Monday, Monday

 I am channeling the Mamas and Papas

    I was tired and listless today.

    Our morning help was here and she woke me at 11 when she was leaving.

    I putzed around, knowing I was going to work on the sweeper but still tired.

    So I  had food, read the paper and .... fell asleep sitting up at the computer!  I mush have napped 15-20 minutes, I don't really know.

    What I do know was it was 2 p.m I had laundry to do and the dishwasher to empty.

    I think it was around 3:30 when I finally trudged out to the garage.  I worked on the sweeper for a while, then remembering tomorrow was trash day, I scoped the yard, filled the bird feeders and went back to the sweeper.

    Happy to report I only have thing to do tomorrow and that is put on  the hitch. It looks like the picture.  That is always a bonus.

    I guess I did not realize how big it was.

    We have one car in a 3 car garage, and. the sweeper and mower takes up one space while th golf cart takes up another;

    No problem, unless you are also storing a daughter's car while she is off on an adventure.

    Guess I will have to rearrange some stuff tomorrow.

    It's now 8:30 and I have 2 loads of laundry to fold and one more to do.  I still have not showered, a fact I can smell.

    And I feel bad because I have not spent a lot of puppy time today.  Tomorrow I need to go into the basement with her and play a while.

    Monday, Monday....can't trust that day.  Mama Cass was always right.

Peace and Love

no ham here

 We had a different Easter Day meal

    Usually we would have ham, rolls, potatoes, a vegetable....the standard Easter fare.

    This year I opted to grill a couple of steaks and some pork chops.

    There were only six of us: the 4 Dickows, Camryn and sister Judy.  We had some taco salad, rolls, scalloped potatoes and corn and I think it went over very well.

    The strawberry  dump cake I made wasn't bad either.  And of course the mini bundt cakes were great as were the cookies.  Kevin, Jen, Sam and Sandy stopped by for dessert, and we talked a lot about ... well, a lot of stuff.  And they brought the cookies.

    Clean up was easy.  Almost everything went in the dishwasher.

    I had a surprise too.

    I got to meet the Easter. Bunny!!  Yes, he/she does exist!  I saw them myself!!  But I wonder if the bunny is a transperson...... I guess that is another topic.

    Did not work on the sweeper.  Monday.  Monday I will get it done.  Monday.  That is tomorrow.  I will get it done.

    If you keep saying a lie, eventually you believe it.

    Hop you had a good Easter.  And yes, hop....kind of a pun on hope but factoring the bunny aspect of the day in.

    Stormy night ahead.... I always hate those.

Peace and Love

This is where I started

I love these....need to plant more in the fall

Beth was attached by a hedgehog!

thumbs

 People have opposable thumbs

    With age,  mine see to be possable.

    Maybe I am going too far, but I have arthritis in my thumbs.   It makes them hard to use sometimes, like when assembling a lawn sweeper.

    Let's say I have finished steps 1, 2, 3 and most of 4.  The 4 was the one that got me  because I needed to use my opposable thumbs and it ain't been easy!  By the way, there are 1,644 steps.  Or so it seems.

    Dropped nuts, dropped bolts, dropped pins, parts, pants.  Wait a minute, I did not drop my pants!  That was a rumor.  I was not working on the sweeper in my underwear.

    I planned to spend most of the day putting it together.

    Instead, I took a nap, went to Julia's to move some furniture and boxes, visited with some friends and before I knew it, it was almost 5!

    I initially went to Julia's to get my socket set.  But after moving the boxes  and a couple of dressers, I went out to the car without the set!  I remembered just as I started to back down the driveway. 

    I worked on the fool thing until Beth's supper time, and then heated up left overs for Jackie and me, and before I knew it the cuckoo was hitting 7:30!  

    I went back outside, only to drop stuff left and right and gave up for the night.

    I found myself running into the house to view the video on line.  At some point it dawned on me to record. the video on my phone, which does make it easier.  But it does not help the drops.

    I did not get to Oregon for the protest and I did not make it to Easter Even service at church.

    We plan to watch it tomorrow, but our plans never seem to work out.

    I.hope you have a joyous an d blessed Easter.

Peace and Love

what happened?

 Today was great, until it wasn't

    I can't explain it.

    Beth got me up at 6 to go out.  That was fine.  I went back to bed until 8.

    About 8:20 the electrician called to come out to do 3 jobs for me:  replace the 2 outdoor lights, fix the ceiling lamp in the basement, and hook up the Nest doorbells on the front and back doors.

    As he was doing that, I was doing why morning caretaker duties.  All was fine.

    OK, I did forget to feed Beth, a detail she reminded me of about 9 a.m. with a sad, sad look.

    The outdoor lights were replaced, and he started on the Nest doorbells. 

    He came in and said he did not know how to do them  He had done Ring doorbells, but never a Nest.  There were no directions or schematics to go with the doorbells. So he skipped that one and went to replace the ceiling lamp in the basement.

    I had no idea the things that you had in basement ceilings that you put a bulb into were called lamps.  But they are.

    Still, with the exception of the door bells, all was good.

    I cleaned the dining room chandelier.  It usually takes me half an hour and a lot of swearing, but this time I did it in less then 10 minutes without a curse uttered.  That was a big win.

    I went to the store, got gas, got meat, had a coffee at Cypress House and came home to start assembling the lawn sweeper.

    I have watched the video twice, and assembly does not look too bad,

    The first step is to use a socket wrench to attach the tow. bar.

