05/20/2023 If you’re wondering where I’ve been, I’ve been in the garden. In and out, crawling around in the mud and the mulch on my hands and knees, like a freaking 11-month-old. I wasn’t drooling (that I’m aware of) but the sweat was running in my eyes and dripping off my face. I am unable to squat down (knees) so my choices are bending over (not pretty), sitting on the ground and butt hopping along or crawling. I’ve done all 3. They are a very embarrassing look.
Previously this was all dirt and weeds, no blocks. I hated it.We bought 100 blocks and made a low wall. Added topsoil and compost and landscape fabric.Then I planted 30 plants all by myself. It was hard work for an old lady. When I finished, I showered and went to bed at 6:30 and read.Then Bill ran drip irrigation, I still have an Azalea to plant in front of the electrical panel.
Last year we got a late start on the garden, sticking things in the ground haphazardly and hoping they would survive the winter. It was a mild winter, only really cold for a week here and there.
I’ve never been the type of gardener to have a system and plan where I am planting each plant. Not me. I stick things in the ground with little to no rhyme or reason. It just is what it is. Some of the things we bought last summer at a garden place in Glasgow did not do well. I’m not sure why as they were all perennials. We ended up digging them up and replacing them with other (many other) varieties.
Sometime last Nov. we planted about 30 bulbs and then we had really warm temps and they bloomed earlier than they should have. Again, It was a total surprise what came up, I had no idea what I planted.
And then we had a late frost and I had to cover things up, and still lost both my basil plants, which I obviously planted too early. I don’t learn.
I grew the onions from the spring onions I bought at the grocery store. They’re huge.My Cilantro is bigger than it’s ever been, I wish I could preserve it.
I have planted enough lettuce for everyone who lives on Leslie Rd. I have had a salad every night for 3 weeks or more. I have 4 different kinds of lettuce and some spinach. I am in heaven with a salad from the garden.
I use my salad spinner several times a week. I bought this thing in 2010, it’s moved from WA to Roatan to AZ to KY. Still works perfectly. AS soon as the boys hear me get it out they come running. They love the lower part of the lettuce leaf that is crunchy. They are SOOO weird.I have Red Seeded Simpson, Butter Crunch, Romaine and some variety garden mix, and Spinach.
So far this year I have purchased and planted over 120 flowers and 30+salad fixings.
I said, once the Azalea is planted, I’m done. But, I also said, I want to start some lettuce from seed to have later in the summer. When I was fertilizing tonight I noticed a few spots that could use another plant. I’m really going to try to not buy more. Seriously.
We got 2 huge loads of mulch in the trailer and still had to buy 10 more bags. The bags were much easier to spread than Bill shoveling it off the trailer. That is done, as of today, the Azalea is planted too.
I finally made it to Sunny Day nursery. It’s an hour away, in a different time zone, which is weird. I believe the people are Amish, really sweet people and they have an amazing place. On the first visit I wandered for almost an hour before I got a wagon to carry the plants as I shopped.
The fern house. It was so cool in there.I’m a sucker for flowers.Parked by their house.I believe this is called a polka dot plant..Trandescantia, Bleeding Heart and Coleus.Coleus, Dahlia, Hydrangea, Lupine, Phlox, Gaillardia and a sedum.I fell in love with this plant heaven and was back 7 days later for MORE.
The whole time I’m plant shopping, the fact that all these plants means a lot of work, never crosses my mind. It doesn’t hit until the next day when they need something, water.
Nasty. We cut the silver ground cloth off also.
Where the pool sits in the yard was ugly. There was dirt around the bottom, weeds and it just looked nasty. I suggested we use rubber mulch. Bill looked into it and thought it was a good idea. I found some heavy plastic border to hold the little tire nuggets in place. We finished that this morning, it was a sweaty one.
The umbrella came for pool deck so I put the rug out there and the chaises. It will be nice to have shade but we have to really watch the wind, the umbrella could literally fly away.
Nights are just gorgeous on the pool deck. We need to come up with a routine to watch Max. He went swimming after dinner, 6th or 7th time today. He has super thick hair. I dried him the best I could but he’s still damp. He sleeps with me.
Bill woke me at 4:30 AM Saturday morning, saying, I think Highway is dying. This is the second time he has woken me in 14 months saying the same thing. I got up immediately and went to the living room. Highway was NOT good. His eyes were glassy and he was struggling to breathe. We have a nice vet very close but he has no diagnostic stuff. We called the Glasgow vet (45 min away). They’re closed on Sat. and had no one available to see us. So Bill threw him in the car and drove 2.5 hours (one way) to Louisville to the $$$ vet.
They did xrays and said there is something in his lungs, bronchitis, pneumonia (which he had a year ago) or cancer. Without a several thousand dollar biopsy, we don’t know. They put him on heavy antibiotics and prednisone. The bad thing is: he’s been on one kind of antibiotic or another for over one year. Does his body even respond?? He is better, breathing ok but he hacks hard, nothing comes out, and he is doing the reverse sneeze again. We’re going to wait and see how he responds to the meds to determine our course of action. Highway is 10.5 years old.
Dogs sure aren’t cheap. It’s a good thing we love them.
My friend and I went to Tennesee a few weeks ago. I needed a Sam’s cheese and chicken breast run. They had no chicken breast. When I got home I ordered 8 bags of frozen chicken, 4 breasts and 4 tenderloins from Costco. Don’t ask why so much because I don’t know. Then Highway had to go to Louisville, where Costco is. While Highway was at the vet, they don’t let you go in for the exam and xrays, Bill ran to Costco. It’s a drive to get there so we stocked up on dog food, VODKA and Bourbon.
This will last a very long time @ 4-5 drinks a week.This was in the top of a pineapple I got at Sam’s.We got lights for the sunroom. It’s so nice out there now.All I need is a bed.from the pool deckIt’s always fun to find box turtles.Love the different designs on them.
I saw these advertised online and got some to try. Oh my…watermelon, grape, coconut, pineapple, lime, mango. These are so good.
They are my new addiction, no sugar added. Mango is my favorite.
Years ago Bill had a Schwinn bicycle shop. Schwinn started making exercise equipment, like the Air Dyne and the Bow Flex. We had both. I loved the bow flex but sold it when we left WA.
I decided I wanted one and found one on a FB group I admin on. I called the girl and promised her I would buy it but we couldn’t come until Monday. She said, no problem.
We got it home and inside, quickly realizing it takes up a lot of room. It’s now in the bedroom in a really terrible spot but there is nowhere else.
I got this April 17 and have religiously used it every day for 30 minutes. I play some music and exercise under the watchful eye of all three dogs. I’m not sure if they’re mocking me or not.
I’m also trying to walk at least 4 miles every day, some days I hit 5 miles. We walk the boys in the morning then I walk Barrio and Max after dinner. They’re easy, they listen and stay right with me. Tonight we were walking down the driveway to go up on the hill and I saw a stick in the driveway, only it wasn’t a stick. I screamed, I’m sure they heard me down the road.
At first Google lens told us what type of stones we had in the driveway. My snake lover friend Andee said it was a rat snake.With this photo Google finally agreed with Andee.
Max and Barrio were not interested in him at all.
Bill’s sister sent us this jug. It was their grandfather’s. Cool old jug. Very appropriate for Kentuckians.Maybe Bill should store this moonshine in there. A friend gave it to Bill, he was told it’s rotgut nasty stuff just the Popcorn guy is famous.The butt brothers.
I’ll end here with photos I took this morning. Bill keeps it well mowed where we walk the dogs every morning. It’s park-like, especially with the fragrant Japanese Honeysuckle. It smells fabulous.
It’s everywhereBarrio and Max. Best friends, worst enemies.Supposedly the bandanas are tick-repellant. They wear Seresto collars too. Ticks are bad news.Max, fuzzbuttBill just mowed this again today. I like walking the boys out there after dinner. They love going up in the fields and checking out all the smells. Did you know it’s very important for dogs to sniff? The mental stimulation is so strong that some say it’s similar to physical exercise. I let them sniff.I could spend hours up here. So much to see. I play music when I walk them over here, It’s our little chill time.We are getting company tomorrow. I was in the kitchen baking. These two “obsessed with me” dogs sat here like this for the whole time. They are ridiculous.The sunroom, I live out there. See the towels on the boys cots? They like them there because after swimming they come up on the porch and face plant on the towels and dry their noses off.I have an umbrella for the deck but it’s too windy to put it up. Bill is making a wooden thing we’ll slip over the umbrella pole and it will attach to the railing. No more flying umbrellas.The tall thing is my out of control Cilantro.I have flowers growing in there but I don’t know what kind. I did peat pots but…whatever. It’s green. I still have a lot of seeds left so I am replanting into the beds.Pretty sky.The new bed at the end of the shop.
03/25/2023Â Another month is gone. This was a fun March for Bill and I. We were looking forward to Trace and Jackies’ visit all of February. We spent the week before they arrived working to get things looking nice.
The guest room turned out nice, I like the color. Trace thinks it’s too dark.
I baked way too much and subsequently ate way too much. I went overboard on the fruit too, but that’s OK, I eat a lot of fruit and so do Barrio and Max. It didn’t go to waste.
There is also a pineapple…
We had typical March weather, cool and cloudy. The day after they arrived we went to Mike’s Landing on Dale Hollow Lake. I had not been there before but Bill and Jerry rode their motorcycles there last September. This time of year, the restaurant was closed and there wasn’t very much activity. It would be great fun to rent a pontoon boat, or even have a houseboat. I really want to kayak there too, the lake gets warm enough and is one of the clearest lakes in the US.
