Have you seen my tomatoes??

I had a hankering for tacos this weekend and picked up all the ingredients, including 3 lovely tomatoes on the vine.  Today when I started to make supper I went looking for them.  They were nowhere. I checked the entire kitchen and even the car in case they fell out of a bag.  I remember bagging them and they are on my sales receipt so I know I bought them.  But they have vanished.  Poof!!  Now I'm scared in a few days I will smell a nasty surprise somewhere.  

They look just like this.......Have you seen them?  (I fear I'm losing my mind)

This morning I rearranged the furniture upstairs a bit. I'm still not happy with it and will go back to it tomorrow.  I had a visit from my friends Mom.  She makes the best mustard pickles.  She brought me 3 jars and a extra little housewarming gift of a jar with scented pumpkin guest soaps.

And I hooked some more!!!!  Feels so good.  I really like this pattern - it's very primitive which suits me fine.

Looks like Lauren and I got out of our slump on the same day ;)

Fall is definitely in the air.  It was 64 degrees in the house this morning and the cool wind outside would almost knock you over.  

How sweet it is

Ahh, the sweet feel of my hook and strips of wool in my hands.   It's been so long and I really have missed it.  Tonight I decided no more excuses.  I knew once I started it would be great.  And it is.....

This is a Payton Primitives pattern that I picked up when I was in Maine in May.  Has it really been that long?  The slump is over and I've beaten Lauren to the hook!  (Unless of course she actually hooked something today.  Have you Lauren???). Lol.  

I had the afternoon off so I started my long weekend early.  I had lunch with my friend "the bargain hunter".  She brought me a great silver throw pillow for my house and mentioned she saw a fun shelf at  the Thrift Store.   We went to check it out and I loved it.  She definitely has a skill.

Once I get my kitchen repainted this is going on the wall.

I think it will be cute to display china tea cups.  Don't ya think??

Miss Millie had an appointment at the beauty parkour and I stocked up on groceries.   So now we are all set to hunker down and nest for the long weekend.   I can't believe it's almost September but on the bright side, that means cozy sweaters and fabulous boots soon.  :)

Notification woes and the blessing of weird friends

You may remember I've mentioned I have had some issues recently with not receiving email notifications from certain blog followers who leave comments.  It's been happening for a few months and only certain people.  It's been driving me nuts.

So yesterday I made a little list of those regular commenters and then checked their email addresses.  Just as I suspected, there was a theme.  Anyone who has an AOL or Yahoo email account is affected. A little google search and I discovered that both have recently made changes to "something techie" to try and limit spam and hackers.  And whatever they changed does not like google.  Here is one link that explains it (a bit)

https://blog.mailchimp.com/yahoo-changes-may-affect-your-deliverability/

I was emailing one of my blog buddies Cindy, who is one of "the affected", and sent her the link.  Well, she was on the case!  I discovered, like me, these little tech mysteries drive her nuts too.

Well, after multiple emails and trial and error she fixed hers.  Granted it was somewhat radical, but now I get notification of her comments!   Gotta love it when you find someone who is as weird as you!!  Lol

Tuesdays choice

Tuesday is almost over, and I survived.  My brain is still partially in vacation mode.   I came home and had to make a choice.  

What should I do with my hands?  Should I do this.....?

Or......should I do this....?

What do you think?  ;)

Weekend review

,I have to say....almost perfect.  My first weekend in the new house that didn't involve unpacking anything.  

This morning I was out of bed early and had a load of laundry hanging on the line by 8am.  

My grandma would be proud :).  Can't wait to jump into bed today on fresh washed sheets dried in the sunshine.  So much nicer than from the dryer.  And easier on the electric bill.  Lol.  I thought that chore deserved a little treat.  Nothing like a special coffee to get you going on a weekend !

I'm slowly trying to fill my pantry (I'm watching the sale flyers and buying what's on sale until I get a supply of basics built up).  And I'm also trying to stock the freezer a bit.  It makes meal time so much easier when you're not in the mood to cook a full supper and it uses up any leftovers.   

I made a big pot of old fashioned hamburger soup.  It simmered all afternoon.

