Wednesday, May 31, 2006

 

Expecting a thunderstorm again today., hoping it misses our area!

Here I sit trying to catch up with some e-mail before the storm starts. Then I decided to add another post. Not much to tell about today. Yesterday we received severe thunderstorm warnings. We did get the heavy rain and wind, but the worst of the thunder storm was off in the distance. It was in the other end of our town, but not bad in the section where I live. So I spent the day working in the house. i must admit that I find it easier to work outside in the fresh air when it isn`t too hot out. Today is another day with both AC`s going. Now we are getting those same severe thunderstorm warnings. Right now they are up in Stony Creek. That is where one of my sons live and about an hours drive from me. He stopped to visit on his way to work so i cooked us some dinner- spare ribs, mixed veggies and baked potato which made him happy. He lives alone with his youngest daughter so has been doing his own cooking for years. So, it is a treat to have someone cook a meal for him. He cares for his own home and raised his 3 kids alone, the oldest - a son is in the Marines, the middle child is a school teacher in Virginia, and the youngest , after graduating got a local job, but still living at home. He did a great job as they are all good adults. Hope we are lucky again today and the storm stays aways off.
I hurried and got the work done outside this morning to beat the rain. I finally planted the rose bush my S& DIL gave me for Mothers day. The danger of frost is finally over-- at least it should be. I had bought some mums last week and I also got them planted this morning. I have a 3 bin compost frame over in the other lot. So, I got out the wheelbarrow and shovel and carried some of that nice black compost to use for planting. Hopefully it will make the rose bush and mums grow better. Suppose I should stop and run out and take care of the shovel and wheelbarrow as I keep them in the garage.
Back again. Now I won`t need to run out in the rain to take care of things.
Just got another report and the storm is getting closer.
I am not crazy about thunderstorms as I once had a reason to worry. Years ago when we lived on the farm I was outside hanging diappers onto an outside clothesline when a storm hit. When the lightning hit, I was blinded for a while and couldn`t even see the line I was trying to hang the diappers on or the clothespin in my hand. I am normally not afraid of thunder storms, but that day scared me as i wasn`t sure if I was ever going to be able to see again. It seemed like ages, but I know it probably wasn`t more than 15 minutes or so before my sight came back.
When I could see there were lots of small fires. It looked like the lightning hit the tree and bounced off in both directions setting fire each time it hit the ground. There was fires in the night pasture and also in the field outside the fence. It couldn`t have happened at a worse time. I had two girls who were burn`t bad when the step D found a bottle with mercuric acid and battery acid combined , She spilled some and burnt her arm, then she threw it and it hit a board causing it to spatter all over the other D who was then just 2 1/2 yrs old. So they had to stay under mosquitto netting on the bed. The twins ( boys) were just a couple months old at the time. I yelled and my bro came over from my parents home and with a shovel and a broom him and I did our best to keep the fires from heading for the barn or farmhouse till the firemen arrived. When I got back into the house I found that a niece was using my mother`s record player when the lightning hit and it did something to the player. My Dad had just boughten it for my Mom. It took me hours working on it, but I was lucky and got it working ok.
Today I realize how lucky I was that time, being so close to where the lightning hit and then getting my sight back. I wouldn`t even have been outside if I had know a thunder storm was coming. Today I am a bit smarter. If it feels like rain and the air starts to heat up, I know a thunderstorm might happen, so I prepare for it.
Well, it is getting closer, so I better post this or I might lose it. I always shut off the comp, Tv and even unplug the telephone that connects to my comp when a bad storm is on its way.

Sunday, May 28, 2006

 

Sunday- window washing day!

Today it turned so warm that I felt it was time to bring down the smaller window air conditioner. So up to the attic i went and carried it down stairs. I was just about to put it into the window when I noticed they needed cleaning first. I sure didn`t want to remove the air-conditioner later just to wash that window.
So, this morning became a window washing day. I only did the inside of the window for the conditioner, but did walk all around the house and washed all the downstairs outside windows. By then I was tired, so the rest of the inside windows will just have to wait for another day.
Feels much better in this side of the kitchen now with the air conditioner running. Before it gets much warmer I should finish in the laundry room so I can add the large air-conditioner into that window. The kitchen is on one end of the house and the laundry room is on the other end of the house. I found out that if I put the large air-conditioner in the laundry room where the largest furnace cold air intake grate is I can cool the whole house. When we bought the new furnace years ago I insisted they run a switch for the fan so I could turn it on from the top of the cellarway stairs. So with the furnace fan running along with the large air-conditioner it cools the whole house enough to keep it more comfortable on real hot days. The fan draws the cooler air from the laundry room, into the furnace and then it blows that cooler air up into all the floor registers in all rooms. never gets real chilly like the furnace air-conditioners would. I don`t breath so easy in homes with the chilly air, so my way works better for me.
I did get all the tomato supports out and put them into the garden boxes that I filled yesterday. So, if the wind should blow hard or we get a strong storm, the tomato brackets should protect the plants so they don`t get bent over and broken.
The fellow my daughter is engaged to drove his truck and we went after good potting soil to fill my 7 earth boxes and now the garden plants are in the boxes. i have 2 kinds of tomatoes, burpless cucumber, 2 kinds of leaf lettuce, green peppers growing, plus planted some green string beans. Not sure yet if I will plant anything else this year or not.
Today I dragged all 4 long water hoses out and checked them for any leaks. I added a double hose connector to the faucet and connected the double hose to one opening, and a shorter hose to the other opening. No leaks, so I hooked up 2 of them together to reach half way around the house to wash the windows. I bought a long handled window washer last year. First time I used it one of the rivets pulled thru , leaving just one side of the washer connected to the handle so I couldn`t use it. Well, this morning I decided to fix it. So, using my Dremel with a cutter in it, I was able to cut off the end of the rivet and remove it. Then I added a short screw and nut where the rivet used to be. Now I have a useful window washer again. It is one with the washer sponge on one side and the rubber scraper on the other. It worked real well. I still had to carry the larger step ladder outside inorder to reach to spray the window cleaner onto the window, but needed no climbing while using the long handled cleaner which was nice.

