Miss Penny

 

I’m not even going to try and catch up on all that has been going on here in Alabama.  We haven’t had any rain in a month and it sure is dry.  Kevin has finished “moving” 32 yards of dirt, and has started cleaning out the brush in the woods behind our house.  He figures that is a five year project.

 

A couple of weeks ago I joined the Prime Timers for the fall trip.  We again went to Townsend, TN, and stayed in a large cabin in the mountains.  It was beautiful.  Had some rain while we were there but it didn’t stop us from doing what we planned.  We went to Dollywood (I was not impressed) and went to an outlet mall.

 

Kevin and Renea picked me up from the church when we got back on Monday.  When we arrived at my house they had a birthday surprise for me.  The cutest little kitten ever.  It seems that they, along with Brian, Tracy and their family, decided to get the kitten for me for my birthday.  I had been talking about getting one so they figured that would be the ideal birthday present.  She is so cute!

 

They adopted her from a no kill shelter called PAWS.  I was also given a litter box, litter, food, and toys.  The first couple of nights I put her in her carrier (which they also gave me).  However, she now sleeps with me.  She was spade before they adopted her and had her first couple of shots. She is also litter box trained.  I have taken her for her well checkup and she received 3 more shots.  The vet did find that she has a heart murmur, but it doesn’t stop her.  She runs, jumps and climbs everything.  Penny is very loving.  We have spent the last couple of weeks bonding and playing.  Her official name was listed as Penelope.  I changed it to Penny. 

 

Of course, she doesn’t listen.  She is like a little kid and has selective hearing.  I have tried water bottle training her, but that doesn’t work.  She loves being sprayed with water.  She doesn’t have a clue what no or down means.  Needless to say I have been putting a lot of things up and away.  Up doesn’t always work because she loves to climb.

 

Below are a couple of pictures of my new buddy.

Topsoil

On Wednesday we had 32 yards of topsoil delivered.  Of course, it was supposed to be delivered in the morning and didn’t come until mid afternoon.  That much topsoil had to be delivered in two trucks.  The first truck arrived about 2:00.  I had to leave at 3:00 because this was the Wednesday that the Prime Timers had the church dinner and I was scheduled to work.  Since the driver told me it would probably be a couple of hours before he returned with the second load I knew I would be gone.  Since he knew where to deliver it, and it was paid for, I told him I would be leaving and just dump it next to where he dumped the first load.  Renea was home and she said she would watch for him.  Worked out fine.  When I arrived home from church the second load of topsoil was right where it should be.  Kevin spread some of it when he got home.  It’s going to be a big job.
 

David had a series of tests run on Wednesday.  Jana got the results of the tests on Thursday.  None of the tests showed any signs of a stroke.  The doctors said his problems were all a result of old age and dementia.  Therefore, the insurance would not approve him going to a nursing home for rehab so Jana took him home.  He will be having a couple of weeks of in-home rehab now. 

 

Thursday I also attended my final home school meeting of the year.  Now it is just a matter of keeping records and turning the information in to the school board.  I will learn how to do that later.

 

Saturday Kevin spent the day spreading topsoil.  We are supposed to have rain both Sunday and Monday – 90% - so he figured he better get it done now.  He spent the day filling holes in both my yard and his yard.  He is almost finished. He plans to finish Sunday morning. 

 

When he stopped for the day and got off the tractor the pit bull from next door was loose and tried to attack him.  The dog actually was biting at his ankles – thankfully he had on high top boots.  He ended up getting on the tractor and chasing him back to his yard with that.  He then called me (told me to stay in the house), called Renea (she was on her way home from having lunch with Stephanie), called the police, and called animal control.  Renea called the owners of the dog, they were not home.  The police officer arrived and the dog would not let him out of his vehicle.  The owners and animal control arrived at the same time.  The owners were able to get him back in his pen.  Not sure if they were cited.  However, we are all a little nervous about going outside now.  Animal control did not take the dog.

