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 |  All about my thoughts. Be afraid! |
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** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I know I look a bit scary, but I don't bite, much  This is my blog. A place to torture people I don't know with rants, opinoins and just plain babbling so I can keep a few friends in the real world. If you like torture, come join me. Fix a cup of tea or coffee and sit back while I tell you about the time when.... |
Yesterday we went to a good-bye party for some friends of ours. It was hard to do. I watched them and wondered if we would be the next ones to leave the community. The question then becomes if we go, where do we go? But that is for another blog. The good-bye party was very nicely arranged and I was happy that they would have that to remember us by. Not that I can take any credit for it. Everyone arrived around four, my family was one of the first ones there, not the first, but close. I sat on the gliding swing that the Spangler's have and started working on a Kelly doll dress. It may seem like a strange way to handle a party, but for all that I am a very outgoing person one on one, large parties intimidate me. I tend to slide into the background and pounce on other people that are by themselves, but not on groups. I did get up and move about. I even went and sat at one of the tables that the Spangler's rented for the event. But in the end, I ended up back on the sliding swing next to my husband and visited with quite a few people that moved about near us. Most parties are about the food and boy did they get it right. Jerry and Ayron grilled up hot dogs, sausages, and hamburgers to die for. (I always find a bit of irony in the fact that my husband will grill or cook meat, but can't eat it) I am not sure who made what, but at the serving tables there were many, many salad dishes... A pasta salad that I had seconds of, two letuce salads, and two potato salads. The sad part was there was not room enough on a plate for too much of everything. At the meat table were the grilled items and a humungous crock of scalloped potatoes, again beyond delicious. The deserts were of course heavenly. There were cute mini cup cakes, and regular sized cup cakes, both chocolate and vanilla and possibly cinimon. Darcy brought pumpkin bars and someone made a rhubarb pie and brownies. And as I arrived Jerry was just finishing up the rice crispy treats. I am sure I left out something in the telling, but oh my. I wish that I had thought to take a picture of all of it, but I didn't. If it sounds like a good party. it was. Not only did everyone have the pleasure of visiting there was a trampoline for the kids to play on as well as a swing set that Jerry built years ago with sand all around it and a dog that couldn't get enough of playing fetch. At the end of the evening the finally was that Jerry had gotten some fire works and he let each young man over the age of eight and under the age of 12 help him light a non leathal fire work. Boy did the boys like that and we, of course enjoyed watching the results. Unfortunately, like all wonderful things, the party ended around 10:00p.m. It may not sound late, but it started at 4:00 p.m. That is six hours of fun and most of the people there had young children and everyone needed to be up early today for services at the Kingdom Hall. Oh and I think the Spanglers found a new home for their ginny pigs too. A family with two boys around eight and ten found out that the ginny pigs needed new homes and I think they took them. That will be a relief to Jerry and Alex. One less set of pets to take care of. By the end of the evening, I had finished all that I could of the Kelly dress and now I will be able to give it and two others to coworkers and thus be done with that project. All and all a perfect end to a great day! I hope that those who read this had just as wonderful a day. Hugs |
              Where to start? Well, I got my first review from work yesterday or the day before and it was great. High score was 5 with 4 being above average. My whole review was 4s and 5s. My boss said I could have had more 5s but she got lazy. See for every 5 she gave out she had to make a comment. LOL She hit the big ones and made them count and I was happy with the results. My garden is finally producing. I say finally only in the terms that I am excited, not in that it was slow. I am now able to pick zucchini and peas from the garden and everything else is growing beautifully. Unfortunately the grand idea of planting radishes around my zucchini did not deter the squash borers, so I am looking at a sad crop again this year.  Did I mention that my tomatoes are huge, but still green. I am okay with it, but I am looking forward to eating some of the crop. The chickens have finally banded together as a flock and are roosting together. Pebbles and Hoppy are still very uncomfortable with me verses Betty and Wilma who are just uncomfortable with me.  Where have I been lately? I have just finished two series written by a guy I recently discovered, or to be fair, my husband discovered. The author is Jim Butcher. I really like his Dresdin Files series - I think that is the name of the series and I enjoyed his Codex series though it took me a while to get into the first book, but after I did things went sailingly. I do have some sad news, well at least sad for me. I have started getting the notices that my membership is going to run out in August. I will be dropped back down to the non paying thing. I know $15 dollars isn't much, but for us right now, it is. I am not hinting that I want help, just giving people a heads up. Even when it does I shall still be around and visiting and maybe I will figure out another way to keep a Blog in here. Then again, maybe something will finally happen to allow us --Ayron and I -- to go back to living the rich life. For today, I wish everyone a happy and forfilling day. Hugs |
