Daily Ooos: Monday, May 24

[faerywings]

I am dumbfounded that it is the last week of May (full week, but still!). It seems weird that usually May is jam-packed with family things to do and while this year is way busier than last obviously, it is still much quieter. Last May, it was really cold all month, but this past week has been awesome. Typical NJ humidity came in yesterday and it sucks everything out of Gary. Poor guy just melts. He has to work on getting the ACs in the windows soon. Not for me- I will be under blankets when we watch TV. *winks*

It felt really nice being with the family yesterday. I had missed that more than I expected. My niece, Juliet, is a trip- she is such a storyteller and she *always* has a strange story to tell. She is going to school for "Pre-Vet" ( I can't think of the proper term, what it is that??) and is going to specialize in exotic animals like reptiles and such. She and my kids get along great and they all have that same sense of humor. They started talking about scorpions and tarantulas. On her way out, she forgot her jar of crickets and we called her to meet her on the road and as I am handing them to her, I am laughing -- things I never thought I would say-- Here, you forgot your crickets at Nana's house. LOL!

Today I have to clean my house. [rant smilie]. I don't want to clean inside. [pout smilie] But it is for a good cause. Tom the new BF is coming here to meet us- and to hang with Cait and meet the rats, of course- but I have to make a semi-decent impression. Time to get my head out of the garden and deal with the inside.

Guess I should get my day started... blergh...

xoxoxo

 

[faerywings]

@tanteva I can't wait to see the bag when it is done.
BTW- in all of the years I have known you, I don't think I knew your DH's name was Urban. I want to pronounce it correctly- is it pronounced er-bin (like urban/suburban) or more like er-Bahn or something completely different. Like Peter.

Kay- That is bittersweet news about your niece. How far are you from where she will be? (NM and CO share corners, IIRC?) I know the states themselves are huge esp when compared to tiny NJ.
You are so talented with a sewing machine- good for you adapting the curtains to exactly what you needed.

Eva- are you excited to work this week?
I hope that you are able to come up with the words you are looking for for your friend. I would love to tell you that she knows what is in your heart and that the words don't matter and I guess to an extent that may be true. I also understand your need to express yourself. Sending hugs.

Hi Jean!

Eva- hahahaha!!!! a newly unveiled 5-year-old LO!!

@Cherylndesigns Poor Steph!!! Gary uses an insulin pump and also had PICC lines twice, tubing everywhere hahahaha! He had gotten his pump snagged on doorknobs before. Good times, man! LOL
That is really exciting about Adrienne's house.
Any updates on your wifi?

Eva.... that sucks. Insomnia is the worst any time but when you realize you did it to yourself, that would just make me more aggravated.
Apparently --maybe obviously?

HAGD!!!

 

[tanteva]

Apparently --maybe obviously?

Could even be harder to spell. LOL

You put the finger on something there. I know Annica knows what's in my heart, and what I want to say to her. I'm kinda waiting for her to get through all the turmoil of passing to the other side, and get over here and tell me she's ok. [Saying like the kid in that movie: "I see dead people" ]

But that actually means I'm worrying more about saying the right thing because OTHERS are going to read it. And you know what - F&%¤ them! But that really makes it easier in a way. The only one I don't want to upset is her son, of course. I will write something with him in mind. That will be perfect.

Oh, and how to pronounce Urban ... kinda hard to explain, I think. The Swedish U-sound is a bit special. He really should be here now, he could tell us. He's a linguist. Studied Comparative Lingustics at the university. The girl in this video explains it really well - Urban should be said with the short U that she explains in the video.

Now you have something for the whole family to do when Tom comes over: learning to pronounce the Swedish letter U. Next time you can do E, and learn to pronounce my name correctly LOL

Oh, and I really should post that old layout. I think I understand what happened. I have made 2 versions, and sometimes when I can't decide which is best (or if a layout just don't feel right), I'll let is stew for a while. Usually not 5 year though. LOL Look out for cows in the gallery.

