didn't work

The go away rhyme didn't work.... it rained all night and the two swimming pools are deeper and a third one covers the whole end of our yard. Since we are on a cul-de-sac our lot lines in the back make a point... and that's where the new pool is!!
Our neighbor's backyard also has a "pool"  formed by the water running down the lot lines from the street !!

Later... the pools are bigger ... it rained off and on all afternoon.... Kansas City has flooding... it's like the sky is crying for  George Floyd.  The video tape that the news shows over and over is horrific. Terrible to watch. Then to be told the policeman who knelt on his neck has been in trouble BEFORE... many times before and nothing happened to him. And I get the feeling that nothing will happen to him this time either....

rain rain go away

We have two "swimming" pools... one in the front yard and one in the back.... depressions in the ground which is so saturated that the water doesn't go away!! I think it rained steadily all evening.

This morning was dry... and we put together the "outdoor storage cabinet" that Bob managed to bring home from Home Depot's curbside pick up.  It is gray plastic with two doors... textured to look like wood. Not too bad and it will hold the cushions for our deck furniture. No more stacking them in the family room when not on the furniture and no more worrying about them getting soaked when it rains!!  Surprisingly the instructions were good... no missing screws... and everything fit together!! Success!!

Last night we had a family zoom meeting...sister-in-law, nephew, niece, daughter, son-in-law, grandson and grand daughter and us... two hours flew by!! Going to do it again!!

BTW... the Missouri River is cresting just north of us... not too surprised with all this rain!!

Air Conditioning season

The air conditioning is now on.... Bob turned it on over night since the house was hot. The temperature hit 85 yesterday  afternoon. He did climb up into the attic for the two floor fans ( my job was to catch them as he lowered them down ) but I guess he didn't think they did the job... oh well... I was fine...

We took a risk and joined my elder daughter and her husband for dinner last night ( and our grand dog Harper). Great dinner !! Steak, twice baked potatoes, pasta salad, pineapple pretzel salad, pickled beets, roasted green beans with garlic, strawberry cheesecake and apple crostata (  Joanne : my s-i-l loved it). Enough food for an army .. took home some of the leftovers for tonight's dinner!

We sat out on the deck enjoying a pre-dinner hard cranberry lemonade !  After dinner it rained ... good timing on our part!!

It has started thundering outside and there have been some flooding alerts... one day of summer at a time , I guess!

Bob's bit

On my mind: plumbing. My thought: Darn. Kitchen sinks (both sides) plugged up last night. Darn and double darn. Was getting some water down so I could at least run the dish washer. Both sinks dump into a common pipe which drops down 3 feet or so to go underneath the floor into the basement and then a 10 ft or so run over to the house waste water pipe. Plug is somewhere from after where sinks join together.
So this morning, I cleaned out all the stuff from under the sinks and, because I couldn't find my longer cleanout snake, ran out to Home Depot and bought a new one. Then back home, remove one of the P-traps and run the snake in. Yeah, my poor old aching bones really enjoyed working down underneath the sink and holding up a 2 pound snake machine! Worked the head in about 8 ft and definitely hit a snag. Worked that for a while and then (after another trip to HD for a new P-trap) put everything together.
Did I mention my arms ache from hold the b****** snake housing up in the air while I worked? Not fun. Anyways got the clog partially out of the way and at least when we can use the sink. I think I need to replace the 10 ft run downstairs as it is too level - I need more drop for faster water flow. I'll tackle that in the next couple of weeks. For now, I will just collapse.

Thought you all might find what my other half does..... this is his Facebook posting!!

Apple Crostata

I bought  Granny Smith apples and decided to try making an apple version of Joanne ( from Cup on the Bus 's blog) crostata.  I added cinnamon, of course! And it did take a bit longer to cook. Not sure whether that was due to apples over blueberries or that I used more apples than the pint of blueberries.
Now Bob has to wait till it's time for "afters" this evening!!  Maybe some vanilla ice cream too?

It was really good !! Thanks Joanne...

Summer? or still Spring

Bob  was out  yesterday mowing the front and back lawns... so it must be summer right?? Well it is sunny most of the time and in the high 60's or low 70's so maybe it is still Spring.
The deck plants are doing well and I have added some basil and two types of parsleys and sage.
We have been talking about adding a raised bed in the back. We have not been able to have any tomatoes and peppers for quite a while since the tree shade was too much for them. But last fall the gum tree ( no more nasty prickly gum balls!) was taken down and now we have a large sunny area. I really missed growing tomatoes... so here we go! Raised bed... Here's hoping the millions of bunnies and squirrels we have, will cooperate!

