Mindless meanderings.

I did a bit of Spring cleaning today, but not as much as I'd have liked. I took the curtains down above our bed and vacuumed off what had to have been a 1/4" of dust. I'm still coughing from it. I don't know why I never think of wearing a mask until after I've inhaled a cup or more of dust. Maybe next time.

After I got the curtains washed, I sewed a piece of fabric that I'd had to cover the wood above the window air conditioner. I've just draped it over the curtain rod for years, but it's never laid right. So today I put a couple of casings in the ends, so I could hang them on the curtain rods, and it would look like a curtain that belonged rather than a random piece of fabric with frayed edges. It looks nice, and it covers the piece of wood we have atop the air conditioner to seal off the window. One more small thing checked off my very long list of things to do.

I also used some of that yellow expanding foam and filled in all the areas that air, dust, or bugs (including the yellow jackets!) could get through. It doesn't look very pretty, but it did already seem to make a bit of a difference in how cool the house stayed. I'm not sure why I was afraid of doing it in the past, but I'm glad I it's done. It's nice to know creepy crawlies aren't going to creep and crawl through the window above my head when I'm sleeping. And another thing of my list.

I'm feeling very thankful today that Hopper is feeling better. Her appetite is almost back to normal, and she didn't put herself to bed early this afternoon like she has been. I'm so relieved. In my opinion, one of the worst feelings in the world is when your child is sick, and you can do nothing but sit back and watch. I always feel so worthless as a parent when I can't do something to help them.

My little garden plants are loving the sun. They're getting roughly 16 hours of sun each day now that the tree is gone. They only got 5 to 6 hours of direct sunlight when the tree shaded them so in the afternoon. I hope it means that they'll flourish as much as I'm thinking they will. I did noticed that I lost a couple of plants the other day. I think it had to do with the 70mph winds we had. It's also why I planted something like 22 peppers, 20 tomatoes and 8 strawberry plants. It doesn't bother me as much when I lose one or two when I have this many planted. I'm hoping for a good harvest. Which reminds me...I saw a few red strawberries today. I'll have to pick them tomorrow, if the birds haven't gotten to them already.

I noticed apples on our apple tree today, too. I'm hoping we can get some decent apples this year. Some years they do great and others there's just nothing there, or we lose them to the birds and squirrels. Someone told my husband that, if we feed the squirrels nuts they'll stay out of the fruit, because they like the nuts more. I'm not sure how much truth there is to it, but I'd be willing to give it a shot. Especially, if we get anything on the peach tree this year. The squirrels and birds like our peaches even more than they like our apples.

I think I'm just going to shut up now. I'm just rambling, and nobody really wants to listen to that. ;o)

A little of this and alittle of that.

What a beautiful day it was here today. The weather was gorgeous. Mild and cool with lots of sunshine. Sunshine just makes the biggest difference for me. It is just...good.

Hopper felt much better today. She and Scooter helped me plant the last of the tomatoes, peppers and strawberries today. We even got the onion sets planted. I really crammed the onions together, because I planted them at the base of the umbrella planter with the Clematis and in a pot. If I'd had a plot ready, they'd have been spaced out more and in the ground. Maybe next year. The thing is, it doesn't really matter how big onions are. They taste good no matter what, so if they're a little cramped it won't matter to us. We'll still eat them.


So this is a picture of our V Trees. From the angle I took the picture, it's actually sort of hard to tell how far down the left tree was leaning. It was actually leaning quite a bit more than the picture shows. The tree on the left was the one I was worried about the most, because if it had not fallen correctly, it would have landed on the bitter widow's fence, and we likely would have been sued.

Thankfully, it landed no where near her property.

The tree making the right part of the V was the one that was pulling towards the power line. The powerline was behind the shed several feet, but the tree was tall enough, and the wind was strong enough that it caused a few tense moments. They'd tied the rope about 6 feet above the roof of the shed and pulled toward the house. They knew, if they could get the heavy part of the tree to fall, it would fall straight down. It did.

Our backyard now looks like a jungle, because we still have to finish cutting the wood up. The hubby got a couple wood chippers from Craigslist today. Seemed to make more sense to buy a used one than to rent one for almost $200 a day after paying tax on it. One is a bigger gas chipper, and the other is a smaller electric one. Our plan is to use the gas one to clean up all the branches in the backyard that we're not giving for firewood and then selling it again. We'll keep the smaller one for things that may come up over the years. At least that's our plan for now. We'll make a final decision in a year or so.

It was a quick but productive weekend for us. Hopper did feel much better today, but she went to bed on her own around 4:00 this afternoon, so she's still not up to par. Hopefully, tomorrow will be her best day yet.

Tomorrow, we'll talk about our military. Those Marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen that gave their lives to keep our country free. Those that made the ultimate sacrifice for us. We are so very grateful for each and every one of them.

We will remember.

To V or not to V. That is the question.

I am so glad today is over. Well. Over except for relaxing with my hubby for awhile. It was just a really long day.

Hopper still isn't feeling 100%. She's not feverish or anything, just a bit lethargic and not hungry at all. I'm hoping she'll be worlds better when she wakes up in the morning.

Scooter was in a bit of a mood again today. Not entirely sure why, but she was. Did what she could to push buttons and be naughty. If either is going to do the Button Pushing Boogie, it's Scooter, but I am glad it doesn't happen often. She went as far as undoing her seatbelt 3 times today while we were driving 55 down a main road through town. Did I mention I'm really thankful she isn't like this often? I'm sure it will be at least 6 months to a year before she starts messing with her seatbelt again.

I can't explain adequately just how stressful it is to hear Hopper say that Scooter's undone the seatbelt yet again. Of course there's never anywhere for me to pull over, because I'm in the middle lane of traffic, and I have to rely on Hopper to get the seatbelt latched once again. Tonight Scooter has seatbelt welts on the side of her neck where Hopper pulled a bit too quickly and forcefully to get her sister secured, but I'd rather see a couple of seatbelt welts than to see a crumpled little body should we get in an accident. And I am so very thankful that Hopper noticed it immediately and was able to help me out from the backseat.

Got more D-Ribose today when we were out. I know it'll take a few days to kick in again, but I'm glad I have it. Hopefully, I'll never allow myself to run out again. The fibro is out in full force in my neck and shoulders tonight. I'm hoping, if I turn my heating pad on and lie back in the chair a bit while I'm relaxing with hubby some of the pain will go away. Heat always seems to help.

A guy that my husband works with came over today and helped fell a couple of trees. I did take some before pictures to show how bad the V they were growing in was. It seemed a bit Gothic in style. At one point, my hubby was on the ground holding onto a rope trying to pull this very large, very heavy portion of the tree toward him. His buddy was up the ladder with the chain saw.

And as the wind picked up, it started blowing the part of the tree my husband was trying to control away from him and toward the nearby power lines. Yeah. That's something you want to see from the kitchen window! I went outside to help pull, but his friend had come down from the ladder by the time I got outside, and they both collapsed on the ground as the tree broke free and fell where they needed it. I collapsed from relief. On the inside.

We have a lot of cleanup to do tomorrow. We have a lot of branches to get out of the backyard as well as all the wood that someone else from work will be using in his fireplace come Fall. Now we just have to figure out a way to help hubby's buddy out. He wouldn't let us pay him. He did more to help us in the hour it took them than he can ever imagine! I'm so thankful that the hubster works with such amazing people!

Tomorrow we'll be busy. We'll probably have a hard time even moving by the end of the day. But we are both so relieved and thrilled that these trees are down! It has a great big check next to it on The List Of Great Big Things To Do That We've Put Off For Way Too Long!