Disturbing statistic.Party boat centralThis is a big floating house. If we rented one I would need to take the dogs, but dogs are not allowed, so we won’t be renting one.
On Saturday we went to Creelsboro Arch. I had no clue what to expect as I didn’t bother to check it out prior to going. I was along for the ride.
This is called the Rock House @ Creelsboro Arch. It’s a 300 million-year-old natural limestone arch. The story says there is an Indian burial ground atop the arch. I was mildly interested in coming back and climbing up to the top. Only 2 things stopped me: SNAKES and SNAKES. The water on the far side of the arch is the Cumberland River.Trace and Jackie
I look pissed, I wasn’t, really.We were chatting with some young kids who were smashing rocks. Some of them had crystals in them. We managed to find a few.Only a few small crystals. There is a place in Marrowbone, (told you we lived in the boonies) a few miles from here, that sells geodes.
After there we went back the way we came so we could stop at Campbell’s Country Store. They had the most variety I have ever seen of flavored sodas. They were $2.00 a bottle. I’m not a soda fan at all but this was quite impressive. And the candy, that I could have done some damage on.
If they didn’t have it, it doesn’t exist.This old nail/screw bin still rotated. Very cool.Trace was finishing his ice cream cone.And I was falling in love with the entrance. The building was built in 1876. There was a stack of old Life magazines by the bench at the front door.
They had a restaurant in the other half of the building. Pretty cool place.
Sunday was a rainy dreary do-nothing day and that’s pretty much what we all did. There’s not a whole lot to do around this area when it’s cool and rainy. I read, never was much into TV.
Jackie had a 7AM flight out of Nashville on Monday so she was up and ready to go at 3:30AM. Bill and I got up to say goodbye to her and then I couldn’t go back to sleep worrying about her driving at that hour and the crappy weather. It wasn’t a big deal to her though, and she made it to the airport with time to spare. We were sorry to see her go but so happy she took time out of her busy life to come and meet us. I told Trace that she’s a keeper. We look forward to seeing her again and we would love to meet her boys, Jacob and Julian. They are 9 & 12.
The rest of the next two weeks are kind of a blur. Bill was working on building garden boxes for me and Trace was painting the lizards, fixing the sign,
I bought this at an antique store and the price sticker was on the front and left a mark. Trace repainted it so the mark is gone.
and painting my mermaid light. Bill’s sister Kathy bought me the mermaid light. It was all creamy white colored. Trace painted it and it looks great.
The lizards we bought at Conchita’s in Loreto, BCS and carried them home on the plane. They moved to Roatan with us but the climate in Roatan ruins pretty much everything metal and leather. Bill moved the lizards back to AZ but they stayed in the crate. After all of this traveling, they came to KY with us too. Knowing that Trace was coming, Bill pulled them out and sanded them, and primed them so they were ready for Trace’s artistic magic.
The gray is the primer.I bought metallic acrylic paints.They turned out great, there are 2 of them.Up close, now I need to decide where to hang them.Bill bought lumber to build flower/veggie boxes for me. Trace helped him finish them. There is still one more to build.Always a dog…..
I have been asking Trace for a few more paintings, specifically the girl with the sea creatures. He brought her down and also the one with the snakes. I still need one more to balance the wall. We are going to get these framed.
This has been a favorite of mine for years. He was working on this in 2013.Despite loathing snakes, I love this.I need one more under Edward Scissorhands. All the artwork is by Trace.
Highway, AKA, the Perv’ of Burkesville or brother humper, was thrilled to see Trace. When I moved back to WA. (from Roatan) with Highway, Trace walked Highway daily after Dooce broke my ankle. Highway for sure remembered Trace, Max was fine with Jackie and Trace also but Barrio was still very timid and nervous.
Highway has many issues but the one that irks me the most is, he will NOT stop humping Barrio. It drives me bonkers and I’m sure Barrio isn’t really into it either. I mean, who would be?? I know it’s a domineering thing but come on, it’s getting old.
Trace and the humper.I love the way Max is looking at Trace. Don’t mind the different paint colors on the wall, I bought samples and hated them all.Highway is such a pain in the butt. When anyone comes up the driveway he starts with this high-pitched whine that sounds like a 9-year-old girl screaming. Horrible.My bulbs were up and partially opened when we got a hard frost, it was 15 degrees.I covered them with what I could find. I’m surprised any of them flowered.Now that it’s not super frigid the rest of the bulbs are peeking out of the soil.Barrio, my hunter.Coming out of the upper field where we walk the dogs.Max and Barrio. Man, I miss Gringo so so much.
We’re getting the pool ready, not sure why Bill decided to do it when it’s still cold, but he did. Yesterday Max wanted to go swimming. Bill tried to set the steps in but they were floating. They have to fill up with water, then we have to use weights under them to keep them down. Max almost used the floating steps and went it, Gringo would have been in immediately. That dog loved to swim. I still can’t believe my boy is gone.
These three love this spot, they can see all over the front fields and the driveway. It’s a good thing and a bad thing. Highway likes to bark.
We are expecting high winds tonight, then the weather is going to change and be summer-like again. I’m ready for that. Tomorrow morning I’m starting my seeds in the plugs that I bought. I hope by the time they are ready to plant that we have soil in the boxes.
I’ve never used these before. Fingers crossed.
Topsoil, that’s something else on the to-do list. It just keeps getting longer.
Wishing everyone a spring-like April, I, for one, am ready.
02/16/2023 I started this blog on Thursday, it was a dark dreary day. It started raining this morning when we were walking the dogs and it started raining again a little while ago when I tried to take them for another walk. The weather said potential heavy storms with a tornado watch. Lovely. It was 72 degrees yesterday with just a hint of sun every so often. At least it’s not super cold.
Bill started painting the inside of the house. Notice I didn’t say we started painting. The back entrance and the hallway are finished.
Looking towards the kitchenThis is the same green we used in AZThis is the back entrance into the house, and the mudroom is behind on the right. Barrio lurking as always.The mudroom at the back entrance.The half bath in the mudroom.
Bill painted the mudroom teal and is working on the small half bath. In there we are doing beadboard on the bottom of the wall, it will be painted the same teal that we used in the mudroom. Bill hung peel-and-stick wallpaper on the top half of the wall. Once he got it papered, I decided I hated the mirror that was in there. Bill is trying to get the beadboard flat. It was so warped when we got it home, it can’t be hung like that. Hopefully, it will flatten so it can be painted and put up.
This is the mirror that was in the half bath. We painted the blue on it because it was brownish metal. I hate it.
While waiting for the beadboard to get flat he started painting the guest bedroom. It’s kind of a light denim blue, maybe we’ll do the guest bath too.
It’s not this dark, I just took the pic and it’s nighttime.
I was in Tennessee again on Wednesday. I was in search of a mirror and a few other things. I found the mirror at Home Goods.
This is the new mirror, so much better.
I put my blinders on in there because, OMG, HomeGoods has some amazing things but the prices are ridiculous. My friend Debbie and I decided to eat at the same Thai restaurant we ate at the last time. It’s so good.
I love the lights at House of Thai.
From there we went to a huge antique store and then headed to HomeGoods. Google maps took us back to Kentucky in a completely different way. It was a tiny bit shorter and we ended up in Celina, Tennesee. I was exhausted when I got home. I took the dogs for a walk and collapsed when we came back in. Shopping is hard.
The boys are doing well, Bill and I still miss Gringo, a lot. It’s not getting any easier, he was such a cool dude. Highway is still having issues with his chronic rhinitis, it’s so gross when he sneezes. We need to invent a shield for in front of his face. UGH.
Snot nose, snuffleupagus, it’s gross. I have a new area rug but I hesitate to put it down with Highway’s sinus erupting sporadically.I think I spend more time on this driveway than I do anywhere else. Ever.
We finally got the indoor outdoor rug for the sunroom. What a huge difference that makes out there; we now would like to do the whole front porch. The furniture I ordered for the sunroom came, Bill is not enjoying putting it together. The reviews said it was very tedious. They were right.
Once Bill got the furniture put together I was so anxious to get a colorful rug for there. I ordered one on Amazon on Friday afternoon and it came the next day. It’s not the final rug, in fact, it will more than likely end up on the pool deck when I find something I really want for the sunroom.
Bill stuffed the foam into the covers and then I manipulated it so the seams were straight.I really like it and the cushions are nice and comfy.The rug makes it look nicer. There are 2 chairs, a couch and a table that can be used for storage.
My friend on the island, Yvonne, sends me stuff that she thinks will interest me. She just sent this photo.
Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones with our friend, Sterling Lucas. They have property on Roatan and Sterling must be helping them with something.
Bill and I walked the dogs up the sidehill a few weeks ago. We don’t go up there often because that’s where I had the boys when Max disappeared for 2 hours. On the way up there, I found this;
These are called Devil’s Urn, a type of fungi. They’re not poisonous and there are mixed reports on whether they are edible or not. I did not have the desire to try them.
The amount of land we have seems unbelievable. We owned 28 acres in Everson, WA and it didn’t seem like this much property.
