Friday, August 30, 2019

The last of the coneflowers


This will probably be the last coneflower shot you will see for a little while.  I love coneflowers when they are blooming, but oh what an ugly mess they can become.  But when they become that ugly mess, is when the goldfinches love them.  I have left them a good while, but today was that day of reckoning.

First I stood and looked and looked to make sure I seen no yellow jackets stirring around anywhere in the mess.  I didn't see a single yellow jacket...for something so little they can carry a powerful punch.  So Roger came out to see what I was doing...I gave him the job of manning the wheel barrow.  and I pulled up coneflowers and weeds and grass.  Remember I said it had become one heck of mess.  I don't know how many loads went to the compost pile, but we got it done.

I had sprayed round up earlier....I am not crazy about using it but my weedeater is so hard to start that I just quit battling it a few years ago.

I came in from all of that and did up dishes after I showered...I am done for the night.

Which leads to the fact that I can watch Jeopardy again!  We have Directv and have been without that channel for I don't know how long.  We have missed Jeopardy, even if it was reruns...and Songland...I was so afraid we were going to miss The Voice.  So I am a happy camper that way.

I hope you all have a nice weekend...Lorelei is here tonight, and possibly tomorrow night...one of my daughters is going to come sew tomorrow.  After a visit to the quilt shop!  So that is fun to look forward to.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

I want to share a couple things....


A couple sunflower shots...


they were both taken late Sunday afternoon.

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I have nothing important to share.  A ho-hum beginning to the week but ho-hum is good in this case.  Things could always be a lot worse.

We did drive over to Tuscola, Illinois to what used to be the Outlet Mall.  It used to be full of shops....today it was empty store after empty store.  I doubt there were 2 dozen cars there to shop.  I so wish I had counted.  I seriously don't think there was a dozen and a half.    But was feeling generous and said 2 dozen. We stopped in the kitchen store...just because I always go there.

Every so often I get in the mood to buy a slicer of some sort.  But I look at them and think they would just be something else to wash and store.  So I will continue to use a knife.  A knife is quick to wash and I already have them and a place for them.

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I came across the video below by chance...being horses it caught my attention.  You just have to watch it...and notice all the time that she is setting while talking...notice the horse gathered close to her...and one reaches and nudges her every so often.  I think she is amazing...

Monday, August 26, 2019

Old and falling apart...


Just a little photo...nothing to do with this post.

I just wonder how many of you struggle with getting older.   Do you accept it and go on and do the best you can do?  Do you struggle against it...or rage against it?  I must admit I have some of all the feelings.

Yesterday, Lorelei's dad came to borrow something of Roger's...while we were waiting for Roger I had him see if he could start the power washer....it is just easier to have him do it.  Somethings Roger thinks he can do and can.  Others he cannot.  Anyway, it started practically first pull.   Jeremy came for a chop saw, but went home with a bit more. A band saw rather than the chop saw...and acetylene torch and tanks.  Jeremy will use them and that is better than it setting there.

Anyway, got three sides of the house washed as well as the north side of the garage...the other sides could use washing, but they are nothing compared to the sides washed.    I was worn to a frazzle by the time I did them and Roger felt like he had to be out there, and I did need him to start the power washer a couple times.  And he helped with the hose, etc. But the real fun began when we were taking the hose off.  I cannot tell and do it justice...but for something so simple to get us both so worked up and worn to a frazzle...it was one of the times I raged against my age, against what my body is doing.  But eventually we got the hose lose, I got the hose wound up and Roger got the power washer put away.

Oh, I guess the photo looks like I feel and look....I have sure seen better days physically.  But I am still here....still moving.  And it feels so good to get something accomplished that has been worrying me in the back of my mind for such a long time.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

The sky last night


I just have to show you the sky last night...and I suggest right clicking and opening in another tab or window. The above shot is to the west and one below is more towards the south.


I so wanted to go to the strip pit area where I could have wide open spaces, but I was bone weary.  I had woke up at 5:00 and could not go back to sleep...that after going to bed  just 3 or at the most 4 hours before.
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Isn't Lorelei's kitty pretty?  Kitty Soft Paws is her name...I never have gotten a good picture of her.  and I would dearly love to have a video of her and Rosie playing...Rosie is Lorelei's little dog.

