November-Getting Ready for the Holidays

This season has gone by fast!! Thanksgiving is right around the corner and Christmas not far behind. Time to start watching deals. lol

Royals have another game tonight. Hope they win so I can start going back to bed at a normal time. lol.

Oh yeal,,, royals! Patti, if you want leaves get on down here, girl.

I hope everyone enjoyed the extra hour of sleep/tv/partying/everything else possible from the 'fall back' this morning. But hate that it gets dark so early now.

Made it up to 76 here today, took down the Halloween decorations and put up the Thanksgiving ones. My sister took me to a volleyball game last night, so I wasn't home during the trick or treating, good thing she called me before I bought my candy, or I'd have way too much here that I don't need.

Cleaned up a little in the yard and more in the garage, and grilled a flank steak I bought at the store and some broccoli/cauliflower pouches.

Checked the jade plants I brought in last month, and two of the three are covered with flower buds. The third one isn't, but that was the one I had to repot - it fell over during the summer and it had nearly no roots, digging through the potting soil I found over a dozen grubs in the potting soil.

Picked a few carrots to replace the ones I used for carrot cake last week. Still have carrots and beets, and brussel sprouts almost ready. Lettuce fall planted (the only 5 that survived the pounding rain as everything was coming up) is doing good if slow. All my garlic has sprouted.

Sorry that I have been away. Busy. Will explain later. Happy November!

The last inning was something else. I was sure that one guys kneecap was broken. Congratulations Kansas City Royals!

I'm behind so I'll have to pick and choose my answers.

Bernie,
Your crops look fantastic!

Happ,
I knew we were talking roosters on one of my threads. I found a picture of DD's ''Cotton Top" A Polish chicken that was the freebie.

Patti,
I'm now putting names to my pictures. It's a log process. I have alot of work left.
Do you have relatives who could name some of the people in the old pictures?

Thanks for the new page Pepper!

I have to get ready for my Dr appt. The yearly for new prescriptions and flu shots.

I'm laughing because I have all my seeds in Tupperware, in a box that is now sitting on the bedroom floor :o)

Have a great day!

Sally, there are no relatives left to help us out who live anywhere close by. Dad was an only child and any relatives that are left are up around Green City, Missouri, I think.

Mom only has one sister left and she is way out on the West Coast. They never see each other. I think these pictures have more or less reached a dead-end.

My seeds are sitting on the floor in my bedroom, too. I use peanut butter jars for big amounts & pill bottles for little things. Made a box to hold the small bottles.

I also made a spreadsheet to keep track of the inventory. I was ordering seed that I had on hand before I started the inventory record.

Anybody that makes pickles. I tried a new pickling cucumber this year. It is Puccini from Stokes Seeds.
http://www.stokeseeds.com/product.aspx?ProductID=57733&CategoryID=69
It can't be near other cukes, but it produced like crazy for a long period. Nice fruit, too.

My seeds are a mess. I have multiple paper plates stuffed inside the oven and multiple coffee filters containing seeds jammed into a cabinet. My two cats are entirely too curious. I have been removing the coffee filters every day and stirring the seeds around so they will dry evenly. I am using pill bottles to save seed too. Frankly, I find it very sad that we are on so many medications we can actually do this. On the other hand, I'm so glad I have these bottles. LOL. I get most of my pill bottles from my mom.

I have to learn how to use Excel. I left the business world I having just started using it and now I've forgotten everything I knew. After being on the computer hours and hours and hours each day when working, I swore I'd never go near a computer again. I'm glad I changed my mind because otherwise I wouldn't be here. LOL The thing is, I use my tablet 99.9% of the time.

I will have to catch up I haven't been looking at this forum, lost you for 2 days....lol
Hi GB.

Whose going to the parade tomorrow? Sure glad I don't work downtown, because my building was close to Power and Light!! lol

I was sooo exhausted from playing with Great Nieces I fell asleep early! So didn't know until this am about the Royals. Last I saw they had just scored a run in the 9th or something and the guys on tv said this is what the Royals do only too well to make a come back, look out NY. Only wish they could of won at home, but glad they won!

I HIGHLY recommend if you have little ones making these stepping stones was soooo much fun. I did learn alot so if you decide to let me know and I will give you some learning lessons..lol We are going to make a tradition of this. One G-niece is 9, one is 4, and the other is 1 3/4...lol

We had a beautiful day and the girls just had a ball.
They chased chickens and ducks, at least the middle one, the older was trying to pet them and our older chickens will squat and let you do that. Then they fed the koi and figured out if they stuck their hands in the water the koi would come up to them.

