Monday, January 30, 2006

 

What an awful Day!! Monday, Jan 30th, 06

I never want another day like today. Woke up at 3:30 am and couldn`t get back to sleep. Got up, took my shower and headed for the kitchen. It was chilly, so I plugged in the small heater, only to find out it wouldn`t work. So, I headed upstairs to the attic and brought down the long old heater which doesn`t heat the kitchen as good as the small one did. Then I tried to renew my pills, only to be told it was too early to renew. Was told that when i first called back on the 25th, and again yesterday. Well, today was the last of the pills, so i again tried to phone to renew, again told was to early. Well, I was getting so discouraged I decided to wait and try again later. Went out to do more stain on the basket.
Then I came in and was calmed down enough to try hannaford again. This time i hung on the line till they finally put a live person on the phone in place of that darn recording. The girl told me that my prescription had been filled and waiting since the 25th. Something- they have it refilled while telling me it was too early to refil it.
by now, it was suppertime and starting to get dark and foggy out. But I was out of the pills, so had to drive down after them.
If i thought things would start getting better now, i sure was wrong. I went into Hannaford and stood in line for 15 minutes just to pick up the already filled prescription. Then I went out and my car wouldn`t start . I pulled out my cell phone to see if Daughter Theresa`s intended was there . I had checked my cell phone yesterday to be sure it was still charged and it told me i had 63 minutes left to use. Well, when I tried to call my daughter, the phone told me I couldn`t make the call as i needed to add more minutes first. So, my 63 minutes left had expired overnight without my even using them.
So, I had to hune up 2 quarters and go back into the store to use the phone there. The friend was there and he came down and jumped me and said he would follow me home to be sure i got there. He is a tec at a major car place. He tightened up the alternator belt for me.I have replaced the alternator belt twice this year as we can`t figure out why it suddenly starts slipping every so often. Guess this time I will have the friend take my car to work with him and replace the alternator to see it that cures the problem.belt Everything is straight and in good shape and yet the belt loosens up after a while. It sure made an awful noise when i pulled into the Store parking lot.
The friend told me to forget everything and just go to bed and tomorrow would be better.
Told him guess i got up on the wrond side of the bed this morning, except if i got off the pther side i would fall onto all the clothes on hangers that is there.
Guess I better smile :):):) before I start screaming. What a day!!!

 

The old washer is still around 6 years later

Ever take something apart just to see if you can fix it? I am always doing that.
For years I had watched my Dad taking my mothers washer apart and repairing it. One time when I stopped to visit my parents, there was my Dad again sitting in a kitchen chair with washer parts scattered all over the kitchen floor on newspapers. I asked him if he wasn`t tired of looking at those same parts again. He told me yes, but your mother doesn`t want to spend money on a new one, so I realy haven`t a choice. He kept repairing it for years and Mother never gave in and bought a new washer till after my Dad died and there was noone to repair it for her.
Well, about 6 years ago my washer went on the blink-- wouldn`t spin, wouldn`t dump , but the motor still ran strong. this was on a Sat. Walt told me to be ready Monday morning and we would go to Sears and get a new one. We saved money from that weeks pay to put down on it.
When I woke up Sunday morning, Walt was still asleep. I got to thinking that if my Dad could fix one, whats to say that I couldn`t. I had watched what he did enough times. So, I decided to try. I got the tools and started taking the back off and the hoses and then off came the belt and other inside parts. When Walt woke up, I was sitting on the floor with parts all over on newspapers like I had seen my Dad do so many many times. I had cleaned every part I took off and was slowly putting the parts back in and making sure every thing was snug tight-- all the screws and bolts tightened, the motor tightened down so that the belt was also snug tight so it couldn`t slip and so on. When Walt saw what I was doing, he wanted to know why I was doing all that work when we were getting a new one tomorrow. I told him, what could it harm, couldn`t do any damage since we were tossing it away anyways.
Well to both Walt`s and my surprise the washer worked great when I had it put back together. So, guess it must just have needed cleaning and tightening up. Walt was sure it would break down again in a few days, so he kept saving more money from the next few SS checks to have it when we needed to get the new washer.
Last year I loaned that saved money to my youngest daughter with the understanding that since her Dad had saved that money before he died to buy me a new washer, I wanted to continue to keep it for when I did buy a new washer. Well. So far so good. I still haven`t gotten the money back, and that old washer is still working, if my saying it doesn`t bring me bad luck. Never had a washer last this long before.
Should i knock on some wood for good luck?
Yesterday my heater that I use in my kitchen stopped working. So, later I am planning on taking it apart to see if something might either be unhooked or burnt off in it. Probably nothing that I can fix, but I can`t just toss it without first checking to see if there is something I can do to get it working again. I have kids, both daughters and sons that must also have inherited my Dads abilities for repairing and fixing things as they do most of their own work. The older Daughter when she received her College Diploma, also received a Certificate for repairing small electrical things like lawnmowers, etc. . The youngest is a prison guard. not my type of work, but she enjoys it. She wanted to be a State Trooper, but by the time her oldest daughter graduated she was too old-- she was divorced and raising the oldest by herself. Later she remarried and had another daughter , so as soon as her youngest daughter was a few months old, she went into Prison guard training instead. the middle daughter was a manager in an auto place for over 10 years and after her two kids were grown, she got tired of the long drive to work. She now runs her own Day care service. Youngest son is a roofer and carpenter and handy with repairing motorcycles and other such things. One twin works in a school and is handy with electrical repairs, his twin bro works for the Town. They all can do their own home repairs. I have hard workers and am proud of all of them.

