Saturday, June 10

[Othersharon]

Good morning! Looks like we are finally going to have a better air quality day today. The wind has changed and blowing it out of our area. So I need to get out and do some work in the yard. I’ve stayed inside most of the last couple of days. I wanted to also say thank you for the well wishes and prayers for my GD. It’s much appreciated. She seems to have passed the last crisis and is doing better. She’s scheduled for more surgery again Monday and throughout the week. I also heard from Buddy’s trainer and he seems to be doing okay too. I think she’s seeing his stubbornness first hand! Definitely will need to work with her after he comes home, I think. It’ll be a process! But I sure miss him and will be glad to have him home! Careful what I wish for probably but he does liven things up around here! I’m not sure why I was up so early this morning and I’ll probably need a nap at some point today but I’m anxious to get outside in the yard. I need to do some work out front and with luck we’ll finally get some rain the first of the week. Maybe it’ll green up the grass. Strange not to be mowing at least once a week this time of the year! The weeds don’t stop growing though! Think I’ll have another cup of coffee before I get dressed for the day. Ease into the day! Beth, is today your travel day? Barb, you had quite a day yesterday! Hope today is better! I’m enjoying hearing about all the gardening. Now if I could jut teach Buddy to dig up weeds instead of random holes in the yard I’d be happy! Have a great day and be safe!

[Colliemom]

Good Morning Sharon and all. You weren’t the only one up early this morning. I woke up a bit after 4 a.m. and never really did get back to sleep. My mind was on my statue project that I have been messing with these past couple of days in between trips to town etc. I monkeyed with Plan B idea yesterday, but nixed it and decided to go back to Plan A with a change of material. So will get out there this morning and get busy. Want to get that done as I need to cut out and paint a change of outfits for my flower box boy and girl for 4th of July. Will paint the statue after I finish them.

It’s overcast and 56°here. Supposed to be in low 70’s. Yesterday was a beautiful day. We have a slow moving storm system coming in for next 3 days with chance of showers, but they are saying that it’s looking like not as much rain as hoped. Maybe we can squeak out an inch. We’ve only had about a quarter of an inch in the past month. Farmers are getting worried as the season is short enough for growing crops without lack of rainfall adding to the problem. I agree with the not having to mow. I think I have mowed twice this spring. I’ve got wild grass coming up in my yard and starting to spread. May we should be cultivating weeds instead of grass. Last year I had a bunch of wild Daises come up and they are blooming again now. Am watching those other grassy spotsto see if they might be doing the same.

Off to get dressed, run vac and then out the door to play in the dirt

[monik7]

My two pups and I walk every day and Spring makes those walks so special. I took a few pictures to remember all the beauty of nature right here at home and to share with all of you.


It’s so wonderful to have this beauty so close. Look at that sky. Makes one want to get the paintbrush out.


This is my favorite Valley Oak tree of which California has many. Some day I’m going to paint it.


California Scrub-Jay





This old Valley Oak is still alive.


I just had to include this vision of cuteness. Mom and all 10 of her chicks headed to the creek.





I couldn’t remember whether I posted this pic of a young buck before. If so, here he is again in all his glory.


Oh how I love Spring.

Sandi

[BarbaraRose]

Sandi, those are beautiful photos! I love the spring flowers and young wildlife too. They do inspire creativity for sure! Those gnarly oak trees are awesome. We have those down here too in the rolling hills areas.

[Acadianmom]

I had a better night and Sugar let me sleep until 7:30. It is cool at night but is warming up now. I need to get dressed and walk to the dumpster with my trash before it gets hot.

Sheila, I haven't made jambalaya in years because the deli has it sometimes. Sometimes it's seafood made with shrimp or made with beef and pork.

Barbie, fun with cats. lol It seems like I am always cleaning up their messes.

