Monday, November 30, 2020

Marlys

 I was sitting on the couch,
reading my book on my iPad Kindle.
When I got a "messenger" from Connie Henrie!

She wanted to know if I was at home...
she was in, visiting Marlys and she was
asking about ME!
She was sure I had been there...

Anyhow...
we did a quick Facetime phone call!
It was fun to get to chat with them for
a few minutes.

If I knew how to take a screenshot on my
phone I would have...
but I don't.
So I didn't.
Bummer.

Anyway,
it was neat!

And now I need to go refill my freezer
with lunch/dinner meals for my darling husband.
Cuz he's nearly out.
And I have to work tomorrow.


Kyle's roses are producing again.
We are in for a cold front tonight...
they are saying lows in the 40's and highs in
the 50-low 60 range for the next two days.

BRRRRRRR!
I might freeze!
(It's raining now as the front moves through...)
I see WINTER FOOD in our near future!
YUM!

Saturday, November 28, 2020

Random Thoughts

 We've all been busy this week!
The guys swapped out our 6' "man gate"
for a 12' drive-thru gate in the back of
the property - the gate goes into the neighbor's
property - we put it in years ago to have
access to the trail for the horses.

But in order for Kyle to work with his
Cat over there, he has to drive down the 
road and they have to open 3 gates.
So they ponied up for a new 12' gate.


He was able to easily go over there and
do a bunch more clearing for them.
(Under brush mowing NOT clearing...)
Opened up a bunch more land for them!


This was a before.
My battery died before I could get an after.

Meanwhile...
the "boys" are getting along just fine!


Oh, HI Lady...


Rod is home for the rest of the week
and he had a LOT of things on his To-Do list.

Starting with fixing the lights in the barn.


I have bright new LED lights both in the
barn alley and also in the feed room!
Never had that before and BOY is it awesome!!!
Feeding after dark is EASY now!
(Which is good, cuz the sun goes down so
darn early these days!!!)

Then we broke for Thanksgiving dinner.
Each person took a menu item.

Kyle made the sweet potato casserole.
Jim was in charge of the green bean casserole,
the "snack items" and turning the turkey
in the air fryer every 15 minutes.


Not as fancy as Nancy's famous charcuterie boards...
but yummy and pretty good for us yokels.
(grin)
(We ate every bit... there were also bowls of
olive and pickles, but they aren't picture worthy...)

That was the ONLY picture I took!
Sheesh.

Anyhow...
Sabrina made the stuffing, 
I made the rolls (Rhodes),
and she and I worked on the fruit salad,
turkey breast,
and the mashed potatoes together.

(Rod was still putting up the barn lights...)

Dinner was delicious and all the better
because everybody "owned" something.


Friday, Rod put the 6' gate in the hole in the duck/chicken yard.
He had to do a bunch of modifying since it was an 
8' hole, but a 6' gate, but when it was done
it was a thing of beauty!

Meanwhile, Kyle planted a bunch more beans 
in the garden while I... did something.
And then I taught a class from 5:30 to 10.
(substitute for another instructor...)

This morning Rod got out there early and
after feeding all the critters he put chicken wire
all around the perimeter of the duck yard.
The chickens just fly over the fence, but the
ducks squirt under the boards and they are
IMPOSSIBLE to catch.

This way I can let them out, but they aren't "OUT".

Kyle and I bought a little pool for them
(clearance $1.50!!!)
so he filled it up for them.


Once they found it, they were in 
DUCK HEAVEN!
(Eeek, look how dirty the water is after only
about 15 minutes of them playing in there!)

We left them to play in the water,
I headed to the Zoom Room to do a 16 hour
Continuing Education on Insurance Suitability.
SSSNNNNOOOORRRE!!!

SO boring!

But I got it done and passed the exam with a 97%.
Done for another 2 years!
Yea!

Meanwhile the guys started on their next project.


And after sitting in the side yard for ... a year? Two?
The little Trooper is up and running again!
We all love that little truck!

He's going to be my "run back and forth to the town"
truck - but they really fixed it up for hurricane stuff.
Since it's 4 wheel drive and pretty indestructible.
(It's been through plenty of hurricane floods...)
And it's just FUN to drive!

And speaking of fun, I remembered my
electric thingie...


Grilled cheese is one of our favorite weekend meals.
And it's SO much easier / faster to do them all
at one time!
(As well as our Sunday morning pancakes...)

So...
That's what we've been up to these days!

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Happy Birthday to ME!

 Happy Birthday to me,

Happy Birthday to me,

Happy Birthday to Meeeeeeeeeeeeee

Happy Birthday to me!

Yesterday for my birthday Kyle and I
took a run to the center of the state and
brought back a bull!


