The Title For This Post Has Eluded Me. LOL

Today's high temperature: 86

Today's humidity: 72%

Who does this remind you of?

Karen's kids went in together and got her a Kayak

to celebrate her obtaining her Master's Degree

This sight greeted me, when I staggered out into the living room this morning. 

Apparently Maggie The Cat didn't care for the way I had them arranged?

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My feelings are still a bit hurt.  I walked up to Pearl's.  She and Merle and I were standing outside, leaning on the car and just talking about the activity going on across my me.

Pearl said, "I broke off my thumbnail.  Right down to the finger.  It hurts like heck!"  and she laid her hand on the car trunk so I could see.

"Yikes!  That does look painful--it looks a little red."

"My nails had grown out so nice and long...and now look!"

I spread my hands out on the trunk and said, "I cut mine all back...really short last month,"

She looked down and pointed to my right index finger (the one that 1/4 is missing) and she said, "Why don't you do something with that one?  It looks so ugly..it about makes me sick."  

I was stunned.  I had no comeback, other than, "What do you want me to do with it?"

"At least, tuck it into your palm so people don't have to see it.  Yuck!"

Most people don't notice my finger and if they do, they don't mention it.  Once in a while, a kid will ask me what happened and I tell them, "I slammed it in a door.  So be careful.  Make sure you hands are out of the way when you close a door."  

I know it's weird looking, but I've had it since I was eight, so I guess it doesn't bother me.

After I came back home, I could think of all sorts of mean things to say to her---which of course, I never would.

"Why don't you lose some weight so you can walk better.  You're so fat you look awful."

"Why don't you wear your bridge so I don't have to look at all  the missing teeth in your mouth.  It makes me sick."

"Why don't you wear a bra so I don't have to look at those gross things bobbing around on your stomach."

===========================

Not much activity across the street this morning.  The "Not So Friendly" guy is still working on the forms for the driveway.

They are getting a new hot water heater,

which reminds me,  I need to drain and flush mine.

Dar came over.  She is now free from the Yellow Jackets.  She could actually hear them, chewing away at her wall.  We had a neighbor who had to take off a section of his outside siding to get rid of the nest he had.  They will eat right through the interior dry-walled wall.  Another neighbor had them between his roof and ceiling.  

I watched the guy when he came to Dar's.  He stuck a hose in the hole above her door, turned on a motor, waited two minutes, turned it off, coiled up the hose and was gone.  It took him seven minutes from start to finish.  $75.00 for seven minutes.  He sprayed a chemical dust in the hole which killed them all.

==============================

Merle stopped by, on his bike ride, to check it all out.

Half an hour later, the sirens went off.  Tami was at my door in seconds.  "Do I have to be worried?"

"I don't think so," I said.  "I was just looking at the radar map on my computer.  Seems to be a severe thunderstorm warning."

Then the phone rang--it was Dar.  "What does that mean.  Should we leave?"

"No.  Just a thunderstorm coming.  Turn on the weather channel."

"I FORGOT WHAT CHANNEL IT'S ON!

"Channel 30."

Then I walked outside with Tam.  Dar, Jackie, Merle and Pearl were all out in the middle of the street watching the western sky.

Jackie:  "Oh Dear Lord.  Look at the sky!"

Dar:  "Do you think we should leave?"

Tami:  "I gotta go to work.  I'm going to run right into it."

Pearl:  "What do you think."

Me: "Look at the clouds.  See those--they are going south of us.  Those over there--are going north and already passed us.  I just checked the radar and there is orange to the south and north of us, but coming over us is only yellow.  So we should be all right."

Then the wind picked up, the rain started and we all scurried into our homes.

It blew and it poured, but it wasn't anything to be scared of.  I put my ear plugs in so I wouldn't hear any thunder crashes and watched out the windows.

I got my flowers watered and my windows washed.  It was great!

 The concrete for the neighbor's drive?  I don't think it will be laid tomorrow. LOL

P.S.  I really wish my neighbor's would just turn on their TV's to see the weather warnings, instead of coming to me to see if they're safe.  How the heck do I know!  I suppose if a tornado does come one day, it will be all my fault!!

