The crab apple tree feeding station!

Yes the snow and shivers are back.  There ain’t nothing like wading the white stuff, in down jacket and gloves, to fill the outside feeders for my feathered friends.  There is evidence of some furry creature trying to feast also.  My last sack of seed contained no corn but I think I’ll have  to go back to my old brand so I can add a bit of nutrition for the four footed visitors.

Today is Jay’s three month appointment with Dr. Hukill so we will be headed into Davison this afternoon.  I updated his blood sugar/pressure report yesterday for the Dr.  so that will be turned in also.

A stop at VG’s for cat food for Molly,  treats for both she and Brandy, and some soup for the pantry.  Then it is on to Jay’s favorite store, Davison Bacon and Sausage Co.. for more bacon.

Tomorrow I will check my finances and possibly get over to Clio to Dotty’s Feed store for thistle for Finches, Chickadees. and other small birds that visit the feeder.  I also need small hook bill seed for Chips and Tiki.  It sound like a lot of expense but the pleasure derived from all these creatures are worth the money.

Still working on Santa sock #1, devouring a few more pages in Twisted River, and searching for a Spring that has quite a while to wait before coming to us.

Stay warm, healthy, and happy—winter can’t last forever!

Ah —one day of no ice–but then last night the snow started to fall.  I will be getting out this morning to do a bit of shopping so I’m going to carry my cypress cane with me.  ( a great suggestion from my friends).  Besides I can usually navigate the snow.  There is sun shine out there now so my attitude just raised about 20 points.

The trip to Dr. Ross’ office yesterday revealed the need for another shot in Jay’s left eye to counteract blood vessel growth.  That will happen on February 11th.  This is a procedure he has had before and works well.

A call from daughter, Cindy, to tell me she was ill and had to take a few days off was not good news.  But if she follow the Doctor’s orders she should be all right soon.

My daughter-in-law  Anne, SEB’s wife, will be one year older at the end of the week and of course we wish her a Happy Birthday and many more.

Jay just took Brandy outside and then announced that the big thermometer on the porch reads 18 degrees.  ( See Momma shiver. Shiver Momma Shiver!)

Ice All Around!

As I stood by the truck at the foot of the driveway a memory returned to me of the ice I played on as a child.  When we lived in a suburb I used to pull on my boots, bundle up, go out to the sidewalk , slide sideways down the walk and into the snow.   There was no thought of danger.  I didn’t worry about falling .  If I did I would pick myself and try it again.

But this morning as I stood trying to determine the safest way to get to the mailbox,  then back to  my truck door, a total of approximately 30 feet.   Each step was like a baby step and when one of my feet would slip even a little I felt I was going down.  I step where I could see the gravel sticking up and walked slowly when there was no gravel.  I finally made it back to my truck door only to find that the letter I had taken down with me was still on the console.   I had retrieved my Sunday paper and that was the end of that mission for me.

Last night I worked on the stockings again for a while.  I now have the silver sequins on the toes and the heels of two of them and have started working on the third one.  I will try to do a little tonight also.

Three out four started.

I have decided to do all the silver sequins first because I don’t have a jar to keep them in.  The other materials except for the blue and green sequins are in small jars and are easy to get at.  Everything was shipped in little plastic envelopes and it was difficult to keep them neat.  My only problem now is to find a container to squirt  some glue into that has sides that are low enough to dip the pin points into without losing the bead and the sequin in the glue.   I tried a couple of things so far but haven’t got the results I need yet.

I had a couple of times to catch a “Kodak moment” with  my furry  children today.

It's Wet Out Here!

The first when we let Molly out side and she found it was raining.  There was a frantic scratching on the storm door and then this little head with big green eyes came into view.   She was more than happy to see Jay come and open the door for her.

Our second incident involved our Brandy.

I'm right behind you Daddy!

There is a ritual that we go through each time we feed Brandy.  We have her sit and wait as we fix her food and then call her over to lick the spoon, making all kinds of encouraging noises as she does.  Next one of us will pick up the dish and start marching toward the laundry room.  At this time Brandy will prance around, turn circles, and finally follow the food carrier to the room.  As we approach the doorway Brandy will begin to bark when we cross the metal strip on floor .  When she barks loud enough the dish goes down and her meal begins.

Those are raindrops on the bay window as the snow recedes and the water drains off the ice.  The temperature was in the mid thirties but Jay had helped me pull up the  yard decorations yesterday and they are safely in the basement.

So my friends that pretty well clears the to do list for now.

A look at my award from Silverfox is in order.

The award.

Thank you Maria !

Take care everyone until we hook up again and remember to laugh.

The big thermometer on the porch reads somewhere around 28 degrees, the snow is slowly disappearing but the dreaded ice is still in patches on the driveway.  I really hate being such a scared y cat but the tendency to trip seems to be part of my nature now and I don’t bounce anymore.

