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dooley's Blog
Getting there!
Category: Holidays | Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 10:29 pm We're beginning to see the light. We got here on Monday, the 1st of December. We only unloaded things we needed for the night. Dan and Laurel were great. I think we would have been lost several times except we gave them the maps and just followed the big yellow truck. Chance enjoyed the ride but was very confused by the stopping and starting and the motel rooms. She wouldn't eat until we got there and dr hand fed her some chicken. She's doing okay now. dr finished her fence today so she can go out without a leash now. She still thinks he needs to go out with her though. Dan and Laurel left on Wednesday morning. Instead of taking them to Austin where they were going to take the train for home we rented them a car. They were going to poke around Austin for the day and then get the train. We have been working steady to get things unpacked. There are four bedrooms so we picked one and stacked all the boxes in that room. We take one out at a time. Dan stacked all the kitchen boxes in a row down the middle of the room. He said he built me an island. When I got the kitchen boxes almost emptied he complained because I didn't like the island he built for me. We have lots of room to rattle around and I always seem to be at the wrong place when the whistle on the tea kettle goes off. We bought a new Christmas tree and dr put it together. I put what decorations I saved on it and this morning we bought a few more. It seems every day we need to run to the store. I've got to stay out of the stores because I always see something that I need that we didn't go to get. We don't have a phone yet so I haven't gotten back on the internet yet. I can come use Glenda's but don't always get over here to do it. We are liking it here a lot. It's very flat though. Not a hill or a mountain in sight. There are lots of trees though so you can't see forever. It's been verly nice. The property around us has horses and Chance can't figure out those big dogs that don't bark. She just stands by the fence and stares at them. All in all, the move went smoother than I thought. Of course everything didn't fit on the truck but we were able to give things to people who needed them. We gave the food from the freezer and refrigerator to a couple with four kids. Then, stuff from the pantry wasn't going to fit in our little truck so we gave that to them too. One of the kids said they were getting a lot of stuff. The mom told her that maybe they wouldn't have to do much shopping this month and they could buy something for Christmas. I didn't know whether to be sad because the stuff wouldn't fit in the truck or happy that someone could use the stuff and have money for Christmas. I finally decided I was happy that they could use the stuff. dr said he never knew so many people would be happy that we were leaving town. So, we decided the stuff that didn't fit was making other people happy and we wouldn't worry about it anymore. No more lamenting because it wouldn't fit. We are here with more things than we need and eventually we'll have every space filled up again. It's been a long drawn out move and we are here and we are happy about it. We'll get all of the boxes and tubs emptied in due time. I put up some outside decorations yesterday and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. dooley This blog entry has been viewed 226 times
Getting things done!
Category: Choices | Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 10:43 pm I think it's finally beginning to look like we may be moving. The living room and dining room are looking empty. We have a card table and folding chairs instead of a dining room table and chairs. dr loaded the truck for the flea market so that corner of the living room is empty. Well, except for empty boxes waiting to be filled. The shelves are emptying off very well. I cleaned the laundry room closet on Wednesday and packed small appliances. The other closet only has winter coats and the quilting frame. There is still dr's shelf to clean but he says he is going to get that done yet today. He worked in the small room on Wednesday and has it mostly done. We sold the little refrigerator so that's gone. My computer desk is going to the library but only after I'm done using it. I would put my computer on a table but there isn't one available right now. dr wants to move all the packed boxes to one place so he can see how it will fit into the truck. When we get everything into one place we can see how much room we have for other stuff yet. Right now, it's break time while I figure out our eating schedule. I have to pack a couple of boxes to mail some stuff to my granddaughter and to dr's mom. I've got it all sorted out. I empty shelves and move stuff around and fill up the shelves with stuff from other shelves and fill trash bags to go out on Monday. Just two more Monday's though. But gradually there are more empty shelves than full ones. So, all in all, I think things are moving along just fine. dooley This blog entry has been viewed 244 times
Plans are made!