It's Not The Heat--It's the Humidity

Well--it's both hot and humid..and I don't like it.

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I had a productive weekend!  My friend Chrissy and I got to talk on the phone--a couple of times.  Trying to get her cookbook set up on Amazon.  We finally did it and it went up and on sale today!  This is the coolest cookbook I have ever seen!  I wish I'd had it when I was a young married.  I could barely cook, let alone figure out how to put an entire meal together.

This cookbook, has a menu for the entire meal.  No looking in the cookbook for the main dish, then rummaging in Grandma's recipe box for dessert, or trying to find the recipe you clipped and have since lost.   Chrissy had a very unique idea and it took her quite a few years to organize all of it and get it done.

Here's the link, if you want to check it out on Amazon
=================
While I was working, I occasionally looked through the windows to see what was going on across the street.

 There appeared to be an argument as to where the driveway
was to be.  Dad threw his hands up in the air and went over to
sit on the steps.

 In the midst of all these equipment, Don, the Lawn Mowing Guy came in
to mow my lawn, as well as Jackies and Dars.

 I thought perhaps I should go out and get my mail.

Plus, check out the front side of this nice back size.

Just a little "man shopping" you know.

I sweetly said, "Good morning."

He said, "Mmftt."

I said, "Sometimes the preparation is harder than the actual job."

He said, "Sfmmt, tfmmf"

All this without even looking up.

I figured he is not worth my time or engaging and charming personality!!

The foundation is ready for the concrete.

They threw up the small front porch this morning.  It does nothing for the house.  They need a larger porch--one that would come under the double windows, with a roof.  I watched as the lady tried to get up the steps.  She had to step back down on the top steps to open the screen door.  This is going to cause a problem in the winter.  Maybe they plan on using the back porch?  Still--those front steps are UGLY!!

===================

For some reason, Buddy cat has decided he wants to sit/lay on my desk!

So today, I put a nice big vase of Zinnia's in that place.  So, the big cat is on the table.

Summer Is Here!

Today's high temperature was:  86 degrees

Today's humidity was: 68%

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I have had to close up the house and run the A/C for the last two days, and will for the next week and I do not like it one bit!!!  I love the nice cool summer we had.  

So--I had a weird day.  It started early.  I have been working on how to get my friend's book on to amazon so she can sell it.  I was going to call her at 11:00 and we were going to go through it together and "get 'er done".

But, first, I had a goofy idea to send her a video of a tour of my house.  So I went outside and held the camera up on my forehead and started walking.  Into the house, pointing out certain things in certain rooms.  I was way in the back bedroom and I heard Dar calling my name.  Now, I was narrating the video, so I just ignored her.  I heard her open the door and come into the living room, still calling my name.  I ignored her, but started walking toward the front room.  She must have heard me narrating, because she backed out of the door and stood on the porch.

When I finished up, I opened the door and let her in.  I wanted to send the video to my friend before the phone call, so I was a bit anxious to get Dar outta here.

"I have to work today.  I have to leave at one."

<it was no 10:45>

"Okay.  I have to make a phone call in fifteen minutes.  Come on in for a few minutes."

To tell you the truth, I do not even recall, now, what she was talking about.  At eleven fifteen, I asked her to leave.

Than, I called Chrissy, my friend, and WOW, was it ever good to hear her voice.  We laughed and giggled, just like we always do.  We tried to figure it all out a bit--than I told her, I'd have to call her back at two--one her time.

I watched out the front windows, for a while.  Watching the progress across the street.

This is the manager's Mom and HER father.
He is 94 and lives two streets over.  Another reason she wanted to move in here.

My Purple Hyacinth Bean Plant is finally getting some pods!  YAY.

I called Chrissy at two, but it got so complicated that I just got her information and I think I can go in, use her e-mail and password and get her cookbook up and ready.

We did have some good laughs as she explained the snake/scorpion/centipede situation in her new Texas home--well, garage actually. I worry about her living with those kind of critters. 

