The stay at home order in NC has been extended to May 8th. Before the governor made the announcement I felt like it would be extended but happy to see the stay home thing is being extended by just a week or so from the original April 29th date. Looks like my dentist appointment will be wiped out by the extension. The journey of the second extraction will be postponed and the next step in an implant that began in January will also be put aside for yet a little while. Meanwhile, that just means more time to save money for the procedures. That is how the redneck flowerbed came about. Knowing the rubberized mulch costs more than regular mulch, along with labor costs, the flowerbed came under home project jurisdiction. Nathan and crew could have knocked this out in a day or so but with the slow and steady progress and the reworking of a few ideas, the flowerbed that began in earnest around March 9th is just about completed. By nature, I am not a jigsaw puzzle person but making my ideas work has been like a giant puzzle. Because the rubberized mulch season is coming to an end, some of the reviewed ideas will have to be implemented next spring. And yes, some weeds are cropping up between the cracks but nothing at all like they usually are in that flowerbed.
With the rainy day I also worked on the changing of the season clothing exchange. This is a time when I cull out things that probably won't be worn in the summer, but with no where to take the clothes, some of that is just being set aside for now. Still have work to do but now with the fog lifting and the light rain ending, the call of outdoors is too strong for resistance.
The past two weeks Roy has been able to go to the office one day a week but that now is coming to an end. As they try to determine what groups can safely come back because their jobs are more efficient from the office than home, think like engineering, no longer can employees randomly come downtown one or two days a week. You can hear the cabin fever in Roy's voice and he says working from home takes more energy than physically being in the office. With all the remodeling they've been doing in their building, that is probably coming to a stop. People were being officed in smaller spaces and tighter quarters. Thankfully, Roy's group can work from home and are able to do their jobs. Since he doesn't have commute time now, he rides his bike after work around Spring Lake and the water feature next to our home.
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Good Tuesday morning! Looks like most things that have been recently planted made it through the frost advisory. These past few days there has been a confidence to begin getting things into the ground. Since Reems Creek has been closed, so many of the plantings this year will begin as seeds in the dirt. Sunday I cleaned out three small flowerbeds in the back and planted wildflowers, dahlias, and some other flower whose name escapes me right now. Close by the flowerbed by the driveway I planted three peony plants. On the other side of the driveway I planted the new azalea, burning bush shrubs and then added a few more perennials around the cherry trees. Also, I cannot tell a lie, I didn't chop down the cherry trees. I put out some weed poison and I'll check on that today. I also have one more raised flowerbed to put together and that might get done today as well. I had given some thought to driving down to Strawberry Hill but punted that idea into next week. Ducketts Produce in Canton opens on Friday, so maybe I will only go there for strawberries.
Mike the mower man was here yesterday, so it is a joy to be in the yard with the grass cut. Everything is looking good garden wise and this morning got the shipping confirmation for the last of the rubberized mulch pathways. That will finish out that portion of the project. Reems Creek is supposed to be open again, so today might hold a quick look see, of course complete with mask.
The snowball bushes are bursting with snowball blooms and flowers. The dogwoods are starting to leaf out and the red bud trees have finished red budding for this season. I am fortunate to have spring in the front yard but I have missed driving here and there throughout the countryside seeing all the beauty therein. I can't complain, after having such a pretty view out the front porch. We added several bird feeders in the back and the birds have been, dare I say, flocking for the grub. So many gold finches this year. I have also seen blue birds a little more and about the same amount of cardinals.
The list of to do is getting checked off. Added an additional security camera on the front porch yesterday. It was a little more complicated than the first one but finally, with some patience, went online. Things like washing the car, putting up books, getting the new desk area in shape in the bonus room....nothing earth shattering, just stuff that has needed to be done.
Well, this has been the gardening catch up. It has been particularly soothing to the soul. Maybe, because this year it hasn't been rushed and the labor is more appreciated cause my back and feet can tell a few stories of these gardening days.
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Back In The Olden Days
This past week the last part of Ephesians 3 has been on my mind. The beyond, infinitely more, than we can ask or think but the verses before those words have meant much more in these days. Those verses of how high, wide, deep and long the love of God is...the verses sometimes we can minimize or skip cause we want to get to the beyond our finite minds to the infinite of God's ability and power as it pertains to us or to the ones we love. Or at least that is how it worked for so long personally. While reading this morning, I found myself back in Ephesians 3. And who knows why but my thoughts drifted to a time long ago and really not thought about too much.
When Roy and I got married, came home from our honeymoon to that small, dark, apartment Roy lived in, we came home to a mixed bag of surprises. Before getting home we had stopped at the savings and loan to close out the account that paid the wedding expenses. Surprise, the meager amount of money left in the account, was gone, so was the account. Closed by my father. Once again he had reneged on his promise that any leftover money was mine. We were counting on that $100.00 to get us through the next two weeks. Roy would be starting a new job and that $100.00 was our food and expense money. This is back in the day when you got a check, deposited it and waited a couple of days for the funds to be good. With this dismal news we returned to the apartment that was to be our home for only a few more weeks because we were moving to the Galleria area for Roy to be closer to his job. While we tried to figure out how we would buy groceries, we went to the kitchen to assess what we had for our food options and how we could stretch them. Roy was notorious about keeping it lean in life and believe me, the kitchen pickings were going to be lean...except...they weren't. Friends had the apartment manager open the apartment while we were on our honeymoon and they had stocked our kitchen with essentials as well as some fun, special kind of treat options. That my friends is above and beyond, more than we could ask or think of God for that moment in time. What had been meant as evil turned out for good. Several days later, my father called and asked what in the world were we going to do for food the next few weeks. Beware of questions being asked by someone who knows the answer...without even giving reference to what he had done, I happily told him of our good fortune of having friends who thought outside the box for wedding gifts.
The apartment we moved to was probably more apartment than we needed. It was a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment with a front and back door. We had a fenced in front patio that had a small flowerbed ready to be filled. We had sold my car right after moving because Roy could take the bus down Westheimer to go to the office. In retrospect, we should have sold Roy's car cause that thing was nothing but a money grabbing expense. He had a Toranado and the garage guy told us they should have named the car a Tornado because it caused a storm though checking accounts. We moved into the new apartment with our third hand living room furniture we bought from a co-worker moving away, a queen sized bed, the kitchenette set I had bought when I moved into an apartment after college, bookshelves made of cinder block and 2x4s, and this big old heavy gray metal desk of Roy's. Oh, we also had Roy's portable broken down only one channel needed a wire hanger as an antennae TV, a bar stool and a kitchen knife. Thank goodness our wedding gifts filled out our beginning life nicely. We loved having that backdoor because taking groceries into the kitchen wasn't much of a chore. One of the bathrooms had a huge linen closet, only we couldn't use it because it had carpenter ants in it...no they were not singing Close to You. Told apartment maintenance about it, they would drop by, spray the closet...didn't affect those ants in anyway. Roy and I had just heard a sermon on Psalm 91. I also remember in college, a friend of a friend needed a place to spend the night in San Marcos, so I offered the empty bed in my room since the roommate spent the nights with her boyfriend. She only spent one night there the whole semester. I don't remember the girl's name that stayed the night but I do remember her telling me that if you only memorized one passage of scripture, memorize Psalm 91. It covered everything, for anytime, any trouble. Back to our linen closet. Every morning after Roy left for the office, I would take my Bible into that bathroom, ask the ants if they were listening to me, I'd kick the door, cause that is where they were working, and once kicked you could hear the rattle of those ants falling. I did this every morning for months, kicked the door and read Psalm 91 to them cause when it got to pestilence, I told them they couldn't live in the linen closet anymore cause the Word of God said, they could not come nigh my dwelling. One Sunday night Roy and I came home from church and that bathroom was covered in carpenter ants.There were hundreds of ants and none of them left the bathroom except by death. Roy began to kill them and I went and got bug spray from the kitchen. Back then I didn't know that pestilence meant sickness or disease. I thought it meant bugs and vermin...cause of thinking of the usage of pest control. God answered His Word, the ants were gone and we were finally able to use the linen closet. That is almost a memory that is forty three years old but always a good reminder that I prayed the Word, asked and sought God...He answered....above and beyond. But it was experiencing God's love in that adventure. I know I had experienced it before and continue to in these days...oh the deep deep love of Jesus.
