It's September but Still Feels Like August

 So, I am not sure exactly what i was so busy doing last week, but it did seem like i was busy everyday with more than just work...that last weekend after my last post my sister and i ran up to the city to see my Grandmother.  All we could do was sit outside and so we brought our own chairs and planned to just be able to visit with her 1 person at a time, but the woman working the front desk let my sister and i visit with her in the lobby and my aunt was there too.  My Grandmother is looking good, alert, but very thin.  My aunt said she was down to about 93 pounds.  She is very small anyway - like 4'11".  But she was in pretty good spirits and enjoyed the visit.  It was awful not getting to hug her.  I took her choc chip cookies and tomatoes.

Then we finally broke down last week and subscribed to Dish satellite TV.  I figured as long as I am working and with winter coming and continued numbers of Covid 19 increasing in my state, we will just pretty much plan on staying home and staying safe, so let's get something to watch on TV!  I do have a couple of driving roadtrips and a couple of long weekend kayaking/hiking trips with a small group, but DH will appreciate having something to watch.  We had that done Wednesday and the Dish customer service setting up the service and the technician who came out and did the wiring and setup was great.  So far, we are really enjoying it.

Then, we got a wild hair and decided to get a king size bed and sell our Queen - so we did that last week.  We ordered our king - and decided while we were at it to get the adjustable kind - i LOVE watching tv and reading in bed.  So, we had some back and forth with the bed store saying the bed was on backorder, no it's coming tomorrow!  Etc.  So we sold our old bed quickly to get it out of the way and the couple paid for it last Thursday on Venmo and then came to pick it up on Sat.  We also sold our guest room mattress (used less than 20 times) and will move our old tempurpedic into our guest room.  I will show picture next week and include my guest room makeover!  We got my Ikea order Monday last week and put the furniture together and finished the guest room Wed.  It looks so nice and i can store twice as much clothes.

The garden still producing tomatoes, i have made salsa and given several jars away.  I have had tacos, nachos and taco salad, made stewed tomatoes and put some in vegetable soup.  My peppers are still growing too, so i decided to dry some.  They were all green and now that they are drying, turning yellow and red.  Very pretty.

My sister and i talked plants and gardening while we were driving, so i am putting together a succulent sampler plant for her from my little growing collection.

My husband and i are both enjoying this cypress vine that is growing in the lava rocks behind my trash container, next to my ivy topiary.  It is also called Cardinal vine.  It is so fine and dainty, but it is anything but timid - once it grows, you will never get rid of it!  But it is pretty.

I really am loving my ivy topiaries.  One on each side of our shop/covered car port.  It was so much metal and concrete, we knew we wanted plants on each side to break up all that metal and concrete, it faces west, so i wanted something drought tollerant - plus i can leave it out there all year and it winters fine.

This is a picture of my sweet little girl chi, Chili.  She has such a cute face.  But she is not a friendly dog to strangers.  During the time the satelite installer and the people who bought the bed were here, we had to keep all the dogs outside and they were not crazy about that!  They are so spoiled!

Right now for the next week until our new bed arrives, we are sleeping on our old mattress, on the floor in our master bedroom - good luck keeping all the dogs off the bed right now!  It is only about 15 inches off the floor!  Even the 2 chi's can get right on it now.

Well, i guess i better get back to work.  No rest for me on this Labor Day, i am working so that i can take off this friday.  I am going kayaking with a couple of girlfriends about 4 hours away.  We are going Friday, Sat and a little float Sunday before we drive home.  It is going to be so fun!

I hope you are having a great Labor Day, and staying safe.  Maybe having something good to eat, on the grill or not.  I know thought it is hot and i am ready for cooler weather, I am not altogether ready for summer to go either.  See you next time.

Friday Again, i am sensing a pattern here

So as of last Friday I mentioned I have a new job.  I started the onboarding process (electronic paperwork) Monday and did several documents Monday and a couple of missing/mistakes on Tuesday).  Then we got an email Tuesday evening like around 9:30pm, work Friday that all the people being hired still had onboarding documents, etc).  So I figure I have 2 more days off - more work in the yard - mowing, puttering around.  Planting a few more flowers, some more veggie seeds, etc.  Then we shopped for inlaws.  I helped with a couple more things with sister in law's yard, etc.

I finished the border on my deck azalea area - the water rushes under my deck from neighborhood to our south and out the side where the azaleas are - that is why I spent the money and got rocks for this area - mulch would just be washed away.  Even the rocks washed over the flat brick pavers, so I got these longer thicker ones from my SIL and stood them vertical so I could fill in with more rocks and make it more substantial.  I love it.

Oh, and she has a business where they sell vintage/used/flea market/antiques stuff, mostly furniture but also décor, seasonal, nick nacks, some glassware, etc.  She is know in the community and a woman downsizing sold bunch of furniture to SIL and SIL texted me that the lady was selling a treadmill.  So I bought it for $40!  I really don't have the room, but I just stuck it in the middle of my small guest room for the time being.  I will be glad I have in on really hot and really cold days.  Just don't like where it is at the time.

I am eventually going to get rid of some bigger furniture, so my long term plan is to move to larger guest room.  I don't have company much, so I am not too worried about it being in either guest room.  But our furniture is big - was for bigger house and good functional well built furniture is hard to get rid of.  More on this later with photos!

My DH is one of 3 boys and 1 sister.  Their grandfather made this beautiful walnut cabinet with glass out of a walnut tree he planted as a young man.  Then went off to war and came home and cut the tree down and made this.  I have my blankets in it that I crocheted.  I just gave one blanket away for a wedding present - the white and black houndstooth with red trim - see below.  Well, my brother in law has 2 sons so they are eventually going to come and take the cabinet so the boys will eventually get it. One son just got married - I gifted the blanket to them (and some cash!).  DH has agreed that I can then get rid of the huge bedroom set (he has owned since the 80's, and it is very nice, but so big and bulky/dark).  He is ok with the idea.  He is seeing as we get older we don't need so much stuff to take care off/move/clean around.

I got an email this morning (after I went to bed early and got up early - preparing to work and GET PAID!).  No work yet this morning.  I sure hope the project otherwise goes smoothly - this is frustrating.  But since it is for an arm of the federal government - it moves like a glacier getting everyone on board.

Oh well, guess we can finish working on our deck.  We painted our picnic (I always say pick-a-nick like the cartoon) in my head!  We painted it turquoise for fun pop.  The sellers of this house left it back there when they moved.  DH has replaced several of the boards, so it was diff colors of wood.  So we thought a bright paint job would be fun.

It turned pretty cool this week Thurs after we had nearly 90 degrees Wed!  Weird.  I saw a post from a friend of mine that she was doing big Easter dinner and delivering to her loved ones, so I was inspired to do the same.  I am making baked ham, potato casserole, green beans, deviled eggs and a coconut cake.  We will deliver to Mom and Dad in law, sister in law and her husband and my husband's uncle who lives alone and has health problems.  I have been trying to do nice things for people (care packages, cards and just calling/texting) just to be supportive during this weird Covid 19 quarantine time.  I know if it is hard on me, in must be hard on others too, even though we are all still in the thick of it and don't really talk much about that - I think we are all mostly staying positive and all our feelings haven't processed yet - mine haven't!

Have a wonderful Easter weekend1