 

Kevin finished spreading the topsoil Sunday morning while I was at church.  When I arrived home he and I spread the grass seed.  At that point it was “drizzling” so we thought we should get finished before the rains came.  We waited all day Sunday and all day Monday.  Of course, we did not get any rain.  All we got was the “drizzle” while spreading the grass seed.  I am sure the birds will enjoy a feast.

 

P.S. Haven’t seen Mr. Spider since I bought the spray!

I AM ON A MISSION (re: spider)

Only saw Mr. Spider one time this week.  I think he is hiding from me because I bought some spray that I plan to use on him.  I have not been able to squash him with a shoe because he is too fast.  He comes out of hiding from one corner of the room and zips across to another corner.  He is hiding under furniture where I cannot get to him.  I have not given up though!
 

I typed and filed my notes from the home school meeting.  There will be one more meeting next week for those who were not able to attend the first one.  I plan to be there at the second meeting so I can meet the rest of our parents.  I also want to be sure I understood everything that was said, and that my notes are correct.

 

Friday night I worked with the Prime Timers to get everything ready for Saturday’s yard sale.  I am amazed at the donations we received of items to sell.  Friday we sorted and priced the items.  It was a much bigger job than I expected.  Last year we had a lot of baby and children’s clothes along with toys.  This year it’s mostly adult clothes, and, of course, knick knacks and other odds and ends.  Not as many books this year as last either.  Had a few people stop by and purchase a few items. 

 

Saturday was a really busy day.  The yard sale was great!  The first crew that arrived at 6:00 said there were people waiting when they arrived.  I worked the second shift from 10:00 a.m. through clean up.  Everything left was donated to the Teen Challenge Thrift Shop.  The yard sale was over at 1:00 and they arrive at the designated time of 1:30 with their truck.  After they left a group of us went to Zaxby’s for lunch.  All of us were tired after such a busy day.  I don’t know how much money we made.  I am sure we did well.

 

Other than that the week went pretty much as usual; laundry, grocery, cleaning, etc.  I did decorate a little bit for fall.  Monday I ordered topsoil.  It is supposed to come on Wednesday.

 

During our last big storm we had a bolt of lightning hit that we all felt.  We knew it was close.  Kevin was in our woods in the back this week and found the tree that it hit.  It was a sycamore tree and was split in half.  The tree is/was next to the creek in the back yard.

 

Monday I received a call from Jana that she took David to the hospital.  They had gone to the campground and when they arrived David could not walk.  He has been admitted and they are running numerous tests.  The doctors are not sure what is going on.  The walking seems to come and go. 

 

Yesterday I mowed the grass.  Hopefully, we are getting close to not cutting it for a while.  Our nights have been in the 50’s this week with the highs during the day in the low 80’s.  Maybe fall has arrived.

Something New

The church I belong to has started something new.  Several families wanted to do home schooling so they set up Landmark Academy.  This is the umbrella organization under which families can join so they can home school.  I have found out that home schooling is a little more complicated than I thought. 
 

Anyway, I have volunteered to help our Administrator with the paperwork, etc.  I will not be doing any home schooling.  Parents actually are the teachers, but they have to file quite a bit of paperwork.  Our administrator has to keep track of it and file it with the school board. 

 

I attended my first meeting last night and it was very interesting.  I am really looking forward to becoming involved.

 

Catching up on this past week, last Wednesday I started weed wacking until the batteries went dead.  While the batteries were charging, and while I was at church, Kevin finished for me. I really do appreciate that because I hate weed wacking.

 

Thursday and Friday I just did routine stuff; i.e. laundry, groceries, etc.  Exciting, right? Same for Saturday and Sunday.  I cleaned and filled all the bird feeders.  Haven’t had many birds around lately.  In fact, I am down to just three hummingbirds.  Guess it is getting close to the time when a lot of them will be heading south. 

