Mondays Musings

It's been a beautiful Monday holiday. The weather has been mild for all the festivities and parade. My Dad walked in the parade with the WW 2 vets along with veterans from other wars. Each year there are fewer and fewer WW2 vets in the parade. All the walking we have been doing each day sure got Dad in shape for the long parade walk. Our walk out back has hills to go up and down so is harder then the flat streets. My FIL usually walks too but our office was open today so he missed this one unfortunately.

My yard man Bobby has been here all day helping me with Christmas lights. I don't turn them on until after Thanksgiving but it's nice to get them on the house when the weather is mild and not freezing cold which I have done way too many times. We also tackled the attic over the garage and have a big pile of stuff to go to Good Will and some to go to the dump. Why do we hang onto things that we don't need or use any more???? Do we all do it or am I the only pack rat in Bloggityville??

My computer man was here today to help me with some stuff. He makes it look so easy! I had a list of things and I wanted my new scanner hooked up but then we got so busy with other issues I forgot to have him show me how to use it. Guess I can figure it out soon so you will be seeing some different things around here. I'm not as organized as some of you so I may have to do some digging to find what I want. I'm going to set up some regular computer classes with him for a few weeks as there are a lot more things that I want to learn.

Another day has passed and I still haven't finished this and today is looking bleak. Have to start getting ready to go to a civic duty type dinner fund raiser for the Boy Sc*outs. Our office goes each year in support of them as it is a great organization.

I went out today to see if I could find something new to wear as most things in my closet are a bit snug these days. (Halloween candy, Blizzards from Dairy Queen, etc etc) One of my favorite stores is Talbot's so I thought I would hop in there and possibly get a few Christmas gifts for DIL also.

You know, I didn't see one label that said my two favorite words, COMFORT STRETCH in the place! What is it with this company??? I did find a few things for DIL and then started looking for some thing for myself for this dinner tonight. I ended up with a pair of gauchos, black of course, slimming. Black tights and a red sweater set. Thought that would look festive but then they said I had to have some Mary-Janes to wear with it. Now didn't I wear Mary-Janes when I was seven???? Flats would do they told me so off to the mall to find some and I actually found two pair that I liked plus something for Hubby for Christmas. Can't say what it is as he sometimes reads my blog. :0)

Now I got all this stuff home and I think I am chickening out on the gauchos and will wear the black dress pants that I got also. The red sweater set is a bit....ahem.....snug so really need a larger size (depression sets in) so will haul something out of my closet to wear instead. Talk about being a desperate housewife!!!!

Do any of you read Confessions of a Pioneer Woman? I stumbled onto this blog a few months ago and it is an absolute riot! This is a city gal that was going to go to law school but instead fell in love with a rancher, married him, has three children and LOVES it. Ree is a terrific writer and has had us all in suspense as she has been writing about falling in love with Marlboro Man, her hubby, and now life on the ranch. She also has terrific recipes that AREN'T low cal at all which makes them even better. She puts, are you ready for this.......CREAM CHEESE in her mashed potatoes! (I'm drooling again....) She takes a lot of pictures of ranch life and they are so good she sells them. Right now I am coveting her printer. That thing will print off 44 inch wide photos!

Anyhow it's worth checking out and now I must try to lose 30 pounds in the next hour and go to the dinner! :o)

Friday Happenings

It's KC's birthday today! Happy Birthday KC!!!! :o)

It's Friday night again already. Where do the weeks go? This has been a busy one but they usually are. Don't let anyone tell you that retirement is boring, I think I am busier now then when I was working.

T wanted to come here after school again today so I went and picked her up. She is going to the school where my son went when he was in kindergarten and his teacher is still there! She is one of the sweetest ladies you could meet and was so good to my son when he was in her class. Being an only child he was around adults probably more then kids so he didn't speak to anyone other then Mrs. T for the first six weeks of school! He's made up for it since, he has a good gift of gab like his mother........ahem.....

T and I went to the grocery store on the way home. She wanted a frosty when we got home and I didn't have any ice cream in the freezer ( someone who will remain nameless ate it all. I need a 12 step program for sure!) We picked up some groceries as you never can go in and get just the one item you went in for right?!

Dad and I went for our second mile walk when we got home. T chose to stay with Old Mimi (my mother) while we went. She took her crafts in and worked on them while we were gone for about 20 minutes. I think it is such a blessing for my grand kids to have their great-grandparents here to see often. They love running in there and visiting and then coming back in here with us. Usually they come back with some treasure that Mom has picked up for them.

I have been getting out Thanksgiving decorations this week. All Halloween is put away for another year. I still have some more to go but have a good start. We are hosting Thanksgiving this year so there are some things I want to get done before. I have mostly hardwood floors but the living room is carpeted and under the kitchen table is a rug and they both need cleaning. Badly. Grandchildren you know. Cats. Shoes that have been out in the barn. You get my drift. Now don't get me wrong no one wears muck boots in the house. Those stay in the garage where all manure covered boots should live.

