Category Archives: Me stuff

Oct7

Doing some spooky decorating

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    Here’s a peek at my mantel-not sure if everything is where I want it. I have a nice collection of ‘new’ paper mache figures that are so neat to look at-lots of black cats! I have Halloween lights strung on the mantel in shades of orange, green and purple.

    Halloween Lights on mantel
    I just found this owl trio at Tuesday Morning. There are mirrored mosaics all over them that catch the light.
    Trio of owls with mirrored mosaics
    Here’s a link to last year’s decorating. I’m not quite there yet!
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    Quick question-anyone ever have a mouth ulcer or lesion on the underside of your tongue? I kinda remember biting it, but now I have a 1/4″ oval lesion that looks like a sore that lost it’s scab-white around the edge. It bothered me last Friday, but I’ve been using either peroxide or a mouth rinse, so it’s not painful. I think I’ll have to get medicine for it meaning I have to go to the dentist. They need to make sure my teeth on the bottom left aren’t hitting my tongue there. It is having a hard time healing.
    Update-Thanks to Julia for your suggestion. I do eat a lot of yogurt and take Acidophilus frequently. I just never had a sore under my tongue which concerns me. I found some Peroxdyl (sp), so I will rinse with that. It does look somewhat better today.

Oct4

Fall planting

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Today while the guys went to visit Bri’s dad (and finally jam a large rug in my van for my mom that has been rolled up for months), I decided to plant the garlic I got from Burpee last week. I wonder if you can just buy the bulbs at the grocery store or maybe the Burpee ones are treated? Anyway, I sat at the table and pulled the cloves apart-I must have at least 30. It took no time to plant 20+ of them in the plastic upright container I use to use for a water garden. I’m wondering if I should wrap it up with something or get hay for the top? It gets cold here, but not brutal like up north more. I then checked out the ‘fall crops’ and the arugula, spinach and lettuce, mostly the first two, should be ready in a week or so! I only see a few beets (if that’s what they are) and a few radishes. Radishes always grew good for me. Maybe it got to shady out there. I may add a line of the garlic where the beets are suppose to be.
I took Mr. Cosmo Kitty for a walk. He hadn’t been out for a week or more. He really lost his nose in the garden area next to the front door, must have had a night visitor one time.
I’m getting joint trouble with my pointer fingers. I know cross stitching has to be the issue on the left-overuse all these years. The right hand isn’t complaining as much, but it’s definitely has the bumps on it like the joint on the other hand. I have been putting Icy hot on it!
We are going to get some nice weather this week coming up, but I really need to switch out the tank tops for sweaters. Hope Sean will be getting the stuff out of the attic shortly(still no job for him, even at a shoe store). Trouble with small houses with small closets-no storage. I envy my two sister-in-laws who have walk-in closets!
And I want to say how great Magic*Erasers are! Wow, took some stains right out of my sinks and scuffs off the walls.
Also-went to K*Mart and they had some cute summer things marked down to $2.99. I’m wearing the watermelon pink 3/4 length sleeve top with the hood and hand pouch as I type this. Really cute detail! I can wear about 3 different sizes, so that helps too. I buy larger if I think something may shrink in the wash. Watch for those sales!

Sep29

Waving

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I noticed I haven’t posted since Saturday. Sorry about that. I’ve been a little under the weather and yesterday was the pits. I finally wised up and ate soup and jello for dinner and took a bit of Maalox (only in desperate measures) and my tummy seems better today-wasn’t sure if I was going to have to go to the doctor or not. Bri and Sean have had issues, but not having a gallbladder seems to make mine twice as worse. I made dinner last night and didn’t eat it. I sampled a bit of the meatloaf for lunch today-crossing fingers. I am hopefully going to the food store and Sean is coming along.
I’ve been doing some crafting in preparation for a Church bazaar. I have just under two months now. I plan to have a ‘White Elephant’ section too. Also still sorting mostly my paper items which is a lot to go through. Doing this also inspires me to do more! I will find a paper or embellishment I like and it turns the wheels in my brain.
Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!
Sample of the memo book covers I am making-have 48 to do-have done 10.
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Sep25