Category: Choices | Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 3:47 am It's getting closer now. Saturday, November 8th is my last day of work. Plans are being made and discarded daily. Sometimes plans are discarded before we finish making them. But, today we made two decisions. We stopped at the truck rental place and put a reservation on a truck for November 28th. That's the Friday after Thanksgiving. We found out that we can't tow our truck behind the rental truck because it's too heavy. To get a larger truck is not an option. So, we could either get someone to ride along and help drive or whatever. Dan and Laurel would go along but they would have to take time off from work and then they would have to fly back or something. It's the somethings that keep getting in the way of things getting done. Anyway we sort of solved two problems today by going to a travel agent and buying two one way train tickets from Austin to Phoenix. We will drive our truck, loaded fully, to Texas. Then, we will take the train back and go again in another 10 days with the moving truck. So, when we take the truck to Texas, we will be able to build a fence around the back of the house for Chance and maybe see about a doggie door for her to get in and out. We'll see about utilities and measure things and do a few other things that need doing. We'll also have a mini vacation away from packing. Of course, when we get back it will be a frenzy for a few days. Dan and Laurel will help us get the moving truck loaded and they will watch Chance while we are gone, either at our house or at their house. That's still changing back and forth. They have birds and two cats so I'm not sure how Chance would do there. She might give the birds and cats heart attacks. She hasn't really been in close contact with either except through a fence. On the other hand she might do very well after the first day. I guess he could try taking her and bring her back if it doesn't work out. So, sometime the week after I'm finished at work we will head out to Glenda's for a week and then rest up on the train ride back and do it all over again a day or two after Thanksgiving. At least, we'll know the way the second time. We stopped at AAA this morning and got a TripTik. That's a map of the entire route. It's 58 pages long and each page covers approximately 30 to 40 miles. It seems to have all the quirks in the road and all the construction areas, all the places for gas, food, and lodging marked. When we went for a map I didn't expect something like it. We also got three regular road maps with the routes marked on them. If we can't find our way it certainly won't be AAA's fault. We got a car rental coupon, too. So, anyway plans are made. We'll see how long these last. dooley This blog entry has been viewed 250 times
It's Coming Along Now
Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 5:38 am It's coming along a bit faster I think or we've done enough to make it more visible. Today I was going to rest up but by two o'clock I was out in the back sorting things again. I went into the garden and rolled up the soaker hoses and emptied out the pots and stacked them and took my tool caddy to the shed. There is only the windmill in the garden now. I emptied the flower pots in the backyard. That cold snap last week turned everything in the pots brown except for one zinnia. I still have a pot of dianthus too. I think I will give it to Dan. I still need to wind up the hose but left it in case I need to water anything else or wash something. I now have a stack of pots to give to Dan and one for the neighbor. So the backyard and garden are about cleaned out. The lower backyard only has a bench that we will sell at the yard sale. Then, I moved to the side yard and emptied a few more flower pots. I opened my garden shed and started sorting things in there. I have it mostly done except for garden tools and the weedeater and some saws for cutting wood. Tomorrow I will fit the things I'm keeping into a tub to be stored in the big shed until moving day. I put three large black trash bags out by the dumpster for tomorrow's trash pickup. I have decided on November 8th as my last day of work. That sort of gives us a time line for things. The next weekend will be the yard sale and after that just the last packing up of things we are using. dr has decided what size truck we will need. A man had one up at the flea market this weekend and dr climbed into it and decided what we wanted to take will fit into one. There will be room for Chance to ride in the front with us. We can trailer the truck behind it. Then, we won't need anyone to come with us that has to come back here and we won't need to make two trips or a trip with the moving truck and our truck. Gas prices are coming down but not that much. I went ahead and put my scarecrows on the fence and put up some fall stuff in the house. It looks a bit weird to be decorating for fall amid the boxes and mess but I feel better with it here. It gives me a sense of order or something. I don't know what we will do about having a Thanksgiving here with our friends. We told them it would have to be early and it was okay with them. We may not have dinner here but go out with everyone somewhere. That might make more sense and with all the things we usually cook it might not be any more expensive. We cleaned out the freezer and hopefully it will be about empty when it's time for the yard sale because we are going to sell it. We've had it for 20 years and dr says moving it would not be cost effective because it would probably quit anyway if it gets moved across the country like that. The refrigerator isn't moving with us either. We do have a new electric stove and the house we are going to move into has all electric so we can use it. There will be a refrigerator/freezer in the kitchen so we won't need to buy our own right away. I guess things will work out in the long run and before we know what's what we will be living in Texas. It sure is wearing on one's nerves though. dooley This blog entry has been viewed 257 times
Wishful thinking?
