Husband for Rent - Cheap

While talking to my sister Betty yesterday she mentioned that cleaning up her yard was going slow as her garden tractor and wheelbarrow were both not working. I mentioned it to Mike when he called me a few minutes later and he said why don't we go up tomorrow and I will look at them. So, today we packed Grandma up in the truck with a bunch of stuff for Betty and Mary, including birthday presents for both of them and went up and Mike was able to get the wheelbarrow working, but unfortunately not the tractor. We had a pleasant day visiting with Betty and Mary and celebrating Mary's birthday on Melanie's birthday. Hopefully, Mike got a few things done to make things a bit easier for Betty. I know that I feel blessed to have him every weekend to do the things that make it that much easier for me to accomplish more during the week.

I am now feeling too tired to have this make a great deal of sense so I had better quit for tonight.

Sappy Post

After another full day of lawn work I can barely move my fingers on the keyboard tonight, but am finally making enough progress that it is noticable. Several sections of lawn are now ready for summer, the flower bed that we have been working on is done for now. It will get some more in it later. Polly worked up the bed in the walkway and I put a few pansys in there, it will get more annuals later. At least I feel like progress is being made now.

I was working next to the road today, cleaning up where the snowplow had made a mess all winter when the town highway supervisor stopped to tell me that they would be sweeping the road in about half an hour so I might want to get the clothes off of the line before they kicked up all of that dust. I thought that was very nice of him. Then, when they swept the road, they took the extra effort to sweep it all over to the other side where I had not cleaned yet, and not make a mess of this side of the road which I had almost all done. I could almost have kissed the old guy who drives the sweeper for that one. But only almost.

It was actually warm enough that we got Grandma outside this morning. Polly and I were down to our t-shirts and Grandma was bundled up for winter, with a blanket over her too, but she was comfy and napped in the sun for a couple of hours. I had to wake her after Tony told me that they would be sweeping to get her in then. It seemed to help both her mood and her mind. She has been much better the rest of the day for it.

Now, for the really sappy part. Last night Mike told me that he would not be done until late so he would not be home. Normally I say "yeah, I get the bed all to myself" and have no problem. It had been a hard day yesterday so I was disappointed but did not tell him. I just said OK, I'll see you tomorrow. I went to bed and at about 10:30 was awakened by my dear hubby climbing into bed. I asked him what he was doing home and he told me that he could hear in my voice that I needed a hug. (All together now, aaaawwwww.) Not only that but as tired as he was he had taken a shower when he got home, just because he knows that Eau du Minging Trucker is not my favorite scent. I felt kinda guilty that he drove 65 miles home to only get 4 hours sleep before driving back just because I sounded down on the phone. Mike said he was just happy to do so for me. I definately have a keeper here.

This is the middle of nowhere, where do these people come from?

Polly was helping me rake the lawn today and took a radio outside. I usually like peace and quiet when working outside but was really enjoying the radio today and was singing and dancing with my rake. I was really rocking out with my back to the road, having a grand old time, when I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned around to find that a man from the electric company had driven up and was standing there watching me. He had to go out into the field and check the poles out there, but seemed to be finding me amusing. I felt like trashing his muffler while he was gone so he could not sneak up on people so easily.

It is the time of the year where I have to get used to traffic again as the road is seasonal past our house and is not plowed all winter long. It does not officially open until April 1st. Some years the snow is all gone on it before that but this year they had to go up and open it with the grader. We have not had traffic go past since November, except for the snowmobiles, but they are over the bank in the field and it does take a bit of getting used to again now.

Of course, I did not have that excuse when I mooned the Amish family a few years ago. I really did not mean to. It was the middle of the summer and I had been outside working all day. I got into the house that evening, ate supper, and took my bath. I was then heading straight up to bed so just put on my tank top and underwear to go upstairs. The Pomeranian, Foxy, whined at me when I went past the front door so I looked out and her water dish was empty. Living here you get very used to hearing any cars going by, so I did not look up and down the road, just did not hear an engine. I opened the door, stepped outside, turned around and bent down and picked filled her water dish. As the water is pouring I realize that I am hearing clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop. I looked back over my shoulder and there is a buggy full of an entire Amish family, all of whom are staring out over the field across the road with very big frowns on their faces. Oops.