 

Saturday night I had supper with Kevin and Renea.  LeNora, Ricky and Philip also were there.  Kevin fixed a brisket in the smoker.  It was really good.  Of course, we watched the Alabama football game.  Folks here in the south are really big on college football.

 

Monday was time to start cutting grass again. I finished about half of it and then took a break for lunch. After lunch went back out to finish cutting grass, made a few swipes and had to quit.  The belt came off, so I parked it in the shed and quit for the day.  I didn’t get the grass finished until Tuesday morning.  I used the mower that Kevin and Renea usually use.  It’s a riding mower, but bigger than mine.  Now we have to decide what to do with my mower – fix it or get rid of it.  It’s going to be expensive to fix because there are more problems than the belt. 

 

…..and then there is this spider!

Several Busy Days

Finally finished weeding my rock gardens. They look really good. Lost a few of my plants between the rain and heat.  However, some of the others look fantastic.  The lantanas are huge and I have a lot of butterflies stopping by.  The hummingbird bush that Brian planted for me on the side of my deck looks great.  Not sure any hummingbirds are feeding there, but there are a lot of flowers.

 

I filled the hummingbird feeders today, and I had so many hummingbirds flying around and feeding that one of them flew into my storm door and knocked himself out. He hit so hard and it was so loud (for a little bird) that I thought someone had knocked on the door.  Anyway, he laid on the deck for a few minutes then got up, stopped at the feeder to eat, and then continued on apparently okay.

 

I also finished one of four plastic canvas projects today.  I know I am not as good as mom was, but I’m trying.  She was always able to do these projects without a pattern.  As for me, I need to follow instructions.  The ones I do without a pattern come out okay, but I always feel they could be better.  Maybe I’ll get better with practice.

 

Wednesday I took my car to the Honda service center to have the oil and filter changed. They also rotated the tires.  I should be good, according to them, for about another year. Stopped at WalMart on the way home.

 

When I came home from church, Wednesday night is bible study, (I am really enjoying this.  I am learning a lot, remembering a lot, and making new friends.)  I found ants everywhere both inside and outside the house.  I sprayed everything!   Found ants everywhere in and outside the house.  It’s that time of year and we just have to keep after them.  Kevin is going to spray outside with some special solution we purchased.

 

Thursday morning I cleaned up the dead ants and washed down the inside of the house where I sprayed.  Didn’t find any live ones.  SUCCESS!  Later I fed the azaleas and used Bayer 1-2-3 on my weeping cherry tree.  This was recommended to me by Rita because the leaves were looking really bad.  

 

We had a really bad storm Thursday night into Friday morning with a lot of thunder and lightning.  When I checked the rain gauge it registered 3 ½ inches. Actually made the house rattle.  Started my fall cleaning since I couldn’t do anything outside.

 

Saturday and Sunday we had more rain! In fact, they have been storms not just your average rain.  After church I started my next plastic canvas project and watched football.

 

All of these storms have really stirred up the fibromyalgia and arthritis.  I spent Monday just laying around. 

 

Tuesday I felt better so I decided to cut the grass.  I was almost finished and I ran out of gas.  The grass was so tall I had to go over some places more than once.  I had to leave the mower sitting in the front yard waiting for Kevin to fill it with gas.  The gas cans are so big I cannot lift them, and besides he tightens the lids so tight I can’t open them either.  After Kevin got home from work and filled the mower I finished cutting the grass. Yard is a mess with clippings. I figure it will take a couple of mowing to get it back into shape.

 

However, I did find several pecan tree seedlings and marked them with flags so I don’t run over them the next time I mow the grass.  Maybe we will get lucky and have one or two actually grow into trees. 

Another Day Inside

I know that the weather people are saying upper 90’s, but my thermometer is saying 118 and it’s only 11 o’clock in the morning.  No letup in sight.  It was 15 degrees hotter on Labor Day than it was on the 4^th of July.  I am not going outside at least until this evening.  And, then I will have to think about it first.
 

