Friday 6-2-2023

bjsmith4.tumblr.com

I just love the photo above. It shows hope for a bright future.

My Art – My Choice-Gif-Guy – tumblr_njxl1kHgkW1t0cscho1_500 – 4GIFS.com

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It’ll be interesting to see how we get to town and Lunch Bunch this morning. They were working on the bridge between here and town, and there was a sign we couldn’t see as we went last time. It turned out the sign said, “Road Closed.” The crew working on the bridge let us through. My husband is stubborn enough he went back through the same way. We haven’t been to town since.

When I reminded him that we needed to leave a bit early since we will need to take the back way into town, he scoffed at me (as he often does.) This shows me he’ll go the regular way just to prove me wrong, and will turn around and go the back way if needed – making our trip over twice as long as usual. (Do you begin to see why I’m considering digging a hole for him in the back yard?

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My efforts to lose the lard are showing definite progress now. As of this morning, I’m down 7 pounds. The number I have ‘left to lose’ and the national debt look similar, but I’m just taking it one day at a time, trying not to default – as Congress flirts with too many times.

I’ve finished weeding 2-1/2 veggie boxes in my raised bed, square foot garden thus far. I have four boxes planted, and my goal is to catch up on the weeding before we’re due for rain tomorrow afternoon.

Since Mother Nature has snapped her fingers, changing us from spring to summer in Arkansas suddenly, I’m afraid I’ll need to then clean up the head lettuce plants and decide which to harvest. The weather is getting too warm now for them to last much longer. The happy side of the weather change is that my tomato plants should love it. :0)

Enjoy your Friday and your weekend, surrounded by love and laughter.

And the Rain Continues

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Today is Lunch Bunch, but my husband and I will probably get stood up, due to various reasons. My husband said it didn’t matter, we’ll go anyway and then get stuff at the store on the way back. There is a 70% chance of rain this morning, this afternoon, and this evening. “Wet” is my natural state much of the day these days, though I try to use an umbrella.

I have one of those nice pop-up ones. That helps some, but it seems I can never get it up and over me before I’m pretty wet. We usually have gusty winds with our rain here, so that is challenging, too. I usually just say, “Okay” (bad words not supplied here), put the umbrella away, and just dry off when I get home.

It’s been so rainy lately that I haven’t been out to check the garden or the tomato plants. Hopefully, there will be a lull in the rain so I can get out and see what’s happening – with fingers crossed.

I hope that your Friday will be a fun one.

Cloudy Friday 5-5-2023

“Dorky Dogs” – BoredPanda.com – Liucija Adomaite and Justinas Keturka

I love this photo. I’ve had dogs who will do this when they have a full-sized bed a couple of feet away. :0)

Tenor

We have Lunch Bunch this morning, and then we’ll hit Walmart for groceries plus get our mail. When we get back, I’ll make the rounds of the yard, checking on tomato plants and boxes of veggies. I might do a 2nd harvest this afternoon. No other big plans for the day.

Yesterday when my husband drove down to get the mail, he found a humongous vehicle on the street in front of the house. It was designed to be driven with a big attachment that whacks off greenery encroaching on the public roadways. The man was parked, waiting for maintenance to come, bringing him a new hose to put on the vehicle.

When my husband came back up, he gave me two names and asked me to call the county road department to see if we could pay them a small amount while the vehicle was there to use it on our driveway, which looks like a tunnel in a couple of parts. I called, but the supervisor wasn’t there. A man took my information and said he would have the supervisor call me back.

Amazingly, the supervisor called back about an hour later. He told me that he couldn’t use the equipment on private property and that was the end of the conversation. He was very nice, and I had hoped they could help us. We’re definitely getting long-in-the-tooth for work like this, but we’ll try to do it a little bit at a time when my husband is fully healed from hurting his back.

Enjoy your day.

The Gang was All There!

The core bunch for Lunch Bunch was there today for the first time in awhile. I commemorated the occasion by taking a couple of pics quickly. This is Patty, Linda, Kay and Bud.

And the gentleman at the far end of the table is my husband, Harvey.

It was good to catch up on things. Patty and her husband will celebrate their 40th anniversary with a trip to Greece soon! I told her that they ‘had a good start now.’ :0) I think that Kay and Bud have been married about as long as we have (54 years in June), and Linda lost her husband, Dick, several years ago now.

We went to the library book sale right after Lunch Bunch and saw another long time good friend, Martha. She was helping her daughter run the sale. I hugged her neck. We agreed that trying to age gracefully was sometimes more of a challenge than either of us could handle, but that the effort was probably character-building.

After a quick trip to Walmart, we’re home for the day. The trip was a bit too long for my husband. He’s resting now and will probably take a nap after he finishes looking at the new magazines he got in the mail.

Beef stew tonight for dinner, a check of the garden stuff, a yoga session, and that’s our day.

