Busy Week Plus

I potted my new plants.  One pot is of zinnia and the other two are coneflowers (one is wild berry and the other is white).  They are looking good.  I need some more potting soil, but they will be okay until I get some.  My hydrangea bush now has two blooms.  Small ones but getting bigger.  Still no blooms on the other hydrangea.  Azalea bush #1 is still blooming.  Azalea bush #3 is doing great one flower and a lot of buds.  Yea!  Azalea bush #2 looks okay, but still no blooms.

 

Since my last posting I have cut the front grass twice.  This morning when I cut Kevin’s front grass I found quite a few armadillo holes.  He said both of our back yards have a lot of the holes also.  I guess we have tasty bugs J

 

Now for some of the big news.  Last week Tuesday my new shed was delivered and set up.  They also built a ramp so I can store one of the riding mowers in it.  I am also storing the hand mower and my gardening stuff. I had a shelf built inside the shed so I can put items on it rather than on the floor.  I spent a good part of Wednesday moving some of the stuff into the shed.  Still have more to store. I think it is going to work out really well.

 

On Friday the guys came and installed my gutters and downspouts.  They look really nice.  The guys did a good job.  Now I have to get four of those rain diverters for the ends of the gutters.  Not sure what I will be getting.  Need to look.  Another trip to Lowe’s or Home Depot.  Which means I’ll probably buy some more plants.  I want to get a snowball bush for along the side of the deck. 

 

Now for the REALLY BIG NEWS!  I have been thinking about buying a new car because I wanted to get an automatic.  Shifting gears and using the clutch hurt my left leg and my right arm.  Since I won’t be towing it, I don’t need a manual shift.  So…..last Saturday Renea and I went car shopping.  I was only going to look.  Yea right J  Of course, I ended up buying.  I wanted a midsize SUV.  Something about the same size as my Saturn.  I bought a Honda CR-V.  It is beautiful.  The picture doesn’t do it justice.  The color is Urban Titanium.  On the picture it just looks brown, but it isn’t exactly.  I can’t seem to get a picture to show it’s true color.  It’s much prettier when you see it for real.  It drives great!  I am really happy with it.  I didn’t trade in the Saturn.  Brian is taking that.

I would really like to get started working on my rocks on the other side of the deck ramp.  However, it is really hot again.  Maybe I need to get in the habit of staying up late and working while it is dark.  I have a security light so I would be able to see.  Something to think about.

 

Please say a prayer for my nephew Robbie.  He is in the hospital.  He was working on his farm and the tractor rolled.  He was able to jump off the tractor so it didn’t roll over him.  However, he has seven broken and/or cracked ribs.  He is in a lot of pain.  The doctors are concerned about pneumonia because he has trouble coughing and using the breathing machine. 

Just a Few Projects

I guess it’s time to update my blog.  Haven’t done so because I haven’t done much of anything.  Just the same old stuff.  Grass is cut.  Flowers are weeded.  Have read a few books.  Watched a little television.  Yesterday we had about an inch and a half of rain.

I have taken some pictures of a few of the butterflies that are coming to my bushes.  I don’t know a lot about butterflies so I can’t name any of them.  Need to buy a book.  I tried looking them up on the internet and there are so many different types it was tough.  They are like birds – just a little different here and there.  That’s okay.  I think they are pretty and enjoy them.  I found out that they like my lantana bushes and pentas. 

Last Friday Renea and I went shopping.  I bought a couple of new plants.  I will post pictures after I get them repotted.  I need some new pots.  My petunias are about finished, but everything else is looking good.  I have a new flower on one of my hydrangeas.  It is pink.  The other hydrangea is finally starting to look pretty good.  It has a lot of new growth.  No flowers and still has a long way to go.  Yesterday I noticed a bud on azalea bush #3.  It was underneath near the bottom.  I will have to keep an eye on this bush to see if it gets any more blooms.  Azalea bush #1 is about finished blooming.  It was beautiful – loaded with flowers. 

 

Renea and I also stopped at Hobby Lobby and I bought a couple of wall hangings for my kitchen.  As soon as Kevin hangs them I will take pictures and post them.  I also bought a new bird house for my kitchen shelf.  It’s really cute and balances out the shelf a lot better than what I had up there before.  I’m hoping to get my kitchen and bedroom finished before this winter.  The bathroom is done, and there isn’t much I can do to the laundry area.  I have asked Kevin to build me a “cabinet” around the shelf above the washer and dryer to make it look a little neater.  He said he would do that.  I also have a few other projects in mind. 

I have bought a new picture frame with multiple places for pictures.  I am working on printing pictures of my ancestors to hang on my picture wall. 

