Um, hello October

Went to S-town today to look for new thermal drapes for the living room and dining room. I usually have good luck in the mall at Penney’s but not this time. Colors wrong — good grief what WILL go with our yellow walls?! — and by the looks of it, I’d have to order them anyway. No 63″ lengths to be found.

Phooey.

Then DH pipes up.

“When the family room is done, we will be in there all the time. It will be warmer.”

Oh.

Then I started looking for an “in between” coat — somewheres between a hoodie and a winter coat. Penney’s didn’t have anything, so we walked down to Bergners. They didn’t have anything either and the prices were way out of my budget even if they did. I’m so used to finding what I want (except coats) at Goodwill that it would have to be a really good deal for me to get a brand-spanking new coat.

On our way back I showed DH the “Fur Babies” store where  they think it is cute to put puppies in baby beds. I griped about this in a previous post somewhere…

So we left the mall empty-handed.

DH needed socks and I wondered if Farm & Fleet would have a coat to suit me, so we stopped there.

Bingo!

DH found socks.

I found the type of coat I’ve been looking for at a reasonable price.

Sophie got new treats and a new collar!

Yay!

Oh.

And it snow-flurried all the way to S-town.

Thank you, Julia…

…I just made — and am presently eating — an omelet a la Julia Child. It is soooo very good!

The weather was gorgeous for the three day Labor Day weekend around here. Let’s see:

Saturday I went to see Julie & Julia in R-town with H and Southern Cousin. What a fun movie! Meryl Streep did an excellent job of portraying Julia Child. H and I agreed it would have been better just to have a biographical film of Julia, but this one was fine.

Soph and I then had a big adventure Sunday, when I decided that we should cross the highway downtown and head towards the park on the other side of town.

First we were nearly run over by a driver doing an illegal “turn on red”… I mean really! How could you consider plowing over a pretty little dog as Sophie?

Next once we were across the highway, I saw a woman walking a dog…um…two dogs and one was crossing the road towards us.

Ah yes.

You have seen the invisible dog on a leash? This was a dog on an invisible leash – a pug mix type dog – and it was headed our way.

Lucky! Lucky! The woman was also crossing the street and hollering for the pug. Looked to me that she was holding the business end of a retractable leash… an invisible leash.

Well — whatever she was doing — I was scooping up Sophie and wondering if the pug was serious or not…

“…Uh — are you going to be able to get your dog…do you need help?”  I ventured.

No…they got this dog from a shelter…it doesn’t know it’s name…Lucky! Lucky, come here!

What?! Dear Lord, this is wrong in so many ways…

But away the dog walker (?) went, away from us, because Lucky (might want to consider changing your name, doggie) changed directions and was going to the tanning salon, I guess.

Soph and I went on our way — past McDonalds — but we didn’t quite make it to the other park. Nice as the weather was, it was getting humid and Soph was a-panting pretty good. So we turned around and went home. Like usual Sophie gulped down some water and came into the living room to stretch out on the cool tile.

Monday H came by for lunch. DH grilled hamburgers and brat patties outside while I had the baked beans, coleslaw and peach cobbler ready inside. It was YUM. Afterwards Hil, Soph and I went to the state park and visited the Chief — a huge statue formally known as the Eternal Indian – or something like that. Soph is always just a bit intimidated by the Chief, but she is getting a bit better. However, her tail doesn’t make an appearance until we are going away from him…

Anyways — today is Tuesday, so back to work for me.

Need to exercise first if I ever can tear myself away from this blogging thing…

The rains came down

Been terribly wet in this neck of the woods all spring. So when the rain came last Friday, well — so much of the same thing all over again, that my main interest was: would the ceiling upstairs stop leaking since we had the chimney replaced?

It poured while I was at work, and over the noon hour I hurried home, and with Sophie in tow — went upstairs, holding my breath.

NO PUDDLE! Whee!

Back at work, I kept track of the radar in the afternoon, and as I was leaving for home I knew that we were going to be in for it again. DH was busy mowing the lawn — yay, he was home before me! After he’d finished, he mentioned going across the river to the restaurant for supper.

I doubted that it was a real good idea, given the kind of weather we were about to get, but hunger can do weird things to my mind…

So off we went. Got the first parking spot next to the door — and got hit by a few raindrops as we went in. The hostess always gives us a hard time and laughed at our state of dampness. I told her I had expected her to come out to our car with an umbrella — she laughed again and showed us to a booth.

