Blog Author
dooley
(view profile)
Recent Entries to this Blog It's Fall already!
Posted: 08 Oct 2015
Moving Day is approaching!
Posted: 04 Mar 2015
2015 already!
Posted: 01 Jan 2015
It's been a great while!
Posted: 30 Dec 2014
An anniversary comes but once a year!
Posted: 27 Aug 2014

All Entries
 


dooley's Blog




Things I did today!

Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 3:33 am

Since I went on a fieldtrip to Phoenix on Friday, this was my only day off this week. I slept late. I made blueberry or chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. I told DR I would do the dishes today because I wanted to clean the cupboard and refrigerator. I wanted to clean the cookbook shelves too but I didn't get those done yet. After perusing Gardenstew for awhile, I went outside to do some things, like watering plants. Then, I did something I had on my list all summer. I hauled gravel bucket by bucket and dumped it on the path that runs from the house through the herbless herb garden to the lower driveway. I did a bit of housework and then, I made supper, did the dishes. Remember when DR wanted chocolate chip cookies and I didn't have any chocolate chips. The next day our neighbor Frank (not our gnome) brought over a bag of chocolate chips. Then, on Wednesday when we went to the grocery store, they had 12oz. bags of chocolate chips on sale for a dollar. So I was supposed to make chocolate chip cookies for DR. I did that after supper. I made them half sugar and half sugar substitute. I added walnuts to them. They turned out fairly good. The oven in the new stoves works great. It was sunny and warm out today but I brought my plants inside anyway. Maybe tomorrow I will get the cookbook shelf cleaned. I have a pile of cookbooks that I bought at the booksale and I need some space for them so I will put some that I don't use so much elsewhere and put the "new" used ones on the shelf. I found a diabetic dessert book that looks useful. There was a recipe for apple raisin pie that I think I can adapt with cranberries for Thanksgiving. Now, I think I need to write a couple of letters. Dooley

This blog entry has been viewed 527 times


Field trip!

Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2006 4:34 am

I felt like I was back in school again. We went in a city van to Phoenix to view libraries that are about the same size as our new library will be. I was not terribly impressed. I think the cities paid a lot of money for glitz and wasted a lot of space on nothing. I was only looking for certain things like lighting over the shelves and space between shelves, etc. I did like some of the shelving but not all of it. Like I said, "glitz" not practical. The director's see big airy buildings that are monuments. The worker's see big airy spaces where you have to walk lots and lots of steps between the different sections to shelve books. There will be lots of selfhelp features that may or may not work. We saw a beautiful big book return system that automatically sorted the books into the proper bins for shelving. It had a big "OUT OF ORDER" sign on it. When questioned about it the manager said it was out of order about twice a month. He said it wasn't always down long and sometimes it rebooted itself but it's just more glitz. I can't see that it will pay for itself by using less human employees if it's down twice a month for a day or two while they wait for someone to come fix it. Self checkout works only if the patron knows how to use it. I hate to say it but there are enough befuddled people in this world that they also have to have a human checkout person to either do it for them or show them each time they come. The children's sections were nice. They had lots of space and activity centers but nothing to encourage children to check out books. Only to encourage them to use computers or visual materials. I can see why everyone thinks libraries as they are not are going to become obsolete. Why check out a book when you can download one from home? They have websites where you can download things from a home computer. You do not even have to have a library card. They count this as library usage if you use their site. So why the huge airy buildings that look like art museums? To improve their self image or to improve the city's image. They even get their books from a vendor who catalogs them, puts the barcodes on them, puts the magnets on them and stamps them with the libraries name. That one library had 158 employees but what do they do with all the selfhelp streamlined machines. Each selfhelp machine had at least one or two people there helping people figure out how to use them or doing the work for them when they decide not to work today. I do hope things improve with use but that one library had been using them for two years. Oh, well! It must be my age showing. I grew up without computers and selfhelp machines. Now 3 year old kids can do it better and maybe that's what the system is aiming to please. Future generations. I still don't understand the wasted space and high ceilings that have to be heated and cooled.
Now, we went to lunch. That was a part of the field trip. No sack lunch for us! We went to a place called "FEZ". Middle eastern in cuisine. The director was afraid he would have nothing to eat because he eats strictly plain food with no sauces or stuff junking it up. He was able to get an all american burger but he said he had to remove all the junk they put on it and could not eat the ciabetta that they put it on. I had a Casablance chicken sandwich. It was quite good. It was on a ciabetta roll. It had goat cheese for the bottom layer, grilled pears next, grilled chicken breasts, dried cherries and mixed greens with a pomegranate vinaigrette sauce on it. I think the sauce also had a lot of garlic in it. We each ordered our own lunch but the architects who were hosting the lunch also ordered appetisers to start. They were things like lettuce wraps with dried pears, dates, cherries and grilled chicken chunks in pomegranate sauce. herby grilled flat bread with garllicky hummus and shrimp, eggplant and mushroom kibis. They also ordered three big baskets of sweetpotato fries with cinnamon sugar sprinkles. Lunch over ran the scheduled time which is why we only had time for three libraries instead of four. The Friday night traffic out of Phoenix was a mess, bumper to bumper, stop and go. We were over an hour late getting back. Good thing, they picked me up and dropped me back in Mayer so I didn't have to trek up to Prescott Valley and then turn around and come back. End of field trip. Dooley

