Good Morning!

Penny and I would like to wish you all a Good Morning!

Today has been a rainy day so I have been doing indoor stuff.  Exciting stuff like making the bed, paying bills, taking out the trash.  I’m sure you get the idea.  However, I did make four more ornaments.  I found some “stuff” in the drawers where I have been sorting the items I inherited from mom.  Not sure what she planned to use them for, but I made ornaments.  They actually turned out cute.  That was three of them.  The other ornament I created (do you like that word?) using some items I bought at Hobby Lobby. I really need to get busy and finish the napkin holders I have started.

Another day.  No rain but extremely foggy.  I plan to go to Hobby Lobby and Kroger today but I will wait awhile for the fog to dissipate. Finally got my shopping finished.  Before I left I was able to do most of my morning chores.  Finished up when I returned.

I bought a couple of notebook binders.  I have been collecting quite a few “how to” instructions for Christmas decorations, etc.  I decided it was time to organize them somewhat rather than have the pieces of paper stacked on a shelf.  Now, I have another project.  If I ever get caught up I won’t know what to do J or how to act.

Went to bible study tonight at church.  Pastor Andy was not there, but Mike took his place.  I really like Mike, but he confuses me sometimes.  On the way home I noticed I was headed toward rain and lightning.  It was over about 10 o’clock.

Today I woke up to the sun.  However, a little after noon it started raining.  The only thing I accomplished outside was filling the hummingbird feeders.  Inside I did a load of laundry, filled my pill containers and made several phone calls. Also checked email.  I organized two binders this afternoon.  This evening I worked on my fall napkin holders.  Making a little progress.  They are not hard, just time consuming.  As much as I like pro football, I did not watch the games tonight.  I do not like the Patriots or the Steelers.

Friday is a really gloomy day.  Can’t make up it’s mind if it wants to rain or not.  So, again, I am doing things inside.  The weather is supposed to cool down next week so I am hoping to get some yard work done.  My front yard is really a mess and it is driving me crazy (or crazier as my brother-in-law used to say).  Made and received a few phone calls.  Apparently I spend more time on the phone than I thought I did J  Worked on my napkin holders.  Watched the Xfinity NASCAR race.  One of my packages with Christmas gifts arrived today so I sorted them.  Also worked on my craft binders.  I printed pictures of the items I made and have included them in the binders.

Bright and early Saturday morning Kevin knocked on my door.  However, it was early but not bright.  Another gloomy day.  Anyway, he took the wood pieces away from the concrete walk at the bottom of the steps, smoothed out the dirt area and added some dirt.  He then moved my rhododendron back in the spot and the box with my iris.  Now I need to do some weeding and get more rocks.  Lookin’ good. 

I got a few things accomplished inside, watched NASCAR and worked on the napkin holder.  I am just about finished with my binders.

Continuing On

Later in the afternoon I went over to Kevin and Renea’s for Sunday supper.  Both Ryan and Stephanie joined us. We had a really good time.  Lots of laughs.   We had ribs, tater tots, beans, bisquits, salad and cake for desert.Awesome!  Talked to Kevin about transplanting the mimosa and magnolia trees.  After supper Kevin, Renea and Stephanie came over.  Renea and Stephanie wanted to see the work Kevin had done on the deck.  Stephanie also wanted to come in and see Miss Penny.  Miss Penny is special to Stephanie because they picked out each other at PAWS.

This picture is one of Miss Penny’s favorite spots.  It’s nice and high and she can look down on everything.  After all, she thinks she is the queen of everything and I don’t argue with her.

Even though we were supposed to have a lot of rain, we didn’t.  Saturday we had 3 ½ inches of rain.  It’s going to be hot all week with a chance of rain every day.

Woke up Monday morning to clouds.  Not feeling real good.  My fibromyalgia has really been bothering me along with being short of breath.  This is the pits!  Haven’t done much this morning except take the mail to the mailbox, took out some trash, took a couple of pictures and updated my blog.  Not a very good day.