Sunday, January 29, 2006

 

Sunday, Jan. 24th, 06

Hi friends:

Friends can live close,

Or very far away.

we may never meet them

Nor see them every day.

But, yet, we are pleased

To call them our friend,

As they often bring smiles

With every message they send.



Have a great day!! :):):)

---------------------------------------------
Sunday, January 29, 2006

Another rainy day, more done in the shop.


Even though it is raining out, I still managed to get more done on the kitchen paper basket that I am making in my wood shop. It has slanted sides, so the bottom is smaller than the top opening. it has a framework that sits over the top of the basket to hold the bag liner in place. Then it also has a cover. Have it all made and glued and nailed together. Have the trim for the front and back sides already cut and glued in place.

Today I put the second coat of varnish on everything. Now I need to wait 12 hours before deciding if I need a third coat to get the stain color I want, or if the two coats will be enough.

Once the varnishing is done, then will be the poly coat to make the basket easy to keep clean.

Last I need to decide what kind of knob I want to put on the cover. I am thinking of maybe cutting a 4 sided, slanted side knob. If I do that, then it will also need to be varnished to match the basket.

I was getting tired of looking at the same light yellow plastic basket that we bought so many years ago I can`t even remember from where.

I am so thankful to my Daughter and her intended who gave me the new electric oil filled heater for Christmas so I can warm up my shop. This will be the first winter that I didn`t have to close up the shop due to the cold. I had to leave the heater running till the varnish dries, so must remember to go out and unplug it before going to bed tonight. That will give it at least 9 hours of drying time. So, Hope that is enough.

Tomorrows another day. I am hoping to get more done then.

Thursday, January 26, 2006

 

Another day???, Thursday, Jan. 26th, 2006

Yesterday was such a day. Had to go get blood tests done, so I called the place to see what time the lab part opened up. Was told the lab opened at 6:30 am. So, I left home in time to be there as soon as they opened with hopes of getting back home before the snow started. It was still pitch dark out when I drove down.
When I arrived I found the doors to the building locked. After waiting around for about 10 minutes in the icy cold, I decided to get back to the warm car to wait. Finally at 6:45 I decided to phone to see when the doors were being unlocked. Glad i had the cell phone with me. First I was told to knock and someone should come to the door. I told the girl that there were no lights in the front half of the building. So, she asked me to hang on the phone while she tried to reach someone in the building. She finally came back on line and told me that they don`t unlock the doors till 7am, which was when they finally put the lights on and unlocked the door.
I did manage to be back home with the car back in the garage before it snowed. Then we only got about an inch of snow, not enough to have to shovel.
Hours later after getting some work done, I decided to check my e-mail. I was sitting here reading some of the e-mails when suddenly I could feel something crawling up my right arm. Didn`t take me long to find out what was going up my sleeve as my arm moved. It turned out to be the gauze and tape bandage they had put on my arm after taking the blood. Nothing but the rumpled gauze that had come loose from my arm. What a weird feeling that rumpled up stringy gauze caused. It actually felt just like something was crawling up my arm inside my sleeve. I had forgotten all about it. I usually remove it as soon as I get home. Boy, if Walt had been here, he sure would have gotten a good laugh out of that one. :):):)
Was hoping to work in the shop today, but it was way too cold- only 9 degrees F. and the shop still needs more insulation in the ceiling for the heater to warm it when it`s that cold. But, it is supposed to warm up into the low thirty`s tomorrow, so I might be able to warm the shop enough then. I am getting impatient waiting to finish the kitchen paper basket. I like finishing anything once I start making it.
Well, at least I got all the washings done today and picked up around the house so I did accomplish something. Yesterday I was too tired to do much. Was still tired from the long ride the day before with my bro to his Dr in the next state. We made a full day of it and stopped to visit some friends on the way home. Had a nice visit. We only get to see these friends a few times a year.
The wind make it feel like way below zero out. Sure wish my dog would come inside tonight, but she has a mind of her own. I still keep hay in her doghouse, but still I worry when it gets this cold at night. But staying outside she has built herself a heavy coat of thicker hair. Every winter I add a piece of heavy piled carpet over the doorway to keep out the wind. As soon as warmer weather appears If I don`t remove the rug piece, my dog will pull it off her doorway. She will also drag out the hay if she feels it is getting too warm to need it. Dogs sure are smart. i remember one time when Walt and I had taken her to the vets for her shots. Someone came in with another large dog. Sassy went crazy wanting to get to that dog. She growled and Walt and I had to hold her real tight to keep her on the side of the room across from the other dog. It surprised us as she usually wanted to play with any dog she sees. A few minutes later the vet came out after the other dog and that dog almost bit him. They had to put a muzzle on that dog to take it into the examing room. So, then we realized that Sassy was just warning the other dog to stay away from us. We have taken Sassy to this same place for ten years and that was the only time she ever growled at any animal that was there. I never had a dog before that loved going to the vets. She loves the people there and practically pulls us along to go in faster. She loves to ride in the car. Since I lost walt, one of my sons and his adopted son accompany me as I couldn`t drive alone with her. She would jump in the front if noone was holding her in the back seat. We once took her to the vetscloser home where my son takes his dogs, but Sassy was hard to handle there. She just liked the people better where we had always taken her.
Well guess I will go check her water dish again. It freezes up so fast this type of weather. I usually give her fresh water every few hours in the winter. After I dump the frozen water, I run the dish under hot water to take the chill out of the dish before filling it with fresh water so Sassy won`t have her face touching the icy dish when she drinkls.
That reminds me of something I saw a couple days ago when my bro and I were turning my corner onto the main road. One of the little boys was licking the wooden light pole and his tongue got stuck to it. I was about to have my bro go back so I could check when I saw another boy pull him free and the school bus was almost there to pick them up. I had that happen here once when the step daughter started licking the ice on an inside window. I heard her whinning and came out to see what was wrong, then I ran and got some lukewarm water and started pouring it down the window to melt the ice and free her tongue without damage. What a water mess I had to clean up off my floor. I had never seen it happen before that time. I sure hope the little boys tongue wasn`t injured when his friend pulled him loose.
Well, I better go check the gods water before it gets any later as it is already almost 9:30 pm.