This blog entry has been viewed 640 times


Another day of work, no trip

Category: Herb Garden | Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 2:13 am

It was another day of work, no trip today. No pictures either. We got up a bit after 6 am. The alarm didn't work until it heard DR threaten to throw it in the trash and get a new one. I suppose that since we were both already awake it wouldn't have mattered much if it hadn't gone off.
I checked in with Gardenstew. No, I made tea first and cornmeal for breakfast. Chance sat by my feet waiting for it to get done. DR mixed her's with milk and she had it all gone before I got started on mine. I checked in with Gardenstew after I made breakfast. I then read the news. Nothing new there. I could have written it without any prior knowledge. Then, I packed my lunch and water bottles for DR. He was going to buy his lunch at the flea market. I checked in with Gardenstew again and then shut the computer down for the day. Dr put the plants back outside. Yesterday they spent the day inside but they didn't seem to mind it. I think that tomorrow I need to start cleaning up things outside. The yard is looking a little scraggly. Dan is coming to hook up my DSL. The phone company called to see how it was working and I said it wasn't. They were all "concerned" but I told them we hadn't both had the same day off yet so it wasn't hooked up. I could hear them breathe a sigh of relief. We opted to do it ourself rather than pay a technician $69.00. That was with a 30% discount.
Anyway we got to the library on time and DR went to the flea market. We had the foresight to reserve him a space this time so he didn't have to worry that they would be sold out of spaces. He hasn't been in such a while since I worked the odd hours. Now that I go at 8:30 he can be there by 8:30 because I am always a little early. I hate arriving late or on the exact dot to work. I found I was to have a helper today. There is a volunteer who started last week. She is a retired librarian. But, she retired before computers took over the libraries so she didn't know how to work them. She had never turned one on before last week. She was a bit confused by what happened when she checked out books or didn't check out the books. So, this week they decided she could help me shelve books because it didn't require a computer. She's in her 70's. She was much relieved that she could push the cart of books around and shelve the books. We gave her the fiction section. She was very good at it too. She put each book in it's proper place. No, it's close enough business of some of them. So, I was free to do the non-fiction section. I gathered up all the books that were left at the end of the shelves and in other odd places and took them back to be counted. Only 29 this morning. Then, I put the non-fiction books all in the proper order and hauled the large cart out and put them in their place. After lunch, I had some time since we had all the books put on the shelves. I started with 001.2 and put them all in the proper numerical and alphabetical order. Well, not all of them. I got through 158.12 CHI. Now, when I get time I can go clear through 999.00. Each week I will get a block of time to do this and I will get it all done in 9 or 10 weeks if I get as much done as I did today. I found one lost book which was shelved in the wrong place. If they are all in the proper order, it will be easier to keep them that way. When I have things in order, I will ask for a lost book list and see what I can find. I just don't understand how you can have a library with books just any old place. One of the librarians today told me it is so much easier since I started since they could actually find things. That was very nice of her since things are still out of order a lot. She said that it was so much better that a bit out of order wasn't bad. Well!! I'm not so organized at home. DR wants to know where his sweatshirts are. Beats me! I told him I would look for them tomorrow. I think they are in the laundry room closet. There are some storage boxes in there. The dress code for the field trip next Friday is "sort of dressy." Okay, I think I can do that. "Sort of," Okay, I'm rambling. I think I worked too hard. Later Dooley

