Category Archives: Misc
Sharing the wealth from the garden
Posted by doggonedmysteries
We had sun today for most of the day. Didn’t last, the clouds began to roll in late in the afternoon. The rain held off until dusk. At least it wasn’t a monsoon. For once, it was a gentle rain. My question is, does this count as ten days of rain? If half of a twenty-four hour period has rain, is that considered another day of rain?
It wasn’t sunny enough for long enough to dry anything out. While there was sun, I went out to weed the gardens. I shouldn’t have looked at my rhubarb, but I did. It needed picking, now. There went the weeding idea. I picked rhubarb. I had a large quantity of fresh rhubarb. I cut and froze some. I baked a rhubarb custard pie. I gave my friend G enough for her to bake a pie. She had strawberries. She’s making a strawberry rhubarb pie tomorrow.
This happens to me all the time. I start out to do one thing and something else grabs my attention. AOADD strikes again. Oh, yeah I was going to do some weeding…
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Be careful what you wish for
Posted by doggonedmysteries
My gardens were looking dry over a week ago and I was hoping for a little bit of rain. I said a little rain. I didn’t mean monsoon season. We are now into our ninth day of rain. It’s been pouring all night. The yard is turning into a swamp and the Koi are thinking of going exploring. Even the frogs seem depressed with all the rain, probably because the bugs are in hiding. I don’t think they make umbrellas for flies or galoshes for beetles.
Dear Hubby mowed the grass the day before the monsoon hit and the yard looks as though it’s grown several feet. If this keeps up much longer, I’m going need a machete to get from the back door to the pond. My flowers are thrilled with all the moisture, but then so are all the weeds. The weeds are like an army of rampaging hookers attempting to take over the garden beds.
We thought we’d fixed the leak in the basement. It hadn’t leaked for over a year. However, tonight it has sprung forth anew. It looks like it’s back to the drawing board on that repair. I think Gibbs from NCIS has the right idea. Maybe I should be building a boat down there.
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Fish, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Koi, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Pond, Ponds, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
MIL’s home evaluation. We named the ducks.
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Well, we put in the six hours of work de-cluttering and cleaning at my MIL’s on Monday. On Tuesday, Dear Hubby had to pick her up at the rehab and lead two of the pain in the ass ladies physical therapists over to the house. Whereupon they proceeded to make the poor woman jump through their hoops demonstrate that she can do her day to day things in her own home. By the time they finished their circus act compressing an entire day’s worth of activities into two freaking hours, she was beyond exhausted but had performed very well for them. DH on the other hand was stumbling about and ready to fall down. The heat had his MS giving him fits.
At least today, after he came home from the rehab hospital he had the pleasure of watching the ducks play in the pond. Yes, they came back again. We sat out in the yard and enjoyed the floor show for a couple of hours. Then they took their bows. Gertrude stood at the top of the waterfalls, stretched her wings, and took off. Gaspar quickly followed.
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Pond, Ponds, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
MIL is a hoarder and garden news
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Tomorrow the physical therapist that has been very pushy about Dear Hubby’s mother going into a nursing home and someone else from the damned place are both going to follow DH over to his mother’s house. He’ll be driving his mother over there so she can attempt to get around her house in front of them.
Yesterday, my doctor medicated the hell out of me and told me to rest. So what did we do today? My best friend G, DH, and I went over to his mother’s to clear the decks and make the house presentable. To say my MIL is a hoarder is putting it mildly. We worked for over six hours removing clutter, crap of the junk sort, a ton of trash, and cleaned as best we could. I cleared out the one bedroom where her stackable washer and dryer reside. There was a pathway to them from the door. The crap was piled at least waist high. Now you can see the entire floor and what I left in the room is neatly stacked on shelves.
G and DH worked on the living room and MIL’s bedroom and it took them six hours to make the rooms presentable. We barely had time to work on the kitchen but did make a dent in the clutter there.
The woman is going to kill us. I can hear her screaming now, “where’s all my stuff?”
We did not work on the third bedroom. That room will be another whole project one of these days. Hell, we took one look in there and shut the door. The crap is almost to the ceiling. We were exhausted.
