Its Dog - apaloopza

Having no bread in the house this morning I decided to go out a get a bagel and coffee for my Sunday breakfast. It was a lovely quiet morning, birds singing, breeze blowing. Just the perfect peaceful Sunday morning. That was until I got back home.

Stepping out of the car, heading back into the house with my coffee and bagel in hand, the two dogs in the house to the south of me got let out for their morning poop. They reacted like dogs do when they see someone in what they think is their space, they went ballistic. Which caused the three dogs in the yard next to them to join in the fray. To my greatest joy the new dog in the house just on my north side, added his frantic vocals to the mix. Just to keep things going the five dogs across the street added their bit to the chorus. 10 dogs barking can put an instant halt to the quiet of a Sunday morning. They do an number on ones nervous stability and all I can say is once again its a good thing I am not a screamer or I would have been part of the dawn chorus. I bet the rest of the neighbours were very happy I decided to go out for breakfast this day.

Don't get me wrong I don't mind dogs and I know they bark. I object to them barking their heads off early in the morning. I am also not fond of big dogs lunging and barking at the fence when I am on the other side, when the fence is short enough for them to clear with little to know effort. So you can imagine I am thrilled to bits to have a new big dog on the other side of me. Come on lottery money, Mama needs a new fence!!

Up until the noise riot this morning, the weekend has been wonderful. Those No Cook Friday friends of mine are so much fun to hang around with. We had a lovely time Friday night at supper. After supper we went to the Banker's house for an "old lady" birthday party. Kit Kat and the Baker both had birthdays this month. We wore hats, drank punch and ate birthday cake. We had china tea cups, fancy dishes and gold cutlery. We had so much fun!!!

Then Saturday we were up and at it with our garage sale. Garage sales are a lot of work but they can be a lot of fun. We got rid of a ton of stuff and what was left can be set out again for the second sale the Banker will have in July. She is moving in with her Sweet Baboo and will need to get rid of some excess furniture and household goods from both places. MAYBE this next time that blessed loom will sell!!! Grrrr!! We laughed, talked, teased, chatted and goofed around with the customers and with each other. We had a steady stream of people coming for the whole day and stuff sold nicely. All in all it was a great.

Once we closed up shop we added up out takings and celebrated our new wealth with coffee and a delicious rhubarb pie the Sailor brought. Teddy Bear ran me up to the hospital and then KitKat joined us for supper out. By the time I got home I was tired, happy and $40.00 richer, not bad considering most of my stuff was not more than a $1.00.

Today I have chores to do and some painting to do. Lots of projects on the "to do" list and I have been putting them off for far to long. Whether or not that loom of mine sells, it is not coming back into this house. Its for the shed if its still mine in July which means the shed needs to be cleaned out. The chest of drawers I found in there needs to be cleaned, painted and moved into the house. I have given up my dream of a pie safe cupboard for the entry and have settled on the "free" chest of drawers I already have. I have to start to budgeting if I am going to pay for all I need to do.

Right time to get my arse moving.

Toodles
Linda

Yard Work Begun and Promptly Halted

I finally got a start at the yard work. I decided its time I start to regain my stamina and gardening is one way to start. I worked for an hour yesterday, managed to get half the front yard done and completely poofed myself out. The upside of my adventures in lawn care is that the peonies are weeded, the border flower beds are worked up and all the things that were knocked over and laying down are upright once again. Its a start and I am rather proud that I finally made it.

Things were looking promising until someone decided that my shed was easy pickings, let himself into it and liberated me of my nearly new leaf blower. The one I have only used once. Hmmph. I was less than impressed. Especially when  in the process of gaining entry,  they managed to mangle the shed door. Crap Crap Crapity Crap! This was an expense I was not wanting to entertain at the moment. Oh well, it is what it is.

Mike the Builder has agreed to replace the door for me, and he very  kindly brought  a board, his drill and secured the shed shut until said door can be replaced. Therefore my gardening tools and my lawnmower are safe inside and out of my reach. Thus the halt to the most of the gardening I had planned. I should have got them out before he barred the door but my brain is pudding these days and thinking quick and smart is just not how I roll these days.