I`m back. It is starting to get dark and I still needed to take the scraps out to the compost piles. That only took about 5 minutes to dump it and cover it with leaves. But, on the way back to the house I noticed the flowers growing in containers needed watering. I still need to plant them into the flower gardens. Well, as I mentioned before I have a double connector onto the faucet. One has the double hose I used this morning and the other has a shorter hose for watering the earth box gardens. I turned on the wrong side ot the connector and the hose that I had left in one of the boxes flew out of the earthbox tube , hit the ground and turned straight at me. So, I just had to stop and change my shorts before I could get back to finishing this post.. Even my socks and shoes got wet.

OH Dear, I must stop again as I forgot to lock up the garage and shop after getting out the hoses and tomato supports. So, I better run and do it right now while I`m thinking about it. Well they are both locked up for the night. Gee, years ago I would never have even thought of putting locks on things, but today you need to. I never needed to give my kids keys to get in the house as we never locked them till after the last two came along. bring back those good old days where you trusted almost everyone. I am lucky in having very nice dependable trusting neighbors who I
i can depend on if i should ever need them. Even the younger lad in the trailer down the road told one of my sond to tell me that if there is anything he can help me with just to let him know. Neighbors across the road are the same way.

Took me a little longer after locking up the garage and shop doors because my daughter drove in and we chatted a few minutes. If I were writting this in my blog it surely would have dissappeared by now. But I am using the new message place on outlook express and even if the internet should shut off, this page will still be here waiting for me to post it.
Guess I better stop or it will be so long I won`t want to re-read it to check for any misspelling. i won`t look too hard, haha.

Saturday, May 27, 2006

 

