cold + rainy = zzzzzzzz…

Today I have been doing my best impersonation of a slug.

Or a slorg, for those of you who are familiar with Neopets

purple slorg

(c) 2004 Neopets, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used With Permission

Last week I got a brand new set of flannel sheets for my bed. After washing them and fluffing them up in the dryer* a couple of days ago, I put them on my bed with my usual spritz of lavender-scented linen water.

*always a good thing to do with new sheets or towels before using them — it removes any residual dyes or chemicals that can irritate sensitive skin, plus it makes them so soft and fluffy

Well, the problem with these new sheets, is that they are just too comfy. They seem to know my name, too. I try to get out of bed on days like today, but I just keep hearing them calling me. Like the song of the legendary Sirens, it is just impossible to resist. So today, I gave in. Spent most of the day snuggled up in that nice cozy bed, ignoring the cold rain outdoors and the chores all around me.

Oh well, I guess after all the hard work I have been doing outdoors lately, I needed a nice long rest. I feel much better now, but hungry. Dinner is simmering on the stove, the kitchen is cleaned up, all the animals are fed, and Bernie is still not home from work. Poor guy is doing a 12-hour day again today, it seems. Not the ideal weather for a mailman, either. Makes me feel guilty for spending the day like a slug (or slorg) in bed.

Well, almost.

After all, I made his dinner, that’s something, right?

 

…I was away most of the day, we went down to camp to winterize the trailer. But I still wanted to post this brief message for Veteran’s Day, and also a reminder to check out the tribute page I made in honor of my Dad’s WWII experience if you have not already seen it (the link is on the left side of this page):

 

In honour of

all those who served…

we are ever grateful.

 

 

Woohoo!

The driveway’s getting done!

 

 

Ten past eight, Monday morning –

The peace and quiet of a cool fall morning is suddenly shattered by the shrill barking of two very excited little dogs:

Mommy! There’s a man outside! With a machine!!

Yes, I know girls, the man’s here to do our driveway.

But he’s outside! Now!

And he has a machine!!

And it’s making noise!!!

I know girls, he’s supposed to be here, I invited him.

But there’s a man!!

Outside!!

Making noise!!

With a machine!!

Shhh, quiet. That’s enough.

There’s a man!

And he’s right outside!!

NOW!!!

Quiet! Go lay down!

But

he’s

outside!!!

And

he

has

a

machine!!!!

MOMMY!!!

Quiet! Quit barking – NOW!!

But mommy, mommy,mommy, theresamanoutsideandhehasamachineanditsmakingnoise!!

He’s outside, he is, we hear him, he’s making noise outside!!

With a machine!!!!

Mommy!

HE’S OUT THERE!

 

Okay.

I give up…

There will be no peace and quiet, I can tell.

Off with the nice warm cozy nightgown, into the sweats and sneakers…

Guess I will get a lot done starting this early.

 

Yesterday we raked up all these leaves:

After I chopped up a lot of the leaves on the lawn with the mower. This huge pile is just what was too thick on the lawn to mow. Just one of the drawbacks of having a nice shady yard. Another one is all the sticks I still have to pick up and haul out  to the curb, courtesy of the windy days we had last week.

So, I ended up getting a lot done in the yard, while the guy graded the driveway and parking area with the machine. I got the trench dug and the electric wire buried for the outdoor outlet that will be going in the corner of the backyard, where I hope to put a pond next year. The wire had to be put in now, because it is going under one of the parking areas that we are making.

I got a lot done today toward putting my yard and flowerbeds to sleep for the winter. Tonight is supposed to be our first freeze of the season, so it’s only a matter of time now, before Old Man Winter comes in with a vengeance. I still have a few more spring bulbs to plant, I will probably do that tomorrow. Most of the leaves and debris are picked up, except for a few under one spruce tree, with the spruce cones, and a pile of crabapples that I raked up in the backyard, which need to go into the compost.

I have been gathering up hoses and sprinklers, and they just need to be stored away inside the cabana, but I need to make a little more space in there. I am sure there will still be a few warm hours I can grab here and there to put things like that, the garden tools, and the patio furniture inside. The main thing now is to just get all the plants taken care of so they will survive the winter.

I am getting stone delivered tomorrow for the driveway. It will be the first of a total of 3 or 4 loads before the job is done. Then I need to get a small load of dirt delivered for filling in next to the driveway, and one final load of mulch, so I can put an extra layer over some of the plantings that need more protection for the winter. I have to take some special precautions for the banana tree, but not until the weather is going to be steadily cold, so I am going to wait for a coupple of weeks. I also have to put some stakes in around my baby willow tree, so the deer don’t kill it rubbing their antlers on the bark like they did my baby ash tree last fall.