Monday, January 23, 2006

 

Monday, Jan.23, 06,another snowy -shop day!

Finally spent some more time in the shop. But first I had to shovel part of the driveway to get to the shop. I shoveled from my porch to the garage and shop. Then my dog`s chain dragged back lots ot the snow from out back and left it on the driveway as she headed for her dog house. The snow she dragged looked like clumps of clouds dropped here and there. The area I had finished was about large enough to park two cars in. And Sassy undid almost every spot of it.
I decided to let the snow sit a while and work in the shop. I added narrow boards along the top section of the four sides of the liner holder. These boards will sit onto the top sides of the basket and hold the liner holder in place.
Then I found some thin plywood that I could use for a cover. Got that cut to size and then I decided to add thin boards on the under side of the cover to fit the inside opening in the liner holder . This will keep the cover in place so it can`t slide off.
I glued all the narrower board on so I wouldn`t need to use many finishing nails putting it together. Now that I have finished the bag liner holder and the cover, I still need to decide what kind of knob to put onto the cover . I am thinking it will look better if I make a wooden knob for it, but haven`t decided for sure.
Next is to decide on what trim or decoration I would like to see in my kitchen. It has to be one I won`t get tired of easily as I plan on using the basket for a long time. This basket is a little taller than my old yellow one was, but it won`t take up any more floor space. Boy, does it ever feel good to have heat in the shop so I don`t have to close it up again this winter.
Won`t be able to work in the shop tomorrow as I will be accompaning a brother to see his Dr over in Vermont. It`a quite a ride just to see a Dr, but this Dr just might have saved his life a few yrs ago. Local Drs couldn`t find what his problem was, so a friend suggested he see this Dr in Vermont. Turned out he had throat cancer and this Dr operated in the Vermont Hosp and removed the thyroid gland. After all the treatments following his op., so far he is doing good. Been three yrs since the op. My bro still has checkups with that dr every year. So far, all good reports, hoping tomorrows checkup says the same. It is between two to three hours drive to get there. I don`t like him going alone so I take the long ride with him.
Well, I did redo the part of the driveway that Sassy`s chain undid. When I started to finish the other part of the driveway, my daughter yelled over and said her and her intended would finish shoveling it for me. He also shoveled the front sidewalk that goes from the front porch to the mailbox by the road. So, I got out of doing more shoveling. It is so great to have such great kids. I sure am lucky.
One of my granddaughters stopped by for a few minutes. She just wanted to tell her gram about getting a High mark on her tests. She went back to school to earn her Cosmatology certificate. She will finish the course next month. It`s been about 10 years since she graduated from High school. She has two kids, and a job,and still went back for her certificate so she can get a better job. Today after her test grading, her Teacher told her she could go looking for a job as she would definitely get her certificate next month and that if anyone called her she would give a great report on how great she has done. Granddaughter told me she knew I would be proud of her and she was right. I am proud of her.
Well, guess I better stop writing and get things ready for tomorrow since we will be leaving rather early. Supposed to be foggy in the morning, hope not like last week when I couldn`t see only a little ways ahead of me. Glad the snow has stopped.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

 

Jan 19th, The old paper basket!

Finally a nice day. After the snow storm last week, we had the ice storm this week followed by a day where it rained from early morning till late at night. Last evening and this afternoon I was able to spend time in the shop.Yesterday morning I spent scraping the ice from the driveway and the sidewalk that goes from the front porch to the road. The only ice left is right in front of my shop door. Some of the ice has melted and left a water puddle covering the ice, so a bit slippery. I can`t toss anything there to melt the ice as my dog would get it on her feet, and the ground is frozen too hard to remove the ice with the long handled metal ice scraper. If i can`t remove itsoon, i might just lay a piece of wood over the ice.
Well, to get back to the yellow basket-- I decided to make a wood paperbasket to replace it in my kitchen.
Have you ever found yourself looking at the same paper basket year after year? I have this tall yellow plastic paper basket in my kitchen. Have had it so long that I can`t even remember when or where we bought it. The cover has been gone for years. Last week when I was emptying it , I just looked at it and thought " I am so tired of looking at you-- old coverless and such a bland yellow color!!" It once was a pretty yellow, but age seems to have robbed it`s brightness. Never thought of a paperbasket getting old-- but this one sure is looking old.
So, yesterday when I was dumping it, I decided to make myself a new basket from wood. I cut out the four sides, tapering them from the wide top to a narrower bottom. Glued and lightly nailed with fine finishing nails all the sides together, using the right angle for all corners of course. Then I let it sit overnight for the glue to dry. Then this afternoon I cut the bottom board with all 4 sides cut on a 15 degree slant to better fit inside the sloped frame .
Now, I am trying to decide how I wish to finish it-- paint, varnished or make some designs to cover all four corners with some 1/4th board. Then if I do that, I need to decide whether I want to varnish the trim darker than the rest of the basket. Decisions, decisions, have to get my old mind working and deciding before I go to the shop again. Then there is still the cover to make, plus the top frame on the basket to hold the cover. I could just start making them and decide on trim or no trim later. Well, guess I will sleep on it and decide later.
I might just paint a design on it, but then I could just varnish it to match my cupboards. Biggest problem is whatever I decide I need to do the paint or stain early in the morning to give it time to start drying before I have to unplug the heater before going to bed. I would never leave the heater running over night while I slept. But, if I did the work real early in the morning then it would have many hours to dry in. I just worry that the dampness overnight in the shop might ruin the finish no matter how I finish it.
More decisions, always something to think about when building something. Well, no matter what finish I end up doing, I will cover it with a clear coat to make it washable.
I had a favorite saying when I was in High school " That would be telling". That line got me out of answering many questions and kept me from losing any friends or from getting anyone mad at me- a good way to keep from taking sides. That line even made it into my senior year book as being my favoeite saying. Gee, I wonder how the book publishers knew that one?? Guess I must have used it once to many times so it got remembered. Haven`t thought of that saying in years.
Back then, most High school kids had favorite sayings. Did you have a favorite saying and did it help you get out of siding with one friend or getting another friend mad at you?