Judy, a lady showed up here with a bottle of home made gnat killer. I haven't seen any here but we sure could have used it at the campground in Mississippi. I am getting bugs at night because Sugar is in and out. Thank goodness the mosquitoes aren't bad.

Sandi, thanks for the pictures.

Martha

[OregonLuvr]

I can see why you love your walks...absolutely stunning. Such a variety

[OregonLuvr]

Good morning. I woke up about 6 again this morning so had a good nights sleep. Henry will be on the job this morning again. Love that man LOL I want to put a second coat of stain on my deck but will do it tomorrow morning probably as Laura is stopping by on her way south so dont want to not be able to walk on the deck. She will just be here for a quick visit since I live right off the freeway, gives her a driving break and a visit. Lets her dog Penny be tortured by Emma's kisses.
Need to pick up my grocery order this morning then sort out my various fertilizers for various plants LOL I fertilized the Hydrangeas, Azalea and Rhody yesterday. First time since I moved here almost 3 years ago. Will do the veggies on Monday. They are doing great, and since tomatoes are heavy feeders I want to keep on a schedule.

Threw a load of laundry in, swiffered the kitchen floor. Tomorrow will be the bathrooms. Dont want to use all my energy up in one day. I like to accomplish at least one chore each day. Sometimes it is a bigger one and other days not so much. But when I get to it I find it doesnt take any time at all if I keep it up. Some days I have to force myself to do something but then I am always happy with myself once I do it LOL

Had breakfast and second cuppa coffee so now time to shower and get this day started.

[Cudedog]

I also heard from Buddy’s trainer and he seems to be doing okay too. I think she’s seeing his stubbornness first hand! Definitely will need to work with her after he comes home, I think. It’ll be a process! But I sure miss him and will be glad to have him home!

Sharon, happy to hear that your GD is doing better. I hope the positives continue.

What kind of pup is Buddy? You may have said, but I probably missed it. Please post a photo of him, if you are able. I would love to know what he looks like.

Thanks!

Anne

[Redetotry]

We are hoping our forecast for a 100% chance of rain tomorrow is accurate and that it will be a lot of rain. Our lawn looks like late summer and is cracked open it is so dry.
Sandi thank you for the beautiful photos. Sharon I hope Buddy's trainer is successful. Emma still ignores us when she thinks she can get by with it and DH is a real pushover.
My van is still at the shop and it's computers are still not communicating. I have no idea what that means but obviously the new starter didn't fix the issue. One car is hard to schedule when you are used to having two.
I made chicken soup for dinner yesterday and had some for lunch today. I'm going to pick up a BBQ sandwich for dinner.

[BarbaraRose]

I was up reading until around 2:30am so I slept in til after 10 this morning. Nothing much going on today. Took my trash to the dumpster (the bag the raccoons got into last night). Picked up my mail and discovered I got my new pair of glasses I ordered a week ago. I got ones that have very narrow lenses with my regular prescription on them. They are for when I am watching TV and also either reading a book or playing on my phone (during commercials) so I don't have to keep taking my other glasses off and on all the time. I can look up to watch TV and look down to read below the lenses. They only cost $13 from Zenni.

It is overcast today but very warm and also humid. So not very comfortable to be outside at all. Will probably just do some more reading for the rest of the day. Maybe tomorrow I will do something productive . The cats have been pretty quiet today. McKenzie has discovered the bedroom closet is a good place to sleep, which Romeow isn't too happy about. That is where he sleeps. Altho they have been able to work out who sleeps where in there, so that is good. She keeps a pretty low profile most of the time, except in the evening when she gets really playful.

Have a good day!