The road on the right is our property line, our driveway begins right after the big red box. We own everything inside the white line except the red box and the 2 areas that have the red X. Below the bottom red X is a hill that is 4.67 acres, we would like to sell this, we’ll never use it. At the top of the photo, you can see where Bill has cut paths to walk the dogs. We try to keep them out of the weeds and tall grass because ticks and snakes live there. Our house is at the yellow pin and the shop is on the left of the driveway. This photo was taken before we got grass growing, put up a fence, 2 decks and a pool. This was raw land on Sept 1, 2021, there wasn’t even a road. It’s been a lot of work but Bill likes doing that stuff and I help when I can (or he makes me).
We are getting ready for company and we are so excited! Trace and his girlfriend Jackie are coming to visit. We can’t wait to see Trace and are extremely excited to meet Jackie. She’s a climber also, and pretty much a badass, a perfect match for Trace. They arrive on the 9th, hence the mini house reno going on.
It’s getting close to dinner time for the dogs, Max will be in here hitting me soon if I don’t have their bowls filled by 5. He’s quite demanding.
It’s going to be 77 degrees here on Tuesday, welcome spring!! Hope it’s warming up in your part of the world.
01/10/2023 Oh 2022, what a year you were. I certainly do not want another year like last year. It did us both in with a variety of curveballs we didn’t expect. We managed to get through them, but it wasn’t easy or fun.
01/04/2023 One year ago we were existing in Walt, the RV that nightmares are made of. I honestly don’t know how I did that from September 1 to Feb 17th. At first, it was fun, but after 2 weeks, it was hell on earth. I know, I know, I should be grateful to have a roof over my head, and I was. For a few days. It was really hard with 4 good-sized dogs and the never-ending mud. The dogs were so good and just rolled with whatever was happening. It still was a very long 5 months.
We’re pretty well situated here right now. The weather is changing, below freezing, then 60 degrees. We’ve had some rain and that brings mud, but nothing like last year at all.
We are still walking the dogs every morning. Often Bill wants to wait until it warms up and they have a really hard time being patient. Personally, I would rather get up, get dressed and walk them, then come home and have a cup of tea and breakfast. Not Bill.
I was excited to get ready for Christmas. I had to order a new fake tree because when we left Az, I donated my tree to this guy who helps people who don’t have trees. I gave him all my ornaments too. (I had just bought them for Christmas 2021.) I think I was mentally hoping for a real tree once we got in the house. Needless to say, we didn’t get in the house for Christmas 2021 and we didn’t have a tree while we were in Walt. I was quite optimistic (overly) because I ordered 2 sets of mercury glass ornaments for a tree we never got.
There were no live trees being sold in our “town” this past year so I ordered another fake one from Amazon. We put it up and I decided it was too small so we returned it and I got a larger one that was partially flocked.
This is before we added a ton more lights.
I dug my decorations out of the containers they were stored in (since we left Washington in 2013). It was like Christmas for me, I honestly forgot what I had.
I got my crafty on and made some paper bag snowflakes. They were actually fun and not hard to do at all. I hung them in the 4 dining room windows and then we added lights and garland. It looked really nice, especially at night.
The hardest part was cutting through 7 thicknesses of lunch bags.No pre-planned design, just cut as you go.I hung them with clear elastic thread, not the best but it’s all I had.Cheap decorations.
Bill and I have not purchased gifts for each other for several years. This year he decided to buy me gifts. On a day he wasn’t home, my first gift was delivered. It was not in another box like it was supposed to be. I knew right away that I was getting a new Canon photo printer. YAY! Except now I had to buy him gifts. Bill is really hard to buy for because if he wants something, he buys it. I must have been complaining about what to buy him because he sent me a message with Amazon links in it for what he wanted. I bought him everything on the list except underwear because it wasn’t Amazon Prime and I am not paying for shipping. I did buy him a few other things that I thought of on my own.
I baked way too much over the holidays. I made almond biscotti dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with crushed candy canes, molasses cookies, ginger cookies and coconut macaroons. I ate a good portion of everything, it was ridiculous. I made a nice container for the UPS guy and for our neighbor who lives alone. We still had too much.
Christmas was hard. We had to put Gringo down on Dec. 21, the darkest (literally and figuratively) day of the year. Horrible horrible thing to have to do but we decided to do it out of love for Gringo. We both wanted him to be pain-free and that was the only solution. I can’t write anymore about him, it’s still too soon. Our hearts are broken.
We did get an inch or 2 of snow, the dogs were happy playing in it. It was so cold out (below zero) that the ground was frozen and we had no mud, for a change. The temps were crazy cold and with the wind, it was downright bitter, but it didn’t last too long. Pretty soon the temperature was 60 degrees and sunny. I’ve been told that February is the month for winter weather around here. Last year was a blur so I don’t really remember.
Our token snowfall.Such a pretty view from where we walk the dogs.
I’m currently on the hunt for a new pair of boots. I wear my ugly muck boots daily but I wanted a pair of boots to wear when I go places. Just typing that sounds ridiculous because I rarely go anywhere. Anyhow, through Amazon you can do try before you buy if you’re a Prime member. With try before you buy you can get 6 pairs of boots or bras, tops, swimsuits, whatever, sent to you, keep what you like and return what you don’t want. If you return within 7 days you don’t get charged. Well, I got my first shipment of 6 pairs of boots and didn’t like any so I returned them and ordered 6 more pairs. I liked a pair of Ecco but not enough to spend close to $200 on them. I returned them all. I ordered a pair of boots from Born and I could hardly get them on. I wear an 8, I swear they were a 6.5. Ridiculous, I returned them. Then I ordered 3 pairs from Zappos. The first pair are Cole Haan and they’re really nice but I can feel the stitching inside the boot when I’m wearing them. That’s a no. I’m currently awaiting on UPS for the other 2 pairs. If I don’t like any of them I might as well wait until next fall. This is what buying boots when you live in podunk Burkesville is like. Frustrated.
Update: UPS brought the other 2 pairs of boots today. They both hurt my foot. The left boot is fine, unfortunately, I still have the R foot to deal with. I’ve had 2 surgeries on that foot and it’s been in flip-flops since 2013. It feels very foreign to wear a closed shoe other than my Skecher slip-ons, which are stretchy. I feel doomed. I’d like to keep these boots but I’m afraid to. What if they don’t stretch out and I’m stuck with boots I can’t wear?
Second update: All 3 pairs are being returned to Zappos and I ordered 3 more pairs. The saga continues.
Bill baked some focaccia bread and I made an olive tapenade for it. I can eat that as a meal, it’s that good.
Totally forgot to put rosemary on the bread before we baked it.
This is another Christmas gift Bill got for me. It fits nicely over the tub and holds all kinds of things, especially a wine glass.
This will be used often.
With the crazy warm temps my tulip, daffodil, iris and hyacinth bulbs are sprouting through the soil. I hope they’ll survive if we get another cold snap. I’m really looking forward to planting more this year, we got such a late start last summer.
And that’s a wrap. I have nothing of interest to tell you. We (as in Bill) will start painting the inside of the house, soon as I pick out the colors. I hate doing that because colors are never really what they seem. If I choose a paint color and he paints and I hate it, too bad so sad for me.
11/3/2022 I was in a sleeveless dress on the deck a few weeks ago sitting in the sun, the boys would go for a dip in the pool when they got too warm, but not anymore. Almost overnight the weather changed. There is still sun but it is much colder, we even had below-freezing temps a few nights. I cut my annuals back to the ground, the perennials I’ll cut back in the spring. I bought a lot of bulbs to plant, that’s something that is going to happen this week. It’s supposed to start raining over the weekend so I need to get them in the ground. Bill planted grass outside the fence and it’s really coming up nicely. The only problem is the ground is soft and the stupid deer are ripping it up with their hooves. I’m so over having deer and deer poop galore.
We’ll have to do some re-seeding in the spring where it didn’t grow very well but it looks so much nicer.We’ll also get the driveway edging done in the spring.
Bill got the fence done out front so now we don’t have to worry about the dogs taking off after a deer or fox or coyote, or even worse, a skunk or porcupine. We still have to close the sides of the pool deck because they can jump off that into the field. I just bought more of the fence when I went to Glasgow.
We started at the gate.It had to be staggered heights.So much to do this coming spring on the outside of the fence.This area will have artificial turf.Finally closed in on that end.It will look so nice with fake grass there.
We have not had a good year with the dogs. First Highway got sick. He was hacking, sneezing and coughing, all while struggling to breathe through his nose. After several trips to Dr. Claudia in Glasgow, she referred us to the specialty vet at Metropolitan Vet Hospital in Louisville. I’ll refer to them from here on out as the $$ vet. Louisville is a 2.5 hour drive one way. UGH.
They decided that Highway needed to have a CAT scan and then have his sinuses cleaned out. They did that and determined that he has chronic rhinitis. He’ll be on meds for the rest of his days.
He is much much better and rarely has a reverse sneeze. One dog taken care of.
Gringo had been limping off and on for several months. Since we walk in the woods all the time I assumed he had something in his paw. I searched his paw and couldn’t find a thing. If one of the other dogs would bump his paw he would yelp, still leading us to believe it was his paw. It would seem to get better, then bad again. On August 1st we took him to Dr. Claudia to get his teeth cleaned, a fatty lipoma lump removed and get X-rays of his leg, elbow, and paw. They did everything but x-ray his paw which upset me because that’s what we were most concerned about. A few weeks after that we took him back again for paw x-rays. TWENTY x-rays later and they see absolutely nothing to indicate why he was in pain. They said to give it time. A few weeks later, Gringo’s right shoulder vanished, it had atrophied so badly. Gringo was all muscle, our hunka hunka dog. He ran like the wind, could jump anything and was just a super healthy dog. Dr. Claudia referred us once again to the $$ vet. Bill took him up there and the orthopedic Dr/surgeon examined him, took a few more x-rays, and saw nothing. Bill came home and we watched Gringo get worse.
