Four Months Down the Road

Hard as it is for me to believe, we arrived in Georgia four months ago. Or 17 weeks and 3 days, if you want to be more precise. Or 9 bars of Dove soap...but who's counting, right?

In the good news column, you could count the blooming of one of this year's daylily purchases called Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo. It makes us feel like things stand a high possibility of eventually returning to Normal. Eventually. 

And, I took time out of working on the house today to attend my first meeting of the Walton County Master Gardener volunteers in Monroe, GA. I had applied when it looked like we were going to be moving to Loganville (eventually!) and received word in mid-July that I had cleared the background checks (required of anyone working with children) and my application had been approved. I have missed this part of my life (which was put on hold last year while we were going through the throes of moving from NC), so it was a special day indeed. I will be limited in the number of volunteer hours I can manage until after we actually get moved in, but you have to start somewhere.

So where are we on "getting moved in?" Let's see:

(1) Finished painting - The guest room/my craft room just makes me smile every time I look at the "Uptown Girl" purple walls. Missy M says the color looks like my office in our house in O'Fallon, and I have to agree. 

We also finished painting the "Sailors Bay" blue Hall bath, which will be decorated with lighthouses.

(2) Survived a brief vertigo spell...only to have a possible stress fracture in my right foot - This has to come under the "good grief" category. I think the vertigo came about because of the up-and-down on the ladder; thankfully only lost a couple of days to that nemesis. I'm guessing the foot problem was caused by hyper-extending my foot while applying the blue tape to the baseboards. Whatever...I've been hobbling around like Grandpa McCoy (Lordy, doesn't THAT reference date me?!?) for nearly a week now. Seeing the foot doc on Thursday; currently practicing my pleas for a cortisone shot (which Mr. T says is an indication that I must be in pain if I'm asking for a needle!). Meanwhile I elevate and ice.

(3) Got the dishwasher installed - That means we now have all our new appliances operational. Gorgeous! I just have to touch them to make sure they are real!

(4) Got a new storm door, complete with a doggie door - Mr. T finished this install this week, and the pups got to come spend an afternoon at the new house. Ella Rae had an hour's head start as she rode with T, while Winston had to go on a little detour to meet his new vet and get his bordatella booster. It was hard for me to go back to Eastside, but I was so impressed with the care and concern that Dr. Houghton had shown for Abbie-girl that I wanted her to care for Win-man. He, of course, won over the whole staff within a few minutes, and had a great old time. But he then had cause for pause when confronted with the new doggie door...which has a different design from the one he is accustomed to. It took ER being out in the yard and barking at something for him to throw caution to the wind and go blamming right on through.

(5) Had internet connection installed...finally - After a false start a week ago, the Comcast guy finally showed up to install Xfinity (just the internet connection to set up our wifi network since we don't use cable). Not the best customer install experience ever...but we truly have no other choice (since AT&T doesn't have fiber in Loganville yet). If I've said it once, I've said it repeatedly: I MISS NORTHSTATE (our service provider in NC)! They showed up when they said they would, they put the equipment where YOU wanted it, and they managed to be pleasant about it...pretty much the direct opposite of Comcast. Sigh. But I will say this, things are working well, and the wifi is powerful enough to provide excellent streaming video (which is how we get much of our programming now...through Roku, Sling, etc.).

(6) Had another AC service call - Still have AC issues. (The tale of trying to get this resolved could make a whole post but I'll just leave it at that.) Double sigh. Waiting on yet another service call. Hopefully will have a fully-functioning AC before Winter sets in.

(7) Got good news about our tile installation - Looks like they have found the 3 pallets of tile all from the same dye lot and caliber. When it actually arrives, we should be able to schedule the install...possibly as soon as a couple of weeks. Fingers crossed! 

