Sad/Happy

What an unusual day!  Well--not exactly the day, but the happenings.  

I have a Downy Woodpecker (female) that I noticed had a bad left wing.  She would climb up the tallest part of the Rose of Sharon bush, but every time she tried to fly up to the suet cake feeder, she'd take a header to the ground below.

Tuesday, I went out and tried to catch her.  Even with a bad wing, she could hop faster than I could hobble to catch her.  She flew into the Lilac bush and clung to the side of a limb.  Every time I put my hand out to get her, she'd maneuver around to the other side of the branch.  Back and forth we played this game until I finally game up.

Yesterday, while at the store, I got a new green wire suet cake holder.  I forgot to tell you--this is the 3rd one I have purchased this year.  I put up my nice copper one this fall, but I had it too close to the porch roof line, a squirrel hung over the edge, knocked it down and hauled it across the street to the woods behind Jackie's.  I bought another one--a green, wire one, and again, a squirrel did the same thing.

This spring, I plan on going into the woods and hunting for my suet cake holders.

Anyway--I then bought a nice one, with a little wooden roof and hung it in a different place,  way under the porch roof and said squirrel couldn't reach it.  I didn't exactly want to put that nice one down for my injured Woodpecker, so I got another wire one and hung it on the Lilac bush limb.  She could get up to it and ate from it.

This morning, as I was watching activity at the bird feeders, I noticed she was once again sitting in the Rose of Sharon bush--about four feet up from the ground.

All of a sudden, a black Feral cat we have around her, came leaping out of the air, grabbed her in his mouth and looked around.  I ran to the front door, yelled at him, "NO!" and he fled.

Oh. My.  GOSH!!  I was horrified!! He knew she was injured so he went after her.  Mother Nature's, survival of the fittest.  It bothered me all morning!
==============
After my Soap, I had to run up to the bank.  When I got home, I decided to fill up all the feeders and the squirrel lunch counter.  I looked around a little bit, while I was under the large silo bird feeder.  I thought perhaps I could find one of her feathers and put it in with my feather collection, to remember her.

Well, what to my wondering eyes did appear?

There she was!  Huddled down at the base of the bush!  I tired to pick her up, but she hopped away and back up into the Lilac.

I went about finishing up filling the feeders.  An hour later, I saw her, at the top of the Rose of Sharon bush.  She wanted to eat from the wooden feeder, instead of the one I had put in the bush for her.

 After her 4th attempt, she finally did fly up to the feeder.

 You can see her wing(s) aren't quite right, but I think she is getting better.
At least, she wasn't the Feral cat's lunch!!!!!!!!

==================
I don't suppose you remember last March, when I made up a beach vignette in the kitchen?

I have decided if I move the tall entertainment center to the bedroom corner, I need to get rid of the cart and beach stuff--leave that whole area by the kitchen table, open.

So--I moved my beach stuff to my bathroom, which is decorated in all beachy stuff anyway.

I am going to move the cart, across the room to where my collection of old boxes and Cows are now residing.

I may use the old trunk for my TV to set on.  Maybe.  It would be lower than the fireplace/media center, but it will give me the open feeling, to get used too.

I am going nutsy-cuckoo about all of this.  LOL

==============
I hope I don't forget that I have a fasting blood draw in the morning--in preparation for my  annual Wellness Check-up next Tuesday.

We used to call it our Yearly Check-Up.  Now, the primary care doctor's don't do those (Pap, breast exam, etc), now we get a Wellness Check.  Where we tell him how we feel and he listens to our heart and send us on our way.

GEEZ!!!

Mid-Week This 'N That

Look at this.

Posts

Entry	Pageviews
Our Blanket Has Been Adopted!!! Jan 28, 2016, 7 comments	88
Shiny Day Jan 29, 2016, 5 comments	82
Ah-hh. To Be A Sloth. Jan 27, 2016, 8 comments	80
Job. Not a money making one--the one from the Bib... Jan 31, 2016, 8 comments	79
Raised by Wolves Feb 1, 2016, 16 comments	75

This is how many people stopped by to read my blog

WOW!!!!!  I don't even know that many people!!

But--look at the number of comments left.  

Why are you stopping by and not leaving a comment?  You don't have to have a blog to leave a comment.  You can just leave a comment and then type in your name or not.  You can just type, "Hi Judy." and that's all it takes.  I do love your advice, opinions and comments.

I just might have to do another MANDATORY, "leave your name and where you are from" comment requirement.  If you don't, I will only post commentaries on the political races for a whole week!!!  Now--none of us want that.  Right?