On January 20 I had  a things to do post.  As is my nature I took a day or two to get to it.  But I am happy to say I accomplished a lot of it yesterday. My pins on my Santa sock have all been pulled, the point dipped in glue, and replaced.  Last night I finished filling in the toe and heel with silver sequins and am now ready to start placing the rose colored ones on the body of the sock.

On Wednesday I called Donna in Georgia and heard she had something similar to what I have just gotten over.  I wished her well and moved on to my second call to my sister -in-law, Peggy, in Florida.  She is doing well.  She has taken her home off the market right now because my niece and grand daughter are living with her and helping with the expenses.  She said there were no offers from buyers right now anyway.

My third phone call was to Edna to see how she was doing.  Two attempts went to voice mail and there was no response that evening.  Thursday I called again but got the same results.  All I could think about was that I had no other contact number if she was ill or in trouble.  Yesterday morning she called me and I now have that contact number and can breathe a little easier.  She said she was doing O K under the circumstances and promised to keep in contact with me.  I told her I had just mailed the bookmark that Diane had made me, in a card, to her.

I finished off my day with completing my Fill It In book and reading a few more pages in  the Twisted River novel.  I’ll get some more time with it on Monday when I take Jay to Dr. Ross’ office.  Then again on Thursday when he has an appointment with Dr. Hukill.  That should give me a good bit of reading time.

Now that sounds like I didn’t do any the domestic chores but I did.  You don’t need to hear that routine again because we all do it every day.  Meals, dishes, cleaning, feeding pets and wild birds, etc.

Sorry to say Buck, Doe, the sled, and the penguins are still stuck in the yard but I promise I’ll get them soon.  That is unless the snow begins to fall again.

I have a little confession to make.  I’m getting excited about my 75th birthday coming up.  I didn’t think I’d see it but it may become a reality soon.  I only have about a month to stay out of trouble.

I have decided that this day will become Monday again.  Have a great day and a better week.

My Birds Of Beauty

When I moved my birds from the tree to the hutch I mentioned to my friend Darlene that I needed another bird for the middle drawer.  She said at that time that there was a Hallmark 2009 bird available.  My decision was made then to buy it so that I could replace that old wreath hanging on the center drawer knob.

As things happen in your every day life  like getting ill, my friend’s loss, the   needing to watch the finances closely because the insurance due on both the truck and the dome, and just getting space ready to file the new year’s papers and receipts things get forgotten.

When I finally got the the Hallmark Store in Davison a week or so back they had put their 2009 merchandise on sale and there was no 2009 bird to be had.  Where I live it is not ideal for hunting for specific stores to locate things even by phone and if I could find the item there was still the travel to that store to buy it. I confess that age and the weather were also factors to consider in my search.

I am not a web searcher so I had almost given up on getting the new bird when I decided to try the Hallmark website.  There I found a phone number for contacting them.  The lady I spoke to there said they didn’t have merchandise available there but she would give me a couple of website that might be able to help me.

Hooked On Ornaments at www.hookedonormaments.com was the first I checked and after some searching there I found my bird.  Finding it to be a Red Headed Woodpecker I knew I had to have it.  I ordered it and yesterday it arrived.

2009 Red Headed Woodpecker by Hallmark

Now it cost a bit more than had I bought it in the store but It was what I wanted and that made it worth it.  Just another bit of happiness to brighten my life and you can’t put a price on that.

Snow is slowly melting.

The mid 30 degree days are demonstrating the little warming trend we are having.  The deck is clear and around a lot of the trees you can see earth showing through.  I think it is time to pull on the boots, go out side, and rescue Buck, Doe, and the sled from the front yard.  I need to get them into the basement and hanging on their usual place for another year.  I will also try to pull the penguin out of the snow and move them inside also.  There are still two sets of extension cords to pull up but the lights on the dome are going to remain up a bit longer.

The last few days I have spent avoiding the ice on the driveway, working on my Fill It In magazine as I spend time in the kitchen, and reading John Irving’s Last Night On Twisted River. I’m not very far into the novel but definitely hooked on it.    Not being able to hold a book that heavy to read as I go off to sleep I don’t get much time with it except waiting at  Dr.’s appointments and a bit of time at home.

The sparkly stuff!

Day before yesterday I was at a loss as to what to do with myself.  I certainly didn’t want to mop or vacuum.  I tried embroidering Cindy’s apple towels but all I accomplished was twisted or broken thread, the needle in my fingertip, or trying to re thread that needle several times.  I finally folded the work away and pulled out the sparkles.

The first thing I discovered was that each pin takes a bead and a sequin instead of just the sequin.  I also read where I needed to dip the point of the pin in glue to hold it in place–something I didn’t have to do with the original kit.  Well I did two rows around the toe without the glue and discovered that some of the pins were falling out.  So that little project was folded up also until I located my glue.