This is his spot. He’s KING of the field. We didn’t block their view on this side, the dogs enjoy critter barking.My view is usually BUTTS.He’s holding it up here, he barely used it.His paw is curled weird.Favoring it. It’s painful watching him walk.If he were a guy, I would date him. He’s so handsome.
We called the $$ vet again and they said they could do an MRI to get a definitive answer. We bit the bullet because we couldn’t stand seeing Gringo in such pain. Bill took him there at O dark thirty for the MRI. What they found was a tumor lying on the bunch of nerves at the right brachial plexus. The nerves originate in the spine and travel down the neck into the armpit, controlling the right leg, arm and foot. My boy has cancer.
We were devastated. The Dr. said it is slow growing and could ultimately, at some point in time, render him incapable of walking. I would never let it get that far. Our option was to remove the tumor and the whole leg. We struggled, this is not our first rodeo with a 3 legged dog. {My dog Taz, a lab/rott mix had cancer in the bone and had to have her left front leg removed. She did not make it a full year after the surgery. Then there was Frito, the dog I rescued on Roatan who had her leg removed because of a compound fracture on her paw, and she then gave birth to 7 happy healthy pups. My 3 are from Frito’s litter}. Gringo is going to be just like his momma. Having 3 legs for Frito didn’t stop that dog for one second, she’s a miracle. She’s living in WA with my BFF Teri and has a life of luxury. She’s spoiled and loved.
So on October 26th Gringo had the surgery at the $$ vet. Bill came home after he dropped him off because he had to stay the night. He went back to get him around lunchtime. The Dr. said he did really well and was up and walking around. The Dr. said the tumor was the size of a lime. His new concern is that a few of the nerves were enlarged, they were cigarette size when they should be spaghetti size. We are constantly praying that it is due to infection. I would hate to have put Gringo through all this so we could selfishlessly get a few more months time with him. Even if it is cancer the Dr. said it is very slow growing, so there is that to hold on to.
In between all of this $hit, Barrio decided to viciously attack Max, 2 times in 16 days. Each time I was in the house alone with the dogs. Once Barrio starts it, the others join right in. It was pretty awful, the first time it took Bill and 2 workers to break it up. The second time Bill was just coming back to the house when he heard me screaming. It was the 2 of us breaking it up. Each time Max had to go to the vet. We came very close to putting Barrio down, I was ready because I was there, I saw the instant he attacked both times, it’s seared in my brain, PTSD for certain and sure. The first time I did not get hurt although I had blood all over my shirt and arms. The second time I did get hurt. I don’t know what happened but the day after the fight I noticed blood on my undies and saw I had a huge bruise on my stomach. It was green yellow black purple and blue and it had 2 puncture holes in it, but I could not have been bitten. I don’t know how I got it. My Dr. put me on antibiotics with instructions to call if it changes at all. I also got bitten on the nailbed of my pointer finger (I believe my nail is falling off, it’s been black for a few months) and my left pinky has no feeling at all, 2+ months later. Now we keep Barrio and Max separated or Barrio wears a muzzle. It’s no fun at all.
I’m too old for this $hit. Seriously, I am.
Back to Gringo. The day Bill took Gringo for the surgery, I had to organize something. I decided on the pantry.
First I removed everything.Once the shelves were empty I wiped them all off.I grabbed some empty bins and started getting organized.This is totally fun for me.
For those of you who don’t know me, I LOVE TO ORGANIZE. It’s my favorite thing to do. It fulfills my OCD tendencies. Bill is still asking where stuff is.
So much better. The first set of labels I didn’t like so I made different ones, of course. I need to get a few more bins to match what I have.
Gringo got home late afternoon on Thursday. His brothers were very apprehensive and curious. We took him to the spare room/office where there was a rug and we could keep him from jumping.
He still has his appetite.His incision is huge.Max and Barrio take turns coming in and hanging with Gringo.We allowed Gringo to go up on the pool deck, it’s 5 steps but he had no problem. He was so happy to lay up there and look for things to bark at.Gosh, I just love him so much.
Keeping Barrio and Max separated is more of a pain in the butt than you think. Currently, Barrio and Gringo are outside. Gringo is very content, Barrio, not so much.
This is Barrio, THE WHOLE DAMN TIME HE IS OUTSIDE.
Unfortunately, there are 4 windows on the porch he can see in, plus the 2 doors. It’s great because it gives us a lot of light but it stinks when you’re trying to hide from your dog.
Gringo really wants to go on the walks in the morning but we’re not letting him until he gets his stitches out. When I get back with the other 3, I take Barrio with me and we walk Gringo. Today he walked the whole way down the driveway, he really wanted to go up in the field but I coaxed him to go back to the house.
Bill took this photo from the hill where we walk the boys.My boy Gringo.
We invited Aaron and his son Colt for Thanksgiving. Aaron is the guy who came the day after we arrived in Burkesville to cut in a road. He’s done all of the work around here that requires machinery Bill does not have. It’s always fun to have company for the holidays, we would prefer for it to be the boys. We wish they were closer.
10/4/2022 Happy fall everyone. I can’t believe it snuck right on in here. One day it was 96 degrees and the next day it was 75.
Halloween has never been a favorite holiday of mine. That’s not to say I didn’t decorate and do all the things when the boys were young, I did. I’m just not a fan. Living where we do, we don’t need to decorate or buy candy, which I would eat.
Anyhow, Happy Halloween!
We still have not closed up the pool, the dogs are swimming daily, sometimes several times a day.
MaxGingo and BarrioBarrio testing the temp..Max, Highway and Barrio
We finally figured out what Highway’s medical issue is, he has chronic rhinitis. Great. He’ll be on meds for the rest of his life and we will continue to pull strands of snot from his left nostril on a daily basis. It’s so damn much fun. We still don’t have an answer for Gringo, he continues to limp, not using his right front paw. We took him to our vet, they did X-rays of his paw, leg and shoulder and saw nothing. Bill then drove him to the vet (that charged us over $3800 for ONE visit for Highway) in Louisville. Gringo saw an orthopedic specialist there. He too took X-rays and saw nothing. Bill said he twisted Gringo’s arm, leg and paw every which way and he didn’t yip at all. However, if we, or one of the other dogs bump his paw he cries. It’s driving me crazy. This has been going on for months. The next thing is to do an MRI, but we need to be sure it’s his paw. An MRI of his paw is $3500.00, add a leg, $500, add a shoulder, $500, add a spine, $500. It’s totally insane.
UPDATE: I called our vet today and she called the ortho specialist we saw the 23rd. They’ve decided to try some different meds for Gringo, if they do nothing, we’re looking at an MRI. I just want him feeling good again, it kills me to see him hurting.
We have had some amazing weather, 45-degree nights and sunny and 70+ days. It’s wonderful stay outside type of weather but summer is gone. Last year was gorgeous in October then Nov. and the rest of the year was total $hit. I’m curious to see what kind of winter we have this year. One thing is for sure, I will not be locking myself out of a cabin in the middle of nowhere on a 10-degree night while my husband is in the hospital.
Bill has been working for a good month on the fence. We decided we needed a privacy fence, on our 30 acres. Actually, it’s more of a deer (coyote, skunk, raccoon, fox and groundhog) fence. We have so many deer and they are coming right up to the front yard by the house. We know this because the front yard is stone (artificial turf goes down this coming spring) and there is deer poop all over. The fence will cut down on Highway totally losing his mind because there is a deer in the field. It’s an odd thing to do, it will change the view but it will also give us a “peace of mind” place when we don’t want the dogs running.
He had to dig all the fence post holes. Our dirt is all rock, lots of limestone here. He has a gas post hole digger but when it hits a rock, it won’t dig that hole. The posts are all set in concrete, he did all of that too.
The area on the outside of the fence we wanted to plant grass. It was loaded with rocks so Todd, the landscaper, brought Bill his equipment to smooth the ground and plant grass seed. First Bill, with Jerry’s help, used our tractor to scrape the stones off the ground. Then we had 2 loads of topsoil brought in. Bill spread that, seeded it and since there is no rain in the forecast, he is watering it. We hope we’ll end up with grass and no dirt.
Todd has a machine that edges and lays concrete all at once. We plan to do that next spring along the driveway. I still need to decide about flowers.
When Jerry was here, they painted the posts white.Bill still has to fit a piece of the fence panel between the gate and the house.Bill and I worked on Saturday, we got 10 panels up but it got really windy. When a gust hit them they were like a sail.We staggered the height because the ground slopes so much. I’ll plant flowers or shrubs, not sure where yet. Next year.It will certainly keep the dogs from critter spotting.10 more panels to go.
A friend of ours from PA came to visit. Jerry trailered his motorcycle down so he and Bill could ride. The first day he was here the weather wasn’t great but it got progressively better. They picked a beautiful day and rode to Tompkinsville and then on to Celina TN. We are less than 30 min. from Tn. The roads here are in great condition with very little traffic, great for riding bikes.