It kept getting darker and darker and rain came down first vertically then horizontally…

The weather radio went off in the restaurant, but it was hard to hear what the message was. Our waitress was getting fidgety…

We packed up our takehomeatray, paid the bill and waited in the entryway for a chance to run to the car.

And waited and waited.

It was absolutely pouring and blowing something fierce.

Then we looked out the window toward the road.

There was a flash flood coming down the hill and across the parking lot entrance. It was a thing to behold. I’ve never been so close to watch water rise that fast.

We decided we’d better get out while we could, so we dashed to the car, “forded” the stream and made it home.

Sigh.

The ceiling went back to leaking — now I am wondering if we are suffering a lack of step flashing between the back dormer and roof.

The basement was leaking in three newish places.

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NP: Antiques Roadshow

Temperature in the car as I left work today: 139 degrees. Onehundredthirtynine.

Sophie? Well, she must know how hot it is outside, because she is not even hinting at going for a walkie.

Mood-o-meter: It has been a long week already.

It is a bit warmish out…

…so instead of a walkie, Sopher and I are playing a game.

It doesn’t have a name. I wouldn’t call it “fetch” exactly. It’s more of an “exchange.”

To play this game you need several destuffed stuffed animals with holes in them. Take two of the bigger formerly stuffed stuffed animals and shove in smaller stuffless animals.

You now have  two stuffed animals that are full of formerly stuffed animals.

Throw one of the now-stuffed (formerly unstuffed stuffed) animals for Sophie to catch. Whilst she is catching it, hold out the other newly stuffed animal out for her see — shaking it vigorously, but not so’s to make the small destuffed animals to come out.

Sophie then abandons the first animal — which she has had time to destuff — and is attracted to the second fully stuffed animal.

Throw it! She will chase it!

Then go get the first unstuffed stuffed then destuffed animal and restuff it.

Repeat.

Now isn’t that fun?

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NP: The local weathercast.

On the telly tonight: Lark Rise To Candle…was it “ford?”

Dinner tonight: BBQ, carrots, coleslaw.

Mood-o-meter: A bit excited. I may have found a new source for Cook family genealogy info from a relative in Massachusetts! Also a bit down: DH will be working late tonight.

Gotta love it. No, really. Well, maybe not.

Last weekend, DH covered up our ‘maters and zucchini and brought in the flower basket due to a frost advisory for early Sunday morning. All was well for our little garden, it being snug and warm.

Yet another frost “sort of” advisory followed for the wee hours of Monday morning — but neither of us made a move to cover up or bring in anything. How lazy can we get?

Fortunately the garden survived our unexplainable neglect. The sweet potato vine looked a bit sad, but snapped out of it. The jacob’s ladder was worse for the frosty morning, however I think it will come back. Everything else didn’t care and looks fine.

So today – Wednesday – we are supposed to be very close to ninety degrees.

Ninety.

Oh my word.

The farmers are working like crazy — which means DH is also. He’s already been told he’ll be working this weekend — and Memorial Day — so looks like it will be me and Soph cooking out.

…and your little dog too!

It was such a nice early evening that Soph and I went outside.

I tethered Sophie out in the middle of the front yard, then went back to sit on the steps.

Soph likes putting her nose to the ground to “track” in the grass, eating the bugs, sniffing the air and watching the traffic go by.

After a while, I took a swing around the flowers — my sorbet peony is full of buds and the Japanese painted fern is as pretty as I ever have seen it!  The ninebark is all dark-leaved and starting to get buds on it. It looks like the clump of fireworks golden rod we moved likes where it is at. The transplanted Becky daisy and purple coneflower both are good too.

Then I though to call Mom.

Back on the steps I went to sit a spell because Mom can talk … quite a bit!

This time when she answered, I asked if it was the dog pound, that I had a stray in my front yard… She said no, it was the Doggie Daycare…

Anyway we visited for a while — then I saw Sophie look up into the sky.

She never really looks up like that, so I wondered to Mom what the dog could be looking at.

It was this.

And not just one, but six, seven, or eight!

And they started circling our yard.

Mom, I gotta get Sophie inside!!

I unhooked her tie-out, which is incredibly tangly — and she thought she’d start grabbing at it and getting under my feet and jumping and biting…

I could have sold tickets!

********

Yeahyeahyeah…they MOSTLY eat carrion. MOSTLY.

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NP: American Idol on mute while I wait for the season finale of Fringe.

