What are you up to today? This week?

[Sherry]

Heidi, don't they let you take stuff to the dump for free? We can here and have several times while we were doing the remodeling.

A house about 2 blocks down from us got repo'd and they moved their furniture out, but left a huge pile of boxes and odd pieces of furniture out in the yard for weeks. It got snowed on twice, the furniture came unglued and fell apart, then the boxes and junk in them started blowing around the neighborhood. One of the local news anchors lives next door to them and she even complained about it on tv one night because it made the neighborhood look slummy.

There was a big 'keep out' sign in front of it, but DH and our neighbor finally got sick of it blowing in our yards and looking generally like sh@t. So they took the pickup down there and started picking it all up. When they did, several of the other neighbors came out to help, and DH and Romero carried it all off to the dump. It was amazing how people would help, once someone started, and now things look normal again!

I'm cleaning house this morning since I can't get out. Hate to do it, like to have it done!

[heidiiiii]

No, you have to pay for the dump pass. If you have anything on their list...(tvs, computer monitors, etc)..you have to pay extra for those. At least that is how it is in my city dump.

Fred and his friend were going to do it. But the guy had hand surgery. So I was calling around for dump run guys. Now this hits the newspaper!. Their prices will go up because they can gouge.

Fred cant lift this stuff into the jeep by himself and I cannot do it.

I am just mad right now. My yard is in no way a junk heap and my neighbors all know about my back surgery. So they know we do not have a Fred Sanford yard. LOL

I just feel now I have to rush because I do not want them to see a chair in my back patio and charge me $25 a day to get rid of it.

Sorry for the gripe. I was having a good morning and now this. Hopefully Fred can find some buddies with a truck to help us out.

[heidiiiii]

Oh and the dump pass is only good for 4 dump runs..after that you have to pay $15 each time. If we use the Jeep, there will be more then four trips.

[r1simp]

sherry hope you and larry you can make it. snow should be added to the 4 letter words not fit for tv.. we will be home all day our kids & grandkids went to mexico for spring break .. so it just darlene, colby and that project that keeps telling me i am in the wrong hobby !! and i tell it right back that i have a friend that will take care of it and hope you don't fell the same

[Sherry]

Hi, Roy! We are waiting to see if we have to babysit today. It's their anniversary and as of yesterday, they are planning to go to dinner and a movie this evening. so we are waiting to hear if and when they are coming, before we can do anything. Sure hoping we can get over there and check things out, and bring you, your stuff!

[Syphon79]

It's sunny and about 70 plus degrees here in the Washington DC area. BF and I helped a close friend of his move to a new apartment -- about 25 mins from our apartment. Which is great since we enjoy his company on our weekly Friday night out.

Just resting while BF's taking a shower. Will wash up after him, get our laundry done (while the laundry room in our building is still empty). BF is tempted to go to IKEA to get a new chair for our living room -- we gave his friend my lovely Pier One couch so he doesn't have to buy one (since he's not making much). Kinda tempted myself to go too since I love their furniture and household goods. Maybe find storage for my minis, :lol:

[Muriel]

Well more car trouble for Mummy, so her, sister and niece decided to postpone their visit until next weekend. Got a good deal on a Wii plus accessories from a colleague, so bought that today and set it up this afternoon. I am not a computer game person at all. I like tetris, crystal quest, and that's about it :lol: But Chris really likes his computer games. I also hate loosing. I'm not really a sore loser, just don't like playing cause don't want to lose. (yeah, I know, it should be the taking part that is the main thing!) So Chris tries to get me to play games with him, but mostly I resist. I'm going to try and embrace the wii and certainly give it a go. So far like ten pin bowling best, and hopeless at baseball! Mario Cart was also ok, or will be once i get better at keeping the vehicle on the road and stop coming 11th or last!

Made a yummy curry for dinner, a red Thai chicken one with some bananas and peaches in.

