Hey!

I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe.  Les and I are okayish.  I'm trying to keep up with things.  

I "officially" finished working on all the mulched areas of our yard.  Got weeding, pruning, tidying up all done.  Of course, that is a job that never actually gets finished.  We have trees getting leaves, flowering shrubs getting buds, and Azaleas are blooming.  And of course, let's not forget the pollen!  I wear a mask right now when I go out to sweep or use the blower to clean things off.  

We've had several appointments, and so far, so good.  Les had to have some surgery on a basal cell spot and his incision is healing.  Stitches will be removed next week.

The weather was nice yesterday and we sat out on the patio and watched the eclipse.  It wasn't a full eclipse here, but still impressive.

We do not have an exact date for the new siding job to start.  But we've been told everything has been ordered and we are on the schedule.  There have been quite a few rain days here, and that affects the schedule.  Les and I did go to Lowes and get the three new security lights that will be installed.

"knock on wood"...... I have not seen the mouse, or any signs of it, since our pest control guy was here!  And our furry boys have been  more relaxed.  But I am sort of on a constant lookout. 

I got some small yard art to go with the dragon fly.

Take care and stay safe.  Life is good.  And God Bless America!

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone is having a safe, peaceful day.

We are doing okay here.  Seems like it's been busier than usual.  The HOA ARB approved our choice for new siding.  Steve has ordered it.  The contractor who will be doing the work will get us on his schedule and the work will probably be done later in April.

Les had an appointment with his Neurologist and she has ordered some more tests.  We are in the process of getting those set up.  

We had the Spring check-up on our HVAC system.  That was okay except it needed a new capacitor. But it's all done and ready to go when we need the A/C.

We also had a visit from our pest control guy.  This was not a regular quarterly visit. !&**!!#!! We discovered we had a mouse running around in the house.  We love our furry boys, Angus and Finnigan, but they are not hunters.  They did very well at pointing us towards the mouse.  But honestly, Les and I are not fast enough to do anything about it.  So I called Jason.  He has come and done his work and said to call again if we need him to come back.  For the moment all is calm.  The furry boys are not spending so much time on guard duty and are back to taking naps.  I am hoping the mouse found its way to wherever it came it and it went back out.  But basically, EEEWWW!

Pollen season is at a point where I need to start wearing a mask when I go out to use the blower to clean off the porch and patio.  Those big yellow clouds are nasty.  It was in the 70's yesterday, and was nice earlier today, but is now in the low 50's and cloudy, and getting ready to rain. 

I am trying to keep up with things.  Life is good.

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  God Bless America!

They Must Have Fixed It!

These are the pictures I tried to post yesterday.

And here is a picture of the cherry trees on Canon Boulevard.

We drove down that road again this morning and the trees are beautiful!  

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  God Bless America!

Hey!

I hope everyone is doing well.  It's Spring! Yay!  

Of course, as it is so often here in Virginia, the temperatures are up and down.  Yesterday was in the low 70's and sunny.  Perfect day for me to get a bit of yard work done.  I had planned to go out today and do a little more, but it is 49 this afternoon and breezy.  So, no yard work today.

The Architectural Review Board meets some time today.  We have not heard anything about our application for the new siding.  But the contractor did come by and get the exact measurements.  Really, the only thing I am concerned about with the application is if they will approve the color we want.  So we just wait and see.

As far as the yard work, I had some pruning to do and cleaning up.  Mainly the pruning was clipping the little dead bits off shrubs and bushes.    Weeds were pulled, a little raking done, and I put out some of the "yard art".

blogger.com is not cooperating right now and I can not post pictures!  They need to work on their upgrades.  They do not seem to be working very well.

So I will end this here.  Take care and stay safe.  God Bless America!

Windows Pictures

 Upstairs window

Dining room window.  Most of you already know why the chairs are like that.  But in case, you don't remember....Our furry boys are not tiny, and they don't fit on the narrow window sills.  Some of their best squirrel and bird watching is from this window. 

Stay safe and take care of yourselves.  Life is good.  And God  Bless America!

