Epic Fail!

So I did forget to post last night. I worked all day, then I had to go to one of those "buy-something" parties at my barn-friend's house. I got home by 9:15, and refused to turn the computer on- not remembering I hadn't made a post when I had my computer on after work. I believe my thought process then was: "you can write about the buy-something party when you get home". So much for that.
This party was from a company called "Trades of Hope". The products are fair trade craft items- jewelry, home decor, scarves, xmas ornaments, etc., from around the world. The workers are for the most part women in 3rd world countries. The Trades of Hope people set them up with a business creating these items from sustainable, local goods and materials, and work with them to ensure a consistent quality, sell-able product. The women get paid first, then T of H people back in the US. It seems like a nice idea.
Of course, I spent way too much on some items I normally wouldn't buy, but it kicked off my Christmas shopping, so that helps.
Plus I got to hang out with my pooper-scooper barn buddy Michelle for the evening, and met some of her friends that she's told me about as she gabs while we did our chores.
I miss my old barn tons, but Axe is fitting in nicely at Alice's. While I am now thoroughly enjoying being able to sleep in on weekends- it's been over a year since I could-I started doing weekends last end of October 2011 after Jodi got back from Worlds, I do miss barn chores.
Today I put that plastic film on some drafty windows. That stuff is NOT for women of a certain age who need readers and refuse to get them. I was convinced I had a faulty package of film because all the sheets seemed to be cut too short and I couldn't find an edge to peel back. Finally i measured a sheet and sure enough, one dimension was half as long as it should have been- telling me that the film WAS folded in half.
It took a bit of rubbing and crunching the edge to finally see the two plys, and then get my fingernail in between to separate them. So that's done. I am now procrastinating big time at picking up my tree limbs from the Hurricane- and thank you Anna & Krista for the info on "Superstorm Sandy"- it was very interesting. It's a terrible shame that the authorities had so much advance warning to the storm and for what ever reasons, didn't have the necessary follow-up in place.
Well, my computer is pestering me for a re-start to finish an security update, so I should comply.
TTFN

Almost Forgot…

to post tonight! We (me and the animals) all survived the Nor’Easter. Which reminds me: did I miss something regarding Hurricane Sandy? Why is it being referred to as “Superstorm Sandy”? My thoughts are with all of you in NY & NJ and elsewhaere affected by the storms.

I still have my yard to clean up, it’s supposed to be nice this weekend so hopefully I can make a dent in it.

Fringe is on- time to go!

Shaved Chicken…

Poor puppy is getting up there- I’ve had her for going on 9 years, and she was an adult dog then, so my guess is she’s anywhere from 12-14 years old. She doesn’t tolerate the hot so much anymore and it doesn’t help that her coat is like a collie’s fur. Last fall I had her trimmed to clean clean her up some, and I like the results so much I vowed to have her done for summer. And vee-ola- here she is: (don’t laugh too hard)

Here’s what she used to look like:

I keep doing a double-take and laugh when i look at her- poor baby! She feels like a seal. And her little legs crack me up now that I can actually see them.

I’ve been busy doing stuff I’ve neglected around my house- scraping and re-painting exterior trim on my house, lots of cleaning. I have to mow the lawn at least once a week to keep up with it. I still am having trouble taking out my stitching except for Thursday stitch nights. Can’t figure out what that’s all about because i love Beacon House, even with it’s wall-to-wall stitching, and there’s very little on TV to watch these days.

Off to mow- rain coming tomorrow and Tuesday!

TTFN

Various & Sundry...

Bear with me: I'm trying the new blogger interface.
Here is, or actually, ARE, update photos of "Hilltop Seasons". I found a progress picture I never posted:

I also kitted up and mounted my fabric for "Winter at Beacon House":

You'll notice all the floss. I just bought the 2 baggies of threads, having forgotten the previously-purchased threads. Well, I kind of remembered them, but when I couldn't locate them in my completely disorganized house, I assumed I had thought about, but never bought them. And you know what they say about "assume". I'm going to blame my now-departed roommates, seeing as they aren't here to defend themselves.

So I am sitting here, inside, because i am procrastinating about finishing tidying up my yard. I have the pile of branches near my horse trailer still to pick up, and then I have to mow. 

I did, however, make it outside. I brought 3 huge bags of old clothes to the recycling bins, stuff that had been sitting in my bedroom for literally years (because I knew if I actually got rid of them, someone would decide they absolutely needed something from those bags.) The recycling center has a wasp problem in one of the bins: I got a sting on my forearm. I'm sure I made quite the spectacle of myself in front of all my fellow townies with my hopping around and flailing of arms. But, that's what I'm here on this earth for: to make the rest of you all seem normal in comparison!