===========================

Tonight I called Pam.  She had been mowing all day and I told her I had taken pictures and would e-mail them to her.  Jen's kids are starting school here, the day after Labor Day, so at least they aren't moving.  I don't know if Eric is going to go to New Jersey and start (trying) to work with his Dad.  All I wanted to know is that the kids will be here and that means Pammie will have a job.

I have to give you the dialogue of part of our conversation.

"A Coyote took down one the deer last week and the dead thing was laying out on the far edge of the lawn and stinking awful!"

"Wait.  Did you say Coyote?"

"Yeah."

"You have Coyote's out there?"

"Yeah.  They killed the deer and as I was mowing two weeks ago, out there, you know, where the pasture is...that I now mow, I was gagging and trying to plug my nose.  I finally got the shovel and carried the carcass out and threw it in the ditch down there.  I went out to mow last Friday and the damn Coyotes had dragged it back onto the pasture!"

"Oh my Gosh!"

"So...I got the shovel and moved it back to the ditch.  It was mostly all pieces by now.  The skull had a nice rack on it.  So, I leaned that up against the tree and thought that in a month or so, the bugs will clean it up and I will have a nice skull with horns to put up on the steps by the deck.  Sun bleached white and all..kind of like you see in those old west movies?"

"Okay."

"Well--I got out to mow today and the Coyotes had dragged the pieces back on the lawn, but now it was just bones.  But--get this Momma, I can't find the skull and horns anywhere!  All that work for nothing!"

"Do you ever hear the Coyotes?"

"Yeah--always in the middle of the night.  I hear them calling and yipping.  You know how pitch black it is out here at night.  I lay in bed and wonder, 'Hello--is there anyone out there.  Am I the only one left in the world.'  It kind of scares me."

"Next thing ya know, you'll look up and see a black bear looking in your window!"

===========================

We laughed and giggled about that scenario for awhile and then Pam said, 

"I can't wait for those kids to get back in school!  They are bored and they pick on and fight with each other.  Drive me nuts!  It'll be nice, with just me and the baby here most of the day."

"Will you have to drive them to school and pick them up?"

"Elise and Alex.  They go to school right next to each other.  Not Andrew.  He is riding the bus."

"Will you have to drive him to the end of the Cul-de- sac or will the bus come up to the house."

"HE'S WALKING!  He has to get up an hour earlier than the other kids."

"What about in the winter."

'HE'S WALKING!'  It's time he sucked it up and quit acting like a spoiled, bratty thirteen year old!"

"He's only twelve...and that's the way twelve and thirteen year olds act."

"and Elise--she acts so snotty and sassy!  Gawd--I can't wait for them to be outta the house."

So--right about here is where I started laughing so hard I could hardly speak.

"Pammie.................do you..............do you .......remember when you were that age and one day...........I said to you.......'I hope you have kids just like you'.  Remember that?"

"Yeah."

"Well................................you didn't have any kids, but......................but it appears................that you have a niece and nephews just like you!"

I am laughing so hard I am about to strangle!

"It's hard!  You tell them to do something and they either don't listen or they just don't do it and then when you tell them again, they get real uppity."

"Yeah.  I remember."

"They get disrespectful and I'd just like to slap them!"

"Yeah.  I remember."

"Elise got mad the other day, walked away from me when I was trying to tell her something, slammed the door and went outside."

"Yeah.  I remember."

"It's just so frustrating trying to deal with these pre-teens.  They make me so angry!"

"Yeah.  I remember."

Then...silence for a moment.

"Mark and I were just as bad or worse, weren't we?"

"Yeah.  It's a phase.  By the time they are ready to graduate,  you will hate to see them go."

"If I live that long!"

"Yeah.  I remember."

Then we laughed and hooted some more.

The circle of life.    

The worse the kids are, the more the parents of the kids will appreciate THEIR parents?

Tickles me to pieces!!!

