As you know, we have a Doberman named Baron for our pet. Doberman's are short-haired dogs and you would think that shedding would not be a big problem. Wrong! He sheds like crazy. He has since he was a puppy. I swear, if he just walks through a room, you will find his hair on your ceiling fans even though you don't see any hair in the air at all.
I'll give you an example of how bad it is.... He doesn't come into the guest bathroom at all. Never. Yet, if you lift the seat up on the toilet, you will see his hair all over it. If we vacuum the floor in the living room, the amount of hair you find in the filter basin will just amaze you. I'm talking about a wood floor here. You don't see the hairs but vacuum and you find enough of his hair in it that you could make a small dog from it. I wipe the counters down in the kitchen and the rag will have dog hairs on it that are all over.
Well, Cee came over this morning for a bit and the Beast noticed dog hairs in the grout between the tiles in the kitchen and dining area. For some reason, that bugged him so much that this is what he did....
First, he used the Wet Mop on the tiled area. The disposable pad you use was just full of dog hair. It was really gross to see what he mopped up. But he could still see dog hairs so he got a bucket of water, added Pine Sol to it and mopped with the string mop. He could STILL see dog hairs so he let the floor dry and then he vacuumed the whole area..not with the regular vacuum but the one that he can hold in his hand and it has a long tube on it like the crevasse tools you get with a regular vacuum. He went over the whole area, little-by-little and then used it all over the living room and small hallway into the guest bathroom AND in the guest bathroom. You would not believe how much hair he managed to pick up. That was after TWO different moppings! I had no idea that there was that much hair ON the damn dog!
When he was satisfied, we both stood in the living room, looked around and it was amazing how very clean it looked. Of course, I was glad that it was him doing all this but I really thought he was off his rocker when he told me just why he was doing it. I'm glad that Cee had left to run over to Tara's house before he really got started on all this. She would have been sure he had flipped his lid! LOL
Cee got to actually see the tomato plant I have been talking about with all the tomatoes on it. I did promise her a few the other day when I was at her house. It won't be long now.
Okay...here's the *hint* I promised to share with you from my book. It's title is: Who knew? 10,001 Easy Solutions to Everyday Problems. I don't know about you but those damn stickers on the bottoms and/or sides of various things you buy make me crazy. I have never been able to peel them off without paper AND the glue from them leaving a mess behind. Here's the *hint*.....
If you are having trouble peeling off a label or sticker without leaving a gooey mess behind, try applying white vinegar until it's saturated. It will peel right off.
Tomorrow? An easy solution to cooling a sunburn. Love you all. Have a great day. Stay safe and use a sunscreen if you are out in the sun for any length of time. ***Hugs***
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Tomato Plants Gone Crazy....
I've mentioned that one of the Beast's tomato plants is just full of tomatoes. All in various stages of growth, of course. But the one plant that he used a cage made from plastic had to be the one that is fullest. Of course. Today I had to use the green tie material (it's made from a stretchy kind of plastic, too) to tie up another portion of the cage to the deck's fence. I'm hoping the damn raccoon that seems to be attracted to it won't do any more damage than it has. Not that the raccoon has eaten any of the tomatoes. But when Baron is let out at night and chases it off the deck and then out of the yard, it chooses that area to jump from and knocks off tomatoes AND makes it bend more than it already has. The Beast says it's this one feral black cat he believes but I caught sight of the tail the other night when I let Baron outside.
We always turn on the light on the deck before we let him out. You would think that would give WHATEVER animal is out there a clue. But not all animals are smart, are they? I just get tired of picking up the various sized green tomatoes from the deck every day. It's a good thing that plant seems to be so productive. We have two tomatoes that are almost ripe now on it. The others are full of green tomatoes in various stages of growth. The pepper plant is full of small green peppers and it looks like the jalapeno plant is finally getting some peppers also.
The area where we grew asparagus that we picked and then pulled up at the end of last season, has some very thin and woody asparagus plants in it that I keep pulling out and more are growing now. They take two years of growth before you can cut and eat them but these don't look like they will be edible at all. They just grow too tall and thin too fast. You can only eat the tops of them at two years. I know our good crop grew slowly and much thicker than these are so I have no idea what to do except keep pulling them out. We won't use that area for planting anything for another season, at least.
The Beast has been using a liquid fertilizer on the planters but it is also making the weeds grow...like weeds....LOL. It's amazing how they just seem to take over every available space and sometimes almost overnight! As two old people, it often defeats us and we put off pulling them until it has become a jungle and we know they are pulling nutrition from the plants we WANT to grow. At least the flower pots are doing very, very well. I even saw the hummingbirds feeding on a few that the Beast inadvertently bought that are natural hummingbird attractors.
I have to change the feeders for the hummingbirds tomorrow. After two weeks, bacteria starts to grow in them and that can lead to some serious beak problems for them I have read. Sister Cee is coming over for a bit so I may do that while she's here since it will be fairly nice out (or at least that is what my Weather Bug is predicting). If it is, we will sit outside for a bit.