My garden news: When we finally arrived home, we saw ducks in our pond! The pair of mallards hung around for several hours. Like a kid, I went out and fed them some bread, which they ever so eagerly accepted. I was hoping they’d stay but right at sunset, they took off. Maybe they’ll come back for more bread one day.
Posted in Misc, My blog, my garden
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Pond, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Damn, we should be able to delete and rewrite
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Have you ever wished that life had a delete button? Imagine if you could delete embarrassing incidents or nasty people from your life at the touch of a button. Maybe even have a chance to do a rewrite.
Were you the one who drank too much, danced on the tables in bar, and had a friend post it on You Tube? Uh oh, delete, delete, delete. Did your Aunt Betsy regale everyone with every little detail of her recent surgery during your wedding reception? DELETE!
How about when Nurse Nocompassionatall treated you like a side of beef with cooties? I bet you want to rewrite that scene now that you’re no longer drugged to the gills and have had time to think of what you should have said to the nasty b@$*!
Come on, don’t be shy, tell us what happened in your life that you’d change. Or, better yet, hit that delete key and give us a rewrite!
Posted in Misc, My blog, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
How do I get one of those?
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I’m the one gal in my family who was born without the shopping gene. Yes sir, this gal doesn’t like to shop. Dear Hubby is more willing to go shopping than I am. (Talk about your role reversals.) The man has ten times as many shoes than I do. His clothes take up at least three times as much room as mine. He has dragged me out shopping for clothes because my jeans were getting too ratty for his taste. Hey, faded, ratty jeans are soft and comfortable jeans. Some people would even say they were stylish except that mine were indigo in color and had no holes or wear marks when I bought them.
Have you seen the commercials on TV where someone is shopping for a computer and when they find the one they want (for under a thousand bucks) the ‘sponsor’ pays for it? Hell, I’ll shop my little buns off; for as they long as they want me to, if they buy me one, and I HATE TO SHOP. However, I sure as heck could use a nice new lap top so I can drag my manuscripts along with me wherever I go and work on them anywhere.
See me? I’m jumping up and down, waving my arms…Yoohoo! Look at me I’ll shop. I will, I’ll do it! Aw, come on. I’m offering to do the one thing I hate most.
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, gifts, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, shopping, Writer, Writing
MIL’s Rehab hospital staff the good, the bad, and the incompetent
Posted by doggonedmysteries
At the rehab hospital where my MIL is, there are some very good people on staff. Unfortunately, there are also some very incompetent, dishonest, and lazy people working there too. The first month of her stay, the nursing staff completely forgot to give her any of her meds and Dear Hubby hit the roof. The housekeeping staff lost most of her clothes the first week so he went hunting through the laundry and luckily found most of them. Dear Hubby goes there every day to make sure that they don’t screw up again.
Most of her PTs are very good but she has one who has decided that my MIL will not go home. If DH isn’t there to watch over his mother, this PT will leave the poor woman in a chair all day. She is paid for this and the rehab has the nerve to bill my MIL’s insurance? EXCUSE ME! I don’t think so. (At this rate of greed and incompetence, I see a lawsuit looming.)
His mother desperately wants to be in her own home with her dog. She hasn’t been working her butt off every day so they can shunt her off to their nursing home. She’s a very stubborn woman who doesn’t give up easily.
I’d made up a basket of chocolates for her and the staff helped themselves so often when she’s been out of her room and in PT that she barely got any of them. If I’d wanted the staff to have them, I’d have sent them their own basket. She gets little pleasure as it is, being stuck in that place, and for them to make pigs out of themselves on her candy is vile.
Posted in Misc
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Sun and flowers
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I couldn’t resist the tug of the sunny day we had today. I bought some potting soil and flowers for the planters on my front porch. The planters had been alongside the driveway for several years. However, last year, when we had new, very nosy, and noisy neighbors move in directly across the street, I removed our chairs and moved the planters to the porch. I can’t wait to see how my petunias, pansies, and snap dragons will look once they begin to grow and fill out the planters. (I didn’t get them planted last year so this should be fun.)
While I was filling the planters with soil and flowers, a pair of mourning doves decided to work on their nest above me. Mourning doves aren’t the greatest nest builders, but this pair tries. They’ve been nesting in the same spot for a couple of years now and are used to us coming and going. I enjoy hearing them so they are welcome additions.