Loved the big lab Sam and he loved them and tried to get in the car with them. Now you have not seen a backseat until you see 2 car seats and an 8 year wedged in and a 140 lab climbing in there..wowzer...lol

Started on a stepping stone for a friend for Christmas, can you guess what it is? lol
Hopefully get concrete poured tomorrow and start mosaic later this week.

Hope everyone is enjoying the great weather!!

I actually watched the last inning of the game. I had been watching something else and flipped over just as they started hitting balls! I was really quite glad they won.

A 140 pound lab? Is he half horse? ROTFL. Picture please. I love the labs.

I would love to hear your tips on the cement projects. I would like to make some of the leaf type of steppingstones for the north side of the house next spring.

Need to try to go back to sleep for a couple hours. Have a good day everyone!

Hi Cyber,
I kind of ran past you yesterday :o)
I myself wish they would just drop the daylight saving and leave it normal. That will never happen. The world is set up for it now and I suppose it's too bothersome to change.
I do hear a lot of people say they hate to come home in the dark.

Betty,
Hope it's good news!

Patti,
That is so sad. I have my Mom's brother left and I need to e-mail them a few pictures and get names for them. I also have my Mom's cousin who knows a lot of family history. That will be on my to-do list now.

Bernie,
I have spread sheets of seeds, plants I moved, what I consider good color combinations in my flower beds and most are outdated, lol!
Sounds like a nice pickle. I do make freezer pickles and now do a refrigerator pickle. I don't do like my Mom did with the 7 day crock method.

Patti,
Laughing, we know what your winter job will be. Tagging and bagging seeds!

Happ,
The stepping stone sound like fun. Maybe someday I'll be crafty.
Laughing over the lovable lab. I'll bet that was beyond cute!
Aw, your friend will like her stone!

Yesterday was so nice! We got our flu shots so we are good to go!

I started walking and got as far as the neighbor's. I came home to get her Zebrina Hollyhock seed and she sent me home with a Beauty Berry Bush and small iris. I planted both.

Today I need to hit the ground running.

Have a fantastic day!

Today is the day to rearrange the bedroom and make room for the plants to come out of the bathroom and into windows where they will actually get a lot more light. That is going to be quite a job. It will involve taking down the drapes. I have never liked the drapes in that room anyway. LOL

I have not had the pleasure of seeing Jade plants in bloom. I noticed when I brought mine in after spending the summer in bright light on the porch that some of my lower leaves were very dark in color – almost purple. I have no idea what that means, but it is pretty. The leaves don't look dry nor are they starting to fall off. I hope it's good.

I had better get moving or the bedroom won't get done. I could easily drag this out over a week but really want to get it done this morning. LOL

My plants are so happy now.

Jamie isn't. He thinks hanging drapes is "woman's work". ROTFL

These were found in the church van engine after it was in the repair shop for a week. No idea where momma is. My family is bottle feeding and fostering the 2 boys & 2 girls approx. 4 weeks old now. We were loading up Fri. afternoon for a mission trip after just picking up the van from the garage and running it thru the car wash when we heard strange engine noises.

They were overheated and dehydrated. They finally started going potty yesterday, so I guess they are ok.

I'm so glad you guys found each other. Poor babies. Sounds like they had a rough start in life. They sure can keep you busy when that little, can't they? Little kittens are so much fun though.

Cute kittens!! A friend of mine just had puppies 4 days ago. My mom likes the same one I do so I've got to figure out how to convince my parents we need him. lol

Patti,
Cracking up! Drapes are good for keeping out the hot sun in the summer :o) What do you use the room for when it's not a plant room?
Aloe plants also turn reddish purple. It just means they had a lot of sun and they are a lower light plant.
Jamie, better get used to women's work. Most of it is :o)

Oh Betty!
Those poor poor lucky kittens. I'll bet Mama was frantic. I hope she's forgoten them now. They are so adorable and yes, it sounds like they will be ok now.

Pepper,
Oh talk hard. All country places need a dog. What kind are they?

Still working pictures. I got things accomplished yesterday but no where near all I was going to do. Two neighbor's burned a long line of leaves and it was smoky for a few hours. I did get a walk in and then all I wanted was a bath and hairwash.

My auction buys.

