If It’s Monday…

Oct 292012
 

It must mean you get your update on what happened with the shed this past weekend.

Well, the rest of the soffits got delivered and part of them got put on, and Rick started shingling the back part of the roof!

And I had some great pictures but… for some reason my camera got hungry and ate them.  I have no other explanation for where they went.  They were on the camera and then they were gone.

Bad camera.

We also had some company this weekend.  Nichole, Alexis and Kayla came for a visit, and Alexis must have thought that I needed to decorate the house a little bit since Halloween is fast approaching and I have nothing up to celebrate the occasion.

Well, this certainly does the trick (or treat… HA!) now doesn’t it!

Let me see… what else… Oh, we also took a little road trip on Sunday to Phillips, WI, where Rick had found this

This, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the Gellman 400 Bread Slicer.  It’s amazing the things that the man finds.  Years ago I was looking for a bread slicer, but they were way way out of my price range.  Apparently, this model is similar to one that Rick used years ago when he worked at a bakery (which I never knew… after all they years I’m still finding out stuff about him.)

The machine came with a wooden push paddle that has obviously pushed many loaves of bread into those razor-sharp blades.  The best part was that the silly thing runs like a charm!  With a little clean up (it was full of bread crumbs!) it will make short work of those wonderful loaves that I bake each week.

Now I just need to find room in the Kitchen for it.

 

Pre-Hibernation

Oct 252012
 

I’m not sure why, but I feel like we’re missing a whole of stuff that should be done before the nasty white stuff hits (which, by the way, we saw a few flakes of today).

Maybe it’s because the lawnmover has finally bit the dust and we’re having to attack the 14 billion leaves that cover our homestead by hand.

Or maybe I should say leaf blower.

We had a young kid over on Saturday to see if he could make any headway, and he got a good start, but there is still sooooo much more to do.

So Sunday Rick & I took the whole day and finished the front and south end of the property.  I let him have the power tool (aka leaf blower) and I went at it the old fashioned way.  What really sucks is that the remaining 2,679,410 leaves that were still on the trees came down the last couple of days and covered 2/3 of the area we cleared.

And what really, really sucks?  They’re all wet from the rain we got Tuesday and Wednesday, so I can’t even go out after work and evict them from the property.

ARGH!!

One good thing that was accomplished is that the last of our wood order for next winter has been delivered.  We have no place to stack it even if we started splitting it now, so we have all winter to rest up for that job.

And it looks like the woodland critters will have plenty of shelter this winter and they can Stay. Out. Of. My. House!

 

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Soffits and Cinnamon Rolls

Oct 242012
 

I know that normally I give my “updates” on the shed on Monday, but since it was my Mama’s birthday, she took priority.

Which goes without saying.

But I had to say it.

Anywho, the “fine tuning“, as I like to call it, is where the crew is at now.  Those little facets of building that have to be tackled before other things, like shingling and siding, can be done.

This weekend was all about soffits.

And believe me when I say it is slow and meticulous work.  Not that I personally have to do the work (duh) but just to get 3 sides of the shed done took 5  hours.  Then they ran out of material.

Ever notice all the “butt shots” there are when you are trying to photograph carpenters?

No?  Maybe it’s just me.

Once again I’m glad that I didn’t have to get up on the ladder to help.  Willard has been a tremendous help the last few weeks.  It probably doesn’t hurt that I feed him too.

And while the guys were doing the “manly stuff“, I was being all domestic-like in the kitchen trying out a new recipe for Cinnamon Rolls.

These are supposed to be “Cinnabon” quality, but frankly I really didn’t care for the recipe.  They were tasty and all, but for me they were too dense.  I like a cinnamon roll that isn’t going to feel like I ate a 3,000 calorie sugar laden pastry.

Rick, on the other hand, loved them.

Which, really, is all that mattered.

 

CRF: Not the Calie She Used to Be

Oct 232012
 

Because of her CRF*, Calie can only eat soft food because her stomach can not process the dry stuff.  It can be very exasperating at times when she decides that the one food that she absolutely adores is now nothing more than slime from the bottom of my shoe.

A lot of times when this happens, what is left of the now-I-hate-this-shit can is thrown away and another “flavor” is opened and she is once again on top of the world.  Until she hates that can and the process is repeated.

Not only that, but we are down to only 3 or 4 flavors that she can have and likes, so there’s not much room for negotiation.  I can tell that her CRF has been getting worse because the toss-a-can/open-a-can routine has increased substantially, and at this stage in her disease, eating, drinking and using the litterbox are the main priorities.

To make things just a tad more interesting, throw Thor into the mix.  For obvious reasons, we feed Calie on our bed so we can keep an eye out for this

This is what happens when I turn my back for 2 seconds.

At which time I have to move the big lug away and push him over so he will lay down and leave her alone.  Now you’d think that would be the end of it, eh?

You obviously don’t know Thor.  (And I’m obviously stupid for turning my back again.)

I don’t know who I get madder at:  Thor for trying to eat Calie’s food, or Calie for not telling him to get the hell away!  For a cat that used to be a cantankerous SOB in her younger years, she sure has gone to the extreme in the mellowing out department.  She’d let him eat the whole thing if one of us isn’t watching.

And as my girls can attest, that is not the Calie they know.

:::

* If you’d like to know more about CRF, this site has some wonderful information and has been a great help to me over the last 5 years.

Together

Oct 222012
 

My Mother & I share something very important (besides being Mother and Daughter).

Our birthdays are one day apart.  Mine on the 21st, hers on the 22nd.

Before her illness took a firm grip on her many years ago, we always made it a point to do something together for our birthdays.  Sometimes it would be getting our hair done, or simply having a wonderful meal together at one of our favorite restaurants.  One of the last birthdays we spent together was doing something that she loved:  gambling.  I remember it so clearly like it was yesterday and can still see the smile on her face when she would win a few quarters, and shoving money into my hand to play a machine next to her.

We had a great bond, one that could not, and will not, be broken.

So even though we can’t go and have lunch or have our hair done, we will still spend today together.

Happy Birthday Mom.

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