I am loving this window of rainless weather. I have been out limbing up the downed trees so Tom can get out there with his chain saw and cut up the bigger branches safely without worry of a branch snapping back. I have clipped and clipped until only the biggest limbs are left. Since we can't burn I have also been clipping the branches down to mulching size, everything under a foot, by hand or with my clippers. That way as I walk through the property there is nothing to catch my legs and trip me up. The branches will decompose faster if they are in direct contact with the ground. The work has been quite satisfying.
So satisfying in fact that I went to the nursery to pick up my English Laurels. The nursery called to tell me my order was in. I can't wait to have my barrier wall of English Laural up to give my neighbor some privacy from the irritant of having neighbors next door. English Laurels are the hedges that get really big and tall. They grow quickly and trim easily. Trimming makes them fill in even more thickly. They can be 25 feet tall and wide, or not, according to your trimming. I love the concept of a twenty five foot barrier wall between our homes. That should solve many anxieties on both sides of the living fence.
I asked for two more English Laurels to be delivered in the spring to spread out the cost of the fence over time. Each four foot bush costs $34, plus a good bag of soil to give them a healthy start. $95 and I have my first potential 16 feet of living fence, if you figure eight feet apart placement. Once established there will be no care needed or maintenance unless I feel so inclined. No more looking at the neglected house next door. No more feeling as if he is peaking out his windows waiting for me to do something to irritate him. The bushes will even muffle some of our loud noises. I can't wait to get started on planting.
I had a hard time resisting the temptation to place more orders for other plants. The nursery gives a 30% discount to pre paying for fruit trees arriving at the end of January. I have been making my lists and checking them twice. Italian plum, Fuji pear, peach, cherry, It is so hard to limit myself. Plus I want the evergreen colors also. Magnolia and a few firs thrown in for interest. It was delightful to wander the nursery this time of year because you can see what the plants look like in the coldest season. The nursery brings in things that do well for our area so the likelyhood for survival even with neglect is stronger.
I have beautiful visions of my garden in a few years.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
The Girdle
A friend showed me an article on 20/20 regarding lace up girdles. She had noticed after her cat had been bound around the waist after a surgery that the cat's hanging stomach no longer hung down to the ground. I have another friend who had bound her female dog to raise the dog's sagging nipples from the ground after having puppies. Over a cup of coffee my friend and I decided that our sagging stomachs could take a girdle lift. We went on line to price them out and look at the various styles.
I found we had to check out several sights and look beyond some lewd pictures. We were interested in waist cinches. The selection was big, but I was worried about fit. I tried to find a local store that might carry lacing waist cinches for us to try but none of the stores had exactly what we were looking for. Finally at Sears I found a girdle that doesn't lace but has hooks and flexible ribbing. It is not nearly as strong as I wanted but it claims to shrink the waist by an inch using stretchy fabric. It was only $20, worth the experimentation.
I wore the girdle for several days hooking my self into the contraption consisting of 20 hooks, sucking in my middle age gut. I could tuck my shirt in again. It made a noticeable difference. It also helped suppress my urges to eat. It was not comfortable but neither is forced dieting. This way I still order food but I find when I am wearing the girdle, I can stop myself from over eating. I wore the girdle on Thanksgiving for this very purpose. I did not want to eat myself to oblivion. I was able to take small portions and did not feel a great need to go back for more. The darn thing worked like a charm.
My girl friend and I had taken our measurements when looking on line for the right size lace up waist cincher. The style I have says it will remove one inch. The lace ups say they can remove from 4 to 6 inches. Some even say they can go to 10 inches but many warn of health safety problems if you take it too far. Four inches would be delightful. I have noticed the difference with just my cheap imitation model. I am able to be disciplined in my portions.
I have not lost any significant weight, but I think my tummy pouch is more contained, even when not wearing the girdle. I am still on the hunt for a lace up cinches that I like, but not in any hurry to truly torture myself. Though I have read that the lace up version really does help you eat less and in moderation as your stomach is squished like a lap band surgery without the surgery, forced moderation.
If I can prevent myself from over indulging during the holidays by wearing this contraption, then it was money well spent.
I found we had to check out several sights and look beyond some lewd pictures. We were interested in waist cinches. The selection was big, but I was worried about fit. I tried to find a local store that might carry lacing waist cinches for us to try but none of the stores had exactly what we were looking for. Finally at Sears I found a girdle that doesn't lace but has hooks and flexible ribbing. It is not nearly as strong as I wanted but it claims to shrink the waist by an inch using stretchy fabric. It was only $20, worth the experimentation.
I wore the girdle for several days hooking my self into the contraption consisting of 20 hooks, sucking in my middle age gut. I could tuck my shirt in again. It made a noticeable difference. It also helped suppress my urges to eat. It was not comfortable but neither is forced dieting. This way I still order food but I find when I am wearing the girdle, I can stop myself from over eating. I wore the girdle on Thanksgiving for this very purpose. I did not want to eat myself to oblivion. I was able to take small portions and did not feel a great need to go back for more. The darn thing worked like a charm.
