Green Acres

Sing along with me......Green Acres is the place to be...Green acres is the place for me!!! I woke up this morning all refreshed and ready to go, so I went to Mom and Dad's and did some tilling....actually, a lot of tilling! Then I just had to mow my own yard. It was deep! I got that done and the edging and the blowing and the watering! I'm feeling relatively caught up now. I still have some caladiums to plant, which I will get done next week. It's time to buy some hanging baskets, so I will do that next week as well. Things are shaping up around here and that makes me happy.

I didn't eat breakfast or lunch and I am too tired to cook or go for take out, so I did the worst thing possible......broke out the deep fryer and fried potatoes and onions....real potatoes...I don't do frozen! That's it...I know it's WRONG and I don't CARE!

Really, Really TIRED!

This week has taken its toll on me finally. Four days were spent going to funeral homes and funerals. After I got back from my aunt's funeral today, I just crawled up on my bed and went to sleep. When I went outside after my nap, I looked in my bluebird box and the babies were gone. They were too young to fly away, so something got them. I saw some little feathers on the ground. That made me sad. Now I'm thinking about just taking the box down. Last year there were two clutches hatched from that box....8 babies, but since some animal has found it I don't want to take the chance of once again losing my babies. I'm not hatching bluebirds for a raccoon or some other animal's lunch. On top of that, my hummers are gone. I haven't seen any this week. On a happier note, I have a big, beautiful rose blooming. I was going to cut my very first full size rose and take it to my mom, but I just can't cut it.

AAWWWW!

As I was walking around in the backyard, I found a dead bluebird. I hope it is not the mother of my babies. I don't know what happened to it. It wasn't killed by a varmit. It was in tact and not something's lunch. The male bird does feed the birds as well, but the babies need their mommy, too!

IE 7 Finally!

Once again I downloaded IE 7 and had the same problem with it that I had before when I gave up and uninstalled it. This time I went to a message board and posted the problem. Had an answer momentarily on there, did what he said, and voila.....it's fixed! I love message boards. There is always someone who knows the answer. Now I just have to get used to the new browser. I have Mozilla also, so I have a choice.

I spent 2 hours at the funeral home tonight. Too damn long to stand in dress shoes. Now my feet hurt and I have to wear dress shoes again tomorrow. I'm ready for a break from dress shoes and funerals. I'm running out of funeral type clothes!!

Blooms......WooooHooooo!

I was greeted this morning ,on my usual walk around the grounds ,to my very first rose blooms! This one is actually lavender, but the picture doesn't do it justice. It's beautiful!

Two down...hopefully, none to go!

My aunt died last night. I just returned from the funeral of my friend's mom. Tomorrow night will be family visitation at the funeral home and Friday will be the funeral. These two were ready to go. Now.....we all need a break!

Big Shocker!

You know the Bible 82%!

 

Wow! You are truly a student of the Bible! Some of the questions were difficult, but they didn't slow you down! You know the books, the characters, the events . . . Very impressive!

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One down...one to go...

My friend's mother died yesterday. I have just returned from the funeral home with my entire family. Her daughter and I were best friends in high school and went to college together before we parted. She moved to New England and I moved further south. We have always semi kept in touch.....much moreso in recent years. She has now moved back to this area and we are about an hour apart now. I spent a lot of time at her house in high school and she spent a lot of time at mine.

My aunt cannot possibly live much longer. She has had no food or drink in 9 days and is just semi conscious sometimes. I have chosen not to go see her in that state.

Slacker days are over

Tomorrow my cousin is going home to Virginia, so I guess I'll have to get back to work. I'm sure the garden needs my attention and my yard certainly needs mowing. Today we went to lunch again, then went on a mission to find her some colored cowboy hats. We struck out completely...even at the western wear store. She isn't a cowboy, but she does like to wear hats. She had an extra day here because she flies free due to her daughter being a flight attendant and all flights were booked to capacity because of the many cancelled flights this weekend.

Beautiful Day

We had that weather slide through here that is now wreaking havoc on the East Coast, but today has been glorious. Last night we had a night out with the cousins and all ate dinner at a local restaurant. Today a couple of friends came to get me and we went to the Tastes of Minden which is a fundraiser for the Chamber of Commerce. It was good and we had lots of tastes of various concoctions. After a nap, I went to find my cousin who is visiting from Virginia and we went to Shreveport to a restaurant I had heard about as being a hang out for the celebrities who come to town to make movies here. It was excellent.