I also remembered that in our first two years of marriage, we changed apartments a lot...looking for better deals etc... Way back then we didn't have much to move and it was nothing to do so but now...oh my, way too much stuff.
When Roy and I got married, came home from our honeymoon to that small, dark, apartment Roy lived in, we came home to a mixed bag of surprises. Before getting home we had stopped at the savings and loan to close out the account that paid the wedding expenses. Surprise, the meager amount of money left in the account, was gone, so was the account. Closed by my father. Once again he had reneged on his promise that any leftover money was mine. We were counting on that $100.00 to get us through the next two weeks. Roy would be starting a new job and that $100.00 was our food and expense money. This is back in the day when you got a check, deposited it and waited a couple of days for the funds to be good. With this dismal news we returned to the apartment that was to be our home for only a few more weeks because we were moving to the Galleria area for Roy to be closer to his job. While we tried to figure out how we would buy groceries, we went to the kitchen to assess what we had for our food options and how we could stretch them. Roy was notorious about keeping it lean in life and believe me, the kitchen pickings were going to be lean...except...they weren't. Friends had the apartment manager open the apartment while we were on our honeymoon and they had stocked our kitchen with essentials as well as some fun, special kind of treat options. That my friends is above and beyond, more than we could ask or think of God for that moment in time. What had been meant as evil turned out for good. Several days later, my father called and asked what in the world were we going to do for food the next few weeks. Beware of questions being asked by someone who knows the answer...without even giving reference to what he had done, I happily told him of our good fortune of having friends who thought outside the box for wedding gifts.
The apartment we moved to was probably more apartment than we needed. It was a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment with a front and back door. We had a fenced in front patio that had a small flowerbed ready to be filled. We had sold my car right after moving because Roy could take the bus down Westheimer to go to the office. In retrospect, we should have sold Roy's car cause that thing was nothing but a money grabbing expense. He had a Toranado and the garage guy told us they should have named the car a Tornado because it caused a storm though checking accounts. We moved into the new apartment with our third hand living room furniture we bought from a co-worker moving away, a queen sized bed, the kitchenette set I had bought when I moved into an apartment after college, bookshelves made of cinder block and 2x4s, and this big old heavy gray metal desk of Roy's. Oh, we also had Roy's portable broken down only one channel needed a wire hanger as an antennae TV, a bar stool and a kitchen knife. Thank goodness our wedding gifts filled out our beginning life nicely. We loved having that backdoor because taking groceries into the kitchen wasn't much of a chore. One of the bathrooms had a huge linen closet, only we couldn't use it because it had carpenter ants in it...no they were not singing Close to You. Told apartment maintenance about it, they would drop by, spray the closet...didn't affect those ants in anyway. Roy and I had just heard a sermon on Psalm 91. I also remember in college, a friend of a friend needed a place to spend the night in San Marcos, so I offered the empty bed in my room since the roommate spent the nights with her boyfriend. She only spent one night there the whole semester. I don't remember the girl's name that stayed the night but I do remember her telling me that if you only memorized one passage of scripture, memorize Psalm 91. It covered everything, for anytime, any trouble. Back to our linen closet. Every morning after Roy left for the office, I would take my Bible into that bathroom, ask the ants if they were listening to me, I'd kick the door, cause that is where they were working, and once kicked you could hear the rattle of those ants falling. I did this every morning for months, kicked the door and read Psalm 91 to them cause when it got to pestilence, I told them they couldn't live in the linen closet anymore cause the Word of God said, they could not come nigh my dwelling. One Sunday night Roy and I came home from church and that bathroom was covered in carpenter ants.There were hundreds of ants and none of them left the bathroom except by death. Roy began to kill them and I went and got bug spray from the kitchen. Back then I didn't know that pestilence meant sickness or disease. I thought it meant bugs and vermin...cause of thinking of the usage of pest control. God answered His Word, the ants were gone and we were finally able to use the linen closet. That is almost a memory that is forty three years old but always a good reminder that I prayed the Word, asked and sought God...He answered....above and beyond. But it was experiencing God's love in that adventure. I know I had experienced it before and continue to in these days...oh the deep deep love of Jesus.
I also remembered that in our first two years of marriage, we changed apartments a lot...looking for better deals etc... Way back then we didn't have much to move and it was nothing to do so but now...oh my, way too much stuff.
Monday, April 20, 2020
Rain, Frayed and Pity...
I have to admit I get most news from Twitter. Thus it is a pick and chose kind of thing on what article to read or if there is a pay wall which means, sadly, I won't be informed. Along with informative news comes a bunch of junk. Sometimes all that junk wears on me. In the past few months I've read more cuss words than ever and my prayer is, please don't let one of those words take up lodging and accidentally come out at an inappropriate time.
People's nerves are a little more frayed than this time last month. There is so much loss and grief. There is so much boredom with inactivity. Yesterday is the first day I have done really absolutely nothing, other than drying clothes. I watched TV. I semi napped. I snacked and didn't eat healthy. There were cows to observe, birds to wonder at and thoughts to ponder. It was a welcomed day of reprieve. One thing, I never am bored, there are things to amuse and entertain me. Of course I am easily entertained. My screen time is down from the iPhone report. That's good news.
After a night of rain, with some this morning as well, the storm clouds have moved to the south a bit. The scene from the front room contains so many eye catching views. The spring shades of green are more prominent and a few trees in view are holding on to those golden colors but green is winning. The cardinals must be hungry this morning because they crowd the bird feeders. They're letting in a few of the wrens and finches but keeping doves at bay. Mockingbirds aren't afraid of much, so they challenge the majority rule and most times defeat it. The other day while working outside once again a crow was chasing a hawk. That hawk was moving at warp speed. One would think the hawk would turn the tide on that crow, but the crow knows its eggs and babies are merely appetizers for hawks. Of course that is how crows view baby rabbits. This morning I threw out some treats from the back porch to take attendance. Frankie was luxuriating in one of the little chairs but it seemed from the security camera that Big was under the house. At first Punky, Edee and Ranger came up to the door, then once I was inside Frankie made his way to hog up all the food, that is until Big made his appearance from under the house. I think I should name him Eddie Haskell, young people look him up, cause he seems very respectful to me but he wrecks havoc amongst his own kind. I haven't seen Beanie for a couple of days but maybe she will reappear like these cats are wont to do. Oh, and Camo, I have seen her two times after months of her absence. She looks worn out but that comes with the feral life. Ranger gives me those looks that I interpret she would give up her feral ways. Don't think I have the gift of interpretation.
We need to put Alexa where she can be seen. Roy texted that a package had been delivered. Guess we will move the echo into the bonus room cause that's where I spend a lot of down time. So hoping for the front porch but alas it was in the mailbox down by the road. The package was a Flow Magazine Paper Lover book. It was wrapped well and would have survived but it was good to get it into the house last night. Normally, I wait to order if a Sunday delivery is involved but those Flow books go quickly and it is the first time being offered on Amazon. Maybe the bigger fear would be the people who rob mailboxes. That has gone up quite a bit. Doug sent me a card to the house and it was in the mailbox, but it had been opened as if someone was looking for a gift card. That's why early on, we got a post office box. I should have taken the garbage to the road but since there is hardly anything worth the trip down and back to the road, it will be a for sure trip next Sunday afternoon.