Category: Choices | Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 6:30 am Wishful thinking? Oh, to be one of those people who just picks up the phone and a moving company comes and packs everything, even the dirty dishes and trash, and moves it where ever you tell them. Today, we moved most everything out of the shed up by the back door. Then, we started moving things we know we want to keep into the shed. Then in the space we cleaned in the house we started stacking things we want to sell at a yard/moving/estate sale in November. It's a good thing we had to stop so I could shower and get ready for work or we'd probably still be at it. I'm happy the weather is clear for a few days because the backyard between the house and the shed is such a mess. That stuff has to be sorted and boxed either for the sale or for dr to take to the flea market. The saying, "it'll get worse before it gets better" applies to moving I guess. I may never go to another yard sale myself. How did we ever wind up with so much stuff that we just don't need to pack around. I found my box of mom's stuff that I'll move. It's smaller than it used to be because I gave some of the stuff to the boys as they got married and had families of their own. It used to have little sweaters and bonnets and baby shoes and momentos of early life of the kids. School papers and pictures and other assorted memories that mothers treasure but fathers say, "Are you keeping this junk?" Anyway there is a never ending amount of stuff still to be done because I'm not one of those people who can afford to pick up the phone and call in the movers. dooley This blog entry has been viewed 220 times
The Joys of Moving
Category: Choices | Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 8:14 pm The joys of moving? Are there any? We've been busy for what seems weeks now sorting and boxing and tossing. This morning was trash morning so we went through cupboards and shelves tossing unwanted items. I took all the spice jars off the shelf and went through them. Toss the older ones, kept the jars. We buy our spices from a bulk place where we bought spices when we lived in Wisconsin. They sell over the internet now. We buy small amounts to suit us. I'll make a list to reorder when we get moved. Then, I went through the pantry closet and tossed odds and ends and bits of stuff not used in a while. Some bulk cereal not finished last spring, some flour not used but not enough to make anything with it. I still have a bit of that to do. We cleaned out the laundry room. Ugh! Cobwebs gathered on the back of shelves not cleaned lately. I used to do a lot more around here before I started working. One would think that working only 20 hrs a week and those in the evening that I would be able to keep doing most of the things during the day. Last night we went to Dan and Laurel's for dinner. It was a combined dinner for both of their birthdays this month. Dan baked two loaves of bread. It was great. One was Country French in a large oval shape. The other was dill bread in the tradition rectangle shape. I thought about it and I haven't made bread from scratch since I went back to work. I make quick breads and coffeecake and cookies but not the kind of breads that require kneading and rising and time. Friday we sorted out closets. Why keep things that we don't wear anymore or that don't fit anymore? Was I hoping that I might lose weight again? Off to the thrift shop with those things. Book shelves? I've pared down six large boxes of cookbooks to two boxes. That is probably one box too many as I seldom use a cookbook anyway. After 60 years of cooking who needs a book. You need two cups of flour, half a cup of sugar, a tablespoon of baking powder and half a cup of shortening of some sort and two eggs and enough milk to make a batter. Add apples chunked up, a handful of raisins and you have a coffeecake. You can vary it with fruit or spices but you don't need a cookbook to make it. Oh, you have to add a bit of salt to help it rise. The people at work wonder how I make coffeecake for work on Saturday morning. But, it takes only about five minutes to mix it all up and it bakes while supper is cooking. Sometimes a drizzle of frosting or a sprinkle of sugar goes on the top. Well, anyway we've been busy cleaning things out. We've gathered so much and some of it is sentimental. How can you toss something that you have carried around the country for 40 or 50 years? Do we need it? Probably not but sometimes you just have to keep it anyway. dr says he's planning on shipping everything UPS, even the dog. LOL We haven't decided just how we will get it there but it will work out someway, somehow and come December we will be busy putting things away and wondering just what in the world we are going to do with such a big house. But, take my word for it, we will fill it up in a short time and wonder where we will find room for anything more. dooley This blog entry has been viewed 235 times
