Not the best day

This morning we got the phone call we've been trying to brace ourselves for. Mike's grandmother passed away earlier this morning. She has been sick for awhile now, and we knew it would be soon. Happier she is at peace now though, she has wanted to go for a little while now. Lived a long happy life (87 yrs.), left behind her husband Grampa A., they were married for 62 years. They had 8 children, 19 grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren together. She was a very sweet wonderful woman. If we can, we will be making the trip up to NY for the funeral.

That Just Wasn't Fair

I have already said several times, that we take Toby for a walk every night. Well, tonight was no exception...we are walking along and noticed it starting to sprinkle. Which on a day like today doesn't bring much alarm, it has done it in the past and most of the time it stops sprinkling in a short amount of time, and we don't really get wet at all. So we just coaxed Toby to go a little quicker with his walking and continued on our way. The sprinkling let up as we kept walking and Mike and I continued our conversation.
Then without warning...it started to pour, and I don't mean just rain hard. It was one of those driving down, blinding rains. Within seconds we were soaked. Trying to squint to see our way, and looking back at Toby, and giggling to each other, because he was making the same squint. At that point he could of cared less about going potty, Toby just wanted to get home. I decided to make the most of it and starting dancing and running in the rain, what else was there to do? Toby joined me, having fun running through the streams of water running down the street Hehehe...Mike tried to hurry us along, all he was wearing was a T-shirt, and he was starting to get cold quick. Needless to say when we arrived home, all three of us were dripping, freezing, and laughing. But...we finished the walk :-)

Meet Our New Neighbor

While letting Toby out today for a wee-wee...our new neighbor "introduced" them self. He/she landed right on the lawnmower only a few feet away from us!! The best I could tell, it was a red tailed hawk...I hope Lily stops sneaking outside, or she is gonna be its next meal. I was wondering where all our squirrels were disappearing to.

Curious Kitty

OK, so yesterday Mike was looking for an extension cord. While I am outside prying some old nails out of some railing we were "recycling". He looked in the dormers upstairs where we store stuff...and as he did so, he accidentally didn't fully secure one of the locks. It was probably about a hour before we were back in the house all done our project, what I affectionately called Puppy Jail, hehe (closing any gap Toby would have to squeeze through to get off the deck, he is sneaky) before we noticed that Katie (our cat) was MIA in the house. Which is very unlike her, so Mike went upstairs to take a peek and possibly find her, only to find one of the dormer doors wide open! Running through the house to search her usual hiding places and not finding her anywhere, we were sure she had found the open door. After calling and coaxing her to come out. Which she didn't want to do, I mean what cat wouldn't love having full run of the "attic crawlspace" to find bugs and squeeze into all sorts of places. In time, she finally darted out her lil face covered in dust and cobwebs and seemed scared...she ran under the bed and hid. She was very lucky she didn't get stuck, I was surprised she didn't, not very safe in there... But ever since then, she has been crying at the dormer door, and trying to pry it open, so that she can get back in...she is driving us nutty! I was trying to study today, and this is all that I heard!

It's the 22nd

Looking at the calendar, today is the 22nd. That means only two things to me (besides that today is a Monday, hehe). First: Today is officially the first day of fall!!! Second: It was exactly 4 years ago today that Mike decided that was The Day and he eagerly ran down to the jeweler and bought an engagement ring with all the savings he had, and proposed that very night because he just couldn't wait!! (and I of course said yes!! After being in complete shock and asking him if he was serious) I love him so much, I am thankful for everyday that I have him, I don't know what I would do without my hubby!!! (Gag, I know, hehe) Today is a good day :-) Even if it is a Monday!

Busy Lil Weekend

Well, we had a busy lil weekend, and it's not even over yet. For starters we went to my parents Friday night til Saturday night. Where we finally got the news Patricia gave birth to a healthy (freakin' adorable) baby boy...he was a whopper coming into the world a whole 9 lbs 15 oz. So congratulations to our family friends Trish and Matt.

In other news, Beepa got herself a new car!! It's a 2007 Chevy Malibu...just before final purchase Mike did a little research via the internet and because of that we were able to negotiate a better deal!! He's a smart cookie :-) And Beepa got a great car.

I finally got some good pictures of Mom and Dad's house...

...and Beepa's house.


Everyone in the hole that was Beepa's patio, to ensure no more snakes in the vicinity, this week cement will replace what was the wooden patio area.
Mike being silly...ensuring that every ones names would be forever encased in cement, hehe.
Dad was the electrician for the afternoon.
It's Becky!!! Beepa's kitten...she is so much fun!Had alot of fun playing with her while Mike and I were trying to work on some projects Beepa needed done. Despite her clowning around, we got everything done.


