Unwelcome guests will sometimes appear to scare and annoy me. Like the one pictured. Not all of them slither on the ground, though. They cannot be dispatched easily with a shovel to the head ....
My computer seems to be in it's death throes and I will have to acclimate myself to a brand new one soon enough. Being old, I don't like lots of changes in routine happenings. I do not really type. It is a sort of three finger ballet I prefer and I can apparently do so with much haste. Because the computer cannot keep up with me. I find myself editing every other word for dropped letters.
I only have one window open while I am "typing", but it still happens. That is annoying, but it has started turning off and on with no warning. The keypad has a sticky "c" and the internal mouse died long ago. Once again I will impose upon my son to find what I want and get it so he can set it all up for me. I have a very good son. I don't mind paying for it, it is the set up part that I hate and he knows how to get his mom a good deal.
This is usually my favorite time of year. The week days are slow and easy and I can get a lot done .... well, they used to be, at any rate. We are still super busy with lots of travelers and winery goers. I had two older ladies here for three days in a tent. The weather has been perfect for that sort of camping. Warm days and cool nights.
Just because we are still busy in the office doesn't mean there are not a lot of pre-winter chores to be done. I still have quite a bit of fence to paint and the big sign in the front is about to collapse. I suppose it should be in a great state of rot, since it is almost 50 years old. Not that we have been standing by waiting for it to collapse. I have painted it several times and it has been reinforced throughout the years, but the time has come to just put up a new sign.
The old sign is made of 2X6's, cedar, of coarse and the letters were routed out, making it easier to paint, but still not great. Someone gave us a stack of 4' 2X4's and HeWho knows things said they would work great. He went on to tell me how he was going to route out some 4X4"s to frame the sign. The only thing he wanted me to do was to outline the letters on the 2X4's ...... so he could route them out "otherwise, it won't look right".
Being a dutiful wife I went out to the barn where he had this all set up on a picnic table (after he pondered what he would put it on for me to work on. He was going to purchase a piece of plywood to put on sawhorses .......). Anyhoo, his wife suggested the picnic table, what with it being the same size as the sign. I battled the wind and did my part.
A few days passed. A couple of times, I even heard the router. But, he made very little progress. I even suggested using some different materials. I asked if, perhaps wooden letters might be an alternative to paint or routing the letters. I researched and neither one of us liked the price of the letters. HeWho seemed to balk at the shipping time, like we had not already wasted a couple of weeks.
Next thing I know, he is dragging in a piece of plywood for me to letter and then he cut the letters out with the jigsaw. Just $24 and we have all the letters we need and extra material. Everybody knows how much I love a bargain. I don't think he was too happy with me when he started to cut out the letters .... I laid them out very carefully to use as little material as possible.
My part is done , all the painting of the letters and the big part of the sign, just needs to be erected and then touched up.
At the end of the day, though, I have the sweetest little guy waiting for me to cuddle with!
It has been really quiet here for the past week since my little buddy, Parker, moved away. Not too far, but still, it is not the same.
I seem to have rediscovered my sewing room. I sold out of sock monkeys and had some of the campers ask if I planned to make more. I dug out my secret stash of hoarded socks and got busy. This one is made from infant socks and is my current favorite.
Seems I had quite the stash of socks and nowhere to display them. So I went to the ceiling for room and let them hang from a tree limb.
Not all of them are hanging by the tail.
This one looks like he might be stealing some ketchup!
This one has freaky long legs.
Tied in knots over chocolate.
Once I started, I couldn't stop. I made 21 last week and sold one over the weekend. I still have a big stack of socks, I might as well keep going while the rain is falling.
Last week, during my self-imposed break from the internet, I managed to accomplish quite a bit. During breaks in the rain storms, I pulled up all the cow pea plants and harvested what was left on the vines. Turned out to be 3 quarts for the freezer.
The heat from the boiling water used to blanch the peas and the smell of the peas hitting that water took me back in time. I remember many mornings spent shelling peas on my grandmother's carport. Everybody's fingers were put to use until all the peas were shelled out along with butterbeans. I hated shelling butterbeans, my thumbs would be sore for days.
After all the shelling was complete, the women folk would start the kettle to boiling. Then while the water took it's own sweet time, many arguments over whether to add salt to the boiling water would ensue. No air conditioning to keep things cool. Just an old oscillating fan on the floor. When the boiling of the salted water commenced (salt always won, after arguing over just how much salt), all the ice trays in the freezer would be released into the biggest bowl in the house. The ice trays were then refilled in hopes of freezing before the evening meal. I still wonder why they did not empty those trays in the morning and store the ice in the freezer ... or even invest in more ice trays.
