Dropping....leaves, temperatures, humidity and relationships

Another Beautiful Fall morning!!  The temperature before the sun rose was right at 70 degrees, the air is cool and fresh.  At 1:30 pm, the temperature has risen to about 83 degrees with a nice cool breeze.  Our skies are a clear blue with plenty of sunshine.  The humidity has left for now and even the soggy yard isn't making the steam like it normally would.  YAY!!  Fall is finally arriving!!

We are forecast for a cold front to move into the state later today...should drop our temperatures a bit lower...the remainder of the week is forecast for overnight lows in the mid to upper 60's with daytime highs in the low 80's...okay, so its still warm here, But HEY...this IS Florida afterall.  The drop in the humidity is the biggest difference in our Fall weather.

The Chinese Tallow Tree is beginning to show gold and by the end of November will have only a few red/gold leaves before the last one finally drops.  My Crape Myrtles are dropping leaves on the southwest side of the yard and even those are showing reds and golds as they settle in for their winter rest.

In other places around the yard, the Virginia Creeper is also turning and the wild grapevine is beginning to change as well.  Most of the Oaks in our yard will keep their leaves until January...right now, they are full of acorns, which the squirrels seem to enjoy bouncing off the vehicles.  My truck bed has accumulated a number of half eaten acorns the past few days, compliments of the squirrels.

Our buddy with the chickens is offering me four new ones he just picked up over the weekend...supposed to be one of the 'blue' breeds...hubby couldn't recall the name other than the 'blue'.  I'll be going over later this afternoon to check them out before I decide.  Would be cool to have one that lays the 'blue' eggs... is that Andalusian?  I've been on the chicken sites to see what some of the blue breeds look like and to learn more about them...too much information to recall exactly what I've read about which breeds...DUH...I'm so confused!!!  LOL.  Seems there has been a change in his relationship with his girlfriend, who is the reason the chickens were purchased to begin with.  The buddy doesn't have the time to take care of the animals with his work schedule, the girlfriend was the one who wanted the 'farm', but now she's not going to be around...the relationship has ended....as of yesterday.  So sucks to be young and not know what you have while it is still within your grasp...she's still sowing her 'wild oats' and he's in the settle down frame of mind.  Ahhh, to be their ages once more and know the things I've learned through my own life...how different things might have been....eh, probably not.  Some of us are just destined to keep repeating the same ways and mistakes forever...just too blamed hardheaded to realize what we're doing for the most part....LOL.

Spent some time on the phone this morning visiting with my sister and also on a separate call, visiting with another friend.  See, I can visit and save fuel...hahaha....just tie that phone line to the side of my head please.
Reminds me of when my son was little.  Things were tight financially, my sister lived about an hour away and we only had one car.  She and I have spent the entire day...almost eight hours...on the phone...long distance charges applied at that time.  OMG!!!  The phone bills were sooo outrageous at times.  My ex once told me I could have driven down and spent the entire day for what that ONE phone call cost...  My response...yeah, maybe I could have, IF the car would run on empty and IF the car would make it that far.  He stopped griping about the bill.  I was at home all day doing other stuff while I was on the phone with Sis....no portable phone at that time, but I did have 150 feet of phone cord!!!  Could drag that phone all over our apartment and even outside if I wanted!!  Ah, those were the days....

Van work, Ants and muscle spasms...Oh My!

My day is starting slowly...was up by 6:30 am to spend a few minutes with hubby before he left for work. The air was almost chilly, the temp was hovering right at 75 degrees...amazing that I felt cool at that temp! I turned the fans on before the sun began to show through the trees...maybe it will stay nice like this the rest of the day. I think we are forecast to reach the low to mid 80's today. The lack of humidity in the air is most welcome....although as the sun bakes this swamp I call home, the steam factor will be felt.



Thanks to DJ at Heirloom Gardens, I've found a possible answer to the fire ant issue....besides setting the yard on fire. Her suggestion to Google Fire ants and Molasses was super! Found loads of information about using molasses to get rid of them pesky varmits....my only dilemma at this point...I love molasses myself...do I really want to give up this sticky sweet substance to those sorry ants?? My answer at this point, YES!!

After hubby came in for the evening and got all showered, we were sitting on the sofa and I noticed several 'ant blisters' on his heel...then his ankle...the top of his foot and even his toes...both feet!! I counted at least two dozen of these blisters last night...he said he got them standing on the front walk when one of the neighbors was down the other night. I ended up with three myself last night sitting out next to the walk while he was working on the van. This morning I felt something crawling on my leg and danged if it wasn't a sorry little ant...I was in the house sitting in my chair. GGGRRRR....They have got to go!!

The van is back together now....new shocks front and back, new exhaust system and the tires got rotated....no wonder his back and neck was spasming last night! He's been working on this for what, three or four days now? In addition, he's having to do 'grunt' work on his job....they are demolishing one of the schools and there's quite a bit of metal that has to be dealt with. His actual job is driver, not laborer. Took a pain pill and a muscle relaxer to help him get comfortable enough to sleep! This morning, he was still quite sore and catchy...but, he went on to work as usual. That reminds me....I need to have him call the neurologist and get him to write him another prescription for the pain meds...and the muscle relaxers. He's managed to make the last script stretch since Dec of 2005! Since he doesn't take them very often, there shouldn't be a problem getting this refilled by the Dr. He just hates to take meds and rarely takes any type of pill period. His pain, not mine! Me, I'd be on the phone begging for a refill...especially knowing the type of pain he's experiencing. SIGH...guess that's the price we pay for trying to deal with whatever life throws our way...work through the pain as long as possible and when that's as far as you can go, beg for pain meds to help you continue working longer.

Off and running to the bank to make the deposit I couldn't make yesterday and then a quick trip to the drug store on the way home to pick up another bottle of Advils...at least they take the edge off his pain and help keep my own aches and stiffness under control. Figures we'd be out of Advils and aspirin at the same time...that's a first! I always have some type of anti-inflammatory around.

Dog looking for a home...don't I wish

I left the house long enough to drive two and a half miles to the corner store and back...during that short time frame of maybe fifteen minutes total, one of the dogs...won't name names...BEAR...totally destroyed the forty pound bag of dog food that has been sitting in kitchen for the past four days. Wasn't because he was hungry...their bowls on the porch still had food in them when I put them in the house...it has been there all day!

NO, this bad boy is just being a jerk...and it's becoming more than I want to deal with. He's been busted with his face in the garbage numerous times recently and now it seems that every time I walk out the door he's going to destroy my house or at least make a huge mess. I'm more sure than ever that HE is the ring leader when we have discovered the furniture destroyed and trash shredded all over the house.

It is this reason that he has not been allowed to stay inside during the five years since we adopted him. He belonged to one of the boys and possibly even their mother...who knows the real truth there... With that in mind when we first got him, he was already two years old, I have worked with him and tried to be patient and as tolerant as possible. We kept him outside in our old front fenced yard with my old girl Gypsy and another of the boys' dogs that somehow ended up living with us. That was a huge yard for them, 75 feet across and right at thirty feet deep.