The birds, or at least a few of them, are becoming more used to our being on the deck and not bothering them. So they will drop down to grab a few seeds and then fly off. A couple of them actually look like they are looking us over. We saw a mourning dove type bird that had red on the top of it's head and a splash of it on his throat. I say HIS because you just never see female birds with vivid colors. Even the female cardinal looks like she is a washed out red and is trying to turn brown. It's so sad that nature is so cruel to the females. But then, since they are the ones that protect the young most often, it's probably best so that predators don't spot them so easily.
Baron has been acting upset the past few days. We can't figure out why. His routine hasn't changed by much except the Beast waits a bit longer to take him on his run. He's doing that to make sure the goats in the farmer's field are not near the fence so he won't run over and bark at them. That scares them and they run off but the billy goat then comes to the fence. He doesn't react to Baron's barking and that only upsets Baron. He seems to like some animals to be afraid of him. That may be it, of course, but there's really no telling. He can't talk to us so he mopes. I just hope he gets over this soon.
More heat tomorrow but it cools down nicely at night, thank goodness. I don't mind the heat but I get tired of the Beast insisting on turning on the window AC in the kitchen and leaving the bedroom door open. It means Baron can come to my computer room to bother me to let him out at night. He lets the Beast sleep. At least, until *I* finally go to bed. Then he bothers the Beast instead of me. That's not how it used to be. Since he sleeps on the floor on M Y side of the bed, he was always waking me up to let him out. He's older now and a bit wiser, I guess. LOL!
Time for me to go back to bed. Love you all. Have a great Hump Day. Be good. Be careful and drive safely. ***Hugs***
PS: I am going to start adding various interesting tips that I have read about from a book that I have here. I will give it's name (and credit it) tomorrow when I start). How does that sound?
We always turn on the light on the deck before we let him out. You would think that would give WHATEVER animal is out there a clue. But not all animals are smart, are they? I just get tired of picking up the various sized green tomatoes from the deck every day. It's a good thing that plant seems to be so productive. We have two tomatoes that are almost ripe now on it. The others are full of green tomatoes in various stages of growth. The pepper plant is full of small green peppers and it looks like the jalapeno plant is finally getting some peppers also.
The area where we grew asparagus that we picked and then pulled up at the end of last season, has some very thin and woody asparagus plants in it that I keep pulling out and more are growing now. They take two years of growth before you can cut and eat them but these don't look like they will be edible at all. They just grow too tall and thin too fast. You can only eat the tops of them at two years. I know our good crop grew slowly and much thicker than these are so I have no idea what to do except keep pulling them out. We won't use that area for planting anything for another season, at least.
The Beast has been using a liquid fertilizer on the planters but it is also making the weeds grow...like weeds....LOL. It's amazing how they just seem to take over every available space and sometimes almost overnight! As two old people, it often defeats us and we put off pulling them until it has become a jungle and we know they are pulling nutrition from the plants we WANT to grow. At least the flower pots are doing very, very well. I even saw the hummingbirds feeding on a few that the Beast inadvertently bought that are natural hummingbird attractors.
I have to change the feeders for the hummingbirds tomorrow. After two weeks, bacteria starts to grow in them and that can lead to some serious beak problems for them I have read. Sister Cee is coming over for a bit so I may do that while she's here since it will be fairly nice out (or at least that is what my Weather Bug is predicting). If it is, we will sit outside for a bit.
The birds, or at least a few of them, are becoming more used to our being on the deck and not bothering them. So they will drop down to grab a few seeds and then fly off. A couple of them actually look like they are looking us over. We saw a mourning dove type bird that had red on the top of it's head and a splash of it on his throat. I say HIS because you just never see female birds with vivid colors. Even the female cardinal looks like she is a washed out red and is trying to turn brown. It's so sad that nature is so cruel to the females. But then, since they are the ones that protect the young most often, it's probably best so that predators don't spot them so easily.
Baron has been acting upset the past few days. We can't figure out why. His routine hasn't changed by much except the Beast waits a bit longer to take him on his run. He's doing that to make sure the goats in the farmer's field are not near the fence so he won't run over and bark at them. That scares them and they run off but the billy goat then comes to the fence. He doesn't react to Baron's barking and that only upsets Baron. He seems to like some animals to be afraid of him. That may be it, of course, but there's really no telling. He can't talk to us so he mopes. I just hope he gets over this soon.
More heat tomorrow but it cools down nicely at night, thank goodness. I don't mind the heat but I get tired of the Beast insisting on turning on the window AC in the kitchen and leaving the bedroom door open. It means Baron can come to my computer room to bother me to let him out at night. He lets the Beast sleep. At least, until *I* finally go to bed. Then he bothers the Beast instead of me. That's not how it used to be. Since he sleeps on the floor on M Y side of the bed, he was always waking me up to let him out. He's older now and a bit wiser, I guess. LOL!
Time for me to go back to bed. Love you all. Have a great Hump Day. Be good. Be careful and drive safely. ***Hugs***
PS: I am going to start adding various interesting tips that I have read about from a book that I have here. I will give it's name (and credit it) tomorrow when I start). How does that sound?