Spring cleaning in the fall

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We had a very unusual rainy spring and summer. Not ideal weather for hanging out comforters and curtains, so I’m doing it now. Brian’s been home this week painting with the help of Sean since he has some free time this year. The overhangs are finished and Sean is doing the front of the house now! I guess sometime in the future they will do the back and leave the high sides and parts on the roof for a handyman. The paint is a tad lighter in color, but it’s close enough as is Wally*World where it must be a stock color (I had the paint chip from last year and they had the same color this year). It looks nice and clean. I do wish I could have taken down the shutters and washed them. The painting of the front was a last minute thing. The shutters are plastic and we are afraid we may damage one and have to buy all new ones. I’ll have to go out with the Windex one of these days. I have a few cans of spray paint to do some wrought iron things, one of which was my table which Bri put away already.
I am also trying to get things together for a Holiday sale at the church in November. I found a great website where you can buy multiplies of goods. I have 48 memo books that I purchased to decorate the fronts with my collage art. I copied one I had made and my PSP7 program copied it to the size I needed. The site is called Dollardays.com. You have to register to use it. I also have religious pieces since it is a church sale-key chains and car magnets. I do want to hand make a few things too.
So that’s what I’ve been doing, despite having a few tummy issues (Sean and Brian were complaining too-I think it was the rotisserie chicken I had on Tuesday that threw us off-the smoky stuff just didn’t taste right).
My former classmates are hosting a get-together at the beach starting tonight through Sunday morning. I think 30+ are attending. I had planned to, but then Bri took a bit longer with the painting and now the Chestnut tree burrs are littering the side yard. We are having an evening get-together next month, so that sounds like one I can attend. It’s been fun getting to know almost 100 former classmates again (I was in a class of 486).

Sep22

Down my garden path

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It’s a tight squeeze-
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(ironically, this is the last photo I took today! You are seeing mums and hearty begonias that come up every year).
Watch your step through the bombardment of Chestnut burrs (quite sticky-ouch) and see the little sprouts of arugula, spinach, radishes and lettuce. The beets seem to be taking their time, but the rest were up in less than a week!
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The nasturtiums are all over the various gardens providing a nice show and bow out for the end of the season:
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I’ve seen many more bees than butterflies this year
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I always plant Zinnias in memory of my Grandmom Ruth. Here is a pretty peach:
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Some house painting is going on-just the overhangs. It’s a bit lighter, so that may be incentive to paint the rest of it in the future!
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The Gnomes have plenty of hiding places:
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Always remember to have a happy
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And back inside-starting to decorate for the Autumn and then I’ll add some Halloween decor to that (not all the summer stuff is off the window area. The hydrangeas are from outside):
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Happy Fall, y’all!

Sep17

Thursdays can be thunky

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1. My daughter (aka Demon #1) (the lady who wrote the questions) informed me the other day that her hugs were worth a million dollars. Would you give up hugs – giving and receiving – for the rest of your life, for a million dollars? How is that really possible and who will know whether you are hugging someone or not? I just think your silly daughter was playing with your emotions. : )

2.Have you ever been bitten by a member of the canine family? Probably as a kid I may have gotten nipped by the family pet, but I was usually careful around dogs.

3. What is your favorite color of jeans? Not too dark, but not to worn looking-somewhere in between.

4. What is something that has changed in public schools that you wish was the norm when you were in school?
Zero tolerance for certain acts like name calling or bigotry. I went to grade school in the 60s-70s and it was more one color than the other if you get my drift. Kids can be mean.

5. What is your news source?
Mainly the local news, the internet and radio.

6. What sort of people do you think read your blog?
Ha-I would say mostly other women. Contacts through my hobbies and facebook too.

7. If I told you that I had a headache, you would say……….???
Take a Tylenol-that would depend on how long you had it too. Sometimes if you are hungry, you get a headache. My son and I get nasty when we are hungry and food perks us right up!

8. You go to a buffet style restaurant, what is the first food you put on your plate? Starch maybe? Don’t they start you off where the rolls are and then to salad?

9. If you were stranded on a desert island…. no, we aren’t asking that again. Lets put a twist into this. Would you volunteer to be dropped off on a desert island, to be picked up in a month? And you don’t get to bring those 3 items, either. Am I by myself? I would say ‘no way Jose’.

10. When the sun sets, what are you usually doing? I’m cleaning up dinner dishes or working on my paper projects.
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I have a cross stitch finish! I bought a little kitty kit from the store in Cape May and ran out of 3 of the colors and emailed the owner. Had to wait a week to get them, but finally finished last night.
I was asked to join a stitch-along tomorrow night at the Chadds*Ford Society building with a local XS shop. I know at least one pal will be there. I may ‘drop in’ (hope that’s allowed) as they are having pizza and I really don’t want any. We’ll see.

