Maybe this will help relieve my stress

A while back I fell in love with ear cuffs. I also found out that they are not easy to find. I have quite a collection but am always looking for more.

Yesterday I found a place that sells blanks with holes. Now I can create my own designs.

Gremlins in the house

 

     We have a problem with gremlins in this house.  Things disappear, reappear, and disappear again.  Now I am missing a large tablet, several favorite pens, and a big package of double ‘A’ batteries.  Therefore, I’m guessing our gremlins needed paper, pens and batteries.

     Are our gremlins writers?  Did they need batteries for their remote controls?

     DH claims he hasn’t seen the missing items.  Gavin and Patty don’t have thumbs so they can’t write and I have no idea what the pups would need with batteries.

     If there were kids in this house, I’d know where the batteries went.  I’ve known kids who were guilty of swiping batteries from parent’s remotes to power their stuff. 

     Usually, our gremlins return the borrowed items.  I only need to be patient.

     Do you have gremlins?  What things do they borrow?

I said I’d think about it

 

     “Aw, please oh please oh please!”  My muse pleadingly raised her hands in the air.

     “You have to be kidding.  You really want me to drag that old book out and work on it?”

     “Why not?  It’s been years since you’ve even looked at it.  I bet you can do a quick rewrite and have it in top form in no time.”  She hopped up from the chair she’d sprawled in and patted my shoulder.

     “But why?”

     “I think people will like your heroine.  They’re ready for her now.  She’s no angel, she’s tough, her language isn’t very pretty but she has something.”

     “I dunno, all those rejections later, I don’t know if I’m ready for more, at least not on that book.”

     My muse flopped back into the chair and swung her legs over the arm.  “Will you at least think about it?”

     “I’ll think about it.”

You know its time for a yard sale when…

 

     You begin to ask if anyone is looking for a Shawnee Tom the piper’s son teapot in excellent condition.  How about the flowerpot salt and pepper shakers DH’s mother bought with the teapot way back before she married his dad?  No, those WON’T be in the yard sale.

     Then there’s the darling silk and seed pearl headband hat circa 1950 we found that looks as though it was never worn along with three pair of white gloves all different.  It’s getting interesting because the deeper we dig, the nicer the stuff we find.

     We haven’t even finished clearing the one bedroom yet.  However, It’s the next bedroom that should really be interesting since it’s almost floor to ceiling with ‘stuff’ OMG.

     While doing this project G and I have both vowed to clean out our dressers, attics, and basements.  I do believe we’ll have yard sale signs up this summer.  I guess this is a good thing.

Look what we found…

 

     Since the MIL is never going to go back home from the nursing home, we have to clean out the house.  While cleaning some things out of the MIL’s house today G and I came across these items.  There are two of those lamps.  I tried to find out what the items were worth online but had no luck at all.  I guess this means a trip to an antique shop now and hope the owner is honest.

     I plan to keep one of the beaded bags.  I have no use for three of them since I seldom have a need to dress up. 

     One thing we found in abundance everywhere we looked was pennies.  The in-laws were penny hoarders of the first rank.  OMG I never saw so many.  They are going to love me at the sorting machine, LOL!

     The MIL was a QVC jewelry nut.  I have no idea what I’m going to do with all the rings, earrings, necklaces, and bracelets.  I do know that I will get some use out of the several fancy watches she had that she never wore once.  They still had the protective plastic on the faces and backs and holding the stem out.

     We only cleared one dresser, two closet bottoms, two freezers, and two refrigerators today and we were both beat when we left.

Quick, easy, and very tasty no-bake cookie

 

I thought I’d post one of my favorite and easiest cookie recipes today.  They taste somewhat like a chocolate macaroon.

Aunt Violet’s unbaked cookies

2 cups of sugar

1 stick of margarine (must be margarine butter makes them too soft.)

½ cup of milk

Bring to a boil in a saucepan, mix well so sugar dissolves—cool slightly

Mix together:

1 cup of flake coconut

3 cups of quick oats

4 teaspoons of cocoa

1 teaspoon vanilla

Add all at once to the sugar mixture

Drop by spoonfuls on waxed paper, let set until hardened.

Dryers, the inter-dimensional sock gateway?

 

     Sorting socks on laundry day is a dull, life-sucking task.  I hate sorting socks and would love it if they did it all by themselves.  However, there are some days where you feel as though you’ve stepped into the ‘inter-dimensional sock gateway zone’ when you find strange socks and miss some you swore you’d put in the wash.

     Does anyone else have a dryer that is an inter-dimensional sock gateway?  A few E-mails back and forth with Elena made me realize that I am not the only person who has one of these.  She told me that she had a pair of socks come out of her dryer that she didn’t recognize.  I often have that problem, as well as having socks periodically disappear into the IDSG void.  Most of them are DH’s since during the warm weather I seldom wear socks.