Another Great Day
Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 4:55 am Is it allowed that you can have two great days in a row? Dan and Laurel had their wedding outside. It was a combination of Celtic, Scottish and Irish and they wrote it themselves with the help of friends. They had a civil ceremony to satisfy the government and this was their own ceremony for family and friends. I'll post some pictures when I am not too tired to re size them and put them in photobucket. I did do a few but couldn't see them clearly when my eyes wouldn't stay focused on them anymore. The day started early and I couldn't seem to get going and we were almost late as I had to gather things on the list that we were supposed to bring. The cheese cake that's been in my freezer all week, the catchup, mustard and relish that they forgot, the salads left over from yesterday and chairs and of course the camera. It was a beautiful ceremony and there was many camera's taking pictures and we have been promised copies of all that we didn't take. I had 90 pictures to upload tonight. I didn't take near as many as the boys did. It was wonderful seeing the boys together with their own families. Sometimes they just make you so proud of them. Tom had to leave early. They only have this weekend and they were going to the Grand Canyon before they head back to California. Andy and Wendy stayed a bit longer before heading back to Phoenix so the boys could swim in the pool. They just are not used to the heat coming from Wisconsin. They were just so red in the face. We are going to Phoenix in the morning to have breakfast with them. I'm not fond of going to Phoenix but will go to have breakfast with them. Then, we will stop to see my sister for a bit. I'm hoping we won't be there all day. We came home about 4 pm. That left Dan and his friends who are camping again tonight and they were going to party. I think I'm getting too old to party like they do now. I used to be able to go longer without falling asleep. I'm also too old to sleep on the ground. Dan and Laurel have this huge two room tent and an air matress that's a foot thick. Is that camping? We used to sleep on sleeping bags on the ground. Anyway, I've had two of my three days off and they were both great. One more to go! dooley This blog entry has been viewed 437 times
It was a great day!
Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 6:08 am We had a great day today. All three of my sons were here and five grandchildren. Moms, too. Andy, Wendy, Ben and Jake came just before lunch so we all went over by the Interstate to Subway for lunch. It was really crowded but we survived it. We went to find the campground so Wendy would know how to find it tomorrow and know how much time she had to allow to get there tomorrow. It's way back from the highway on what is termed a "primitive" road and then onto a forest service road that's just a track through the brush. But once you get down to the water and into the trees it's much nicer. I'm going to take my walking stick though because the ground going up and down is a little uneven and I don't want to twist my knee or fall over the rocks and tree roots. I need to get a picture of the tree roots. They are really something else. We got back home about three and Tom wasn't here yet so Brian started smoking the ribs and I made the salads and Tom, Kirsten, Erin and Fintin came. Fintin is sure a cutie. Pictures coming, probably on Sunday. He isn't shy at all and started right into exploring this new space. I'm glad I spent time cleaning and putting up things he shouldn't have. Wendy had brought him a birthday present so they got it out and he played with it a bit. He was tired and went to sleep after awhile. Kirsten says he doesn't sleep well in a car so he was tired from the trip. They are going to the Grand Canyon tomorrow evening instead of Sunday because their motel room reservations got messed up and canceled for Saturday night. Andy and Wendy are spending Sunday in Phoenix with Wendy's aunt so we only have tomorrow to see them more. Erin loved the quilt. She says it will fit into her room just right. She loves pink and the hearts and the buttons. Kirsten loved it, too. Wendy liked the buttons holding it together. She thought it was more modern than just tying it together. She