Another Project

We just got done installing a ceiling fan in the living room. The breeze it creates is wonderful, as it has been over 90 the past two days.

In the process of installing said ceiling fan we discovered a tongue and groove ceiling hiding behind the drywall on the ceiling. A good part of me wants to get rid of the drywall and open that old ceiling up to the light of day………….but I might be banished to a special hell if I suggest doing that.

I wonder what is hiding behind the drywall on the walls………………. 

Auction

We went to an estate auction yesterday. The auction consisted of the house and land, 4 vehicles, tractor, lawn tractor, implements for tractor, lumber and personal items.

The first thing to be auctioned off was the house and land. This property was beautiful! The little house is set well of the road with a wooded area between the house and road. The house was not very big, it would be perfect for one or two people, but it was well built and very nice inside and out. It had a large, covered back porch with enclosed storage.There was a "summer kitchen" on the back porch as well. A creek runs through the property and behind the house. In addition to the house was an older barn (in need of some TLC) and 4.85 acres. A very nice bit of property, quiet, secluded, lots of trees and a private drive. It sold for 45,000.

They sold the two cars, two trucks, lawn tractor, tractor, implements and lumber next.  All proved to be good buys.

My main interest was in the personal property. There were hand-built shelves, collectors items, cast iron pans etc. The auctioneers had grouped these items into lots and each lot contained various items. I did bid on a number of things, won some of them. We came home with a varied collection of things. An antique picnic basket, an old wooden crate and a wooden coca cola box. The coke box was filled with bottles of detergent. (I won't have buy laundry soap for quite some time!)

The people that came to the auction were almost as interesting as the auction itself. Older men in bib overalls, some in dress slacks and shirts, younger men in shorts, older ladies in house dresses and younger ones in shorts and jeans. Some of the bidding became rather heated, especially over such items as canning jars, the cast iron items and some of the collectibles. The auctioneers were very animated and fun to watch as they coaxed bids on some items and tried to keep up with the mass bidding on others.

I really enjoyed the whole experience and look forward to attending other auctions, if only for the entertainment. But you never know just what you are going to find and just how little you might end up paying. 

A dark and stormy night…

that began with the humidity enveloping everything like a shroud. There was not a breath of air moving. Thunder could be heard rumbling the warning of the coming storm. Lightning bugs danced in the darkness, little bits of light silently gliding through the heavy blackness. Suddenly the real lightning show began, almost constant flashes of brillance blinding the eyes. You could almost feel the electricity in the air.

The quiet stillness was interupted by the echoing thunder and the screetching of the weather radio. The warnings coming from the radio were almost as numerous as the lightning itself, constant and overlapping………..

Then the wind picked up, the air went in a moment from heavy stillness to a wild cacophany of swirling movement. It tore through the trees like waves on the ocean, whistled through the screens and tumbled out the windows. The rain began driven by the wind into sheets of swirling water, insane prisims reflecting the almost blinding lightning. The irridesent clouds, lit from within, raced overhead as if cars in some mad race.

As quickly as the wind began, it was gone. A churchlike quiet enveloped everything, puncuated only by the dripping of the last raindrops from the leaves on the trees and the eves. 

Shelves

Yesterday was a beautiful day, lots of sunshine, temps in the low 80's and a light breeze. It was the perfect day to build shelves for the video room! So now we have a wall of built in shelves. I was able to get rid of lots more boxes after putting our movie collection on those shelves. Another room almost emptied of boxes.

I still have to go back and alphabetize all those movies…………but they are at least out where we can get to them. And I did at least group them by title letter, so that helps. The video room looks more organized now and that is definite plus.

Now we have to figure out what to do, and where to put all those books………… 

Rhubarb Patch

Thanks to my father in law I now have a rhubarb patch! He was kind enough to send me seven rhubarb plants. They have been planted in a corner of the back yard and are growing quite well.

I may be even be able to harvest some this year, but will have to wait to see just how much growth they put out. I know that by the next growing season they will be doing great. I can hardly wait.