My step Daughter

Today started out quite weird. For some unknown reason I awoke around 2am and was unable to get back to sleep. I had been dreaming that the step daughter had phoned me. I have talked to her just once in 17 yrs. So, why would I dream that she of all people would be phoning me again. Well, since I couldn`t get back to sleep I put the TV on. I had been watching the TV for about an hour when the phone on the stand-way over by the other side of the bed- suddenly started the dial tone sound. like when you pick up the receiver to call someone.
To make matters even more weird, in my dream , as I awoke, I was telling her if she wanted to talk then to start talking. otherwise, If she was just going to hold the phone and say nothing, then I was going to hang up. I know it was about an hour later that the Dial tone started sounding off, because the movie I watched was over and another movie had started.
At first I thought the sound must be a phone on the TV, but when I saw noone picking up a phone in the movie, then I picked up my phone. Sure enough the dial tone was from my phone. You don`t get a dial tone on that phone unless you hit the button to turn it on for talk. So, why and how could it suddenly start sounding the Dial tone while it was still lying flat on the base?
This step daughter stayed in touch with only one person in my entire family. My oldest brother`s wife. The step had told me once that there was only one person in my family that was any good. Then she said - you probably think I mean Uncle Ken. Then I told her, yes he had moved her many times thru her 3 marriages and not only did all her packing for her, but never even asked for money for the gas for his truck. Then I also reminded her that one of my younger sisters had taken her and her 1st husband in and supported them for months, the youngest sister had taken her in after she quit school, when she decided she didn`t want to life home any longer with rules to follow. What she never knew was that this sister phoned and asked my permission before allowing her to move in, Sis told me that if I said no, then no it would be. But I told this sister that I`d rather have her staying where I know she was alright than with just anyone. A few yrs later, this sister and I had also driven 50 miles to bring her back when she didn`t wish to stay in the city where her and hubby had moved. When she broke up with her second hubby, we allowed her to move back home with her 2 kids. After a few weeks, she moved back in with her husband. Before she left her Dad told her she better make some plans and know where she was going to live before she decided to leave him a second time. A few months later, she phoned again asking to stay till she found a place. I went against my husbands wishes and let her move back in. I did this because there were 2 small kids to consider and knew she would drop them anywhere she could to be free to run out. Her daughter, she went to court and tried to have her put into a childrens home, but since the daughter was then spending the summer babysitting, that woman had to drive the granddaughter to court. So, the judge allowed the people she baby sat for to have custody. The step daughter had let ,me believe thay she was taking the hubby to court to get sole custody of the girl. When she came back to my home, she was screaming mad , yelling " He had no right". So, I thought the Father got custody. But, then she said " My Lawyer told me if I wanted her sent away the judge would have to send her away. So, it was the Judge she felt had no right to just give her to the lady she was babysitting for. i think that was the madest Iever got at her, except for the time she started to sock her father who was sitting at the table and I jumped in front of her. ( That time she had stopped in to tell her father that when her mother died he was going to help her pay for the funeral and he said "NO", he wasn`t. I told her if that day comes and you need help go see your mothers husband she was still married to.) The first marriage had only lasted under a year.
Wish I had known the true reason for the court hearing and you can be sure I would have been the one in court taking my granddaughter away from her selfish mother. The year before that court hearing, the step had gotten divorced and was married to #3. A couple years after the court hearing she decided she no longer wanted her son and packed his things and dropped him off at his Dad`s home. While her 2nd husband and their 2 kids stayed close to us,
Noone, not even her kids heard from her for all those years until she learned she had cancer. Then after 17 years she started phoning everyone, including all her bro and sis`s her Dad and I had, plus her birth bro who also moved in with us at age 14-- when his Mother no longer wanted him. What a mixed up family.
In our last conversation years ago I told her that I thought I was a good mother to her. Her reply was ' You were a good mother, in fact you were a dam good mother". Then I asked her Why she had dumped her Dad and I after 36 years? She said nothing. I had heard from her just once after that talk. She called asking me to find her other step sister that her birth mother had with another man. My answer to her was that I had given her 3 step sisters and 3 step brothers that grew up loving her as their real sister and if they weren`t good enough , I wasn`t finding her another one. Besides I felt the other sister was better off without her as when she got tired of her i knew she would just dump and hurt her the same way.

Well, to get back to the only one in my family that was any good, she said my oldest bros name. When I asked her what made him better as he hadn`t helped her over the years. Her answer was- because he is the only one with any money. So, just another case where money talks.

That last time she had lived with us, I hunted my puirse and gave her all the money I had in it and told her to go out and get her own place to live. She was only supposed to live with us for a couple weeks to get money for her own place and here it was over 4 or 5 months later and all her paycheck went getting drunk week-ends and we were raising and supporting her kids for her.

A couple days ago I heard the kemo cured the cancer and she is now doing ok, Last week her son came up from Florida. It was wonderful seeing him. Then him and his sister went to see their mother. I was told that their was no feelings they felt for her. I had known this from my granddaughter right along, but the grandson felt the same way. He said, Gram, how can you have feelings for someone you no longer even know. She`s been a stranger for way too many years. He debated about even seeing her while he was here. But, I told him if he didn`t and the cancer came back, he might spend the rest of his life wishing he had gone to see her and this way, he could move on without ever wondering.

A couple days ago I was told that she was at my bro`s home again, so I figured she was still staying in touch for money. I had heard their business was going broke and then it was running again, so I know my sis-in-law must have given her more money. I had all I could do not to tell my sister-in-law that I was`t like her, I couldn`t be bought. The sis-in-law wasn`t always for this girl. She has forgotten that they once took her -at age 16- to spend the summer with them when they lived in NJ . She told me she could straighten her out. Well, they sent her back home after just a couple weeks because they couldn`t trust her and her new friends in their home. Instead of baby sitting their kids, her and the so called friends got into the locked licquor cabinet and kept getting drunk and carrying on and noone was watching their kids. My bro owned a large lace factory in NJ and kept the licquor just for business meetings. Thats where the drinking started and today the step is still an alcoholic.
But, this still leaves me puzzled over the dial tone suddenly sounding on a turned off phone which hadn`t been used to 2 days.

well, even though I didn`t get much sleep last night, I do want to go get the apple tree sprayed again. I was told it should be sprayed three times every season and now is a good time since the rain has stopped for a few days. Besides i need to get busy and forget about the step and all tjhose she keeps hurting. Almost 4 years too late now to appologize to her Dad, so she is stuck with her worst actions and can never make it right. She will just have to live with that for the rest of her life. She tossed away 2 beautiful kids who turned out great in spite of her. As her son once said that he didn`t care as he still had his sister and his gram and gramp there for him.

Friday, May 26, 2006

 

My it is getting warmer today!