[snowball]

beautiful pictures Sandi,,, totally enjoyed them... what is the name of the bird? in case there was more than on it was blue but don't think a blue bird... maybe but wasn't my first thought..
Sharon so glad that your gd is doing ok... it's is a long road ahead of her hope and pray that all goes well....
I actually did what I set out to do...
got to the store got what I needed and more of course ... I fixed supper of course later than planned but it got on the table not sure I will bet that mix again though
and I got the planters so that I can plant the plants and hopefully won't have to get another planter or see what is in the garage that will work as a planter...
and my nephew got the crap off the deck till I create more but it will be light weight enough that I can take it out...
looking forward to pictures of you new project Sue
when we first got married so it's been a lot a years ago we lived in Iowa for a couple years Larry was from there and we lived in his home town... I remember my father in law saying the lawn could burn up before he would water it.... coming from an area that if you want lawn you water either by hose or underground system or as my dad did flooding the lawn... by damming up the ditch... I was amazed at my fil's attitude I guess it is all what we get used to..
you all have a great day
sheila

[monik7]

beautiful pictures Sandi,,, totally enjoyed them... what is the name of the bird?

The blue bird you asked about Sheila is a California Scrub-Jay.

The wonderful app I have identifies birds by their sounds. So when the pups and I head out on our walks, I turn it on and the app listens, records and identifies the individual birds it hears. It also has a section that tells you all the interesting facts about each bird, describes their colors/features and has a picture. It saves the recordings and I’ve been playing some back in hopes that I can remember some of them and identify them myself when I hear them. You can save the ones it identifies onto your own Life List and it keeps track of how often you’ve encountered each, when and where. The app is called Merlin Bird ID and is free. I’ve become hooked on it and never head out on a walk without it. I highly recommend it if you are at all interested in birds.


Sandi

[JudyJB]

Rain tonight, which I am happy for because it keeps the partying down with my next door neighbors! They were up talking loudly last night until 3 am. I sort of slept but only sort of because I kept dozing off, but then heard talking. And this morning, they started with the rap music--lots of thumping base noise. They have four cars, a tent, and a trailer at their site, and are parking a huge boat attached to a pickup truck across the street. Breaking campground rules, of course, because the boat and its trailer and truck are completely on the grass. Ditto for two of the four cars! I really hate camping on weekends during the summer, but I got four loads of laundry done and spent most of the last couple of days inside working on some cleaning and doing some reading. The thing is that 90% of the campground is quiet this weekend, and mostly empty during the day, but I am apparently on the end where the partying is going on.

And Kansas really needs the rain. It is one of the few states that still have large areas labeled exceptional drought. I got my hose wiped off and put away this afternoon, so only need to unplug and will be able to pull out tomorrow. Will have to dump in the rain, likely, but I can handle that quickly. Next stop is in Missouri and day after that will be in central Illinois. Will be in Ohio near my son's house by Thursday evening.

I really recommend the little ultraviolet nightlight I got. It uses a sticky pad to catch bugs. The lights are about $17 each and come with two sticky pads, but those do not last very long--maybe 2-4days depending on load of bugs. The extra glue pads are $7.50 for a pack of 3, but i found a pack of 40 for $17.99. This is still fairly expensive, but I am tired of bugs!! And these really do work indoors and are completely safe.

[BarbaraRose]

Yay!! I have been watching the kitties play for the past couple hours! So fun! I told Romeow that he is a rock star kitty! He is so careful and gentle with McKenzie. They don't really have much physical contact but love to taunt and chase each other back and forth across the house! He kind of lets her initiate it most of the time. There is no hissing or growling anymore at all now. She is still a little skittish with me altho when I go up to her she wants to be petted and brushes up against me. But if I make any sudden moves, she runs for cover. Also, if I toss a treat to either of them, she thinks I am throwing something at her and runs and hides. So no more tossing treats or toys around. She must have had someone throw rocks or something at her while she was a stray. So I have to be very careful with stuff like that until I can build up her trust completely. Romeow was like that when I first got him and he got over it fairly quickly. I will just go at her pace and comfort level. She is a sweetheart tho!

The wind picked up really strong tonight so I am hoping that means cooler temps and lower humidity tomorrow. It is either cool and windy, or hot and calm here.