Even though we lost the neighborhood camaraderie we used to have while sitting out on our front porch, we’ve found something special. We have our own sanctuary in the yard on summer evenings and enjoy the pond along with the wonderful peace and quiet.
Posted in hobbies, Misc, my garden
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Pond, Ponds, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Why I shouldn’t watch HGTV
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Sometimes late at night, after Dear Hubby has gone to bed, I feed my addiction. I watch HGTV. I watch the design shows, the home renovation shows, and even the house hunting shows. I do this while I’m writing too. It has come in handy for some scenery. However, it makes me want to do things around here like paint every room, dry wall the kitchen and the last bedroom that needs it, and put in new flooring in the living room.
Like anything other than painting the living room and kitchen is going to happen any time soon. I’ll do that once I can open the windows. Oh, how I’d love to have one of those productions show up on my door step and tell me they were going to do all the work that needs to be done. Yes, I have wild dreams.
I dream of an organized, easy to clean home. I dream of inviting people in without adding the words “don’t mind the mess.” I dream of furniture that doesn’t look as though it’s gone through a war. Yes! Yes! Then I wake up.
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, TV Shows, Writer, Writing
Who the @#$*turned off the heat?!
Posted by doggonedmysteries
It’s darned cold outside again. Who the @#$* turned off the heat? Sure as shooting my poor magnolia tree’s blossoms will turn brown from frost tonight with the mercury dropping to twenty eight degrees. I’m glad I didn’t pack my warm jacket away.
Even the dogs are disgusted with the chill in the air. They preferred to do their romping indoors today. My couch looks as though a tornado hit it and I can’t tell you how many times I picked pillows up from the floor. Everything on the top shelf of my curio cabinet walked to one side. They both banged off the kitchen cabinet doors so much today I thought the doors would fall off. They run into the kitchen, slide, and use the cabinets to stop and turn. Yes, my house was pure bedlam today.
They dragged Dear hubby into the frenzy and I don’t know who was worse the dogs or him. My sanity walked a thin line as I tried to write and either a dog or a big ball thrown by DH bounced off my chair every few minutes. At least they all had fun. I want the warm weather back so the dogs and DH can blow off steam away from my desk.
Posted in Dog related, Misc, My blog
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
A tangle of topics
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I finally got outside with the camera today and took some shots of the gardens and pond. I posted 3 of the best ones on our garden and pond page.
The pups and I enjoyed the gorgeous, warm day we had today. They played circus dogs and jumped through the Hula-hoop until I ran out of cookies to give them. Then they ran about until they were near collapse. I did some more cleaning out of the gardens, once again over filled, and emptied the wheel barrow four times.
Yesterday, Dear Hubby’s best friend cleaned out all the gutters on my MIL’s house while DH played gofer on the ground. This was a job that hadn’t been done in years and it took most of the day. The high winds didn’t help much. Yes, it’s a real friend, who will climb on a roof for you when the wind is gusting at 48 mph and all you can do is stand on the ground and watch. DH is fortunate to have such a good friend.
My cousin, Carol has posted a new painting on her site, Carol’s Art Blog. I am so impressed with her work. The gal has talent.
Posted in Dog related, Misc, My blog, my garden
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Pond, Ponds, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Family
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I’ve lost some important people in my life over the last few years, family members who meant the world to me. Today, I write about those I have left and those I have chosen, my special family. They are honest people with good hearts. They are supportive, loving, and kind. I am proud to know them. That said; let me tell you a bit about them.
Dear Hubby, he loves me despite my faults. He is my core and my strength. He always has my back. He will fight tooth and nail for me when he feels someone has wronged me. Without him, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.
The Aunties, my father’s sisters are my rocks. They are the bedrock on which I stand when I make decisions. They are whom I go to when I’m sorrowing, happy, or in need of advice. These wonderful ladies taught me a good deal over the years. I love them dearly.
The Cousins, they are many. They are my balance and they stop me from becoming full of myself. They keep my feet on the ground and allow my head to soar in the clouds. I adore them.
My friends, some of you I’ve known for many years, others of you are new friendships forged here on line. You’ve been generous and kind to me and I must say thank you. You, my friends, you keep my soul nourished. Love you all.
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
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