My girl friend and I had taken our measurements when looking on line for the right size lace up waist cincher. The style I have says it will remove one inch. The lace ups say they can remove from 4 to 6 inches. Some even say they can go to 10 inches but many warn of health safety problems if you take it too far. Four inches would be delightful. I have noticed the difference with just my cheap imitation model. I am able to be disciplined in my portions.
I have not lost any significant weight, but I think my tummy pouch is more contained, even when not wearing the girdle. I am still on the hunt for a lace up cinches that I like, but not in any hurry to truly torture myself. Though I have read that the lace up version really does help you eat less and in moderation as your stomach is squished like a lap band surgery without the surgery, forced moderation.
If I can prevent myself from over indulging during the holidays by wearing this contraption, then it was money well spent.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Riley's day
Riley's birthday falls close to Thanksgiving. When the boys were little we would hit my family's Thanks giving and Tom's family. Two feasts in one day. We did not celebrate at home. As a result, Riley liked the tradition of having an early Thanksgiving feast to celebrate his birthday. The whole turkey and stuffing and yams and potatoes with the fine china and sparkling wine glasses on the table. Riley would sit at the head and host all his friends to a fancy dinner. He asked for the same this year.
I Invited all his hold friends and arranged for an out of town friend to come stay for a long weekend. It was lovey. Riley was thoroughy entertained. I do have to say though that I spent enough feeding the hords and going to the store to buy more groceries than if I had just taken Riley and a couple of friends to the movies with popcorn and bought him a gift. I did not buy Riley a gift other than paying an enormous grocery bill. I bought a huge ham as The feast fell so close to Thanksgiving this year that Tom asked if Riley could opt for another meat other than Turkey as we would be inundartted with Turkey again in just a few days. Riley opted for a spiral ham.
I overestimated our needs and bought a whole ham to cook up. We will be serving left overs on Thursday with a fresh turkey. There was so much ham I had to freeze some for use later.
A storm came through on the day of the party. We lost power mid afternoon for a short while. Luckily all the dishes were done and could still be served. The power was not out for long, but while I waited I got out lots of candle sticks and candles to be prepared after dark. I filled hurricane lamps with oil and set them in the windows. The house looked lovely.
A disturbing and upsetting moment came when I could not find the salad plates to my favorite table setting. My special events china that I store in padded china bags is missing a bag full of salad plates. I served on them last Christmas, but for the life of me I can not find where I stored them from last year. I am still in a panic. My mom says not to worry, that they will turn up. If she is not distressed over the missing plates, I will try not to stress.
She says I need to be more organized. When we bought this house she warned me there was no storage anywhere. It is a very modern home with clean lines and open floor plans. Even the basement is just one big open space. I have spent a year putting up shelves and trying to find good spots for everything.
Without a pantry and a tiny kitchen, my dishes are scattered in various locations and some are still in boxes in the basement. I had an interior decorator come. She gave me some brilliant ideas on pantry location.
As we lie in bed at night Tom tells me he loves this house. He asks why I don't love this house. It just needs some tweaking to make it good is all, but without that tweaking there are serious flaws.
The storm last week had water coming in the window again. All that caulking we did this summer was not enough. WE will need to replace the siding next summer. Meanwhile I have towels on all the window sills whenever a big storm blows in lots of water.
The PUD came out for an assessment. They will pay $6 a square foot towards the cost of replacing the windows. It works out to about a 30% discount toward each window. Of course the estimate is $10,000 for all the windows and they don't include sky lights. But knocking $3500 off the bill is no small change.
I am grateful that we took the trees down last week as the storm this weekend was a doozy. Tom and I kept looking out the windows watching the trees in the distance sway in the heavy winds. There were limbs down in the roads all over town. Flood warnings were out for high water.
The water bucket I use to capture ground water in the basement during heavy rains had to be emptied a couple of times. That bucket does the trick at capturing water and keeping the basement dry. A simple and cheap solution to the PUD's box leaking below ground level. They told us we would have to pay for the box to be moved above ground level to stop the water using their cables to drip inside the house. Tom said he would readdress the problem later, but meanwhile a cheap plastic bucket set under the drip, occasionally emptied in heavy rains, solves a whole lot of water issues. Love the simple solutions.
The simple solution in the kitchen according to the interior decorator is that the kitchen is out of proportion too small for the house. The kitchen should be expanded into the family room area with a set of pantry cabinets on the long wall. It was so easy to see once she said it, and such a simple solution.
She came from a house with the laundry and the master on the main floor so she didn't quite see the laundry issue. She told me though that I needed to find my worst anxieties and issues with the house and solve them first and to completion. The kitchen would give me the most bang for my dollar. She recommended taking out the floor and making the floor all one big room. I had no argument with that. She just affirmed what Tom and I had already thought. It was a lovely visit at $65 an hour, but cheaper than a therapist and for me more effective, and she makes house calls.