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
I Found It!
Today I found my perfect quote (author unknown): *When I was young, I wanted to be older. This sure as hell was NOT what I had in mind!* One of my many friends on Facebook *shared* that with me. It stopped me cold and had me laughing. It just hit my funny bone when I read it. Too true...too true! I hadn't even known I was looking for it but, suddenly, there it was. It is still making me smile.
Many of the people I follow are relatives. Only a few are friends and those are from many, many (I hate to admit...) years ago. We are all way older than we ever believed we would be. Some of the pictures lead me to believe that many have grown old well. Unlike me, they look great for their ages. *Sigh* Figures. Nothing I can do about that without airbrushing the hell out of me. Right now, my hair is about an inch all over after I cut off the damage that too many years of making myself a blonde had done. Plus it looks very thin since I was losing hair during the time I was ill from the dead colon that eventually led to my appendicitis and the UTI I had when I was put in the hospital and had my surgery. I know this much. After the doctor found and removed the cysts in my colon that turned out to be pre-cancerous, I will not object to having the colonoscopy next year. It was certainly painless since they put you to sleep for it. The worst part of the whole thing was drinking that awful crap to clean out your colon.
I went over to Cee's today to see the rest of the finishing touches she had made on the apartment decor. It really looks great. She has this one lamp that is definitely a conversation piece but it works for the living room, where it is being used. She also had her unicorn collection arranged nicely on the bookcase in the areas where she did NOT have her CD's displayed. The picture she has displayed over the bed in her second bedroom is most definitely a companion piece to the one in her living room, just different colors. It's just smaller in size. Funny but two or three hours pass quickly when we are together. We talk about this and that and just laugh over some silly stuff from when we were both younger. Sometimes, we wonder how we could have been as dumb as we were back then. We are certainly rich in experience, however.
Tomorrow, the Beast goes in to see our doctor about the thing on his back. Dennis came over and shared an information page with the Beast about a new topical cream used to rid the skin surface of skin cancer. It's by prescription only. Dennis' doctor prescribed it for him and the pharmacy has ordered it now. The Beast is bringing in the page for OUR doctor to see. He could sure use it on his face and arms. He still gets a lot of skin cancer even with wearing a hat and long sleeve shirt when he's outside mowing the lawn or doing any chore that takes more than five minutes.
Our day passed quietly although we did have some boomers roll through here late in the afternoon. They passed quickly but they are predicted for us all week long due to the hurricane (or it may still be a tropical storm) that is in the Gulf. It's not very violent....yet...but there is still time for that to happen over the warm Gulf water. It's not headed towards us in the USA but I sure don't envy Mexico and Central America. They seem to suffer many landslides with any large weather feature that contains a lot of rain. Our expected heat range runs from the low 60's at night to the high 80's during the day.
Love you all. Enjoy your week even if you get rain. I always loved walking in the rain when I was young. And then, I didn't have an umbrella...LOL. ***Hugs***
Many of the people I follow are relatives. Only a few are friends and those are from many, many (I hate to admit...) years ago. We are all way older than we ever believed we would be. Some of the pictures lead me to believe that many have grown old well. Unlike me, they look great for their ages. *Sigh* Figures. Nothing I can do about that without airbrushing the hell out of me. Right now, my hair is about an inch all over after I cut off the damage that too many years of making myself a blonde had done. Plus it looks very thin since I was losing hair during the time I was ill from the dead colon that eventually led to my appendicitis and the UTI I had when I was put in the hospital and had my surgery. I know this much. After the doctor found and removed the cysts in my colon that turned out to be pre-cancerous, I will not object to having the colonoscopy next year. It was certainly painless since they put you to sleep for it. The worst part of the whole thing was drinking that awful crap to clean out your colon.
I went over to Cee's today to see the rest of the finishing touches she had made on the apartment decor. It really looks great. She has this one lamp that is definitely a conversation piece but it works for the living room, where it is being used. She also had her unicorn collection arranged nicely on the bookcase in the areas where she did NOT have her CD's displayed. The picture she has displayed over the bed in her second bedroom is most definitely a companion piece to the one in her living room, just different colors. It's just smaller in size. Funny but two or three hours pass quickly when we are together. We talk about this and that and just laugh over some silly stuff from when we were both younger. Sometimes, we wonder how we could have been as dumb as we were back then. We are certainly rich in experience, however.
Tomorrow, the Beast goes in to see our doctor about the thing on his back. Dennis came over and shared an information page with the Beast about a new topical cream used to rid the skin surface of skin cancer. It's by prescription only. Dennis' doctor prescribed it for him and the pharmacy has ordered it now. The Beast is bringing in the page for OUR doctor to see. He could sure use it on his face and arms. He still gets a lot of skin cancer even with wearing a hat and long sleeve shirt when he's outside mowing the lawn or doing any chore that takes more than five minutes.
