best laid plans....

This was a messed up day

     Three things to accomplish today:  Dickens Village up, mower washed, hay spread over strawberries.
     3.
     What the hell happened?
     We started to put up the village and with the new table son in law John made us, discovered we were out of "snow."  This is the batting that looks like winter.
     So I went to Wallyworld.  Figured I might as well get gas, and while I was there deliver a calendar.....a little over an hour later I was on my way home.
     But it is only about 12:30, so plenty of time.  Should be done by 2 so I can get outdoors.
     Then the dam music box house came out of the box.
     If you have ever seen these villages, they were carefully created by some low paid Asian workers and resold at a price to people like us, who like the Dickens era and decided to collect a couple of pieces.
     Since Jackie is a little hard to buy for, she got new pieces for several years.  I think there are 15 houses, plus shrubbery, lights, people.....and believe me, I love looking at it.
     But the music box house.
     There are plug in lights that you push in until the metal hangers catch on the rim.  Then you plug them all into a power bar.
     Not the music box house.
     That plug in space isn't right.  The light fell into the house last year.  At 1 p.m. today, I attempted to take the light out of the house.  That could be accomplished by bending the latching prongs together and pulling out the plug.
     At 2:15 I took a break from that task and had lunch.
     At 3 p.m. I got the tin snips and cut the sons of butterflies and pulled the whole plug out and tossed it.
     I used another plug, which doesn't fit right.  As a matter of fact, none of the other plugs we have fit this particular house, even though they are all "the same."  And yes, if you look closely you may see the duct tape that is holding the plug in place.
     So I took a walk with Corki to "collect" my thoughts.
     It's almost 9 p.m. and Jackie is putting out the trees and people.  We did watch TV, after the lights got hooked up and everything worked.
     I even found the remote control plugs I bought last year!  All we have to do to turn on the villages and the tree is hit a button.  Simple magic.
     Jackie just yelled.  There's a light out in one of the houses.
     Better not be the music box house.  I don't think I can take it.

memories....

I am almost done with the garage

     I started cleaning it Tuesday.  I spent 3 hours out there then, and another 3 today.  I am almost finished.
    When I clean, it isn't just cleaning.
     I move all the patio furniture in, get the mower ready for winter, check out the snow blower and try to stack as much as I can so  cars will still fit in the garage.
     I have a corner garage sale pile.....and that's when the fun starts.
     I pulled out a chair.
     This chair:

     It's a nice chair.  Sturdy.  Solid.  It's an antique.
     It's not actually my chair.  It was Emily's, part of a really neat drop down table and four chair set.
     It wasn't actually Emily's either.  We got it when Kathy was cleaning out some of her mother's furniture.
     We ended up with the table and four chairs and a little writing desk.  Vintage furniture.
     Emily was in need of some furniture for her new house, so we passed it on to her.
     Then the tornado hit.
     Emily had two pieces of furniture left:   this chair and a coffee table.
     During the salvage operation, the chair was left at my house.
     Now it sits, alone in the garage....bereft of friends and family.  Cold.  Lonely.       Uncertain of its future.
     I don't want to toss it because it has so many memories.  Emily doesn't want it because she has no where to put it and I don't think she wants a lot of memories of that particular time in her life.
     Sort of like in Holiday Inn, when they salute the general and Bing sings, "What to you do with a general, when he stops being a general......"
     What do you do with a chair, when it stops being a set?
     Suggestions welcomed.

give???