I really enjoy the morning walks with the dogs. They live for those walks too, lots of critter poop to inspect and eat. Poor Gringo has not joined us for a few months. When I get back from the first walk, I always take Gringo and Barrio down the backfield just to get Gringo moving. The walks up on the hill are beautiful just as the sun is rising up in the sky. The shadows are so cool, it makes the woods almost magical. Bill keeps it mowed which makes it park-like. We enjoy taking our company on walks with us.
BarrioThis whole hill is ours and you’re only seeing 1/4 of it.This is a great view of the hillside across from us.Our park.Me and Barrio, my shadow.The house from where we walk the dogs. Our driveway can be seen in the bottom of the photo. It goes down the hill to the left.
It’s really hard to believe all of this land is ours. We had almost the same acreage in Washington and this seems much much bigger. More than likely it’s because the land in WA was a flat straight strip of land, perfect for a runway, which is why we bought it.
This is a baby King snake. They are good snakes because they kill copperheads.
My friend and I went to Tennesee shopping again. We started at Goodwill, hit an antique store, had Thai for lunch and then went to Sam’s club.
I bought this Le Smith, Moon and Stars candy dish. The color is Amberina.I bought dates, pitted them, filled them with cream cheese and chopped walnuts.The black swallowtail butterfly caterpillar ate ALL of my parsley. I was afraid they would get my basil so I harvested most of it. I froze it a few different ways.This way is a quick chop with some olive oil, freeze, then pop out of trays and store in freezer.
I noticed the basil is still growing, I plan to harvest more tomorrow. I also dried a lot of rosemary. I look forward to a better garden next season, we got a late start this year.
This is Slash and Turbo. They had been running on our property for a few days. We managed to catch them and actually found the owner. He was very happy to get these 2 back, they belonged to his kids, obviously, the kids named them.The sunroom is done, except for carpet/rug and furniture. I’m indecisive.It’s nice to go out there on a cool morning and have some tea.It’s an adult tree house. It would be a great place to sleep.My handsome hurt boy Gringo. I want his foot to get better.My boy Max, gosh I love him.The guys heading out for a short ride. This time they went to Dale Hollow Lake and had lunch. I didn’t go because I wanted them to be able to ride the motorcycles again, especially since Jer brought his down.Jerry was packing up to leave, Gringo, Barrio and Highway were helping.They’re surveying the property.Jerry and I walking back to the house. Yes, I have a fanny pack because I carry poop bags and clean up if the boys poop on the road.Jer getting ready to leave. It was great having him visit.This is gorgeous, it grew so well. I plan to get a few more Amaranths next spring.The two Artemisia got huge too. Good to know they grow well here.
On our walk tonight Bill noticed a pile of feathers. We don’t know what kind of bird it was or what got it. All that was left were feathers. Survival of the fittest. Just call me Marlon Perkins, Wild Kingdom.
08/08/2022 {I apologize to all of you who got an email saying there was a new blog up. I tried to load the photos to my blog program using my phone. It saved them to the media for my blog, so I was all happy: until I got the blog finished and wanted to proofread it in preview mode. When I looked at it, the photos were all messed up, portions of photos showing, words weren’t there. The only way I could see for sure if it was indeed messed up was to publish it for a hot second. As soon as I did that, you got an email. I then took the new blog down, made it into a draft again so I could figure out the photos. I had to delete them all from my blog, reload them the old way and I’m going to try this again. Please bear with me, sorry for the ridiculous confusion.}Â
Yikes, it’s been over a month since I have done a blog. No excuse except, it is absolutely a pain in the butt to transfer photos from my phone to my laptop. It’s very time-consuming and despite the fact I don’t have a life, I am quite impatient with these things. I may have figured out something tonight though. (obviously the way I thought was a solution was NOT.)
We’ve had some insanely HOT weather, so hot nobody even wanted to go outside. I really wanted to go in the pool but refrained because the boys couldn’t get in and I felt guilty. I know. I know. They’re dogs. My dogs. We bought steps so they could access the pool but the deck wasn’t finished so we couldn’t use the new steps.
They don’t do much good sitting there. Gringo crawled up them so he could see over the side of the pool. He’s no fool.
If you notice, the dump truck is STILL HERE. It was here for almost 2 months. I was ok with it at first, then really got tired of looking at it. I knew Aaron was coming over (his dump truck) so I made signs for it. He got a kick out of them and yes, he took the damn truck when they were done.Â
The stone delivery guy and UPS noticed this I’m sure.Finally, no dump truck.
We got the garden in, and Bill laid out the sidewalk, Then we waited 3 + weeks for the guy to come to do the concrete. He is super busy.Â
One heck of a long sidewalk.Concrete day!
Aaron, Kevin and Courtney came back last Thursday and got the sidewalk to the pool ready for the concrete truck on Friday morning. Prior to them arriving, I noticed a deer(?) in the field. It was not a deer, it was an injured coyote. She was really having a hard time walking. The last thing we want is to have an injured or sick coyote hanging out here. Bill got his gun out but he couldn’t shoot it, they look too much like a dog. I felt so bad for her. When Kevin and Aaron came, they both saw it in the field too. They agreed it had to be shot. Aaron was able to walk right up on it and shoot her. Kevin buried her, he said she looked in bad shape. Mercy killing, still have a hard time with it.Â
We took Max and Gringo to the vet in Glasgow. Max has a lump on the inside of his leg and Gringo had a big one on his side. We have been told they were fatty lipomas but I wanted them checked. It was the first time these 2 had been to this vet so she did a check-up on them. Gringo’s gums were red, he has periodontal disease. She said he needs his teeth cleaned. February is clean your pets teeth month with $50.00 off per pet. We also needed to have Gringo’s front leg X-rayed, he’s been on and off limping. They need to sedate to X-ray so I figured clean his teeth and check his leg. Bill said as long as he’s out, have them remove the big lump. I took him up on a Monday morning by 9. He was terrified when they took him away from me. I felt horrible. I got groceries and went back home, it’s 45 min from the vet. The vet called on my drive home and said he would be ready in a few hours. We put the groceries away and turned around and went back to get him. Bill went along in case I couldn’t lift him. Poor guy was really limping after they twisted and turned him every which way, and he had a big incision on his side. He whined on the way home. We got him in the house and up on the bed so I could snuggle with him. Bill noticed his nose was very swollen and he had a small cut on it.
Look how swollen his nose is.His incision.
I called the vet about his nose, it was after hours. The Dr. who took his x-rays called me back. He had no clue why his nose was swollen. I gave him a benadryl, it was slightly better the next day. A few days later he had scabs forming on the top of his nose. We think they had a mask on him for the surgery and it was too tight and injured his nose. Soon the scabs started to fall off. I kept them moisturized with coconut oil. Now they’re all gone and he has a sore that is healing. I will be chatting to them about this.Â
Old scabby nose.
Bill has been keeping the hill where we walk the dogs nicely mowed. There are less ticks and a smaller chance of seeing a snake. The dogs love to be up there.Â
It’s like a private park.Every now and then they chase after a rabbit with no chance of catching it.They match the floor!I called and ordered a pizza and Bill went to get it. They couldn’t find the pizza for BILL. Oh wait, maybe he’s DILL.
It’s a bummer that we just got the pool swimmable for the dogs but, they’ll swim through September I bet. Once we had the steps fastened in, we let them out. They were in immediately. I think I heard them utter a sigh of relief.Â
It’s still a construction zone here.These guys love to swim.
Once Bill gets the room built we’ll finish the railings on the pool deck and then get the fence up. The room needs a few more roof pieces and it’s done. Two of the panels were damaged so the company sent replacements. Bill was switching the old ones out. I was holding the new one that had a ton of plastic on the ends. I grabbed the utility knife to cut the plastic and successfully cut a damn slit in the screen. I just ordered a screen repair kit because the screens are not easy to replace.Â
We had started assembling the room when we realized that the deck was not big enough for the room. Bill was watching Aaron and crew build it, not doing anything because he messed up his back. Just a miscommunication between him and Aaron. It’s fixed.This will be a great place to sit and listen to the rain or have morning tea on chilly days.The deck with the room needs more supports, that will be done soon too. It will be like a tree house.Some of the roof is on. There are 2 sliding doors to it also. One faces out back, we’ll need to build steps for it.We have several of these shrubs around, it’s Jimsonweed. It’s supposed to be poisonous, like nightshade. They close up during the heat of the day.Bill found passion flowers blooming along the driveway. I found some walking the dogs so I grabbed what may be a seed pod to grow them myself.Our mornings are really foggy, we usually wait until it lifts to walk the dogs. This photo was right before it cleared.We borrowed a groundhog trap from Aaron and we caught a fox. What a cute little critter. We set him free.
Speaking of groundhogs, we have a resident one. He’s huge and he comes out at night, he’s usually with a big rabbit, I think they’re dating. Anyhow, we do a critter check before we let the dogs out. If the groundhog is down in the field, I walk down the steps and clap. First clap, he looks up, the second clap, he splits. The rabbit’s not as smart though, if the dogs want to chase her, they can. They’ll never catch her.
