What are you up to today? This week?

[havanaholly]

Are you a birdwatcher, Susanne? We just started to identify some of the birds we see. Today we saw a redheaded woodpecker (the entire head is a darkish vivid red, no cockade). The red cockaded woodpecker has a cockade of bright red feathers that stick up on top of his head; the papa bird got quite annoyed with the ornithologist for taking his babies out of the nest! Considering the nest was 53' up in the trunk of the pine tree, I can understand the papa bird's concerns.

One of our "prize" spottings was an American Avocet last year when we were paddling a short stretch of the Ochlockonee River (necessarily short, there was so little water last year, due to the drought).

[chattycathy66]

When I was young and lived "in the city", I could never understand what the big deal about bird watching was....but now that we live more rural, and I see more than just sparows, robins, grackles and the occasional blue jay...I really like noticing "new" birds around here!

Since I have to work later today, I'm going to organize my craft area! Bought another of those drawers on wheels since I seem to be expanding!

happy memorial day !!

[bookmarm]

Since we both were off today, and were still tired from the major basement cleaning project yesterday, Jim and I took trip to a nearby town that has a commercial orchid greenhouse and have brought back a few 'pretties'.

Then I worked on the Lincoln house this morning and finished the downstairs wallpapering. The next ceiling/floor section has been glued in and I'm working on the floors up there before I wallpaper. I am going to end up using way more sheets of the walnut flooring than I thought! Unfortuneately I've bought all that A.C. Moore has with my 50% off coupon, and will need probably 2 more. I head to a mini store near Charlotte next weekend and need to buy trim/mouldings.

Gotta help son 2 make brownies tonight to help woo the girl of his dreams (this week's) at school.

Son 1 is down in the basement hammering shelves together in our Spring organizational efforts.

[havanaholly]

We got the email last night and this AM we met our friends and went over to hike at 'Torreya State Park. This was my first hike of more than 5 miles since my pacemaker implantation, and other than my feet & joints feeling a tad sore it felt SO good to be able to walk, and walk, and walk! uphill & down. The trail follows along the Apalachicola River for a couple of miles, and because the water is so terribly low (thanks, Atlanta!) we walked out onto a fairly large sandbar that was covered with deer tracks. We spotted a small alligator swimming between the sandbar & the shore out into the river, where I gues he startled a school of mullet, which began to jump!

We stopped for lunch about halfway, at one of the primitive campgrounds, and found another side-trail down to the river where we climbed on some rocks.

Altogether we were out abut 6 hours and all agreed this is the last weekend for hiking, it's just getting too hot & humid here.

[Wolfie]

Reported all 10 of my orchid plants and groomed they and did their weekly watering. Re-filled all the humidity trays and misted everryone. Worked on my RealLife Low Boy (finally finished), and then started cutting out the table for the hydroponic reservoir on the scroll saw. This is going to be a large project that is for sure. Other than that, it's been a quiet day......

[KathieB]

Came back from California to find the seeds I'd started in tiny peat pots are crying out for transplanting into larger pots. That means I really need to get started digging a garden for them. Am heading to the farm store for potting soil this morning. Fairwell, fingernails.

This evening is the first municipal band concert of the season ... summer is really here! This is the band's 87th season. They'll play every Thursday evening all summer on the courthouse lawn, about two blocks away from us. I love small town living (most days). :groucho:

[heidiiiii]

Check for home improvements still hasnt arrived..Grrrrr. Maybe tomorrow...Fred and I are going to breakfast and we are going to bug the postman in the morning before he leaves on his route. I do not want that sitting around the house all weekend. (bank is closed on Saturday).

I have alot of running around to do tomorrow. Have to pick up stuff for the trip to Sturbridge. Dawn is picking me up in the afternoon.

Going to grocery store to get the girls some food for the weekend, pharmacy, clothing store, and that should be it...

I still have not completely packed my bag yet either.

Will be gone all weekend having mini fun! Cant wait to see the other GL members too!

[havanaholly]

Yesterday was one of "those" days.

The repairman showed up bright & early (well, early, anyway) and replaced the thermostat on the dryer (it was old enough).

Then we hopped in the old truck & went into town to pick up the new one. Then we went hunting for items for it. DH will have to get our dive-shop outfitter to order the third set of stuff for a new system of rooftop carrier racks for the kayaks & bikes and install the new bedliner he got from Pep Boys. We couldn't find stepbars (like runningboards, but hang down closer to the ground so little old ladies can hop up into the truck without looking like a Cirque de Soleil acrobat) but have a couple of more places to check; meanwhile I'm getting an upper body workout!

His new kayak still hasn't shipped from the factory! and if it isn't here by Tuesday the kayak otfitter is lending him a boat for the trip. Today I want to start packing the camper and go visit our neighbors to see what time to deliver The Beautiful Melody and hit Home Depot for a couple of sets of double hooks to hang gearbags on.