During the trek to the road, the Dr who boards her horses with our neighbor came down the road in her truck as I was walking up it. She looks at me with pity each time and I know it's because I have totally gone into don't care old lady mode. Hair unkempt, clothes don't match, no makeup, and the like. Anyway, yesterday I had taken old lady wear up a notch. The green Baylor sweatshirt and a blue Grandfather Mountain shirt along with jeans, jeans go with everything, got an especially good pity look. It's like the two weeks I spent at the rehab hospital after bilateral knee replacements...no makeup, disheveled appearance. When I came back a week or so after being released, none of them recognized me...so I do clean up well.
The sun is out and it is coolish. Time to go work on the front porch since this morning's indoor time was used to blog. At least all the Easter stuff is up and ready for storage in the garage.
People's nerves are a little more frayed than this time last month. There is so much loss and grief. There is so much boredom with inactivity. Yesterday is the first day I have done really absolutely nothing, other than drying clothes. I watched TV. I semi napped. I snacked and didn't eat healthy. There were cows to observe, birds to wonder at and thoughts to ponder. It was a welcomed day of reprieve. One thing, I never am bored, there are things to amuse and entertain me. Of course I am easily entertained. My screen time is down from the iPhone report. That's good news.
After a night of rain, with some this morning as well, the storm clouds have moved to the south a bit. The scene from the front room contains so many eye catching views. The spring shades of green are more prominent and a few trees in view are holding on to those golden colors but green is winning. The cardinals must be hungry this morning because they crowd the bird feeders. They're letting in a few of the wrens and finches but keeping doves at bay. Mockingbirds aren't afraid of much, so they challenge the majority rule and most times defeat it. The other day while working outside once again a crow was chasing a hawk. That hawk was moving at warp speed. One would think the hawk would turn the tide on that crow, but the crow knows its eggs and babies are merely appetizers for hawks. Of course that is how crows view baby rabbits. This morning I threw out some treats from the back porch to take attendance. Frankie was luxuriating in one of the little chairs but it seemed from the security camera that Big was under the house. At first Punky, Edee and Ranger came up to the door, then once I was inside Frankie made his way to hog up all the food, that is until Big made his appearance from under the house. I think I should name him Eddie Haskell, young people look him up, cause he seems very respectful to me but he wrecks havoc amongst his own kind. I haven't seen Beanie for a couple of days but maybe she will reappear like these cats are wont to do. Oh, and Camo, I have seen her two times after months of her absence. She looks worn out but that comes with the feral life. Ranger gives me those looks that I interpret she would give up her feral ways. Don't think I have the gift of interpretation.
We need to put Alexa where she can be seen. Roy texted that a package had been delivered. Guess we will move the echo into the bonus room cause that's where I spend a lot of down time. So hoping for the front porch but alas it was in the mailbox down by the road. The package was a Flow Magazine Paper Lover book. It was wrapped well and would have survived but it was good to get it into the house last night. Normally, I wait to order if a Sunday delivery is involved but those Flow books go quickly and it is the first time being offered on Amazon. Maybe the bigger fear would be the people who rob mailboxes. That has gone up quite a bit. Doug sent me a card to the house and it was in the mailbox, but it had been opened as if someone was looking for a gift card. That's why early on, we got a post office box. I should have taken the garbage to the road but since there is hardly anything worth the trip down and back to the road, it will be a for sure trip next Sunday afternoon.
During the trek to the road, the Dr who boards her horses with our neighbor came down the road in her truck as I was walking up it. She looks at me with pity each time and I know it's because I have totally gone into don't care old lady mode. Hair unkempt, clothes don't match, no makeup, and the like. Anyway, yesterday I had taken old lady wear up a notch. The green Baylor sweatshirt and a blue Grandfather Mountain shirt along with jeans, jeans go with everything, got an especially good pity look. It's like the two weeks I spent at the rehab hospital after bilateral knee replacements...no makeup, disheveled appearance. When I came back a week or so after being released, none of them recognized me...so I do clean up well.
The sun is out and it is coolish. Time to go work on the front porch since this morning's indoor time was used to blog. At least all the Easter stuff is up and ready for storage in the garage.
Sunday, April 19, 2020
Is Today Sunday or Monday?
It has started out as a lazy Saturday morning. Buddy has had treats and I have eaten breakfast. I've already run a couple loads of laundry.
Many days the kiddos in the backyard get brunch instead of an early morning breakfast. Some of the passing through cats have influenced the adjustment of the schedule. Some of them are downright mean, especially Frankie. I think he is meaner than Mr Meany. Last night while cleaning out photos on my phone I came across a pic from a few years ago. It was a pic of one of the passing through cats whom I've named Big Chief. The pic showed a much younger and smaller cat. I'm thinking since he is huge and seems to be in command of all the cats in the land, his father must have been Big Sissy Daddy and his mother is Mama Cat. He must have been born in that year that Mama Cat didn't make an appearance, in fact, I thought she was dead. She showed up the day after Cali died. Watching these cats has given insight into a cat world that has protocols, boundaries and territories. The only one that ever broke all these cat protocols was Mr McBeavy. Back to Big, his presence scatters others, if they happen to be around. He is becoming a more frequent visitor and so I need to discourage that. Strawyer, well, he is affected by this. He can't come and eat because in the chain of command he is low cat on the totem pole. Straw knows I'll feed him separably from the other cats so he can grab a quick bite. I think Punky had kittens four or five weeks ago but since I haven't seen any evidence of them, they probably didn't make it. Last week is when they should have made some kind of appearance. She had them up on the gravel road somewhere and that never bodes well for the life span of any cat that chooses to spend lots of time up there. Yesterday, Punky was hanging around some bushes and shrubs where previous litters have slept around and played in. I kept a watch to see if there was any stirring, but it was only Edee. Big came back in the late afternoon and only Punky doesn't seem that afraid, although, she gave him room to eat a few treats that I threw to them from the porch. Big keeps Frankie from the yard and that's okay for now. I cut off one of their routes to the gravel road yesterday. None of them are happy about that.
The man down the road across from the barn is out mowing again today. This is not a social distancing thing for him, he does this all spring, summer and fall. He has two huge parcels of land but yesterday after mowing his grass, he began mowing across the way and on down the road on the land closest to the road, what a great neighbor...keeping weeds and tall grass at bay.
*************
This morning I watched Mud Creek Baptist Church in Hendersonville on TV. The message was good, with an Easter emphasis, but on a different level I experienced a bit of nostalgia. The pastor looks, sounds and preached like John Bisagno. The cadence, the invitation to know Jesus...so much like Brother John.
It was supposed to rain most of yesterday but delightfully wrong in the forecast only the morning was rainy and soon the sun broke through for a beautiful day. The original plan for inside work quickly changed. Got two burning bush planted. Also, did some reinforcement work on the cat deterrents on the edge of the porch. Pulled a few weeds and rid two rose bushes of an invasive vine. The vine is a fast acting, fast growing weed that overtakes plants and soon destroys them. The rose bushes that were freed yesterday are located in a precarious part of the yard. That vine had taken root and taken hold. The rose bushes had started to grow in width to escape the clutches, so after ripping out the vines two robust rose bushes were left. Last year they were kind of spindly. Now, as I have written before, I am not a hyper look for a spiritual lesson in everything I do but I try to keep my attention focused in seeing God in the ordinary of the day. There was a spiritual lesson in those roses with the beautiful vines overtaking and overwhelming...set free from that constraint, they are ready to bloom and be all that roses are intended to be. The thorns weren't gone miraculously as I ripped out the vines, but there were a very few small blooms.
