Pottery Chatroom Board

Hi Potttes! Been a rough couple of months here - 4 days in the hospital in late May - treated like a queen. Have my doctor baffled - never had hepatitis & rarely drink but have cirrosis? Will try & check in again soon. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties - Not dead yet but have had some rough days recently. Will try & do an update soon. Hope everybody is well.
Later.

Susan

Hi Potties!

Shelly - Thanks for tracking down the information on Gordon. I knew Sylvia had passed a few months back. Thought it was really unkind of her family to kick him to the curb after he looked after her with such kindness. I do hope the friend who has the puppies loves them nearly as much as he did. I choose to think that now he's reunited with Hugo, Snow, Nice & Easy.

A week of rain ahead & somewhat warm so I've moved the ferns out on the deck for a bit of sun & a long cool drink. Now if I can get Zac to put the bags of books in the car for delivery to the library donation box. Once that's done I'll try & sweet talk him into putting a small chest into the car to replace one that sold in the booth this earlier this month.

I have clumps of daffodils blooming around the yard. None in sight at the old house when I was over there last week. I think it's a bit cooler on that side of the ridge than it is over here.

Hope everyone is well - warm & dry. Later.

Susan

Hi Potties. We're alternating between cold & rain. The birds are vacuuming up seed like it will be illegal tomorrow.

Katie - How did you hear about Gordon? I wonder who/what has taken care of Duzzy & Beauty. Not many would give the specialized care Duzzy requires.

Shelly - The weather channel is showing more snow in your area. Hope you & yours are snug & warm.

The kids are back at their respective schools just in time to get snowed in. I saw tonight that EA got 7.8 inches of snow in Ann Arbor today. She's young enough to cope - as I was at that age.

I'm through with tests for the time being - maybe I'll have time for my veins to recover before they start me on more tests. I'm ready for a break from co-pays for sure.

I have a daffodil blooming on the front deck & the hellebores are finally in bloom. I'm more than ready for spring to come.

Hope everyone is warm & dry. Later.

Susan

Hi Potties! Thought I should check in before y'all decided I had died. Not a thing happening here. We seem to be alternating between rain & cold. I went out yesterday to feed the fish & found they had a thin ice roof. I made some holes so they could get to the food.

Heading into a round of medical "stuff". That usually translates into "cost more". Still not feeling a bit different so hope all the news is unexciting.

I took the bird feed out about mid-afternoon yesterday & heard something in the leaves. Took a good look & saw 3 deer on the east side of the ravine. I'd been worried since I haven't seen any deer in quite some time. Zac tells me we have coyotes moving into the area. I haven't seem or heard any but when I'm reading (which is most of the time) I lose track of the outside world.

I don't know what possessed me but I've had most of the J.D. Robb "In Death" series sitting in a box in the bedroom for several years & finally decided since I couldn't remember which ones Bear had added, I might as well just reread all of them. Not counting the one I'm reading now, only have 3 to go. Once I'm through with those 3, hope to put a sign on the box & put it in the booth for $2/3 each. At least that would make a 12 x 12 inch space on the floor I haven't seen for years!

I already have daffodils about 4 inches tall & believe I saw a small bud one on one. I'm more than ready for spring. Both kids are back up north after Christmas. I don't envy them one bit.....

Everybody take care & try to stay warm. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties!

Shelly - We've had a king-sized, dual-control heated mattress pad for several years - believe me, I've used it this past week & the cats have been happy to join me. I found this listing on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=heated+mattress+pad+king+size+dual+control&i=garden&crid=1RG9NMP31FU49&sprefix=heated+mattress+pad+k%2Cgarden%2C87&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_3_21

Hope this helps!

Susan

A belated Merry Christmas to all from the deep frozen south!

Shelly - Hope you & yours are tucked in safe & warm. Sure don't envy the folks in Buffalo.

My house heat dropped to 68 for about 24 hrs. Got lucky & no pipes froze - guess being up & using the water round the clock helped. Kept the birds fed - assume the fish have an ice roof but supposed to get fairly warm late tomorrow so will see if they've thawed out enough to be fed.

Hope all are safe, warm & having water as needed. Later.

Susan

Happy Birthday Shelly!

Susan

Hi Potties! Please forgive any typos -- had to replace my keyboard (among other things) & I'm not adjusting well to the difference. From early Oct. till now I've been beset by tech issues. First my landline died & when I got it working there was an issue with no caller ID & the technician was nice enough to update my modem - which has no idea how to talk to my printer. In Nov. I had a return of the landline issue, still no caller ID either - again. About the time I picked up a new phone system the caller ID mysteriously reappeared. One issue solved. Took my poor old dinosaur PC to my wonderful computer lady last Wed. afternoon & she brought my new PC to the house & set it up on Fri.. I paid her company by check but covered her time with a bunch of cake tins & a cold cherry Coke. Works well for us! The new PC is Windows 10 so I'm having to learn some new things there but Julie swears I'll figure it out eventually.

When I saw my PC doctor a while back she didn't like the results of my lab work so we redid it a month later. She still wasn't happy with the retest so scheduled me for an ultrasound & an MRI (my share $240!). Apparently nothing urgent showed up but she's referred me to a urologist - who couldn't fit me in until Jan., which is fine with me.

It's been great to have Max back with us, at least once in a while. My other FL friends were out of state during Ian but were lucky & came home to only find damaged limbs. I was so relieved that my remaining ties to FL were survivors even tho Max has a good bit of repair work to deal with.

Both of Selena Anne's kids are settled in at their respective graduate schools. Eddie is at University of WI, apparently one of the best vet schools in the country. Elizabeth Anne is at University of MI, aiming for a degree in international law. Now all Selena Anne & Wally have to do is finish settling into the new house. She & Wally will pick me up Dec. 22 & drop me at her parent's house for a decent visit while she & Wally pick Eddie up at the airport. Later the whole family will meet at an Italian restaurant in the Marietta area. If I can get motivated, I'll try & have all the family gifts ready to hand out BEFORE Christmas for a change. I still haven't done my cards yet but if I can get my printer working, that's next in order.

Shelly - Hope you are completely recovered by now. I saw on TV where you had 1 bout of nasty weather & may be hit by the current storm coming toward the east. Hunker down & stay safe.

Katie - Hope Mike is progressing & he can stay at home for a good long while. When I tried to get Bear in a local home the monthly tab was just over $5K/month & that was in 2020. Hate to think what it is now & so grateful the VA picks up the tab where he is now.

Need to see if the 24 hour folks for my printer really are 24 hr. I have a Christmas letter written but now I need to get copies printed so I can start with my cards. May get lucky & see Selena the end of the week. Luckily the booth has what little decorations I plan on for this year so that's one less thing to do.

Haven't seen anything from Gordon lately so may see if I can catch up with him later this week.. Everybody try & stay warm & dry in the week ahead. Later.

Susan

Hi Potties! I'm not dead but seems like all my tech "stuff" took turns dying. I'll try & get back on later & get caught up. My computer guru just left after setting up my new PC & keyboard. Will probably take a while to adjust to all the changes. Sorry if I worried y'all but my keyboard died - wouldn't key in anything at all. Now on Windows 10 so there maybe a learning curve when combining that with a new keyboard. Hope to be back later.
Susan

Hi Potties - With her permission I'm posting Max's 1st email after the storm:

maxine ryan
Thu, Oct 27, 7:06 PM (8 days ago)
to me

Hi Susan,
Finally back online. No longer using Outlook Express for email. So I have to learn some new tricks.

So far it is sit and wait for someone to give us another quote or come and give us estimates. Lost all the carpeting in bedrooms on the north side and everything smells. Dehumidifier running night and day. Roof gone and wooden fence down. Poor cage needs all new screening. You might know it is getting hot again. I look around and think we are actually pretty lucky. Yes, the hospital really took a hit. Another big one across the street, so lucky with that.

Had to stop feeding our little outside critters. The hawks are everywhere.

Tell everyone Hi from me. I checked the obit. pages for Sept. and a lady named maxine Ryan had passed away and had a daughter named Tracey. what would be the odds for that?? She had a huge family which should have been noticed.

Max

maxine ryan
Thu, Oct 27, 7:07 PM (8 days ago)
I noticed I said the roof gone, just needed a new shingled roof.

Hi Potties - WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL NEWS - I just got a phone call from Maxine. I don't know where the lovely obituary came from but - as I told Max - rumors of her death were greatly exaggerated. She stayed in place for the storm (brave but foolish). She said Ian was 1mph below a Cat. 5 when it came ashore in Port Charlotte. She doesn't have a working PC right now but plans to be back on the board as soon as possible. She had damage to her house but apparently it's repairable. I'm sitting here grinning like a jack*ss eating briars I'm so happy to know we haven't lost our dear friend. Never been happier to have answered a phone call.

Shelly - She said she called your house but whichever of the fellows answered the phone told her you were on vacation. Maybe you should let the bookie know her information was wrong.
Gordon posted elsewhere that Sylvia was diagnosed with cancer not too long back & she passed away just a few weeks later. Her cat(s) were taken by a rescue group & it sounds like Gordon is back on the road with the dogs.
Sorry to hear you had covid but very relieved to hear that you are pretty much back to normal. Next time I go to Walmart I hope to get the most recent booster.
How's the fish man doing with his cancer treatments? I saw where y'all might be getting snow right now so I guess he's put his fish to bed for the winter.
My land line went down - sometime last week I think. Finally got it back up & running yesterday but without my Caller ID. Guess I'll have to call Customer DIS-service & see if they can fix it.

Marson - Suppose you have snow by now. Fall just never lasts long enough does it? Your post reminded me that I really need to get a wiggle on & finish putting together a load for Goodwill. I've had it started for a while but just ran out of ambition so it sits unfinished.

Katie - You seem to have an endless supply of things to sell. Me too but not enough willpower to make as much headway as you have.
Are you getting covid booster & flu at the same time? I haven't decided about flu yet; never had it in the past.

Hope all are well & those of us in the midst of the cold spell are staying warm. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties - had written a long catch-up post & somehow made it disappear. I'll see about doing it over in a day or so. Sorry to have been MIA so long but absolutely nothing going on.
Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! Happy Birthday to janice.

Not a bit of news from here. In the midst of a dry spell but it's been somewhat cooler. Being threatened with 3 days of the 90's this week & then back to highs in the 80's. A change of seasons must be near - finding roaches in the house & spiders building webs on both decks. That means the return of the big, ugly "wolf" spiders must be near. That also means I live in fear until cool weather drives them away. I've always been afraid one of the hunter cats would bring me a live one as a "gift". Heart attack to follow shortly afterward.

Went to the old house briefly last week. Brought back a tote bag of paperbacks but did nothing else useful. Didn't want to dig thru stuff for fear of vermin (see above).

Hope everyone is well & just busy. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties!

Katie - For your shade lovers - do you want evergreen or non-evergreen? If you want evergreen there are some junipers that are "sprawling" in body type, i.e.. are wider than they are high. Another evergreen that is less than 3 ft. tall are hellebores. They bloom in the dead of winter & spread with enthusiasm once they quit sulking about being moved. If non-evergreen will do, one of my personal favorites are hostas. They die back at 1st frost but reproduce by seed & spreading. They also bloom in mid-summer which all the pollinators appreciate. I would think the state agriculture folks would have lists of various types of shade lovers for the asking. Hope this helps a little.

Hope everybody is well. Not sure if Shelly is in the areas that have been flooding but hope not. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties!

Katie - Congratulations on your successful contact with eBay. I wouldn't have bet money that they even had a human employee since it's always seemed nearly impossible to find one when help was needed. Y' done good, girl!

Not much happening here. Still no contact from Max or any of her family. Makes me fear the worst.

After a couple of slow months, had a good month at the booth. A few things that had been available for a long time finally found new homes. Since rent is now due, I need to find a few things to take with me when I go to pay them. It's been too hot to go to the old house & sort more things so I guess I should dig around all the stuff I have around here & see what I can find. I've just been lazier than usual recently & couldn't seem to make myself inspired enough to do anything useful other than taking care of the cats and feeding the birds & fish.

I understand Gordon has been having some health issues other than his long-standing issue with COPD. Hope he's soon feeling better & will drop in to see us.

Best go & make an effort to make myself somewhat useful before heading to bed. I've skimmed thru a few of the accumulated books in recent weeks but most have ended up in the "donate to library" bags. They just didn't seem sellable in the booth since books move very slowly. Fall must be on the horizon - I'm finding a number of roaches showing up in the house. Sadly that means the onslaught of the horrendous spiders must be right behind.

Everybody take care & drop by for a chat. Everyone is missed. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties!

Katie - Not a clue. I quit buying on eBay when they quit accepting personal checks - insisted all sellers work thru Paypay 'cause they had bought it. Max has a birthday in a little over a week so I'll send a BD card & see if there's any response. I'll keep the board posted.

Hope everybody is well & surviving the new version of summer weather. Later.

Susan

Hi Potties!

Been doing little other than watching Braves games the last couple of weeks. Got an email from Selena to let me know they had EA settled in her place at U. of Michigan. Next is to get Eddie settled in at U. of Wisconsin. Once both are settled it will be time for me to get snail mail addresses so I can send the occasional card their way.

Back on July 22 I sent a book to Max that I'd found in a stack of old books in one of the storerooms. According to the PO it was delivered the morning of July 25. I haven't heard anything from Max since then & that's not like her. I may have to see if I can take other steps. I don't know her daughter's name or address & I think the SIL might be Steven. My Selena Anne is good at finding people on-line so I may ask for her help. She was good at running down my friends when I had the bad wreck in 2020.

Zac has decided to get 1 arm tattooed from shoulder to wrist - so fare he's done shoulder to elbow & has a cardinal for his grand-mother, a pocket watch whose time reflects his dad's birthdate & a helicopter for his brother who was killed last year. It must be catching 'cause his wife has done 1 thigh - all I remember is there was a hummingbird. I'm in no danger of it coming to me - I'm too needle-phobic!

Time to feed the land sharks. Hope everybody is well - neither underwater nor perishing from extreme heat. Later.

Susan

Hi Potties - Been dull around here most days. We've gotten a little of the rain that's been destroying poor Kentucky but with dry days along the way.

Selena Anne finally got by here Tues. afternoon to collect a load of "stuff". This time she brought Elizabeth Anne with her - that was a real treat since I haven't seen her in quite some time. EA leaves for U. of MI the end of the week so I was able to give her the books, cat toy & slow cooker I've been saving for her. I love seeing some empty spaces but now must make a run to the old house & see what else I can salvage since I now have a space or 2 available.

Tues. was a banner day - the folks got here with the parts & got the generator up & running. Finally won't have to worry if a storm knocks out the power.

Also got a call from Dena in Florida. She doesn't call often but we talk for ages when she does. I'm not sure how we find so much to say to each other but it must be easy since it happens every time she calls.

The booth had a good month in July - kinda makes up for the slow spell in June. I need to run over & pay the rent at the booth & U-Haul so had best set the alarm - for a change.

I finally got the last of the impatiens planted so I'm thinking about a stop at Lowe's on the way home from the booth. I still have a few open spaces & it will be warm enough for tender annuals until at least early Oct.

Time to feed the land sharks. Everybody take care. Hoping none of you are under water or frying right now. Later.
Susan

Katie - Are you & Mike OK? The news made the St. Louis area look really bad & I'm not sure if you're in that same area or not. Let us know how y'all are doing. Hot & dry here.

Susan

Hi Potties - Been pretty dull here lately; sounds like Marson has cornered the market on excitement among our little group.

I got a call today from my homeowners' insurance. All those years of paying premiums is paying off - they'll cover all but the deductible on the repair to my generator. I was surprised the cost would be over $1800. I'm glad I called & asked them if it would be covered. A bit later I got a call from the repair folks to let me know the necessary parts have been ordered but no estimate was given as to when to expect them. At least progress is being made.

I got a call from the booth this AM to tell me that somebody tried to break into 1 of our locking cases & the lady running the store today couldn't get it open. I have a few smalls to take in so guess I'll drop by tomorrow & see if I can figure out a way to undo the damage. It's the same case that had somebody steal the key a few months ago. Must be a jinx of some sort. Hope the folks wanting to look at something in that case come back & we're able to get it open.

Been strange weather here this week. Been in the 90's all week with heavy rain on Mon. & Tues., then dry Wed. & heavy rain off 'n on today. Wish it would cool off for 1 afternoon so I could plant the last batch of impatiens.

Made a run to the old house the end of last week & brought a very few things back over here. I had some of Bear's best carnival bowls ready to bring over & found a little more carnival in a box in the room I've been working in. A little of what came home with me will end up in the booth which is doing fairly well with sales this month. I should make above the rent this month & that's all I need to be happy.

I need to go see my computer lady. I've been meaning to take her an spare hummingbird feeder & see if she's ready to put together an upgrade "brain" for me. I'm hoping an upgrade will give me at least a slight increase in speed.

May finally get around to a deposition on the lawsuit in late August. I'll check with Bear's bank & see if they have a meeting room of some sort we can use since I'll be over at the PO tomorrow.

Getting signs the land sharks want an early supper so will wander off in their direction. Will do a load of laundry while it's a bit cooler right now - have been putting it off for some days now.

Everybody take care & try not to melt during this hot spell. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! A most welcome influx of posts this weekend. Makes my life seem uneventful.

Shelly - I'm so glad to hear that the "fish man" is doing pretty well. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to get rid of the port - it's always a step forward to get rid of something invasive like that. I'll keep him in my thoughts. I've always wondered if those roll up awnings were practical. On property like mine that's covered in trees it wouldn't work - I can barely keep the roof clear of leaves & spend a lot of time just keeping the leaves, acorns & hickory nuts off the decks. It's hard to tell when we'll get rain these days. We had a couple of weeks in the 90's without a drop of rain & the past couple of weeks we've had what the Florida old-timers used to call "popcorn showers" - varying in intensity & duration but enough to keep the flowers happy.
I think I have a trumpet vine up by the road but it's too new to be able to bloom yet. I've never been able to get bee balm to live & have tried several times. I had a clump of red hot pokers many years ago but they died off. I did notice a small clump in a flower bed up by the road at the old house last week. May see about moving them over here eventually. I did notice on my way home from grocery shopping the other day that my blueberries have a few berries ready to pick. Guess I need to plan on going up about daylight in the near future to pick some some & freeze them for Selena Anne.

Gordon - Missed your posts & pictures recently but understand your need to rest & recuperate. Hopefully things will get better soon. I'm sure the puppies will be glad to go back to early morning walks. Are you near all the flooding? Y'all are drowning & our southwest is dying of thirst. Too bad we can't share our excess weather.

Marson - glad to hear from you. Seems like you & I share our impulses to rescue plants in need. I have about a dozen impatiens needing to be planted but I just haven't been motivated to get out in the heat the past week or so. Maybe soon.

Katie - I envy you the black snake. I haven't seen our Slither so far this summer & Zac hasn't mentioned seeing him either. I don't think Dennis would hurt him - not sure he'd been willing to get close enough to do him any damage. I think Zac's Shadowcat is responsible for the reduced number of chipmunks since when Slither was around there were lots of the little seed thieves to be seen. Loved the description of your sister's dog - envisioned her back covered with pats of butter & lots of sour cream.

I've been watching the Braves' games the past month or so. My friend Shirley's mama loved the Braves & I find myself remembering her while watching the games now. I really should write Shirley & tell her I'm thinking of Mama Rosalie.
I got up on Thurs. afternoon with plans on watching the game that night & found my DirecTV was dead. Called it in & got scheduled for Friday repairs & when going for a glass of tea, found my fridge, microwave & freezer were without power. I got brave & checked my power box & found a couple of the tabs had partially flipped. Once I flipped them back, all was well. The DirecTV repairman was right on time Fri. afternoon - he ended up replacing both control boxes & then had to practically rebuild my dish. Apparently it got zapped by lightning during a thunderstorm that I slept thru sometime Thurs. afternoon.
On Fri. nite I was watching the Braves' game when a pretty strong thunderstorm with very heavy wind came thru. When the power went out I waited for the generator to come on & it never did. The power was out nearly 6 hrs. & when I woke up this AM, I called & left a message with my generator folks. I'll be surprised if I hear from them before Monday. My annual check & maintenance is due in Aug. so in my message I suggested they go ahead & do the check-up while they're here. For now, I hope the expected thunderstorms don't take out the power again.
Last Christmas the god-daughters gave me the portable Bissel spot carpet cleaner & I've been really thankful the past week or so. Seems 1 of the cats forgot their house manners. Finally caught the culprit about 3 days ago - it was poor not very bright Sunny. I've set him up in a cage for the time being until I can drag out the carpet shampooer & scrub the area he chose for his "mistakes".
Sales at the booth are spotty so far this month. I'll have small sales for several days, then nothing for a couple of days. If I keep up the current level of sales I should cover the rent & maybe a few dollars more by the end of the month. I'd love to have space for another load of smalls out of the house before the rent comes due again.
Sure wish we'd hear from Max. I have a book I've been meaning to send her so may get it ready to mail tomorrow & hope that gets her to contact one of us.
Got a NASCAR race tomorrow afternoon & another Braves' game so think I should head for bed & book . Hope everyone is doing well & surviving the unseemly heat. Take care. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties. No rain today so it got back up to about 91 by late afternoon. Not fun since we had Katie's high humidity to go with it.

Shelly - So good to see you posting again. Believe I saw on the weather tonight that your area was getting some pretty strong thunderstorms. Hope it kept your area from being too uncomfortable.
Glad to hear you finally got all your bedroom furniture. Y'all sure had to wait a long time to get the whole collection. Are you happy with it?
I'm worried about Max too. I sent her an email back on June 6 & haven't heard from her either. I keep thinking about calling her but I don't want to impose on her. I wonder if she'd mind since we've never called each other in the past. I don't have a clue how to contact her daughter & SIL or if she'd mind if I knew how to reach out to them. It's hard to know what would be considered meddling & what would be normal concern.
How's your son with the fish pond? I hope his treatments are going well & he's feeling OK.
When did you get your metal roof? Bear put one on here the summer of 2019. We both love the sound of rain on the roof, especially at night.
Tell Terry you'd love to have that new kitchen for Christmas - tell him it will let him off the hook for New Year's, Valentine's Day, Easter & Mother's Day too.

I finally got outside yesterday about daylight while it was cool & damp & got about 1/2 my paper burned. I didn't even think about doing the rest of it today 'cause the leaves dry out almost overnight & I'd just as soon not burn down the house.
I still have my dozen impatiens that need planting but at least I finally got the mandevilla vine settled in its new home. A shame the 1st frost will probably kill it but I hope it blooms enough this summer to keep the hummingbirds happy.
June was a slow month at the booth. Sales did pretty well the early part of the month but then we had Father's Day & Juneteenth the same weekend & now 4th of July vacations so folks have way too much to spend money on other than "pretties". I've had a box of smalls ready to take over there for several weeks but needed more open spots & was hoping gas prices would drop at least a few cents. My last fill-up was 1/2 tank & cost me close to $35. Poor Zac told me the last time he filled up his truck it cost him nearly $80. I'm glad I no longer have to make that over 80 mile per day round trip to Atlanta that I used to face. Another good thing about being retired - I can refigure my budget but I couldn't control my salary back then.
Think I'll feed the zoo early & see if I can't finish the current book tonight. Hope everybody's doing OK & staying cool. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! I've been laid low with a stomach bug of some sort but since death is apparently not an option, I thought I should catch up with everybody.

Katie - When a fur kid has been part of the family as long as Boss was part of yours, the hole is part of everyday life for a good while after they leave. Nothing wrong with grieving the loss as we let them be a large part of life if we treat them properly. I can understand exactly how you feel & I'm sure the other fur parents on the board can too.
Why did your son's GF decide to visit Egypt? I watch a lot of the Egyptian history programs but it would never cross my mind to visit there, nor would I be brave enough to ride a camel if I did visit. Too, there is the heat issue - I got enough of extreme heat when I lived in N. Mex. The past couple of weeks here with 90's & up every day about did me in. This week with temps under 90 & a little badly needed rain has been a blessing.

Gordon - What in the world happened to you!? Any idea what triggered such a terrifying episode? Not being able to breathe is one of the scariest things I can imagine. Are the new meds helping? Be sure & take it easy until you're back to normal.

I've done nothing but care for the zoo the past 10 days so now that I'm somewhat better I have a lot of catching up to do. My FL friends are back from their west coast trip but FL is so hot they're already planning a trip back to Michigan in hopes of finding some cooler weather. They've bought a feeder for their visiting ducks so the house watcher won't have to care for them.

I got a call from Selena today & it's the 1st time we've talked in quite a while. There was lots of catching up to do but the 1st news she wanted to share was that they closed on the sale of their old house today & feel like a 1000 lb. weight has been lifted off their shoulders. No more having to deal with that meddlesome HOA they've had to deal with all these years. She said the expense reduction would be equally welcome. She said their water bill last month was $1000!!! I nearly swallowed my teeth when she told me that. All her news was so positive after all their troubles this past year. Her lawyer sister has left her law firm to join a private company & now will be working 9-5 only 5 days a week. Alisa says it will take some getting used to for weekends to be part of her personal life. News on Selena's "kids" front is equally good. EA went to an introductory visit to Michigan & found her new neighbors have connections to the law faculty & had already spoken well of her to those folks. Her furniture & other such are in place but she won't be going up until at least the end of July. She's decided to take 2 of the family cats with her since they're a bonded pair & every room has new cat trees & bird feeders fastened to the windows for their entertainment. I asked what's up with Eddie, her brother. He's been accepted at every vet school he applied to but 2! He was planning on going to UGA but has gotten accepted in recent days to the University of Wisconsin, which is apparently the #5 vet school in the country. He's got quite a decision to make but it would have the kids only about 5 hrs. apart so they could sort of look after each other. All in all, it was a conversation with nothing but wonderful news. It makes the long dry spell between visits worth the wait.

Now that we've finally had some rain, I absolutely must get out & burn paper trash. It's been way too dry until now but I'm fast being overwhelmed by the build-up. In addition to the much needed dampness, it's made it blessedly cool in comparison to recent weeks. I actually turned my a/c back off & have just run its' fan late the last couple of nights to bring in the cooler air. With the use of my ceiling fans I'm able to sleep thru most of the heat of the days so my power bill should stay reasonable for the coming month. If the heat stays moderate, maybe I can get over to the old house sometime in the coming week. It's not going to clear itself!

