Life Is Short, Love Your Family Today

August 7, 2020

Good morning.  Today we'll have sun, clouds and cooler temps.  Temps in the seventies mean that it's a breathing day!  Yayyyyyyyyy!

Yesterday I went searching again for some of my cousins.  I have lots of cousins, but I've only met up with a couple of them in my adult life.  My brother and I were separated from the rest of our family when we were just kids, so now we are basically strangers.  But, every now and then I try to find some of them.  (not much luck here)

Well, yesterday afternoon, I had a stroke of luck and found my cousin Barbara.  But, oh my.  I was two weeks too late.  She passed on two weeks ago at the age of 81.  Sadly, she was not so far away from me.  I just never had any luck finding her or her siblings before this.  This is my cousin Barbara.  From what I read on her obituary, she was a wonderful person and loved by so many.

Folks, always let your family know you love them.   Today and tomorrow are not guaranteed.  They are precious gifts.  Life is short.  Enjoy your loved ones while you can.  If you are missing someone and are looking for them, I hope you find them.  I've been trying to contact Barbara's siblings, but so far I've not had any luck.  I'll keep trying.

Just a note, that order that was expected from WalMart.com yesterday, never came.  I kept checking the tracking, but it kept saying that it was expected to be delivered before the end of the day.  This morning I checked the tracking again, and found that it is being delayed and should be delivered today.  We'll see.  

Today, Deanne will be coming by after work to do my banking and mail my bills out.  What would I do without her?  She's been such a blessing for me.   I love you Dee Dee, and you too Eddie.

There's not much more news for today, so I'm off to do some blog reading.  So, till Sunday, Y'all stay safe and have a fantabulous day.

Hugs, Edna B.

College Will Be Different This Year

August 6, 2020

Good morning.  Tis sunny today with temps in the seventies.  However, temps will soon rise up into the upper eighties.  It seems like I've been up forever.  Pogo and I were finished with our breakfast before five thirty this morning.  

I've been busy so far, just not anything very important.  I went through my email and found an ad I've been waiting for.  The birdseed is on sale at our local Ace Hardware Store.  We need bird seed, so I'll let Joe know and he can pick some up for us.  

I'm hoping it doesn't get hot too quickly this morning because I have to keep the door open so that I can watch for the mail carrier, plus I'm waiting for a delivery from WalMart.com.   I thought I would try WalMart.com to see if some products were easier to get.  It's the first place I've been able to find rubbing alcohol so I order some.  The market has been out of alcohol right along, and out of my coffee the last few grocery orders so I ordered some of that too.  

Deanne sent me a photo of her veggies and I thought I'd share it.  These plants look great.  I tried this once and nothing grew.  

                               

I also have a photo of my great grandson Xander.  He turned three last week, and here he is playing with one of his gifts.  He's Deanne's grandson, and he's such a cutie!

                                            

Today I'm having trouble placing the photos that I'm importing to my blog.  Hopefully, this will straighten out soon.  It just started, so Blogger must be making some new changes.  

What a treat I had this morning when I turned on Leave It To Beaver.  It showed two very old episodes when the boys were very young.  Wow, it's been so long that I'd forgotten how cute they were when they were that young.  Even Eddie Haskell was cute then.  

Today I have to spray the steps to my porch and all around the gate for ants.  We are being inundated with them.  I was standing by the gate the other day and an ant decided to crawl up my arm.  No thank you!  No bugs on me!  It's time to get out the spray.

Jasmine was supposed to be moving into her new college dorm this month, but she just got notified that the college is going to be online only for at least the Fall semester.  After that, they haven't decided.  Needless to say, she is not a happy camper.  She was so looking forward to campus life.  

Now I'm off to do some blog reading before looking for some mischief to get into today.  So, till tomorrow, Y'all stay safe and have a fantabulous day.

Hugs, Edna B.

Play Ball!

August 5, 2020

Good morning.  Well, the storm came by, smacked us around a bit and went on its way.  Some places were hit quite a bit.  Two towns over from here, all the power went out.  Lots of trees and branches came down. some landing on cars and houses and blocking streets.    Deanne lost all power and got lots of limbs and a small tree down.  I'm still waiting to hear from her this morning to see how things are today.  Her son Bobby, in another part of that town, also was without power.  

It was gray here all day, then in the afternoon the sun came out.  All of a sudden, down came buckets of rain.  And all of a sudden it disappeared.  We got enough rain to make a big puddle at the end of the driveway, but most of the yard was fairly dry.  Strange.  

We did get the wind though.  Around mid afternoon, it started getting frisky, and kept up for a few hours.  It blew tons of leaves and twigs all around my yard.  My poor car looks like it was in a dust storm.  I'll have to see if Joe will wash it off a bit when he gets home from work.  I just can't bear to see it looking like this.  I'll see if he will take a walk around the rest of the property to make sure everything else is okay.

