A Little of This and A Little of That

Haven’t been doing much outside – it is really hot and humid.  My rock gardens have all been weeded and I am doing my best to keeping caught up.  The grass has all been cut.  Of course, it’s almost time to cut it again.  Today I am watering trees since we haven’t had any rain for a while. 
 

The addition is at a standstill right now.  The siding is on backorder.  Should be in this week.  The drywall is up and when Kevin returns from Washington DC he will be doing the mudding, etc.  Then we can paint and put in the floor.  Brian is trying to figure out when to come back and finish the electric.  I have been busy outside picking up trash, nails and all that good stuff.  Kevin got rid of a lot of trash before he left and was able to get some grass cut and trimmed before he left. 

 

I had another reply to my classmate letters.  Received a call and talked to him for almost an hour.  It turned out we know a lot of the same people.  In fact, he may be able to help Ronnie and me with a few more names.  So, I guess I am making pretty good progress – at least with the guys.  Having a few problems with the girls since I don’t know their married names.

 

Back working on my family tree.  I  am actually working on four of them, my dad’s side, my mom’s side, Jim’s mom and Jim’s dad.  I am making the most progress on my dad’s side. 

 

I have also decided to start another project.  I am putting together a Garden Journal.  It is pictures and information about the trees I have planted and the plants/flowers I have planted.  I am making pretty good progress.  Also have an information section about the different types of fertilizers, etc.  Rita has been teaching me a lot, and I keep making notes.

 

I am also dog sitting this week.  Roscoe and Lola are both spending a lot of time in the house.  It seems they don’t like the heat either.  My biggest problem is, that for some reason, Lola has decided to eat Roscoe’s food.  I have taken to feeding them separately.  It’s really interesting.  And, of course, they both sleep with me.  I sure don’t get lonesome J

Room Addition and More

 

Below are a couple of pictures of the addition I am adding to my home.  It is just one room, and as you can see so far it is framed in, the roof is on (including the shingles) and the windows have been installed.  Brian was here last weekend and for a few extra days.  He did the wiring and put in a new breaker panel.  Thursday we went to Lowes and purchased the insulation and drywall.  The construction guys are here today installing both.  A couple of weeks ago we ordered the siding, but, of course, it is on backorder.  Not supposed to get that for another two weeks or so.  Kevin purchased the door while I was in Ohio. It should be installed soon.  We are definitely making progress.

 

 

Thursday while at Lowes I purchased a battery operated weedeater.  I have charged the battery, put together the weedeater, and last night I used it for the first time.  It works great!  My front yard is starting to look good again.  I cut the grass (the second time since I am home), and the flowers are perking back up.  The new ones are doing really good.  Now I just have to get my new crepe myrtles planted.  I may have to transplant my azaleas because the lantanas have taken over that section.  They have gotten so big you cannot see the azaleas.  Have to think about this.

 

I have been busy searching for eighth grade classmates.  Ronnie found a couple of addresses for me. I have sent out quite a few letters, but only have heard from three so far.  I’ll keep trying though.  Linda sent me a copy of our “official” graduation picture.  Thank you Linda.  I only had a snapshot.

 

Now I need to get back to work on my family tree.  I bought a new program and have joined ancestry.com.  I found out quite a bit of information while in Ohio, but progress has slowed down since I returned home.  Just so much going on.

 

Not sure what I am going to do today.  Probably cut Kevin and Renea’s front grass.  And use my new weedeater in back of my house.  With all the stuff laying around the yard because of the construction I can only do so much.  Just wait till they finish though!

IT HAS BEEN A BUSY WEEK

I bought a couple of plants to replace some of the ones that perished because of the rain.  It took a couple of days, but I finally got them potted.  I also trimmed the weeping cherry tree because some of the branches were dragging the ground.  I bought two crepe myrtles, but I haven’t planted them yet.  One is a plum color and the other is purple.  The two that I have been growing in pots are both pink.  I should be able to plant them in the ground this fall. 