Our day passed quietly although we did have some boomers roll through here late in the afternoon. They passed quickly but they are predicted for us all week long due to the hurricane (or it may still be a tropical storm) that is in the Gulf. It's not very violent....yet...but there is still time for that to happen over the warm Gulf water. It's not headed towards us in the USA but I sure don't envy Mexico and Central America. They seem to suffer many landslides with any large weather feature that contains a lot of rain. Our expected heat range runs from the low 60's at night to the high 80's during the day.
Love you all. Enjoy your week even if you get rain. I always loved walking in the rain when I was young. And then, I didn't have an umbrella...LOL. ***Hugs***
Sunday, June 7, 2015
The Princess, The Beast And Chewlee.....
No, it's not something that went on with the three of them. It's separate news about them. First, the Princess.....
She came by this afternoon with Gunner and Chewlee to return the lens she had borrowed from the Beast for her first *commercial* pictures of a newborn and his family. She had posted a few of the ones she took on her Facebook page, which she showed to the Beast (I checked it out for myself). He was unenthusiastic about it but then he's not really one for pictures where people look *posed*. He also has never been one to easily judge any kind of baby picture since he thinks most babies look alike and don't have much of a personality until they are about a year old.
Chewlee and I spent her time here together in my computer room. She wanted me to ask her mom about her spending the night with me and I told her that she probably wouldn't let her until after Gunner's birthday party. I also told her she had to do her household chores with no fudging like she did the other day. I told her I had heard all about it from her mother so not to try to make excuses. I told her that she would be making a problem for herself if she didn't. She told me she had fun in Orlando and had bought three (or perhaps it was four) wands at Diagon Alley and Hogwart's. I believe she said she had Harry's, Hermione's and Ron's wands....but then she said something about Voldemort's. She said she also had Harry's broom but her other grandfather was keeping it at his house. I don't think she objected too hard since it might mean she would be able to go down to Destin some time later this summer and she loves the beach there.
I hated to see them leave but they had to eat before bathtime and bed and it was almost 5:30pm by then. The Beast and I ate the leftover ribs from the other day and then the Beast took his shower. I'll take mine a little later. After he was done, he came into my computer room to ask me to look at this one sore spot on his back. I was shocked. It almost looks like a small tumor that was once have been a mole that he's torn the top off of. I put a bandage over it so he can't keep irritating it and told him that he has to go in to see our doctor and have him take a look at it. It doesn't look good to me. With his tendency to get skin cancers, that just might be what this is since the mole is a different color now and may just be another melanoma that needs removing that he's irritated the hell out of plus dug at it so that it now looks like a kind of low volcano.
I'm going over to Cee's tomorrow to see her new picture and new lamps. She says she is now done buying anything new. In truth, I don't see how much more she COULD buy. It seems just great to me now and about all she could possibly need. But that's not my choice either. She could want new towels and linens or other things....LOL.
It's supposed to be hot again tomorrow but they are predicting rain again all week long. No clue if it's going to be daytime rain or at night. I prefer at night especially with Gunner's birthday party on Saturday. Guess we will just have to wait and see. We'll cope, regardless.
Love you all. Have a really great week. ***Hugs***
She came by this afternoon with Gunner and Chewlee to return the lens she had borrowed from the Beast for her first *commercial* pictures of a newborn and his family. She had posted a few of the ones she took on her Facebook page, which she showed to the Beast (I checked it out for myself). He was unenthusiastic about it but then he's not really one for pictures where people look *posed*. He also has never been one to easily judge any kind of baby picture since he thinks most babies look alike and don't have much of a personality until they are about a year old.
Chewlee and I spent her time here together in my computer room. She wanted me to ask her mom about her spending the night with me and I told her that she probably wouldn't let her until after Gunner's birthday party. I also told her she had to do her household chores with no fudging like she did the other day. I told her I had heard all about it from her mother so not to try to make excuses. I told her that she would be making a problem for herself if she didn't. She told me she had fun in Orlando and had bought three (or perhaps it was four) wands at Diagon Alley and Hogwart's. I believe she said she had Harry's, Hermione's and Ron's wands....but then she said something about Voldemort's. She said she also had Harry's broom but her other grandfather was keeping it at his house. I don't think she objected too hard since it might mean she would be able to go down to Destin some time later this summer and she loves the beach there.
I hated to see them leave but they had to eat before bathtime and bed and it was almost 5:30pm by then. The Beast and I ate the leftover ribs from the other day and then the Beast took his shower. I'll take mine a little later. After he was done, he came into my computer room to ask me to look at this one sore spot on his back. I was shocked. It almost looks like a small tumor that was once have been a mole that he's torn the top off of. I put a bandage over it so he can't keep irritating it and told him that he has to go in to see our doctor and have him take a look at it. It doesn't look good to me. With his tendency to get skin cancers, that just might be what this is since the mole is a different color now and may just be another melanoma that needs removing that he's irritated the hell out of plus dug at it so that it now looks like a kind of low volcano.
I'm going over to Cee's tomorrow to see her new picture and new lamps. She says she is now done buying anything new. In truth, I don't see how much more she COULD buy. It seems just great to me now and about all she could possibly need. But that's not my choice either. She could want new towels and linens or other things....LOL.