So let's see if blogger has fixed it's pitiful spell checker.....

Why yes! How delightful! It highlights, then offers suggestions! I'm impressed! Now where are the tags...

…or Not so Much…

I survived intact. My willow trees (the bane of my existence!) each lost about a third of their branches. My lights were out most of the day; I had an hour and a half late afternoon where they came on & re-cooled the refrigerator/freezer, and then went out again. They were back on for Sunday night football.

I even tried to stitch, but it was so dim in my living room, I gave up. So I kind of snoozed on the couch all day, which was hard to do with all the cracking branches I was hearing, on top of not being a good nap-per.

Here are some pictures:

Amazingly, nothing hit the house or car. I’ve been snapping branches all morning, making piles of fronds, kindling, and chain-saw material. If nothing else, willow trees are easy to take care of by hand.

I’m Dancing as Fast As i Can…

I’m back from a 4-1/2 day stint of barn sitting. The 2 guacamoles have moved!!! YAY!!! Now I have to try to get my house clean and back in some sense of order, plus mow the lawn. That damn fertilizer I applied 13 years ago is still making my grass grow too fast! I did a lot of stitching, but I’ll save that for another day (soon- I promise!)

Here are my lilac bushes; it was hard to get photos between all the rainy spells we had.

The big, dark purple bush out front:

 

The mini, paler one on the side:

Here’s Huey, the African Gray Parrot:

He keeps me fully entertained. He even sang what sounded like a pirate song!

Here’s Axe napping under a tree on one of the hot days we had:

Bollocks!

That was also said in a British accent. (What can I say, I'm on a roll!)
I turned my heat off about 2 weeks ago with the weather getting slightly warmer, and to conserve my 5/8 of a tank of oil until fall, when hopefully, and I'm not holding my breath, the prices might be lower. I know I turned it back on last weekend for a couple of days when the temps dipped low, and all seemed well. But this morning I turned it on, and nuttin' honey.
So I need to put a call in to my oil burner guy. I was hoping to do that in another month, but now is as good a time as any, I suppose!
Luckily I have my firewood.

UNCLE!!!

I give up- stop with the snow already! More for mid-week??!!!Notice how quiet Al Gore’s been these days?? I’m going to have to start working on Saturdays to make up for all the snow days…GGGRRR!

A giveaway alert:

Jan at Belafonte Notes is having a 2nd Blogoversary giveaway- and the prize is extraordinary! Check it out and enter- you have until February 2nd.

Yesterday I had to replace the baking element in my oven. Now it seems to run 50 degrees hotter than indicated. To replace the temperature sensor will cost close to $100 for the part, from what I could google. Between that & the $35 I paid for the element, that’s 1/4 of the cost of a new range. Ranges don’t seem to be sale items these days, so I’ll just have to see how difficult this temperature thing will be to get used to, and keep my eye out for sales. The one I have is at least 15 years old. More GGGRRR!!!

The boy sprained his ankle badly at work on his way to clocking out Friday night. His right (driving) foot. His supervisor agreed to put him on light duty, but we still don’t know how he’s going to get there- he & Em are on different shifts. Well, I suppose he may have a day off in the middle of the week for a snow day…

Off to check my baking chicken….

Jeez Louize!

It’s been a week since i last posted??

You know you’re  a bad blogger when you don’t even go look at your OWN blog! What can I say- this winter has sucked all ambition out of me! I wake in the middle of the night thinking “Is the furnace working? Are any pipes leaking??” Then when i don’t hear any drips, and the furnace kicks on, I eventually fall asleep thinking, “It’s so cold the furnace is running constantly! And oil is close to $3.50 a gallon, it’ll cost me over $600 to fill the tank again….” and around and around my mind spins.

I’m trying to find my stitching mojo, i think it’s buried outside in a snow bank… I finally picked up December’s Snowflake again:

and this as well:

January’s Santa:

The Quaker Halloween squirrel is finished:

 

but I still have a ways to go:

I’ve got a loaf of Honey Oatmeal Bread spinning in the machine, and I have a handful of soup recipes printed out from Tasty Kitchen. I’d be good to go except I can’t find those 2 boneless chicken breasts I put in the freezer a couple of weeks ago.

 

“Don’t look at me! I’m not fat, I’m fluffy!”