No Headache. No Yucky Tummy. No Dizziness. 0.5 Ativan :-)

Lesson of the day:

It is NOT a trailer--although it trails along behind a big truck.
It is NOT a mobile home--although is can be moved and transported.
It is NOT a modular home--although it comes in two different sections.
It IS a Manufactured home, and if you call it a trailer (as I do), people that live in them are going to correct you!

Manufactured homes are made in a factory.  They are made to stricter codes than a Modular Home.  They have sturdier frames, thicker walls, more insulation and vinyl windows.  They are built better and made to withstand 110 mph winds.  Their frame is "tied-down" with chains cemented into the footings.

All that being said, "you can put a dress and lipstick on a pig and it is still a pig."  You can dress up and prettify a trailer and it is still a trailer.  :-)

I don't think my Purple Hyacinth Bean Plant

has enough time before the frost comes

to make any pods.

The flower sure is pretty though.

Aaron putting the mailboxes back up

When I met this kid, he was at my door

handing out his flyers to get any

handy-man jobs available.

He did a lot for me at a cost of

"whatever you can pay me Ma'am."

Now he is Manager of Grounds at the park

and the last time I hired him, it was

$20.00 an hour.

In place, tomorrow starts the putting up on blocks,

leveling and putting it back together.

========================

Lunch with the Old School Gal Pals Today

Pretty good looking for a bunch of old broads!

Then it was out to The Farm to visit lil' sis and get some REAL food.  

I stopped to take a couple of pictures of (my) Pammie's place.  It is looking much better and she put in a real nice perennial garden this spring.

Where Was I?

It has a door.  Wouldn't it be cute, painted barn red, with white trim.  Maybe a nice white Pennsylvania Star on the end.  Well--if we lived out in the country, it would be cute.  Not here in this crowded neighborhood.

I have had the most gosh awful headache for three days now.  I have felt yucky--tummy yucky, and no energy.  Kind of grouchy.

This all was not helped by Dar, coming over with her friend, Judy L.  Walking in while I was in the bathroom.  They had been over to measure the shed because July L. wants a bigger one, as does Dar, so they were taking measurements so they could tell the office they are building ones the same size.  So there!

Judy L. is even louder than Dar and she talks fast and she knows it all and she is aggressive in her stating of things.  And she points her finger at you.

"You told Dar you thought that shed was twelve feet tall...we measured...and it's only ten."

"From the peak of the roof?"

"Yes.  It's only ten."

Oh.  Okay.  It looks taller to me from here.  Did you climb up on the roof to measure?"

"No...Dar held the measuring tape down on the ground and I pushed it until it reached the roof."

"Cool."

"You're just looking at it wrong.  It's ten by eight by ten."

"Nice size."

"Yeah....and there will be a few more that size too.  Now they can't tell me what size shed I can have.  I have proof and I am going to tell THEM, what size I AM going to build!"

Dar drops her head in a quick nod, "And I am too!"

They were going to go over to Dar's and Judy L. was going to spray a small paper-wasp nest near Dar's front door.

"Dar's got a bee hive right over her front door," says July L.

"A bee hive?" says I.

"Yes.  I"m going to spray it with wasp spray to kill them.  I have to wait until dusk when the queen comes back to the hive."

"I thought it was a hornet or wasp nest.  I had one in my shed.  It looks like grey paper?"

Dar nods her head.

"Oh no!" <here is where she puts up her finger and sort of points it at me.>  "It's honey bees!  I work with honey all day so I know about honey bees."

"I thought honey bees made a nest that sort of comes down the side of a building--kind of longish.  Not like a paper nest."

"Oh no! <again with the finger>  "You come on over and look."  <she sort of tugs at my arm>

We walk over and there is a smallish paper nest.

"Yikes!  Those are Yellow Jackets!" I said.  "Be careful--their sting is very painful."

"What are you talking about," said the lovely Judy L.  "Those are Honey Bees.  Can't you see the cells where they store the honey?  You should have worn your glasses, Lady."

<oh oh>

"I don't see any honey," I said.  "Besides, they don't look like bees, they look like Yellow Jackets."