This blog entry has been viewed 581 times


Easy day

Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 6:32 am

We got up late this morning and I checked in with gardenstew. Moved my plants back outside. It didn't frost last night because it rained. Tonight it is some cloudy so it may not but it's supposed to be cooler than last night and clear up toward morning so it might. When we got home from work we moved all the plants inside again. Well, not all of them, just the ones in pots.
I started vegetable beef soup early. Vegetable soup is never the same twice because there are so many different vegetables you can use. Since DR is on a no to low salt diet I used lots of herbs in it and I put in kale and swiss chard too. It was really good. Lots left over for another day. Chance thought it was good too. I started to work on a bear but needed a longer bolt for the head. So, I told DR we needed to go to the hardware store. On the way we passed a thrift shop so we stopped to look around. Good or bad? We found a few things so it was good but you know how it is. We bought more than we needed I guess. We bought two small bears, two small scarecrows on sticks that I stuck in bottles. Two soup cups or cereal bowls, one Halloween mug for tea. A juicer for fruit needed for making juice for jelly. Two pair of slacks that I can wear to work. Today, everything that was gray was half price so one pair only cost a dollar. I also bought blue corduroy slacks. After we left there, we went to the hardware store which was just down the road. They didn't have the bolts that I wanted. I bought a different kind, but then I didn't use them today. I did something else when I got home. I will buy bolts tomorrow when we go up early. Ace Hardware has the right ones. I don't know why I even went to the little one here.
When I went out to pick the kale and swiss chard, I checked and there isn't any squash but the other big one. I thought I might pick it but decided to wait. I thought about pulling all the plants but DR said wait until they dry and they will fit in the trash better. I never put squash plants in the compost because they generally have squash borer's in the stems and I don't want them in the compost. I wish I had a shredder because I don't put heavy stalks in the compost either.
I was trying to figure out what was left last night. There is the kale and swiss chard and a few tomatoes, no more squash but oregano, coriander, chives, basil, small hollyhocks that will bloom in the spring, marigolds, calendula, Indian paint brush and the nice lacy asparagus plants. Those asparagus plants will turn golden one of these days. They look pretty. They really grew huge this year. When we moved here there were only two plants growing among the weeds. I babied them and this year there were maybe a dozen. I haven't cut them because I want them to multiply. Maybe, next spring. That's all in the garden area. Let's see, there are cosmos, coreopsis, calendula, nastursium, morning glories, four o'clocks, petunias, geraniums, begonias, those purple flowers in DR's flower box and some baby's breath and some white impatient's still blooming. The trees haven't turned yet but maybe if it's going to frost they might. I don't know why I think it will frost. it's still October and generally it's in November before it does but you never know. It's cool. I dug in the storage boxes under the bed and brought out sweatshirts and sweaters today. I had to put some summer shirts in the boxes to make room in the closet for the sweaters. It's cool evenings so sweaters for work are good now. It wasn't busy at the library tonight so I was finished with everything about 20 minutes before closing. There weren't even any patrons left so we thought about closing early. It's not allowed though so we didn't. We had to find busy work. On the 27th eight of us are going to Phoenix on a field trip. The library director, the assistant director, three part-time people and three full time people. We are going to visit other libraries to see layout and how they set up their depts. so we can tell the architects how we want the new library set up. They will break ground in the spring but the new library won't be open until June of 2008. Everything takes so long to build. It's going to be a huge place but part will be community meeting rooms and offices. Chance and Dr went to bed so I guess I'd better head that way myself. Later Dooley

