It snowed here last Sunday. Enough to stay on the ground overnight. Yesterday the sun was shining and the daffodils have opened up. Whew. Mother Nature is in a frenzy. But Spring is definitely "winning" and it gets greener by the day. I look forward to dinners on the deck before long.
John has been digging a patch for some black raspberries. That has kept hm busy for about an hour each evening and most of yesterday. It was my day to do the fetch and carry routine as I made trips to Costco, Sears, Kinkos, World Market, Petco, Home Depot, and Central Market.In between I threw in a little laundry. No wonder I was tired! Today we will have breakfast with friends and then the fellas will install the shiny new microwave-convection-lots of other stuff oven. We plan to hit the local Nursery in the afternoon to get some half barrels for planting herbs and tomatoes.
John returns to California tomorrow for 4 days. The hard headed brown dog and I will muster on. I have some interesting projects at work just now to keep me busy. Let's see what the week brings....
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Lion v Lamb
March is turning out to be a "conflicted" month. It doesn't yet look like Spring but it's milder than Winter. Still somewhat cold but the first daffodils are blooming. The ground is so sodden that I took a step into the grass earlier this week and, as if on a slip n slide, I went sliding right down into the muddy, watery, mess. And then I was a muddy, watery mess. Had to strip off in the garage and take everything (coat included) upstairs to be laundered.
John has been away since last Tuesday. First he did the usual work week in California and then on Friday evening he flew down to Los Angeles and is spending some time with daughter Karen. She is running the LA Marathon today and John will drop her at the start and then he and Chris (her boyfriend and an all around good guy) will drive to Santa Monica to watch her finish! Go Team Grant!! Then he'll hop a plane back home and I will pick him up later tonight.
It has been a long week and his absence has been felt. The hard headed brown dog has needed careful watching as she seems to have developed some weakness in her back legs. They appear to give out on her from time to time. I don't know what this means or how serious it is yet, but lifting a 60+ pound dog is not something I can do on my own. When she is up, she seems to be fine and her movement is not restricted. But the extra vigilance means I am not as free to do other things that want doing.
Still, being the only one to accompany her outside has meant that I am privy to all the activity out there. On the nights when it has been clear (and there have been some), I was able to watch the dance that Jupiter and Venus have been doing this week as well as spot my old favorites like Orion's Belt and the Big and Little Dippers. When it has rained, it hasn't been a soaking rain but a misty one. The woods are full of birds, some of which make their way to our feeders during the day. There is much singing in the woods in the morning. And we have a mystery thief who has taken a fancy to the blocks of suet which we hang for the birds. The first night, I failed to capture both sides of the holder when I hung it and the door was easily opened. The freshly hung block was no where to be seen. I put a new block in the holder yesterday, making sure I had secured both sides, and this morning, the holder is dismantled. The suet is gone. I suspect a fat raccoon thinks these are candy bars and is making off with them. He hasn't successfully managed the second block as it hangs on a smaller branch. If he is eating the whole block, it won't be long before he will be too fat to climb anything!
Looks like a lamb of a day so far although rain is predicted (when isn't it up here?). Think good thoughts....
John has been away since last Tuesday. First he did the usual work week in California and then on Friday evening he flew down to Los Angeles and is spending some time with daughter Karen. She is running the LA Marathon today and John will drop her at the start and then he and Chris (her boyfriend and an all around good guy) will drive to Santa Monica to watch her finish! Go Team Grant!! Then he'll hop a plane back home and I will pick him up later tonight.
It has been a long week and his absence has been felt. The hard headed brown dog has needed careful watching as she seems to have developed some weakness in her back legs. They appear to give out on her from time to time. I don't know what this means or how serious it is yet, but lifting a 60+ pound dog is not something I can do on my own. When she is up, she seems to be fine and her movement is not restricted. But the extra vigilance means I am not as free to do other things that want doing.
Still, being the only one to accompany her outside has meant that I am privy to all the activity out there. On the nights when it has been clear (and there have been some), I was able to watch the dance that Jupiter and Venus have been doing this week as well as spot my old favorites like Orion's Belt and the Big and Little Dippers. When it has rained, it hasn't been a soaking rain but a misty one. The woods are full of birds, some of which make their way to our feeders during the day. There is much singing in the woods in the morning. And we have a mystery thief who has taken a fancy to the blocks of suet which we hang for the birds. The first night, I failed to capture both sides of the holder when I hung it and the door was easily opened. The freshly hung block was no where to be seen. I put a new block in the holder yesterday, making sure I had secured both sides, and this morning, the holder is dismantled. The suet is gone. I suspect a fat raccoon thinks these are candy bars and is making off with them. He hasn't successfully managed the second block as it hangs on a smaller branch. If he is eating the whole block, it won't be long before he will be too fat to climb anything!
Looks like a lamb of a day so far although rain is predicted (when isn't it up here?). Think good thoughts....
Sunday, March 11, 2012
A Grandmother by Any Other Name...
Grandma, Nana, Mimi, Mamaw, Gammi, Granny, Gram, Gran.....My personal favorite is Gram, but any would do. Yup, the beans are spilled. We are about to become grandparents for the first time! Sometime in late August or early September. Just like that, the world changes. And that "gift quilt" I have been talking about in earlier posts is, in fact, a gift to that grandchild.
