Elaine, did they schedule your surgery, and did Earl get a hog ?
I skipped church yesterday also, with tummy trouble. Just a diabetic side effect, hopefully will be better today.
September - the year is flying by!
Just got back from taking Samantha and Charlie for their annual check ups and shots.
I went to church yesterday for the first time in a long time. Richard had not been able to go to church. It was just too much for him. We watched it live online every Sun instead. I went to a class twice a month on Wed.
Our Christmas open house at the old mall was Sat. I spent time there off and on Sat. After church Sun I did some restocking in both places. Then I started feeling really tired. I think a combination of things catching up with me. I did get the lawn mower out and ran over the front yard. I ended up with 3 bags of mulched leaves (I have a catcher on my mower). I'm going to take them down to my garden area.
I ended up taking a hot bath and going to bed by 8:00 pm. Unheard of for me!! I was asleep by 8:30 and slept until 7:15 this morning. I feel much better today.
I still have a few things I need to take in before we get a frost. I'm really getting tired of taking a bunch of tropicals in so I'm cutting way back! Certain tropical s I really like every summer but I'm just going to buy them over again. I seem to keep getting more and more shade so I just need to start eliminating tropicals that require sun. I bought 3 really pretty tropicals for one of my large pots on the deck. I bought them for the foliage. I didn't actually plant them - just stuck the pots in the the dirt. So they were easy to take up. I'm going to try to overwinter them. They are all cane type plants but the foliage is a different color on each.
I still haven't turned the heat. Wonder if I an make it until Thanksgiving?? LOL Richard needed the house much warmer but I prefer it a little on the cool side. I am only upstairs to sleep and get dressed so I'm going to keep the heat turned way down up there. I can always turn a heater on while I get dressed. I like it cool at night. The doggies sleep with me and I keep several fleece throws on top of the bed for them. I can cover them up and they will actually stay covered up.
Sandra, hope you are feeling better. Jessica has been having a LOT of stomach pain and I think it is from the metformin - apparently it is really rough on the stomach. :( They put her on the extended release as opposed to the regular but she is still having a lot of pain.
Elaine, what did the eye doctor say? Kyle and Maddie went to Birmingham Thursday evening and Maddie interviewed on Friday morning. Apparently it went really well because she was also asked to interview with the director. They really liked UAB...... Sandra, they passed close to you too I think - they called me from "somewhere between Holly Springs and Potts Camp" - he said we are in the middle of no where as best we can tell, but we stopped to eat a KFC here! LOL.....
It rained here all day Saturday. We had planned to work up at Alex's but were expecting rain - so we didn't go. I am not sure if he got any rain all day, but he isn't feeling well so it is just as well we didn't go. Although we weren't expecting him to be there because he has to work every day. He went in at 6 and he did manage to be thru by 1 on Saturday but it is different every day. I spent the entire day cleaning - but you couldn't even tell it if you walked in. I cleaned the top of the cabinets and wiped down cabinets etc - cleaned ceiling fans and all the stuff that you only notice if it is dirty. :( I REALLY wanted to get some holiday decorating done, but I didn't manage to get anything pulled out..... but I decided to focus on trying to get some of that cleaning done that never gets done in hopes of doing some decorating in a couple of weeks.
I had two plumerias that I had purchased when we went to New Orleans back in March - and they were so pretty that I hated to lose them..... so I have brought the pots inside. I just stuck them in my foyer for the time being because it was going to get down pretty low on Saturday night and last night, but they may go back out for a while longer if it warms up. Not sure they can stay there for the winter, so they may have to go to my garage and see if I can get them thru the winter. I also have the yellow bush (is it Alamader?) - I have gone blank on the name, but it is tropical as well. Thought I would try to get it thru the winter as well.
It was quite cool yesterday morning but warmed up to the mid 60s - I SHOULD have spent the afternoon out in the yard, but I went to the holiday open houses in town with my sister instead. Jessica was home for the weekend and worked Saturday and the open house yesterday at Merle - so she wanted us to be sure and come by! We had fun going to the different shops and I picked up a few things, but I think I would have accomplished more at home! LOL......
