Monthly Archives: March 2022

Work in Progress

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I don’t have much to write about right now. I am buried in fabric and my brain is loaded with ideas that want to come out.  I will try to get some pictures of some things I am working on although I can’t show much as it’s all for my Christmas sale in December.  I have a bed already piled high with things I have sewn and/or quilted.  I’ve become rather obsessed, I must say and it’s a good obsession because it keeps me off the streets.

Today I went through yet another plastic box of fabrics and found some I really don’t remember every buying, but I liked them so they will be used.  I also found a lot of the fabric I bought when we were in Alaska.  Really bright, vibrant colors.  I need to incorporate them into a quilt.    As you can see, it doesn’t take a whole lot to keep me entertained.  Just give me a box of fabric and a sewing machine and I’m off to the races.

I will try to get some pictures next time and maybe not be so boring. But life is mostly boring with a little excitement thrown in, isn’t it?  Although I can honestly say I have never been bored so I must be the one causing the boredom in others!  Oh, well. Bye.

It’s a Miracle!

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So three days after calling the pest control man our skunk was caught.  Notice how I called it our skunk.  It was beginning to feel like a permanent, rather stinky member of the family for a while.  You know that saying guests who stay longer than three days start to smell like fish?  Well, this guy or gal did not smell like fish. I would have welcomed that.

David came upstairs before he left for work to tell me not to go out on the front porch as the skunk was in the cage.  I asked him to take some pictures if he could.  So he did and did not get sprayed in the process.

How can such a beautiful animal smell so badly?   Look at that fur.  Women would love to have a coat made from fur like that.   Glad they don’t have, though.  It looks much better on the skunk.   Poor little thing looked so sad, but a little angry which is why I did not go out to see it.

So the skunk saga was ended, I hope, although there is a chance there may be more under there.  The house doesn’t smell like skunk when you come in from outside and that’s a big plus.  Did I tell you the pest control man’s name?   I didn’t?  It was Mr. MIracle.  How about?  He performed a miracle for us because if David or I had tried to get rid of that skunk it was almost guaranteed one of us would have been sprayed.  He came, threw a cover over the cage, picked it up and off he went.  I called him later and asked him what he did with the skunk. He lives out in the country and he said he let it go.  I wonder if skunks have a homing instinct like dogs? Will that skunk return?  I hope not. He said to call him if we notice another one under there.

 

And another miracle happened.  Or at least I like to think of it as a miracle.  After Christmas of 2020, I cut the leaves off an Amaryllis I had grown.  It had been so beautiful.  I didn’t know if it would rebloom again, but I put it in an upstairs bedroom and watered it sparingly all year when I thought of it.   I actually had completely forgotten it for months and then just the other day I went into that bedroom for something and there it was.

The amaryllis had grown tall and bloomed again and I almost missed it!

It was beautiful. So now I will trim the leaves again and mistreat it for another year and see if it will bloom again.  Miracles.  Believe in them or not, they happen.  Bye.

Stink, Stank, Stunk

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A few days ago I woke up and I thought David was cooking breakfast, but it smelled really bad.  I got up and closed the bedroom door and went back to sleep.  Later, when I woke up again, I went downstairs and asked him what he had cooked.  He said he hadn’t cooked anything. “What is that I smelled?”  I asked him.

All day long I kept smelling something bad.  Sometimes it smelled like something was hot and was burning.  I have a very strong sense of smell so anything different in our house, I notice it right away.  This smell really was bothering me. I was worried that maybe the furnace was getting too hot, but David said it wasn’t that. David has no sense of smell to speak of so he did not notice what I was smelling.

Later I was outside and came up on our back porch and there it was.  The smell, but this time it smelled like skunk.  I was worried the dogs had run a skunk under the deck.  But, no, there was no skunk there, but David did some searching around the house and found what looked like burrowing under our front porch and it smelled like skunk. That’s all we needed. A family of skunks under the house!  He said it looked like something was living under there.

Since we built the new front porch we have had two kitten litters from a feral cat and a woodchuck take up residence under there.  This was by far the worst occupant we have had under there.  The first kitten litter David caught the kittens and mother cat, who scratched him up pretty badly.  We managed to find homes for all of them except the mother cat who got away.  The second litter, the mother cat got hit by a car and we think the kittens died under there, we are not sure.  The woodchuck also got hit by a car so that problem went away. But now, we have skunks!

David did some searching online for pest control people and he had a man answer who said he would come out and try to catch the skunk or skunks.  He came out and brought his trap and set it up.  He was a retired minister and a jack of all trades now. I wonder if he had ever caught a skunk before.   The first night he caught nothing so he moved the trap to another location and still no skunk trapped.   This time something ate the marshmallows he had put in the trap. Marshmallows!  Who would have thought of that to catch a skunk?

Remember the cartoon Pepe Lapew?   He was an amorous skunk who was constantly going after this cat.  He had a French accent and was very debonaire.  I thought he was sooo funny.  You could always tell his odor put off the cat.  Well, the skunk under our porch is putting me off.

The worst smell is in our basement. David says there’s a tunnel under there something has dug.

So far no luck catching the skunk.  I’m hoping we get it gone before porch sitting weather!  Bye.

Dinner and a Show

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Yesterday was my birthday and it was a very nice one, indeed.  I told David I did not want a cake as I wanted to get tiramisu at the Italian restaurant we were going to.  So, instead, I awoke in the morning with fresh coffee brewed and Boston creme donuts with two candles on them with the number 7 and 3.   I let you guess how old that made me!    So right there the sugar intake started.   Even though I wanted to have less sugar.