Just out of the oven: Rhubarb crisp. Not so crisp though. I tried to cheat on the topping and it sorta didn’t work. Sigh. Still tastes good.

Coming up: The weather man says nasty storms tonight and tomorrow.

Musings of a mind too tired to think straight, or…

…“Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.” Margo Channing (Bette Davis, All About Eve)

• I love my little R2D2-like single serve coffee/tea/hot water (really?) maker. Had to retire the nifty 12 cuppa unit that J bought me a long time back — the hard water did a number on it…wah! Right this very minute I am enjoying a Dunkin Donut medium roast w/creamer. It is very good.
  
• However, I still can taste a bit of the bergamot from the loose leaf “Earl Grey, hot!” tea I had yesterday…hmmm. Must clean the filter better…
• DH will be late coming home tonight. I have no food to feed him.
  
• So glad work is over for the week.
• I spent too much time being Counselor Troi (without the hair extensions) one day at work — an inordinate amount, actually…so guess my workload is not obvious to others.
• So the next day I tried the wild-eyed, wild-hair look (well, it was windy out)…and suddenly I became leprous. I need to try that more often.
  
• DH wants to try raised bed gardening. He has no time to plan. I would, but…
• Really need to get the kitchen floor replaced. Think ugly and hard to keep clean.
• Got the new Jars of Clay CD today via Amazon…listened to part of it on the way back to work after lunch. Jury is still out, but it seems likeable.
• Why do wild violets have to be so prolific and hard to kill?
• Southern Cousin had two interviews this week…not sure if either will pan out.
• Hard to believe, I know, but seems my workplace has become a tornado shelter. I would explain, but…
• While cutting some more asparagus, I jammed a bit of last year’s asparagus fibrous material underneath my fingernail.
• OUCH!
• I wonder about that little boy who joined me and Sophie on our walk at the park. Nice kid. I hope he stays that way.
• I wish I had the yet-to-be-family room cleared of all the cardboard boxes we throw in there with such wild abandon.
• And I will abandon that idea once the weather gets hot. Like tomorrow.
• What?! GM is going to get rid of its Pontiac line?!
• What!!?
• Tomorrow is Sophie’s last class. She’s such a good dog. Even when she’s rotten. Did I tell you she’s just about got “sit pretty” down?! Yep.
  
• Wish we could go to rally, but it’s at a bad time schedule-wise. Sigh.
• Need to go see Mom & Dad.
• Can I have a serving of simpler times, please?
• Sympathetic co-worked threw a dollar in the lotto ticket pool for me so when the group wins big this weekend, I won’t be left to do it all in the department.
• I tried to tell them me being in on it will dash any hope of winning.
  
• I’ll have to remind them of that on Monday. Or maybe not.
  

Two and one-half hours later

…and we cleaned up the biggest share of the overwintered perennials and leaves this afternoon. It took six recycle bags to contain it all!

In addition to that, DH moved a clump of the solidago ‘Fireworks’ from behind the hibiscus and put it next to the front steps. Next he moved three Walker’s Low nepeta a bit farther out from the side of the house.

The solidago and nepeta are greening up as well as the coral bells and Oertel’s Rose yarrow and Autumn Fire sedum.

Got a lot of moss growing in the north flower bed…not sure what’s up with that…

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Both of us are a bit stiff in the hinges now.

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NP: David Copperfield, but I am only half-watching.

Thinking about: getting a bowl of Cheerios…

…stamps foot.

I don’t like the time change.

I don’t want to get out of my jammies.

My favorite mug has a chip on the edge of it.

Guess I’ll throw myself on the floor.

**********

NP: Morning news. What a downer.

Where’s Sophie? In the living room, destroying a furry toy I got her just Saturday…

Weather? A lull in the rain, but more is coming

Humph…

Well, there were further layoffs in the shop today and rumor has it that tomorrow the office will take a hit or two or three.

Have I mentioned that I hate this process?

It gripes me that there is no company-wide communication that lists the workers who were let go. Any news travels the grapevine, which isn’t right in my way of thinking.

So now everyone is convinced that they will be next to go, including me.

Things are traditionally slow this time of year, but in a normal year they pick up and get going.

I really dread going into work tomorrow.

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NP: The local news.

Where’s Sophie? Crated safely away for the night.

What’s growing: I spied with my widdle eye some sedum greening up along the south side of the house.

Any snow left? Just along the north side of the fence.