Good morning all. It's going to be a breezy day here today. I think the animals are anticipating the "cold front" coming in tomorrow because two of the creatures ( guess who) are racing around like they don't have good sense. At least they are both keeping all four on the floor. I just hate it when Mynx goes curtain climbing.

Tucker is trying to sleep. He keeps opening one eye and staring at the darling demons. I kind of think what is going through his mind is not fit to print. He looks disgusted. LOL

Jamie and I finished half of our 'move the drapes' project yesterday. The half we finished was the important part though – the plants are on shelves in front of the bedroom windows. Whew!
Unfortunately, I had to lock the cats in the basement while this was going on. They were way too much help! It would also appear that they don't like change. Tess, who is my quiet one, walked around the bedroom, meowing her head off, for a good 15 minutes - telling me all about it. LOL Of course, Mynx was right there with her – Yodeling.

Other than the Mexican petunia, all plants are now in their winter homes. I just watched the forecast and we are still not expecting to freeze in the next week. 36 degrees is the lowest.

Up until this last year, when I took up growing my tomatoes and discovered I like the idea of gardening, I had little use for summer. I realized this morning that I now love all four seasons.

Have a great day everyone!

Sally, it really is my bedroom. LOL There are mini blinds hanging in the windows now. All Jamie has to do next Tuesday is hang the remaining drapes upstairs. When he was complaining about this being "women's work", he made some remark about how he would rather work on cars. I told him, "Fine, you can clean the inside of my car next week, after we get the drapes hung". You should have seen him backpedal. "That's not what I meant!" ROTFL

I love to tease him.

Cute auction buys!

Before I liberated some of my cousins aloes last summer, I went in search of a nice aloe plant. I found an Aloe at the local nursery, but it was totally sunburnt. I got it for half-price and brought it home. It spent the rest of the summer in bright shade and looks very healthy now. I had a feeling that purpleish color had something to do with sun light. The jade plant got about three hours of early morning sun and then it was in bright shade the rest of the day.

Pepper, I can't believe I forgot to comment on the dog. Were you able to convince? I cannot imagine life without a dog so, naturally, I think every family needs at least one. LOL

Busy Busy all of you! I love those Kittens, so glad you found them. Great Auction Buys, too.
I still have a few things blooming outside they refuse to stop.
I had a day off yesterday, stayed in my chair and slept most of the day, I had a pain under my left shoulder blade that wouldn't stop, but I'm okay today.
Joe got the last three tubs of plants in for me, we are ready for what ever weather comes.
Hi YA Cyber, glad you found us!

They are husky akita pups. Parents are both outside dogs which is perfect for what I need. They can handle the temps better.

The winter temps yes, but goodnees, those coats in the summer. Be prepared for lots of brushing and shedding. I'll bet they are adorable little bundles. Have you researched these two breeds?

Yep! It helps I know the parents well so I know what's involved with them. The dad I've known since he was a pup and the mom I've known since they got her earlier this year. :~)

I'm glad you know what you getting into. I didn't want you to be taken by surprise – kind a like I was when I found out I needed to bring plants inside for the winter. ROTFL

Hay Amanda, My friend that works here has raised Akita's all her life, they are so sweet and get so big. Did I miss where you found one? they are very special dogs.
Patti, Joe has three huge lawn bags of leaves for you already. I slept most of the day, he raked. I bet he rakes the front today.

Yipee! I will see you Saturday, Debra. Thanks Joe!

Pepper, I love the animals. It's probably a good thing those puppies are up there because if you get one and I were to see it, I would want one too. There's nothing in the world in my opinion sweeter than puppy breath.

Well, I've done all the DG photo contest voting it will let me do. Gosh, there were some really great photos! It was hard to choose favorites.

Debra, I fell asleep last night while dinner was in the oven. I had set the timer but I slept through it. I woke up to the sound of the smoke alarm going off. Talk about a rude awakening. The cats kind of hated it too. I had been so hungry for those pork chops. LOL

I am joking about it but it really kind of scared me. I've never done anything like that before.

I don't have a puppy yet. I've got to talk to my parents and talk them into it. The puppies (for now) belong to a friend of mine. If I don't get one from this litter I'll really push for getting one from the next litter but want a certain one from this one. lol

Patti, next time use a timer to wake you, a real LOUD one.. Amanda, I hope you get the one you get.

