Happy Tuesday!

It was in the 20's this morning, but has warmed up to almost 60 this afternoon.  Supposed to be in 60's tomorrow, too.  I checked the new pansies and they are fine, pretty as ever!

I've been busy finishing up some projects around here and doing odds and ends.  All the usual stuff, a load of laundry, did some errands.  Then I worked on the pictures some more and got the new ones into the frames.  And then moved the ones that were "de-framed" into the scrapbook.  Did a little desk work. 

Another project concerned the rain gauge on our weather vane.  The recent ice/snow storm evidently shattered the rain tube.  I cleaned up bits of glass when I was out working in the yard on Sunday.  I found what I thought might be a replacement tube while out doing the errands today.  It was the right size, but did not have a "lip" at the top to hold it in place.  A good motto to live by is "where there is a will, there is a way".  I got out my black carpet thread and the super duper glue I discovered when fixing Golfer's golf bag a few months ago.  I built a lip at the top of the tube.  Just wound the thread and glued every few rounds.  When it was dry I took it out and it looks good.  Blends right in with the black rubber holder.  Now we'll see how long that holds up out in the weather.

It's almost time to start supper.   I will end with a picture.  Here is our family.

Stay safe and God Bless America!

Well. Huh.

Seems I was a week off on the Super Bowl.  😃  I thought it was today!  I must have been confused by all the football talk on ESPN and other news.  And here is how I found out....

I thought I'd surprise Golfer and make some of the Mexican dip he likes a lot.  Thought it would be a good snack during the game.  I was out in the kitchen doing some advance prep on it and Golfer came out to see if lunch was ready.  He looked at the baking dish with the bean dip spread out and asked what that was and what was I doing.  And that's when he said the game is next weekend.  So it's going into the freezer!

And then I went outside and did some yard cleanup after lunch.  Ended up with five of the large, clear yard bags that are out at the curb for pick-up tomorrow.  I pulled some weeds, picked up a LOT of sticks and twigs and small branches, raked up leaves from the mulched areas. Looks better and I feel good getting it done.

The pansies are doing well on the porch.  The day lilies out back are starting to come up.  There are some buds starting on some of the hydrangeas.  And it might snow tomorrow.  I filled the bird feeder so it's ready for them.

Stay safe, people!

Are You Ready for the Football?

Eh. I watch for the commercials, and the Browns are not involved, so we are as ready as we're going to get here.  But enjoy yourselves!  We'll be watching and having some snacks.

It is drying out a bit here and the sun is trying to come out.  The temperatures have been going up and down from day to day, but that is normal for here.  Golfer has layered up and is out on the course with the other guys.

It's been a busy week, compounded by Kirk, our MDX, not starting on Tuesday when I wanted to go do errands and get groceries.  After some trouble shooting and a couple calls to Acura, they sent someone to jump the battery.  It was so low that the jump box wouldn't do it and the man had to pull his car into our garage and jump from his car battery.  And then we went straight up to Acura where Kirk stayed overnight.  The gist of that is that they could not duplicate the situation, couldn't find anything wrong, don't know what drained the battery, and can't say if it will happen again.  All I know is there were a lot of lights flashing and things beeping when I tried to start him.  We're supposed to come back if it happens again.  I told the tech supervisor, "you can bet on that" and also told him there will be no more battery jumping, if/when it happens again Kirk will be towed.  Kirk has been fine since we got him home.

That made us particularly concerned because this is how the problems started with Rico, our previous truck.  And those battery issues went on for months and months, until we were finally so frustrated we traded him in.

On the bright side though, life is good.  Spring is coming.  The neighbors have daffodils starting to come up. In that spirit, I just could not resist buying these frost resistant pansies to put on the porch.  I love pansies!  Last year by the time I was ready to get some, I had waited a little too long and they were pretty picked over.  But these I found at Lowe's are especially pretty!

I hope to get out and do a little yard clean-up either this afternoon or tomorrow.

Stay safe and enjoy your weekend!

Just a Note Before Good-Night

It's been a quiet gray day here.  Not exactly raining, but definitely wet out.  It was sort of misty out there when I ventured out to drop off mail at the P.O. and stop at Kroger's for some more fruit.  BTW, don't go to Kroger's on a Sunday afternoon.  They didn't even have any carts to use.