 

It stopped raining long enough to get some of the grass cut.  It usually rains every evening.  Sometimes it rains here and sometimes it misses us.  I still have a lot of weeds to pull in my rock gardens.  I have about half of the one finished.  I can’t go any further on that one until they finish my addition.  I also need to work on the birdbath area.  The weeds and grass are so high that you can’t see the birdbath right now. 

 

It’s been so hot and humid when it isn’t raining I can’t work outside for very long.  I kind of do it in bits and pieces.

 

I am posting a few pictures of the brick work that was done around the mobile home.  As you can see, one side has an opening.  This opening is going to get a door.  It was decided that this needed to be done in case something happens that we need to get under the mobile home for some reason.  Anyway, I am happy with the work that was done.  Now I just need to clean up the broken bricks and old aluminum that they left in piles in the yard.  I think Ricky is going to take the bricks and break them up to put in his driveway. 

I have gotten my deck back in order.  When they worked on the brickwork around the houses and started the addition, a lot of my plants and other items were stacked on my deck.  I have moved them now.  The hummingbirds came back right away, but the other birds have been a little slow.  I am seeing more of them every day. 

 

Brian just called.  He is on his way and should arrive sometime during the night.  I told him I would be sleeping and would see him in the morning.  Apparently, he is going to do the electric and then he and Kevin and going to hang the drywall.  I’m really looking forward to having this addition.

THE TO DO LIST

It’s growing.  I have been home a week now, and haven’t stopped.  It seems no matter what I do I have to add another item or two to THE TO DO LIST! 
 

It’s been raining since I’ve returned so I really haven’t been able to do much outside.  That means no grass cutting, weed pulling or working on the flowers.  My rock gardens are a mess.  When they added the blocks under my house, they moved a lot of the potted plants and didn’t put them back.  They are still sitting where they left them.  Also, with all the rain I had a lot of plants die.  I have purchased some new ones, but haven’t been able to do anything with them since it is still raining.  Last year it was a drought, this year flash floods.  However, the job that was done with putting the bricks under the house look great. 

 

Now a new crew is working on my room addition.  They are making good progress even with the rain.  I will post pictures later.  I’ve taken a few but haven’t downloaded them yet.

 

So far I’ve gotten the laundry done, had my hair cut, been to the grocery, taken care of the mail and bills, etc. etc.etc.  I still have to work on the pictures from CRAP.  I hope to have the albums finished by next weekend.  Brian is coming down to do my electric in the new room and I would like to be able to send the albums back with him so I don’t have to mail them.

 

Looks like it’s going to be another busy week!

 

P.S.  I just crossed update blog off THE TO DO LIST!

 

AFTER CRAP

Yes, I am back home now, but I thought the first thing I should do is catch up on what I did after CRAP. 
 

I spent the week after CRAP at Rita’s.  Bob went out of town and Rita and I just sort of had fun.  She had to work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday so I went to Jungle Jim’s (had to get my wine), Books-A-Million (can’t be in that area without stopping there), and Wal Mart to buy some new shorts.  We also ate at O’Charlie’s and just goofed off.  On Thursday we went downtown and walked along the river and checked out the flowers.  We also sat on the swings and watched the river go by.  Walked up to the Great American Ballpark and went to the restaurant/bar across the street.  There we sat outside, had a drink and watched the river go by.  We then drove up to Washington Park to see how they fixed it up.  Then it was on to the Horseshoe Casino.  I broke even, Rita lost a few dollars.  We had supper at Margaritaville.  They have the best frozen margaritas I have ever drank.  We then had a Cheeseburger in Paradise without the cheese J.  Then headed for home.  Bob came home Thursday night so Friday we toured the Loveland Castle and had supper at a restaurant in Loveland.  We then headed home.

 

Saturday morning I left Rita and Bob’s and headed for Brian’s house.  Spent the weekend with Brian and his family.  Had a really good time.  Andy seems to have calmed down a bit.  He doesn’t bark nearly as much and was friendly with me.  Precious is just precious.  She is very loving and doing much better.  Sunday I was pooped and spent most of the day resting on the couch.  Sunday night I went to Jana and Dave’s.    

