Making Progress

OOPS!  I named this blog the same as the last one.  A senior moment perhaps?  Or just a DUH! 

This week when it was grass cutting time, I got on the riding mower and headed out into the front yards.  I finished my front and side yards and then started on Kevin/Renea’s.  Didn’t get very far when I heard several clunks and smelled something “hot.”  Seems I threw a belt.  That took care of the grass cutting for that day.  Anthony finished up with the riding mower I don’t know how to use – yet. 

Made one more trip to Lowe’s to get the rest of my rocks.  ONE JOB IS FINISHED – sort of.  All the rocks are down, and, I must say, it looks good.  Now I just have to finished edging and getting rid of some grass that has started growing. 

My plants are doing great.  The Gerbera Daisy is blooming again.  I was getting a little concerned about that one.  Plenty of leaves, but no blooms.  The petunias are doing beautifully.  The geraniums are blooming and healthy.  And, I have a lot of buds on the Rhododendron.  I’m really looking forward to them blooming.  Waiting for the Encore Azaleas to bloom for their second time.  I still don’t see any buds, but I’m watching.  The information says in the summer, so I’m not sure exactly when that will be.  The Lantanas are beautiful.  The original two that I planted have been blooming constantly.  They are part of a group called Butterfly Bushes and I can see why. 

I have a lot of butterflies coming to them.  The two Lantanas that Renea gave me (they weren’t doing too good in her pots) are surviving.  I was worried about them for a while, but it looks like they are going to make it.  I am going to have to quietly sit outside with my camera and try to get some pictures of the butterflies. 

Now, I have to decide what I want to do where the Azaleas and Lantanas are to control the grass and weeds.  Decisions, decisions, decisions.

NOTE:  The Dawn Redwood is looking great!

I have a lot of birds coming to my feeders.  I love it!  I finally put the hummingbird feeders out.  I put a small one in each of the two Bradford Pear trees.  I haven’t seen any hummingbirds yet, but I keep watching.  It may take them a while to find the feeders.  There are also a lot of birds nesting in the purple martin house. 

The kittens are doing great.  They are starting to play, climb and walk all over the place.  One little black one with white paws greets me whenever I come to feed them.  I have started putting out some kitten food for them, but not sure they are eating it or Cleopatra is eating it.  I hope she is starting to teach them.  I know they check it out.  They turned four weeks old this week.  Still haven’t decided if I am going to take one of them.  I know a couple of you suggested the brown kitten, and that’s the one Renea and Stephanie think I should take.  But it’s the little black and white one that keeps “greeting” me.  Also there are two really small ones that are all black that are friendly.  The brown one usually ignores me.

Probably won’t get much done outside today.  It’s too hot.  Maybe I’ll just take a break, kick back and read for a while.  Sounds good.

Making Progress

The spring cleaning is finished.  It’s a good thing I have a small house.  The laundry is also caught up, until next week.  I seem to go thru an awful lot of clothes for just one person. 

 

We had about 2 ½ inches of rain, so my deck hasn’t been done.  We are waiting for a couple of dry days.  All the days we had with no rain, and now that I decided to stain the deck it rains just enough every other day to keep Anthony from doing the work.

 

I found the bells for CRAP JEOPARDY.  Actually they are not bells.  I found something better.  As for the SCAVENGER HUNT, I haven’t made any progress.

 

Still feeding the birds – hungry little fellows.  I have also noticed a lot of activity at the purple martin house.  Looks like there are a few nests in there.  That’s good because we want them to eat the bugs.

 

I cut all the front grass; both mine and Kevin/Renea’s.  Renea cut all of the back grass.  Of course, now that it rained and the sun has shown for a couple of hours I can watch the grass grow.  I’m thinking that by Saturday it will be time to cut it again.

 

I have about half of the area in front completed with the rocks.  Hopefully, I will be able to finish the other half this week.  I think it’s really looking good.  I trimmed all the dead stuff off the hydrangea in the section I finished and it’s looking good also. 

The kittens are growing rapidly.  They are so cute.  Took a few pictures of them yesterday along with their mama, Cleopatra.  Renea and Stephanie are still trying to talk me into keeping one.  We’ll see.