Debra, I used a really loud timer. LOL

wel, now you have 6 huge bags of leaves.. he wants to know why you need them, I told him cuz u do.. LOL

Debra - I have to keep the raccoons out of my chimney. I use leaves accomplish that. ROTFLMBO

So sorry this is a novel....om

Patti – I only have one Aunt left alive and she married into the family. I never got to meet my Grandparents, but before my Great Uncle passed away (he had already lost his eye site) I stopped and “interviewed” him, he got to rattling on about my Grandmother his sister. I was lucky enough to be taping him. Speaking of tape, the only good safe archival media is PAPER or if you are the government microfish. The government has reels and reels of computer tape and no main frames to read it or the original software. Remember main frame computers (that is what I programmed when I first started working), just think in our lives we went from photos, to negatives , to 5.25 big floppy disk, to smaller 3.5 disk, to tape, to cd’s, to dvd’s, to cloud storage. From 8mm film, super 8, 15mm, Betamax, vhs, vhs-c, Hi8, on home movies. Now I know why I am so tired…lol
http://www.archives.gov/preservation/family-archives/ There are some good websites about archiving family heirlooms, what kind of paper and etc to use. Ok off my soap box…

I have done a lot of elephant ears in concrete, I haven’t done any for a path but for objects in the garden. I am guessing instead of mounding them on sand like I do, you could just lay them flat. Youtube has some of the best videos for making things.

OMG on falling asleep with dinner cooking! My oven has a timer and will shut off if I set the time, which I always do because I am really good about getting busy and forgetting. When smoke detectors first came out they were like 90.00 and I bought one for my Mom cause she lived at the lake without a real fire departments. She had just started frying bacon and decided to go grab a tomato from the garden, then saw they needed water, so …..lol while she was watering she heard this terrible loud sound and figured out what it was, just in the nic of time. You be so careful.

GB – Oh the kittens are so cute. One time DH found a nest of kittens but the Mom had disappeared and he thought the kittens had died, but when he picked up one it squeaked and he comes carrying over to me this nasty tiny white kitten eyes stilled closed. I washed the kitten, went to the vet got the stuff to feed him. I was still working at the time and would take him to work in a box and hide him in my office so I could feed him. As he got bigger but still feeding I put him in a safe container in the back of our truck during the day, sneak out and feed him. Lol I had the only cat who LOVED to ride since it was a 42 mile commute one way. As he got a little older he would just sit and watch the traffic as we drove back and forth…lol Since he was bottled feed he didn’t do that massaging motion most cats do.

Debra – Glad you are feeling better.

Pepper – I bet the puppies are sooo cute. Good luck with the parents, maybe bribery will work..lol

BillyP – Please don’t put off talking to relatives, about family history. I started family history a little late but I still had my Mom and we did a lot of the photos, but didn’t get thru all of them. You always think you have tomorrow. Now every time we lost a family member I realize how much history we have lost. Now we are the generation with the history and I hope we preserve what we know.

You don’t need to be crafty to make these stones and your DGkids are the perfect age. It is a matter of just playing.

LOVE your auction buys, they are so cute.

Cyber – I soo agree with you about daylight savings, now it is dark at 5:30 pm which is horrible. I know this from having to make sure the chickens are all tucked in at night. Besides I need the daylight when it is the warmest in the afternoon, not warm an hour earlier in the morning.

My basset hound has been to the vet 6 times in 3 days. We took him to the emergency er cause he was crying and howling and wouldn’t stop. ER said he had a kidney infection and sent him home drugged up. Next day we noticed he didn’t seem to be urinating like he should so up to Angels clinic in Savanah (they are so good and so affordable). The vet saw him and immediately said he had an enlarged prostate and couldn’t urinate and to take him down to Blue Pearl in Overland Park. Good place but sooo expensive. Well he thought he might have cancer and did a bunch of test and then decided maybe it was just swollen and said to get him neutered immediately which might help the swelling. Poor basset came home with a catheter and a big collar. Next day up to Savanah where they neutered him. Got him home and the catheter didn’t seem to be working so back up to Savanah to reinsert it. Last night seemed ok then DH and the basset went for a ride and the cath came out so BACK to the vet!! Don’t think I have slept in 3 days more than 2 hours at a time. Slick is so sweet and looks so pathetic. He will have to have the cath for 2 WEEKS and then they will x-ray and see if the prostate has gone done enough he can urinate on his own. So worried about him.

Since I haven't been sleeping I have been working on my stepping stone for my friend. It is coming along.

Here are pics of the kids and some of their stones.