Well... he's a bull now.
But after a quick procedure... he's on his
way to becoming a steer.

He's tall.
And thin.
But FRIENDLY!


He came right over and let me scratch his forehead.

We already have a red steer and this guy's ear tag
number is 11202.
So we "named" him 2.
Hahahahaha.
So creative!


I'm wearing one of the beautiful necklaces
Mom sent to me.
It matches my jacket PERFECTLY!


And Rozann sent me the perfect socks!

I might be teaching tonight...
I don't have any students pre-registered 
but sometimes the "walk in"...

Kyle and I are heading out the door to brave the
grocery store... gotta get the Thanksgiving
feast food.

Thank you everybody for the phone calls 
and birthday wishes!!! 
Love y'all!

Thursday, November 19, 2020

Building Department

 Down at the Town Hall
our Building Department Manager
has had the flu all week.
Same lady who got the "vid" earlier
this year...

So she has been out.
And I've been covering for her.

Luckily, it has been pretty quiet in the
building department this week,
which meant I had plenty of time
to work on some projects I had for myself
without a bunch of interruptions.

I'm trying to get us to go ... if not PAPERLESS,
then at least paperLESS.

Which means LOTS of scanning of the PILES
and PILES of paper sitting around.
It's looking better though!

And then this afternoon I remembered a report
that needs to be submitted to the state before
the end of the year... but early is good, right?

I spent the last couple of hours pulling numbers.
We have really nice software...
but I'll be derned if I could get it to pull
the specific report I needed.
So I'm pulling reports and them fiddling with
the data to get what I'm looking for.

Initial numbers today...

433 total building permit applications for this
past fiscal year.
187 of them are incomplete!
Which means I have a BIG job ahead of me...
researching what their status SHOULD be...

And then I turn my attention to the inspections.
At first count there are nearly 1,000.
But I'm sure those aren't accurate numbers.

Anyhow.
Research isn't really my thing.
But its what I'm doing right now.


Meanwhile, the black eyed peas are kicking it!


They look GOOD!
(unlike the pathetic bed of broccoli behind them...)

Kyle ordered another bag of bean seeds 
and they came yesterday.
We are going to replant the okra bed (I pulled them)
in beans... and maybe the brocolli.
Waste of a big ol' bed for maybe 6 heads.
I can buy it frozen at the store for $1/bag.
Just not worth it to grow it ourselves.

However,
yesterday Kyle got new tracks on his Cat.
(See his company facebook page...)
And this morning Travis (friend from church)
called him with work to keep him busy for
today AND tomorrow!

Exciting!!!!!

Which is good cuz I'll be back at the town.
I don't have any students registered for tonight's
Zoom. I'll open the webinar at 6:30 and we'll see...
Sometimes I get "walk-ins".

Monday, November 16, 2020

Monday, Monday....

 And now I'm singing that...
Sheesh.
Sorry!
(grin)

It was a nice day!

Started with a new workout...
with one of my favorite T-Tapp Certified trainers.
(T-Tapp the company is still in limbo because
Teresa died without a will... oops!)

Anyhow. 
It was a good start to the day.
And then a yummy breakfast for
me and all the animals.

Then one of my other instructor/friends called
she is doing a brand new zoom starting tonight
and was nervous.
I spent a couple of hours with her on Zoom on
Friday helping her get the kinks out...
but she just needed a little more.
So we Zoomed for a bit.
It's GREAT.
(I'm going to text her in a minute... she 
should have just finished...)

Then I had a lunch date with Linda.
November is our birthday month so for
several years we have been meeting at
Red Robin for lunch.
We always order the same thing... (both of us... lol)
And usually jabber so long before we order
they finally bring us fries to tied us over.

Anyhow.
I was a bit late.
Got there a little after noon and didn't see
her car, so I texted her.
And she had it on her calendar for TUESDAY!
(But I work at the town on Tuesdays... we agreed
on the 16th, she just forgot...)
Anyhow.
I ordered "to go" and took it to her house
since she was waiting for a repairman.

We had a nice visit.
I was a little nervous because of the whole
Kyle / Gina / quit / everybody's mad thing...
But we are both adults 
and friends.
So it was fine.

Anyhow.
I left there, headed home, changed and Kyle
and I dashed to the beach for an hour.

It was WINDY!
Coming straight out of the north.
Which means it was also chilly.

So we only stayed for 45 minutes.
But it was still a nice, relaxing, rejuvenating
45 minutes.
The beach is MAGIC.


Same beach - different day.

