:^P
Last night was a little nippy, as sleeping weather goes (if you like sleeping with the windows open), but because it never really got too warm in the house yesterday I had the windows closed, and had considered whether or not to set the furnace to a low temp and have it on standby - just in case.
As the temps fell through the low sixties by nine o'clock, and then well on into the low fifties by bedtime, I made the decision to set the furnace at a cool 66*F (knowing that the thermostat and the furnace are about two degrees off from one another).
I reasoned that by the time the interior temp of the house would have reached the mid-sixties (if it did) the furnace would keep it in our comfy summer sleeping range.
What I failed to remember about our little program-able thermostat was that there were four timed settings that needed to be overridden, and when I adjusted the temp at 10PM, that didn't mean it would still be in force at 7AM, when the program jumps to 71*F.
Oops!
I awoke to the sound of the furnace, rumbling and blowing, heating the house from whatever temp it had fallen to, to our balmy seventy-one degree setting.
Well, if nothing else, the cats really appreciated it. There was purring going on all over the place as they scrambled for kitty-happy heat vents!
To make matters worse, I then turned on the news to scope out the amended forecast for today, only to learn we were to experience high seventies (nearly 80*) today, and here I was essentially jumpstarting the warmup! So, I switched off the furnace then flicked on the attic fan to cool us off for the inevitable warm up!
What a rube! In a flash I sent the interior temp back to 66*F! (I despise you, Con$umers Power)
The other item is simply this:
Have you ever tried the Kroger brand rice cakes? They are delicious, and a bit less expensive for the quantity and quality. We especially love the "Yogurt & Berries" and the "Caramel" flavors! Give them a try, you won't be disappointed.
The hard part is to not love them until the bag is empty (in one sitting).
OK, I am outta here. Still cleaning and purging, and balancing those darned accounts....but I can see the end of the tunnel approaching! Next up, shifting furniture!!!
Have a good day, whatever you're doing.
I have no idea what the accumulation is, nor do I know how much may have melted away, since the temps were j-u-s-t warm enough to allow for a little dripping from the leaf-filled gutters. (Don't get me started, and do not lecture me, either...thank you.)
I do know our normally too-fast drivers on the street were moving a bit slower today (HA!), so that tells me it might be a bit slick and/or a tad harder to plow through with ease (if you're a jerk behind the wheel of a car).
I spent the day indoors looking for work, cutting out stencils for the quilt - the last of the VERY LARGE stencils - and transferring the lines to the top for stitching (oh, and quilting). Both Cleo and flop required quite a bit of one-on-one time today, each begging for my attention....and winning it. Took me away from working on projects and needful things, but once they settled in for their naps I was off and flying with the top stitching. Still have a very long way to go before I am finished, but it is moving along. I am in a groove now, and making great progress, it is just slow going.
I know, I know. I hear you out there.
"How can you be making 'great progress' if it's so 'slow going'?" Well, I wish I could show you so that you could completely understand, but you are just going to have to take my word for it.
Visited with Gram S yesterday, taking along the quilt to show her what sort of progress has been made since the first time she had laid eyes on it, and she was surprised to see the entire thing stitched together. She commented on the alarming number of safety pins employed to baste it together - oddly enough.
I don't think she was anticipating such a large quilt or the colors - or completeness of it. But, I think she enjoyed looking at it even if it didn't make much sense to her.
I am in the throes of finishing another of the largest motifs and should be able to start yet another before quitting for the night, but I'm thinking of biting into another aspect of the quilting design for a change, just to switch things up.
We'll see.
Until another time, I hope you are managing to stay warm and well and happy, and that your holiday season is still bright and shiny.
When I stepped outside this morning to water my beautiful little wisteria (and all of the other plants), I inspected the foliage for the first time in over a week (a watched pot never....well, you know what I mean).
I am happy to report that there are two new growth buds on the main stem, so my fears for the demise of the Wisteria are not founded! It seems to be accepting of it's new home and has begun to grow!
Now, if I can just convince the new little Clematis to do the same thing.....
[rain dance on the deck at 4:30PM]
I only managed to keep at the weeding for little over two hours this morning, as the temps began in the mid-seventies and quickly rose to more than I could take. Starting shortly after seven A.M. did little to make it any more pleasant, so once the bulk of the watering was complete I hustled inside to sit in front of a fan. There is enough work to do inside, so I won't feel guilty about whimping out of my garden responsibilities for just a little while.
Truth be told, since tomorrow is also going to be a scorcher, I may refrain from doing any more yard work until Thursday (except for the watering) - sad but true.