Best go feed the zoo before they decide to take action. Everybody take care. Later.
Susan

Was it something I said???

Hi Potties - Time to catch up again.

I have a "draft dodger" in front of the storeroom door across from the cats' bathroom & I've had trouble keeping it across the entire door recently. One night last week I thought I saw either a rat or a possum face peering out into the hallway. When I opened the door & turned on the light there was nothing to be seen nor heard . I now know what's going on. My neighbor, Dennis, called this afternoon to tell me Tomas had been working with him today & needed a couple more hours to put in a full day - did I have anything to be done? I've had an large wooden cat cage from our breeding days that's been sitting in that room & decided to get the fellows to take it apart so I could bring a metal shelving unit from the old house to put things in better order. Once the cage was destroyed & hauled outside I was shocked to find the wall behind the cage had several holes in it & lots of insulation had been pulled out . Seems as tho when we were overrun by rodents a few years back they had been using the insulation & miscellaneous papers to built nests under the cage & in some boxes of books nearby. The cage hadn't been moved in a number of years so there was no way I could see the damage being done. Must be how the baby possum got in that room & may have been the entry point from the 1 found in the pantry about a year ago. I'll get with Dennis to discuss replacing the paneling & insulation on the whole wall when he & Tomas have a day to spare. I was going to Lowe's this coming week to get even more "hurt" impatiens so I'll take a look at what's available to make the repairs. I spent a couple of hours tonight vacuuming the damaged area & may drag out the steam mop on Sun. to clean the area I can reach for now.

I spent part of Fri. afternoon planting most of the last batch of impatiens & 2 bags of stargazer bulbs but have about 7 impatiens, 1 more bag of stargazers, 1 rosemary plant & 1 red mandevilla that still need homes. I'll coat myself in bug repellent in hopes the mosquitoes don't fly off with me.

Watched the Belmont today. It's the longest of the Triple Crown races but if it had been just a little longer, I think the only filly in the field might have caught the eventual winner. It looked like she was closing fast.

I got a call on June 3rd from Bobby, the Social Director at the home. Bear was in his office & wanted to talk with me. Thankfully, he no longer begs me to come get him or ask when I'm coming to see him. I feel sure he's getting good care - 1 staff member & no residents have tested positive for Covid in several months. Bobby was kind enough to email me a picture of Bear & he looked pretty good. I passed the picture along to Selena Anne & am sending a print of it to our friends in Florida.

I went over to the old house last week & brought back a tote bag of books & another of assorted "stuff". I may try & make a run this coming week but most days are expected to have temps in the low 90's & there's no a/c so we'll see how it goes.

I went to the U-Haul space last week & got the vintage ladies' sewing rocker to fill the empty space in the booth. Still have 1 spot open & will see what I can move from the old house to fill it.

EA, Selena's daughter is sending a load of furniture & such up to her new place in Mich. tomorrow. Next Mon. Selena is planning on moving their belongings to the Blairsville house. Poor Selena has been frantic with handling 2 moves at once & 3 of them fighting bouts of strep throat at the same time.

I've sorted thru some of my cat books (fiction) to send to my friend Francine. She'll pass them along to her daughter . I hope to get them mailed this coming week.

Hope everybody is doing well & ready for the heat wave predicted for most of the county. Later.
Susan

Happy Birthday to our webmaster. Thanks for all you do.

Katie - So sorry to hear about Boss. He was a pretty dog. It's never easy to do what's best for our fur children.

Susan

Marson - Sincere sympathy for your loss.

Hi Potties! Hope everybody had a pleasant Memorial Day.

Gordon - At one time Smoke had 4 different homes that we knew about looking after him. He vanished for a month or so & Zac found him - skinny & somewhat battered. He spent about 6 wks. acting as tho he would settle down at Zac's house but has disappeared again. I haven't seen the folks in the 4th house that was feeding him so I have no idea what they called him. I suspect Zac's MIL also called him Smoke. When he disappeared the 1st time he never came back over here. No idea why since I fed every time he visited. There's no telling how many "homes" he has/had but we're glad somebody got him fixed during his 1st disappearance. We assume he'll come back to Zac's place eventually.

Max - The weather reports I've been seeing indicate FL may have gotten rain over Memorial Day. Did you get any of it?
Did you watch any of the races at Charlotte? When I worked for Coke, the 600 was one race I always wrangled tickets to attend. It was a daylight race back then so it was a chore avoiding sunburn. Saw a fellow at 1 race that had a back that was burned till looked like leather. He was feeling no pain right then but I bet he was ruined by the next morning.

Other than watching the races & reading I did very little over the weekend. I did blow "stuff" off both decks & on Sun. before the race started I made it a point to get the impatiens planted. I think I'll put the rosemary plant in a big planter by the back steps where there's a fair bit of sun. I haven't planted the verbena yet but may try to get to it & the rosemary tomorrow. I ran to Walmart for a couple of things this afternoon & picked up a nice pot of marked down petunias while I was there. I noticed a petunia survivor in last summer's hanging basket so decided to just replant with this new rescue.
We got really lucky early this evening & got quite a nice spell of heavy rain. That should make the newest plantings very happy. It also gives me a chance to burn paper trash before I get too much accumulated. We may get some rain the end of this week so I'll try & get everything in the ground to take advantage of "free" water.
I still haven't gotten to the old house to see about a piece of small furniture for the booth. May try & do that in the next couple of days so I can take it with me when I go to pay the rent.
Getting time to feed the land sharks so had best go. Everybody take care & have a good week. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! Decided to wish an early Happy Memorial Day to all veterans. They've earned respect & thanks from all of us.

Katie - Bear tried no-line bifocals. He lasted about 2 wks. before going back to the old style bifocals. The transition lens are more expensive but since I went with no-line lenses it seemed cheaper in the long run to just have 1 pair of glasses for all situations.
What kind of hanging basket did you get? I bought a red verbena from the hurt plant area for 1 of my empty baskets. Not sure what I'll do with the other 2 - have 1 in mostly shade & the other just barely in mostly sun.
Sorry to hear Boss is having a hard time of it. It's hard to see them when they begin to fail. By the time that happens, they have a large chunk of our hearts.

I had to postpone the windshield repair since Mon. was mostly rain. It was postponed until Wed. AM & luckily there was much less rain on Wed. Once it was repaired I took advantage of the drier weather to run to Lowe's to see what was at the hurt plant section. There were a number of boxwoods & hydrangeas but I don't have a place for either. Also a lot of mandavillas but I haven't been able to think of a place for 1 of them either. I ended up coming home with a nice fat rosemary plant, the 1 red verbena & 7 nice short, bushy impatiens. Haven't planted any of them yet but may see what I can do on Fri.
I finally got all the cats' 3-way shots done & finished their flea drops on Mon. May do flea drops once more near the end of the summer & then will be set until next spring.
When Zac came to do the trash haul on Tues. night, he asked if I'd seem Smoke lately. Seems he's wandered off again. Maybe whoever got him fixed has him again. Seems like he's gonna be a wandering boy. At least he won't be producing kittens or be fighting as often as when he was a boy.
Hope everyone has decent weather for the holiday weekend - I'll be watching NASCAR all 3 days & reading in between races. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE!!!

Katie - Congratulations on getting your DL renewal. I should check & see when mine's due. I've had the no-line lens for a number of years & love them. I also got the transitions lenses so I didn't have to bother with sunglasses & even tho they cost more, I've been really happy with the combination.

Finally think it's time to go by my body shop & see if we can at least get started on repairs by replacing the windshield. I know they're pretty backed up with body work but I'd like the glass repaired before it gets worse (like falls in completely).
I got the last of the impatiens planted earlier in the week so yesterday I made the effort to water the front deck & the hostas along the driveway. Probably wouldn't hurt to do the back deck tomorrow since it may hit the 90's again.
I may run by Lowe's on Sat. after the NASCAR race is over to see what's available since I still have empty spots & rain is expected come Sun.
I took my weed wacker up to the road area this afternoon but it didn't get done - the battery may be dead - it wouldn't start so I still have knee deep grassy weeds. I may give Zac a call & see if I can borrow his for long enough to shear things down to a more reasonable look.
Had 2 calls from the home last week 'cause Bear had fallen a couple of times. Another call the 1st of the week that they were checking to be sure he hadn't hurt himself but he seemed to be fine. It's been a while since he had a fall so I'm glad he went so long between them.
I finished the cats' booster shots so now it's time to start with flea drops. I have to sneak up on them 1 at a time 'cause they can smell the drops & want no part of them.
Selena's boy, Eddie, is now officially a GA graduate! Now on to vet school. I'm really proud of both her kids - a pair of overachievers for sure.
Zoo is fed & new batch of books just arrived so I'm off to bed. Everybody take care & enjoy the warmer weather. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties - another warmish day.

Max - I haven't had much luck with sedums but I do keep trying. If yours do well maybe I'll try again - unless I find some in my hurt plants section at Lowe's this year.
My mourning doves have pink legs & feet but they're anything but small. Mine are bigger than my redbirds but only quarrel with each other & leave the other birds alone.

Katie - I'd hoped for at least 1 or 2 of the scattered showers this area was promised but didn't get a single drop. It should get close to 90* any day now so I'd best plan ahead & be prepared to water both decks. The pots are starting to get dry & I still have one small batch of impatiens to plant before I think about getting any more. I also need to weed wack up by the road since that area is looking pretty unkept.
Maybe your deer are the ones "pruning" your iris?

I think the insurance photographer finally got out here this weekend to get the pictures of Kermit's damage. Now maybe we'll at least get started on the repairs - or at least get the windshield replaced so I can run errands without the police stopping me.
Did anyone watch the lunar eclipse tonight? I went out on the front deck about 11:30PM & watched for a few minutes thru the trees. It was really pretty.
I finally got started giving the cats their 3-way shots & only have Goblin left to do. She's the hardest one to catch. Once she's done, I'll get started on doing flea drops. I have to sneak up on most of them to do that too.
I hope Marson is finally thawing out since I think the rest of us are pretty well over winter. Everybody take care. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties - time to check back in again.

Max - I was glad to hear you finally got a little rain. I wish the Aussies could share a little of the rain they're getting right now with our drought plagued areas. I'll bet they wish they could share it too.
May at the booth looks nothing like Apr. did. I'm past matching the rent already & had such a good day today that it nearly matched my total for Apr. I'll need to spend some time tomorrow night digging through things here that can be researched & tagged to fill in the holes on shelves. I sure miss having a truck - it's much easier to haul things with even a small truck like the Baja was.
I haven't been to the old house in a couple of weeks - haven't felt like doing the necessary digging to get to the medium sized things that would fill in the empty spots on the floor.
Kermit's a work in progress. I have a case manager & she's cleared me for a rental car if I end up needing one. Think getting a repair estimate is the main thing left before actual repairs can take place. When Zac came to move the trash uphill last night, the 1st words out of his mouth were "WHAT happened to your car?!"
My health insurance is also United. I've been pretty happy with them & have been with them quite a few years. They were great with coverage related to the wreck.
I haven't seen a butter knife in years but that doesn't mean I won't find 1 or more at the old house. Do you still collect them?

Gordon - Finding bodies in Lake Mead may solve some missing persons cases. No telling what else may be found - more bodies, cars, guns & who knows what else.
I had to LOL at your tree limb story. I could just imagine what a sight that was. The only place I can park without trees over me would be up by the road & I don't think I could make it back up to the car without packing a lunch. It's probably 100+feet & very steep. My days of walking up to check the mail are ancient history.

Katie - Think your son's description "Dire Rear" was hilarious. I smile every time I think of it.
Maybe you should put a sign up by the road that says "Free Firewood - You Pick".

I haven't done much since Kermit got hurt - been sitting on the phone like a hen hatching an egg. May have to make my run to Walmart tomorrow since the cupboard is nearly bare & I don't like to get too low on cat food since it seems to be as hard to find as baby formula these days.
I did get out on the front deck this evening just before dark & got 3 impatiens & both pentas planted. Still have a few impatiens & 1 hosta that need planting - may try & take care of them on Fri. Also need to add water to the fish pond since not enough rain the last week or so to keep them as full as needed. Next week may have some really hot days - close to 90* - & I surely don't want to be outside when it's that hot.

Everybody take care. Later.
Susan

Belated Happy Mother's Day to the Potties - hope it was nice weather for everyone.

I got in touch with The Hartford today & am expecting calls tomorrow from 2 different folks. One is to estimate the damage & the other will handle the claim. Once I've heard from both of them I need to run to Walmart & restock the fridge. Getting low on lots of things. Hope no cops see the windshield & want to make an issue of it.
My Lakeland friends have made it to CA & are having a good time. They saw the grunion (fish) spawning run & were impressed by the gazzillions of fish.
Sales at the booth are already much better than Apr. I'm almost at the rent mark already. I sold a table so I need to go over to the old house & see which smallish piece of furniture I can dig out & get cleaned up & into the car. May also check U-Haul & see if there's a small something I can get from there to fill in a spot.
Zac took Smoke to be "fixed" & found out someone beat us to it. No idea who did it but at least he'll be safer & healthier.
Already fed the zoo so will head for bed in hopes I'll wake up earlier to be ready for the anticipated calls from Hartford.
Everybody take care. Looks like a halfway decent weather forecast for the coming week. Hope it happens for everybody. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! Might as well check in since I'm up. A little over an hour till the NASCAR Xfinity at Darlingtonl.

Max - Can you post a picture of your yard? Love to see what you're working with. Is the vining plant a madevilla? I think one of those would recover with food & water if any of it survived. I never give up on one until it's a dead stick!

Katie - I'll see you sticks & raise you several limbs. We've had 3 days with rain &, sadly, some heavy wind. More on that later. I've blown bits & pieces of leaves, twigs & miscellaneous debris off both decks 3 times between Thurs. afternoon & Fri. evening.
Congratulations on selling any kind of silver. I thought that market had died when the hot market for gold & such eased off a couple of years ago. Good for you!

It was a dismal month at the booth - didn't cover the rent for the 1st time in over a year. Kathie said the whole store sales were slow. Not a lot of consolation but at least misery loves company.
In the wee hours of Thurs. AM when we were having some rain & very heavy winds I heard a loud noise outside but couldn't tell where it came from. Looked & saw nothing amiss on either deck so went blissfully to bed. Late Thurs. afternoon I got up & decided to drive up to collect the mail & the flea drops order from Chewey. Hopped in Kermit & his whole right side of the windshield was bashed. Called my Insurance co. to find we had a $500 deductible & very conveniently the repair estimate was $474 plus change. Made an appointment to get it fixed today & the wonderful man from Safelite got here an hour early - I hadn't looked closely at the damage & he spotted a fair sized dent across the hood where the limb (as big as my arm) had bounced after trashing the glass. We cancelled & since the insurance claim office & my local body shop are closed for the weekend, I'll be in touch with both of them on Mon. Sure don't want to pay TWO deductibles. PITA!!
The first batch of plants that I put out last weekend seem to be settling in nicely. At least the 3 days of rain agreed with them. I haven't put out the latest plants yet but I have started putting them where they'll be planted in the next few days. Might as well let them start getting used to their new homes until I get around to putting them in the ground.
Enough for now. Need to call Zac & see if he has a minute to bring the new big bag of cat litter in for me.
Everybody take care & enjoy the changeable spring weather - I'm in long sleeves today after several 80* days. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! Time to catch up a bit.

Katie - Good luck with your next booster. I got my 2nd one last week. Ended up with a sore arm the next couple of days but that's happened every time I get one.
Those little cars of yours sure are colorful. Makes it easy to see why kids loved them.

Max - I agree, Briscoe was really lucky to walk away from that wreck. Bet he was sore for the next couple of days tho. I was happy to see Chastain dodge all the trouble & get the win. It was a typical Talladega.
The main thing I have trouble finding at Walmart is canned cat food. I'd have better luck if I went to check every day since there's no telling when they'll be getting pet stuff. Usually anything else will show up within a couple of weeks.
Sorry to hear that you're still short on rain. I don't remember long dry spells back in the '50's & '60's - lots of brief showers tho.

Shelly - Your boys have been lucky healthwise for the most part. I'll be hoping the "fish man" is one of those lucky folks who responds very well to treatment.
Maybe you'll see the rest of your furniture come through the door any day now. It seems like y'all have been waiting for a long time to get the last of it.
Blooming trees have both nectar & tiny insects for the hummers. The 1st time I ever saw a hummingbird I was maybe 6-7 yrs. old & it was in a blooming apple tree. I just checked my arrival map & found 2 have been spotted in the Erie area. One was seen Apr. 24th & the other was a male seen Apr. 27. If you put out a hummer feeder you might want to do it now. I haven't seen my girl for several days so she may be nesting already.
I remember Car 54, Where Are You? & about the same time was Mr. Ed (the talking horse).

I finally made it to Lowe's on Mon. afternoon & they had a small selection of "hurt" plants. I came home with 5 red leafed begonias & about 3 dozen impatiens - all for just under $1 each. I got most of them planted yesterday & the rest this afternoon. I'll go back in the next few days in hopes I can find about the same amount so I can finish both decks & then just sit back & wait for them to grow. I took time to trim off some of the ivy stems that were killed by the bad cold snaps earlier this year. Still have a bit more to trim & l need to take some dead fronds off the ferns - they got nipped a bit in the last cold spell. Next project is to put out some hostas along the banked side of the driveway & I need to go to the old house & see if I can salvage the surviving bleeding hearts. I'd get a lot more done if I didn't lay abed with a book when I first wake up!

Zac came over some time Tues. AM & got Kermit & took him to his mechanic. He brought him back Wed. afternoon with an a/c that works. Seems the rats had gotten into something that made the a/c work & now it's all fixed in time for the 80* days that are coming. I'm hoping Zac's Shadow will help with rodent issue from now on. He's taking Smoke to be fixed next Mon. Yahoo!

Hope all are well & in line for some nice spring weather. Take care. Later.

Susan

Hi Potties!

About the only useful thing I've done the last few days is to have blown leaves & pollen off the front deck a couple of times. It's hardly been worth the trouble - by the next morning it needs doing again. It's been beautiful late spring weather the last 3-4 days. I've been able to leave the front door open all day & most of the night. Too bad it won't stay like this for a month or 2.

I watch a lot of the home improvement shows & tonight I caught the new program "Hometown Kickstart". Tonight they helped some folks in a town called Buffalo, WY & next week they'll be helping some folks in Winslow, AZ. I got really excited when I learned one of the 6 towns they plan to visit is Thomaston, GA. That's where Harborview is - the home where Bear is living. I can't wait to see what some of it looks like.

I had a chipmunk in one of the bird feeders this afternoon; it's the 1st one I've seen in a couple of weeks. I think it was either new to my yard or very young & stupid since I was able to walk up & slap the feeder beside him before he took off. I hope that discourages future visits but I kinda doubt it.

I finally made space in one of the curios for the 2 pieces of "Drapery" carnival that I found at the old house. I was also able to ID 2 other pieces but found myself with quite a puzzle. There was a pretty Jack-In-The-Pulpit piece that I thought I recognized but I spent several hours on-line trying to ID & I still don't have a clue what it is. May take it to the booth & get Kathy to take a couple of pictures & email them to me. Then I'll see if I can send them to Carma on the Glass Board & see if he can help me find out what I found.

Hope to be ambitious enough tomorrow to take advantage of the nice weather & make a visit to Lowe's to see about getting a start on plants for the decks this summer. Got sidetracked this weekend with the races at Talladega & didn't leave the house.

Hope everybody is doing well & having some nice weather to enjoy. Later.

Susan

Hi Potties! The current cold snap is starting to work its way out & we may hit the 80's by the end of the weekend. Will enjoy sitting on my front deck a bit - may even venture over to Lowe's & see if they have their wounded plant section set up yet - need my impatiens started to reach full growth before the end of the summer.

Katie - Good for Boss! I think pets understand when they forget their house manners & it worries them.
I can't believe the market you've found for the matchbox cars. It's enough to make me wish that had been one of the many things Bear had chosen to collect.

Shelly - Maybe now that Rick's doctor is back some action will start happening. Do hope your DIL will be able to muster the courage to give Rick the same support he's given her over the years. I don't know about the Covid vaccine causing issues - the only place I've heard that are not very reliable sources. The only horror stories seem to come from not getting the shots.
It sounds like you're getting control of the new bedroom setup. Any word on the arrival of your nite stands?
I checked my hummingbird arrival map & the nearest place to you is Reynoldsville, PA on April 17th & the person reporting said it was snowing at the time. I hope they put a feeder of warm nectar out to tide the poor little thing over.
I very rarely sell any carnival - only very common or lesser quality pieces. It only brings a fraction of what we paid when we were actively collecting. I don't mind taking a loss on many things but I tend to draw the line at carnival or brilliant period cut glass.
I wonder if you could remove your son's "improvements" from the Matchbox cars? Probably not much good as they are.

Gordon - I've been taking an over-the-counter memory pill called Cognium the past few months. I'm not sure if they help very much but I'm scared to stop them for fear I'd be much worse without them! I see commercials for another OTC pill whose name starts with a "P" but I don't remember the name (maybe my pills aren't helping enough?)

About all I've done recently was critter care & unavoidable cleaning. I did go to Walmart for cat food the other day & was able to get my 2nd Covid booster. Like with the other doses, the only side effects have been a sore arm every time.
The past few years I've had rose-breasted grosbeaks stop for a rest & to eat on their way north to wherever they nest. There aren't as many this year - 2 boys & 1 girl - we had about seven 4-5 years ago. I did have a surprise visitor today - a blue jay stopped for a quick snack. They don't usually like to come into the woods very much.l

The land sharks are saying I'm behind schedule with their supper so guess I'd best get to work. Everybody take care & keep the faith - spring will eventually get to all of us - with the exception of Gordon & Sylvia who get fall. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! HAPPY EASTER to all! Want to get caught up here before NASCAR drops the green flag at Bristol tonight.

Marson - Was your weather as bad as that shown in N. Dakota a few days back? I don't miss the cold & snow one bit.
Did you get your taxes out of the way? I let AARP do ours & have for a number of years. They keep up with the rule changes every year & I don't want to take a chance of doing them wrong. I signed off on ours Wed. AM & they're filed electronically. The only stress for me is keeping up with the location to find where everything is set up as the filing location.

Katie - I just read a couple of books about the rescue of the Polish horses near the end of WWII. It was truly a miracle that so many were saved.
You must have been over-run with Matchbox & Hot Wheels. Who was the collector?

Max -Sounds like you finally started catching up on your overdue rain late Sat. I'll bet your tomatoes were really glad to have that happen. It got here late Sat. evening & lasted until the wee hours of the AM. We got enough to fill the nearly empty birdbath. That expected tonight is supposed to last thru a good bit of Mon. so I won't have to worry about topping off the fish pond.
Wish you could see the vase - it's pattern is "Drapery" & there was also an ice blue nut dish in the same pattern. Check the Doty website for examples - https://www.ddoty.com/ Now to find a choice spot to display both pieces.

Gordon - I know exactly what you're talking about. I've been able to tell as the COPD gets worse but lately I wonder about my mind. I can't always remember all the cats' names - if I have 5-6 in the bed I have trouble remembering who's missing - and the newest one has been here at least 5 years.

I've been pretty useless the past week. The taxes were the main accomplishment. My primary care dr. set me up for a cardiac ultrasound this past Mon. Guess I'll find out why & what she learned when I see her in May. I told her I didn't care what tests she wanted to do as long as they didn't hurt.
I spent a few hours at the old house this past week. I was thrilled to find the unexpected carnival glass but I also brought a few odds 'n ends over here to clean & pass on to the family. Selena called the other night to catch up a bit & I'm hoping she'll be able to stop by this coming week to collect the few things I've gathered up. One thing I brought over here was an Ultrex slow cooker that Bear had bought some years ago. He'd never even opened the box . I'm hoping it will go with Elizabeth Anne when she heads off to Ann Arbor to start law school in Aug.
I'm seeing a pair of hummingbirds make regular stops at their feeder this week. The chickadees have decided to drink water out of the ant trap on the hummer feeder instead of from the bird bath - no idea why.
Booth sales are slower than ever. I suspect tax season & spring break for many schools have taken up the money that might have been spent at the store. Hopefully it will pick back up the last week or so of the month.
Time to get a thing or 2 done before the race. Everybody take care & enjoy whatever spring weather comes your way. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! Finally had a couple of days of spring. Guess it's time to get the A/C on the car working.

Katie - What a beautiful mare. Sorry to hear y'all lost her. One of my charities is Arabian Rescue Mission - they save Arabs who've fallen on hard times.

Shelly - Don't think 77 qualifies as a spring chicken does it? Bear & I have always liked Italian but no place we go to has ever offered fried zucchini - our buffet that is no more used to have it sometimes & I always took advantage when it was on the menu.
I've calmed down quite a bit about the lawsuit. It's amazing the difference information about what's going on & the right pills can do for settling a person's nerves. Sadly, I'll be paying higher premiums for 5 yrs. but I can't fuss too much since between my expenses & those of the other guy it added up to quite a sum.
My "sister by choice", Rhetta, is a puzzle person. Apparently she got into them as she got older. One of her Christmas gifts from me this past year was a puzzle of many, many Christmas ornaments. I've never had a flat surface to leave one on long enough to put it together. Many years ago I had a 3.5" diskette that had several small puzzles on it that I enjoyed. I'd forgotten all about it for quite a few years now.
I hope your son's doctor appointment goes well for him. Maybe once they get started on a regular treatment program he'll start to feel better. I understand how worried y'all must be. I've had relatives with cancer & I think we all get chills just hearing the word. It seems to be much more treatable now than it used to be.
I hated to hear about your creamer. Wonder why it is we never break a common piece of glass or one that isn't special to us? I feel your pain.

Marson - This should be a great week for stockpiling chocolate. Walmart was loaded with all things Easter when I was in there a couple of weeks ago - enough candy to keep a multitude of dentists living high on the hog for years. So far I've refrained from bringing home a stash.
Saw tonight that N. Dakota is in the midst of a blizzard. I think better a blizzard than the many tornadoes being reported. I've enjoyed being able to leave the front door open & the ceiling fan turning all day.