 

[nancyr]

good morning - OMgosh yesterday was crazy. My DH went out early with Luther because Luther does better in the cool morning. I went out in mid morning and I have to say I really like this weather. Today the high will barely be in the mid 60s but I guess good as I can cool my house off. Came home and my DH yells down to me "Do you open the bedroom window with out the screen?" Like Duh of course not. Why not just say the screen fell out. Well we could not find our kitty Shadow. We hoped she did not push it out trying to get to a squirrel or bird. We looked in every room and outside, looked up on roof. There was no sign of her. Finally I suggested to my DH that we let Luther up stairs and let him sniff her out. Sure enough it worked and she scrambled from in a box under our bed to her highest perch. What a relief. It was scary! Screen is back in and secured. Still not sure how it fell out. Then my girlfriend invited me to join her and family at one of my favorite restaurants where a group called the Crash were playing. OMgosh what a fun way to spend the evening. Food drinks and music. They have an outdoor patio that they put up for Covid dining and found that it was a super summer success so they plan on keep it. It really is awesome. They have heaters and fans. And the band plays rock and Irish songs so a fun mix. They played until 8:30 and they were playing when we got there at 5:00 with only one break. Came home and watched hockey. Two teams are through to the second round Boston (defeated Capitals) and Colorado (defeated Blues). But the most exciting was the Jets/Oilers game where the Jets scored 3 goals in the last 8 mins and won in OT.

@faerywings Chris so glad you had fun at the party. I had to laugh that you were handing off crickets. My DH turned on the AC for a while too for Luther. I think it is more for humidity and not just temp. Well at least today is cool so should make being inside easier. Have fun meeting Tom. Those times are always fun.

@tanteva Eva yes I cant tell you how nice to have my photos back. I love the LO. I understand now that Urban kits would be ones that you would like. As a kid I used to have to iron sheets, pillow cases and my dad's handkerchiefs. I swore I would never iron again if I did not have to. I like Kay take things out of the drier so I don't have to iron.

@BrightEyes Kay glad you did not lose any branches from your plum tree. Sorry your niece is leaving. While on one of my birding trips we met an RV couple who spend their summers at some RV park for free if they keep the park clean. They like it as they do this at different spots each summer. Congrats on the curtains.

@Cherylndesigns Cheryl wow that house sounds huge. Have fun helping them. My girlfriend's daughter just bought a home and they plan on painting all weekend.

Waving to all!
Have a great day!

 

[Cherylndesigns]

Hello!!!

Chris @faerywings I DO have news - we're supposed to have our wifi run into the house TOMORROW!!!!! We just heard from the cable company!! Of course, we're not holding our breath - that would not be good to do, but they were up here this weekend doing something - like all day Saturday, and they were fiddling around with the box at the back of our house. It's been a LONG 5 months without it!! We tried to watch TV last night and finally gave up. Some nights the hotspot works and some nights it doesn't. Last night was a "doesn't night".

I'm so glad you had a fun night with your family. Pre-vet is probably right; it's like pre-med, right? Oh wow, exotic animals. How cool! My ex-SIL is a Specialized Surgical Vet. He's one of a handful of vets that can do the types of surgery he does. He's also a Specialty Emergency Vet. He got recruited to fly to California for 2 weeks out of every month when we all lived in Michigan. Then he got recruited to move to Boca Raton, Florida. Anyway, I digress - he used to have exotic animals as pets. Before he was married - he had Boas and a tiger and I don't know what else.

Nancy, @nancyr what a fun night!! That's my kind of fun - outdoors, lots of music and laughter. I'm so glad that you found your cat! Great idea to have Luther sniff him out. Cats are so funny the places they get into. My daughter's house IS huge! 5,000 sq ft under air, plus another 3,000 sq ft of outdoor living space. All kinds of outside living rooms, porches, covered and uncovered. They have 3 outdoor fireplaces and 3 indoor. I just stand in there and way "wow". Majestic is the only word for it.

