Our Silly "Girls"

They keep our life interesting.  Yes, they still are getting along just fine.  Chase each other all over the house. Mattie will go up to Penny, and lick her nose.  Penny just looks at her and then smacks her with her paw.  Good thing she is declawed.  However, they will lay next to each other like they are best friends.

Penny doesn’t seem to be messing with Mattie’s water any more.  Her new fascination is toilet paper.  When she was smaller she played with and ate the toilet paper all the time.  So, I changed toilet paper holders and she stopped.  Well, she is at it again.  She not only unrolls it, but she is biting it and putting holes in the paper.  I think she might also be eating it.  She is fascinated with the bathroom.  She lays around the toilet.  She climbs on the lower shelves where I store things and then peeks out at you while you are using the toilet.  She also rubs against your legs and wants to be petted while using the toilet.  We are learning to shut the door firmly.  When we do she cries because she wants in, and puts her paw under the door.  Not sure if she thinks she can crawl under the door, but who know what she is thinking!

Typical cat, she has taken over the house.  As I said in my previous blog, she has claimed one of the chairs with my new cushions as hers.  If she is not there or in the bathroom she is under the lap quilt on my bed. 

The other night we were watching television and she got up on the stand, sat in front of the television in her “queenly” pose and stared at Jana.  Jana put her lap desk in front of her face, but she continued to stare.  She stared at her for about an hour.  We have no idea why.  All we did was laugh.

Mattie barks a lot.  We usually have no idea why she is barking.  She can be sleeping and all of a sudden she jumps up and starts barking.  Mattie is “queen” of the yard.  Jana walks her outside and she prances and checks out everything. 

Another thing Mattie does is lick my jeans.  Jana feeds Mattie snacks from the table while we are eating.  When finished if I am still sitting there she comes over and licks my jeans.  Not sure what she is tasting, but it must be good.

I am still working on my genealogy.  I really wish I could read and understand German.  I am about as far as I can go without getting in my German ancestors.  I am thinking about asking for help.  I know it will cost me, but this is something I just “need” to know.  I have traced ancestors on my mother’s dad’s side back to when they came to America.  I have found out that they were Mennonites.  I am not surprised because of comments Grandpa made when he was alive.

The snow and ice has melted.  It is supposed to go up in the sixties today and tomorrow.  Jana has water again.  We had Kevin disconnect and turn off her water since it was going down into the teens.  We didn’t want her pipes to freeze.  She has only two more weeks here, and then she will be heading for Cincinnati.  Brian is going to come down to take her home.  He is also going fishing with Kevin while he is here.  Rita and Bob are coming to visit at the same time, and the guys are taking Bob fishing with them.  Now we have to think of something for Rita, Jana and I to do.

Last night when we went to Mass Father baptized a young boy and girl.  Their parents, godparents and grandparents were there.  It was a beautiful ceremony.  A little different than when I have seen babies baptized.  They included the congregation in the ceremony.

Today was a busy day.  Jana and I have planned our August trip.  I have some research to do, but we are about 75 percent finished.  We also started our plans for our November trip.  I am excited about both of them.  We are also planning on a few day trips for Alabama and Georgia when Jana comes down again.  As for when I am in Cincinnati we go almost nonstop.  

WINTER CAN BE OVER NOW!

Woke up this morning to 2.5 inches of snow.  This is in the south!  Yes, southern Alabama had 2.5 inches of snow.  It’s beautiful.  Everything is closed, schools, roads, offices, etc.  We have been told to stay off the roads because they are icy and because some people have gone driving there have been numerous accidents.  Therefore, roads closed.  Jana and I plan to hibernate for the next couple of days.  At least until it warms up and the roads clear.  I didn’t drive in this in Cincinnati, and I am not driving in this here.

Sure glad I filled my birdfeeders yesterday.  I have one in the backyard that is just about empty.  The other one is full.  However, there are a lot of birds out there.  The front ones still look okay.  Lots of birds there also.

