Month: April 2022

A woman’s perogative

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

Thanks for reading, I’ll be back soon.  

 

 

 

 

Eclectic Twist

Design And Live Outside the Lines