All in all, I am very happy with how things are going. There is a sense of satsfaction in putting things away for the winter, a time to reflect on all the hard work I did all year and how much nicer things are than they were last year. And a time to look forward, and dream of how beautiful it will all be when the spring arrives again.

More pictures to come tomorrow, I am taking them during various stages of the driveway/parking project.

 

 

A typical Saturday morning at adifrentdrumr’s house:

 

Yesterday I walked out to the kitchen as usual, to get my morning meds, passing a sweetly snoozing Angel on the way by (she looks so innocent when she is asleep and not beating up on Tommy) and decided to take pictures of all the furkids where they were, at that moment. This is what I found:

 

in the kitchen…

Tommy, sleeping in a sunbeam with his paws over his face

 

In the living room…

Angel, sleeping on the ottoman in front of the fireplace

Ziggy, half-asleep on the sofa

Missy Pearl, curled up on a blanket, watching mommy…

 

But wait!

Somebody is missing…

Where could Her Royal Highness be?…

 

Out in the yard…

Princess Dolly, taking her morning stroll in the garden…

 

It was a lovely day, I had a nice leisurely afternoon doing some recreational shopping and errands, and enjoying the sunshine.

I hope you are having a good weekend, too, Dear Reader!

Today shall be a busy day for us — the man will be here to start grading the driveway, and we have lots of outdoor chores to do.

I promise some more pictures, too.

But I think right now I will go back to bed for just one more hour…

 

 

 

 

Today I finally got my nerve back –

I called the doctor and scheduled my surgery.

 

insert appropriate graphic*** <here>

***graphics note from adifrentdrumr: I was trying to think of an appropriate graphic to put here — not a scalpel, because the surgery is endoscopic. Didn’t want to post a photo looking up my nose, either, that’s just plain gross. So you will just have to imagine a little diagram of the sinuses — if you are anywhere near my age, you may remember those Dristan commercials for sinus headache pain relief – that image will do

 

It is scheduled for Wednesday, December 8th. I do not have to stay in the hospital, it will be done in the outpatient surgical center. Then I have a few days of being knocked out with painkillers at home, if it goes like the last two sinus surgeries did, followed by several weeks before I am healed up and breathing (and smelling!!) normally again.

I am also having the little surgical procedure they do to reduce severe snoring while I am under anesthesia for the other surgery. I sure hope that it works, for the sake of anyone who ever tries to spend the night anywhere near me.

The worst part of the doctor’s orders is that I can’t take aspirin, advil or motrin for two weeks prior to the surgery. So I hope that I don’t get any migraines in that time, because tylenol doesn’t do a thing for them!

I also finally got the results of the biopsy they did on the marble-like lump in front of my ear. The doctor said it is consistent with a benign tumor of the parotid gland. It is not the lymph node. And the best thing, is it is not the big C (phew!) since I hadn’t heard anything, I figured that it was not bad news, but since there is a one in five probability of malignancy, it was still in the back of my mind.

It doesn’t show, unless you really look hard at that side of my face, so I won’t worry about doing anything unless it gets bigger. If it grows large enough to be visible, then I will get it removed. It is best not to mess with it unless it is necessary, because an important facial nerve runs through that area. However, I am not going to let that deter me — I refuse to walk around with a lump on my face. So if the time comes, I will not hesitate about the risk. I am not really vain, but some things, well, I just can’t handle the thought of. A lumpy face is one of those things.

I was afraid of what the doctor would say about the biopsy, and I started thinking about how unpleasant my last two sinus surgeries were, and I got cold feet, and didn’t call to schedule the surgery last month as I had planned. I was figuring that I would try to fit it in before Thanksgiving, but by putting it off this long, the first available appointment was two weeks after. At least it won’t interfere with my remaining yard work. And I will still be getting it done before the end of the year, important because we have already paid the deductible on the health plan for this year.

Now that I finally made myself make that call, I feel much better. I have been feeling so up-in-the-air about my schedule, and now I have a good idea of how things will be going for the rest of the year. At least the big things. The little things that life throws at me from day-to-day? Well, I will just have to dodge them as they come. Been doing it so far, and it seems to have worked.

 

 

 

 

As a good gardener,

I know this to be true:

 

When you plant a shrub

you hope it will grow into a healthy,

productive addition to the landscape.

 

But if instead it turns out to be,

not a harmless vegetable,

but a noxious weed –

 

the best course of action

is to pull it out

 

and plant something else

that will hopefully fill the space

in a more favorable manner.

 

However, if the opportunity is missed,

the only thing left to do

 

is to hope it doesn’t grow out of control,

and obliterate the rest of your garden

before it runs it’s natural course.

 

God(dess) Bless America

We surely need it.

 

 

As promised –

pictures of my Halloween-decorated bathroom.

