Dot`sThoughts

Subject: Never a Dull Moment.


August 30th, 2008
Never a dull moment-

Started for the mailbox to mail some bills this morning. As I started to walk down the front porch steps I noticed a spider had made a web that completely reached from one railing across the width of the steps and connecting to the railing on the other side of the steps. I broke down the web from one side (all three strings) and went to put the mail in my mail box in front of my house. I never bothered to kill the spider.
Big mistake! A couple hours later my mailman had picked up my out going mail and left me some new mail. So I decided to go get my mail. When I reached the front porch steps, there was that spider again and he had already spun his web from one railing to the other all over again. Persistent spider I must say. I again broke down the web strands so I could go down the steps. This darn spider kept swinging trying to reach the other side. I finally gave up and killed it. Killed a couple spiders in my bathroom this past week. Seems like the spiders always show up after we have had weeks of rain. Hadn`t seen a spider in my house all summer. I also broke a spider web off one of my plant dishes that sits on the new steps I had made by the side porch. Did this just two days ago. Glad we do not have dangerous spiders where I live.

Been a lot less crickets here so far this year. Only killed one in my house plus the one that I found dead on the laundry room floor where Sassy sleeps nights, so Sassy must have killed that one. Never do know how they get inside. Usually there are so many crickets that their noise bothers my ears, so am sure they must also bother Sassy`s ears since they are much more sensitive to high tones. If only those crickets would get tired of brushing their legs together which makes the shrill noise. Is a relief this year not having as many around to make that awful noise. I sure haven`t missed them.

Sassy has kept me busy the past two days. I had to replace the batteries in two of my fire detectors. One of them kept beeping with the new battery, so I tried another new battery with the same results. That beeping was driving Sassy crazy. First she went and hid in the tub behind the shower curtain and I had to pull her out and spent the next 20 minutes cleaning dog hair out of the tub and scouring the tub clean. My own fault for forgetting to shut the bathroom door. I knew better as she had hid there on other occasions when she heard thunder or the neighbors had set off firecrackers.
I thought I had finally fixed the fire detector and last evening it again started beeping. This time the bathroom door was shut, but I had forgotten to shut the bedroom door tight so she started to go in there. Glad I was heading for the laundry room to take the clothes out of the dryer. I caught her just in time and pulled her out and shut that door tight. She would have jumped over my bed and hid behind it like she did once before. Here is a dog that never used to act scared of anything, who suddenly is being scarred by any real loud bang noise. A few years ago I found a burnt fire cracker near her dog coop and I wonder if it might have hit her when she was outside that night.
She hasn`t stayed out side nights much this summer. It was so hot that she preferred being inside with the air conditioners running. Now, for the last three nights she has stayed outside in her coop. The nights have cooled down now so it is hotter in the house than outside at night. Still having warm days and when it is hot out, she still prefers being inside when the air conditioners are running. Tonight she can`t seem to make up her mind. She has already made two trips in and back out and right now she is outside in her coop.

I haven`t yet taken any pictures of my new car. But my oldest daughter took a few pictures the day she ran me down to pick it up. I heard she has already posted the pictures on one of the sites she belongs to. So, some other family members, plus some friends have probably already seen what my car looks like, plus when I was showing her the car she suddenly snapped a picture of me standing beside my new car. I haven`t seen what these pictures look like. Guess i will need to go into the site to see them. She is so excited over me getting the car. She told me she has been bragging about the car to everyone. Another daughter told her husband she wants her next car to be like mine. It makes me smile to see how excited my kids are because their mother finally bought a new car. My youngest son also liked the car. The rest still haven`t seen it yet.

Tomorrow is my youngest sister`s Birthday. I should have picked the string beans today, but by the time I had picked up two garbage bags over half filled of apples off the ground, I was feeling tired. Still loads more apples on the ground to clean up, plus an awful lot still on the tree. Have to take care of them all so there won`t be any left to rotten on the ground and cause more bad apples next year. Also still have the other porch floors to re-stain before winter. Glad the side porch floor is done as it needed it the worst. I used redwood stain color on the side porch and it now looks good.

Almost forgot about seeing the beautiful little Hummingbird just before I came in for the night. I was outside talking with my son-in-law and this beautiful green Hummingbird swooped down, hovering just over one of the flower in one of my daughters hanging baskets. Just as I was telling my son-in-law, away it flew over my head, over my shop/garage building (the two building are connected as we added the shop building to one outside wall of the garage) and on out of sight. Might have gone to the nectar bottle hanging near the tree by my back porch. I love seeing the many different types of birds that come to my feeders every year and think the green Humming birds are one of the prettiest.
Mother Nature is always showing us something beautiful if we are taking the time to look around. A day might seem so quiet and empty till we start looking around us. There is almost always something to see.