The heat in the kitchen would be near to unbearable by this time and tempers were short. The blanching would be over and the peas plunged into the icy water, then the bagging began. A day long event that would yield dozens of pint freezer bags of peas and butterbeans. Always more than ever got eaten in the winter months.
Anyhoo, where was I before I wandered off down memory lane? Oh, yes, my kitchen was also hot and I would have opened the back door to take advantage of the nice breeze if my screen door functioned properly. The damp weather had the flies flocking to any opening available. Just letting the dogs in and out had created a bit of problem.
I was swatting flies non-stop, so I hung some of that nasty fly tape. Struck by inspiration, I hung some of the fly tape outside, thinking to capture the flies looking to come inside. It was actually working, too. This fly tape is really sticky and comes with a thumbtack on the end you pull out. I used it inside to stick the tape in the door way. I knew It would not stay stuck outside. We have lots of wind here. So I looped the tape around a metal flower pot holder and stuck it to itself.
How it came loose is a mystery. I was unaware that it had until my Charming Eddie came inside with it stuck to his tail. Poor little Eddie always manages to find things he shouldn't. We ended up cutting it out of his fur. He was a little indignant about the whole thing. I was quick to remind him that he started it all when he decided to rip the screen out of the door.
But, really, I blamed HeWho did not rehang the door properly .......
It rained and rained all week long, it rained. The temperature was quite nice. When the rain was not falling, cool breezes made one want to throw open the windows. And doors. Where screen doors would/should be in place to prevent insects from entering one's humble abode.
The screen door is back up. With a sizable gap at the top and it doesn't close. The wire mesh used over the screen to prevent one young dog from chewing his way out was applied to the entire door. Preventing the closing of the door. Oh, he trimmed some away after I lodged a complaint. Now, it still does not close all the way and the raw edges of the mesh tends to grab at my clothes and scrape my hands.
I will continue to encourage him to take it back down and trim away all the excess mesh and tack some sort of trim to cover the raw edges. HeWho says it is the fault of the door jamb needing repairs. I will also encourage him to repair that while he has the door down.
After almost 43 years, I realize that he is still not properly trained.
I finally have a minute to myself! Only a quick minute. The park is nearly full with Otoberfest enthusiasts and it is Saturday ....... time for Saturday Night at the Movies. With a twist this week ...... dinner and a movie!
This, from last week, getting it all set up.
HeWho gets to play with electronic stuff.
I made popcorn ........ three flavors!
Guess which chair is mine?
I am ready for tonight. Sloppey Joes simmer in the crock pot. All the sound equipment is loaded onto the cart and ready to roll. Thanks to me. HeWho was making 3 trips on the golf cart to get it all out to the pavilion. I unearthed this old metal cart that I bought at a yard sale many, many years ago. This cart is the best $12 I ever spent.
Not big, but big enough, it is the same size as those three shelf kitchen carts from the 80's. This one has only two shelves, but it is sturdier, with bigger wheels. The top shelf had that old boomerang formica, while the bottom shelf and all the rest of the cart is chrome. Was. It was all rusty and ugly. Nothing a piece of sand paper and a can of paint couldn't fix. I love this old cart and it will be with us when we live on wheels ...... it folds flat!!
Time to go out and see how wet the chairs are. It rained this morning, has rained all week, but the sun is shining now and clear skies are supposed to reign over the land.
You may (or may not) recall my post about Charming Eddie and the screen door. I like screen doors, especially this time of year. A nice breeze can flow through my kitchen as I slave over the hot stove .....
I asked for a screen door as soon as we moved the kitchen and the back door. It took nearly two years of nagging an complaining to finally get it installed. It was a storm door combination, with the window and screen on the bottom. I immediately knew that it would be a problem, that the screen was on the bottom. I knew that at least one of my dogs would take on the challenge of ripping that screen out. I asked him if the door could be installed upside down, so that the screen would not be with-in the reach of the canines.
Made sense to me, but HeWho had someone else install the door did not agree. As I had predicted, the screen did not last very long. A couple of years went by and the storm door did let light into the dark hallway leading to my kitchen, but I still longed for screen and a breeze.
I did exhaustive research on screen storm doors with solid bottoms and a screen on the top half. They are expensive, these doors with windows on top. So began the campaign for a plain old wood screen door. I harped on this subject on and off until he thought it was his idea. He bought the door and it sat waiting to be installed ..... not as long as the storm door waited, but only months.