Just a Quick Update

I've been busy this week on several projects.  It was time for new window treatments in the upstairs bonus room and in our dining room.  The dining room was the easiest, although it did involve ironing the new ruffled curtains.  But the windows were washed and the new curtains hung, and they look nice.

Upstairs was more work.  First off, everything had to be taken up there - cleaning supplies, spackle, paint, tools, etc.  I got the old drapes down and thrown out.  Then I scraped and sanded some areas around the window, then spackled, then when that was dry I sanded again, and then painted.  And of course, washed the big window.  The rod was old, and the plastic parts were brittle and several broke in the taking down process.  So I had to do something about that.  I took the rod apart and reworked it.  And ironed the new window treatments. Some of you know that ironing is not high on my list of things I like to do.  I got it all hung and it looks pretty good.  Then some extra cleaning was done up there.  I will take pictures soon and post.

We have had several meetings with our Handyman friend, Steve.  We are going to get new siding on the house plus some added insulation.  We made our decision and yesterday I spent quite a while getting all the forms and material done for the ARB.  They meet next week.  We are really hoping they like the color we have chosen.  As soon as we get an approval from the ARB, Steve will order all the supplies and materials and the siding man will get us on his schedule.

I hope everyone is well and taking care of themselves.  Stay safe.  God Bless America!

Just a Reminder

 

Remember to change your clocks tomorrow night, Saturday, March 9th, before you go to bed!

Some Days Are Like This

We are doing alright here, although everything is wet and soggy outside.  It's been raining off and on for a few days now.  At the moment, the sun is trying hard to make an appearance.

I've been taking care of all the routine, usual "stuff" that always needs to be done.  I made a quick trip to the Commissary this morning.

Some of the yards in our neighborhood have Daffodils and also Hyacinths blooming now.  The leaves are coming out on our Hydrangeas.  The grass is getting green and tall.

So, basically, not much news, but life is good.  Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  God Bless America!

What's Going On?

 

I took this picture of Angus and Finnigan yesterday.  Something was going on in the back yard and they were "on watch" duty.  I guessing crazy squirrels running around.

Please notice it was not raining at the time.  It started raining again last night and has been raining all day today.

Just the usual things getting done around the house and I'm going to go read for a while.

Take care and stay safe.  God Bless America!

First Lizard of Spring

 

I saw this little guy Sunday afternoon on our patio.  It is unusually early to see any, but he obviously couldn't resist the sun spot on the pavers. 

It's cloudy, cool, and breezy today. More rain in the forecast this evening and tomorrow.

We went to vote this morning and then went to First Watch for breakfast.  Got some Starbucks on the way home. I have no other big plans for today, although there is a load of towels in the dryer waiting to be folded.

Take care and stay safe.  God Bless America!

Just Some Updates

I hope everyone is doing well and taking care of themselves.  There are lots of germs going around and lots of weather happening.

As for here, our temperatures have been in the mid-50's to upper-60's.  Yesterday was pretty nice and sunny, I actually went out and did a little bit of yard work that I had been wanting to do.  Today is cloudy and it is supposed to start raining any time now, with rain in the forecast pretty much the rest of the week.  We'll see what happens.  The forecasters are not always right.

Yesterday was interesting.  Started out with our normal early routine on Sundays.   I cooked breakfast and we watched a movie and read the paper.  Then I told Les I was going to take Jadzia, the TLX, to the car wash.  It was a good time to go and no long lines or waiting.  However........ they finished the car, and I tried to leave and she wouldn't start.  The young men were very helpful and kind and got the manager to bring out a small charger and got her started.  I went straight to Advance Auto and another very helpful, pleasant, young man put a new battery in for me.  

Other that these activities it was just the usual things that needed to be done.

I just returned home from doing a few errands.  Things like Amazon return drop off at UPS, and a quick stop at Jacquie's, and got bananas at Kroger's, and went up to Tractor Supply and bought myself a new rake.

Take care of yourselves and be kind.  Life is good.  God Bless America!