Well, the great Duck experiment of '09 did not work out quite the way I had hoped. Apparently ducks are a bit louder than chickens and they are messier too. After two days of debate and discussion Ayron and I took the ducks back and traded them for two juvenile hens with the guarantee that should I discover one or both are roosters I can trade them in. I now have four chickens, Betty and Wilma who you know then Pebbles and Hoppy. I am going with the Flinstone theme all the way. Yes, Hoppy was a flintstone character. Hoppy was the Rubbles pet and not to my knowledge named male or female. I am embarrassed to admit that my chickens lived up to their names when the ducks moved in. They spent most of their time hiding from the strange birds. This time around it is the new guys that are hiding while Betty and Wilma work the pen like they own the place. With fresh weeds to eat they are pecking and scratching for all they are worth like happy chickens. There was a second reason to go visit Rita. She had rocks. That is right, she had two wagon loads full of field stones and I needed some. Three trips later Ayron and I had collected enough field stones to fill in a small square area between my steps and the entrance to the cellar. It looks much better there now. As if that wasn’t enough to do we also headed to Spirit Lake to do some much needed shopping. Since we hadn’t been to Wally World in about a month we walked the whole store which left me with aching feet when it was time to go. Being home is a relief , though with the setting of the sun I am reminded that tomorrow is just a few hours away and then it is back to work again. Don’t get me wrong, I like work just fine, but I like time off just a much or possibly a little more. I shall go read now and leave you to your regularly scheduled day. Hugs to all |
Yes, you read the title right. Ducks. I bought two yesterday. Why? Because I could. When I showed them to Ayron, he said take them back. I begged that he wait till today, so we will see what the day yields. Poor Betty and Wilma aren't sure what to make of their new pen mates as of yet, but they aren't completely freaked. I did see them putting one of the ducks in its place earlier, but not really attacking it. How did I end up with ducks? Well, I have been planning on going to a friend's farm for about two months now and I finally did yesterday. She gave me the big tour and I was really eyeing a couple of her smaller chicks, which weren't ready to go yet. Then we got talking about ducks and she just kind of started convincing me that I should get ducks. It didn't take a lot of work on her part because I have wanted ducks for a while. The hard part was the catching of said ducks. I discovered that if they can't fly you can run them to the ground. Well, you can if you aren't an out of shape forty year old with a bumb foot. Even if you are, with a little help from the person trying not to fall over laughing at your efforts will still score you a duck or two. See ducks get tired too. Who knew. They run till they can't run any more then they just sort of collapse and squack at your loudly. Thank goodness they do or you would never catch the buggers. So, home I came with two new members of the household. As I said before Ayron heard them and said take them back. Apparently an upset duck has no problem telling you off. Thankfully a content duck isn't very loud. Once the pair settled in the loud quacking stopped and Ayron is becoming less opposed to the idea. Now, I have to do some research about ducks. I have read about them in the past, but a refresher course is in order to my way of thinking. Time for that second cup of coffee. Be well all Hugs |
It rained again last night leaving everything looking extra green and beautiful. The garden is doing great. I know as I walked it yesterday when I came home from work. It was too damp to work in which was fine with me because I wasn't up to really working in the garden. I am happy to say that though we do have weeds in the garden, I am still winning the war. All of my vegetable plants are much taller than the weeds and some have even started producing. I have several little zucchinis that should be about ready to be picked. As a matter of fact, I picked one that had grown then seemed to have an issue and gave it to Wilma and Betty. I hope they enjoyed the first produce of the year. Since I mentioned Wilma and Betty, let me just say they are doing great. They have started nesting. No eggs, but they are starting to get urges, I think. They sure did cackle up a storm when disturbed them bringing in some weeds for them to go to town on. Never heard them cackle like that before. I haven't been able to get them out in the garden like I hoped, but they are going to have great fun in the fall with all the old plants and leaves to go through. I am suspecting that it will decrease the bug population too. Oh, did you know that chickens can be hearded? Yep. Now that they know where their pen is and it feels safe to them, if I have had them in the temp pen, I don't have to try to catch them to take them back. I just let them out and walk behind them as they head for the bigger coup. They head straight for it. The only problem they have is find the door. Once they do, they head right in, telling me off the whole time. It is cuter than all get out in my opinion. Well, I shall end here for now. Hope everyone has a great day. Hugs |