It's supposed to be hot again tomorrow but they are predicting rain again all week long. No clue if it's going to be daytime rain or at night. I prefer at night especially with Gunner's birthday party on Saturday. Guess we will just have to wait and see. We'll cope, regardless.
Love you all. Have a really great week. ***Hugs***
A Happy Belated Birthday To My Sister, Bratfink....
Although I left her a note on her Facebook page telling her that I was soooo sorry to have missed her actual birthday (she and I share a birthday month and she is the only sibling of mine that does), it does little to excuse me. I have her birthday circled on my calendar but I just don't LOOK at the calendar on a daily basis. I looked today after getting official notice of my great-grandson's birthday party to make sure the party was on a Saturday. Lo and behold! there was the reminder about Bratfink's birthday. I WAS reading my email daily but have fallen on my face and not read it for FIVE days.
That was a shock to me. Facebook's notification of Bratfink's birthday was in those emails that I hadn't read. I read my email and there it was! I knew she would notice that there was no happy birthday wishes from me. She got a lot of wishes from so many people but she said at one point that she was thanking everyone that had wished her a happy birthday and noticed all the ones that hadn't. Boy, did that hit me hard. It's not like I am so busy taking care of four kids, a house and working a job. I could be forgiven then, perhaps. Even a phone call would have been better than forgetting. *Sigh* I just hope she forgives me.
Today the Beast had to attend a graduation party for the son of one of the members of his church. He was there to take pictures of the attendees and the graduate. Earlier in the day, the Princess and Gunner were here because the Princess needed to borrow one of the Beast's lenses. She is going to take pictures of a friend's newborn baby. She also wanted to borrow one of our small portable heaters. Believe it or not, it was needed for a kind of *trick* you use to make the baby sleep. It had been used back when they (the Princess and Johnnycakes) had pictures taken of Gunner by a professional photographer when HE was a newborn.
Gunner's two front teeth have finally pushed through (but have JUST pushed through) and now the Princess thinks he is getting the two next to them because he turned fussy again. I played peek-a-boo with him and then he started rocking back and forth and would stop and wait for me to do the same. That tickled him for whatever reason. He did touch my hand a couple times and he even waved at me but he remained shy and by his mother's side. I just don't get to spend enough time with him for him to be at ease with me yet.
His party is going to be held on the 13th at 3pm. I responded to the invitation and said I would be there. There will be a lot of people there from the responses since this one will be held at the kids house. I am hoping for another nice day for it so that we can sit outside in the back yard. Last year, for Chewlee's birthday, that was where we were so the kids could play on the big slide pool they had rented and there was a canopy with a table underneath it for the gifts and the snacks. Chewlee also has a netted trampoline to play on (if they have put it up) and that keeps the kids busy, too. Gunner is still too small for it but it does help keep him from being overwhelmed by distracting the kids. I noticed at Chewlee's party that he attracted a lot of attention from them that he wasn't too happy about. But then, he had just woken up from his nap and wasn't totally awake at the time.
I think the party is scheduled for when he has awakened from his nap so it's going to be a toss-up as to how awake he is. He may be happier since he will be at home and in his own bed. The Princess has plans to take his picture in an outfit she has ordered. She wants to take it on his actual birthday (the 9th) and was upset that what she had ordered hadn't even shipped as of today. At least, she hadn't been notified when she got here around noon.
We were in the midst of a power failure when she got here. It affected our whole town and the surrounding areas, according to the recording we got when we phoned the power company. Why do we get these failures on a day when the sun is shining and it's nice outside. Okay, yes, it was really hot out (88 degrees at the time), but if it's all the air conditioning that people are using, shouldn't the power company be able to adjust for those times? It was off for almost two hours. Our house was nice and comfortable due to it's construction. It appears that we have good insulation (everywhere BUT the floors). We should have better insulation there just because of the crawl space under the house. The Beast says it's poorly installed under there and probably should have been redone. Now it would be too costly for us to hire someone to redo it and the Beast isn't physically able to do it himself. But it holds it's temperature well whether we have to heat it or it's just cooled down during the night like it has been lately. I don't remember being uncomfortable last summer until very late in the day and then only when the temperatures hit the high 80's (like today) and higher.
Well, it's time to get this posted and try getting a little more sleep. Love you all. Hope you have a nice Sunday. One of our neighbors had a little fiesta at their house for their Latin friends but they sent over some carne asada, tortillas, rice and some hot sauce that I forget the name of at this moment. It's pico something-or-other. LOL. It sucks to get old and forgetful. I'll remember right after I post this, I'll bet. ***Hugs***
That was a shock to me. Facebook's notification of Bratfink's birthday was in those emails that I hadn't read. I read my email and there it was! I knew she would notice that there was no happy birthday wishes from me. She got a lot of wishes from so many people but she said at one point that she was thanking everyone that had wished her a happy birthday and noticed all the ones that hadn't. Boy, did that hit me hard. It's not like I am so busy taking care of four kids, a house and working a job. I could be forgiven then, perhaps. Even a phone call would have been better than forgetting. *Sigh* I just hope she forgives me.