We are expecting a thunderstorm this afternoon and tonight. So I Figured I better head off to the grocery store early. Fed Sassy at 7am and then off I went. This early in the morning the Hannaford grocery store is usually quiet and I can get in and out much faster. Got hung up at the check-out counter due to buying a watermellon section. Lady at the counter headed to the back of the store to get a price. When she came back she told me that the workers in the back are not adding the price sticker any more and from now on they need to weigh the mellon at the register and code it there. Noone seemed to know the correct code, so waiting some more for the head of cashiers to come give the code. Her first set of numbers wasn`t the right coke, so she tried a second set of numbers. Thank goodness this code was correct. I was trying to be back before the younger kids were on the bus corner. The laugh was on me as after arriving back home, I discovered there was no school today, so my rush was for nothing. When you have no kids still going to school, you don`t get to see the school vacations or days off. You don`t know there is no school until you don`t see the kids walking past your house heading for the buss corner, or you just see them riding their bikes up and down the road. I also had to get a Symphathy card for a friend who just lost his Mother. He used to be one of my daughters bosses. Since he showed up for me when I lost Walt, I wanted to do the same for him and his family, but the doings for his Mother is out of state. So, the best I could do was to send him and his family a thoughtful card.
Today my back is still telling me off from swinging the grass trimmer so much again yesterday. But, I did get that job finished till it grows tall again. After this week-end we should be able to start our outside gardens-- and my stand-up vegetable garden. I so love having my own fresh garden vegetables. I am still using green peppers from last years garden-- still more in the freezer. Most of those in the freezer are now small peppers, but they are fine for anything you like cut peppers added to. Even added some into my breakfast omelet this morning. One daughter bought me the new Magic Bullet advertised on TV . for Mother`s Day. So I used it to chop and mix the fillings for the omelet, then I also used the bullet to make a banana/milk drink. I also have an omelet pan for the microwave, so breakfast was ready in no time. Yesterday I used the microwave to cook aome old fashioned oatmeal and then added cinnamon, fruit and milk for my breakfast. I`m getting lazy and finding fast meals lately. Just wanted something besides cereal for a change.
After breakfast, I decided everything else could wait so I could check my e-mails before the thunderstorm arrived. Everything else can be done during the storm, but I don`t touch electrical equipment or phones during thunderstorms. But, I can always find lots more housework jobs to do. One thing will be to wash down the doors where the little hands touch them. Just noticed the finger prints on the front door when I went out to the mailbox to add my cards. Besides the Sympathy card, I send an Anniversary card off to my older sister and her nice hubby. They are celebrating their 58th Anniversary on the 30th. Last month we were worrying about her husbands health, and he is still hopefully recovering after having 3 stents put in to open his arteries. Now we are hoping his lung problem gets better.

OH, there goes the mailman now. So I will be able to go after my mail before the storm starts. That will be nice, picked up the mail 3 times last week in a storm.
The sun is shining brightly still, but the clouds are off in the distance and will probably reach us soon. It is supposed to reach the 80`s this week-end. What a change from the 40 F`s nights and 50 F days we had all last week.
Guess I better get things moved around in the laundry room so I can get the large window air conditioner set up ready to go into the window. After all this chilly weather, not sure my system is ready for the heat wave. A few years ago I made a table on casters to hold the heavy air-conditioner during the winter months. I have a table that sits in front of the laundry room window and holds plants all winter. Those plants are now sitting in my large flower box on my side porch railing. So, I can just push the table on castors over to the plant table, push the conditioner off one table onto the other one. I have a section of floor tile- the rolled out style- sitting on the table to make the conditioner slide off easier. Then it is easier to slide it into the window from there. Before I made the table with casters, it was hard for both my husband and I together to put thar air-conditioner into the window. Now, I am able to do it myself. Wish I had thought of making that table years ago. Think of all that hard work it would have saved us.
Well, guess I should end this and get moving if I don`t wish to run out in the thunderstorm to pick up my mail. Here we still have the mailbox in front of our homes for mailing and receiving our mail. One of the old fashioned mail routes thats still in service. I sure hope they never stop the home box pick-ups. Some districts near us just have the small boxes on the porch for receiving mail and have to go to the post office for mailing things. Their mailman or woman walks the route while ours is still vehicle delivered and picked up.
I`m off to see what bills or advertisements were left in my large mailbox.
Lucky me, just some ads for the trash. No Bills today.

Monday, May 22, 2006

 

About Sassy

Suemamma, I hope you saw the pictures of Sassy, my Border Collie. I hadn`t forgotten that you asked me to post her picture, sorry it took me so long.

A grandson from Florida was up for a visit. My Granddaughter ( his sister) and her two children live not too far from me. So they all showed up Saturday to visit me. It was great. I hadn`t seen this grandson in quite a few years. Wouldn`t you know it, I was in the middle of putting new caulking on where the tub enclosure connects with the sheetrock above it. If you have ever used a caulking gun, then you know you can`t just lay it down someplace. You first need to push a nail into the tube opening or the caulk will continue to flow out all over. I also usually add some electrical tape to help keep the nail tight so the caulk won`t harden.