Elaine, how often do you put out the preen?? I put some out in the early summer - June I think, but not sure with all the rain that we had that it did any good.......... if I put it out now will it help in the spring? It is really more grasses that I have trouble with - and can't seem to keep them under control. All the places that I sprayed trying to control the nut sedge and other grasses - are just as covered as the places that I didn't. Not sure what to do, but I can not continue to fight this same battle over and over......... and once it gets really hot, I just can't fight it and it wins!
Charlotte, can you tell me how you attach the necklace loops to your glass necklaces? I am wanting Jessica to make some necklace pieces in Ceramics - but she says the metal will just melt in the kiln..... I knew you were firing your glass pieces in the kiln and that you might know how she could do that. I didn't know if it was the type of metal used or if they were put on after the fact or what.........
Hope everyone has a blessed day!
Genna
Charlotte, we cross posted - we haven't turned our heat on either.... in fact, the ac is still on although sometimes it doesn't even kick on. I sure liked my electric bill better this month when it came in too :) This weekend is Battle of the Ravine and last year we about FROZE during it! We had all types of clothes piled on and heavy coats and hats and blankets....hopefully it won't be like that this year! :)
I put the slilver loops on after I fire the glass. Working with glass is a little different than working with pottery. They are fired at different temperatures. I have a jewelry kiln especially made for working with jewelry. The glass I work with is fired at very high temperatures. It has to be closely watched and the temperature increased in increments and then turned off at exactly the right time. You can't go off and leave it like you do pottery. The glass you work with has to all be the same COE. I use dichroic glass which is very expensive.
I'm having my cataract fixed on Dec 29. He gave me the option of the surgery that also fixes the astigmatism and I said go for it. Insurance doesn't cover it so I'll have to pay for it, if it is indeed 'fixable', which they won't know exactly until they start the procedure. But the procedure he uses is much more precise and yields better results for vision. I may or may not have to have my reading glass prescription changed. If so, I'll deal with that when the time comes. No big deal.
This weekend is the half marathon I've been training for. Thank goodness the weather report is for cooler weather. I don't think I could stand it if we were going to have more warm, humid weather. I run much better in cool weather. Genna, I know you're hoping it's warm, but maybe it will be 'just right' for both of us. No wind would be good.
Sandra, hope you (and Jessica too) are doing better with your stomach problems.
Have any of you moved a fairly large azalea successfully? It's probably about 3' wide. Not too tall. I'd really like to re-locate it. It's by itself because the rest like it died several years ago & I thought it had died too but it came back and now it's really pretty. I probably should just leave it alone. But I've tried to find more like it and can't, especially this time of year when I'd like to plant them.
Yes Elaine I've moved azaleas. They are easy to move and I've had good luck moving them. When Richard had his workshop built I moved 5 or 6 really big ones. I moved them from the fence line to in front of the workshop. Azaleas have shallow roots but they were really big (over 6' tall) so I hired some guys to do it for me. They lived just fine. I also dug up a big one from a house that was going to be torn down. It made it. When they replaced my water line several years ago they had to dig up an old azalea that was right where the line went in the house. I replanted it in the back yard. So yes big ones can easily be moved. This is a good time of year to do it. Just be sure they get plenty of water to begin with.
I'm not hoping for warm, cool temps are fine for me during football weather - but I do like to be able to feel my hands and feet! LOL..... I think it was in the 30s last year with really high winds! Thank goodness it was an exciting game or we might have froze! :) I hope your weather is nice for the race!
It low 60s today with a light breeze and sunshine........... NICE - but I am at work!
Thanks Charlotte. We aren't wanting to do glass, but I have an idea for something I want her to make using her clay..... but, I can't figure out how to attach a necklace loop to it. I guess she could put a small hole and a loop could be put thru that, but I was hoping to attach a nice loop to it directly without the hole.
This message was edited Nov 9, 2015 1:28 PM
Oh good, Charlotte. I'm glad to know yours transplanted successfully. I knew they were shallow rooted and this would be a good time to do it. I just sort of dread doing it, if you know what I mean. BTW, I'm so glad you were able to get some much-needed sleep. I slept until almost 8:00 yesterday too. Then I read the paper, very slowly while drinking coffee and eating some breakfast. Didn't even get out into the yard until around 9:30 or so. I was really lazy. Of course I had stayed up late watching that ball game.
