Kylee loves her Kong Frisbee

Word of the Day

Tch - An expression of disagreement.

The weather has turned cooler and my wardrobe is lacking. So far, I haven't needed the jacket that I left at DD Daughter's house but I KNOW I'll need it before too long. However, I'm not complaining...too much. It actually snowed where #1 Son lives. I'm not sure if it snowed at The Lake. Hopefully, our handy-man has adjusted the rocks on either side of our driveway at The Lake because the township won't be too pleased if they wreck their plow on those rocks.

I spent the day with my friend. Lunch and a trip to Saver's. I bought some cool weather appropriate shirts. Goodbye capris and sandals, hello jeans and long-sleeve shirts, sweaters and sweatshirts. Afterwards, I stopped at Target...just because. There is no Target at The Lake so it's nice to just wander through and see what's what. I actually bought some of their box wines, something that I normally don't purchase. However, it's hard to argue with the savings. One box of Target wine = four bottles of wine. And right now, Target box wine costs $16. There's no way that I could purchase a bottle of wine for $4...and live through the experience. No, Target wine doesn't taste like $4 wine. Quite frankly, Target wine tastes a lot better than some wines that have set me back a lot more. Besides, I have boxes and boxes of empty wine bottles out in the garage which I can use when I get around to bottling my pomegranate wine.

Aside from my trip to Target, I stopped at PetSmart to pick up a treat pouch for Kylee's training sessions...and a bucket of treats that the instructor recommended. Her next lesson is in a week. I plan to be prepared. I also plan to work with Kylee on a daily basis...before the class. I wonder if I should take my Advil before next week's class?

Random Thought of the Day

At a movie theater which arm rest is yours?

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

Make hunger thy sauce, as a medicine for health.

- Thomas Tusser, 1524

Word of the Day

Taterfamilias - The head of the Potato Head family.

Last summer my sister inventoried her freezers at The Lake. Yesterday, I bought a frozen turkey for Thanksgiving. I barely found room for it in my freezer. The turkey was my last straw. It became more than apparent that there are LOTS of things in both the big, upright freezer in my laundry room AND the freezer part of my side-by-side refrigerator. Time to do an inventory. If you don't know what is in your freezer...or cupboards...you just end up running out to the grocery store for things that you already have, in abundance. However, having said that. The turkey I bought yesterday, is the only turkey that is currently residing in my freezer.

The inventory took me two LONG hours. I now have two printed pages of things that are in my upright freezer and one printed page of things that are in my side-by-side freezer. From the look of things, I've been preparing for The Great Famine. And I've been making those preparations since 2007, but I did find some blackberries that I'd vacuum-sealed in 2002. *sigh* I'm sure they'll be great in wine, but obviously, it's time to use some of this stuff up. I've already thrown away the mystery foods.

Mystery food? Apparently, someone (probably me), put some food in the freezer without bothering to identify it with the mistaken idea that I'd use it before having to label it. Wrong. I figure if you can't figure out what something is by looking at it, and you can't remember when you put it in the freezer, it's time to throw it out. I'm making a resolution to label things from now on. My memory isn't what it used to be. And NOTHING goes into the freezer before it has been entered into the inventory. What am I talking about?! NOTHING goes into the freezer until I whittle the inventory list down to ONE page.

As for vintage foods?...well, HTP and I are going to enjoy a couple of three year old "vintage" T-Bone steaks tonight. I'm hoping that the Fried Italian Peppers (also found in the freezer - Fall 2009, but vacuum-sealed) will help mask the freezer burn on the meat. I can say that the frozen burritos (2009?) that I cooked up for lunch tasted just fine.

Needless to say, no-one is going to be running out to the grocery store in the near future for any meat. We've got meat. Check the inventory. I suppose I should inventory my two pantries next. *sigh*

Thought of the Day Random

Why doesn't McDonald's sell hotdogs?

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

Dive into the sea of thought, and find there pearls beyond price.

- Moses Ibn Ezra, Shirat Yisrael

Finished Landscaping...for now.


There was a rock under that palm tree?


Word of the Day

Tarnation - The land flowing with tar. The majority of the world's tar is exported from this country.


Happy


Veteran's


Day!


Wow! It's been a whole month since I blogged...over a month? Well...I've been a bit busy and I've also been just plain old lazy about blogging. Let's see if I can catch you up.

1. I planted two tomato plants, some lettuce, and some zucchini.

I know. I'd just managed to harvest all the fruits from my summer gardens at The Lake but I couldn't resist the thought of fresh veggies here in Arizona. The tomatoes are doing quite well. I wish I could say the same for the lettuce and zucchini. I don't think the lettuce likes how dry things are here and since I planted the zucchini into my flower bed...I'm not sure it likes our soil.