I hope you’re having a good one.

It’s Friday! 4-28-2023

ebaum’s world

It’s not actively raining right now. We’re supposed to get more tonight and tomorrow. I wonder if I start singing, “Here Comes the Sun” the weather will improve or Mother Nature will send me a tornado to protest.

NatGeo

My husband is feeling enough better this morning and he’s going to come to Lunch Bunch with me for the first time in 3 weeks! Hooray! I’m not sure if we’ll go to the grocery after that or not yet. We’ll play it by ear, depending on how he’s doing.

When we get back, if it’s not raining I’ll get out and check on my veggie boxes and tomato planters to see how the sweet plants are. I’ll try to take some pics to share.

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Nothing big planned for today, but it’s celebration mode that my husband is feeling a bit better. :0)

Good Lunch Bunch

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Lunch Bunch was good, even though it was only Kay, Bud, and I. They were talking about their new way of gardening, in buckets, and wanted me to see what they were doing. So we went back to their house after we ate. They showed me a whole series of buckets for growing veggies, plus new roses bushes they had planted along their chain link fence. I was very impressed, and happy for them that they had figured out a way to do what they wanted and make it easier on themselves.

At lunch, Bud told me about a hail storm in 1965 or 66 where a really bad hail storm had killed a bunch of cattle and horses. One man brought a piece of hail to a weigh station. It had melted some during the trip, of course, but it still weighed 11 pounds!!!!! I really can’t imagine that. He also told me about working one day in a shop at a construction site. Suddenly, the garage door was blown in to the point it bowed out into the shop, then it went completely the other way and was gone. He got down on his hands and knees behind some barrels. The top blew off the shop and most of it was destroyed around him. Thankfully, he was JUST scared and wasn’t injured. I’ve lived in “Tornado Alley” most of my life, but (knock on wood) I’ve never actually seen one. I hope that continues.

I brought lunch home to my husband, and caught him up on the news and our friends’ flowers and garden.

Another ‘Morning After’

When this shows up on Twitter later, the censors will probably flag it for ‘inappropriate content’ and I’ll have to again speak to the fact that they should READ the content before deciding it’s questionable. (The last time was ‘Wet Wednesday’ where I was again speaking of storms and rain. :0) )

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The morning after – The severe weather we were expecting finally showed up yesterday evening. All of a sudden it was like being in the middle of a humongous, rushing waterfall, the hardest rain I can remember seeing, and then we had about 10 minutes or so of large hail. I’ll call our insurance agent later to see if we should be checked, but I’ll tell him that we can’t see any damage and to put us at the bottom of the list on getting to people.

I had spread clothes-pinned sheets over our tomato plants and the veggie boxes before the storms were due, so I had protected things as well as I was able and hoped for the best. I’ve just finished using the wheelbarrow to gather the clothespins and the heavy, wet sheets. Six loads of laundry later, I will fold the sheets up to be used again (though I hope not soon!)

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Today is Lunch Bunch. I’m hoping my husband will feel like going with me. I gave him my massage spot yesterday after contacting Lynn Moody, my wonderful massage therapist, to see if she thought she might be able to give him some relief. I’m delighted and relieved to report that she brought him the first almost pain-free day he’s had since he hurt himself. She did tell us that she thought he should get x-rays and see a chiropractor since the pain was in the middle of his lower back. (MAYBE he’ll listen). We’ll never be able to thank her enough.

I hope you have a great Friday.

FUN Lunch Bunch!

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I had to leave my husband home, since his back is still hurting a lot. He says it’s better, and he looks a bit more perky, but he still needs recovery time.

Today Lunch Bunch was especially fun. When I got to Lunch Bunch, Kay and Bud had brought a neighbor couple, Willie and Cheryl. We mainly talked gardening, and then were surprised when Patty and Linda came late! So almost the whole gang was there. The conversation was lively and fun, with a lot of laughing.

I brought home good wishes from everyone plus a bacon cheeseburger for my husband.

On the way down the driveway, I saw a package was sitting on the ground behind the trash can. (UPS has started leaving stuff down there, rather than trying to drive up our driveway.) It was the bag of Worm Castings I ordered from which I’ll make “tea” for the garden. It’s supposed to be an organic fertilizer and disease prevention for all garden plants and flowers, etc. I’ll start the process of ‘steeping’ it this weekend.

I’m going to rest a bit and then water my tomatoes and check on the main garden. We’re due for possible large hail tomorrow afternoon and evening, so I’m thinking of a method to try to protect my plants as much as possible.

I hope you’re enjoying your day.

