Month: July 2013

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Cherry Tomatoes and No Sun

I’m sad readers. I have planted cherry tomatoes again and they just aren’t getting the sun that they need to turn red. There are plenty of little green tomatoes on the cherry tomato vines, and the other tomatoes I planted was a type of cherry, but more like a husky one. To me…they would just be an in between cherry tomato and beef steak! LOL!

I suppose I could use what doesn’t turn red on the cherry t’s vine as mini fried green tomatoes.  I’ve not ever looked it up or heard of anyone making these bite size snacks, which I actually am in love with. But I’m going to try it. Maybe “husky” fried  green tomatoes are in order not also!

Summer seems to have hit us for about a week of real summer days. I loved it. But now…judging from my plants…not just the tomatoes, the prices of the produce will double in the cost this  year, like beef has in the last two. Just my take on it folks!

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A Personalised Birthday Party

My grand daughter will be turning 10 in August, and my daughter and I got together to discuss what we could do to make this birthday super special. My daughter had surfed the internet for ideas and came up with some great ideas on how to personalise with the birthday child’s name and age. This would be so special for my grand daughter as ten years old is a rather tough in between age.

This site is fun, and has all kinds of great gift, school and party ideas with the special touch of everything being personalized. My daughter and I want to get the party favors, napkins, cups, and plates for cake and ice cream all personalised , just for her. I really think she would like it. And of course key word here are “personalised” and there are great gifts that can also be ordered. There are labels, that can be put into clothing, shoes, hats and gloves. I thought the pencils with names were cute and of course kids would like them for school, and they wouldn’t get taken.

Lately my grand daughter has been writing her name on everything from her shoes to stationary and books that she loves and has in her small library. The labels and other gifts would be perfect for her and also it is such a unique idea! She’d be the first to have a personalised party, which at that age is important since she’d be “one up” on her friends! All said and done, I’m sure this would catch on quickly after the party we have for her! Now we have sort of thought of a theme for the party, we have asked my grand daughter how many friends she would want to come to her party, and I have a feeling we are going to have lots of little girls who will tell their parents about the personalised  items we are planning on getting!

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AC problems

Go figure, this week has been the hottest and most humid weeks we’ve had so far this summer and the air conditioning unit went on the fritz. Normally in my younger days, I could handle the heat and wasn’t bothered with it at all, but now…not so much.

To say everyone is rather miserable, despite of fans in the windows and the floor and ceiling fans it feels like they are just moving the hot air around. The heating and air conditioning guy is booked solid and can’t get out here until this coming Monday. Umm, a bit late I would say, considering the heat index will no doubt drop by then. At least we are all hoping so.

In the mean time, I’m drinking plenty of iced tea and water, and my son and I are putting ice cubes in the dogs water. Everyone is kind of irritable including myself. I just keep thinking about when we didn’t have an AC and how we coped with it. People have dealt with this issue a long time ago, and didn’t have an air conditioner so,  if we must we must.

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Tree branch clean up

For the last week we’ve had super hot and humid weather with lots of storms coming in. With those storms came a very loud and rather scary thunder symphony and a light show like you wouldn’t believe. The lightning was even going side ways across the sky. It also did a lot of damage to the big maple tree I have in the back yard, bordering the field line.

After a HUGH booming roll of thunder I looked outside in time to see my tree get struck by lightning. It was fascinating yet frightening to see. One of the main branches was struck and down it came. After the storm we went outside and looked at the damage, and it wasn’t quite enough for the tree to have to be cut to the ground, but it does look a bit worse for wear and has a bald spot right in the middle.

There is a lot of clean up to do, with not only chopping up and drying out the big branch so it can be burned, but also other limbs from the various trees and shrubs, that had wind damage and fell. Looks like we’re going to have a bon fire when these storms are over with.

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Using Susan Rindley to find a home in Ft. Lauderdale

My cousin recently moved to Florida and has been staying with a friend until she finds a house of her own. When I talked to her, she said that she was thinking about using Susan Rindley to find her the home of her dreams in Ft. Lauderdale. Ms. Rindley is the real estate agent that came highly recommended by the friend my cousin is staying with right now, and apparently the lady knows her business when it comes to houses. She deals in the more pricy homes, which is fine by my cousin as she got a HUGH settlement and wants to live in Florida for the rest of her life.  I don’t blame her.