Also painted various bits on Bullwinkle terrace. I painted the ceilings and the divider walls both sides. Quite a lot of waiting for paint to dry! Still got the roof to paper and paint and then I can start putting it together properly. I've got to get the client to come visit so she can tell me about finishing details. Also gotta find some wallpaper. In her RL room she has mauve wallpaper with silver swirles on it. Can I find any? nope! Also need a light blue carpet to go with the wallpaper. Will maybe see if she can come end of the month.

[Muriel]

Here it is the last day of the IKEA sale tomorrow, but really don't need anything, so not worth the hours drive there and hour back just to spend money on something we probably don't need :lol: Hope you find something nice Daphne!

[havanaholly]

The event at Wakulla Springs was really fun, and they have a terrific hiking trail that's approximately 8.5 miles long (DH did it all). We weren't expecting it to be that long (when we hiked it mini years ago it was only 3+ miles) and didn't bring water with us. I don't get much more than 2-3 miles to the water-stop, so after almost 2.5 miles I had to turn back and head back to the truck & the water bottles. Excitement! In all my years of hiking in the woods I have seen evidence occasionally that feral pigs were digging, but NEVER have I ever encountered a feral pig on the trail; until today, that is! The first one was bouncing around to my right in thick brush, looking for all the world like a big, friendly black lab, and I started looking for its people when I heard "SNORT!" and that black devil was feinting at me! I thumped my hiking stick on the ground and kept moving forward, keeping my eyes on it, when I heard a "snort" froom somewhere else in front of me, and darned if there wasn't a boar the size of a lawn tractor (the tusks were a dead, pardon the expression, giveaway) running over to see what the other pig had found, then back toward where I was headed (but not onto the trail itself); and finally a little black pig (slightly bigger than a baby piglet) went running off into the woods with the first pig, followed by the boar, who gave me one last honking big snort. Certain events show up on the readout when I have my pacemaker checked, and I betcha this will! By the time DH came back along the trail the pigs had gone off somewhere else where there were no people, because he didn't see them. Just as I got back to the park I heard a ginormous barred owl, so hunting must have been good.

I shall finish up the library drapes and start the last set of bedroom curtains tomorrow for the rso Fairfield and then I'll be ready to start cutting out, painting and shingling the roof templates.

On the way home we passed a trailhead for about 7 miles of hiking trails on the other side of the road from Wakulla Springs, so I'm hoping for pretty weather Monday (it's the tail end of hunting season, weekends only, until mid-April), and we can hike and take our lunch.

[Sherry]

I've been finishing up my house cleaning today, my holiday is over. We went to visit Roy and Darlene, which is always great! Now we are waiting for the grands to show up. I ought to get busy and start cleaning the paint out from under my nails and out of my hair and pores, so I won't look funny at church tomorrow!

[Syphon79]

Here it is the last day of the IKEA sale tomorrow, but really don't need anything, so not worth the hours drive there and hour back just to spend money on something we probably don't need Hope you find something nice Daphne!

Thanks Muriel! Just curious to ask, what is IKEA offering as a sale in your area? Noticed that while all the IKEA stores here in the US share the same promos, the individual branches also have their own sale of sorts on specific products. Where I live, there are two IKEA stores, and one store might have say a particular sofa on sale but the other branch doesn't have that sale price on the same item! It's so weird!

It's about 11:53 pm here, and BF & I finally got in about 15 mins ago. We invited BF's friend that we helped move to come with us to IKEA since he needed some stuff for his new place as well. Closest store is about a 40 min drive depending on traffic up in the state of Maryland. Ironic that we ended up going to the IKEA branch that I used to work in as a cashier! :lol:

We didn't get much -- BF got his chair for the living room, and I bought duvet covers for our comforter (just to put some color in our bedroom). BF's friend Brian bought a bunch of throw pillows to go with the couch we gave him, a new desk chair, and some kitchen tools. Wandered into the textile section (which I love -- they have some pretty neat fabrics that they sell by the yard), and I saw two sales folks there basically tossing large squares of fabric they had cut up into the trash. So I asked the two if I could purchase the scraps. One said the department wasn't allowed to sell scraps -- IKEA only allows customers to buy by the yard. But the other lady (the manager for the department) said that if out of the scraps I can cobble them to measure a yard, then she'll allow me to buy them.

