Sammy loves to Run

Had the best burgers over at Wayne & Jenni's this afternoon. (And my pumpkin pie was pretty good too!)

Sammy seemed especially happy to have everyone in the backyard.  I lent my camera to Maddie to take some pictures while I was hunting for the eggs they hid. Was surprised when I got home and saw almost 3 dozen on my camera.  Most were of my butt!  And yes, they got deleted.  I should have known better.  They both think my butt is funny.  And it is!

Stopped to take a picture by the fairgrounds on my way home. I never tire of seeing those mountains.

It occurred to me when I got home that I took a picture of the dog and video of the dog and didn't take any of the grandkids.  Uh oh..

Anyhow, dinner was delicious.  Wayne's burgers were great and Jenni made red potato salad and corn on the cob. Pumpkin pie for dessert.

Looking forward to 'Call the Midwife' tonight as the new season starts at 8 pm.  Now I have to go google "sore tongue" to find out what's going on with that.  I'll give it a week and then I'll probably have to break down and see a dentist.

Sure was nice out today. I put in an hour weeding the front area under the window but am finding an hour is about my limit for now.  Tomorrow I'll start on the pots on the porch. Maybe. 

Spring chores continue.....

I put in about an hour yesterday along the fence. Finally gave it up when I realized my tools weren't working all that great.  I had bought a Black and Decker grass cutter last spring (or the spring before) and already it's quit on me.  Last B&D product I'll ever buy!  I even took it down to Swains to see if there was something I wasn't doing right. The kid who helped me knew as little as I did but his assessment was that I needed to take it to a B&D dealer for battery replacement.  What a bunch of BS!  I had tried charging it overnight and it wasn't taking so I figured it had to be something weird as I haven't used it all that much.

I'm sending it straight to the trash can. Seems to me like I've had problems with B&D products before.  I did buy a file to sharpen up my other manual clippers and I bought a second pair of clippers too so the kids can help me.  I do have a weed eater but it's just a cheapie and you have to baby it along to get any use out of it.  It's hard enough working outside physically; I don't need challenges from my tools too.

I think I've got some allergies kicking in as well.  Feeling awfully stuffed up and crabby.  More crabby than usual, that is.

I started clipping and weeding along the east fence yesterday.  Made a huge mistake putting bird feeders there last winter. What a friggin' mess!  My fault.  Curious to me, though, why the grass along that fence is so green and lush and growing while the rest of the lawn is brown and mossy and ugly.

The neighbor to the west of me says she's bothered with moss quite a bit as well, and her lawn is also really hard and difficult to dig in.  I'm going to go over to the nursery this week and see if I can find moss killer. There must be stuff for that.

I can understand why the area between our two houses is pure moss because the sun never hits that area.  Today I'll trim some more along the fence and maybe start cleaning up the front.

And this is why I haven't been blogging as much. Nothing to yak about but BORING stuff.  And with that, I think I'll get back outside and see how many slugs I can find to gross me out.

Yard projects

Hunter cut my grass yesterday and even though it's mostly moss all the way around the house, it still looks better with a trim.  I'm not real knowledgeable about plants, flowers, trees, soil, fertilizer and such but I guess I'll have to educate myself as I go along.  I'm pretty sure the yard wasn't this moss-covered last year. The area has never been healthy looking even with the various attempts I've made at adding topsoil, aerating, watering, fertilizing, etc.

It would take a professional (and hundreds of dollars) to get the yard "pretty" but I've got other fish to fry and am not going to let it consume me.  I did spend 45 minutes this morning in prep work. That was about all my back could take and I'm determined to pace myself through the month of April as I try to get the yard spruced up a bit.

I did take some pictures this morning so I'll have "before and after" shots. First off, was my little tree on the curb.  I've thought, for sure, it was going to have to be dug up but I think the buds are coming in now and even though I don't like the 'moss-like' pieces I see on some of the limbs, I think I'll leave it be.

Here's  a view of a spot on the front lawn. Ugly close-up but tolerable from a distance.

I intend to work on three or four different areas in the front and back over the next few weeks.

 I'll be limited to what I can do here because of the deer who come in for a midnight snack -- and sometimes lunch in the middle of the day!

 My first area of attack will be along this fence that needs clippers and weeding so the tulips can thrive in a healthy spot.

 Counting pots on the side of the house that I have stored, I probably have close to 20 pots to pretty up with better soil and nice flowers. Maybe some vegetables too.  At least I can sit down to tackle this chore.

The tulips are getting close but haven't opened up yet. If the sun comes out this afternoon (or even if it doesn't) I think I'll get outside to clean up the bird feeders. I'd like to get them situated in the corner of the yard behind these tulips but the ground is like cement and I don't think I can get them staked.