Tonight on If These Walls Could Talk, the HGTV show, a home here in Minden is being showcased. The owners are some of the first people I met when I moved here. They are both in my Sunday School class. I am looking forward to climbing up in my bed and watching that and chilling out for the rest of the evening. It's all good!

Where have I been?

I don't know! Nothing has happened that deserves recognition here. Relatives are visiting from Virginia, but they will all be gone tomorrow. My best friend from high school called last night to tell me that she had brought her mother home and called in Hospice. They give her about a week to live. Also, my aunt is hanging on by a thread and really ready to go. God works on His schedule....not ours...even though we would like for both of them to be out of their misery.

Humor me....please!

I need to rant! I am sort of anal about my hose nozzles, which means I buy the expensive ones ($10). Last year I bought 3 and they all failed. That was my fault because I didn't know to take them in for the winter. Sooooo......a few weeks ago I bought yet another expensive one. Today as I was cleaning under my lawn mower the nozzle started leaking everywhere spraying water all over me. I took the sucker apart 3 times and can find nothing wrong, but it still sprays water everywhere except where it is supposed to. I have searched for my receipt to no avail, so I guess I won't be returning it! Just for the record....it was MADE IN CHINA!!!!

Muffin Top

I learned the official term for this disgusting look.

Nothing more...nothing less...

than pure unadulterated LAZINESS! That's been me for about three days. I don't even know why. Well, today I awoke to rain and dreariness and it's been that way all day. I did go out and get the paper, but I put the garage door back down and just hunkered down being lazy. Yesterday was just too cold and I am so stubborn and refuse to turn the heat on in April. I have already extinguised the pilot light on the fireplace, so that wasn't an option. My solution was to just stay under my electric blanket on my bed!! Worked for me!!

Rejoice..for this is the day the Lord hath made....

Wild Turkey!!!

When I think of wild turkey this is what comes to mind. It was my drink of choice in my college days and a few years after until I discovered Crown Royal. These days I rarely touch either of them. I'm just not the party animal I used to be.

This morning my brother killed a wild turkey. It is supposed to be the ultimate nab for a hunter. We'll be chowing down on him pretty soon, I'm hoping!! It's the first one he has ever killed and he was excited. My dad was so excited for him that he called me and told me about my brother's conquest.All I could think about was the Wild Turkey I used to drink!! How sick is that!!

Quiz for you!

QUIZ You gotta take this quiz!

Time to plant caladiums

I planted 92 Carolyn Wharton caladiums today. Last year I planted a different variety and my landscaper friend told me that Carolyn Wharton's could handle the heat better. He goes by my house several times a day and he keeps me informed about my yard. Last year he noticed when my caladiums started to struggle and suffer through the heat and recommended a couple of varieties for me to try. Although they were beautiful last year and the color matched my house, I'm hoping for a different look this year. I like to change things up especially since I get so many comments about my yard. I feel like people are expecting excellence so I try to deliver. It's hard work, but I enjoy it immensely. Today was a very cool day reaching only the 60's, so it was easy to work outside. I even got the front yard all manicured. I gave out before I got to the back yard, but the rest of the week is going to be cool, so it will get done tomorrow.

Lipitor...NO...not so much!

I got my blood work back and his office called me and wanted to put me on Lipitor because of elevated cholesterol. When I asked how elevated? their answer was 208! I defy anyone to find me someone of my age with a lower number than that. It has been between 201 and 218 for about 15 years and before then, it was higher! I just don't want to get locked into taking yet another drug. I hate taking meds. I already take blood pressure, thyroid, and diabetes meds. If I started that med, I would be taking it the rest of my life. My answer to him NO! I don't think so!

Planting groceries...

I love me some fresh vegies and I am really getting into this gardening thing. Last year my dad was always telling us (my brother and me) what to do and how to do it. This year he has kind of backed off. In the past, he has just let the weeds and grass take over the garden. I, on the other hand, can not stand that. I have been tilling between the rows and today I hoed all the weeds and grass out as well. My brother came and helped me and we have a clean garden with cottonseed mulch around all the potatoes, tomatoes, onions, beets and carrots. We also got more corn plus peas, beans and sunflowers planted. My friend brought us a truckload of that mulch on Saturday. I can't wait for things to start getting ready to eat!!