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 I will leave you with another Jeanne video...it reminds me of something Roger did when we were first married. ....but listen to the video first.



Back at that time, before cell phones, and computers and instant communications, we mailed letters and mailed in bills.  Even though we lived right in the town where the bills were due, with working, it was just easier to mail the bills in.

Well, I started to mail something, I had always thought it was an actual letter but maybe it was just a bill.  I was out of stamps.  So I gave it to Roger and ask him to go get a book of stamps and mail it while he was at the post office.  He went and came home, and I ask him where were the rest of the stamps?  He says, 'Well I put them on the letter like you asked me to.'  I have always wondered about that...I always wondered who opened that envelope and what did they think.  He just took me literally.

Have a good weekend, everyone.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Sweet moment in time...


As we drove back through the strip pits the other night, we began to see a few deer.  In total out there we seen at least 10, maybe 11.  I am just not sure about one.  But this mama and baby were close to the last we saw out there.  Roger thought it must have been a late baby since the spots are still so bold.  I was in an awkward shooting position, so could not get a better shot.  (I always have an excuse....)

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Yesterday the a storm was moving through...with wind.  There are enough leaves on the ground till it looked like a herd of wild horses racing along the street.  I just could not believe there were that many.  Another strange thing was I could hear the wind howling in the distance...like it does in winter.  Only in winter it is close enough till you feel like you can reach out and touch it.

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I had a weed in my flower bed...well, I have more than one but this one was huge and I have been meaning to go out and pull it, but for one reason and another I had not done it.  Day before yesterday I was headed to the garage and thought I would pull it on my way.  And I did, and was walking away and going to take it and put in the compost pile.  I no more than headed that way till something got me on my forefinger that was carrying the weed.  I thought it was a packsaddle....about the time I had that thought, I had a yellow jacket about to get me on the arm....and out of the corner of my eye I saw them swarming up out of the ground where I had pulled up the weed.

And you know, I learned something then.  I can still run!  LOL  Maybe not fast, but since my fall, I have not felt like I could run, but I ran then.  And I did not get stung again.  How I escaped the one that one on the arm is more than I know.    I cringe at the thoughts of how I have been down on my hands and knee in that area more than once not that long ago.  I am so thankful they were not there then....because no matter how I try, I am slow getting up.

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This was taken over a week ago...just saying...

I hope you all are having a nice week.  I am slowly becoming accustomed to my new washer.  It will for sure do a bigger load than my old one, but boy, is it slow. 



Sunday, August 18, 2019

Chickens, and a bit of this and that...


Just thought I would show you this girl...she belongs to Roger's cousin's wife...her name might be Goldie...but I am not sure.  There were a couple of these Buff Orpingtons, and I don't know which was which.


Here is this handsome fellow with one of the girls...but I cannot take my eyes off him.  His feathers are absolutely gorgeous.

As I looked for photos to post, I am listening to thunder and it is pouring rain.  There were severe storm warnings out but that is past us for now.  I sat on the porch and listened and watched for a bit.  Even the sound of the leaves rustling in the wind has a fall sound to them. 

And don't you love that smell of the dust settling when it first begins to rain? 

Someone told me to watch Vera and I am sorry that I don't remember who told me.  I would like to thank them.  I am really enjoying the series.  It keeps one guessing till the very end, much as Shetland did.

I hope you all had a good weekend...and have a good week ahead.


Thursday, August 15, 2019

Do you know what this is?


First off, do you have any idea what the above is....you can tell me what your thoughts are, but I will show you at the end of the post.


We took a quick run through the strip pit area Tuesday, and on the way we saw two turkeys with young.   I have no idea how many of the young ones there were.


As you can see they are maybe half grown...maybe not quiet that big.  I think there was at least half a dozen.  I was shooting through my front windshield so not very good images.  But can at least tell what they are..
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The new washer is in and I have did a couple loads.  I think I can live with it, but still rather have dials that I set the level of the water.  These, and all the particular models I looked at only had cold rinse.    I can live with that.  This washer has a 'deep water' rinse and a 'deep water' wash, but don't let that fool you....it only adds about 3 gallons of water.  I did a load of clothes that had a pair of cargo shorts, 2 pair of jogging pants, and 6 or 7 of Roger's t-shirts and the washer did not fill even half full.  But there was plenty of water to cover them.  I do wonder how much it would have had had I not used the Deep Water setting.