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

My Social Security hit my checking account this morning so off I went to get my hair cut, eyebrows tamed, inkjet cartridges refilled and litter and cat food at the grocery store.

Now, I have a question.  Do any of you know someone who takes Prevagen?  The memory helper?

I expect an answer in the comments.  :-)

<which reminds me...rent was due today and I haven't even written out my check>

I've Been Thinking.

I can hear you all saying, "Oh. Oh."

Really, it's not all that bad--honest.

I have wanted a fireplace in my home for many years.  When we remodeled my grandmother's house, we had a perfect wall for a fireplace.  Unfortunately, the contractor convinced my husband (who didn't want one) that a fireplace would draw all the warm heat from our living room, up the chimney, therefore increasing our oil bill.  UNLESS--we had an insert or a draft pipe up to the outside and tight glass doors on the front.

Now--more than the heat source, I just wanted the look of the flames and the SOUND of the crackling logs.  So I said, "Never mind."

When I was staying with my friend, Ernie, he put an electric heater Franklin stove in his living room.  We could see the flames, but there was no sound.  No crackling of burning logs.

When I moved in here 13 years ago, I looked at electric fireplaces,  I knew right where I'd place it. But, I also needed an entertainment center, and there wasn't room for both.

A few years ago, Fred and I found an electric fireplace, plus media center all in one!  At the time, most of them were up into the $1,500-2,000.00 price range and no way we could afford that.

I have not lost that long held dream.  I've been searching the Internet, looking for just the perfect one.  I found it last winter.

So--I have an idea!

This is my entertainment center in the living room.

Painted a pale, washed green.

This is part of the closet in my den.  Plastic boxes filled with yarn.  Patterns, etc.

 This is the corner of my bedroom.  Plastic box and boxes and bags filled with yarn for the projects I am working on for Chrissy. My bedroom furniture is a painted green

I want to put this in that corner.  Take ALL the totes I have filled with yarn, knitting needles, crochet hooks,

from the closet and put this in that bedroom corner.  I hate clutter and want it hidden behind the closed doors!

Then, I want to place this lovely Craftsman Media

Center, in light oak, in it's place in my living room.

 

where this stood.

I am going to have the outlet rewired with a ground (like the ones in our bathrooms and kitchens) so I CAN use it for a heat source, but I probably will never use it for a heat source.  Basically it's just a small space heater behind the magical flames.  The one I want costs only $402.00--much lower price than the $1,200.00 one I first fell in love with that had glass front doors on the storage.  These doors will cover up the sight of the videos hidden behind. :-)

The "mantel" of the fireplace is (34" tall) three inches taller than where my TV sits now, so it would be just above that chair rail thingie that runs the length of the wall.  It is also 20" wider and 2" thicker, than the now entertainment center.

The electric fireplace itself can be used just with different flame heights, patterns and different sounds, campfire, dying fire, whatever.  So I can get the ambiance of the flames flickering and the SOUND of crackling, burning logs.  All run by remote clicker! and not use the heater.

I have several friends that have these and, they ALL love them.  They come in all sizes and prices.  Tall, very wide, ornate.  Cherry, Mahoganey, Red Oak and Light Oak, that will match my furniture.  I want to keep my wee house with an open, clean, minimalistic feel so I am going for the one I finally chose.  The TV sets on top, the media stuff in the shelf underneath and the videos behind closed doors.

I have been saving up for my 5th and hopefully last car repair, and when I get that taken care of, will put money in the jar that has the pix of the fireplace on it. :-)  Maybe by next fall?

 =====================

Now--what I have been thinking about is this:

I want the many knitting/crocheting storage boxes all in one place AND I want that corner clutter in my bedroom GONE--what if I got a 34" tall stand or table or something, at the Salvation Army Store, to put my TV on and move the entertainment center into the bedroom NOW?

YES--my living room might look strange with the TV sitting on the "whatever", but it also would give me a sense of not having that tall piece of furniture that is now there, and I would get used to the idea?  I really don't know how I am going to feel with a lot of open wall space above the fireplace. 

Although that tall piece was purposefully purchased and sat there on the slant, to kind of use as a room divider between there and the kitchen.  Am I going to feel like the kitchen is invading my living room with it gone?  

This is the view any guest has, from the couch.  Can you picture the fireplace sitting in that space, flat up against the wall and only 3 inches above the chair rail with the TV on top?

From the rocking chair, where most guests sit.

That tall piece DOES accentuate the height of the ceiling and sort of divides spaces.