This door was screen from bottom to top, but with a guard on the outside of the bottom half. I wondered loud about putting a similar guard on the front side. You know, a preventative measure, if you will. My idea fell on deaf ears and the door was installed. The breezes flowed into my hot little kitchen and all was well in my world throughout Spring. I leave the back door open when the weather permits. I can hear the dogs easier and they seem to be willing to stay out longer if they hear me in the kitchen.
Not long ago Cujo learned to open the screen door and go out by himself. I had considered a doggie door, but given Martha, the boy cat's, hunting abilities and the fact that he likes to bring special "gifts" to us, this idea was quickly vetoed. Cujo has a shorter body than Eddie and he is stockier. He could give the door a good tap and scoot out before the door came back to the frame. Toni Louise could do it, as well. I am pretty sure that Wall-E was capable, but he would rather martyr himself and sulk around inside, than join the others outside. I think he secretly hoped I would find the behavior to be bad and the other dogs would receive a good scolding, but Wall-E's martyrdom is another story entirely.
Charming Eddie is not one to shy away from a good challenge or to be left out. He watched and he tried the door trick. He lacked the body bulk to give enough oomph to his push and could not make it all the way out before the door came back to trap him in the threshold. I witnessed a few of his attempts and laughed at him.
Perhaps I should have not mocked him. After a particularly busy day, I came inside to find him strutting around with something caught in his teeth and hanging from the sides of his mouth. Screen spline. The spline is black and Eddie is black, making him look like a walrus. After I freed the spline from his teeth, I inspected my screen door.
He had pulled the screen out, in an attempt to escape, but was thwarted by the screen guard. This would be the answer to the question HeWho asked when I suggested guards on both sides.
Fast forward to this past Wednesday. HeWho took the screen down to rescreen the bottom and put the wire stuff on the inside. The door languished atop a picnic table until yesterday when it was re-installed. He bought a roll of the stuff and covered the door top to bottom with it. It makes me dizzy when I try to look outside. Not only that ..... he did not trim the stuff very well and the door would not close this morning.
I hear a drill out there as I write. I am afraid to look.
Have you heard? Fall is here. The leaves are turning and the stores are putting Christmas decorations out .... must be fall. School starting is over and now we wait for ghosts and goblins. I hauled out the bins I so carefully labeled some 10 years ago.
One would think I could put the stuff back into the correctly labeled bins. I didn't. I have to open all of them to see what is what. I know I have more stuff, but can't be bothered to crawl up the ladder to see what surprises I might have tucked away in the other bins labeled Christmas.
I found some of those lights for the windows with the pumpkin stuck on top. Bulbs didn't work. I know I have some .... somewhere here, but I just pulled the tops off and used them for the gnome garden. Perfect size and just think how much money I saved on our electricity bill!
Took a picture and now I am wondering where the third gnome is. I have no energy left to go out and look. I am biding my time, waiting for 7:00 to roll around so I can lock up and go kick back and hold dogs until it is time to go to bed. I have been feeling "poorly" this week. All the things I usually do in one day have taken all week. I know the pollen count is high and mold spores are in the air, but the pollen count is always high here with the wind blowing and, let's face it, you can't really escape the effects unless you live in a bubble.
I sometimes feel like I live in a bubble. My housekeeping efforts are pretty minimal when we are busy and we have been busy this season. I do make an effort to keep up with the dusting and floor cleaning. But, I have been really lax lately and I know this because, as I sat in my recliner receiving canine comfort, I happened to look in the corner of the room where the wood stove is and noticed a cobweb. A truly magnificent one! No, I did not jump up and grab the broom and pull out the vacuum. Remember, I was feeling poorly.
No, what I did was close my eyes and then slit them open just a bit to trick Toni Louise into thinking I was asleep so she would stop sniffing my eyeballs. I stared at the cobweb, like one would stare at the clouds and imagine different shapes. My cobweb looks like a hammock!!
I did manage to put out a bit of seasonal cheer. I don't plant lot of corn and we eat the few ears that grow. So, I only have a few stalks for décor. I beef them up with the tiger lily stalks that I carefully remove from the thousand or so plants I have. Tie a bow and stick a gourd or a witches face in it and there you go.
Notice the chainsaw art frog? We had some chainsaw art guys stay here for a awhile and HeWho commissioned the frog for my happy birthday. I do like frogs, and it is the logo for the park, and one should not be picky ...... but I would have preferred a rendering of Charming Eddie or Cujo. The frog is great, though. He welcomes visitors as they enter the office to register. Well, him and the witch .......