Procrastinators ‘R Us…

You do remember that I’m a charter member of Procrastinators Anonymous? I waited until 3:00 this afternoon (Sunday) to start putting up my Christmas lights. Of course, in the manner of ALL house-fix-it projects around here, to put up the lights requires that I MUST clean the gutters first. No fun until the work is done. Thank you Frank McMorrow.

I was done by 5:15-ish, which is actually kind of quick for me. While cleaning out the back gutter, I moved my over-turned wheelbarrow (which has a flat tire- which is why it hasn’t been moved in a year), and discovered the camouflage for a rodent motel! Under the wheelbarrow, little critters of the furry variety have been amassing a big pile of dirt, enough to fill the wheelbarrow. Mixed in this was the old blue tarp I had set the barrow on, so that it wouldn’t blow away. I hastily shoveled all that away. Luckily, I didn’t have to look at any of the furry things.

On a down note, though, I noticed a couple of my dormer corner boards are really rotted- that the trim paint from the last paint job didn’t hold up well at all.

Here’s a photo of my efforts:

The string that runs above the door is a brand new set, so the curl has to straighten out on that part.

Yay!

Firstly: Dixie Sampler Designs is having a Spooktacular Give-away! 

Secondly: The re-zoning issue facing my neighborhood DID NOT pass! I'm so relieved! If it passed a huge national trucking company was going to build a 15-ACRE warehouse right across the street. Now I can get on with my life!

Thirdly: some stitching (finally!)

Quaker Halloween (it's not looking good for a Halloween finish %^(

And I broke down and bought the JCS 2010 Ornament issue and started JBW’s French Country Star for my October ornament:

Off to start my fireplace- I haven’t turned the heat on yet. This morning it was 58 degrees in my bedroom….BBBBRRRRR!!!!

Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom

Still no real cooking for WWW; here’s a link to the next thing I want to try from King Arthur flour:

KA Donut Muffins. The reviews suggest making them in mini-muffin cups so that they really do taste like donut holes.

Back to my post title:

Yesterday I heard a rough scratching noise coming from my kitchen. I went to check it out, because Em’s cat has been doing a lot of scratching lately, and I wanted to deter her from causing damage.  I ended up not catching her in the act, but noticed an empty box, and thought, “well maybe she was scratching that or pulling the tape.” This afternoon, around the same time, from the living room, I heard a noise in the kitchen so I snuck out to see what the cat was up to again. I looked about and saw her lying peacefully in one of my kitchen windows. I heard the noise to her left and saw this little bastard squirrel  clinging to the screen on the outside, having ripped a 1" x 2" hole and a quarter-sized hole below that. I gasped a WTF  and he jumped to the roof. I followed outside, and he was up at the ridge, looking down at me  and laughing. (Didn’t Brendan Fraser & Brooke Shields just do a movie about this???)

I knew from other squirrel-in-the-house-horror stories that I needed to repair the screen ASAP, so I ran right out to the hardware store for some screen patches and rodent deterrent, and in the less than 15 minutes it took to get back home, he has made an "L"-shaped 6" x 2" rip out of the first hole, and made an additional attempt in the second window screen with a 1-1/2" x 3" hole (I have a double window over the sink). Luckily, I had the foresight to close down the sashes before I left, other wise I would have a new roommate. And now my little patch kit is nowhere big enough to fix the holes. I’m going to have to re-screen both panels.  Mother-F-*&%^X*(*!!!-er!!!!!!!!!!!!

Right side (from outside):

Left side:

In 13 years here, I've NEVER had this problem!!!! With all the cooking I do, and we don’t leave  food out on the counters; I have NO idea what has attracted this vermin!

On top of it all, Emily's cat was lying in the second window watching the squirrel's break-in attempt. Useless piece of shit.

Plus I now can’t open my kitchen windows- my largest source of air circulation in the whole downstairs.

I swear I must have tortured babies and kittens in a prior life to have this kind of luck! I really don’t have time for this!!!

Living Large

I finally broke down & installed the window A/C in my bedroom- aaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! I was even able to dry my hair with a dryer before work yesterday because I was cool and dry, instead of pinning it up wet.

Today’s project was getting the A/C fixed in my car. It was a hole in the condenser, just as I thought. The local garage was able to fix it, parts & installation, for about half of the evil mega-corporation, Toyota. Unfortunately, the shield Toyota designed for the next model year up from mine, will not fit and cannot be altered to fit my car. And thanks to our illustrious, stimulus big spender of a president, EVERY free kin’ highway I have to travel to get to work has been ground up in prep for re-paving (can we say for the 3rd and 4th times respectively for Rt.24 and Rt.495, since I moved down here 20 + years ago????) whether they need it or not. Which is probably where the rock that caused the hole came from, and will probably come from again. *SIGH*

So I’m air conditioned all over the place.

