Tag: home

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Time To Remove The Tree

Today, I finally took down my Christmas tree. I figured three weeks after Christmas was just about the right time.  It always seems to me that the holiday decorations go up more quickly then taking them down.  And every year  the task of taking down these decorations appears more daunting of a task.

Perhaps next year I will put up less decorations to make it easier come the month of January.  However, with this being said I probably will not take my own advice and will have my place looking like Santa’s Village once again next December.

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Merry Christmas

This time of year is very special to me and my family. We have a lot of fun with the tree and decorations on the tree and the house. This year we plan on staying home to celebrate the holiday.

I will miss seeing my family and friends but with the way the economy is we just think it would be better to stay at home this year, we will still have a lot of fun and maybe next year we can do some traveling next year.

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Pets

I love my pets, and have a house full of them, but let’s face it, sometimes I want my space and I want them in their space. Luckily I went online, as usual, and found an extra wide pet gate. This will fit nicely in the opening to my kitchen. They also have a regular size pet gate. This will fit nicely in other areas. The pets aren’t so happy about being separated, but I value a little time without getting loved to death. The reunions, even though our separations have been temporary, are always happy.

I wasn’t shopping for one, but while looking at that website, I also found a pre-charged water tank. I’ve been looking for one in my local home improvement stores. Online shopping can be so easy, and I have my packages delivered to my office.

Having a home can be a lot of work, and I have spent many weekends planning or completing home projects. I am looking forward to warm weather as many of my home projects are outside. As I am approaching the first year anniversary of purchasing my beloved home, I am actually quite excited about this upcoming Spring and Summer. Almost like a small child on Christmas Eve, I find myself counting the weeks until Spring arrives, and searching the internet for topics like “when can I plant tomatoes in Virginia?”

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Chilly for Chili

This weekend is supposed to be very chilly.  After receiving buckets of snow and rain all in the same day we are now going to freeze and so is the fallen precipitation.  Nothing goes better on cold day than a piping bowl of chili.

I was surfing the Internet for a new recipe for chili because I do not think that I want to use my old standby.  I came across multiple recipes for chicken chili.  I have never had chicken chili but it sounds delicious!  Many of these recipes call for corn in it which makes it even more hearty and yummy.  Currently, I am undecided on whether I am going to use water, chicken broth or cream of chicken soup as a base.  I really think water will be too bland and cream of chicken soup too creamy therefore I guess my only option will be the chicken broth.

The best part of both recipes is that the whole thing goes into my crock pot.  I love my crock pot.  Have to throw all the ingredients in and leave it for the day!

slow cooker
Chile In A Crock Pot
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Trash

Today was our trash pick up day and we had a lot of trash bags filled with leaves and sticks from the last storm out at the curb. The trash had been out at the curb for 3 weeks and last week they picked up about half of it. I was very pleased when I left for work this morning that they had finally picked up the rest of the trash bags. Of course after 3 weeks they had killed the grass under them and it was a ugly mess of stuff that they did not pick up, sticks and paper but I can fix that, I am just very glad that the trash is now gone.

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Medicare for Mom

As I have mentioned briefly, I care for my 74 year old mother. She came to live with me almost three years ago after taking a bad fall. I love her to death but honestly with her doctor appointments, and prescription refills all the time, it can feel like a part time job. She sees her regular doctor every two months, her cardiologist every three months, and then there are the quarterly appointments to have her pacemaker checked. Luckily, I have a job that allows me to leave and take her to her appointments without any trouble.

We are fortunate that she has good health insurance, including medicare part d. Most of her prescriptions are very inexpensive and very affordable. One, new prescription is $80 per month which is steep! We are fortunate that she is actually on very few prescriptions considering her heart problems.

She is worth it though and has always been there for me, throughout my entire life. I am happy that I am able to have her live with me and care for her. I will never be able to repay her for everything she has done for me in my life, but this feels like a small step towards that.

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Carbide Bits and Vrious Other Tools

After the Labor Day holiday is all over and done with comes early on the first Monday of September this year, I am going to have to look for some handyman services in order to get some of the issues taken care of around the place that I just don’t have the time or the tools or the experience to tend to. I gave up trying to find the carbide bits that I had just purchased last year and other various tools seem to have taken a hike during the spring and summer season. I get so frustrated with trying to find things around here. One day I will get organized, but I don’t think that will happen any time soon.

If you are a home owner you well know how much time, effort and money it takes to keep the house up and running in so many ways, it just isn’t possible to get it all done on my own so a good quality handyman will come in “handy” for most of my needs that should be taken care of before the cold winter months hit us. Something tells me we are going to have a real long and cold winter this year. A winter that starts early and last forever and a day, raising havoc on the population.

There are a few friends and family members that can and do come over on occasions to lend a hand with some projects but it seems that people are getting busier and busier these days and it isn’t always possible to impose on their time and talents. And now with the holidays and then the cold winter months ahead of us it will be more of a challenge so I’m just going to go ahead and pay a professional and get things moving.

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Baby Spiders

Recently I inherited some baby spider plants. I have always wanted spider plants in my house. They are just so unique looking!  At first I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with these gorgeous specimens. I have a green and white striped one and a solid green one.

Then one morning I woke up and while I was enjoying my morning cup of chai tea I spotted the perfect location for these plants to live. My large picture window will be their new homes.

Tomorrow I shall march down to the local hardware store and purchase a couple of plant hangers for the wall. I can then hang one plant up on each end of the window and the mixture and light and shade should be just right. These plants do not like bright sunlight all day.

If they receive this then they have a chance of burning. While I am at the hardware store I will also pick up matching pots. I can’t wait to put this project together. They are going to look fabulous!

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Green Printing

Companies all over the world are jumping on the green bandwagon. Green printing is one of those as well. Printing companies are worried about their impact on the world just like everyone else. This is a really good thing because it is our responsibility to make sure that we preserve our environment for future generations.

There are all kinds of green products and services out there in today’s world. There are cleaning products that are green, as well as, everyday things that we use. Plastic bottles, toilet paper, news paper and many more are made from recycled products. This helps keep a lot of waste out of the land fills. Do your part and recycle too.

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Flower Care

This year was pretty much a disaster as far as my back yard. Usually I would be reaping the rewards of a small backyard garden and giving extra produce to friends, neighbors, family and co workers. Between the weather being crazy and my lack of interest and energy this year, it just didn’t work out.

I did manage to get a few tomato plants that are producing although usually there are plenty of red ones on the vine by now. But they are taking their time in ripening. It is actually a bit better for me because I can only use and give so many tomatoes in the first week of August.

This year’s month August is being call Autumn in August, even some of the bushes and trees are totally confused at to what time of the year it is. There has been several mornings that I have gone outside, the wind is blowing and it’s overcast, that I have witnessed a good amount of leaves on the ground as well a a bunch of leaves being tossed around in the cool breeze.

I think I will back off on some of the food items in the garden next year. A nice break from this yearly chore. I would love to start planting some nicer plants and buses around the yard.

I have all winter to learn what I need to know and do for caring for orchids and all the other beautiful and colorful flowers that I am looking forward to tend to next spring and summer. I can’t wait to start getting all the seeds and flower catalogs that I always find in my mailbox right before the up and coming spring plantings.

In the mean time I’ll be looking around online to do a bit of research which will make all the decisions as an educated consumer.