Decided to pull out my CD collection and start playing them in the DVD each morning.  Took me forever to remember that I have to plug in the red,white, and yellow knobs to the front of the tv if I want to use the DVD player. Sometimes the mechanics of all the gadgets I own drive me crazy.  When I finally figured out what I was doing wrong, on comes Conway Twitty saying HELLO DARLIN'!  Made me laugh.

I watched a cute movie yesterday called 'The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.'  Featured four teenage friends who all fit the same pair of jeans and mailed them to each other all summer as interesting things happened to them while they had them on.  A girl flick, for sure, but I liked it.

Gotta get busy now. Genealogy gets the rest of my morning and then it's back to yard work.

Time for spring cleaning

I've just spent way more time than I wanted to looking for the cord that charges my electric grass clippers.  It's got an odd looking connection with three white prongs so you'd think it would be easy to spot.  I've gone through the hall closet, the outside wood box, the garage, every closet in the house, and that little bugger is nowhere to be found.  The odd thing about it is that the box it came in was sitting on the top shelf in the garage with a cord in it -- but not the right cord.  I'm hoping Hunter can find it next time he's over.

Meanwhile, as I scrounged around in boxes, bins, and nooks and crannys, it occurred to me that I have to make a Goodwill run soon as it's getting out of hand again.  Funny the stuff you keep when you know darn well you're probably not going to use it.  I'm tempted to have a garage sale advertising EVERYTHING FOR A QUARTER. I just may do it too if I can get the kids to help me.

When I sit down and really go through everything, I'm overwhelmed by exactly how much I have and don't need.  Old phones, tons of cords, coffee cans, trays, Xmas lights, toys, old boots.  I'll have to call myself a hoarder if I don't stay on top of it.

I made a Walmart run this morning. Spent over a hundred dollars counting the haircut I decided spur of the minute to get as I was exiting the store. I still look like hell but I'm learning to live with it.  After I came home, I washed a load of laundry, pulled a few stickers in the back yard, washed dishes, and sat down to work a crossword puzzle while having lunch.

I haven't went on ancestry.com today but I'm thinking I might put in an hour or two later. Which is my latest plan of attack on keeping this hobby in check.  Knowing I have yard work waiting motivates me to put a lid on the websurfing.  I don't know if anything can help the lawn. It'll look better once Hunter mows but it's pretty much moss all the way around, especially on the west side.

One of my VCRs gave up yesterday so I thankfully pulled the one Rose Johnson gave me out of the closet and sat to study how to tape.  I either did something wrong or the tape I used was rotten. I did a 5-minute test again this morning and I think it worked so we'll see how it goes.


I don't know what my problem was last night. I went to bed around 10, read for a bit, and was REALLY tired so I turned out the light and was sound asleep fairly quick.  Around two a.m. I woke up JUST TO PEE and then I tossed and turned for over an hour unable to go back to sleep. I almost gave in and got up to get on the computer but I knew I was tired so I stayed put. Finally..... I woke up at 7:45 groggy and upset by various nightmares.  Terribly weird things going on (even murder) so I don't know where that's coming from.  Perhaps I passed over to the dark side.  Eweeeee...that's scary!

Well, time to get moving.

 

Later....

 

Hunter came by to cut my lawn and he knew right away where the cord was. It had gotten switched with one of his toys.  Yay!  And I just did some reading on possible side effects from the antidepressant I started taking again.  One of the symptoms can be weird dreams, crazy thoughts, anxiety, dry mouth, nausea, headache, diarrhea....all of which I have been dealing with from time to time.  Now I have to decide if I want to continue.  I already quit them once and started again.  I think there's a word for me.  It's called hopeless.  ha ha

 

Time for a Change

I spent all day working on ancestry.com again.  Bad mama!  Eight hours later I realized I'm  in a real rut!  Time to change the routine.  I know I was going to put my family tree on the back burner but it's kinda like quitting smoking. Takes more than one try.  Which reminds me.  This is my quit smoking week. March 24 (I think) of 1992.

Anyhow, I worked on the Baldridges today.  I had put a few notes together last time I did genealogy but I needed to rearrange them for easier reading and to fix errors and add new stuff.  Then I decided to get busy around here.  I moved my computer, printer, desk, and all my paperwork back into the computer room as I was way too comfortable at the kitchen table.  My goal now is to participate in other activities like housework, ironing, exercise, and yard work.  Lordy!  Just typing it makes me tired.