While at Jana and Dave’s we visited with Mom most every day.  Did some shopping.  Went to Ollie’s and Half Price Books.  Spent a day with Ronnie and Tom.  We did some research on finding guys and gals we graduated with from the eighth grade.  I am in the process of writing letters to those we “think” we found.  We went to dinner at The Manor House with Jana’s neighbor, Ed and his family.  It was very good.  Sunday Mom spent the day with us at Jana’s house.  Tuesday we took Brian and his family to supper at Frisch’s.  Wednesday I went to supper with the gals from Green Township, and had a great time.  It’s always good to see them.  Thursday I had an appointment at 5^th 3^rd.  Friday I met Gail at Ron’s Roost.  Our conversation just seems to pick up where we left off the last time we were together.  Saturday morning I headed for home.  Spent the night in Franklin, TN, at the usual place.  Sunday I arrived home early afternoon. 

 

It was a short and busy trip, but I had a great time like always.

CRAP 2013

Okay, it’s time to catch up.  I am in Ohio now, and will be for another week.  I have been here for three weeks now and it sure has been busy.  Renea rode up with me, and I took her to here parent’s house so she could spend a week with them.  I then went to Rita and Bob’s.  The three of us spent most of the week getting ready for CRAP 2013 which was held here in Cincinnati this year.  Our theme was Irish.

I did spend Monday with Brian and his family.  I met their new dog, Precious. She is an American Eskimo just like Andy.  She is nine years old and has some problems, but is doing fine.  As for Andy he didn’t even bark at me nearly as much. In fact, he was pretty friendly.  I guess he figured it was okay since Precious was friendly.  Brian and I worked on my computer.  Turns out I had a virus imbedded in my registry, so we decided to wipe the hard drive clean and start from scratch.  So far, so good.  Had supper with them and then headed back to Rita and Bob’s. 

 

 

Kevin drove up late Thursday and brought Stephanie, Chelsea (Ryan’s fiancé) and Gavin, her son.  He also brought the dogs.  They all stayed at Brian’s.  Friday morning Kevin picked up Renea from her parent’s and they came over and picked up Bob so they could buy the drinks for the party.  They decided they needed some Irish beer since the theme was Irish.  Meanwhile Rita and I worked on the food.  I had ordered bar-b-q from the meat store and had picked that up on Thursday.  I made macaroni salad on Friday.  We then headed to Brian’s to do some swimming.  He grilled hot dogs for supper, we drank a lot, had a fire in the outdoor fireplace and had a really good time.  Then we headed home to get a good night’s sleep so we would be ready for Saturday.

 

 

Rain was predicted for Saturday, but we were really lucky.  There was rain all around us, but we only had a few drops.  We had a bean bag tournament in the morning which Brian and Bob won.  Then we took our pictures.  Everyone wore a green shirt and Rita furnished hats. 

 

Since we had it in Ohio Granny was able to attend.  Jana and David signed her out of the nursing home and brought her.  She is 94 now and doing good.  She really enjoyed herself. 

Brian and Tracy brought plenty of snacks to munch on during the day. 

Our next event was held in the basement.  We played CRAP JEOPARDY which I put together.  It was soooo funny.  We had a blast.  Samantha showed Kevin and Brian how to twerk.  Funniest thing I ever saw.  Tracy and Kevin were doing it outside while playing bean bag.  Then Brian and Kevin carried it over into the basement.  This year we had two teams; gals against guys.  Needless to say, the gals won.

 

We had our CRAP meeting and it was decided to hold it next year in Alabama.  The theme will be Super Heroes/Villains. 

Next was food.  Which was awesome.  Rita had bought a cake and made some brownies.  Andrea and Megan brought cookies.  We had bar-b-q, beans, slaw, macaroni salad without onions, macaroni salad with onions, etc.    After supper we sat around and drank some more and told stories.  Jana and David took mom back to the nursing home.  She is not allowed to stay overnight anywhere because she would lose her Medicaid.    All the “young people” left and went to Brian and Tracy’s house for the night.  Since I was still staying at Rita and Bob’s I went to bed.  The rest of the adults spent the night because they had all been drinking. 