What do YOU think.  I was never any kind of room decorator!!!

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

OR--should I just leave everything right where it is until I get the fireplace?

OR--should I just forget the whole damn thing because in reality, how many years do I have left to enjoy a new piece of furniture?

AND I probably need to buy a new recliner first!

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

Move it now?

Leave it until fireplace arrives?

Forget the fireplace altogether?

Raised by Wolves

At 5:00, I saw her headed this way.  Walking with a very determined stride.

I girded my loins and went to open the door.

"I feel nervous and upset, so I came over.  Make me feel better!"

"Okay.  Sit down...here's your ashtray.  How's it going?"
=====================

Her grandson is moving to Canada when he turns 18 in June.  He met a girl on-line and they have been chatting for a year.  They are in love so he's going there to get married.

Dar took them to supper last night,  The boy hunches over his food and shovels it in as fast as he can.  The girl eats with her hands--even mashed potatoes--she dips two fingers in and sucks the potatoes off.

Neither one of the kids gets up until afternoon.  They, of course, do not know how to work a Microwave, a Dishwasher, a washer or dryer.  They don't even know to set at the table for meals--taking their plate and heading towards their bedroom, not returning the dirty dishes.

"What is wrong with these kids?" Dar asked.

"Obviously...they have been raised by wolves."  I answered, which made her laugh. I continued, "It's not that they are stupid...they've never been taught."

Her son has a Welfare card from Oregon, that he also was able to use in Indiana, so I am assuming he only needs to go to our Welfare office to get his food card "reloaded" for this month.  He also has an abscessed tooth that is making him sick.

"They have nothing!  Except a dog.  They have two sets of under wear and jeans and tops.  They have worn and slept in them since Friday night!"

So I said, "Okay.  You have tomorrow off--right?"

"Yes."

"You get up early and by 9:00 you head to the DHS office up in Howell.  Get his food card reloaded, fill out the forms to get him help finding a place to live.  Ask them how to get testing for your grand daughter and see where she can go to school.  Tell them that this family is homeless and you are trying to help them.  Don't even mention you are the Grandma.
On the way back, stop at Gleaners and sign him up to get food there.  When you leave there, you drive straight to the free dental clinic--Vina--in Brighton and make an appointment to get his tooth pulled On the way back home, you stop at the Salvation Army, where you used to work, and get them some pajamas and some clothes, coats...whatever they need."

"My life had just evened out and was peaceful.  I don't wanna have to do this!!!"

"Well, your son doesn't know where all these places are, so you gotta take him and get it underway.  The sooner you get everything underway, the sooner they can move into their own place.  Plus, if the boy is moving to Canada in three months, you need to get him a Passport.  He can no longer cross the border without one. Post Office for that application."

"Oh.  I forgot all about that!"

"Has Wayne checked to see if the kids can collect from their mother's Social Security."

"Oh my Gosh!  Probably not."

"Well then,  you need to have him call the SS office and check on that.  My Gosh--each kid could be getting five hundred a month until they are eighteen."

"He won't do it.  He wouldn't even know how."

"Then, you gotta do it for him!"

"I did stop up at the office this morning to register them living with me."

"That's a great start.  Now you just gotta do the rest and then you can go back to work the rest of the week and be away from it--at least until you get home."

"I didn't want to get into anymore trouble with the office, so I even told them that Wayne is a felon."

"A...is...what?"

"If they check his background.  He was in prison for five years for robbery."

"Okay."

"And...he won't allow his daughter to go to school."

"Why?"

"She weighs over two hundred pounds.  She can't read or write.  He's afraid the kids will laugh at her."

"Well, I'm sure when DHS is told that. they will find a special school for her.  If he doesn't, and DHS realizes he has two kids who have never been to school, they will send out CPS and put his kids in foster care.  Does he want that?"

"If that happens, he will pack up and run again."

"Well Dar, I guess that's his choice and nothing you can do about it.  You can offer to help get them settled, but if your son won't accept living in a normal society...there's nothing you can do about that."
===================
I didn't even know that people like this lived in this world!  I am soooooo naive!  It's not like they've been born and raised up in the highest mountain of Kentucky, away from civilization!  I guess the wife/mother arranged all the Welfare stuff, because the husband sure doesn't even know where to start.

I think the two of them, lived and wanted to live a free-spirit sort of life.  They expected the children to express themselves and do whatever they wanted, not be taught in schools with their regimented ideas. 
When the wife became ill, she would not go to a doctor, or let hospice come in and help.  At the time, they were house sitting--she died in the bedroom of the home owners!!!
==================

So, I helped as much as I knew to do.  As Dar left two hours later, she said, "I knew I had to come over here.  You always make me feel so much better!"