I go tomorrow to sign off on our taxes with the AARP folks & then on to the skin doctor to check on the couple of small spots on my face. After that I may take the day to just read out on the front deck so I can enjoy my hummingbirds. I finally saw a girl hummer late today - the 1st one so far this year.

I went to pick up the guns from being cleaned Monday & the folks at the gun shop offered to buy Bear's stash of ammo from me. A lot of it was ruined by rusting & corrosion but the man came & got it so I didn't have to try & load it in the car & haul it away. I've put together 2 more bags of trash to be picked up today. I still can't tell I've made much of a dent in what's left. I did find a cute Easter chick cookie jar that I'll pass on to Rhetta or Selena since they both decorate extensively for every possible holiday. I brought home a beautiful carnival vase from a box that was in the Christmas room - where I was working this week. It's a gorgeous ice green piece of Northwood that I wasn't expecting. It's a hard color to find. I also found several turkey calls that will go to Selena's son, Eddie, who's the hunter in the family. He gets his undergraduate degree from Georgia in a few weeks & then on to vet school, also at Georgia. His sister heads for Ann Arbor to start law school the end of the summer so both will have new world's to conquer. We're very proud of both of them.

Got to be up to see the tax people come morning so best fold my tent for tonight. Everybody take care & enjoy any signs of spring that come your way. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties!

Another bout of unseasonable weather hereabouts. I guess I'll be able to see how cold it got in another few days when the open blooms will show frost burn. About the only thing useful I've done in the last few days is to burn another batch of paper trash & do a couple of loads of laundry.
I had my appointment to deliver my tax papers to the AARP preparers this morning. Just like last year I managed to not find the turn-off to the tax location until I stopped 2 different places to ask for directions. This year I swear I'll write down the turn off road name somewhere I won't lose it. I go back Wed. AM to finalize & file the return. When I walked out of the building around noon I was shocked to find little pellets of snow falling! I didn't expect that!!!
Max - Did you watch the Xfinilty race at Martinsville last night? I managed to stay awake thru the whole thing. I suspect 19 caution flags may have had something to do with my close attention. Tonight it's the big boys - we'll see if they can produce equal excitement.
Gordon - I saw on CNN.com that at least some of Sydney was being evacuated due to flooding. Is that anywhere near you? How goes the repair status of your RV?
Time for a late lunch. Hope at least some of y'all are warmer than we are here. Take care. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! A belated Happy Birthday Reen.

Max - The Dr. visit went pretty well, all considered. She has me scheduled for a cardiac ultrasound on Mon. & I need to make an appointment with a dermatologist to check a couple of very tiny rough spots on my face. Told her I wanted to check the spots since I was born & raised in FL & lived a number of summers on Tampa Bay. Enough cancer in my family to not want to take a chance. I go back to see her in a month once she can review the results of those 2 appointments.
I noticed on the weather channel tonight that the FL rain pattern in the next day or so seemed to split about Orlando & stay on the east coast. I don't wish you what roared thru the the south today for the 2nd time in about 2 wks. no matter how much you need rain. I've seen a film clip repeatedly tonight of a tornado in Statesboro, GA where I went to college. Wouldn't wish that on anybody, but I'd love to share some of the unbelievably heavy rain we had here for about 6 hrs. today.
Good luck with the new phone. I don't envy you the learning curve but admire your courage in making the attempt!

Katie - As the storms were leaving GA & heading for SC this evening I kept hearing them report at least 1 tornado in central MO, I believe they kept mentioning Copper County. Hope that isn't near you & Mike.

Shelly - I heard there was a high school shooting in Erie today but luckily only 1 person hurt & a suspect already identified. I hope it was nowhere near where y'all live. Seems like all I've seen on the news the last couple of days is shootings all over the country & where people weren't shooting at each other, Mother Nature was cleaning house from TX all the way to VA. Think I need to start reading a little more & watching a little less TV news.....

Since I had to be out for the 8 AM appointment with my Dr., I decided I might as well make a big loop & run all my errands while I was out. I got a small plant in the mail to Selena Anne & picked up a cat toy for her bunch while I was near the Olllie's discount store (my bunch love the one I got them about a week ago). The good thing about the Ollie's stop was ending up near Goodwill so I was finally able to drop off the carload of stuff I've been driving around with the past 2-3 weeks.
I've been putting off seeing about upgrading my computer for the past yr. or so & since I was already drenched, I decided on the way to pay the booth rent to stop by the folks who worked on my old unit before covid changed the world. You can imagine how thrilled I was to find that the lady who used to come to the house for me now runs the store. We had a wonderful visit catching up the past 2 yrs. & she'll see what she can put together for me & once she's had the old one for a couple of days, she'll bring the new stuff over & set everything up for me, including the printer. She knows what a technophobe I am & puts up with me anyway. I'll make sure I have at least 1 cherry Coke waiting for her when she gets here.
I dropped a few smalls & the rent off at the booth, paid the rent at U-Haul & stopped by my bank with it raining harder the further I drove. I stopped by Walmart to pick up all my prescriptions & the short list of things I was low on & by the time I was ready to leave, I could hardly see my car sitting about 2 spaces in line. Rather than wait forever (since I had forgotten to bring an umbrella), I just took off for the car tastefully attired in an extra shopping bag for a head cover! When I got to the house I found a small river running across the bottom of the driveway so I settled for grabbing just the frozen food & slogged into the house to wait out the flood.
I finally reached my Hartford attorney & found she's gotten her copy of the suit. I was able to go over some of the things that had been worrying me & she was able to put my mind at ease for the most part. A lot of the language was just "boilerplate" that seems to be routine - lawyers just throw it out there & hope to learn something new that will help them. Her paralegal will call me in a couple of weeks to get whatever information they need to work on the case. With what she's learned so far, she's pretty sure the case will get settled pretty quickly. Between her reassurances & the new pill from my doctor, I'm more at ease than I've been in the past couple of weeks.
We may have another monsoon most of Wed. day & night so I'll try & catch up on some lost sleep & then bite the bullet & try to make some of the phone calls I've been putting off due to lack of interest on my part.

I hope all of you have a milder day than blew through GA today but if you're dry that you get enough rain help at least a little. Everybody take care. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties - Another week behind us & still chilly weather but at least not below freezing at night now.

Katie - Good luck at the doctor tomorrow. I see my primary care Tues. AM & like you I'm going armed with a list of issues and/or questions. Hope we both leave happy or at least not confused.

Max- Glad to hear you got at least 3 drops of rain - beats none at all.
I've never bought from QVC - Bear used to buy from them sometimes. I get most of my plants from the local Lowe's since they have a marked down section for plants that got nipped by cold or got too thirsty or are bloomed out for the season. It saves a lot of money & the plants almost always spring back with a little TLC. I check Walmart for marked down bulbs & plants in spring & fall - not only am I a cheapskate, but I feel sorry for the plants & want to save them if I can. I just got a magazine from one of my charities & it had an article on gardening with native plants - much better for birds, bees & butterflies. It mentioned a nursery located in Ft. Myers so I'm going to reread the article & see how to contact the Ft. Myers folks. I'd like to support them & would be helping my creatures at the same time. Have you considered using native plants? I'd think they'd be a lot less work & care.
You might want to think about putting out a hummingbird feeder. I'm pretty sure they're in your area in the summer & they're fascinating little creatures. I had no idea how smart they are. They remember a feeder location from 1 yr. to the next & can be quite demanding. At both houses we've had newly returned birds come & look in a window to fuss if we didn't already have a feeder out waiting for their arrival. One tip if you do put out a feeder is to make your own nectar instead of buying a commercial mix. It's cheaper for you & better for the birds.
Too bad you're not closer - if the depression you want to sell is green I'd be interested in buying some or letting you put some of yours in my booth. It might not sell fast but it would be free.
I had trouble concentrating on the race today & I usually love the short track races. I paid more attention in the early & very late stages when drivers I like were doing well. Part of the problem was that I was spending more time watching my hummer feeder to see if mine were back - I follow a map that gives arrivals & there've been 2 sightings in SW Canton (where the booth is) & 1 sighting in Ball Ground about as far to the north from me. I'm beyond happy 'cause about 6:30 I spotted my first bird of the season. I didn't get a good look at it but the boys arrive first so I'm assuming it was a boy. I immediately put out fresh nectar so he'd have a good breakfast come daylight.

We had rain early last week so I took advantage of the dampness to burn paper trash again. I seem to have a never ending supply of paper to burn & I'm not sure how I accumulate so much. Glad I don't produce trash-type trash. One can wouldn't be big enough!

My Lakeland friends called the other night. They were in Ark. when all the bad weather was there recently. They decided that discretion was the better part of valor & cut their trip short & went home so as not to get blown or washed away. They're headed on the road again the end of April to visit CA (which they love). They converted their regular van to a camper of sorts & stay in campgrounds or rest areas & haul a fair supply of groceries since they aren't comfortable eating in restaurants any more. My mom would have loved to travel with them - that sort of thing was right up her alley. I'm sure I was a bitter disappointment to her since I'm most definitely NOT a rolling stone - perfectly happy just to stay home & gather moss.

If it's nice (i.e., warm) tomorrow I may see about getting some bulbs from the old house to put along my driveway. Hate to think of them just being over there in years to come with nobody to appreciate their beauty.

Everybody take care. Hoping everybody has a touch of spring in their near future. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! Hope everybody had the same spring day today that I had!

Max - Any luck finding a garage door spring with the 2nd company? I somehow never thought of a garage door breaking but then, I've never had a garage. Nearest I've come was my mom's carport in the mid-'50's. Don't have enough room down here by the house to even have a carport, much less a garage.
I'm getting to the point that I hate phones - not just the actual phone, but the contact on the other end. It's either a lack of service when I'm calling out or if it's incoming it's all too often a robocall. I can do without either one.
I just couldn't find anything to like about Chicago - too big, too much weather, different people & foods. I guess I'm just too much a southerner at heart. When we left up there I told one friend who thought we'd come back for cat shows that I didn't plan on ever going west of the MS River or north of the Mason-Dixon line. So far I've kept that promise. I loved Anchorage & Alaska in general. Maybe because it was mostly nature & wilderness. Liked Albuquerque pretty well. Back then it was just an overgrown small town & had lots of scenery & history. Guess I'm one of those people who love the land above everything else. I'm just not happy away from the south.
I think I read or heard somewhere that a lot of fertilizer is tied in with the petroleum industry so if gas prices are up it stands to reason that anything tied to the petroleum industry will go up too.
The guy suing me is with one of the big "ambulance chaser" firms. My agent has tried to work with him but gotten no cooperation. I suspect he plans on retiring to a life of leisure - needless to say, I hope otherwise. I haven't been able to reach my attorney to tell her I got the papers yesterday but hope she'll get in touch soon. Have information she needs to be aware of.
You should be seeing hummingbirds any time now. My migration map has shown sightings just above & below Ft. Myers. Do you put out a hummer feeder? My Lakeland friends should see them soon too - already 1 report in Plant City & that's only about 10 miles from them.

Katie - I saw on tonight's weather that MO had a tornado today. Hope it wasn't anywhere near you & Mike. The same weather pattern that caused it is supposed to come thru here about midnight.
Are you feeling better now?

I put my hummer feeder out last week but so far I haven't seen anybody. I don't sit staring at it 24/7 but I do watch it a fair bit & I check the azalea out back every time I'm near that window. It's hard to be patient when I know they're on the way. My map has reported 2 sightings in Canton proper & 1 just north of here in Ball Ground. I have hopes for any day now.
It was an absolutely gorgeous day today - sunny & warm. Sadly, another cool front is to follow tonight's thunderstorms.
Zac finally remembered to bring Bear's 2 guns that I wanted over here with him when he came to get the trash last night. I took advantage of the nice day & took them up to the gun shop to be cleaned & checked. I'll leave the rest of them with Zac 'cause I think Bear would want him to have them & I certainly don't need them.
Had a couple of slow days at the booth but got word that today I sold a perfume set that's been in the booth for a long time. Didn't really make a space for me to fill, but it got me above the rent for the month so I'm happy. At least I've already gotten a start on the next box of smalls to take in.
Got a lap full of "love biting" Irish so I guess that means I need to get off here & start paying attention to the poor neglected cat.
Everybody take care - duck the bad weather & enjoy spring as it comes & goes. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties - Seems like I've let time get away from me again. When nothing's happening, hard to post that nothing's happening.

Max - I'm glad you found someone who's willing to work with you on your home insurance. It just seems like no business believes in service anymore - doesn't matter how much you pay. Like my phone which went back to work the last possible day!
I don't remember pansies doing well in FL - too warm I think. I meant to get some for the deck this past fall & somehow I just totally forgot about them. Now it's nearly time for impatiens - if we quit having these nights under 40*.
If I hadn't seen so much fuss on the weather reports, I wouldn't have known the bad weather came thru. We got a good bit of rain (probably a couple of inches) but not enough wind to even knock down small limbs. My Lakeland friends were planning a trip out through TX to see the bluebonnets. I sure hope they weren't headed that way when all the weather was happening.
Poor New Orleans - they can't catch a break. I'm afraid this may be their future thanks to climate change. Bear was stationed in NO before we met & we went back there for a few cat shows. I absolutely loved it there.

Shelly - Nice that you enjoyed the visit with your friends. Maybe y'all can set up a regular time every month - would be something for all of you to look forward to.
Hellebores don't like to be moved, but once mine got settled in, they multiplied like weeds. I've got them all over the shady part of the yard since I got the 1st ones 15-20 years ago. I've been able to give babies to Selena & hers have settled in long enough to have bloomed nicely this year. They might do well in Erie since cold doesn't seem to bother them & I've seen no sign of deer finding them edible. Check out this site: https://www.gardendesign.com/flowers/hellebores.html
Has your son gotten his test results yet? I hope everything he learns is favorable. Somehow I didn't realize he was an artist. I should have figured that out from the pictures you posted a long time ago of his pond area. It would take an artistic soul to design something that beautiful.

Katie - Did the man show up to buy your odds 'n ends? It's always nice to have grocery money!
Has your weather settled down any? Did the last bad stuff miss you? From TX through AL, it must have gotten really bad.

Gordon - He's suing me 'cause I was found to be at fault. Apparently the cops didn't talk to Bear but to someone on the scene who told them I pulled out in front of the guy. Nobody talked to me - at the scene I wasn't awake most of the time & then I spent the next 3 wks. in the hospital - 2 of them in the ICU. I'm hoping when the suit comes to discovery some of this will come out. The attorney Hartford assigned my case has called & she seems nice - also not too concerned about his chances of getting rich off us - like there's anything to get rich from!
Tell Sylvia "good on" with her recovery. She must be one tough old bird (like me).

There was a card in today's mail from the sheriff's office asking ME to contact THEM about a good time for them to serve me the papers. I thought they just would show up at the door with them. Shows what I know. I'll call my attorney on Mon. & see what I should do next.
We keep having cold nights after a few warm days in a row. It makes it hard to plan yard work ahead. I noticed a couple of days ago that my hostas are showing themselves. Some are about 3 inches high already. The columbine bloom aren't open yet but I expect to see them any day now. I have a pink azalea out back that always seems to bloom about the time the hummingbirds come back & it has a few bloom showing already. I took that as a sign & put my hummer feeder out about 3 days ago. So far I haven't seen any but one of my Facebook hummingbird sites has reported the hummers have reached middle GA. Shouldn't be long before mine are here.
I got an email from Selena yesterday. They have bought land up near the Blairsville house & are starting to build a "forever" home that eventually they'll share with her parents. She got a letter from an attorney asking them to stop developing THEIR land because a neighbor didn't like construction trucks in the area. I can't believe anyone thinks they can tell a neighbor not to make a legal build on their own land!!! Think they picked the wrong family to pick on since we have 2 attorneys & 3 CPA's in the group. Lotsa luck dumb*sses.
I don't remember if I told y'all but last week I got a call from Bobby (at the home) just to check in with me. While we were talking, Bear wandered into the office. We talked for a few minutes & it was more like talking to MY Bear. Thankfully he kept asking WHEN I was coming to see him instead of asking me to bring him home. He also seemed to be "tracking" better than usual. He seemed to understand what I was telling him about the birds that were visiting the feeders & when I told him about Sean Peyton retiring from coaching the Saints, he seemed to understand what I was talking about. Bobby said he was having a good spell & had been doing pretty well for several days. I understand that these days won't last forever but it's heartwarming to have him back once in a while.
Sales at the booth have picked up a little this past week or so. That seems to be the trend lately - very slow the 1st of the month & better after the middle of the month. I'm really close to making the rent for Mar. so should have a little over by April 1. I have a fair bit of stock for the booth - not counting what's still in storage here in the house. Also been putting off going to the old house until we get a bit more warm weather. Next week looks promising & I want mostly to put together trash to haul up to the pick-up can. I'd dearly love to clear enough of the current room to be able to move things around enough to see what's left in there. Still have an entire room & several areas that need work but every little bit counts. If I can ever get that house sorted out (not empty, just organized) maybe I can get to work on Bear's storage shed & the U-Haul room with my aunt's stuff. Think I'd best plan on living at least several years - & still have my house & storage shed untouched.
Got a box of books ready to send to my cat friend in SC & now have a box with some clothes to send to Bear. I'd thought about running to the PO on Fri. but just didn't get around to it. I'll have to pay booth & U-Haul rent the end of next week so I'll add the PO to the list of errands if I don't get there sooner.
The zoo has been fed so it's time to move to the back & try to finish the current book. It's a set of 2 & they go the EA (Selena's daughter) once I finish them. Already got another 3 volume set lined up for her but every little bit out of the house counts. Katie is the poster child for things out of the house - wish I were more like her!
Everybody take care & let's hope we finally start seeing more of spring - except Gordon & Sylvia who can enjoy the cooling days/nights of fall. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! Time to catch up again.

Katie - Kermit (our 2017 Forester) also has the inside gas lock.
We loved the old eBay but when they bought out Paypal & made it mandatory to pay, I quit them almost completely. They accessed my checking account & were rude when I called to complain that they weren't authorized to do that. Probably haven't bought thru them in over 15 years but use them for research on prices & item information. Do buy once in a blue moon on Etsy w/my Visa.
So glad to hear Boss is feeling better. Bear has taken gabapentin for years but somehow didn't realize it was for his arthritis.
I wondered if the big wreck was near y'all. My knowledge of MO geography is pitiful.

Max - I'd forgotten Irene loved Bob Evans. I always thought of Cracker Barrel when y'all talked about eating at Bob Evans. Did she live in the Indianapolis area or was that Helen? Didn't realize she'd been gone so long.
Heard on the Weather Channel tonight that some rain might make it below Tampa & down towards Miami. I'll keep my fingers crossed that at least a few drops make it down to you. Are you near Ft. Myers?
I spent today watching the truck race & the Infinity boys. The race was here & luckily it was cool but not cold or wet. I'll be watching the big boys on Sun. Be interesting to see how the new cars handle the remodeled track. While I was watching the truck race I looked out the window & saw Zac's Shadow walking along the back rail of the deck. I went to the door & spoke to her. She headed back off the deck & stopped & came back up the ramp almost to me. Thought it over & took off up the driveway toward home instead.

Gordon - So glad your eye surgery went well. I should call my insurance folks & see how often they help with the cost of the exam & new glasses. Putting it off 'cause I'm afraid they'll say now & then I won't have an excuse to put off doing something about my eyes. I'm a 150% wimp about having my eyes messed with.
How's Sylvia's foot doing? Is she still taking it easy?

Shelly - I thoroughly enjoyed your newsy post!
We've warmed back up a bit but are promised rain Tues. PM or Wed. AM. At least nites will be at least in the 40's in the next week or so. My columbines are putting out buds & should be open in a few more days. Still have lots of hellebores & the later blooming daffodils are starting to open. I lost most of the camellias to the sub-freezing nights last weekend but the few unopened buds may give me a few stragglers to enjoy. I didn't realize y'all had dogwoods up there. When we were stuck in Chicago the main spring trees were oriental magnolias. They reminded me of home which was sad for me. I hated it up there.
Please keep us posted on how your son is doing. I think he may have chosen wisely to use a cancer hospital. The VA here was pretty good with heart issues because of the connection with Emory Hospital but I'm not sure how good the VA here would be with cancer of any kind. Catching it early may give him an advantage. I certainly hope so.
I can't seem to get out of Walmart for under $50 a trip & I'm there 4-6 times a month. It doesn't help that I'm buying a steady amount of cat supplies & bird food - neither are cheap. I was pleased to see a brown thrasher at the feeders while watching the races. They don't often come down this far into the woods.
Has your other son thought about finding a vet who does accupuncture? It sounds strange but I've heard of that helping lots of animal (& human) issues & it would be worth it if it helped with the puppy's pain. Would be better for him than drugs too.

I got a call on Thurs. from the agent at the Hartford who handles our policy. He wanted to warn me that the guy who hit us is filing a lawsuit & not to get upset when I get served papers. He said he's tried often to contact the man & work with him but has had no cooperation. As far as I know the man didn't spend a night at the local hospital but sounds like he's going to try & retire to a life of leisure at our expense. I'll send Barry a copy of whatever papers I get so he can compare them to what he already has. The weird thing is that I got the news on the 2 yr. anniversary of the wreck. It sure took the air out of my sails! That may be why I've been short of breath & been aggravated by the "frog in my throat" the past 3 days. I just saw my doctor last Tues. so I suspect it was the stress of that news that triggered my feeling bad.
Went to call in a prescription on Fri. & found that my landline is dead. I absolutely hate not being able to talk to a live human when I call a company (I'm like you about that Max). I not only want to tell somebody what's wrong, but I want to hear an explanation about when the matter will be handled. The recording told me I'd have service by Mar. 22 - 5 stinking days! I pay big bucks for that stupid phone & I'd like better service than that.
I got an email from Anthony - the fellow who got Bear's VHS tapes. He said there were some really good tapes in the lot & he only had to trash 3 tapes because of mold. I told him I'd let him know if I found any more.
The zoo is fed so I guess I'd best try & catch a little sleep before the race this afternoon. Best put the bird feeders out - I'm seeing their lookouts coming in already. Will see about feeding the fish when I get up.
Everybody take care - I hear more bad weather in the Midwest now so guess that's what's headed this way Tues. PM. Y'all try & stay warm (or cool) as appropriate. Later.
Susan

Remembering Irene.

Hi Potties! The bitter cold has passed & temps during the day are nice enough that a long-sleeved shirt is comfortable.

Max - I was glad to hear that you got at least a little rain the other day. Seems like every drop counts. Believe north FL may get more this week. It seems to stop falling once you get south of Tampa/St. Pete. I'll wish more comes your way.
Congratulations on the weight loss. Why is it the best tasting food causes weight gain? Just doesn't seem fair. I could live on mashed potatoes, donuts & pie. Throwing in a little heavily buttered garlic bread wouldn't be bad either.

Shelly - I'm so sorry to hear about your son. Is he getting treatment? It seems more can be done to cure that particular cancer than used to be possible. I'll keep him in my thoughts.
I topped off my tank on Mon. when running errands - $4.229/gal. Luckily a full tank usually lasts me a month or so. Hoping costs go back down soon. State of GA is thinking about dropping the sales tax on gas until May. That will save about $.29/gal. but prices can go up that much every day! Zac's new truck is a dually & diesel - he's complaining bitterly every time it needs filling. He blames the Democrats but they don't set world-wide pricing. We just don't discuss it - like with Rhetta & her family, we just agree to disagree & go on.
I have cardinals year round - first in come daylight & last in before dark. I have at least 2 pair of regulars. I also have goldfinches but they only have color in the summer. The nuthatches have blue & white but not bright colors. Most of my birds are shades of gray or brown, except the woodpeckers - they're most black & white with touches of red. I don't expect to see any hummers until very late Mar. or early April. My wild columbines are putting out buds & the hummers show up when those are in full bloom.
I may not live long enough to ever completely clear Bear's house. Part of the problem is that I have to bag the trash & then get it over to my trash can & those bags get heavy quickly. Also can only put out 8 bags per week & I have to be careful that I don't put anything outside the can that would interest the critters, who would scatter the contents far & wide.

Gordon - A fellow in Atlanta was arrested about 2 wks. ago because he was drilling a hole in the bottom of the gas tanks. Luckily one victim had a security camera that got his license tag. Kermit has an inside lock & is way off the road so I hope the gas thieves can't find him.
Has the rain eased up in your part of the world? I thought of that since rain has been steadily falling here for nearly 3 hrs.
Isn't it about time for the surgery on your other eye? Wishing you the best with that.

Bear's VHS tapes are now a thing of the past. I met Anthony on Mon. & he took them away. He told me he has someone who can clean tapes that are dirty/moldy & he'll probably take any others than turn up as I keep cleaning. Now to sort thru the 1 box of dishes in the back of the car & then I can take all that stuff to Goodwill. Every little bit counts. One thing I keep forgetting to do is to call the Canton Police and/or the county sheriff's office & see if either of them take in expired drugs for disposal. Canton did years ago but I'm not sure if they still do. Both houses have a lot of Bear's old prescriptions & I'd like to see them gone too.

Thurs. is supposed to be warm & dry so I'm planning on burning paper trash while everything is wet. I don't see how I accumulate so much on a regular basis. I have a few things I could take to the booth but sales, as has become the usual lately, are slow & I have more to take in than has gone out.
I put the ferns back outside yesterday evening. I'm sure they're very happy with the current rain - they were getting a bit on the dry side. Now I just have to hope no more freezing nights are in sight until fall.
Our congress has finally done something right (in my eyes) - the Senate has voted to drop Daylight Saving Time. Sadly, it wouldn't take effect until 2023 but better late than never. Still has to pass the House & get Biden's signature but at least it's progress of a sort. My sleep patterns are a mess right now. I'll be glad when they settle down.
Getting time to feed the zoo. Doesn't look like Zac will make a trash run tonight 'cause of the rain so I may head on back to bed once the land sharks are happy. Everybody keep a low profile & do your best to stay warm & dry. Gordon & Sylvia - stay cool & dry. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties!