| The definition of immature is: - not fully developed: young, and not fully grown or developed - childish: lacking the wisdom or emotional development usually associated with adults - stylistically crude and imperfect: not yet having attained the perfection of a fully developed style I definately rate on the stylistically crude scale, but as for being not fully developed or childish, I think I rate mature. However as an imperfect human, I may lack wisdom, but not emotional development. Why am I bringing this up? Well, there is a woman at work that most people there don't like, who informed another employee that she didn't like me because I was immature. It was a shock to learn that. I knew she didn't like me, but to find out she didn't like me because I was capable of being pleasant and having fun at work was kind of mind blowing. Mind you, I was defended by the other employee when s/he said, "I don't think she is immature, she is fun." I take my job very, very seriously. Yes, I like to paint it as all roses, but that is because I make it that way. I deal with residents who have had bad days, and I go to work even when I would so much rather stay home, like yesterday. I arrive on time and I don't leave early without permission, which I am given almost every Wednesday and Friday, mainly because the boss wants to leave early too. If asked, I usually switch shifts and do it willingly, I will come in and work early or stay late as needed. I do NOT grumble when asked to do something and I try very hard to be helpful to others I work around. Yes, I do smile almost constantly and I try to be silly for the residents and staff at times, but that is to keep up moral. Oh and I am loud, but in my defense half the people I am talking too are partially if not almost completely deaf. So, where in there am I immature? Ah well, I know the phrase that goes something like "you can please some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time...." Still it irks me to find out that I am being disliked because I am good mooded and show it. In other more pleasant news, I have finished my doily and will post a picture in a day or three once I get my memory card for the camera back. It is on loan to my boss to develop because I took a couple of pictures of people riding the bus the other day when we went sight seeing. We had a thunder storm last night and everything plant wise is very happy about that. So, maybe I will post a couple of pictures of that soon. Unfortunately for me, it is time to get ready for work. At least today I feel semi human going in verses yesterday. The cumulative effects of several small problems left me feeling exhausted before I walked in the door and I really didn't improve before I left. Of course, that did make it very easy for me to crawl into bed nice and early last night. Hugs to all. Have a great day!!! |
| As you all know, I just got back from a trip to New York state to visit with family. Well, since I have returned I haven't really spoken to either my father or my brother. It isn't for lack of trying on my part. I have sent out thank you notes and emails with no real responses back. It leaves me wondering if I somehow offended them or they found me lacking in some way. I admit it hurts. I know that I went on the trip because of their kindness, but I was hoping that spending time together would have brought us a little closer together. I could ask them straight out, but I don't believe that would get me a true answer. Moving on. It is raining here. The grass and garden are thankful, I am sure. Heck, I am thankful. The weather has cooled off a tad and everything is greening back up for a few days. About now I think the chickens are even happy with thier improvised coup. Of course this will keep me out of the garden and the weeds safe for another day, but hey I don't hate weeds like some people do. LOL Dott is shedding overtime this month and I am ready to shave her bald. It doesn't seem like I can do anything without finding cat hair. GRRR Well, that isn't much, but it is a blog for today. Oh, and happy 4th. hugs to all |
| The drive started out pleasant and continued like that all the way to Cedar Rapids. The only problem is I tend to get hives when exposed to too much sun and sure enough four hours later the beginnings of welts started to appear. I refused to let a minor matter of very itchy arms keep me from enjoying a pleasant visit with my husband's Aunt Versa, Uncle Bob and Grandmother. Nor did it ruin our wonderful dinner cooked by Uncle Bob, who is in my opinion a great cook. Nine the next morning saw us heading out of Cedar Rapids after a quick stop at Wally World to get sun screan and allergy pills. I quickly settled in to read my book as Ayron traversed the many miles through Iowa. I shall not bore you with the many switches and stops we made on our way to Painted Post, New York, instead I will point out that I am writing this blog, so I hope that