It’s Friday 4-14-2023

Two sources – my friends Marsha and Carol

This actually meshes well with my occasional ‘threat’ when my husband is acting up that I’m thinking of digging a hole for him in the back yard… :0)

I haven’t heard from anyone, so I’m assuming everyone will be at Lunch Bunch today. I’m going to bring a burger back for my husband. His back is still hurting, though it is ‘marginally better,’ he says. I wish I could wave a magic wand and FIX this.

I’ve been keeping a close eye on my husband since he hurt himself, so have been neglecting my yard and garden duties. I’ll try to at least water our tomato plants today and check on the main garden.

I wish you a happy day and a fun weekend.

Fabulous Friday 4-7-2023

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Even after sleeping well last night, I’m struggling to wake up. I just finished a cup of coffee, but it seemingly hasn’t affected me. :0(

I’m looking forward to seeing as many of my Friday Lunch Bunch friends as possible today. Tomorrow is our waitress’ birthday, so I’m taking some hand painted note cards and a birthday card to her. I’m hoping she like them. I’m planning to take some pics if we have a ‘full house’ at lunch because that is happening less and less often. I want to take advantage of the opportunity to capture the joy we feel on meeting each week.

After lunch my husband and I will hit Walmart and the local grocery store for supplies. I’m planning to get out this afternoon and prep the tomato planters so that sometime during the weekend we can go buy some tomato plants.

I’m very thankful we’re not facing any awful weather today. It’s supposed to be sunny and 67 for a high. I’ll sure take that!

Yesterday my husband ‘disappeared’ for a time, scaring my hair off. The Vette was gone from the garage. His phone was in the office. He showed up about half an hour later, having filled up the Vette with gas. I reminded him that it would be really nice if he would let me know where he’s going, and that he take his phone so we can communicate, if needed. I THINK I got through to him.

No big plans for the day. Just enjoying the weather, trying to get a few things done around the house, enjoying our friends, gathering supplies for the next week, and enjoying the fact that we’re still around and able to appreciate all we have.

Happy Friday.

Lunch Bunch?

Forbes

It looks pretty ominous outside right now. We’re supposed to have thunderstorms this morning.

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We’re supposed to go to Lunch Bunch in about an hour and a half. I haven’t heard from anyone, so that USED to mean we were all planning to come. Since Kay and Linda aren’t good about carrying their phones, it’s like throwing a bottle in the ocean to reach them. I can leave a voice mail on Kay’s phone, but she says she doesn’t get it. The voice mail isn’t set up on Linda’s. I can’t text either of them. So we’re down to smoke signals. :0)

Happily, my husband’s attitude is that we can go anyway, even if we’re ‘stood up’ by the others, eat our lunch, and then run errands or come back home, so that’s what we’ll do.

We aren’t under imminent warnings at the moment, so I’ll just keep an eye on things and we’ll make our decision later.

Stay safe and dry if you can today.

It’s Raining, It’s Pouring…

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It’s pouring here this morning. I looked at the forecast and it showed heavy rain steadily through 7pm this evening! Then we’re also under a Flash Flood Warning… Good day to live on top of a ridge line.

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With all of this I contacted everyone and told them we would stay up on our hill today rather than going to Lunch Bunch. I’ve had trouble with Kay and Linda not answering their phones. Kay is set up with voicemail, but she says she doesn’t get them, even though it shows delivered from my end. Linda isn’t set up for messages at all. It’s like throwing a bottle in the ocean or sending smoke signals, but I actually REACHED both of them this morning and got to talk to them a bit. So virtual hugs and we’ll all stay warm and dry where we are.

I haven’t decided how I’ll spend this wet day yet. Even Amber, who bursts from the house barking her head off each morning, yelling, “I’m here, world, and you’d better watch out!” was back in the garage wanting to come back in before I finished feeding Abby, our cat. :0)

I hope the weather is good wherever you are, or that at least you can avoid being out in it as much as possible.

Fabulous Friends

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Yesterday we enjoyed our Friday Lunch Bunch. Amazingly, we were all there for the first time in awhile.

I hugged Linda, Kay, and Patty, patted Bud and my husband on their shoulders, feeling very grateful to see everyone. It’s a bit sad that having everyone there is happening less and less due to health issues and other commitments.

We had SUCH a good time. Good food, as always, at the Pizza Barn in Greenwood at ‘our’ table. I was the only one in our group wearing green. I had on a green tee I hand-painted flowers on years ago and my multi-shamrock earrings. Mikey, our wonderful waitress, easily outdid me with some really glittery dangling green earrings and a TATTOO of a shamrock we didn’t know she had on her ankle. :0)

We enjoyed catching up. Kay’s husband, Bud, told us about a friend he has who is a welder and apparently has a machine where he can insert a card and the torch cuts out intricate pictures from sheet metal. We compared notes, since with our CNC set up, my husband has to convert the picture we find on the net to G-Code that the computer can understand, and then take the thumb drive out to the shop and put it into the computer out there. Then the torch cuts out the design according to the code. My husband then welds angle iron that will attach our design to our mailbox with bolts. I then paint the design on both sides. Bud’s friend obviously has the next step up from our set-up. He said he would bring us a sample of one of the cards sometime. I’m interested to see it.