Max - Did you get some of the rain? My friends in Lakeland checked in today after getting some rain & wind - they didn't mention how cold they got. Did the rain in the panhandle help with the wildfires? What I heard sounded like Tallahassee got clobbered.
Didn't realize Lowe's was bundling appliance sales but it's been several years since we bought an appliance. There used to be stores that sold scratched/dented appliances & if they're still around I doubt they'd want to sell more than 1 of anything. Good luck with your search.
How can home insurance cancel your policy if you haven't had excessive claims? Was your letter from the insurance company or from an agent? Years ago my agent dropped coverage on my car but I wrote the company & said I wanted to stay with them & they kept me even tho the car was beyond their usual age limits. Maybe a letter to whoever wrote the letter would help - or is there a FL insurance commission (government) you could contact?

Shelly - Things must be bad in Erie - the weather channel I watch was showing your area was due for low's around 20* with 3-5" of snow. Did it happen? Sat. AM here the temps were in the high 20*'s (ab't 27 when I turned the TV off about 8AM). I just checked & it's 22* at almost 6AM on Sun. There go my camellia blooms that were just coming back from the last freeze. I'm glad the daffodils & hellebores don't care if it freezes.

I put the bird feeders out about 7AM on Sat. & by the time I got back inside & sat down on the couch, I had 8 different species stuffing themselves. The front deck had a skim of ice & I saw a few snowflakes just before 8AM. The wind finally died down during the afternoon sometime. Hard to believe it may be in the 70* range by the end of the week. I feel for all the southern farmers - peaches, apples & strawberries were already blooming & that's not good.

The d*mned time change is already upon us again. There's a bill in Congress to just stay on DST all year. Hope they finally do something. I've said for years they should move the time 30 minutes & leave it be forever. Fat chance of that happening.
The zoo is fed & I plan on getting up to watch the race - minus an hour's sleep - so had best head for the bed & current book.
Everybody take care & everybody but Gordon stay warm. Gordon, you & Sylvia stay cool & dry. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! I'm ready for spring.....

Katie - See you have weather coming your way. Too bad it can't make up its mind anywhere in the country. I wish we could get regular gas for $3.71 - already close to $4/gal. last time I was out. No idea how much it's gone up since Tues. morning when I was out. Probably should have topped off my tank on then.

Shelly - It was so pretty last week that I took a chance & put my 2 ferns outside. It gave them a little sunshine & some rain on Wed. when we had some showers. I'll have to bring them back inside late Fri. since we're being threatened not only with freezing temps, but there's a chance of snow showers early Sat. It may warm back up on Mon. & if it does I'll put the ferns back out. I'm glad the daffodils & hellebores don't mind cold weather but I was just getting bloom back on my camellias & they don't like freezing temperatures one bit.
If Terry said OK to new curtains, maybe you should buy them before he changes his mind. Men do that when we least expect them to. Did you buy the bedroom set locally? They shouldn't have a problem with local deliveries.
Sales at the booth are mostly low dollar but at least they're somewhat steady. Feb. was the lowest sales I've had in ages but at least it covered the rent.
The tapes are a giveaway - no market for them but at least this keeps them from going to the dump. Just have to set a time & place to get together. There may be more at the old house but I haven't made it a point to look for them yet.

Gordon - I can remember a time when the stations only changed prices when they got a fresh shipment of gas - now they raise the price at any time the mood strikes them. Gives them bigger profit margins doing it that way but it's not considered price gouging - I consider it double dipping at the least.
Glad Sylvia is healing. Slow healing is a problem for Bear too. Just another issue diabetics have to deal with.

I had my 6 month appointment with my pulmonologist early Tues. so since I was getting low on canned cat food I decided to go down to Woodstock & see if either of those Walmarts had canned food in stock. Zac had already checked the Jasper store that usually has food in stock & the shelves were bare. The 1st Woodstock store had no store brand in stock. I got lucky at the 2nd store & found 2 boxes of house brand cans. I grabbed both of them so I'll have enough food for the next couple of weeks. I haven't been in a Sam's Store in years but decided to check there just in case they might have any food at all. I was in for a surprise - they no longer give a 1-day pass for non-members to shop, but they didn't have a single can of cat food by any manufacturer. Really was a shock.

I haven't done anything useful since Tues. but change the sheets & see that cats, birds & fish got fed. May check the mail on Fri. if I don 't do anything else since I should have a book waiting up there for me. As nasty as the weekend is supposed to be, I may not do anything but feed the birds.

Everybody take care & hide from any bad weather that comes your way. Later.

Susan

Hi Potties - Still being blessed with nice weather but a few less than beautiful days scheduled early next week.

Katie - I had no idea about the valve stems. Not sure how old Kermit's tires are but guess I should see if the sales receipt is in the glove box.

I went over to the old house Fri. afternoon & stayed long enough to put together 2 more bags of trash from the room I've been working in. To my surprise I found an Ultrex slow cooker still in the unopened box it was shipped in. The box is trash but the slow cooker is pristine. I also found the paperwork for the Ultrex pressure cooker so now I can put it in the booth if Selena doesn't want it. It's pristine too - Bear loved the Home Shopping Network & obviously did a fair bit of late night shopping. Saw a couple of boxes that looked interesting but I wanted to come home & watch the NASCAR truck race so left them untouched for that trip.
I was up & around with a couple of hours to spare before the race on Sat. with a late afternoon start so I decided to head back to the old house. I'm glad I made the effort 'cause I found some treasures (no telling what else may be in that room after the current finds). One of the boxes I got into was a Christmas bonanza - it had 3 blown glass ornaments with no boxes, but the real treasure was 5 unopened boxes that were Radko ornaments. Also found 6 cranberry cut-to-clear water glasses that I wasn't expecting. The last box had 2 birdhouses that looked like 1/3 size cowboy boots - Bear must have forgotten he had them since they were never used, nor was the new in the bpx straw hat style bird house. I was able to use a Rubbermaid container to bring the treasures over here. Now to turn the hose on the container & use it to replace one of the many cardboard boxes I have over here. I also was able to put together another bag of trash that was light enough that on my next trip I'll be able to drag it out to the car to bring to my trash can here.
I got an answer back from the VHS tape fellow. He's interested in having them so now all we have to do is figure out when & where to meet so I can hand them over to him. The very back of Kermit is full of boxes for Goodwill so I don't have much room left for bringing the trash over here with the bag of tapes in it, but I may run back to the old house before the race tomorrow & see if I can get 1 or 2 bags loaded & on the way away. I'm hoping the weather keeps co-operating 'cause when it's nice like this, I can put in a couple of hours at a time shoveling & I'm finding unexpected things on every trip.
I think Kermit's A/C is out. Turned it on the other day on the way home from the booth & it didn't seem to do anything. Zac was out in his yard when I came back from the old house & I asked him to see if he could line up his mechanic to take a look at it. While I was there he had a chance to show me how Smoke has improved under his care. He has put on a lot of weight & looks like somebody loves him. I offered again to cover getting him neutered.
Time to feed the zoo & then off to bed with a Dean Koontz book that I don't remember reading.
Everybody take care & enjoy any nice weather that comes your way. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties. I didn't know Ginger but my heart goes out to her and her friends & loved ones. It's a sad time for all of them.

Well, for once I actually got pretty much everything done that was on my schedule. I had called my plumber yesterday & they made me an appointment for today to finally get my long-time leaking shower repaired. I'd already order & received the replacement parts that I needed. The fellows showed up on time today & were in & out in good time. I'm many dollars lighter in pocket but I have blissful silence from the bathroom for the 1st time in many weeks.

I got quite a bit done once I hit the road. I stopped at the local vet & dropped off the current Best Friends newsletter. From there I moved on to the PO & got both boxes of books on their way to FL & SC respectively. Since it was nearby, I also stopped at Great Clips & left looking much less unkept.
The next stop was Ollies - I'd hoped to get a replacement "crinkled" garden hose but they were already sold out. I did manage to get 10 blocks of suet - not the hot pepper kind I get at WM but peanut flavored.
Next stop was to pay booth rent & put out the smalls I'd been gathering. Now to sell a bunch of what's already there so I can gather up more. I also stopped at U-Haul to pay the new, slightly lower storage fee. One last stop was at WM to pick up a few odds & ends. I picked up a bag of black oil sunflower seed & it was just in time. When I refilled that feeder when I got back home, I saw the bottom of the storage bin. I also picked up a real cheap new feeder for the mixed seed since the old one is getting the worse for wear. While there I checked vacuums & saw 2 Bissells that both had the rewinding cord that I wanted. The more expensive one was a good bit cheaper than the price I saw on-line, even with having to pay sales tax. Just hope it was the same one I looked at on-line a short while back. I may go out again on Fri. & if so I may bite the bullet & use my plastic to bring the one I saw home.
I haven't done diddly squat since I got home. There was an article in the local paper roughly a month ago about a fellow who collects VHS tapes & has a huge collection It contained his email address so I may send him a quick note tonight & ask if he would be interested in Bear's many, many tapes. I don't watch movies & I'd love these to go somewhere besides the garbage. Wish me luck.
Also owe Selena Anne an email so I'll try & get that done tonight too. No plans for Thurs. other than moving the ferns outside & making a run to the old house since it will be warm again. I mostly want to gather up more trash but I may see if I can dig up at least some of the daffodils to put along the driveway over here. Hope I don't run out of steam before the end of the week - my mind thinks I can get a lot more done than my body is willing to do!

Hope Gordon & Sylvia are still on dry ground. The situation in Ukraine (rightfully) monopolizes the news so not much is getting out about how dire the situation is in Australia. Wish we could have some of that rain to help out our drought stricken western states. Everybody else take care & stay safe. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties - A slow day here.

Katie - There's no telling when (or if) I'll ever get the old house clear enough but Zac has said he'd like to have the land. He has the heavy equipment to level what's left of the house if I ever get it empty. About all that's worth saving may end up being the metal roof & even it may be past saving. The siding wasn't metal so it will just rot away - 1 end is completely covered with variegated ivy already.
It sounds like the little park that was near you has been put to the best use possible. Too bad it wasn't kept up since those little parks gave low income folks halfway decent housing they could afford. Such a shame the animals paid the price for the kind of folks who had lived there. It was wonderful y'all were willing to step up for the poor things. It's sad that some couldn't be saved but sometimes being put to sleep is the best thing to do for them. Y'all made a hard but necessary decision.
The old house is in Bear's name alone so there's not much that can be done until he passes. Right now the property will come to me. Should I go first, it only leaves his 2 alienated kids in the will. He'd hate for them to have anything that was his but the will was made in the 80's & it would be expensive & time consuming to try & get me power of attorney. A real rat's nest neither one of us thought about when he was still competent.
The well that provides water for the old house & my house is on that land. Once I'm gone if Zac doesn't end up with the property, the new owners can now tie into county water. I'm not willing to spend the money it would take to do that since all the current water costs me is the electricity to run the pump.

Max - The soup sounds really good. That's one of my favorite meals - bean, any of the chicken flavors or any potato.
It's getting a bit warmer here so in another day or so I may be able to move the ferns outside for a while. There's no below freezing temps in the next couple of weeks so it will give them fresh air & sunlight. I'll just have to water them a few times.
I have cardinals too - they're among the 1st to show up in the morning & the very last to come in just before dark. They were one of my mom's favorite birds. She always called them redbirds & used to tell me the saying "Bluebirds for happiness - redbirds for love".
It's a shame about the dog but maybe the shelter will be able to find a foster who has the time, patience & expertise to work with modifying his behavior. He's lucky to be in a no kill shelter.

As much as I'd rather not go out tomorrow, I have a couple of things I need to do. I want to get a letter mailed to my SC friend to let her know a box is on it's way; next is a bank deposit to make & then hit WM for groceries. I'll wait until about Wed. before I go out again. On Wed. I'll need to pay the booth & U-Haul rent (already have some smalls ready to go to the booth) & may get a hair trim since I'm looking a bit shaggy these days. After that I won't need to go anywhere unless I make a trip to the old house to do a bit more clearing out of the ruined stuff.
Got an email from Rhetta. Alisa & family had a wonderful vacation in Utah. Ashley & her family came home early from Wyoming since -30 wind chill shut down the resort they were visiting. Guess that's one drawback to liking to ski - weather can change any plans a person may have.

Hope everybody is thawing out where the weather has been bad. Max, will wish rain for you. Be good if the rain plaguing Gordon & Sylvia has finally eased off at least somewhat. Everybody take care & stay safe. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties!

Katie - I'm digging thru an amazing amount of carnival glass (especially vases) & plates/platters with deer or elk on them. I haven't even gotten to the room with the Christmas stuff. Sadly, the house itself is unsalvageable. It's a 1984 model, 24x48 doublewide & it probably was never expected to last more than about 20 years. Bear had replaced the floors in the master bedroom & bath, plus some of the laundry/kitchen area. The rest of the flooring has pretty much collapsed. I just walk on the joists to get from place to place in the majority of the rooms. Much of the paper & fabric in the house is ruined since there's been no HVAC since 2011 when we remarried & combined houses (mine being larger & newer). Now that we're getting some days with 70's temperatures, I hope to be able to spend more time sorting & gathering trash in hopes of figuring out what's left to deal with.

I had no plans for today, other than watching the NASCAR Xfinity race but my neighbor, Dennis, called to tell me that our neighborhood handyman was at his house & had some time to help me. Didn't take me but a minute to take him up on that. I had Tomas up on the roof to remove the last of the fallen leaves within 20 minutes. I also had several boxes of "stuff" for Goodwill & they were heavier than I needed to move, so the fellows put them in the car for me so I can drop them off when I go to pay the booth rent next week.
As I mentioned earlier, I had finally gotten a smaller U-Haul storage room, so we went over there & the fellows got me out of the big room & into the slightly smaller/cheaper one in about 30 minutes. I'm really glad to have that taken care of. Now I need to spend a bit more time sorting thru that stuff in hopes of eventually not needing a space at all.
It chilled off a bit on Sat. & it's just now started raining. I'm hoping the rain will have moved on thru by the time the race comes on mid-afternoon Sun. since I sometimes have DirecTV reception issues when there's weather.
I have 2 boxes of books ready to take to the PO when I go out on Wed. to pay the booth rent & will drop off the Goodwill boxes at the same time. Now that gas has gone up (thanks Putin!) I try & make all my errands fit into one extended trip. I just make a big circle & that way the car only moves again if I decide to drive up to the mailbox to keep it from overflowing.
The zoo says it's time to think about serving supper so I guess I'd best bestir myself. I'm not terribly impressed with the current book so I need to decide if I should perserver (sp) or just give up & move on to something else.
Everybody take care. Most of us need to try & stay warm; Gordon & Sylvia - try & stay dry. Things look rough down your way. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! Sounds like all of us are pretty much home bound right now - my case just 'cause I'm too lazy to go out & don't want to use gas until I can do several things at once.

Gordon - You were right about Putin - he's been the same since 1999 - just generally at bad egg. Guess once KGB, always KGB at heart. Sadly, a generation or 2 under the Communist system & many of them like the power it gives the ones at the top.
Didn't realize y'all were getting drowned down there - guess you're lucky it isn't snow & ice like Marson, Katie & Shelly. You & I are lucky we're on high ground when it comes to flooding rain.
How's Sylvia doing with her healing? Is she somewhat behaving?

Shelly - The current vacuum is a Shark we got at an auction about 10 yrs. ago & it seems to finally be wearing out. Next time I go to Walmart I'll look at both Shark & Bissell but right now I'm leaning to the Bissell. On-line the cost is about the same for either of them but I'll see what WM cost is for each after I add in sales tax. May buy on-line since both offer free shipping. Been putting off making the buy but lately the house seems furrier than usual so it must be time to make a change.
Did you get your shower doors installed? Hope the weather up your way didn't keep them from coming. How much more do you need to get done before your project is finished?
A bummer about the garage heater. My propane company closed the local office about a year ago & everything is handled by phone now. I'm still getting decent service but I liked it better when I could go by the office & talk to a real person face to face.
I'd love to see your son's new doublewide. He's lucky where he lives is zoned for a mobile home, many places aren't. Where I am required a 2 acre minimum piece of land. What size home did he get? When I had my 28'x70' built in 1990 it cost about $38,000 - I can't imagine what it would cost now. Nice that he has a guest room so that you can visit.

Since I had to go up for the mail yesterday, I ran over to the old house for a few minutes. I got 4 of the best carnival glass bowls to bring over here for the rack Zac put up for me a couple of weeks ago. Now to get him back to put up the other rack. It gave me a chance to drag 1 bag of trash out to the car & now it's in the can for pick-up next week. Other than seeing that the birds have plenty of food & getting the fish fed on the warm days, I've been pretty much useless.
Got a call from the folks at U-Haul - they noticed I hadn't moved into the small space yet. Told her I intended to but hadn't had a chance to get somebody to help me do the actual move. I'd start but the 2 things I want in the back are too heavy for me to move by myself. At least they keep an eye on things. Recently somebody broke into storage spaces down in Atlanta & 1 poor fellow had thousands of dollars in musical equipment taken. Bet he didn't have insurance either.
Having a trickle of small sales at the booth - got 3 days left & I just got enough sold to cover the rent. It's been so long since most of our stuff was bought that I'm happy to make the rent & not have to give it all to Goodwill.
Had quite a surprise on Wed. AM - got a call from Bear. He was able to hear me but was wanting me to come to a racetrack in Cartersville (there's no track there) to pick him up. I told him it would take me a while to get there but I knew where he was & I'd find him. That satisfied him. Got a call from Bobby in the office the next day & he wanted information about who Bear saw at Emory for his ears last winter. I actually had a card from one of the doctors & knew where to find it. Hope it helped. He told me Bear can eat finger food by himself but now needs help with forks & spoons. I sort of had a feeling that he was failing as far as caring for himself. Wish I'd been wrong but guess it's best that I'm more prepared for whatever happens in the future.
Supposed to get cooler the next 3-4 days then spring will be back. I'm ready.
Time to feed the zoo. Irish is in my lap but keeps leaving & getting into things to get my attention. That means he's ready to eat - now! Had thought about doing some laundry today but that's all I did - think about it. Maybe tomorrow. NASCAR race in CA tomorrow at 5PM so maybe do laundry while the race is on. Seems less like work that way.
Everybody stay warm or dry, whichever is appropriate. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties - Just had 2 days of spring! It was about 70 both days so I could leave the front door open for most of the afternoon. Sadly, supposed to chill off over the weekend & then slowly warm back up.

Shelly - I understand how your son feels about the dog but if his vet can't at least help with the pain, then quality of life is all important. I still grieve for Thumper & Bru but when their quality of life changed for the worst, we couldn't bear to see them suffer. It's something everyone has to decide for themself & Selena's family had to do that when Clover's cancer got bad. Guess that's the price we have to pay when we decide to share life with fur people.
Zac has a little boy named Zander (short for Alexander) who's 2 or 3 & the daughter, Reagan, who's 6. He's very much a hands-on dad in spite of having so many income responsibilities.
If I was the dog bite lady I'd be talking to one of those "ambulance chaser" attorneys, especially since not only was her dog killed, but she was injured as well. I'd worry about the dogs going back to that owner too.
I see you may have another bout of weather coming your way. From what the weather guessers are saying, at least it won't last too long this time.

Marson - I can't help but feel bad for your son & his girl friend. I can't imagine having to start over with the broken arm issues. Seems like it's adding insult to injury to be in an apartment with no heat or water. Not the 1st time? I'd be packing my bags - can't imagine no heat in Canada!

Max - We've gotten enough rain lately that I could spare a little for y'all. Now to figure out how to make the swap - my rain for a little of your warm. Hope your neighbors wait a bit before doing anything to the freeze damaged plants. I seem to remember some plants taking their own sweet time to come back from a freeze. Regardless, I don't envy you working with the vine in the fence if it's well & truly dead.
I was surprised to hear that your daughter is trying again with the dog. Maybe her vet could put him on some sort of veterinary tranquilizer until he settles down & realizes he has a home? Once Bru figured out that she wasn't going anywhere, she never chewed another thing. I'll cross my fingers that y'all are that lucky too.
I have a carpet shampooer but it's an older one & is heavy & not as simple to use as the newer ones. To say my carpets are in desperate need of shampooing is a massive understatement. Maybe I can shame myself into slowly doing a little at a time. I also need to replace the current vacuum since this one has a number of dusty, furry years on it. I'm not sure which one to choose since Shark has one that doesn't wrap the roller in hair (which is a big deal in this house) but Bissel donates to pet rescue folks, and it has a model with a rewindable cord & I absolutely love not having to "dance" around the trailing cord. Guess I'll have to spend some time on-line researching both brands.
I've noticed Walmart groceries appear to go up every week. Usually only a few cents per item, but that adds up when I use 4 small cans or 2 large cans of cat food per day. My frozen dinners aren't real cheap either but I'm willing to pay a little for convenience. At least WM is cheaper than any of the grocery stores.

Katie - Nice to know you survived your procedure.
From what I saw on the weather channel earlier, you may be up to your ears in weather by now. Rhetta told me one twin & her family were on vacation in Utah. The other twin & her family were in Montana. They couldn't have picked a worse time or much worse locations to take vacations but they both are somewhat into winter supports so maybe it will be good if it doesn't get too cold.

It was nice enough today that I finally got outside to burn paper trash. It was a good reason to spend a little time outside & get something done at the same time. The nice weather must have inspired me to some extent 'cause I finally made myself finish hanging the Eberhardt cat etchings in the bedroom. Also took time for vacuuming both halves of the house so I didn't feel guilty about spending a little time trying to research prices for things for the booth. Didn't find much information so will just have to give it my "best guess" & hope I stay affordable.

Time to feed the zoo & then move on to bed & book. Everybody in bad weather, stay safe & warm. Everybody else just stay safe. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties. Thanks for the birthday wishes. I got birthday emails from Selena Anne & my friends in Lakeland & a call from Rhetta. Not a lot of folks left who know my birthday so the wishes mean more.

Shelly - Sorry to hear your sons' Shepherd is having issues. Shepherds are my favorite breed of dog & they have hip dysplasia (sp?) as a breed problem. Such smart dogs. I had one in the late 60's & loved him. Our Thumper must have been part shepherd - in her baby pictures she's a dead ringer for a shepherd. Her mom was pure Chow so the good stuff must have come from the father's side of the family.
None of my cats are familiar with outdoor life so I'll have to depend on Zac's for chipmunk control. He says Shadow, the female, is quite the hunter & I see her over here once in while. He's pretty much claimed Smoke, the male, as his now. I'm glad but need to convince him to get "our" boy neutered. Will keep him from fighting any other roaming males & will guarantee no unwanted kittens by females with irresponsible owners.
Think you & I must have gotten the short straw in the dad lottery. Mine was married 4 times. He wasn't that good looking but maybe available males were scarce where he lived.

Marson - It sounds like your weather is absolutely terrible. Are you in, or near, a big city? I believe Gayle Hirst who used to be on the board was in the Toronto area. She's in Niagra On The Lake now. The only time I was ever in Canada was driving from Haines Junction, Alaska to get from the lower part of the state to the upper part when moving to Anchorage. I mostly remember it being hilly & there were some little creatures that may have been in the gopher family that lived alongside the road. My mom & I called them "tent pegs" cause that's what they looked like as we drove past.
I talked to Rhetta this evening & her current puzzle is one called "Tree of Life" composed of different animals. Believe she said it was made of wood by a company called Liberty Puzzles.

I've done pretty much nothing but watch the Olympics the past 2 wks. I did get back to the fish the end of last week to add water to their home & give them a feeding. I did blow leaves off the decks last week. We've had a good bit of wind & leaves on the roof got blown onto the decks. Unfortunately most leaves stay on the roof & I'm no longer foolish enough to try & get them off myself. May see if Dennis' buddy, Tomas, would like to earn a little extra cash by doing it for me.
I really enjoyed the Super Bowl this year but I was disappointed in the commercials. So often they're better than the game but I didn't find that to be the case this year. Maybe I'm just getting picky in my old age.
I went to bring in the bird feeders last night & found Dumbo, the resident possum, standing beside the door. He was quite a bit too early for the evening scraps. He took off when I went outside but I'm hoping he came back for his treats. If not, I'm sure the 2 raccoons provided clean-up since the bowl was empty this morning.
I watched the NASCAR Xfinity race at Daytona yesterday. The driver I follow was in the top 10 until the big wreck on the last lap. His car got knocked out of position & ended up finishing about 15th. One car got hit so often the motor was knocked out of it. In all the years I've followed racing, I've never seen that happen. I celebrated my birthday by watching the Daytona 500 this afternoon - it helped me avoid having Olympic withdrawal. A rookie driver got lucky & won the race. Most of the drivers I follow got knocked out of the race in the 3 wrecks before the end. Now they all head for California to race at 3 western tracks.
A few small sales this past week that put me almost at enough to cover the rent this month. I may take a few small things over there on Tues. since the weather is supposed to be beautiful that day. I need to stop by the U-Haul room while I'm over that way to see if I can find a little more to bring home before I move things to the new storage room.

Think it's getting close to time for feeding the zoo - they seem to be interested every time I move & that usually means they have hopes for a meal. Got a box of books to send to my friend in SC but will wait until I finish packing those going to my Lakeland friends so I only have to make 1 trip to the PO. I wish books sold better in the booth since I have so many here that need to go somewhere else. Have 2 fair sized bags ready to donate to the library but I'd rather give my extras to friends when I can. I do send sci-fi & cookbooks to EA, Selena's daughter but that's a small number. Doubt I'll live long enough to read all those that have accumulated over the years but I'm enjoying trying to read them all.
Everybody take care & try to stay out of any bad weather. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! Slow week but nice spring-like days early in the week. Not quite as cold at night either.

Katie - From what I've seen on the news, y'all must be in the midst of another bout of nasty weather. Are you near St. Louis? That's the only place in MO that I've ever visited. When we were in the Chicago area we went to St. Louis to order our custom built mobile home so only saw the Arch as we entered town.