My downfall was I started watching Netflix after lunch. I thought I'd check out Homeland as I heard good reviews.  Big mistake!  I've watched half the first season today :).  Great show (obviously or I wouldn't have wasted the afternoon) 

I still haven't picked up my rug hook although I really am missing it.  I think I need a small quick project to get me moving. But in the meantime I've been knitting in front of the TV.

Maybe this will inspire me.  I love this magazine

I hope everyone had a great weekend.  Summer is quickly winding up but there's still sunshine in the forecast for this week.

Bargains

I have a friend who is like a bloodhound at sniffing out bargains.  She's a pro!  Her eagle eye has come in handy the last few weeks.  The week before I moved she arrived at my office with a bag - 65 pieces of assorted flatware for under $3.  And then today I came home at lunch and found a bag tied to my door.  Inside a cute little lamp.  The tag says $2.50

This will come in handy as there are no light fixtures in either bedroom.  Right now I just have 2 small lamps.  This one might look good in the hallway on a table. 

Auntie has been house cleaning too since I moved out.  Today when I stopped in she had this bag for me.  In it was an old quilt found in the bottom of a cedar chest.  She thinks my grandmother made it many years ago.

It's in perfect shape, just smells of cedar.  This weekend I'll wash it in a gentle cycle and it should be great.  I love old quilts and this one is extra special. 

Still struggling to get back into a work week routine. Today was a little easier. Just 3 more days to the weekend. Lol 

Oh Monday.....

I've got the "first Monday after vacation, back to work, rainy day blues".  Blahhhh.......  Oh this morning was hard.  Lol.  And not only is it rainy but it's chilly.  In fact after supper I had to break down and put on a pair of socks....in August!!

I came home and threw together supper - chicken, mozzarella, and hummus on grilled naan bread.  Surprisingly tasty for a thrown together meal.  The weekend company pretty much cleaned me out of groceries and I was too lazy to go to the store. 

Since the house is now reasonably organized I'm starting to really miss hooking something.  The pile of  unfinished projects in the den is starting to mock me every time I pass by

Some are fully hooked but not bound.  Some are varying degrees of almost hooked.  A few were abandoned and may never see another piece of wool.   Should a start a new piece with this pile sitting  here?  Should I just bite the bullet, grab one and finish the binding?  So many questions......I'll probably just knit tonight.    There's always tomorrow night to bind one rug.......hehehe. Why do we hate that part so much?

The to-do list just got shorter

Early in the week I learned I was having some company from away for a few days this weekend.  Just a quick 2 day visit but it was nice as I haven't seen these friends for several years.   Not only was it nice to catch up, but my friend's boyfriend is a bit of a jack of all trades.   So that meant a lot of little jobs got done.  

First they arrived with 2 little ikea side tables as a house warming gift. He put these together much quicker than I would have and surprisingly he had no spare parts left over.  Lol

This one will sit by my hooking chair

And this one has yet to find a permanent home but I suspect it may eventually reside in the upstairs hallway 

Then he removed a door at the foot of the stairs that was bugging me.  And the light switches in the kitchen made no sense.  They didn't connect to the light fixtures you would expect.  It was odd.  Well, he had that all fixed in 10 minutes.  

Then he went to put the now removed door into the garage and noticed that the side "man door" didn't work.  It had just been closed off and padlocked.  He disappeared to the hardware store and after a couple of hours I can now access the garage if the power is out.  

You would think that would be enough right?  Well, yesterday morning I mentioned how dark the back door is when I forget to turn on the outside light when I leave.  I never think of it when I leave and it's daylight.  So off he went again and returned with a motion sensor light for the edge of my garage.  

The only problem was I didn't have a ladder.  Where there's a will, there's a way.  (Due to the obvious safety issues here I've blurred his face to protect the innocent.  Lol)

That chair kept sinking further into the mud. Poor guy!  When I came home late last night, the yard lit up like a airport runway!!  

If they had stayed a whole week I would have a completely renovated house!!  