The next morning Rita had breakfast for everyone.  Brian, Tracy, Kevin and Renea left for Brian’s house after breakfast.  Kevin and Renea picked up the kids and dogs and headed for Alabama.  Robby, LeeAnn and their family headed for home.  I helped Rita and Bob straighten up as best as I could.  Then we spent the rest of the day just relaxing.  Needless to say we were tired. 

EEK! A MOUSE!

Yep, that’s what I said.  Wednesday before last when I got home from church the first place I headed was for the bathroom (of course).  While there all of a sudden this “thing” ran across my feet, out the bathroom door and behind the dryer.  Naturally, I jumped and gave a little scream.  Then I realized it was a mouse.  So, now I have another first since this is the first mouse I have seen.  I guess living in the country I shouldn’t be too surprised.  Anyway, I called Kevin to ask if he had any mouse traps and he said no, but said he would pick some up when he went out the next day.  Yes, he did get me some mouse traps and set them for me. 
 

I went to the doctor this week, and he informed me that I am fine and can go back to my normal work.  Just no heavy lifting.  I guess this means I am back to cutting grass.  That starts tomorrow.  Kevin is cutting the back yard today.  I will do the front tomorrow.  It’s supposed to rain this afternoon.  That’s why I decided on tomorrow.

 

I will be heading for Ohio in a couple of weeks.  Renea will be riding up with me so she can visit her family for a few days before CRAP, then she will come back home with Kevin.  I plan on staying with Rita and Bob for two weeks and then I will be staying with Jana and David for two weeks.  I am not going to stay as long this time.  There is just too much going on right now for me to be gone for any length of time.  If all goes well I will be adding a room to my mobile home and building a garage/storage building next to my house.  I will need to get back for that.

 

Okay, so I didn’t get the grass cut when I thought I would.  In fact I didn’t get any grass cut until Sunday after church.  All because of the rain.  At this point it was knee high – and not to a grasshopper, but to me.  Kevin did his front yard and about a fourth of mine.  I did the rest.  It took forever since I had to go slow because it was so high.  Judging from the weather report the grass probably won’t be cut until next week some time.  We are supposed to have a lot of rain.  The rain has been good for the grass, trees and bushes.  However, I have lost a few plants even though the planters had holes in the bottom. 

 

Nothing ever goes as planned.  I had an eye doctor appointment this morning for my yearly checkup.  Since they dilate my eyes Renea was going to take me.  However, when it was time to leave here comes Kevin.  That was fine.  Renea had other things to do since they were leaving in the afternoon for a trip to Arkansas.  We head out for Columbus, and, of course, I had to get gas first.  No big deal.  So far, every time I have been to this eye doctor they have been on time and there have been no long waits – until today.  I was a little early, but they called me back right away and the nurse did all the checkups that she does and took me back to the doctor’s office.  Where I sat and waited, and waited and waited.  I thought maybe they forgot about me.  About the time I was going to go check and find out if they had forgotten about me the doctor came into the room.  Seems they had an emergency and all four doctors on duty were taking care of the guy.  His eye had perforated.  He was still being taken care of and the doctors were taking turns seeing their patients.  My eyes are fine.  No changes since last year.  Don’t have to go back for another year.  When I met up with Kevin in the waiting room he was a little concerned because it took so long.  However, all’s well that ends well.  Now I will just be glad when my eyes go back to normal.

 

Okay, I still have not caught the mouse.  So, I bought four trays of D-Con.  I am going to get that sucker!  I put a tray in each room.  Since I have not seen or smelled any dead mice I don’t know if he is dead or not.  I hadn’t seen any mouse droppings for a couple of days after setting out the trays, but I did see a mouse run across the living room floor while I was watching the race on Saturday night. 

 

Haven’t done much of anything lately.  Can’t go outside because all it does is rain.  Sure would like to get the grass cut before I go to Ohio.  It’s almost knee high again.

 

Off to run some errands.