After working so hard in the yard and garden, the reward treat was two beef tenderloin tamales from the order delivered on Monday. While the tamales were cooking in the oven, the appetizer was guacamole and dang, it was very good guacamole. Dessert was a no sugar added krunch Klondike bar. That late lunch early supper was delicious! My intent was to go upstairs and read. I did go upstairs but instead of reading I watched the free episode from Showtime of Belgravia. Hooked, but not adding Showtime to the channels. Maybe it can be streamed, I'll check into that.
A baby calf was born yesterday and while I was eating the delicious tamales on the front porch, I watched the little one and his mom. His wobbly legs and then his attention to his surroundings made for delightful watching. The drama on the neighbors farm above us has come to a conclusion. Nancy, had let their two pigs out in the pasture with Bertha and Beatrice the cows. The male pig developed an infatuation with one of the cows, then that infatuation developed into love. That pig followed the cow everywhere. One afternoon, the pig was asleep by the cow and she tried ever so much to quietly escape the affection and attention of the pig. She was almost free when the pig wakes up and trots on over to sit by the cow...which has now relaxed by sitting on the ground. Cow got up, pig followed. This scene has been going on since day one but Nancy and Steve decided to remove the pigs so the cows could have some peace. These kinds of scenes make not having a TV downstairs a good decision. The gold finches, in colorful displays, are the main birds at the various feeders we have around the front and backyards. What a colorful, fiery display when a red male cardinal joins in. I've almost always noticed the birds singing around here but their songs seem louder and stronger this past month.
Many days the kiddos in the backyard get brunch instead of an early morning breakfast. Some of the passing through cats have influenced the adjustment of the schedule. Some of them are downright mean, especially Frankie. I think he is meaner than Mr Meany. Last night while cleaning out photos on my phone I came across a pic from a few years ago. It was a pic of one of the passing through cats whom I've named Big Chief. The pic showed a much younger and smaller cat. I'm thinking since he is huge and seems to be in command of all the cats in the land, his father must have been Big Sissy Daddy and his mother is Mama Cat. He must have been born in that year that Mama Cat didn't make an appearance, in fact, I thought she was dead. She showed up the day after Cali died. Watching these cats has given insight into a cat world that has protocols, boundaries and territories. The only one that ever broke all these cat protocols was Mr McBeavy. Back to Big, his presence scatters others, if they happen to be around. He is becoming a more frequent visitor and so I need to discourage that. Strawyer, well, he is affected by this. He can't come and eat because in the chain of command he is low cat on the totem pole. Straw knows I'll feed him separably from the other cats so he can grab a quick bite. I think Punky had kittens four or five weeks ago but since I haven't seen any evidence of them, they probably didn't make it. Last week is when they should have made some kind of appearance. She had them up on the gravel road somewhere and that never bodes well for the life span of any cat that chooses to spend lots of time up there. Yesterday, Punky was hanging around some bushes and shrubs where previous litters have slept around and played in. I kept a watch to see if there was any stirring, but it was only Edee. Big came back in the late afternoon and only Punky doesn't seem that afraid, although, she gave him room to eat a few treats that I threw to them from the porch. Big keeps Frankie from the yard and that's okay for now. I cut off one of their routes to the gravel road yesterday. None of them are happy about that.
The man down the road across from the barn is out mowing again today. This is not a social distancing thing for him, he does this all spring, summer and fall. He has two huge parcels of land but yesterday after mowing his grass, he began mowing across the way and on down the road on the land closest to the road, what a great neighbor...keeping weeds and tall grass at bay.
*************
This morning I watched Mud Creek Baptist Church in Hendersonville on TV. The message was good, with an Easter emphasis, but on a different level I experienced a bit of nostalgia. The pastor looks, sounds and preached like John Bisagno. The cadence, the invitation to know Jesus...so much like Brother John.
It was supposed to rain most of yesterday but delightfully wrong in the forecast only the morning was rainy and soon the sun broke through for a beautiful day. The original plan for inside work quickly changed. Got two burning bush planted. Also, did some reinforcement work on the cat deterrents on the edge of the porch. Pulled a few weeds and rid two rose bushes of an invasive vine. The vine is a fast acting, fast growing weed that overtakes plants and soon destroys them. The rose bushes that were freed yesterday are located in a precarious part of the yard. That vine had taken root and taken hold. The rose bushes had started to grow in width to escape the clutches, so after ripping out the vines two robust rose bushes were left. Last year they were kind of spindly. Now, as I have written before, I am not a hyper look for a spiritual lesson in everything I do but I try to keep my attention focused in seeing God in the ordinary of the day. There was a spiritual lesson in those roses with the beautiful vines overtaking and overwhelming...set free from that constraint, they are ready to bloom and be all that roses are intended to be. The thorns weren't gone miraculously as I ripped out the vines, but there were a very few small blooms.
After working so hard in the yard and garden, the reward treat was two beef tenderloin tamales from the order delivered on Monday. While the tamales were cooking in the oven, the appetizer was guacamole and dang, it was very good guacamole. Dessert was a no sugar added krunch Klondike bar. That late lunch early supper was delicious! My intent was to go upstairs and read. I did go upstairs but instead of reading I watched the free episode from Showtime of Belgravia. Hooked, but not adding Showtime to the channels. Maybe it can be streamed, I'll check into that.
A baby calf was born yesterday and while I was eating the delicious tamales on the front porch, I watched the little one and his mom. His wobbly legs and then his attention to his surroundings made for delightful watching. The drama on the neighbors farm above us has come to a conclusion. Nancy, had let their two pigs out in the pasture with Bertha and Beatrice the cows. The male pig developed an infatuation with one of the cows, then that infatuation developed into love. That pig followed the cow everywhere. One afternoon, the pig was asleep by the cow and she tried ever so much to quietly escape the affection and attention of the pig. She was almost free when the pig wakes up and trots on over to sit by the cow...which has now relaxed by sitting on the ground. Cow got up, pig followed. This scene has been going on since day one but Nancy and Steve decided to remove the pigs so the cows could have some peace. These kinds of scenes make not having a TV downstairs a good decision. The gold finches, in colorful displays, are the main birds at the various feeders we have around the front and backyards. What a colorful, fiery display when a red male cardinal joins in. I've almost always noticed the birds singing around here but their songs seem louder and stronger this past month.
Thursday, April 16, 2020
Beyond Anything
A friend called yesterday and as we talked she told me that Easter Sunday had been rather boring for her. Now this friend on any major or minor holiday is in the throes of cooking and baking for a large extended family, so I can see how Easter Sunday was a tad ho hum. She was thinking I had worked outside on Easter but my Sunday in the yard was hoe hummed because I am at a stopping point waiting on a delivery of materials. It is feeling like improvise Tuesday, so Plan B might begin. After all the rain Sunday night, I see a flaw in the design of the redneck flowerbed and that needs to be corrected. Back to Easter Sunday. I didn't do too much that day neither by watching a myriad of online church services or catching FB Live things. I did play organ music, thank you Apple music subscription. The past few weeks I've been adding and then culling various Easter organ hymns and spiritual songs. I didn't want any plinky plank music, I wanted full throttled, high church, liturgical organ music...John Keys provided most of the music for the day. So the playlist is filled with Crown Him With Many Crowns, Christ the Lord Has Risen Today, Lo In The Grave, Worship the King...you're seeing how I went and then added those Episcopalian touches. I wrote checks and did correspondence for many years for Mrs. Baker and at both her husband's funeral and hers, I unknowingly sat by another Baptist. How do I know? We were singing a familiar hymn to most Protestant churches, but we got to a word in a verse, that Baptists sing differently. While the Episcopalians sang their version, we blooped by singing our known Baptist word. The Baptist man next to me said, you must be Baptist too. On Easter Sunday I didn't read the resurrection story in the Gospels even though they are some of my favorite passages. I didn't finish up my Lenten devotional. I didn't pose in front of my computer screen with a slogan in the background. I did sing. I did worship the King. I did pray. I did express my overflowing gratitude to Him for so much of life fillings at this time and for many things. I did watch the virtual choirs cobbled together via Zoom. I love what one pastor said a couple of weeks ago, even though it is an Easter emphasis at this time of year, anyone who has been looking for an excuse to get rid of their churches singing Christmas tree concert, should use this time to begin to phase that 1970s wonder out. You know what eliminates a singing Christmas tree? Have portions of it begin to fall in a concert....that's how our church kicked that tree to the dump.
