Cold Saturday

[Colliemom]

Good Morning from the 45th. It’s a chilly 41° out there this morning. Cold front came through last night. Won’t be much warmer than this today or most of next week either. Getting down to more seasonal temps for this time of year, after being in low 60’s for past 3 days. Glad I took advantage of the mild weather to service my lawn tractor the other day. And got my wood patterns cut out this week too, as I knew this was coming. November 1st has always been my deadline for getting things ready for winter. Need to put out driveway markers yet, but time for that. It’s supposed to be a dry but cloudy day today and I’m hoping I can clean up the last of neighbors leaves and those that are down in my front yard as well. Then I will give my tractor a quick bath and put it and my hose away for winter. What leaves are left to cone down, I can blow into the woods later.

It has rained nonstop for almost 3 days here, but yesterday it finally quit except for isolated showers. I took a ride to Petoskey to Hobby Lobby and Joann’s to check out Diamond painting accessories and came home with some trays to put the diamonds in. Was looking for a Diamond storage container but no luck there. So ordered one from the place in WI that I got my Diamond painting kit from. But it got me out for a nice drive anyway. Still some pretty trees here and there, but majority are past peak and dropping leaves. Decided to blow the leaves out of my backyard when I got home, even though they were damp. My blower can move them with no issues. Did one part of front yard too.

Going to head for town later this morning. Still dark out there yet. Out of breakfast stuff and a few other things. Need some gas for blower as well. Prices are dropping here. Was $3.04 at our local Meijer and with the 10 cents off I get for having their credit card, I get it for $2.94.

Lyn, nice to see you posting again and glad you are feeling better. BJ, hope you get your legal stuff straightened out. Those things are never forever as things annd circumstances change over the years. I’ve had to change my will three times in the past 20 years. As to financial companies. Be sure you are dealing with reputable companies. Some, especially independent brokerages, have their sights on how much they can make from you, then make for you. They will bug you all the time about this deal or that. $$$ in Commissions for them. You would be better off getting a Financial advisor from one like Edward Jones. I have been with them for almost 30 years, and they are an extremely good company, among one of the top of the country.

Dogs just wanted in. Raining again. They are now having their early morning nap.

[MandysMom]

Good morning Sue and all who follow. Northern California woke to bright sunny skies, with temp here a brisk 39°! Our first unde 40° morning, with the next 10 days bouncing around near that as overall temps drop. No rain in sight until next Saturday , so trick or treating should be ok for the little ones. We only had 16 last year so don't expect many this year either. But we bought candy, just in case.
I had wild turkeys invading my bird feeder on my deck, so took away food last night, to discourage the turkeys. They scare the smaller birds away, and are usually very early morning visitors to the yard-about a dozen ladies together in turkey fashion, including one I'm told is albino, with mostly white to grey feathers . I don't mind turkeys scratching for bugs in my back yard, but I draw the line at my deck! They are interesting to watch. You can tell who is at top of the pecking order by how bossy certain ones are when it comes to finding a good source of stuff to scratch for! Someday I'll learn to put up photos here. Remember back when I said no visitors to feeder? Once I moved it from front of house to rail off my bedroom deck, it did not take long and now I have seen finches, mourning doves, ring neck doves, Blue jay, Mocking birds, Magpies and a couple I'm still looking up. I have 2 squirrels- a big grey one and a half grown youngster, who politely come in once or twice to get a long drink and a few seeds and any peanuts the jay hasn't grabbed. I also saw western bluebirds at least once.
It's been fun to watch,ESP when I was not feelng well over summer and spent time laying on my bed with its foot facing the sliding glass doors and feeder and bath placed where I can see.
I'm going to get up again and dress to walk, once my CBD kicks in for my ongoing head/ neck pain. Stormy girl just got up and is telling me it's time for fresh chcken too.
Lyn, I enjoy seeing you back posting. Barbara, hope the house sells soon. Everyone, enjoy your day.
Velda

[Othersharon]

And here it is afternoon…a misty rain coming down and still mid 60’s. Cold front forecasted to move in in the next day or so. Enjoyed the last several days of warmth and sun knowing it’s about over. Took a day off from chores and went up to Benezette to visit with the owner of the campground I like. Didn’t see any elk but then wasn’t looking for them! Rut is over and it’s getting a bit quieter in the little town so a good time to go. She’s excited to meet Buddy since she was telling me I needed a dog too! Just went to get Buddy from his two week training camp and I’m pleasantly pleased at how well he’s responding. Trainer said they were all concerned the first few days as to how they could get his attention but all of a sudden it clicked and he started responding to commands. They’ve posted videos of his progress the last several days so been carefully watching them. I spent about two hours with trainer and Buddy this morning learning what they’ve taught him and how to apply it all. I think my head is about ready to explode trying to remember and apply! She had her young son working with him the last couple of days since the kids were off school and he did a great job with Buddy and he’s probably only about 8 or 9! As she said it shows Buddy’s progress this past week. I certainly have my work cut out for me getting Buddy into our routine and as I was reminded he’s going to test me to see just what I’ll do. I take him back in a week for a brush-up and to see how we’re doing. So let the fun begin! So guess for the next couple of days we’ll stay close to home and work on teaching me what and how to do it! At some point in the next few days I hope the leaves get done falling so maybe I can get caught up with that chore! The last few days they’ve really been coming down. Need to get something to eat since I didn’t have time this morning before I left and I’m hungry now! Hope you all have a good day doing whatever and wherever you are!