I've got an exercise bike in my bedroom now and a treadmill in the living room.  I keep thinking if I have a gym right here I'll work out more.  So far, I'm still thinking on it.  ha ha  But I will!

I had Jenni, Wayne, and the twins for dinner last night. Lasagna, salad, and garlic bread.  Yum!  Next Sunday I get to go to their house for Easter dinner

The half dozen or more quail who have taken up residence under my deck came out for a little stroll around the yard today. A few jumped into my raised flower beds to check out the tulips.

Maddie and Hunter made metal dustpans in their metal shop class so I got one along with Jenni. It actually works better than the run of the mill plastic ones.  Here's the one Maddie gave me.

 

A couple days ago I got it into my head to cover four bricks with felt.  I was going to use them under the treadmill but discovered the thing doesn't run as well when it's braced up. So now I have four bricks that I might use for book ends.  Took me a while to sew them too!  Stupid waste of time, I suppose, but I'm good at that.

And for your laugh today.....

 

I ran the Race

Talk about goofy dreams!  And I don't even watch The Amazing Race anymore.    I got up at 4 with a splitting headache. Knew it was one of those that would disappear as soon as I got my head off the pillow so I came out to the living room to sleep for two more hours in my recliner.  At 6 I was still very tired so headed back to bed until 8.  Those on again, off again wake up calls can wear you out and make you groggy, and I'm already debating if a little nap in the recliner might help later this afternoon.

It's no wonder I'm tired.  I was in the Amazing Race last night. Linda Pederson was my partner and I opted to do the first obstacle which was to run from Port Townsend to Hadlock.  Once in Hadlock, I had to stop by this company called Gray Metal to pick up a silk head scarves.  And I had to do a "trick" with these scarves which I couldn't quite get the hang of until Joanne Gilles showed me how to do it.  The distance I had to run was much shorter than the actual distance between PT and Hadlock but there were walls and fences I had to get over and I took them like I was 12.  It's no wonder I woke up dead tired!

I decided to make an early morning run to Safeway while the coffee was brewing and you can usually be assured of having the store to yourself at that hour.  I'm going to make lasagna for supper but I needed some canned tomatoes.  Took a few pictures on the way home.

 Lincoln Street was pretty quiet at 8:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning

 I never tire of stopping to take pictures of the mountains. I may have to invest in a new camera, though. I'm not getting the shots I really want.

 This is where the twins go to school. Stevens Junior High. Mary and Andy almost bought a house turning right on that little road ahead.

 Here's two photos of the old Lincoln School built in 1916 and closed in 1978. The historical society bought it and is fixing it up little by little. They have a fabulous rummage sale one weekend a year where several rooms in the school are FULL of just about anything you're looking for. I always make a point to stop and shop. The genalogocial society building is right next door and this is kind of "my neighborhood" as they're on 8th and I'm on 15th.

 

Picked up a morning paper and the funniest thing I read was a story on ways to keep deer from eating your garden. A motion-sensitive system called 'Scarecrow' was suggested where a sprinkler comes on when it senses movement nearby.  You do need to move the gadget, however, as the deer figure out it's there and use other spots.  It doesn't scare crows, however. They'll fly by on purpose to set them off so they can cool off in the summertime. Crows can be a nuisance but they're still very entertaining.

 

I was going to suspend my genealogy hobby for a while but after one day away, I decided the hell with it!  There's still too much I need to investigate so I'm back at it.  I wrote the Polk County Historical Society hoping they can locate an 1898 obit of my g. grandmother,  Jane Downs.  My plan is to learn more about her and her family.

 

She doesn't show up in the Delaware birth records for 1840 although Delaware births are available online for that period of time.  I'm guessing her first name isn't actually Jane although the references I've found for her are listed as "Jane M."  She named one of her daughters Martha so I'm going to start searching again. Her dad is supposedly 'Ben M. Downs' but I can't find a thing on him either except a listing in the 1850 census showing him, Jane and Jane's mother, Henrietta.

 

I can't find birth records for Henrietta  and you wouldn't believe how many Henriettas, Bens, and Janes there are out there.  A ton of Downs too!  I'm leaning towards thinking Henrietta's name might have been Dorman but there's also a chance she was Charles or Clark.  Unfortunately, the 1840 census doesn't name names, just marks for females and males a certain age.  It's driving me crazy!

 

And that will be my day. I'll stop long enough to throw dinner together and maybe...... I'll head outside this afternoon to pull a few weeds here and there.  We'll see.  If the sun comes out, it could persuade me to venture out and commune with nature.  First, though, I have to get some music going.  Turner Classic Movies is showing the 1960 flick, Where the Boys Are, and it's starting to nauseate.  Funny how I loved that movie over fifty years ago.  Ha!