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Back on a cold Thursday morning. When I awoke a little before 8:00, it was 30 degrees outside with a feels like temp of 24. Brrr.... Yesterday, although in the 60s and the sun shinning, it was a breezy cool. While working outside in shift mode, a lot of down time rescued me by retreating indoors. On Tuesday I made my once a week trip into Weaverville that included a stop at Lowe's. They had the nugget rubberized mulch on sale...sadly, they had sold out. So with my plan B in effect, I bought several bags of the shredded mulch to finish around the edges and also some potting soil because phase 2 is quickly coming into being. Phase 2 is happening soon because Plan B was put into effect on Tuesday. My last resort because of the delay in materials has been to dig out from underneath an old outdoor rug being used in the garage. Last resort because it was a labor intensive operation. But hey, where am I going? So the dig out began and it took time but finally the rug was extracted and then put into the flower garden, along with three well used welcome mats and one Merry Christmas welcome mat...for such a time as this. If the rubberized mulch pathways ever come, they'll be used to finish out the work. Yesterday, I put out most of the nugget mulch I had and sprayed some weed killer, good old vinegar, Dawn and Epson salts on some of the small weeds making their way through the cracks or not matched up well spots in the garden. I'll go out there in a bit and see if any progress was made cause the vinegar was expired but hey, you work with what you have. Y'all this project is beyond anything I had ever hoped for concerning it.
On Easter Monday I fixed one of the Taste of Texas steaks. Oh man, that was a good steak. I ate it on the back porch, and Bertha and Beatrice the neighbor cows started mooing something fierce. Oops, hope I didn't offend them. The tamales I ordered were delivered on Monday too. Glad I was outdoors cause the UPS guy had trouble finding our address...that's because there was a transposed address number, but the tamales and salsas are safe and sound in the freezer or refrigerator. The steak beyond anything...being outside to receive the tamales...beyond anything.
A wonderful surprise was in store on Tuesday afternoon, Kelly and the four kiddos stopped by with signs and greetings and we complied with the social distancing requirement of six feet. So fun talking with them and laughing as well. Pastor Bradley was making phone calls and checking in with members so he wasn't on the visit. Kelly, is a member of our Joy Class. We love her and she loves us, I mean, she hangs out with us oldies but goodies...we are at minimum 20 years and on older than her. She brings life to us and great ideas. Our class was sponsoring an Easter Egg Hunt but Covid-19 changed those plans. Now here is where we saw what God had prompted Kelly to share with her desire to do something for the kiddos at church. There had been one person who thought maybe we shouldn't egg hunt because of the pagan attachments from history...but we continued buying plastic eggs and candy, planning snacks and a God glorifying time. Kelly would be sharing the Gospel too, after the egg hunt. Then Covid-19....but then God.... Forward to several women at church with a heart for the van kids who come on Sundays because they are picked up at their homes and ride to church sans parents to church. They felt like the kids might be falling through the cracks and wanted to do something about that. They prepared snack packs and Bible lessons for them. Sandra called and asked if we would take some of the names of the kids and pray for them...yes! A resounding yes! At that time I mentioned to Sandra we had the plastic eggs and candy. Could they use them? Yes, they could. So I dropped off everything we had gathered. We also had some eggs in our Sunday School room and told Sandra they were free to take those as well. As the crew took the eggs with candy and Bible lessons to van kids as well as church kids. God used these eggs and candy to open the hearts of parents. Many of the kids wouldn't have been getting Easter baskets this year because of financial hardships caused from the virus and these parents minds and hearts were opened to the church and the gospel because of this simple yet profound gesture. Oh and the eggs in the closet? A family called, no ties to the church and asked if their kids could be included...the eggs in the closet were just the right amount needed for the four children added. God is so good! We thought egg hunt, God knew hearts that needed to hear about Him. This feels so like the boy with the fishes and bread...God multiplied our meager offerings. He is beyond anything....
These past few weeks of social distancing has contained some of the finest hours of God's goodness. The story above being one. Sometimes we have this mindset of what we should be doing or what we think is required and can feel a little guilty when we aren't practicing what so many others have shared. Easter is always meaningful if you're a Christian, but this particular Easter was more meaningful without the usual. On Monday I read a devo written by a woman who wouldn't be invited to speak at any women's ministry event at conservative churches. She is out there, uses words that maybe if we are honest only utter when tremendously frustrated and is a slip of the tongue, is so different but she loves the Lord, serves Him....but not in the box we construct. Her Easter devotional hit me like a ton of Robin Eggs Minis. God used her words beyond anything in the norm for me... I used to be afraid to read anything written that I couldn't agree 100% with. We agree on the things we should agree on...Jesus is God's Son, He was raised from the dead, born of a virgin, and He is Lord. God knew the words from His Word that she wrote about would encourage me.
God, above and beyond anything we could ever ask or think.
**********
Back on a cold Thursday morning. When I awoke a little before 8:00, it was 30 degrees outside with a feels like temp of 24. Brrr.... Yesterday, although in the 60s and the sun shinning, it was a breezy cool. While working outside in shift mode, a lot of down time rescued me by retreating indoors. On Tuesday I made my once a week trip into Weaverville that included a stop at Lowe's. They had the nugget rubberized mulch on sale...sadly, they had sold out. So with my plan B in effect, I bought several bags of the shredded mulch to finish around the edges and also some potting soil because phase 2 is quickly coming into being. Phase 2 is happening soon because Plan B was put into effect on Tuesday. My last resort because of the delay in materials has been to dig out from underneath an old outdoor rug being used in the garage. Last resort because it was a labor intensive operation. But hey, where am I going? So the dig out began and it took time but finally the rug was extracted and then put into the flower garden, along with three well used welcome mats and one Merry Christmas welcome mat...for such a time as this. If the rubberized mulch pathways ever come, they'll be used to finish out the work. Yesterday, I put out most of the nugget mulch I had and sprayed some weed killer, good old vinegar, Dawn and Epson salts on some of the small weeds making their way through the cracks or not matched up well spots in the garden. I'll go out there in a bit and see if any progress was made cause the vinegar was expired but hey, you work with what you have. Y'all this project is beyond anything I had ever hoped for concerning it.
On Easter Monday I fixed one of the Taste of Texas steaks. Oh man, that was a good steak. I ate it on the back porch, and Bertha and Beatrice the neighbor cows started mooing something fierce. Oops, hope I didn't offend them. The tamales I ordered were delivered on Monday too. Glad I was outdoors cause the UPS guy had trouble finding our address...that's because there was a transposed address number, but the tamales and salsas are safe and sound in the freezer or refrigerator. The steak beyond anything...being outside to receive the tamales...beyond anything.