On other fronts, John is feeling much better. The cough still lingers as it does when these illnesses strike. But he is far more functional today than a week ago. We went to breakfast yesterday with some friends and then ran a few errands. This week we received the new dishwasher and it is so much better than its predecessor. We had one small "incident" when regular dish soap was used in place of dishwasher detergent for its first run. But we'll put that behind us and move on for the sake of the marriage. Let's just say that bubble baths hold little appeal for me now.
As I mentioned last time, it is as if this house has some kind of warranty that is at its expiration date as several things have seemed to fail all within a short time. Perhaps it's those damn solar flares. Who knows. The last to go was our hard drive for our satellite TV. After some lovely chats with the "technicians", we received a new hard drive unit only to be stymied by a set up process that insisted we had two remotes and were attempting to program them both to one location. But we don't and we weren't. Several more conversations with the "technicians" and some more of our life minutes used up and now we have a new remote on its way. I believe the technical/expert explanation was "Sometimes they just stop working and who knows why". Really? We gave up and watched a streaming video that evening and John figured out how to get the old remote to talk to the new receiver the next day. But we still have a new remote due to arrive any day.
John will be going to California again this week and at the end of the week he will fly down to LA to watch daughter Karen run in the LA Marathon. Go Team Grant! He'll return home on Sunday. Life will continue as it does up here in the quiet. Hopefully, I will find the time to work on that quilt. Till later, this is Gram signing off...
On other fronts, John is feeling much better. The cough still lingers as it does when these illnesses strike. But he is far more functional today than a week ago. We went to breakfast yesterday with some friends and then ran a few errands. This week we received the new dishwasher and it is so much better than its predecessor. We had one small "incident" when regular dish soap was used in place of dishwasher detergent for its first run. But we'll put that behind us and move on for the sake of the marriage. Let's just say that bubble baths hold little appeal for me now.
As I mentioned last time, it is as if this house has some kind of warranty that is at its expiration date as several things have seemed to fail all within a short time. Perhaps it's those damn solar flares. Who knows. The last to go was our hard drive for our satellite TV. After some lovely chats with the "technicians", we received a new hard drive unit only to be stymied by a set up process that insisted we had two remotes and were attempting to program them both to one location. But we don't and we weren't. Several more conversations with the "technicians" and some more of our life minutes used up and now we have a new remote on its way. I believe the technical/expert explanation was "Sometimes they just stop working and who knows why". Really? We gave up and watched a streaming video that evening and John figured out how to get the old remote to talk to the new receiver the next day. But we still have a new remote due to arrive any day.
John will be going to California again this week and at the end of the week he will fly down to LA to watch daughter Karen run in the LA Marathon. Go Team Grant! He'll return home on Sunday. Life will continue as it does up here in the quiet. Hopefully, I will find the time to work on that quilt. Till later, this is Gram signing off...
Saturday, March 3, 2012
March Fly-By...
Weekend! John arrived home on Thursday night with a cold, possibly the flu. He is in the thick of it now so we will miss the Farm Breakfast this month. He's "off the grid" and I am plying him with chicken soup. Fortunately the Central Market keeps a steady supply of chicken soup going among their 8 or so that they have on their soup bar. My vegan kitchen lacked some of the necessary ingredients to create a pot of it on the spot.
I brought a little work home with me yesterday and will probably see to some of it over the weekend. I came home early yesterday to monitor said ill person. Working from home allows me to get quite a lot done in a short time since there are not the usual distractions and interruptions. I have been reading a book titled "Quiet: The Power of the Introvert in a World that Can't Stop Talking" and it certainly validates my preference for periods of solitude, especially when I want to work. Actually, it validates a lot of my persona.
We experienced some snow showers last week. None of it stuck to the ground at home, but some local areas received as much as 7 inches. I'm really done with that winter thing now. Somewhat warmer temperatures and a little sunshine would be nice. I'm ready to put the chairs back on the porch and get some hanging flowers up. John was right about the heat pump. It was low on freon. The "heat pump guy" charged it and replaced some little part while he was here yesterday. He didn't see a leak, but my resident AC expert will bring a leak detector kit home and check it out more thoroughly. At any rate, it's working just fine now.
Today I will do the usual errands and then I will try to get some quilt time in. I was distracted last weekend by a sudden compulsion to work on a jigsaw puzzle. So, it's another weekend. Too short, but welcome all the same. And it's March. Time surely seems to fly...
I brought a little work home with me yesterday and will probably see to some of it over the weekend. I came home early yesterday to monitor said ill person. Working from home allows me to get quite a lot done in a short time since there are not the usual distractions and interruptions. I have been reading a book titled "Quiet: The Power of the Introvert in a World that Can't Stop Talking" and it certainly validates my preference for periods of solitude, especially when I want to work. Actually, it validates a lot of my persona.
We experienced some snow showers last week. None of it stuck to the ground at home, but some local areas received as much as 7 inches. I'm really done with that winter thing now. Somewhat warmer temperatures and a little sunshine would be nice. I'm ready to put the chairs back on the porch and get some hanging flowers up. John was right about the heat pump. It was low on freon. The "heat pump guy" charged it and replaced some little part while he was here yesterday. He didn't see a leak, but my resident AC expert will bring a leak detector kit home and check it out more thoroughly. At any rate, it's working just fine now.
Today I will do the usual errands and then I will try to get some quilt time in. I was distracted last weekend by a sudden compulsion to work on a jigsaw puzzle. So, it's another weekend. Too short, but welcome all the same. And it's March. Time surely seems to fly...
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