"Oh my Lord!" she said. "Yellow Jackets are huge." and she holds up her fingers about an inch apart.  "And they are wide and fat."

<Now, I just want to slap this woman>

"That sounds like a Bumble Bee," said Dar.

<by now, my head is pounding and I feel like I'm going to throw up and I better leave or my name and face will be all over the six o'clock news for woman abuse>

"Well--Honey Bees are endangered, so you better check with an exterminator before you kill them.  You could be breaking the law."  and I turn to walk away.  "I gotta get home.  I don't feel well."

Just then, Merle walks up.  

"I have a Honey Bee hive," says Dar.  "Judy L. is going to spray them and kill them because I am very allergic to bee stings."

Merle walks up on the porch, looks up at the nest.  "Those are Yellow Jackets.  Spray the nest with that foam stuff and it should take care of 'em."

I just walk away and come back home.

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Tuesday morning, I woke up with the head ache, dizzy and pukey feeling.  The cats were out of dry food, so I knew I had to go to the store <groan>

I checked my wallet--I had three dollars.  I checked my bank account--I had forty dollars.  Then I remembered.  Melissa had sent me a gift card to the Rich People's store.  

I jumped in the car and headed into Brighton.  My head felt so "skeejawed" it was kind of hard to drive,  When I got to the store, I felt so weak I didn't know if I could get the stuff I needed.  I took a deep breath and proceeded to get: the small cake for one that I like.  A jug of milk, bag of cat food, and two of their wonderful deli salads that I like.

On the way home, I noticed that gas at the Meijer gas station was $3.33.  Not a bad price.  My tank was half full so I decided to top it off.  At the pump, I put in my MPerks number--a discount store card thingie, that adds up certain points for things you buy.  The price changed to $3.13.  Fifteen bucks to fill up the tank and enough in my checking account for that.

Got home, watched my Soap and did a load of laundry, changed the furnace filter, took my vacuum hose and got down deep inside the dryer vent to clean out the lint, then threw the clothes in the dryer and while it was running, went outside to use my loooooong brush to get up in the vent and pull out the lint from that end..if you do this while the dryer is running, it helps blow out all the lint.  Hauled a couple of things out to the shed and came back in.

I discovered that the cable was out.  This has never happened before.  Because I have my TV/Internet and phone bundled, none of them would work.  Plus a thunderstorm was brewing so I couldn't use my computer to look at my weather map and I couldn't watch the Weather Station.  That unsettled me a bit.  I just had to do like I used too--watch the clouds.  The storm came in, downpours--lots of rain, very little thunder, but gusty winds.

Pearl walked down after the storm.  "I was worried about you.  I tried to call you but your phone just rang and rang."

"Isn't your cable out?"

"Yes.  TV and computer."

"That's why my phone doesn't work.  It is tied in with the cable service."

"What about your cell phone."

"I don't have a cell phone."

"You mean that number I call is your home phone?:

"Yes."

"Oh.  Well Merle called Comcast and they said we'd have service back by seven tonight."

"Oh.  Good."

"What if you had to call 911? "

"I couldn't.  Not if the cable service was out."

"What if you had too."

"I guess I'd have to walk up to your house so you could call."

"What if you fell and you couldn't get up?"

"I guess I'd have to lay here until it started working again."

"Oh."

==============

Last night there was more screaming and yelling from the Bat Cave next door.  The slamming of the front door, car doors and peeling out of the drive and down the street.  The Lady Vampire is now working days and apparently it is not sitting well with her environment?

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Part of Privet Hedge removed

in order to get house on to

lot, I suppose?

  Just a month ago, Maggie would not let me brush her.  After I made the bench for the cats, she loves it.  She comes into the computer room every morning, around 10:00, starts meowing and when I stand up, she runs ahead of me, into the bedroom, up on the bench for her brushing.  Here is a video I made this morning.  I don't know if it will work--Blogspot seems not to like videos posted.

Okay--it works kind of.  2.30 minutes of video in a few seconds and no sound.  <sigh> It is cute in real time!