When I asked my cousin if there were any more recommendations from anyone who had used this agent, she told me about the testimonials on the site that she looked at and that was all she needed to do is read them. She’s got a good head on her shoulders and also knows a bit about real estate herself so I’m sure that she didn’t go into this blind, so to speak.

Once my obligations are finished here, I also plan on moving South and Florida is my first choice. My youngest daughter lives there and my oldest daughter wants to move there eventually. I had lived on the gulf side and really enjoyed everything about it. As soon as my cousin finds her new house she said she wanted me to come and stay for awhile and I do believe I’m going to take her up on it. I would have loved going house hunting with her, but I’m sure once she finds the perfect house I’ll be getting loads of videos and pictures!

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Leaky Basement

I’ve discovered that our basement now has started leaking and gathering moisture in places that it never has before. Looks like I’m going to have to call in a professional to check it out and see what it’s going to cost to fix the leaks. I have a feeling that this is not going to be a inexpensive fix.

For years we’ve been leak free, though the basement has always had a sort of damp cool feeling to it. I had just chalked it up to being a normal Michigan basement as it is called…which I still have never learned the reason why it’s called that, though I do often get various reasons thrown at me.

All I know is now there is some water coming in from someplace and I do have to have it checked out. I wouldn’t call the basement someplace that is actually livable, but it’s good enough to hide from a storm and also to have the washer and dryer down there. I also keep the Christmas decorations and some other items in storage down in our basement where unlike the attic, are easy to get to and some of the ornaments are keepsakes and I don’t want any dampness getting into them, and causing mold. So like I said, it’s time to call in a pro.

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Independence Day Wishes

This summer seems to be flying by and now it’s the 4th of July, and I’m wishing every one a very safe and happy Independence Day. We have no plans and since it has been raining and we’ve had storms, it looks like the day is going to be wet, to say the least. I feel for people in these parts who have planned big parties or BBQ’s, since we are expecting to have storms (heavy ones) all weekend, also.

To all my readers, family and friends…I wish you a very safe and happy 4th of July!

Fourth of July

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Changing internet services

For quite sometime I’ve not been happy with our internet server and I have been seriously thinking about changing internet service. I can’t see paying a whole lot of money only to be totally dissatisfied with a service that doesn’t help with questions, nor do I get the service I want for the cost I am paying right now. Sometimes the server crashes and is down for anywhere from an hour to three days. When I call to complain, I am promised that I will be refunded on the next bill but so far I’ve never gotten a refund of any kind.

When my work depends on the internet and ability to get and keep a connection, and I can’t…well, I seriously am thinking about switching to a more reputable dial-up internet. I have had a lot of folks tell me they like it, but on the flip side there are some folks who have told me it takes too long to get online and also that they have had problems with it. I think  in the long run I’d  have to try it out myself and see if I would be comfortable with it.

I have been checking out various companies who offer dial up and have found that I can save a great deal of money if I were to switch. I know from experience that I would actually have to have it set up and use it for a time to find out if indeed I will be happy with the results. Trial and error I suppose, which I’m more than willing to do since I am not happy with the service I have now.

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A work in progress

My daughter and I bought a small lake house to renovate and then sell, but the more we work in the place, the more we are starting to think of it as our special project that we are going to keep. I know this doesn’t look like much right now, but as you can see, we have totally gutted the inside of the house and hope to at least get much of it finished by the end of the summer.

It is amazing to me that we can work so well together on a project like this. We have very similar tastes in color and style. And she knows how to use the tools properly, because – I taught her!

My parents used to do these kind of projects while we were growing up. All of us kids were expected to pitch in and help with every project. Even the youngest kid was able to drag trash across the room to the trash can, or pick up trash from around the yard. The older kids would swing a hammer, paint, even hang cabinets. We spent a lot of time together as a family and when we were finished we had a beautiful home ready for some lucky family to live in!