Chilly Saturday morning

Not much on my calendar this week. In fact, the only notation I see is for next Friday -- reminding me to haul the trash cans out to the alley.  Yep!  One of the more exciting periods of my life.  The twins came over after school yesterday. Hunter turned on my laptop and said:  "You're slipping with your blog, gramma!"  I told him I was happy to know it was something he clicked on to read but things have been kinda dull around here and I haven't had much to yak about.  (not that that ever stopped me from blogging before)

I see frost on the backyard grass and the neighbor's roofs but the trees aren't stirring even a little bit so I guess we'll have a nice day once we warm up a little.  I was out on the back deck yesterday afternoon and it was almost warm enough to think about sitting out there.  I walked around the yard a bit looking at the stickers that need to be yanked out, the grass that needs mowing, the weeds that can be pulled here and there, and the old flower pots that need to be spaded and cleaned up.  The tulips are getting close too. A few buds are up and should blossom in April. Yay!

I'm kind of looking forward to getting out there with my gloves and shower stool to get busy.  The garage also needs a good cleaning out but I'll wait until we have a sunny day. 

I've spent eight weeks on ancestry.com and a couple days ago, I decided I should probably give it a rest and see about working on other activities.  I was playing with the idea of setting up a jigsaw puzzle or starting a sewing project but I haven't made up my mind yet.  Mainly because I stayed away from genealogy a full day and was itching to get back to it. 

I'm going to write a couple of historical societies today to see if I can get somebody to search for the obits I want.  I also need to visit the public library and find out exactly how to order microfilm through the inter-library system. I know there's a lot of options I haven't used yet -- including going over to the Morman library across town.

I splurged on a $12 magazine yesterday.  I stood there debating with myself over it and finally just gave in and grabbed it off the shelf --Rolling Stone's Special Collectors Edition of Bob Dylan's 40 years of Stone Interviews.  A ton of pictures too.  I'll have it by my recliner for weeks.

Well, it's 8 a.m. and the washer just turned off so time to throw a load in the dryer and begin my day.

Luncheon & a Llama

Is he cute or what?!  Louis Salvador is his name and he scared me a little bit at first when he came running and got right in my face. I suspect he thought my camera was food because he continued to get in face the whole time I stayed in the fenced field with him and the goats.

Stopped to visit Kris and Bill Rust on Marrowstone Island and I LOVE their house.  I especially enjoyed seeing all Kris' pictures and "stuff".  I saw several things I would have bought myself. My brother stopped in for a few minutes (he lives on the island too) so I forced him to sit down for a photo (even though he stunk to high heaven of gasoline!)

I was surprised that Kris & Bill's house had such a terrific view of the water. Another plus for living there.

I had a great time and look forward to going back. Kris is such a good hostess. She even sent me on my way with a couple of brownies. And I don't mean young girl scouts. Ha Ha

The Crown Zellerbach/Port Townsend Paper Corp Retirement Luncheon at Highway Twenty Roadhouse was, as usual, a fun get together. Always nice to see familiar faces. Mary Norton was MC and several door prizes were given away. I took over four dozen photos but maybe half a dozen came out blurry.  Hate it when that happens. Here's a few that I took. I can't remember all the names so Mary N. is going to get on the phone with me later this week to help me ID people I know but can't recall either their first or last name. That seems to happen a lot lately

 



Carolyn Guiher, Ruth Kvinsland, Linda Pedersen, Joanne Gilles, Connie Matthes

                                      Mike and Kathy Dillon

 

                        Erwin Graves, Wayne Hamon  and Emily Graves

 

 

                                               Jodi Reandeau and Becky Fernandes

 

Ollie Cole on the right

                                               Phyllis Weisenburger and Carolee Jackson

                            Mike Dillon, Yvonne Starkey, Kathy Dillon, Jim Dodd

Bob Prill & Voneda Stiewe

                                              Halliday,Inman,Camfield

                                    Carl Dierich, John Taylor

 Warren Grondahl, ?, Bob Pray, Dean Nelson, Jim Halliday

 George Schnieder

 ?, Dean Kobetich, Gary McNeil

 Ron Wise, and yours truly

 Schneider, Terry Rohring, Pat Plaster

                                   Bill McIntire, Harold Rogers

                                  Konrad Schwencke &  Jane

 Mary Norton, Bill Seelye, Joanne Gilles,Ernie Pelham, Cathy Louck

                                 Fishels & Vic & Marie Anderson

 Ernie Coulter

Well, time to get busy around here.