I went out to feed the fish this afternoon & their water level was down again - after staying steady for a couple of days. I added a bit more water & will see how they look on Fri.
Those thieving chipmunks were back in the bird feeder this afternoon. I haven't seen them for about a week & was kinda hoping a predator had gotten them. Have to go back to not leaving the feeders out all day until I can think of something to do to at least slow down the amount of seed they steal.
The rain we were promised started in as mist about 5PM. It rained most of the night but has moved on to the south now. All the spring bulbs are probably happy to have gotten a nice drink. May be below freezing the next couple of nights but is 50* right now. If I'd know it would be this warm, I'd have put both ferns out to take advantage of the rain. Missed my chance for that. At least it's a hint that spring will be here eventually.
Sales at the booth are close to covering the rent but this is a short month so I don't expect a super month unless something expensive sells.
I stopped by U-Haul the other day to get a few things for the booth & finally got lucky & have a smaller space reserved. It won't save but about $10/mo. but every $1 counts these days. All I have to do now is get everything moved to the new space - one of the fellows who works there may want to make a few extra $ & will "volunteer" his muscles. Now to get over to the old house & do a bit more work. I told Zac on Tues. that I'd like him to come over with me to move a couple of the trash bags over here for pick-up. Hope he remembers I asked - he has many irons in the fire & not much free time.
The zoo is fed so think I'll take my book to bed & catch a little of the wee hours Olympic coverage. Took time off earlier to catch the NASCAR qualifying races for this weekend's Daytona 500. The races weren't very lively this year but I'm sure that will change on Sunday.
Everybody take care - for those having weather - keep your heads down! Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! A slightly belated Happy Valentines Day to all.

Gordon - That Crimson Chat is a pretty thing. The markings make it look like it's surprised. Y'all have a lot of really pretty birds - so many of ours spend winters in South America & are just here for the summer.
Good to hear the eye surgery went well. Seems strange eyes are done differently but nice that it keeps you from having to wear glasses.
Hope Sylvia keeps listening to her doctors. It's hard to slow down if an active lifestyle was normal for her. Give her good wishes from me.

Shelly - It seems like the new bedroom is in the home stretch. Sounds like it will be pretty when you finally have it finished. Bet you'll be glad to have the construction behind you.
Your dad & mine sound alike. Neither one were very nice people. My dad raised the daughter of Wife #3 but he left her nothing either. Just a selfish man. I think I was better off not having him in my life.

Marson - I don't envy you the weather you've been having lately. Makes me feel guilty for complaining about what we've had - mostly just cold, no snow or ice worth mentioning.
Such a shame about your son & his girlfriend. Fresh air & exercise are supposed to be good for you but I'll bet neither of them thinks that right now.
My "sister by choice", Rhetta, does puzzles. I found a 1000 piece one of Christmas ornaments for her gift. She normally does smaller ones (300-500 pieces) so I think she'll be busy & out of mischief for a while with this one. I've never been a puzzle person; the cats would "help" & I'd never get one finished.

Katie - Sorry to hear the stomach bug got you. It's a blessing that it was a 24 hr. version. Probably didn't seem like 24 hrs. at the time. I understand perfectly the feeling it may kill you & then wishing it would!
My covid tests have come. Not sure if or when I'll use them but I'm glad to have them just in case.
You must have a good vet for the old dog. I don't see how the vets do so much good when their patients can't give them any clues about what hurts. My oldest god-grandson hopes to be a large animal vet. I was hoping for a small animal specialist for my zoo but by the time he's in practice I may not have any pets left.

Max - Glad to see you again. I know what you mean about the groceries - every time I venture out the shelves are bare in a different section. I've been lucky that at least some of my frozen dinners have been in stock on every trip. My last trip the store was out of my pre-made sweet tea & the instant mashed potatoes that I like. I'll probably go in a day or so to get cat litter & dry cat food. The one thing almost always missing is the canned cat food the zoo prefers. I check every time I go & buy them out if it should be in stock.
I used to read the Lakeland Ledger once in a while to keep up with the old home town. Once they went to wanting you to subscribe I gave up on them. I read CNN.com almost every day. At least they're free.
I thought of you during the Super Bowl. This one was better than most - I prefer a close game most of the time. I was pulling for the Rams because they had 2 former UGA players - Stafford & Michel (sp?). I wouldn't have been upset had the Bengals won - they've been a long time without post-season success. Maybe next year will be their year.
I've noticed the extra daylight too. I was bringing in the bird feeders about 5:30 pm to keep the possum & raccoons from emptying them. Now I can leave them out until about 6:30 pm. I'm ready for more daylight & warmer weather both.

Saw my pulmonologist this AM. She did several tests & I'll go back in 3 wks. for the results. Like my friend Shirley has always said "Getting old ain't for sissies".
Took a couple of things by the booth since I was out anyway. Sales have been slow so far this month but that seems to be the case most months lately. If I do have a slow month, I can't complain. Sales have been good for the most part this past year.
I'm enjoying the Olympics that I've been able to stay awake to watch. Find myself going to sleep more than I'd like. It's a good thing they replay most of the coverage in the wee hours when I'm awake. I'm most unhappy that the Russian skater who failed the drug test back in December (!) is being allowed to compete. I suspect she had no idea what she was given - she's only 15 - but it's not fair to the "clean" athletes. Be different if the Russians didn't make a habit of failing drug tests.
Getting time to feed the zoo. They're getting pushy. Everybody take care & those in bad weather areas be careful. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! Just a note before bed. Worn out from watching the Olympics every waking moment.

Katie - Congratulations on the new little one. My neighbor Zac named his son Alexander but they call him Zander. Quite the coincidence. Is this your 1st great-grand?
Glad the puppy is back safe inside with no issues. Almost could wonder if he talked to my 2 cats who were outside recently if y'all weren't so far away.

Shelly - Selena has already dropped off the gifts for her parents & twin sisters with her mom since Rhetta's house close to both twins. Rhetta called last night to thank me for the gifts for she & her husband. I gave Garry a deer doormat from one of my charities' gift shop & it turns out when their house was repainted this past summer the colors chosen match the doormat perfectly. I couldn't do that on purpose if I tried!
Could you redo your will with something left for Terry's son & daughter while mentioning although you were aware of your kin, it was not your intention that they share in your estate? That's what my father did with me although he'd never done anything for me when he was alive either. Interesting that those who least deserve to inherit are the 1st to get in line with their hands out.
No, don't have dogs anymore. We had to put our beloved Thumper down in 2011 due to health & age issues & dear Brulee about 2 yrs. later when her health failed. Decided since we were in our 70's that it wouldn't be fair to get a dog that might outlive us. For the same reason we haven't added a cat in at least 5 years or more. Our pets normally live a long time - Thumper: 16 yrs.; Brulee: 13 yrs. - Peaches the cat about 12 yrs. - the remaining cats are, at the youngest, about 8 yrs. old & the oldest probably about 12 yrs. old. Luckily, Selena is very much a cat person (they have 3 but 1 will go to law school with EA in Aug). They'll probably set up a room in their basement for any of mine that survive me & see how they settle in after a time. At least I won't have to worry about them. Zac wants 3 of them but he might let them outside & only Timmy has lived outside enough to be safe. Not sure what to do about that issue since Irish likes Zac (who'd love to have him) & has no outside experience. Will trust Selena to handle it the best way.

Max - So sorry to hear the new dog isn't working out. Our Brulee had separation anxiety when we 1st got her - I still have a small chew mark on my coffee table from her. Luckily she got over it very quickly & was no trouble the rest of her life. Terriers seem to be more prone to issues than the average dog. When we had the rat terriers they did more damage in a few months than Bru & Thumper did in their whole lives. I am surprised damage was done when y'all were home - usually it's when they're by themselves that they get anxious & become destructive.

I've already fed the zoo & the Olympics are done for now so I'm off to bed. It's cold again tonight but expected to be in the 50's or low 60's the next few days. The fish were thawed today & very interested in being fed. The birds still act as tho we're in the middle of an ice age so I feed them accordingly. Everybody take care & try to stay warm for those in chilly places. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! Looks like winter will never end - at least our rain came & went before temps here drop into the 20's the next few nights.

Katie - Loved your snow pictures. I love seeing it but not too eager to have it here in person. As you know, 10" of snow would shut the entire state of GA down until everything melted.
What kind of birds visit your feeder? I invested in one of the flat tray-type feeders a number of years ago so that the bigger birds could eat too. The cardinals, mourning doves, red-bellied woodpeckers & the rare hermit thrush are grateful for easy access to sunflower seed in that feeder.

Gordon - Beautiful cormorant picture. It looks like what I see in the Audubon Magazine & sometimes in Nat'l Geographic.
As I'm sure you've noticed, the weather in the US still stinks. Wish more of this rain, snow & ice was falling in the far west where the years of severe drought haven't been overset by what they've gotten so far this year.

Shelly - So glad to see you stopping by to let us know y'all are surviving the terrible weather of the past couple of weeks. I know your weather is extreme when the weather channel mentions Erie. When they don't mention Erie I just assume Buffalo will be close to what y'all have gotten. I was afraid y'all might have turned into popsicles by now.
Bear made it a point not to mention his alienated sons or his 1/2 sisters family in his will. None of them could be bothered with him over the years so he decided to return the favor. I know how lucky I am to have Zac nearby & Selena to call on if I need help.
I was able to get out before the rain started on Wed. & get the fish back to nearly normal water levels. Hope the leak didn't come back since the hose may not thaw again until the end of next week. The fish were ready for a snack while they were getting the fresh water. When they have an ice "roof" they aren't interested in food but otherwise they want to eat, just do it slowly.
I'm glad to hear that work has progressed on your additions. I'm sure it seems like warmer weather & all the work being completed will be too far in the future to even think about.

Marson - Glad to hear you haven't frozen solid but I'm not sure how you've managed to stay thawed.
I lived in Anchorage for nearly 2 years but I never once saw the northern lights. We never got far enough from the lights of civilization for them to be visible. I did see ice fog pretty often. All I had to do was look at the car antenna - it would look like it was covered in cotton wool, as did everything else the fog could stick onto.

I got lucky on Wed. Selena was going up to the Blairsville house & stopped by for a short visit. At last the Christmas gifts are out of the house! She also took some of the "pass-along" goodies with her so once I go back to the old house, I'll have room to put more things aside for the family. Eddie, her son, is submitting applications to various veterinary schools in hopes of being accepted by one he wants before he gets his undergraduate degree from UGA this spring. She now has some sizable flower beds ready for spring planting so I reminded her that once the plants she wants to bring from the current house are moved, she has a ton to get from the old house. I suspect I'll have lots of daffodils to bring from the old house once it gets warm enough to be out in the yard again. I already have a few antique daffodils that came from abandoned house sites when I first moved out here that have been brave enough to not only sprout, but are actually blooming. It's a good thing ice & snow or freezing nights don't bother them one bit.
I've been filling the bird feeders as soon as it gets light & the birds are in the feeders by the time I get back in the front door. I'm sure they must keep lookouts posted as soon as they can see to fly. I couldn't get the big seed blocks on my last trip to Walmart but they did have the shelled peanuts so I now have a bag of them to put out. I'm stingy with the peanuts at $10 per 5 lb. bag. I use black oil sunflower seed in the flat feeder & the usual mixed seeds in the regular feeder. I've been really happy NOT to see the chipmunks lately so the birds are getting all the seed.
Got a bit of a scare on Wed. Somehow Timmy & Buzzy got out the front door while we were loading Selena's "stuff" to take up to her car. I went ahead & did my errands after Selena left & by the time it was starting to sprinkle, I was headed home from Walmart. When I got parked, Timmy was sitting at the foot of the entry ramp. He wouldn't let me near him so I kept calling Buzzy as I unloaded Kermit. I left the bird seed until last & emptied the bags into the seed containers. When I came back into the living room from putting the empty bags away I saw both boys sitting outside the front door. Buzzy came in as soon as I opened the door (while moving very slowly) but Timmy took off again. While I was refilling the fish tub, Timmy came as far as the back steps but took off back around the house. When I came back inside the rain was getting a little heavier so I lured the other cats into the bedroom with some treats & shut them in. I then propped the front door screen open & was able to lure Timmy in by tossing 1 treat at a time to him. Once he got past where I was sitting, I was able to get over & close the screen. I guess he went back to the bedroom as soon as the door was open & he could get under the bed. Didn't see him again until near daylight. The nasty weather helped get them back inside. Buzzy got out years ago & I didn't get him back for a week. Not sure if I'd get Timmy back in good weather since he was grown before he found his home with me.

The zoo is fed so I guess I'll relocate to the warm bed & the current book. May have to get up tomorrow if Zac decides to come hang the other plate rack. At least he knows to call & wake me up before he shows up at the door. Everybody take care & everybody but Gordon, stay warm somehow. Gordon - try to cool it for now. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! Not sure who's getting the next batch of bad weather. Sounds like Katie got the short straw again & maybe Shelly. Sounds like all I'll get may be rain.

Katie - Sounds like you may get the next bad weather - the price you pay for being in the middle of the country?
I like the Chiefs 'cause I liked their coach when he was with the ungrateful Eagles ownership. I used to watch the Bengals 'cause for some reason I liked Chris Collinsworth when he played for them & then kept following them to pull for AJ Green, a UGA Bulldog originally. On game day I'll be pulling for the Rams - loved Matt Stafford when he was a Bulldog quarterback & all the years he suffered with the Lions didn't change my mind. Been disappointed with Sony Michel so far - he seemed much better when at GA with Nick Chubb carrying part of the load. Should be a good game no matter who ends up winning.

Max - I can't help but smile at the thought of the falling iguanas but I'm glad I don't have to deal with them.
Weekend TV is hopeless right now. I'm glad I still have some interest in NASCAR even tho it's nothing like the NASCAR that captivated me years ago.
Too bad you aren't closer. I'm pretty sure there's a space heater or 2 at the old house that I'd be glad to pass your way just in case your furnace gets wonky again. Maybe you should pick 1 up if Walmart has some on sale when they switch over to fans & such in the near future.
Talking about icing the strawberries brought back memories of way back when - the citrus grove owners used smudge pots to try & save their crop when we had a rare freeze. I think I was in my teens when they started hosing the trees so the ice would keep the trees from getting "burned" by the cold wind & low temps.
I pretty much live off the frozen Marie Callender's dinners. Especially like the Vermont Mac 'N Cheese & the Pot Roast. Irish likes both of them too & lurks, hoping I'll share a bite or 2 with him.
I'm glad your daughter found a new friend & one who's housebroken to boot! Lucky for the dog too, he'll have a good rest of his life after a bad break losing his 1st home.
I bet your poor snake wonders what happened to his world. I doubt I'll have a shot at seeing any of ours before Mar. or early Apr. Too much chance of still having frost until then.

Gordon - I don't understand Tom Brady - he's flirted with retirement for the past several years He's retiring, he's not retiring. Back & forth. I really don't understand his timing this time around - I heard he had a $15 million bonus if he stayed active until this coming Fri. Maybe he's made so much money over the years that he didn't need an extra $15 million?
How's Sylvia doing? I'm sure she's really glad to be at home.

It was warm enough this afternoon that I decided to blow the leaves off both decks. Quite a few got blown off the roof last weekend. When I went out to the back deck I was shocked to find the fish had lost about 1/4 of their water. I think the plug gets loose when the top layer of water freezes. We have rain (maybe) coming the next 3 days but I doubt we'll get enough to refill the "pond" to the peak level. I may try & get outside early enough in the afternoon to see if the back faucet is thawed so I can top the tub off before I start running my errands.

First stop when I go out will be to go by & pay the taxes on the old house & then I'll swing back by to pay the booth rent. Had some last minute sales that helped my total for Jan. I'll also stop & pay the U-Haul rent while I'm next door. May even go in & see if I can bring a few things home to clean & price for the next trip to the booth.

The birds have really put a hit on all their seed - I'll be replacing everything with a quick stop at Walmart on the way home. Might even restock my frozen food while I'm there.

Zac & his little girl, Reagan, came tonight to take care of the trash for me. While here Zac hung 1 of my plate racks & fixed a kitchen drawer that was falling apart. He said he & his stepdad-in-law might come over this weekend to hang the other plate rack & finish putting together my hall shelves that they started a good while back. Once the building part is done, I'll be able to paint the whole area to make it look better.

Have already fed the zoo so need to head back to bed & book. Can't sleep in with my running plans tomorrow, so need to sleep in the immediate future or I won't get up early enough. Everybody take care & try to stay warm & safe. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! The weather wasn't as awful as expected. There was a trace of snow on the deck late Fri. afternoon. It didn't stay around too long. The cold topped out about 8am on Sat. According to the report on the weather channel for my zip code the lowest actual temp was 23* with a wind chill factor of 12*. The wind wasn't as bad as expected - none of the 30+ mph gusts I was expecting. I made it a point to put out birdseed as soon as it was getting light on Fri. & Sat. - the birds took full advantage of the early meal. I'll do the same thing before I call it quits for tonight.

Max did you have any falling iguanas? They weren't around when I lived in FL so I can't imagine having to "dispose" of them. I'm glad you were able to get your furnace repaired before the cold hit.

Max & Gordon - I saw on TV about that PA bridge collapse. It's a wonder nobody was seriously hurt. I found it interesting that Biden was visiting the state later that day. Too bad it didn't happen before congress was voting on the bill to start repairing the damaged infrastructure. At least he can tell the folks who didn't vote for the bill that "I told you so",

I haven't checked on the fish since it got so cold. It's to be in the 50's Sun. afternoon so that should start them thawing. I may go up to check the mail between games so I can put out my 2 bills for pick-up. I'm hoping to make a run on Wed. to pay the booth rent & U-Haul payment. It will be waaaaaaay warmer this coming week than it was the last few days. Katie, what was it like out your way? I'm pretty sure Shelly got her share of cold & maybe a fair bit of snow.

Fed the zoo a little earlier so guess I'll move back to the bed with a book or 2. Have to be sure & be up by 3PM for the 1st game. It's gonna be a long 6+ months before football comes back. I'll just make do with the Olympics (the winter version is my favorite) & the NASCAR season.

Everybody take care & stay warm. Spring is bound to come eventually. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! 'Bout time I stopped by to catch up with everybody.

Max - I was sorry to hear you had furnace trouble. Did you have a space heater or 2 to keep you warm? I'm glad you were able to get the furnace fixed so quickly.
That was an interesting bird buffet you put together. Sometimes Walmart has bags of shelled peanuts & I buy those to give as treats. They're too expensive to give them all the time. I put out suet blocks, in bad weather the big seed blocks, sunflower seed in the flat feeder the doves can use & mixed seed with sunflower included in a regular feeder. The titmice & nuthatches can empty the peanut feeder in a matter of hours.
Nobody in my family was "craft-inclined". The nearest to that was my great-aunt Ruby who loved to cook. The women in my family tended to be more interested in gardening than inside skills (me too). As a result there were no quilts, rugs or afghans made. My mom knew how to crochet & embroidery but never had much spare time to do it - too busy making a living & raising me.
I've had a little overcast but no rain lately. The days have been in the 40's & 50's with nights in the 30's but are told the high this coming Sat. & Sun. may not break freezing. I saw on the weather channel that my friends in Lakeland may get as low as freezing over the weekend. That's always been major cold when I lived in FL. I can remember when it would get that cold my mom & grandmother would take sheets, towels & pillowcases out to cover the tender plants like hibiscus for the night.
I didn't know it was so hard to adopt a pet in FL now. Is Lakeland too far for your daughter to go? I support the shelter there & she'd be welcome to use my name as a reference if it would help.

Shelly - You must have terrible weather coming your way. I was watching one of the weather channels the other night & they actually mentioned Erie by name. They almost never do that - just Phillie & Pittsburgh. I hope the man came & did some insulating on your addition - I can't image anybody doing construction up there not insulating for winter weather. Are you thawed out now?
I worry about my fish 'cause it's not cold long enough for them to hibernate thru the winter. When I went out back yesterday they met me at the surface after hearing the back door open & close. I expect they'll have an ice roof in a few more days if it gets as cold as expected. Our daytime high Sat. may not be above freezing so I'll be sure & fill all the bird feeders as soon as it gets daylight. I can't do it before morning or the possums & raccoons will empty them.
I'm not familiar with Hancock but I have an old friend who lives just across the SC line from Augusta. It's about a 2 hr. drive on I-20 from Atlanta. I've driven down there a couple of times in years past & that's the most boring drive in the world. The only break in the monotony is when you go under an overpass!
Zac was here first. When Bear moved out here in 1984, Zac's family already had their home built & Zac was about 4 yrs. old. I think he's in his early to mid-30's now. He's been a real blessing ever since I had the wreck & needed so much help that 1st year or so when I was recovering. He still makes himself available when I need help & I try to not ask him too often. He has a really busy life between about 4 jobs & a young family.

Gordon - That king parrot was a show stopper. When I was a child I had a collection of bird pictures to color - kinda like paint-by-number only crayons - for some reason 1 of the birds was y'all's gray & pink parrot (gullah?). I'm been entranced by them ever since.
I'm sure Sylvia is more than glad to be home. I thought Australia wasn't as bad with covid at 1st as we were but it sounds like y'all are almost as bad now. I hope her recovery in quick & easy. Bet the puppies are glad she's home.
The article on the moth was interesting. When I was little I remember seeing something similar but only about as long as your little fingernail & light grey. I they called them bagworms - when they called them anything at all.

Marson - I loved your joke but think it was all too true. I must have C-Nile - too obvious to be the D-Nile version.
Good luck with your new computer. I really need to upgrade mine since it's a good 10 yrs. old but I'm paralyzed with dread at the thought of having to figure out new technology. My cats are more tech savvy than I am!

I haven't done anything useful since we had this last batch of cold weather. One warm day I took the leaf blower to both decks & today I ran up to the mailbox for the 1st time in days. It's a good thing I made the mail run - had a couple of bills there that need paying & a bunch of books I'd ordered had come & were pretty well filling the box.
I may not go to the booth this week unless I have a sudden spurt of sales. I've covered the rent for this month but not much more so don't have a lot of empty spaces. I may just wait & go next week when I have to pay the rent & may have a few small things to take along. Since I pay for my U-Haul space early in the month, I may bring a few things home from there to clean & tag for my next trip to the booth. U-Haul has upped the rent $5/mo. so I really need to work harder on getting rid of that stuff & bringing the good stuff here so I can give up the space. Just don't have the room here to bring anything.

Everybody hunker down if the cold weather is headed your way in the coming days. Gordon, you & Sylvia just stay cool. Later.

Susan

Hi Potties! Gonna try & do a quick catch up before feeding the zoo.

Marson - I don't envy you the super cold weather one bit. I remember when I lived in Alaska we ran extension cords from our apartment windows to the cars' engine to keep the oil from freezing. A side benefit of keeping the oil thawed was that it kept a small "window" thawed on the windshield. Made it easier to clear the windshield & start driving.

Gordon - My apologies & a very belated Happy Birthday wish. I feel so bad for Sylvia's health issues - diabetes is a truly wicked disease. Hopefully she'll have less problems now that the toe is gone. Being diabetic explains why it took so long for her cat bite to heal a while back. Speaking of cat bites - is it safe to assume your hand has healed?
The honeyeater is really pretty - strange eyes markings tho. The flower is as pretty as the bird.

Max - Growing up in FL - blue jays were everywhere. Always had them in Mom's bird feeder at the expense of the cardinals. We never had them around here but the past couple of years I've heard them hollering in the woods nearby but they've never come to our feeders. I've had an unusual visitor since we started having this last round of cold weather - I've seen a hermit thrush come to steal suet crumbs off the deck. I also have about a half dozen mourning doves who come to the flat feeder for sunflower seeds almost every day. By the time I walk the 10 feet or less back to the front door, I have tufted titmice & chickadees in the just filled feeders.
I don't know the actual name of the quilt I took to the booth but I called it a "popcorn" quilt cause it has fist sized puffy spots all over. Looks VERY labor intensive - even more so than regular quilts.
Our weather guessers aren't giving us much hope for warmer weather any time soon. They expect lows in the high 20's to low 30's for the coming week. I went out on the back deck before the game this afternoon & found the fish still had a thin ice "roof". Meant I couldn't feed them today but I'll be checking during the week to see if & when they thaw enough to get to the food.

Katie - I went to covidtests.gov & ordered my free tests. The PO will send them & I've already gotten an email acknowledging my order. That might work for you & Mike. You only get 4 tests per house but it's free.

Shelly - It's been really nice seeing you drop in recently. That's a really nice friend who came & shoveled your walks & cleared your cars for you. Is your new car 4-wheel drive or all-wheel drive? The Subaru's are AWD so there's no need to do anything to put it into use.
What a shame to hear about your friend Marie. It's just not fair for somebody who has other health issues to have to fight covid too. Hopefully she'll get over the covid without any issues.
None of my girls are really close. I almost never see the twins - they both live in Marietta about 30 miles from Canton & both have families & time consuming careers. Selena is moving from Duluth (over towards SC) which is well over an hour from here by interstate. Their new house is in Blairsville which is about as far to the north as Duluth is to the southeast. I'll be happier with the drive to Blairsville since there's nowhere nearly as much traffic going there.
When I'm doing long emails I try & remember to "save" them several times with CTRL C so if the machine "eats" them, I just have to use my CTRL V to restore them. Saves a lot of aggravation when I remember to do that.
I'm sure you've told me before, but where is your GA son? He must be north of downtown Atlanta since he didn't get much snow either.

Other than my trip to the booth on Fri., I've stayed at home these days when it's been so cold. We've had a couple of days in the low 50's & I've taken advantage of those days to run errands & burn my paper trash. Other than that I stay inside except for filling the bird feeders & blowing off the decks. I haven't been to the old house for a couple of weeks - it's probably like a refrigerator after so many cold days in a row.

I still haven't gotten Selena to come by & pick up the Christmas gifts. I'd love to get them on their way to the family & out of my living room. I don't feel like I'm getting anything done when I go a couple of weeks without getting anything out of either house. I have several bags of trash ready to haul out of the old house but will wait 'till I can go over there & then call Zac to see if he'll come load them in the car & then put them in the main trash can for me. I also have a couple of boxes that need to go to the Goodwill. May ask Zac to load them in the car the next time he comes over to do something else for me.

I haven't written Bear in a couple of weeks - not much news when I stay at home for days on end. Do have a couple of bits of news that might could be stretched into at least a 1 page letter so may do that tomorrow night. There's a "check-up" call due from the home on Tues. AM so I need to start a list of things to ask about and/or request information about. From what I've been told lately it doesn't sound like Bear really "gets" who the letters are from but as long as there's a chance that he understands the letters, I'll keep writing. At least it lets the folks at the home know Bear has people who care about him.

Everybody take care & try to stay warm - except for Gordon who needs to stay cool. Later.

Susan

Hi Potties! Expecting cold weather again this weekend but not sure if snow & ice will accompany it. I just this minute heard rain on the skylight. I wasn't expecting it until later - maybe during daylight.

