The year is almost over. I can only reflect on what I would like to accomplish next year. Physically, I still want to run. In reality, I hope to get by day by day. The days tick off faster than I can move forward. I read, I grow tired and weary. I try to accomplish tasks, I burn out before I finish. I will take more time selecting which tasks to accomplish, and which can fall by the wayside. I still have all of December left.
Month: November 2012
Scholar & Poet Books is the online book business that Steve & I run from our home. We shelter books that we have rescued from Good Will, library sales, church sales and rummage sales. We clean them up and put them up for adoption on Amazon, Alibris, ABE Books and eBay. We find new homes for old standards, eclectic oddities, and arcane tutorials. Pulp fiction with vintage cover art, lots of spiritual topics, Christmas and cookbooks and CDs and children’s books…you name it, we probably have it or something related to it. So, if you’re in the mood for some cyber shopping today that supports the U.S. Post Office, a small business, and the non-electronic world of all natural BOOKS, you can browse our collection through this link. We have a 5-star rating, but neither of us has a Facebook account. If you like what you see and want…
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Deal With It
I had a busy, tiring, good, bad, happy, gross, annoying, joyful weekend. Just a few highlights. Excellent weather followed by, snow, snow, snow, blowing snow. Drove in the worst of it to get the dogs nails clipped. Then made lots more food and washed lots of dishes. The oven being on helps heat my small house up. My daughter made Ashley pumpkin oatmeal cinnamon doggie treats. We found a tick on her, so I had the task of pulling it out and hoping she will be OK. I need to call the vet first thing Monday for reassurance. Skeeved out and itchy thinking ticks are everywhere, but they are not. Had fun going to three thrift stores, the hardware store and the auction for my version of black Friday. I found a three dollar shelf for my entry way. It fits into the cutesy wootsie cottage theme that my house with teddy bear shutters is destined to be. My daughter installed it, and added my cast iron butterfly hooks just in time to hang our winter jackets. She also cleared out space to break out the boot tray. Took the nails off my former picture wall, put new nails up in different spots so I could rehang the pictures. We also went outside in the cold and dark to hang out some Christmas lights. I still have to connect and reposition the lights on my flamingos. I need to make my flamingos scarfs. I need to bust out the blow mold snowman, and put some lights in him. I also need to see if I can revamp his color. My mother’s friend gave him to me last year. She was downsizing for a move. I still need to go through my old Christmas totes of decorations to find my wreath. I am hoping the snow melts and does not accumulate more so I can do this. I also will be getting a small “real” tree that will need some decoration. I might wait until my mice traps I just ordered come. I found out just before Thanksgiving that I am sharing my home with little furballs that steal my dogs food. I don’t have the heart to kill them. I am grossed out by their presence. I ordered humane traps to catch them. I will then release them in the woods. They might suffer out in the woods or become the lunch of another. It beats being poisoned and stinking in the crawlspace. I don’t want to check for snapped necks in traps either. That makes me shudder. I blame Disney for personifying the cute little warm blooded mammals. Tigers, dolphins, or otters don’t try to live in my house. No one likes unwelcomed guests. I guess it is natures way of saying you should have enjoyed the spiders. They don’t shit on your counter top or chew your walls.
Full of Thankfulness
Walking the beach at sunset, the only thing better would be owning my own beach. I had to leave by sunset, because it was a state park. Enjoyed cooking dinner for me and two of my three kids, in my own house. I love this small house, problems and all. So glad for the great weather. I played Monopoly for a few hours and was the big loser. I only played to make my son happy, I hate to play Monopoly, it takes too long. We should have played cards. Just thankful to be alive to play games. I also enjoyed watching people, walking, biking, jogging and walking their dogs around the neighborhood. I have never seen so many do so all at once around here. I guess they were working off the turkey. I will be avoiding the mall and big box stores tomorrow. I am taking a car load of stuff to the Salvation Army. I might shop their, and then off to the Friday night Auction.