I Invited all his hold friends and arranged for an out of town friend to come stay for a long weekend. It was lovey. Riley was thoroughy entertained. I do have to say though that I spent enough feeding the hords and going to the store to buy more groceries than if I had just taken Riley and a couple of friends to the movies with popcorn and bought him a gift. I did not buy Riley a gift other than paying an enormous grocery bill. I bought a huge ham as The feast fell so close to Thanksgiving this year that Tom asked if Riley could opt for another meat other than Turkey as we would be inundartted with Turkey again in just a few days. Riley opted for a spiral ham.
I overestimated our needs and bought a whole ham to cook up. We will be serving left overs on Thursday with a fresh turkey. There was so much ham I had to freeze some for use later.
A storm came through on the day of the party. We lost power mid afternoon for a short while. Luckily all the dishes were done and could still be served. The power was not out for long, but while I waited I got out lots of candle sticks and candles to be prepared after dark. I filled hurricane lamps with oil and set them in the windows. The house looked lovely.
A disturbing and upsetting moment came when I could not find the salad plates to my favorite table setting. My special events china that I store in padded china bags is missing a bag full of salad plates. I served on them last Christmas, but for the life of me I can not find where I stored them from last year. I am still in a panic. My mom says not to worry, that they will turn up. If she is not distressed over the missing plates, I will try not to stress.
She says I need to be more organized. When we bought this house she warned me there was no storage anywhere. It is a very modern home with clean lines and open floor plans. Even the basement is just one big open space. I have spent a year putting up shelves and trying to find good spots for everything.
Without a pantry and a tiny kitchen, my dishes are scattered in various locations and some are still in boxes in the basement. I had an interior decorator come. She gave me some brilliant ideas on pantry location.
As we lie in bed at night Tom tells me he loves this house. He asks why I don't love this house. It just needs some tweaking to make it good is all, but without that tweaking there are serious flaws.
The storm last week had water coming in the window again. All that caulking we did this summer was not enough. WE will need to replace the siding next summer. Meanwhile I have towels on all the window sills whenever a big storm blows in lots of water.
The PUD came out for an assessment. They will pay $6 a square foot towards the cost of replacing the windows. It works out to about a 30% discount toward each window. Of course the estimate is $10,000 for all the windows and they don't include sky lights. But knocking $3500 off the bill is no small change.
I am grateful that we took the trees down last week as the storm this weekend was a doozy. Tom and I kept looking out the windows watching the trees in the distance sway in the heavy winds. There were limbs down in the roads all over town. Flood warnings were out for high water.
The water bucket I use to capture ground water in the basement during heavy rains had to be emptied a couple of times. That bucket does the trick at capturing water and keeping the basement dry. A simple and cheap solution to the PUD's box leaking below ground level. They told us we would have to pay for the box to be moved above ground level to stop the water using their cables to drip inside the house. Tom said he would readdress the problem later, but meanwhile a cheap plastic bucket set under the drip, occasionally emptied in heavy rains, solves a whole lot of water issues. Love the simple solutions.
The simple solution in the kitchen according to the interior decorator is that the kitchen is out of proportion too small for the house. The kitchen should be expanded into the family room area with a set of pantry cabinets on the long wall. It was so easy to see once she said it, and such a simple solution.
She came from a house with the laundry and the master on the main floor so she didn't quite see the laundry issue. She told me though that I needed to find my worst anxieties and issues with the house and solve them first and to completion. The kitchen would give me the most bang for my dollar. She recommended taking out the floor and making the floor all one big room. I had no argument with that. She just affirmed what Tom and I had already thought. It was a lovely visit at $65 an hour, but cheaper than a therapist and for me more effective, and she makes house calls.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Tree swaying
My adrenalin is up. Went out on the deck to check the yard. I stsnd admiring my views and trying to see where each of my chosen, yet to be purchased trees are going to be planted. The wind is blowing. AS I watch I realize one of the Alders we want removed is swaying a bit too much in the wind. The trunk seems to be tipping a bit too much towards the house.
As I stand and watch I realize that this tree is going to be coming down. Probably the only thing holding the tree up is its neighbor's roots wrapped around it's roots. The day is overcast with mild winter winds. Nothing spactaular about the day. The winds are just enough to get the tree rocking.
I call out to Tom, in the man cave. He is home watching the elections. He is some what obsessed with the elections. "Sweetness" I call out, as I climb the stairs into his territory. "Sweetness? Not to disturb you but I need you to look at a tree in the yard. The trunk is swaying way too much. I think it is going to come down."
Tom climbs out of his favorite recliner and heads out on to his upper deck. He stands and watches the tree under discussion. He proceeds to go down the outside stairs and across the yard and down the bank where he puts his hand on the trunk of said tree. He feels it breath in the wind.
I had recieved a bid on taking this tree and it's neighbors out this summer. I had been waiting for the leaves to fall as Tom just wanted the tree guy to drop the trees and He, Tom, would do the bucking up. about $100 a tree was the bid. It looks like now is the time.
Tom calls up to me on the deck that he can feel the trunk move. He says "If only we can get it to hit the windows". He means the ones that need replacing due to the cracked seals. I call back that it is aimed for our bedroom and will crush my beautiful metal roof.
I called the tree guy. He stopped by to look and said the ground is not heaving he could bring a crew next week. WE scheduled the day just for peace of mind.