Max - It's way too early for the farmer's markets up here. We have one on the town square that's open on Saturday's from mid-morning to early afternoon. I haven't been since I'm asleep in the AM & watching NASCAR Infinity races in the afternoons. Since I don't cook I'd be looking for fruits, jellies & baked goods. Maybe I'll think about dropping by this coming summer.
I was tickled by your descriptions of the FL version of winter attire. We have the opposite here - dummies showing up at Walmart wearing shorts & flip-flops when it's freezing cold & the wind is howling.
My birds apparently keep lookouts posted. By the time I put out any food at all I can hear them coming in before I can get back inside the house. Usually within minutes I'll have 5-8 different species stuffing like they'll never get another meal.
Wish I had been at your house - meatloaf is one of my favorite foods of all time. I suspect I could live on meatloaf & mashed potatoes. Our WM sells a frozen shepherds' pie that has to be cooked in a real oven, so I fix one of those when it's really cold. Also do TX toast at the same time. Pretty much the only time I turn the real stove on.

Gordon - Snow and/or ice doesn't usually last very long down here. We usually have sun the next day & often temps are above freezing so there goes the snow with traces in shady areas, if at all. It's very beautiful but doesn't stay around long enough to wear out its welcome.

Selena sent me a picture of their Duluth yard - they got a lot more than we did here. Zac came over Tues. PM to collect the trash & he was fussing about the cold. He said the kids enjoyed our little bit of snow but he stayed in - swore that wasn't going to change.

I may take a quilt over to the booth on Fri. unless the roads are slick. I've sold enough odds 'n ends to pretty much cover the rent for the month & anything that goes from here on will be gravy. I had a call about some Pyrex bowls but I didn't want to come down more than the 10% that's our stock discount. Must not have suited the customer 'cause the bowls didn't show up in today's sales report.

Sometimes I wonder how the VA helps any of their patients. Got a call today from a psychiatrist at the hospital wanting information about Bear & a possible appointment. She said she'd left a couple of messages at the home, but had no call back. She didn't even know who my phone # belonged to but was just giving it a try. Bear never liked her so it's probably a good thing she hasn't reached him.

I hadn't gone up for the mail the 1st part of the week so I got dressed & ran up to the mailbox this afternoon. I don't like to leave mail up there for more than 2-3 days - didn't have lots but most of the utility bills had arrived so tonight I sat down & paid bills. I'll put them in the mail when I go out the next time. I burned a small batch of trash on the way back down to the house & then hauled out the leaf blower & cleared both decks. The fish were thawed enough that they were more than ready for a snack - didn't take them but a couple of minutes to come to the top & start eating. Saw all 6 of them so all is well.

It's not nearly as close to spring here as it is in FL, but I saw bulbs up 3-4 inches in the pots on both decks. I did spot a few daffodils out in the woods the other day; they were ones I'd saved from abandoned house sites when I first moved out here.

When I was at the old house the other day I saw that Bear's poor camellia was blooming. It started out in a fairly small pot & I'm sure it's long since grown thru the bottom. I've been trying to get it moved over here for several years but no luck so far. It's in a poison ivy patch so I need to move it before the ivy sap starts flowing. Maybe Dennis' friend Tomas would like to make a little extra money one day & will help me.

Think I'll see about feeding the zoo & settling in with a book for the night. Everybody take care & stay tucked in nice & warm. Later.

Susan

Hi Potties! Some very strong wind here between 5 & 7 AM on Sun. Not much else until mid-afternoon when light snow was falling. Got just a trace total here on the front deck - probably about 1/4 inch. Supposed to be cold tonight & maybe more wind in the next 24 hrs. I'll go out & fill the bird feeders during the day on Mon. but don't plan on moving other than that. Power flickered a couple of times about 6AM but didn't go out completely - to my surprise. The birds were glad I ventured out to fill the feeders & again to top them off just before dusk.

Max - I was born & raised in FL - exactly WHERE in the devil do they expect y'all to "shelter"???? Unless FL has changed drastically, not many homes down there have a basement. I'm glad you escaped with little damage. Mostly limbs & twigs I assume?

Shelly - Looked like your area may be getting buried. Are you anywhere near Buffalo? The game there on Sat. PM looked really uncomfortable for fans & players both. I can't imagine spending 4-5 hrs. in -5* temps.

Katie - Where in NC is your sister? The weather channel gave a lot of coverage to the Charlotte area & I saw where Asheville got about 10" of snow.

I haven't talked to Selena but she's not terribly far from Asheville so I assume she got snow. Will email her to check in when I sign off here. Everybody take care until the weather settles down. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties!

Katie - Very pretty pictures. Absolutely nothing here yet - no rain, snow, rain or wind. Been told to keep an eye out later.

I put bird food on the back deck about mid-afternoon. The fish were thawed so put a small snack out for them at the same time. I saw the biggest white fish & 2 of the gold ones before I went back inside. I filled all the front deck bird feeders a bit before 4PM & by the time I walked back inside & sat down I'd had visits from 8 different species & had 2 more laggard species show up within 30 minutes. It should be interesting to see what daylight Sun. will bring.

Selena & family are in Blairsville this weekend - very close to the NC line. Will see what happens up there. They may get a good bit of snow and/or ice since they're in the foothills of the Blue Ridge up there.

Saw a commercial in the wee hours this AM saying that the area glass folks were having a show in Cartersville (ab't 30 miles west of here) this weekend. Sure wish it had been next week - I'd have tried to get Selena to go to it with me. She may have never been to one of their shows & I'd have loved for her to see some of the higher level class & whatever pottery showed up too.

My critter hasn't come in for supper yet but I somehow think it'll show up before too much later. I suspect he/she sleeps under the house where it's comparatively warm & wind-free.

Enjoying the post-season games today. Don't envy the players in the Buffalo game. It's 6* with a wind chill of -6* already & it's just halftime.

May stop back in later. Everybody stay tucked in safely.
Susan

Hi Potties! Another spell with very little news. I decided to get out this afternoon & then not move until everything thaws next week. With the weather that's supposed to be on the way, I'm more than a little relieved that we have the generator & the oversized propane tank (which they filled fairly recently). I'll just assume the power will go out since it does fairly often.

My 1st stop was to the PO to mail a couple of cat books to my elderly friend in SC. Her daughter may relocate her if the weather near her is supposed to be too awful. I need to see what's being said about the general Charleston area.

Took a few things by the booth & got to visit with Kathie & Terry for a few minutes. They're planning on going to ground for the weekend too.

Made a quick run on Walmart on the way home & I was surprised at how empty the shelves were & what huge lines were at the few registers that were open. I hate to think what it will be like tomorrow since so many folks wait until the very last minute to stock up on essentials. The only thing I didn't find was my pre-made extra sweet iced tea. I'll just make an extra round of iced coffee. Already have a decent supply of other drinks.

Since it rained a bit yesterday I stopped on the way down the driveway & burned the current batch of paper trash. It was in the low '50's so the fire felt pretty nice while I was doing that.

Shelly - Looks like PA may get hammered over near NY. Hope y'all are all tucked in for the duration of the storm.

Katie - Sounds like Iowa is getting slammed right now so is it safe to assume MO is next in line? What are they doing for your pancreatitis? I didn't watch The Handmaid's Tale but I read it somewhat recently. I didn't like it one bit. Like you I thought it sounded too much like some folks want the US to become.
I suspect I'm going to need my eyes "zapped" in the near future & I'm really dreading it. Bear had it done a few years ago & it didn't seem to bother him a bit. I'm such a wuss about my eyes being touched that they had to knock me out to do my cataract surgery some years back.

When we existed in Chicago in the late '70's we went to a cat show in Kansas City. On the way back it was sleeting most of the way to Des Moines so we stopped there for the night. Got up the next day to find our station wagon with snow piled up above the bumpers. We got behind some "big rigs" on the interstate & crawled the rest of the way back to Chicago. Took us up into the night before we got to the house. This storm is sounding very similar to that one all those years ago. Really glad I live down here now.

The pro football games don't start until about 4PM so I'll sleep in tomorrow & then creep outside & top off all the bird feeders before the games start. The weather isn't expected to hit here until evening. I'm glad it won't hit until late since a parade & other festivities are planned over at Athens to celebrate UGA's championship.

The weather channel I'm watching right now said Des Moines already has gotten about 8 inches of snow & it's starting to freeze now. They may have power issues with the weight on the power lines & trees. Add in gusting winds & I single digit temps tomorrow night & I don't envy those folks one bit.

My "critter" has already come in for it's nightly handout so I may just feed the land sharks early. Once they're settled for the night I can turn on the heated mattress pad & crawl into bed with the current book & several burping cats.

Everybody hunker down (except you Gordon) & stay safe until things thaw out in a few days. I'm so glad I didn't live in the 1800-early1900's when houses weren't insulated & didn't have central heat or something similar. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties - want to catch up but will try & keep this one short.

Max - So very sorry to hear about Stuie - didn't he have UTI issues in recent years? It amazes me how such small creatures can leave such big holes in our hearts when they leave us. I'll be thinking of you.
Have your Savannah folks gotten over their bouts w/covid? Can't imagine having to deal with that in the midst of a major relocation. Guess they're lucky they'd had the vaccines - surely would have been worse otherwise.
The covid news from FL is worrisome. My dear friends in Lakeland don't have opinions of DiSantis that can be repeated in polite company.
That player with the Bucs is apparently one with a troublesome history. They gave him a contract with the understanding that he behave appropriately. Understand he had a few small issues but this last behavior was more than the team could tolerate. Not sure I'd give him another chance if I was another team.
'Bama had me worried for the 1st 3 quarters - almost like the SEC game only this time GA got themselves together & pulled it out. Bear retired from the Navy in fall of 1980 & we settled down in this area in time for the last few games of that season & got to see Dooley win the other championship. I'm so glad I got to see Kirby win this one. Learned that Selena's twin sisters (Alisa & Ashley) & 1 of Alisa's sons were at the game. I suspect I wasn't the only one in tears of joy that night.

Katie - It aggravates me no end lately when I see the TV ads telling vets to come to the VA for healthcare, mortgages or education. Why bother when all they do is make the vet jump thru hoops & then deny them the benefit. Bear tried many years ago to get disability & was denied because he hunted - but he had a quadraplegic uncle who hunted from a wheelchair. Even telling them about that didn't help Bear. Made him so mad he didn't go back to the VA until he started having his heart issues. Guess a person isn't allowed to have any pride left before help is available.

If my local weather guessers are anywhere near accurate, may have some real winter weather this weekend. I'm hoping for snow, not ice. It warmed up enough today that I was able to put 1 fern out on the deck & give it a long drink of water before bringing it back inside. I'd already put the other one in the shower to wet it down. Guess they'll be good another week or 2 now. I got energetic enough to take the leaf blower to both decks while the fern was outside. Gave me a chance to put seed in all the bird feeders & be outside to keep the chipmunks from robbing me blind. When I did the back deck I gave the fish a tiny snack - they had a partial ice roof but had enough surface thawed that the food got in the water for them to eat.

Zac called to make sure I was still kicking late this afternoon. He wanted to let me know he had Smoke (our community cat) set up in his garage. He was worried cause Smoke is apparently pretty thin & had a beat up face from fighting with something. He's gonna keep him closed in until he can get an appointment to get the boy neutered. At least I won't have to worry about him for the time being.

Still haven't been able to get together with Selena so all the family Christmas gifts are still in the living room taking up space. At least her folks cancelled the cruise they had planned. I think all 3 of the girls convinced them to stay home for now.

About time to feed the zoo - no football to watch until the pros this weekend. Not sure what I'll do for entertainment until then. I read while watching the games so guess I'll find something else to watch. Found a good series of programs last night on the Monument Men who search for the art treasures stolen by the Nazis. Lucky for me I was/am a history buff & public TV has some good historical programs.

Everybody take care & try to stay warm when this next bout of arctic weather blows through. Gordon, you & Sylvia stay cool.
Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! OMG - GO DAWGS!!!!!!! National Champs!!!!

Susan

Hi Potties! Cold weather coming my way - makes me glad to have the heated mattress pad.

Katie - What's Mike's disability rating? I wonder if trying to get him re-evaluated would help? I didn't realized personal assets were an issue but Bear & I weren't married when he went through all the hoops the government puts a veteran thru, so I didn't know much about his trouble getting his rating established. He did give up on getting the Agent Orange rating even tho he was sure he was exposed when off Vietnam in the late '60's - he felt it wasn't worth more years of red tape. I'm happy for y'all that they finally figured out an antibiotic that would work for Mike. Sounds like that discovery gave him a new lease on life.

Max - I've had Jitterbug for several years - I get 600 minutes/month for a little under $30. I have the bare bones flip phone program - no text, no nothing. Their phones act a little wonky some times - the other night was stuck on Zac's # & it took a while to get it straightened out. Good thing I just kept pushing buttons 'cause their customer service is more like banker's hours - think something like 6AM to 6PM Pacific time. Have you checked with Consumer Cellular? I don't know much about them but believe their rates are supposed to be reasonable.
Storms do strange things to TVs & satellite dishes. I'm glad you were able to set things right with a reset button. Life is so confusing for those of us who are technically challenged.

Shelly - It would be nice if the government would honor their responsibilities to the veterans but seems like the politicians would rather spend their time fighting amongst themselves instead of doing their jobs.
I hope your family keeps being lucky with dodging the covid bullet. I sometimes wonder if we all will get it eventually, no matter what we do.
I was sorry to hear your son had a fire - most of the time mobile homes go up too fast to be saved. Will keep my fingers crossed that he can get it repaired quickly. Seems really hard to get building materials now. It's a blessing that he was up & caught it early. There's not many nights that the news here goes without mentioning a house or apartment fire - often with loss of life. Makes me be really careful with my space heater since that often seems to be responsible for house fires.

Gordon - Sylvia's story is the stuff of nightmares! There seem to be a lot of horror stories about families not taking care of each other. It's a blessing Sylvia has you to count on. I give thanks every day for Selena's family & Zac being willing to help me out. I'm not sure what I'd do since I have no relatives to call on if I needed help.
The picture of the parrots was gorgeous. You have a real talent for getting professional quality nature pictures.

I got a call yesterday from Bobby at Harborview to update me on things at the home. Right now they have 10 employees at home with covid. Also have 27 residents that are being kept in isolation now too. Bear is getting the single room that came available but we're not sure when - the home is using it to isolate the covid patients right now. I'm happy to wait just as long as he eventually gets it.

Got a letter from U-Haul upping the rent by $5/mon. I guess I really need to try & make some extra space in my 2 spare rooms to see if I could get most of that stuff here - no charge involved if it's here but not sure if I can make that much room. I guess I'll try & spend more time trying to move some of that stuff to the booth. I'll have to cut back on what I can take out of the old house but at least the old house is free even tho hard on the contents. If I spend less time sleeping & reading I might could make more progress but I'm a world class procrastinator so I won't bet the farm on how much progress I'll make.

Supposed to be below freezing for the next several nights so I guess I can kiss most of my camellia blooms good-bye. Some of the smaller buds may survive but the hellebores don't seem to mind cold so I'll count on them for any cut flowers in the near future. I made it a point to feed the fish today since I expect them to have an ice "roof" for the next few days - probably more such days to come in Jan. & Feb. too. I'll be sure to keep enough food out for the birds - no sense in them going hungry for no reason. I always feel sad for the stray cats & dogs when there's bad weather - it's why no stray shows up here & leaves hungry. Don't know if I'm soft-hearted or soft-headed - maybe both.

Time to feed the zoo. Everybody take care - especially those of you where the weather is bad. Later.

Susan

Hi Potties! Guess it's time to catch up again. Time gets away from me these days.

Shelly - I too admire Katie's ability to downsize. I know I have to, but it's hard to choose which "treasure" is expendable. Sadly, much of the stuff at the old house can't be salvaged. There's been no heat or a/c for a good 10 yrs. & it's pretty much allowed cloth & paper items to ruin. Add "creatures" finding their way into the house & doing their own kind of damage & I'm OK with anything made of glass, china or pottery being salvageable but everything else is sifting thru trash to find what can be saved.
I used to love mangoes but these days I settle for going to the juice department at Walmart & getting mango nectar - believe the brand is Jumex & it's very tasty with no fibers to deal with.
I wonder if the recent shipping backlog issues are partly responsible for the increase in grocery prices - know that's the reason for many other price increases. I suspect the bulk buyers/hoarders don't help the situation either.

Max - Don't guess you & I can trade weather - I seem to be having the same as you - just lower temperatures. The wind seems to be everywhere. My decks always seem to have leaves that need to be blown away & plenty of twigs & limbs to throw out into the woods. My birdbath had an ice "roof" when I put out birdseed yesterday so guess it will be a day or 2 before the fish can be thawed enough to feed.
It got below freezing last night & is supposed to be the same tonight & possibly a few upcoming days. It's playing hob with my camellia blooms. The bushes can take a fair bit of cold but the bloom are much more delicate. I took a small bouquet to the booth today when I went to pay the rent. Might be a week or so before current buds open & look good. It's the open bloom who suffer when it freezes.
I'm hoping for storm & wind-free weather next Mon. when my "Dawgs" play the loathsome "Tide". Will not mention the game to Zac - he's a Tide graduate & my 3 girls & 1 SIL are Dawg grads. My DirecTV dish is a good ways from the house & it hates stormy weather so good weather is essential.
I may make a grocery run to stock up on the next somewhat fair day so I won't need to go further than the mailbox the next few days. There's bound to be at least 1 day with no rain in the next couple of days.
I thought of you tonight while I was watching Roadshow. There wasn't much on tonght's episode that struck my fancy but I enjoy seeing what's out there.

Katie - 7 degrees!!! I've lived in Anchorage, Albuquerque & Chicago but I was young & sturdy back then. Cold didn't bother me a bit then - not so now - I've become a wuss & don't like cold or heat anymore.
When did Mike serve & which branch? Have you tried to get help with the VA from either state or federal politicians? Once in a while you can find one who actually believes they should help the folks who put them in office.

Gordon - I understand exactly how Sylvia feels. I love my 2 acres & would have to be drug off kicking & screaming. Sylvia's very lucky she had a spare bedroom & that you're willing to put down roots for now. You have a very kind heart.

I haven't been very useful the past few days. The trip to the booth to pay the rent, put out a few more smalls & remove the Christmas decorations was about the limit to my usefulness recently. I feel like I overdid by changing to fresh flannel sheets & vacuuming the front half the house in the same week. I've never been overly domestic & I use age & declining health as an excuse not to change that.
I'm sorry I wasn't able to get Selena to come pick up the family Christmas gifts before the cold "scorched" my camellia blooms. By the time I finally get her out here, I expect the hellebores will be ready to do their thing. When Zac blew the leaves off the driveway he buried the hellebore plants somewhat but I noticed today that they have a few bud stalks showing their heads above the leaves. I was pleased to learn a couple of years ago that they make a fairly long-lasting cut flower so I'll use them to replace my camellias for bouquets.
I saw Zac on the way to the booth today & he thinks Heather has/had Covid. They couldn't find a test to buy, nor could they get an appointment for a test until after she's passed the isolation period. He didn't want to expose me (just in case she had/has it) so I drug the trash out onto the deck when I got back home & he came over & got it up to the big can without coming inside. Maybe by the end of next week it will be safe for me to sweet talk him into getting some (if not all) the trash from the old house over here for pickup. I'd hoped to get him to put up a couple of plate display racks from the old house tonight but the racks & the carnival glass I plan on them displaying have waited all these years so a few more days shouldn't hurt. I haven't dodged the covid bullet thus far by taking unnecessary chances.

Had best go for now. Everybody take care & don't let whatever your current weather is be a problem (especially far north frozen Marson). Later.

Susan

Hi Potties! GO DAWGS - Beat Bama next!!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my cyber "family". Let's hope 2022 is an improvement over 2021!

Max - We saw out the last couple of 2021 days with overcast skies & some rain but very mild - daytime temps in the 60's. It gave me a chance to put both my fern hanging baskets out for a long drink & some fresh air. They'll go back to their respective skylights now.
Glad to hear your tornado did minimum damage. The last bad weather here (before that tonight) skipped my area - we just got rain & a little wind.
I never know what to put in the booth so just use the shotgun approach - clean & tag whatever is close at hand & hope for the best. The Pyrex that Bear collected has been a fairly reliable seller but the patterned stuff is pretty much gone so hope the plain cookware & the Visions stuff will at least sell steadily.
The news about your SIL getting lucky with the stolen bike was absolutely amazing. Stolen things almost never find their way back to the rightful owner. Glad it was a really stupid thief!
Your family will find Savannah vastly different from Denver. No mountains in sight, no altitude issues & unbelievable humidity. On the other hand, some beautiful parks & a beach minutes away (even if the sand is grey instead of sugar white). I used to love to party in Savannah in my salad days. Hearing lots of folks with triple vaccines are having covid issues but they seem to be pretty mild. Selena Anne's folks are cruise junkies & have one planned some time in January. I'm worried about them but will try & keep my nose out of their business (how we've stayed friends for 60 yrs.) & just hope they change their minds about going right now.

Katie - I found albums on my last foray into the little junk room at the old house. Didn't pay much mind to them since I was concentrating on bagging trash & gathering smalls to clean for the booth. Once I get rid of more of the trash, I'll revisit the albums & see if any are in sellable condition
Like you, I stay pretty much at home. I go to Walmart for groceries, the booth to restock & the PO when I have something to send to a friend. Always take my mask just in case.
Hearing about the tiger broke my heart. A number of the charities I support are big cat sanctuaries - the big cats have enough trouble surviving without fools putting them at risk to satisfy a whim. Think I'd have let him have the idiot - he's more valuable in the overall scheme of things than that jackass is.
The trunk might be sellable. I see different ways they're usable - I had one years ago that I used as an end table. Also see them fancied up & used as coffee tables. No telling what use an inventive mind could think up.

Gordon - So glad to hear your hand is healing so well. The proper attention given quickly surely had a lot to do with your safe recovery.
My bad, I misspelled the artists' name. It's IcarT, not Icard. He did 30's era lovely ladies (vamps), many with Greyhounds or Borzios in attendance. Do a search on eBay - there are quite a few examples of his work.

Marson - I don't envy you the cold weather - if it gets below 60*F, I freeze.
I'm another fan of dark chocolate, especially chocolate covered cherries (which are hard to find). I got hooked on Hershey's "Special Dark" back in the '70's & have seen no reason to go back to the milk chocolate or white chocolate.
I loved your list of funnies! Naturally the one I liked best was the cats contemplating suicide. Doesn't fit my zoo - especially Irish, who seems to have suffered my absence last year's long-term recovery away from home last year. He's become quite clingy since then & is in my lap now & giving constant love bites to be sure I don't forget he's there.

I got an unexpected phone call yesterday - the man in charge of social services at Harborview called to get to know me since the lady I've worked with for a number of months has left the home. I was able to get some answers to questions - learning Bear is much more forgetful than I've been told. I kept asking if he was able to read my letters & the answer actually is "not really" but someone reads them to him when he's having a good day. They also will pay more attention to his ear problems since I've made such an issue of not neglecting this chronic problem. Right after I got out of rehab last year I got a letter from Harborview giving me information on the extra cost of a private room (the VA only covers basic costs). I responded immediately, requesting that he be given the next one available. I've asked periodically if one was available but learned the facility only has 4 private rooms & they rarely become available. I brought it up during the call with Bobby & he said a long-term resident had just passed - I told him I still wanted Bear to have privacy - if we could have that room I'd see that the extra cost was covered promptly every month. Now to see if we got it! I also got Bobby's email address & his cell phone #. All in all, a wonderful end to 2021.

I recently found some fireworks that had gotten misplaced. I went out & lit 4 of the fancy ones after the UGA victory tonight (& to welcome in the New Year). Now it's time to feed the land sharks & take the current book to bed. I hope to spend the 1st day of 2022 watching bowl games so getting to sleep a bit earlier than usual would be wise.

Everybody take care & try to stay warm - or cool - as appropriate. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! Been a few days since I checked in so may have a lengthy post to get caught up.

Marson - Sounds like you had a wonderful, but cold, Christmas. Aren't good friends a blessing?

Katie - The tree turned out to be just beautiful. I love that you'll extend its holiday life by sharing it with the wild creatures.

Shelly - It was so nice to see such a long post from you. Sorry your Christmas weather was somewhat nasty. Ours was overcast but warm - I can take warm. Put a banquet out for the birds & was swarmed all day long. They didn't care that it was drab as long as they had full bellies. It's been warm enough I've fed the fish every day - they don't eat much when it's cold but have been really glad to see me these last few days.
Good to hear you did so well with selling your Fenton bowl. I'm sure you've heard the old saying "buy low, sell high". Sounds like you did just that. The Dept. 56 ornaments might sell. I'd list them & see what happens. I've found folks buying ornaments in the booth pretty much year round. It's worth a try.
I've spent several hours each of the last 3 days at the old house trying to make a dent in the "1st" junk room collection of trash. I'm using the 30 gal. big trash bags but only filling them 1/2 full or less in hopes that they won't rip open when moved. So far I've gotten 4 ready to go. May have to get Zac to meet me over there to put them in the car & then ride over here to load them into the main trash can for pick-up. The bad news is that I can hardly tell I've done a thing - just so much in both "store/junk" rooms that it'll take a while to mostly clear either one.
The girls didn't really know the old thief was being so bad until Selena Anne & I got closer after my wreck. We started seeing each other a bit more & stayed in closer touch so she heard me complaining & realized I was being taken advantage of & the attorney I had in FL wasn't doing anything to help. The sister who helped is an attorney & she had contacts with more power than mine or the old thief had. I'll probably never get any of the overcharges back but at least I don't have to go begging for what I'm entitled to now.
I called & left word with the electrician that I needed a bill & a business card. Also told his machine that he left a nice screwdriver here & it was available the next time he was in the area. His daughter handles the business end of things & she works full-time as a nurse at one of the Atlanta hospitals, plus she has a family so I don't see how she has time to be a 1-woman office.