Kay @BrightEyes I know you must have mixed feelings about your niece leaving. It had to be nice having her so near, but the opportunity sounds good for her. I need to go back and read about your plum tree. We're tree hunting right now, so my antenna went up. I've never looked at so many pictures of trees before. Chuck is obsessed with finding just the right tree.

Gotta go - I finally got another challenge done. I did Vicky's template challenge and my LO is pretty funny, if I do say so myself. You'll all need to go check it out. I was in a silly mood last night.

Eva @tanteva I LOVE your bags!! I have a "thing" for sugar skulls so that purse with the skull just jumped right out at me. SO cute!!

Waving to all and hugs.

 

[BrightEyes]

Finally have a calm day with no winds... plus it is nice and warm. Think I should go get the potting soil so I can work on planting the Lilac tree in one of the pots in the backyard.

Cheryl, just took this photo of my Plum tree in the backyard this morning. We planted it in the spring of 2012. The wall behind it is 5' tall so you can see how tall it is now. For some reason the peach tree we planted at the same time is only about half as tall as the plum tree. It is feast or famine with plums ... 2 years ago I had so much fruit I was giving it away while last year only got a a small crop. There are lots of fruit on it already this year - so think it will be a good year again. It is a self-pollinating plum as we didn't want to plant 2 plum trees - and there is not another plum in the neighborhood. That is something to think about if you are getting a fruit tree.



Back later... need to get my errands run ASAP.

 

[tanteva]

Weird how things work - today I took my evening meds in the evening and not my morning meds - and I'm tired! LOL

Off to bed now, but I just wanted to share that old layout - finally posted in the gallery, only 5 years, 1 month and 13 days after I made. Sometimes I do hurry ......

Animals are my friends

• tanteva
• May 24, 2021
• 2

Sometimes when I'm not quite happy with a layout, I use to let it stew over night, and return to...

 

[BrightEyes]

Turns out that I found half a bag of Potting soil in the garage.... didn't realize that I had it. So stayed home and worked in the backyard most of the afternoon - with lots of breaks sitting in the shade on the patio and hydrating!!! Think I must have drank over 2 gallons of water. I hauled a couple of pottery pots from the garage out to backyard then got busy figuring out where to put them and debating what to plant in them. The first thing I did was transplant the Patio Lavender tree (oops, not a Lilac tree) into a burgundy pot that has been sitting empty for the past 2 years. The patio tree is only suppose to get to about 3' tall so should do well in pot. It is sitting just off the patio in a curved rocky section. Decided that is where I am going to be putting the rest of the empty pots I have. I have some Day Lilly bulbs that need a home. LOL But I need to set up longer drip lines to the pots before I plant the Day Lilly bulbs, And I learned my lesson about getting up/down when working in the yard. Have a large rubber cushion-mat that I put on the rocks where I kneel and can use it and the pots to help boost me up. Also discovered that the front and back yard hoses and spray nozzles need to be replace. Going to get a couple of those collapsible/expandable hoses as they are lightweight and easy to move around.

Since I was on a roll, I took stock of what else needed work out there. The big chore was working on a couple of trees/plants that were looking crowded and/or dead. The transplanted bushes from the front yard last year had some tall branches that looked dead. Turns out that there is good growth on them at about 3 feet up so ended up cropping off the upper dead branches. There is another type of leafy branches that got transplanted with the other one so I want to separate it and transplant it to where the dead cherry tree is near the east wall. The trees and bushes are each in bowl shaped with curved bricks area on the sloped section of the yard so it is a challenge to stand on solid footing as I try to dig out the 5' cherry tree that had died last year. Spent lots of time watering it to loosen the soil. Finally realized that it would much easier to dig around it if I sawed off the top of the tree. Glad I took the time to do that as I could move all around the tree with the shovel. But finally gave up for the day after I dug out a lot of soil around the roots and kept re-watering it and letting is soak several times. Will go back to work on it tomorrow morning early... when It is much cooler. Thinking this might be a multi-day task so not going to stress over how long it takes to get done.

Going to take a shower and take some Aleve as I already feel the muscles tightening up. It will be an early night for me.