Do any of you have photos in the contest? I have voted in a few of the catagories
Lots of unique pictures in the Misc and strange !
I have a couple in the moss/fungi category and a couple from my backyard garden in the personal/private landscape category. For some reason they also included foliage and seeds with the mosses and fungi. I thought that was rather strange because it ended up with a weird mix of photos. Anyway, there are some great photos in there in both categories. I think some people just don't know where to post there photos sometimes.
I meant to post others but never got around to it. You can only put 2 in each category which is good!
I don't have anything in the contest. I haven't gotten around to looking at the photos. Need to do that.
It's a beautiful day here. A friend is camping out in Maumelle park for a few days. Several other people are also bringing their campers and joining her. I'm going down in a few minutes and hang out with them. They are having a pot luck chili dinner. I'm taking brownies.
That sounds fun, Charlotte!
It is a beautiful day here too..... we had a gulley washer for a short while last night but thankfully the really hard rain didn't last too long and there were not any bad storms in the area. It is supposed to drop to freezing tonight last I heard so we are going to try to get all the hoses drained, etc this evening after work.
I haven't checked out the photos either - but I need to do that!
Elaine, we are supposed to have high's in the low 60s on Saturday so hopefully you will have similar weather for your race!
Well, I can't find the link now,I guess they closed the voting, Charlotte glad you are going "camping" !!
They must have closed it yesterday or last night. I saw it yesterday morning but it's not there now. I only voted in about 4 categories. It takes so long to scroll through the photos I give up after a while. They should come up with a better way to vote or compress the photos so they load faster.
Charlotte, sounds like some fun. Sandra, I believe they call it 'glamping'. (Kinda like glamour-camping, lol!)
Yes, there are freeze warnings out for tonight here too. I think just in the low 30's, but it will be perfect weather for the race tomorrow. I'm so excited I didn't even sleep LAST night. I do hope I sleep better tonight. I must have run that race 50 times in my head and my sleep.
Elaine you sound like me. I always have trouble sleeping when I getting ready to do something exciting or to go somewhere. I had fun last night. We had white chili with chicken and regular chili and several different kinds of desert. We sat around a campfire and ate. We were sitting right on the river. Yes it's called glamping!
I don't think it was supposed to go below the low 40's here last night. I know we didn't have a frost as everything looks fine. I do have all but a couple of things inside that I'm going to bring inside. I have a brug in a pot that has done really well this summer and is in full bloom right now. I do plan to take it in. I have a couple of lemon trees that I'm going to put in a really protected spot next to the house and put some frost cloth on them. If they live fine, if not fine! I only got one lemon from them this year. I had tons of blooms on them and lots of tiny lemons but then they started falling off. The same thing happened last year. I don't think they are getting enough sun. So it's not worth the effort of saving them.
I'm going to go shopping for some ventless gas logs. I've decided to put gas logs in instead of trying to burn wood in my fireplace. Everyone I know that has put them in have really liked them. They say they actually put out more heat than wood. I come and go so much I want something I can turn off and on whenever I want and not have to worry about smoldering ashes. I already have a gas starter so it shouldn't be a problem for one to be installed. I do enjoy looking at a fire.
Glamping, my how times have changed !! We used to take the older kids camping and they would be so excited. We took Cayla once when she was about 3 and that was our last camping trip. I have not had any desire to do that again !! Like Julia's Mom on designing women, camping for me is to stay in a 4 star hotel--LOL ! That show has been running on Logo lately and I have enjoyed seeing it again after all these years.
Looks like we might get a killer frost tonight. I guess it is time, but I sure do hate to see it. Everything gets brown and ugly until spring.
We had frost this morning on the windshields, roofs, etc..... had to run my defrost to get going. I am like you Sandra - I sure hate for everything to get bare............. I do have camellias blooming and should have some more next month maybe so that helps a little.