We have fungus among-us!! The very odd, brightly colored mushroom in Beepa's yard.
Today I am sure will be spent mowing the lawn and then relaxing watching some football...Go Pats!! :-)

Even Cleaning Has A Giggle In The End

I've said it before and I'll say it again, having pets is a joy (although sometimes a pain)...they make me laugh at least once a day, which helps me keep my sanity at times.

So, I am cleaning house the other day, I am vacuuming, and when I get to the guest room/office, it's just easier to pile the computer chair and Mike's game chair, etc. on the bed so I don't have to go around them. And like always, Lilly and Toby are are watching every move I make (Katie is scared of the vacuum). The ironing board is only in the room because the stupid lever broke, and til we find someway to fix that, we can't collapse it. Anyways, I finish vacuuming the room and turn around to put everything back in its place, only to see Lilly, poised right on top of the ironing board like she is Queen Sheba, hehehe. Up there only to have a better vantage point of course, with no intentions of moving herself! She got me to laugh though...I needed it that day. :-)

Mini-Project Done!

Well, one project done, many more to go! One of my biggest peeves when we moved in was the carpet out on our Juliet Balcony just off our bedroom. You can see, the blue carpeting (not sure if I am gonna trash it yet).

It was comfy on your feet, but when it rained it left the plywood underneath soaked for days! No matter how much the sun shined.

So before everything rotted out right underneath our feet. I took it upon myself, and ripped off the carpet and painted the plywood directly to protect the wood. It worked beautifully, now it dries in no time flat! (It's a nice shade of gray and it looks so much better.)

And looky Beepa, the cactus you gave us loves its new home and is growing like crazy! It's almost as tall as Toby now!
Toby loves the balcony. Gives him a better view of the squirrels, and if any neighborhood kitties get in the yard. (He has already chased two different neighbor cats up the same tree.) If any critter is in his yard, watch out, he's gonna chase yah!

Question: Have you ever seen a cat run directly into a chain link fence at full speed and bounce off it like a sideways trampoline!? I have...twice, eek! (Fortunately no cats were harmed, Toby just likes the chase.)
I am gonna spend the rest of my day studying out on the balcony, it's gorgeous out!! One of those days that you just wanna sing about!! :-)

Bye Bye Loudon

Well, our last hold we had in lil ol' Loudon, NH is now gone. It's official, Beepa sold her house today!! We are happy for her, but sad too. Bye Bye house!

Critters

Now, just to state the obvious, there are alot more critters down south then where I grew up. For instance, we take Toby for a walk every night, and we tend to take the same route because it conveniently loops around. About half way through our walk, we walk into a more wooded area and we went a little late last night, so it was starting to get dark.

We are moseying along and Toby steps directly on what looks like a twig in the middle of the road. I follow behind him and came upon the "twig" only to realize, that was no twig. It was small, but it was very much a copperhead snake!!!! It didn't move, so I thought it was dead, in the middle of road, could of easily been run over, wrong!!! I squint to see better (it was pretty dark at this point), while not getting too close, and the freakin' thing moves! I scream, Mike runs over, and yells at me to get away, and get the dog away, then starts to repeatedly ask me if I am sure that Toby didn't get bit. Since our goofy pup stepped directly on the thing. I was sure, the snake never moved, and besides, I pointed out that we would of heard the dog yelp. He yelps if a stiff blade of grass pokes him by surprise, hehe. Anyways, we booked it, and were sure to keep Toby out of the tall grass the rest of the walk, and kept a better eye out where we placed our feet.

If that wasn't weird enough. As most have seen, we have a balcony attached to our master bedroom. We have curtains that go over the glass doors that lead out to the balcony, so the neighbors don't get an eye-full. This morning, like I do most every morning, I opened the curtains to let the sun in for the day, and didn't pay much attention as I did so. Not until I saw Lilly (the kitty) sitting on the carpet poking at the glass. I look at what she is trying to play with to find a frog stuck on the other side of the glass..? I don't know how it got there, it's beyond me how he squeezed through the screen door, to get to the glass door, and that's after somehow getting up to the balcony. All I do know is, that he died there, stuck to the door.

I'm afraid of what I will find next.

Keepin' Busy

Well, it's September, and right now that means more visitors are a comin'!! For months we have talked about September and who that will bring and I can't believe it's already here! My grandparents will be visiting later in the month, on their way back to their home from NH to AZ. So excited, miss them so much, we haven't seen them in quite awhile.