The garden is coming along slowly. I still have a few things that have not come up…kind of disappointing actually. I am thinking that maybe the ground should have been worked more, but it did look pretty good when we planted. Then again we have had a cooler than normal spring and that could be affecting the outcome as well. I guess that time will tell, there is still a lot of growing season left. 

Empty Nest

The mama bird and her babies have left the security of their nest on our front porch. Probably a good thing since the babies were getting large. I kind of miss the chirping of the babies. The nest has a derelict look about it, so I wll knock it down. It has served it’s purpose.
Now I don’t feel badly about using the porch swing. The mama bird had a really hard time when we were out there. Constantly flitting to and fro, watching us and her babies.
Time marches on……….

New Digs

I like my new look and the new place. I hope everyone will enjoy it here as well. The old blog will stay up, but I will not be posting there any more.
Many thanks to Jeff2 for assisting me in getting moved over here.
I have also added a blogroll, something I did not have before.
Welcome to the new place!

Birds

A mama bird built a nest on top of a post in the corner of our front porch. She laid her eggs and had a bumper crop of babies. They are getting big, almost crowding each other out of the nest.
I have a good view of the nest from our bedroom window. While the mama bird was fliying to and fro feeding her family, I counted six baby birds in that nest. How they manage not to knock each other out onto the porch floor below is a mystery. Much less how the mama bird manages to get in that nest with them at night.
It is intresting watching her fly to and fro trying to keep all those babies fed. It is just about all she does during the day.
I’ll bet she will be glad when they are out on their own.

Mothers Day

I will warn you that I tend to wax nostalgic about stuff like this. I have fond memories of my children and grandchildren. They are tucked away into a special place in my heart. It is a place with memories that are as fresh as when they were brand new.
I can recall some of my most treasured moments. The way it feels when a baby snuggles up and drifts off to sleep, the contentedness of time seeming to stop while nursing. The joys of milestones reached. The first time they roll over, crawl and those first steps………chubby baby arms reaching up for you, bright eyes and gummy smiles.
Sometimes it is hard to believe that all those things exist now only as memories, it seems like yesterday that I had my babies safe around me, and now they all have babies of their own. And they live so far away, my tender mothers heart is really missing them.
This will be a Mothers day like no other, the first one away from all my children. But the memory hole is full. Clumsy drawings with uneven printing, homemade heartfelt cards, hugs and kisses that smell of peanutbutter. All safely tucked away to be treasured but brought out to be enjoyed again.

A Strange Thing

happened the other day when I was at Wal Mart. I had gone in to pick up a few things, the store was not overly busy, but I have a talent for finding the slowest check out. The line can be moving right along, I get into it and it slows down or stops completely.
So I was standing in my slow line, finally it was my turn to put my stuff up to be checked out. No hello, good afternoon, nothing……just a quick look at me and then my items, and the cashier began to scan my items. As I was waiting for the process to be over, I was putting the bags into the cart. The cashier gave me my total, I paid, then put a couple more bags in the cart. But I knew I had purchased more than what I had in the cart bagged up. So I went looking for the other bags. They were at the cashiers’ feet, I looked at her strangely and asked for the rest of my bags. She said that those were left by another customer and I had all my purchases.
I know that I didn’t have everything, and asked her again for the bags. She told me that if I didn’t leave she would call a manager. I looked her square in the eye and said, go ahead and call a mamager, and the store manager had better be one of them. A mamager shortly showed up and asked what the problem was, the cashier repilede that I wouldn’t leave. The manager asked me if there was a problem. I told her that I would be happy to leave if I could get the rest of the things I had paid for, and pointed to the bags at the cashiers feet. Then I requested the store manager again.
When he finally showed up, I handed him my recipt, and told him I didn’t have all my purchases, once again pointing to the area around the cashiers feet. They began checking what I had in the cart against the recipt, and guess what? A lot of things were missing. So they moved on to the bags the cashier had put down by her feet. And there was the rest of my groceries.
I got profuse apologies from the management and the cashier was escorted to the back.

Are people getting so desperate that they are trying to steal in this fashion? It really makes me wonder………