Friday, June 28, 2013

Oh Routine...Where Art Thou?

We motored back over the mountains, down the turnpike, and through the toll booths on Tuesday, arriving home too late in the evening to see much of the changes (if any) in the ol' homestead. But after a refreshing night's sleep in my own bed, I bounded up at first light, filled with that thrill that comes when you are opening the first package under the Christmas tree.  Garden Walk!

Wow! Is is possible we were gone only 10 days?! So many things in our garden have started to ripen and are ready for picking. Now. As in, right now! It will take at least a week to get caught up. As Mr. T says, I always need a vacation when I come home from "vacation." Sigh.  I'll post all about the garden over on my other blog, Gardening With Giants. Click here to go there...

Even with all the time and attention the gardens now require, I must remember there are other things that need doing. Thankfully we are ahead of the game, so to speak, with chores: we changed the sheets, did laundry, cleaned bathrooms, vacuumed, and dusted before we left (told you my To Do list was lengthy...:); and, we did laundry at Missy M's, so the only dirties we have to deal with are the clothes we wore on the return trip. Still, there are few necessaries in the fridge or the pantry, so a trip to the grocery is in order.  Or, at least "on" order...as I am still a huge fan of online Express shopping at Harris Teeter.
Abbie apres nail trim

Also, I took advantage of an nice offer our vet (Guilford-Jamestown Veterinary Hospital) made recently: "like" them on Facebook and make an appointment for a free nail trim. Since Abbie missed getting her nails trimmed on her last vet visit (she was not in the mood, shall we say?), and since I had trimmed Elmo's and Duche$$'s nails just before we left (no easy task, as they have nails as thick as chop sticks and as hard as, well, nails...:-), I made an appointment for Abbs to get a mani-pedi on Thursday.

Easier said than done. Abbie...our little "chicken dog," who is a holy terrier at home but a meek, mild, scaredy-cat when out of her own domain...has apparently found her voice in Looeyvuh. Great. Ella Rae and Dixie taught her to bark at anything and everything that moves (which is an excellent trait when you are guarding a single woman's home, right?), and she is taking her lessons to the extreme. She's now a mixture of scaredy-cat-meets-Cujo. Not easy to handle. Here she is after surviving that trauma...looks like she's saying "hey, I'm cool...no big deal..." Right.

Mr. T had an appointment to keep Thursday, too. He had a follow-up with his ortho surgeon about his knee. Oh me. Not a pleasant time. The dr. drained the accumulated fluid on the left knee AND gave him a cortisone shot. Ow. Double owwwwww. But at least he said "no more crutches," which is a good thing since Mr. T had stopped using them a week or so ago anyway. Now he has to exercise on the recumbent bicycle and get fitted for some orthotics...all to help in the battle of keeping arthritis from taking over the left knee. We shall see...

And me? Well, I have been wading through the mount of mail and plethora of phone messages. Paying bills. Touching bases. Trying to catch up on some work. And, seeking the solitude of routine to get me on track again.

Routine? It's around here somewhere. I'm almost positive I saw it under that pile of papers...









Thursday, June 20, 2013

A Week Away

Has it really been nine months since we were here in Looeyvul? Yes...yes, it has. Hard to believe. Seems like just a few weeks ago I got to see the magnolia in the front yard blooming...and here it is a-bloom again. Lovely...



We are currently dog- and house-sitting for Missy M while she's attending a conference in California. The news we are getting from San Jose is good...in spite of the awful, terrible, horrible experience she had in getting there from here on a rainy Monday. [Think Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.] Here's a shot she messaged from a side trip to Zelda's in Capitola Beach, CA. (Special of today: Maine Lobster...:-)  She put her toes in the Pacific and said "it is cold!"



And despite a bump or two in the road, we are having a decent week here in Derby Town.

Bump 1: Thomas is still recovering from his knee surgery and related issues. He's got a long Daddy-Do List to get through before M returns tomorrow night, so he is pushing himself. When the heat forces us inside (like the 92 degrees this afternoon), he usually pops an ice pack on to combat the swelling. He is also dealing with some fluid buildup, so he will have lots to discuss with his doctor next week. Big sigh. 

Bump 2: I spent the first couple of days or so trying to outrun yet another ear infection...third this year, in case you're counting. Haven't had that many ear infections since...well, never. Biggest worry with an ear infection for me? That it deteriorates into an inner ear infection...and morphs into a vertigo episode. Fortunately, I had the meds from the last go-round, so was able to dodge that bullet. Unfortunately, I missed Cousin A's big birthday bash in TN...didn't think I needed to bring her a "gift" of germs. Heard it was a "good time had by all" kind of a day. Double sigh.