Our hay is coming tomorrow. Now I know it doesn't take much to excite me but new hay always does. There is something comforting when the loft is full of nice fresh hay and shavings. As you know my horses are at the riding stable in the winter but if something unforeseen should happen there I can always bring them home if I have to so I want a loft full of hay! Of course I would need the blessings of the city fathers to bring them home in the winter. City Hall.........grrrrrrrr.........

Yesterday when I was at the barn I had to go see all five guys. I called to the ponies and they came running over to see me (actually to see if I had a carrot for them......) Kipper put his head right on my shoulder and his nose right on my check and just kept sniffing. It was like is it really you Mom! I loved it! I go again in the morning and will ride Buddy again, maybe a few more minutes then yesterday. What a thrill to be back on him again, I just can't describe it to you. It seems like the hours and hours of nursing him back to health has paid off and makes it all worth it even though I got very discouraged at times this summer. It was like a roller coaster with some good days and some very bleak looking days. I wish I had kept a daily journal of all the things that we did to get him through this bout of laminitis.

Son, D and T were here for dinner tonight. DIl is doing fine now and had a jewelry party to go to. T helped make the rolls so we all bragged her up. They were the Pills*bury Cres*cent rolls that you just roll up but she thought it was the best. I made an apple pie and had that warm with ice cream for dessert. T had her frosty.

I should be sewing tonight as I got a big order from one of the tack shops in town for totes with horses and horse related stuff on them. I have some made up but not enough. They think they will sell really well for the Christmas season and they only charge 10% consignment fee. That is almost unheard of, most stores want 50% which isn't worth our time but 10% is great so back to the sweat shop!!

I finally got some pictures of the craft fair downloaded but only had three! Guess we were too busy wheeling and dealing to take a lot of pictures. These are DIL, me and her mom Mimi. We found the best looking man in the place and grabbed him! heehee!

Do you ever have days that you are just on screech mode?

This has been one of those days. It has been right straight ahead at full tilt all day. Some of it has been productive and some of it hasn't. The productive part is my sister E has my computer all up and running and even my bass on my music is working! I'm talking bass versus tenor not bass the fish. Now Husband and I have been having a discussion if I have spelled that correctly. At this point in the day my brain is mush so I really don't care as long as you all get what I'm talking about.

We had this computer torn apart from head to toe. I had a mass of tangled cords in the back that I tried to keep out of sight but it wasn't easy. Now in the midst of this mess we decided to change the room around. Hummmmmmm......... I say 'we' but then one of US went out shopping with Mom and I was here moving furniture by myself.....

When you start a project like tearing a room apart you know it always turns into more then what you bargained for. You have to go through everything and then wonder why you kept half the stuff so you start slinging into the trash the unneeded 'stuff'.

I had my kitchen table covered, dining room table, most of the floor, you name it. I wish I had taken a picture, it looked like a hurricane had struck or that my grand kids had been let loose for 20 minutes....ahem.....

I got most of the furniture moved and then E got home and we finish moving the rest and guess what???? WE DIDN'T LIKE IT! It looked 'funny', not in the haha sense but in the 'I don't like the flow' sense. They say 'flow' a lot on those decorating shows on HGTV you know.

So guess what? Everything is back the way it was in the first place but it's a lot cleaner. Fall cleaning without even knowing you're doing it. Dust. Do you all have dust? Now I am allergic to dust so I have a legitimate reason for not dusting only when company is coming and then it's just a 'swish and a promise' like my mother used to say. Well today we got serious about dusting and I challenge you to find a speck of it in this room. Don't look at the rest of the rooms but this one is dustless for the moment.

My new blogging friend Debe went on Goo*gle and found some gorgeous horse pictures for me. You will be seeing them in upcoming posts. This is one just to whet your appetite or is it wet your appetite? (Like I said my brain is mush tonight.) Thanks Debe!!! She is my Christmas Stocking exchange person that we are participating in. I'm trying to think up something really nice for her. I think I will put two pictures, I love them. Anyone know how to make them bigger without distorting them???? BTW thank you Susie and KC for giving me some instructions that I needed to use on my blog!!!! KC's birthday is Friday so if you haven't wished her a happy birthday yet hop over to Mindless Chatter of a Busy Mom! and give her a howdy!

I had to pick up T at school today and D at preschool. When we got back they went for a mile walk with Dad and me. They did great and had on their bright hunter orange. I told Dad I wished we had a fraction of their energy!

Hubby got home for dinner thinking the kids were going to be here but T had gymnastics tonight and D went home to keep DIL company as she had some surgery yesterday. She came through it fine other then nausea from the stuff they put you out with. (See I can't think of anything, all I can think of is ether and that went out with seamed stockings.) Oh, anaesthesia, that's it! She's doing fine and will be on the go again in 2 or 3 days.

Dinner is done and I should be putting some more things back in place like pictures and such but I thought I would sit for a few minutes. I think I will put another horse picture in. Now is that a shot or what??? That little one is sooooo cute!

