Just Proving He Can

This is Angus.  When he and Finnigan were little they used to jump up and run across the top of the entertainment center.  They liked to sit up in the top "cubby spaces" on either side, too.  (where he is in this picture is a little above eye level on me)  As the boys have gotten older, and bigger, they haven't jumped up and down so much.  But one morning recently, here was Angus, just sitting there and watching over things.  What a sweetie!

And here is a picture of our other sweetie boy.  This picture was taken when he was younger and lighter. 😊  He frequently jumped up onto the glass wall of our walk-in shower and liked to sit up there and observe his domain.  And sometimes he ventured on over to sit on the very top of the bathroom door.  I truly hope he realizes he shouldn't do this any more, but I do see him looking at times.

Stay safe, everyone.  Take care of yourselves.  And God Bless America!

More Sky Pics

Late yesterday afternoon the sky got dark, the thunder started, and we had a little lightning.  We got warning alerts on the phones, texts, email, on the TV, and announcements from Alexa.  For over an hour it didn't even rain enough to get things wet, but eventually it rained a little more.  The yard looks perkier today.

After the rain had stopped there was a different color outside and I just had to go look.  And of course, I took pictures. 😊

The pictures don't actually show how pink it was out there, but the sky was pretty.

Les' eye appointment went well with  no problems other than they were running late.

I got a hair trim this morning. 

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

Sky Picture

I took this one of the mornings when they were talking about the Western fire haze moving this way on the news.  Still a pretty sky!

Stay safe.  God Bless America!

Work Continues

Saturday morning we got up and went to First Watch to try the Bananas Foster French Toast we've been getting ads and emails about.  It was very good! But I did not eat all the caramel sauce and nuts with mine. 😊

Then we were off to Lowe's.  We needed some insulation board for the inside of the short attic doors upstairs.  It comes in 4' x 8' sheets.  We had to have it cut in half to get it into the car.  And then we still had to push and shove to get it in.  But we got it and the other things needed, stopped for coffee at Starbucks, and came home.

Les got the insulation cut to size and started working on the project.  First he discovered we did not need the weather stripping we had bought.  No problem, I could return that. Then the Loctite construction adhesive would not come out of the tube.  So off I went to Lowes again.  The people at Lowe's couldn't get the tube to work either, so it wasn't just us. 😊 While I was returning things and getting a different kind of adhesive, Les worked on the TV upstairs and got it all set up and working again.  After some issues with the new adhesive and then some more issues with getting the doors off the hinges, the project is finally done and things are cleaned up. 

And the furry boys are out of our bedroom!  We wouldn't take a chance on them getting back into the attic. Les had to have the doors open while he worked.  Years ago one of our kitties got in the attic and got under the floor boards.  Scary!! She was okay but I wouldn't want that to happen again.  These big boys would probably get stuck in there.

The Olympics have started.  I don't know how much we will watch.  We stuck with the opening parade of athletes until the USA marched in and then we went to bed.  We did like the memorial tribute for the Israeli Olympic athletes who were killed in 1972.  But most of the program we saw just was not that inspiring.  Although I did like all the tap dancing.  As most of us have said, it's been a rough time lately, and there are still a lot of things to worry about.

So, life goes on.  Stay safe.  Take care of yourselves.  God Bless America!

The Guardians

Those who know me know that I have always loved the Cleveland Indians......and Chief Wahoo.  So if you do not, just skip reading this post.  And if you read this and get annoyed and upset, that's on you.  You are entitled to your opinion but I do not want to hear about it.

I grew up in Ohio.  I never got to go to many Indians' games, but my Mom was a huge fan up until she died at age 101. The games would be played on her radio and on the TV.  She would cheer and yell and clap as she watched and listened.  She had her hats, shirts, and other Chief Wahoo items.  I NEVER heard anything demeaning or bad about the Chief.  He was well loved.  He represented strength, bravery, skill, and goodness.  BTW, those are all qualities that I think of when I think about Native Americans.

As Les and I have moved around with his USAF career, we have remained true to the Cleveland teams.  If possible when we would go back to Ohio to visit family, he would try to get to a game with his brother; sometimes I went along.

I believe that God made everyone.  I believe that no one should be racially persecuted. I truly believe that everyone should just take a big breath and get along.

I do not know who started the protest about Chief Wahoo or the protests about the team name.  Honestly, I do not care who started it.  I have my opinions about those who start all the protests about so many things and do all the complaining and whining, but I'm not going into that here.  Again, those who know me know my house rule of "no whining".  Put on a smile, get to work, and take care of things.

I suppose we will eventually get used to this new name.  But when I hear "Cleveland Guardians" my first thought is guardians of what??  The first thing to come to my mind was "Guardians of the Galaxy" and the Star Lord.  And does anyone else notice the resemblance to one of the logos from "The Flash" characters? 

So. It is what it is. I do not like it.  But, as I well know, I am not in charge of the world.  

And that is just too bad.  I would be making some changes in a few things if I were.

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

I still love you, Chief Wahoo.

Busy!