Finally got all my boxes of Christmas decorations put in the shed.  Did this with help from Jana and Kevin.  Kevin carried several that were rather heavy.  Didn’t get the outside decorations down and put away until Sunday because of the cold.  Just got that done in time for the snow 😊

I have been working on my genealogy.  I am rather far behind.  I printed quite a lot of information that had been sent to me, and because of our travels and the holidays I didn’t get it into the computer program.  I am making good progress now. 

I have also been doing some redecorating.  I bought new chair pads (which Penny really likes).  In fact, she has claimed one of them as hers. I also bought placemats to match the pads. 

I also bought placemats to match the pads.  This all started because I received some new dishes for Christmas.  Everything is Pioneer Woman. 

I bought a new picture to hang in my living room.  I have been thinking about buying this one for quite some time.  Hobby Lobby had it on sale so I just couldn’t pass it up. 

I also bought a new quilt to hang in the living room. 

I replaced the four small pictures I had in the bathroom with one bigger one.  

.  I also replaced the large bird plaque in the kitchen with two smaller pictures. 

And, I bought new curtains for the dining room. I was not able to get a very good picture of the curtains.  They start out white at the top and then go to navy blue at the bottom.  Really pretty.

If all goes well I plan to have my living room painted in the spring, and new flooring in the dining room. 

I also need to fix the underpinning in the rear section of my mobile home.  I would also like to replace the siding so it all looks the same.  I have many books to read.  Many dot-to-dot books.  Many sewing projects.  So much to do.  So little time LOL

Brrrr!

Good Morning!  Temperature went down to 20 last night/this morning.  Tonight it is supposed to be in the teens.  Definitely below normal for this area.  The biggest worry is freezing water pipes.  We don’t get a hard freeze very often.  I just hope it kills some of the bugs, especially the ants!

Hope everyone had a blessed and happy new year.  Jana and I had a very quiet one.  We watched a moving called “God Is Not Dead.”  It was great.  Kevin gave it to us to watch and highly recommended it.  Started out kind of slow, and we weren’t sure we would like it.  Changed our minds after a short time and really glad we did.  If you get a chance to see it, it is worth your time.

Neither of us made it until midnight.  I can remember when Jim and I had parties and they lasted most of the night/morning.  We sure had some good times! 

I have four birdfeeders and the birds are emptying them almost daily.  Looks like I will be buying more birdseed.

Yesterday Jana and I started taking down Christmas decorations.  She took hers down inside her house earlier in the week.  Yesterday she took down her tree here in my house.  We got all the bins from the shed, and I started packing our Christmas dishes.  Today I am doing laundry and planning to get more decorations put away.

It is Friday and all decorations are down except my tree.  They are packing in plastic containers and need to be taken to the shed.  I also need to get the box for my tree from the shed so I can take it down.  The outside decorations are still up because of the cold.  I will probably take them down and put them away next week when it gets a little warmer.  We are going to stay cold, for us, for a few more days. 

I really shouldn’t be complaining about the cold.  After seeing the reports and pictures from New England it isn’t too bad here.

This year we are being invaded by ants.  I have sprayed as much as I can with Penny and Mattie here.  I also put some ant bait traps around.  Of course, they are up high because of the girls.  I know that living in the country I am going to have ants, especially when it gets cold and they are looking for someplace to get warm.  I haven’t seen any signs of mice yet, but that could happen also.

All decorations are down and packed except the outside ones.  This includes the tree.  Now we are waiting for a day when we can take them to the shed until next year.  It has been so cold and windy that we are waiting for a warmer day.  Today it is supposed to rain.  We have two containers and my Christmas tree waiting for Kevin to carry to the shed.  I also bought some moth balls to put around in the shed to keep the critters out!  I hope they work.  Jim and I used to put them around the motor home when we were volunteering. 

Other than the above it’s just been routine doings; laundry, moving furniture back into place, loading the dishwasher, unloading the dishwasher, making the bed, etc.  Such an exciting life.  Hopefully, the next blog will be better.  But, this is what I do.  Aren’t you lucky to read about it?  At least I am on the right side of the grass 😊

I think the weather and being inside is getting to me.