2. I've got everything unpacked.

All the boxes and boxes of stuff that HTP and I brought home from The Lake have been unpacked and everything has been put away. Unpacked doesn't necessarily mean put away in my household so I thought I should clarify.

3. I played my clarinet at the church.

I had a wonderful time playing my clarinet with our original contemporary group at the church. A couple of the original group have moved to the high country and some have retired so it was wonderful to get together again.

4. I raced off to Nevada to clear and clean up my folks' house so it could be put up for sale.

It took me a week to get everything accomplished. On the day that I arrived, I discovered that garbage pick up was scheduled for the following morning. So, I ran around the house (room to room) and filled 12 HUGE black garbage bags with things that I KNEW I couldn't sell or donate. I also called Salvation Army to schedule a pick up...which...I eventually cancelled. On Day 2, I called a used furniture store to see if they'd like to buy some of the furniture that my folks had in their home. I also started calling and scheduling possible Realtors. Oh...and I called Vietnam Vets to pick up a load of things for donation which I'd started to box and bag up the previous night. And I had GE come in to fix my folks' dishwasher. The water pump was bad. The used furniture people came over and appraised the furniture that they wanted and then sent someone over to pick it up and pay me. The Vietnam Vets took a truckload of other stuff. Meanwhile, I interviewed the first realtor. On Day 3, I continued boxing up things for donation and I had someone come in to clean the carpets. I also interviewed two more Realtors....who ended up having to wear booties to protect the newly cleaned carpets. On Day 4, the boxing up of stuff continued and I interviewed the last of the Realtors...and hired said realtor. I hope he does a good job. I picked all the almonds from my folks' tree AND all the pomegranates. I also hired a landscaper to clean up the yard and scheduled a window cleaner to come out to clean all the windows. And...I bagged up and hauled a bunch more stuff out for garbage collection. Day 5, more packing up so stuff. I shipped out two boxes of stuff (including almonds and pomegranates) to my folks. The landscaper did a great job with the yard clean-up and hauled off stuff that the garbage people refused to take. I washed up the patio furniture and got it set up outside. My friend and her hubby came over for supper (no I didn't get rid of EVERYTHING)and we ate outside...I did get rid of the kitchen table and the dining room table. Someone came out and installed the For Sale sign. Day 6 was spent packing, cleaning and clearing out all the kitchen cabinets and the garage and anything that I missed. My friend's hubby took five loads of stuff to The Salvation Army for donation. AND he installed the part for my folks' kitchen sink...which I ordered earlier in the week...AND he replaced the two anti-siphon valves on the hose bibs outside. I've got the best friends EVER! My friend even helped clean the showers! And, they agreed to take lots of stuff over to their home (in Vegas)for a future garage sale and because some things I just wasn't willing to part with and I'd already jam-packed (Tetris-style), everything that I could into the Gator. Then the best friends ever, took me to a nearby casino for supper which I paid for because they are the best friends ever. Day 7, my friend's hubby came over in the morning to pick up the last of the things that they were going to keep and transport for me....and I gave the realtor my key. Day 8, did I tell you that all this time Kylee was with me? She did pretty good...other than when she chewed up the cord for my Kindle. Kylee and I piled into a VERY loaded car, locked up the house, and headed back home to Arizona.


5. I discovered that #1 Son is coming for Christmas and he wanted to go to Vegas for New Year's.

So...HTP and I discussed going to Vegas to celebrate New Year's....and then we discussed going to Vegas for Halloween...just for fun. So I called our casino hostess and made reservations for HTP and me for the end of October and for New Year's with an extra room for #1 Son and his girlfriend...but not before I made reservations at a local kennel for Kylee.

6. We had HTP's brother and his new wife over for dinner.

HTP's brother and his new wife bought a new home (a second home) in Arizona. They flew in for a few days to take care of things and buy stuff for their new home so, HTP and I had them over for dinner one night. Steaks on the grill. They told us that they'd be coming back to Arizona for Thanksgiving. Now, I'm wondering if I should be planning on having Thanksgiving dinner here with them...or over there at their new place...or a quiet meal for just HTP and me. Regardless, I plan to buy a whole turkey and have it thawing...just in case.

7. I picked the pomegranates - from my tree this time.

I ended up having to really prune back my pomegranate tree. It had completely overgrown my air-conditioner over the summer which caused the poor thing to croak (the AC unit, not the pomegranate tree). So, I combined the chore of pruning with picking. It took me a full day to clean and juice the pomegranates. I canned the juice and stored the pulp in the fridge until I could start making the wine...after HTP and I got back from Vegas.