And that my friends is a wrap. Sorry I’ve been MIA. Bill was on the phone for quite awhile with T Mobile, I believe we are going to try them for internet and phones. Fingers crossed that we get internet. SOOOON.Â
06/28/2022 I really can’t believe that in 2 months, we will have been Kentuckians for a year. How? Why do I feel like we just got here yet when I really think about it, I get visions (more like nightmares) of Walt and the never-ending story. Time flies, especially when you wonder what in the heck you’re doing in Kentucky.Â
We’re slowly making this place look like a home, nothing is easy OR CHEAP. I would need a full-time job to be able to buy flowers like I used to, back when they were reasonably priced. It’s ridiculous now. Then there is our soil. We had 20 loads brought in. I was told (liar liar) that it was good soil. It’s not, it’s hard pack clay. We added 3 huge bags of peat moss and a dozen bags of compost and manure. It’s still nasty. Bill hooked up a sprinkler system immediately because he knew he wouldn’t want to listen to me whine and moan because I had to drag the hose to water. It’s not the watering I mind, it’s dragging the hose. I hate doing that. I can stand out there mindlessly for hours and water, but don’t expect me to drag the damn hose too. We planted along the front of the house and between the house and the driveway. That’s it so far, there’s always next year, I need to see if everything dies before the end of summer to help me decide how to proceed.
I planted a ton of Coleus, knowing full well they are an annual, it was late to be planting and I wanted instant gratification.We were trying to get the mulch off the trailer and it was windy as hell. Bill spent most of his time fighting with the tarp. It didn’t help that he had it tucked under something and I thought it was caught and moved it. Really windy.See, all pretty colors.My seat. Bill went all out on this.We need more mulch. We also need to plant at the back of the shop, the building in the back. I’ve decided we’ll plant hydrangeas there but not until next spring. Have to fix that soil first.I have Hostas, Yarrow, Coleus, Lemon Thyme, some Phlox that is almost dead and the sedums.I ordered 2 flats of this from Lowe’s, it’s gorgeous. I’m afraid it’s getting too much water. May need a plan B. I don’t have a plan B. I broke these into smaller sections and planted.The start of the drip irrigation.We got this raised bed online and we planted it the way they do for Hugelkutur. What it consists of is layers of materials that will decompose, instead of pouring a ton of soil in it. There is cardboard, tree branches, small logs, paper, straw, peat moss and dirt. Most of the stuff is growing well, except Cilantro. It hates me. I consistently try to grow it and it ALWAYS DIES. This has gone on for years, you’d think I would give up.
Before any of this garden stuff happened we got company! It was fabulous. My sweet friend Andee, who lives in Tennesee, {she’s one of the attractions for us moving to the KY, TN area} and her sons came for a few days. Andee and her husband are also the people who came and brought food and bone broth and leaf lettuce when Bill was in the hospital. We have not seen the boys since 2013, Bill hasn’t seen Andee since then either. It was so nice to have them visit. Let me say, she and Joel have the nicest, most well-mannered handsome young men (12 & almost 17) I’ve ever met. The guys were so much fun to be around, easy-going, and great with the dogs, they even cleaned up after our meals. Impressed….
Andee and I worked together at Bank of America and if you ask her she will tell you I deserted her. Looking back, I’m really surprised BoA allowed us together in the same building. We were loud and constantly laughing about something. She made going to work fun.
Anyhow, they arrived on a Tuesday morning. We took the dogs for their morning walk after they arrived so they could see the property. They’re big outdoors fans too, especially the boys, plus they love dogs.Â
Andee and me. Love you Andee.Some Highway love. You could pet that dog 24/7 and he would be happy.ConstructionBill and the boys made this thing for the dogs to climb on. They all get on it, they also sleep in the shade under it.When we lived in WA, Bill had a dump truck. In 2013, the boys were visiting us and Bill took them for a ride in the dump truck. He let Axel drive it and he ran over a tree. As soon as they came up our current driveway and saw the truck, they both said, THEY HAVE A DUMP TRUCK. We don’t really, it’s Aaron’s, been here for a month, wish he would come and get it.We had S’mores one night. Andee’s husband told me earlier about an app called Merlin by Cornell Labs. It listens via your phone and identifies the birds that are singing in your area. We have a lot of Barred Owls close to the house, some evenings we can hear 3 different ones talking. It was at dusk on the S’more evening, the dogs were chilling with us outside and Andee happened to notice a Barred Owl sitting in the tree above us, watching. Well, we’re pretty sure that was the kind of owl it was. It was a good-sized bird, it soon flew off. Bill sees them swooping the fields too.When the boys were visiting in 2013, Bill made them “swords” out of bamboo. It didn’t take long for Axel to find a weapon.This kid is his Mother to a T but he looks like his Dad.Salad and homemade Pizza (done professionally by Mason) for dinner.Mason placing the toppings on the pizza, it was done meticulously and methodically.We had an abundance of food.Mmmm, it was soo good.Bill and the guys did some shooting at targets in the backyard. A few days after they left, Bill mortally wounded a groundhog.
It was a lot of fun having them come to see us, we enjoyed their visit very much and anxiously anticipate the next.Â
We have several Killdeer birds here. One in particular laid her eggs in a small nest right alongside the driveway. NOT A GOOD SPOT. I walk down the driveway several times a day with the dogs and mama bird goes batshit crazy. She runs around with her wing sticking out, pretending she has a broken wing to get us away from her nest. She squawks like a banshee too. We don’t go near her eggs but it’s right alongside the driveway. I was afraid UPS ran over it today. He didn’t. Very strange behavior but I applaud her for her creativeness. There are now 4 eggs.
We are still walking the boys in the morning. Many times early because it’s been so blasted hot. We’ve noticed a variety of different critter poop and a ton of wildflowers. I also just realized we have a Mulberry tree, I’m not sure that I’ve ever had a Mulberry, but I will soon.
I read that they turn black when ripe.
Bill has been busy mowing and burning up expensive diesel fuel in an effort to keep the grasses low. There are fewer ticks that way.
Eating grass or poop. Max was eating so much grass that a poop got stuck in his butt. I had to help extricate it. I stopped feeding them sweet potatoes and they seem to not have so many poop issues. Sorry, TMI.So pretty up in the fields. The boys scared a flock of turkeys the other day. Three came back when called but Highway did a drop and roll in some juicy turkey droppings. Bill took him back to the house and scrubbed his neck. I think he was ready to wring it too.So nice when it’s mowed. Bill cuts paths in it for me to walk the dogs.
We (I) finally decided on an above-ground pool, it came last week. It’s 20′ around and 4′ deep. Plenty big to get wet and float. Bill has been working in the blazing sun to get the ground leveled. It took 2 trailers full of sand and a lot of compacting. On the day of the pool delivery, the driver called when he was close and Bill drove down to the end of the driveway with the tractor, loaded the pool on it, and brought it up here.Â
Almost to the bend in the drive.That’s a big box!Delivered to the yard. The truck was a tractor-trailer, there’s no place for him to turn around up here.
We set the pool up on Saturday, it wasn’t hard, just time-consuming. Instructions said it would take 60 minutes. I’m not sure who was able to do it in an hour but they are superhuman.Â
We put it in the front yard, much nicer view there and it doesn’t ruin our view from the house. Next is a deck around the pool, a yard and a fence to keep critters out.
When we started filling the pool, I was inside the pool and Bill was outside. He asked what the lump was behind me. I turned around and noticed it was a chunk of wood, maybe 3-4″ square, UNDER the pool. I had to get out of the pool, he lifted it up and I crawled under the pool to get the chunk of wood out. Fun times.Â
We started putting water in it and I got in to try and get the wrinkles out. I HAD to lay down, it felt so good.The rains came later the day we put the pool up. The rain was very welcome, the MUD, not so much.We have been gorging on fruit. The boys and I are addicted to blueberries and raspberries. Unfortunately, they can’t have grapes, but they’ve all been getting chopped watermelon on top of their dinners.
I’m still driving out of town for groceries every few weeks. On Friday I was parked near a cart return and as I was finished and getting in my car, I noticed something on the ground by the trash can. I leaned over and picked one up, there were 2. They are heavy and rather steam-punkish. I looked all around, there was not another car near me, nobody around. Since they were by the trash can, I figured, finders keepers. I love them.Â
The other side is solid gray.
We have pseudo WiFi currently. Bill found this thing that gives you a limited supply of data so I can use my laptop and not tether it to my phone for a signal. He’s currently watching something on the TV, which we couldn’t do prior to this gadget, unless it was a DVD. Things are looking up. We’re still waiting for Elon Musk to make Starlink available in this area. I sure hope it’s soon.Â
And last but not least, my friend Kyle who lives on Roatan sent me a message the other day that said “you’ve got mail.” At the Roatan Post Office. Â
Yep, my name is #11. This is how they let you know you have mail, someone writes all the names down, always in excellent handwriting. Then they photograph it and put it on FB. I’m almost positive it’s about my expiring car warranty.
05/09/2022 A woman’s perogative is to change her mind. Correct? I’m the queen of changing my mind and of indecisiveness. I can remember a few times when the boys were young and we had hired a babysitter so we could go out. The only problem was that I had nothing to wear. Well, nothing that I wanted to wear, so guess what? We didn’t go out and I was miserable the whole night. Yep, I’ve done that to myself more times than I’d like to admit. Despite the fact of having more clothes than I knew what to do with.
So changing my mind is commonplace around here. We sent a down payment on a one-piece fiberglass inground pool, just a bit larger than the one we had in Roatan. The one in Roatan had to have a room built to hold it as I wanted it at second floor level for the view. This was not an easy task. However, the pool and ALL of the construction was less than 15K. When we proceeded to order this pool, the pool itself, delivered, would be several thousand more than the whole shebang in Roatan. We decided, we only live once, let’s just do it.