David said I should do whatever I wanted to do on my birthday and I know this sounds boring to many, but I spent the afternoon sewing upstairs.  Sewing and listening to talk radio puts me in my happy place.  But it wasn’t to be for long. David came upstairs and said, “You need to come see something.”  Now whenever David says something like this to me, I never know if I should expect the Queen of England to be at the door or that the dogs have found a new toy.  I never know.   “Is it company?”  I asked since I wasn’t dressed for company.  But it wasn’t company.  I came downstairs into the dining room and there was a beautiful vase of flowers and a large box of Whitman’s Sampler on the table.  “Do you have a boyfriend? David asked me.  “I don’t know.” I replied.  You would think I would know.   I read the note on the flowers that wished me a Happy Birthday and called me Mom so I knew it was somebody who called me Mom.  So that narrowed it down.  They had not signed their name.

And more sweets!  I was not going to eat sweets except for the Tiramisu, but I ate two chocolates, one being a caramel which, while I was chewing it, made me remember this was exactly how I pulled the bridge off a tooth a few weeks ago while eating a Sugar Daddy.  “Idiot,” I said to myself, but I didn’t do any harm this time except for adding a few hundred calories to my day.  The day I wanted to eat tiramisu.

My daughter-in-love called me to wish me a Happy Birthday and she said she had not sent the flowers and candy.

My very best friend from school where we went from first grade to graduation together, called  from Florida where she and her husband were spending a few weeks.  We had a nice talk.  She and I can get together after years and it’s like we have never been apart.  We went through a lot of things together while growing up and she will always be my friend.

I received a few cards one of which is from a lady in my church who always includes the most wonderful prayer for the recipient of the card.  She is so awesome and her prayers are so heartfelt.  I cherish them when I get them. She had sent David a birthday card and prayer also.  She hasn’t been to church for a long time because of Covid and she is not in the best of health.

Later we went to my favorite Italian restaurant to eat. We went kind of early because I was hungry having already eaten a donut and two pieces of candy!   We had the cutest waitress. She was tiny and elfin like with short hair and the prettiest eyes.  She wore two rings in her nose which kind of bothered me, but it’s her business. I don’t know why people wear rings in their noses. The only ones that wore rings in their noses when I was growing up was an old bull we had or the pigs.   So I have never had the desire to wear a ring there.  But if you do so, it’s your business and if it makes you happy.  Anyway, she took our order and was very efficient in getting us our drinks and bread.  We were having a good time talking while I was facing the kitchen where I like to watch the cooks as they toss the spaghetti and cook on the grill. But suddenly I saw smoke coming from there and all the cooks and waiters and waitresses stopped what they were doing and watched what was happening as one of the cooks struggled to get the fire under control.  “The kitchen is on fire,”  I told David and he turned around to look. The smoke was billowing.  What a show!  No one was running for the door, so I thought it couldn’t be dangerous.    As fast as it began, the fire was out and everyone, the cooks, the waiters and waitresses all disappeared.  David said, “It must have been the spaghetti and sausage I ordered.”  We laughed and the manager came to our table and said it was going to be a while before we got our meal and we were okay with that.  By that time the restaurant was filling up with people and no cooks in the kitchen.  Later our waitress came to the table to apologize that our meal would be late and I said, “It’s not your fault.”  So we waited about an hour and the cooks finally came back and started cooking again and we got our meals and let me tell you, the chicken penne gorgonzola was delicious. It was such a huge serving, I took a lot of it home in two cartons and ate it today.  I also ordered the Tiramisu to go as I was full.  We were there for two hours and it seemed much shorter because we were having such a good time. Then I went home and ate another donut.  I know.  I was lost by that time.

Today I finished the chicken penne and ate the Tiramisu and it was worth the wait.

Our daughter called us that night and it was she and her husband who had sent the flowers and candy.  So mystery solved.  I am so blessed.

It was an amazing birthday and I look forward to more, but I don’t know how they can be any better than this one was.

Here’s to Happy Birthdays, may you have good ones always.  Bye.

 

A Time to Celebrate

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After my last post perhaps you wonder if I’m still around.   After having my leg banged by the pups, it looked pretty bad for a few days, but now it’s healing well and I never had any pain.  David’s arm is doing better. Today he shoveled out the chicken house, so I guess he feels okay to do it.

This is my birthday week so we are celebrating.   David made me some more flower boxes since I just ordered 21 packages of flower seeds.  Yes, I went overboard, as usual and I always am looking for places to plant flowers.   I had a really nice flower garden in raised beds last year and this year I will have more!

So I’m going to make this short today.  My days are so busy sewing, sewing, sewing with my Christmas show and sale in December which seems like a long way away, but with the way this year has already gone, it will be here before we know it.  I don’t sew as much in warmer months as I like to be outside so I’m trying to get as much done as I can before it warms up. I’ve made about fifteen pillows, a couple of small quilts, a table runner, a few pot holders and twenty or so pin cushions and that’s just a start of what I want to make.  I have aprons, more quilts, more pot holders and mug warmers in mind.  I just make what sounds like fun to me.  I will be giving sneak peaks through the coming months at what will be for sale.

So I will see you on the other side of my birthday. We are going out for the day and then dinner and Tiramisu, one of my favorite desserts will be on the menu.   Bye.