Monday. Just Monday.

It is still cold and rainy. 

Usually the State Capitol Building stands out vividly against the skyline.  Not today.  (picture taken unsafely from my car as I was driving down Highway 94).  

The plumber was supposed to come Friday.  He didn’t show, nor did he call.  When we got a hold of him finally, he said his mom had taken ill and apologized.  Said he would be here Saturday.  Saturday comes – he’s a no show, no call.  Didn’t return our calls either.  He called this morning.  Said his mom had been operated on, apologized, and said he will be here tomorrow morning, 8:00 am.  I understand an illness in the family, but I don’t understand neglecting to give us the courtesy of a call.  Tomorrow is his last chance.

In the meantime, the bathroom looks like this.  Just use your imagination, ok?

We are fighting the rain and the birds for our cherries this year.

Normally we don’t pick them up off the ground, but the rain knocked them down and darn it, they are still good!

The tart cherries make the best cherry pie in the whole wide world.  I know.. the butcher block needs to be oiled.  Rolling out pie dough always leaves it dry and dull looking.

THEY are calling for sunshine tomorrow.  Please, God, help THEM be right for a change.

Friday Stuff

Another week.  Gone!  Time is flying by me.  The on and off rain has really been cramping my style – and wrecking havoc with my flowers.
    
Many years ago (29 to be exact) we lived in town in a house that was 60 or so years old.  We loved that old house, but the country was calling.  The previous owners had lined the property line with peony bushes.  Deep blood red and glorious pink peony bushes.  We dug about every other bush up and transplanted them to my parent’s yard when we sold the house.  It took years for us to finally transplant some of them to our own place.  But they haven’t grown well here.  And have never bloomed.  Until this year.

My peonies!  I am thrilled.  I was hoping the bush I ended up with would be the deep red one, but now I don’t care at all.  Peonies invoke memories of home, grandmas, and fun. 
 

I snuck outside in between rain showers to get a picture.
As a child, I’d always run out to cut a bouquet of flowers, only to be told they had to stay on the porch because of the ants and bugs.

So, today, the peonies still stay on the porch.  They need ants to reveal their many colors.  A few days on the porch and the ants are all gone.  But unfortunately, so are the petals.  Anyway, I love peonies.

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Grandson Austin had a toothache, and I had the privilege of taking him to the dentist.  What a kid!  What a dentist!   
This almost 5 year old (Sunday is the day) walked right in, climbed up into the chair, and opened wide.

It turned out he had several cavities – one too deep to fix, with the six year molar pushing its way through.  That one needed to come out.  The dentist wanted to also fill one, and put a spacer in.  Wow, that is a lot of work for a little guy like him to manage. 
We had to decide whether to go for it, with the help of laughing gas, or schedule a trip to out patient surgery.  I took one look at how relaxed Austin still was after already having many x-rays taken and said, “let’s do it”. 

Let’s do it was definitely the right decision.  He laid back, started breathing in the laughing gas and relaxed even more.  At one point he said, “I feel like I’m inside a toothbrush”.  Ok, Austin.  Whatever. 
After he was given the shot to numb the world of his mouth, we waited… And waited… And waited…  Every so often I would watch the dentist prick Austin’s gum and say “do you feel this”.  Austin would always say, “yes”.  Another prick, another yes.  Only, the dentist hadn’t touched his gum.  We looked at each other and I nodded, the nurse nodded, the dentist nodded.  The real work began!  That little mouth was open for an eternity. 
The laughing gas was supposed to be out of his system by the time we left the office, but I’m not buying that.  His treat for being so good was a shopping trip for a toy.  I parked my car at Wal-Mart and Austin said, “I think I’ll just wait in the car”.  I don’t think so!  We both went in and bought a toy and soft goodies.

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THEY promised sunshine today.  THEY had better be right, because I already have 4 loads of laundry on the clothes line.  Heading in to work for a few hours, a workout and then hopefully a quiet weekend.
  
Oh, and the bathroom is coming along great!  All of the fixtures are here except the mirror.  The floor is done.  The bead board is up and ready for painting.  The plumber is supposed to come today.  I’m not sure where we are going to find four strong men to help get cast iron tub from the garage into the bathroom.  I do believe we are going to have a pizza party.  (hint, hint, kids)  And how are they going to bend that cast iron tub around a doorway off a hallway?  Stay tuned.