 

I still talk to mom most every night, Brian at least once a week, and Jana at least once a week.  Tracy called me on Monday to see how I was doing and if I needed to talk.  I did.  I so much appreciated her thinking of me.  Of course, I see Kevin and Renea on a daily basis.  Before Stephanie left for college she would visit me every day bringing Lola and Roscoe over to visit me.  I know they like my treats and they know exactly where I keep them.  They are my buddies.

 

I guess I’ve been busier than I thought.  Not sure what all I will be doing today.  I need to catch up on some odds and ends, so I guess I better get started.  One of my projects will be my pictures.

Meet the Bully

I would like you to meet THE BULLY.  I have named him BULLY because he has taken over the hummingbird feeder.  He actually sits on top of the decoration and when another hummingbird comes to eat he chases it away.  There are actually four hummingbirds that try to eat there.  So…..I have added another feeder on the other side of the deck.  I hope that helps.  I had heard that hummingbirds do that, and I have proof.  I took this out my kitchen window.

The rest of the birds are doing fine.  I keep them supplied with feed and water.

It’s been kind of a lazy week because it is so hot.  Stephanie and I did spray the weeds in my driveway.  They are slowly shrinking.  I also cut my front grass this early this morning.  And, the pest control guy came this morning.  Still no shed or gutters and downspouts.  There has been rain and storms all around us, but only a couple of drops here.  I am watering my trees and plants just about every day.  I hope they all survive the heat.

My hibiscus are doing great

Along with my lantanas.  I still have butterflies coming to the lanatanas.

And Azalea No. 1;  Azaleas 2 and 3 are green but no blooms.

Also the petunias, the Impatiens for the Sun, the Crossandra Orange Marmalade, the vinca and pentas are all doing fine. The hydrangeas are just there – green, but there.  The geraniums are hanging in there.  My daisies and sunflowers have died.

Told you it was a slow lazy week :)

 

Answers to Comments and Other Stuff

Ginger – no, I do not read Stephen King.  Not my kind of book.  As for Jack Reacher, they are mysteries, but not your typical find the killer before he kills again.  They are different and that is why I like them.  Of course, I also like the typical find the killer books.
 

Rita – as for the bees.  I just don’t want to get stung, and I want to be able to sit on my deck and enjoy my flowers without them buzzing around me.

 

Anonymous – when I read a book I always try to picture what the person looks like.  I  have always pictured Tom Selleck as Jack Reacher.

 

Donna – As for Shades of Gray; can you say porno.  I don’t see how they can make a movie of that book, or the series for that matter. 

____________________________ 

Yesterday Kevin and I went to Phenix City to check out sheds for my yard.  We went to a couple of places and found the best deal at Long’s.  I ordered the shed and it will be delivered sometime next week.  It will be built on the premises where I ordered it.  Renea and I have decided to “girlie” it up.  We are going to paint it (which we are supposed to do anyway) and plant some flowers around it.  The company gave us some flags to mark the spot where we want the shed, and Kevin and I will do that on Monday.  We plan to store one riding mower, the hand mower and my garden stuff in there. 

 

I did some weeding, watered my plants and filled the birdfeeders in the evening.  We were supposed to have rain, but, as usual, we were in the donut hole.  Rain all around us, but nothing here.  We are supposed to have rain today, but so far nothing.  Just a lot of clouds.

 

I did check my plants and they are all looking good.  I have three azalea plants which I named #1, #2 and #3.  They are all encore azaleas which means they should bloom in the summer.  Well, #1 has a lot of buds and they are getting ready to open.  #2 and #3 do not have any buds at all.  The plant I transplanted into a new pot has died.  I really didn’t think it would survive.  I guess I will have to get something new.

 

I bought new bedroom curtains.  Again, I was tired of the brown.  I bought green drapes that matches one of the shades of green in my bedspread.  I finally hung them yesterday and they sure look good.  I didn’t want normal tiebacks, so I bought these decorative things to use instead.  They really look good. 

 

Most of the work I had to do in my bedroom is finished except for the stack of papers I need to sort through.  Some will be filed and others will be shredded.  I am trying to get inside work finished today so I can cut grass tomorrow.  I can’t believe it needs mowing again that fast.  Today I also did my laundry. 

 

Today is Monday.  I spent a good part of Friday cutting grass until the mower ran out of gas.  Since whoever bought the gas tightened the lid so tight I couldn’t open the container to fill the mower.  So the rest will have to wait until Saturday.  I actually finished all of my front grass.  Kevin filled the mower for me on Saturday so I continued my grass cutting.  Since I got such a late start I finished most of his front yard.  I will do the rest tomorrow.