This blog entry has been viewed 632 times


Day is done

Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 6:33 am

The day is almost over so I should go to bed. I will put a bit here first though. It was cloudy and gloomy here most of the day. It looked like it might rain. Up north of here in Flagstaff they had a little more snow. It rained here a lot Friday night and Saturday. DR stayed home on Saturday. He didn't feel really good and I thought going out in the rainy weather would make him feel worse. I slept late this morning. Dr got up and made the first fire of the season in our stove. Then, he had to go out and haul wood up to fill the wood box. It wasn't too good for his sore shoulder but it's done. Chance came inside, made three circles around the table and flopped down in front of the stove. I made farina for breakfast and when I went to tell DR it was ready, Chance about knocked him down getting to her food dish and it was empty. DR put some in her dish but he had to add milk because it was hot and she won't eat anything that is hot. I had put it in a dish to cool. I made the plum jam this morning. I bought the plums last week but didn't get it done. I made 10 jars. Now, I have grape, ginger pear, zucchini and now plum. I have a bit of grape juice that I put in the freezer. I was thinking of mixing some apple juice with it. DR says we probably have enough jam and jelly and he is right but he bought two dozen jars and I should put something in them. I will just watch for something to be on sale and see what I will use them for. After I finished the jam, we went up to Prescott to the Home Depot. DR wanted something to put over the screen on the exercise room. I think I will put my plants in there for awhile. He says he can put the small wood burning stove in there to make it warm on nights that are too cold for them. It's getting too cold to leave them outside now. I'm hauling them in at night and putting them back outside in the morning. I have nowhere to keep them in the house. Too many bears. Anyway, we got some hardboard that should work. Then, we had lunch and then we went to the pet store and got Chance some more cookies. She likes the sandwich cookies best. DR says the frosting is pork fat flavored. ugh! They are whole wheat and carob, I think. We stopped at Costco because I needed a tub of margarine. A five pound tub lasts a long, long time but I just emptied mine the other day. We always walk around and try all the free samples. Who should we meet in Costco? Dan the librarian. He didn't say he was going there. We also met Dick and Gloria. Dick is the assistant at the library and Gloria is his wife. She is a teacher, but she volunteers at the library all the time. Her mother is on the library board. A coincidence, we were all parked in the same place and we all met in the parking lot when we were leaving. Costco is about 30 miles from Mayer. Guess we all decided that today was the day to go there. We also stopped for gas for the truck, ice cream and the last stop was for gingersnaps. I love gingersnaps with a cup of hot tea. I got the tea I ordered this week. I got Irish Breakfast, Decaf Assam, Oolong and one called Malachi McCormick's Decent tea which is a blend of assam and keemun. Now, I found another place on the internet where I can order some different ones. DR went and bought me another tea ball and a small one for using in a cup instead of a pot. I also have a bodum tea pot with the insert for tea. Guess I'm about set for tea for this winter. Teapots and such anyway. The tea probably won't last long. I made meatloaf and baked potatoes for supper. I read the Sunday papers, sort of. Now, I think I should go to bed. DR and Chance are long in bed and will probably be up much before I get up in the morning. I think tomorrow might be pancakes for breakfast or scrambled eggs. Can't decide that until morning. Tomorrow I don't have to work until 6 pm so I think I will repair Ben's bear in the morning and see if I can get one at least started. I want to make one from a pattern that I made for Dan last Christmas. It's about 16 inches tall. I really like it and might make one for myself. First, though I have to make a couple for Christmas. Maybe more, I will see how much time it takes. It usually takes a couple of days if I work at it. So, it may take longer if I have other things to do too. There is never a lack of things to do. I even brought home a book to read and haven't opened it yet. Oh, well, there's another day a coming. Dooley
I was going to write a new blog, but decided just to add a line or two to this one. I worked on Ben's bear this morning. I put in two new joints. One on a leg and one on the arm. Could be called a hip replacement and a shoulder replacement. I mailed it back this morning. I hope he didn't miss it too much. Dooley