Will I Ever Learn Wednesday

We got Whiskey 6 years ago this month.  I was recovering from surgeries, cancer, and chemo and wanted a little dog to spend time cuddling with me.  The owner told us he was a “tea cup” Chihuahua.  At six weeks he had already almost maxed out the size of a teacup, but we fell for her claim hook line and sinker. 
I’ve since discovered several things:  1) little dog doesn’t necessarily mean cuddly dog; 2) there is no such thing as a “tea cup” Chihuahua; 3) Chihuahua’s are high strung and mostly a one person dog (although Whiskey does share his affections between the two of us).  But I love our little Whiskey.  We call him Junkyard Dog.

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We had two of our favorite shows, Glee and Idol, scheduled to record last night.  While they were recording we watched other shows that we didn’t really even care about.  Now for Glee and Idol.  Yea!  Only thing is, we had somehow cancelled the recording.  Bummer.

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And here is one from the not too distant past.  It is on my friend, Rita.
When we worked together we used to go to lunch together on a regular basis.  We often combined errands with lunch and ran short on time.  So through the drive through we would go. 
This particular lunch hour we were once again late.  Rita was driving.  We placed our order and paid.  Then Rita took off.  She didn’t stop.  She didn’t pick up our lunch.  She. Took. Off!  As she pulled out onto the Boulevard, I looked at her and said, “but I wanted that sandwich!”  I cannot for the life of me remember whether we went back to get our lunch or not.  I kinda think we didn’t.
Have a great rest of the week everyone!  The sun is peeking through the wet leaves of the trees here.  I’m pretty sure it is just teasing me.  But I’m going to take the bait and head out without an umbrella. 

Goodness and Seriously?

Yesterday was one of those mother’s days where I can look back and say, “yes, life is good”.
After church we visited Jim’s mom in the nursing home. Her short term memory is shot. Her long term memory is whatever she wants it to be. She tells the wildest stories, but tells them with such conviction that if you didn’t know better, you’d swear it was the truth.

The one thing she hasn’t forgotten is how to play the piano. Her large family were mostly all musically inclined. She learned to play the piano early in life, just by playing what she heard. She couldn’t read a note if her life depended on it.

Here is a little clip I videotaped of her playing for us yesterday.   (the video doesn't show for some reason - just click on the little white box)

Tessa and Bill hosted a mother’s day celebration at their place. It was nice and relaxing, with wonderful pork steaks, ribs, and all the fixings. The sun played peek-a-boo with us all day, leaving us shivering one moment and warm the next. At the end of the day, I greedily grabbed my new rose bush and ceramic citronella (or whatever scented oil you want) burner, and headed home. What a wonderful day!

Today is rainy and bone chilling cold. This is where the seriously comes into play. For the first time ever, we have a fire in the wood stove in May. Seriously? MAY! It is crazy.


The minute Jim sat down to build the fire, Whiskey moved over next to him. When he has his camo outfit on, he thinks we can’t see him.

I might want to mention here that Jim agreed to build the fire if I agreed to blog about it. Have I mentioned that he is hooked on my blog and many of the blogs I follow? He’ll never admit it, but it’s true.


Soaking up the heat rays.

We took my little bug into the shop this morning for some look/see. The transmission has been shifting a little lot rough lately. The mechanic thinks the fluids just need to be replenished. I sure hope that is all it is. But for right now, I’m enjoying thunderstorms, wood stove heating the kitchen, and hot tea.

I’ll worry about other stuff later.
Peace and have a good rest of the week!

Thank you for choosing life

Thank you for choosing life.  Without the choice of life, there would be no mothers.
I struggled about a Mother’s Day post.  How to express what a mother is.  I found this anonymous poem and wanted to share it:

What is a Mother

Someone who cares when others care less

Someone who encourages when others ridicule.

Someone who defends when others condemn.

Someone with patience when others are impatient.

Someone who appreciates when others fail to notice.

Someone who gives security in a world of insecurity.
Someone who is accepting when others reject.

A Mother is a friend for all time, to cherish and protect, as her achievements will linger for generations.

Our daughter, Julie, became pregnant at age 15.  She made it very clear that adoption was not an option.  Nor was abortion (thank God).  It is not important to go into detail.  Bottom line is that we surrounded her with love.

Our parish priest was not an understanding man.  That happens.  Quite frankly, he tried our faith.  Apparently he wasn’t very observant because he didn’t notice Julie (love you dear) was pregnant, but did notice when she walked into church with her new baby.

