Changes Are Going To Be Made!!!

Last night when I went to bed, I set my alarm for 8:00 a.m.  I hear you laughing!!  You all get up early.  I am a night owl, so I tend not to go to bed until midnight and then, usually not asleep for half an hour.  BUT--that will change.  Well, not my bedtime, but my arising time.  I am such a slug, I will sleep in until near 10:00.  Not good!!!  Too much sleep!!!   

My friends all get up at around 7:00.  They tease me that the "day is half over when you get up."  I tell them, "I see no reason on earth to get up that early, unless I have an appointment or church."
Let's face it, kids.  The days are long and empty enough around here, without adding another hour or so to the morning.  Besides, a lot of my friends take naps in the afternoon.  They are yawning by two in the afternoon. Two in the afternoon is just when I am getting started!!!  So I tell them, if they ask if I nap, I say, "Yes.  From seven until nine in the morning."

Anyway--I am going to start getting up earlier!!!  At least during Daylight Savings Time.

I am also drinking less Diet Pepsi and more water and iced tea.  I bought some special tea bags just for brewing iced tea.  BLECH!!!  I noticed my sister buys her iced tea.  It comes in a jug and has a bit of lemon and sugar in it.  BLECH!!!  So I went looking and found TradeWinds--which comes sweetened or not.  I got the unsweetened and BOY HOWDY is it ever good!!  It is mellow and tasty and no bitterness.  

This morning, I was out on the road by 10:00--on a quest to find one of those expandable, flexible hoses like advertised on TV.  I have a nice box that contains my two hoses--with a handle to reel it up with, but--the dang hose is so heavy to pull out.  I have to tug it and lug it over to the the extreme side of my lot in order to get enough hose to then, walk around to the front--without dragging it through my gardens.

My Face Book friends have been raving about this new type hose.  How light-weight it is.  How easy to use.  When you turn off the water--the dang things coils itself up!!!  I mean--it looks like a living thing!!

This was the Consumer's Report review:  "We even found a clear winner, the Pocket Hose, if you want higher flow far from the spigot but have wimpy water pressure."

My FB friends told me what stores, in their area, sold them.  So--off I went to the same stores in my area.

The opening question was, "Do you sell the expandable, flexible, pocket hose that is advertised on TV?"

Lowes--"No."
Home Depot, Howell--"I don't think so. Let me check. No."
Home Depot, Brighton--"I just started work here. You'll have to check along the back wall."
Ace Hardware--"The what? Nope. Oh, wait. You mean this? Well it's flexible!"
Bordines Nursery--"Let me check. No--sorry."
Bed, BB--"Is that for a dryer? We don't carry those kinds of things."

Came home--Website--click, click, put in mailing address, click. It's on it's way. Seven days.
Had to pay shipping--cheaper then running all over the county.
Priceless.

I can't wait to get it and test it out--we shall see how good it works.  Then--just maybe, Merle and Pearl will want my hose reel box and I can get rid of it--they can have the hoses in it too.  Just come and get it, LOL
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Merle fixed the brace on the bottom of my shed door.  He wanted too--I didn't even notice until last week that it was falling apart.  Oh, I gotta tell you this conversation--Sunday afternoon.

Ring--ring.

"Hi, Pearl.  What's up?"

"Can you hear that sawing?  It's driving me nuts!  Someone is sawing down your way."

"I don't hear anything."

"There--now do you hear it?"

"Nope."

"Well, someone is sawing down there.  Go tell them to stop!  ha ha."

So I hang up the phone and walk outside--down to the next corner--only about 50 feet, down that street to the next corner and then cut cross lots by the neighbor behind me and came in and called Pearl.

"I have been around the block and there is no one sawing down this way.  Are you sure it isn't behind you.  You know how sounds echo in this place!"

"You walked all around the block?"

"Well, no--but I walked down to the corner and up that street.  No one is even outside, let alone sawing."

"Okay."

I hang up.

It wasn't a minute and she called back.

"It's Merle.  He's sawing out here in the patio--by the shed."

I started laughing so hard, I started coughing and couldn't get my breath.

"It's Merle?  Right outside your window.  And you--didn't know?"

"I thought he was out riding his bike.  I didn't know he had come back.  He's making the thingie to fix your door."

OMG.  I hung up and laughed for another ten minutes.  Didn't know it was right outside her window!

So--anyway--every morning, when I threw the cat litter clean-up bag out in the garbage pail, I looked over at my shed.  That door still looked the same.  White, with black trim on the corners and around the door.  I didn't see any new, raw wood brace.

Tuesday afternoon, Merle called.  "Did you notice I fixed your shed door?  It should open easier now."

"No.  I didn't see any new wood on there."

"I painted it black.  Gotta keep it from rotting."

I walked to the porch and saw it.

"You painted it?"

"Yes."

"Well---why didn't you paint the rest of the trim?  It needs it!"

He started laughing.

I said, "I mean--there you were.  Paint brush in hand.  Can of black paint open and...you couldn't paint the rest of the trim?  What kind of friend are you?"

So we hooted and hollared for awhile and then hung up.
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I transplanted 3 hostas today--the varigated ones.  The big leafed

green one was already there.

I have another green one that will go on the other side of the

other varigated one--these are under my Lilacs and Rose of Sharon bushes.

Yes--I dug the holes by myself   :-)

I noticed today, when I was out working my in gardens, that the huge Rose of Sharon bush in back of my house is dead!  That's two that I have lost since I lived here.  They are a beautiful bush, that blooms in August, but--it appears that when they get old, they get rotten.  I was outside when one of the maintenance men that works in the park, came walking by.  Aaron--who used to do lawn work for me before he got the maintenance job.  I waved him over and asked, "Do you have a chain saw?  I need this cut down to ground level and hauled away."

"Sure--I can do it for ya."

"Whenever you have time.  No rush.  It isn't going anywhere!"

So that chore will be taken care of.  Probably cost me fifty bucks--but worth it.

We got three nice rain storms today and it is getting real chilly tonight.  Just a nice rain--no lightning or thunder with it.  I knew Mother Nature could give us rain without all that other chaos thrown in.

Tomorrow afternoon, I have my doctor's appointment-  I haven't seen him in a year.  Since my blood work was all right, and no one has called to say anything is wrong with my mammogram or chest x-ray, I assume everything is fine.  I want to talk to him about this low blood pressure issue I am having.  The severe dizzy spells are driving me nuts!!

Later----Jude