Last edited: Mon Oct 16, 2006 7:07 pm

This blog entry has been viewed 623 times


Today, I did

Category: Herb Garden | Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 2:41 am

Today, I slept late. Went to bed late last night. I was reading and didn't want to quit until my eyes wouldn't stay open. Finished the book sometime today. I made cornmeal for breakfast. DR and Chance also like it. It was only about 46F when I got up. It was cloudy all day. It sprinkled on us off and on but the rain is supposed to be tomorrow. We went to the post office and I wanted to go to the dollar store. I decided I needed a tablecloth that could be washed on the dining table. One we would have called an oilcloth but is not plastic with a flannel backing. I bought some Halloween cards to send the grandkids and some potholders. My old ones are in sad shape. I've already recovered them and probably will again. But, I thought some new ones would be okay. I don't know when they got to be three dollars each. But, at the dollar store I got four of them for two-fifty. Then, DR wanted to go see if we could find any yard sales. The first one, we spent a couple of dollars. We debated buying a cabinet with glass doors and decided no. Then, we went to another sale. We hit the jackpot or they did. DR bought a sleigh and reindeer for the roof when it gets closer to Christmas. It has lights. We bought two teddy bears, making it three for the day as I bought one at the first sale. That makes five for the week. One of the bears today is big. It fits the child's rocker that has been setting empty. It's in the dining room but needs to be moved as DR says it's in the way. It is. I bought some fall decorations to fill in with what I bought at the thrift shop on Wednesday. I have several new (small) scarecrows now. I picked up a few odds and ends and DR bought a box of cookie cutters and let me choose the ones that I wanted to keep. He'll take the others to the flea market. They sell well just before Christmas. I bought a hummingbird on a wire to put in a plant. What else? A red quarter bushel basket that's red. It will be used for pinecones and greenery at Christmas.
We came home about noon. I helped moved a couple of large shelves that we got from that junk shop. They had been sitting on the side of the driveway. We had to clean a place in the garage for them. Of course, the garage was already full. Technically it's not a garage. No cars go in it. It's a huge shed. If it was empty it would probably hold for or five cars. The people who owned the place a while ago worked on cars and small engines. Lawn mowers and bicycles, etc. Anyway, that was hard work so we stopped for a drink of something cold. Then, I went and put ironite on the apple trees and the butterfly bush. I saw a monarch butterfly. It looked as though the grasshoppers had been feeding on it. It's wings were full of holes. Poor thing! I watered everything well so maybe it won't rain tomorrow. I scrubbed out Chance's water bowls and refilled them. I usually add water each day or empty them and refill them but today I cleaned them good. She watched me and went and got a good drink when I finished. Makes me feel a little guilty that I don't do it everytime I refill them. Then, I came inside and made squash bread. The recipe makes two large braided loaves but today, I made one loaf and a dozen buns. We ate half of the buns for supper. Way Good!! We hauled some shelves up from the shed and I cleaned them and put shelf lining on the shelves. We needed a place to put teapots and tea and the shelves above the sink are filled with tea mugs and cups. There were four shelves, 15x30 and we filled them. Of course, some of the stuff came off of the serving cart that we had to move to make room for the shelves. I was going to make plum jam, but I guess that will have to wait until Sunday. We had those ribs for supper and there were a few left with the sauce. So, I am going to soak some beans tonight and put them in the slow cooker in the morning with the ribs and sauce and a piece of sausage left from another meal. That should do for supper tomorrow night. I have to work from 8:30 to 4 tomorrow. I've been going at 10 am so will have to set the clock so we don't oversleep tomorrow. Dr was going to go to the flea market but with rain in the forecast he probably won't go tomorrow. Maybe, next week. I haven't looked yet to see what I need to make some bears. Maybe in a bit, I will do that. I need to start fixing Ben's bear so I can get that sent back to him.
We are changing our internet service. We share cable with Dan right now. But, the phone company says we can get DSL now and if we signed up by tomorrow we could get it for $26.95 per month for life. Dan can install it so we don't have to pay for a technician to come do it. They wanted $69.95 for one to come. Dan isn't going to be next door forever and this seemed to be a good price and it won't go up every year like cable seems to do. I hope it's as good. Dan says it is probably better. Hope so.
I think I should go write a couple of letters and then, go to bed early. I'm yawning my way through this blog.
Oh, I ordered some tea from a place called, "Harney's". It's in Connecticut. It came yesterday so I have been trying it. It's loose tea. I like that better than tea bags mostly. Tea bags are good if you are in a hurry but no one seems to sell loose tea around here. I got Assam decaf, Irish breakfast, Oolong and Malachi McCormick's Decent tea. It's a blend of assam and keemum. We will order some different ones next time and see if we can find one we like enough for it to be our "old" standby. That's why we needed more shelf space for tea and teapots. I think I will go make a cup of tea. Later, Dooley