Clara, my exchange student from Italy that some of you met, blew up my phone this morning on FB Messenger sending me about 12 pictures of beautiful roses in a Rose garden there in Madrid, Spain. She said she went for a run this morning close to the garden and stopped to take pictures because she wanted me to see them. It is still unusually warm there - she said like May..... the pictures were gorgeous!
I loved that show - Designing Women! I also love Lucy - and there are supposed to be two episodes that they had added color to airing in December. I sure hope I remember to watch them!! I think it is Dec 23.....
Jess was on TV this morning for Battle of the Ravine............ she had to be at the field before 6 am - and with full makeup etc..... She was scheduled to be on at 6:55 and they were right on time, but they had forewarned her that they might be off schedule by that point because it was live TV so to be flexible....LOL.... She said they better not cut that segment after getting up that early! Thankfully they were on time and she got to be on. I put a link on my FB page so I won't duplicate that here.
Elaine, I know you will do great tomorrow! I do hope you are able to get some rest tonight though.
There is a quote that Bernice said on there that I always loved and refer to pretty often with my family, I don't remember it exactly but she starts out like she is going to make the most important statement in history, "Just always remember when life is at its lowest and the night is the darkest and there is no hope, Put your coat over your head "
I am going to look for the link
Jessica looked lovely, as always, I wish they had kept the camera on her when she was talking!
I was suppose to move my plants into the GH today but got busy in the office and maybe tomorrow. We don't get in the 30's until 11/28/15. I pray they are right!!!
Jessie did a good job Genna.
No killing frost here yet. Everything still looks fine. I have one pot of brug I need to put in the greenhouse today. It's in full bloom so I hate to put it up. I think it's going to be another week before we have temps that drop into the 30's.
I had been planning to get the fireplace chimney cleaned and buy some wood but I decided to go another direction instead. I went out yesterday and bought vent less gas logs. They should put them in sometime next week. I come and go so much I don't want to worry about smoldering embers. Also the ventless gas logs really throw a lot of heat out. I can just turn them off and on when I want to. Also if my electricity goes out I'll have a source of heat. It has a remote control with it to turn it off and on and even adjust the temperature. I keep the doors shut to my living room and dining room so I bet it will really warm up the area I stay in. I will probably just use them in the morning when I'm drinking my coffee and a night before I go to bed.
It's a beautiful day here. I need to try to get some things done in my house. It's a mess! I have the heat and air people coming Mon to check my heating units and I've got to clear out the area in the garage where the ladder pulls down! I have one unit over the garage and one unit over the upstairs part of the house.
I like Bernice's quote Sandra.
I got a message this morning from Marilyn letting me know that Ray her daughter Michelle's husband passed away at 3:30 this morning. He also had a form of Alzheimer's. He had Lewy Body Dementia which is a horrible form. She said he got up to go to the bathroom and when he didn't come back Michelle got up to check on him and found he was gone.
Well, I made it! I even took first in my age group! Whoo hoo!! Got some good swag for that too. We of course got a medal at the end for the race, a finisher's shirt, and for my win, I got a $20 gift card, a microfiber towel with the Huntsville Half logo, a beer glass with the logo, a pair of running socks and a drawstring bag it was all in. I'll use it all. It was a beautiful day and cool which made it perfect. Thanks for thinking of me!
Genna, Jessica did just great, and I too wish they had kept the camera on her longer. She is so pretty and poised. That's TV time for you.
Charlotte, so glad you decided on the gas logs. You will love them. We put in vented gas logs in our fp when we built and use them quite a bit. Even if it's just to warm up the den for a while, it's worth it. And if the power goes out we have that for warmth. Sorry to hear about Marilyn's son-in-law. That's a bad, bad form of Alzheimers.
We've had a busy weekend. My brother & SIL from Montgomery & my niece from Houston were here to visit this weekend. We all had dinner at my other niece's house and visited & had dinner with all the family. My Houston niece had not seen her new niece (my great niece Laurel who was born a couple of months ago). It was good to visit, relax and watch football and enjoy a great meal. I fixed scalloped potatoes (used gruyere, asiago & parmesan) to go with the ham my brother did on his Big Green Egg. And my other brother made a pumpkin cheesecake. Let me tell you, I was ready to eat some good food!