Anyhow.
On the way home ANOTHER of my instructors 
(Rosalie) texted - she was at the hospital with her
Mother getting a procedure done and it was taking
longer than anticipated (been there, eh?)
And could I sub for her tonight?
(also her battery was dieing)

So I called our boss and got it cleared.
Got home, fed the animals,
heated the other half of my lunch burger,
and hit the Zoom Room.
Where I've been for the last 4.5 hours.

And now.....
BED.
(Tomorrow? The Town.)


Sunday, November 15, 2020

New Week

 And so starts a new week.
Whew!

Last week was a doozy!

And this week I ONLY teach
Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
That's nice.
I also work at the town those days
but that's no big deal...

I'm not teaching Saturday night.
Which I will miss...
but it WILL be kinda nice too.

I was busy cooking this weekend.
Poor Rod has been slumming it for
lunches / dinners this week.
I made a big pot of Lassagne Casserole
last week and he had to take it for lunch
every day!
His lunch buddy teased him mercilessly.

So now he has LOTS to choose from.
There are tubs of Cowboy Grub (made with
sweet potatoes...)
There's red lentil stew (made with a root
veggie blend that is REALLY good)
There's a yummy beef & cheese casserole...

And then today for lunch I made up a big
pan of beef and cheddar enchiladas
and put the rest into tubs as well.

So!
Whew!
He will have CHOICES!

I also baked up two loaves of Pumpkin Walnut bread.
They are cooling on the counter.
And I'm REALLY excited to slice into them.
They smelled divine while they were baking.

The guys went to put up some yard signs
at all the sites Kyle has done work at.
(Just got the sign blanks so Rod whipped up
six yard signs...)
While they are gone I've been catching up
on the "back office" part of my teaching job.
And now I'm going to sit in my chair with
a good book, a nice cool "all day sipper" drink,
and a slice of pumpkin bread.
(Which a slathering of butter...)
(Cuz I can...)


In other news...
United Launch Alliance FINALLY got their bird
off the launch pad.
It's been two months and who even remembers
how many scrubs.

Congratulations!
Call SpaceX next time...


And ONE of my colored egg layers laid her
first egg this week!
Teeny Tiny, but still!
(The REALLY dirty ones on the right are
the duck eggs... I swear they take them out
of the nest and roll them in the mud and
then put them back in. Or they just have
really dirty feet...)

Thursday, November 12, 2020

Early Birthday Present

 I was in my "Zoom Room"


teaching and when I got done, 
I came out and Rod was just getting
home from work.

And he brought me an early
Birthday Present!


Nice new lights for the patio!
(His car is parked on the other patio
since he leaves SO early in the morning.
And with TS Eta it's often raining...


They really light it up!
They are BEAUTIFUL!

Thanks Darling!!!!

I love them!
AND YOU!!!

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Lookin' Good Garden!

 Things are looking good out in the garden!


And the hawk agrees.
He was standing on the corner post and I
literally walked by without seeing him!
I didn't notice til he turned his head.
I was 5-6 FEET from him!

He could have EATEN me!
Ok, maybe not.

Freaked me out though.....
lol.

I kept an eye on him as he flitted (do hawks flit?)
from fence post to fence post around the yard.

NOT letting the dogs out til HE was gone though!

Anyhow.


WEEDS.

NO WAIT!
LOOK DAD!!!
Those are CARROTS!
I know! Right?
(And beets at the "top" of the bed...)


Check out those PEAS!
The winners in the garden!


Our pepper plants are a "little" (ha!) stunted,
but they are still producing.
A single banana pepper!

(Turns out our fancy soil is worthless...
so we've been dumping liquid fertilizer on it
like there's no tomorrow and things are getting
better... but we will know next time!)


Check out the BEANS though!
They are looking good!


And the black eyed peas have blossoms.
And ... maybe? ... beans?
Not sure what those things are...


They are a nice dark green though!


Speaking of blossoms...
these are my favorite zinnia.
They are actually a dusty color in real life.
Not nearly as bright as this picture makes
them look.


Thanks for the flooding TS Eta...
'Preciate it.
(not)


A tomato!!! (actually TWO of them!)
(And all the plants are leaning over...
thanks again TS Eta... Sheesh.)

OK.
That's all.
It's nearly 11:00 at night and my computer has
been acting weird all evening...
I was doing a Zoom and my cursor started
fading in and out and my pen wouldn't work
any more... after class I changed the battery
in the pen and (fingers crossed) it seems to be 
working again...
but now it has decided its not going to open
the photo window any more.

So...
I'm heading to bed.

NITE ALL!

Happy Veterans (Remembrance) Day!


Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Random Thoughts

 We had a visitor Sunday morning before church.

He hangs around a lot.
But I think this was the first time Rod
has seen him... so he took a nice picture of him.

He's a BIG bird!

So, nice to see ya... now SCRAM!