As I stand and watch I realize that this tree is going to be coming down. Probably the only thing holding the tree up is its neighbor's roots wrapped around it's roots. The day is overcast with mild winter winds. Nothing spactaular about the day. The winds are just enough to get the tree rocking.
I call out to Tom, in the man cave. He is home watching the elections. He is some what obsessed with the elections. "Sweetness" I call out, as I climb the stairs into his territory. "Sweetness? Not to disturb you but I need you to look at a tree in the yard. The trunk is swaying way too much. I think it is going to come down."
Tom climbs out of his favorite recliner and heads out on to his upper deck. He stands and watches the tree under discussion. He proceeds to go down the outside stairs and across the yard and down the bank where he puts his hand on the trunk of said tree. He feels it breath in the wind.
I had recieved a bid on taking this tree and it's neighbors out this summer. I had been waiting for the leaves to fall as Tom just wanted the tree guy to drop the trees and He, Tom, would do the bucking up. about $100 a tree was the bid. It looks like now is the time.
Tom calls up to me on the deck that he can feel the trunk move. He says "If only we can get it to hit the windows". He means the ones that need replacing due to the cracked seals. I call back that it is aimed for our bedroom and will crush my beautiful metal roof.
I called the tree guy. He stopped by to look and said the ground is not heaving he could bring a crew next week. WE scheduled the day just for peace of mind.
One week
Its been a week. Quite a busy one at that. Put my Dad at rest last Friday with my siblings. A big wind storm came up and the trees in the back yard started to sway. Of course the trees could sway down the hill away from the deck and house, but no, the middle cotton wood swayed as if it was going to come down right on my lovely medal roof, and crush my lovely deck. I brought Tom out to see the swaying trees. He agreed they should be removed if only for peace of mind.
Yesterday, the tree guys arrived at 7:30 am. They started chain saws exactly at 8:00am. Six big Cottonwoods were dropped. Tom and I are on clean up to save money. It is three times more expensive than just having the trees dropped, if the crew does the clean up. I am trying to figure out what to do with the wood as we are in a burn ban zone and cottonwood is stinky when burned I am told. The men finished the job in less than two hours.
It was amazing to see the men climb up the trees , limbing as they went with running chain saws. they took several of the trees down in segments for safety of the house. When the big trunks finally fell, the ground shook. Had the trees fallen in the wind they would have caused massive damage.
I went out with my clippers to limb up some of the downed branches. If I cut everything into small chunks they will lie flat on the ground and decompose faster. They will also take up less room. tom has given me permission to buy a new set of cool clippers. I had seen one at a friend's home which was hinged for leverage with bigger branches. Loved it.
The boys came home. I started preparing dinner with Riley, until he reminded me I had a date night planned with Tom. The boys were getting to eat Shepard's pie all to themselves, one of their favorite dinners. Ten potatoes mashed and placed on top of a pound of ground hamburger and three cans of green beans and onions and petite diced tomatoes and a small can of tomato sauce, topped with cheese and baked. There are no left overs.
I went back outside to catch the last of the day doing yard work. After sweating in the beautiful sun until it was too dark to see, I ran inside to dress for the club. It was Reno night where our husbands play dealer and the women gamble. Only members can participate, but it is one of the funnest events of the year. At dinner, envelopes of chips are given out as prizes to start the players off. I won $15 in chips. Pretty much almost every woman won chips.
Tom was one of the dealers. He is a popular table as he peaks at the dealers hand and tips everyone off as to whether they should hit or split or if it is a lost cause from the beginning. The dealers have their cocktails beside the card shoe. It is a very casual affair, but I dressed up in as black cocktail dress and nylons, as the theme was Reno night. I don't particularly like to gamble. I swear I will have a heart attack over the stress I feel at each hand. I feel agitated until the hand is over and I have won or lost.
After three hours I am ready to head home. I broke even for the night, which is how I like it. I drove Tom and me home, where we cuddled on the couch watching a recording of the new episode of Gray's Anatomy. It was after midnight when I went to bed, exhausted.
Had to get up in the morning to drive Riley to school as he was taking a home made dessert, Spanish lemon sponge cake. The students have made up a menu with each group preparing an authentic dish. Riley chose sponge cake. He also chose marzipan cookies but they turned into a sticky globular mess on the cookie sheet that will need to be left to soak in order to remove the sticky mess.Riley decided not to do flan, that the lemon sponge cake would work more easily. Of course we over cooked the sponge cake but were able to still wrap it up with whip cream in the middle. It looked credibly home made, no cheating.
Riley will be translating the recipe into Spanish and presenting the dessert to the class. For safety's sake I drove him to school so he could drop the dessert off in the classroom without incident. Several people asked if sponge cake was really a Spanish dish. Riley said he checked several web sites and books to confirm. I just don't know that many people will get to taste that small cake for a class of 30. I asked if he wanted to make another cake, but he passed on the offer. One sponge cake was all he needed for the grade.