So I had BF and his friend continue their shopping while I was basically "piecing" scraps from their bin to basically equal a yard's worth of cloth. It was tough, but I managed to find enough scraps to meet that requirement (if you put them edge to edge, it was about 39 inches in length). The manager laughed, put the scraps into a bag and gave me a receipt to give to the cashier to ring up the fabric. When I read it, it basically said that I had $2.00 worth of fabric that I was buying.

So am pretty happy. I got what I needed for my RL apartment, and got some supplies for my minis!!!

After IKEA, we went to a nearby sports bar/grill for dinner, then drove back from MD to Virginia to drop off BF's friend before heading home. Suffice to say, we're pretty exhausted!

Tomorrow will be equally busy. BF will be off hiking with friends while I spend Sunday morning going over the final paperwork with my agent about my studio apartment that has FINALLY been sold (buyer and I will meet end of the month to do the closing). After that, have enough time to do some last minute errands before heading home and basically be on call for work. Since I work as a webmaster for a nursing association, I'm on standby to basically post the news of the government's results regarding the healthcare bill (will leave it at that since am guessing we are not allowed to discuss politics on the forum).

Kinda sucks -- I really wanted to spend Sunday in my workroom, the windows open to have some fresh air, and start installing wallpaper on the Rye. Will need to wait until my next payday to possibly order the garage for the Spring Fling contest.

[Sherry]

DS2 and family didn't come over last night, he had to work late. So they will bring the kids over after church to stay with us for a while. But I do have the housework done so we will just play-back to work tomorrow!

[havanaholly]

Daphne, where does your BF hike? The last time we visited DS#2 we had DS#3 along, and were camped at Prince William SP, so hiked the trail there, which was gorgeous. We also enjoy the AT, New River and Skyline Drive loop trails, as well as the C&O and there's a sort of a hike at the VA side of Great Falls.

[Syphon79]

Daphne, where does your BF hike? The last time we visited DS#2 we had DS#3 along, and were camped at Prince William SP, so hiked the trail there, which was gorgeous. We also enjoy the AT, New River and Skyline Drive loop trails, as well as the C&O and there's a sort of a hike at the VA side of Great Falls.

According to BF, it's called the Billy Goat Trail -- it's part of the hiking trail in Great Falls, on the Maryland side. He and his buddies make it a tradition to hike on the Great Falls whenever spring arrives. Apparently this is a pretty popular trail -- have to try it myself as the weather gets warmer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Goat_Trail

According to this map, the trail is split into three levels:

http://www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/uplo...llstrailmap.pdf

Billy Goat Trail Section A

1.7 miles

Strenuous. Be prepared for this trail. See cautions. It is a very physically demanding trail. Scrambling over angled rocks, boulders and climbing are required. Beautiful views of Mather Gorge and river. Trail follows cliff along river and rejoins towpath 0.7 mile north of Anglers Inn. Trail makes a 3.7 mile loop via Towpath. There are no shortcuts over rocks. Dogs are not permitted. (blue blaze)

Billy Goat Trail Section B

1.4 miles

Moderate. Access the trail from the towpath at Anglers Inn or from Carderock. Trail passes through floodplain forest for a gentle hike along the river. Minimal rock scrambling required. (blue blaze)

Billy Goat Trail Section C

1.6 miles

Moderate. Scenic river views and a small waterfall are encountered on this trail. Access from Carderock. (blue blaze)

[havanaholly]

Thank you, we'll have to look into that one when we get back up that way. We take DS#2 & his wife hiking with us whenever possible. The Garden of Eden/ Ravines & Bluffs Trail between Torreya State Park and Bristol, FL, is 3.5 miles of moderate-to-strenuous hiking; if y'all are ever down our way I can suggest some interesting hiking spots.