Push comes to shove and I realize I do not want to spend double what the installed Roatan pool cost us. This amount does not include landscaping or the deck around it and we (Bill) would be doing the majority of the work himself. I’m old, I’m not going to be enjoying it for years to come. It certainly does not increase property values, unless you live in Arizona. We have nixed the inground pool thing and are looking at an above ground that the dogs will be able to use and enjoy and not ruin. All we want is something to float in when it’s hazy hot and humid. We still plan to do a nice front yard with a nice fence and some artificial turf for the dogs. (Ticks are voracious here and they can’t live in fake grass). I’d also like a screened area to eat, away from the bugs. That’s it, keeping it simple but nice. Delusions of grandeur are forgotten and totally unnecessary for me to live happily. I kind of got spoiled by the fabulous pool in AZ but when you get right down to it, it’s the water that’s enjoyable, not how much the pool cost. Moving on.
We finally got the block work done, that took a few weeks just to get them here and get it completed. The weather was not conducive to outside work, unless you planned to wallow in the MUD, then you were ok. Now, the task of getting someone to bring fill dirt, then some topsoil has taken 2 weeks. Bill just got a message that they will be here Wed and work until done. I’m not holding my breath. Once that’s done we can get the fence up, the artificial grass ordered and the pool in. Slowly, it’s like Kentucky is on Island time.
The colored glass obsession continues. I started following a few people on IG and they are a great resource for me, helping me to figure out what I have, and what I want.The compotes are both LE Smith, “Moon and Stars”Close up, such a gorgeous color.The fluted top is also LE Smith, Moon and Stars. The vase is an amber swung vase, LE Smith.The 2 green vases are also Moon and Stars, I just recently got these. My friend works at an antique kind of store here in town. I bought the 2 blue compotes from her. She gave me the small green dish because I was whining that I needed more green.These were the lights above the island. They were supposed to be shabby chic. I hated them so we sanded them down and painted them black to match the ones over the sink. Remember, when I say we, I really mean Bill. I start something and then whine because I hate DIY and he does it to shut me up.They look much better black.
We’re still walking the dogs every morning, and several other times during the day. We find some cool stuff on our walks, lately, it’s been box turtles.
Gringo found these one morning.This was right in our path the next day and Bill saw one this afternoon while he was mowing.
My friend from Tennesee (she and her husband came up with food and stuff when Bill was in the hospital and I was having a meltdown in Walt) is coming up with her sons for a few days. We are overly excited. Andee is fabulous and hysterical. We worked together at Bank of America, it was the Andee and Deb show daily, how we got anything done, I have no clue. Her boys are super cool, we haven’t seen them since 2012 and can’t wait for this visit. Mason, the oldest is currently working with a group doing the largest Box Turtle study in the world so he’ll be able to give us the low down. Axel, the youngest, is just like Andee. A laugh a minute. The boys and Bill are going to make some playground things out of pallets for the dogs’ new play area. This area will connect with the fenced front yard, if that ever gets done this year.Â
The whole reason for this area is all the critters that are outside at night when we let the dogs out to potty. Me thinking we could let them out there for a while during the day was a fantasy. If I’m not there, they won’t be happy.
The other morning I was drinking my tea on the front porch and the turkeys were going crazy. They make so much noise. I didn’t realize it was baby season until we found this egg. I asked Andee and my friend Ryan what it was and they both said turkey egg. DUH. We should have known.Â
The dogs try to drop and roll every morning.I picked up some plants, foolishly expecting our dirt work to be complete.Along with everything else. plants are expensive, and this is just the beginning.I finally moved the plants off the porch, with 4 dog beds, you couldn’t even walk out there.
I dropped some stuff at Goodwill in Columbia the other day and ran in to replenish my desire to shop. I found this great print, and loved the frame and the art. It was cheap, actually free. Later, when I looked at my receipt, I realized the girl never charged me for it. I inspected it closer while cleaning the glass and saw a signature so I started googling it. Turns out to be an old lithograph, worth far more than the zero $$’s I paid.Â
The colors are awesome.
My friend who works at the store in town went to Tennessee with me last Wed. We did some antique shopping and went to a HUGE Goodwill in Cookeville. It was organized as well as any store I’ve ever been in. I was meandering down one aisle and saw a tray on the bottom shelf. Just as I spotted it, another woman did too. I grabbed it quickly and she came over to inspect it. It was $9.99 with 20% off (senior discount). Of course I bought it. Once I got home I got online again and was astonished at what I found. This is a rare old tray from Maitland-Smith. Handmade in the Philippines. It’s pieces of bamboo on the bottom, bamboo on the sides and the handles look to be bamboo and silver. This is something I will never get rid of, it’s way too cool.Â
Sorry, not a good photo.Never. Never ever will I have clean windows.Did I ever tell you the inside of my oven is blue? I didn’t know it until after we installed it, it was a special order because it’s dual fuel. Now I wonder if I had a choice of colors?I bought this piece from the store where my friend works. It’s old, has dovetail joints and is in relatively good shape. It weighs a ton.Bill is brewing beer again. This was the first batch, now he’s set up in the shop with hot water, and a freezer. He already did batch 2.The boys turned 7 on April 15th. I can’t believe my life has been consumed by them for 7 years. It’s been fabulous. They had hamburger, romaine lettuce, sweet potatoes, zucchini, apple and coconut oil for dinner. They’re the best dogs ever.Bye Bye Walt!! We didn’t even have to advertise him, I was so happy to see him go.And the cows. Our neighbors’ cows got over into our yard a few months ago and he and Bill had to get them on the other side of the fence. When we saw these 4, we assumed they were Mike’s.Mike came over and said, not my cows, They may belong to so and so. Several people came to see if they were theirs. Nope. I called my vet because he works the cattle barns on Wed. He made some calls and a few more people came. Nobody knew who they belonged to. They were here for 2 days, leaving cow pies ALL over. We had to check for cows before the dogs could go out.Sorry, lousy photos. I was having tea one morning and I thought the cows had gone home until this one, followed by 3 more mosied by the porch. We never did find out if they went home or moved in with Mike’s herd. Seriously?? Bill had to clean up the cow pies before the dogs bathed in it.I was very nervous about using a Seresto collar on the boys so I got them bandanas treated with a natural tick repellent. I was also spraying their feet with peppermint spray, they hated it. Finally, I broke down and started using the collars and so far, no negative reactions to them. Bill is keeping the grass cut and mowing paths to walk them.Yes, I did say Romaine lettuce in their birthday dinner. They love it. As soon as they hear the salad spinner they come begging. Weird weird dogs.
I lost 2 friends to suicide in a week. One from Washington, he has a lovely wife and 2 sons. The other was from Williamsport, she was the sister of a very close friend. She was married and has a son in the military. I struggled with both of these losses, so tragic. My heart aches for the family left behind to deal with the aftermath.Â
Bill has been mowing paths in the upper field, the dog’s favorite spot. It makes it less tick-saturated if the grass is shorter. Sometimes these guys get running and I have to find a safe spot to stand so I don’t get mowed over.Â
So pretty up on the hill.Butts and tails. And ticks.This would be a great building spot.Making babies. I love that they are 2 different colors.We’ve had summerish weather lately, and I’m here for it. I’m not much of a drinker but decided to go buy some vodka, I love it mixed with grapefruit juice or lemonade. There were way too many choices, most artificially flavored. I bought this because it’s made in Kentucky and it’s a woman-owned business. (I didn’t find this out until I looked it up online.) They also have a jalapeno (natural flavor) vodka. That might be really good too.
The car lot on the main road, not far from our house, usually has some interesting vehicles. I am in love with this old Plymouth coupe and the T bird. I would happily drive either of them.
I would take this just like it is.A convertible T-Bird, and it’s BLACK!!
I apologize for being such a slacker, things just are not happening very fast in sleepy little Burkesville, KY., AND we still have no wifi so everything I do for the blog has to be done by USB file transfer or tethering. Except that wasn’t working just now and Bill got my mobile hotspot to connect again. What an absolute pain in the butt.Â
03/13/2022 (started 3/09) Here we are, over a month from the last blog post and a LOT has happened. I’m not blogging because I have nothing to say, I’m just dead tired every day. ALSO. We don’t have WiFi. YET. I used to use my phone as a Hotspot but lately, I am unable to do that. Bill has me USB tethered to my laptop from my phone and I do file uploads and it’s all confusing as hell, during my trying to upload photos and resize them, I deleted them ALL. After they were all ready to go. It’s a damn nightmare and I hate it, several times tonight I’ve said I had it, screw the blog. I’m done. Bill to the rescue. Anyone who enjoys reading this babble can thank Bill. It’s only here because he knows I get insane.
With Bill having been sick and extremely run down, we had to take things slow. A speed I’m not familiar with. Aaron did come and take the 2 trees down, however, they didn’t deliver the house for another week because they are a miserable company to deal with. Promises, promises, no returned phone calls or emails, it was like pulling teeth. It has not improved.
Aaron and his son Colt in the blue hard hat. What a cool kid, he admires and emulates his father like crazy.
On 2/7 they said they were delivering part of the house the next day. We got to the property early that day and they had both parts of the house there, except, the first part was stuck 1/5 of the way up the driveway. They got off the stones and were in the mud. IDIOTS. Bill was not feeling great yet so he suggested I take the dogs and walk up the driveway so I could take photos of them bringing the house up. IT TOOK THEM 2 HOURS. At one point I was sure the house was going down the driveway backwards or that it was breaking in half. Finally, the house was up.