"No problem.  Let me know if I can help in any way."
<Idiot!  Why did I have to utter those last words?>  

Job. Not a money making one--the one from the Bible.

Dar has a new crisis, and of course, it has over- flowed into my life.

She called at 11:00 Friday night wondering if I had an air mattress.  I did not have one and said, "Why don't you check at work?  I think Meijer (where she works) sells them."

"Oh.  Good idea.  I never thought of that."
<dim>

Her oldest son Wayne, whom she hasn't had contact with in three years, lived in Michigan, but moved to Seattle.  She had no idea until her daughter Connie called and told her Wayne's wife was dying.

Dar's son and daughter-in-law have lived a sort of 1960's, hippie lifestyle.  Neither one has worked for the last decade, instead living on Welfare.  They have two children, now 17 (boy) and 14 (girl) and neither one has ever gone to school.  

When the wife died, Dar did send her son money to pay for the cremation.  A few months later, CPS was going to take the children and put them in Foster Care and into school.  They thought both could start in 6th grade.  Can you imagine, a tall 17 year-old boy going into 6th grade?

Dar's daughter Connie heard about it from her brother and told them to come to Indiana and live with her.  He and the kids piled in their old van and headed to Indiana.

After two months living with his sister, Connie told him he had to get the kids in school or he couldn't live there anymore.  

For the last month, he and the kids have been living out of their van in a park near Connie's.  They move the van everyday, spend all day pan-handling on the streets of Indianapolis and go back to the park to sleep at night.

So what does his sister do?  She reports him to the police and CPS.  Then she calls Dar and tells her what she's done.  Dar thought her son was still in Seattle.

Dar tells Connie to find him and tell him to come stay with her.  Apparently, he got out of there, two hours before the police showed up.  The police went to Connie's and she told him, he had left and was headed to Michigan and gave them Dar's address!!

Dar has three bedrooms.  She wanted the air mattress for the 17 year old boy to sleep on in her den.  The son could then have his own room and queen size bed and her 14 year old grand daughter the other bedroom.  

I suggested that the boy could sleep in the Queen size bed with his Dad.  Dar seems to think everyone needs their own private bedroom--which would be nice, I suppose, but this is a crisis situation.

The family arrived in the middle of Friday night.  I have not seen any of them come out of the house, except Dar to go to work.

Dar also told me that "I am NOT taking them in!  They can only stay here a few days.  He needs to find a job, and an apartment and get those kids in school!"

The boy, legally doesn't have to go to school and will turn 18 in three months.  The girl needs to be in school and find some sort of life for herself.

I expect police cars to show up any day now, across the street.  I see he has backed the van in so his license plate is not visible.
===============
Dar wonders why her grown children are so messed up.  Well, let's see.

She has four children and, although I don't believe in abortion, thankfully she had two or there would be 6 of her messed up adult children in this world!!!

Three of them have different fathers.  When they were pre-teen, she moved in with a Harlem Globetrotter basketball player.  She and he lived in the upstairs of a mansion, the four children were not allowed upstairs, so they were cared for by a nanny downstairs.  She left him when Connie graduated from high school.

Each child, except Connie the youngest, have alcohol/drug addictions.  Connie is merely bi-polar.
==============

Her oldest Lisa 61, is a Lesbian, living in North Carolina, awaiting a liver transplant, because of being an alcoholic since she was 18.
<These two have the same father.  He died of alcoholism five years ago.> 
Wayne, 57, also an alcoholic since he was 16, is the one now staying with her.

Jeff  50, who comes to visit once or twice a year--always needing money, is presently in his 15th rehab facility, 15th--trying to kick a Vodka and Vicadin addiction he has had since age 14.

Connie 45, who lived with her for a year, along with the four grandchildren, is the one who Dar lived with in Greece for two years, then Connie gave Dar the money to buy the house here.  Connie was planning her own "get-a-way" from her Greek husband.

Connie and Dar both have their names on the title of the house.  Neither one will sign off so the house could be sold, which is what Dar wants to do and go live in Arizona.  

Connie won't sign off because she wants to keep her mother miserable (so says Dar), Dar won't sign off because she needs ALL the money from the house sale, not just her half.

Connie and Dar got into a major fight, fueled by bi-polar, hysteria on both sides, and took the four grand children and moved to Indianapolis two years ago.

Which put Dar in a hysterical mental state for 18 months, which, unfortunately overflowed into my life, as I was trying to recover from Fred's death!  