8. HTP and I went to Vegas.

After dropping Kylee off at the kennel (she couldn't come with us), HTP and I drove to Vegas, crossing the new Boulder Dam bypass bridge. Wonderful! I thought I'd be a bit nervous crossing such a REALLY TALL bridge (after seeing the bridge under construction from below as we crossed the Dam) but you don't even notice how far you'd fall if you went over the edge because they have retainer walls on either side. No stopping on the bridge. However, HTP and I noted that there were people walking on the other side of the retainer walls. We think there must be an elevator that takes tourist up to see the bridge from the Dam. Interesting but I'm not sure that I would ever actually do that. *shudder* Anyway, we spent three nights in Vegas just eating, drinking and having fun. And, Kylee was excited to see us when we got back. I'd rather not leave Kylee at a kennel but everyone there seemed to love her and it's good to know that there's somewhere nearby where I can take Kylee should the need arise again...like for New Year's.

9. I started a double batch of Pomegranate Wine.

This last summer must have been a bad year for pomegranates. I was only able to pick half as many pomegranates as I had last year. But...oh well...I still had enough to make a double batch of Pomegranate wine. Seven days of bubble, bubble and I was able to air-lock two buckets of wine which I'll have to rack at the beginning of December.

10. I sold lots of stuff at a garage sale.

Remember all those boxes of stuff my friends helped me with in Vegas? Well, there was a neighborhood garage sale scheduled for the beginning of November at my friends' house in Arizona. So, we had a garage sale....a successful garage sale. No, I didn't sell EVERYTHING we had hoped to sell, but we sold enough that there wasn't too many things left over for donation or for our next garage sale. Yes, I kept some things for next time.

11. Kylee had her first obedience class.

*MOAN* Kylee was a complete hoyden! Actually, this may have been a good thing because I learned a few things...and Kylee did too. But, by the end of the hour long class, I had a headache that made me wonder if my eyes were bleeding. Kylee was so excited to see all the other dogs in the class and all these people who she wanted to play with her, she barked (such a shrill bark!), for almost the entirety of the class, making it almost impossible to hear the instructor. Needless to say, I'm going to be working with Kylee on the "calming" exercise that the instructor showed us all AND I need to work on ignoring my dog when she barks commandingly and in such a shrill manner. The latter is going to take some work.

12. I've packed up and mailed several boxes of stuff to my folks at The Lake and I packed up and mailed a couple of boxes of stuff to Sarge in Texas.

Yes, I still had more things to mail off to my folks from their Nevada home. Plus, I had to clear out my own cupboards to make room for some of the things that I'd brought back from my folks' place, stuff that I wanted to keep. So, I packed up a couple of boxes of stuff to send to Sarge. I'm really loving The UPS Store. I forgot to mention that I sent a couple of boxes of stuff to DD Daughter after I got back from Nevada (after clearing out my folks' place). I may end up using them again to ship out the spinning wheel that I want up at The Lake...not here in Arizona. It sure would save me from having to pack it into the Gator next spring.


13. We had one of our windows fixed.

The weather has been really nice here in Arizona since we've been back. We've been able to open windows to air things out and cool things down at night. Unfortunately, one of the windows in our guest room wasn't working too well. The spring had sprung. Thankfully, we have a lifetime warranty on our windows here so they sent someone out to fix the window...not immediately but within a week from when we called.


14. I've pruned all the plants and trees in my front yard with the help of my wonderful neighbor.

I have a wonderful neighbor! She's been helping me prune my overgrown landscaping in the front yard...every Wednesday (except when I was in Vegas). Thursday is when our garbage collection is scheduled. Yesterday, I think, we finished up with the pruning in the front yard. That Mediterranean fan palm out front was vicious! We both ended up with blood dripping down our arms by the time we'd finished. HTP will be taking the clippings to the dump. By the time we'd finished, I'd felt like I'd been in a fight. However, our front yard is looking really nice. I'd planned to do most of this pruning last spring but the best laid plans oft-time go awry.


So...now you're all caught up on all the doings here in Arizona. We discovered that the dump is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays so HTP and I will be taking the palm tree clippings to the dump this afternoon. Grocery shopping is on the schedule...after.

Happy


Belated


Birthday


Bro!


It was my favorite brother's birthday yesterday. Of course, he's my only brother but.... It was also the birthday of the Marine Corps.



Ooorah!




Random Thought of the Day

Do astronauts change their clocks when they move over different time zones in space?

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

Oh sleep! It is a gentle thing,
Beloved from pole to pole.

- Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 - 1834)