Sunday, January 15, 2006

 

Jan. 16, 06 The three Wolves!

Just noticed I put Jan. 14, 05 on the last post instead of `06

Yesterday I was watching "Animal Kingdom" on TV. The subject was about a couple of people who made friends with wild wolves. They would just sit quietly and wait for the wolves to come to them. The lady was even allowed to enter the place to see the new born babies which were all black like their Mother. Most of the wolves in the pack were light brown and black. It was a very interesting program, but it brought back a time when I saw three wild wolves on the property where I was living back then.
Back in 1955, shortly before my twins were born, I got to see real live wolves on the farm where we were living at the time.
It was late at night ( or I should say early morning) and my daughter and step daughter were asleep and I was already in bed sleeping when a loud noise woke me up. When I was more awake I realized the loud high pitched howling was coming from outside. I got up and looked out the dining room window. What I saw was three wolves ( thought they were just dogs at first till I heard their howl and saw them better). They were using their teeth , tearing the boards off one of the rabbit cages so easily. I couldn`t believe how easy they could tear the boards off when it took us a lot of pounding to nail in those long nails.
We were raising rabbits at the time and had several cages containing rabbits. But the cage they were ripping apart held a mother rabbit and her 5 one day old babies. Boy! Was I ever stupid back then. I never gave danger a thought. I just feared for the mother and her babies in that cage. So, I grabbed my heavy long coat, put it on over my night clothes and headed out the door, turning on the porch light as I went out. Only thing handy on the porch was my broom, so I grabbed that. As I was running out to the cage, the three wolves took off on a run back into the woods on the farm. I got a good look at them. WOW! what coldness shown in their eyes- so scarry looking. And the high pitched noises they were making was terrible- ear pierceing.
I went into the house for the hammer and more nails to put the cage back together. I added even more nails to try to make the cage stronger.
I must have looked funny to Walt and the other fellows when they drove in at 5:30 to find me out there. Here I was real huge carrying twins, my night clothes bottom showing below my long coat, bending down pounding the nails. Walt hurried out to see what I was doing outside at that hour. The driver of the car turned his car so the car lights showed up on the cage so I could see better to pound in the rest of the nails. Walt was too busy yelling at me to take over the hammering. He was mad because I had risked my life for a few rabbits. Guess the mother in me just had to help that poor helpless mother and her babies.
Well, the next morning I told my Mother about the three wolves and her reply was " There are no wolves in those woods". My brothers and sisters and I had grown up playing in those woods- swimming in the canal that touched the woods, picking blue berries there, or sliding, ski jacking and skiing in the winter, plus skating on the frozen canal. We never had any reason to be afraid while playing in the woods.
But, here, years later there was danger showing up.
When our local newspaper arrived that evening, on the front page of the local news was a big topic on the wolves. Seems that some people saw the three wolves coming out of our woods and running past the railroad station that was just a short distance from the lower end of the woods. I was glad others had also seen them so my Mother would stop saying "There was no wolfs". No Wolves!!. I sure wish she had heard and saw them herself. Boy I sure did see them. Today I figure what realy scared off the wolfs was probably the porch light being turned on. It is scary wondering what might have happened if that porch light hadn`t worked. I might not be here today to tell about it.
On second thought, I am glad my mother didn`t see them. I remember one time when I heard my mother screaming in the kitchen. I hurried out to see what was wrong. I found my little sister standing on the table and my mother standing in a chair with my step daughter. She kept screaming and I just kept asking her what was wrong. Finally she pointed to the corner behind me. There looking at me was a big rat. The only thing handy was my younger brothers baseball bat. So, you would have laughed to see me chasing that rat back and forth thru the house hitting it with the bat. It finally jumped onto the under support board of the long fancy table in the front room and kept running back and forth on that board with me hitting it all the time. I finally killed it. The neighbors daughter ( who later became my sister-in-law) came over to see what all the yelling was about. When she saw the dead rat, my Mother told her that I had killed it but I wouldn`t take it out of the house. So the neighbor went down cellar, got the coal shovel and carried the rat outside. I was exhausted from chasing it and wasn`t interested in seeing any more of it. Thank goodness that was the only rat ever seen at my parents home. Way out behind where they lived used to be the town dump which at the time had just been closed. So, I guess the rat must have come from the closed up dump looking for food. I wonder if other families that lived closer to the dump had rat problems back then?
I have only seen one other rat in my life and that was after we built out home in a neighboring town. But, that is another story.
After seeing the possum showing up in my driveway a few weeks ago, I am always wondering what other animals might be driven from the mountains looking for food. I tried to take a picture of the possum, but it was so dark out and it was so dark that it didn`t show up very well. I still do have the picture of the moose that walked down our road and laid in the small wooded area across from my house, and the albino wild turkey that was in one of my trees and I finally got it`s picture standing on the fence that separates my property from the neighbors. Never got the one of the young fawn as it only hit the ground twice before it was behind the neighbors home. Dogs barking had scared it off. Years past we never saw any wild animals except for squirrels and birds. The past few years more and more are showing up. Ones I hate the worst is the skunks that show up every spring. Tired of going out in the morning to their odor.