- Small note: Have made enough of a dent in the cleanup to date that I can proudly say I am 2/3 of the way to having the existing perennial bed totally cleaned out!
- Odd note: A few days ago I noticed a rather large bee drilling a new hole into my pergola, and stopped him "dead" in his tracks. Since then I have spotted two more holes in two other areas on the pergola - either overhead or on one of the 6"x6" uprights.
When I saw another lumbering, buzzing culprit depart yesterday afternoon, I took a chance he was alone and capped the hole by thrusting in a rather long stick. Apparently, he was not alone, and the stick went far more deeply into the hole than I expected!
:^O
This morning I found the hole open and the stick in pieces on the ground! Hmmmm and gulp! And when I glanced at the hole, there he was, sitting in the opening staring out at me....waiting.
>:^(
What could I do? You guessed it - I thrust another stick in the hole and listened. Sure enough, before too long, I heard the very audible munchings of the Carpenter Bees making a light snack of the plug. This means war!
- Yet another note: When the boys and I arrived home from a visit to see the Grandmas last night, there was a riot of color in the peony bed. Yep, the bushes are exploding with color, and man does it smell good, too. All but one of the moved bushes have budded and flowered. So once this flowering season is over I will be moving the lot of them to their new locations, and next year will prove 100% glorious again - though I am not displeased with this year's show in the least.
- And on that note: I will see you soon. Have a great day or two.
An Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly.
I saw this little lovely sipping water from blades of grass as I moved the sprinkler. It was not as skittish as I would have expected, and really only moved when droplets from the sprinkler hit it.
So the prize for my efforts today was encountering this beautiful butterfly, aaaaannnd.......the total satisfaction in having half of the back bed cleaned out.
HALF!! Wahoo! Take that, weed population!
Click on the photo to view in larger - clearer - detail
I did get an early start at it this morning, but by ten o'clock I was dripping wet and tired - and I had stayed in the shade as much as I could. By eleven the sun had risen to the point over the apple tree where working in the shade was becoming impossible....and I had finally run out of steam (even though I hadn't yet run out of weeds).
While exorcising the garden demons, I also stacked more pavers onto the retaining wall around the bed. I don't remember having purchased so many of them prior to losing my job, but there they were under all of that thatch! Perhaps with another paying job I can get a couple of yards of dirt hauled in to build the bed to a proper height. Hmmm....
Over the past few years the soil has washed away, little by little with rain and snowfall, and/or compacted around the surviving plants. I was struck with the need to correct the problem once I had my nose right in the bed this weekend, carefully pulling choke weeds from my lavender. I was in such a hurry all those years ago to get the job done and to get the lovely plants I had in the ground, that I didn't take the time to do a proper job making certain the soil was level - to prevent the inevitable slide downhill with the slope of the yard. [kicking self]
[heavy, heavy sigh]
This morning I managed to water the entire yard, taking extra care to get every nook and cranny, and soaked the flowers (transplanted and the new Wisteria) in their new home(s). Also kicking myself over not watering the grass at all yesterday, under the mistaken reasoning that we were to have thunderstorms well into the night. Well......those rains never materialized, and I am praying that the seed wasn't ruined by the lack of rain and my poor judgement in not wanting to over-water.
Hopefully things are going to be OK as far as the grass is concerned.
While slow-going, the work in the back bed is progressing, and tomorrow will find me working my way to the south end - past the mid-way point. I'll post a shot of the entire area so you can see the overall look to date, until then I trust you've enjoyed the two pictures offered with this post.
But no....no, no, no. Figuring it was still early in the morning - and as cool as it was going to be all day - I doggedly worked away at making room for my lovely Wisteria on the north pergola post. I dug out the weeds and maple starts and pulled up old vegetation, identifying three (and transplanting two) more struggling friends in the process.
It wasn't until a neighbor stopped by (with the arrival of the DTE truck) to gab, that I realized I was singed. I turned a little pink on my forearms yesterday, but this dose of sun completely baked my poor arms. After making my excuses, I hurried inside and coated my arms in yogurt.
It's been almost an hour, but it already feels 1,000 times better. In a little while I will rinse and plaster my arms once more.
Note to self: Remember to throw out the sunblock used and get another bottle for this summer.
Much later this afternoon, when the house has cast a shadow all the way to the pergola, I will rototill the bed and get my young, crazed wisteria into the ground and hopefully spend the rest of the summer watching it do its thing!
Hmmmm.... all this talk about yogurt has made me realize I am hungry. Now that the transformer (which blew early this morning) is fixed, and power is restored, I am making pancakes to celebrate!