Speaking of horses the vet told me today that I could start riding Buddy a bit tomorrow. I have to keep him on soft ground or in the inside arena and just take it easy but it will be nice just to walk around a bit with him. He was feeling his oats today and running and kicking the air out in the pasture for a few minutes. He's feeling good and nipping at the other horses as they go by his stall which is a good sign that he is on the mend and bored.

I guess I can't put off working some more on this room any longer. I really wish I had taken some pictures, you wouldn't have believed the mess I made but now it's almost back in order. Why do these jobs always turn into more of a project then you think?????? :o)

Tuesdays Thoughts

Guess we are in for more rain today, another inch or so. Glad I got my walk in early before it started. Dad and I have been walking a couple miles a day, well actually he started while I was in Florida. It's about a mile to the end of the first carriage road and back and we do this twice a day. It's quite hilly at first so it gets our heart rate up a bit which is good.

Yesterday we noticed a bear paw track about half way up the road. Hummmmm suppose he was watching us from behind some tree????? We had our cameras but I guess they wouldn't provide much protection if we came face to face with one! Gotta get those blog pictures when you can though!

The police landed on my doorstep a couple days ago. I didn't think I had been speeding or anything so I wasn't too alarmed when I went to the door. He was investigating reports of a marauding bear in the neighborhood and had been told that said bear had been on our back deck! How news gets around in a small neighborhood........ He wanted to know where I kept my 'rubbish' and I felt like saying that I just throw it all over the back yard but thought better of it....ahem.... Evidently the neighborhood 'watch dog' had called the mayor and the mayor had called the police to come over to verify the sighting. Every neighborhood has a watch dog and ours is a very busy one that keeps track of all the goings on as he has nothing else to do.

When you live in Maine on the edge of the woods you are going to have critters wander into your yard on occasion to feast on the contents of all the bird feeders and such. The policeman agreed so I guess you can still send my mail here and not the Maine State Pri*son! heehee!

Now I am off to my first day back to the gym since my fall off Lil' Bud so I will finish this later.

Back again. Had a good workout at the gym with my trainer. She was pleased and surprised that I hadn't lost too much strength since being on sickbay. Now if I could stop eating so much and lose 20 lbs. I'd be all set. I just can't eat the bark and twigs type diet that she eats. Tofu and hummus just doesn't do it for me. Give me a good pepperoni/bacon pizza any day over that stuff.

Speaking of, Mom, Dad, my sister E and I just went out and had pizza for lunch. It was soooooo good. Now the Halloween candy is all gone so maybe..........maybe I can cut down.

Got to go down to church and help on the supper tonight. It is for our Alpha ministry that brings in people maybe not familiar with church but are interested in getting some information. We serve a nice meal for them and then have an informal information time. We've been having about 15 each week.

Guess I'd better get hopping. Oh, BTW, KC over at Mindless Chatter Of A Busy Mom is celebrating a birthday on the 9th so hop on over and say hi and wish her a Happy Birthday even though it's a couple days early. Happy birthday KC!!! xoxox

Sunday Evening

Well the big craft show is over. Despite the dire predictions of rain and wind we managed to do a good business. Veterans of this particular show said there was probably about half the crowd there as usual which made for some slow time in the afternoon. The storm started about 3:30 and by the time we left at 5 it was coming down in sheets with heavy winds. Some of the vendors had very poor business so we were delighted with our good fortune.

The hooded towels were the real hit of our booth. DIL'S mom Mimi makes adorable ones, bunnies, monkeys, puppies, turtles, cats, ducks, etc She practically sold out before the day was over. One gal bought six for Christmas presents and I think most of the others were for gifts.

DIL and I sold more of the $40.00 totes then the less expensive ones that are $18.00 and $24.00 which surprised me. There again though most of them were for Christmas gifts.

We did some trading with some of the other vendors too which is always fun. I got some much needed Christmas shopping done. That is what I need to concentrate on now. We aren't planning to do as much this year as Son and DIL have asked us to cut down. Sigh.......With only two grandchildren it's hard not to go over board a bit but there are plenty of needs elsewhere that we feel we can address so we appreciate their lack of greediness. :o)

We didn't get any damage from the storm which was the last of Noel. My bench with my pumpkins on it blew over but I can stand that back up again tomorrow. One BIG HUGE thing that happened was that I lost Internet connection to my computer. Aaaaarrrrgggghhhh as Charlie Brown would say! I'm on Hubby's computer now and I don't have any addresses on it so if I'm not around for a few days that is why. Now if you leave me a comment I can link back so please leave a comment if you have time. According to my sitemeter only about 75% are leaving comments. Hey! That's no fun!!!!!

That extra hour of sleep was welcome this morning before church. Being in all that commotion yesterday was tiring or maybe it was my running down the isles after customers to buy more that did it! lol!

I have put in a call to my computer man so I hope he calls me back soon. I like my own computer to work on with my big keyboard and big screen. Everyone else hates my old wide keyboard which came with one of my first computers but I love it and even when I update my computer I keep my old keyboard.

Guess that's it for tonight. Hope you all had a good weekend. :o)