I do have my grubber and my garden weasel so I can do some stuff. Thankfully I did not put my weed whacker in the shed this year so its still with me. I imagine it would have gone walk-a-bout had it been in the shed at the time of the break in. So I can do some stuff and in desperation I could weed whack the entire lawn before it gets tall enough to require goats.

Once the new door is on the shed, I will have to paint it. This may spur me on to paint the whole thing. I started a couple of years ago.

It used to be an ugly dark brown, so I painted it Heirloom White. Which really is cream, which I really really like but in no way matched the house. I ran out of paint and discovered that that particular colour is nowhere to be found.  I only got two sides of the shed done before the paint ran out. I am thinking now that white is a better choice. White never gets discontinued so maybe I will get the whole thing done. All four sides, how novel!!!  The roof is just going to have to stay the way it is for the foreseeable future. 

I wish the entire shed was spun around and the doors faced into the yard. The way it is now they open onto the back alley. Its a temptation to those who feel they have a right to things that do not belong to them. New doors will help for sure.

This does put a bit of a kink in my fence replacement plans. Replacing the fence will all have to be pondered, figured and reassessed. Those lottery people really need to get it together and cough up my share!!

POSTED LATER THE SAME DAY:

Look what I got today:  Mike the Builder is super fast and I am please to say I have a new shed door. Now I need to get paint: Take that you lawn blower liberators!!

I also did this today, I managed to get the piggy washtub painted at last and some plants purchased to fill it. It used to look like this:

Now it looks like this:

This may be the last year for this little tub. Its rusted through in places but I am hoping it hangs in there for a bit yet. I am rather fond of it. I need to properly plant the flowers in it but for now its the one spot of colour in my front yard, if you don't count the dandelions. I now can access the shed so mowing may happen tomorrow. Yikes!!

Toodles,

Linda 

A Dark and Stormy Night

Well to be honest its been a dark and stormy last two days. The wind howling to the point where I fear for the roof or at very least the shingles. Tree branches are taking a beating and dumpsters are flopping over in surrender. Of course all this is taking place on the May long weekend. pity for all those die hard campers and cottagers.

My cold lingers on but I have discovered Drixoral nasal spray which actually works for me for the 12 hours they say on the package. Once it gives up my sinuses slam shut until I can find the bottle again. It lets me sleep at night which means the world. Now if I could just find the snooze bar on one of the cats things would be perfect. Desi is very vocal and likes to have me up at the same hour every day. The wind last night caused him some concern as well for which he felt the need to sing the song of his people for most of the night.

My leg still heals and I am off now until July 12th. I feel  in my heart of hearts that my leg is going to be better by then. I need to get my stamina back. I have the ok from the Doctor to start to work at doing just that.

So things are chugging along as always, puppets are being made, quilts are in process, the great purge of 2015 is still going on. The Garage Sale is on May 30th so I have to be done by then. Tuesday night we are gathering to price things. I hope to have the last of my boxes filled with purged items. I finally got the loom up for sale but have not had one bite. I wish it would sell. It mocks me now.

I found my shelf!!!! I found the shelf!!! I have not lost my mind. It was in the basement on the top of the shelving unit where I store my old paint. Had I not gone down to change the smoke alarm battery and then had I not gone looking for a little can of paint I have no idea when I would have found it. How it got there I have no memory. I care not for the how but I am thrilled that the lost is found. Onward now to getting a light stick to attach to it, and then a slap of paint so it can take its place over the stove. The tea tins will be back where they belong and all will be well with the world once more.

Best Friend was here for the better part of the week,. It is always lovely to have company. We did not do an awful lot but rest and chat. We have never had any problem in the chatting department. She left on Saturday and the house felt empty as it always does when the visitors leave. I have been working on the puppets since she left. I find it hard to settle into a routine after company so at least working on the critters is productive.