Since we've lived out here, we've had him in the pen, or chained and more recently, in the house. When we came back from vacation, my girlfriend said he had been very good while in the house, so we continued to let him stay inside with everyone else. I'd leave his silly ass run loose, but he refuses to stay inside the property lines and I can't afford to have him get hurt or worse, hurt someone or somone else's critters...too many horses and cows in our neighborhood for that.

Not to mention, he's being a very bad influence on the youngest dog Mojo. I have not had any problems with Mojo being in the trash or snatching things from the stove or counters. This dog is making me despise him by his actions. I don't think I've ever wanted to choke the life out of any animal, but Bear is putting me in that frame of mind. If I could find someone who could put up with his ignorant ways and would know he had a good home...his butt would be gone in less time than it takes to blink. He's not a stupid animal by no means...too intelligent for his own good actually...just damn hardheaded about tearing stuff up.

If I had been gone for hours and hours, yeah ok, I'd say he was bored....but less than fifteen minutes is more than I'm able to tolerate. Know it had to be him as that was a new bag of food...it wasn't just torn or chewed on...it was dragged to the middle of the living room floor and mauled. Paper shredded all over the floor and dry kibbles all around the bag. Most of the food was still inside the bag, he just shredded one entire side of the bag that's all....GRRRRRR.

Took me longer to get the food up off the floor than I was gone!! Hubby will have to figure out what to do with this animal....it isn't fair to keep him out in the pen alone....or on a chain in this swamp. When he's in the pen all he does is whine, howl and cry...day and night...which of course totally throws me in growl mode...and hubby as well....to the point of taking a gun out and putting him out of everyone's misery. I am at the end of my rope with him and sad to say he needs to find a new home. After five years of trying to retrain and correct his bad habits...I no longer have the patience to deal with him. He's worse than dealing with ten two year olds...and I surely don't have the patience for that!!

Rainy Columbus Day, fire ant free for all

Well, happy Columbus Day...I guess...hmmm, is that another 'day' they've changed? All I know, I was planning to go to the bank this morning to make a deposit...looks like that will be tomorrow now.

The water hasn't receded much...hasn't had a chance really, we had another small shower around 8 am. I've decided to leave the water in the cooler and see how much more we get...it's currently just above the two gallon mark....all this since Thursday and most of it came on Friday night....
The entire yard is a soggy swamp at the moment. Really cut into my plans for doing some yard work over the weekend. Figures, now that the weather is cooling off I'm gonna get rained out at every turn. The fire ants are mounding all over the yard...hate those nasty little buggers. They've invaded my Stevia pot since last night and are in the Cactus pot and one of the Florida Aloe pots. Then of course there are the mounds growing on several of the walkway pavers and I've spotted two more mounds out on the other side of the Rubber Tree plant. Hate to see what's happening out back in the pasture area. SIGH...looks like I'll be going after some Fire Ant killer soon...probably take fifty pounds to do the yard....eeewww, but it beats getting gnawed on by them every time I walk across the yard. If they weren't such nasty biters I wouldn't bother...but, with the granddaughter being out in the yard playing on occasion and hubby trying to work out in different areas, the possibility of being in a nest or too near one is great and increases the number of bites...easier to be rid of them.

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Well, that's unusual....my main fan just shut down...did we blow a breaker or is the power off? I'm on the laptop so...I checked my internet connection...still have a connection...so off to the breaker box....hmmm, all the breakers look fine...I stopped and checked the fan in the kitchen...it came on when I pressed the button...the tv power light is on, so that's ok...

On to the power strip...dang, it's the one that has the 'light' burned out...ok, let's try a different one...I plugged the power cord into a different strip...turned it on...still nothing.....its the fan.

Oh, this is hated...this fan is one that really pushes the air and now its quit. On and running fine one minute, the next it's off. CRAP!! Hopefully, hubby will be able to get it up and running again, just like the last time it did this....it's an older commercial model, but it works soooo nice! (when its working....lol) Probably just needs cleaned out again, after all, it has been running most of the summer.

The day has warmed up quite a bit...my porch thermometer says its 88 degrees. We do have a very nice cool breeze blowing pretty often and the skies have dark clouds to the west and south of us so I'm sure we'll be seeing more rain shortly...probably in time for hubby to come home and get from the truck to the house. The van may take a while to get back together at this rate with all the rains.

On the brighter side of all this rain....we are at the very beginning of the 'Dry' season now...still have another 45 days before the end of Hurricane season, but the dry season 'starts' around the fifteenth of this month. Makes me mental trying to figure out how they come up with some of the things they do (weather people).

So-so Sunday, Back to the Swamp

The day has gone so-so. Early in the day, the air was cool and the sky was sunny. As the day began, we had more rain...but the sun was still shining...the rain only lasted about fifteen minutes or so....this time. The early temperature was about 75 degrees...by late afternoon it was around 88 degrees.

Hubby was in and out trying to finish up the van...he managed to get the exhaust reattached...and then it rained before he could get it welded. After waiting for the rain to stop and things to somewhat dry out, he headed back outside once more. At this point, I should probably mention, he's also replacing the shocks, front and back.

The exhaust in place, he began welding the seams. Once he was satisfied with how it was hanging, he moved on to the shocks. OOPS... Mental note: For future exhaust replacements...Tack weld first and make sure all parts are in place (other parts, like shocks). Seems the new exhaust has a larger diameter pipe, and the new shocks are also heavier...translation...larger. As he's putting the shock in place he hits a snag...the shock is not going to clear the exhaust pipe. We spent until sundown/dusk working on bending the pipe. Slow process as he didn't want to grind the welds off to move the pipe....instead, he found the 'popper torch' and used it to heat the pipe and then beat it with a hammer. SSLLOOWW process. The shock still isn't in place and the van is still up on jacks and blocks.

On the up side...I will have my Dakota to drive while the van is down.

All the standing water has really put a hitch in what I wanted to accomplish this weekend. I can't get near the burn pit without wading boots and its the same for heading any place in the yard. I was wanting to fire up the smoker grill and finish off a fresh pork roast so it had the nice smokey flavor. Not to be, as the wood is impossible to get to due to the water. Even the garden and chicken yard are both soggy. I've got trim work to finish with the weedeater and there's a bit more mowing I was needing to complete. The river is in the back pasture again and the swamp is flowing around the house once more....looks like it could be a bit before I'm going to be able to mow again.

The water almost put a stop to the work on the van. Hubby's stick welder is out back...sits in it's own little enclosed trailer. He wasn't sure if he was going to be able to get to it because of the water. I suggested he use the little MIG welder that we bought several years ago...its in the shed....DUH!! Its perfect for this job...afterwards, he said he was glad he used the MIG because he didn't think he would have been able to get the stick to weld as nice. Well, imagine that! It's this type of work that this welder was purchased for....silly man.

Its raining again....so ends a so-so Sunday...now...back to the swamp....

Friday and Saturday...and the comfort of a hug

Friday morning hubby didn't have work...seems he's been given another day off this week. They've had a couple different jobs for this week, but now it seems there is a permit issue....and again our finances take a hit.