The guacamoles left me a birthday present:

That’s a doggie bed duvet, and a photo book of historical photos from the area. (shout out to Liv ‘N Laf- I think there are some relatives of yours in there! Sue’s been M.I.A. while she moves into a new home). Here’s the card:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s last week’s progress on Quaker Halloween:

Not much to show- it’s too hot to stitch, or it was until I got my A/C.

I think it’ll be a DQ ice cream instead of birthday cake after the dishes tonight. I best get crackin’!

Weekend stuff….

When Em graduated from BU last month, her cousin was also graduating from Army boot camp in Oklahoma the same day. Em’s grandfather and aunts went out to OK to see that event. Em didn’t take any offense, nor did I, seeing as I wasn’t planning on any festivities anyways. Then I got a call about 10 days ago, from my ex-sister-in-law, to invite me to a party they were having Father’s Day, for Em’s grandfather and to celebrate Em’s graduation. I accepted, made  a platter of taquitos, and was completely reminded of the fact that I totally LOVE my ex-in-laws! Or outlaws, as I like to call them. Don’t care too much for the ex-husband (who didn’t attend), but I’ve been divorced for 13 years now, longer than the length of my marriage, and it was like we hadn’t seen each other since last week. Of course, all of Em’s cousins’ children were now in elementary school, as opposed to being babies, but they are all bubbly and vivacious and fun to watch. And they remind everyone of when Em was that age (she was the youngest grandchild of her generation). Em’s 2 oldest aunts are now retired, in their mid-60’s. They are almost 20 years older than her father, so their kids (Em’s cousins) are about 12-15 years older than her. The out-laws love to have family get-togethers for EVERY occasion, which I found tiresome when I was married, but since I haven’t been to one in years, it wasn’t really all that bad. I’m glad I went, and grateful that they made me feel so welcome.

On a less bright note, I found out Saturday afternoon, driving Bob home, that my air conditioner in my car no longer works. SURPRISE! I don’t personally care, but I know there will be times that Bob will need it this summer. Plus I’m guessing my de-fogger capabilities (the only time I use my AC by default) won’t be too good. I’m wondering if the broken AC is related to my computer issue I had in March? Needless to say, i don’t have an extra $300 lying around to have it fixed.

These are really weeds- Milk pods, but kind of like alliums, just not as pretty colored: .

My weeds.

My lavender:

These aren’t weeds. I clipped a couple of bunches to hang in my bathrooms. I LOVE the aroma!

Spring!

I finally got my septic pumped out; good thing, too, it was full. When he finished pumping, water came pouring back in from the leaching field. We waited for about 30 minutes for it to stop. It did slow, but not completely, and he pumped an additional 500 gallons out.

While I was waiting for him to show up this morning, I unstitched and starting re-stitching Quaker Halloween:

Much better!

Then I went to the mall- the second time since before Xmas! I needed new personal items (ahem – Miss Vickie’s) and some Clinique soap bars- the small travel sizes. Plus Macy’s was having Clinique bonus time. Unfortunately, the did not have my soap in stock. So NO bonus for me! I did score this (because I am totally hopeless in the house wares department- I want one of everything!):

it’s a brilliant deep robin’s egg blue melamine bowl by Martha Stewart. There are matching kitchen towels, too. I WANT SOME!

Then I went home before I caused some serious damage. No need for you to see my "personals".

Wishful Wednesday Wrecipes

I haven’t done much cooking this week; well, I have, just nothing unusual or new or interesting. The “newest” thing was finding that Bull’s Eye Barbeque sauce is back:

They have this new flavor called Texas Style which has a touch of chipotle & mesquite. It’s very good! I threw a pork roast & 3/4 of a bottle in a crock pot the other night and the results were yummy. Tonight I used up almost all the rest on some baked chicken breasts.

Since I’ve spent the last few days on the edge of my seat between my septic & my watery basement (i.e: sump pump), I’m calling a pass and giving you all a new web site link:

http://www.tastespotting.com/

It’s a visual recipe index. It shows a photo (all stunning) of each recipe and you click on the photo which takes you to the webpage hosting the written recipe. I DID find that a couple of links didn’t  work, but at last count there are  2245 pages to scroll thru.