I really surprised the kids when I just opened the door and said come in- I will be with you in a minute. I had to put the caulking gun away first and wash my hands since I often use my fingers to spread the caulk out. Not seeing that grandson for so long, and not knowing he was arriving, they didn`t think I would recognize him. My Granddaughter told me it was so very hard keeping his secret as he wanted to surprise me. He came to the door first, thinking I wouldn`t recognize him alone. Later I showed him the pictures his wife had sent me back in 2000, and he realy hadn`t changed in looks since then. So, that`s how I knew it was him.

Well to get back to the pictures of Sassy. One picture was taken a few years ago when she had the sore leg which healed nicely. The other picture was taken because my great grandson asked me to take a picture of him with Sassy, and of course I did it for him.
I first saw Sassy on July19th 1996, when she was just 4 weeks old. She had belonged to my husbands Niece and nephew. They lived about 30 miles from us and we drove out to visit them. This little puppy was forever either biting the ears of their old cocker spaniel, or the small ears of their large cat. Neither the cat or the spaniel seemed to be bothered by it, but it was irritating me to see the puppy being allowed to do this. So, after a while I started tapping her nose every time and telling her "NO". Even with all my correcting her, she still started following me all over their trailer. When Walt and I were ready to leave, Sassy jumped into the car and up onto the back seat before I could get the car door closed. So, I got back out of the car and took her out. I carried her up and set her on their back porch. Then I hurried to the car, but Sassy beat me again and had squeezed behind my seat and onto the back seat again.
I got out of the car to get her back out when the neices hubby told me I had to take her home with me. Told him I could never take their dog home. He told me that I didn`t have a choice as Sassy had chosen me. He added that she had never followed either of them around like she was following me. Then the niece told me there was a little dog at the Mall Pet place that she wanted in the worst way, but already having 2 dogs, they really couldn`t afford a third. But if I would take Sassy home, then she could get her little dog. So, Sassy came home to live with us. So, Sassy will be 10 years old next month. We brought Sassy home on July 19th, 96 and my Husband passed away also on July 19th (2002). I never even thought about it being on the same date till I was writing about when we first saw Sassy and made her ours. Both on July19th. Guess you could say that July 19th has been both a date to receive my beloved Sassy and to lose my beloved husband. Both a happy day and a sad day for me.
We had lost our other dogs, a beagle and a Collie/German police mix and didn`t own a dog at this time. so Sassy was really wanted and she soon became an important member of our family.

Saturday, May 20, 2006

 

Sassy, my Border Collie



Wednesday, May 17, 2006

 

My Bathroom

Just some notes about the bathroom.
That long pipe that is in the corner behind the door is actually a 4 inch round heating pipe that goes from the furnace down celler, up thru the bathroom to the upstairs. It was actually just one of those silver colored heating pipes. I hated the look of that homely silver pipeing and decided to paint it an almond to match the background in the wallboard. Then I decided to paint on the flowers and the gold branches to match the design in the wallboard. Now, I don`t hate seeing that awful silver color.
I also repainted the white air cover over the window that carries the air outside. It doesn`t show well in the picture, but that cover also matches the wall color and designs like the heating pipe. This cover actually had both of those tiny thin screw holders broken off, so I cut some oval plastic pieces from a clear soda bottle, made small holes in the doubled layer plastic pieces , painted them to match and this plastic is supporting the screws to keep the cover in place. I figured as long as I had the cover off I might as well remove the motor and fan, clean and oil it, and now it runs much quieter. One more job done for a while.
I still haven`t decided whether I want to add the small half round trim board along where the tub touches the floor. I did buy the boards Monday when I went to get the new floor heat registercover to match the color in the floor tiles. I also replaced the old curtain rod for a nice white one.
Yesterday my youngest son said " I see you also painted the bathroom ceiling". Told him, no, I just got ambitious and washed it.

The door, door casing and the window are still waiting for new paint. Actually the door is varnished, and needs to be re-varnished. I just felt it was better to wait till I could open the window to air it out while the paint and varnish dries. It is still cool enough for my furnace to keep running, so it might be a while before I can do the painting. I am getting impatient and want to finish it as soon as I can. Must admit that I am one of those who hates leaving a job part done. I like to finish what I start.

Still haven`t found any floor tile or rolled tile type that I would like for my room where my organ, daybed, horse collection. plants and etc. are located. Not sure what to call that room. It once was a kitchen and dining room combined, then when we added on the new kitchen, we turned the room into a dining room. Then we connected the closed in porch to the kitchen and moved the table and chairs into that area. So, it`s not really a dining room anymore either. That room is my next project, but my son will help do that floor once I find what I think will look nice.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

 

My remodeled bathroom






 