Today the Beast had to attend a graduation party for the son of one of the members of his church. He was there to take pictures of the attendees and the graduate. Earlier in the day, the Princess and Gunner were here because the Princess needed to borrow one of the Beast's lenses. She is going to take pictures of a friend's newborn baby. She also wanted to borrow one of our small portable heaters. Believe it or not, it was needed for a kind of *trick* you use to make the baby sleep. It had been used back when they (the Princess and Johnnycakes) had pictures taken of Gunner by a professional photographer when HE was a newborn.
Gunner's two front teeth have finally pushed through (but have JUST pushed through) and now the Princess thinks he is getting the two next to them because he turned fussy again. I played peek-a-boo with him and then he started rocking back and forth and would stop and wait for me to do the same. That tickled him for whatever reason. He did touch my hand a couple times and he even waved at me but he remained shy and by his mother's side. I just don't get to spend enough time with him for him to be at ease with me yet.
His party is going to be held on the 13th at 3pm. I responded to the invitation and said I would be there. There will be a lot of people there from the responses since this one will be held at the kids house. I am hoping for another nice day for it so that we can sit outside in the back yard. Last year, for Chewlee's birthday, that was where we were so the kids could play on the big slide pool they had rented and there was a canopy with a table underneath it for the gifts and the snacks. Chewlee also has a netted trampoline to play on (if they have put it up) and that keeps the kids busy, too. Gunner is still too small for it but it does help keep him from being overwhelmed by distracting the kids. I noticed at Chewlee's party that he attracted a lot of attention from them that he wasn't too happy about. But then, he had just woken up from his nap and wasn't totally awake at the time.
I think the party is scheduled for when he has awakened from his nap so it's going to be a toss-up as to how awake he is. He may be happier since he will be at home and in his own bed. The Princess has plans to take his picture in an outfit she has ordered. She wants to take it on his actual birthday (the 9th) and was upset that what she had ordered hadn't even shipped as of today. At least, she hadn't been notified when she got here around noon.
We were in the midst of a power failure when she got here. It affected our whole town and the surrounding areas, according to the recording we got when we phoned the power company. Why do we get these failures on a day when the sun is shining and it's nice outside. Okay, yes, it was really hot out (88 degrees at the time), but if it's all the air conditioning that people are using, shouldn't the power company be able to adjust for those times? It was off for almost two hours. Our house was nice and comfortable due to it's construction. It appears that we have good insulation (everywhere BUT the floors). We should have better insulation there just because of the crawl space under the house. The Beast says it's poorly installed under there and probably should have been redone. Now it would be too costly for us to hire someone to redo it and the Beast isn't physically able to do it himself. But it holds it's temperature well whether we have to heat it or it's just cooled down during the night like it has been lately. I don't remember being uncomfortable last summer until very late in the day and then only when the temperatures hit the high 80's (like today) and higher.
Well, it's time to get this posted and try getting a little more sleep. Love you all. Hope you have a nice Sunday. One of our neighbors had a little fiesta at their house for their Latin friends but they sent over some carne asada, tortillas, rice and some hot sauce that I forget the name of at this moment. It's pico something-or-other. LOL. It sucks to get old and forgetful. I'll remember right after I post this, I'll bet. ***Hugs***
Saturday, June 6, 2015
The Problem With Too Much Rain.....
I wish I could send some of the rain we've gotten the past few weeks to areas of the country that are suffering from drought. Really. Our ground is so saturated in areas that you can't safely mow. The pond we have on one area of the circle is almost full now. That just means more area for mosquitoes to lay their eggs and we will have a heck of a summer. I have to remember to have the Beast get us some Yard Guard for when we want to sit outside this summer.
It has also made some of our plants just grow wild and many have doubled in size. The tomato plants have gone nuts and we have lots of branches that need support now because of the sheer number of tomatoes on them. It will create a bigger problem as time goes on if the rain suddenly ceases. Why? Because of the amount of water needed to help the tomatoes fill out. The Beast won't water them enough because he hates a high water bill. It drives me nuts when he does that. He won't listen to me and it means more of the tomatoes won't really develop like they should. I would like to be able to can a few jars if possible. *Sigh*
It is also humid as heck outside with the heat we are having. The Beast, I've noticed, starts sweating almost immediately. Not so me. I guess his problem with the heat is even worse than he has always said it was. All it has to do is hit 80 degrees outside and he's sweating like a pig from the humidity that is present due to all the water in the ground. Even if we don't have any rain for the day (or night), the humidity is hanging in there at 100%. I only wear a headband if I am out pulling weeds. THEN is when I feel the humidity but not sitting on the deck like the Beast. When he has to mow the lawn, which is often with all the rain, he wears his *safari* hat to try to keep the sun off his head and help him keep from sweating more than normal. I told him to wear a headband from one of his neck scarfs (the red or blue ones like train engineers have always been shown to wear). You can just fold it up and tie it around your forehead. That's what I use. It works much better for sopping up sweat.