I also began (finally) to dress the ghostly filles de joie,ShellyN!

[cheherzad]

Our two year old granddaughter came for the weekend last week and infected us all with a stomach flu. We've been going down like a stack of dominoes. I am the latest casualty and with a low grade fever, I don't feel like moving far from my chair. I started a punch hook rug with a single strand of embroidery floss. It is really coming out good and doesn't require a lot of thought or energy. The pattern is from " 1930's and 1940's Miniatures." The author is Jane Harrop. There are a lot of cute ideas with clear directions. We leave on Wed. for a drive up to Seattle, then Sat. we begin a cruise to Alaska for seven days. I have about a zillion things I should be doing, but don't feel like doing any of them at the moment. Oh well, tomorrow... :lol:

[ilovecats]

Just got home from work. May take a short nap, then start laundry...then maybe work on a dollhouse :lol:

[kellee]

We put our yard sale out today. It is a beautiful day, hopefully we will get rid of alot of stuff and make some extra $$. we sure need the money.! Oldest son is still trying to clean his room.! I am going to do a load or two of laundry and clean up the living room.

kellee

[Peachie]

spending the day with my son....and working on the Adams....

[KathieB]

Spending today scraping, sanding, and painting shutters. We have 8 old wooden shutters across the front of the house. After a day and a half of working on them, 3 have the first coat of paint and one is nearly ready for painting. The other 4 are leaning against the fence and snickering at me. I was too cheap to pay the painter what he wanted for painting them, so am doing it myself. Next time something like this comes up, I believe I'll dig a bit deeper into my wallet and have someone else do it! :thumbup:

This would be a lot more fun in mini!

[Missymew]

Spending today scraping, sanding, and painting shutters. We have 8 old wooden shutters across the front of the house. After a day and a half of working on them, 3 have the first coat of paint and one is nearly ready for painting. The other 4 are leaning against the fence and snickering at me. I was too cheap to pay the painter what he wanted for painting them, so am doing it myself. Next time something like this comes up, I believe I'll dig a bit deeper into my wallet and have someone else do it! :thumbup:

This would be a lot more fun in mini!

Isn't that the truth! My backyard has lots of trees, shrubs and perennials. I don't do well in the sun, so we've created a very shady backyard. I don't plant annuals. I'm not that into outdoor gardening. I've a couple of years of University horticultural under my belt, but prefer indoor gardening to outside. IT's the sun. I suffer from migraines and can't take the bright sunshine.

Now mini-gardening is my absolute favourite part of miniatures. As soon as I start to plan my dollhouse build, I make a lot of my decisions based on how I'll do my garden. My mini-gardens are always stuffed full of flowerbeds.

And yes, I'd much rather sand and paint my dollhouse shutters.

-Susanne

[havanaholly]

Back to the hardware store to find replacement wand sections for the shop-vac that lives in The Wheel House and load & stow a few more items.

Our favorite pub has live acoustic jam every First Sunday, so out for supper later.

[KathieB]

Isn't that the truth! My backyard has lots of trees, shrubs and perennials. I don't do well in the sun, so we've created a very shady backyard. I don't plant annuals. I'm not that into outdoor gardening. I've a couple of years of University horticultural under my belt, but prefer indoor gardening to outside. IT's the sun. I suffer from migraines and can't take the bright sunshine.

Oh, Suzanne ... that's what I want to do with our back yard. There is a lot of shade already, two large oak trees, a good size maple, a couple of flowering something-or-others, and a good crop of violets and clover masquerading as grass. There's a place for a herb garden by the shed, but beyond that I want to get rid of all of the grass, add a couple more trees -- dogwoods, they are great under-story trees -- and plant shade-loving perennials, such as hostas, etc. I have a landscaper I'm working with, but she needs more specific direction from me before she starts digging.

The front yard is west-facing, quite sunny. The plan there is to add a couple of redbud trees, remove the grass and plant day lilies and other flowering perennials with a couple or three large containers for colorful annuals.

Can't wait for the day we put the lawn mower into a yard sale!

Meanwhile, today ... two more shutters scraped, three to go. The painted and scraped shutters have gone into the basement, where the rest of the painting will take place. Will try to get the other three scraped outside tomorrow before the T-storms arrive. The prediction for this week is T-storms every day. *sigh*

[heidiiiii]

Sore legsssss... But I will survive.

Going to do a more serious hunt on the Apple site today to pick out a computer. Then I am going to make the purchase.

I think I will play with my new minis and just be lazy today.

[Muriel]

Ooh, I'm jealous! I like playing with a new computer, setting everything up how I like it, seeing what cool things it can do... (I do then get sick of having to upload all my software I need etc, and the endless restarts I need for that!) But to start off with, great fun!!