Yesterday I cleaned windows getting ready for the big Sweet 16 party next weekend, then we went to a celebration dinner for our Half Marathon training group. So I didn't have to cook last night either.
Congratulations Elaine! Just doing the half marathon is an accomplishment! Placing first in your age group is a real accomplishment!!
I love scalloped potatoes! My mother used to make those a lot. I've made them from time to time but no one in my family has ever liked them as well as I do. I may have to make some for myself!
It's a cloudy rainy day here. I got a lot accomplished yesterday but have plenty to do inside today!! I made myself work on my garage yesterday. I got all my winter clothes out of bins and put stuff to do with my antique booths in all the bins I had been using for clothes. I'm not putting clothes in bins anymore. If I don't have enough closet space for them I don't need them!! I even swept out the garage. I can now work on several projects I have without tripping over stuff!
I've got to get my upstairs cleaned out next! I still haven't done anything with Richard's clothes. I've pulled a bunch of stuff out but haven't put it in bags yet. I need to work on that today. I dread hauling all that stuff somewhere. I'm not going to take it to Goodwill. I'm going to take it to Saver's. I think they do a better job actually using the stuff.
I am so sorry to hear of Ray's passing!!! He was a fine man and I know he will be missed dearly!!!
Congrats Elaine on your win!!! That was a lot of work but it paid off with you placing 1st in our age group!!! Talk about swag!!!
Well everyone agreed to go to my nieces for Thanksgiving and NOW they are all one by one starting to back out. Looks like our group is gonna be smaller without Jimmy's family or Ashley they have now made plans elsewhere. I think next year I'm gonna go rent a hotel room and not tell anyone where I am. I checked with everyone before I committed. Did me a lot of good.
Chris and Tori are buying a house today and starting to move in. I've already sold the mobile home they were living in and plan to give them 1/2 the money from the sale so they can buy some new furniture and replace the tiles in the kitchen and buy new appliances. We gave the mobile home to their mother so it's like the money is from her. The other half I'm putting in Ashley's savings a/c.
Jeri, it is that way everywhere, we are going to go to Caylas and none of the other kids have committed to come yet. Since I am not doing the big Mills family it seems everyone is just spreading out to different areas. I am not able to pull that kind of meal off again and will not even try. We just have to accept our circumstances for what they are and enjoy the day where ever we are. Things change,I thought Glenda might try to have something at her home since Mammaw is there now, but I guess not.
Ray was really suffering from his disease and I know the family is very sad, but I am sure it was a sweet release for him from his suffering.
Charlotte, you make me tired reading all you are doing. I don't know what Savers is, guess we don't have that here. I drove by our local Salvation Army store Friday and it isn't there now, a used car dealership is in the building. I cleaned out my closet a few weeks ago and it is still full, I wear the same old 2 or 3 shirts when I go to town. I need to throw away a bunch of my everyday clothes as they are worn out.
Elaine, I am so proud you were able to win that race ! I saw the photos on FB and was clapping for you when I saw it. What a wonderful accomplishment for you.
Yes Holidays change as we lose family members, move away, marry. I was the one that always did holiday meals for my family. The only ones left in my family are my niece in Colorado and Jeff. Richard's daughter usually did Thanksgiving with her husband's family. It was a big deal with them. A mandatory get together. So we really hadn't been doing anything special for Thanksgiving in a long time. I've had several people ask me to join them for Thanksgiving but I think I would rather just spend the day doing nothing. It doesn't bother me at all to spend the day by myself. I could have gone to CA but I don't want to go now and then again just a month later. I would rather spread my visits out more. I hear you on getting a hotel room Jeri.
Saver's supports The ARC and Big Brothers Big Sisters.
http://www.today.com/video/curtis-stones-cajun-roasted-turkey-deemed-best-ever-by-matt-lauer-557123651594
I am checking this out today, since turkey and ham are the best priced meats available now, I am going to slice it up for lunch meats.
I miss having little kids around for the holidays more than anything I think. There is so much joy watching the holidays through the eyes of a little one, but life goes on and kids grow up, I am proud of all my grown children, but I sure miss them being little at holiday time. I think I will start a new thread to talk about Holiday Memories