By noon I was worn completely out, but I came home for about an hour and rested before going to Bossier to Home Depot and by this awesome cafe for some strawberry pie. Don't hate!

Finally!

I finally made it to one of my bud's baseball games. The weather was perfect for baseball and I had time to rest after my adventures as Farmer Brown this morning. I tilled the garden again and planted a few things. Enough to make me tired! I'm such a wuss!

Whirlwind Weekend!

I'm glad the weekend is over. I need a rest. Yesterday my best friend from high school came to Mom and Dad's, so I went to meet her there. Before she got there, I went to the new church building and helped with the last minute cleaning details (windows). Today my friend came back to go to their church, so I went to church there this morning as well. She then took us all out to lunch before returning to go to the building dedication today. Her father was ordained as a minister in that church and she lived in Massachusettes for many, many years. She has returned to Louisiana and built a huge plantation style home on a lake. My brother was the chairman of the building committee, so he had a part on the program. My dad had a part on the program just because he's 85 and he told the preacher he wanted to say a few words. He spoke from his heart and did a wonderful job. He made me proud. I gathered up all Mom's left over cookies from the event and got her and Dad settled back at home. Now I am going to eat cookies and rest! Having heels on ALL DAY LONG is just TOO MUCH!

O my gosh..I am dying!

I did a LOT of work today. I tilled the weeds in the garden at dad's and made several new rows for sunflowers, peas, and more corn. We didn't plant them yet, but will next week. After coming home for about an hour, I went back to their town to help with the landscaping of their new family life building to get it ready for the dedication on Sunday. We planted lots of plants. More people came to help after 5, so I gave up and came home. I was so exhausted that I had a shower and was IN my bed by 6:45. Obviously, I didn't stay there. I was too hungry! I had to get up and make some toast. I just took some aspirins and now I am going back to bed!

Yadda, yadda, yadda...

I went for a follow up doctor appointment today to get some blood drawn yet again. The last time it was fine after one scare of some abnormal liver numbers. Today my blood pressure was too high. I have to monitor it every day for 10 days and see how it runs. CRAP! I don't like doing that. I like to believe everything is just hunky dorry. Ignorance is bliss to me!

After that, I went to lunch with the ladies for the first time in two weeks...then picked up a few things for Mom which I will take to her tomorrow. As hard as I tried not to do it, I went ahead and mowed the lawn. Unfortunately, I am so bad out of shape that I had to stop several times and rest...not because I was tired, but because my back was hurting. I know it was hurting only because I have sat around doing nothing too much of the winter. The muscles in my back need some use and they will be OK!

Made you laugh!!!!

No..I'm not smarter than a 5th grader...

I picked up the adding machine that Mom ordered yesterday. It doesn't appear to be that difficult, but we couldn't even figure out how to set the time and date or put the paper roll in it. The instructions were written in a light gray and very tiny. WTH! I called my brother and told him to go see if he could set it up for her. He is so busy with getting their new building at church ready for the dedication, which is Sunday....so he will probably forget. Just as he was leaving Mom's yesterday morning, she fell on the porch. She just absolutely loses balance and just falls. Thank goodness, she fell on the porch and not down the concrete steps. She is sore, but otherwise OK. Stewart didn't see her fall, but she was able to get up by scooting over to an iron rail that we had built and installed for her.

Holy Crap, Batman!

All the years I lived in Texas, I never saw a hail storm. Today we had TWO! with a rainbow in between!

Lazy...sort of!

Edited to add: My hummer came back for his evening meal, so today is the offical first day of my hummers. He's all by himself right now, but I'm sure he'll invite his friends.

I saw my first hummer today at my feeder,but I told him "Hi, welcome back"! and he left. Haven't seen him since. Mom saw one last week. Maybe these are scouts looking for feeders.

I'm just too LAZY! I actually did do my new project with the pavers this morning, but that is pretty much all. Oh, yeah and I did use the spreader to put out this high priced three in one stuff. It's supposed to kill the weeds, feed the grass, and prevent fire ants. I'll be the judge of that. It had to be watered in immediately, so I did that even though it is supposed to rain tomorrow. I sure hope so. OK...I guess I'm not as lazy as I thought. I just didn't get any of the stuff on my list done...not even the baseball game, which is going on right now.

Hi Ho Hi Ho...it's off to work I go!

