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I may be ruined forever.

Gone fishing

If you'd tried to find us Friday that's what the note on the door would have said. My husband has been through a lot lately and was sorely in need of a little fun so off we went. Here's the little bitty walleye he caught. Too little, throw him back.Here's the hybrid bass I caught. He was big enough to keep, but I'd rather not. In he went.This little guy came to visit my fishing line.DH is thinking hard about fishing..or something.Lots of Canada geese around the lake.What! That's not a fish, a dragonfly, or a goose.I spotted this fine fellow on the drive home from the lake. He/she was the second one I'd seen along the road. The first, sadly I didn't get a picture, was standing in a stock tank cooling off. DH said there was a smaller one under another tree, but I didn't see it.

Remember the raft? We took it and it does indeed float and is going to be a blast out at the creek. I'm looking forward to stalking the pelicans this fall.

We had a good day. DH laughed for the first time in a week and got to do a little fishing.

To a garage sale I did go

This was the first time this year I've really gotten to do any yard sales and I picked up something needed, something that made my husband go, "Huh?" and some cute stuff.

Needed...a brand spanking new, never been walked in, still in the box, pair of Ariat shoes, in my size no less for $10. I've never seen these retail for less than $70.

Huh...an inflatable raft for $5...you never know. We're under flood warnings quite a bit. I'm dying to try it out at Crowder. It holds air just fine. In this picture I'm letting the air out after having it inflated all afternoon. It even came with an oar and a pump. DH is still shaking his head and laughing.
And cute stuff...a box of Shiny Brite ornaments that somebody paid 50 cents for at the Etc. shop and sold at a garage sale for a nickel; a depression glass divided dish for $1; a funny wooden spoon and a little tiny sifter for ten cents each, and a plate holder for fifty cents. I think I did pretty good for my first time out this year.

Where did this week go?

I've worked my tail off this week, but you sure can't tell it.

Monday I put a second coat of paint on all the walls. This is my accent wall and the adjoining wall in the living room. The darker wall is "Caramelized Onion" and the lighter wall is "Desert Fortress". Both colors by Valspar.
The ceiling isn't white. Instead I painted it "Riviera Dune" also by Valspar.
The dining room ceiling is also "Riviera Dune". The walls, oh the walls. I had fits. I tried "Desert Fortress" and it felt like a cave in there. I hated it. I just got rid of a cave and here I had another one. So, I ended up adding another pint of base to lighten it up so it's a lighter version of Desert Fortress. Tuesday we started putting the trim back up around windows. Why does nothing ever fit the same way? Riddle me that. We marked locations and which end was the top and still nothing wanted to go together right. I blame the humidity.

Here are the dining room windows. We just need to put on the final trim, caulk, prime and then paint. Here's the trim we had made. It's got a first coat of primer and is waiting to be cut and installed. I can't wait. My poor old window trim. It looks so sad. Nothing a ton of paint won't fix though. These windows will have plantation shutters.
In between sanding, scraping off silicone, and other remodeling chores, I've been playing with glass. These are going in the swinging door. Just wait and see how cute this is going to be.

The plan this weekend is to get the rest of the trim and doors up so I can paint. DH is shooting to be done by the middle of next week with his part. I want to be totally done by Friday so I can start cleaning house. We're running out of time.

For your viewing pleasure

Can you guess what this is?It might help if you click the picture.

Stage I of the remodel is done and we're running full steam ahead into Stage II. Stage II is my favorite because it involves color and doesn't involve sanding.

Dirty four-letter word

Stinking weather. They're predicting snow later this week and the only thing between me and the snow is a bunch of boards and the exterior siding. I've been busting my butt trying to get insulation up so I can use the heater if we need it. I refuse to heat the outside.

Monday we had a very loud, but much needed, thunder storm. I couldn't tell you how much rain we got because the new rain gauge is laying here next to the computer. It'll be handy if I get a sudden down pour in the office. We also celebrated our anniversary although celebrating was a stretch. DH ended up working from 1-4 AM on a lightening-struck well and nobody got much sleep.

Tuesday morning bright and early Mom and I ran to Lowe's and picked up insulation. Poor Mom had to ride home with a bag in her lap. One of these days she's going to disown me.

Anyway, here's where we are now. This is the dining room. The blank spots have been filled in and a vapor barrier installed. Mom helped until nearly 10:00 last night and I wouldn't have gotten this far without her help. Thanks Mom!Now I'm working in the living room and it's going to take forever.

We have some 2 x 4's that need sistered because of old termite damage and DH wants to work on re-routing his cable wire.I bought myself a new friend and Stanley and I are loving each other. I'd never get this done without him. He's been a big help with the insulation and vapor barrier. I'm sure we'll have a long and satisfying relationship.I don't think I'm going to introduce DH to Stanley just yet. There's the small matter of letting me use the router. DH is stingy with his toys and I'm not inclined to share until he does. We're adults after all and that's how adults act. LOL!

Hey, Honey!

I need the truck. Please come home soon.

All of the plaster is down that's coming down at this point. Other than a few little spots along I'm ready to start taking down lathe. I just need to get this plaster out of here and for that I need the truck.

I have muscles

Yes I do. I might add that they are super sore today. Ouch! That tells me I've been lazy.

The questionable ceiling tiles are bagged and waiting for testing before disposal.

I'm taking the nails and staples out of the lumber to be reused later on. I have a special plan for it. It's hard to find a place to store 12 foot lumber.

We're having second thoughts on tearing out the plaster ceiling. More news on that later.

If all goes well and I get my lumber pile de-nailed, I'll have more demolition pictures later.

The best Spam slicer, ever

I admit it, we like Spam. I've struggled to slice my Spam evenly for years. I've used knifes, cheese slicers, and a cake leveler. Anything to get even slices. I just don't like wonky Spam sandwiches.