I have ordered the business cards for BKM Wood Products LLC, and some pens to pass out.  Kevin and I have reserved a double table at the Ladonia Flea Market on Hwy 80 so we can participate in the World’s Widest Yard Sale.  This is the first year for the WWYS.  We decided to give it a try. Renea and I will be manning the booth.  Kevin is now busy making some items for us to sell.  By the way, our website is up and running.  Still needs work and tweaking.  Also, our email address links are not working.  Not sure why.  Still working on that.  Anyway, if you want to take a look at the site the address is http://bkmwoodproducts.com.  Original, right?

 

I’m not going to tell you what all I have to do yet.  Seems I made Ginger tired just reading my blog. You can rest now Ginger.  I also want to thank all of you for your comments and emails.  I do read them, and I enjoy hearing from all of you.  I’m just not too good about answering them.

I DID IT AGAIN!

I am so far behind I know I am first! 
 

I just keep taking on more projects before I finish any of the others I started.  First, there are the kittens.  They are so cute.  Every morning and evening I go over to the shed to feed Cleopatra and check on the kittens.  I also make sure she has clean water and I clean her litter box.  Of course, I have to visit for a while to say hello and keep them company.

 

Of course, I have a lot of hungry birds coming to the feeder so I fill those every day.  I also need to decide where to put the hummingbird feeder.  I know the hummingbirds are around because one tried to eat from a decorative red ball I have hanging out by my deck.

 

I have finally finished the CRAP JEOPARDY except for the bells and a large piece of cardboard.  I have set up the teams with the people I know are going to be here.  I split them up so “families” are not together.  The team captains are Bob, Renea and Tracy. 

 

I am still working on the FIRST ANNUAL JIM AKER SCAVANGER HUNT.  I have most of my items together and the list each team will be given.  Not that it makes any difference.  If it works like it did on Boomer Road everyone will help everyone else.  That’s okay.  They just won’t know the secret as to which item will win the prize.  Anyway, I still have quite a bit of work to do on that.

 

I still have not decided on who I will hire to put up my gutters and downspouts.  I have only received one bid and I thought it was rather expensive.  Going to get a few more bids.

 

My deck needs a coat of stain and waterproofing.  I have decided to hire Anthony to do that.  He said he would.  Now we just need a few days of no rain.  Since we decided to do this, we have had a rain shower every day.  Rain is also predicted for the next few days.

 

The grass needs cutting, but that will have to wait a few days. 

 

I still need to spring clean my house. 

 

I have been working on the website for BKM Wood Products LLC business.  It’s just about ready to upload to the internet.  I have the domain name and have set up our email addresses.  I am also getting ready to order our business cards.  We have decided to make up some fliers.  That’s also on my list (which just keeps getting longer).

 

And, I just couldn’t wait.  I had to go and buy some rocks for my one area in the front and side of my deck.  I bought white rocks.  They are looking really good.  However, I didn’t buy enough so it’s back to Lowe’s I will be going. 

 

I also bought two geraniums.  I think I will leave them in the pots and just set them in among the rocks.  I am getting new growth on my hydrangeas.  I’m watching my encore azaleas.  They should be starting to get buds on them for their next bloom cycle. 

 

Okay.  Break is over.  Time to head over to Kevin’s for supper. 

A LITTLE RAIN

We finally had a rain shower.  Just enough yesterday so that I didn’t have to water any plants or trees.

 

The kittens are doing fine.  However, we had to move Cleopatra and her kittens into the shed and lock the door.  Cleopatra is in heat and we don’t need any more kittens.  None of us knew that she could go into heat so soon after having kittens and nursing.  We found out after researching on the internet that within a week after having kittens a female cat can go into heat again.  Roscoe and Lola are pretty much camped out under the shed.  Renea did get a couple of pictures of the kittens.  They are starting to open their eyes so I guess they will be moving around more soon.

Kevin had bought a bunch of stones to put around his flagpole.  Since he had a lot of them left I confiscated them and made a border across the one area of my plants, the area with the hydrangeas.  Now I am filling in the area with white rocks.  I am sure it will look good when finished, but right now it is a mess.  I need more rocks!