I have learned that one little accidental mooning is enough to get you shunned by the whole community. They will no longer drive past here, even though it is 3 miles more to go around the other way. Many more families have moved into the area on both sides of us and still none of them drive past.

I do see many of the men up at the feed mill and they are very friendly up there. I do not think that they recognize me from that angle, and with clothes on. Or else, they are friendly because the women and children are not there, I am not sure which.

A different Easter

This year Easter fell the day after the end of the spring cattle show in Syracuse so Flip's family were tired out from that. Then Betty went to Prague so obviously would not be coming for dinner. When Easter is early and there is still snow on the ground it is not so bad to spend the week before cooking and cleaning, but now I am so ready to be outside that just cooking a daily meal and keeping the dishes somewhat done up is more time than I want to spend indoors, never mind a holiday meal. So, we decided not to do the big Easter this year. Polly and Mike went to the store and got fish which Mike cooked on the bbq grill, we baked some potatoes and had some stuffed clams for an appetizer. All the cooking I had to do was to throw the potatoes in the oven. I found it to be the most relaxing holiday that I can ever remember. I took a long nap in the afternoon, Mike and I brought up more manure for another section of the flowerbed and Mike worked it in. It was so cold and windy outside that that was enough for the day, so I puttered around cleaning up the house for the rest of the day.

Yesterday and today I have been planting. I hope that it comes out looking good, but if it doesn't I will blame Betty for being out of the country when I needed to consult with her on it. hehehe The section I did today has iris, gladiolius, roses, lily of the valley, and pansys at the moment. There will be more annuals for sure, and maybe some more perrenials, and spring bulbs.

I was being good and alternating working cleaning up the lawn with working on the flower beds until I got to be able to plant. Now, planting is so much more fun than raking up more sticks and dead leaves. Tomorrow, I do have to get back to the raking part though.

I have found that I probably will not be able to do pictures on here for another few weeks. Polly needs to repair her computer first, as they tell me this one will not work to do so, and that will not happen until after she goes to visit Jessie. So, it will be the middle of May before I am able to do pictures.

Playin' in the dirt

Mike and I accomplished a lot today. He rototilled in the lovely organic matter that I had dumped into the flower bed all into it, plus worked up where I decided that we needed more flower bed. It will look pretty and it is a spot that I always try to tip the riding mower over on myself all summer. Then he assembled the arbor and table and chairs that we brought home yesterday, and I got the patio area swept off for the table. We put the arbor in at the bottom of the stairs and it was time to start planting.

My darling husband will not plant flowers, except he will dig the deep holes for the roses or other bushes. So after he dug the holes for the 2 climbing jacobs coats that are going on the arbor he decided that he would cook dinner while I planted. I got half of the iris back in, in over twice the area that they were taking up before, and some other plants as well, before I gave in to the freezing wind. I came into the house to find that my wonderful husband had steak, homefries and eggs all ready to go on the table as soon as I got out of the bathtub.

What more can you ask for at the end of a fun day playin' in the dirt? Now I am clean, my tummy is full, I have taken the pain pills for the bursa under my shoulder blade that does not enjoy playin' in dirt, and I have my ice cold feet warming on my nice warm hubby. Life is good tonight.

Ew, ew, that smell, can't you smell that smell...

OK, so I have to prove once in a while that I am a product of the '70s. I'll even admit that I am still a Skynard fan, I think that they would work well on a mixed tape with my man Trace.

But I digress before I even start.

Our Suburban Propane driver has been wanting us to have our tank moved for years so that he does not have to illegally drag the hose through the garage to fill the tank. The problem is it is a job that needs to be done in the spring, when there is neither snow nor overgrowth to deal with. I remembered to call for an appointment last week and the service man was here bright and early this morning to get 'er done. While he was moving the tank he noticed that the tube was pinched where it comes into the house so he replaced it. He naturally had the gas turned off for this procedure, and before he left he came in and relit the pilot lights on the stove and made sure that it was working correctly.