Our "Grand-Lizard"

This is Lemon.  He lives in Jordan's room. I know some of you are "creeped out" by lizards and other reptiles, but Lemon is a little cute guy.  This picture shows him trying to climb his wall to go on an adventure.  No worries though, his home has a lid.

I have taken care of him for Jordan when she has been away visiting her other Grandma.  Lemon and I  got along just fine.

And this all reminds me of something from many, many years ago.  My Grama and Granpa had taken me to "Jungle Larry's" theme park in Ohio.  One of the shows was about reptiles and sort of a meet and greet affair for the audience.  I made my Grama really, really nervous when Jungle Larry asked if anyone would like to pet the snake he was holding.  My hand went right up and Grama's face went pale.  I don't remember Granpa's reaction, but I am sure he was fine with it all. I remember that I had thought the snake would be slimy.  It was not. I do know that we all need to be very careful around snakes.  Some can be harmful if they bite, but they do take care of other things that could hurt us.  God put them here for a reason.

So after this trip down memory lane, have a good day and stay safe.

God Bless America!

Odds and Ends, and Things I Am NOT Doing Today

I'll start with the "NOT" doing things.... I am not washing windows, not doing yard work, and not taking our cars to the car wash.  It started raining last night. This afternoon it has stopped and the sun is trying to come out.  It's not having a lot of luck right now, but maybe later.  So, all those things not getting done are due to wet and cool outside.

However, all the usual morning stuff was done plus a few other "odds and ends".  And Les and I watched the new "Aquaman" movie while we had breakfast and our coffee.

The weather did cooperate and our "Marlowe's" guys came on Thursday to do some cleanup in the yard for us.  They removed all the packed down leaves from our rock area across our back yard.  For any who do not know, there is a sound wall across the back end of our property.  We could never get anything to grow there by the wall, and it was hard to take care of, so we had a strip of river rock put in.  It is difficult for us to walk on and our yard blowers are not strong enough to blow the leaves out from a distance.  Hence, we hire the the guys to come to do it.  They also cleaned up the leaves from the rest of the yard and mulched areas.  Trenched the mulched areas, and put polymeric sand down on our patio.  They hauled away at least ten large bags of leaves and bits.  

I am glad that is all done.  And that spurred me on to go to the garden center and get pansies for the front porch!  They make me happy.

We've both been reading some good books, and watching our favorite shows that are now on air again.

Our taxes are all done.  Our tax man is on the third floor of a small building he owns.  That building has no elevator.  We just park and call and one of the assistants comes down and brings our papers. We've signed and the taxes are filed and refunds will be deposited.

We have a meeting set up to talk with someone about new siding.  Nothing will be done real soon.  We have to get info from them, and ARB forms have to filled out and approval gotten from the ARB.  But hopefully sometime this Summer that will be done.

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  Life is good.  And God Bless America!

Just Something to Think About

 

We're okayish here.  I've had a busy day and will write more this weekend.  Take care and stay safe.  God Bless America!

No, We Have Not Fallen Off Earth

Yep. It's been a while.  But we are still here, and honestly, some days are better than others.  Basically, we are okayish.  That is a term Jacquie came up with for us. 😊

Since my last post,  Les has had some major dental work done.  That is finished. We have both had appointments with our new PCP and we like him very much.  The clinic is close to us, the staff were all very nice, and Dr. Jones was very easy to talk to and pleasant.  So we are all set there for whenever we need him.

Les was hospitalized again for a couple days with another infection.  That new daily antibiotic to prevent such a thing did not work.  He was referred to a specialist at UVA.  So we had an overnight trip to Charlottesville.  The doctors and staff there were very nice and helpful, and spent time with us.  A plan was made and they want to see him again in July.  We will just wait and see how this goes.  Hopefully, it will be well.

I had an appointment with the Audiologist for a check up on my ears and hearing aids.  She checked everything out and then connected my aids to her computer and they had an update.  It's nice hearing everything.  Although I do still  have to ask Les to repeat something, but that is another issue.

I'm still trying to keep up with things.  Some days my energy and time just run out, but that is okay.  I know what is important.  I just do the extra projects when I can.

