Mooning Glory

Full moon 9-23-10. Photo taken at 6:44 pm. Love it!

Still having Birthday parties for the month on September. For the first time ever we are scheduling two September birthday parties in October. Seems like going to work is a priority for some people! Great grandson will be here from NC to celebrate his 1st birthday! October will be as busy as September. I will have to make time for my fall planting between celebrations, visiting, and my second trip to NC! And to top that off, it's been so dang hot here that anything planted this early would surely die!

Not sure how my daughter works full time and still manages all the beautiful parties! Another one is planned for this weekend for her Hub's 60th bash!

One of my daughter's recent parties...

Staying busy is the best way to cope when our Disneyland life is imploding. More on that later. In the meantime, good news! Sister said she read that women over age 65 need not diet unless they are grossly obese, as it is hard on the body and the benefits of dieting are countered with hazards. Can't get any better than that--I'm 66!!

Chaos Contained!

I love the sunrise that greets me each morning! Every one is different. I don't ever tire of these magnificent blessings!



Good news--our remodel is finished!!! Well almost finished, but I'm not satisfied the way the draperies look. Still working on them. With all the light streaming through the windows I couldn't get a better photo.




I'm still working on them, but at least they are up!

I will have to have a painter come to change and finish the painting. The other walls are two stories high! Back to the store to find the perfect color, yet again. I will go as soon as I look into the garage cabinets for the rest of my books. I'm sure that will lead to another disaster!

The swivel rocker is not in a good place, and the color is now dated. Hard to believe white is outdated! The furniture is crowded still, although I thought that without the computer desk, I would have all the room I needed This room has always been hard for me to decorate. It opens to the kitchen, has a corner fireplace, and now, only one wall to work with. Even a professional decorator didn't offer any hope! All these insignificant decorating problems are just a way to occupy my mind, pushing away the what-ifs of Hubby's upcoming test results. Usually I just eat under stress but somehow I'm still watching carbs. His bone marrow biopsy is finished, and there's one more blood test to take before we get the news on Oct 1st.

Isn't this a pretty wreath? I found it at Target--on sale of course--Might take it back in a few days...depends on my mood at the time I guess.

By the way--still no glasses. I can't believe they haven't shown up yet. Still hoping they just appear from nowhere soon. I keep putting off getting new ones, because then they'll show up for sure.

Lost But Not Found

If I didn't have the blessings of daily drop-dead gorgeous sunrises like this one--I would think I might be hexed! I've lost my glasses again! Walked out the front door, rolled up the soaker hose, walked back to the car, and my glasses were gone off my face! Poof. Just gone. Now, tell me how that could happen? I have been searching for three days now!

Update--it's been five days now--we started looking in all the obvious places, like the fridge, trash, and then Hubby started opening drawers in the closet that hadn't been opened in years! Nothing. This bad luck with my glasses (I lost a pair, then had the bike wreck and lost another pair) must have some underlying meaning. Like, maybe I should have purchased that damned insurance! I know it is just old age but it is getting more annoying all the time. The best is when everyone says, "pay more attention!" Well, how can you pay any more attention than putting them on your face! Next time, I will start looking for them before they are lost. Yes, that's the ticket! How can I ever get ahead financially when all my money is going for replacement glasses? Good thing the sun comes up in the morning. Left to me, we'd live in darkness!

Remodel Chaos

Turr Tull coming in to check the progress of the remodel. He waits at the door, and then when he thinks it's safe, he crawls through each room.

I'm recovering from painting two walls in my family room remodeling project. We didn't plan on doing any more than break through the stairwell wall and expose the old bookcase that was there from a previous remodel. But...I went into a manic state and decided to paint the wall next to the bookcase. Then another wall, and then, why not another wall with a coordinating color? So, off to the paint store I went. As I started home after the paint store purchase I passed a fabric store. I stopped and found the perfect fabric to match the paint color. I couldn't resist! I didn't know how much fabric I needed (did I mention I don't know how to sew but I know how to use a staple gun and hemming tape, and I am good at guessing,) so I bought 10 yards of floral and one yard of stripe for the accents. I have plenty left for pillows and enough to upholster a chair! So much for good guessing!

The wall color is Dried Chamomile. The "Cinnamon Stick" color is now called "Sealing Wax"

Hubby is working hard building the area for my computer. I found some fabric baskets at Lowe's and I might use them instead of Hubby making drawers. I am trying to keep Hubby from over working and tiring too much.

We've found out doing this project that we just can't work like we used to! A terrible thing happened that drove home that point. We were in the half-size closet, trying to put the backing on the bookcase. It should have been a simple job--just nail a panel on the back shelf. We had to hold the light-weight paneling up two inches to get it in place for nailing, and we found out we couldn't do it. Had to get a crow bar to lift and hold it place. This was done by lying on the floor and using my foot to hold the crow bar, with Hubby lying on top of me trying to nail it all in place. Finally we we got it done. We were so proud! Then...we could not get up. I think it's called being "all stoved up!" After cursing our joints, old age, weak muscles, each other and wondering aloud how we got to this sad stage of life, Hubby finally managed to back out of the closet. I tried to straighten up but I was so twisted in the small space I just couldn't unbend and move! Hubby had to tie a sheet around my ankles, twist me around then pull me out! I felt like a beached whale! Once out, I straightened out and just stayed on the floor in the hallway floor for almost one-half hour. It took two days to recover!