I also managed to finish this:

“Noel” from Gazette94 on 32 ct. ivory jobelan with DMC 4210 over dyed floss.

Now I can go on to Quaker Halloween and Gingerbread Cottage without guilt.

It Stopped!!!

The rain has ended! My trepidation at coming home to face god knows what in the basement was alleviated by the sound of my still-working sump pump, and the sight of receding water at the foot of my cellar stairs- which is one of my higher spots. Emily flushed the toilet, and nothing backed up into the toilet, nor caused the standing water around the lid of my septic tank outside to turn brackish, meaning that it’s just surface water collecting in the low spot around the cover. Knock on wood, but I should be good until Friday for the Pooper Scooper vacuum.

Here are my photos:

Quaker Halloween:

This one just pleases me to no end- the flosses, the fabric- I could just work on this and be happy!

Gingerbread Cottage:

Those confetti stitches (3 different colors!) were a huge PITA. More than several had to be loop-started because they were in the middle of no where.

And, unfortunately, it seems I’m only able to work on 2 things at once, because I haven’t picked Noel back up. I MUST get that finished by tomorrow! Maybe if I wake up tonight again…..

Rain, rain go away.....

I DO have some progress on BOTH new projects (woohoo!) but not the energy to take photos (PFFFSTT!) I went with Em Saturday to a used tack sale at a local barn, to sell. We met my aunt there & we shared a table; she does pastel animal portraits (very nice ones). And it was freezing!!!!
Sunday was spent doing all the things I couldn't do Saturday. However, I SHOULDN'T have done the 2 loads of wash. Too late now though. When I left for work this morning I had a 1/4" of water on the basement floor, and my sump pump cycling every 23 seconds. I left instructions for the 2 guacamoles to NOT flush the toilets for liquids, and try to keep a "solids" flush at 1 per person. I thought the weather girl said the buckets of rain would be easing up this afternoon, but no such luck yet.
The neighbors across the street were bailing out their basement (UGH- they have a split level- and it's finished!) at 5:30 this morning, while a strong smell of septic filled the air. (Theirs, I'm afraid.) (Or more to the point- I HOPE it wasn't mine!!) Luckily I have a huge collection of empty, large, horse supplement buckets and ran over with 4 more for them. They were appreciative. I almost didn't as pay back for all the inconvenience they cause me by their day care business (tons of cars blocking my driveway at 7 am and 5 pm) , but I figured it was better to take the high road and be a nice(r) neighbor. I told Em to NOT walk in the street puddles in case it was septic backup they were bailing into the street. (ICK!)
Once the rain actually stops, the water table starts dropping very quickly, thankfully. I scheduled a septic pump Friday as a preventative measure, anyway. Hopefully, I'll make it until then.
It could really stop raining right now, though, and I would be EVER so grateful! I woke up last night around 2:30 am when the rain started coming down hard; I'd almost fall back asleep and then I'd jump awake out of fear that the pump stopped. I ended up watching TV until almost 4, then getting up at 5:30. Not fun.

Some stitching…

My Noel freebie. I’ve been stitching before I fall asleep in bed. Nothing new to report on Pumpkins. My car has been running OK (knock on wood). I guess it’ll quit when it quits.

We’ve finally gotten some spring weather-yay! It’s my turn to make snacks this week for stitching night. I found a Martha Stewart recipe to try- a fruit bar thing. If I remember to take pictures, I’ll turn it into a WWW.

My mom got a good report from her surgeon- the bone is filling in and she can drive when she feels up to it.

LOST tonight!

Back-breaking…..

Suffice it to say that we have a LOT of snow. Sorry- no pictures- I made myself busy baking cookies all day. Chickie hopped off the bed at 4:30 this morning, so I followed her down. I had to shovel the patio and a small place for her to tinkle; we had close to a foot then. After I got her settled, I continued shoveling my car & driveway- at least a path to the street so I could walk Miss Fussbudget. By 6:00 am, with the snow still coming down to beat the band, i was finished and went back to bed. I woke back up around 8:00. I made a short walk to Walgreens for a paper & some shortening & started in on baking.

At 3:30, i stopped to shovel again, and take Chickie for her afternoon constitutional. Short phone break with the BF, and I have one more batch of cookies, and then baklava to make.

Before I forget, here is a stitching update:

That silk floss is very variegated; it’s kind of a trick to do. i know on the model, they stitched it symmetrically. They must have started each leaf with a new ply of floss and stitched in the same direction (or mirror image direction). I’m not that clever, and I’m also a frugal Yankee bitch! I’m still loving it though!