The day was pretty fair, we got more rain but the temperature stayed pretty nice. The weather said we got a total of 3 inches Thursday night...makes about five inches for the week. Plus the rain Friday. One of our water coolers was left sitting on the back porch open. It holds five gallons...after today's rains (Saturday) it is showing water to the two gallon mark. I'm willing to bet its about seven inches. Our yard looks like it did during the hurricane rains...we are flooded front and back. The swamp has returned with just three days of rain. I won't be making an offer to buy this place....hopefully we'll be able to get to the mountain as planned.

Saturday has been nice...we had cool temperatures and sunny skies most of the day. It waited until afternoon to rain and then was sunny once more. Hubby spent the day working on the van replacing the exhaust system...its almost ready to go back together and be welded and put back under. The rain delayed things for a bit and the welding will have to wait for a dryer day, tomorrow we're hoping.

Finally got to drive my little Dakota for the first time in weeks...I miss my truck. Went to the feed store down the road to pick up feed for the chickens and a bale of hay. I need to get the nest boxes and the coop cleaned out and refreshed for the cooler weather....if it ever gets here. I also plan to use the hay out in the garden area after I till it all under and move Penny and Patty. Good thing hubby put the hay in the shed...it could be a bit getting the tilling done with the rain hitting like it has. As it was, the hay almost ended up getting wet...the rains began shortly after I returned home...I had just got the feed in the can when it started to sprinkle. Hubby ran the hay bale to the shed for me before he came inside. It sure made the driveway a muddy mess where he was trying to work.

Hmmm, was thinking about the hay...I think I'll use my old hay that got wet out in the garden and keep the good hay for the hens... don't know where my brain is lately. Using the old damp hay in the garden was my plan to begin with, that's the reason I went to get a new bale...DUH!!

This morning was one of pain...I woke up with my back catching between the shoulders...old car accident thirty years ago...its been acting up since we moved the couch from hell last week. I re-injured it a couple years ago when I tumbled down our old back steps...call me klutz! Tripped over my own feet on that one, went sprawling down the steps onto the dirt....dressed for work, skirt, blazer, hose, heels. Was not one of my better moments! The left shoulder caught the most of it as I tried to protect my face...always leading with my face...hahaha. Was ok, but very embarrassed and also very lucky...I was behind our deck, no neighbors home at that time of day, and my cell phone...that was in the house. I discovered that as I was trying to decide if I could move...patted my pocket and to my dismay, the phone wasn't in it. Fortunately, I was able to just dust myself off and go on to work....after retrieving my cell. The shoulder was stove up a bit, but hey, I've had worse...I could move it ok and it didn't act like it was injured too badly. Took a couple of months but it worked itself out. Hasn't really bothered me much since....but the area between my shoulders, those vertebrae were injured during the wreck and it seems they are pinching a different nerve now...used to be kinda numb in that area...not since the steps.

My emotions were a bit weird today as well...woke up just bawling over nothing...I noticed the roof appears to be leaking over our bedroom area as well and that set me off. Hubby was very supportive this morning and attempted to show his concern by coming to give me a hug. Sometimes, that's really what I need...the comfort of a hug.

Fall showers...liquid sunshine...sorry appliances

It's almost time for hubby to come home for the day and it has just begun to pour liquid sunshine all over us.  As I was adjusting the kitchen window and noticing the little frog fellow sitting on it, my nose caught the scent....at first I thought it was the Bottle Brush tree just outside the window...but no, it was the smell of rain moving in.  A few minutes later I heard the drumming of raindrops on the roof.  This is a welcome relief, as the heat had reached about 89 degrees outside....instantly the air began to cool.

The major disadvantage to these afternoon showers....we will be unable to do anything outside around the house, such as trimming or mowing.  But, all this liquid sunshine will help keep the drought index above fire threat....a good thing for those of us with lots of pine trees dropping their cones and 'straw' everywhere.

I managed to run the growling vacuum across the carpet, briefly.  Dumped the dirt cup twice and called it quits...just sounds like its in major pain.  The dog hair is temporarily at bay and I've read through the warranty for this thing...of course the roller brush is one of the items NOT covered by the warranty.  Figures.  So now I may just pull it back apart and see if there's a way to 'fix' the problem.  Can't take much of the growling, chewing sound it makes the longer it is run.  Probably isn't real healthy for the motor either. 
What I'd like to know...What has happened to decent quality in the area of vacuums?  They all seem to be made entirely from plastic now.  I realize that most things have become 'disposable', but come on....who wants to purchase new appliances every couple of months?  Not me, that's for sure!

Eureka is now part of the Electrolux line from what my warranty information indicates.  Weren't they one of the better vacuum products years ago?  I recall the one my Grandmother owned and that was one cleaning little machine.  What has happened here?  Am I the only one who is having such sorry luck with vacuums now?  My Hoover is ancient, over twenty years old...still useful for some things, but the carpet attachment just doesn't pull the hair very well.  The new one is an awesome cleaning machine....or was until the roller brush died....sigh....sorry appliances....just makes me wonder why I even bother trying to keep the house semi clean....

UPDATE: 4:55 PM  Flipped the tv on as the rumbling thunder and dark skies indicated a bit more severe type weather...our area is now under a Tornado Warning until 6 pm tonight.  Looks like we have several storm cells that could produce the Tornado action...

Draggin....

Another cool morning in the low 70's...I wish it would stay this way all day...

Woke up later than normal this morning...hubby left at 7 am and I chose to sleep in. It was almost 9 am before I finally dragged out of bed. I'm just flat out tired. Guess its just a combination of age (did I say that?), cooler weather and everything in general just catching up to me. The worst part is I'm still tired and the body is all achy and catchy as if I'd been doing really strenuous work....which I haven't.

The vacuum cleaner ended up kicking my butt yesterday...I sat on the floor with it apart for over two hours as I had to cut the hair, thread and gunk from around the ends of the roller brush. By the time it was back together, I could barely move....just the way I was sitting on that floor. Worst part....the roller brush seems to have wallered out on the belt end and that's where the noise is originating...where the bearing rides inside the brush is wallered so bad its letting it flop around a bit as it spins. The down side is this roller brush is NOT listed on the replacement parts list...great..and I really liked this vacuum. Guess I'll be calling the company later today to see what I can do.

Never did make it to the back room yesterday...was still working on the vacuum when hubby came home. Opted to make supper instead of heading outside with him....we ended up having leftover Split Pea and ham soup and I made a pan of cornbread.....OMG!!! The cornbread was awesome. I added 1/4 cup of Sack Meade in addition to the milk....(Sack Meade is a pure honey meade...no additional flavorings)...The bread not only smelled wonderful as it cooked, it tasted absolutely heavenly...I could have made my meal entirely of the cornbread. After we finished supper, I decided to make brownies for something sweet. Must have been my night for cooking as these came out really good as well. Now if I can just keep my hands out of them...ya'll know I could eat the entire batch by myself....grin.