Seriously, I'm so thankful that the storm was more or less kind to our little part of New England, and I thank all of you for caring.  Now as soon as I hear from Deanne that they are all okay, all will be good.

Today I thought I might share some photos from Kevin's baseball game this past weekend.  He plays infield on the local men's team.  Here he is getting ready to catch the next out.  Yup!  He got it!

That's Kevin at bat.  Here comes the ball, he swings and runs.......

and he slides into second base, making a double.  Way to go, Kevin.  Eat your heart out Red Sox!

My only regret is that I couldn't be there to watch Kevin play in person.  Soon though, soon.

Yesterday was not a really busy day for me.  The air outside was so heavy and breathing was difficult.  The air conditioner helps me a lot, but I do have to keep shutting it off for a while.  I don't always get along very well with air conditioning.  I'm glad that I have it because it certainly does help.  

I did start to crochet a new purse.   Later, I didn't feel like working on it so I started another new one in a different color.  That worked!  Later on I'll get back to working on the poncho.  Is anyone else like this?  Seems I'm happiest when I have several projects going at the same time.  

I just learned that Deanne's power has been restored, and grandson Bobby should have his power back on within the next hour.  All is well here.  Now I'm off to do some blog reading.  I'm praying that all of you are safe today too.

So, till tomorrow, Y'all stay safe and have a fantabulous day.

Hugs, Edna B.

Everyone Be Safe From This Storm

August 4, 2020

Good morning.  Tis cloudy outside, but then we're expecting Isaias to be visiting us soon.  The storm has been busily knocking out power and creating havoc along its way up the coastline.  My daughter Audrey lives in Virginia and the storm raged there all through the night.  It knocked out their power and dropped a lot of trees, creating lots of damage.  It's still raining there and there's a lot of flooding.

This morning there are a lot of branches down in her yard.  Several fell on the fence around the dogs' play yard, damaging it in several places.  Audrey tells me that some tornadoes went through downtown during the night and demolished several buildings.  This is a photo of part of their doggie play yard. 

Thankfully, no one got hurt, and they do have a generator that will keep the important things running. (freezers and refrigerator, water, some lights, etc.)   Once the rain there lets up, they'll be able to walk around their property to see how much damage there is, and to start the clean up.  

I've been watching the Weather Channel, and this storm is looking really scary.  I'm dreading the thought of another tree on my house or the basement flooding again.  We'll see what will be.  Meanwhile, the storm is moving quickly up the coast, bringing lots of tornadoes along with it.  I'm praying everyone will be safe.

Before I finish this post, let me lighten the mood with this cute image that I borrowed from the web.

So, till tomorrow, Y'all be safe and have a fantabulous day.

Hugs, Edna B.

Button, Button, Who's Got The Button?

August 3, 2020

Good morning.  It's a little after five a.m., but as long as I'm up I figure I may as well post now.  I was hungry so I've already eaten my breakfast.  Pogo, though, is still sleeping so I've put his breakfast back in the fridge.   

Right after supper last night, I sat down to watch a bit of TV.  However, my eyes started drooping and took a nap all by themselves.  After they woke up, I decided to finish my newest crochet project.  As I mentioned before, I bought a new pattern book.  

I have to keep downsizing what I carry (because of my breathing) so one purse in particular caught my eye.  It's a cross body bag.

I had a skein of Fuschsia yarn handy, so here's my little cross body bag.  I only have to weave in a couple yarn ends and put a closure on it.  I'm leaning towards invisible magnets, but I'm still researching.  (it's really brighter than shown here)

Yesterday,  I must have spent at least two hours online researching magnetic buttons and snaps.  I watched countless videos on how to attach these items to a purse made of yarn.  But no matter what type of closure you buy, there are other things that you have to buy in order to use the  items you purchased.  These extra things are just not listed in advance.  They just sort of show up in a video.  Some of the magnetic snaps require a whole tool kit.  Others require an interface.  Then there's probably needles and thread, and goodness knows what else.  But at least I learned a lot about these buttons and snaps.

The purse is big enough to hold a checkbook or credit card, pen, cell phone, license and a small money purse.  And of course your keys.  It's actually just the right size for me.  And it goes nice with the fingerless gloves that I made.

My phone app is saying that today will be hot.  By mid afternoon, temps should already be in the nineties.  It also says that we should be getting a bit of a sprinkle sometime after one a.m.  Just a tiny bit.  

Have you noticed that the days are getting shorter now?  The day breaks later in the morning and the sun sets earlier in the evening.  Sighhhhhhhhh.  I love these long days.  It always makes me sad to see them getting shorter.  