Today it's supposed to be warn again and I have weeds to pull in the strawberry patch. The Beast has to finish mowing the lawn area next store so we won't have to work together today. He can be a pain about just what I am pulling. I had a garden long before he ever decided to be a *farmer*. *Sheesh*
Love you all. Time to get this posted. Hope you have a great weekend. Barbeque. Invite a few friends over. Do something different. ***Hugs***
It has also made some of our plants just grow wild and many have doubled in size. The tomato plants have gone nuts and we have lots of branches that need support now because of the sheer number of tomatoes on them. It will create a bigger problem as time goes on if the rain suddenly ceases. Why? Because of the amount of water needed to help the tomatoes fill out. The Beast won't water them enough because he hates a high water bill. It drives me nuts when he does that. He won't listen to me and it means more of the tomatoes won't really develop like they should. I would like to be able to can a few jars if possible. *Sigh*
It is also humid as heck outside with the heat we are having. The Beast, I've noticed, starts sweating almost immediately. Not so me. I guess his problem with the heat is even worse than he has always said it was. All it has to do is hit 80 degrees outside and he's sweating like a pig from the humidity that is present due to all the water in the ground. Even if we don't have any rain for the day (or night), the humidity is hanging in there at 100%. I only wear a headband if I am out pulling weeds. THEN is when I feel the humidity but not sitting on the deck like the Beast. When he has to mow the lawn, which is often with all the rain, he wears his *safari* hat to try to keep the sun off his head and help him keep from sweating more than normal. I told him to wear a headband from one of his neck scarfs (the red or blue ones like train engineers have always been shown to wear). You can just fold it up and tie it around your forehead. That's what I use. It works much better for sopping up sweat.
Today it's supposed to be warn again and I have weeds to pull in the strawberry patch. The Beast has to finish mowing the lawn area next store so we won't have to work together today. He can be a pain about just what I am pulling. I had a garden long before he ever decided to be a *farmer*. *Sheesh*
Love you all. Time to get this posted. Hope you have a great weekend. Barbeque. Invite a few friends over. Do something different. ***Hugs***
Thursday, June 4, 2015
Lady Comes And Goes....
Vicki called me this morning. Thankfully I was awake when she called. She was almost crying but she said she had to give me back Lady. It seems Lady escaped and headed right for the farm next door. The people that owned the farm raise chickens for their living. Lady thought the birds were fun to chase all over the place (she dug a hole under the fence where the chickens were confined). They had a fit and Lady thought their trying to catch her was good fun and not a real threat. She eventually headed back to Vicki's and Vicki got a call from the neighbor. They said if she showed up on their property again, they were going to shoot her. I guess she caused a couple of the chickens to injure themselves and they were outraged over it.
They didn't care that Vicki had no idea that Lady would tunnel under the dog run she was in at the time. They held her responsible and were dead serious about shooting Lady. Since Vicki has another dog that's part Border collie like Lady, she had gone through this stage that Lady is in. Lady really hasn't been trained to mind. She has gotten good on a leash once we got the training collar for her. She does know the commands for *sit* and *lay down* but she is headstrong on the command to *come* if she is in the mood to run and have fun. Vicki, I believe, isn't up to the task of becoming the *leader* to Lady. Until and unless someone takes that position and makes her respect them, she will be a bit on the wild side.
So I meet up with Vicki and get Lady from her as well as her bed and the paper from the vet that says she has had all her shots as well as rabies. Lady is wearing her regular collar and the rabies tag is on it so no problem there.
Poor Lady seemed very confused when I took her from Vicki. Vicki looked like she was going to cry and kept telling me she was sorry she had to give her back but she didn't want her shot. She said she knows the neighbor and they would have shot her in a heartbeat. The chickens are their means of making a living and they could care less that she was *just having fun* and wasn't being vicious. I can understand. Lady wasn't THEIR dog.
I wasn't all that upset primarily because Vicki was an older person and I had my doubts about her being up to the job of training Lady. But her dog is older and I think she wanted Lady mostly for company when her other dog died, to put it bluntly. I knew something Vicki didn't....Sheepie had a friend that already had an older dog that was also part Border collie and that friend wanted Lady.
We had the friend come over to meet with us (we wanted to get our own impression of her and make a judgment about if SHE was up to the job of becoming boss). She brought her other dog to see if the two dogs got along (they did for the most part). After talking with her and telling her the things that were good AND bad about Lady, she felt she could handle Lady in the same way she had handled her dog when she was younger. She also is the type of person that takes her dog on long walks since she lives on a piece of property that has several acres of land. Lady walked out to the car, on her leash and off she went. But I feel so much better about Lady's future now. She truly is a dear sweet dog.
We made BLT's today because we had fresh bread, good lettuce and a couple of tomatoes from the Beast's plants. I want you to know....the sandwiches tasted AWESOME. I had forgotten just how good a fresh, ripened on the plant (why do they say *the vine* when it's not a vine?) tomato tasted. It was a totally different taste from what we had gotten used to eating. I can't even describe how good the tomatoes were but I am looking forward to more of them ripening. I can't wait to eat them.