Sounds like the mail has run, guess I'll wander to the end of the driveway and see what junk mail was left....all my bills come online. Maybe the walk will do me good. Its such a beautiful day....

Drizzly Day

At 7 am the sky was overcast and the temperature right at 75 degrees...the humidity is back. We left the fans run overnight as the temperature was still 79 degrees at 11:30 pm when we went to bed. UUUGGGHH, will the heat never leave? We hit about 89 degrees yesterday afternoon.

The sun broke through the clouds briefly, maybe for about two and half hours...the sky never really cleared though and now we are having drizzly rain off and on. Just enough to make things soggy and enough to keep me inside. I did manage to get the trash bin back from the road and the mail picked up before the drizzle began to fall harder....lucky me.

Penny and Patty are the only smart chickens today...they headed for the nest box when the rain began to fall harder...Piggy, Red and Barney however, seem to enjoy being wet and remain out in the rain instead of being dry inside their coop....silly birds.
Got everyone fed and the water containers cleaned out and refilled while the sun was still out. Seems everyone was waiting for the feed this morning, they lined up at the fence while I was getting it ready. Last night they got a bit of a treat....I had four small pieces of the Snickerdoodles left and they attacked that like they hadn't seen food for months! Really amazed me at how they each grabbed a piece and pretty much guarded it until it was gone. Must have been the sugar that got their attention. Every now and then I give them stale bread and its the same when they see the bread....guard it til it's gone. Too funny to watch them snatching the pieces and running around the pen trying to eat it before one of the others snatches it away.

Finally busted the trash dog in the act last night. We had just went to bed when I heard the slap of plastic hit the tile....I immediately jumped out of bed with the intent of killing a dog (no, not literally). Mojo and Spike met me as I came out of our room....I turned the kitchen light on and proceeded to the back hall where I keep the trashcan. BUSTED!!!...Bear was so intent on the trash that he paid no attention until I was right on him. I yelled at him and swatted him as he bolted past me and then chased him out to the front porch, still scolding him about being in my trash. !$@&# DOG!!! I cleaned up what he had dragged out, fortunately there wasn't much in the can, and headed back to bed. Figured he'd probably try that stunt as we had chicken for supper and of course the bones went to the trash. He seems to have stayed on the porch for the remainder of the night and no further raids on the trash. Hubby emptied it this morning before taking the bin to the end of the driveway for pickup.

When this has happened while we have been out, all three dogs have been punished...even though I've had suspicions that it was Bear all along. He's always been a trash hound...I just don't want him teaching Mojo this habit. Spike has always been inside and he's never been one to get in the trash...maybe pull something off the top, but never knock it over and just shred everything. That's a Bear stunt for sure. Every thing he gets a hold of he shreds....cans, soda bottles, balls, you name it, he destroys it. I would have loved to been a flea on his ear when he was a pup...just to see how he was treated. Since he was one of the boys' dogs, I have a fair idea of why he is this way. I know it's a behavior issue and not because he's hungry....my boys get fed pretty darn good and they get snacks and table scraps almost every day, unless they are being punished. When they sit and beg...no table scraps....when they leave the property...no 'cookies', and they end up going to the pen for the night...usually spend the entire next day there as well, until hubby comes home and lets them loose. Spike ends up in the carrier as he has been known to jump the fence. Funny how the smallest and oldest has better springs in his butt than the larger younger ones. I do worry about him injuring his silly self when he goes over the fence, which is why he goes in the carrier.

Since I'm stuck inside I guess I'll tackle the back room again...hey!...the trash bin is empty!!...so I must fill it once more...LOL. Not really what I want to do, but its one of those things I've put off for way too long. Might even start another load of laundry....it's almost caught up....and these are my clothes. Hubby's is all caught up for the moment. I'd wash mine with his, but the smell of diesel grease doesn't do a thing for me. His work clothes always seem to have diesel on them somewhere. Only time his clothes get washed with mine is if its his good clothes. Good thing he normally wears his work clothes! Hahaha. I still need to pull the vacuum apart to see what got stuck...maybe I'll go hunt for the screwdriver and do that before I tackle the back room....sigh...here I go again....putting it off, which is why it never gets done.....Bad me!!!

Keeping up with the changes...

Last night's low was around 73 degrees...the air is damp and cool from the rain we got overnight. This morning, the sun is shining against bright blue sky...still looks like summer in these parts, except for the shift of the sun...it has now moved almost due east for rising and by the afternoon is sitting more southwest and much lower in the sky...I keep track of this by how it comes through the south window and on the front porch which faces south.

The high today is supposed to be in the upper 80's with a heat index of about 91 degrees. We've shut the A/C off for the season and I'm only running the fans at this point. At night, it has been cool enough to turn the fans off.

Had an interesting bird show up yesterday...bright blue head, Cardinal Red belly and green back/wings....I've seen this bird in my birdbook....can't find my book at the moment so I shoot through on a search for what I think it is...a Painted Bunting....sure enough, there's the bird. Wow, and I didn't have the camera close to take its picture... Sweet little bird to look at, this one is obviously a male...guess its rare to actually see one....at least that's what I read.

I did manage to get a good look at the Fall changes while we were out riding around town...the Creeper is already orange/red in several areas, several unknown trees have begun to drop leaves...I think most of those are Sycamores...and the Maples and Sweet Gums are beginning to show yellows and reds. The 'weeds' are going to seed and things in general around here just look 'done' for the season. Explaining the changes in Florida is hard...no real hard signs, just the subtle changes that seem to take years to notice. It's taken me living in the area for over twenty years now to be able to recognize our 'seasonal changes'.

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I got curious about the grading of eggs (don't ask why...I just felt the need to know)...looked it up last night and then decided to weigh the eggs I've collected just to see...

Penny's eggs are averaging 3 oz, Patty's are 2 1/2 oz and Red's are at 1 3/4 oz.....pretty fair over all.

The chart below is from the Wikipedia site on eggs:
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Chicken egg sizes
Chicken eggs are graded by size, for the purpose of sales. The United States Department of Agriculture sizing is based by weight per dozen. The most common US size of chicken egg is 'Large' and is the egg size commonly referred to for recipes. The following egg masses have been calculated on the basis of the USDA sizing:

Modern Sizes (USA)

Size _______________ Mass per egg________ Cooking Yield (Volume)[1]

Jumbo _______________ Greater than 2.5 oz. or 71g

Very Large or Extra Large (XL) _Greater than 2.25 oz. or 64g _56 mL (4 tbsp)

Large (L)____________ Greater than 2 oz. or 57g ____ 46 mL (3.25 tbsp)

Medium (M)_________ Greater than 1.75 oz. or 50g ___ 43 mL (3 tbsp)

Small (S)___________________ Greater than 1.5 oz. or 43g

Peewee ____________________Greater than 1.25 oz. or 35g

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The chart above proved to be a challenge to get set in this post....I'm keeping it mainly for my personal reference so I know what size eggs my girls are laying.

Loads of things to do today, grocery shopping among the more important things...didn't I just go to the store??