[Redetotry]

Sue when I asked you to send rain I didn't want your low temps too! It is 47 here with rain/drizzle so the feel like temp is 43 at noon! After a beautiful fall day yesterday with a high of almost 80 needless to say this is too fast of a change. I think I will send it back to you Yes I agree things do change! I've been with Vanguard for years but I couldn't understand their new website and they were not much help. The company I'm trying to move to is AG Edwards. The advisor has been here for years and came well recommended by more than one friend. But so far in addition to meeting with him twice I've had to sit with his assistant who has worked there many years for over 5 hours while she tried to do the actual online transfer work!! As of today I still have accounts remaining at VG. When I called Thursday they said they would call me back in 10 minutes but so far no call. I'm beginning to think they are the ones at fault as this has been going on for way too many weeks. Oh well, back to the weather. I forgot the whole town is doing a Halloween celebration for kids today when I went to the store at a local shopping center. The costumes we so cute but some of the kids, especially the little ones, were not dressed for the weather. Little girls with just short fluffy dresses and no leggings were the norm. My mother wouldn't have let us out in 40 degree weather without leggings, a coat and a hat. I also saw a man jogging wearing only a pair of short shorts.

I was trying to teach Pippa to speak awhile ago and Toby decided he would help but was a bit over enthusiastic with his demonstration. Next time I will send him outside so she can have a private lesson.

Sharon I just read your post on Buddy's progress YAY!! I'm so glad it went well. It sounds as though you picked such a good place. A brush-up appointment on your progress it a great idea.

[Acadianmom]

BJ, I think when you are trying to move money out of a company they make it as hard as possible. I think it took me 6 week to get Chase to move a Roth account when I was trying to combine my retirement accounts. The first time I tried to work with the Vanguard web site I couldn't get it to work either. I don't know if it was them, my internet or the operator. I finally gave up and tried the next day and it worked. I didn't think they gave enough instructions.

Barbie, good luck keeping a cat from doing anything. lol CC likes to get on top of the cabinet over the refrigerator. He gets down on the side so never has opened the door but usually knocks something off the counter. My cabinet doors are easy to open so he has to check them out sometimes. The TV cabinet in the living room has doors that automatically close and some of them like to open the door and let it close. I finally put something in front of it when I got tire of hearing it.

Not much going on today. I wanted to use some of the potatoes before they go bad so made a pot of mashed potatoes. After they are cold I will take a 1/2 measuring cup and make mounds on a plate. I freeze the potatoes and put them in a zip lock bag. Then I can just take out one serving if I want mashed potatoes. Yesterday I made a pot of rice and put it in little one serving containers.

Sharon, glad Buddy made so much progress.

It's sunny and 87 today. I don't know if I'm ready for cold weather but I'm sure glad it's not so hot. I need to start walking earlier. I usually wait until the new is over in the afternoon but it's is getting dark. I need to remember to put my jacket and coat back in the RV for next weekend. About time to start my list. I don't know how people get ready for a trip if their RV isn't at their house. I must make 50 tips back and forth.

Martha

[JudyJB]

Almost everything healed from my beach fall, plus mosquito bites are all dried up, so I am ready to get more mosquito bites!! But I do plan on trying harder not to fall!

I was going to go to the fort nearby, but woke up and decided not to bother. So, today so far, i have worked on my sand collection. Yes, I have been collecting sand for the past several years. I had them in spice bottles, but they had wire closures which started to corrode in storage. I also had some new sand, so last Christmas my son bought me a new spice rack and I got some spice bottles that fit it and did not have any metal on them. The tops are glass and have a silicone washer to seal them. I have transferred all the sand from the old bottles and the sand that was still in plastic bags to the new bottles. I have them labeled with masking tape, so next step is to get some stick on labels and make labels for each. I now have exactly 15 bottles of sand which is what fits in the rack. After I get the bottles officially labeled, I will somehow fasten the rack to one of a couple of potential places in my motorhome. I will post a photo when it is all done. It is amazing how different in color, texture, and grain size each one is.

Next project for today is to make a couple of pasties. While I am watching TV tonight, I will be backing up all the photos from my cell phone to my laptop, in case I get a new phone on Monday. Just easier for me to do the transferring than have it done in the store and their missing some. Probably also ought to back up computer tonight also.