I hope everyone is doing well!

It's still hot and humid here. No surprise! We've had rain a couple times the last few days.  It's a little hazy out today.  The reports say it is from the fires out West and the smoke moving in the air flow patterns.

Our generator service was rescheduled.  Lots of people have air conditioners that are not working and the company is short staffed.  Our annual checkup is now at the end of the month.

The MiniSplit A/C installation did happen yesterday though.  We got things ready and got the furry boys secured in our bedroom with all their "stuff".  The men started arriving around 8:00 a.m.  At one point there were four trucks here and men working in several areas.  The supervisor/electrician came and worked on our breaker box and moved a few things around.  The work all finished early afternoon.  We had some cleaning to do, of course.  Couldn't take a chance on the furry boys licking or eating any of the drywall bits and plaster dust up there.  As soon as we got that cleaned up, they were allowed out of the bedroom and could go up and check it out.  Angus went to look and came down with an expression that said "someone has been in my room!".

The unit really makes a difference up there.  It has a remote and it does heat as well as the air conditioning.  Les and I had both thought the outside part of the unit was going to be mounted on the side of the house.  But it is on a small slab/pad on the ground.

People have come to mark the yard in preparation for the fence replacement.  We should be hearing from the fence company soon. 

It is yard work/mowing day for Les. He also did battle with the moles.  They have now ventured into the side yard.  😒  I have been doing some cleaning and laundry.  Next up is to bring in the steamer and clean the tile floors.  Already did the wood cleaner and protectant on the wood floors.  Also scrubbed the bathrooms this morning.

Life is great!  Take care of yourselves.  And God Bless America!

P.S. If you have not gotten a Covid vaccine yet...... WHY NOT???? Go get it!!  People are getting sick and dying.  

Gee, Time Flies!

I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe!

Les and I are doing okay.  At the moment he is playing golf.  I hope he gets the round in before the rain starts.

It has been very hot and humid here.  We've had thunderstorms the last two nights and gotten rain with them.  We needed it.  It's supposed to rain some more later this afternoon.

Pam and Boxer came to visit for a couple days.  It was so nice to have them here!  Jacquie and the girls came over one evening and we had a happy houseful!  While here, Pam and Boxer helped with a couple small jobs around the house.  It's pretty nice to have a tall, strong grandson willing to move and reach things! 😊💗  And it helped that Pam knows her way around tools!

Now Pam is busy getting Boxer and Bloomer ready for school to start again.  They start the first week in August in Georgia.  

Jacquie has gotten Little Miss E all registered for kindergarten. Little Miss E is insistent that she have the same teacher she had for preschool.  They are working on helping her to understand she will have a new teacher. 😊 Jordan is getting ready for her classes to start again.  The new computer that she needs for her classes has been ordered.  Cutie Girl is not so excited about school starting again but she will do okay once she gets into the routine.

I did some yard clean-up and some other work out there.  There was much pruning to be done and cleaning up of aging plants.  In the Fall we will have one of the yard guys come and dig out the old azalea stumps and plant new ones. Those stumps were actually part of my pruning activity.  I just could not stand to look out the windows and see the dead branches and stems with all the dried brown leaves.  BTW, those new loppers I got for Christmas work great!  I still need to work on the back corner mulched area.  But that's a job for a day when I feel ready for it and the weather is not so unfriendly.

Tomorrow we have the annual generator service.  Wednesday we will be having the MiniSplit A/C unit installed up in the bonus room. 

I had a checkup with  my orthopedic doctor.  My wrist is doing fine.  X-rays of my "new" hip were done and Dr. A says all is well there; come back for another check in 2023.  Next year I go for a checkup on both knees.  As we were leaving the exam room he started to show me the way to go and I stopped him and reminded him I know my way around the clinic.  He smiled and said "yes, you have been here a few times!". 

I've been keeping up with all the usual stuff.  Did some cleaning out in our library.  The shelves and cabinets needed some work.  I just made a trip up to DAV to drop off a couple bags of things.

So, life remains good.  Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  God Bless America!

Cleaning up the library involved looking through some pictures.  This is just one of my favorites from Hawaii.

Elsa Has Come and Gone

Yesterday was wet and windy.  We had tornado watches and warnings until about 11:00 p.m..  As far as I know none touched down in our area.

This morning the sun is out, the temperature is 78 right now, and the humidity is high.  There are lots of bits, pieces, and "stuff" down in the backyard.  When it dries a bit we'll have to do some cleanup out there.  I took care of the little bit in the front yard when I was out putting the flag up and getting the paper in.  Evidently some of the neighbors had left some paper and cardboard trash out that blew around.  Yesterday was trash and recycle pickup day here and not everyone is careful about keeping the lids closed. Of course, the wind didn't help with that.

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

Here's a view of the backyard, just bits and pieces. 😊

Just Updating

As I am writing this, we are waiting for Elsa to come through our area later today.  We'll get wind and rain but I'm not sure how much.  