I finally found the tool for the job. Introducing the handy-dandy butter slicer.
It sliced 15 perfectly even pieces in less time than it took to open the can.
Perfect!

Voting, baby showers, and tacky SILs

I voted today. Did you? I hope everyone that is able went and made their choice known. If you didn't, I don't want to hear any complaining. You had your chance.

We're home from the pinkest "NO PINK!" baby shower I've ever seen. Here is a picture of part of her goodies. Lots of pink.

I have to tell you a funny that happened at the shower.

Back history: My SIL doesn't like me because I'm the second wife. Her loyalties remain with the first wife and that's fine with me. The first wife and I get along fine, especially now that the girls are grown and we're going to be grandmas.

At the shower my SIL leaned over and asked me what I brought for the shower and I told her a handmade quilt. She told me I was supposed to buy something from the registry and not bring some little arts and crafts project I'd thrown together. I was good and ignored the jab. I asked her what she brought and she told me a crocheted baby blanket. (I'm not sure why a handmade quilt is arts and crafts, but a crocheted blanket isn't.)

Anyway, about half-way through the gift opening she whispered that I still had time to run to Wal-Mart and pick something up so I wouldn't be embarrassed and to get some hair dye while I was there. (Cheap shots are her specialty. She knows I'm going natural and at this point gray hair is in.)

SD opened the quilt and loved it. She opened the crocheted blanket and loved it. She laid them aside and continued opening gifts. SIL's granddaughter went over and picked up the blanket and the next thing we know there isn't a blanket, instead there's a pile of yarn. The little darling had found a string and started pulling on it and unraveled the whole thing.

I leaned over and very nicely told her she still had time to run to Wal-Mart and I was really sorry, but she must be so embarrassed to have her gift unraveled like that.

She left the shower and went to Wal-Mart. I was gone before she got back, but heard she thinks I told her granddaughter to unravel the blanket.

Sometimes being tacky sure can bite you in the butt. LOL!

In other news, I managed to dislocate my shoulder on Saturday while attempting to keep a box of dishes from landing on my FIL's head. No good deed goes unpunished in this family. I put off going to the doctor thinking it would get better and today I decided I had to go. The doctor told me I was a tough old broad and I have to assume that was a compliment. Otherwise, I might have to go back and poke him in the nose. Anyway, everything is back in place and hurts worse than when it was out.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week.

Veggies and thrifty shopping

I got up this morning a bit bleary eyed after yesterday's black-eyed pea canning session (20 pints). I pulled myself up by my bootstraps and forged on.

My first stop was the farmer's market. All I bought was tomatoes and a couple of cantaloupe.
Mom called and met me at the house and after a quick breakfast we went thrifting.

I found this mop bucket for $1. Please ignore my dirty kitchen floor. Obviously this was a much needed purchase.
This little bird cage was a steal at $5, according to the antique shops in town.
88 balls of crochet/tatting thread for $5 plus a pattern for a bedspread and two crochet hooks.
21 fat quarters for $3.
A salad spinner from France for $1.
I also bought DH some t-shirts, myself a house dress and pair of overalls all for $1.30 and six cups for mis-matched snack sets for 30 cents. I'm sure there are other things, but I can't remember them now.

We made a full day of it and I'm pooped, but I sure did have fun.

I hope you had a wonderful day.

Let's plan a party

We're having a backyard party on 5/10 to celebrate my graduating college. Hooray!

There are a few things we need to have a good time, food, fun, and for my in-laws not to come. Okay, that was tacky, but even DH admits it.

We're crossing our fingers that it doesn't rain and it's pretty enough to be outside the whole day. The thought of being trapped in my house with all of those people makes me break out in hives. I don't like crowds and I define crowds as more than six people at a time. We're expecting something like 20 people.

Mom and I sat down and figured out the menu and who's doing what. Right now the menu looks like this:
Brisket (Mom cooking)
German sausage
Green salad
Baked beans
Potato salad
Corn
Yeast rolls
Pickles, peppers, and onions
Chocolate cake (mom baking)
Dump cake (mom baking)
Fruit salad
Homemade ice cream (DH in charge)
Iced tea and lemonade

I think we've got the food covered unless somebody can see something we've forgotten.

So, now we're down to the fun. I don't want a bunch of whiney kids hollering they're bored. On the same hand, I don't want to sit around and listen to gossip from the in-laws about the rest of the family. We'll set up the croquet course and probably the badminton net. What else do we need?

Water balloons? Water guns? Relay races?

What would you do? Help me out here.

Ringing in the New Year

Happy New Year to all of my blogging friends.

We celebrated at home with family last night. Good food, board games, and lots of laughs.
















My sister sat her egg nog on the washer while she took clothes out of the dryer and Mr. Fuzz snuck a drink.











Doesn't he look satisfied with himself?











This morning I woke up bright and early (4:30) to a calf bawling outside my bedroom window. Huh? A calf? Yep, right in the middle of good old Weatherford. I jumped up, threw on my housecoat, and headed outside to see what was going on.

Poor baby! A little bitty black calf was standing out of the wind, bawling for his mama, and when I came around the corner he took off. So I did the neighborly thing and called the police. I didn't want him to get hit by a car.

We nearly had him, but then a sweet young police officer tripped on his own feet, scared the calf and he took off again.

By 7:30 the police still didn't have him caught and I was tired of flapping around in my housecoat in the cold North wind so I came in the house.

At one point we had four police cars, a sherriff's department car, and Fire & Rescue on the side and front streets by my house, all with lights flashing and at least one door standing open. It looked really bad.

The last time I saw the calf he was headed West at a dead run.

By noon all of the cars were gone. I wonder if they caught him?