     Some people ask why it is that only socks do this.  The easy answer is because a dryer is an inter-dimensional sock gateway not an inter-dimensional clothes gateway.  Has anyone seen a super soft sage green sock?  I can’t find one of mine.  Check your dryer it might have beamed over there. 

     Once beamed into the IDSG do the socks turn into evil sock puppets that return here bent on taking over the earth? 

     Beware of strange sock puppets.

Thank you Mom

 

     Yesterday would’ve been my mother’s 95^th birthday if she were still with us.  G, DH, and I had some cake in her honor.  G and her husband always helped us celebrate Mom’s birthday when she visited in the summer.  A few times, we got Mom with a surprise birthday cake either here or at my Aunt’s home.  Other times we took her out to dinner for her birthday and yes, even then she got cake.  Mom loved birthday cakes.

     Mom also loved hummingbirds and always had feeders out for them.  They would flock to her feeders.  G made her a stained glass hummingbird one year.  Mom treasured it. 

     Now as for me, I never can seem to get hummingbirds to come to my garden.  As soon as I’d see one I’d put up a feeder and then they never came back.  I gave up a few years ago and gave away my feeders.  The other day when I brought home yet another hummingbird feeder DH asked me, why had I bought a hummingbird chaser?  Yeah, he’s a real funny guy.

     Yesterday Mom sent me a sign that she is watching over us.  I sat outside and watched a female ruby throated hummingbird go from flower to flower in my garden.  I whispered a quick thank you to my Mom

The hurrier I go the behinder I get…

 

     DH seemed to have a bit more energy today.  It could be either the cooler mornings we’ve had the last couple of days or the new medication.  He was doing well, until he went out into the hot shed, and removed the old battery from the riding mower.  The heat in there wiped him out for a little while.

     However, he did recover enough to take a short ride with me to a little hardware store.  There, we turned in the old battery and bought a new one.  Now he can run the mower without having to jump-start it each time.  He can also shut it off to move things, instead of exhausting himself by moving everything before he begins to mow.

     If I know ahead of time that he’s planning to mow, I will move everything the night before.  It doesn’t always work that way.  He often mows on a whim when he’s feeling well enough to do it.  Now he’s mowed the yard and I have to trim. 

     That was another reason to go to the hardware store.  I went to trim the yard yesterday and ran out of string on the trimmer before I’d gone two feet.  Ever notice at times that even though you think you’re ahead, you’re actually behind?

Dogs and cameras

 

     Did you ever sit there and think; “Now there are several minutes of my life that I won’t get back” I did tonight.  I wanted to put up a new picture of Patty but she wasn’t cooperating.  One of her best tricks is ‘stick ‘em up’ I wanted a shot of that.  Twenty minutes later and I still didn’t have a picture. 

     Did you know that it is impossible to take a picture and work a dog at the same time?  You also need to be quick on the button to catch the dog doing the trick.  I wasn’t.  Butt shots as she walked out of the picture didn’t work.

     Tomorrow, I’ll ask DH to have her do the trick while I attempt to snap a good picture.  I’m certain Patty will do better when she has her Daddy asking her to do her trick.  She’ll do anything for him.

     The next problem will be to keep Gavin from trying to hog the shutter time.  He likes the camera.  He never enjoyed the show ring but he certainly enjoys getting his picture taken.  I can’t pick it up without having him try to get my attention.  “Look at me, I’ll give my paw.”

Photo ops with the digital camera

 

     I enjoy taking the Kodak Z612 outside and snapping pictures of the dogs, flowers, and the veggie garden.  It’s not a new camera nor is it as reliable as I’d like.  However, it’s either that or the even older and fewer bells and whistles hp photosmart.  These days I only use the hp to download pictures from the card I use in the Kodak.

     Why do I do that?  Because Kodak is proprietary and the program for that camera takes over all my other pictures.  I hate that.  In addition, the hp program to download, crop, and adjust the pictures is more reliable.

     Maybe one day I’ll buy a better camera, but for now, this one will do even with its quirks.  I’m only a hobbyist when it comes to taking pictures. 

     I have three folders of wedding pictures from my three cousins’ weddings and I have them saved on a thumb drive.  I had a great time taking those pictures until the danged Kodak decided to sulk.  As I said, it has its quirks. 

Ampyra approved then taken away

 

     Well this sucks big time.  We were told by a certain health plan that DH was approved for Ampyra and today we got a letter from the same people telling us that he is not approved.  You know what, I hate making phone calls.  In spite of this, someone has some ‘splaining to do.

     Phones are going to be ringing and when I’m finished, I’m betting a few ears will be too.  Angry doesn’t describe how I feel right now.  I won’t tolerate this sort of treatment.  I will fight tooth and nail for DH.  No one EVER pulls the rug out from under my loved ones like that.  I don’t care whom it is I have to run to ground I will get results.

     DH has always said, “Don’t get the Irish Indian mad she will go on the warpath.” 

     I am past mad and well down the road to infuriated.  If I have to go all the way to the top of the company, I will do that.  I can make waves, big ones.  I am a writer.