The next day she got a call from him.  He told her that if every girl did what she did, the world would be a terrible place.  He then told her he hadn’t decided whether he would baptize her baby or not.  She told him we didn’t need him and hung up on him.  It was a very dark day for us.  Thank God for Tessa being with Julie that afternoon.   When Jim and I found out what happened, we were furious and our faith was tested – it is hard to explain how tested.  Then the unimaginable happened.
There was a knock at the door.  It was a member of our church’s Knights of Columbus organization.  He had a rose in his hand.  He handed it to Julie and said,

“We want to thank you for choosing life”

A beating heart deserves a chance to grow and be loved.  Many beating hearts are killed before they have that chance.

So to every woman who has chosen life, no matter how hard the decision, THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU!

And to every person who has chosen to take that life and nurture it and mold it and treasure it – HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

All my love to all mothers.

And yes, I miss mine.

Will I Ever Learn Wednesday

This is going to be a short and sweet post. I didn't want anyone to think I was ditzy enough to forget it is Wednesday. So here goes...

WILL I EVER LEARN...

We, Jim and I, were shopping online. When we are on the internet together, it is kind of like going for a ride to an unknown destination. One of us drives, the other gives directions.

So, Jim was driving. I was giving directions. The desination was bathroom fixtures for our soon-to-be vintage bathroom.

We found some cool stuff - things that we were unable to find in any local stores. At one point we were looking at faucets. We found the perfect tub faucet and put it in the basket. Then we found a sink faucet we liked - but wanted to make sure it matched the tub faucet.

Remember, I'm giving directions and Jim is driving. We found a sink faucet we both liked, and then I directed him to the tub faucet link and had him click on it. The picture popped up and I was thrilled and told him "see, it's identical!". And Jim, the driver, said, "It should be, you had me open the sink faucet again". I had to giggle a bit.

Anyway, we ordered faucets, drains, fittings, towel bars, toilet paper holder, and what I am hoping is the perfect mirror. The cost was a gulp factor, but less for everything than a plumber quoted us for just the faucets and connecting stuff. He is a friend and was selling it to us at his cost. I think he (the plumber) ought to look into browsing the internet. But he needs to find his own navigator - I'm sure Jim wouldn't be willing to share such a talent as me!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week. This has been a very busy one for us so far.

Simple pleasures

Hanging laundry on an outside clothesline.  That was one of my favorite things to do when my children were little.  It is something I haven’t done for many years.

The fact that my clothes lines are nestled in the shade of our tall oak trees is partly to blame.  The clothes take a long time to dry.   The lack of time because I was working full time is partly to blame.  Then of course I was working full time, going to college and raising three kids.   That is definitely partly to blame.  Let’s see.  Laziness is partly to blame.  It is much quicker to pop that clothing into the electric dryer sitting next to the washing machine.  For whatever reason, for many years I got away from hanging my laundry on my outside clothesline.  But lately I’ve been making the treck outside every time the weather cooperates.  It has become one of my favorite simple pleasures.

I love the fresh outdoor scent!  I know, that sounds like a commercial, but it is true.  And I love feeling that maybe I am actually doing something good for our environment for a change. 

Another of my simple pleasure is working outside. 

I especially like working outside when we work together. 

In December, 2007, we had a deadly ice storm in Missouri.  Trees were downed in just about any direction you could look.  Our place looked like a war zone.  And two years later we are still cleaning up the fallen and dead trees. 

Yesterday was a perfect day for tackling the job.  We’ve had a lot of rain these past few weeks and the wind wasn’t blowing, so we could safely build a fire.  And we had help!  Travis and Dakota were spending a few days with us.  Of course we put them to work.  We’re no dummies!

Even with a broken hand, Travis hauled a lot of wood to the pile.  We managed the larger logs by him taking one end and me the other.  It is amazing what can be accomplished when there are two working as one.   We had to burn many logs because they had lain in the field so long, they were full gummy and full of bugs.  So sad.

      Dakota was a big help.  It was amazing how much better he worked once we got the fire going.  Somehow it is just a lot more fun to throw a branch on a burning fire, rather than on just a wood pile.  I haven’t figured that out yet, but I know it is true!

Back and forth and back and forth…  I was worn out watching them from my out of the way perch on a big rock.

    

Never fear.  There was some good wood left to saw up for next winter’s fires in the wood stove.  And this is the tip of the iceberg.  We have tons of wood left to deal with.

Life is good!  What is one of your simple pleasures?