asked Ben if he would like grandma to make him a quilt like that. Ben said, "NO! I don't want a pink blanket with hearts.!" Then he wondered why everyone laughed. I have plans for a quilt for Ben that has robots on it. Maybe one big pieced one in the middle with smaller ones along the side. I'll talk with Wendy about it tomorrow. I even have some pictures that I collected earlier. Anyway, the barbecue was successful, the birthday presents exchanged and everyone went back to motels or campground full and happy. We'll get together tomorrow and have another full day together. I have to go get a shower and get some sleep. I woke up this morning with a stag beetle crawling up the side of my neck. They are about two inches long with these huge antenna and legs with sticky things on them. Yikes! The other day there was a beetle in my shoes when I put them on to go to work and I had only taken them off to change my clothes. This was the week for strange critters in the house. Snakes and beetles. I just picked them up and threw them back out where they belonged except for the snake. Dan has it at home right now. He's feeding it baby mice that he buys at the pet store but he says it isn't staying much longer. He's waiting for someone to come see it. I will post some pictures on Sunday, maybe if I get time to upload them. dooley This blog entry has been viewed 364 times
It's coming together!
Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 4:40 am I've been really busy lately. Dan is getting married on this coming Saturday. His two brothers are coming with their families and though they are not staying with us I had to do some major house cleaning to make it safe for a one year old little boy. I packed a lot of things in boxes and stored the boxes in the exercise room. May as well use the room for storage as I haven't been using it for exercise lately. I cleaned and dusted and sorted and boxed so much stuff. I now just have to vacuum all the floors and mop the kitchen and bathroom. I have a granddaughter who is twelve, I think. Maybe she is thirteen. I have trouble remembering which year she was born in but I'm pretty sure she is 12. Anyway last year when Fintin was born I made him an Amish Quilt. I told Tom I would make Erin a quilt. He said her favorite color was still pink which I knew so I started looking and planning a pink quilt. She has a twin size bed. At a yard sale I found a lot of pink material in various prints and a big piece of plain pink. I "stewed" about it for quite a while trying to decide what pattern to use. Finally I made up my own pattern. I made eight inch blocks out of the plain pink and took one crazy print pattern and cut hearts out of it and sewed them on half of the blocks. I had a lot of lace so I put lace around each heart. The other half of the blocks have hearts the same size embroidered with six strands of different pink thread. Now, today I finished all of the blocks. I can sew them together spacing them with the crazy pink material I used for half of the hearts. I bought some pink material at WalMart to make the backing from today. Instead of quilting it, I have a lot of pink buttons of various sizes and shades and I will use these buttons and the various shades of pink thread to tie the front to the back through the middle. I'm hoping I can get it done by Thursday but it depends on how much else I have to do before then. I know that the yard that I just mowed last week has to be done again and I still have a few things to do outside. Even if I don't get it all together I will have most of it done so she can see what it will look like finished. We are having a birthday party on Friday and the wedding on Saturday and the boys aren't going home until Monday so it will be a busy week. Jacob had a birthday on July 13th, Tom and Ben have a birthday on August 6th and Fintin has a birthday on August 13th. dr's birthday was June 13th and Andy's birthday is September 4th. So as long as they are all here we will have a birthday party. I guess the party will be for everyone for the whole year. we are having barbeque brisket and ribs and hot links. For the kids who don't like hot we have "hot" dogs. I bought Anasazi beans today to make red beans and rice and will make cole slaw and salad with lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and onions and a mixed fresh fruit salad. Cake and ice cream. Maybe! Dan is bringing his cheese cakes to put in the freezer so maybe I won't have room for ice cream but we should really have a cake. I guess I'd better put on my thinking cap for that one. Anyway with working and cleaning and the birthday party and the wedding I've been really busy. No wonder the weeds have outgrown us. Have a nice evening. dooley This blog entry has been viewed 426 times