On a different note...I have got to figure out WHY I'm continuing to gain weight! Just went to find a different pair of jeans as I cut the yard in my favorite pair...hahahaha...found my old 'skinny' jeans...pfftt...can't even get my LEG into those... I've given most of that size to the oldest boy, since I wear guys jeans...they were 28's...his size. :-(

Then I finally found the 'larger' ones...OMG!!! Don't tell me I can't even fasten these!!!! These are the 32's that sis passed to me...NOOOOOO!!!! Finally got those waist biters fastened...uuuggghh...most uncomfortable. Was a huge relief to finally get them off last night....no, they never did 'stretch' back out at all. Guess I'm gonna have to break down and get my butt back out doing manual labor so I can get back into shape.

Rainy daze...

Woke this morning to the sounds of rain...seems to have rained through the night. At 6:30 am, it is already 75 degrees....have we somehow skipped winter and moved back to summer again?

Looks like we might have got close to an inch total and it's still raining lightly at 9:45 am...the sky is dark with clouds and the air feels nice and cool. Thought we might see the sun earlier, but for now it looks as if we will be having liquid sunshine instead.

The only real color change for Fall around my yard, with the exception of the Virginia Creeper, is the Chinese Tallow Trees...Sapium sebiferum ...which unfortunately are considered an invasive species in our area. We have two or three of these and they are beginning to show the orange/yellow on their leaves. Some of the Sycamore trees and the Sweet Gums are also beginning to show their Fall colors...unfortunately, I don't have these in the yard here. Our Oaks are the varieties that pretty much stay green throughout the year. Most won't lose their leaves until almost January. The pines are always green, unless they are dying...ours are looking pretty good. I have noticed that our Crape Myrtles near the front pasture are beginning to lose leaves as well...some have changed to yellow already. Wasn't a very good year for Crape Myrtles in our area...none really seemed to bloom this year.

Hubby is home from work..its not even 11 am yet...seems their job site for today is not ready...and then tomorrow, they are expected at two...crazy way things get done sometimes...sigh...just cuts into our finances.

We ended up going to the U-Pull-it place to get a steering column for my nephew's truck...he's already paid for the parts and labor...all we have to do now is get him here for the job to get completed.

Made the call and he's had a slow day also....seems he just started another yard (he's a yard service)so it will be after 5 pm before he can get here....long as he's here before we lose daylight.  It didn't take long to pull the one we got and hubby could probably do this in his sleep...its a Chevy.

While he was waiting on his truck to get back together, he fired up his string trimmer and offered to do my trim work around the half moon garden...said sure, just watch for the hidden plants...it was quite overgrown.  I also told him he could take it down to the rocks...of course he hit a fairly large one....it zinged past hubby and I and hit his back glass...what luck!  The window was still making popping sounds when he left to go home.  We are checking to see what the rear window kit will cost...and also what the local glass place will cost to have it replaced.  RATS!!!  So far, I can't get the kit at the local parts store...not available...well, that sucks!  Hubby also says this year of truck takes a special tool to cut that window out...great.  He's pulled countless windows and windshields and NOW he needs a special tool.  Well isn't that just marvelous!

I called my nephew to let him know what I had found...he says he needs it replaced before the weekend...well that ain't happening on our end...hubby does work.  Seems the kid can't back with the mirrors and since he's hauling equipment and a trailer...he can't see through the cracks in his back glass to back.  Was a bit surprised at my sister when I called her...her response was " Well can't M put it in for free?  After all, he was doing the trim for you? "  Like I told her, hubby is never unfair with anyone, let alone one of the family...anyway, the nephew volunteered to cut the moon garden....and if it had been MY window I'd have had to put a claim against his insurance for the business....told him that's what he should check into anyway.  I ended up having to hang up as she was on the other line (call waiting) and we were leaving.  Guess I'll talk to her in the morning.  So now it's like she feels it's OUR fault he hit his truck window?  I'll stop allowing hubby to do any work for family members if this is what is to be.  Damn!  It's not like everyone isn't willing to run out and pay whatever SOMEONE else feels is a fair price for their labor....but when its MY husband, oh he should do it for free???  The man practically gives his labor away the way it is already...and so now because it's family he should do it for free?  This window is going to involve Hubby going and pulling it out at a salvage yard, then pulling the one out of the nephew's truck, and finally reinstalling the window.  If he breaks the window, the replacement will have to come out of our pocket....again, he should do this for FREE?????  Not happening....family or not.

A Fall weekend...

The day started fairly cool...about 65 degrees at 7:30 am when I let the chickens out of the coops. The sky was clear and sunny most of the day.

Finally got hubby to fire up the rider lawnmower for me...just can't seem to yank the cord hard enough to get it to start. The yard looks much better now...only have the side yard near the pasture out front left to be cut. And of course the back pasture area. Rode the mower until I couldn't ride any longer...as soon as the back yard was finished, I called it quits. The body was screeching about being bounced anyway. Came in and found my Advils....

Has been a fairly uneventful day....after seeing both boys on Saturday and griping about not being paid back by either one, neither showed up on Sunday...the youngest was supposed to come work on his vehicle which is parked out in my pasture. GRRRRR...they are pushing my buttons!!

Still dealing with the couch from hell...sigh...neither of us is ready to fight it back through the door yet. Hubby decided he doesn't want me to recover the old one either...guess I'll be sitting in my chair instead as this couch from hell makes my back really scream. He's decided that we will just keep an eye out for another one. Great...maybe he should also keep an eye out for someone else to help him move it when he finds one. And he wonders why I hate changing out furniture!!

Rain moved in about 6:30 pm...came in short spurts at first, raining just enough to get things wet...by 7:00 pm it was dark...by 7:30 pm it was raining hard. It is still raining hard at the moment. We haven't seen much rain lately, so this is a good thing....at least I did manage to get the yard mowed...

Made a big pot of Split Pea soup with ham for supper....was pretty tasty and hubby even had seconds...pretty good for one who doesn't care for peas...LOL

First Fall bonfire....

Another cool morning in the low 60's...the sun was already up when I rolled out of bed at 7:30 am. I'm really loving this change in the weather right now.

The body is better after a second day of muscle relaxers and Advils...most definitely moving easier without the twinges. Of course I did try to work the soreness out last evening...had hubby fire up the weedeater after he got home....ran it around the firepit and swing...then moved on to behind the big chicken yard and coop. Ran it til I couldn't take it any longer and quit. Sat out and enjoyed the nice bonfire in the pit that hubby started. Burned quite a bit of the brush that has been cut and the downed pine branches. Was a gorgeous fire and smelled like Fall.

Hope to get the yard cut sometime today. Need to run into town to the bank...hubby couldn't make a deposit last night after work...ooops, seems I pulled the deposit slips out of my truck so I could make a deposit last week when I had the van...oh, well.

WooHoo!! Another project and the couch from hell

My morning didn't get started until after 7:30 am....the temperature inside and out when I awoke was only 65 degrees. By the time I managed to roll out of bed, the sun was beginning to shine brightly against a clear blue sky. As hubby left a half an hour early, all the chickens were still inside their coops...when I finally made it out at 7:45 am, everyone was pacing at the doors, waiting.