A wonderful surprise was in store on Tuesday afternoon, Kelly and the four kiddos stopped by with signs and greetings and we complied with the social distancing requirement of six feet. So fun talking with them and laughing as well. Pastor Bradley was making phone calls and checking in with members so he wasn't on the visit. Kelly, is a member of our Joy Class. We love her and she loves us, I mean, she hangs out with us oldies but goodies...we are at minimum 20 years and on older than her. She brings life to us and great ideas. Our class was sponsoring an Easter Egg Hunt but Covid-19 changed those plans. Now here is where we saw what God had prompted Kelly to share with her desire to do something for the kiddos at church. There had been one person who thought maybe we shouldn't egg hunt because of the pagan attachments from history...but we continued buying plastic eggs and candy, planning snacks and a God glorifying time. Kelly would be sharing the Gospel too, after the egg hunt. Then Covid-19....but then God.... Forward to several women at church with a heart for the van kids who come on Sundays because they are picked up at their homes and ride to church sans parents to church. They felt like the kids might be falling through the cracks and wanted to do something about that. They prepared snack packs and Bible lessons for them. Sandra called and asked if we would take some of the names of the kids and pray for them...yes! A resounding yes! At that time I mentioned to Sandra we had the plastic eggs and candy. Could they use them? Yes, they could. So I dropped off everything we had gathered. We also had some eggs in our Sunday School room and told Sandra they were free to take those as well. As the crew took the eggs with candy and Bible lessons to van kids as well as church kids. God used these eggs and candy to open the hearts of parents. Many of the kids wouldn't have been getting Easter baskets this year because of financial hardships caused from the virus and these parents minds and hearts were opened to the church and the gospel because of this simple yet profound gesture. Oh and the eggs in the closet? A family called, no ties to the church and asked if their kids could be included...the eggs in the closet were just the right amount needed for the four children added. God is so good! We thought egg hunt, God knew hearts that needed to hear about Him. This feels so like the boy with the fishes and bread...God multiplied our meager offerings. He is beyond anything....
These past few weeks of social distancing has contained some of the finest hours of God's goodness. The story above being one. Sometimes we have this mindset of what we should be doing or what we think is required and can feel a little guilty when we aren't practicing what so many others have shared. Easter is always meaningful if you're a Christian, but this particular Easter was more meaningful without the usual. On Monday I read a devo written by a woman who wouldn't be invited to speak at any women's ministry event at conservative churches. She is out there, uses words that maybe if we are honest only utter when tremendously frustrated and is a slip of the tongue, is so different but she loves the Lord, serves Him....but not in the box we construct. Her Easter devotional hit me like a ton of Robin Eggs Minis. God used her words beyond anything in the norm for me... I used to be afraid to read anything written that I couldn't agree 100% with. We agree on the things we should agree on...Jesus is God's Son, He was raised from the dead, born of a virgin, and He is Lord. God knew the words from His Word that she wrote about would encourage me.
God, above and beyond anything we could ever ask or think.
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
A Little Few Day Ramble
It was a long night. Neither Buddy nor I could get coordinated on our sleeping patterns. Finally, around 2:00 am, we both got up and went to the bonus room. Turned on the little heater in there, coldest room in cold temps, turned on the TV and Buddy settled in on my lap. I didn't really sleep but dozed with Dateline on in the background. She woke up and moved down the hall, so I did likewise and turned on the TV in our bedroom. Buddy is a habit cat, so when she returned, she no likey having the TV on...so, off went the TV and we both settled in around 4:00 am and slept till 8:00. She is sound asleep now in the window grabbing that warmth of the sun.
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Today we celebrate Resurrection Sunday! Happy Easter! This morning the house was filled with Easter organ music cause Easter just needs organ music. The magnificent and triumphal deep resonating sound just says He is Risen to this boomer. Buddy is not a fan of organ music so she retreated upstairs to begin her first and extended morning nap. I watched a little of the National Cathedral service, cause I do love me some liturgical worship. The original plan was to get up early and watch the sunrise service from The Pretty Place, but this child slept till almost 8:30 am. They have now posted the video so maybe the early service can be used as a vesper service this evening.
Yesterday, I worked pretty hard around here. Roy and I have been trying to decide if we want to order another project desk from Pottery Barn. Sales have come and gone but it seems like the eternal 25% off is available most days. Since we couldn't decide and now it might not even be delivered with the assembling a part of it, I opted for a different solution. I found a desk online at Target, significantly cheaper and easily assembled. It arrived this week and the size of the cardboard box was perfect for a space needing to be covered in the front flowerbed. So, I got the box and covered it with rubberized mulch, then took all the wrapping off the legs for the table. Brought all that in thinking assembling the desk might be a nice Sunday afternoon project. The first part of the project was to move a chair into our bedroom...not easily or even able to be done by one person, so I found out. I mean I tried sideways, upside down and straight up chair. The only answer was to take the door off. So plan B came into effect, for now the gray chair can be the chair to sit in while using the desk. Putting the desk together was much easier than I thought it would be. In the background the Wizard of Oz on TCM and Lisa P and I texting about it. Then at 8:00 What's Up Doc came on. I love that movie and haven't seen it in years. I laughed just as hard as I did the first time. Lots of slapstick humor. While slapstick is not my favorite humor, this is so well done. And the streets of San Francisco made the best backdrop for all the slapstick to take place. Ryan O'Neal playing a nerd, first movie for Madelyn Kahn and one of the best lines. Barbra Streisand says to Ryan, love means never having to say you're sorry from the huge hit Ryan starred in, Love Story. His response back, that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. Yep, good movie.
Working in the driveway quarry also took some time yesterday while trying to finish up the project and trying to decide whether to do a sub project.
During the social distancing experience I've noticed some stuff, just like everyone else. Some are getting things done around their homes, things that have been put off. Some are catching up on reading or crafts. Nothing new to be said, but instead of working on the obvious things, I am drawn to cleaning and organizing closets, drawers and such that no one would see but me rather doing things like vacuuming or putting things up. I mean I am vacuuming and somewhat keeping up with stuff, but I could do a better job.
Since this is getting rambling like I am wont to do, think I will wrap up this post and move on downstairs.
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Today we celebrate Resurrection Sunday! Happy Easter! This morning the house was filled with Easter organ music cause Easter just needs organ music. The magnificent and triumphal deep resonating sound just says He is Risen to this boomer. Buddy is not a fan of organ music so she retreated upstairs to begin her first and extended morning nap. I watched a little of the National Cathedral service, cause I do love me some liturgical worship. The original plan was to get up early and watch the sunrise service from The Pretty Place, but this child slept till almost 8:30 am. They have now posted the video so maybe the early service can be used as a vesper service this evening.
Yesterday, I worked pretty hard around here. Roy and I have been trying to decide if we want to order another project desk from Pottery Barn. Sales have come and gone but it seems like the eternal 25% off is available most days. Since we couldn't decide and now it might not even be delivered with the assembling a part of it, I opted for a different solution. I found a desk online at Target, significantly cheaper and easily assembled. It arrived this week and the size of the cardboard box was perfect for a space needing to be covered in the front flowerbed. So, I got the box and covered it with rubberized mulch, then took all the wrapping off the legs for the table. Brought all that in thinking assembling the desk might be a nice Sunday afternoon project. The first part of the project was to move a chair into our bedroom...not easily or even able to be done by one person, so I found out. I mean I tried sideways, upside down and straight up chair. The only answer was to take the door off. So plan B came into effect, for now the gray chair can be the chair to sit in while using the desk. Putting the desk together was much easier than I thought it would be. In the background the Wizard of Oz on TCM and Lisa P and I texting about it. Then at 8:00 What's Up Doc came on. I love that movie and haven't seen it in years. I laughed just as hard as I did the first time. Lots of slapstick humor. While slapstick is not my favorite humor, this is so well done. And the streets of San Francisco made the best backdrop for all the slapstick to take place. Ryan O'Neal playing a nerd, first movie for Madelyn Kahn and one of the best lines. Barbra Streisand says to Ryan, love means never having to say you're sorry from the huge hit Ryan starred in, Love Story. His response back, that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. Yep, good movie.