In anticipation of Elsa's arrival, Les has already done the weekly yard work a bit earlier than usual and I've been out to help with cleanup and do a couple other things.  So that is all done now.

The porch rail is not repaired yet.

The man came and looked at the attic fan very thoroughly and did not find anything wrong.  But he tested it and said to call and he would come back if it started making big noises again.  So far, so good!  It's been running very quietly up there and just humming along.  I think something was a little loose and when he put it back together and tightened things down it was fixed.

We got the approval from the ARB and we've paid the deposit to the fence company for the new fence.  The work should be done maybe in September or October.  There are the usual delays caused by Covid and problems with supplies, shipping, and staffing.  I told the OA that they should make a note in our files and the work will get done when it gets done.  The reply email said "That's fine". 😊

We discovered last evening that the second season of "Why Women Kill" has started.  We watched the first episode.  Good show!

Les finished reading Hail Mary.  I am reading it now and it is excellent!  Written by Andy Weir, who wrote The Martian.   It was hard reading that book, but we love the movie!  This book is much easier reading. 

No big plans for the day.  I've done the usual chores and morning stuff and plan to read for a while after lunch.

I don't have any weather or sky pics of Elsa, so here is a favorite peaceful picture of Bellows Beach in Hawaii.

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

Hey, Again

Just some random thoughts today.  First up is "strong women".  I was raised by a single mother, and she was a strong lady.  My father was not around much and they were officially divorced when I was ten.  I realize how hard Mom worked and how tough things were at times.  But I NEVER felt deprived and I always felt loved.

Mom would just say put a smile on and get on with it when things needed to be done.  I have always tried to do that.

When Les went on TDYs and longer assignments, I just took care of whatever needed to be done.  And I think Les and I have taught our daughters to be strong.  We are very proud of both of them.

At the moment one is fighting Japanese Beetles in her grape vines and protecting a nest of cardinals while she does that.  And one is off to purchase bolt cutters for her next project. 😊 Honestly, I was surprised to hear that because she has a pretty good supply of  tools already.

As for me, I just finished doing grout and caulk repair in the master bath.  Another job off the "to-do" list!

Please, ladies - and you, too, men - no whining!  There is way too much whining in the world today by too many people.  If something isn't right in your life, just smile and get on with it and fix things.  Remember, everything is not about you.

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

Hello!

I hope everyone is well and staying safe.  Take care of yourselves!

Les and I have been keeping busy.  We're keeping up with all the usual "stuff" around here and also working on a couple projects.

We just have the one bonus room upstairs over the garage.  It has always been hot up there except for in Winter.  But we want to use the space for an exercise area and also have it more comfortable in case anyone does want to sleep there.  We had had our HVAC company come a few years ago and inspect everything and they said there wasn't anything wrong with the system, it just couldn't put out enough cool air.  We believe that there is a lack of insulation above the garage and at the side doors into the attic spaces, too. A MiniSplit unit was suggested.  We are finally ready.  It will be installed later this month.

As mentioned . . . . exercise space.  We've belonged to the "Y" for years.  The Covid pandemic has changed some things at the "Y".  We have paid a lot for use of the facility and are just not getting our money's worth.  The staff doesn't keep up with cleaning; machines and equipment we need are often not available.  So we are going to get a recumbent elliptical machine.  And we'll close our "Y" account.  We both are doing exercises at home anyway and have been for a while.  Les has researched the machines and we'll be going to look at them after the MiniSplit is installed.

The annual community review took place and we got a letter saying our fence needed work, repair, cleaning, etc.  We had already been thinking about this so it wasn't really a surprise.  At least that's all the inspector found this year. 😊 After getting estimates and filling out the ARB paperwork, the process has started and sometime in the near future we'll be replacing our wooden fence.  The letter said it should be done by August.  I've already told the inspector she has to give us an extension.  The shipment, staff scheduling, and work is all delayed because of pandemic issues and shortages.  Could be eight weeks just for materials delivery.

And if this isn't all enough, I found a rotting area on part of the porch rail.  That repair will be done probably this week and then we'll get that painted.  Fortunately we have paint already.  I know this because I recently painted our mailbox and post!

Oh, yea, and our attic exhaust fan is starting to make a loud noise when it is on.  So someone has to come and check that out.  A man was supposed to come on Friday, but it was pouring rain and windy.  I was not surprised when he didn't show up.  

Les and I have both had dental appointments that went well; just the normal check-up and cleaning appointments.  He had his physical and it was fine.  I had to see our dermatologist for a spot that showed up on my back.  Doctor froze it and said he would check it again when I go for my annual check in August.  Our furry boys both had their annual check-ups.  Both went well and they are healthy. Finnigan developed some digestive issues probably caused by the stress of the appointment, but he is fine now.

My project for tomorrow is to repair some grout in the bathroom.  I did prep work today and the areas will be dried by morning and ready for the grout.  This work will not be done until I have had my Starbucks though!

And now I am going to go sit down and read!  Stay safe, take care of yourselves, and God Bless America!

Happy Independence Day!

I hope it's a safe and peaceful one! God Bless America!