I noticed a gas smell at the time, but Mike says I am overly sensitive to the smell of propane or diesel. I know when the tank has been refilled if we have not been home at the time by the smell, before I find the slip that the driver leaves. I figured it was just from the pilot lights before they were lit, and that it would dissipate quickly. I continued with my morning routine of washing dishes and laundry, going outside to hang up clothes, etc. Every time I came in I still smelled the gas. I went upstairs to my room for a little while with the door closed. When I opened the door I was really hit with the smell. I was now convinced that the odor was getting stronger, so figured that I had better call Suburban Propane back, and if I was just imagining things, oh well. I decided that being paranoid was better than being blown to smitherines. A different repairman came out and as he walked in the house he said , wow, I sure do smell gas. It turned out that there was a nut that was completely undone where the gas goes into the stove that had not leaked before, but when the guy this morning fixed the crimped part so that the full gas pressure was now coming in, plus moving the stove out and back into place in the process of his work, it started to leak.

I guess it is true that you are not being paranoid if the problem is real.

After that was taken care of I took Grandma out for a ride and spent some of Polly's bonus check that had come in the mail today. Most of the bonus money went to exciting things like car payments, insurance payments, Sallie Mae, and the electric company, which I mailed, along with the money for some more dollhouse furniture makings, hehe. Then we went and picked up the arbor that we are going to put climbing roses on, and a new patio table and chairs for eating outside this summer. Tomorrow we plan to pick up a new gas grill. Due to Betty being in Prague, and Flip's family being involved in the spring cattle show up in Syracuse we are not having a big Easter dinner this year. (Slight pause while I do my happy dance that I do not have to cook said meal, and instead can spend the weekend playing in dirt outside, I mean doing yard work.)I have not minded the fact that I have not spent this entire week cooking and baking, I do not mind in the cold weather, but now I have too much spring fever. I told Polly and Mike tonight that instead we will have our first cookout of the year, where we eat will depend on the temperature. This is a brilliant plan on my part as they will fight over which one will cook on the new grill, which will leave me with nothing to do but eat. Well, and carry everything back inside and do all the cleaning and washing up, but I won't have to cook.

I have been quiet, but now am back

I did not have much good to say through the winter so I said nothing. It seemed that my days were filled with shoveling snow, cooking, shoveling snow, washing dishes, shoveling snow, washing clothes, shoveling snow, dealing with husband or mother in pain, shoveling ...... You get the idea. 2009 started out really shitty as far as I was concerned. It was cold and snowy, Jess moved to Virginia, Mike had heart scare which turned out to be medicine reaction, Mike got hit while driving tractor-trailer by a pickup truck so hard that Mike got greenstick fractures of 3 ribs ( The pickup hit Mike's passenger side of cab which had already made the RIGHT turn by running through snowbank so hard that burst the fuel tank. He said that he saw Mike's turn signal. Mike got ticketed for an illegal right turn, and a DEC ticket for the spilled fuel on the road. He is still fighting it, but every time he goes to court they postpone his case.), Grandma broke her back again, sold the last of the farm animals, and it was winter.

I did accomplish a few things these past few months. I got 4 people their Grandmother Remembers books, 4 more are almost done, and then the last 4 are alot closer to being done than they were before. I am getting royally sick of that project, but Grandma really wants all of her grandchildren to have them so I am trying to finish them for her. They are all written now, and all of the pictures that go into all books are in them, it is just the individual personalized pages that I am finishing up.

I tore down the wallpaper in the very back bedroom, and am now working on repairing the plaster. Well, it is at that point now, but to be honest, I have not mixed any plaster in quite a few weeks. When that room is finished it will be set up as the guest bedroom, then we will do the room next to it (the office) as Polly's sewing room, the hallway is going to be set up as a sitting-room/guest sleeping, and the nursery is going to be my craft room. We also cleaned Jess's room and it now seems like a shrine to the life of my baby. Polly and I have been sorting books and working on the never-ending job of trying to declutter this house.