That's a great story Joyce about the kitten. I read it to Nicole who also enjoyed hearing it. Thank you.

Pepper, remember that my Mom's dog Samantha has puppies born on 10/3. We are suppose to take one. It's going to be crazy here around Christmas time with the 4 kitten and new puppy. I told everyone don't expect much for Christmas with all these extra mouths to feed. No one has complained because they'd rather have the baby critters. : ) I hope that your family also enjoys having a new 4-legged kid around. I can't wait to see pics and hear some funny puppy "tales". lol

Happ, your black lab there is bigger than my friend's dog Abbie!! LOL

I hope to use the new carpet cleaner I just bought as a bribe. I bought this so you can buy me the puppy. LOL. My dad has to get in my truck tomorrow to figure out why my rearview mirror went dark and how to fix it so he will see the shampooer. Hopefully I can get that one to work. If not it'll come down to the dad and the kids (puppy owners) coming over giving puppy eyes. They have good puppy eye genes. LOL!

Happ, such a great pic of your kids having fun, love those stones. I am glad I feel better too.. just got on meds for bronchitus, got a flu shot and the pnuemonia shot. Some day I will try a stone, I hate this being dark at getting off work time, I am night blind.

Love the lab, hope your bassett is feeling better, I can't imagine what you have been thru with him. poor thing! Your heart is so big, to take care of a baby kitten like that.

Betty, I bet the critters are presents enough, I know I would be so happy to have one again.
Amanda, good thinking, I hope that plan works out for you..
have a great day.. off to bed.

Pepper, your carpet cleaner idea is genius! Hope it works!

Joyce, it is getting harder and harder to keep up with advances in technology.

Please give a lot of hugs from me to Slick. Poor guy. It kills me to see animals in pain. They don't have a clue what's going on and you can't explain it to them. As invasive as the catheter is, I hope it does the job and Slick gets back to his normal healthy self.

Please take care of yourself and get some sleep. We don't need you getting sick too!

Wonderful pictures of your family. Pretty projects – those are great. Love that black lab.

Once upon a time, I had a cat who loved to ride on my shoulders and in the car. In 1979, we traveled from Los Angeles to Wichita with him draped across my shoulders. I was driving a Volkswagen bug with the high back-rest. By the time I hit town, I could hardly move my neck. LOL I also had a cockapoo, Megan, sitting on my lap, head hanging out the window, most of the trip. As we drove down the highway, people would point, stare and laugh. Neither animal made any attempt to exit via the window. We were on an adventure and they didn't want to miss out. LOL YumYum, my traveling buddy. What a personality he had.

After I got settled back here, I would take my dogs for walks. Yum would walk with us as far as the corner and then he would turn around and go home. He had set his own limits and stuck to them. One day he disappeared. When he finally returned, he brought another male cat home with him. This boy looked just like him, except he had a round-as-a-full moon face. I named that cat Ditto. A short while later, YumYum disappeared - never to be seen again. I cried. He was my happy traveler and I still think of him often. I can't think of him without thinking of Megan.

Sadly, Megan was stolen out of my backyard. My elderly neighbor saw her get nabbed, but was unable to get to the door in time to yell at the guy. The neighbor thought the guy was on foot, but she wasn't certain. She did have a fairly good description though. To add insult to injury, I was home at the time. Although my neighbors husband and I got in separate cars and drove the neighborhood, that was the last time I saw my pup - even though I kept an eye out for years. I haven't left the dog unsupervised in the yard since that time. It happened right around Christmas. I just pray she went to a loving home as a Christmas gift. Who knows. These events happened many years ago though. Luckily, I've been blessed with wonderful animal since.

Debra, I'm so glad to read you got your shots. I need to do that too. What were you doing up so late? You were going to bed about the time I was waking up – thanks to a way to big cat walking across my chest and trying to curl up on my left shoulder. Mynx thinks she is still a kitten. Her body size says that is no longer the case. LOL I will contact you later today about tomorrow.

Have I missed a post from Ronna?

The critters are hungry and telling me all about it. Later!

So far so quiet, DH slept on a blanket pallet with the dog last night so at least I slept. I can not take naps just doesn't work. DH can so hopefully this will work ok. Course if DH has to keep carrying the basset in and out of the truck he may not have a back left. Big collar short legs of a basset just doesn't work well.

Debra I always hated going home in the dark also, it just seemed like the night was gone before I got home. Well still working on my stone.