I really did it this morning.  While I was busy doing all my little chores which I mentioned above along with finally putting away all the paper products I bought at SAM’S the other day and making three more ornaments, I assumed Miss Penny was taking a nap behind her favorite curtain.  When it was time for lunch I called her and she didn’t come.  This was strange because she usually lets me know when it is time for lunch.  I looked behind the curtain and she wasn’t there.  Now I’m thinking where can she be?  Well, I found her.  I had closed her up in my bedroom cupboard.  I didn’t know she had gone in there when I got my shirt out to wear today.  She was not a happy kitty and she let me know.  However, all has been forgiven since I gave her a couple of her treats.

Didn’t do much the rest of the day.  Just took it easy.

Okay, it’s a new day and I am feeling much better.  Have accomplished quite a few odds and ends this morning. Worked on cleaning up the deck and surrounding area.  Picked up a lot of rocks/stones that had ended up out in the grass when Kevin was working on the deck.  I am making progress, but there is still a lot of work to be done.

Wednesday I went to Lowe’s, Petco, Hobby Lobby and Kroger.  Got a lot accomplished.  Of course, the worst part is bringing everything in from the car and then putting it all away.  I bought food for Penny at Petco, and they had several cats there waiting to be adopted.  They were so cute.  These were not kittens, but grown cats.  Penny is so spoiled I’m not sure she would like another cat around here.  At Hobby Lobby I bought a few supplies for a couple of ornaments I decided to make.  Lowe’s purchases were hummingbird food, wasp spray and ant granules.  Naturally, Kroger was food.  I was going to put gas in my car but it was so crowded I decided I didn’t want to wait in line.

Tonight I went to church for Bible study.  Nina and Mike adopted a puppy from Opelika animal care.  She is adorable.  They brought her to church with them.  She is mostly beagle – not sure what else.  Her name is Pepper and she was six weeks old today.  She slept all thru Bible study.

 

Finished Several Projects

 

Good Morning.  I’ve been out mowing grass.  Finished two more sections.  Have one more to go.  Plan on doing that one after lunch.  Shouldn’t take too long.  While I have been mowing grass I washed and dried the material I bought for several Christmas projects.  I need to iron them, cut them and make the projects. Busy! Busy! Busy!

YEA!!!!! The grass has been mowed.  I am finished.  Renea mowed her front yard.  Of course, it is going to take us forever to get the yards looking decent because of the grass clippings all over. Time for a siesta!

ANOTHER BIG YEA!!!!! I finished pulling the weeds!  I also want to mention that Azalea #1 is blooming and Azalea #2 has buds.  Really concerned about Azalea #3.  It does not look good.  I will have to baby it along and hope for the best.  I may transplant it just not sure where.  Tomorrow is another day.

Bright and early Friday morning Renea and I went to SAM’S.  We, or I should say Renea, really loaded up my car.  It’s a good thing I didn’t buy much other than paper products because I think she bought one of everything in the store J After shopping we were going to go to Chill, but they didn’t open for over an hour.  So instead, Renea said she thought she knew where there was a DQ.  We went searching and found it.  Only turned the wrong way once.  For lunch we each had a waffle cone blizzard.  Sure was good!!!!! Now we are both home putting away our purchases. (neither of us had lunch – the waffle cone was it)

Groceries are put away.  Cleaned out one cupboard and freezer.  Did dishes.  Cleaned out another cupboard. Put a few more items in the box for the yard sale. Took a break.  Took some Tylenol, went to bed early, the fibromyalgia was hurting big time.

Today is going to be an inside kind of day.  It is hot, muggy and supposed to rain.  Have already had a shower or two.  So far, I have made my bed, done a load of wash and emptied the trash.  The trash is out of the house and sitting on my deck waiting for me to take it up to the trash can.  I also cleaned out another cupboard.

Kevin came over about an hour ago and we walked the back forty deciding where to put the fence for when Smoky comes to visit.  Kevin also put fire ant granules on a couple of ant hills.  We then checked out the pecan trees and it looks like we are going to have a good crop of pecans.  From there we walked down to the woods to see about some magnolia trees.  He and I both want to transplant a couple of them to our front yards. I need to do some research on them.  I would also like to bring up a couple of mimosa trees.  Have to do some research on those also.  We have a couple of really huge trees with some type of large round “nut” that we don’t know what they are.  We have not been able to break them open no matter what we do.  So, I plan to research them also.