This morning, my grouchy neighbor called to let me know he saw the trees down in the back yard and a few of the branches were on his property line. I can honestly say a surveyor could call it either way, it was that close. OMG. He did say he was pleased to have the cotton woods gone as they would send their little fluff out into the wind and end up in his garage. But he wanted to affirm we were not burning and that we would be cleaning it all up. He also told me one of his trees has a branch on our roof which he would let us remove. Really? You should see his overgrown yard. I have been spraying the black berries between our two houses. He needs someone to work on his place. I couldn't believe he called. I have ordered some English Laurels to begin my privacy hedge between our houses. I may be ordering more.
I am thinking maybe we should build a horse fence down that side of the yard with the branches of the downed trees. I have enough branches to build a fence the whole way round the property. Tom and the boys want a big dog. We will need to fence for a puppy. First things first, we get the back yard in order. I can finally start planting.
Yesterday, the tree guys arrived at 7:30 am. They started chain saws exactly at 8:00am. Six big Cottonwoods were dropped. Tom and I are on clean up to save money. It is three times more expensive than just having the trees dropped, if the crew does the clean up. I am trying to figure out what to do with the wood as we are in a burn ban zone and cottonwood is stinky when burned I am told. The men finished the job in less than two hours.
It was amazing to see the men climb up the trees , limbing as they went with running chain saws. they took several of the trees down in segments for safety of the house. When the big trunks finally fell, the ground shook. Had the trees fallen in the wind they would have caused massive damage.
I went out with my clippers to limb up some of the downed branches. If I cut everything into small chunks they will lie flat on the ground and decompose faster. They will also take up less room. tom has given me permission to buy a new set of cool clippers. I had seen one at a friend's home which was hinged for leverage with bigger branches. Loved it.
The boys came home. I started preparing dinner with Riley, until he reminded me I had a date night planned with Tom. The boys were getting to eat Shepard's pie all to themselves, one of their favorite dinners. Ten potatoes mashed and placed on top of a pound of ground hamburger and three cans of green beans and onions and petite diced tomatoes and a small can of tomato sauce, topped with cheese and baked. There are no left overs.
I went back outside to catch the last of the day doing yard work. After sweating in the beautiful sun until it was too dark to see, I ran inside to dress for the club. It was Reno night where our husbands play dealer and the women gamble. Only members can participate, but it is one of the funnest events of the year. At dinner, envelopes of chips are given out as prizes to start the players off. I won $15 in chips. Pretty much almost every woman won chips.
Tom was one of the dealers. He is a popular table as he peaks at the dealers hand and tips everyone off as to whether they should hit or split or if it is a lost cause from the beginning. The dealers have their cocktails beside the card shoe. It is a very casual affair, but I dressed up in as black cocktail dress and nylons, as the theme was Reno night. I don't particularly like to gamble. I swear I will have a heart attack over the stress I feel at each hand. I feel agitated until the hand is over and I have won or lost.
After three hours I am ready to head home. I broke even for the night, which is how I like it. I drove Tom and me home, where we cuddled on the couch watching a recording of the new episode of Gray's Anatomy. It was after midnight when I went to bed, exhausted.
Had to get up in the morning to drive Riley to school as he was taking a home made dessert, Spanish lemon sponge cake. The students have made up a menu with each group preparing an authentic dish. Riley chose sponge cake. He also chose marzipan cookies but they turned into a sticky globular mess on the cookie sheet that will need to be left to soak in order to remove the sticky mess.Riley decided not to do flan, that the lemon sponge cake would work more easily. Of course we over cooked the sponge cake but were able to still wrap it up with whip cream in the middle. It looked credibly home made, no cheating.
Riley will be translating the recipe into Spanish and presenting the dessert to the class. For safety's sake I drove him to school so he could drop the dessert off in the classroom without incident. Several people asked if sponge cake was really a Spanish dish. Riley said he checked several web sites and books to confirm. I just don't know that many people will get to taste that small cake for a class of 30. I asked if he wanted to make another cake, but he passed on the offer. One sponge cake was all he needed for the grade.
This morning, my grouchy neighbor called to let me know he saw the trees down in the back yard and a few of the branches were on his property line. I can honestly say a surveyor could call it either way, it was that close. OMG. He did say he was pleased to have the cotton woods gone as they would send their little fluff out into the wind and end up in his garage. But he wanted to affirm we were not burning and that we would be cleaning it all up. He also told me one of his trees has a branch on our roof which he would let us remove. Really? You should see his overgrown yard. I have been spraying the black berries between our two houses. He needs someone to work on his place. I couldn't believe he called. I have ordered some English Laurels to begin my privacy hedge between our houses. I may be ordering more.
I am thinking maybe we should build a horse fence down that side of the yard with the branches of the downed trees. I have enough branches to build a fence the whole way round the property. Tom and the boys want a big dog. We will need to fence for a puppy. First things first, we get the back yard in order. I can finally start planting.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Planting time
This is the best time to put your big items in the ground; trees and shrubs. The soil is wet and easy to move. My yard is a hillside of hard clay. I can't dig in hard clay in the heat of the summer. Now with the wet weather I don't even have to worry about watering. The plants are going into their dormant stage so they wont even suffer from transplant shock.
