Deb Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 At the risk of receiving boxes of snowballs in the mail, I'll share that I've been doing lots of yard work over the past couple of weeks. It's been in the upper 80s so I've been working in shorts and tank tops and loving the sunshine. I'm moving at all the speed of a turtle but enjoying the puttering and potting and such. The lizards are back out and helping me in their own little lizardy ways. Between them and the yellow-rumped warblers flitting around in the trees, they're doing a great job of cutting down on the bug population and that's always appreciated. I had to laugh at a little whiptail yesterday who was stalking a moth that was at least four times his size! Talk about ambitious!!! The moth didn't seem to be too concerned but I didn't want to deflate the little lizard's ego by mentioning it to him. LOL!! I spent most of one day cutting back the bougainvillea that was burned by the freeze in January and was delighted to find green in the stems and new leaves coming out at the bottom so it's going to make it. Yay! Between the gardening and getting ready to see a new dr on Friday, things have been busy enough. The other happy thing going on in my life is that I've been managing to cook dinner at least three or four times a week lately and that's been a goal of mine for the past three years so it's cause for celebration. Life is good. Anna, I've got my fingers crossed and a little green candle burning for you about the new job. It feels so right for you and you deserve it more than anyone I know. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roxxie2 Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Hi everyone! I have been going crazy with the electronics for the past week and a half. My computer died so I bought a new one. The new one died after 5 days so I sent it back and bought another one from a different place. Fingers crossed the second new one seems to be doing ok but then its only been up and running for a day. Then, my printer went and yesterday the dryer. I forgot, my phone died this morning so I think aliens are messing with me!!! Other than that, I haven't had a lot of time to work on miniatures due to all the disasters around the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 We did an errand day, in honor of the weather turning out better than forecast, and after we did the have-to stuff I got to go to the hobby shop and replace my 1/8" strip wood, as well as get a couple of pieces of 1/8" birch plywood to make my Regency style dining chairs. Then we hit the Good Will in the same center and I found a wire and wicker shelf unit for my Barbies. Whilst we were there we popped in next door to Harbor Freight so I could get some more double hooks to hang tool cases on my pegboard, and also some sets for DH's pegboard. We grabbed lunch and then hit the grocery store, so all in all a most excellent day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 School vaca here so it's kids, kids, kids oh, and the deep freeze ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debra from Olde Cape Cod Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Wow Roxy! Stuff just seems to quit all at the same time...like our computer guru used to say, "Must be a cosmic particle...." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Wow Roxy! Stuff just seems to quit all at the same time...like our computer guru used to say, "Must be a cosmic particle...." A quark, perhaps? "Three quarks for Muster Mark! Sure he has not got much of a bark And sure any he has it's all beside the mark. —James Joyce, Finnegans Wake" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debra from Olde Cape Cod Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Hmmmm, but what flavor..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Spin, of course. Isn't that why we sometimes lose one sock in the laundry? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodland_miniatures Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Roxy, the same thing happened to me with it seemed like all my electronics croaking all at once - phone, digital camera, kindle, coffee maker, laptop - you name it, it died. The aliens were definitely messing with both of us.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Sooo, a regular Friday turning into a very different one... A bowl of boullabaise, a glass of white wine, check, hubby winding down and me just going with the flow after a day at home doing nothing but fun stuff. We'll see what and how this will evolve though, can't say anything more right now really but... Hugs 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Ok, so indeed this Friday evening didn't exactly turn outlike aregular one to say the least. After dinner sometime, I were about to prepare the coffeepot, there was a knock onthedoor. As I went to answer it and opened the door there was this tall (!) dark dressed man who presented himself as "the police" carrying a full SWAT kind of gear with bullet proof vest and an semi automatic kind of weapon that he also had his hand on while presenting himself... He told me/us he needed access to the property so I welcomed him indoors, what else could one do huh? We discussed best point of view and it was decided that the loft might work best for his intended purpose. He spent about an hour and a half up there walking about, borrowing apair of binoculours. They were "negotiating" I heard him mention once over the radio com. Then there were this onset of cars from allaround, and he came down from the loft explaining that our neighbour from across the street had made threatening calls, depressed and/or drunk calls to the police threatening with blowing himself and/or something up. But the police were able to talk him out of the house and he is now apparently in care and after another