 

Sunday I decided would be a day of rest.  After church I stopped at WalMart.  I spent the rest of the day relaxing and reading.  I did talk to Mom, Jana and Brian on the phone.  Stephanie come over to visit with Lola and Roscoe.  Kevin even stopped in for a few minutes.  This past weekend was the 2011 CRAP.  Jim and Mom were both there.  In fact, it was after this that Jim started his decline.  I sure do miss him.

 

This morning I finished cutting Kevin’s grass.  I also bought a couple of new plants.  One was an Impatiens for the Sun.  That is what had died on me.  I bought a new pot for it and I am trying again.  I also bought some marigolds that I am going to plant in a different pot with new dirt.  I will do that this afternoon.

 

Going to be a hot week.  Not sure what all is on my agenda.  Later.

Curtains and Yard Work

My new kitchen curtains arrived.  I ironed them and hung them.  I am really pleased with how they look.  They brighten up the kitchen.  There is so much brown in the mobile home (including all the curtains) that I decided I needed some color, etc.  The curtains are white with flowers and butterflies embroidered on them.  Even the bottom trim, which is scalloped, is embroidered. 

I spent Sunday on the riding mower.  First I cut Kevin’s front grass.  It took quite a while because it was so high and I had to go slow.  Looks good now.  After I finished his grass I decided to give my front yard a once over since it has been about a week since I had cut the grass.  I was surprised at how high my grass was and I sure am glad I decided to cut it also.  Needless to say I was tired when I finished.  Took a shower, had a glass of wine and rested a bit before supper.  Made a few phone calls after supper, sat on the deck for a while, watched a little television then went to bed early.

 

Monday morning I finished the front grass using the “hand” mower in the areas where the riding mower doesn’t go.  I did some weeding in the rock garden, sprayed a little bit of roundup in a few areas, and cleaned the new birdbath.  It’s really hot and humid outside so I am doing things little by little.  Didn’t do much of anything outside this afternoon.  This evening I weeded the other area of bushes and flowers.  I also filled the birdfeeders, and watered the flowers. I also transplanted one of the plants in the planter in the rock garden.  It was really looking sad.  I had too much in the planter.  I put it in the pot where the daisies had been since they don’t seem to be coming back.  

Kevin cut all the back grass this afternoon.  We are making progress on out to do list.

 

Today is Tuesday and I am in a funk.  So, I decided to work outside.  I had a small area of grass to trim along the edge of the deck.  I finished that first.  Next I decided to tackle the area in the back of the house where I keep my boxes with bird seed and other miscellaneous yard equipment.  I trimmed the grass along the house, cut grass with the hand mower where I could, sprayed roundup along the base of the house and some ant spray.  It took me all morning, but I got it finished up to my back steps.  Tomorrow I will work on the area on the other side of my steps.  There is shade in the back of the house in the morning so I figure that’s the best time to work there. 

 

Still waiting to hear about my gutters and downspouts.  I did order them, and was told it would probably be about six weeks.  It’s been about four.  I have started looking at sheds.  That is also on my to do list.  I need a place to store all my yard “stuff” and the hand mower.  I may also store the yellow riding mower.  Kevin’s shed is full.  Not sure where I will put the shed, but it is definitely needed.  Another project that needs to be done is having the plastic siding removing from around the bottom of the mobile home and replaced with brick.  Kevin uses the weed eater at both of our places and the plastic just keeps breaking. 

 

Across the road from us are many acres of farmland, pasture land (they raise horses and donkeys), trees, etc.  Now, Saturday evening a sign was erected right across from my driveway.  It says Honey Bee Farms and lists the owners.  However, at the bottom it says NO HONEY.  We are not sure what is going on, but I sure hope we don’t end up with a lot of bees.  I don’t like bees.

 

Didn’t do any outside work this evening.  The sky got really dark and there was a lot of thunder.  Had some rain during the night, but I decided it was better to stay indoors.

Today is Wednesday, and I just came in from working in the back yard again.  This morning I finished the area on the other side of my back steps.  The back is looking much better.  Not sure what I am going to do this afternoon.  I may just take a break and read.

 

As most of you know I like to read.  I read a variety of books.  Jana gave me a couple of book written by Lee Childs who’s main character is Jack Reacher.  Now, according the Lee Child’s Jack Reacher is 6ft 4 in tall and weighs 250 lbs.  Now, that is a big guy.  Last night I saw on television they are going to make a moving of at least one of Lee Child’s books.  I could not believe who they are going to cast to play the part of Jack Reacher.  TOM CRUISE – now, let’s face it, Tom Cruise is not 6’4” nor does he weigh 250 lbs.  Don’t think this is going to work.  Whoever did the casting for this movie sure didn’t know what he/she was doing.  Maybe they didn’t read the books.  Every book mentions Reacher’s height and weight.  Go figure. 