(thought I forgot, didn’t you?)

 

 

It was a little hard to get the whole thing in the picture, but this is most of it:

There are also 2 oval throw rugs in ombre yellow/orange colors, they remind me of candy corn. I bought them at a yard sale a couple of years ago, and they have found their way into my bathroom decor from time to time. Large vanilla color towels hang on the towel bar over the tub and beside the sink with orange washcloths.

It all started when I found a remnant of this nifty border-print fabric on sale at the fabric store:

I don’t know if you can see by this picture, but the witch is riding on a purple rake instead of a broom! Just too cute.

There was a scarecrow head ornament also on sale at the fabric store, that matched the scarecrow on the fabric. That was the inspiration for decorating the grapevine wreath for the wall. A few silk maple leaves, some wooden star cutouts that I painted purple to match the purple stars on the fabric, a plain grapevine wreath, and my trusty glue gun, and voila! — a custom made wall decoration for fall.

I had just enough fabric left over from making the curtains to sew a strip on a pair of hand towels for a decorative accent. A trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond (I love that store) and I found two black handtowels and a half dozen orange washcloths in the special purchase sale table. I sewed the strip of leftover fabric onto the black towels for trim. Mixed in with some neutral vanilla towels, they added just the dash of color to make the whole room cheerful and seasonal.

A two-layer jar candle in pumpkin spice orange and candy corn yellow, also on half-price sale, sits on the back of the toilet, it completes the fall-color look and imparts a nice spicy aroma.

I think it is a pretty nifty bathroom makeover and it didn’t cost much at all. I just love having a grey and black bathroom, it is like having a blank canvas to work with. I can dress it up any way I choose. And this kind of curtain is so simple to make, I can zip up a pair in just about an hour. Most of that time is spent ironing! They take as little as 1-1/4 yds. fabric, like I used for this pair, but I prefer them to be a little fuller, so unless I am limited by the size of a remnant, I use a little more fabric.

These towels, wreath and candle will remain in the bathroom through Thanksgiving, and I bought a piece of half-price fabric to make another set of curtains last week. It has similar scarecrows and leaves, with turkeys and teddy bears scattered over a vanilla colored background (no border print this time) It is really cute and whimsical, and will dress up the window until it is time to switch over to the Christmas/winter ensemble I made last year.

I need to re-work the bathroom wreath I made last Christmas, because I used some real peppermint candies on it, and found out it wasn’t a very good idea in a steamy bathroom. I cut them all off before storing it for the winter, so I need to put something else on for this year. I also hope to find the time to make the shower curtain I never got around to making last year. Since we do not use the shower in this bathroom, only the tub, I usually don’t even put a shower curtain up, but I thought it would be nice for a change.

So go ahead, call me crazy for decorating my bathroom with every season. Bernie calls me crazy all the time. But you know what? It makes me happy. My relaxation time in my hot bubble bath is very important to me, and it is even better in a cheerful, seasonally decorated environment.

Beside that, when I change my bathroom curtains several times a year, it also forces me to wash the window. It faces in the direction of the morning sun, and there is absolutely nothing that compares with the morning sunshine sparkling through a nice clean window.

Ahhh, life’s simplest pleasures are sometimes the best!

 

 

Mark this on your calendar — I haven’t got much to say.

Yet again.

I could be going for a record.

Oh well, instead, I will just keep posting autumn poems, since I have been really aware of the change in seasons this year, and spending a lot of time outdoors, finishing up whatever chores I can before it gets too cold.  Enjoying some time just to soak it all in, as well. Yesterday Bernie and I took a nice long ride through the countryside in the jeep just to enjoy one of the last warm sunny days of the year and the beautiful foliage before the wind blew it all away.

But  on to the poems…

This one is particularly lovely:

 

In the other gardens
And all up the vale,
From the autumn bonfies
See the smoke trail!

Pleasant summer over
And all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes,
the grey smoke towers.

Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all,
Flowers in the summer
Fires in the fall!

-   Robert Louis Stevenson, Autumn Fires

 

 

Tommy says:

 

 

Happy Halloween!

 

 

… and A blessed Samhain

and happy New Year

to All who are celebrating the pagan way!

 

 

 

 

How innocent were these Trees, that in
Mist-green May, blown by a prospering breeze,
Stood garlanded and gay;
Who now in sundown glow
Of serious colour clad confront me with their show
As though resigned and sad,
Trees, who unwhispering stand umber, bronze, gold;
Pavilioning the land for one grown tired and old;
Elm, chestnut, aspen and pine, I am merged in you,
Who tell once more in tones of time,
Your foliaged farewell.

Siegfried Sassoon, October Trees

 

(original graphic: “October Trees” by adifrentdrumr)

 

some music I was listening to today —

guaranteed to make you feel good: