Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Teacups....


I would have liked to take some individual pics of the teacups, but the store they were in was crowded for it.  Actually, it is so crammed full of stuff, that there just is not room to move if there are a dozen people in it.  So I snapped a couple pics because I know two or three of my blogfriends love teacups.  And I do love them, too, I just do not collect them.  ( I do suggest that you click to expand the view.)


It is so hard not to collect them...but I have been resisting that temptation for several years now.  And being that I am trying to rid myself of things, I try not to bring anything new into the house that is not necessary.

Well, there is an exception to that...fabric and sewing items.  But will save that for another post.
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We actually had quite a bit of thunder...I thought for a bit we were going to have one of the regular old thunderstorms we used to have, but it was very short lived.  It does keep coming across the TV screen that places south of here about 45 minutes or a bit more experienced 5 inches of rain, and the highway was flooding.  I hope we don't get that!

I hope you all have good days ahead.

Sunday, May 26, 2019

A merry heart....

I have been meaning to post another Jeanne Robertson video, so here you go.



It was hard to choose, but this one took my fancy today.

Thursday, May 23, 2019

Bits and pieces.....


I have one peony...year before last it only had one or two blooms...last year, it almost died so had none.  This year it is going to have 7 blooms.  The above photo was taken on the 20th...


This one was taken yesterday ....

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Sarah took a couple days off work, and came up yesterday to help me....I have been trying to remove some of the clutter from our garages for a while.  And was not getting anywhere.  But yesterday...we said bye-bye to a lot of stuff.  And if you walked in either garage, you wouldn't believe that three truckloads left this place.

One load of stuff was mainly stuff Sarah took to one of the guys at her work..  We piled a lot of stuff in one bay of the garage...plus I had stuff outside.  I called this one business to get a roll-off dumpster.  The owner asked me what I had...I was asking what was NOT allowed to be put in one.  So that is why he asked what I had to go in one, so I started naming all these odds and ends of items. 

He told me he knew a guy that would do a good job hauling it off and that I would not have to pay as much as I would for a dumpster.  So, this guy came right on time...the first guy told me he would come about 5:30.  So he was here, and I showed him all that was to go.  He got one load of old wood for the most part.  And old archery targets of Roger's. 

I thought I would feel really weird when he got the targets, but I didn't.  Roger has not used them but one time since his stroke, and that only because his buddy came over to use them.  Anyway that was one load....it was just a bit over what would be level full.  Then he came back and got the next load...and it was piled high.  He had to tie it down.

I am so glad to have this much done...there is still a lot needs to be decided on...but at least a start has been made.

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I was too tired to blog last night.  I came in to fix Roger and Lorelei something to eat, in this case tacos.  Quick and easy.  Anyway, it was well after Jeopardy was over before I was able to sit down, and was simply too weary to blog or do anything. 

Lorelei was spending the night so we had to go to bed early....normally we try to get to bed at 9:00 when she is here, but was 10:00.... still, the night was over before it began.

I am busy right now trying to catch up with you guys.  I hope you are having a good night and have good days ahead. 

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Good news

It was good news at the dermatologist....I wanted to share that good news and to thank you for your prayers.  She did freeze 3 or 4 places off, and one place we are going to keep an eye on. 

I have shown the tulip before, but it sprinkled this morn and I could not resist more shots...


These are so much darker in person.  I don't know why they photograph looking so purple.  Which they are purple, but they look almost black in most lights.


Again, taken by my phone.

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I was waiting for the insurance adjuster to come when I was taking these pics...he was coming to check our roof.  He came, but the roof was wet from the rain, and he said he just could not say for sure.  He was supposed to try to swing back by today, but if he did, we were gone to the dermatologist.

I cannot see any damage, but this roof is only two years old.  And the awnings have dents in them.  Honest to goodness, last Thursday when the hail hit the house, it sounded like someone throwing a baseball hard against the roof.

Anyway, just had to share the good news.....

Monday, May 20, 2019

from the yard


I mowed the yard today...well, I got most of it mowed before Roger realized I was mowing.  He insisted on mowing the rest....so I cut out some dead vine from my wisteria.  By the time I was done and had cleaned up my mess, he was done and we sat outside a few minutes.

It was 55ºF here today and cold breeze blowing....not quite off an iceberg but in that neighborhood.  After he cooled off, he got so cold we went in...but I had had my phone right inside, so had grabbed it and took a few pics from the yard before we headed inside.  I cannot tell how many irises I have of the above color.  They all came from one single bulb I bought at a yard sale.  I bought blind...she did not have their colors labeled.


It is a pretty iris but given a choice I would probably have picked another color.  But as many pretty flowers as I get I am not complaining.


Then we have this clematis...


It has  not grew up the trellis as much as usual...it only has two or three blooms up where they are easy to photograph.


The rest are hugging the ground, like the ones above.  I guess I normally train it up the trellis, but did not get it done this year.


And here we have the wisteria.  The wisteria my mom had had flower pods that were longer and looser?  I don't know how else to describe them.  I don't know if  these are so short and plump cause they are bred for a colder growing zone of what.


Either way, I think they are beautiful.

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Tomorrow I go to the dermatologist.  Say a prayer that she can take care of everything.  And that none will be skin cancer.  I know most people don't think much about basal cell cancer, but if you had seen what my father-in-law went through with just plain old basal cell you would take it more serious.  I am not consumed with fear as I was the first time or two I went. 

If you are out in the sun a lot, wear sunscreen!    No one in my family had had skin cancer, so I never worried about it.  I just didn't take time to wear sunscreen, and working at the orchard, I was out in the sun almost every single day.  And even back in childhood, we were always outside playing, or doing something as we grew up.

Now I get up and before I head out the door, I put on my warpaint....most people consider make-up their warpaint, but I consider my sunscreen my warpaint. 

How I wish I had taken time to wear sunscreen.  I might have saved myself a lot of time and dread.





Friday, May 17, 2019

Long time coming...The Eye of the Hurricane


This thing, this monstrosity, has sure taken its time in developing.  I named it The Eye of the Hurricane.   I cannot even remember when I made the first block.    But I started out thinking I would make enough to maybe make a baby quilt size.

The thing is I make them when I can't decide what else to make.  I make them when Roger is feeling bad.  I make them when I am cooking and have to keep an eye on things.  I make them just to make them.    As it is now, it is 63 inches by 72 inches.  120 blocks that finish at 6 inches square.  I do not know if I am adding a border or not.  I wanted a wider border at least 4 or 5 inches, but I wanted to use a twin batting I have and it is only 72 inches wide.  So I cannot have the wide border that I wanted.  So it may just stay like it is.  (You always want to have batting  a bit bigger than the quilt top.  So probably the widest border I could safely add is one maybe 3½ inches wide, and that would be cutting it close.  Closer than most people would risk.)

I thought maybe once I got the blocks all sewn together that I might like it, but I don't.  Not at all.  I am not sure what I don't like...maybe that it is too bland...I should have put a strip of yellow in it.  Or separated the blocks with a sashing.  Roger says it makes him dizzy to look at it.  He says it sure gives him the feeling of motion.

I had more to say but had a phone call and now I have forgot it all...so hope you all have a great weekend. 

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

That's my boy!


I was taking a break while mowing the yard, and Bubbie came and got up on the little table in front of me and was looking back at me....letting me know it was my job to pet him.
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We got the yard mowed once again the other day...even though our yard is very small, I am worn out when we are done.  We are just using the push mower right now.  Which is good for me cause I do forget about my ankle/foot or what ever you want to call where my leg was broken.  And it is just good to accomplish something that does not have to be done again the next day!

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I pay attention to the music in commercials quite often.  The other day I caught just the very tailend of a commercial for an Infinity...but I didn't hear enough/memorize enough to search for it.  Tonight I thought to hit the rewind button and played it again.  It is such a short clip of the song...but find it I did!



Now who would have thought this would feature in an Infinity QX50 commercial?  I think it was QX...the 50 part is right.  Anyway, love it...

And while I am at it...



this one caught my attention a year or two ago...it was in the commercial for the Samsung Note 9....the name of the song is Thunderclouds.   It figures that I would like a song with that title.

While we are at it...we listened to an Austin City Limits I had recorded and heard this guy sing this song...



Hope you find joy in at least one of them...they are all different.

Monday, May 13, 2019

Funny....Tool List....



While looking for something else, I thought of  this old post that had the list of tools and their descriptions.  Notice what the pan with the quenching fluid? is setting on...that is Roger's table saw.  Notice the description of it below.  I have had that exact experience.  You can adjust the angle of the blade to make a cut...and I was trimming off just this tiny corner off a board.  A short board I might add...maybe 2 foot.  If that.  Well, it was small, so Roger had this push stick we used to keep our hands away from the blade.  I was using it and standing a bit to the side. It was probably a good thing...when I finished the cut, the saw grabbed the part I trimmed off and flung it 6 or 8 ft behind me and drove it in the garage door!

I won't tell of any other experience I have had, but I am very familiar with a few of them.


Tools and their use:

DRILL PRESS:

A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, denting the freshly-painted vertical stabilizer which you had carefully set in the corner where nothing could get to it.



WIRE WHEEL:

Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprints and hard-earned calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say, ' Oh sh--.... '



ELECTRIC HAND DRILL:

Normally used for spinning pop rivets in their holes until you die of old age.



SKILL SAW:

A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.



PLIERS:

Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of blood-blisters.



BELT SANDER:

An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.



HACKSAW:

One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.



VISE-GRIPS:

Generally used after pliers to completely round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.



WELDING GLOVES:

Heavy duty leather gloves used to prolong the conduction of intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.



OXYACETYLENE TORCH:

Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside the wheel hub out of which you want to remove a bearing race.



TABLE SAW:

A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood projectiles for testing wall integrity.



HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK:

Used for lowering an automobile to the ground after you have installed your new brake shoes, trapping the jack handle firmly under the bumper.



EIGHT-FOOT LONG YELLOW PINE 2X4:

Used for levering an automobile upward off of a trapped hydraulic jack handle.



E-Z OUT BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR:

A tool ten times harder than any known drill bit that snaps neatly off in bolt holes thereby ending any possible future use.



BAND SAW:

A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops to cut good aluminum sheet into smaller pieces that more easily fit into the trash can after you cut on the inside of the line instead of the outside edge.



TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST:

A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of everything you forgot to disconnect.



CRAFTSMAN 1/2 x 24-INCH SCREWDRIVER:

A very large pry bar that inexplicably has an accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end opposite the handle.



AVIATION METAL SNIPS:

See hacksaw.



PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER:

Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids or for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads.



STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER:

A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws.



PRY BAR:

A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.



HOSE CUTTER:

A tool used to make hoses too short.



HAMMER:

Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the object we are trying to hit.



MECHANIC ' S KNIFE:

Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles, collector magazines , refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts. Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while in use.



DAMMIT TOOL:

Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while yelling ' DAMMIT ' at the top of your lungs. It is also, most often, the next tool that you will need.

Monday, May 6, 2019

From a warm, sunny day...


This was taken yesterday...we have so many House Sparrows...I would not mind a few less.  I have been seeing house finches, too but they are never still long enough for me to run grab my camera.  Shoot, they are not even still long enough for me to raise my phone and snap a pic.

I have hung a load of clothes on the line...so you know for at least a short period of time all seemed right with the world.  I did a bit of yard work...and have been to Walmart.  That was the first time to Walmart in several days.  I seldom go past three days without having to stop for something.