We went and finished mowing for our buddy last night...as I told hubby when we left, ya might want to remind him just how evil I get when I have to chase money...our buddy wasn't home when we finished the job either...payment best be forthcoming quickly! Before this however, is one of the reasons I'm moving gently today....

Hubby called yesterday afternoon to see if I wanted to go with him to finish the mowing...sure, I enjoy visiting with our buddy's girlfriend...then he asked if I'd be interested in a decent looking sofa sleeper as a replacement for our recliner loveseat....hmmm, well, the dogs have destroyed the one cushion and it does look a bit rough (its white, or at least used to be white), the armrests are beginning to split....yeah why not....go ahead and bring it home if you think it looks that good. So the girls at the shop (both are about a hundred pounds heavier than both of us), loaded it on my truck...these gals are also almost thirty years younger than us...

I know sleeper sofas are heavy....over the years I've owned several and even the small loveseat sleeper was a bear to move.

We managed to get it off the back of my truck before we went to mow...first bad move....made it almost to the split rail fence and my left arm let go...as I felt the muscle control go, I kept saying "down, down, down" all the while trying not to drop it as hubby had the other end. Ended up pulling the left side lower back muscle as I struggled to hang on. Enough for now! We left to go mow after that.

When we came home, it was still light out so we decided to go work on the new nest box so the girls could be safe in there instead of the dog crate...more comfy for my new top layers!! Got that task done just as the sun set and dusk settled...the girls in the meantime had put themselves in the dog crate for the night...who says chickens ain't smart? I've been going out and catching them every night to close them up in the dog crate. Last night when Penny saw us come out to the pen, she went to the crate to settle in for the night. Patty is like Piggy and wanted to visit for a bit before bedtime....then she went to the crate as well. I opted to go ahead and leave them in the crate for the night and let them go to the new coop tonight instead.

After the nest box was done we came in for a short break and I started supper....had a couple frozen pot pies so in the oven they went. As we were discussing our plan of attack for moving this couch from hell...we decided to wait until after we had eaten before dealing with it....procrastination is my middle name....hahahahaha.... My body was already asking me just what I thought I was doing and the pulled muscle was beginning to scream. Supper was ready by just after 8 pm...yes, we do eat late some nights...this is almost right on time for us....although I've been trying to have it ready by 6 pm lately. But I digress...

By 9 pm I decided we had put it off long enough....hubby would have went ahead and tackled it when we first came home...but my back was saying forget it at that time. We got the recliner sofa out to the front yard with minimal aggravation....its one of those puffy cushion styles and has to be tipped and wriggled through the narrow trailer doors...or any other door for that matter...had a hell of a time when we first got it at our other house too and that place had wide door frames. Really just needed more muscles than the two of us!! So we are finally ready to begin wrestling this couch from hell. The pull out bed frame wasn't pushed all the way in...great...everytime it got flipped a bit out it flopped, jamming into things....managed to get it up the front steps, through the screen door...after cramming the bed down numerous times and banging the door frame...

So it's on the porch....this is interesting....we're going to get it through that doorway how? He's on the inside, I'm on the porch....he's pulling, I'm pushing....wait!!!! I can't lift this stupid thing...but it needs lifted on MY end! He comes out the back door and through the front....I go around and through the back...now we've switched...Ok....I still can't lift the damn thing and its jammed in the doorway now. As I bend down and give it another try, not only is the lower back muscle I pulled earlier screeching...now I've pulled the muscles in the upper back. I can't do this!

So after pulling yet another back muscle, which in all the years I've lifted and moved stuff I HAVE NEVER pulled a back muscle, I am almost in tears from the frustration of knowing that I used to be able to move this kind of crap, I tell my husband there is just absolutely no way I can help him do this. I can barely move with the pain I'm in at this point. God love this man, who can aggravate my eyes out at times, He managed to wrestle and wrangle that damn thing through the door with minimal help from me....he also managed to pull a few muscles in the process.

With it finally in the house I told him 'don't expect me to move this thing when we decide to move....it can stay'....he laughed, and then we sat on it....

NOT GOOD!! After all the effort and pulled muscles to get this thing in the house...it is about as comfortable as sitting on a tree stump. I miss the height of the back on my recliner sofa, I miss the cushy cushions...and where am I supposed to put my feet???? This thing is one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever put my butt against!! You can feel the frame under the cushions, the flared arms are hard as rock...no padding there...and there is a definite spring jamming between my shoulders....UUUUGGGGHHHH!!!! Just shoot me now!!

Both of us ended up taking a muscle relaxer and several Advils before we went to bed last night...THANK GOD we had those muscle relaxers!!

This afternoon when he came in, he said since I don't think it's comfortable (and you do?) that it could go...WOOOHOOO!! AND!!!! He said it wouldn't get moved until we could get some help....YAY!!! But I did tell him that if necessary, this puppy will go out the door in pieces!!!

I looked longingly at my recliner sofa sitting in the front yard...hmmm, wait a sec, I have some really excellent material that I could recover it...HEY!! What about I use our green stuff and recover it?....he's ok with that idea, and I do know how and have done upholstery work...might need more of his help at this point...but its a definite idea. 

This green material is some that we've had for geez, probably ten years now.  It is two rolls of some typ of vinyl that was picked up on a job site...one that did military work.  This stuff is awesome...it's water proof, puncture resistant and dang near indestructable.  We have left pieces of this stuff out in the weather, it doesn't sun fade, or dry rot.  I went so far as to see what the melting point might be....laid it directly on the cherry red burn barrel and it did not melt...barely even warped...impressive stuff.  The only thing I've seen so far that will burn through it is the hot slag from the welder...ok then, that's around a thousand degrees or so!  I have given thought to using this on the seats for my International when we get a bit further into the project.  Yep, I believe there's more than plenty for both jobs....those rolls weigh about two hundred pounds and I have one that hasn't had but a couple of feet used from it.  Not sure how many yards is there, but I know there is a lot...the roll we've used from is still better than half and we have used close to forty yards off it over the time we've had it....WooHooo another project...

Good ol' Florida.....

The morning began way too early for me...before the alarm went off at 6 am, I heard the shower running...hubby was up.  This was about 5:15 am...he was having spasms in his neck where the vertebrae is chipped and couldn't get comfortable.  That's one of the side effects from him running the tractor and mower...the bouncing and constant turning to check the mower deck irritates his injury.

Outside, its still a dark, pre-sunrise grey...the sun won't be up until at least 7:30 am...by the end of the month this will seem more normal, as we turn the clocks back an hour.  Barney began to sound right at 6 am, even though it was still dark.  The air has a wonderful chill in it this morning as the humidity has dropped to around 39% and the temperature is right at 66 degrees.  The high for today is supposed to be around 85 and sunny.
We are also under a red flag warning for fire danger with the humidity being so low for the next few days.
Still amazes me how they are allowed to do that with so many still under standing flood waters and we just had a good hard spell of rain less than two days ago!  About the middle of the month we move into our dry season and we still have til the end of November to be watching for hurricanes...good ol' Florida weather!