Also, Kathy will be moving down here soon, hope her move goes smoothly. Kathy will bring with her our one and only Aunt Karen!! Woohoo!!

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"Timberrr!!!"

Mike and I spent the weekend doing more yard work. Slowly but surely we will get everything done and look the way we want to. After mowing and weed whacking, we proceeded to take down two more trees (that would make three to date). First one was starting to rot (ants) and was blocking the house from the road, so it was a goner. Looks great now, even makes the yard look a lil bigger and more open, Mike is happy you can see the house now when you drive up. The second was about to come down in the woods from all the washout we had with the storms, so we helped it along. Both trees will make some nice firewood! There are two more we need to take down, but need more help to do it. Pssstt, Dad, want to come over for a BBQ? hehe

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I almost forgot, Mike snagged me a filing cabinet, to by delight, just needs a lil spray paint and it's good to go!! Any of you that know me, know how disgustingly organized I am, and the lil filing box I have just wasn't cuttin' it, I was out of space! So when Mike saw the spare at work they didn't need anymore, he thought of me and grabbed it. Did I mention I love my hubby, always thinking of me.

It's the little things in life that can make you the most happy!

There Goes Hanna

Tropical Storm Hanna came and went with out much of a fuss. Luckily most of the storm stayed to the east of us. We got a good amount of rain and wind, but only a small stream came through our yard and under the house; as appose to the rapid river from T.S. Fay. We came to the conclusion that we definitely need better drainage around the house and driveway, something we hope to remedy maybe this fall, if possible.
The funny thing was, after the storm when Mike and I went grocery shopping. (As the sun was shining brightly and everything was drying up.) When we got there we found that the store was pretty much cleaned out, I guess alot of people were expecting more then what we got, or they are paranoid. Like in NH, whenever we were suppose to get snow (no matter how little) people always went crazy, crowded the stores and bought everything in sight. Can anyone tell me why they do that? I don't know if I am the only one that sees no reason to go all wacky and buy as much food as I can fit in my fridge. Besides, what happens to all that food if your electricity goes out during the storm, and you don't have a generator? hehe

Quirks

Everyone has their quirks, and my dog Toby has them in spades. Now, we have no exhaust fan in either of our bathrooms, so a can of air freshener is a must. We use febreeze, and I know whenever anyone has made a stinky and "febreezed" because as soon as Toby gets a scent of that zesty freshness, he HAS to run in and rub himself all over the bathroom, he is upside down and the whole works. It gives us a giggle...I don't discourage him, he is at least rollin' in pleasant aromas.

Bash from the past

I was going through some old photos and came across some pictures of our Memorial Day Bash '96. This as many know, was one of many bashes we held in Vermont every 2-3 years at Beepa's house on Memorial Day weekend. We had so much fun! Alot of planning and prep work was put into such an event, one of the reasons we didn't do one every year :-) Friends and family came from all over the country. A port-a-potty was rented for the weekend, everything was cleaned, the food was bought in bulk, and tents were popped up.

Of course when us girls got there, we were on a mission. The upstairs of my grandmother's barn was designated for the kids to camp out in, and we had to go up, arrange the furniture that existed up there and vacuum up all the dead flies before everyone arrived! Then we had the task of making posters, and helping with the kids events, prizes and the ribbons; sometimes helping a little in the food preparation.

I have alot of memories from those parties: Undergarments up the flagpole, laying in your sleeping bag trying to hold "it" as long as possible to try and avoid the inevitable cold of the port-a-potty early in the morning, someones mooning mishap (we won't mention names, really no need, they are on video, hehe), popcorn relays, the water balloon toss, the three legged race, the adults playing horseshoes (which us kids had to steer clear off, they were always afraid they would ding us in the head), of course the shirts my mom had made (those were worn with pride), and visiting with all our friends and family...many of which I only saw when we had a bash.

There has been some talk of having another bash here in North Carolina. I hope it happens, and we have alot of people show!

The 3-legged race!

Aunt Dot and Beepa, showing off their ribbons...nice sweatshirts ladies!

Some of us kids eating breakfast.

Did I mention there was Alot of food?!

Oh, and who could forget when Murphy and Zeke ran away? This would be my best friend Amanda (left) and I (right) giving Murphy a bath, don't know what they got into in their travels, but it smelled. (Unfortunately, Amanda has since passed away)

I still have my T-shirt!

I also have some of my ribbons, and the name tag that they made us all wear one year to know who was who.