How's life at your end of the bog?
I trimmed and dispatched and weeded out and cleared a working field for myself, so that I could dig out a very aggressive (and deeply entrenched) maple. Silly thing must have been at least two seasons old, and was getting a great start on year number three!
On an earlier pass through the yard this spring, Brian had cut off the top of the tree, leaving the roots and a healthy portion of the bottom intact. That did not deter this particular tree.
As I was working on creating a trench for the last of the retaining pavers on the NE side, I saw a tangled mass of rose runners, Black Nightshade, misc weeds and old flower shafts from a resident Hosta sweetly encircling the headless Maple in a raised area at the corner of the house. So, I figured, why not just clear it out and be done with it? - and that's just what I did.
Holy smokes, it was not going to budge without a fight; fortunately I was in the mood for one, so I put up my dukes and dug in.
Doggone it if that silly tree wasn't as mule headed as I am!
Just when I thought 'one more good leveraged pull and I win,' I moved a little too close in the wrong direction to the remaining portion of the rose bush that I hadn't trimmed away, and....YEEEEOW!!
Trying to pull my arm free proved to be the wrong thing to instinctively do. When I looked down in the direction of the discomfort I noticed the thorns firmly embedded in the topside of my forearm and pulling my flesh in the opposite direction that I desired to move. I had to stop myself and think about doing the exact opposite thing from my current action.
Not an easy feat when you are stuck to a thorny mass. You know you are stuck but good when you must use your other hand to extricate yourself.
Karl dressed my holes and I went back to work on the Maple...but not before I took out a healthy chunk of the attack roses.
From there I 'went to town' incorporating three (4) gallon buckets of rotted down leaves into the soil around the Hydrangeas. I have moved the little Hosta out, figuring to use it elsewhere, and I have transplanted a Foxglove and some other (I can't remember its name) perennial to the large open area under the window. Both should thrive there. I also planted a new Clematis at the vacant base of a post once occupied by a fragrant Honeysuckle. Let's see what happens.
Oh, yes! I almost forgot. Today I used my new birthday present for the first time! A Honda 4-stroke rototiller! What an experience - and boy, did it make fast work of that flowerbed! Wahoo!
That was a lot of exclamation points! But you would "!" too, if you had unleashed that sort of monster on your own for the first time. I know, it's a little tiller...but it's mine, and it is marvelous.(!)
;^)
Time to go move the sprinkler.
I heard it will rain tonight (maybe). "Widely scattered storms" they say. Pheh! Well scatter some of that here, please; as long as it doesn't wash away the grass seed, gimme some of dat liquid lovin'. I've won the war of the roses for the day, and the grand prize is a lightly soaking rain.
The Sea of Thistle before (above), and Sea of Thistle after (below)
Although, I can say with certainty, "after" is not as far away as it has been.
It just feels so good to be making progress.
Unearthed a forgotten hosta and one stunted Hydrangea (directly in front of the window)
Whenever I hear that phrase I can never help but think of that little girl figure drawn on the Morton's Salt container. You know the one; she's walking in the rain, carrying an umbrella and holding an inverted (and open) box of salt under her arm, which is pouring on the ground as she walks.
I put out several interest letters and credit pages (a production version of a resume) over the last week, but there isn't much going on, so pickings are slim. On Sunday/Monday I sent out three in particular, which oddly garnered me two swift response calls! Yeah, I know!
It never rains, but it pours!
Sadly, I can't accept either of them because they are two day gigs that fall over this weekend...and if you will remember, I have that craft show/sale all day Saturday. Since I paid for the space, I would lose out on the cash and all of the work I put into getting ready.
YES, I know it is production work, and it would put something more on my credits, but the pay is either nil or exactly what I paid for the spot at the sale, but I stand to make more at the sale....and quite frankly, it all comes down to the 'scratch' at this point in time.
Yes, I would have loved to be on set, and working, plying my trade and out in the fresh air booming and getting more face time with a crew, but I have to make choices - and this one was a toughy, but a no-brainer. Besides, I do have a three day gig next weekend on a thesis film, so it isn't all bad.
As for Brian's car - it was towed to the mechanic late yesterday afternoon, and we have yet to hear what the diagnosis is. Will keep you updated.
More later. Tomorrow is a big day, and I need to get ready to move it all out of here. Plus, it's garbage day, and I have boys to wrangle into duty. :)
The little pose-able doll is roughly 8" tall, and the taller M (in the red holiday coat, dress, muff and hat) is about 19" in length. I also have Madelines the same (large size) in the original blue coat/yellow hat combo.