I don't like the grey cloudy skies, but if I get up in the morning, I can motivate for a few hours in the yard. I feel better afterwards. Digging in the wet soil reminds me that I like the rain. Rain is a good thing I tell myself. Everything including the weeds has begun to die back for the winter. I can walk my property without fighting the blackberries. I can see they need another spray, but with the rains it will be hard to find a few dry days for the chemical treatment. I will just have to keep my eyes on the blackberry sprouts until I get the opportunity to attack.
I told everyone I wanted an hour of chores out of them today. They all hid from me. Trev and Tom slept in really late and Riley disappeared into the man cave. I finally called breakfast around noon to roust them from their hidy holes. I needed garbage cans brought down from the street and all dirty laundry collected along with any wandering dishes or cans or bottles. Everything goes so much faster when my helpers help.
The boys love to do one chore then ditch until I call them back for their next task. Tom's first chore was to fill out his voter's ballot. I will drop them off now that they are done. When those last minute political callers ring I can tell them "Too late we are done."
I am now off to drag the air compressor into the house so I can finish re attaching the molding in the upstairs hallway, those little details that finish a job to completion.
I was saddened and frustrated to see the shelves I hung in the office closet collapse. I must have missed the stud. Riley's closet is having the same problem but Tom hung that bracket. This house has inches of insulation in front of some of the studs, making it difficult to hit the stud with a stud finder. I wish the sun would shine so I could have another excuse to go work outside.
I don't like the grey cloudy skies, but if I get up in the morning, I can motivate for a few hours in the yard. I feel better afterwards. Digging in the wet soil reminds me that I like the rain. Rain is a good thing I tell myself. Everything including the weeds has begun to die back for the winter. I can walk my property without fighting the blackberries. I can see they need another spray, but with the rains it will be hard to find a few dry days for the chemical treatment. I will just have to keep my eyes on the blackberry sprouts until I get the opportunity to attack.
I told everyone I wanted an hour of chores out of them today. They all hid from me. Trev and Tom slept in really late and Riley disappeared into the man cave. I finally called breakfast around noon to roust them from their hidy holes. I needed garbage cans brought down from the street and all dirty laundry collected along with any wandering dishes or cans or bottles. Everything goes so much faster when my helpers help.
The boys love to do one chore then ditch until I call them back for their next task. Tom's first chore was to fill out his voter's ballot. I will drop them off now that they are done. When those last minute political callers ring I can tell them "Too late we are done."
I am now off to drag the air compressor into the house so I can finish re attaching the molding in the upstairs hallway, those little details that finish a job to completion.
I was saddened and frustrated to see the shelves I hung in the office closet collapse. I must have missed the stud. Riley's closet is having the same problem but Tom hung that bracket. This house has inches of insulation in front of some of the studs, making it difficult to hit the stud with a stud finder. I wish the sun would shine so I could have another excuse to go work outside.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
bowling league
Tom and I dated a few times at the bowling alley. I am not a beer drinker, so he would buy me cheap wine while we bowled. It was probably box wine because it was really cheap, and this was before box wine started to come into its own, which is only recently, the last couple of years. I had one date where I probably got food poisoning. I would bowl my turn then slip into the bathroom and be sick, come back and continue playing.
I have never had much upper body strength so I always bowl with an eight pound ball. Since my little oops with the table saw I had not bowled much at all as I had to switch from left to right handed. When I would take the boys with their friends I would sit in the back and just watch. I am missing the proper fingers on my left hand and I wouldn't want to snap the very nice titanium pin the doctors put in one of my fingers to keep it attached and bendable. It bends a little stiffly to bowl. I would hate to have it bend the wrong way or not release when it should.
Our club has started a bowling league, The advertisement says no skill necessary. They will give us handicaps just like golf. I was invited to sub in. I had showed up a couple of times last year just to watch. The bowling alley still serves cheaply priced wine and beer and good tasting greasy burgers.
The first night I shot 58, 69, 74. No skill needed. The next week I was worse. I titillated the audience of spectating friends with a strike in the first throw. I didn't hit another pin for four more turns. I hit one pin and was thrilled. I ended that set with 28. A guy came up to me and told me I was leading with the wrong foot. Then someone else said to hold the ball up differently. Another person suggested I start on the other side of the alley. Tom suggested I bowl between my legs, granny style. I had another glass of cheap wine and plowed on.
That was a rough night. When I got up to bowl there was a lull in conversations. That silence that comes when no one has anything nice to say. I could feel the crowd praying I hit a pin, just one. All I can say is I can only improve from this point on. I have seen rock bottom. I will either get most improved or perseverance award . Though no prizes are really given, this is a party league.
Tom is loving the ball he bought last season. He has always wanted his own his own bowling ball. He even may have had one at one time that got lost in history. I am loving bowling league. I am looking forward to improving and hitting some pins. I need to strengthen my arms. After that 28, I left myself lots of room for improvement.