Enjoy your shopping (just don't look at the total) and rest those sore legs!

[heidiiiii]

Muriel,

I have already looked at the total and I am procrastinating. LOL

I know exactly what I want (see post about buying Imac here in ChitChat) and I want to do it but my cheapness is sinking in...

I need to just DO it! Do it do it do it do it!! ROFL

Going to wait until the roofer comes this morning with the contracts to sign. Once that is done and I have given over half of the total then I will come in here and bite the bullet and purchase the puter.

I know I am not alone when it comes to these kinds of things...

I did do some shopping yesterday. I bought two new fans for the girls rooms (the ones they had were cheap, noisy, and a waste of energy). They are happy and think the remotes that come with them are cool. I also bought some weed killer for myself..Oooo! LOL

[havanaholly]

DH is off to run last-minute errands and I'm spending the day loading the food into the camper and checking the next-to-last minute stuff.

(I have to chuckle at your shopping attitudes, Heidi; we decided to replace the old camper when it was turning into monthly trips to the $hop & wound up with one with the same amount of living space plus an 8' garage/ toy hauler that's "only" 3' longer than the old camper; then discovered we really needed a heavier truck to pull the new camper and wound up with a "super duty" commercial F-250! Then the RV dealership put their generators on sale so now we have one and are "set" for camping in the National Forests and along the Blue Ridge Parkway.)

[Muriel]

I had a look at the computer Heidi, don't know much about apples, but it looks good! I vary between dithering, not wanting to spend money (I pick something out and then put it back, wondering if I need it or can find it cheaper elsewhere...) and other times I just go for it with barely a second thought.

You'll just have to press that button!

We're going to miss you Holly, but I'm already looking forward to your stories when you get back!

Muriel

[heidiiiii]

Fred and I just hauled away the livingroom rug...It is a HUGE one. It was stinky and stained beyond cleaning (I tried) from when Tyson was getting ill. I just washed the floor and waiting for it to dry...(that will take awhile..it is raining) and lay down the new rug.

Waiting for the FedEx truck to come with the new computer..I hope I hope I hope.

Fred is off right now to have the car worked on..oil change, new belts, spark plugs..the works.

I have to re-arrange the livingroom furniture too. For the summer season...the love seat is in the way of the AC..since summer is coming a lil bit quicker then I thought I am going to do it today.

I wanted to grill today but with the rain..I am not in the mood. I have done rainstorm BBQs before. I have some pork chops that were on sale last week..Maybe that and some apple sauce..Mmm!

My friend and I are trying to decide if we want to go yard saling tomorrow or go to bingo...I am hoping for the bingo..air conditioning!

[CJEP]

Heidi, you always make me feel like I have nothing to do.

I'm off to the library to finalize everything we need for our fundraiser walk (Walk for Literacy) tomorrow. I need to get my car loaded up with the t-shirts and signs and any baked goods that have been dropped off since the library is closed tomorrow. Hopefully it won't be too hot in the morning. I baked brownies for the bake sale we are having at it.

Then I will need a nap I'm sure. I have spent the week starting to share my good news--I'm pregnant. So my days have been filled with many needed naps in the afternoon. I run my errands or whatever I need to do in the morning and then try to sleep for a bit before either tutoring or cooking dinner.

[Wolfie]

Sory I've not been on the forum lately. I've been putting on grubby clothing every morning and crawling under our decks and cleaning out old lumber and debris and nailing hardware cloth to the underparts to keep embers and chunks of burning bark from getting under the deck. I've been removing old lumber and hauling it out to the burn pile - this was left from the builders. I've been putting weed killer and black plastic on the ground and covering it with soil so that no brush grows. Ick - spiders everywhere! Then I've been clearing the ground right down to the bare soil around the house about 10 feet wide for a fire break. More weed killer and it will be covered with gravel that is being delivered today. We have to cut down two trees that are very close to our deck as they actually would put us in danger as our prevailing winds come from behind them - thereby putting us at rist of having embers on the decks. No more shade, but perhaps the house won't burn. Here we have a saying - it's not "if" the fire comes - it's "when" the fire comes. The last big burn on this parcel of land was 52 years ago. It's overdue for a big burn. So best be prepared. We cannot afford to move out now as the housing market is so bad here, but we can protect what we have. We were told at the fire meeting that the fire department and firefighters will not help us here with the houses UNLESS we have taken mitigation to a higher level. Anyway that's what I've been doing. I wish Doug could help me, but his health is getting worse.

[Audra]

I wish Doug could help me, but his health is getting worse.

I am so sorry for all the work you have to do on your own. I wish I could help you. How hot is the temp there? Make sure you are taking care of your self also.