Seems like I have a Madeline doll somewhere in the middle of those two sizes, and outfits to change her in to (2 or three changes), but I haven't located those just yet.
The girls have found our enigmatic green guest hard to resist, but even harder to play with, and the first night we caught Cleo in several attempts at trying to push the lid of the jar off to get more paws-on (and nose) time with the rather large Katydid.
Flop would just sit patiently with her nose pressed to the outside of the glass watching the lumbering movements, but Cleo wasn't happy unless she could get her nose right on it.
Karl and I arrived home Wednesday from his class to find the specimen sitting on the doorstep, somewhat tangled in cobweb in a corner of the door. He/she was hard to miss - that's how large it is. Karl freed it from the spiderwebbery and we decided to keep it inside for a bit to observe, and to simply marvel over its size. The cats, on the other hand, were keenly interested in playing! If Cleo could have put a saddle on it, I swear she would have ridden it around the house!
The next day Brian tried to turn it loose outdoors (after a romp with the girls) but several hours later, when I opened the door to get the mail, there it was again! It had made the journey back across the porch to our front door, where it perched.
K theorized that the warmth attracted it, despite the food source we endeavored to turn it loose on. I would have thought eating would have been higher on his priority least (or even mating), but apparently we have a rather alluring door. So, I gathered some items from the flowerbed for it to eat, crawl around in and feel a little more at home in, stuck it all in the jar (with the Kdid) and went about our daily activities. When we looked in on it later, it had eaten a good portion of a leaf and had become comfy pretending to blend in the rest of the 'decor.' Kind of cool!
Incidentally, I always thought critters like our Katydid met their moisture requirements while eating the greenery, BUT it turns out they actually go about gathering moisture all by itself, too. I know!
I watched my little green friend lap up all the rain mist from the new leaves without a break. The leaves were all damp when I stuck them into the jar, but after just a few short moments of careful and methodical turns, he had completely dried every surface of several leaves! It was amazing. Poor bugger must have been parched.
I feel badly that the temps have gotten so chilly lately, I guess this is why he prefers Casa Us over doing the normal buggy thing, and goodness knows I don't mind watching after it, but I am going to hate looking in that jar one day to find a dead bug.
Until that happens though, I guess we will just have some fun watching nature take a vacation.
After speaking to Grandma and then Brian on the phone, he dropped off faster than a stone down a well. It was good to see him eat, and excellent to see the pain abate, and so now he will sleep for as much of the night as the medical staff will allow without interruption.
So, good night for now, and I will let you know the details tomorrow, when I am not too tired to type. Thanks, again, for all of the prayers and good thoughts.
We knew when we arrived at St. Joe in Pontiac, that his wait would be at least four to five hours , as there were probably several other names on the list before his, and the sonographer doesn't begin their day until after 7AM. He had been in the ER of a small clinic in Clarkston from about 8:30PM to around 2:45AM, when he was packed off in an ambulance to the hospital for observation, testing and treatment.
Being uncomfortable and not knowing what was going on, and having it be your heart and affecting your breathing was all hard to live with after a day of frustration and being sick.
Heck! After two days of chest pain and constant nausea, he was pooped. Now all he knew was that he was scared and not home, and hurting and hungry! Compound all of that with the typical loud hallway noises, nighttime interruptions for BP checks and blood gathering, etc, etc, and you have one helpless boy.
Thanks be to God we were given a room with one bed and a vinyl chair that folded down into a pseudo-bed. The staff was very kind and handed me a pile of blankets and sheets on arrival, and made room for me, so that I could stay with him.
Just short of seven this morning his chest pain set in like gangbusters, more gripping than it had been over the last two days. He was writhing and pleading for something, anything, and I hot-footed it to the nurses station to let them know things were going the wrong way. He was given morphine - which did nothing to alleviate the discomfort.
It wasn't long after that the Cardiologist on duty arrived to discuss what was what, and let us know what to expect and what it was they were looking at and for. He ordered Toridol (sp) for the pain, which was given right away. More blood work, a urine sample and a host of other fun, and said he would be back, but to expect to meet the Chief Cardio dude later today.
All I know is, Karl was very happy to have the orderly arrive with a chair to get him to the echo...because lunch was right around the corner, and he was tired of waiting.
More later when there is something to report.
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for Karl - they are well received and very much appreciated.
This guy is a flake, and a low-balling flake at that. I will keep you in the loop.
[thumb's up]