Saturday, January 14, 2006

 

Jan.14, 05=Gone spending Money!!= Isn`t that what gift certificates are for???

Here I was just sitting and reading a few blogs, when my phone rang. I went off line to call my Daughter back. She wanted to see if I wanted to go to the Mall with her, her daughter and two grandchildren. So, I closed up everything and got ready to ride up with them. As we were riding together, it hit me that we had four generations riding togetrher in that car-- me, my daughter, my granddaughter and my great granddaughter and great grandson. We spent a couple hours just walking around the mall. I did end up spending-- bought a new Pocketbook, or purse or bag, It sure has a lot of names depending on who is naming it. it has been 4 or 5 years since I bought a new one, so I figured I deserved a new one. Besides I received a gift certificate from one of my sons to spend at any store in the mall and who doesn`t like to spend it. I also picked up some new jeans to wear in the shop. Jeans because they are warmer, but mostly because they don`t collect the sawdust as much as the dressier slacks do. Also picked up a pretty belt to dress up the jean look. From JCPenny, we went to Sears, but the only thing I bought there was 2 small bags of ice melt plus so I would be ready in case we did get the ice freeze tonight under the future snow. Have to keep my drivewat cleared so noone will fall and get hurt. When my Daughter saw me picking up e bags, she also bought 2 bage. She runs a child care in her Home and needs to keep the ice off the walk. Since I still own the other place, I went over last week with my ice scraper and removed the ice buildup off her walk and her driveway. I call it her place as it will be once I find a way to turn it over to her without either of us paying a lot of money exchange. I am trying to find a way to sell it to her for the amount of rent money she has already paid for many years. There must be a way and I hope to find it soon.
It has rained all day and is still raining. It is expected to start freezing on the roads before long and then it is supposed to change over to snow. So, the roads might be a mess by morning, but i am hoping not. I don`t need to drive anyplace tomorrow, but so many others do.
Girl Scouts are selling their cookies this weekend. I walked over to a neighbors with my granddaughter so she could ask them. When my son and his daughter first showed up at my house I was in the middle of stapling a double layer of heavy plastic over the large heavy shop door as it was made with boards and the plastic would seal any spaces between the boards. My son told me when he first say me out there working, he told his daughter " Look at Gramma, she shouldn`t be doing all that hard work". Actually it wouldn`t have been so hard if my electric stapler wasn`t acting up. I finally got tired of taking it apart to remove broken staples. So, back to the old hand stapler and the hard pressure it needed to work it. A little hard on my arthritic hands, but you do what you have to , to get things done. Have you ever tried to hold doubled plastic-- laying the top half over your head while you stapled on the lower half, then climb the small ladder to start reaching the top section of the door that was above my reach?? I remember when my mother would lay wallpaper over her head while climbing up a ladder to reach the top of the wall next to the ceiling. The shop door measures about 57" wide x 77 " high-- a lot of plastic needed to do it doubled. Hardest part was trying to hold the two sections together and staple it halfway straight-- would have been much easier to have had someone holding it straight while I was stapling it onto the door. Was almost 2/3rds done when they showed up, and my son finished it for me. You would think that after all these years the kids would be used to seeing Mom doing all kinds of work around my home, but I guess losing their Dad keeps them worrying they might lose their Mom. I try to tell them they should never feel guilty if anything happens to me while I am working as I would rather go working enjoying myself than go from sitting around doing nothing. My shop is getting warmer all the time. Soon I will stop doing repairs and start working on my next wood project.
Hope everyone else is enjoying the weekend.
Wonder what tomorrow will bring?? I will just have to wait and see.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

 

My Lilac Bush





Tuesday, January 10, 2006

 

My Lilac Bush

Jan. 10th, just remembering my Lilac Bush






I once had a lilac Bush that was huge and beautiful when in full blossom.
It took me many many years of growing to get it that large.
It used to also be so pretty in the winter frosted by the ice and snow.
For many years I was able to enjoy both the summer blossoms and the Winter
coating. The bush used to be so thick that you couldn`t see thru it. Today there are sections so thin that i can look thru and see the fence .
Then along came one winter with a horrible storm that destroyed it`s beauty.
It weighed the branches down so heavy with it`s icy coating that many of the branches broke off. As you will see in one of the pictures, that storm also had the power to break large branches of the tree out back. That tree is in the neighbors back yard. When it broke off it fell over into my yard with the top landing on my shop /garage roof. Luckily it laid on the roof missing the large window in the back of the building. I went out and removed as much of the snow and ice weight as I could and was able to save and lift some of the branches back up where they belonged, but so many of them were broken and had to be removed. The lilac bush still is pretty when it is filled with blossoms, but it is only half as thick as it used to be. The Lilac bush used to be so large that it almost touched the shop. Now I have about 4 or 5 feet to walk between the bush and the shop.
It took so many years to grow it, but just a few hours to destroy it. This happaned a few yrs ago.
The section of the building with the lower slanted roof is my wood shop. The larger roof section is over my garage. The fence in the background is where my property ends and that tree was on the other side of the fence, but was so tall that it spanned over my backyard reaching the top of the garage and shop.