couple of hours of the bomb squad searching the house and surroundings they have deemed it safe and left the scene. Can we say that my mind is racing and I do feel so sorry for our neighbour who I have always seen as a gentle soul, a bit social awkward yes, but a gentle soul all in all. Hugs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparklepuppies Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Oh my goodness Anna! How frightening. Glad everything appears to be okay now. Have a good weekend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suej Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Anna, that is really disturbing that someone would ask for access to your house. Although it turned out to be legit. I am too cynical. I sure hate that about your neighbor. In the States we are sorely lacking in providing help for the mentally ill..whether it is depression, violence, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Anna, what an evening! We spent a good part of the day at the funeral for L's first wife. She came from a very large family. Seeing some of them for the first time in years was somewhat overwhelming for him. We're having a quiet evening at home and will have his son and family (from Houston) here for supper tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdlnpeabody Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 The nanny from our apparently unreliable nanny service didn't show up this morning (the 3rd time this month), so I had to wait for my DW to get home. That makes me 2 hours late for work. So far, my boss has been accommodating when it happens. However, my bike has had other plans for the past two days. It has been around 20 degrees the past two mornings, so cold weather issues were a given. Yesterday, the bike wouldn't run when I put it in gear. The ice around the controls isn't anything new, but this time, the kill switch built into the kickstand was frozen in the on position, so I had to thaw it out before I could get anywhere. This morning, I was only a few miles from work when the throttle cable broke. The only thing working for me was the massive amount of torque my bike puts out. It will actually idle in gear (most bikes won't). My only option was to baby it to the nearest repair shop- about 5 miles away. I must have looked pretty ridiculous, decked out in all my gear, on a big V-twin, idling at about 5 mph down the sidewalk to the shop. I got it there, but it isn't common for such a part to fail, so I won't have my ride until the end of next week. Luckily, the friend of mine with the treehouse project works at a dialysis center about a block from the bike shop, so I had a ride to work. I was supposed to ride with my riding group to the Devine Divas Motorcycle club (it's an all girl MC) annual picnic in Ocala, but the only way I'll make it now is if I drive the family minivan. My big, bad biker reputation will be in tatters after this. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Anna, that's awfully scary! Sue, you hit a nerve; our youngest son is bipolar with psychotic features and a very high IQ, so we have been able to help him educate himself about his condition. Our eldest sons wife is supposedly a clinical psychologist, but DS#3 terrifies her and she doesn't even try to talk to him, much less discuss his condition with him. We had a highly successful day of running errands today. The neighborhood auctioneer quit holding auctions back in November, due to diminishing attendance (there were only a half dozen of us at his last auction, it was the second one in a row he had to cancel for lack of enough bidders). This month he has begun selling off his stock, preparing to retire, and is doing so each Thursday Friday and Saturday; today is the first time we were able to read his sign, so we turned around and went back and am I glad we did; DH replaced his Swiss Army knife and I got my paws on the Tennyson that had been sitting up on a high shelf just inside the front door for the three and a half years we have been attending auctions. It was built with hot glue and is totally unfinished inside, the outside paint is pretty rough and the house is really grubby. Nothing was primed, so the paint is in bad shape and nothing was sanded. No wonder this poor little house has been calling my name for the past three and a half years! I also found two cross stitch books, one is pillow designs that ought to work well in mini as rugs, and the other is charted versions of Audubon's bird paintings that I'll use on the bedspread I started out with flower designs. The next place we stopped was the ReStore and I got flat white interior latex paint, paint stripper and two different colors of stain, including a replacement maple for the can that's nearly gone. We checked out a couple of thrift stores we don't usually get to all that often and I found some lovely books to use for reference one was a resource for dressing beds and another was for houses in the Hudson River valley. I also found a book for doing patchwork crochet. The downside was that we tried a new place for lunch; it's a brand new restaurant and the food was great the service was nice and the owner stopped to chat with us until our order came, and I wish he had been handy when DH left (I had gone on out to unlock the truck) because as he got up to leave he noticed a napkin-wrapped set of tableware under our table on the floor that he said something had obviously been nibbling on; so I guess we won't be going back. Our last top was the bike shop, which has moved since the last time we went, so we had to get directions to their new location. My road trike now has a pretty new mirror and a new trip computer, so I am road worthy once more. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 It was a really weird experience with what went Friday, the property was throughlly searched and kept under watch and deemed safe and with no actual possible threat from that. It is a sad situation really and we can only hope that he gets the help he needs as we know there are circumstances that canhave helped with him cross the line so to speak. Chores of today; dealing with a mountain of ironing... With us rearrqnging the wardrobe I have been spinning the washing machine freshening up most of the clothes whch also leaves a LOT of ironing somehow... So, back to the ironing board I go ;) Hugs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Since I need to hit the hardware store for the two wrenches that have gone missing and the weather is crapola today we thought we'd head for our favorite rainy day destination: http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 Today is a reading a book kind of day. I started Jane Eyre (again) last night. Best plans for a snowy Sunday! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 The Naval Air Museum was, as usual, most interesting. Afterwards we had a late BBQ lunch and hit two different big box hardware stores; in neither store did the gentlemen in charge of the tool section have or had ever heard of an F-wrench, and the younger man couldn't imagine the long Allen wrench I was talking about; the older man at the second store knew he hadn't seen one in many years. I learned that new scrollsaws don't need wrenches to change their blades, and the younger clerk learned that us old folks are perfectly happy with our old tools. So when I get back out to the shop DH & I will play with his Allen wrenches and my locking pliers and get that broken bit of saw blade out and the new blade in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grazhina Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 The blade on my Proxxon scroll saw broke yesterday, just as I was making 2 little cutouts from a piece of 1/4" wide basswood strip. I looked to find the box my saw came in. My extra blades and saw accessories were in there - but I couldn't find the box. I was sure I had brought it down to the basement workshop a few weeks ago when I brought down the saw. Huh, maybe I forgot and left it up in the studio - I grunted to myself, and went up to the icy cold studio above the garage. No Proxxon box. Could I have tucked it into the cabinet in the dining room? No, not there. Maybe I tossed it into the hall closet? No. I checked the guest room. I had tucked a few things away up there - no box. I've searched all over the house without sighting the box. I gave up and ordered new blades, figuring the box would appear today just because I had ordered new blades. Still no box, and the more I think about it, the more I recall the box sitting in the corner of the workbench where it wound up in my way so I moved it. But, where could I have put it? 30 years ago I lost a very important notebook. I searched through the house in every nook and cranny looking for that small blue notebook. Every few weeks I'd search again, but eventually I gave up and bought a new notebook. It took me several days to transcribe all the information from various notes, slips of paper, receipts, etc. As soon as I was finished, I found the small blue notebook. It had slipped behind a wicker trunk in my bedroom. Now I know absolutely, that I had searched behind that trunk repeatedly, and never saw the blue book. I don't really need that Proxxon box now since I ordered blades, but it's driving me crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 It was rainy this AM and overcast all day, and this AM's high temp of 40sF was today's high. My pacemaker appointment was routine, I ventilated my concerns and the tech 1) confirmed that the wait is dictated by the insurance companies and 2) my battery has about half the life expectancy it had last month. Maybe, if things continue, by next month's appointment someone will be ready to schedule me for the replacement. In the meantime, any trips more than a day's drive are on hold. We went out for breakfast and then ran errands, and had another successful day. For me the highlight was finding an assortment package of long Allen wrenches at a regular old fashioned hardware store. The F-wrench turns out to be unnecessary; I can use my Phillip's head screwdriver! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 We are in Lafayette, Louisiana. His sister had a slight setback and called at noon today to ask if we'd come to Sugar Land to help out for a few days. Her husband has MS and wasn't the greatest support system even when his condition was less advanced. So we threw a few things in a bag and lit out. We got as far as Lafayette, where we stopped for a few minutes with L's 90-year-old uncle (who really didn't know we were there) and then checked into a motel. It's cold and raining, and neither of us were interested in driving in the dark. We'll be with her tomorrow morning. Here's what interesting: the schools in about six surrounding parishes (counties) will be closed tomorrow because of a chance of freezing rain. Not a delayed opening -- an all day closed closing. Today's low is 34F, and the weather service is predicting tomorrow's temp range will be 41-51 and partly sunny. I am amused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Please, please have a safe trip, Kathie. On the Mobile news they were saying there's snow, sleet and freezing rain in Shreveport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Our trip was fine today. A little mist for a couple of miles, that's all. Glad we're here. Ann is very weak. We need to get her to the hospital for a couple different kinds of scans tomorrow and Thursday. I'm thinking we'll be here more than a couple of days. I wish I'd brought some minis to work on. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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