Sent off another batch of face masks with my teacher daughter. She is actually going to be physically in the school today and Friday ... handing out senior stuff ( year books etc) today and  packing and taking her stuff that she left in her room home. She will be in a different building and program next fall... though who knows how things will be organized.

My daughter is working on her PHD in gifted education. This spring has been "too quiet" and so she has signed  up for three classes this summer ... all online !

gorgeous day... so far

It is gorgeous outside... super sunny with just a slight breeze. Our grocery store curbside pick up was scheduled for 10 to 11 am so off we went.
Everything on my list was loaded into our trunk and home we went. It was nice to actually be out of the house ! Not much has changed except everything is super green.
We lugged our bags into the house and unloaded them and put things away. Threw the plastic and paper bags away and washed our hands! Wish we could use our own bags.
We are looking forward to the salmon fillets we ordered  for dinner tonight!

I dreamed about bear making last night.... making a red. white and blue one for the Fourth of July/Independence Day.  I will have to search  through my stash and see if I have the right stuff!!

 later ...  found the red, white and blue mohair and have started work on some accessories to go with the bear. Tomorrow I will start on the bear.  Bright Star's next online show : Furry Friends  is the end of June.

The flowers I planted in the boxes on our deck railing have really gown.  I need to check out our garden center's herb plant availability.  I really like being able to zip outside for some basil.. oregano... parsley ... or what ever.

 

 

elastic came

The elastic came... was waiting for me in the mailbox this afternoon. Right on time!

Ebay notification

Ebay let us know my elastic is on its way.. tracking number and everything. Fingers still crossed!

still waiting

My elastic is supposed to arrive Friday...so I am waiting.  No point getting uptight since the seller said 15th - 17th.  Though I have read  Facebook comments where people are waiting and waiting and waiting.

So I have started working on bears and friends for the next online bear show - the end of June. Since I am here at home day after day ( except for the grocery store and Post Office) I need to keep busy !!

The other day Bob took Jack ( the gray/black striped cat) for a check up at the vet... it was all done curbside. Bob waited in the car and the vet's assistant came out for Jack in his carrier. The vet did all the usual stuff including taking a blood sample and brought Jack and his carrier back to the car. A phone call this morning from the vet told us that all the blood work was ok!! Jack has a new appointment in three months...

Dinner tonight is meat loaf, baked or jacket potatoes, carrots and a green salad...  should be pretty healthy.

the hunt for 1/4 inch elestic....

I guess the masks I made and sent with my daughter were not enough. I have been asked to make more and even have been been offered payment... nope... no way !  I have made 5 more and have run out of the 1/4 inch elastic I need.
So Bob and I did an online search... all the local stores have curb side only and are OUT OF STOCK !!  Amazon.com has loads but huge rolls of it - up to 100 yards Too much for me! And no guarantee of arrival date. Next was eBay where I could buy lots ! We chose a supplier who had 9 yards in stock and an arrival of May 15th !
Hooray... fingers crossed that we are successful!!

I may run out of fabric remnants next...

busy busy day

Today has been a very busy day...sort of like the "pre-pandemic" days! So busy that I have postponed making the butternut squash fritters until tomorrow or Sunday.

The reason for this busy day ? An online bear show.  It will last all weekend so hopefully I will be busy for days!!  I boxed up 5 bears, 1 mouse and one cat today. Did all the PayPal paperwork and made sure each box had a packing slip inside !
Then out to the mailbox... where I handed the boxes to our mail lady.... we exchanged a few words and away she went!!!

My daughter dropped by to pick up the masks I had made for her fellow teachers who volunteer by distributing food to at home students!! My daughter called on her way home to pass on loads of thanks!!

salad recipe a keeper

The Polish cucumber salad recipe is a keeper.... except for the fact that my mandolin always manages to slice my fingers each time I use it!!  But it does slice super thin to not so thin!! Managed not to get any blood in the salad and I had great thin slices of both cucumbers and radishes!!

Tomorrows recipe to try is butternut squash fritters !! The recipe is very much like that for potato pancakes - grated raw squash in stead of potatoes -  and some interesting spices!  I am going to halve the recipe since there are only two of us  and leftover fritters are not my favorite thing.

If we are stuck at home in this pandemic ... at least trying some new things helps!!  

BTW ... even if Missouri "opens" , I am not ready to resume our old lifestyle. Not yet...  Grocery shopping with mask and occasional curb side stuff is it....