All the rain has made the plants grow like crazy and they are full of tomatoes of various sizes. We are going to check them all and lend additional support where it's needed. They all are *caged* but as the tomatoes grow and ripen, they can end up breaking the branches they are on and that would be tragic. We have a special kind of *tape* that we use that won't cut into the fragile branches but we can then tie them to the cage that is helping to support the plants. The plants are just about twice the size of the support, they have gotten that tall! When the Beast said they needed fertilizing, I had visions of giant tomatoes attacking....LOL. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes was the absolute worst movie ever made. I can't believe it was made seriously. It had to be some kind of gag....but if it had been *Killer tomato PLANTS*, I think the Beast's plants might have been up to the part.
It was a nice, sunny warm day. I checked with Cee and her son, Michael, had put the bookcase together very quickly once he came over to her house. Figures, right? He really didn't need the instructions because he said he's put together so many of the same type of things. She now has her CD player and all her CD's in the bookcase. When I was there, I got to see the bed she bought for the second bedroom. She has such good taste in how she decorates things to suit her *style*. Very nice and cozy feeling. She hadn't gotten the picture for the wall that she ordered yet but it was supposed to come today. She was going to have Michael hang it for her. The whole apartment has a nice look and feel to it.
Love you all. I have to post this before it becomes a book...LOL. Be good. Be safe. ***Hugs***
They didn't care that Vicki had no idea that Lady would tunnel under the dog run she was in at the time. They held her responsible and were dead serious about shooting Lady. Since Vicki has another dog that's part Border collie like Lady, she had gone through this stage that Lady is in. Lady really hasn't been trained to mind. She has gotten good on a leash once we got the training collar for her. She does know the commands for *sit* and *lay down* but she is headstrong on the command to *come* if she is in the mood to run and have fun. Vicki, I believe, isn't up to the task of becoming the *leader* to Lady. Until and unless someone takes that position and makes her respect them, she will be a bit on the wild side.
So I meet up with Vicki and get Lady from her as well as her bed and the paper from the vet that says she has had all her shots as well as rabies. Lady is wearing her regular collar and the rabies tag is on it so no problem there.
Poor Lady seemed very confused when I took her from Vicki. Vicki looked like she was going to cry and kept telling me she was sorry she had to give her back but she didn't want her shot. She said she knows the neighbor and they would have shot her in a heartbeat. The chickens are their means of making a living and they could care less that she was *just having fun* and wasn't being vicious. I can understand. Lady wasn't THEIR dog.
I wasn't all that upset primarily because Vicki was an older person and I had my doubts about her being up to the job of training Lady. But her dog is older and I think she wanted Lady mostly for company when her other dog died, to put it bluntly. I knew something Vicki didn't....Sheepie had a friend that already had an older dog that was also part Border collie and that friend wanted Lady.
We had the friend come over to meet with us (we wanted to get our own impression of her and make a judgment about if SHE was up to the job of becoming boss). She brought her other dog to see if the two dogs got along (they did for the most part). After talking with her and telling her the things that were good AND bad about Lady, she felt she could handle Lady in the same way she had handled her dog when she was younger. She also is the type of person that takes her dog on long walks since she lives on a piece of property that has several acres of land. Lady walked out to the car, on her leash and off she went. But I feel so much better about Lady's future now. She truly is a dear sweet dog.
We made BLT's today because we had fresh bread, good lettuce and a couple of tomatoes from the Beast's plants. I want you to know....the sandwiches tasted AWESOME. I had forgotten just how good a fresh, ripened on the plant (why do they say *the vine* when it's not a vine?) tomato tasted. It was a totally different taste from what we had gotten used to eating. I can't even describe how good the tomatoes were but I am looking forward to more of them ripening. I can't wait to eat them.
All the rain has made the plants grow like crazy and they are full of tomatoes of various sizes. We are going to check them all and lend additional support where it's needed. They all are *caged* but as the tomatoes grow and ripen, they can end up breaking the branches they are on and that would be tragic. We have a special kind of *tape* that we use that won't cut into the fragile branches but we can then tie them to the cage that is helping to support the plants. The plants are just about twice the size of the support, they have gotten that tall! When the Beast said they needed fertilizing, I had visions of giant tomatoes attacking....LOL. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes was the absolute worst movie ever made. I can't believe it was made seriously. It had to be some kind of gag....but if it had been *Killer tomato PLANTS*, I think the Beast's plants might have been up to the part.
It was a nice, sunny warm day. I checked with Cee and her son, Michael, had put the bookcase together very quickly once he came over to her house. Figures, right? He really didn't need the instructions because he said he's put together so many of the same type of things. She now has her CD player and all her CD's in the bookcase. When I was there, I got to see the bed she bought for the second bedroom. She has such good taste in how she decorates things to suit her *style*. Very nice and cozy feeling. She hadn't gotten the picture for the wall that she ordered yet but it was supposed to come today. She was going to have Michael hang it for her. The whole apartment has a nice look and feel to it.
Love you all. I have to post this before it becomes a book...LOL. Be good. Be safe. ***Hugs***
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