computer that lives in our shop. I’m not sure WHY it’s a death fight, but he has spent hours and hours putting a new operating system on it, new video card, etc., getting more and more upset because it isn’t working. He plays music on it when he’s working in the shop. Since we haven’t been out there, except to get tools or mailbox decorations, I’m not sure why everything else has taken a back seat to this, but it has made it so that he can’t sleep at night and then sleeps on and off during the day. I’m glad he can get his rest, but I wish he would take a more measured approach to this.
I hope that the weather is not a problem where you are today and that this is a nice Tuesday for you.
This is the flying pig we had hanging from a line up high over one side of the driveway. Since he fell onto the driveway during the recent snow storm, he has been moved to the shop, waiting for some long-needed refurbishment after hanging out in the weather for several years now. He needs new eyes, a total rework of his mouth and nose, and a repaint. I’m dragging my feet a little because I’m trying to find a good time to strongly suggest that we anchor him to a boulder beside the driveway, rather than trying to hang him up again. He’s really heavy, and I don’t want my husband trying to do this when all I can do is stand nearby, holding my breath and worrying trying to be ready to drive him to the ER if the worst happens.
Since I wrote this morning, we took our trash down to the bottom of the driveway. There we found our trash from last week, just as we left it, in the humongous can the company provides. I guess the ice storm made it impossible for them to do their work. We’ll check it tomorrow after the time they normally pick up, and see if it’s still there. If so, I’ll have to call the company. We got our mail, took other mail to leave at the post office, then the bank, then the local grocery where we indulged ourselves by bringing home fish dinners for lunch. Then a nap, and the day is half gone!
We may be the last people on the planet to see this, but the last two evenings we’ve been watching “1883,” the prequel to “Yellowstone.” We moved the last disc for the show to first in our queue last night and hope to be able to watch it very soon.
Another really rich story with strong characters typical of Taylor Sheridan’s work, fleshing out the John Dutton clan. Another thing that was fun, other than seeing Sam Elliott, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, plus new to ME actors Isabel May, LaMonica Garrett and others, were the guest stars that just suddenly were there, like Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, and Taylor Sheridan himself. The quality of the acting is really, really impressive. If you haven’t seen this prequel yet, I highly recommend it. I should have brought more tissues. I can’t stand it when Sam Elliot tears up.
It’s beautifully sunny this morning and the ice is finally thawing! My husband decided yesterday he would drive down the driveway – ‘damn the torpedoes – full speed ahead!’ and get the mail. He actually made it back safely. He did say it was too slick to do anything about the big trash can we’ve left down there since Monday for Tuesday pickup. Since it’s supposed to get to 58 this afternoon, we should get a bunch of thawing today. We’ll plan to get out and replenish supplies tomorrow afternoon.
We’ve spent almost 3 weeks now, supplying one day and then being trapped on top of our ridge line for the following week, one week at a time. I’m hoping that we can just settle down now and have the REGULAR Arkansas winter for at least a bit. I’m still feeling extremely lucky that our systems and back-up systems worked to keep us pretty comfortable through all this. When things dry out enough, we’ll move firewood into the holder in the garage so we’ll have plenty of firewood for more fires, if needed.
My husband didn’t mention any problems getting down or up the driveway yesterday, so I guess that means we didn’t have any more limbs or trees blocking our way due to the ice storm. We’ll still need to neaten up more from the quick and dirty job we did of chain-sawing things down that prevented our passage after the heavy, wet snow brought so many trees and limbs down the week before last. We can do that a bit at a time, though.
The sunshine brings my spirits up after all the cold, cloudy, and grim we’ve had. I’ll take some time and see if I can walk around outside today, smiling up at the sky.
Other than cheering on the beautiful day, I’ll make my husband’s request for chili for dinner tonight and continue working on our tax records. Be still, my heart. :0)
We’re supposed to get to 50 today, so we’ll finally get some much-needed thawing. Our driveway, of course, will be the last thing to thaw, so I’m hoping that we won’t need to deal with whatever has broken, fallen, or is hanging into the driveway until at least tomorrow.
This looks like snow, but it’s ice – tiny ice pellets now frozen together. You can HEAR Amber run across the yard.
I’m making a point of not trying to have any contact with this stuff. It’s super slippery. Our driveway pad is pretty clear now, but even before you get to the edge of it, there is still pretty thick ice. Mother Nature will need to get serious with the warmer temperatures before we have any chance of even LOOKING at the driveway.
Women’s Health
My BIL and SIL in Charlotte are driving today to get the new furbaby they are adopting. I’m so happy for them, even though they’ll have their hands full with new dog, adapting her to their home and lifestyle, plus teaching her to get along with their cat. Their lives will be richer and they’re excellent rescue parents.
Women’s Health
A shout-out to my dear friend Marsha. We met online almost 20 years ago. She listed her gorgeous pottery on Creative Artworks, my website. We’ve actually met face-to-face only once when my husband and I were in Florida for some reason. She came to our hotel and took me for an amazing afternoon. I think we could have talked forever. I just smiled and smiled. Our friendship has only grown, even though I closed the website down years ago. She changed from pottery to jewelry, excelling at THAT, too. I hope we’ll be friends forever.
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I hope that your Friday is a nice one, with a fun weekend to follow.
We are totally iced in and the temperature is 28 degrees F. The forecast is for yet ANOTHER ice storm from about noon today until noon tomorrow. I just contacted everyone, telling them we won’t be able to make it to Lunch Bunch this Friday. Maybe we’ll thaw out by a WEEK from Friday.
I haven’t even tried to see if we have more limbs and trees down in the driveway. It’s like a skating rink outside. It LOOKS like snow, but it’s little bitty ice pellets. I just let Amber out. She tried to run, but fell down, sliding. I waited about 5 minutes, then went to the garage to call her. She came around the house, ‘running carefully,’ if that’s possible.
I suggested last night to my husband that he NOT put Amber on the leash when he took her for her last outing, worrying that she might pull him just at the wrong time and make him slip and fall on the ice. He actually LISTENED and did what I asked! She took care of everything quickly and both got back inside in one piece.
It’s hard to believe that we are facing yet another ‘significant’ ice storm above what we already have. The good news is that if we live through this, the weather is supposed to improve a LOT with highs in the 40’s, 50’s, and even 60’s by the end of the week! HOORAY!!!!!!!
My husband and I haven’t killed each other yet. He, as usual, does a combination of things that melt my heart and other things that make me want to dig a hole in the back yard to throw him in. For example, last night he said, “Thank you for my life.” He went on to say there is no one in the world he would rather be iced in with. Yeah. NICE.
On the other hand, I heard a crash this morning while I was in the office. I jumped up to find out what had happened, worried that he fell and was hurt. He was sitting at the dining area table, calmly drinking coffee. He had TOSSED the Corelle plate he had been using under the dog gate so that Amber could lick it. THAT’S what I heard. I glared at him, looking at me innocently, explaining that my heart had stopped when I heard the crash. Just another day in the life of the Lewises.
creativeartworksblog 