There is a lot on my plate for the upcoming week:

• Mow my yard
• Take Mom to Bossier to buy her plants
• Clean her car (this will be an all day job)
• Volunteer my services to help with the landscaping of the new building at my family's church
• Plant more tomatoes
• Baseball game tomorrow
• Doctor appointment for me Thursday

On top of all this, my aunt is back in the hospital. She broke her ankle last Sunday and was in the hospital until Thursday. She was moved to a re-hab facility until today when she had a stroke. I went by the trauma unit today to see about her. She is in bad shape, but she is in a room and didn't have to go to ICU

TEST

The only constructive thing I have done today is cook a cake, which is cooling right now. This is a test post because I can't figure out why the graphic won't stay where it is in the preview.

Thank God....

that I have the option of doing absolutely nothing if that's what I feel like doing! Today was one of those days that I had plans to do stuff, but ended up piled up on my bed sleeping a good part of the day. I have pavers bought and ready for my next project, but today I just didn't want to work....so I didn't! The tree pollen here is terrible and my whole world is green. Yesterday, I cleaned it off everything and a few minutes later it was all covered again, so screw it. I have the power washer out ready to wash down everything, but it would be pointless to do now. Soon construction will begin behind me and there will be big time dust everywhere. We are again desperately dry and dust is rampant anyway. It's a losing battle!

Why O Why!

Excellent Day

I had some scheduled maintenance on my car today. The rear differential was leaking, so a new gasket was the solution. Damn gasket was $10, but labor was just ridiculous....$108 later, I have a freakin' gasket. On the bright side, I got some much needed cleaning done around the house today. I just can't stand to stay inside while it is so nice outside, so I cleaned out the garage and tried to get the oil from the leak off the garage floor. After many attempts, I gave up. I guess it will forever remind me of the $108 I paid for a gasket!!!

ON a lighter note, I pulled those two roses up and took them and their receipt back to Wal Mart and got a refund. This time I bought roses that are already leafed out. I wasn't able to replace them with the exact duplicates, but at least they will have leaves and look like the other roses. I survey all the plants every morning while I drink my coffee. I am happy to announce that

almost every plant that I set out last year is coming back out. The only lone dissenter is a gardenia that my brother and sister-in-law gave me when I moved here. I didn't think the angel trumpets were going to re-appear, but I can see little wisps of green along the base of every plant, so I think they survived the winter.

Lazy Sunday

I spent all yesterday shopping for my mom. At Christmas I got a gift card to a store that I have been unable to find anything that I wanted or needed. They have lots of things that Mom would like in clothing, but nothing that I like so I used it and bought her some clothes. Unfortunately, I had to return some of them and get a different size, so I went to Bossier City twice yesterday and the store here and to Mom and Dad's. On my last trip, I stopped and got my crawfish for the week. Well, maybe not! I'm thinking of going back and getting some
more right now! YUM!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Meet Me At Luigi's.

The youth at my church did a dinner theater production tonight as a fund raiser that was awesome. I knew three of the kids and it just reminded me of all the events I went to showcasing student talents when I was teaching. I knew so many very talented kids that could have been professionals. Unfortunately, most of them never got a chance. Two that I knew did become professional opera singers and three became major league baseball players, but there were many others who had the talent. It makes me proud to see so many young people with so much talent.

Are you smarter than a 5th grader?

My mom told me about this game show on Fox and the last two Thursdays I watched it. Last week I was NOT smarter than a fifth grader. I did not know Venus was the brightest planet (Duh, I thought it was Jupiter) and I did not know what a rhombus was. All the others I knew. I am happy to report that this week I was at least as smart as a fifth grader. I knew them all...even the math ones, which I usually don't even pretend to know. WooHOO!!!

Digging in the dirt...

After lunch with the ladies today, I went to Mom and Dad's to see what I could do to help them. They weren't home, but I can always find plenty to do at their house. I stayed in the yard checking on the garden and the roses. I decided I would clean up Mom's work table where she fixes all her pots full of annuals each year. I emptied all the old pots and got them all clean and ready to re-plant this season.

Dad had a bluebird box that someone had given him. I wanted it, but the builder didn't leave any way to open the box. When Dad got home, we took the top off and put hinges on it so I can open the box and see when the nest is built, when the eggs are layed, and when the babies are hatched. I will put it up tomorrow and hope they find it in time. I may be too late!