This afternoon Renea is going to a funeral of one of her patients from when she worked at the clinic on Ft. Benning.  They had remained really good friends.  Kevin is having a man day and will be going to the Braves game in Atlanta with a group of guys that he works with.  Looks like Miss Penny and me are on our own.

Dishes are done.  Hummingbird feeders are filled. Researched transplanting Mimosa Trees and printed information.   Researched transplanting Magnolia Trees and printed information. Now it is about lunch time.  I even crawled around on the floor to find Miss Penny’s puff balls that she hides.  She also likes large paper bags.  I have to be careful because she goes into them and just part of her tail sticks out.  She also thinks it is fun to pull on my window shades in the living room and make them go to the top and spin around.  She thinks that’s a game I guess.  Anyway, she did it during the night and woke me up.  Scared me until I realized what it was.  When I got up she was laying on the floor looking at me like “I didn’t do it.”

Took the trash up to the can and picked up the mail.  Now it is looking like rain, and I heard a few rumbles of thunder.  Just made three round yarn ornaments.  Watched the Xfinity race.  Ate supper.  Watched the news. Have had a couple of really heavy rain storms.

After church this morning I stopped at WalMart and Dollar General.  Picked up a few items in both places.  When I arrived home Kevin had taken down the ramp off my deck.  He said the wood was filled with carpenter bees, wasps and ants.  He did a lot of spraying.  Anyway, the ramp is gone, railing has been installed, and he planted the hydrangea bush.  Sure looks different.  Now it is a matter of staining and painting.  Still have to do some cleanup work.  In fact, a lot of cleanup.  I will post more pictures as we go.

 

 

The Start of Another Week

Here it is Monday – the start of another week.  Today’s weather is sort of hot, low humidity, sunny with a light breeze.  Not sure how long that will last.  UPDATE:  I just went out to get the mail and now it is really hot and humid.  Not much of a breeze any more either.

This morning when I was making my bed and getting my bedroom in order, I saw Miss Penny go under the bed.  After that I didn’t pay much attention to her.  Just finished what I was doing including closing the cupboard door.  I guess you can figure out where this is going.  I had washed my sheets the other day so I took them out of the dryer this morning and folded them.  I opened the cupboard door to put them on the shelf and guess who was in the cupboard.  Yep, you guessed it.  There was Miss Penny laying on top of some stuff.  She just stayed where she was so I left the door open.  Eventually she came out.

This afternoon I hung longer chains on my ceiling fan/light in my bedroom.  Before that I had to stand on my bed to reach the chains.  I still need to put longer chains on the one in my living room.  I tried to do it today, but I need a ladder.  My two step ladder isn’t enough.  I also changed the battery in my kitchen clock.

I also ordered Kevin’s Christmas present which is two Granny Smith apple trees. I am moving right along with getting my Christmas shopping done.

After supper I did some more weeding in the east rock garden.  I weeded the three flower pots and pulled a few weeds where I had already done so.  I did get the south corner cleaned out.  All I have left is across the front.  That is going to take a while.  I have a few places to spray with roundup because I couldn’t get the weeds completely out.  I will do that in the morning when the sun is shining.

Not a bad day today.  The humidity has finally gone down.  Temperature is still up, but lower humidity helps. So far this morning, other than regular chores, I filled the hummingbird feeders and sprayed some roundup.  Need to buy some more since I finished up what I had.  Also filled the windshield washer fluid in the car.

Found some more roundup in the shed and finished spraying what I wanted to spray.  I also filled the rest of the bird feeders.  I even did some research for Brian’s Christmas present, but didn’t have any luck finding exactly what I wanted.  Will keep looking.

After supper I did some more weeding.  I finished in front of one of the lantana bushes and between two of them. While weeding there was a really pretty yellow and black butterfly eating  at the bushes. No matter how close I got to him, he didn’t fly away.  He did move from flower to flower. Tomorrow I will try to get a picture.  If all goes well I might be able to finish the weeding tomorrow night.  I have also been keeping up with the areas I already weeded, so, yes, I am making a lot of progress.  Kevin has been cutting the back grass.  Hopefully, he will be able to finish because it is getting dark. 