Memories of mother

Mother`s Day has come and gone. This year it was a harder day since it fell on my Mother`s Birthday. My Mother was born on May 14th, 1904 and my Father was born on March 3, 1903. They got married when my mom was 20 yrs old and my Dad was 21. They married on Christmas day with a double ceremony -- with my mother`s older sister and her to be husband. Looking back, I see a great simularity in my life to my Mothers. I was also 20 yrs old when I got married-- also in a double wedding with a younger sister, and we married on Dec. 23rd, 2 days before christmas. Walt was 25 when we married. We started our marriage with his then 4 yr old daughter.
The following year after our Marriage we had our first baby, my parents also had their first a yr after they married. Two years later my Mom had her second baby, as did I , except my second turned out to be twin boys. Then another two yrs of marriage passed and their was another baby for my mother and also I had another baby 2 yrs after my twins. But thats where we changed. After another 2 years of marriage my mom had me, 2 yrs later was my youngest brother, 2 yrs later, another sister and then there is a 7 year lapse and the youngest sister.
After my third ( twins making it 4), I skipped 6 years before the next one, and another 5 years before my last one.
Still, we ended up raising the same number of children. I was already raising a step daughter from his first marriage, So, under normal situations I would have raised just 5 kids, the twin made it 6 and the step child made it 7 to raise just as my parents did. It is weird how we ended up raising the same number of kids. There were no twins in my parents family till we had the boys. But Walt`s sister had two sets of twins and one of his cousins also had two sets of twins, so they did run in his family. They said his mother was expecting twins when she died with a heart attack when she was just a few months along.
But in the end I raised one more child as the steps biological mother kicked out her son at the age of 14 and of course we took him in.
But our simularities didn`t stop there. My parents had just celebrated their 50th Anniversary the year before my father passed away, and Walt and I had celebrated our 50th Anniversary the yr before he passed away.
It is almost like history repeating itself.
My Mom passed away on May 10th, so this month is flooded with memories of my Mom- She passed away the 10th, was born on the 14th and we celebrated mother`s day on the 14th. Every few years her birthday would fall on Mother`s day as it did this year. So, there were both happy and sad memories for me on mothers Day.
My mother could be stern when it was needed, but she was a loving mother. I had my problems growing up with an older sister and 2 older brothers, plus 3 younger brothers and 1 younger brother, 3 older and 3 younger-- caught right in the middle. my Mother had her favorites- her first son and first daughter, plus whoever was the smallest at the time. I had a father who made us all feel like we were his favorite which filled the spot for me. But, the last few years my mother had first a hip operation, then a year later she had a hip replacement and I was the one there helping take care of her every day till i had her back on her feet walking with a walker. She was 90 years old then and even though I knew she could walk without the walker, I knew the walker was safer so she wouldn`t take another fall. That was when my mother changed in her actions towards me and I felt special.
My Mother was on a Bowling team in her 80`s. She was one remarkable woman. I remember one time when she told me that her mother could crochet, so why couldn`t she do it. I took down some yarn, a pattern and a needle and taught her how. In my home there are still many items that she crocheted for me over the years. She ended up crocheting Christmas gifts for years for all the family, including her many grandchildren. She was still wallpapering her rooms in her 70`s. I went down one day and there she was standing on her stepladder, pasted wallpaper hanging over her head while she climb the ladder. I quickly took the wallpaper and held each pasted section up to her so she wouldn`t need to climb up and down anymore. That was my only time to be helping to wallpaper a room. I learned how, but have never added any wallpsper in my home.
My Dad was the same way, he was still doing mechanical work on cars two days before he passed away just before his 73 rd B., plus he was still doing his own home repairs. I am already older than my dad was and due to all the working with tools, I also had his hand operation, only I had both hands operated on, but who knows, if my father had lived longer he might have also had the 2nd hand operated on for ruptured tendons. My arthritis I inherited from both my parents. growing up, my Dad was my idol, but in the later years I also began to feel the same about my Mom. I consider myself very lucky to have had such wonderful parents. I wish everyone had a loving family like mine to grow up with. Us kids had our normal squabbling over the years, but we knew we would always be there whenever one of us needed the others, and that is still true today.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

 

Still working, not completed yet

The weather has been nice for the past few days. Guess it is all supposed to change tomorrow and then rain for the next few days.
My youngest granddaughter will turn 2 in a few days and her parents are having a Birthday party for her on Sat. Here I have great grandkids already old enough to be going to school, and here is this little Darling granddaughter so much younger than most of her her nieces and nephews. I always expected more great grandchildren, but another grandchild-- I really thought the new grandchild days were done. So, I expect to get away from the house on Sat. for her 2nd birthday.
I often wonder how other people with large families handle all those birthdays. I decided to continue giving gifts to all my grandchildren up to when they graduate from High school. I figure that way I will be giving each of them the same number of years, plus I had it figured that there wouldn`t be so many by the time we retired. There was just 2 left in school, then my son and his wife adopted 2 children, making 4 still in school, and then here came this beautiful new little granddaughter, so those 4 are now 5 to keep buying for. I always buy and make gifts for each new Great grandbaby and buy for everyone every Christmas. But I knew on retirement it would get hard to keep up with that many birthdays, so I don`t buy for the great grandkids birthdays. The way I figure it, they already have two sets of grandparents to buy for them. But they don`t mind as gram usually has treats when they visit. But, I am hoping I can continue to get Christmas presents for them all as the years go by. I often wonder what I will do when I can no longer drive off to the store to buy gifts. I know that day will arrive as I get older. I buy year around to accomplish it. I never was one who could take advantage of others and don`t like asking them to run me places. They are all willing to drive me if I need them. One son usually drives when i take Sassy, my dog, to the vets. One of the daughters takes me to the eye drs if I am unable to drive home due to the drops. They are all great kids. I even have some take my
car to the station to fill it with gas because my hands can`t work the gas pumps very well.