Sep10

Thursday Thunks

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1. A 90 year old man’s dying wish in South Carolina was to be buried in his car. If you were told tomorrow you have 3 weeks to live, would you have any dying wishes or something special done before you died?
Do I want to jinx myself? I think not. And if I wanted to tell anyone, it would be my immediate family. Sorry.
2. Do you pay for more stuff using a credit/debit card or cold hard cash?
I prefer cash when I have it, but if I run into a sale, I may have to use the nasty cc.
3. What’s cuter- a baby lizard or a baby snake?
Definitely a lizard-it has legs to begin with. The heater guy was here today and was telling us he caught rattlesnakes in western Pa to ‘milk’ them when he was young. He’d sell that to the state for anti-venom. This all stemmed from a conversation about pets, mainly cats. He showed me his 3 in a photo in his wallet-ahhh.
4. You go out to eat by yourself at a restaurant. While waiting for your food do you people watch & ease drop on others conversations, read a book, use a laptop or chat with people around you?
Hmmm…probably read a book or magazine. I don’t usually eat by myself though
5. If you see someone walking around with toilet paper stuck to their shoe, do you tell them or just laugh?
It happened to me and it’s embarrassing, so I’d tell them.
6. You are talking to someone you just met but you can’t understand them at all because of their accent. Do you tell them you can’t understand them or just smile and nod?
Probably smile and nod and if it got to frustrating I’d raise up my hands like I was saying ‘no comprehend’.
7. Mudfest! Park filled with pools of mud and an obstacle course of mud. Do you go and play in the mud?
I was told I loved to play in mud as a toddler-as an adult-ugh! I just like to dig in it now.
8. Have you ever had a headache so bad it effected your vision?
Oh yes! Usually from a high fever-became delusional too.
9. Would you fit in more with the circus, Hollywood, Broadway, or comedy circuit types?
I’ll say Broadway because I can belt out a song, but I have a gnawing feeling in my gut that I could be a comedian.
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Sean bought the Guitar Hero Beatle Rock*Band yesterday and it’s fun! The graphics are really nicely done too.

Sep8

Long weekend

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Not much to post about-had Brian home for the holiday weekend. He dug up the part of the veggie patch where I want to add some salad stuff for the fall. Sean had his interview for the internship (it pays) on Friday and had to drive down to Delaware*City. He’ll hopefully get thumbs up today. He will be treating invasive species (plants) like poison ivy at the park in another area of Delaware.
I’ve been doing a little shopping here and there finding some good buys on Martha*Stewart things at Big*Lots. I actually went to two different stores as we went down to Dover, DE on Monday just to do something different. My favorite bookstore- Atlantic warehouse was having a buy 2 get 1 free-must have saved $30 or more! I bought about 3-4 things for my mom’s birthday coming up in a few weeks. We ate at Olive*Garden and I went in a few craft stores. You need a few days to go in all the stores down there. Also went into the town of Dover to find Wesley College, a small, but nice school amongst Dutch Colonels and other lovely homes. The public flowerbeds are kept so nice. There was a bed of burgundy dinner plate hibiscus-gorgeous, with red, white and purple petunias.
A few nights ago, I was doing one of those Facebook ‘5 things’ and they asked my nationalities. I put down Swedish, but my family always thought we were Danish (and may be). My cousin was going to open a furniture store (and may have already) and went over to Denmark. She looked in the phone book in Denmark and there were only a few Hasselbergs. She went to Sweden and that’s where they all were. She started a business which is still going strong and run by many of her children. I found the fan page for Dane*Decor on FB and scrolled down and found my cousin Drew there! He had contacted me about a blog entry a few years ago and so had his brother Jesse. I scrolled down to find a memorial group for Jesse. He had passed away from a heart attack last year to the day-he must have been only in his 50s. I was so upset to read this. So now Drew and I are friends on FB. Cool, huh?
Please keep my mom in your thoughts as she is getting her eyes photographed and checked to see if the injections she had over the last few months has slowed down the macular degeneration. She’s really scared. I’ll let you know.