Dar has her own mental problems, as I have posted about more than 50 million times!!!!.  She has been in a mental hospital for 9 months, after she left the black guy, and once for 3 months while she was in Greece.  

She has told me, the only reason she works as many hours, as many days as possible, is to keep her from another breakdown and out of the mental ward.
=============

None of her kids actions are her fault!  The fault lies in their father(S) and of course the black basketball player who would not allow her to interact with her kids.

I haven't had a visit from Dar in two peaceful weeks. I expect one tomorrow, so she can get away from the crisis in her house and dump it all on me.

I can hardly wait!!!
===============

God calls me to help my neighbor's.  He must have purposefully put Darlene in my life to see if I can meet the test?  

OR

The devil has tests too.  Remember Job?

Shiny Day

No Slothiness today.

Stripped my bed,  Washed mattress pad, sheets and coverlet.  Shifted memory foam mattress topper.

Vacuumed all rooms--I only have 5 rooms.

New filters in humidifier and air cleaner.

Filled up squirrel and bird feeders.

Called about my prescription drug plan--one prescription went up $1.00 this month.

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

My little sister is very sick with the Creeping Crud that has been going around the country.  Luckily she got into the doc's today and got a antibiotic and Mucinex.  The pharmacies are getting low on Mucinex as so many people are so sick.

They have two furnaces for the house, with humidifiers on both.  Her husband insists on heating the house with the big fireplace in the dining room.  They use small electric heaters in the other rooms to keep the chill off.  Every time he opens the fireplace door to stoke the fire, a cloud of oily, sooty smoke pours out.

That, with no humidifier running is why, I think, she got sick.  There is more damn wood smoke in that house then if they both were smokers!!!!!!  He is trying to keep the Propane usage down!  With the electric blower on the fireplace and the electric heaters, isn't that going to drive up their electric bill?

Our Dad did the same thing and Susie's husband used to say, "Why not just run the furnace.  I can barely breathe in there.", and yet, he is doing the same thing.

BUT--that is none of my business!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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

It is supposed to get near 50 degrees this weekend.  YAY.

Our Blanket Has Been Adopted!!!

When Chris was here in September, we talked about some place we could donate the crocheted blankets I was testing for her.  I knew of a woman's shelter outside of Howell, as when I moved here, I applied for a job there.  I didn't know if they took these kinds of donations.

Last night, I posted a photo of the blanket and asked everyone in this area if they knew of a place that took these kinds of donations.  Many commented that a lot of churches takes these kinds of gifts and use them for fund raisers.

Well--Chris and I didn't necessarily want it to go to something like that.  Back in the 1990's when I left my abusive husband, I had to stay in a woman's shelter for a couple of nights.  I really wanted this gorgeous blanket to go somewhere like that.  A place where a battered woman might run to safety and upon entering her room, she would see this beautiful blanket on the bed and it might make her feel a bit better.  Plus, being made of yarn, it will absorb a lot of tears and still look grand.

This morning, I got a FB message from one of my "friends" (that I've never met) that her friend sometimes worked at the woman's shelter and YES, they did accept donations of this sort.

I had to go to Howell to pick up a prescription.  The Shelter is on the other side of Howell and I decided to take it up there this afternoon.  I had laundered it and dried it and it was soft and smelled fresh.  I put it in one of those large plastic/cloth, zippered bags you get when you buy a bedspread.  It looked so nice.

The woman at the front desk was ecstatic!!!!  She said she knew exactly the room it was going in.  A room with a Queen Size bed, that housed women who had children with them.  The room also had a crib and a two twin beds for the children.

It made my heart so happy that Chris and I could use this gift to bless someone else.  Someone who would really use it.  

So our blanket will "live" at the shelter for awhile and maybe---someday--it just might leave with a woman who is going on to her new home and needs a bedspread.

Home Sweet Home 

Did I tell you, I finished the LapGhan?  It is the kind that works with a wheel chair or just someone sitting in a chair to keep their legs and middle warm.  I have started another one, using this same pattern. A bit bigger--a Throw.   I see it for a gentleman who is in a VA hospital or somewhere like that.

I buy the Caron Pound yarn for the blankets.  Red Heart is also a good yarn to use.  Worsted Weight.  These are done with a K hook.  They wash up and dry like a dream.







Plus, I am testing a knitted shawl pattern for Chris.
===================

I thought you'd like to see my exercise program.  Jane Fonda it ain't, but I can feel it working already.


https://youtu.be/HWWVON924N0