Before the drapes were started and the walls painted, we decided to put brick on the wall above the built-ins. Back to the store to find a match to the existing fireplace bricks.

This is the confusion that I am working around in the middle of the room I'm working in. Boxes of dolls and other knick-knack collectibles are scattered everywhere. They came out of the closet we had to clear out to do the project. ADHD has kicked in full time, adding to the mess. My whole house looks like this now! While painting, I decided that the laundry room needed to be freshened up. While making the drapes I decided I needed somewhere to store the found items from the laundry room so I started to clean a shelf in my closet. On and on it goes until my whole house is in shambles. It's not a easy life!

I am so ashamed of spending so much money on all these dolls and stuff. I can't even sell them on EBay. They are a dime a dozen now. What a shame. Don't want to give them to Goodwill but don't want to store them any longer--what to do? I will try at the community yard sale next month. However, I see light at the end of the tunnel for this remodel. The surge of good feelings has started a bit as we get closer to the completed remodel Can't wait!

Summer Confusion

I waited all night for the rain to come! Not a drop! Weatherman was wrong yet again. The beautiful sunrise almost makes up for the waterless clouds.




Waiting for sun...this sight always takes away my anxious feelings...if only for a moment.

The hours when the mind is absorbed by beauty

are the only hours when we really live.

~ Richard Jefferies

Turr Tull was looking for his food this morning...


Oops! This is not food. He is a very slow learner, or he has poor eyesight. Maybe both.



I can't keep up with all the eggplants on this bush! It loves this 110 heat, and I will definitely plant this again next June.




Another project for Hubby! This will be the second remodel--maybe the third--I see two wall paper patterns under the existing mustard colored sheet rock wall. The stairwell closet was full of collector dolls. The hall and bedroom are the new storage places until we finish. I am skillful at stumbling over confusion--having practiced all my life! A few months ago I made the mistake of selling my large desk and two large bookcases. I replaced it with an unsuitable computer desk . I miss having my books close by, so down came the stairwell wall! Let the fights began! My Hubby and I don't work well together, but our love of doing projects usually overcome the battles that follow! We only stay mad until he understands that I am right. It doesn't take very long at all, and it does place a terrible burden on me to know everything and have to always be right. He doesn't understand that part yet for some reason. After 35 years, you would think....

Summer Fruit and Cactus Flowers

Blooming late this year is this Mammillaria Grahamii,

and also an unnamed Mammillaria. I searched my old blog entries to find its name, but I was just confused so I stopped. What difference does it make in the whole scheme of things? As I look back on my life I have almost always been confused. But my frustration with the confusion always stops when my beloved cacti bloom, and then names don't matter! They are, and will always be, beautiful!

I found ONE cantaloupe on this massive vine. I'm so proud of my first vegetable and now my first garden fruit. The Eggplant is producing a record amount of blooms after two days of rain last week.

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Today has been a 10! Who needs money, fame or good looks--my happiness springs from my garden--and my new addiction, two daily root beer floats! It fits my diet plan as I use diet soda and I'm sure that cancels out the calories in the ice cream. I'm still on a diet, so I'm watching calories. I'll let you know how the two daily floats work to keep my weight down!

Summer Stuff

The clouds gathered for over two inches of rain last week. It rained for two days and the accumulated rain water from the side and back yards almost flooded my patio! Turr Tull's new home located in the side yard stayed dry. He finally move in last month after shunning it at first.

The hibiscus that I bought from the clearance table at Lowe's bloomed for the first time after getting drenched with rain. I'm glad it is red as Turr Tull loves anything red, even my red toe nail polish! He nibbles at my toes if I stand still very long!

Let the parties begin!! All the weekends during August and September will be birthday parties. I started another diet today, and I am determined to stick with it for the next two months!

This pocket shrine is something I made at at a reclaimed art retreat that I attended a couple weeks ago up in northern Arizona. We had a fun weekend learning to make art from found treasures. We brought photos from home, and the instructor furnished the cigarette box. We purchased other ephemera from a local thrift store and a yard sale nearby.

The birthday table looks bare without the usual cakes. Instead, the birthday grandchildren prefer cookies, brownies and ice cream!! The table came from my Grandmother's porch and sits in my daughter's dining room. It was hand made by my Grandfather around 1917. It was mostly used as a working table--canning, grading eggs, cooling cakes etc., just a catch-all farmhouse table. My daughter has used it as her dining room table for the past 18 years. We love having our parties at her home, and look forward to seeing her decorated party table!

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Hubby had his last chemo today!!!! Further testing in September, but we are sure he will be free of treatments for two years!