As I watch the orange-red glow begin to fill the back pasture, I notice a lone deer near the back fence...she's wearing her fall dark colors.  I'm not real sure just what it is they like so much about the weeds right there, but I always enjoy seeing their sweet faces...even though they destroy some of the things I like.  When I looked out front, I had three more visiting there.  Looked to be a doe with twin fawns...just past the spot stage..all of them dressed in the dark colors of fall.  So sweet, as long as they are nibbling far from my Hibiscus...lol.  Looks like mama has brought them up to the birdfeeders...all three are busy nibbling the growth around the Rubber Tree plant right off the front porch.  Kinda humerous, the two big dogs are passed out with the deer just feet away grazing as if they own the place.

My part will be in after 11 am, so that means a trip into town sometime today...hate to get started doing anything major knowing I'm going to have to stop.  For now, I guess I'll just go toss a bit of feed to the chickens and pick up a bit...maybe start a load or two of laundry since its so nice and cool.

Will it never end?

Well, for the first day of October it sure has been a hot one...we actually made it to 91 degrees earlier this afternoon...I'm still waiting for Fall.

Hubby called and left me a message...wow, didn't even hear the cellphone go off and I was practically sitting on it...must have called while I was jammin' to the tunes on the radio...when I got home there was a message on the house phone...guess he's finishing the mowing job for our friend and was wanting me to come on down while he was mowing...he has my truck and I have the van....ehhh, think I'll pass...why waste any more gas...I was just in town....and I have to go back again tomorrow as only one of the parts needed were available. 
Isn't that why we called ahead and checked on this last night?  They were supposed to be 'on hold' for us.  When I commented on this to the clerk, he said the computer was showing them in inventory, but he wasn't able to locate it...great, I'm already ticked about picking these parts up for the kid, and now I have to make another trip sometime tomorrow.  I went ahead and got the shocks for the van that we are needing while I was there....and of course the one thing I like about going to that parts store...Cowtails...they were sold out of....my only reason to go.   :-(

Miss Red did lay today, wasn't sure if she would or not since it was so late yesterday...so that's three eggs today from four hens...Ms Piggy best get in gear...the others are putting her to shame.

Looks like I'll be here by myself until dark...I asked how long he was planning to mow and he said probably til 7pm...no door for the new nest box tonight either, though he did bring home a small roll of fencing when he came in at lunch....guess he forgot it was HINGES we needed, not fence.  I dunno, maybe I'll just go ahead and fix the darn thing myself....

How time flies...

Happy October 1st! Hard to believe the year is flying by so quickly, soon we will be ending this year and beginning another....where does the time go? Seems that once a person brings a child into their life, the hours, days and years just zip right past...at least in my experience. In just a few days sis's oldest will turn 31 and then in Dec my own child turns 31 as well.

Wasn't it just yesterday that they were toddlers, being mistaken for twins? Our kids all favor each other so much that they could have had the same two parents, instead of six different people. (I'm referring to the kids of all three of us girls) The other children of my twin sisters could have come from the same mother and father as well. Each one looks like a sibling, instead of a cousin. Remarkable at times just how strong our family genes stand out in our children.

This morning I slept in until 7:30...the cooler weather is good for snuggling beneath the blankets...I had a bit of a rough night sleeping. Might have been due to the phone call from one of the boys earlier that annoyed me. But I won't go into that here.

The temperature at 7:30 am was 68 degrees, cool and nice. The sun was just beginning to glow red across the trees when I got up. Hubby let the chickens out in both areas for me before he left for work. Some days he can be very sweet and thoughtful.

We didn't get the door finished on the new nest box last night. For whatever reason, hubby just can't seem to put two and two together to get it done....another three months for a two minute job isn't going to fly. The stuff is set up for the wood to be cut, and I can run the saws. Just figure I might as well let HIM do it to keep the peace. Every time I've completed any project, he's always come in behind me and redone it saying, this is how it SHOULD have been done. Why waste my time and energy? Makes me insane.

Instead of causing a scene when he began giving excuses last night as to why we couldn't complete the door, I just began putting things away and said we might as well just wait until we have everything he needs. We only need the hinges....grrr.... I had put the girls in the dog carrier so we didn't have to worry about leaving the fence open while we were working...of course all three of the dogs were hanging right at the opening while we were in there. I went ahead and covered the dog carrier as it had rained off and on all day yesterday and the carrier tends to get wet inside. Figure the girls didn't need to be drowned in their sleep. I dunno, may just go ahead and pop that door for the nest box together myself. Once I cut the screen material, he won't be able to re-do it without going for more. It just irritates my eyes out to have him get a project half complete and then stop. GIT ER DONE already!!

Wasn't like he was doing anything in particular while he was outside last evening. He was just bored and not wanting to hang in the house. All he did after ending the nestbox project was pick up his junk sitting out front and take it to the back work area....Well alrighty then!...I've only asked him repeatedly NOT to drag that crap out in the front area anyway. I've been tripping over crap and moving it out of my way for the past three years in that area. I could actually park the van and my truck there if not for all the junk he insists on unloading right there next to the split rail fence. Makes me nuts thinking about it.

Didn't get much accomplished yesterday at all. Three loads of laundry was about the only thing I did, besides vacuuming. Dang, I still need to take the vacuum apart to see what got hung...oh well, guess that just means I won't be sweeping the floor today! hahahaha. Not in the mood to play mechanic at the moment. Still have several more loads of laundry to finish...(I truly believe these clothes are reproducing)...and then to tackle the closet so I can find some place for them to go. More clothes than space unfortunately...another reason to eliminate those things I can no longer wear. What's totally depressing is the knowledge of how many clothes I've already eliminated....just prior to us moving out here, I took over a dozen huge garbage bags (I'm talking the size that I could have fit myself into) to the clothing drop boxes. Where do they all keep coming from? I haven't purchased anything except for a couple of new pairs of jeans during that time!! It's the clothes monster for sure!!

Both Penny and Patty have layed for the day already....just as I thought, Penny is the one laying the darker, larger eggs....was almost funny when I went out to their pen to see why Penny was squawking so loudly....Patty was in the nest box, Penny was at the fence....I went and got their feed before heading to the garden....when I reached the fence, Patty jumped from the nest box to come see me....as I tossed the feed, she suddenly squatted and popped her egg out right in front of me! Then she proceeded to attack the feed....I went inside to check the box and sure enough, Penny had layed her egg already as well. Red layed hers late yesterday, so she may not lay today. Piggy is still determined to hang on to hers....she doesn't act egg bound, so who knows what is going on with her....she should be laying the same size as Penny. After all, she's over a year old now (Penny and Patty are only about six months old).


We had the leftover Potato and Ham soup again last night, this round, I added Broccoli. After supper I made a pan of Snickerdoodles....instead of dropping them individually, I just roll the large pieces of dough in the cinnamon and sugar and then put them in a cake pan so they cook like brownies. They take about thirty minutes to cook at 375 degrees. I've had this recipe since I was a young teen...we used to make them all the time during the summer months and they were my youngest brother's favorites. This batch came out pretty good, but it seems I was the only one in the mood for something sweet. Hubby only had one...they went to lunch yesterday at one of the Barbecue places and his stomach was a bit upset when he came home.