Sunday, January 08, 2006

 

Not much today

Didn`t get much cutting done in the shop today.
Hi Jac, You asked "no post today", No, I didn`t post today. But here is a post telling how I spent today. I started to answer your post under comments, but since it was getting long, I decided to put your answer into this new post instead.

Today I spent the day out in the shop. I needed to add heavy plastic and insulation into the eaves to stop more draft. I also added the plastic and more insulation over top of the large door. The more work I do, the warmer the shop is getting. I still have two more small eave places to do, but I ran out of staples. So, can`t do more till after I drive to the wood place for more staples. I am also thinking of adding some heavy plastic ovrt the door itself.
Also want to buy more wood. Have a pattern for a wood paper bsket that I am thinking of trying to do. I cut out the boards for the two sides and then decided I needed more heat to work out there. So, I started working with the plastic and insulation.

I am finding out things I never knew before. It seems that Walt cut the eave boards to close them up, but he just pounded them in tight and never nailed them in. So, when summer comes I am hoping to nail them all in. Can`t do it now as there is too much snow on the ground so I can`t set up the ladder safely. So, another job waiting for next summer to do. But the 2 layers of heavy plastic and the insulation will keep any drafts from entering around those small boards.

I never even stopped to eat lunch, so was feeling a bit hungry when I quit at 5 pm.
Too lazy to do much cooking after all that work. Had to move the table with the saw, the Band Saw and the scroll saw, plus the router table to reach the eaves. I also cleaned off both benches. So, a lot of work before I could reach the eaves. I also had to move the large lawn tractor that spends the winters in my shop. Have a flat tire on the tractor, so it didn`t move very easy.
So, I just took a frozen stuffed pepper from the freezer to heat up for my supper.

I was tired enough to go to sleep at 7:30, but since I only sleep a few hours that would have been a bad idea. Woke up this morning at 4Am. It is almost 11 pm now, so I think I`ll sign off and go to bed and watch some Tv for a while and do a few more puzzles in the crossword puzzle book. I try to stay awake late so I won`t wake up quite so early. But with the sleep apnea,I feel safer sitting up in bed when I get too tired as I sometimes fall asleep and a bed is a better place to do that than in my computer chair.
Another day has passed, hope tomorrow is warmer. Don`t think I will go to the wood place tomorrow as I have a Dr Apt- just a checkup- on Tues. Last time I saw him I had some black and blue marks on my arm from carrying the boards and the Dr asked if someone was abusing me. Told him, noone lives with me I live with just my dog. Then I was asked if maybe one of my kids stopped by and abused me. When are they going to get it thru their heads that I work in a wood shop, plus do lots of repairs around my home and of course I black and blue more easily due to age. I told him that everyone should be as lucky as I am with such great helpful kids. I am Lucky.
Well, I`m off for tonight. Hope everyone else had or is having a great day.

Friday, January 06, 2006

 

Fire co. Practice burning







The day the WGF Fire Dept. burnt the house behind my back Fence. They used the burning as a Fireman Practice burning session. This fire heated the paint right of the other side of our fence and the force of the water coming from their hoses cracked many of the boards. The firemen had to keep my fence real wet to keep it from catchinf fire since the house they were burning down sat just a few feet from our back fence. The long support boards that the upright boards were nailed to was also weakened so they soon rotten away. There was times when the smoke was so bad that my whole yard was blackened from the smoke making it impossible to see anything. Standing on my back porch I couldn`t even see the porch railings. It took days to remove the smoke odor from our home.
I hated breathing the smoke , But I didn`t dare stop watching incase the fire should come thru the fence onto our property. Our other building was just a few feet this side of the fence. A lot to worry about and a great relief once the fire was out.

 

WGF Fire Co. Practice burning



The day our local fire dept. burned down the house behind my back fence for a practice session. The smoke got so bad in my back yard that for a while I couldn`t see my back yard from my back porch and my whole house smelt like smoke.

Thursday, January 05, 2006

 