I need to fix us a bite of supper...and have a load of Roger's t-shirts in the dryer.  Since he is allergic to so much stuff, I don't hang his stuff out very often, and if I do I take them to the dryer and run them through it a few minutes.  

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I have to give a quote from Sister Monica Joan from Call the Midwife....I was watching an old episode last night and here she comes with some boards.  Sister Julienne asks her what she has/where she got them.  I don't remember her exact wording...and Sister Monica tells her that they are boards and she got them from a pet shop that was rearranging their displays.  She proceeds to tell Sister Julienne...that she requires bookshelves to be set up in her room.  She says, " My books have been in boxes far too long.  If they are not set straight, their contents will jumble and become deranged!"

Sometimes I think that describes my mind...this quote is kind of funny.   There is this one which I have shared before I think:   Sister Monica Joan said:  "I find two opinions are always better than one, particularly if one is mine."  I urge you to click on the link above about her...it will describe her better than I ever could.

But I leave you with closing lines that make you think, "We flicker on the screen...we fold and unfold upon the mind's eye.  For its all as wings as eternal as a heartbeat and even when the heart falls silent we do not cease to be...because in the end we all become memories..."

Friday, May 3, 2019

A bit of this and that...

First of all, I just have to share my daughter's latest quilt top.  It still needs borders but that won't take long.  BTW, this is on a queen bed here.


This is her own design...she first started the one in the second photo in This post... but soon as she got this fabric, she couldn't wait to try it out.

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Thought I would show you a pic of Puss Puss...I usually show Bubbie simply because he is easier to photograph.  She will seldom be still long enough.

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Letters From the Dust Bowl by Caroline Henderson (the link takes you to Amazon where you can read about the book) is my current read.  It is good...consists mainly of letters she wrote to a friend and also to another farmer.  Interesting to read.  It shows what a hard time it was to live through the dust bowl.  It has always been one of those subjects that catches my attention.

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We got the yard mowed again today.  It has been raining so much lately that it has been hard to find a time when it wasn't wet.  By the time it is done, I don't feel like doing anything else. 



Thursday, May 2, 2019

A touch of beauty....


First I want to share a bit of good news....our prayers have been answered as far as Roger's kidney(s) are concerned.    Remember he had to have CT scans  (one with and one without contrast) because something was seen on his left kidney during a scan of his lung.  Well, these scans showed more than one 'thing' and showed them on both, but they are just CYSTS!  There was no blood flow to them...none at all.  And it is best to just leave them be as long as they don't interfere with  anything, and were they are they are not likely to.

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My nephew, Glen, was laid to rest yesterday.  It has been a strange week...Roger cannot stop thinking about him.  And as I told him, I doubt there is/was ever a day that I didn't think of Glen...or very few.  Even though I didn't email him every day.  But he usually sent me funny things at least a couple times a week.

And I had just remembered this coming weekend is the Kentucky Derby, and we almost always watched it 'together'....he in Indianapolis in his home and me in mine.  LOL  We emailed back and forth during the 'pre race stuff.'   That has just been our way of communicating...we may email each other two or three or four times a day for two or three days and then not email for a month...other than his funny things, and my reply to them. 

But since Roger's stroke, he was the one I always used for the correct information....or if Sarah wondered about something that her dad used to could have helped her with...I would email Glen.  He had muscular dystrophy and has been house bound for a few years, but before that, he could do about anything that needed to be done mechanically....plumbing, motors, just whatever, if he wanted to do it, he would figure out how.  If he told you something, you could bank on it being right.  And the funny thing is, I had had two or three things I needed to ask him, but I just couldn't seem to sit down and get the email written.

He was a big guy....but oh, so tenderhearted for anything with fur, I guess you could say.  He and his wife fed the squirrels, birds, and cats...oh, and an opossum.   He worried about any of them being cold...

He is the one that spent summers with us...he is mentioned several times in other posts labeled childhood...

But I will hush for now.  Hope I can get back to blogging now.  Just could not do it before yesterday was over with.