So, even with a couple of hiccups, Mr. T and I are enjoying spending time together...having early morning coffee on the deck, watching the birds at the feeders...well, until one or more of the five dogs chases them away, that is. The dogs...ah, yes...the FIVE dogs. That probably says it all right there.

It is a little like a vaca. It's still light here late, since da 'Ville is on the westernmost edge of the Eastern time zone. Wine at 9:00, anyone?!  We checked out Frank Otte's, a local Garden Center fantastique and found Breadworks, a neat neighborhood bakery for bagels and coffee on Wednesday...a treat for the two of us who are rarely in the same city mid-week. I finished Dan Brown's latest novel, Inferno, as well as Dorothea Benton Frank's Last Original Wife.  Stayed up until 4:00 this morning reading that last one...and I really can't do that anymore. No, no, no.

We still have a thing or two up our sleeves. Missy M has planned a couple of vacation days next week, so we'll get to spend some time with her before we head back to HPNC. A new restaurant? A matinee movie maybe? Also hoping to meet up with Bro T and SIL LaD for breakfast while here, since we are in the same area code.

All-in-all, a good week at our home away from home.

Friday, June 14, 2013

What a Week!

Happy to report we are still hugging tightly to our little piece of the Earth. With all the wild weather we have been having this week, we could easily have lost our footing and been blown away!

Forget Hurricane Season. (OK, I know we in NC can't actually "forget about it" until November.) This has been Straight Line Winds territory. Clocked at over 40 mph on Monday and an amazing 60+ mph on Thursday, the winds have not been our friends. Throw in some hail and flash-flooding rains, and you got yourself one scary Spring weather combination.

Can you find the low spot in our back yard in this shot? You can also tell that it has been too wet to mow or weed.


And then there is this one from the Row Garden Monday evening. Looks like we are raising the squash and melons (right) and the beans (left) hydroponically. Water, water everywhere...


You may have visited our garden blog, Gardening with the Giants, and read of the Miracle of the Corn: high winds on Monday flattened the entire patch...and then the stalks apparently righted themselves by Thursday...and wonder-of-wonders, they escaped any real damage in Thursday afternoon's storms. Counting our blessings...as well as the coming kernels...:-)

Anyway, we are enjoying an absolutely gorgeous Friday...blue skies, low humidity, lower temps, and no storms in the forecast for today. Hooray!  A mild finish to a wild week. And a perfect day for a drive in the country...or a drive THROUGH the country maybe...:-)

Yes, our plans are to head over the mountains and through the toll booths to Missy M's house we'll go...dogs included. We are postponing our departure by a day since Duche$$ developed some last minute  problems, but thankfully those seem to be abating. Still, we did NOT want to travel with a sick dog...no, no, no!

And we will no sooner get to Looeyvul, when I'll get back in a car and head to TN with Missy M on Sunday. (Mr. T won't be joining us, as his knee can handle just so many miles...and he's over his limit for this week. So, he's been volunteered to be dog-sitter for a day...:-)  We are going to Dickson to Cousin A's 105th Birthday party! Whoopie!!

Now that's an adventure worth shouting about.

Friday, June 7, 2013

It's Raining...It's Pouring...It's Raining Some More...

Do you know when the Atlantic Hurricane Season officially begins? Those of us who live in states that have a coastline know the answer to that one: June 1.  And, it looks like we are going to have an active one, if this week is any indicator. We barely had flipped over the calendar before the weather wonks began with the storm updates.

Here's what our map looks like on the News 2 Weather ap. No Grasshoppers game for us tonight!



The first Tropical Storm of 2013 has arrived and been strong enough to get a name: Andrea. Oh Joy. Of course, she's been a mild one as Hurricane experiences go (remember...we were in NC for Hugo and Fran), bringing only rain to our doorstep.  Buckets and buckets of rain.

Still, I don't see rain as a bad thing. It has supplied the gardens with glorious gallons of H2O..and allowed me to do more inside than out...for the first time in a long while.  I finally got around to cleaning out, rearranging, and organizing my desk, workspace, and bookcase. Made it easier to concentrate on writing. Deep-cleaned our bathroom, which has only received a lick-and-a-promise lately, sad to say...casualty of a gardening obsession. Got the laundry all caught up. Made a 7-Up Pound Cake for Mr. T's return home from DC area.  Even found time for two new eBooks: The Bookman's Tale and The Kingmaker's Daughter.

But, I can't stay out of the gardens completely, don't you know? When we have had a break or two in the showers, I grabbed my camera to take some shots of the fat water droplets on the green and growing kingdom of the Way Back Garden.  I shared these shots over on my other blog, Gardening With Giants, which is why they all have the GWG watermark. No matter...here they are again. Hope you enjoy!

First, the flowers:

Always and Forever rose
Edith Ann daylily


Spanish Lavender





First Zucchini
Now for the veggies:




Goliath (green) tomatoes

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