FOOLS
They had so many trucks trying to pull this. I really don’t know where all the trucks came from.
Yet another. This one ended up parked at the top of the drive.
This random truck pulled it up.
I was sure the porch was going to break off.
The second part was easy. Got it up on the first try.
One of the guys got a head start and floored it, he made it up the first try. Next they had to set the house on the foundation.
It took a crew of guys and equipment from Tuesday through Friday to set the house. We were here every day for that, it was sooo boring. We moved Walt down by the shop because I didn’t want to look at a potential meth lab (Walter White, Breaking Bad) while luxuriating in my tub in front of the 2 huge windows with no blinds.
While we were still at the cabin I left for some antiquing BY MYSELF. It was the first I had gone somewhere without the dogs since the first of the year. I found 2 antique stores, one was great and the other a trash hole. This is obvi the first place. They had so much stuff, I need to go back.
The second place looked like somewhere that a neighborhood dropped all of the stuff that was leftover from the huge neighborhood yard sale, 11 years ago. When I saw the full litterbox I turned around and left. That was gross. A litter box is one thing but geez Louise, clean the damn poop up. It must have killed the doll too.
This car was so full when we left the cabin. This was the morning of the 17th (would have been my Dad’s 101st birthday). There were actually 4 dogs and 2 humans in here too. GASP. We forgot the poop scoop and had to turn around and go back for it.
We were bound and determined to sleep in the house that night. We had a working fridge and running water and heat. We had to switch out the stove and dishwasher because I didn’t like the ones that “came with the package”. I wanted a dual fuel range (gas top, electric oven) and a totally stainless dishwasher. Bill eventually installed both.
Master bath, and yes, I believe that is PVC pipes laying outside of the window.
The Roatan Rescue dogs racetrack. It gets crazy sometimes.
The MUD room. Bill takes this word literally. He seriously thinks you are SUPPOSED to bring mud in to this room. At one point he had 6 pair of shoes there. ALL MUDDY. It’s a disaster. Tools, dog stuff, fleece leggings, gloves.
Nose Art Masters, L to R Gringo, Barrio, Highway, Max.
We spent the night there on a mattress on the floor. With 4 dogs who were really confused. They left their home on the island and moved to the Sonoran Desert. Then they travel cross country and sleep in a meth lab and poop and pee in strange places. Then they move to 31 acres and get to run and play but still live in a meth lab. Then they move to a motel, a cabin and finally, another house. And you know what, they just go with the flow.
I ran to the local IGA market one day for a few things. Looking ever so much like my usual fishwife self. I was standing in line, minding my own business. The man in front of me was buying a small bag of carrots. There was another man standing there chatting with him. I was NOT paying attention to either of them, I was probably trying to make myself believe I wasn’t really there. Anyhow, I heard someone say, “Do you like ’em?” Huh? I asked, “You talking to me?” The guy not in line says, “yeah, you like Pinto beans?” What in the ever-loving hell is he talking about? I said, “No, not really, I like green string beans.” He said, “Oh, they’re really good if you cook ’em up in some bacon grease.” I think I may have been gagging. I just shook my head and said to myself, only me.
So, the day we moved in, the finisher guy came. His name was Kenneth. He worked from Thursday through the following Wed. He was a super nice guy, we really enjoyed having him around. He was chill with the dogs and with the fact there was a stove in a box in the dining room and a dishwasher or 2, and, another stove in the kitchen. He never got frustrated with us.
Bill and I started moving stuff up from the shop using the tractor bucket. It was damn hard work, especially with him recovering from pneumonia. We did it though, and aside from a few appliances, we didn’t have any help. We almost dropped the brand new freezer. Bill had it in the bucket of the tractor, I was inside the laundry room trying to get it sitting on the floor but it wasn’t happening. We thought we were going to lose it, but somehow we managed to get it in. Phew.
We would move several loads in, then we brought the boxes in and emptied them. Then the stuff had to be put away. This photo was taken around noon.
It was bad.
I was a woman with a mission. By 5 PM I had the kitchen cleaned up. I didn’t know where anything was, but it was put away.
Clean. Organized. I like no clutter and everything has a place. Just like my father. My brother and oldest son are the same way. My sister is super neat and organized too but so is her husband so that doesn’t count.
Kenneth worked around this daily.
I got my glassware out and GUESS WHAT? I bought too much. So unlike me. I either need another shelf or I have to remember to get bubble wrap and put duplicates away.
These lights aren’t the original ones. I didn’t like them and bought something simple for now. Bill hung them while I was taking my car to get a factory recall fixed.
The boys have their chairs. I think this helps them to feel at home. These chairs have been theirs since Az in 2019. They are pretty much the only furniture we didn’t sell with the house.
Max is sitting in the dining room area. The chandelier is history too, getting a fan.
I rarely have a photo without a dog in it.
The living room and dining room furniture were delivered the Saturday after Kenneth left. They brought 4 of the wrong chairs and had to bring the correct ones the following weekend, but we had 2 stools. Prior to that, we were standing to eat at the island. Sitting is under-rated.
Highway and Gringo sharing a chair.
I hope he’s not waiting for me to serve him. After 30+ years he should know better.
Bill and I continued to move box after box in by ourselves. Some days I could hardly move at the end of the day and it was really kicking Bill’s ass.
I should have saved some bubble wrap to put some of my glasses away.
So much cardboard.
It was a daily mess that drove me crazy, I can’t stand things to be helter skelter. Many days I walked 6 miles, mostly in the house putting away stuff.
I have lost 15#’s, which is awesome, but I contribute it not to diet but to the fact I haven’t stopped moving for a while.
We made one last push and brought all that was left in the shop. Once again, it was a nightmare. The back of my car has boxes for donation.
97% of this is all put away. Well, except the craft/office room.
We still don’t have mattresses for the guest rooms, soon we will.
Seriously, they’ll NEVER be clean.
My friend sent me this as a housewarming gift. We love it, thank you Pam!
The other morning we were cleaning up the dogs feet and getting them back in the house when we noticed something all over the walls. At first, I thought it was dirt but quickly realized it was blood from Barrio’s tail. He’s big on whirlwind tail wagging and it looked like a meatpacking plant in our mudroom area, there was blood all over the walls, the door trim, everywhere. I got bandage stuff out and we wrapped it up. The bandage came right off. We tried a few more times and were finally able to keep one on. I called the vet and he said there’s not much you can do, it will heal.
We think because it’s wrapped with pink that Highway is confused as he is constantly trying to hump poor Barrio. I should have used blue. This stayed on for 3 days, we would clean it at night and rewrap. Sometimes we would get done wrapping it, he would get up, wag his tail and the bandage would shoot across the room like it was launched. It’s all healed now.
We had a real scare with Highway. He’s been hacking, gagging. Our vet here said he was cleaning his anal glands and it irritates his throat. He was ok after they were expressed but he got worse. One day he was really bad, Bill had already made an appt with a vet out of town. He called that night to see if he could bring Highway right away. He was not looking good, his eyes were not there and he was running a fever and shivering. Bill drove him 45 min to the vet. She did all kinds of tests on him and really found nothing, She wanted to Xray him the next day. We could either let him there or go back in the morning. Bill decided to bring him home. He was lethargic. At 3 in the morning, Bill woke me, he thought Highway was dying. We had the boys come in to him but they were weirded out and didn’t want to get near. We were both a mess. The next morning Highway wakes up almost back to normal. He ate his brekkie, ran out to potty, was feeling pretty good. Bill took him back for the X-ray. They think it was/is pneumonia. Irritating because she didn’t know if it was contagious. He’s on antibiotics, feels fine, acting normal but still hacking and now Max is hacking every now and then. This does not make me happy.
My new vino glass. I got 2 blue stemmed, 2 red, yellow and green, non stemmed of these glasses. They are nice and sturdy so I decided they were my new wine glasses. I love the colors!
It’s like electric kool-aid wine.
The boys and I walked to the pond the other morning. Max rolled in some unknown poop that Barrio tried to eat. I am so grossed out by these boys daily. I told my friend Teri, who has their Momma, Frito, to tell Frito her boys are bad. Later the same night Gringo started puking in the living room, got him outside quickly and he puked up his whole dinner and a ton of deer poop.
We weren’t mentally ready to hang our wall stuff but got so tired of moving it around that we hung most of it today.
Crap, that light looks crooked. (Bill fixed it.)
So much in this photo needs put away.
Last night (11th) was the first since Feb 17th that I have not slept on a mattress on the floor. It was glorious.
The weather has been pretty nice except when it rains, but it’s not freezing. However, Friday night it got down to 20 and snow was predicted.
Out the kitchen window.
I was anxious to get the boys out before the snow melted so we went for a hike at 7:30. It was sooo cold and the wind was blowing. This pic is walking down the driveway. Our favorite spot is between the trees in the distance. There is a huge field there and a pond on one end of it.
Gringo was supercharged, he zoomed all over the place.
I love fresh snow.
Max is a snow dog.
Barrio on the left and Highway and Max in the trees.
Unfortunately, the snow has mostly melted leaving us with MUD. Again.
Work continues on the house, gutter guy comes Tuesday, then once we get the block work down around the perimeter we can backfill and start getting ready for a yard and a dog fence, We really need a fenced area to let them out at night. There are usually deer in the field and they will chase them until they’re in Ohio. A fence will be coming soon or I will be one unhappy person.
Stay tuned, lots to come in the hopefully near future. Thanks for reading. XOXO