This blog entry has been viewed 625 times


Teddy Bear Woes

Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 6:17 am

Today we received a package from our grandson who is eight years old. We couldn't imagine what was in it. It didn't weigh much. I opened it and there was a Teddy Bear in it. I pulled it out and immediately recognized it as one I had sent Ben a few years ago for Christmas. Jacob has a matching one. This bear was missing an arm. A search in the box turned up the missing arm and a letter from Ben. The letter said, "Grandma can you please fix my bear. Ben" I will fix his bear. His mom sent money to return the bear and pictures of both boys. They are sure growing. Jacob was four in July and Ben was eight in August. Ben is in third grade now. Christmas is coming. I've decided I need to make a few bears. I guess I should get started. Along with a few other things I need to do. I usually now just send gift cards to a book store. They all enjoy reading and all have lots and lots of books. My granddaughter loves to read, too. All my boys have books they especially like and wouldn't get rid of for anything. Over the years during moves some were misplaced but never on purpose do they toss out a favorite book. I also have a collection of books that I cart around when we move from here to there. DR has favorite books too. Who could get along without a book? I sit down several times a day and there is always a book handy to read. Computers may take over things but people will always read. Dooley

This blog entry has been viewed 651 times


Another week gone past

Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 5:38 am

I can't figure out where the weeks are going. Another one is gone and a new one started. There were a lot of things to do and I didn't get them all done. I don't go to work until evening so you'd think I'd get things done during the day. Last week I got my zucchini jam done and was going to make zucchini marmalade but that didn't happen. I grated the zucchini and put the brown sugar on it but then I measured it into freezing bags and put it in the freezer. I will use it for zucchini during the winter. I think people must be preparing for winter and reading more. We were busy last week. I had a day off on Friday and we went looking for a new stove. The front burner quit working on the old stove. DR took it apart and the wiring was bad so he said it wasn't safe to use and we should get another one. We went through five stores before I found one that I liked enough to buy. It's a Hotpoint. I didn't want one with a selfcleaning oven. They use too much electricity. The extra insulation also makes the oven smaller. I didn't want one with the glass oven door. I had one like that once and we walked past it going out to the laundry room and the glass cracked and it all fell on the kitchen floor in little square pieces. It was safety glass and it shatters instead of breaking. For weeks I was finding these little square pieces of glass on the floor. We started home with it in the back of the truck and wouldn't you know we passed through a rain shower. It didn't get too wet and dried off before we got home. I had to check out the oven so I made an apple coffecake and on Sunday I made an apple pie.
Sunday, we went down to the valley to take pictures. I didn't stop at my sister's house this week. I need to call her. She was going to get a cat scan instead of an MRI and I want to know what they decided. She is going to physical therapy. She said they want to loosen her hip joints. They are freezing in place. Sounds great. She thinks they are trying to break them. She has exercises to do. Anyway we went to the Sunflower Organic store and bought fructose and 9 grain cereal (for hot cereal) and some plums so I can make some plum jam. We stopped and ate at a Chinese buffet. Then, we started for home. We don't like to be on the road when evening comes, especially since we have to come up the hill. It starts at about 1,500 feet and goes up to 4,000 feet in seven miles. Lots of twists and turns. You never know when you come around a corner if there is going to be a slow moving truck in the way. They have to keep right but they don't always do it. Just before we reached the top we got behind one that was trying to pass another one. Good thing we were about to the top. The pictures were taken after we passed the rest area and were headed for our exit. Saguaro cacti do not grow above about 2,500 feet. After that altitude, it's too