Well, I was away from the house the past couple days. Yesterday I rode with my bro when he went to Best buy ( Store) where he had boughten his new computer tower. He was having trouble getting his mail-in-rebates. But, while there he mentioned a comp problem he was having and they suggested bringing in the tower for them to check it out.
Well this best buy store is located about 40 miles from my home. So, the first trip down and back was 80 miles, and then back we went with the tower, so in all we traveled about 80 miles only for them to tell him he had some spyware messing things up. Well, he did buy the spyware cd while there, but he could have boughten that just a couple miles from my house. So, was it really worth the cost of gas?, Oh, Well, it wasn`t my car, or my gas money, I was just the company so he didn`t have to drive alone.
Then on our way back home the first trip we were stopped by the sherriff Dept. When my bro saw his flashing light, he said " I know I wasn`t speading". The officer asked him if he was losing his muffler as his car was loud. Since we had the windows open, I knew his exhaust wasn`t loud or I would have heard it. But he does have a ball bearing gone in one front tire and hasn`t had the money to get it fixed yet. His heater doesn`t shut off on the riders side and he says that is an expensive item to fix. Won`t be a good car for summer riding if he doesn`t get that fixed. So his car has problems, but not from the muffles.
This morning I heard some people complaining on TV-- their complaint was over a certain officer in the same town we got stopped in. Now, I am wondering if this was the same officer who was stopping others for no true reason. People in that town want him removed.

Went back to the wood place this morning and bought the wood to finish the area where I had moved the wall out even opver the tub enclosure. Got the board and trim cut and painted this morning and nailed up this afternoon. Then there was no way to match the wallboard plastic sealer that goes between the wall sections. They had nothing at the wood shop I could use without removing the wallboard and I wasn`t going to do that.
So, I started hunting around to see what else I could use. Those sealers are just plastic with the same wall pattern on them to match the wallboard pattern. The background color is an almond shade, so I found the extra plastic venetian blind slats from when my new blind was cut. I cut it to fit the area, then painted the slat piece almond and then added some gold vine effect to match the gold vine amongst the flower design. I even surprised myself when it matched so good and looked like it was boughten to match. So, one more problem solved. Since I already had the slats and the almond paint, plus the small bottle of gold paint my son gave me last winter, it didn`t cost me anything to do that part.

I should have had the bathroom finished a long time ago, but I needed some rest time while I got other things caught up. There is very little left to do now. I guess all that riding yesterday is making me feel tired today. After I rest a while, maybe I will feel more like getting more done. If not, I can do it another day. I can remember when I would have had everything done in just a couple days, guess old age is slowing me down. HaaHaa.

One of my daughters runs a day care in her home next door to me. A couple of her little ones saw me heading to the house from the shop and asked if they could give sassy a treat. So, as soon as I set the boards inside the house, I took out some chews for them to feed her. They used to be scared of her and the treats are helping them feel more comfortable around her, The little boy asked me if he could pat her. So, he can`t be scared of her anymore which is good.
Well, this is getting to be more like a book than a posting, so guess I`ll quit till another time.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