Since it’s hard for us to get our designs off the hooks in the shop, we are changing our designs less now. What we actually have up right now is this –

I’m so lucky to have friends like Linda, Kay, and now Linda’s daughter, Patty. The three of us have been meeting for Lunch Bunch now for over 25 years, sharing life, laughs, and tears. I love being able to see their faces and hug their necks.

St. Pat’s Day 2023

“Leprechauns, castles, good luck and laughter
Lullabies, dreams, and love ever after.
Poems and songs with pipes and drums
A thousand welcomes when anyone comes.”
~Author Unknown

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you! With the latest storms, we’ve had a return of winter-like temperatures – without the ice or snow – thank goodness. It’s 33 degrees F. here right now. I think it’s supposed to get to 50 this afternoon.

I just checked the 10-day weather forecast and it looks like I can get some spring plants in my garden next week! I’ll plan to take the weed barrier cloths off the raised bed planters and store those and the bricks somewhere safe and then see what’s available. I can’t wait!!

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We have Lunch Bunch today. I have no idea who will be there, since my friends aren’t using their phones reliably these days and don’t remember to call if they’re not coming. Happily, my husband isn’t bothered if we’re ‘stood up’ by the group. We’ll just go get our lunch at the regular Lunch Bunch time and hope we see at least some of them.

It’s not raining. It’s SUNNY. It’s above freezing. HOORAAAAAY!

Enjoy your day.

“St. Patrick’s Day is an enchanted time – a day to begin transforming winter’s dreams into summer’s magic.” ~Adrienne Cook

Not Old

I’ve had a really nice birthday celebration, and am now ready to put thoughts of how old I am away for another year. Most of the time I don’t even think of it. The main thing is annoyance if I have trouble getting out of my recliner. :0)

We have Lunch Bunch today. I’m hoping we have a full contingent. I haven’t heard from anyone, and usually that means that everyone is planning to come. It will be good to see some much-loved faces, laugh, and share a meal.

There is not much going on here today otherwise. We have some errands to run after Lunch Bunch, but then a quiet day after with lots of sunshine.

I’m going to try to pay attention as we do our errands to see if the places in town are starting to stock spring plants. I’m itching to get our garden started, though it’s a bit early.

Have a wonderful Friday.

March Mailbox Decoration

If it will stop raining, we’ll put up “Sylvester and Tweetie Pie” on our mailbox as we leave to go to Lunch Bunch soon.

I found out two of our friends will be at Lunch Bunch. I’m hoping for the whole group, but I guess I shouldn’t be greedy…

Hooray – It’s Friday 2-17-2023

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Today is Lunch Bunch. I haven’t heard from anyone that they AREN’T coming, so I’m going, hoping to catch up with everyone. These days it’s almost like throwing a bottle in the ocean trying to reach my friends. I can leave a message on Kay’s phone, but Kay says it doesn’t show up. She also says it doesn’t ring, but hasn’t gotten a replacement phone yet. So, unless she answers, I’m not at all confident I can reach her. Linda’s phone message system hasn’t been set up. If she doesn’t answer, I can’t leave a message. Her daughter Patty says she often doesn’t hear the phone because she isn’t wearing her hearing aids. Getting older is SUCH a reminder to keep your sense of humor.

One good thing, my friend Nora has quit her full time job and is writing a children’s book with the idea of self-publishing via the Kindle app. She is a talented artist (pastels), so I don’t wonder that she’ll write well, too. I’m hoping to be able to recommend her book to you one day. In the meantime, I’m hoping she’ll start joining us at Lunch Bunch. She can’t come today, but I’ll text and remind her that this is a standing invitation. :0)

I had a really nice thing happen yesterday. I was getting the mail and a truck went by. We waved, then he stopped and backed up. He told me he loved the mailbox decorations and made it a point to drive by and see what we had up, even though he lives down the road in the other direction. He asked if we used a CNC setup to make them, so he knows his tools. I confirmed that and told him he made my day and that I would tell my husband. He said he’s a handyman! I asked if he had a card and he gave me one. I will keep this with the idea of getting his help in the future. I’ll let you know how he does.

We’re due for nicer and nicer weather the rest of the week. It’s really terrific to see the sunshine and have afternoon temperatures at 50 today and even warmer the rest of the week.

Have a fabulous Friday.