(8) Have a newly-mown lawn and trimmed bushes - Mr. T took M's mower and trimmers over to the house and started the monumental task of cleaning up the landscaping. While the seller kept the grass mowed, we have had so much rain this year that everything had experienced several growth spurts. Plus, the original owners moved out last August, so they more-or-less stopped caring for the plantings...making everything look shaggy and overgrown. Once he had cleared out a spot, Mr. T hung a bird feeder and set up a bird bath. Won't be long before the word gets out that the Adsit Bird Bistro is open for business!

So that's where we are as we begin a new month. I sincerely hope that we will be moved in before completing another 31 days...or unwrap 2 more Dove soap bars...whichever comes first.

Glug, Glug, Glug

Let's begin this post with a picture, shall we?

OK, that...along with the title of the post...should give you a big clue where I'm going. We are treading water here in HPNC! If the present trend continues, I'm going to have to figure out just what a cubit is.

Since Sunday, we have logged nearly 4.5" of rain in the gauge. Read that again: 4.5 inches...in 5 days. Plus we have had temps in th high 80's and at least one 90-degree day, with humidity levels that are oppressive at times. Makes me want to celebrate whoever invented air conditioning!

Now, several of those inches of rain arrived via severe thunderstorms. The one on Tuesday was a corker! As you can see from these pictures of the windmill in the Way Back...or as we call it, The Derrick, we were left leaning when the rising sun revealed all. Can you also see that the winds lifted the canopy on one of the swings, tipping it back and over (center, left of first pic). Thank goodness it missed the back "temporary" fence by several whole inches. Had it taken out the fence, I would have been rounding up pups for hours!

There were also small tree limbs and branches littering the landscape, like you see in this shot of the front walk. Don't know if you can make it out, but that limb has been long-dead and the object of a great deal of woodpecker attention. It has also survived many thunderstorms and high wind situations over the five years we have lived here...until this week. 

But the funniest photos are to follow. Have I shared with you how very much Winston loves water? Loves. It. In almost any form, apparently. He has no problem with a walk in the rain...none whatsoever. And whenever I have to water the garden? Well, he's there before you can say "Jack Splash!" He drinks straight from the hose, and he WANTS me to spray him. I call it "watering Winston." 

Well...

With all the rain, our Kitchen row garden resembles a rice paddy, as EMGV friend JA noted on Facebook. We have created these wide, raised rows, making the corresponding "aisles" wide...and deep. Whenever we get this much rain, the aisles fill up with the run off from the rows...as you can see. That's Dixie walking gingerly along the bean fence on Row 3.

So, Wednesday I got up to another clear, clean morning that followed a terrific downpour. I headed out to the Way Back to check on things, with four dogs in eager attendance. Before I could say "Jack Splash," Winston was off...racing through the knee-deep (to him) aisles. 

As I posted on Facebook, I'll let the pictures tell the story:

Good golly, Molly! So what to do? I turned on the faucet, because even though the last thing the garden needed was more water, I knew he would immediately stop playing in the mud baths and come to the sound of the sprayer.  He did. And I hosed him down in the Rondell, which is high-and-dry and covered in mulch...no mud to be had. And he did what every wet dog has ever done: gave a great, big shake...slinging muddy water everywhere, including my glasses.

And then he ran back to the mud baths. 

OK, I got smart and did what I should have done in the first place: dragged the hose into the back yard (from the Way Back), lured him (and the others) to follow, and shut the gate behind them. Then I watered Winston once again. He loved it. And he shared his pleasure with another great, big shake.

Of course, when I tried to hose down Ella Rae, Abbie, and Dixie...who all had muddy paws...they immediately ran away...acccckkkk, water! We might melt!...right up the deck steps and into the house. Good golly, Molly...indeed.

Duche$$, who was observing all of this activity from her usual spot on the deck, gave me that look of "I told you not to get any more dogs. Can we take them back now?"

Gotta love'em!

Snow and Stuff

Hurrah! Winter Storm Leon came through in style for HPNC. We got measureable snow this week!