Working in the driveway quarry also took some time yesterday while trying to finish up the project and trying to decide whether to do a sub project.
During the social distancing experience I've noticed some stuff, just like everyone else. Some are getting things done around their homes, things that have been put off. Some are catching up on reading or crafts. Nothing new to be said, but instead of working on the obvious things, I am drawn to cleaning and organizing closets, drawers and such that no one would see but me rather doing things like vacuuming or putting things up. I mean I am vacuuming and somewhat keeping up with stuff, but I could do a better job.
Since this is getting rambling like I am wont to do, think I will wrap up this post and move on downstairs.
Friday, April 10, 2020
Social Distancing Catch Up
I succumbed to temptation yesterday. After several days of seeing ads for the Texas Lone Star Tamale Company, I went to their website to check it out. If it was just pork tamales, the visit would be short but goodness no, all different types of tamales to chose from...so just for fun, I put several varieties in the cart. To tempt me further a spinning wheel of fortune appeared and just for my email they would give me a chance at the wheel and I got free shipping. They know me...I am a sucker for free shipping. It pains me to pay for shipping but haven't a clue why that is. I told Roy about the tamales and they freeze for a year...when we talked of their variety he was hooked. Last night before going to bed, I pulled the trigger on the tamale order complete with salsas. This is what happens when you break your self imposed rule of no news at night. Yet, I rejoice in the fact....free shipping.
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About two months ago I wore some cute boots to church and those cute boots had the audacity to aggravate my heel thus resulting in a bone spur. I haven't had one of these heel spurs since the early 90s when I played tennis and Nike and my foot didn't get along. It is more painful at the end of the day and like a boo boo head, when the rubberized mulch pathways arrived yesterday afternoon, I took them to the flowerbed, along with some cardboard and then put down four more bags of mulch. That was a mistake. I've kind of been hobbling around ever since. Going back to some tried and true, get me through home remedies until this can be addressed professionally. Don't have an orthopedist here and if worse comes to worse, a cortisone shot.
I have become the old lady I always made fun of. Working around here knowing the likelihood of a pop in visit is nil, my clothes don't match. I just throw on any old thing to work in and if the bandanna around my head doesn't match, no biggie. Today would have been my haircut appointment but alas...not to be. Not tempted yet to grab scissors and try my hand at hair styling. This status might change in the coming weeks.
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Tamales are on their way! Yahoo! This morning is a coolish, blustery morning in the mountains. Lots of rain heading our way on Sunday.
The past few days with work stalled in the front flowerbed, my attention turned toward the back porch. All the furniture and decor covered up and in storage containers. The first thing, locate the shams, blankets and covers and run them through the washer and dryer. With many breaks in between the work, most of the porch was finished by late afternoon. Just have a couple of things to clean and arrange. Last year I had an antique baker rack on the porch but it didn't make the cut this year. Mainly it was all the things I had worked on getting last year. Now, waiting for warmer temps to be able to sit out there and have my morning coffee. The cat deterrent hard rubber spikes is keeping the ferals off the edge of the porch. So critical for Buddy to be able to go out there and enjoy. Right now she is content with the front porch.
Today I ventured out to pick up prescriptions at the pharmacy, drive through, and had the truck go through Zips. On the way back home, the plant man who is an older gentleman that grows all kinds of plants, was by the river. Got two more burning bush, some kind of pink azalea and this other shrub that I cannot remember the name. Bought one from his last year as well. Since it is supposed to be cold tonight with a frost warning, those plants are protected on the front porch.
My hair continues to be an adventure. Looking through some old pictures this afternoon with some of the bad hairstyles of childhood, it is looking very likely that history hair wise is going to repeat itself. Oh my....
*********
About two months ago I wore some cute boots to church and those cute boots had the audacity to aggravate my heel thus resulting in a bone spur. I haven't had one of these heel spurs since the early 90s when I played tennis and Nike and my foot didn't get along. It is more painful at the end of the day and like a boo boo head, when the rubberized mulch pathways arrived yesterday afternoon, I took them to the flowerbed, along with some cardboard and then put down four more bags of mulch. That was a mistake. I've kind of been hobbling around ever since. Going back to some tried and true, get me through home remedies until this can be addressed professionally. Don't have an orthopedist here and if worse comes to worse, a cortisone shot.
I have become the old lady I always made fun of. Working around here knowing the likelihood of a pop in visit is nil, my clothes don't match. I just throw on any old thing to work in and if the bandanna around my head doesn't match, no biggie. Today would have been my haircut appointment but alas...not to be. Not tempted yet to grab scissors and try my hand at hair styling. This status might change in the coming weeks.
*********
Tamales are on their way! Yahoo! This morning is a coolish, blustery morning in the mountains. Lots of rain heading our way on Sunday.
The past few days with work stalled in the front flowerbed, my attention turned toward the back porch. All the furniture and decor covered up and in storage containers. The first thing, locate the shams, blankets and covers and run them through the washer and dryer. With many breaks in between the work, most of the porch was finished by late afternoon. Just have a couple of things to clean and arrange. Last year I had an antique baker rack on the porch but it didn't make the cut this year. Mainly it was all the things I had worked on getting last year. Now, waiting for warmer temps to be able to sit out there and have my morning coffee. The cat deterrent hard rubber spikes is keeping the ferals off the edge of the porch. So critical for Buddy to be able to go out there and enjoy. Right now she is content with the front porch.
Today I ventured out to pick up prescriptions at the pharmacy, drive through, and had the truck go through Zips. On the way back home, the plant man who is an older gentleman that grows all kinds of plants, was by the river. Got two more burning bush, some kind of pink azalea and this other shrub that I cannot remember the name. Bought one from his last year as well. Since it is supposed to be cold tonight with a frost warning, those plants are protected on the front porch.
My hair continues to be an adventure. Looking through some old pictures this afternoon with some of the bad hairstyles of childhood, it is looking very likely that history hair wise is going to repeat itself. Oh my....
Monday, April 6, 2020
A Few Gifts From Last Week
It is about 36 degrees outside and I'm waiting for the warm up so instead of being productive inside the house, I'd rather sit here and write a few things. Being productive is never that high on my list but social distancing is helping me be a little more focused. These things I have been doing around the house would have totally been on the back burner because by this time of the year being out in the convertible, going places, seeing things...is usually what grabs my attention.
Buddy is in the window sleeping, taking in all the warmth. Earlier she was a bit put out over not being let out onto the front porch, but dang cat, it is too cold.
Yesterday my concentration was in getting these flat stones and rocks down to a manageable size to place in the backyard. Although the hammer method was good, letting these big pieces fall onto the driveway or across a wooden board seemed to be the most economical use of energy. It is looking good and hopefully this work will accomplish the goal of not tracking so much dirt, leaves and grass into the house. You could vacuum three times a day and not keep ahead of said trackage materials. While working so hard on the chain gang Flintstones quarry work, a brief memory came to mind. Dealing with childhood and family situations I didn't understand, the moment I closed my bedroom door to that world, my pretend world would begin. Sometimes while doing homework, I would turn off the above room light and just have on the desk lamp. I would sit at the desk doing homework or many times in that land of pretend, I just pretended to do my homework, and picture myself traveling about the country on a train. Sitting at that little desk and the stark focused desk light I would imagine doing my homework in the caboose of the train. That pretend wasn't well thought out, who was I traveling with? Where was I getting my homework? Did I work on the train? I think I liked the, dare I say it word of 2019 cozy, coziness of the setting. Most of the time when that bedroom door shut in my imagination I found myself working on a farm...with lots of chores that kept me busy. Now that was a much more thought out pretend game. Yesterday, reminded me, although we don't live on a farm, there is always something to do or take care of around here.