It’s Friday 1-27-2023

The Random Vibes

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There is a lot of melting going on, but our driveway will be the last. It still looks like a ski slope. My husband hasn’t seen it yet, and I have to admit I’m dreading it when he does. The branches hanging down are HUGE and definitely too much for the two of us. If I were by myself, I would be calling tree people to come and give me estimates when the driveway is clear, and just wait it out as to getting to town again. I just looked at the forecast and that looks pretty grim – rain this weekend following by ‘wintry mix’ next week. Right now, though, it’s sunny and 33 degrees, with a high of 58 expected. One day at a time.

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I’ve told you that the core group of Lunch Bunch is Kay, Linda, Linda’s daughter, Patty, and me. Honorary members are Kay’s husband and mine. Others are also happily welcomed whenever they can come. I had to contact everyone yesterday that we wouldn’t be there today due to being snowed in. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to go NEXT week, either, due to coming weather and/or JUST the driveway blockage. The good news is that Patty has become a grandmother again this past week, making Linda a great-grandmother again! Both Linda and Kay are quite rich in family. It’s wonderful to be able to help them celebrate each new addition.

I hope Friday is a nice one for you, followed by a fabulous weekend.

It’s Friday! 1-20-2023

Apyr

It’s freezing right now, but it’s sunny, and supposed to get to 51 this afternoon, so I have no complaints. It’s also “Lunch Bunch Day,” a chance to visit with my good friends. Kay called, and she’s feeling better, and thought last night that she would be there today. I haven’t heard from anyone else, so I’m hoping we’ll have a full contingent. It’s been 3 weeks since we enjoyed seeing each other.

I’m also planning to do my walking video and do my yoga this afternoon. I’ve stuttered on doing them every day since my arm was hurting, but now, since it’s getting better slowly, I’m going to try to do them daily. Lynn, my wonderful friend/massage therapist and I bonded even more yesterday when we told each other that we resented the fact we weren’t flooded with endorphins and balloons when we exercised, the way some people are. They say, “OOH, I feel so GOOD after I exercise!” Well, WE say, “Bah. Humbug” to that. We just pat ourselves on the head for doing what we know is good for us and go on. I was SO pleased to find someone else who felt the same. I really thought I was the only one. :0)

I hope you have an enjoyable day.

Cold Friday 1-13-2023

Animal Services

It’s 28 degrees F. right now – not really that cold, but the wind is blowing and it FEELS really cold, particularly after the springlike weather we’ve been enjoying. The cold front came through and thankfully the storms didn’t cause any damage here. I’m full of gratitude that we’re good here. My heart goes out to the people suffering from the vagaries of the weather.

Source Unknown

I may actually get up to my art room today. I have some ideas rattling around in my head that I’d like to try. :0)

My husband is a happy camper today. Yesterday he was finally able to delete the program he didn’t want on his computer and replace it with a version (after trying 3 different softwares) that does exactly what he wanted it to do. We are both relieved.

jackandfriends.com

I’m starting to think about plans for the square foot garden in the spring. I’ll get out my diagrams of where things were planted last time and start figuring out what I would like to plant, how many plants, and where to put them. A gardener is always plotting the next planting.

Cesar’s Way

We’re due to meet our friends for Lunch Bunch today. Last week my husband and I were stood up. No one came or called to tell us they weren’t coming. It turned out that all were sick. I’m hoping that everyone is feeling good now and that we’ll see them at lunch today. I’ve tried to call both of them, but neither of them is good about checking their phones…

I hope today is a good one for you.

Friday Thoughts 1-6-2023

Sent to me by my friend, Marsha

Since it’s Friday, we’ll meet our good friends for Lunch Bunch this morning. It’s so nice to see people with whom we’ve essentially shared the whole time we’ve lived in Arkansas on a regular basis. We’ve lived here for 36 years now, and have been enjoying eating lunch together on Friday for at least 26 years, I think. However long we’ve done it, it’s priceless. We’ve shared so much and are family now.

We don’t have errands today, so we’ll just come home afterwards, as far as I know now. I’m planning to lop some weed trees this afternoon, since the weather is being really cooperative. There are an abundance of them, so it’ll be quite awhile before anyone could tell I’ve been working on it.

Inside – my next project is cleaning off my kitchen desk. The two of us tend to either dump things there, or they quietly gravitate there on their own, but the result is a mess. I’ll try to do something about that today.

I found some really neat things online yesterday that I’ll share with you later.

For some reason, I’m having to fight lethargy lately. I’m actually kind of hoping that my doctor’s message from my latest blood work will show I need a change in my thyroid dosage. That’s a lot easier for me to accept than the fact I’m just LAZY…. :0)

Make this a great Friday.

Friends on Friday 12-30-2022

Lunch Bunch – I think I’m the one in the middle. (Final Fantasy XIV)

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On the way to Lunch Bunch this morning, we’ll change the decoration on our mailbox.

Here’s hoping that 2023 will be a better year than this one has been.

I MAY be able to get outside this afternoon and lop or saw down a few weed trees. Fingers crossed.