We joined the spirit of giving Tuesday

     Jackie won't know until we get the Visa bill, but by then it will be too late!
I donated, or I should say we donated to two charities Emily was involved with, plus Doctors Without Borders and Chicago Tribune Charities.
     I am feeling a little guilty, however.
     We made a donation to a book replacement fund in Houston but we never made a larger donation to the hurricane recovery efforts.  Somehow that slipped past me, because I did say I was going to do that.  I know there is still a need, but which charity?  Decisions, decisions.
     If I was a millionaire, I would fund lots of charities.  But I am not, so I can't.
     The group that irritates me the most is the Rockford Rescue Mission.  We make a point of donating for the Thanksgiving meal, and sometimes the Christmas meal.  But it seems we get a solicitation every other week from them.  One time I wrote on the donation sheet, "Please send us the Thanksgiving donation request only or we may stop sending anything."  That worked for a while.
     As I write that, I think about the efforts to get a homeless shelter open in Rochelle and realize I, we, should donate to that also.  Hope I don't forget.
     On another note, I started cleaning my garage today.  Two hours later, part of it is done and the garbage pile is actually growing. 
     I decided my problem is recycling.  I have a pile of plant pots for the high school, aluminum cans for Eswood School, newspapers and other neat schtuff for the zoo, plastic bags for the bag bin at Wallyworld, and my normal two buckets for city recycling.  That all takes up a lot of space!
     I may even post a picture of the clean garage when I finish, which will hopefully be tomorrow.
     Problem is, as I work I think of other things I should do...... which now numbers six items...... so I have more work to do when I am done with work which doesn't work for me!!
     And no, I was not trying to set a world record for the number of times work was used in a sentence.
     After all, that would be too much work.

not again....

I like to think I am organized

     Not highly organized, just organized.  Barely.
For example:  When I sell a Rotary calendar, I write down the number of the calendar and the name of the person buying it.  I do that just in case I see a name in the paper of someone I sold a calendar to, so I can call them next year.  (Heck, I never call anyone.  An organized person would do that.)
     I also buy those composition notebooks when they are on sale for twenty five cents or half a buck.  I figure those are good for notes and lists.
     I swear I wrote the names of 12 people in one of those notebooks.  But I can't find them anywhere.
     I have found about 8 of those notebooks, which is strange because we  go through two a year, at the most.
     Why do I keep buying them?  Why do I keep losing them?  Why can't I lose the one that has a list of things I should do?  That one is always available.
     And now that I have 7 strands of new LED lights on the tree, I am thinking ... I don't like LED tree lights.  They have a strange color.  The lights are fine, but the room seems purple or blue.  (Purple Haze .... or Purple Rain.... both songs are now running through my mind along with Barney's theme song  because he was purple too.)  Maybe they will grow on me, but I doubt it.
     And the highly organized me thought buying a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving was a great way to save time and work in the Dickow kitchen.  It was, except the pie wasn't that good.  Everyone seemed to use a lot, I mean a LOT, of whipped cream on their slices.
     We had a broken ornament and I actually threw it out!  I know last year I saved the part that broke off, but I can't find it.  Probably with the damn notebook.
     So it was tossed.  That is a rarity for me.
    Ah well.....the notebook will show up sometime in March, as will the ornament piece.  And that will be far beyond time either one was useful to me.
     Such is life.

the end, finished, no more

I mowed for the last time in 2017 today

     Truthfully, not sure it needed it.  But now all the grass is even.  Level.  Can't beat that at the end of November.
     I still have some trimming to do....but that will come later this week.
Meanwhile, the tree is up, lit and decorated.  The outside lights are up and actually going on at about the right time. 
     The Christmas dishes have replaced the "everyday" dishes, ditto with the glasses.  Notice I did not say China.  We actually have some China.  Somewhere.  I think.  I am not sure anymore.
     The next big job is the Dickens Village.  We have about 20 houses and accessories that have to be placed.  It is tine consuming and sometimes frustrating when the lights don't keep standing upright.
     And we have a couple of boxes of decorations to put out.
     I found my log cabin, so I can burn my incense again.  Favorite holiday decoration, it is.
     We got a delivery the other day and I am a little upset.
     When it got delivered, we also got an e mail saying the package had been delivered. 
     But the next line hurt me.  When is gave details about the delivery it said, "Customer met....woman."
     They gave the package to me!  I am not a woman, despite my well endowed upper body!
     Hmpfff....maybe I better work on dressing better too.  Or at least more manly.  No more house dresses while I'm at home, I guess.
And after doing a newspaper column for the local paper for two years, I forgot to do one!  Should have had one in the Nov. 26 paper, but I did not write one for some reason.
Oh well, stuff happens.
For more proof......watch the Bears!