By the way, turkeys are really stubborn. At our cottage, we used to have big flocks of them that would block the highway. You could pull up to them and honk your horn, and all they would do is look at you, and as a group, go "gobble gobble gobble gobble." But of course, they would never move. You almost had to almost run over them to get them to move out of your way!!

[Bethers]

Sharon, great news so far. Hopefully you tow the line. Lol

[chalet05]

Got up to frost this morning! Monica and I made the rounds - Joann, Hobby Lobby and Costco. So much to look at! I finally bought the things needed to finish my wall hanging! Now washing the new, warmer clothes.

[Cougarfan]

Hi everyone,
Afternoon here now. I've been busy all day on a few projects around the house. I've had issues with skunks living under my house so the cycle goes: I call the wildlife removal guy, he comes and sets traps, I text him when I catch a skunk, he comes out, removes the skunk, and resets the traps. Well, he is NOT cheap so I talked to him about how to block the entrances. He gave me some info so after work last night, I went to Home Depot, picked up the supplies, and spent the morning creating a barrier around my small deck on the side of my house. I was going to work on the other side of the house too but there is another skunk in the trap back there so it will have to wait for another day.

After the construction was done, I went over the trailer in the storage lot and opened the low point drain and drained the hot water tank. I'll probably winterize it tomorrow.

I live in a manufactured home park so we have to keep our sites tidy so spent another hour or so cleaning up leaves in the yard. Then, I took the blower out and cleaned off the street, my carport, and my neighbor's carport (I'm not a jerk, I'm not going to leave a line in the middle of our connected driveways). So now, after taking a break, I will take a long, hot shower and take some Tylenol ha ha. After that, I think I will go to the store and get something for dinner.

I enjoy reading what everyone is doing. I'll try to post more often but after working on a computer for 8-9 hours a day, I don't really feel like being on the computer in the evenings.

Laura

[Acadianmom]

Laura, getting rid of a trapped skunk is not a job I would want. Harold would not be happy with me when I would trap a skunk and he had to get rid of it. We don't have as many as we use to have but every once in a while I will smell one. They come around because of the cat food.

Martha

[snowball]

used to smell skunks at my dd's house when I parked the trailer there for the summer.. not a fun odor to put up with... I don't envy you having them under the house they used to get under the trailer occasionally hopefully your project when finished will take care of the issue
very glad Sharon that something "clicked" with Buddy I would have a hard time remembering what I need to do to keep him trained
went to Target to get a new measuring tape as I thought I'd lost mine... and picked up a few other things..tonight I was digging around in my bag to see if I had more of the yellow yarn for the afghan and found the measure tape not sure if I just want to keep the new one or the inevitable lose of this one or take it back
it's been a cold day today right now it's 17 not sure how warm it got didn't really look when I was in the car...
watched the women's conference on zoom worked out well and good talks would have liked to have been there to the 'brunch" part but that is the way it goes.
we have 6 season's here (bet you didn't know that) winter mud spring summer fall and off season as I've gone past the Chinese place (it's off the road) have thought that they didn't look open so today I drove up closer and yep closed till Dec 6 for Off Season drat it was actually sounding good... the Indian place has been closed as well but no sign... the other one is really expensive guess I will need to fix some... but sometimes you just don't want to cook it and no curry here in town either
you all have a great day
sheila

[BarbaraRose]

Laura, good to see you on here again! Miss your posts. When I was in Vista, I had several critters running around under my mobile home. I could hear them chasing each other back and forth under the house at night! I finally found where they were getting in and blocked it off.

Sharon, hope you can keep Buddy in line now. It is a learning process for both of you.

BJ wants to return her weather for a full refund!

Martha, I had a cat once who loved to bat those spring-type door stops! The ones that go "boing-oing-oing-oing!!! She would do that over and over again! Drove me nuts! I finally removed them!

Judy, that is so cool that you have collected sand from different beaches! Would love to see the photo of your collection! I got a book awhile back that has photos of sand from various beaches around the world and the photos are macro so you can see the details of each particle! It is amazing what "sand" is actually made up of when you see it up close like that. Maybe you can get a really strong magnifying glass to look at your samples and see what they look like close up! Here is a link to the book I got
https://www.amazon.com/Grain-Sand-Natur ... 372&sr=1-1

[Colliemom]

Laura, great to see you. I too was fighting with a skunk, under my shed. Kept digging a hole to get under there. Finally went and got some chicken wire, dug down a bit below the base of the floor, stapled the wire to the wood and buried the rest under ground. No more skunk. The decking on this house has chicken wire covered with lattice all along it. No critter issues here. I also go around my house foundation, I have a basement, and check for small gaps in cement mortar between the blocks or areas that might need some caulk. No issues in house either.