On the two other challenges that we’ve faced lately – the fact that the clothes washer died mid load and wouldn’t restart and that my MP3 player had been misplaced have shown some progress!

After finally arranging for a tech to come about the clothes washer on Tuesday of next week, we tried a bunch of things to get the machine to reset. I found a blurb online about a ‘child lock’ and the icon looked like what we were seeing. We tried the two solutions given and one of them WORKED! Everything is working again! I rewashed the half-washed comforter and it worked perfectly. HOOORAAAAAY! We saved the at least $150 we would have paid for the guy to come out and look at it.

Speaking of that, the company we dealt with was Pro-Tech. The tech’s name was Jonathan. The lady I texted back and forth with at the company was truly wonderful, though I didn’t get her name. After we got the washer running again, I texted her, asking her to cancel the Tuesday appointment. She got right back to me, confirming that she had cancelled it. I highly recommend Pro-Tech because of the good communication we had when I had no luck with the many others I called or contacted trying to fix this problem. Their phone number is 479-462-7787. I think they serve the Ft. Smith AR and surrounding areas, like us in Greenwood.

I FOUND the MP3 player. I went out to the elliptical yesterday and turned it on. It said it had NO music recorded on it! None. Nada. I finally found an FM radio and listened to a rock station that played 3/4 commercials and 1/4 music, but it was better than nothing. Talk about desperation! My husband is trying now to record some of HIS favorite songs on it. I told him I would be very grateful to have SOMEONE’S favorite songs on it when I do the elliptical again tomorrow.

Today is “warm-up” and “weights” videos online and then yoga. (DAY 168).

Have a wonderful Friday.

Friday Thoughts 12-9-2022

Fanpop

Just hanging around, trying to figure out what I’ll do with the day today. It’s pretty, so I should try to lop off more weed trees in the back this afternoon. We have Lunch Bunch this morning, in about an hour. I’m hoping we’ll have a full house today. It’s been awhile since we were all able to get there, so it would be great to be able to catch up. After we eat lunch, we’ll go grab some groceries, since rain is supposed to start overnight and last through the day tomorrow.

I’ll get presents ready to mail and try to get Christmas cards going. I always do the envelope addressing, signing the cards, etc. I’ll see if my husband wants to dictate the Christmas letter we enclose to people we don’t see during the year. If he doesn’t want to, I’ll think about what to write. I love hearing from people at this time of year. It’s a wonderful way to virtually hug someone you can’t travel to see.

I wish you the happiest of Fridays, good weather, good company, and lots of hugs and laughter.

Friday Fun 12-2-2022

Final Fantasy XIV

I’m looking forward to Lunch Bunch today even more than usual. Due to Thanksgiving last week, our restaurant wasn’t open for our lunch last Friday, so it’s been two weeks since we met. I want to find out if Linda has moved to the retirement place and what else is going on with everyone.

It’s actually warmer this morning than it has been. It’s 51 degrees F. already and is supposed to get to 60 this afternoon! Woo HOOO! I’m hoping to be able to continue my yard work, though I haven’t decided what I’ll tackle yet, if the weather is cooperative. We’re supposed to have light rain off and on during the day and a strong cold front coming through overnight, so it’s still a roller coaster here.

It’s funny. I’m reading After Sundown by Linda Howard and Linda Jones. It’s about a CME (cornonal mass ejection) bringing their world to a standstill with no electricity until further notice and all the things that derive from that. This morning I checked the news and read about solar storms possibly affecting our power grid in a minor way. Eerie.

And with that, I’ll wish you a happy, stress-free day.

Thoughts on a Friday 11-18-2022

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It’s my husband’s 79th birthday today. On one hand, he doesn’t want to talk about it, celebrate or anything. On the other hand, he wants to be 80. He thinks THAT is a good age. Kay is bringing him a cake today at Lunch Bunch. I’m making him one of his favorite dinners – chicken chunks and soup with mushrooms and onions over rice – for dinner tonight. Our son just called from across the world (the middle of the night for him) to wish him a happy birthday and a happy day. I wish you could have seen the smile on my husband’s face and the light in his eyes.

A cold front came through last night, bringing cooler temperatures. No ice or snow, though, thank goodness, but the HIGH will only be 38 today. We’re not finished with warmer temperatures yet, but today will probably not be one where I work outside this afternoon.

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Today is DAY 126 of my efforts to make daily yoga practice a habit/routine, and I held the plank pose for a quick count of 30 yesterday. I’m not sure whether the practice is becoming a habit or just a part of the day I’m determined to keep doing, but both Amber (our yellow lab) and Abby (our fat cat) seem to think that my getting on the floor is a signal it’s time to nuzzle and play. I hardly get my mat spread out and pillows down before both of them are there waiting for me to join them. :0)

My husband and I went for lab work yesterday in preparation for our routine appointments Monday afternoon. The clinic called me today to tell me I need to change my thyroid dosage, so we’ll be picking up a new trial prescription from the pharmacy after Lunch Bunch today, with another test in 8 weeks to see if the new dosage is correct. (Kind of like trying to regrow a nerve – slow and tedious until the correct dosage is found.)