Not so hot

Not that the new recipe I tried last night wasn't ok... but not OK enough to be a keeper. Luckily it did provide some techniques new to me... and I will keep them in mind when I try something else new ( that could use them).

I am trying another new recipe tonight ... a cucumber and radish salad one. We'll see how that works out.  My daughter asked for the recipe if the salad turns out to be a "keeper".

Planted the grasses and flowers that I brought home from the "plant place". It rained all that day after I bought them so it was an easy peasy job to plant them. I will go to Ace  hardware store's plant display next... they have different plants.

Went out into the backyard to pick up more of the dead branches that had fallen off the oak trees this winter and spring. There still loads of leaves to bag up ( Bob is outside working on that). Amazing how many leaves all our oaks and the huge maple can produce each year!! Way back when, people could rake their leaves into the gutter and burn them. No so anymore... against the law!!

Men Knitting

There has been a lot of talk on blogs about crafting during this pandemic. I came across this photo on Facebook!  It made me remember my Mother telling me about her Father during WWI.  Her Father was English and working for his wife's German  family business - silk ties - in Krefeld, Germany. As war broke out he was taken to a POW camp outside of Berlin where he spent the whole war, incarcerated with others, including a group of British  sailors.... who taught him to knit. When he was released he brought home sweaters he had knitted for my Grandmother.
My Grandmother was allowed to visit him... she took the train monthly from Krefeld to Berlin.  I don't know whether he knit after the war though I do know he took my Mother and my Grandmother to England ASAP.

We have been lucky food supplies-wise. Everything on my lists has been available.... not so much with cleaning supplies  and brands of toilet paper... but enough.

This  pandemic has led me to printing out recipes to try...Those that haven't been "to our liking" have been pitched!! I'm trying another today... I found I had everything I needed but rice  vinegar so , fingers crossed, I will use white. Or should I use red wine or apple cider vinegar?? Not in the mood to dash to the grocery store !
Decided to google "substitute for rice vinegar" ... recommended apple cider vinegar. So I will!

Montee's on a magazine cover

My bear, Montee is on the cover of Bears and Buds  magazine !!  When I started making masks I decided he needed to be wearing one too... keeping himself and others safe!! 

working our way through

My husband received a restaurant gift card for his birthday yesterday and is currently working his way through using it to order a curbside pickup dinner.... since we sit at our own computers back to back I can hear him muttering as he works through the process!!

We had his birthday dinner last night out on the deck. The temperature was delightful and there was no wind. First time for the year!!

He seems to have succeeded ... I heard an exclaimed "done"!! So after we pick our dinner up we will head to the deck again!! Stopping , on the way, to pick up  two glasses of wine in the kitchen!!

We have been weeding, bagging last fall's leaves and bagging small sticks the wind blew down over the winter... so the view from our deck should be very enjoyable!!  I will head to the plant "place" on Monday to buy "stuff" for the deck's plant boxes!! Shouldn't have any more freezes.

Bob and I have been talking about how to finally celebrate everyone's birthdays in person.  We all ( well except one of my son-in-laws) celebrate our birthdays from April through July.  So maybe in the middle of July we can all gather together.  That hasn't happened since Christmas!!

Amazon Prime just dropped of Jack the cat's "pill pockets" ... things to stick his pills in so he doesn't realize what he is eating!!  Works most of the time.  Anyway the Amazon driver let the box on the front steps and we waved at each other through the storm door window and exchanged greetings!! The new way of interacting??

online teaching

The other day my teacher-daughter mentioned that she had just signed up for a four week class for teachers teaching online.... part of which will help the teachers cope with students experiencing emotional problems due to the online aspects of school.  I know that my daughter has problems reaching some of her students and their parents/family via computer and phone.
.  And with way too many not handing in their assignments ... and being surprised at their grade!! The kids have a little time to get the assignments emailed to my daughter... but won't get full credit. But some is better than none!  BTW... she currently teaches 9th grade English.
  Still no decisions from any local school districts on what next year will be like.


It looks like we are going to have another warm sunny day!!

A friend came over yesterday to drop off a quilt she had quilted for my sister-in-law in South Carolina. We ( my husband, the friend and I)  sat around on the front steps - staying the required distance apart - and chit chatted for awhile. We all needed that !!
Bob will box up the quilt and mail it off!

Today is May Day... and my husband's 79th birthday... wish he would make up his mind how to "celebrate"!  Obviously most things will put off as we did for my birthday last month. ...... well he has agreed to a dinner menu and brownie cupcakes and ice cream.