I have never had much upper body strength so I always bowl with an eight pound ball. Since my little oops with the table saw I had not bowled much at all as I had to switch from left to right handed. When I would take the boys with their friends I would sit in the back and just watch. I am missing the proper fingers on my left hand and I wouldn't want to snap the very nice titanium pin the doctors put in one of my fingers to keep it attached and bendable. It bends a little stiffly to bowl. I would hate to have it bend the wrong way or not release when it should.
Our club has started a bowling league, The advertisement says no skill necessary. They will give us handicaps just like golf. I was invited to sub in. I had showed up a couple of times last year just to watch. The bowling alley still serves cheaply priced wine and beer and good tasting greasy burgers.
The first night I shot 58, 69, 74. No skill needed. The next week I was worse. I titillated the audience of spectating friends with a strike in the first throw. I didn't hit another pin for four more turns. I hit one pin and was thrilled. I ended that set with 28. A guy came up to me and told me I was leading with the wrong foot. Then someone else said to hold the ball up differently. Another person suggested I start on the other side of the alley. Tom suggested I bowl between my legs, granny style. I had another glass of cheap wine and plowed on.
That was a rough night. When I got up to bowl there was a lull in conversations. That silence that comes when no one has anything nice to say. I could feel the crowd praying I hit a pin, just one. All I can say is I can only improve from this point on. I have seen rock bottom. I will either get most improved or perseverance award . Though no prizes are really given, this is a party league.
Tom is loving the ball he bought last season. He has always wanted his own his own bowling ball. He even may have had one at one time that got lost in history. I am loving bowling league. I am looking forward to improving and hitting some pins. I need to strengthen my arms. After that 28, I left myself lots of room for improvement.
Halloween
Trev had football after school. We had a bad morning with him. He didn't get up with enough time to do what he was supposed to do. He had done a few things to make me cranky, like not shower his stinky body, not collect his stinky clothes and put on a load of laundry. Riles gave me a couple of hugs in hopes of toning down my roar. It helped in that Trev made it out the door without a shower.
The boys report cards for mid term arrived last week. Rile's was pretty good with four As two B's and a C in Spanish. Better than getting an F in English like last year. At least the C is in a language that he doesn't speak. T man's was not so good. I picked up some one dollar bills at the store while buying milk. I did not get candy. I didn't want candy in the house. None of us need it.
Tom was not happy with my decision to give out money rather than candy. He was not happy with me last year. I gave out change and the kids loved it. I used to give out dollar bars of candy when the boys had those big boxes from scouts. Saved what didn't sell and used it for Halloween. They didn't do the candy boxes this year, trying to go healthier. We don't get many trick or treaters in our neighborhood. I am probably ahead of the game by just not doing candy and giving the money instead. Riles said one escorting parent thanked us.
It was a wet and rainy, dark night. Trev called saying he was going to his friends to trick or treat. I was not pleased. They do have a small daughter still in the proper age group. If they were escorting the child than it was acceptable, but he said he was borrowing a costume and going out with the big boys. I told Tom and he disapproved even more. Nothing good happens when teens roam free especially in costume when they feel protected by anonymity.
Tom says to call him back and tell him I am coming to get him. After this morning I know it will take a father's voice to get Trev to obey without a whole lot of whining. I tell Tom to make the call. He pulls out his cell and gets T on the other line. As I had prophesied, t wailed.
T wailed when I picked him up. I had spoiled his night. He had planned to hook up with other friends later at the park and compare hoards of candy. Now his best friend is from one high school and his other friends he planned to meet were from another. It was an awful night to be out. I just read trouble in every word T spoke. I picked up the phone and dialed his father. Trev made me hang up, he said Dad would only get mad at him. Then he whined some more. I dialed again. This time I put the phone on speaker. Tom told Trev to get in the car and stop whining this was his fathers decision not mine. Not quite true as we both were in agreement, but even though the trip home was probably eight minutes tops, I did not want to hear my 230 pound, six foot two inch child whine at me all the way home, while I drove, because we would not let him go get up to mischief on Halloween roaming the streets with a bunch of teenagers. It was silent in the car.
Teens aren't the only people roaming the streets on Halloween. The weirdos come out. Best to be safe at home. The neighborhood where I picked him up was loaded with parents and small children. The houses are expecting the hoards. I had to drive carefully until I got out of the neighborhood with children running out between parked cars. I saw from a post, the friend Trev had been planning to trick or treat with, his home had almost 300 children.
One of my friends told me the trick or treaters who really get her are the ones carrying the infant children. The infants are too young even to know what candy is. The moms are trick or treating for themselves. She had a friend suggested she keep teething biscuits for those children. The teething biscuits are individually wrapped and inexpensive. Maybe the moms will get the clue that Halloween trick or treating is for the small child not for the adult to get free candy. It is the same message Trev needs to get.
Next year he can have some friends over for a costume party or something. They can watch scary movies in the Man cave. Much more appropriate for their age and safer than roaming the streets like hooligans, frightening the little grandmas at the door expecting cute small children.
I was glad to have Trev home, though he went to his room and watched the computer, pouting. I didn't have a computer to pout over when I was too old to trick or treat. Or a cell phone to text my friends about how mean my parents are. Not that I noticed Trev doing that. I think he knew we were not out of line. We don't rope him in too often.