Today's List
Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 5:20 am Today's list was a bit longer because I didn't have to go to work. I had a mental list of things to get done today. We started by going to an estate sale. We bought quite a lot of things there of which dr will sell a good portion. Then, we went to breakfast. We got there at just the right time. There was one parking space two from the door. There was a booth empty and we got waited on right away. Then, the rush began and when we left there were people waiting in line. We went to WalMart next. I wanted some SureJell for the plum jelly that was on my list. We bought a few other things. We started for home but the truck turned at a yard sale sign and we went to a couple of sales but didn't buy anything. We went to the post office and the bank and back home by ll:15 am. That's good because I still had a big list. I got out my little lawn pup and mowed Chances back yard. It's about 40 by 50 feet. Then, I did the path through the storage yard and around the lower driveway and along the front fence in the side yard. I took the lawn pup outside the front gate and did around the upper driveway and down along the front fence line and up along the top of the yard (Outside the fence.) Then I got the little weedeater and did the upper front yard. It isn't big enough for the lawn pup. Too much stuff in it. With all the shade it wasn't too bad anyway. This all took about two hours and I was sweaty and thirsty so came inside and had something to drink and a shower. The drink and the shower were not on the list. I made sandwiches for lunch and checked in on the Stew. Then, I went on with my list. I washed the plums that nice man gave me yesterday. There were three grocery bags of them. It took three big pots to cook them. I drained them through a cloth into colander's and let the juice drain until it stopped running. Then, I dumped the pulp and seeds into large colander's and set the colander over a bowl and using the end of a glass, I squashed it all and got the pulp out and threw away the seeds. What with the plum refuse and the apricots that I raked up from under the trees my trash can is pretty odorous this week. Before I stopped to make supper, I decided to make just one batch of jam. It made 10 half pint jars. They all sealed so I'm hoping they jell now. It too the apricot jam just ages to set up. A few jars persist in being a little syrupy. Oh, well we can always make french toast or pancakes. After I washed out the cloths that I used to strain the juice I hung them on the line. I glanced over in the garden. The zucchini plants have grown huge with the rain we've been having. There was a zucchini about 6 or 7 inches long. The first one of the year. I hadn't even noticed it growing. So, I took a picture of it. 
I picked it and it went into a pan with some olive oil, a red pepper and some sweet onion. I put grated cheddar cheese on it when it was almost done and turned off the heat. I did steaks on the indoor electric grill and had tomatoes and cucumbers with it. I did the dishes, finished squashing the pulp and put it in the refrigerator with the juice. I guess my list for Sunday will include making more jelly. I went out and got Chance's water dishes and washed them and refilled them and redid the blankets on her deck and sat for a few minutes. Then, I came in and called Glenda which wasn't on my list but she had called me so I had to return the call. Now, I think I will read a part of my book and call it a day. Tomorrow I don't have a list because I work seven hours on Saturday and don't do too much else. Now, Sunday. Well, the list grows and will probably not be finished but I think I did well with todays list. I still have the lower back yard to start it. Also, feeding the plants. We may make another quick trip to Phoenix. I'm not sure about it yet. I think it depends on the weather. If it's rainy I don't like going down the mountain much. Okay. That's my list for today. Things not done but not really on the list. Letters to about everyone but especially grandma. I have a package to get mailed to her but that will wait until Monday because the post office isn't open for mailing things like packages until Monday. I did take a couple of pictures and posted them in Member's Gallery. I do think I will need a second shower though. It was hot making jelly. Take it easy. dooley This blog entry has been viewed 406 times
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