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Free Cannas!

     Who wants Cannas?  It’s time to dig them out and I have far too many for my gardens.  These are red cannas and are quite tall–most of mine grew to over six feet in height.

     I am giving them away to whomever of my friends wants to come and dig them out.  Be prepared, they have large roots, bring a strong shovel and plenty of containers to hold them.

     Then all you need to do is store them until spring and when the danger of frost is over, plant them.

We’ve gone batty around here

     At least, we’re starting to.  I finally got around to dragging the first several Halloween decorations down from the attic.  The front porch is beginning to seem more Halloween festive with the orange and purple lights in black garland.

      The spooky placemats are on the table and the spider goblets are ready for the several Vampyre Wines and Zombie Zin I bought yesterday.

     I have to take my Japanese tea set upstairs and bring down the spider candlelabra to replace the tea set on the center of the table.

      Gargoyles, spiders, skeletons, and ghoulish things are beginning to wander into the house decor.  The dogs have stopped barking at the haunted mirror after two days.

     Yes, we’re getting batty…

Don’t throw birds

     The dogs and DH were down for the night.  For about the tenth time, I wondered why the hell I ever downloaded Angry Birds.  I should’ve known better.  I am easily addicted to games of this type.

     Is there an Angry Birds anonymous? 

     Do they have meetings?

     If you haven’t tried the damned game don’t cast stones at me….

Volunteers?

     Yes, I’d love to have an army of volunteers to get the remaining work at the MIL’s house DONE.  I haven’t wanted to deal with it during my recovery period and then a little while afterwards too.  My doctor released me from most restrictions now.

     The time has come that I need to get back over there and get everything done–things aren’t going to do themselves.  Anyone out there know how to install attic steps?  That’s the next thing I need to buy after the kitchen flooring…

     We do NEED to get the house sold, the taxes are going to put a hurting on our bank account if we don’t.  Mom’s bank account will be empty as soon as we pay the roofer.  Now all expenses will directly hit us in the wallet.

     The house MUST go!

OOOPS!

     I don’t know how I missed loading one of my bags into the cart at the grocery store.  I think it’s sort of funny that I didn’t notice I was a bag short until almost midnight last night.

     DH had wandered back downstairs and agreed to make a midnight run to the store to see if they had my bag of items still sitting there.

     We walked in and sure enough they had it!  What a relief, cleaning products are pricey, and that bag was loaded with them.  I even got my cloth bag back.

Another year

     As I move into a new year for my blog I am pondering what this one will bring.  The possibilities are endless!

     I know I’ll write more about writing, DH’s MS, and life around this loony bin that I call home.

     I hope I’ll soon be writing about selling the MIL’s house, fixing our home, and new journeys into the unknown.

     Hold onto your hats we’re starting a new year today.

3rd anniversary of this blog

     Tomorrow will mark the third year since I created this blog.  I can’t believe it’s been that long.  I can’t believe that I am still finding things to write about.

     This past year has been a real strange one.  DH’s mother died, I’ve finally emptied her house, and I had a heart attack. Can’t get any stranger than that.

     I find that I am looking forward to another year of writing this blog.  I’m hoping I can tackle my muse, hog tie her, and get her helping me again with my books.  I’d dearly love to get all of them finished…sooner rather than later.

     I also wouldn’t turn down any help over at the MIL’s house getting it ready to put on the market.  We REALLY need to get it sold and soon!

 

Thank goodness the cooler weather is coming

     Now I can add soups and stews to our menu.  I love to make them from scratch.  It is easy to make them in a heart healthy manner too.  Which is something I am trying to do with everything these days.

     It’s also one way to get DH to eat less meat and more vegetables without complaining. 

     Over the next week or so I’ll be digging through my recipes and pulling out all my favorite soup and stews.  I do have a few out and have some of the fresh ingredients on my list for the farmers market. 

      Don’t get me wrong, I do not like cold weather.  However, I don’t mind cool weather.  (We can only hope it is dry.)

A long day

 

     Last Thursday I ran Gavin to the vet for his yearly check up and shots.  Yesterday I took Patty for hers. 

     If Gavin was a hoot playing chicken dog, then Patty was a double hoot because she couldn’t decide if she was going to be a chicken dog or a happy dog.

     When we first went in, through a downpour, she was all happy, we had her on the scale a weighed in mere minutes.  Then we went into the exam room.  Patty began to go into a nervous Nelly act.  She did get up on the table for a cookie when I put one up there.  She only needed a little boost at the back end.

     The vet tech took pity on Patty when she began to shake and gave her some sweet talking and a couple of treats.  The tightly tucked tail wagged a little at first then soon went into full helicopter mode.

      When Dr. O walked in he was happy to see she was on the table.  He had her examination completed, took some blood, gave her a shot before she realized it and had a chance to panic, and we were ready to go.

     After paying a whopping vet bill, I took her home and dropped her with DH.

     I was out the door again and off to get my hair cut.  By the time I was out of the salon, it was past dinner time so I decided to stop and pick up something.

    

Work or play….

     I planned to get a lot of housework done yesterday.  As usual with the best laid plans–very little of what I’d planned to do happened.

     The floors weren’t cleaned.  I didn’t dust.  I pulled some weeds.  I cleaned the kitchen window and put up new curtains. 

     G stopped over so all work ceased and we had a nice visit.  We do try to make sure that we talk at least twice a week.  A cup of coffee and good conversation is worth blowing off some cleaning.  There’s always tomorrow.

Time to whip myself back into shape

 

     I find that my muse has completely jumped ship.  She’d better get her butt back here soon.  It’s as though my brain caught a computer virus and shut down.  Not a good thing.

     I’m thinking that I probably need to jump start my creativity with a good infusion of  writing exercises.  In other words, my brain needs to get some exercise.  Come to think of it so does my body, the no smoking has added a few pounds.

     Oh, how exciting, me a lazy person, has not only quit smoking, but I am now going to exercise both brain and body. 

     You, my dear readers, might be subjected to some writerly exercises for a while until my brain gets the idea that it is NOT on vacation and MUST work.  You will also be subjected to me bitching about exercising my body.

     Be prepared, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.  This isn’t going to be pretty.

I’m enjoying my new grill pan

 

     I recently bought a  Le Creuset Bistro Round Grill pan.  I love it.

     I can’t believe how often I’m using the grill pan.  Each new thing I’ve made on it has turned out tastier than if I cooked it in the fry pan or under the broiler.  DH is loving the results too.

     It is a heavy pan, so anyone who has trouble lifting  heavy pans would probably be better off buying something on the lighter side.

     Now that I’m used to the pan and know the best heat setting on my stove top for it, I am pan grilling most of our meats.  My less fat, healthier meals for us are working well so far.