I like Pie
It took me over a year (post stroke) to attempt to bake a cherry pie. I decided to buy an already made crust. Thanks to Tops Friendly Markets, I picked up two frozen unbaked shells today. Thanks to Offbeat Home blog, they posted their crumble pie topping. Perfect for a girl with only the use of one hand. It was delish, I already tried one piece. I used two cans of cherry pie filling, for the last time. There was not enough cherries to cover the bottom with one can. Two cans still did not fill it up. I left as much goo out as I could. It is the fruit that makes the pie not the goo. I happened to buy some fresh blackberries to snack on. I added them to my pie filling to fill it out. They look great, and taste ok, taste like cherries (ha,ha). Live and learn. Real fruit next time, and why not mix the fruits. I am dreaming of adding pineapple and putting coconut in my crumble topping next time. Maybe next year I can figure out how to peel an apple without being able to hold it steady.
I was also daydreaming of planting cherry trees. If they convert our houses to public sewer instead of septic, I can plant trees all over without worrying where the roots will be.
My Fascination With Ruins
Not as cool as the Mayans. I always wonder why things are left to degrade. I love the ferns that stay green when everything else looks brown and dead. The thing about this place is it was right in front of me every time I took my dog to the park. This was the first time I noticed it with the leaves brown or dropped, and the moss is no longer camouflage.
I have a million things to do. Of course I want to think of ways not to do them. I thought posting earlier in the day might provide me with more creativity. Sorry, not this time.
I had to make some phone calls today. I sound like such a dork on the phone. I can hear me pronouncing the words wrong or stuttering, mumbling. Just as equally annoying I get a phone call, the person talks so fast I have no idea what they said. I said what did you say and they hung up. They had a foreign accent as well. I could have been cursed at, received a death threat or told I was now a millionaire. It all sounds the same when you talk faster than an auctioneer. I want to write down a few phrases I make up myself to reply next time. I can’t come up with these things on the fly. I also have to say them aloud to test for my alliterations clarification. Something like “fungu you”.
Yesterdays Find
I believe this is an old corn crib or grain storage. The lattice walls allow airflow to dry out the corncobs, so they don’t turn into moldy mush. I like how the sun was filtering through as I drove by. On a very lonely dirt road. It did have a canal in its backyard. It could have been busy back in the heyday of canal prosperity. All these posted properties are risky for me to walk. It is the current hunters I worry about, not the current owners who might never come around. I hope to be brave and look for old bottles once again.
I heard a mouse in my house this morning. My dog heard it too. She was curious for a second, but not curious enough to get out of the warm covers and scare it permanently away. I would like to see if she would get along with a nice cat. I would let it in, just to take care of my mice problem.
Exploring
Looking to see what was uncovered from the leaves falling. I also tried to train my dog to walk with me without pulling me over. Both went great.
Thursday over 300 posts, non the wiser
I have past the one year of blogging mark at least a month ago. I had 305 posts the last time I remember. I don’t think I have progressed much as a blogger. I can see that I am still stuck in the same funk of tiredness and not getting projects done. I have found a few blogs of people who had strokes. I am thankful I am not in a wheelchair and I can drive. Most importantly I am thankful I am living on my own, taking care of my son and dog (such as it is). I am glad to be alive. I am hoping everything gets better in the next year. My outlook, bank account, physically ability, any improvement in each I await.
Elephants never forget
It was so sunny and nice and bitterly cold. Not really bitterly, but it bites. I am so tired once again. Ashley knocked over my avocado tree that I started from a pit. I think it will live, but I had a mess to clean up. I bought a little fake blue tinsel Christmas tree. I am a hypocrite, I did not look to see where it was made. I will most likely get a real small tree or holly bush too. I can put my tree collection on my ledge, out of the way from the dog and human traffic. I saw so many people with their Christmas lights up and on. That makes me feel good. I am not religious, but I like lights. I might even add my lava lamp into the mix of my lighted shiny Christmas tree shelf. So I make my own festivus. My neighbor gave me an application to get free Christmas dinner and gifts handouts. I am not going to apply. I can not eat prepackaged food. My son is too picky. He does not need any gifts. It would be a waste of people’s generosity, and it should go to people who need it. It kind of bothers me that she thinks I am so bad off. It must be the tarp on the roof and my son’s shaggy hair. He wants the shaggy hair, and I prefer to pay for my roof with cash. It might be my ragged clothes. I might have to replace my paint spattered jeans and my sweatshirts with the bottom of the sleeves cut off. I did buy some hair dye today, and hope to have that spruced up by tomorrow. I am going back to a red tone for winter. I spent a good 5 minutes looking at all the colors before relegating. I wanted a deep purple, but it is not in the mainstream Nutrisse line yet.
In Sync With The Universe 