We watched a couple recorded shows.  Golfer watched some football.  I worked on the picture sorting project, and got to the point of scanning some.  Now I'm off to shower and then read.

Bigger rain is on the way and it will really be wet tomorrow.

Me

Stay safe!

Happy Anniversary, Bikini and Brief!

Have a happy day!

Gray Outside, Happy Inside

We are in the  midst of a few gray and cloudy/rainy days here.  The temperatures are in the 40's, but it just feels colder.

I've been keeping busy.  There is always all the usual day to day things that need to be done.  We have had a visit from the Zoo Pro man to check on things in the attic again.  He will be back one more time this next week.  The comforting news for me is that I haven't seen anything, seen any evidence of anything, or heard anything recently!

We also had a visit from our handyman, Steve.  Our house has wood trim work.  It needs to be painted every few years.  Sometimes parts need to be replaced.  So we're going to have Steve do the wrap on the trim that will cover it and eliminate the painting.  We've finally found a color that almost matches the current color of the trim.  Everything is ordered.  Steve will also take care of a couple other odds and ends that need attention while he and his guys are here working.

I have continued to clean some things out and there is a DAV pick-up scheduled for Wednesday.  I truly think that things multiply while stored in our closets.  But I continue to sort and clean out.

And my picture sorting project continues.  These pictures that I am sorting range from baby pictures of our mothers to current times.  Some are fragile. Some are faded. A lot are duplicates or just plain not great.  I am gathering pictures to put in a family scrapbook.  I am sure we are not the only family to have the situation that I have discovered.  We have a "bajillion" pictures of Bey B from birth through about eight years (she is eighteen now).  Then fewer pictures of Boxer and Bloomer.  Distance partly plays a factor in that.  Then we get to Cutie Girl and Little Miss E and we have only a couple hard copy pictures.  Everything has gone digital as time passes!

This situation then led to me sorting through our digital pictures and all the ones on my phone and getting some printed to go in the book!  I found a Walgreen's coupon and sent in my order and within half an hour I got an email saying they were ready to come pick up.  I would have made some progress on all this but yesterday I went with Nurse J, Bey B, and Cutie Girl to the Living Museum.  We originally were going to walk through the outdoor part and see the dinosaur exhibit, but it was cold and raining, so we stayed inside.  The museum is very nice.  I had not been since they remodeled.  Cutie Girl loves the aquarium!

This morning I caught up on the shows we watched where I fell asleep and missed the endings.  :)  Then I did the routine morning stuff.  And then had baby time with Little Miss E!  She was very good and we enjoyed having her with us while Nurse J took Cutie Girl to a movie.  Little Miss E likes to sit in PaPa's chair and rock!

Everyone has gone home now.  The furry boys have come out of hiding.  Time to decide what we're doing for supper. 

Stay safe!

Happy Birthday, Bloomer!

Have a great day!  XOXO

Nature's Beauty

Hey, all!  I hope everyone had a good weekend.  It was cold and raining off and on here.  But the snow and ice are gone now.

Besides keeping up with all the usual things around the house, I've worked on a couple extra projects.  The closet upstairs definitely needed attention and cleaning out.  So did the large wooden chests up there.  Since Golfer was not playing this weekend, he helped and we got a lot done.  One goal for me was to get to the large box of pictures stored in the closet up there.

I worked on sorting pictures all of yesterday afternoon.  I can not believe how many duplicates we had and or how many pictures of people and places we did not recognize.  :)  Keep in mind that we inherited some of these pictures.  So now that the initial sorting is done, I will go through some of them again and get them organized into scrapbooks or scanned.

Speaking of pictures..... our friend, Rick Hopson, the photographer who took our family pictures at Christmas, takes absolutely beautiful nature pictures.  This recent one that he posted is just too beautiful to not share.  Snowy owls are rare in our area and Rick and his photographer buddy were lucky enough to see this one.  They had heard there had been a sighting at the shore and they took off to look for him.

I have to admit, he makes me think of Harry Potter.  Isn't he beautiful??!!

And this picture makes me smile every time I look at it....