cold for them. When they get the arms it's like a little ball coming out the side. Each year the ball gets a little bigger and then you notice it's a little elongated. It takes three or four years for it to turn and start growing up. It grows up and out but mostly up after it turns. We had four of them growing along the front fence when we lived down the hill in Black Canyon City. The owners of the property had them moved there when they were only about four to five feet tall. They grew straight up for about ten years before they started to get arms so they were already old. It can take them ten years to get to the first foot. There are some that have so many arms they can't support them all and they twist and bend. They are so beautiful when they look like that and very old. They don't know exactly how old they live to be but some have been estimated at 500 years. There is a Saguaro National Park down by Tucson. There is also an organ pipe cactus park down there. Organ pipe cactus grow in clusters of very tall, very thin cactus and sway in the breeze. They are in danger now because immigrants are cutting through there and doing great damage to them.
One time when we lived in Black Canyon City a big dog got in the yard and was stalking our chickens. DR went out and it briefly thought about growling and tackling him but DR started yelling and waving his hands and the dog decided to leave. But, we had a five foot chain link fence at that point so the dog went up the chain link with one foot and used the cactus to climb with the other foot. Then it was a hurt and sad dog because it had those sharp thorns. It went off down the street. I don't know who's dog it was either. I hit my arm on one of those and it just poked it a bit. It didn't stick in it and it hurt for a week. I hope that dog's owner got them all pulled out. That dog could have just went out the gate where it came in. It didn't need our chickens anyway. It didn't look hungry.
Cactus wrens are funny. They will make nests in just about any kind of cactus. They like the saguaro because they are so tall. But one year, they made a nest in a huge area of prickly pear that was in one corner of our garden. Then, they proceeded to use the garden as their dinner table. I covered the whole garden with netting. They found a way under it or through it. I covered the cactus with the netting. They found a way through it. I used alunimum foil plates strung on cord throughout the garden. Didn't faze them one bit. I finally resorted to spraying them with the hose everytime I saw them. They really didn't like getting wet all the time and finally they moved elsewhere but not before there wasn't anything much left. Maybe that's why they moved. They had eaten everything they liked.
I made chicken and noodles yesterday after we got home from Phoenix. Not soup, it was too thick. We had the leftovers for supper today. It rained last night and it was really cool today. I wore a sweatshirt to work over my sweater. Tonight I moved a lot of plants up close to the house and under the tree so if it does frost they will be protected. I hope this is just a cold front moving through and it won't be cold for another month. There were lots of bees on the flowers today. They must be getting ready for winter. The weather service says a warmer than normal winter this year, but what do they know. If they predict rain we have a dry spell. If they predict sunshine it rains.
Oh, well it's bedtime. Dooley

This blog entry has been viewed 594 times


Chance-Out Goodwin Road

Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:04 pm

Mom and dad decided to go to the post office and I went along. Mom decided to take a ride out Goodwin Road first. It goes up some big hills to an old ghost town called Goodwin. We didn't go that far but we found a nice pulloff and checked it out. Boy, a lot of people have been shooting out there. I found a lot of empty cartridge cases.
So much to see! I never knew the world was so big and pretty. I had to stay on a leash though cause it is rattlesnake country. Also, cow country. Boy do they leave big foot prints. What a nice day! We came back to the truck for some water after that walk and then we finally got to the post office. I got scared when Dad went in to get the mail and left me in the truck with Mom. He came back though and we went home so I could take a NAP. Dad took my picture so mom is going to put it here. Chance


This blog entry has been viewed 562 times


Here I am again!

Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 6:06 am

It's me again! My day off is about over. It seems like two days a week isn't much and I only work 20 hrs. per week. I think I waste much of my days trying to decide what to do with it. I hate making decisions any way. I'd rather make choices. But, deciding what to do isn't much of a choice.
Thursday, I made ginger pear jelly with red pears so it's a rosy color. Very pretty. I cut up zucchini and put the brown sugar on it before I went to work so I could get up on Friday morning and finish the zucchini jam. I never made zucchini jam so it was different. The brown sugar brought the liquid out of the zucchini. Then, you had to drain the liquid to measure it and see how much sugar you needed. I added lemon peel and candy ginger and the fresh ginger and cooked it. I used pectin to thicken it. It is nice and gingery. DR says it would make a good base for other things like chutney and marmalade. The brown sugar gives it a carmely taste too. It's quite good. I had ll jars. We opened one, we gave one to Joe and one to our neighbor Frank, not our gnome. I would give one to our gnome if he asked for it. I don't know if he likes jelly.
It was busy at work on Saturday. There was a lot going on in the area so I didn't think it would be so busy. There was an air show at the airport. Prescott had a grand opening for their library renovation project. Prescott Valley had an open house so people could come and look at plans and talk to the architects about the library they are going to build. There was Gold Dust Daze and Humbolt Daze and Pioneer Daze and several other things going on here and there. It's cooler now. The county fair was last weekend. We had other things to do so didn't get to it this year. We used to always go with the boys when they were little. We lived in Wisconsin then.
Today, we went to the buffet place for breakfast. They make omelets to order. I had ham, green pepper and mushrooms. DR had chirizo. It's too spicy for me. They are big omelets so I brought some of mine home for Chance. I tried not to eat too much. But, we didn't eat again until supper. I made spaghetti. I made a pumpkin pie but it was still to warm to eat so It will wait until tomorrow. There was a lot of spaghetti left so I will add some stuff and make a casserole of something spaghetti for supper tomorrow. I used hot Italian sausage but it wasn't hot. Someone must have forgotten to add the hot to it.
I watered everything today. I cut the dead flowers off the butterfly bush. I started 7 cuttings in small pots. Off the rosemary bush. I bought some vitamin B for plant cuttings and soaked them before I put them in the pots. I hope I remember to water them every day so they will root. I don't know why I think I need seven rosemary bushes in addition to the huge one I already have. But, it smells so good. Chance rubs up against it to make it smell and then stands there and smells it. She smells good for awhile too. I could make her a herbal pad for her bed. She would like that I think. I planted the basil in my pig on Friday. I hope it does well. I will have to bring it inside before it frosts. DR is going to fix my greenhouse before then, he says. He wants to put a rigid clear siding on it. It costs a lot but even with the wire the wind tore holes in the poly one. The sun is hard on it, too. We have an oil filled heater that he says we could put in it for winter. We'll see what happens there I guess. There is so much to be done. DR is going to build a privacy fence with some of the wood from the pallets we hauled home. We have some junk in the lower yard that doesn't look so good from the street so he wants to fence it around so no one has too look at it but us. There just isn't room for everything. If you have a space you've just got to put something in it. If it's not a plant, it's just junk or yard junk or yard art. Something has to go in the space. I watered the zucchini so maybe I will get more to make DR's marmalade. I will need to buy more ginger and lemons and an orange or two. I have raisins and currents if he decides it's chutney he wants. Maybe a mango or two for that. I have some jars because I had to buy some for the zucchini jam and only used part of them. When we stopped at my sister's house last week she gave me some jars that she was saving for me. I had given her some jelly last year and she saved the jars. Joe gave me back two jars this week, too. What will I do this week besides work at the library? It's too soon to tell. You can't make a decision or a choice too far ahead. Planning always leads to disasterous weather. You always need to go on a picnic on the spur of the moment because if you plan one it will rain on it. Same for any outdoor activity. Guess it's time for me to sign out and go to bed. I'm getting a bit fuzzy. Dooley

This blog entry has been viewed 648 times




You're reading one of many blogs on GardenStew.com.
Register for free and start your own blog today.





Archives All Entries
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005