Yesterday when I went out to pick up an ink cartridge for the printer I picked up a fresh container of glue.  Now all I have to do is pull all the pins, dip the point in glue, and reset them in the form.  This will teach me to follow instructions in the first place and not assume I can skip a step along the way.  I think my snowmen and Santa boots also take the beads so it is a good thing I’m starting to work on them now.

I’m playing with making something for my friend in the nursing home in Georgia.   Just something to go over her shoulders but I haven’t settle on what yet.

I’m going to re gift my new bookmark from Diane  to my friend Edna who just lost her husband.  I know Diane will not mind me doing this and Edna will appreciate such a lovely gift.

Well I never did make my two phone call I talked about the other day so today is the day.  Also Edna needs a call also.  So I’ll say have a great day to you and call my friends now.

Blue flowers in my mailbox!

I drove down to the mailbox yesterday because the ice made it hard to keep my balance walking.  When I opened the door the most delightful envelope greeted my eyes.  Pretty enough to be a bedspread or even wallpaper it was a ’smile at me’ moment.  Glancing at the label I found it was from Mrs Dof.  So I hurried back up to the dome to open it.

A batch of useful items in beautiful colors.

Oh how I did need some of these things badly.  I own four hot pads, two of which are starting to fray.  The dish cloths I bought were starting to fall apart.  The ones I received from Diane before were shoved in the back of the drawer because I wanted to save them for later.  But it seemed like later was fast approaching  and they were going to have to come out of  hiding and get used.

A new bookmark and a lovely Christmas ornament were also in the package.  The new scrubby was a welcome addition to the kitchen.

So as I looked over my new treasure I found that everything was very welcome by the Axsom folks and would be put to use soon.    That you Diane.  You know how to please this old girl’s heart.

Well almost halfway through the first month of 2010.  The Christmas inside decorations are packed away for another year.  Outside the status is the  same.  After a day or two of melting the water is now ice and difficult for an old fart to maneuver.  The temperature on the big thermometer outside is reading 36 degrees so I don’t hold much hopes for losing the ice out there.

Brandy visited the Doggy Depot this morning and is looking like herself and not a bad example of a dust mop.

My pills are all gone as of yesterday and I’m in pretty good shape.  Lets hope it holds.

It is Salmon Loaf with boiled potatoes, a vegetable, and a salad for supper tonight and I think hot dogs for lunch when Jay gets in from dialysis this afternoon.

In the meantime I have a checking account to verify,  two out of state phone calls to make ( as the  wellness policeman),   blogs and e mail to check , and maybe a little  lolly gagging to do!

Take care and stay comfy because I’m going to!

Morning driveway done.

For the last two morning Jay has gotten out early to snow blow the  200+ foot driveway to the street.  With the new snow blower he is done in less than half the time that the plow used to take.  That is good because he isn’t out as long in the cold.

Now as to me I am still messing around with the decorations and not making much headway.  Each day that I say I’ll work on the tree in the evening I let it go too long and can’t see to work in that corner.  So I put it off for another day.

Well my pills are almost gone and I still have a bit of a snooty nose.  But hey my mom always said I was a bit of a snotty kid!  It seems each time I go outside, bundled up and all, I still get the congestion going again.   So I’m to check with Doctor on Thursday If I’m not better.

Well it is Swiss steak for supper tonight so I have to hustle.  Take care all!

The table!

Decorations on the table, the tree, and in the bay window are all that is left to be packed on the inside  as of today.  I worked all day yesterday gathering items to be put away.

Unfortunately I ignored the outside and missed a great opportunity to bring some of those things in.  I said that if the sun shine was out again today I would work outside for a while.  Well the sun is shining so my day is planned for me.

I know I can’t get it all because I’m still not all better yet but I will get part of it down to the basement.  The overhead lights will have to wait for now but the lawn decorations will disappear before nightfall.

My coughing has all but disappeared but I still have some congestion.  I am sleeping deeply although I wake quite a bit though out the night.

Jay is coughing now but hopefully it isn’t  my problem given to him.  He has been having some bouts with wanting to sleep but he thinks the problem has been found.  A misdirection in dosage for one of his dialysis medication which has recently been corrected.  But it is too soon to see results yet.

Well my friend I have to go and start my busy day.  Stay comfortable where ever you are and remember to clear your lungs with a hardy dose of laughter!!!!

An Update:

I managed a lot of the outside things but left the Buck, Doe, and sled.  I also left the two penguins that were frozen to the ground.  The lights on the crab apple tree are  put away along with the display on the front of the dome.  The lights on the eaves will will remain up for right now.

I’m inside cleaning off the dining room table now and will start on the tree over the next few days.