Well, I think I need to refresh my cup of coffee.  Deanne and Eddie did my grocery shopping yesterday, and they picked me up some ice cream sandwiches.  Mmmmm!  Maybe I'll have one of them instead of the coffee.  I'm off now to start this brand new day.   So, till tomorrow, Y'all stay safe and have a fantabulous day.

Hugs, Edna B.

Storm Isaias Starting Up The East Coast

August 2, 2020

Good morning. Today started out sunny and quite comfortable.  But not for long.  It's already getting  hot and muggy again. There's a wicked storm moving up the coast today and for the next few days, bringing some places lots of rain and strong winds.  There's also tornado warnings in Pennsylvania today.  

I've been following the weather channel on TV, but it leaves me quite confused as to what we can expect from this storm.  Depending on who is doing the forecast, we are either going to be inundated with flood waters and heavy winds or some rain and wind.  I'll just have to wait and see what comes our way.

Yesterday was the beginning of another new month.  Tis August already.  Here's the August page from my calendar.

These past couple days I've been keeping busy with lots of nothings.  Well, to be fair, I have listened to a lot of the music that is on my laptop. I also went through a lot of my photos.  They really need to be sorted through and then re-packed away.  I've also done a bit of crocheting.  I bought a new pattern book, but I'll save that for tomorrow's post.  

I've decided to try taking Beet Root Powder capsules, and have ordered a bottle of them.  They are supposed to be very good for health and energy, and for keeping blood pressure under control.  I figure it can't hurt to try it.  If it works, I'll be sure to post about it here.  

With all the graduations that have been taking place, I thought today I would share graduation photos for my children's father (a previous marriage) and myself.  Their Dad (Gary Thibault) graduated in 1953 and I graduated in 1957.   We both graduated from Weymouth High School.  (Weymouth, MA)  These photos need to be in my blog books for the benefit of my grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Wow, I'm still watching the weather channel on TV and they are showing the heavy winds and high waves on one of the beaches in Palm Beach, Florida.  They are also showing the areas where the turtles have made their nests.  We're going to lose so very many of the baby turtles in this storm.  I know this is nature, but it is still sad.

I'm working on a project from my new pattern book and hopefully I'll be able to show a photo of it tomorrow.  Now I'm going to get a bottle of cold water and do a bit of blog reading.  So, till tomorrow, Y'all stay safe and have a fantabulous day.

Hugs, Edna B.

Happy Kitty Cats

July 31, 2020

Good morning.  It's cloudy outside right now.  Temps are supposed to climb into the mid eighties later today.  And I imagine the sun will be shining soon.  I keep hoping for a bit of rain, but it's no cigar.  (now there's a phrase you don't hear very often anymore)

I've been up for hours, but I've been busy.  I crocheted for a while, then made breakfast.  There were some interesting things in my email so I spent some time reading.  My friend Kyra sent me a link with information on screenshots, so I'll be giving that a try after I'm done with blogging.  Thanks, Kyra.

Deanne sent me a photo that Eddie took on his way home from work the other day.  He knows that I love to stop along the way when I'm out and take photos of birds and other animals.  So now when he sees something that he thinks I'd like, he stops and takes a photo.  Thanks, Eddie.

I need to make a correction to my post this past Wednesday, when I said that Kevin was in Boston when the photo was taken.  He was actually at the brand new Encore Casino in Everett, MA.

Earlier this summer, Eddie made a kitty screen room on the outside of one of their windows so that the kitties could get fresh air whenever they wanted to.  Let me tell you, those kitty cats just love it!  Here are Nutmeg and Pickles enjoying their screen room.

Doesn't it just make your heart happy to see our fur babies living the good life?  Nutmeg looks a little bit annoyed at being disturbed while she was sun bathing.  Oh well, she'll get over it.

Yesterday I did not get very much accomplished.  It was just one of those days where I was tired all day.  Today seems to be a much better day.  It's a bit cooler today so I just might sit out on the porch for a while.  Maybe I'll take my rocks out there and try to draw outlines on them.  I'd really like to have at least some of them done before Christmas gets here.  

Dwarf Mikey has just completely retired and will be getting social security shortly.  He's also giving up his car.  We are right on the bus line, so a car isn't really a necessity.  It will be nice having someone around the house a lot.  Although if it were me, I'd have kept my car.  My car is my freedom.  Even if I don't drive it often, I can if I want to.  So, as long as I can still drive, my car will sit right outside my door.  It's a personal decision though, so to each his own.

Now I'm going to do a bit of blog reading.  So, till Sunday, Y'all stay safe and have a fantabulous day.

Hugs, Edna B.

P.S.  For those of you who don't know about the dwarfs, it goes way back to when I first started blogging.  I run a rooming house, and all the tenants were men.  Someone made a reference to Snow White and the seven dwarfs.  So I decided to refer to the tenants as dwarfs rather than post their names.  (for privacy reasons)  Now I sometimes give their first name or nick name.