Today is forecast for us to hit 91 degrees...looks like I best get moving if I want to get anything done before the heat.

Rainy Fall afternoon...

1:00 pm....the sky is still dark with clouds, the temperature is 82 degrees and it has begun raining once more. The temperature inside the house is right at 80 degrees.

I began vacuuming the floor, got the rug in the living room done, moved on to the tile in the kitchen and the vacuum began making an odd growling sound, as if it had something grinding against the beater bar...hmmm, so far, I haven't been able to discover what is creating this...smells a bit hot, so I've shut it off for now. On my old ones, I would have popped the cover for the belt...ok, this one will require a screwdriver....great, they are in the van and it's raining....grrrr....guess it will have to wait. SIGH....on to something else. I damp mopped the kitchen and it looks a bit better anyway.

WOW!! Its raining pretty hard right now! And to think, the weathercasters this morning were saying only the southern portion of FL would be likely to see the hard rains....HA!! Guess the rain clouds didn't hear them say that!!! At least the chickens all have some place dry to get to, if only they decide to go inside!... Maybe I should check the weather station....the last time we got rain like this, we were under a tornado watch and I never even knew...figured it was just hard rain. Just flipped the tv on and of course, so far, nothing about any weather at all. Guess I'll leave it on for a bit, at least until the weather update. The temp on the tv says it's 78...the rain must have cooled things a little.

Decisions, decisions....where do I start?...my bedroom, or the back room? Hmmm, maybe I'll start with my bedroom and see if I can get all those clothes sorted through...what fun for a rainy day....NOT! It's almost depressing to see some of my favorite clothes no longer wearable...at least by me. :-(

Ok, looks like this is just a bit of a shower...nothing major happening weatherwise in our area, not at this time anyway....

Ready for Fall....

6:00 am...its still dark outside, the temperature is about 75 degrees...we have a light rain. The weathercaster has been saying there is a 70% chance for rain today....this morning, they were saying only a 40% chance....guess it's 40%ing all over us at the moment.

6:56 am...hubby is getting ready to leave, he usually lets the chickens out for me in the morning, so I asked if he would open the main coop while I turned Penny and Patty loose in the garden. It's still dark outside and no one seems interested in leaving the cozy, dry coop just yet...not even Penny and Patty wanted out of the carrier. Can't say as I blame any of them as we have a drizzling rain at the moment. Only Mojo seems to want to be outside....the rest of the dogs are sacked out in the house.

By 7:30 am the sky has lightened, but no sun with all the clouds still hanging. The air is damp from the rain, but feels cool and the fans are pulling a very nice breeze through the open windows. We are forecast for the low to mid 80's today...I almost hope the sun remains hidden so the humidity doesn't become steam. I see that tomorrow is forecast for the low 90's again...will this heat never end? The few days of very dry cool weather has me longing for the heat to move on. I'm definitely ready for Fall weather. We built a fire in the fire pit over the weekend to burn some of the windfall branches and yard trash that had accumulated. Was very nice to sit out there in the swing watching the fire as daylight moved to dusk. We moved the swing to the fire pit area so we could enjoy the view of the back pasture as we sit around the fire. Surrounded by the trees and open field its like being in the middle of nowhere...very peaceful.

10:00 am...The sky is cloudy, the air remains damp, but cool...our current temperature is a very comfortable 78 degrees, according to my porch thermometer. Time to get myself moving towards the house chores...yuck...vacuuming, laundry and on to my back room once more. Wednesday is trash pick up and if I play my cards right, I might just be able to dispose of more junk this week! Still need to clean out my closet and go through my clothes that are way too small....sigh...I don't intend, nor do I think, I'll ever need those clothes that are size 5 or smaller again....age has a way of shifting the weight. Time to go ahead and move on without them.

A pretty fair Monday...

The temperature at 6:30 am is about 75 degrees, the sun has yet to break the horizon. The air feels cool and nice this time of the day. I let the chickens out of the coop and as Penny and Patty came out, the others immediately began their attack....sigh...I picked them up and took them to the garden. They just don't need to spend their day on the run or being attacked. As I carried them to the garden, Mojo snuck up behind me and yanked on Penny's tail feathers...he knows better! I immediately swung my foot in his direction as both hands were full of chicken! Got them to the garden and scolded Mojo as I made him come to the house. Tossed some scratch feed to everyone and headed inside to get things ready for my run into town. Finally the sun began to glow across the trees around 7:30 am. The sky is clear and the heat is rising.

1:30 pm: Went to town so I could make a deposit and check on a converter box for the van tv. I don't have to worry about it for the house as we are on cable. But with hubby wanting to set the van up for camping and it having a small tv already, figured I will need to go ahead and pick up the box so we can still use it. Not real concerned with it as we would probably just use it for watching movies on the dvd player...but I did tell him I'd check on one. It seems like its been ages since I have been to Radio Shack...probably a year? While I was in that shopping center, I also ran over to the Dollar General store...I really enjoy those type of stores. Picked up a few things there like freezer bags and a couple of the collapsible laundry hampers. Spent about an hour just wandering around the store checking things out. Next time I'm in town in that area I plan to head over to Big Lots....my next favorite store. Just never go to town much anymore.

By the time I got back to the house it was close to time for hubby to get in. I had decided to make potato soup earlier in the day, and when he came in I gave him a choice of soup or pork chops...he chose soup. Works for me! I peeled and cut the potatoes, onion and then chunked up some of the ham I had made over the weekend and put the pot on to cook. I love the smell of stuff cooking, especially soups. Turned out pretty tasty as usual.

The chickens went to roost before 7 pm...wow...by the end of the month when the time changes they'll be in bed by 5 pm! They have been staying outside until almost 7:30 pm...this is a definite change for them. Since we still haven't got a door on the new nest box in the garden, I was going to take Penny and Patty back to the main coop. Poor babies...I decided at the last second to just bring one of our dog carriers to the garden so they didn't have to be so traumatized by the others. The carrier will at least keep the critters from being able to get to them. They weren't real happy about being taken from the nest box to the carrier, but I'm not real crazy about finding one or both of them missing because of a critter....these little girls are producing some very nice large and jumbo size eggs....I sure don't want to miss out on those.

The oldest boy stopped in...not real sure why as his vehicle is having a water pump issue...he lives almost a half an hour's drive south of us....he stayed for about an hour and then headed home...hubby invited him to stay for supper, but he declined. I think he was heading to pick up his girlfriend from work.

All in all it was a pretty fair day. The temperature hit about 88 degrees and the humidity was pretty high as well...was still warm in the house even after the sun set tonight...at 11 pm, it is still above 80 degrees outside...ugh!...almost makes me want to turn the A/C back on...but the fans will stay on tonight instead and I know by the time I get up, the house will feel cool.