It is such a nice night tonight that I actually sat on the deck on my swing.  It has been so hot and miserable I haven’t been out there very often this summer.  I did a little reading and watched my hummingbirds.  I have six of them that come to the feeders.  I used to have a bully who wouldn’t let any other birds eat.  I don’t know what happened to him because now between the two feeders and six eat at once.  In fact, four of them eat at one feeder.  They are such fun to watch.

Wednesday is looking like another nice day with low humidity.  So this morning after breakfast I headed to Kroger’s and did my shopping.  When I arrived home I put my groceries away, had lunch, gave Miss Penny her treat, made a couple of phone calls, and then went out and mowed some grass.  I have finished two sections.  I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I divide my yard into sections when I mow.  I plan to do one more section today, then Kevin will have to put gas in my mower.  Okay I did the one more section.  I am done mowing for today.  I, hopefully, will finish tomorrow.  If all goes well, I will pull some weeds tonight.  I am closing in on getting that finished!

While mowing I checked my crape myrtles.  They are looking good.  Need some weeding but that’s okay.  All the trees are looking good.  I do have to trim a few of the “suckers” off the Bradford Pears and the Tulip Poplars.  The two Bradford Pears each have a bird nest in them,  Probably those stupid mockingbirds.  I trimmed back the weeping cherry tree pretty seriously.  It looked like it was dying.  Anyway, after I trimmed it I fed it.  I checked that one today and I saw some new growth.  Maybe I did the right thing.

Two of my azaleas look healthy, but the third one looks pretty sad.  I am planning to transplant it. My hydrangeas are weird.  The one still in the ground lost a lot of leaves, have some stems sticking up from the ground but have new growth on top.  In fact, the one Kevin dug up and just sat on the ground is the same way.  Maybe they are in competition.  However, the lantanas have taken over!  Most of the iris are down to just the bulbs,.  Most of the green leaves have died.  We will see how they do in the spring.

I pulled some more weeds tonight.  I finished the area in front of the other lantana.  If all goes well I will finish the final corner tomorrow night.  I also plan to finish cutting the grass.

 

Miserable Week for a lot of Reasons!

Well, it’s hot, humid and supposed to rain again today.  This sure isn’t helping my fibromyalgia or breathing.  Didn’t go to church last night because of the storms. I have a feeling today is going to be a lazy day. 

Actually it has been a busy afternoon and evening.  I put together four of my snowmen bead ornaments.  I also put together 12 bead icicles. I have everything ready to finish the other 12 bead icicles plus 20 others which are a different design. 

In between I did a load of laundry (towels), dishes, took out the trash and all that kind of important stuff.  Also made a few phone calls, one of which was Anne.

Today so far I have folded the load of towels I washed and dried yesterday.  I finished the beaded snowmen.  I had to put the ribbon around their necks.  I also finished the other 12 beaded icicles.  They are red white and blue and turned out really nice. I got a box of items ready for the church yard sale.  Kevin is off work today and came to visit for a few minutes.  Talked to Tom and Bertus for a few minutes. 

Tonight I went to church.  Actually, it was a pizza party for the Prime Timers.  It was okay.  It was nice seeing everyone.  I ate before I went so I didn’t have any pizza.  After eating we had a meeting about the yard sale.  The date has been changed to October.  It was so hot last year in September that everyone was miserable.  We are hoping this year will be a little cooler.  After the meeting we played a game called Newspaper Scavenger Hunt.  Linda (the Prime Timers President) always seems to come up with new games.  Anyway it was a lot of fun.  There were four tables of people, so that is how we were grouped.  Our table won!  Our prize was a Reese peanut butter cup.

 After arriving home I watched the end of the NASCAR Xfinity race.  The Miss Penny and I called it a night and went to bed.  This morning, however, Miss Penny started at 3:00 a.m., and was determined I would also get up to play.  So, being me I run her out of my bedroom and shut the door.  I did get a little more sleep, but I am really tired today. 