 
My Day


Here it is Saturday again and I didn`t plan anything special to do today.
So, I got up, fed and watered Sassy ( for those who don`t know who Sassy is-- well she is my 10 year old border Collie. My great protector.)
Then I went outside to uncover the plants. I noticed a few pepper plants just starting. I should have started them and the tomatoes in the house a couple months ago. but I didn`t. It`s too late to think about that now. Lots of the flowers are starting to grow, so I should have plenty to plant in the flower beds this time. When I uncovered my Rhodendron I noticed a few more blossoms opened and a few more buds are there. Pretty little purple flowers. So far all the new buds are on just the one side where the blossoms are. So, I am still hoping that more buds show up on the top and the other side of the small bush where all the other buds had died from the freeze. But the bush is now a pretty green and all the brownish effects are now gone. So, the plant is again looking real healthy.
Next, I was looking at one of the smaller trees that is covered with lots of tiny white flower clusters all over it, when I noticed a tent worm nest on one of the branches. Since this tree is one that I have cut down numerous times in the past few years, I really don`t care that much about it. So, I got out my long tree cutting saw and just removed the whole branch as there was no other way for me to reach the filled web. Well, I cut off the section where the tent worms were and the rest of the branch goes into the branch pile for the town to pick up. There was just one worm so far, but there would have been a lot of them if I hadn`t found it when I did. Now, I have forgotten what I used to use to kill tent worms before they even have a chance to hatch. That shows how long it has been since I have seen any in my trees. Right now that section of the branch is inside a garbage bag awaiting to be disposed of. I still have a couple more of those small trees and I have dug up a couple new ones that were just starting. They must have blown over from the woods across the road from my home. Had to quit as it started to rain. May have to look up tent worms on the net to find what kills them. I am trying to remember the name of those trees.
Raining means time for more inside work. So, decided to check the bedroom this time. That starts out with me washing the mask, hose, water container and all for my C-PAP machine. Should breath better tonight with such a clean machine. Then I am sure you have all heard the expression " under the bed, the burgler crept", well when I looked under the bed, I found no burgler. He was probably chased out by all those dust bunnies that had taken up residence there. I am so glad I keep stocked up on end-dust. I got my long handled duster and my can of end-dust and headed out to the back porch where I sprayed the duster well. That long handle worked well and reached clear across under the bed and snatched up those little dust bunnies real fast. Then it was back to the back porch to shake and shake the dust bunnies off the duster. One more job done for a while.
Then I found a little more raking to be done as my bean tree decided to drop more of th-ose real long bean pods all over under the tree. This tree causes a lot of raking every year, but I still love it. I love those pretty large white blossom clusters that cover the tree every spring or early summer. And when the tree is covered with green leaves, it is a wionderful place to sit outside out of the sun. The lower branches come downward and would touch the ground all over if I didn`t keep the very bottom trimmed. It is like sitting inside a round enclosure where even the rain doesn`t get you wet unless it really pours. So nice and cool out of the hot sun in the summer. This was just a little tree about 6 foot tall when I dug it up from the farmhouse forest area where I lived when the twins were born. This large farm area has been in my family since back in my grandfathers days. I forget exactly when that was without looking up the family history, but my Dad was born in 1903 and he was a tiny tot when his Dad bought the farm, so somewhere in the very early 1900`s. Today that tree we carried home on top- of our car has gotten so tall that it towers way up , much taller than my two -- guess it is called 1 1/2 story home since only the back half it that tall. I have tried many time to get a picture when the tree is almost white colored with so many flower clusters, but the tree is so large around that I would need to stand on the next road to capture even half of it.
I thought I was smart when I planted that tree about 25 feet from the back corner of the house. Little did I know that this tree would grow so much larger than those did on the farm. Also, I forgot to allow --incase we wanted to add a porch back there. Well, the time came when we did remove the steps and add a larger porch, so now that tree is only about 12 feet from the porch. Of course part of the room was used up when the tree trunk grew to cover over a 2 foot radias across in all directions. I actually thought my tree would never do as well since I have white sand and the farm soil was great for growing things. Sometimes I wonder if the backyard sewer has anything to do with it. I feared it would kill my tree and my lilacs when it was placed so near them, but it never did.
Oh, My Lilacs are another story. Some of the limbs have some grayish growing on them . I fed them some acid plant food last year and they look better this year, but I think they still need a more acid style soil to look greener. They are all in buds right now and will be opening soon. We only get a very short time to enjoy the smell of the lilacs as the first rain after they open always turns the blossom rust colored. I can remember when we had weeks of cut lilacs in the house and how wonderful was the smell. Now, only a few days of enjoyment. I heard once it was the acid poluted rain that kills them so fast now. These bushes have been growing since my Dad gave me some back around 1956, I think. Where I grew up, there was lilacs all along part of that real long driveway. The last section of them even used to hide the old outhouse. WOW, was I really around back in those old days? Well, guess I was. So, my parents had plenty of Lilac bushes and they were expanding more every year. and I was happy they shared some with me. My lilacs are all the purple shade and there scent is wonderful. I used to cut them to share with my daughters who also love smelling them. But last year I was only able to get a few cut before the rain ruined them I am hoping to see them last longer this year.

Monday, May 01, 2006

 

My flowering tree/bush-before and after



Here are the before pictures and the after the freeze picture. So, I had the blossoms for just a couple days before the weather went back down into the 20`sF at night. First freeze turned all the blossoms brown and killed them all. I broke off all the dead blossoms, hoping it would help.
Today I noticed that a couple branches have some new buds starting on them, so if it doesn`t freeze again, I just might see a few more open blossoms. As you can see, there are no leaves yet on the tree, or bush as that was how it re-grew a few yrs ago when the tree was frost killed. For some reason I never see any leaves until after the blossoming is finished, and then it fills the branches with leaves.

I have also noticed that my Rhodendron Bush has more new purple buds starting to open, so hopefully I will still get to see some blossoms again. I had lost all the buds when we had the freeze nights. I removed all the dead buds here also. I have been covering it every night since then and uncovering it during the days. The white plastic bags seem to be holding in enough heat to keep it from freezing at night.

So, I am relieved as I think both plants will keep growing ok. Keeping my fingers crossed that they keep improving. I really thought I would see no more buds or flowers this year. I am so glad to be wrong.

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