While working in the driveway quarry a most unusual sight of Mama Cat totally relaxing took me by surprise. She came up to the bowls and ate whatever leftovers were there and there was just the littlest bit of milk left in the milk jug. So, since she isn't a frequent visitor much and because no other cats were around, she enjoyed lapping up milk in relative peace. There is no peace for a feral cat, their heads and ears constantly moving toward noise and not wanting to be surprised. After she finished eating and drinking she made her way over to the new arrangement of chairs now in the middle of the yard and not close to the porch. She laid there, rolling about on her back. She stretched out and took in the respite that this time frame had given her. In all the years she has been around, she is never in a relaxed state. Early on, she watched over her kittens and then as she moved farther down the gravel road she kept in the vigilant position. Watching her relax and have a moment not at guard was such a gift, for both of us.
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Sunday morning, another Sunday morning in social distancing. Roy and I had this week planned out but things are not happening and our plans have come to naught...so one would think. They changed but God is good and He loves us so. Buddy is taking the first of many naps. The sun is beginning to break around the clouds. There looks to be a bit of a breeze and online church is playing in the background. Sunday morning, Palm Sunday morning. The kitties out back have had a snack but are waiting around for brunch. I'll get out there in a bit.
Yesterday brought a bit of nostalgia. It came about seeing a post on my high school alumni page. Someone requested pics of the volleyball teams in 1971 and 1972. Went to the yearbook and took a couple of pics and posted them. Several of us who were on the team visited a bit online about those days. We were one year before Title 9 so girl sports was not even on the forefront of anyone's thoughts except maybe us and our friends and families. I made the varsity team my sophomore year but wasn't a starter till my senior year. That sport and team meant a lot to me. The summer before my senior year and y'all this was back in the olden days of sports, I borrowed my brother's bike and ride for miles and miles most evenings. I had five pound weights for each ankle and jumped outside several times a day trying to increase my jump height. I was doing this before I learned our volleyball coach was encouraging a friend on the team to work hard and loose weight to beat me out as a starter. That just made me work harder that summer. Our team met on our own and used Willow Meadows Baptist's gym to play and work. As a group, we were a talented bunch and our goal was to win the city championship. That is as far as we could go way back there in the olden days. We made the championship but lost...to a team we practiced against several times. We prepared for their short serves but they didn't short serve us, they long served and we didn't adjust. It's funny, I worked with a woman at Pennzoil that was on that team...we recognized each other. We had some good talks about that match. Several years ago I was in a jewelry store and the sales clerk asked me if I had played volleyball at Westbury in the early 70s? Yes, and she told me she had played on Lee's vb team, they were in our district, and she began to tell me about several spikes that I had in the game...back then there wasn't a kill term or really even blocking as it is known now. I didn't remember them at all but she said, they were trying to figure out how to stop me. Y'all, not even a blip on the screen and I wasn't the best player on the team, at all, in no way. But...what a gift that was to remember those sporty good times. How she put me then with the me way back then, I have no clue and rest assured I wasn't making vb moves in the jewelry store.
Buddy is in the window sleeping, taking in all the warmth. Earlier she was a bit put out over not being let out onto the front porch, but dang cat, it is too cold.
Yesterday my concentration was in getting these flat stones and rocks down to a manageable size to place in the backyard. Although the hammer method was good, letting these big pieces fall onto the driveway or across a wooden board seemed to be the most economical use of energy. It is looking good and hopefully this work will accomplish the goal of not tracking so much dirt, leaves and grass into the house. You could vacuum three times a day and not keep ahead of said trackage materials. While working so hard on the chain gang Flintstones quarry work, a brief memory came to mind. Dealing with childhood and family situations I didn't understand, the moment I closed my bedroom door to that world, my pretend world would begin. Sometimes while doing homework, I would turn off the above room light and just have on the desk lamp. I would sit at the desk doing homework or many times in that land of pretend, I just pretended to do my homework, and picture myself traveling about the country on a train. Sitting at that little desk and the stark focused desk light I would imagine doing my homework in the caboose of the train. That pretend wasn't well thought out, who was I traveling with? Where was I getting my homework? Did I work on the train? I think I liked the, dare I say it word of 2019 cozy, coziness of the setting. Most of the time when that bedroom door shut in my imagination I found myself working on a farm...with lots of chores that kept me busy. Now that was a much more thought out pretend game. Yesterday, reminded me, although we don't live on a farm, there is always something to do or take care of around here.
While working in the driveway quarry a most unusual sight of Mama Cat totally relaxing took me by surprise. She came up to the bowls and ate whatever leftovers were there and there was just the littlest bit of milk left in the milk jug. So, since she isn't a frequent visitor much and because no other cats were around, she enjoyed lapping up milk in relative peace. There is no peace for a feral cat, their heads and ears constantly moving toward noise and not wanting to be surprised. After she finished eating and drinking she made her way over to the new arrangement of chairs now in the middle of the yard and not close to the porch. She laid there, rolling about on her back. She stretched out and took in the respite that this time frame had given her. In all the years she has been around, she is never in a relaxed state. Early on, she watched over her kittens and then as she moved farther down the gravel road she kept in the vigilant position. Watching her relax and have a moment not at guard was such a gift, for both of us.
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Sunday morning, another Sunday morning in social distancing. Roy and I had this week planned out but things are not happening and our plans have come to naught...so one would think. They changed but God is good and He loves us so. Buddy is taking the first of many naps. The sun is beginning to break around the clouds. There looks to be a bit of a breeze and online church is playing in the background. Sunday morning, Palm Sunday morning. The kitties out back have had a snack but are waiting around for brunch. I'll get out there in a bit.
Yesterday brought a bit of nostalgia. It came about seeing a post on my high school alumni page. Someone requested pics of the volleyball teams in 1971 and 1972. Went to the yearbook and took a couple of pics and posted them. Several of us who were on the team visited a bit online about those days. We were one year before Title 9 so girl sports was not even on the forefront of anyone's thoughts except maybe us and our friends and families. I made the varsity team my sophomore year but wasn't a starter till my senior year. That sport and team meant a lot to me. The summer before my senior year and y'all this was back in the olden days of sports, I borrowed my brother's bike and ride for miles and miles most evenings. I had five pound weights for each ankle and jumped outside several times a day trying to increase my jump height. I was doing this before I learned our volleyball coach was encouraging a friend on the team to work hard and loose weight to beat me out as a starter. That just made me work harder that summer. Our team met on our own and used Willow Meadows Baptist's gym to play and work. As a group, we were a talented bunch and our goal was to win the city championship. That is as far as we could go way back there in the olden days. We made the championship but lost...to a team we practiced against several times. We prepared for their short serves but they didn't short serve us, they long served and we didn't adjust. It's funny, I worked with a woman at Pennzoil that was on that team...we recognized each other. We had some good talks about that match. Several years ago I was in a jewelry store and the sales clerk asked me if I had played volleyball at Westbury in the early 70s? Yes, and she told me she had played on Lee's vb team, they were in our district, and she began to tell me about several spikes that I had in the game...back then there wasn't a kill term or really even blocking as it is known now. I didn't remember them at all but she said, they were trying to figure out how to stop me. Y'all, not even a blip on the screen and I wasn't the best player on the team, at all, in no way. But...what a gift that was to remember those sporty good times. How she put me then with the me way back then, I have no clue and rest assured I wasn't making vb moves in the jewelry store.
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