Bringing you up-to-date, Ryan is back in Japan.  He left on Thursday, 8/28, and will be gone about one more year.  Then he is coming home and going to college. He decided not to re-enlist in the Navy.  Wednesday we all went out to dinner and spent a few hours together.  Since Kevin, Renea and Ryan had to get up at 3:00 a.m. to take him to the airport it was an early evening. 

 

Stephanie is dog sitting this weekend.  Kevin and Renea went camping in Dahlonega, GA.  I was going to dog sit, but Steph had to have her car worked on so she spent the weekend here.  I spent the weekend inside watching NASCAR, some other programs and working on my plastic canvas.

 

Steven is leaving on September 16 for San Antonio, TX.  He has joined the Air Force.  I plan on attending his graduation in November.  Samantha is a senior in high school this year.  Bradley and Brianna are doing just fine.  They are both back in school at UC.

 

I have not been outside except to go to church and a few other quick trips all week.  It has just been too darn hot!  Early last week (Monday and Tuesday) I did get the grass mowed and some weeding accomplished, but I still have a lot to do – if it ever cools down just a little. 

 

I’m still working on my ancestry.  This past weekend ancestry.com had free access to their world records, and I took advantage of that.  I did find a few things.  I found my great grandfather’s parents and brother who lived in Germany.  I think I also found a few other relatives, but I have to do more research.  I also found the parents of a great great grandfather on the Althoefer side.  However, when I tried to find my great grandfather Henry Althoefer there were many!  Apparently, Althoefer in Germany was like Smith or Jones here.  Much more research is needed. I’m sure he is there someplace.  I also found some other bits and pieces of information that need more research.

 

As you can tell, it’s been quiet around here.  Too hot to do much of anything. 

What A Month!

First of all Brian came for a visit and he fixed my computer!  Yeah!!!!  So now you get to read about me mowing my grass again.  J  He also hung a few of my pictures for me, fixed my front door and cut both mine and Kevin’s back grass.  That was on Thursday.  Friday he and I took the day off and went shopping, out to lunch and spent the day visiting until Kevin came home from work.  Then we had supper, Kevin and Brian got in the pool and we had a nice evening.  Saturday it was time for him to head home.
 

Samantha came with him to visit.  It was good to see her.  She even came over on Thursday while Brian was cutting grass and spent some one-on-one time with me.  It was great because we don’t get to do that very often.

 

I don’t remember exactly where I left off on my last blog, and I’m too lazy to go back and check, so I will just continue from wherever.  It has been extremely hot.  In fact, we have been under a heat advisory most of this month.  The official weather report said upper 90’s, but my thermometer has said over 100 ever day.  Plus it has been extremely humid.  Therefore, I only mowed the grass once this month.  As of yesterday the temperature has cooled down to the upper 80’s and low 90’s with very low humidity and a nice breeze.  Sooooo, yesterday I cut my front grass and watered all my flowers and bushed.  Some of my flowers have died even though I have been watering them.  Today I am using the weed wacker – in small increments.  It’s nice again today but I don’t want to overdue.

 

Ryan has been home on leave his month.  It has been really good to see him.  Of course, he is not around much because he is busy visiting his friends.  He heads back to Japan on Thursday.  He will be gone for a year and then he is going to leave the Navy and go to college.

 

I am still working on and researching my family tree on all sides.  I am learning so much.  I find it extremely fascinating.  It’s been much easier since Brian got my computer working like it is supposed to.  I am printing everything I learn and putting the information in binders.

 

I haven’t been outside much because of the heat.  So I have been working inside; cleaning drawers, cupboards and catching up on my filing.  I am not finished with all of that yet, and it is time to start fall house cleaning.  Never any rest. I’m getting tired just typing this. Maybe I need to take a nap????

 

Okay, my break is over and it’s back to weed wacking.  I have also filled all the bird feeders and put fresh water in the birdbath.