    I opened up my blue socket wrench box and .....only 2 socket heads.  Neither one fit.

    I thought I would go and get my really good socket set from the basement and realized I took it to Julia's to assemble some furniture and did not bring it home. 

    I texted her and as soon as I hit send, she pulled into the driveway.

    It went downhill after that.

    We did not go to Good Friday services in DeKalb.  We did not want to be there and have it pour rain on us as I tried to get her back into the car.

    I did not go to the museum program, we were eating a non meat dinner by then.

    Oh...dinner.

    The Culver's menu lists a walleye dinner .... but the local Culver's doesn't have it.

    Jackie wanted shrimp, and when I ordered a popcorn shrimp dinner at another take out place, they said they don't do popcorn shrimp dinners.  Popcorn shrimp is sold as a side dish.  What have I been ordering there over the years?

    Anyway, got the popcorn shrimp side dish, went home, ate,  and started making Julia's bed. Scratch that, the spare bed Julia has. been sleeping in for 3 years.  I can't find the blanket that was  on it. It's a queen size bed and we have a twin size blanket.  I have no idea why.

    And for some reason I started thinking about Corki.  I love Beth, but I still miss Corki so much.

    So here I sit.  Feeling blue, tired, and just uneasy.

    Not even watching the Cubs comeback seems to have perked me up.

    

Peace and Love

timing

 They say timing is everything

    I got my seeds planted yesterday, and it rained today.  I did not see any birds out there feeding on the free lunch, so I am hopeful.

    Actually, I am hopeful in a second way.  Usually when people plant seeds they till up the area first.  I did not.  I mowed it short,  then spread seed over it.   Ideally the rain will push the seeds down to the ground, where they will germinate and grow.

    Only time will tell.

T    omorrow is Good Friday.  I am going to start putting the lawn sweeper together tomorrow.

    I have watched the instructional video twice, and I hope that helps. 

    I also plan on reading the directions before I start and laying out the parts on the garage floor so I know what everything is.

    I am optimistic, which is always dangerous.  Why?  Because the first thing that goes wrong throws  me off the rest of the day.

    Jackie had a library board meeting today.  She also had a hair appointment this afternoon.

    After her hair was done, we went out into a cold rain.  I got pretty wet.  I told her based on the forecast, which called for thunderstorms with possible hail, I was not taking her to the meeting.  

    She Zoomed it instead.  And it did not rain.  Nothing.  Nada.

    It rains when we are out.  It does not rain when we are in.

    Is someone sending a message?

    Sometimes I wonder.

Peace and Love

a visitor

Julia came to visit tonight 

    Beth was one happy dog!  She really misses Julia.

    Beth has adapted fairly well.  We get up later than Julia and I am usually occupied with caretaker duties as soon as we get up.

    That means Beth has to wait on breakfast and wait at the door to go outside.

    But today I had to wake her up!  

    Now if I could only sleep in.

    We had a doctor's appointment in DeKalb today.  Yes, I know, I had one there yesterday.  And no, we could not make them for the same day.

    We had 4 other stops to make, and unfortunately none of them were Ollie's!  

    I dilly dallied around when we got home, then made supper and decided at about 7 that I should spread the wildflower seeds I had bought.

    I went out to do that, but first I had to air up the tires in the spreader.  Before I could do that I had to find the air pump.  Before I could use the air pump I had to find a charged battery.  Eventually the dominoes all fell into place and I mixed the seeds and rice hull packages together.  

    I have no idea how much I covered.  I should have covered 3,000 square feet, but it could have been anywhere from 200 to 20,000. 

    I am hoping for some nice rains the next few days to get the seeds growing.  I just hope the birds don't find them first, which is a distinct possibility.

    As I was seeding, I thought of all the things I need/want to do.  I thought I should make a list, but when I got in the house I realized how self defeating that would be.  I still have things from last summer I did not do.

    And it is funny in a way, I keep thinking once school is out I will have more time.  I know, that makes no sense at all.  I will have the same amount of time I have now.

    I just need to use it better.

    I'll add t hat to my list.

Peace and Love

eh?

 Nothing gained, nothing lost

    That's the status of my hearing after today's visit.  

    The good part is I have not lost anymore.  I still have 20 % in my. right ear and a lot more than. that in my left.  It is what it is.

    I picked up my new lawn sweeper today.

    It comes in a box about 4 foot long and 2 feet on each side.  It weighs about 16 tons.  There is a suggested You Tube video to watch prior to attempting to assemble.

    My lord, what have I done?

    Anyone  with a degree in mechanical engineering who is free Friday, come on by.  I'll be either assembling the sweeper or on my fourth glass of wine by 4.

    I mentioned the other day that a friend suggestion  popped up  on FB and listed some mutual friends we had.  Trouble is, 2 of the mutual friends never heard of the person.

    Let's call her Madame X.

    I went on Madam X's FB page today and scrolled through her 334 friends.  Twice.  I did not find any of the "friends you have in common" on her page.

    I suspect someone has hacked her or cloned her page and is fishing for people.  

    I believe Madam X is real, but I don't think the link that popped up on fB was connected to her , but to someone else.  

    I also wonder if they got the mutual friends from my FB?

    Guess I will change my password tonight, even though that won't prevent anyone from scrolling through my list of 12 friends.

    Go Cubs!    And no, that is not my password.

Peace and Love