Thursday, Jan. 5th- our Town Fire in 1963

Forest Fires
Watching all the forest fires going on in California brought back some bad memories.
It was in 1963 when we had the big fire in our town. Never did find out what started the fire. At the time we owned the Grocery Store known as "Walts Grocery". When I think of that title today, it makes me wonder- it should have been called Dot`s grocery since I ran it most of the time, but then Walt did earn the money we used to start up the Store.
A customer came to the store telling me that the woods were on fire way above where I lived. Then I heard even more fire sirens and more trucks went up the main road. I kept watching them going past our corner and wondering how bad the fire was getting. There were even more trucks from neighboring towns, so I knew the fire was spreading fast.
My step son told me he was going to see of they could use his help. About a half hour later he came home to tell me it was just a few streets up on the other side of the main road. At the time we had only the well pump for water and the water was low in our well. We had planned on driving the pipes down further when we had time. My own kids were small at the time and I had no car as Walt had driven it to work. Didn`t have a car of my own back then. My step son used the garden hose and tried to wet down our house and shop buildings as much as the water amount allowed. He kept running back home to rewet everything. I kept running the store and giving the firemen hot coffee and doughnuts etc. till I ran outof coffee and couldn`t make more for them. Had no coffee to sell till the next delivery came a few days later.
The fire cleared out a whole area known by some as Bennetville-- all poorer people lived in those houses. People lost all kind of animals , even 3 Horses, some goats, peoples pet cts and dogs,rabbits, were lost due to the fire. It went so fast people were lucky to get them self safe. There was one huge beautiful house amongst all the shacks. They told me that the fire took everything in it`s path till it came to that house and it went around it and never touched it-- leaving it the only house still standing in that whole area. Even today, that still amazes me.
The fire jumped across the street onto our side on the corner of the road above our road, but they managed to put it out. It was getting scarry as I had no transportation to get my kids out of harms way. The fire kept burning from early morn till long after it got dark. I never want to relive another day like that one ever again. I could see the high flames thru the huge picture window in the store front. I am the third house from the corner. A couple streets below our street is the Northway which goes over top of the main road. Those flames were jumping so high that they actually jumped over the northway setting fire to the ground on the other side. I was surprised that it could jump that high and that far as the Northway is so high above the main road and the Notrthway consists of 6 Lanes- three lanes on each side. I breathed a little easier when it had burned everything and was now below where I lived. Then someone came into the store telling me the wind had changed and the fire had again jumped across the road below and was burning back my way. I never wan t to expierience another day like that one. When the fire started, my youngest sister was staying with us to help me. She got scared , called my Father, and he came up and took her home. After they left, I got to thinking, Why didn`t dad offer to take my 5 little ones home with him? He must have thought about it after he got home because a couple hours after they left one of my brothers showed up. He said they weren`t going to let him drive up the road and he said he told them to move their feet or he would run over them as he was going to his sisters so she wouldn`t be alone, and off he went fast past them. I was glad to see him so now at least there was a car to carry my kids in if we needed to leave.
Even after all these years, I relive that day when I watch the fires on TV. . Back then a lot of the area was woods that were completely destroyed by the fire. Today most of that wooded area has been built on. Very little wooded areas left till you get to the mountain.
Just one of my scarry days that I lived to remember. There were others, like when the girls were burnt and another time when my Father ran thru every red light with his horn blowing all the way to the Hospital with me in the back seat when I was having trouble before the twins were born. But the op Dr was wrong, I lived and so did my twins. God sure has been good to me. He has helped me thru a lot of hard times.

 

Jan 5th, another shoveling Day.

OH No! There goes that darn snowplow again. I went out and shoveled my
large driveway early this morning. Then we got more snow, so after lunch I
reshoveled it. I just hope the plow didn`t leave a pile of snow across the end
of my driveway and mailbox again. weather report says might get more snow tonight.
Hope not. Good for my well next spring, but tiring to keep repeating shoveling. Not
much snow, just enough so I had to shovel. I only did a little over half the driveway
after the last storm as a D said to leave it and she would finish it after her day care kids left. She usually does what she says, but guess she figured we didn`t have enough to worry about. Leaving it was a big mistake on my part as it meant more to do today. What was left turned to ice from cars driving on it. Lots harder to remove it today. Glad I finished it all this time.
Then back to more draft filling on the shop. I used sealer around the windows and
casings, plus sealed the boards tighter that I added around the door framework .
It felt warmer in the shop afterwards and I didn`t even have the heater on. So I guess all my work is paying off.
Only problem is all this shoveling is tiring me so not getting anything made in the shop.
But there is sure to be a day soon that doesn`t require shoveling. Or is this just wishful thinking on my part?

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

 

Oh! What a day, Jan 3, 2006

Oh! What a Day!

Jan 3rd, 20066666666666
Today started out like any other day. Got up, fed my dog, started to get
something for breakfast- can`t take the pills without food. Then I got
to thinking that myu ss cjheck arrives today. I had planned on having my
checks changed to direct deposit. Thats where the problem started.
To change things you need your ss #. I kept that in a little blackcase.
I checked my purse, rechecked it and finally dumped everything out of it-
- no little black case. This little case has always been kept in a small
zippered case along with all other cards. All the other cards were still
in the zippered case except for the little black case. To make matters
worse, along with the ss card was my epic card, my Dr apt cards and even
worse it held my drivers license. I started hunting everywhere- in my coat
pocket, slacks pockets, in my ski vest pocket, then I remembered I picked
up my pills on the 30th, but they never asked to see my card. I remember
taking out the zippered case in case they did ask. But I never checked
so I never knew it wasn`t there. So, just in case, i called our local
Hannaford Drug store to see if anyone might have turned it in. No!! So,
I again started hunting the house.
I remembered I had it out once when I was going to call SS to have my
check changed to Direct Deposit, but knew that was before I picked up
the pills, so I was sure I put the zippered case back in my purse without
opening it. Company had showed up and that was why I never ended up
calling ss office and since I never leave my cards laying around, I knew
I had put them away.
I just kept hunting and driving myself crazy, thinking am I starting to
forget things, didn`t I put it back in my purse?? Is my mind getting bad?
Scarry thought!!!
Suddenly I remembered going to the Grandmothers breakfast for a granddaughter.
I knew I would not need to carry my larger purse so I got out the small
one and just put in a few things I needed to have with me-- like my Drivers
Licence, etc..
This was the first time I had ever used the small purse since I received it.
Sure enough, that is where it still was. What a relief! I can finally breath
easy again. Guess I wasn`t getting forgetful afterall or I wouldn`t have
remembered using the small purse for the first time on Nov.30th. But, I sure
did a lot of driving last month without my License in my purse. Glad I didn`t
need to show it for any reason. Glad I have kept a clean driving record so
they had no reason to be watching me. Also glad they weren`t looking for
anyone who drives the same make car like mine. Would sure have been a mess
If I had needed to show my License, since I would have reached in my purse
after it and not found it there. Do you think the cops would have believed
I did have a Licence if they had asked and I couldn`t produce it?
After what I went thru to get my License I sure wouldn`t want to get
any marks on it. I got my License in 1963, just about 3 weeks before my
youngest son was born. Walt owned a 7 passenger station wagon which I had
never went practicing driving with. Have you ever tried parralel parking with
a 7 passenger wagon. You can`t line up your wheels by the wheels of the
parked car as your car is the size of 1 1/2 cars. But, somehow I managed to
park it without hitting anything. Even the three point turn , I managed. I
was surprised when I turned that monster around in the road without hitting
the curbs. I hated that monster. It hardly fit in a reg. parking spot. I
never missed it one bit when Walt decided to trade it in for a new car the
next year. Sure was hard fitting behind the wheel at over 8 Months along,
I wasn`t very small at that time, but still smaller than before the twins
were born. Thinking about it, i must have looked funny, being that hugs and
sitting in such a huge station wagon. After driving that monster, bet I
could have driven one of those Limo`s and made some money. HaaHaa.
Well, that worry is over. My case has been found and back where it belongs.
What a way to begin the new year.
Now I just hope no other crises appears till after I have had time to
recover from this one.