 

Now that I have bored you to sleep, I will end this blog. 

Catching Up

It’s time to get caught up with my blog.  CRAP is over and plans are starting to be made for next year.  Jana and David have been here for a month visiting.  They left yesterday morning and should arrive home sometime today.  Since Jana is the only driver now they are taking two days.  I am going to miss them.  However, mom sure is looking forward to them coming home.  I know she has missed them.

 

After they left I cleaned my house, which I had neglected because I was “too busy” shopping and visiting.  I also did five loads of laundry.  I was able to keep caught up with laundering my clothes, this was all the extras.  Today I am getting caught up on computer stuff, straightening cupboards, etc.  Brian arrived late last night and will be leaving later today.  He is taking Jana and David’s trailer back to the campground where they have a spot. 

 

Jana and I also put together the CRAP JUNE 2012 album.  I printed the pictures, and Jana helped me put the albums together.  The pictures turned out great, and so did the albums.

 

While they were here we did a lot of shopping.  I bought new curtains for both my kitchen and living room.  They haven’t arrived yet.  I will post pictures after I hang them.  We spent several evenings sitting on my deck.  The deck faces the east so it has shade in the evenings.  However, this past week we had storms every evening, so we spent some time inside.  We had three inches of rain the past couple of days.  Our weather here is 90’s and hot during the day then a thunder shower in the evening with a lot of rain, wind, thunder and lightning. 

 

I haven’t had much time to do yard work.  I did get my front grass cut again, but not Kevin’s.  Hopefully, I will get that done on Monday.  I did get my hibiscus planted and they are doing great.

The vinca plants, impatiens and pentas are also doing great.  In fact I had to repot the vincas because the original pot wasn’t big enough.

The sunflowers died.  I didn’t get them planted in time and I couldn’t revive them.  Hopefully, I will have better luck next year.

I moved my hummingbird feeder to the hook in the rock garden.  I had a spinner on the hook and noticed that a hummingbird get coming to it apparently because it was red.  Jana suggested that I put the hummingbird feeder there.  So, I replaced the spinner with the feeder and the hummingbird comes there several times a day.  I don’t know if it’s only one bird and several.

This must also be the time for cardinals.  In the morning and evening I have at least a dozen cardinals, both male and female, at my birdfeeder. I know this picture is of just one cardinal.  If you look real close, you can see a finch at the finch feeder.  Since my birdbath had to be thrown away, I found this one that hangs on a hook.  The birds really like it.

As you can tell, I am enjoying both my garden/flowers and the birds.

CRAPSTOCK

We always give our IDOL show a special name.  Since our theme this year was the 60's we decided to go with CRAPSTOCK.  For those of you who don't remember that was the time of WOODSTOCK.  I have posted one picture of each act. 

Renea, Beth and Rebecca performed THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR WALKING

Ryan sang MAGGIE along with Rod Stewart

Brian, Tracy, Bradley, Steven, Samantha and Brianna (Bradley's girlfriend) performed a skit featuring Scooby Doo and the Gang.  (Steven was Scooby Doo)  The skit was written by Tracy and included information about Jim and my first couple of years of marriage.

As you can see, Brian joined them at the end of the skit as our brand new baby :)

Samantha and Stephanie danced and sang to I FEEL GOOD

Kevin and Gio performed as Sonny and Cher to I GOT YOU BABE.  I guess you can tell who was supposed to be who.

Andrea and Megan performed a dance routine.  I don't remember what song they danced to.  I am trying to find out.

Rita and Bob performed as the BEACH BOYS.  They wrote special CRAP words to SURFIN' USA

They included Anthony and Thing One in their skit.  Anthony is Ryan's friend and Thing One is Stephanie's friend.  Her name is also Stephanie so they gave her the nickname of Thing One.

Rick was our MC this year.

Steven was the MC IN TRAINING since Rick may not be here next year.  He is in the Army and you never know where he may go.

Everyone did an absolutely fantastic job.  They were all so creative and very entertaining. 

This year we had eight awards.  Everyone received an award.  One act did receive the Best Overall which included the plaque which they will have until next year's IDOL.  Andrea and Megan won the Best Overall Award.  We did not have specific judges this year.  Everyone was given ballots with which to vote.  The ballots were placed in a RED SOLO CUP with a label stating the award.  Tracy and I counted the ballots and whoever won that specific award was given the RED SOLO CUP as their trophy.  We thought that was pretty creative. 

That's it until next year.