 This afternoon we had a really bad storm.  Of course, I slept through most of it. Miss Penny usually doesn’t pay any attention to the storms, but she sure didn’t like this one.  She snuggled up to me and didn’t move until it was over.  I found out later that Kevin and Ryan had done some concrete work before the rain came.  Hope the rain didn’t ruin it.  Won’t know until tomorrow.

Kevin and Renea stopped over early in the evening.  That’s when I found out about the concrete work.  Anyway, they stopped to check on me.  I was doing better once I had my nap, but still not a hundred percent.  Renea asked me if I would make her a set of “fall” coasters and a napkin holder out of the plastic canvas.  I said I would.  I know I have a few patterns, but will check for more.  I also plan to make a napkin holder for me.

While the NASCAR race was on this evening I made my other set of Christmas ornament icicles.  They turned out really nice.  Not sure which ones I like the best.  I will hang them all on my tree.

I sure do have a lot of projects on my list.

This morning could have been a serious incident if I hadn’t been home.  We all know that cats like to climb and be “above” us all.  Well, about the time I got out of the shower, I heard this strange clunk.  I finished drying off and came out of the bathroom to see what had happened.  Well, I have a very tall cabinet next to my washer.  It almost reaches the ceiling.  And, lo and behold, there is Miss Penny on top of the cabinet with no idea how to get down.  She would not jump to me or to the washer.  I assume she jumped from the washer to the top of the cabinet.  Now she is scared.  So, I got out my two step ladder and got her down.  She was shaking, and when I put her on the floor she went and hid.  That’s my girl J

This afternoon I visited with Kevin, Renea, and Stephanie.  Ryan arrived in time for supper. Kevin grilled steaks and boiled shrimp.  Renea fixed baked sweet potatoes, salad, muffins, apple pie and lemon bars.  It was awesome. 

I’m done for the evening!

A Beautiful Day in Alabama

 

Good Morning!  It’s a beautiful morning here in the country.  Of course, by noon it will be in the 90’s. 

I was up early this morning so I could feed Roscoe and Lola.  Kevin and Renea are in Florida for the weekend and I am dog sitting.  That’s fine.  Love those two dogs.  They are outside right now and I will leave them out until about noon when it starts getting really hot.  Then I will bring them in.  About 5 o’clock I will feed them and put them back outside until 9 or 9:30.  Then we will do it all again tomorrow – sort of.  Kevin and Renea are due back sometime tomorrow.

The birds are back – both front yard and back yard feeders!  Yea!!!!  Kevin and Renea just love when I feed the birds.  They blame me for the bird poop and bird nests on their patio and front porch.  LOL

Finished a couple more ornaments.  Then quit for the day. Been reading. Tomorrow is another day.

Went to church this morning after I feed Penny, Lola and Roscoe.  Kevin and Renea are on their way home.  It keeps clouding up.  A chance of showers later today.  Not sure what I will be doing today.  Have a lot of projects I could work on.  We will see.

Okay, so I didn’t do much of anything today.  We are all entitled to this type of day now and then. J

So it is now Monday.  The beginning of another week.  Yea!  It’s supposed to rain today, but I woke up to a lot of clouds, then we had sunshine.  No rain until late afternoon.  So, I did laundry, dishes, and some genealogy work.  I also got my supplies together to make a couple of snowmen beaded ornaments.  This will be a first, so it should be interesting.  I printed quite a few articles, and I was surprised that Miss Penny didn’t help.  I guess she was too busy watching the birds.

Another day when it is supposed to rain.  So I decided to run my errands first thing this morning. I took Kevin’s prescription to CVS for him to pick up on his way home from work.  This was in Phenix City.  I then headed to Tigertown in Opelika and went to Office Depot for a few supplies, then to Hobby Lobby for supplies then to Kroger for groceries.  Oh yea, I also stopped for gas at Kroger since they now have fuel points.  This is new since I returned from Cincinnati.

Back home now, car is unloaded, Penny and I had lunch, groceries, etc. have been put away, we had a light shower, and now it is beginning to thunder.  Time for Miss Penny and me to take our afternoon siesta J  I really shouldn’t, but why not.  I have reached that point again where I AM SO FAR BEHIND I THINK I AM FIRST.  So what is a little snooze in the scheme of things.