is a good indicator that we made it safely there and back. We finally arrived at Painted Post around 2:00 a.m. Friday morning. After overcoming a few minor glitches, we settled into our comfortable beds. Everyone was so tired, I am amazed we all made into horizontal positions before we succumbed to sleep. People's eyes began to acknowledge our rights to open them later Friday around 11:00 a.m. I was overjoyed to discover my father and Nancy had arrived and we in the room right next door. After making myself semi presentable I went to visit them for a while before I went back and got cleaned up proper to go visit my mother's brother, my Uncle Jim. We spent two very pleasant hours catching up with Uncle Jim and Aunt Mary, but by the end of two hours we were basically out of conversation topics. I guess that is what happens when you don't live next to your relatives most of your life. Just as we were heading back to Painted Post my brother called. He, his wife and his son had safely arrived at their hotel, not the same one we were staying in. He invited us over to have dinner with him and his family. Since we didn't have plans set up with Dad and Nancy, we said yes. My brother Kyle grilled up a very delicious set of hamburgers and cheese burgers while Kimberly, his wife set up the tables. Ayron, my Kyle and I worked hard to entertain my six year old nephew with basketball and later tag and hide and go seek. Well, to be honest, I kind of collapsed after the basketball and Ayron did the rest. We left to go back to our hotel at around eleven where I promtly headed over to visit Nancy and Dad till around one. I can't say what their view on our visiting was, but for me it was great. Saturday morning I was crawling out of bed at 7:30 in order to get cleaned up enough to go out in public by 8:30. See, our old car, Bessy, she had a bad muffler when we started the journey, but it got worse before we got to New York. I had no idea that a car could get even louder than ours already was, but I am here to tell you they can. So, in between all our visiting on Friday, we took time to make an appointment for her first thing Saturday morning. All went well and now Bessy purrs like a satisfied cat. Since nothin had been planned or at least no plans had been set in motion, the hubby and I went back to the hotel and crawled back in bed for another couple of hours. That left us much revived when my brother called to invite us to join them at the Corning Glass Museum. Since the Museum was close by it was a good idea, unfortunately, sometimes we adults forget what children find mind numbingly boring and aparently the Glass Museum fits that bill. My brother and his wife caved and took Kole home first, and eventually Ayron and I gave up on introducing our son to a little culture also, to his great relief. Of course, I think that in the end it was they who lost out, but I am just the mom. We went back to my brother's hotel after the tour and had dinner with them again. But when I got back to our hotel Dad and Nancy had already crashed for the night and I was kind of sad because, I knew time was short and I wanted to visit them all as much as possible. Sunday dawned to a light mist of rain letting us know that the weather was still in control. That didn't deter us from preparing for and heading to the family reunion. We arrived by 10:30 and began to mingle with people from my distant past, people I barely recognized, but was eager to introduce my immediate family too. Introducing my present to my past left me elated. I have wanted to introduce my husband to my Aunt Lois for years. I desired her to meet the guy that I married and have enjoyed a good life with because she had done so much to set me on the path that lead me too him. Sunday's wind down lead us to a laundry mat to clean our cloths before we headed home. That may seem odd, but we tend to pack lightly and wash the cloths once or twice during a vacation. It is just the way we do things. I find it takes a lot of hassle out figuring out where to put the stinky cloths instead of in the suit cases. Anyway Monday morning, we rose at about 6:00 and started preparing to leave. We got to visit my Dad and Nancy again before we left at about 7:30 a.m. for the long journey back... |
| I am modemless until Tuescday or later. The darn thing just up and died on my Friday night. Until then know that I am thinking of everyone and look forward to getting back on line. I really, really miss the internet. Guess that may indicate I spend a tad too much time on it. Hugs to all |
| I am happy to announce that I really don't have much time to write due to all the visiting I have been doing the last two days and plan to do tomorrow. Tomorrow, Sunday, is the big day of the family reunion. But for me the visiting started Friday and has been non stop though interspersed with a little entertainment. Today we went to the Glass museum in Corning, New York. What we discovered is that art is a matter of perspective and we aren't majorly into glass. My brother, his wife and son are here already also and we have been having a great time hanging out with them. My little nephew has been a hoot and has taken to my son quite well. I am proud and happy to say that my son is proving to be a great mentor and example to little Kole. I promise to visit again after next Wednesday and write way more that you want to read. Hugs to all |
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