Toodles
Linda

A Spring Cold Sucks

So I have been fighting this cold for a while now and inspite of all my efforts it has taken root, moved in and just in general taken over. CRAP. I hate having a cold. The whole not being able to breath is not my favourite thing. Makes me cranky to say the least.

Today I go to my doctor and then tomorrow I see the surgeon again about my leg. It will be interesting to see what they have to say about things. I will not be sad if I get some more time at home. This has been the silver lining is this sad sick leg cloud has been my time at home.

Best Friend is arriving today for a little visit. It will be nice to have her here. How long she stays will be determined by what the Doctor says to day. Right now I am scheduled to start back to work this Friday. That is the plan at this moment.

Right now I have several things that I need to take care of before she gets here. Right after I finish my coffee!!

Toodles,

Linda

Progress and One Tiny Set Back

Ok I said I would not mention my leg unless there was something major happening. Well, I have come to understand that this leg does nothing major, its the slowest, longest recovery in history but I am certain there is progress. (Usually when I think things are going well, it takes a shot backwards but for now the following is what I feel/know to be true at this point in time) I believe my leg to be infection free. It looks pink and healthy and if you ignore the fact that it has a hole in it, it looks really good compared to what it used to look like. Today I took yet another picture of it and yes my suspicions were confirmed, the hole is not at big to day as it was a few days ago. A few days ago you could have put a wine cork in it, now not so much.  All this is positive as long as the hole is healing correctly from the inside out not the outside in. Unless it is infection free then it can seal up and heal up and I can move on. Maybe Dr. Arrogant will have some good things to say this time when I see him on Wednesday.

I finished quilt number three. This one is an auction donation for my home church and has already been sold. I just need to get it delivered. Its called Calico Crossover and I am pleased with the end result.

Now I have three quilts made and three more to go. The next one is going to be just like this one only instead of two prints, I will use a solid gray and one of the prints. Its destined  for my office to use as a social committee fundraiser.

Guess what!! Guess what?? Ok I'll tell you, I did some yard work today!! Happy drunken monkey dance of joy!! I cut down some trees that were growing through my fence from my big maple into the yard next door. They had gotten out of hand so I attacked them to day with my trusty hand saw. I have now decided I want a reciprocating saw!! If I had had one of those, it would have been done in a second. OMG am I tired now. I have no energy to do anymore and only half an hour in the yard and I am toast. So I will do the rest of the cutting tomorrow. Soon I will need to cut my grass. After the trees are beat into submission I want to get the front yard cleaned up, and then the shed painted and then the mosaic stars hung and the flower bed dug up and then and then  and and......................

Best Friend is going to be here for a visit so maybe I can get her to help me a little. This is the year that I hope to get the yard done how I want it to be. The Carpenter has offered to but my fence in for me if I get the material. I cannot tell you how happy this makes me. I cannot wait to get the old one out and a new one in. This way I can be out and not have to worry about the neighbours dogs leaping the fence to take a chomp out of my rump. 

The Banker hung up my giant scissors for me. I actually had the perfect spot for them in the corner of my craft room. They are perfect for the space and are a treasured gift from a fellow crafty friend. She is the one who made my Halloween cat for my veranda. To hang them required getting onto the table and I am not that steady these days so I felt it prudent to have someone else to the climbing and the hanging. 

Slowly things are coming to order. The house is back to being fit for company, the great purge of 2015 is almost completed. I have the quilts and the puppets under control. They are coming along nicely, which means I am on schedule with the making of  them. Things are plugging along very well. 

The one fly in the ointment of all this is I have now developed a freckin' cold. I woke up the other day with a stuffy nose, muzzy head and the icky feeling in my chest. Every one said OIL OF OREGANO. So I tried it. I do think it helped with the heavy chest but my sinuses have sealed shut like contact cement and my head feels as stuffed  as full as one of my puppet heads. Crap Crap Crappity Crap. This too shall pass. Right now I am off to the drug store for even more medication to hopefully help me breath. Yeesh.

Toodles 

Linda