Monday, January 02, 2006

 

Jan. 2nd, 2005 Bad day!

A Bad day for driving. It was so foggy all you could see was the lights
on the cars- not see the cars themself. Luckily the red and green colors
showed on the traffic light, even though you couldn`t see the light itself.
Never knew it was that foggy till I was a few streets from my road. As
soon as I headed down the hill, it got worse. I haven`t driven in fog this
bad in years. We ususlly don`t get fog this bad in the winter. I had decided
to go to our local Hannaford to pick up a couple rolls of pictures. When I
took them there last Thursday I was told - one day- so pick them up tomorrow.
Well, the weather was bad the rest of the week, so I never went to get them
till today. Then I was told none had came back since Christmas. So, that was
a wasted trip.
So, as long as I was there I figured I might as well pick up
some more bird food. Got the reg food, some thistle seed and two suets. I try
to keep the feeders and suet holder filled.

I also picked up some ice cristles as the ice was forming in front of my
garage doors so one of them wouldn`t open enough to get my car out this
morning and I had to do some chopping. I hate using the crystals as they can
damage my driveway. But chopping the ice can also do damage. So, I just
poured some of the crystals in front of that one door. I guess they
built my driveway with a bit of a slope so the water would run off the left
side. The reason I figure it must slope a speck is because only one door
hits too close to the driveway and doesn`t open if there is any ice buildup.
The other door seems to get higher off the ground as it opens.
I know the doors are both identical and right angles, so that leaves the
ground to be a bit off. I thought of taking that door off and shaving a speck
off the bottom, but to do that I would also need to remove the support board
that goes along the very bottom and renail it up a bit higher. Doing all this
would propbably ruin the Mural I painted on the doors. So, I`ll just
keep using the ice melt crystals where that door opens. Hard keeping my
dog away from the doors till the ice has melted and I can remove any
left over crystals. I worry that it might get onto my dogs feet and burn them.
Seems like what ever you do, there is always something more to worry about.
I used to find an ice melt that ws considered safe for aphsalt, but haven`t
found it yet this year.

After doing that, my next job was to close up tighter around the shop door.
Had some trimming to do , then nailing boards up the open side on the casin
for the door to have something to snug up to. Got the worst side done today.
Too dark to try climbing on a ladder tonight, so over the top will need
to wait till tomorrow- if the weather is good enough. The electric heater
seemed to heat well even if I was constantly opening and closing the door.
So, once i get the door sealed better it should be warm enough to work out there.

Mr Haney, if you are reading this, I must tell you that I was pounding a
nail when the outside light over the garage went off. So, bet you can
figure out what happened next. Not my thumb, but my left middle finger. I
depend on that finger for typing, so now I am trying to use just the pointer
finger on that hand for typing. Not very fast now. It looks like the whole
end of the finger will be black tomorrow. Haven`t done this in years. I have
one of those outside double motion lights over the garage doors. Every few
minutes I had to stop and walk over near the garage to turn it back on.
The shop light lit up the inside casin, but not the outer edge. Should have
came in and ice packed the finger, but I wanted to finish that one side
before I quit for the day. From the tip to the first joint it is swollen
pretty good.

I better be more careful as I have a Dr apt on the 5th. The
last time I went there I had black and blue marks on my arm from carrying
some long boards and they asked me if someone was abusing me. I told them
there was noone home to abuse me as I lived alone since losing my husband.
Then they asked if some of my kids were doing it. I told them I don`t have
that kind of kids. Mine are the type who are grest at helping me. they would
never abuse me. So, can`t afford to go with any more marks on me. I tried
to tell the Dr about the kind of work I do at home, but then I gave up.

Oh Well, tomorrow is another day. I will need to push the lawn tractor
in further to open the ladder and the tractor has a flat tire on it. So, that
should be fun. I wanted to build a small shed for thr tractor to get it
out of my shop, but can`t figure a good place to put the shed. With Gods help,
Maybe next year I will do the shed.

.

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