While I've been digging thru the trash at the old house, I've been putting together a little box of smalls each day. I get them home, run them thru the dishwasher & then spend the evening researching eBay & Etsy for prices while I recover from the digging & dragging of the trash. I plan on a trip to the booth Wed. afternoon if the expected rain is gone by then & I already have a med. heavy box of said smalls to take for restocking. I should have another similar sized box to take next week once it's priced & gotten packed for the move. The booth sends an email every day if the dealers have a sale & some days they also post a running total for the monthly sales. I wish I'd had them doing it a long time ago - it helps to know when there's room for new stock. The email today said I'd sold $71 worth of Pyrex "Cornflower" items. I can't wait to see how much space that leaves open. It seems like ever since that lovely old man bought the green glass, my sales have been steady. Bless his heart! This may be the best month the booth has had in the 10 or so years we've been there.

I got a lovely, very long, call from my 2 friends in Lakeland. They're just back from a long west coast trip & we had a bit of catching up to do. This trip they saw the migrating Monarch butterflies & said they were unbelievable. They also saw the hot air balloon races in Albuquerque - which is more than I did when living there but think the races were a new thing way back then. They love visiting CA & saw a whale breaching/jumping when they were visiting Santa Monica. All in all they had a wonderful time. Back in 2008 Bear bought me a couple of large Icard pictures with greyhounds in them. Sadly, I never was able to make room to hang them. The girls are nuts about greyhounds (had 1 for years) so I'm gonna try & get the pictures to UPS in hopes those folks can package them safely & send them down as a surprise.

I'm enjoying the bowl games (that aren't being canceled) but my teams aren't doing all that well. I printed out the entire schedule of games & before bed I plan the next day's viewing. Being retired is a lot of work, but somebody has gotta do it!

Time to feed the land sharks & head for bed so I'll be up to the schedule of "gotta do's" for tomorrow.. Everybody take care & try to stay warm & dry - except Gordon & Sylvia who need to stay cool. Later.
Susan

Wishing the very Merriest of Christmases to the folks who add a lot of sparkle to my life.
Susan

Hi Potties!

Katie - A picture of the finished tree please. It truly doesn't look real at all.
I thought of you tonight when I watched Mizzou snatch a win over Army in the last few minutes of their game. It was up for grabs until the last few seconds. Hope you got to watch it - was worth taking the time.

Been a bit slow around here. I spent the weekend watching football games & wrapping presents. I'd hoped to pass them on to Selena Anne the end of this week but doesn't look like we'll get together until some time next week. At least this year I got all the presents wrapped, cards mailed & most of my checks for charities in the mail before Christmas day. Got a few charities left to take care of but will wait until I get my check from the booth in Jan. before I take care of them.

My electrician was to come yesterday but it was cold & rainy so we put his visit off until this afternoon. I now have an outlet that isn't charred - Irish did quite a number on the one he drowned. I also now have a light in the closet, at last. Once Ken was finished with both jobs I asked if he had a business card with him for me to put on the fridge with other important cards. Not only did he not have a card with him, he didn't have an invoice so that I could pay him. When's the last time anyone ran into a tradesman who didn't seem to be concerned about getting paid??? I'll give his daughter a call tomorrow & get her to send the invoice & a card. I'm still in shock!

I ran over to the booth with a couple of small items this afternoon but I should have waited until tomorrow 'cause I've been able to gather up a few more things that I want to take tomorrow. The more I have in there, the better chance of making an unexpected sale between now & the end of the month.

Getting toward feeding time for the zoo so will go for now. Everybody take care & stay warm. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties!

Katie - What a beautiful tree. Shaped like a Christmas card tree. Hardly looks real.
You mentioned bad weather a couple of days ago. Apparently it never materialized? I've heard of Thundershirts but didn't realize they actually worked. We're on a well too - just got county water lines installed out here last summer. Between the meter charge & the probable cost for a really long line down to the house, I doubt I'll worry with it.
Your Christmas truck shirt is really cute. Looks like one I'd wear this time of year.
Congratulations on winning the fire pit - a really nice mortgage company to do something like that. Zac has his eye on the one I gave Bear a few years ago. Since he put it together for us I think that gives him 1st dibs on being its next home.

Max - Is your SIL back home? How's he doing?
When Kathie called with the good news about the sale of all our glowy glass, I thought of you first thing. I took some small stuff to the booth this afternoon & the shelf looked sorta sad - 1st time I haven't had any glass in there in several years. I doubt I'll find any more at either house - no idea what's in the 2 sheds but it's unlikely that any nice glass is in either of them.

Shelly - Welcome back!!! I've miss your nice newsy posts. I think of your son's beautiful fish pond when I feed my little bunch.
I'm glad all the bad weather missed y'all. It really did a lot of damage where it went thru. I don't see how those folks will ever be able to rebuild. Several years ago there was a TV program about a town in the Midwest that was pretty much wiped off the map & the entire town decided to rebuild to the highest environmental standards. It wasn't easy but they managed. Hope all these folks can just rebuild - period. I'm sure many of them had no insurance - not a wealthy part of the country. Don't stay gone so long - we worry!
My god-daughters were finally able to get rid of the old man who was mishandling the Trust. He greatly overcharged the last couple of months when he provided virtually no service. Selena is managing it for me now so I don't have to worry about it any more.

Marson - Hard to believe you aren't knee deep in snow already. I'm sure you'll get your share eventually.
I understand having an out-dated computer. I've had this one for a number of years & Bear had it several years before I got it from him. I've been thinking about replacing it for the past year or so - especially since I'm still using Windows 7. I've been putting off doing anything 'cause my guy isn't super quick & I hate being out of touch with everybody for a number of days. I stay in touch more with email than phone calls. Good luck with whatever you end up doing.

I've had 2 calls about Bear this week. The 1st was an aide - she was trimming his beard (something I never got to do) & noticed one ear was swollen. When he was brought up here last year to see the doctors at Emory, they stressed his ears needed to be kept clean because he makes so much wax. It was brought up during the quarterly phone call in November. We were told it was being done. I mentioned to this lady that I strongly urged them to set up a schedule of some sort so he wouldn't have these issues in the future. He's on antibiotics to fix the problem.
A different lady called today to mention Bear had lost some weight & she wanted to put him on Glucerna twice a day & I told her I had no objection. I also mentioned the problem with his ears & asked that she follow up on the matter. Maybe I'll call Erin the 1st of the week & see what she has to say.
My electrician came this afternoon. He's a Navy veteran & is a couple of years older than I am. Guess he just likes to keep busy. He's coming back on Tues. One outlet was OK. He needs to get me a new outlet to replace the one Irish tried to set on fire & will need to replace the light fixture in the closet. Those lights with the pull chain apparently can't be fixed. Guess I'm lucky it lasted so many years. I've waited several weeks before finding him so I guess I can wait a few days for him to get back to me.
We've had beautiful spring-like weather the past several days. I got my daffodil & Dutch iris bulbs out of the fridge yesterday & got them in the ground. I was able to get the allium bulbs planted on the back deck today since it gets more sun. We're forecast for rain later tonight & that will help them get settled in before the cold weather sets in for the winter. Since we have rain forecast, I got the fern down in the living room & put it out on the front deck to get a long drink. It will be pretty warm the next couple of days so I can let it drain before I move it back inside.
The first of the college bowl games started tonight so I guess I'll be pretty much useless for the next couple of weeks. The next few days I'll try & get all my packages wrapped while watching the games. I did get all the cards w/cash for the god-grandbabies put together last night. Everything I ordered is here & ready to wrap. Every year I give all the kids blown glass ornaments to go on the trees we gave them for their 1st Christmas & I have a stash of ornaments in one of the store rooms that I'll bring out to sort thru in the next couple of days. I'm hoping I can get Selena to come by & get all the family gifts to take to her mom's house on Christmas Eve.
Getting towards time to feed the land sharks so will wander off for now. Everybody take care & stay warm if it's chilly where you are. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHELLY!!!

Katie - Glad to hear your dr. appointment on Mon. went well. Hope the same is true with the rest of your tests.
Have you brought your tree inside yet? I miss mine but just can't get inspired enough to try & drag any of them out to decorate - Once did 6 here & 3 at Bear's house.
I've heard of Boss' issues on some of the vet shows I watch. I'm grateful neither of our girls ever had the problem. He's a pretty dog & doesn't look like an old timer.

Gordon - Hope your hand is continuing to heal. When I first started showing cats a lady's cat "blew", i.e. freaked out; to this day I can remember her arm from elbow to hand looked like somebody had ripped down it with a bow rake (the heavy kind not used for leaves). Gave me GREAT respect for what a 10 lb. cat can do when out of control.

Max - Peanut butter doesn't work with sneaking meds to your dog?
Bear & I have both had cataract surgery - his some years before mine. Not long after we remarried he had the film form & had the laser treatment. I was told this summer I was starting to get it. I'm a complete wuss about my eyes so don't know what I'll do when mine gets worse. I was such a basket case before the actual cataract surgery that they had to knock me out - I didn't want to know a thing about it. That's one reason I never got the lasic surgery when that was popular - may have worked for the best since I've heard of problems with it.
I remember when Andrew pretty much wiped out the Homestead area. My Aunt Dorothy was still living in Coral Gables at the time & she had a gas stove back then. I made a run on Walmart & put together a "care package" of single serving size cans of fruit, meat or veggies & sent a hefty box to her by UPS. Some years later when Hugo did such massive damage in the Carolinas, Bear & I gathered cleaning supplies, old rugs & towels, litter, wet & dry cat & dog food - pretty much anything we could think of that might be useful. Had the entire back of his Forester (except the spot occupied by Thumper) packed to the ceiling & met a lady from a rescue group at an exit near Charlotte. She was stunned when our load of "stuff" filled nearly 1/2 of her trailer - plus had a number of cash donations from a friend's law firm so they could buy whatever we had forgotten. I look at the destruction from those tornadoes & wish I were still young enough to do something of that sort now. Like you, I'll just have to settle for sending prayers their way. If somebody local puts together a truckload - like they did after Katrina - then I'll make a run on Walmart to help.
Bear had a number of stents put in when he was having so many heart issues in the '90's & early 2000's, His didn't collapse, but blocked up quickly. He must have been a plaque factory back in those days. Hope your SIL heals quickly & has no further problems with his.

My BFF, Rhetta, (Selena's mom) called tonight to visit & invite me over for Christmas Eve supper. Had to decline - I'm night blind & not familiar with the roads to her house - heavy traffic areas too. Appreciate the invitation though.
Selena called yesterday to catch me up with her family & their doings. Max, her daughter will be going to law school in Michigan come August. She wants to specialize in international law & that's one of the few schools that have that available. They've arranged to buy EA a townhouse near the school. Naturally, EA will take 1 of the family cats with her for company. Her brother, Eddie, is scheduled to visit a vet school in Kansas after the 1st of the year. He doesn't really want to go that far away but wisely feels going thru the interview process will be good practice. I was really excited when he expressed interest in becoming a vet - I envisioned having a "live in" vet. Sadly, he wants to specialize in large animals. My loss, the cows' gain.

Got a call from Kathie, at the booth, yesterday. She said an elderly man came in late in the day & bought all the glowy glass I had, as well as that she & Dave had in their booths. He told her he hoped to set up a display - black light I assume - somewhere. Wish he had said where; I'd love to see what he ended up with. I was having a really slow month until that sale. Thanks to him I'm in the black for Dec. & still have quite a few sale days left.

I finally have an appointment for an electrician to come on Friday to fix, among other things, the outlet Irish drowned. The man's a Navy veteran. His daughter does all his office work for him & may come with him. Guess I'd best see if Zac can make time to blow the leaves off the driveway so it will be safer for them to walk down to the house. No room for their truck to turn around down here - really no room for a 2nd vehicle when the Forester is down here, which is all the time.

Have fed the land sharks already but need to get out tomorrow & mail a couple of packages, get a haircut & restock on groceries so wouldn't hurt to try & get to sleep early.

Everybody take care. Later.
Susan

Katie - So glad to hear you & Mike are OK. The CNN footage I've seen regarding the damage in KY has been just horrendous. I'm hoping all is well with Shelly although I don't think any of the really terrible weather hit PA. It's gloomy but mild here. Had a very brief power outage but now all is calm.
Wishing you the best of luck on Monday. My sympathies to the dog. Such a shame there's no way we can explain to them what's happening.
Enjoy your tree. Makes me miss mine.
Susan

Hi Potties, happy Friday!
Max - Your fog from a few days back has found its way up here. Pretty much no visibility tonight & drizzling off 'n on. I didn't get the bathroom fern out today but may try tomorrow. Only bad thing about putting it out is the trail of bits of frond it leaves thru the house when I take it back & forth. I don't understand what happened to your neighbor's magnolia tree. We have gazillions of them up here (kinda the trademark tree of the old south) & even though we've been known to get down to the single digits at times, ours seem to take it in stride. Broke my heart when 2 huge magnolias were cut down to put up a Bojangles nearby a few years ago. They could have been left without any effort at all.
I finally made it over to the booth yesterday with my stash of garlands that I drape across most of the shelves. The job was made more pleasant since my next door boothmate was in to restock her booth. First chance we've had to visit in quite some time. Not much in the way of sales so far this month but I expect Dec. to be slow. Guess folks are spending all their money on new stuff.
People will steal any thing that isn't nailed down. Years ago Bear had a pair of about 30" long cement planters up by the road (very, very heavy) & somebody stole both of them. About the same time I had a length of "snow fence" up by the road that I was going to use to border a flower bed - same thing with it. I've always wondered what the thief did with it. Keep in mind that our houses are on a double dead end & the area was pretty much undeveloped back then. Needless to say, neither of us put out anything movable after that . I do put seasonal flags on the side of the storage shed & Zac mounted my American flag on the shed last year. No sense in temping the wicked.
Katie - Your Subaru is barely broken in yet! Not sure about its exterior since y'all do have some nasty winters up there. I saw on the TV tonight that y'all may be in the midst of some bad weather. They mentioned an Amazon warehouse in IL (I believe) got pretty much destroyed by a tornado tonight.
Post a picture of your tree when it's dressed? I haven't put one up in several years but have toyed with hauling out one from year's past. Not likely since I haven't gotten off my behind & done my cards yet. Maybe while I watch TV tomorrow. At least I got a start on the charities I support with their matching gift programs today.
Gordon - I can't imagine having real, live koalas on my property. I get excited enough with raccoons & possums! The dratted cowbirds winter in S. America & come up here in the spring & summer. They take advantage of other birds & eat lots of my seed before going back south at the end of the summer. I wish they'd lose whatever they use for a map to find my place. Other wanted seasonal birds seem less frequent than they used to be, to my sorrow.
Wonder if Marson's frozen in yet. She may be north of where the current weather is happening.
Wish we'd hear from Shelly - always enjoy her posts.
Think I may have finally found an electrician to fix the outlet that Irish "sprinkled". Spotted an ad in our little area newspaper & gave them a call today. They actually returned my call & may get back to me over the weekend. I mentioned to the lady that one reason I called them was that their ad said "veteran owned". It's her dad's company & he's a Navy vet. Told her so was Bear & he'd want me to support a fellow veteran. Now hoping things work out. I'd be really happy to have 2 outlets replaced & my closet light back working. We shall see.
Put my flannel sheets on the bed last night. This may be the last time for that set; they're a bit the worse for wear. Can't imagine why since they can't be more than 20 years old!
Think I'll feed the zoo & go crawl between those flannel sheets & read myself to sleep. Everybody take care - especially those where the weather is nasty. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! Still in shock over the GA loss - I felt sure we could pull out the win throughout the 3rd qtr. but some other team must have come out to play in the 4th.
Max - Looks like you & I will have to agree to disagree since our teams will go head to head in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 31. I
"may" have recovered from the beating from 'Bama by then - can only hope the team has.
How awful about your SIL's bike! My trailer was broken into (twice) over 30 yrs. ago & I still remember, vividly, how it felt. I can't imagine how I'd feel after putting so much work put into the fixing up AND having taken precautions to protect it & still have something like that happen. Just terrible. I'm glad they have film to help find the scumbag.
Katie - your doors are just gorgeous - even if they didn't have the lovely wreaths. You're very talented - I'm envious.
Gordon - that bird is awesome. I can understand the other birds hating them tho - I feel the same way about the cowbirds who come here every summer to dump their eggs in other birds' nests. You take some absolutely amazing pictures, especially those of living creatures. I enjoy them all.
Woke up before daylight Fri. with terrible stomach cramps & was lucky that my lovely primary care Dr. was able to squeeze me in right after lunch. Turns out I had a UTI (urinary tract infection) & stopped at WalMart on the way home to pick up 3 prescriptions that she called in for me. Feeling much better now - except for the relapse caused by the GA game.
We had a few warm days in a row with rain so I put 1 fern out for freshening - will let the other 1 have a turn this weekend if we have the same conditions. Thanks to being under the weather this past weekend I didn't get any of my bulbs planted but somewhat warmer weather may happen this coming weekend so I'll hope to be more useful then.
Need to get in the back storage area & get Christmas "stuff" to take for decorating the booth. I did get the fall decor home already. I had planned on doing Christmas cards between turkey day & now - haven't even pulled them out of storage yet. Did get the family gifts I ordered already so at least part of that's done. I give each god-grandchild cash & continue with adding to the blown glass ornaments I've always given. Makes it easy to do gifts that way. Bear needs for nothing but I plan to send a box of apples - same as I did for his birthday.
I got a call early last week from the home. They had put a roommate back in with Bear & he hadn't handled it well. They were going to send him up up to the V A Hospital for evaluation. I got a call a few days later from the hospital to tell me they had adjusted his medications & were going to send him back to the home on Fri. I've told the VA I don't think I'll try & move Bear closer - the general concensus seems to be that it would just be upsetting to him now that he's adjusted to the current location. Not a happy start to the holiday season.
Have already fed the zoo & need to answer Selene Anne's last email so will wind this up for tonight. Everybody take care & try to stay warm and/or dry as needed. Later.
Susan

Mac - So far my game is going to h*ll in a handbasket! Hope you enjoy the MI vs IA game more than I've enjoyed mine so far. May stop back by later.
Susan

Hi Potties - chilly night tonight but expecting low 70's later this week so I won't have any excuse for not getting the bulbs out of the refrigerator & into the ground.
Max - didn't watch any of the MI game - GA was playing at the same time but checked on the scores throughout the day. I was bitterly disappointed in the AL-Auburn game. Switched over to it after the GA game & Auburn was ahead with about a minute left. Couldn't believe they blew the lead & ended up losing. Auburn coach was the Boise coach the last few years & I was disappointed when he left Boise. Guess the lure of a big name SEC team was just too much temptation.
Didn't get much done today. Got 1 load of laundry washed & dried - partially put away. Finally got off my lazy behind & cleaned the top shelf on the bookcase beside the bedroom door - it's mostly panthers from the 50-60's. I won't say how long it's been since I cleaned that shelf. Now to get motivated & work my way down the remaining 6 shelves. The back 1/2 of each shelf holds books & the front is "stuff" - swans, Fenton glass, dust catchers in general. Have a matching 7 shelf case on the other side of the closet but have boxes of books in front of it & not sure when I'll feel like moving them & starting on a ton of smalls, mostly pieces of dragonware.
Started what I think is one of the last of Diana Gabaldon's time travel (outlander) series. Takes a while to work through book w/+ or - 800 pages.
Time to call it quits for tonight. Everybody take care. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties. Haven't "hit a lick at a snake" the past 2 days but sure have watched a lot of football. Boise blew a decent lead in their game Fri. - hardly worth getting up to watch. On the other hand, GO DAWGS! I expected them to win but a shutout was "the cherry on top".
Max - You should be a happy camper tonight since both Michigans won their games. Doesn't help figure out the national championship much. Kinda curious what the football powers that be will do about Cincinnati - believe this is 2 unbeaten seasons in a row for them. For now I'll just worry about next week's game with Bama for the SEC championship.
I finally got out after the GA game & got a large collection of paper trash burned. It was really piling up. Now if I can just get Zac to blow a gazillion leaves off the driveway - can hardly tell where is now that the trees are mostly bare.
Didn't feed the fish today - will get out & tend to them tomorrow & maybe add a little water to their "pond" since it hasn't rained in any noticeable amount lately.
Sales at the booth are really slow this month - normal for the holidays. Haven't quite covered 1/2 the rent but do still have 5-6 days left to get lucky. I'll pay the rent on Fri. & take down the last of the fall decor & maybe switch to something more in line with Christmas.
Marson - Hope you didn't freeze stiff when your cold blew through.
Katie - Didn't realize MO had dinosaurs but this article on CNN.com shows that y'all do have at least a few - https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/24/world/missouri-dinosaur-bones-uncovered-scn/index.html
What's going on with these gangs mobbing the high end stores all across the country? Looks like garbage rises to the top as well as cream does. Just don't understand the world we live in but I'm glad my mom & grandmother didn't live to see it.
Time to head for bed & book - I may get up to watch the "Losers Ball" when the Falcons play the Jaguars.
Everybody take care & stay as warm as needed. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! Just stopping in long enough to wish one & all a Happy Thanksgiving. I plan on sleeping in & watching football tomorrow.

Katie - your menu sounds awesome. Lemon Meringue was my grandmother's favorite pie & is mine also.

Max - Glad things went well at the doctor. I love my flannel gowns & will switch to flannel sheets next bed change. Bear didn't care for flannel sheets but I've always loved them. Not cold on the feet when 1st crawling into bed.

Zac found a ton of the cats favorite food at the Jasper WM today so they'll be getting their favorite meal for Thanksgiving.

Everybody take care & try to stay warm - except Gordon who'll be trying to stay cool. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties - Not getting a lot done, but anything is better than nothing. I made a run to the booth this afternoon to put out some odds 'n ends. Dave (who keeps the place open) said it's been a really slow month. I can believe it; made just a bit over 1/2 of the rent so far. Would love to get rid of a lot of the small stuff. After a really long time, the box of books I mentioned recently finally sold. Guess it's time to start putting another one together. Now if the afghan will sell....

Max - I'm not wild about turkey but I do like the dark meat - same with chicken. White meat just seems dry. Down here the non-turkey lovers use ham, pork roast or roast beef. Folks in Fla. used to use seafood sometimes but not sure if they still do. I had thought about Cracker Barrel but tripped over a county group that not only provides a meal but will deliver it. Gonna give it a try for this year. Also laid in frozen turkey & dressing dinner just in case. When you nearly shut your oxygen line in the oven I suspect your face resembled Irish's when the outlet was smoking & spitting. I, too, have been known to "organize" books & such in stores. Must be a gene for that in some of us. Hope all goes well with your Dr. visit. I always look forward to dropping prescriptions - it was a big deal when Bear was home 'cause it made keeping up with his meds much easier when there were fewer to deal with. Sorry I can't help with your ironstone - know nothing about it except to recognize some of it on sight.
When I got home from the booth & WM grocery shopping I finally made myself take the time to bring in the 2 ferns. They must have enjoyed their summer since they each fill the skylights where they'll spend the winter. The cats are fascinated by the "things" hanging from the ceiling (as they see it).
Is there anyway you can find a new groomer? Wonder if it ever occurred to her that her husband might have died had he not had the vaccine?
Good luck with the free ads. Our kind of stuff is hard to describe in about a dozen words or so. My green in the booth has slowed in sales recently but still moves a little. Never seem to sell the same stuff twice but it's always been that way.

Gordon - I was surprised that you haven't spent time in New Zealand since it's relatively close to you. Everything I've read about it makes it sound like paradise - earthquakes be d*amned.

It was windy today while I was out but a sweatshirt kept me comfortable. I dread looking outside tomorrow. The hostas have given up the ghost & some of the more exposed impatiens. I still haven't dug up the caladium bulbs - every year I swear I'll bring them in but I never seem to get around to it. I have bulbs in the refrigerator & I'd best take advantage of the next nearly warm day & get them stuffed in the ground so they can get settled in & start putting out roots for spring.
Just fed the land sharks so guess it's about time to shut down out here & move to the bedroom & the next book in the pile. I unearthed a couple of the last Diana Gabaldon books that I somehow had missed when reading the series originally. If I plow through these 2, will be able to put them on a shelf & have a tiny bit of floor visible.
Everybody take care & try to stay warm - especially Marson. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties - A quick update to let y'all know I'm afraid I may live. I'm slowly getting caught up on all the things I've let slide for the past week. Took me an entire day to vacuum the living room area with long rest stops between sections. Took the better part of today to get the master bedroom/bath area done. Will need to start over in another day or so but at least things look better right now. I got the fish fed this afternoon just as we were starting to get a few sprinkles & put out bird seed. I've got to try & get outside to fetch in the summer Boston ferns since it's supposed to be nasty in another day. Also need to run a small load to the booth & get in quick trips to the PO & the bank. Won't have to move again for a day or so after that.
Katie - what color is your door now? I really need to repaint mine come to think of it.
Gordon - Zac is my next door neighbor. He was about 4 when I moved out here over 30 yrs. ago. Bear used to love to tell the story about visiting with Zac's dad one day & toddler Zac told Bear to hush, because he wanted to talk with his dad. While I was laid up after the wreck it was Zac who tried to take care of Bear. He finally had to give up 'cause Bear has a number of medical issues & Zac knew nothing about how to handle them & I was unable to give him the information he needed. I'm trying to call on him as little as possible since he has a family & several jobs but I'm glad he's there if I need him.
Max - hope you're feeling 1/2way decent now. I wish I'd been able to get a picture of Irish's face as he stood staring at the sparking & smoking outlet. Like he couldn't figure out why the wall had gone crazy.... Congratulations on the Patterson book sale. I've had a box of about 40 mixed paperbacks in the booth for ages with no takers. Lots of folks love to rummage thru the box but no buyers. Kinda like the folks who seem unable to bear the sight of a folded quilt, blanket, etc. without rumpling it up. Howcum???
Got an unexpected call this evening, one of the twin god-daughters invited me for Thanksgiving. I've already made arrangements so I had to decline but did put in a bid for a care package if possible. It was nice to have 1 of the girls think of me.
It's early but the land sharks are starting to circle so maybe I'll take care of them now & go crawl back in bed with my current book. Recently read the book about Ruffian, the race horse who had to be put down from a racing injury in the mid 1970's, I didn't really know anything about her but her tragic end so it was interesting to learn more about her. She passed through life like a comet - brief but unforgettable.
Time to go. Everybody stay warm. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties - Sorry to be MIA so long but have been flat on my back with some sort of "stomach bug". Think it may have been similar to what the UGA football team is said to have had over the weekend. Big difference - they're young & healthy, me not so much. I'm getting better but it's a slow, slow haul. Today was the 1st day I could blow enough leaves off the front & back decks so I could feed my poor fish & the birds. After a quick nap I grabbed a shower & that did me in for the rest of the day. I haven't been able to vacuum since I got sick so I have a variable color fur carpet throughout the house. I may see if I can at least make a start on the living room tomorrow. Zac was able to haul the garbage up the hill for me last night - Gordon, I know exactly what Sylvie is dealing with, my pickup spot is a good 100 ft. up the driveway, which is extremely steep to add insult to injury. Now if I can just get him to remember & make a Walmart shopping run for me tomorrow. Luckily I had recently stocked up on groceries but I've been living on fluids most of the week & I'm getting low on things like that. I hate being sick.....
Max, take care of yourself. We miss you when you don't stop by. My sympathy to your daughter on the passing of her dog. It's so hard to give up a fur kid. Selena Anne & family had to put their cat Clover down on Fri. with cancer & the whole family is just devastated. The fur people become a real part of our lives - sometimes more so than humans.
I'll try & get back with y'all in another day or so - not much to write about when all one is doing is sleeping, making potty runs & sleeping some more.
Later.
Susan

BRAVES WIN - It's been a long 26 years 🙂

Hi Potties - Nice to see signs of life again.