Since the weather has improved, slightly, we have been working on cleaning the garage, hauling more of grandpa's never-ending scrap-metal piles to the scrap yard, cleaning the lawn up, and getting the flower beds back into shape. They suffered greatly with goats running around, and not getting as much attention these past couple of years. Jess did have them looking very good 3 years ago, but has not had the time to give to them since then.

Grandma gets slowly worse, and there seem to be more days when it is hard to get too much accomplished, except the basics. I am so happy that baseball season started, the Yankees are the only thing that seem to settle her down some days, other than giving her a couple of pain pills, which put her to sleep. There being too many days where I cannot leave her alone at all is why we realized that the last animals had to go. I still miss them terribly, but did not like not being able to care for them as I like to. I am dealing with it better than I was. I made myself go into the barn for the first time last week, and today was in and out several times getting wheelbarrows of manure for the flower beds and did not even cry once when I was in there. That cannot be said about the first trip last week.

I am going to try to be better at keeping this up, and learn how to put pictures in it of what we do, as I find that it helps me to get more accomplished in a day. That is my resolution of the day.

Spoiled rotten pets

I was awakened this morning, as I am most mornings, by sudden pain in my bladder as the cat, who weighs a good 10+ pounds, landed with a loud yowl, which was not hard to translate the meaning of, "FEED ME!" Being the morning person that I am, I rolled over onto my stomach. Minerva promptly started jumping on my kidneys, still demanding to be fed at the top of her lungs. She knows that this works, as no matter how much I want to ignore her, I cannot ignore the fact that I now have to go very badly. I get up and she does her best to trip me all the way to the bathroom and back to make sure that I am totally awake. I manage to trick her out of my room when I get back to it, most of the time, so that I can dress in peace, well, except for the cat cursing outside the door, that is. She has a very, very dirty mouth on her too. I then go downstairs, and, if I have a large armload of dirty clothes or other things to be taken care of before I feed the cat, I hear more cursing until I get her taken care of.

The worst part of this almost daily routine is that is someone else is up before me they cannot feed her. She will not eat until I shake her dish. She will go and get me out of bed to shake her already filled dish. She is also getting to be a very fat cat due to the fact that she has figured out that if she trips me up enough all day long I will put more food in her dish to keep from getting a broken neck, and to get her to leave me alone.

Then there is the 6 pound feng shui loving pomeranian, Foxy. Once the cat is fed I need to get this little pain in the butt outside as fast as possible or she will decide that I deserve a present in the middle of the carpet. She prefers to be let run loose outside so that she can cover about a mile on her short little legs before coming in and gets quite mouthy if she is put on her run. Now that the weather is better she can spend the whole day outside on her run, but she complains bitterly every time she sees a human. Now, tonight, I was bringing the laundry off of the clothesline as the sun was setting, and she thought it was definately time to get indoors, so she was complaining the entire time. Mike got home right as I was getting finished so he let her lose to walk with him to the door to go inside. She whined and complained to him the whole time, obviously telling him how bad I was, and how mistreated she is.

We got inside and her food dish was empty, so she stood by it and whined until it was filled. Then the water dish was empty, same routine. I, meanwhile, was trying to take off my muddy workboots before I tracked anymore mud around the house. The little furball is still whining, so I look back and she is standing on the throw rug, which had been moved to about a foot away from her dishes, looking at the dishes (that she had just been on the linoleum next to) and whining. There are 3 throw rugs in the back kitchen and she has places where she thinks that they all should be and will not settle down until they, and her bed, are all in their proper places. Next month, she is moving down to Virginia and it Jess will have to make sure that her trailer meets Pomerain Feng Shui standards.

Polly has her darling spaniel, Brittany. Usually, I do not have to wait on her, Polly does all the spoiling of her. The exception to this is on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday when Polly is sleeping after having been at work all of the night before. Then, the princess thinks I should give her the same treatment she gets out of Polly.

Why am I missing my goats so, who used to see me or hear my voice and bust through their fence to come find me? This was sort of cute when I had the original 6 mama goats, but by the time I got up to 100 mamas with all of their babies, most of which were twins or triplets, it was a bit too much lovin'!