Sep4

Show & Tell-Meant to be

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I just changed my avatar, though it’s not showing up right away. I think it’s funny that WP asks you if it’s rated ‘G’, ‘PG’….to ‘X’. Don’t worry, I’m definitely ‘G’.
A few days ago, I was looking through some old jewelry that I had found at my mom’s. It was mostly broken, many missing stones. The main thing, most of it was my Mom mom Ruth’s jewelry. I’ve been told my grandfather gave her lots of jewelry, mostly costume, but very pretty. I always see her in my mind’s eye accepting a gift from her beloved Alan in her shy, ‘shouldn’t have’ manner. I ran across a gold and green necklace in the case. It looked like it had been ripped off Mom-mom’s neck as the latch and ring were missing and what metal was left was pulled. I was going to ask someone to fix it for me-jewelry repair scares me. Now if you asked me 10+ years ago if I would be wearing this necklace, I’d say it’s too old-fashioned looking. Anyway, I laid the necklace on the table and forgot about it for a few days. Yesterday, I was again sorting through things (I got this from my mom) and didn’t I find a package with the ring and fastener-3 of them! What were the odds? I decided to see if I could fix it-without using my needle-nose pliers-can’t find my jewelry stuff. After a few minutes-or more- I managed to twist the remaining metal securely around the new fastener and ring and it feels secure enough to wear! So here is a fairly nice photo that Sean took of me, though a little weary looking-
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A little touch of my grandmom.

Sep3

Thursday ‘T’s

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1. Your thoughts on truck drivers?
What would we do without them? I just hope they are getting enough rest on their long trips along without not too many hemorrhoids. Really-all that sitting is an issue!

2. Did you hear Michelle Duggar is pregnant for the 15th time? (but that will be kid #19 if you lost count….)
This is scary to me-she’s really stretching out the old innards-a lot. I know her last baby was a C-section. I always hope things run smoothly. She has her own live in babysitters with the older kids.
3. Have you ever done something to hurt someone intentionally… just for the sole purpose of hurting them because you thought they deserved it? Maybe a paybacks a bitch sort of thing?
I have told a few women off-on the phone and in an email. Well, they seemed to only be bothering with me to have someone to complain to about their unhappy marriage or they wanted to know my business. Then there would be a month or so go by. I’m pretty much a faithful friend and listener, but I couldn’t stand this one woman tell me in March she still had my Christmas gifts! Never did get them!

4. Is there anyone in your life that when you go to their place of residence, you just walk in without bother knocking? Does anyone just walk into your house without knocking? My uncle’s house and my one of my brothers-they are usually expecting us.
Our house is usually locked up tight as a drum-only open it when we now people are almost here.

5. Whats in the trunk of your car? Do you even have a clue?
Some reusable bags, an air pump and a plastic pink beach mat. And a few bags for the Goodwill.

6. When you go to a family holiday get together (such as Christmas or Thanksgiving), about how many people are there? In my immediate family (maternal) there are 13 of us, so about that, give or take a few.

7. What is in your kitchen sink right at this very moment? A blue plastic dish pan and a few pots soaking from dinner.

8. You go to a store to buy an expensive item… say $150. You pick up that item and a couple other this n’ thats. You get to the register and the expensive item rings up at $40. The cashier doesn’t seem to notice and tells you your total. Do you go with what they say and pay it or do you question the price difference? You know you would question it if your $40 item rang up at $150…. I would probably make a comment-that’s all? That’s a big price difference.

9. Do you fold your underwear or do you just toss it in a drawer?
Fold!

10. There is a Harley-Davidson giveaway. Chances are $100 and they are only selling 250 tickets. Do you buy one? Not interested in motorcycles and with my luck, I wouldn’t win. $100 is a lot to us right now.

11. Who is your favorite Disney character?
I love them all-but have Tinkerbelles around and of course Mickey Mouse.

12. It’s September – most of the weekly sitcoms/dramas are starting new seasons again. Which one are you most looking forward to?
Lost, Heroes and mostly Gray’s Anatomy because I want to see what happens to Izzy. I know George bit the dust because the actor wanted off the show.

13. You are at a grocery store and are on your way out to your car with your cart full of grocery bags. On your way to your car you see a black kitten in an empty cart. What do you do? I’d have to talk to it…it’s not my responsibility, so I’d wheel him in to the store manager. I already have a cat at home who is attached to my hip and would be really jealous.

14. Is there anything that you do for a hobby that you are asked to do for friends/family that most people would hire a professional to do? (example: cake decorating, fixing cars….)
I have sewn a few curtains and pillows for family. I also enjoy taking photos and don’t mind framing good ones as gifts.

15. Are we there yet? I sure hope so!