It's back to work for me tomorrow after almost 3 weeks off.  I'm soooo not ready

It's not all glamorous

The initial homeowner glow is beginning to fade a little.  There is a big rain storm coming so I wanted to mow my lawn before it got out of control.  I start up my dandy new lawnmower last night and mowed for about 2 minutes when it died.   Out of gas!  Arrgh.  By then I wasn't in the mood to deal with it.  This morning I went out and bought my very own gas can.  Partially filled it (because I don't really want to store much gas in the garage in case......boom).   Then I proceeded to spill gas all over the mower and garage floor before I finally hit the gas tank.   (Yes, there was a little cussing).  But I finished the lawn.  

But I mean really, what man can resist a woman with her very own gas can........Once word gets out they'll be banging down the door!  Lol 

Next non-glamorous chore was disgusting.  When I moved in there was a stinky, rotting old compost bag in the bottom of my compost bin.  This house was vacated in February so you can imagine what a treat that was to find. Grossssssss.   My hope that on last weeks collection it might fall out on its one when the truck tipped the bin did not happen.

So this afternoon with a scarf over my face, I dragged it into the garage, tipped it over and extricated the disgusting slimy bag with the help on those shovels in the background.  God, I can still smell it :(

Tomorrow morning is recycling pick-up.  I'm maxed out on the bags I'm allowed to put out.

The rest is stored in the garage for next time.   Ahhh, the glamourous week I've had!

There's a hole in my bucket

Have you ever heard that song?  I'm sure I haven't heard it since I was a little girl but today it popped into my head.  Probably because of the money pouring out of my bank account.  The bucket of money is getting more shallow.  

This homeowner stuff is expensive!  Lol.  I had just come from the furnace oil company when the song appeared in my head. I registered for automatic delivery and set up a monthly payment plan.  Ugh, oil is expensive.  They are supposed to fill up my tank tomorrow.  Let's all pray for a long, mild Fall :)

On the home front, I can "almost" see my dining area.  I've been using it as the dumping/sorting area.  Maybe by the end of the weekend I can actually eat on the table!

On a more serious note, I am saddened by the tragic death of Robin Williams.  In my younger days I remember watching Mork & Mindy and even named 2 goldfish after them.  He was so talented and brought laughter and joy to so many people.  He left us so many incredible performances.  Listen to his monologue on golf and try not to laugh.  I dare you.  Yet sadly depression would not relent.  As a society we often take depression lightly, yet when it has it's grips in you it isn't always possible to just "look on the bright side".  

It is such a shame that it takes a tragic event to put light on this issue.

Construction project

I finally got to use some of my new tools.  My tv stand was delivered - in pieces.  Corner stands are hard to find, especially if you are looking for an inexpensive one.  I don't think the tv will stay in that corner forever so I didn't want to put out a lot of money.

I figured it would be a few pieces, no big deal.  Easy Peasy, right?   When I unpacked it I thought I was building a piece of the international space station! The instruction booklet was about 20 pages.

Seems like an awful lot of screws and nails for a little piece of furniture....

But I would get to use my new pink screwdriver set :).  So it wasn't the 20 minute job I expected.  More like over an hour :(

In the end these pieces were left over.  I've convinced myself they give you a few extra parts. (Don't burst my bubble.  All I know is the thing hasn't fallen apart yet)

The finished product

I'm proud of myself!  Building this thing was easier than getting my new TV hooked up.  I had to call a friend in for "tech assistance".  LOL

After all that hard work, time to reward myself

Mmmmmmmm

Flowers......for now

Yes, I'm still here.  I'm still unpacking, sorting and organizing.  And at least 3 times a day I discover something I need and make several runs to the stores.  It is coming together, albeit slowly.  And my whole body is sore from lifting and lugging upstairs, downstairs, the basement or the garage.  But it's so much fun!

At this point every room is still a bit of chaos and confusion but I thought I'd share some of the flowers around the house.  Most of you are all gardeners.  And as you know, I am not.  So before the flowers and shrubs around the house commit suicide to evade the slow torturous death I will surely inflict on them I thought you should see them.

The climbing clematis was beautiful the week before I moved in.  However since I appeared, the blooms have all disappeared.  Coincidence?? Or did it see me coming and decide to send me a message??  Lol

The house was vacant for about 6 months so some of my friends have mentioned that there are a lot of weeds in the front beds.  Since I can't tell the difference I guess I will wait until Spring and invite some Green Thumbs over for a "garden party".  They can fix the beds and I'll provide the wine.  That seems fair, right?