It was the first real snow for the Pound Pups, and they romped and played and tussled and chased and...well, you get the picture, right? If not, here's a helpful hint or two:

 

Winston (f) and Abbie (b)
in the Way Back:
First snow!

Abbie (f) and Winston (barely seen!)...
More play, play, play
in the Way Back Gardens

Truthfully? I am thrilled to have the snow and cold weather...especially since I'm usually inside by the fire, where it is warm and toasty. Last year we had such a mild winter that Mother Nature couldn't do what she does best with cold weather: help control the garden pest population. By the time the 2013 Summer months arrived, we were facing a huge and mounting "bad bug" invasion...especially in the form of squash vine borers, Japanese beetles, and Mexican bean beetles. So, throw some more cold at us...I'll throw on another sweater!

This snow day also gave me a cause for pause in an otherwise hectic week. All Master Gardening activities got cancelled on Wednesday and Thursday when the Guilford County Schools were closed for 2 1/2 days, so I found myself with time on my hands...and W-2's in the mailbox. And, you may have trouble believing this, but I took the opportunity to do our taxes. Yes, I did! Now, I still will be doing Missy M's, but our Fed and State returns are filed for this year. And, even though TurboTax said that the IRS wasn't accepting returns until 1/31, I just received both text and email confirmation that the Fed return had been accepted. Today. January 30. I suppose they opened for business a few hours early...kinda like how stores were opening on Thanksgiving before Black Friday. Or something like that.

Ahem.

Here are some more snow pictures for you:

View of shed and back yard
from Morning Room

Way Back Garden gate
got left open

View from Rose Garden Patio

A bit chilly for a chat

 

Looking into Rose Garden

"Dr. Seuss"

 








































Of course, I did as any well-raised Southern girl would do when there is even a whisper of the white stuff in the forecast: I headed to the store for bread and milk, of course! Here's the evidence.

 

 

When I posted that picture (above) on Facebook, I heard from a friend that I "should buy organic milk." (Yep, a Master Gardener friend...:-) I responded with "don't I get credit for switching to Whole Wheat bread and 1% milk?!" (I left out the Sheezsh!) And that brings up a whole 'nother subject...the "Stuff" of the title, I suppose.

My biking to Disneyland (I know, I know...I owe you a post...:-) got me reconnected with an iPhone app that I had used in the past called MyNetDiary. It allows you to easily track your exercise for the day, along with what you have eaten for meals. Keeps up with calories, nutrients, weight, etc. A really cool tool! I think I first learned of it from a Diabetes Education counselor in Missouri, when Momma was diagnosed with diabetes...and I was told I was borderline.

Anyway, the website was a clunky, cumbersome affair...but the app: now that works well, and syncs between my iPhone (there's a free version for the iPhone) and iPad! One of those is usually in my hands, so that makes it easy-peasy. I used it regularly for a while, and then our move from MO to NC intervened, and diet and exercise went hand-in-hand...out the window. Never fear...it's backkk!

At the same time I was reconnecting with my old friend, MyNetDiary (MND), Mr. T was struggling to make some changes that would positively impact his health...read that: lose some weight to get his BMI (recently discussed at his annual physical with Dr. K) down into the normal range. He was also looking for a way to keep up with his physical therapy exercises...other than the Excel spreadsheet he was using. So I introduced him to MND...and we were off and running, together!

Now, I must share some background with you. Most of my regular readers know I have battled my weight and yo-yo dieted since I was about 5 or 6 (no kidding). I have been on every diet imaginable...gained and lost at least 3 whole people in my lifetime, maybe more. One day about 6 or 7 years ago, I just said no. No more diets. Ever again. Never. Never, ever, ever. I had had enough of that.

And, guess what? When I stopped obsessing with my weight, it started dropping. Ever so slowly, mind you. So slowly in fact as to be almost a non-story. But I was reminded of just how much the other day when I was writing in my Journal (yes, I do still keep one, although I write in it infrequently). I have made a note of my weight next to several of the previous entries, and I realized that I was (then) 40 pounds lighter than my highest weight noted.