My husband has declared our driveway pad detector dead and is in the process of ordering a new one. I found the paperwork, so we’re pretty sure we can get the same thing, or an updated version of the same thing, making the replacement pretty easy.

We have NOT found any evidence that any more critters are coming into the garage to get our cat’s food, so for the time being, we’re not having to set our humane trap. Here’s hoping the raccoon we caught recently didn’t have a big family who kept track of where he was going.

Enjoy your Friday.

Sunny, Cold Saturday 11-12-2022

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Weather –

My husband saw snowflakes when he took Amber out for the last time last night! It’s 37 degrees with bright sunshine right now, with more snow possibly Monday. Ooh. NOOOO! I’m not ready for this! I’m still trying to get the yard cleaned up!

Diet and Exercise –

I’ve lost 2 lbs this week. I’m really trying not to stuff my face between meals, after dinner, in the middle of the night…. DAY 120 on my yoga practice. It’s still quite difficult for me to hold the plank pose. I made it to 21 seconds yesterday. Pathetic, but progress.

Ham Radio Tower –

It’s gone! George and a friend came at about 1:30 yesterday afternoon. They were able to get the tower lying on it’s side on the ground without problem (amazing) and then proceeded to take it apart. While they were doing that, I helped my husband get the antenna controller unattached from the shelf in the office where it has lived for umpteen years. It did NOT want to come out of the sturdy metal bracket my husband built for it, but FINALLY he was able to get it down. He also decided to give George a signal analyzer. I found the paperwork and we bundled those together. George was thrilled with his ‘goodies’ and we were happy that the stuff has obviously found a good home.

Lunch Bunch –

It was great yesterday. Kay’s husband, Bud, wasn’t working because it was rainy (he works a backhoe). He greeted me with, “I thought it was time for you to enjoy my smiling face again.” :0) He, Kay, and Linda were there. Linda is moving to a retirement place in Greenwood and may actually be moved by next Friday, or soon thereafter. She is looking forward to a more active social life than she has now. I’m really happy for her. She meets people easily and should be happy there. If not, we’ll help her move again.

Supplies –

Since the forecast is possibly snow Monday, we’ll probably get out today or tomorrow to replenish supplies so we can hole in up here, if needed. I’m planning to wait until it warms up as much as it’s going to if we go today. The sun is shining, but it’s COLD out there!

Have a nice Saturday.

Thoughts on a Tuesday 11-11-2022

It apparently rained overnight, but we didn’t get the forecast freeze, so that’s good. We might get some rain this evening, but otherwise, it’s just a gray, cloudy day today, on Veterans’ Day.

Final Fantasy XIV.

Since I haven’t gotten calls or messages on my phone, it looks like Lunch Bunch is on. The only other things on our schedule today are 1) that Fedex should come to deliver an order, and 2) that George, the man who came and wanted to adopt our 40 foot ham radio tower and antenna, called last night to ask if it was okay if he came today. He’ll be here around 1pm (hopefully with lots of help) to dismantle the tower and antenna and take them away. (I love it that my husband phrased our offer, “Ham Radio Tower Free to Good Home.”

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It’s cool and gray outside now, making me feel lazy and contemplative. I just want to curl up in my recliner under my throw, read and nap. Yesterday I finished the biography of Johnny Carson. Today I’m starting the last one I got from the library fundraising sale about Rush Limbaugh.

I guess I’m contemplative because I wrote the post about Veterans Day, and my husband being adamant about refusing to allow me to honor his service in the park in town. It also made me think about my dad. He was always embarrassed when talk turned to military service. He wanted to serve, and went to sign up for WWII. They rejected him and referred to him as a ‘cripple.’ He fell off a horse when he was 3 years old, breaking his arm in several places. They were able to save his arm, but it was touch and go on whether they could save his hand. They saved it, but his left arm was much shorter than his right and his hand was almost useless. He handled this so well that many times I forgot that he had more challenges than others, but the military made HIM feel useless as a man. If they had hurt ME, I would have gotten over it years and years ago. I guess I’ll never forgive them for hurting my dad and making him feel ‘less.’ They’re lucky they are all gone now, because I would still bite them in the legs, and I haven’t had my rabies shot…

I’m looking forward to George coming this afternoon to take the ham radio tower away. He’s a big man, young, with a can-do feel about him. He was like a little kid, thrilled that he will get the tower. It makes me happy to meet him, and have a very small part in giving him something that will bring him hours and hours of fun and excitement.

Lunch Bunch in a few minutes. Enjoy your day.