a traditonal timber

I cut my own Christmas tree today

      Technically I watched John cut down the tree.  It was huge.
      I can't tell you how long we have been cutting our own trees.  I tend to view it as ecologically sound.  You need a tree, you cut a tree.  So many tree go unsold at the end of the season, it makes sense to me to use what I harvest from a tree farm that only planted the trees to cut them down at Christmas.
     As I get older, it actually gets easier because the youngin's do the work.
     This year was unusual.
     We parked the car next to a tree that we all thought looked pretty good.  But you can't cut the first tree you find, that is an unwritten rule in the cut your own tree handbook.
     You have to wander for at least 30 minutes looking for a better tree, only to realize the first tree was the best but, damn it to hell, which one was it?
     No excuse this year...we parked next to it.
     We used to go to Sinnissippi Forest, on Lowden Road just outside Oregon.  I semi-knew the owners and just enjoyed the experience.  They had thousands of trees.  Most were in the main yard area, but there was the Sand Ridge lot and the Wilderness lot, where the bigger trees were.  Once Sinnissippi closed, the Sand Ridge was sold to the Prairie Preservation Society of Ogle County and they have continued to sell the existing trees as a fund raiser.  No trees are being replanted, but the area will be restored to prairie eventually.
     But I digress.
    The tree today had to be 12, 13 maybe14 feet tall.  We only wanted the top 8 feet.  The bottom was not well developed and had lots of scraggly areas, the top was good.......full and compact.
     John brought a battery powered saw.  No, it's not cheating, it's a matter of convenience.  Two years ago it took us half an hour to cut the tree with both of us using the not so sharp bow saw.  Our arms were killing us.
     Today it took two minutes.  Unfortunately, it fell on John.  Fortunately, he was not hurt.
     It was heavy, mainly because it was so large.  We cut off the bottom and trimmed up some branches and put it in the car.
     Once back at our house, we cut off another couple of feet to get it to the right height.
     By then it was considerably lighter.
     Now it is up and partially decorated.  I did not buy enough LED lights, so I need a couple of more strands to complete it.  Young Camryn came over and helped string lights and hang ornaments, which is always a fun thing to do.
     I don't know about you, but I tend to get emotional at Christmas.  Hell, I am emotional all year, but it is worse at Christmas.
     Don't get me wrong, I love the season.  But sometimes the memories, like the Ghost of Christmas Past, have a pretty strong effect on me.
     I know there will come a day I no longer have a fresh tree, cut with love, and that will be a sad day indeed.
    But for now, I am loving that partially decorated tree.

How about this one?

Hunters, before their prey

Oops....can't close the car!

Ready to decorate

ooops....I goofed

My memory isn't as sharp as I think

     Jackie read about the Cabbage Patch doll and said, "That's not what happened."
     She then explained she ordered a doll from a large national retailer.  In those days orders were done out of a catalog.
     Anyway, she placed the order waaaaay before Christmas, like September, but the dolls became hot items and were almost impossible to find.  Ours came just a couple of days before Christmas.  She did manage to get a second one, but not from a neighbor.
     OK, I was wrong.  But it was interesting, wasn't it?
     Speaking of interesting, we went to Escape to Margaritaville in downtown Chicago today.
     First off, it is not a Buffett concert.  It is a love story featuring Buffett songs.      Basically we were a pretty well behaved crowd.
     But sometimes....well, I get "excited."
     I did fins.  Despite some stares and pokes in the side from the lady sitting  next to me on my right, I did fins.
     And the characters on stage said this was a family show, they would not use the complete phrase, amending it to "Why don't we get drunk and.......  "  But it was suggested the audience could sing the rest if they wanted to.
     So when I yelled out "Screw" a few people looked my way.
     Of course, I yelled "Salt. Salt.  Salt." And so did several others in the audience.
     Surprisingly, it was far from sold out.  The mezzanine section was almost empty and there were empty seats on the main floor too.
     The only thing missing (besides the smell of weed, alcohol, spilled beer, passed out patrons, and mad dancing by the crowd) was the iconic beach ball.
     But during the last song, out they came.  The cast threw out dozens of them.  I think some people may have been confused, but a lot of us kept batting them in the air whenever we could get one.
     Since it was a theater and seating was sloped, a lot of the balls rolled to the bottom.
     We got four.
     I liked the show, except for the zombies.....can't figure that out.  But that is a whole other issue.
    Thanks Em and John for asking and taking the old folks.

A delicious turkey!!

Missed my Buffett buddies!