In between I’ve been doing the usual, grocery, bank, laundry, cleaning, etc., etc., etc.  Oh yeah, and cutting grass.  That is a never ending project. 

Time to head outside.  Going to finish cutting grass in the one area where I use the hand mower, and finish spreading a few rocks.  Also have to go to the grocery.  Just keeping busy.

Update on Kittens

They are doing fantastic.  So far all have survived.  We are no longer calling Mama Cat by that name.  She is now Cleopatra Queen of the Garage.  Renea has named her because this cat has definitely taken over the garage.  Kevin also only gives her filtered water.  I would say she is getting spoiled.  She is getting really friendly with all of us.  She comes out of the corner and wants to be petted, she is purring, and when I fed her today she tried to eat the food off the spoon.  She gets upset if we take her bowl to put the food in it so we just take the food to her bowl.  She is also really good about using the litter box.  Still no pictures.  She is keeping the kittens back in the corner and they are hard to see.  However, she no longer hisses at us when we get near them.  She has even allowed Stephanie to pick them up when they fall off the shelf.  She is on the bottom shelf of a stack of five. 

It’s still been a little windy so I am picking up more sticks and twigs.  I finished cutting all my grass plus Kevin and Renea’s front yard.  Of course, now it’s time to cut mine again.  That will probably happen on Sunday or Monday.  I planted the two Lantana plants in my front yard.  They look really nice.  I am getting new leaves on my hydrangeas.  Those two plants were looking pretty sad for a while so I’m glad to see some new growth.  I have some “new” birds coming to my bird feeders.  My yard is very busy right now. 

The Dawn Redwood we planted in Jim’s name is looking really good.  Below is a picture. 

I have finished the CRAP JEOPARDY except for the board to put the cards, etc. on.  I even have the prizes.  I still need to get some kind of bells or whistles for the teams.  Not sure what I will get. Maybe I will just have them holler.  They will probably do that anyway.

 Almost ready with the Scavenger Hunt.  I have all the items, and just about finished the list the teams will use to find them.  I am still working on the teams.  I’m thinking of putting an experienced Scavenger Hunter with a new one.  I also have to come up with prizes.  Jim used to give dollar bills.  I’m thinking of quarters. 

I have our email addresses set up for the business.  I have been working on our portfolio.  I also have our domain name.  Now it’s time to start working on the website.  I was hoping to be further along on that this week, but I got sidetracked (the kittens). 

Kittens and Sticks

I was awakened this morning at 6:30 by a phone call from Stephanie.  Sorry to wake you, but could you come over.  “She” had her kittens in our garage and I don’t know what to do.  So, I put on my shoes and grabbed my jacket and headed over.  There are five brand new kittens and no mama.  Four are black like mama and one is a dark brown. They look to be only a day or so old.  Apparently mama cat had them, then when the garage door was open she went out looking for food.  She must have been outside when the garage door was closed last night.  Renea told Stephanie to try and give them some warm milk.  Steph had put them in a box with a towel to keep them warm.  She was trying to feed them, but it wasn’t working.  “She,” the mama cat is a small black cat that hangs around our houses.  She is so good at hiding we can’t always find her.  She won’t come to any of us.  We decided to leave the kittens alone and the garage door open in hopes that she would come back.  We were worried that something  may have happened to her during the night.  About 8:00 a.m. I got a text from Kevin telling me that mama cat had returned and was taking care of her younguns.  I am to use the back door for the time being.  I’ll try and get some pictures in the next couple of days.

As for the sticks – it has been so windy here the past couple of days that we all have sticks and twigs all over our yards.  This morning, after I put the mail in the mailbox, I picked up all the sticks and twigs on the north side of the yard and the circle.  I made quite a few trips carrying them to the pile.  We are saving them for a campfire – if the wind every quits blowing.  I still have a bunch to pick up on the other side of the yard.  Then we will have to work on Kevin’s yard because he has a bunch of them also.