I will reserve judgement on  whether it gets things really clean or not.  Most of our clothes are not very dirty and it will do fine for them...but occasionally we will have clothes that are what you call really dirty!  It at least has where I can give things a soak time and a second rinse.

It is so quiet, for the most part...but does make the odd noises that makes me wonder what is going on.

Oh, you want to see what the first photo is from?  I bet most of you knew.


It was a cropped portion of this milkweed pod.  See the milkweed bugs? 

Monday, August 12, 2019

Yellow....


Does anyone else associate yellow with autumn?  Do you ever notice how so many flowers that bloom in the late summer/early fall are yellow.


The Goldenrod has been blooming here for a few weeks.  It seems to me it has been early.  This photo did come from the end of September in 2011.  So maybe I am not imagining them being early.

Even though I am not anxious for winter, I am anxious for fall...for the roadsides to be alive with vibrant color.  For cool mornings.  I long for a walk in the woods....to see ginseng as it gets the golden glow of autumn with its bright red berries.   I want to smell the earthy smell of the woods...to me it seems stronger in autumn months.

I long for a walk in woods that ends up on a gravel bar in a stream where we can build a fire and hang a piece of meat on a stick and let it sizzle over the open flame.  I must admit I know of no place here that I could do that.  Still I long for that experience once again.

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I am trying to wait patiently for my washer.  It is to be delivered and installed on Thursday afternoon.  I want to thank each and every one of you for your input.  I wish I had had time to wait for them all...but I knew I was going to have to wait a few days the best I could do.  So I had to bite the bullet and order one.

I went with a top loader again...a Whirlpool.  Before the dryer I have now, I had a Whirlpool and really liked it.  So I hope I like the Whirlpool washer as well.  I think I said before for every plus there is a negative...whether I went with front loader or top loader.  So I just hope I can live with my choice.  At least I won't have to wash by hand on a washboard or go to the laundry mat.

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I made a pot of chili this afternoon...I like soup any time of year.  And would gladly do a pot of some kind of soup weekly, but that would not do for Roger.  He likes chili soup probably better than any.  And might possibly eat a second time from this.  And he will eat vegetable beef every now and then, but only one serving...only at one meal.  However, I could live on soups just about all year long.

Do you have a favorite food that you like any time of year...any season?

Thursday, August 8, 2019

Help! opinions and experiences needed...


I did a load of wash today....then when I went down to move it over to the dryer, there was a small puddle of water.  I went ahead and moved them over to the dryer, and thought I would just see what it would do if I did another load...well, it no more than started till the water was draining from under the washer...so I quick put it on the spin cycle.  I would have had a huge puddle before it even got half way full.

I have been looking at washers all afternoon/evening...at least before and after I took Roger for his allergy shots.  Almost any washer I look at has some horror stories in the reviews.  So many do not have an agitator.  I have not talked to anyone, well, that is about 3 people that I know, that has one without an agitator and they don't like it.

Add to that a lot of them the lid locks.  I am finding that some have a way of pausing it and when the motion stops the lid can be raised to add an item.  But still, there really is no need to have locking lids in the first place!

And some have the touch pad...we have that on the stove for the oven and I hate that.  I would have paid $50 more just to have dials. 

So what do you have and what is your experience with it.  I would really like to hear if there is anyone that has the ones without the agitator that have had a good experience.

And also what is the length of time for the load to be done.  This one washer I found with an agitator takes 70 minutes!  I think my washer now takes maybe 30-40 minutes from the time I put a load in till the time I pull it out.    It would be hard to get used to the long cycle...and front loaders have an even longer cycle.

Also, if you have a front loader, did the drain pipe have to be changed for height? So curious to know your experience with that.  They have a much better rating at Consumer reports than the top loaders.  But their cycle time is so much longer...and then there are the stories of them having bad odors!

Any and all thoughts will be very appreciated.

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

A funny

 I suggest you click on these to see the expanded view...take a look at the above and see if you see anything funny.  I did not see it till a while after I took it.  Since then, any time I run across it I get tickled.

It was one of those pics that I just didn't really do much more than glance at.  Then I seen it...


Can you see it now?