Fierce Friday 11-4-2022

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There is a “68” right above Fort Smith, AR in the weather forecast image above. Right below that and to the right a bit, is Greenwood. The red, orange, and yellow blobs are due by sunset, according to the weather folks, and they’re predicting heavy rain, lightning, gusty winds, possible tornadoes, flying hair balls, and ‘throw-in-the-kitchen-sink’ for luck.

The Microsoft thingie that gives me news and weather in the bottom right-hand corner of my computer screen, differs, saying the rain should start about 4pm and continue until around midnight. I’m more inclined to believe the computer thingie, and will batten down the hatches a bit when we get home from Lunch Bunch. I was just outside taking a couple of pics of the trio of planters to show you and noticed the wind was already whipping around.

We need to get about ten 40-pound bags of potting soil to top off the planters around the yard, but mostly, this project is finished. I also need to weed whack round the outside perimeter on both sides.

Final Fantasy XIV

I’m hoping everyone will come to Lunch Bunch today. It’s been a couple of weeks since we could meet. It’ll be fun if we can catch up. Kay’s son got married and Linda’s daughter has been out of town, so there will be a lot to catch up on.

Once I prepare as much as possible for the coming storms, I’ll curl up in my recliner under my snuggly throw, with a cup of coffee and enjoy continuing to read the biography of Audrey Hepburn I started yesterday.

Stay safe and dry on this fierce Friday!

Friends are Priceless

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We had a really nice time at Lunch Bunch today, even though Kay and her daughter couldn’t be there.

Sometimes it’s nice NOT to have a big group of people. You can really visit in a more private, satisfying way. My friend, Linda, and her daughter, Patty, are dear to me. We talked about inconsequential things, laughed a lot, teased my husband a lot (who threw in some zingers here and there :0) ), and were all smiling as we left.

Long time friendships are priceless. I feel I got to really catch up with Linda today. She’s a very quiet lady who doesn’t say a lot, but she opens up when we’re more one-on-one. I love seeing her smile and laugh, and I love getting to hug her neck.

Wednesday 10-19-2022

Live Science

ETSY GLITCH-

Can you hear me gnashing my teeth?

I changed some pricing in my Etsy shop this morning. Then I noticed that when I went back to my home page, the old pricing was still showing. When I clicked on an item, the new pricing showed on the NEXT page. So TWO different prices are showing for the same item depending on what page you’re on.

After a long time on chat (at least I got through to a service agent) she told me that others have mentioned the same problem, and that a work-around would be that I go to each item I changed, deactivate it, and then reactivate it to see if that solved the problem. I did, and it DOES solve the problem, but it’s going to take a long, tedious time to do this.

At least I CAN do something to fix it, though it’s definitely a character-building exercise that I didn’t feel I needed this morning.

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IRIS PLANTER-

On a good note, I’m finished cleaning out and weeding the iris planter now. Today I’m planning to try to get the tomato supports in and wire them to the center pole and then to each other to make them as sturdy as I can.

My husband mentioned again what a good job I’d done, but that it “was a waste of time because it wouldn’t STAY done, and I would just have to do it again.” I asked him to name something that I did that DIDN’T fit in that category….

Final Fantasy XIV

I thought that we might do Lunch Bunch today – rather than Friday when Kay can’t be there. Her daughter just called and left a message that they hadn’t heard from Linda or Patty, so we won’t go today.

I’m going back now to finish the work on deactivating and reactivating on Etsy…

Thoughts on a Friday 10-14-2022

Final Fantasy XIV

Since I haven’t heard from anyone, I’m assuming that we’ll have a full contingent at Lunch Bunch today. I’m also hopeful, since it MAY be that we won’t get together again until November after today. (Kay’s son is getting married next week and then both Kay and Linda won’t be there for the 28th.) After Lunch Bunch, my husband and I will do some errands before coming home.

Gardening Know How

Today’s outside project is cleaning out our iris planter. It’s completely overrun with Bermuda grass right now. My plan is to dig out EVERYTHING and essentially start over. I’m considering using this planter as the second tomato planter in the spring, since there is a center pole that will help anchor supports for the tomatoes. I could move the irises to the niche planter. Food for thought. It’ll probably take a couple of days to clean out the planter.

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I finished “Tribute,” a book I had missed from Nora Roberts. I’m feeling a bit down now because I really loved the main character and didn’t want the book to end. She was fun, quirky, full of attitude and spunk – just a joy to be around. Good thing I have some more books into which I can dive. :0)

My husband told me yesterday that he didn’t really think I would keep up my yoga practice. As in several other things, he has watched as I get determined about something, give it a couple of weeks, and then it sort of fades away, despite my good intentions. He told me yesterday that he was proud of my efforts. Today will be DAY 91.

I hope that YOUR Friday is a good one.