I doled out the dollar bills to Riley to answer the door if someone knocked. Riley tried to turn off the porch light so no one would come and he could keep the money. I told him he wouldn't get anything if I caught him turning the light off again. We had six trick or treaters. I definitely was ahead of the game this year. I would have spent more on candy and been stuck with all of us eating it.
Our only decorations were a ceramic pumpkin and a Halloween table cloth draped by the door. I lit a hurricane lamp and stuck it by the decorative pumpkin. We hadn't even carved pumpkins this year.
I might try buying some pumpkin so Riles can try making pumpkin pie from scratch just to say he did it. He has been asking for pumpkin pie every time we go to the store now that the season is upon us.
Riles asked for his Thanksgiving feast for his birthday. It falls on a weekday this year. I told Riles to invite a few friends over for a sleep over, an all night gaming night, on the weekend before, if he liked. He is dwelling on who to invite.
The boys report cards for mid term arrived last week. Rile's was pretty good with four As two B's and a C in Spanish. Better than getting an F in English like last year. At least the C is in a language that he doesn't speak. T man's was not so good. I picked up some one dollar bills at the store while buying milk. I did not get candy. I didn't want candy in the house. None of us need it.
Tom was not happy with my decision to give out money rather than candy. He was not happy with me last year. I gave out change and the kids loved it. I used to give out dollar bars of candy when the boys had those big boxes from scouts. Saved what didn't sell and used it for Halloween. They didn't do the candy boxes this year, trying to go healthier. We don't get many trick or treaters in our neighborhood. I am probably ahead of the game by just not doing candy and giving the money instead. Riles said one escorting parent thanked us.
It was a wet and rainy, dark night. Trev called saying he was going to his friends to trick or treat. I was not pleased. They do have a small daughter still in the proper age group. If they were escorting the child than it was acceptable, but he said he was borrowing a costume and going out with the big boys. I told Tom and he disapproved even more. Nothing good happens when teens roam free especially in costume when they feel protected by anonymity.
Tom says to call him back and tell him I am coming to get him. After this morning I know it will take a father's voice to get Trev to obey without a whole lot of whining. I tell Tom to make the call. He pulls out his cell and gets T on the other line. As I had prophesied, t wailed.
T wailed when I picked him up. I had spoiled his night. He had planned to hook up with other friends later at the park and compare hoards of candy. Now his best friend is from one high school and his other friends he planned to meet were from another. It was an awful night to be out. I just read trouble in every word T spoke. I picked up the phone and dialed his father. Trev made me hang up, he said Dad would only get mad at him. Then he whined some more. I dialed again. This time I put the phone on speaker. Tom told Trev to get in the car and stop whining this was his fathers decision not mine. Not quite true as we both were in agreement, but even though the trip home was probably eight minutes tops, I did not want to hear my 230 pound, six foot two inch child whine at me all the way home, while I drove, because we would not let him go get up to mischief on Halloween roaming the streets with a bunch of teenagers. It was silent in the car.
Teens aren't the only people roaming the streets on Halloween. The weirdos come out. Best to be safe at home. The neighborhood where I picked him up was loaded with parents and small children. The houses are expecting the hoards. I had to drive carefully until I got out of the neighborhood with children running out between parked cars. I saw from a post, the friend Trev had been planning to trick or treat with, his home had almost 300 children.
One of my friends told me the trick or treaters who really get her are the ones carrying the infant children. The infants are too young even to know what candy is. The moms are trick or treating for themselves. She had a friend suggested she keep teething biscuits for those children. The teething biscuits are individually wrapped and inexpensive. Maybe the moms will get the clue that Halloween trick or treating is for the small child not for the adult to get free candy. It is the same message Trev needs to get.
Next year he can have some friends over for a costume party or something. They can watch scary movies in the Man cave. Much more appropriate for their age and safer than roaming the streets like hooligans, frightening the little grandmas at the door expecting cute small children.
I was glad to have Trev home, though he went to his room and watched the computer, pouting. I didn't have a computer to pout over when I was too old to trick or treat. Or a cell phone to text my friends about how mean my parents are. Not that I noticed Trev doing that. I think he knew we were not out of line. We don't rope him in too often.
I doled out the dollar bills to Riley to answer the door if someone knocked. Riley tried to turn off the porch light so no one would come and he could keep the money. I told him he wouldn't get anything if I caught him turning the light off again. We had six trick or treaters. I definitely was ahead of the game this year. I would have spent more on candy and been stuck with all of us eating it.
Our only decorations were a ceramic pumpkin and a Halloween table cloth draped by the door. I lit a hurricane lamp and stuck it by the decorative pumpkin. We hadn't even carved pumpkins this year.
I might try buying some pumpkin so Riles can try making pumpkin pie from scratch just to say he did it. He has been asking for pumpkin pie every time we go to the store now that the season is upon us.
Riles asked for his Thanksgiving feast for his birthday. It falls on a weekday this year. I told Riles to invite a few friends over for a sleep over, an all night gaming night, on the weekend before, if he liked. He is dwelling on who to invite.
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