We actually got dressed up and attended.
Stupid mask and no singing, and all...
So I wanted to show my beautiful necklace
Mom made for me.
I LOVE the little green stone embedded
in the lava rock.
It's so cool!

We went because a dear friend of Rod's (and mine)
and his family (also friends... she was the RS Pres and
held my hand during my first Self Reliance 
interviews with members...)
anyhow...
They moved to Texas.
Today.
So this was their last weekend.
Rod spent much of Saturday helping Ed take
a final load of stuff to the dump.
But we needed to see them and 
(GASP)
give them a hug!


Rod and Ed served on the High Council together
and Ed really helped him learn and grow.
They have a special love for each other.

We will MISS them!

Oh yeah.

And we have a storm.

Eta.


But she doesn't know what to do with herself.
Currently she is hanging out over Cuba.
(Or she was the last time I checked...)
But she is throwing rain bands and WIND our direction.
(Although the wind seems to have died down a bit...)
And since she doesn't know where she is going
or what she is doing,
it looks like it's going to continue ALL WEEK!

The above "path" is just a guess.
There is a "low" that might turn her and...
head her up to Louisiana! Cuz that would just
be PEACHY for them...

Sheesh.
We "appreciate" your visit... but SCRAM!
(hahahahaha)

Meanwhile, there is also "Theta" out in the Atlantic
heading to Morocco, so no real threat cuz it will die
before it gets there...
and another storm with a 90% chance of becoming
something before the next couple of days.
So we have broken even MORE records this year.
Theta makes 29 named storms.
(The old record was 28)
And it this next one becomes Iota (or whatever)
that will be THIRTY named storms in one season.
And we still have 2.5 weeks left.

2020.
SCRAM! 

Monday, November 9, 2020

"New" Zoom Room

 Today I CLEANED house!
It needed it... (grin)

In the process, Kyle and I got all the "extra"
stuff out of the Zoom Room
(mostly stuff from his house at the ranch)
so there is nothing on the spare bed,
the round oak table is gone!
(It is really hard to have 2 computers, and all
the supporting papers/books/mouse/pads etc on
a ROUND table!)

We moved the exercise bike into the corner
my table used to be in...
also Beau's chair...
and brought in an old desk/table from the
tack room (used to be in the graphics office)
and set it up for my work station.

SO MUCH ROOM!!!!!

And now I'm sitting directly under the A/C vent.
Which is awesome.

Also we put the window A/C unit back into
the window - now that we can REACH the window...
LOL.

It's quite CHILLY in here.
Which is nice, because my work polo does not breath
and I get HOT!
(Yes, ME! HOT! Like icky hot!)

Anyhow.

It looks great.
And I taught the first of SIX classes this week
tonight and it was WONDERFUL!


The view from the door...


My view while I teach.
(The most important part being the computers
and the CLOCK on the wall!)
(And the A/C)

It only took 7 months of teaching to figure
this out...

But since it looks like I'll be doing it for a 
good long while to come...
it's nice to be comfy.




Friday, November 6, 2020

Another Job...

 I was looking back at my previous posts
and realized I didn't ever post any pictures
of the job next door.


Happy home owner...


Mid-job.
(I was teaching so missed lots of the fun....)


Done.

It sure looks different!
I took lots of video of him chewing up dead pine trees.
It was pretty cool!
(Those are the ones Rod posted on FB)

Thursday, November 5, 2020

PEAS!!!!

 Yeah, I know... 
but take my word for it...


Those are peas.
(Well, radishes in the foreground...)

SIX HUNDRED of them!

And I'm SUPER excited!!!


The rest of the garden is looking nice.

There are a few little tomatoes starting on the plants.
The beans are growing up the trellis.

The squash still looks terrible.
But whatever.

And there are some baby peppers!

BRING IT ON!





Tuesday, November 3, 2020

Another Job...

 Kyle got another job today.
He learned how to take down palm trees!

It was SUPER Cool!


It was SUPER heavy wooded...


Jim was acting as official photographer.


A little over two hours later...

Pretty Amazing!
(He should have some videos on Instagram... check it out!)
(And Rod will probably put one on Facebook...)






Monday, November 2, 2020

THREE YEARS ALREADY???

Three years ago I retired from my "day job"
and leased a new car.

Today I turned in that car.....
(and was VERY sad... lol)

On one hand, it feels like I just quit.
And on the other it feels like it's been forever.


I LOVED my little blue Jetta.

But I LOVED my big black truck before that...
and I get to go back to driving the black truck...
so there's that.

And since I'm not running up and down the highway
to teach at remote sites any more (or possibly EVER)
I don't really need a cute little car.

It sure was fun while it lasted though!