[Lynette Smith]

I've been busy a bit lately. Sitting, helping out with the twins. I helped with my first 1:00 a.m. feeding and been over for my second. Getting ready for large garbage pickup, so working in the yard some.

I spent yesterday at open casting call for the Biggest Loser. I got there around 7:30 in line. We all froze. I was the 642 person in line with an application. Finally the sun started warming things up. I to the head of the line around 4:00 in the afternoon, in the doors, waiting. Finally got to go in with the casting person with 11 others and in 5 minutes it was all over. I don't give up much hope, but one guy in my group, 400 pounds plus, with a great personality seems like a great choice and I told him so. They want everyone to send in videos and do an online application, so who knows?

I'm not holding my breath and am going to go workout at the gym today - I'm afraid my attendance has been rather spotty for some time.

[Muriel]

Thanks Muriel! Just curious to ask, what is IKEA offering as a sale in your area? Noticed that while all the IKEA stores here in the US share the same promos, the individual branches also have their own sale of sorts on specific products. Where I live, there are two IKEA stores, and one store might have say a particular sofa on sale but the other branch doesn't have that sale price on the same item! It's so weird! :lol:

Yeah, here it is similar. They have some general things on sale, and then individual stores have their own special offers too.

Have put the floors and dividing walls in Bullwinkle terrace. The two buildings don't quite line up properly, think one of the floors is too long and is stopping the buildings getting close enough, so will have to investigate that. Hopefully simple to remedy! Didn't do the roof section, will have a go at that tomorrow I think.

[havanaholly]

Overcast all day with rain until early afternoon, I've been making 1:24 bedroom curtains whilst watching Jimmy Johnson win at Bristol. Now the sun is out, so hope it will be nice enough to hike tomorrow. I'm thinkng shrimp a la king over cornmeal waffles for supper tonight.

[Sherry]

The kids are all gone now, and I'm exhausted from playing in the yard. Who knew a 5 yr old could throw a toy football over the house, over the fence, that many times?

[havanaholly]

The sun came out last evening and the temp dropped overnight, and this AM the heat has been on nonstop. DH wants to run errands today. If he doesn't need me, I'm sorely tempted to build the Knole settee and some other for the Fairfield. I dressed one of the ready-made beds to match the bedroom curtains yesterday. If the sun cooperates I might be able to get a few pictures taken.

[heidiiiii]

Well, the warm weather is gone for today. It is cooler and raining. Going to be like that all day long.

I have been spring cleaning still and we are finding things that have to be taken care of..meaning we need money! LOL The hose for the power steering on the jeep has to be replaced today..and we found out that the porch stair supports (the ones on each side that you nail the steps to..dont remember what they are called)..well we need to replace one side so we might as well replace both sides. UGH! That will cost more.

The brakes on the nissan need to fixed.

It goes on and on. But I will stay positive! :thumb:

This is part of the reason that I will not be doing the Spring Fling this year. I do not have to money to buy the kit or any extras that the contest entry will need. Maybe next year.

I am going to clean under the couches today and wash some windows!

[KathieB]

Taxes. :thumb:

[AuntDee]

Getting our taxes done so I can head outdoors. Spring is finally coming here. We spent last Saturday raking up around the front entrance, trimming bushes and sprucing up the yard. This week I am starting up the greenhouse. Can't wait to spend my days outdoors instead of cooped up in the hosue.

[havanaholly]

Taxes & census already mailed out earlier. I wish I had thought of making templates of the roof pieces for shingles years ago! Wow, but it's going SO fast, and looks oh, so good! (and I remembered to take "in progress" pictures to post when I finish this roll of film & get it processed!) It's not yet 50 out. I was truly through with Winter last weekend!

[Monica_the_haunted]

Taxes are done :thumb: so, I'm finishing up the Tennysn. Got the stained glass windows done for the top floor and cut out the crosses in the windows (made a bit of damage) and I'm wood filling in the boo-boos.

Just need to aseble the house, paint all the stone work, and shingle away. Whoo hoo!

Yes but, then, I still have the landscaping to do.