I actually think someone could use Photoshop and do this, but I didn't.  It  came out of my camera like this.  Just like the photo in THIS post came from my camera...only it was cropped as the last two above have been.  I thought only owls could screw their head around this much.

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I have been trying to get a few things done...stuff that most people keep done.  I gave my fridge a good cleaning day before yesterday, no maybe yesterday.  The days all run together and some of the time it is good I have a watch to tell me what day of the week it is.

Anyway, I did the fridge, and then went through and tried to organize my food shelves.  Tell me, does yours stay organized and if so, how do you keep them that way?  I have enough green beans and corn till I should not have to buy any for 6 weeks!  I found so much stuff that was outdated...I hate admitting it but it is the truth.  But I got those two things done.  I think I did them the same day....

Today when we got home from McDonald's,  and I decided it was time to get the front porch scrubbed good.  I usually do that in late spring or early summer, but did not get it done.  I was soaked by the time I was finished with it.  I did not realize we needed a new nozzle, and by the time I did, I was done fairly damp, so did not stop to go get one.  It needs to go on a list for Walmart.

Roger has his allergy shots tomorrow...he has one in each arm.  He only has them every other week now and I am so thankful for that. 

I feel like I am forgetting to tell something funny but I cannot think what...so I will wish you all a good rest of the week..

Monday, August 5, 2019

Such a fine kitty


Bubbie went through a spell where I did not see him sleeping like this very often but now he is back in fine form.  He still makes me laugh so often.  When I sit in the swing now, he is showing his age.  He gets up and sits beside me.  A few years ago, you could not have paid him to get up there and relax with me whether I swung or not.  Now he gets up there and will go to sleep if I am there for little while.

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We stopped in Books-a-Million a bit back and I picked up three books.  All used.  I did not know they had started selling used books.

The first that caught my eye to seriously consider was The Kentuckians by Janet Holt Giles.  You know how some authors you can almost bet money you will like their books.  Well,  not so for me with Giles.  I have read two or three that I really, really liked but others I have picked up at the library I could not get into.  So, I picked this up to read a few lines.  By the end of the first page, I knew I wanted it.  I did read it right away.

Another I got is A Place Near Home  by Mike Lunsford.   He is from nearby Parke County and his columns have appeared in the Terre Haute Tribune Star.  I also got another one by him titled The Off Season .

Anyway, I got all three books for less than $20 and am quite happy with them.  I am currently picking up A Place near home and reading a couple of the stories every day...sometimes more.  They are feel good stories about real people.  The kind that make you feel better for having read them.

Here you can see a list of his books.......and read about the author HERE....

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We have been watching a show called Shetland and I am going to get off here for now till we can watch the final episode of one season.  This is one show that sure is full of intrigue and that keeps you guessing till the very end.  It is set on the Shetland Islands...it is murder mysteries.

I hope you have a good week.



Thursday, August 1, 2019

A girl and her dog....


This is Rosie...she is the lovingest little dog you about ever seen as far as people go, but she bosses Otto around something fierce.   And he just lets her.


And she is about zonked out.  Don't you just love this...
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I have not did two cents worth of anything today other than take us to breakfast, stopped at our Walmart for a few things, and did two or three household chores.  When Lorelei texted to see if she could spend a couple nights, I did not start anything.  Other than started cooking our supper...she does like home cooking better than about anything.

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Oh, I about forgot the funny thing I wanted to tell.  We were at Walmart and about ready to leave...Roger and was over two or three aisles, maybe four...and this young girl and her mom/grandma walked by.  She say hi grandma as she passed me...I didn't know if she was speaking to me or was saying 'hey' grandma...thought I had heard wrong.

I would say she was from 8-10 years old.  And had some kind of learning disability.  Well, in 3 or 4 minutes, Roger came over and he was chuckling...and I asked him what was so funny...he said as that little girl passed him she said 'Hey Bud, you need to go home and shave!"    It was a miracle he could remember what she said cause ever since we got home, he has asked me what did she say.  It makes us both laugh every time we think of it.

Our Walmart is so small, that almost all the cashiers 'know' us, and the one we had today is actually the sister of one of our neighbors.  So we told her, and she got a good laugh but she told us we were lucky, cause most days that girl is in there is is rambunctious and very loud.

I hope this leaves you smiling....it makes me want to start chuckling just thinking about it...and about Roger's reaction.