Rainy Night

Nice rain tonight. Good soaking rain that's way overdue.

The thunder scared Darby so we let her come in, and she enjoyed cleaning out the cat bowls in the kitchen and then relaxing with an after-dinner chew stick.

We're cleaning out cabinets and drawers and the garage and just about everything for a possible yard sale next weekend. The pet cabinet yielded a few interesting things: A dog Halloween costume and a few cat hats that Elise talked me into - which never stayed on a cat head for more than 3 seconds.

Good dog. Patient and long-suffering dog.




This is Darby maybe 6 years ago when she was too young to protest. They'll go into the yard sale along with various other things that haven't been used in that long.

The cat toy box was full of odds and ends of amusements, but Stella was not impressed by any of them. She stared at the mice and even tolerated one on her head but would only give them a bored look before she fell asleep under their gaze.






I took a lot of pictures when we went to South Carolina last week, but I'm too tired to sort them tonight. I'm ready to hear more rain.

Settling In - Sort of

Thanks to everyone for the comments. There is still some glitch that won't allow me to respond to them, but I do appreciate them.

The final resting place - I hope - for the calendar. It looks much better here, I think.

This was another area to be dealt with - and was. The cutest little computer came in that box. Mike's not sure the screen is large enough for viewing his massive amounts of correspondence, so he may not keep it. I'm kind of hoping it comes my way. I sure don't mind hand-me-downs.


New kid on the block. The $4 Wal-Mart mixer I bought last Christmas after burning my other one out on cookie dough has competition.


Although the little one didn't do such a bad job on mashed potatoes yesterday.


This was a gift from our children and has been sitting on the floor of Mike's closet for weeks. I was not allowed to open it for the reason mentioned above. We may have to savor it in the box another day or so before we can enjoy it.

Before-and-after time. Just to prove that retirement is working.

We both worked this morning on the pyracantha. This is how it looked last week.


I mainly pushed the wheelbarrow to the street, clipped the lower branches, and hyperventilated when the loppers tried to get too close to the fence. If the main gardener had had his way, there would be a small stump there now and no berries.

Much better.

The heat was pretty fierce, and I didn't get to enjoy the other improvements, so I concentrated on another inside job.

This is a nice little pantry that was just a catchall and a place for Mama to keep all her things.




I spent a little time on it, and it looks better. At least now I know where some things are.


Before the floor got swept.

That will probably be all that gets accomplished this week, but I'm happy with it. Can't work all the time. We're going to S. Carolina on a "business trip" this week, so I should get some knitting and embroidery done. Then Sunday, I'm going to meet Barbara at the quilt shop to see what's new at Kudzu Blossom. Just looking.

I wonder if there are any quilt shops on the way to Greenwood.

Marking Our Territories

Well, now that we're a household of 3, it's going to be interesting to see what kind of adjustments we make. Right now we're circling each other, testing the waters, seeing what's going to be tolerated, and where we're all comfortable.

Mike wasn't home 3 hours before I found this.


My first thought was No WAY that's going to hang on my cabinet. Why do we need a calendar anyway? And then I noticed the retirement article. I think he's had it on his bulletin board in TX for years, but now there's no "thinking again." It's still there, but I'm looking for another home for it.

I'm finding things taped in unlikely places, things on the floor at the back door, rubber-banded stacks of "stuff" everywhere.

It's kind of overwhelming. When Mama moved in with me 5 years ago, we kind of combined things and weeded them out gradually, but we still have more than we need. And now there's going to be a 3rd set of "things" to sort through and integrate.

I decided to start on the coffee area this morning since we all drink coffee and have 3 distinct areas for making it. It was just me in the kitchen, so I took the liberty of cleaning out the cabinet and leaving only the cups/mugs we use plus a few sentimental ones on the top shelf. Mike's out of town today, but I'm sure that's going to be met with, "WHAT? You got rid of that?" "Where's my _____?" And the Splenda packets that are now nicely in a plastic container will be inspected, probably counted, to make sure I didn't throw any away. In fact, he's probably reading this on his Blackberry and doing a U-turn to come back and rescue his things.

Hoarder meets minimalist. It's not going to be pretty.

These are most the mugs Mama brought with her, plus some of Mike's. She takes a few down at Christmas to use every year, but other than that she uses only 2 or 3 for her tea and coffee. I've left them down for sorting and will be keeping my fingers crossed I don't have to put them all back up.

So much better. If only it would be that way tomorrow.



The takeaway spot on the floor by the back door just will not work. It might have worked living alone in an apartment without a dog, but last night I noticed Darby tip-toeing, as only a dog can do, with something in her mouth. After running after her and checking, I saw that she was gently carrying a shrink-wrapped container of jerky (meant for a gift) to her area to check out alone.

I'm on my way to start on the glasses next and then maybe the small pantry.

Your Paper is in the Microwave

The rains from Hurricane Lee finally reached us during the night. I woke up to a nice pounding rain and just smiled at the thought of all that nice soaking we were getting.

As I picked up the newspaper in the driveway, it was pretty heavy. I was laughing about with the nice couple who walk the 2 yellow labs by here, and she said, "Put it in the microwave." I was thinking hairdryer, but that sounded like a good idea. It worked fine.

Only slightly curly.


My recipe: Cook for 1-minute on each section. Repeat 3 times or until done.

The bonus was that I saw a column by one of my favorite writers, Rheta Grimsley Johnson and read it while I waited.

Mike is crossing the Mississippi this morning with no rain yet. He left Lubbock yesterday at 5:30 a.m. just ahead of a little rain there and drove all day until he ran into I-20 slowdowns because of a wildfire in Kilgore, TX, and/or LSU football traffic. He only made it as far as Ruston, LA, and spent the night. Unfortunately will probably become a Storm Rider as he crossess Mississippi and Alabama. His whole route has tornado warnings until early evening.