Renea had bought two Lantana plants when I bought mine.  She put hers in pots in her front yard.  They are not doing too well.  I think they need to be in the ground.  So, she told me to take them and plant them in my yard.  I brought them over this morning and now I need to decide where to plant them.  I will probably do that tomorrow morning because I need to get some top soil and potting soil.  I actually have a whole list of items I need to buy. 

I have been working on our CRAP JEOPARDY game for CRAP.  I am just about ready.  I have all my questions and answers.  Now I am making the cards.  I need to find a big piece of cardboard, or something, to hang these on.  Should be fun.  I made sure I put a few questions in that will be probably embarrass a few people.  I also have the three teams set up. 

I have also been working on our website, email addresses, etc, for the BKM Wood Products LLC business.  This is Kevin’s last week for school (he will have his Bachelor’s Degree) and then he can get started making things.  I’ll let you know when the website is up and running so you can check it out.   Kevin actually has a couple of orders already.  We are definitely making progress.  Right now Brian and I are just waiting on Kevin and the word to get started.  We are moving a little slower than originally anticipated, but that’s okay.  We are doing it right.

I am also in the process of getting estimates for gutters and downspouts on the mobile home.  I hope to be hearing from them in the next couple of days. 

I’ve been busier this week than I thought. 

Home Sweet Home

My few days (no more than a week) to visit Mom and family ended up lasting three weeks.  Every time I decided it was time to leave something else came up.  I stayed with Jana and Dave which made it easy to get things done.  We had paperwork to sign and file to finish up Uncle Clarence’s estate.  We made several trips to the bank.  Brian finished Uncle Clarence’s taxes so we signed that paperwork and filed them.  Now we are waiting for the last of the refunds to come in, then we can close Uncle Clarence’s bank account and be finished with all of that.

I didn’t get to do much visiting of friends and family.  I did spend a little time with Brian and his family.  While there Steven found out he was accepted into the Butler Tech School of Criminal Justice.  He will start this fall.  I had to put this on my blog because he told me I better.  You are welcome Steven. J  I also spent an evening with Rita and Bob when they returned from their trip to Brazil.  Looked at all their pictures, they took over 400 so it took a while.  They had a great time.  Brian and his family were also there that evening. 

I spent one day with my friends Ronnie and Tom.  We are having a great time catching up on the past 50+ years.  It’s wonderful.  I don’t know what talked the most; Ronnie or me.  We did let Tom get a comment in every now and then.  I emailed them a picture I have of our group who graduated eighth grade from Sacred Heart.  We decided to see if we can track down the people in the picture.  Wouldn’t it be great if we could have a reunion of just that group?  We do know that one of the guys has died, and that Jim, who is not in the picture, has died. 

I put together an album for Mom to have at the Nursing Home of pictures of our family including some “old” pictures I had of her dad, mom, her mom’s family and others.  She enjoyed it so much, Jana and I went through a box of pictures mom had in her cupboard and I put together an album of her friends and activities at the Senior Center, etc.

While I was in Cincinnati I decided it was time to sell the motorhome.  I knew I wouldn’t be using it any more.  Just too big, and I’m not sure I want to camp/volunteer any more.  That was something Jim and I did together.  I  just don’t want to do it by myself.  So, Brian and I made arrangements with Steve Jung (Colerain RV) to sell it for me.  Brian drove it over to Colerain and I met him there to sign the papers, etc. I hope he is able to sell it.  I just couldn’t see letting it sit and no one using it.    

I talked to Kevin and Renea several times while I was gone, and they informed me that I better get back soon – I had a lot of grass to cut.  Wasn’t it thoughtful of them to leave that chore for me?  Does this mean they missed me?

Okay, it was time for me to head back to Alabama.  Instead of driving down I-75 this time, I took I-65.  I did that because of a detour heading south on I-75 in Tennessee due to an earth slide.  I much prefer I-65.  No Knoxville.  No Atlanta.  Less trucks.  Yea.  It was a much easier drive.  I did take two days again.  I stopped in Franklin, TN, for the night and finished the trip the next morning.  And, yes, I did have grass to cut.  But, that’s okay.  I enjoy it, especially since I have a riding mower to use.

So, now I’m back home.  I have cut the front grass and weeded my flowers/bushes.  All is going well.