A second item worth noting is that Mr. T has never been on a diet. Read that sentence again. Never. Never, ever, ever. Oh, he switched from regular Coke to diet many years back and immediately dropped 5 pounds, but that doesn't count. He's occasionally tried to make what sounded like good choices off restaurant menus...but he still has to eat in restaurants for the majority of his meals, and there IS a limit to resistance to Five Guys fries. And he's certainly endured the countless programs I have done...and been a fabulous cheerleader. Yes, he has been on the sidelines of diet and nutrition his whole life.

Not any more.

While I am loathe to classify what we are doing as "dieting" in the sense that we are restricting ourselves (other than to the recommended calories suggested by MND) or following any "program" like Weight Watchers, South Beach, etc., I will say that we are giving our eating habits a long overdue overhaul. And when you KNOW you are going to have to account for what you have eaten that day in your electronic diary, you are ever-so-much-more inclined to make healthy eating choices. You pay attention to where your calories are coming from...what you are lacking (mine has been calcium and fiber)...and what you are overindulging on (we BOTH are challenged by our sodium intake). And you are conscious of poor choices, like my tendency to skip breakfast.

Plus exercise becomes something you want to do instead of "oh, Lordy, I guess I have to exercise today." Because when you exercise, you "earn" more calories to "spend" that day! Yee ha!!

So, there are some changes evident around here. Mr. T has become a consummate label-reader...shocked by seeing just what a portion or serving really is (I got out the measuring cups and spoons along with my ancient WW scale, to help him visualize). It's OK to eat a salad bowl full of cereal for breakfast...just realize that is actually 2 servings and enter the data truthfully.

And remember I said I identified I was having trouble eating the recommended calcium and fiber? Well, no more! We have made the Big Switch to whole wheat this and whole grain that. And to allow me to drink more milk for the calcium, but not bump up the fat count, we agreed to change to 1%. Who knows? Skim milk may be on our horizon! (Missy M is already at that threshold, since that's what I bought when she was growing up and that's what she prefers. We had changed back to 2% over the years...which was still better than the whole milk we both grew up drinking.)

OK. Time to go. Need to get my bike ride in for the day. I'm in Knoxville, by the way, stopped last night at Chilhowee Park, where the Knoxville Zoo is located. Promise: I'll get to work on my catching-up biking post!

I'll close this post with yet another dog picture that should bring a smile to your face. This was taken the night it started to snow, after supper when they take their pre-bedtime naps. They slept through the main part of the storm, getting up to go outside for Last Potty Call and being surprised at what they found. Let it snow...and stuff!

Duche$$, Abbie, and Winston...
Three Dog Night in  HPNC

A Truly Happy Thanksgiving

Goes without saying...but I'll say it anyway: we have had a rough month here at Casa 3917. We've been slogging along, playing the game with the cards we were dealt...as shoddy as they were. But now it appears we're playing with a brand new deck...and we've been dealt a full house. Hooray!

Meet Winston...our newest member of the Drool Gang! He's an 11-month old Australian Shepherd mix puppy we adopted yesterday from the Forsyth County Animal Control shelter in Winston-Salem. He is an alum of Animal Control, having initially been adopted in February...about the same time we adopted Abbie. Although they were both classified as Australian Shepherd mixes and born about the same time (right around New Year's), we have determined from the records that they aren't from the same litter. But, like all the adoptees from Forsyth, they both were micro-chipped before they were made available for adoption.

So, when Winston was found roaming the streets of Winston in October, even without a collar Animal Control knew who he was...and where he lived...and what his owner's contact number was. So they called...and they called...and they called. No response. And no one came to get Winston. The little Aussie had boomeranged back to the slammer, just 8 months after he'd left.