So, if you ever need a photographer, look for Rick!  He did a great job with our family pictures, too.  Not so easy working with our group ranging in age from seven months, a wiggly three-year-old and up to 60+ years.  :)  

Stay safe, people!

A Helpful Momentary Heat Wave

It was 73 here yesterday!  That helped a lot with melting the snow and ice.  There are still dirty piles around in parking lots and along the roads where plowing was done, but the yard and house are clear now.  Of course, the yard is very wet and soggy, but the danger of ice falling off the roof onto us is gone!

Here's a recap of our week....We started out snowbound, but Golfer had a doctor's appointment Tuesday morning, so he ventured out and returned safely home.  Also on Tuesday, we had the plumber here fixing the leaky pipe in the wall in the garage.  Wednesday we had our annual visit from the Culligan Man; no problems there.  Thursday, our photographer friend, Rick, brought our pictures.  They turned out great!  Then later our handyman, Steve, came by to check on some things around our house, and he'll be back later today to discuss.  Right now we're waiting on the Zoo Pro man to return for the next treatment in our attic to "remove" the creature that's been up there.

Of course there has also been all the usual stuff, cleaning, cooking, laundry, etc.  One afternoon was spent cleaning up the garage after the plumber was done.  We had a lot of water to mop up!  I finally got out to do errands yesterday and get to the Commissary.  We've made it to the "Y" a couple times.  It's been packed with children due to the schools being closed, but schools finally reopened yesterday.

The girls and families are doing well.  Little Miss E just got her third tooth!  Still drooling and not sleeping well, so maybe another is on the way, too!

New people moved into the house across the street from us.  They have dogs and one is a barker.  Our Angus has always liked to spend a lot of time looking out the front windows, usually watching birds in the shrubs in front of our porch.  This morning I saw him staring straight ahead, all crouched down and wiggly.  He was staring at the barker across the street who was staring back at him from their front window.  Life is an adventure.

Stay safe!

Just Another Update and Some Wishful Thinking

Well.  It is still cold.  The temperature did not get above freezing today so we are still covered in snow and ice.  Maybe tomorrow.  Sigh.  Wednesday is predicted to be in 60's!

Golfer did go out and got half of the driveway cleaned off.  He did the side that is behind Spock, the RDX.  Spock has front wheel drive if we need to go anywhere.  The snow is heavy and it is covering thick ice in some spots.  Golfer also cleaned off the sidewalk as much as possible.  The ice is much thicker there where icicles have dripped, even in freezing weather.  Salt has been put down.

Speaking of icicles... here's an example of what we have.

Picture taken from the office window

I knocked as many down as I could out front, but the patio and deck are so deep in snow I haven't been out there yet.

I was taking a bag of trash out to our dumpster which is stored inside the garage this morning.  And I walked into a big puddle!  I came back in, got my coat because it was freezing cold out there, got a flashlight, and told Golfer what I was doing.  He came out to see, too.  We have water leaking at the water heater that is located in the corner of the garage.  It's not that old.  We have a maintenance contract with Smith & Keene on all our heating, A/C, generator, and plumbing.  I called right away.  This contract gives us preferential service scheduling and pricing.  The soonest they can get here is tomorrow.  They are over-loaded with service calls.  So tomorrow morning we will be moving things out of the way and hopefully, eventually, cleaning and drying things out there.  And possibly getting another water heater.  Sigh.

I started a project this afternoon.  We have stacks and boxes of old pictures.  I started sorting and cleaning out.  Here's a question that no one can answer:  WHY DON'T WE ALL LABEL PICTURES WE TAKE?  I admit I am as guilty as anyone.  So anyway, the project is started.   Be ready Nurse J and Bikini, some will be heading your way!

One picture in particular spoke to me.  I have said and thought this a million times, I'm ready for warm weather and sunshine.  I found this picture of my Mom and an unknown friend.  Mom liked the sunshine, too!

Mom is in the dark suit.  Quite the "looker"!  Miss you, Mom.

Stay safe, people!

Weather Update

It finally stopped snowing last night.  This morning the sun is out so bright  I almost need my sunglasses here inside the house.  The official snowfall count is 11".  It is 19 degrees out and not expected to get above freezing temperatures until maybe Tuesday.  Every newscast announces "stay in, don't go out".  And yet, on the last report, there had been almost one hundred accidents.  For those of you in areas that get heavy snowfall more often, part of the problem here is a shortage of plows and equipment.  The only plowing or clearing done is on the interstate and the main roads, never on any residential streets.

IT Guy and BeyB got home last night, so that is one less worry.  I really doubt that BeyB's new classes are going to start tomorrow, but it's great they are home.

So, here we are.  I made pancakes for breakfast.  Golfer watched a movie.  I read the paper online.  I am just about caught up with my magazine reading and am going to pick a new book to start.

Stay warm and stay safe!

What the Heck?!?!?!

We are currently in the midst of Winter Storm Helena.  Go away, Helena!  Haven't been in a good blizzard since Colorado!  The snow started last night, soon after we returned home from having dinner at BJ's Brewhouse.  We went out because we knew we wouldn't be leaving the house for a few days.  Dinner was delicious!

It is still snowing.  It's 23 degrees with a wind chill of 13, and it is windy.  Golfer went out and measured right in front of the garage door and it was 6" deep.  Looks deeper in other areas, but we aren't venturing out to measure.  Most things are closed, authorities are telling us to stay in and off the roads.

It has been a busy week.  Sadly, IT Guy's Dad passed away after being in the ICU in Illinois since Christmas.  He was a nice man and will be missed.  IT Guy and BeyB drove to Illinois in time to get to see him.  They are not back home yet.  Golfer and I have been helping Nurse J with the little ones while she worked and other things.  So we've had some hugs and cuddles and play time.

There was a little flurry (hahaha) of getting ready for the storm and I got the pantry and fridge in shape and ready, made sure we had food and kitty litter for the boys, filled the bird feeder, and put gas in the car.  In case you are wondering why the gas in the car is important, if the power goes out, you can't pump gas.  Of course, with all the snow and being told to stay in, we aren't going anywhere, but you just never know if you might have an emergency.  That same policy holds for getting cash on hand from the ATM.

Our generator tests itself weekly and it is ready if needed.

One of the newscasters made a comment about wondering why people go buy milk, eggs, bread, etc before a storm.  She said the fridge wouldn't work if the power went out.  True, but hard boiled eggs last longer and could be boiled before the storm starts.  Or cooked on a grill.  For Winter storms...DUH!  It's cold outside, set things outside or in the garage.  They'll stay cold!  I remember one time many years ago, my sister lived in a second floor apartment.  Her refrigerator quit working during Winter.  She did not have a large cooler, so she just set things out on the roof in a box.  When we wanted to make a sandwich, we just opened the window and brought things in.  As soon as the repairman fixed it, everything was moved inside, back to normal.  Remember, where there is a will, there's a way.

We've been catching up on some recorded shows and have some good books to read.  I'm getting ready to start a pot of chili.  Stay in and stay safe!

Here are some snowy pictures.....

Angus and Finnigan on guard against the white invaders falling from the sky; Cecil was not worried and was napping.

Getting deep!

Still coming down

Getting Back to Normal

Officially today is a holiday.  Here, it is Monday, omelette day.  (I don't cook breakfast every day) All the usual morning things, plus some, have been done.  It is about 50 outside and raining, puddles everywhere.  As far as I know, the girls and families are well.  Life is good.

This picture has shown up on Facebook several times and it "speaks" to me.  So I am sharing.

Have a good day and stay safe!

Happy 2017!

I hope everyone is well and happy!

Golfer and I are having a quiet day at home today.  We had breakfast - oatmeal and cinnamon rolls -  watched a movie, read the paper.  He had some time on the computer.  I cleaned out some cabinets and cleaned some things out.  He's watching football now.

I looked out the window a little bit ago and saw a robin!  Either he's late to leave, early to arrive, or just a hardy little soul that is staying here year round.  So I went out and filled the bird feeder.  I wasn't fast enough to take a picture myself, so this is a file photo.


It's sunny and in the mid-50's today.  We had a little rain earlier but things have dried off and it really isn't bad out now.  Enjoy your day and stay safe!