Katie - You're waaaaay more tech savie than I am - I just spent hours on the phone with my printer gurus to find out why it wasn't printing. I ended up taking the printer back to my local Staples where they figured out they had sold me the wrong size ink cartridge. Once that was straightened out all was well. The bad thing for me is not having a paper manual for me to use with trouble-shooting. I've apparently outlived my usefulness. I think my next repair will be a new keyboard since the current one is having issues.

Gordon - I consider that it's already gotten chilly - it's been down in the 40's & 50's quite a few nights lately. It has warmed up nicely during the days so I can still get out in the yard in the afternoons but may not be the case much longer.

I finally got Kermit's emission test today so I'll go by the tag office on Mon. & see if I can get that taken care of. On my way to the testing place I think I saw the new Santa Cruz that I'm thinking about getting. It's a little bigger than my Baja was but it's pretty. The one I saw today was an ugly color - sort of olive drab - but the style was nice.

The only thing exciting here lately was in the wee hours of Thurs. AM while I was watching TV, Irish decided to see if he could burn the house down. I heard a racket across the room & when I stood up & looked, there was Irish watching an electric wall outlet sparking & smoking. Apparently my #1 cat had sprayed the outlet, which reacted immediately & left the curtain smoking with a hole burned right in front of the outlet. A million years ago I worked for an Air Force Fire Dept. so I have great respect for fire in any form & promptly called 911 & asked them if they could send somebody to make sure there was no danger of the house burning down. The nice men came, checked everything out & recommended I have an electrician replace the outlet. I tried to contact an electrician we know but had no luck reaching him so guess I'll start looking elsewhere - got a couple of other small things that need done so will tend to everything at once. Scared the bejesus out of me - 1st time in all the years I've had cats one has done that. If Zac had been able to bring the curio from the old house, it wouldn't have happened 'cause the curio is slated to sit in front of that outlet. Oh, well. The house didn't burn down, my curtain has a hole in it & I'll have a bill from an electrician. Things turned out as well as could be expected, all considered.

Had reason to love our generator last week. When I woke up to watch football on Sat. I heard the generator running. Gave Zac a call to see why the power was out. Seems that during the night a storm blew thru nearby & straight-line winds had knocked over
4 phone poles in the area. Naturally that took out my landline too but used the cell to call the power company & report the outage just in case it was recent. Zac said the power went out between 10 & 11 AM so I called my propane company & asked for a refill ASAP since I had no idea how full my tank was & the generator runs on propane. It was after 1AM on Sun. before the power came back on & I got a propane delivery on Tues. so once again "Genny" saved the day - I had heat, football & all the modern conveniences I depend on. This one use made it worth the cost & it's saved the day several times over the years for shorter periods of time.

Hope all is well with Max, Marson & Shelly. Everybody enjoy the changing seasons before the change is more severe.
Later.
Susan

Hi Potties - still not much news here.

Katie - Boy did you get lucky with your Outback. Usually if you expect a charge of several $100 then you'll be blessed to get out for under $1K. Glad you were the lucky exception.
Your comment about finding clothes to donate got me to thinking - I have lots of clothes I should sort thru & bag up some to donate. I'm sure I can find some & it would open up some drawer space. Still have a lot of clothes at the old house that I need to sort thru & bring over here to wash & bag for a trip to GW. I nearly have a load to take that way & this would almost make a special trip worth the time. I haven't been over to the old house in over a week - trying to give the vermin a chance to move on - but I'm starting to put together a list of things to bring back & I may put clothes on the top of the list.

Marson - I've had caladiums in some of my planters in recent years & my good intentions of drying them thru the winter have never come to pass. Maybe this year will be the year I get motivated & as soon as frost kills the leaves I can get myself to take them up & store them in the cat bathroom for the winter. It would be nice to not have to buy new ones every year.
Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving in advance.

Gordon - the weather has been nice enough that I've neither needed the a/c or the furnace in recent weeks. I'm seeing the mold issue in more places than just shoes. I'm finding a start on some of the wooden furniture so I need to polish furniture & clean glass to stave off the problem. I keep meaning to call my a/c guy about a dehumidifier & forgetting until after his normal hours. Maybe I'll remember one day soon.

We've had several days of warm, dry weather so I've spent a total of 6-8 hrs. in the big flower bed at the top of the hill. I finally took today off since it sprinkled a bit this morning. I'm hoping to get back up there Wed. afternoon to get a couple of hours in - the weather thru Fri. is supposed to be dry & fairly warm so a couple of hours a day could do quite a bit of good. We're supposed to get scattered showers on Sat. & the weather is to turn chilly. The lows are being forecast in the high 40's to mid-50's which won't help my impatiens.

So proud of our Atlanta Braves - tonight they won the game that enables them to move on in the playoffs. It took a homer in the 8th inning but a last minute win beats losing any day of the week. Also a good week for the college football teams I follow. Boise State beat the ranked BYU team & the UGA Bulldogs beat long time rival Auburn to take over 1st place in the college football rankings for the 1st time since 1980. Still a lot of season left but I'll take a good week any time we get one.
Got a load of wash to move to the dryer & then may feed the land sharks a bit early so I can move on to the current book. Everybody take care - hope all have a bit of nice early Fall weather to enjoy. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties - Looks like Mother Nature is trying to drown us down here. It's rained every day since Sun. afternoon & is supposed to rain again on Thurs. That's good news for the flower bed I've been working in even if I didn't get it fertilized before the rain came.

Katie - What kind of goodies did you find this time? Your house must have been as much of a treasure trove as Bear's old house has been.

Marson - I didn't realize dahlias were water lovers. I may have thirstied mine to death. If either one survives until next year I'll try & remember to water them/it more often. I too have cut back quite a bit - most of my gardening is on the 2 decks nowadays. I'm definitely an older woman now 🙂

It's been a fairly slow week since the rain has kept me house bound. I had to get out on Mon. to keep an appointment with my primary care dr. I don't see how she manages to keep up with a 15 yr. old son, 6 mo. old baby girl & still work full time. I'm set up for a bone density scan on Fri. & then nothing till Nov.

Once I left the dr. on Mon., I ran by the booth with a box of smalls. While I was there I met a young man who wants Louis L'Amour & Zane Grey westerns for a friend who collects them. I dug thru several piles of books here & found an assortment of both. I may give him a call tomorrow & see if he wants to meet me at the booth on Fri. to look them over. I'm sure there's a bunch at the old house but probably won't get over there before next week to gather whatever I can find. All this rain has kept the humidity so high that it's not only messing up cloth & paper in the old house, but it's harming stuff here too. I was digging in both bedroom closets last week & found that any shoes that aren't worn regularly are getting mildewed. Same thing with a couple of my curios. Guess I need to put in a call the the man who's handled our HVAC issues for the past 20 odd years & see if he can install a dehumidifier on the furnace he installed a few years ago. It's been so mild I haven't used the a/c or furnace in a couple of weeks. That hasn't happened in the 30 years I've lived here. Guess I can blame it all on climate change.

Time to feed the land sharks & then head for bed & book. Everybody enjoy the milder seasonal weather while it lasts. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! Haven't had much to write about.

Katie - Bear used to have the bank order him $2 bills & he used them for tips when we ate out. I have about 20 but not sure how I came by them. They're not leftovers from when Bear was still at home. We went to a pizza place some years ago & Bear wanted to use a $2 bill towards the amount due - the teenaged clerk wouldn't take it. She didn't believe it was real money!
I love your deer pictures. We have a small herd around here but I rarely see them. Same with the wild turkeys - used to have quite a few of those but only see a few crossing our road once in a while. Too much development happening.
Don't think we've ever shocked our well; didn't know we might need to. Ours is only about 300' deep.

Gordon - Yes, I was diagnosed with COPD when I was in my mid-late 50's. Was shocked 'cause I'd quit smoking about 5 yrs. earlier & I believed the doctors who said when you quit smoking your lungs would recover. Apparently not 🙁 At least I've been lucky & mine has progressed slowly.
Hope there's good news after you see your doctor. Let us know how it goes.

Max - I'm glad your GD adopts her dogs. I've thought about getting another one but it might be hard to find a "cat proof" senior dog that's housebroken. Then too, it might outlive me & I'm asking enough of Selena Anne that she take in my cats but she'd give them more of a home like I have than Zac could. He's not a cat nut like both of us & my guys wouldn't appreciate his 2 small children.
Bear used to have many, many prescriptions & at times we weren't sure what half of them were for. He doesn't have as many now & the folks at the home know what they're for. I have my 2 inhaler prescriptions but my other pills are over the counter stuff - low dose asprin, vitamin D & calcium.

Marson - I like dahlias but they don't like me back. I bought 2 marked down ones in the spring - 1 did nothing all summer & the other grew fairly tall & bloomed exactly once. I think I'll just leave them in their pots & if they survive the winter fine, if not fine. I don't even try house plants since my shady yard keeps the house too dark for them to live - much less thrive. I have a Boston fern hanging basket that I've brought in for 2 winters & hung in the bathroom skylight. Got another one on sale this summer & need to figure a way to hang it in the living room skylight if I hope to bring them both thru this winter. Still have a ton of bulbs over at the old house that I need to move but am waiting for the mosquitoes to die off before I try & do much moving.
I went last week & paid the property taxes on both places. Now waiting to get the bill for the car tag that comes due in Bear's birthday month. Then wait to do it again next year.

Sales at the booth have picked up a bit since it got a little cooler. The sales aren't big but more a steady stream of small ones. I have a box of replacement "stuff" to take over on Friday when I go to pay the booth rent & may stop by to pay U-Haul for the storage space & sort thru another box or 2. I really want to get into a smaller (translate that as cheaper) room. Right now that's what I'm using for restocking the booth. Will go back to sorting at the old house when there's less change of bugs. Seems like the older I get, the less I can cope with creepy-crawlies.

I got Zac to load the 4 O'Charley's take-out bags full of books in the car for me the other night & made a run by the drop box at the library this afternoon. Already started a new bag but I won't wait so long to drop them off next time. Next week I may make a drop at Goodwill with the current batch of donations. Guess this is my version of down-sizing.

Time to feed the zoo & then off to bed. I went back to weeding up by the road earlier this week but it takes a long time to clear an area just a few feet square. Most of the problem is the vining weed with the fat root that has to be dug deep to remove. It may rain next week so I want to weed as much as I can so I can fertilize the daylilies & roses up there 1 last time before it turns cold.

Everybody take care & enjoy the somewhat cooler weather, except Gordon who's welcoming spring. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! A note before heading for bed.

Katie - Have you gotten any rain yet? We just had several days in a row then a cold front came thru & now it's sunny & a good bit cooler. Lows in the 50's the next few nights.
Sounds like you stay pretty active - dog owners seem to be active by default 🙂

Max - What kind of dog does your GD have? Our Thumper had issues with car sickness when she was young but we were lucky & she outgrew it. Became a great traveler once she was grown. I still miss her. Keep a picture here beside the PC & 1 beside the bed.
Denver to Savannah is quite a trek. I don't envy her all those hours on the road. I once did Albuquerque to Atlanta & thought the trip would never end.
My mom tried tracing our family for years but a courthouse fire had destroyed information on the primary line she was following & stymied her efforts. She'd have been thrilled with all the avenues available now. I haven't followed up with the research since there's no-one left but 2 cousins that I don't know locations on to pass it to.
We had winter neighbors when I was in my teens but think they sold the house when I was off to college. I don't remember anyone being in the house after that. It's a pretty common thing in FL, or was when I still lived down there.

Gordon - I can make it to the car & back (maybe 50' each way) but run short of breath at the end of the trip - a one-way trip if I'm carrying groceries or a box of "stuff" for the booth. About the only time I can make a 20 minute stint is when I make a grocery run to Walmart. I think the stop & start nature of the trip makes it possible. The other option is when I blow debris off both decks - takes about 20+ minutes but is done slowly, which seems to be what works for me.

I spent some time at the U-Haul storage the 1st of the week. I brought home 2 more of the Eberhardt cat etches but haven't hung them yet. I also got an assortment of "stuff" that I'll send to GW for the most part. Got a couple of things I'll make available to Selena for the family & if she's not interested, the left-overs may go to the booth. I was pleasantly surprised to find a piece of Roseville that I know she'll want & a small cruet, possibly Fenton, that I believe belonged to my grandmother. I found more Belleek in a good sized box that means I'll need a larger curio than I planned on to give it a home. I'm hoping at least 1 of the girls will be interested in "adopting" it. There hasn't been much of a market in the booth for the little I've had to sell.
Sales at the booth this month are still slow - I get email notices of sales & sometimes go a couple of days with nothing finding a new home. I hope sales will pick up now that it's cooler weather & back to school expenses are pretty much a done deal.
Zac & his family have been in FL since this past weekend so I haven't gotten any reports on Dennis' recovery. Hopefully they've had a relaxing time of it.
The land sharks are fed so I'll crank up the dishwasher & head for bed & book. I hope to bestir myself tomorrow & make a grocery run to Walmart & drop some bills at the PO to make my creditors happy.
Has anyone heard from Shelly? I don't know what part of PA she lives in, but sounds like the whole state is getting a lot of rain. Hope all is well with her.
Everybody take care & enjoy the change in weather. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! My life must be less exciting than I realized since I haven't had much to write about for over a week.

Katie - For some reason I didn't realize you weren't getting any rain. I'd be happy to send you one night of that we've gotten in the last few days. I think we could spare some.
Seems like you were closer to the Towers on 9/11 than anyone else I know. As vivid as the memory is for those of us who had little or no physical connection to the area, I can't imagine what the memories must be like for those of you who had a more direct connection.
Are you getting or have you gotten a new car? I thought y'all had a Subaru.

Gordon - I suspect you get a lot more exercise than most of us thanks to the puppies. My pulmonary Dr. mentioned exercise the last time I saw her but other than taking care of the critters & the plants on both decks I'm pretty sedentary. A heavy day's exercise for me nowadays is when I vacuum the entire house or blow the trash off both decks.

Max - For some reason I didn't realize we were in for more rain after Nicholas wandered through. Tonight the weather guesser was indicating we'll be seeing showers thru this coming Wed. so I won't plan on a lot of yard work in the next few days. I took advantage of no rain during the day on Sat. to get the current batch of burn paper out of the way.
What sort of flu shot are you referring to, the old annual kind or Covid? I've never done the "regular" shot but I'm ready to get in line the first of the week for a Covid booster. I need to call Bear's home & see if they're making plans to give boosters to their residents or if I need to request that they give him one. With his health issues & age he should be at or near the top of the list.
With all the flooding in most of the country in recent months, I wouldn't even consider a used car. I am still interested in the Santa Cruz & may stop by the local Hyundai dealer one day this coming week if/when I'm out.
Rain tends to make me sleepy so with the nearly constant rain of recent weeks I've been like a hibernating bear. Guess I'm in a contest with the cats to see who can sleep the most .

We had quite a scare this past week - Zac was looking for our neighbor Dennis for some reason on Wed. & just happened to find him in an area where Dennis had been using a bulldozer. Seems a miracle that Zac found him 'cause Dennis had turned the bulldozer over & was fairly badly hurt. As of Fri. AM the hospital report was that Dennis had broken some of the "wings" on his vertebra (luckily not the main part of the vertebra), had broken a few ribs & the most serious injury was a cut on one leg that was to the bone on the back of the leg & took 35 stitches, as well as involving the front of the same leg & needing 12 staples. If Zac hadn't found him & gotten help quickly, Dennis might have bled to death - the hospital said his blood pressure was dangerously low when he got to the emergency room. We don't know yet how long Dennis will be on restricted activity but since he's one of those folks who can't be inactive, I suspect recovery will be aggravating for him. I'm just grateful we didn't lose him.

Selena Anne is still rotating between her old house & the new one. She's getting closets added & getting heat & a/c routed to the basement at the new house. She moved some of her grandmother's iris from her old house to the new one this week. Seems like she never has a minute to spare. She has a cat with mental issues similar to my Sunny but recently he's been sitting in her lap while she watches TV. I've told her he must be in telepathic contact with my Cyclops who has, in the past 10 days, started getting in my lap when I'm watching TV & snuggling up to my back when I go to sleep. Neither of us is complaining but we do wonder what prompted these boys to start acting so cuddly out of nowhere.

Sales at the booth are pretty slow but at least there are sales taking place. As long as things go out of the booth, I can move things from either house or the storage space & that's a good thing. I'm trying to concentrate on the storage space in hopes of being able to move to a smaller (i.e., cheaper) space in the near future. When Aunt Dorothy closed out her Miami apartment all those years ago, things just got put in boxes willy-nilly so until I sort thru everything I won't know when I have all of every piece of glass or china. Some will go to the booth & some to Goodwill but it will take time to do everything. My main concern is her collection of Irish Belleek - I need a small curio to hold it & right now have no room for another curio. Luckily I have nothing to spend time on but sorting out these issues. I'm not sure what she had so I have no way of knowing if her "accountant" helped himself to anything while he had access to her storage area. I suspect he did but no way of knowing so I just try not to think about it.
Time to feed the zoo so will go for tonight. Everybody take care. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! I doubt many folks who were adults at the time who have forgotten where they were & what they were doing on 9/11. I was working for Equifax in the Midtown area of Atlanta when Bear called me & said a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I thought at 1st he meant a little private plane but I was able to pull up CNN.com in time to see them show the plane was a passenger jet. I suspect I'll always remember that sight unless I completely lose my faculties before my time comes. It's an unbelievably vivid memory to be 20 years old.
Susan

Hi Potties! A nice late summer day here - I've spent most of it watching football. My GA Southern won their game but it was close. Godson Eddie got lucky & was gifted with tickets to the UGA-Clemson game that was played in Charlotte, NC (for some reason) tonight. It was a fantastic defensive game & to my great joy, UGA won!!! I suspect neighbor Zac was happy too since his alma mater, Alabama, just rolled over poor Miami (FL). Now if my Saints can beat Green Bay tomorrow, I'll have had a great 1st weekend for football.
This afternoon before the games, I ran by the booth long enough to pay the rent & put a few new things out. I had some empty spots but not as many as I've been having recently. As long as I clear the rent I consider it a successful month.
I stopped by the old house on the way home & gathered up a few odds 'n ends. It shouldn't have come as a surprise, but a box I was digging in just happened to have 2 Pyrex 4 qt. mixing bowls in it. I thought of Katie since one was a pink Gooseberry pattern. I also unearthed 2 Lenox swans - 1 placecard holder sized one & 1 rather large one. I suspect Bear had bought them as gifts for me & then forgot he had them. He bought a fair bit of stuff in 2008 & must have stuffed them in the "junk" room & forgotten they were there. Believe there were a couple of pieces of Duncan Miller "Seascape" also but didn't want to dig them out until I can bring them home safely & today wasn't the day. I may go back over on Mon. & put together another load. I did notice Bear had 1 4-holder plate rack that I'll try & get off the wall & bring over here with some of his gorgeous Lotus & Dragon carnival bowls. I think I can squeeze out enough space for at least 1 rack.
When I was over there the other day I noticed a planter that was full of bloomed out magic lilies that I'll send home with Selena the next time she's over here. I was really surprised to see a couple of dozen, at least, that are just now blooming near the house. I think that bunch will come here to live.
I haven't seen Smoke in a good while. I hope he's just blessing someone else with his presence & will be back sometime soon. Maybe he somehow found out I had flea drops for him & he wasn't interested in having them.
I took Cyclops early Fri. AM to get his stitches out from his eye surgery. I was pleasantly surprised when he crawled up in my lap 2 nights earlier in the week & used my shoulder for a pillow for about an hr. each night. I got him in the carrier without bloodshed this time. Maybe the mellowing meds he got actually worked. He was back in my lap tonight but didn't stay too long. I tend to get rowdy during football games & he wasn't impressed with my behavior.
Guess it's about time to feed the zoo - I'm getting surrounded the longer I sit here.
Hope all is well with Shelly - I'm pretty sure she lives in PA - not sure just where. Think she mentioned in the past that they're on high ground, but not sure memory serves me right.
Everybody take care. Hopefully the bad weather is pretty much over with for the time being. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties - A king-sized HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our very special Max. Wishing you many, many more.

Spent the day watching sports, starting with the rescheduled NASCAR race at 12:30. Was looking forward to watching the Atlanta United soccer game until I learned all 4 channels carrying the game had no-one doing it in English. I called DirecTV & fussed; asked the tech to put in a feedback that no English commentary in such a large market as Atlanta was no way to grow the fan base. Guess it was just as well I didn't waste the time watching since it turned out to be our 1st loss after 4 wins in a row.
Since I couldn't watch the soccer game, I ran over to the old house for about an hour. I got together a medium sized bag of trash & an small assortment of "stuff" to bring back home for cleaning. Some will go to the booth, the rest divided between the family & me. The china cabinet on top of a 9-drawer chest is listing further & further forward. It won't surprise me if I walk in one day & find it on the floor. I'm trying to move things it might land on to a safer place.
Came back home to watch the main NASCAR race. It was pretty incident free until the very end - nothing new for a super-speedway race. There was a driver Bear had started following a couple of years ago who was in contention for the win until the late race "big one". He got outrun on the final restart & ended up 2nd. Still quite an achievement for he & his team. I'll be sure & mention it when I write Bear later tonight. I'm not sure he'll have a clue what I'm talking about, but hope springs eternal.
I talked with Erin at the home early Fri. & learned they had adjusted Bear's meds to cut down on disruptive behavior & it seemed to be helping. He fell earlier in the week so they've ordered him a wheelchair since he's gotten weak enough that maintaining his balance has become an issue. She also told me they've put a mattress on the floor beside his bed in case he should fall - he's decided he's more comfortable on the one on the floor & the general consensus is he can sleep anywhere he feels safe!

Katie - the salad sounds really good. Fake lobster is better than no lobster at all!

Haven't heard from Selena lately but they're still settling in the new house. They finally got set up for DirecTV last week & all of them are really happy to have TV NOT on their I-Pads.
Still having slow sales at the booth - steady but mostly small items that don't bring many $$$'s. Not going to complain since every sale means an item can come out of the one of the houses. I want to bring some of Bear's really nice carnival bowls here but since I want to put them on the wall it means I need hangers for multiple plates. I'd hoped for 4 vertical spaces & have only found horizontal ones at the old house. I didn't remember to check those in the master bedroom today so will try & do that on my next trip. If none are available, I'll have to see how many 3 space ones I can squeeze into the spaces I have available.
Haven't seen Cyclops much today but I'll bet the minute I start cleaning the cat room & serving supper he'll be front & center. The surgery had no effect at all on his appetite.
I finally was able to sneak up on Goblin with her dose of flea drops. That just leaves Smoke to dose & he hasn't chosen to drop by for the past few days. I'm glad I'd ordered enough for the 8 cats I had at the time - the dose that was programmed for poor Peaches will protect Smoke instead.
Getting near time to feed the land sharks & need to run the dishwasher with the things I brought home from the old house. I may make a run by the booth on Mon. & some of these things are aimed for there.
Everybody take care & hope the coming weather doesn't affect any of you. Later.
Susan

Hi Potties! Glad y'all got a giggle from my Cyclops story. At the time I was less than appreciative of his efforts! I let him back out tonight & he's settled down on top of the bed - probably so he can immediately dive under it if he feels threatened. I'll put him back in the cage on Tues. since he has "calming meds" that I need to give him before we see the vet on Fri.

Max - Loved your story about Stuie & the blanket meds. Dumb animals my foot!
I have mourning doves that come to my flat feeder that I use for sunflower seeds. They're a bit too round to go to the usual hanging feeders - I use 1 of those for mixed seed & another for hulled peanuts.
I stopped at WM today to pick up a couple of things & I couldn't believe how empty the shelves were in many departments but especially the grocery section. Maybe it's nervous Nellies worried about Ida?

Katie - Sales at the booth are slow right now too - I've just made enough to cover the rent so far & I'm running out of month. Can't complain - done well for several months in a row now.

We got about 3 drops of rain this evening but the weather guessers are saying to grab our water wings Tues. or Wed. since Ida may come calling. The yard is getting dry so I'll just settle in with a stack of books & say a prayer of thanks for having the generator & being on a hillside.

Tonight's NASCAR race got rained out & will run tomorrow starting at 12:30. The Atlanta United soccer game starts mid afternoon & the main NASCAR race is at 7PM. Hoping I'll get some time between one of those things to make a run over to the old house to gather up more trash & maybe see what I can find for the next trip to the booth. I haven't been over-eager to go by because we have huge "woods" spiders & I'm a massive arachniphobe. I might tear a hole in the side of the house if one ran across me when I was digging in a box of stuff. I've put out a couple of no pest strips but they haven't done any good here so I'm not too confident of their effectiveness in what amounts to an oversized storage shed. Doubt the a/c is any good after all these years & it's pretty stuffy, as well as hot these days.
Getting about time to feed the land sharks & maybe try & get to sleep a bit early so I can watch the early race tomorrow. Braves barely pulled out a win tonight & I suspect they play sometime tomorrow too.
Everybody take care & beware of bad weather in the coming days. Later.
Susan