A little story about thunder.  When Jana and I were little Mom used to tell us that thunder was the angels bowling.  We could relate to that because our Dad bowled several nights a week.  Depending on the intensity or how loud the thunder was determined whether it was a strike, a spare, etc.  I have never been afraid of thunder but I do respect it because I know it is associated with lightning which is dangerous.  I think of this often when I hear thunder.

Wednesday seems to be doctor appointment day.  I got up early and had my mammogram done.  Of course, I won’t know anything for a while.  After the mammogram I checked in with my primary care doctor to find out if the office made an appointment with a lung specialist.  I thought I would have  heard by now.  I couldn’t see the doctor or his nurse because they were busy, so I left a message.  I was about ten minutes from the doctor’s office when one of his nurses called.  They had made an appointment with Dr. Patel (I think this is the same one that Jim had who found the cancer).  Anyway Dr. Patel’s office was supposed to call me.  However, rather than call they put me on a waiting list for when they have a cancellation and I can get in to see him earlier.  I still think it would have been nice to receive a call, but we are talking doctors.

Home now.  It’s another gloomy day.  Again, we are supposed to have rain.  I will probably work on my ornaments and other miscellaneous stuff.  Tonight is bible study at church.

Here are a couple of my favorite ornaments.  I am sure most of you recognize

 Rodney

 

 

and Miss Penny

Finally Got a Few Test Results

Yesterday (Sunday) afternoon, before supper, Ryan came over and started putting together my final set of shelves.  He finished it after supper, and Kevin helped him carry it into my bedroom and put it in the corner where I wanted it.  It’s great.  Today I started putting clothes on the shelves.  I thought for sure that Penny would climb all over it, but she didn’t.  At least not yet.

I finished a couple more ornaments this weekend.  I haven’t started anything new yet.  Not sure what I am going to do next. 

Oh Oh – there is a fly in the house, and guess who is chasing it.  She is in attack mode right now.

Today I caught up some of my computer work re:  genealogy; filled the shelves of my new piece of furniture, straightened up the books in my bookcase in my bedroom, and a few other odds and ends.  I was hoping to get outside and pull some weeds this evening, but it is still so hot I may not do that.  Stayed tuned – I will let you know.  Nope – I didn’t!

Not one of my better days.  We had a couple of storms today which cooled the weather somewhat.  However, between my fibromyalgia and arthritis I was in a lot of pain all day.  Starting to feel a little better now.  Didn’t get a lot done today. Just a load of wash, dishes, and a little genealogy work.  Oh well.  I guess we all have those days, and this was one for me.

Yesterday was Wednesday, and it was doctor day.  I found out some results from all these tests I have been having.  It seems I have emphysema, and I will be seeing a lung specialist.  This is the result of second hand smoke.  However, the rest of my tests (lab work, etc.) turned out just fine.  I guess I am doing pretty good – now if I could just breathe!

Last night I went to bible study at church.  Also got a tour of the new building.  It is really nice.  Not quite finished, but should be by sometime in September.  Contractors are running a little behind.

I just came in from mowing grass.  It sure felt good to be outside, but now I’m tired.  I only cut two small sections of the yard.  I may go out later and either mow some more or pull some weeds.  Renea is out there mowing grass now.  She did her front yard and part of mine.

After supper I pulled a few more weeds.  I don’t think I will ever get that caught up, but I keep working on it.

It’s Friday and going to be another hot one!  The only thing I’ve done outside so far today has been to fill the birdfeeders.  They’ve been empty for a while so I guess it will be a few days before the birds come back.  I will be watching.  The hummingbirds didn’t waste any time – they are back already!

Called One Exchange to set up my phone appointment to discuss my new health insurance and prescription insurance.  It won’t be until November.

I just trimmed the weeping willow tree, and fed the tree and all three azalea bushes since I had finished weeding them.  Caught up on the information in my garden journal.

I have seen a few birds this evening at my backyard feeders.  I also spent about an hour pulling weeds in the front (east) rock garden.  Hopefully, I will finish before winter J