Why? For the life of me, I cannot come up with a good answer for you. And, trying to figure it out without any of the facts just makes me sad...and gives me a headache. He's a beautiful, frisky puppy, who is friendly to everyone he meets. I don't think he was abused because he doesn't show any marks or classic signs like fear, but I suspect he was neglected. Oh, not in the basics like food and water, although he does appear to be a bit underweight. He has been on a heart worm preventative, because his blood test was negative (thank goodness). To put it simply: he was love-starved. 

Here at home, we had lots of love that had been reserved for Elmo. And, we could see that Abbie needed another outlet for all of her energy...there are only so many hours we can walk her.  Duche$$, a diva and at almost-13, cannot be bothered to play or even interact with a puppy. Plus, I had a telephone conversation with Ab's trainer, who asked if we might consider adding another dog to our family.

Then, I saw a post on FC Animal Control's page with Winston's story. And whoosh! My heart took over my head. Adopt a new puppy at Thanksgiving, when Mr. T is still recovering from surgery?Are you kidding?! It is a terrible time to introduce a new family member! 

But I couldn't stop thinking about him...or visiting his picture on the FC webpage to see if Winston was still available. And Mr. T commented that, while his recovery might limit him, at least he would be home (rather than traveling for work)...a good thing when introducing a new puppy. So, we faxed in an updated application and waited for a call.

It wasn't what I'd hoped for. It was a voicemail message that said we were the second application for Winston, and that the other family had come to meet him. They were from out of town and had gone home to fax back the rabies vaccination on their other pet (required for an adoption to proceed). Did we want to come meet Winston anyway?

No! That was a for-sure heartbreak. I wanted him to have a good home, preferably with us...but a good home somewhere nonetheless. But I just couldn't go meet 'n greet unless we stood a chance of bringing him home. We'd wait and see.

Fortunately, for whatever reason, we got the Call early Wednesday morning. He was still available! Did we want to come meet him? You better believe it! Loaded Abbie up in the PTC and headed west to Winston...in the snow (!)...so we could meet Winston.

We met. We signed the papers. And because he was already neutered (previous owner got that right!), he could come home with us. He and Abbie took to each other almost from the start (thank goodness!), and we took a detour to our vet to get him checked out...and get him bathed (whew! He needed that!). Next stop: PetSmart for a new bed, a new collar and harness, and a a few (dozen) treats 'n toys. We were all happy but exhausted when we pulled into our driveway.

And then, we introduced him to Ella Rae and Dixie when we finally got home. OK, that part didn't go as smoothly as we'd hoped. But, it will work out in a couple of days. I have faith.

Winston is, in a word, a sweetheart. Although they are the same age, Winston looks and acts much more like a puppy than Abbie...but they both have that Australian Shepherd herding-nipping thing down pat. He looks like a shepherd, where Abbie looks more like a terrier. He weighs about 20 pounds less than Abbie, but is just a bit taller than she. His muscle structure is much less defined than hers, but he appears to be about the same size because he has a "coat," where she has very little fur, other than her neck ruff. His fur is soft (now that he's been bathed), and he loves for you to rub his ears...one of which flops forward more than the other. 

He has discovered the Toy Basket...and has already played with almost every single toy on site. Here's a picture I snapped of him with one of Abbie's bone-like toys called a Jack...which caused a bit of consternation when Miss Ab's discovered him. 

Abbie has taught him about the doggie doors, although he's still not too sure about going out of them...coming back in doesn't seem to trouble him. He seems to enjoy mealtimes as much as the other Droolers, although he wasn't too sure about liver treats at first. And, he is thrilled about having such a big play space as the Way Back offers.

I wish I could post a video of the Gang (minus Duche$$, alas) frolicking in the Way Back this morning. They were joy in motion! Running, jumping, chasing, racing. Mr. T says the gardens will never be the same, but I guess that's the price we will pay for witnessing pure happiness.

And that's the best word I can think of to describe Winston: happy. He is a happy little fellow, and he has made our Thanksgiving a happy celebration. We are smiling, once again.