Our cable box died and we had to get a new one.  That was an unexpected bit of work, but all is well and we can watch TV again.

We had our quarterly pest control visit.  So far, so good with that.

We talked with Scott from "Marlowe's We Care" about getting some help with some things in the yard.  They have been doing our mulch for a few years.  We don't need the mulch everywhere this year, but do need a bit of help in other areas.  Unless the weather causes a change, they are supposed to be here tomorrow. 

As Al Roker says on his forecasts, it's a "roller coaster".  The temperatures have been up and down.  We've had rain and wind.  We have leaf buds on the Hydrangeas, and the Day Lilies are coming up.  Around our area there are daffodils blooming and the pink bud trees out in the median of Victory Blvd. are now blooming.  Hopefully, in the next week, I plan to get pansies for our porch!

Our girls and families are all busy, and doing well.  

Here's a rare picture of Angus and Finnigan sharing a sun spot on a cold day.  Neither of them looked particularly happy about it, but they stayed there for a while.

Please take care of yourselves and stay safe.  Life is good.  And God Bless America!

Yes, We Are Still Here

I haven't posted much lately.  But Les and I are here and I'm trying to keep up with things.  There have been some extra projects to do after the un-decorating, packing, and putting away of Christmas things.  

I needed to finish up some spreadsheets in preparation of tax filing.  Yesterday's mail brought the forms to be filled out for our accountant.  Other documents have slowly been showing up, too.

I did some cleaning out of closets and had a couple bags to take up to DAV to donate.

And... since our bookshelves were sort of overflowing, we sorted through books.  They had piled up.  So we decided which to keep and which to part with.  I took two large tote bags to the library to donate last weekend.  They have a limit for how many can be donated at any one time.  I will take the rest next week sometime.  Some they keep for the library shelves and others they keep for their Spring book sale.

We've had some doctor issues since Les was hospitalized and we've been working on taking care of those.  All I will say right now is after some research, and a recommendation by the temporary doctor Les saw and really likes, we now have appointments to meet a new Family Practice doctor in a couple weeks.  And a plus to this, he is in a clinic right here in Kiln Creek.  I'll let you know how this goes. 

Les has also had some dental issues and an urgent work-in appointment.  The gist of it is a tooth with a cap has the tooth broken up into the bone.  Appointments are made and work will begin soon.  In the meantime, he has to be careful about biting on food, so I am preparing soft or small-pieced foods.

Like most of the country it has been very cold here.  Wind chill was 18 this morning.  The porch geraniums are finished.  I tried to empty and clean out the pots and everything was frozen solid.  They have been moved into the garage.  When they thaw out, I will clean up.

When Pam was here in December she noticed that the frame on the large picture that used to hang over our bed had warped and was separating.  She worried it would fall on us, so we got it down.  I was going to take it to be reframed.  But before I could do that, Les found this picture of Pikes Peak from Garden of the Gods in Colorado.  We both liked it and ordered.  It's close to the same size and the frame is not nearly as heavy.  And it's a picture of a place that we have loved!

Our riding mower went in for its annual maintenance service.  It was brought back a couple days and is ready in the shed.

I went to see my Orthopedic doctor for the routine check of my knees.  That went well and Dr. Aldridge says they both look good, see him again in two years.  See him sooner if I have any problems.  I will actually see him next January for the routine check on my right hip implant. 😊  We will not discuss getting through security screening machines.  You know, like the ones at the hospital. 😮

So, there we are.  The windows still need to be washed - too cold.  There are weeds to clean up in the mulched areas - too cold.  Les got me a Kindle for Christmas and I also have a stack of hardbacked books.  So I am heading off to get a quilt and read.

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  There are a lot of germs out there.  

God Bless America!

Sky Pictures

I was finishing up the usual "morning stuff" today and looked out the window as I always do.  I had to put on my coat, go out, and take a couple pictures of the sky. 

There was colorful morning sky, plus the lovely crescent moon and the bright planet Venus. 

Venus doesn't show up in my picture, but you can see the moon.

Here's another view of the sky.

Take care of  yourselves and stay safe.  God Bless America!