Category: Life

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Fall is in the air

The leaves haven’t started to turn yet, but the smell of fall is indeed in the air. There is a crisp feeling outside that this season brings, and at night it’s been getting down right chilly. No frost yet, but it’s to come sooner than normal, I have a feeling.

Though I love colors of fall, I don’t like the fact that it means summer is over and that winter is just around the corner. It seems like we didn’t have much of a summer, despite of the drought.

We’ve been doing some home improvement around the house and outside in the yards. There were some walkways that needed tending to, as the stone was starting to get loose in places, so I hauled in some extra that I had saved, and made it fit where the loose ones were. I should say they aren’t really stone like most would think. These are actually flat rocks that the walkway is made of, and I’m glad I had the foresight to keep some back for just the purpose I needed them for.

All of the storm windows are now up and the glass windows are washed, the covered with padding and put away safely. Gutters will continue to be cleaned as the leaves come down and nearly all of my flower beds have been put to sleep for the winter. It sort of makes me sad, but it is what it is.

There of course is a lot more to do in order to make the house winterized and toasty for the winter, but I’m getting to it slowly but surely. Winter is not a good season for me, since I really hate snow and the cold, but if I have to live where we do indeed have lots and lots of snow and the temps get down below zero, I at least want a home that is warm and the next step is to start my winter survival shopping.

 

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Is it taste or just a coffee habit

My husband drinks coffee by the gallon. To me, this is caffeine to the extreme, and since all of a sudden it’s found he has high blood pressure, I decided to make some changes that I’ll admit, isn’t that honest, but I haven’t been asked about it, so I don’t need to volunteer the information just yet. Okay, pure and simple it’s not being totally honest because I care.

I bought an off brand that has only half the caffeine and put it in the canister his normal brand comes in, which was a blend loaded with extra caffeine. Mind you, this I figure is for his own good. At least in my way of thinking.

So far, so good. he’s not noticed and even said he had made an “exceptionally good pot of coffee” the morning after I did the switch. Next is the sugar intake. I’m sure I can find something as a look alike substitute. I’ve never seen or even heard of anyone who puts more sugar in a cup of coffee. It’s expensive and once again, worrisome to me. Of course if I’m asked, indeed I will tell him about the switch in the coffee. But if he likes it now and I’m saving a great deal of money, we’ll just keep it a secret for now.

 

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Laminate counters from Kitchen Magic

Since I am in the process of starting some home improvement projects for the winter months, I took a good hard look at my kitchen counters and then started looking on the internet where I found Kitchen Magic. I am quite impressed with what this company has to offer. I love the durability of laminate counters and it seems while everyone else is choosing wood, or stone at exorbitant prices, I wanted to go for not only beauty, but something that would handle the wear and tear of a regular household and be affordable.

With laminate counters, there is no dangerous fumes that a sealant could be released, nor is there any worry about radon that can also be released into the air. I don’t think people think of these things while buying counter tops. To me this would be very much of a concern, since food is of course prepared on counter tops and one can never be too cautious about these things.

With Kitchen Magic counter tops, I found that I could get counters that look like real stone or wood, without any worry about ruining the surface if they were accidentally cut or something hot was put on them. I’m leaning to getting these counter tops for my kitchen and I really can’t wait to get started on my next projects!

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Yard cleanup and missing summer

Every year when I clean up my yard and put all the summer things away, I get a dreadful feeling about winter weather. I love summer and since I despise winters here, I know I’m living in a place where I feel totally misplaced.

Already I’ve raked leaves in the front yard. Granted, not to many but they are falling off the big tree. I also have been collecting seeds, and pulling up dead annuals.

Closing the pool isn’t happening just yet, as my kids swim even if it is chilly out. The water has stayed semi warm but the air still has a chill to it that is obvious when they get out of the pool and have goose bumps all over their bodies. I’m going to miss summer so darn much I’m thinking about buying a heater for the pool

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Cold weather has moved in

Most people are saying the chilly weather we are now having feels great. I say I’m very cold and not enjoying it at all.

I believe if it wasn’t rainy and damp, this may be a refreshing change instead of having 105 degree temperatures for weeks, but it feels down right like a rainy fall. This rain has come too late for the farmers crops though. It’s sad

I can imagine what grocery prices are going to be like come winter…as if they weren’t high enough. It’s going to be a frugal winter.

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Still waiting for internet service

This is getting ridiculous. I’m still waiting for my internet service to be straightened out. I pay a lot of money to have service where I live and one would think they would be on the ball, so to speak about the issues I have been having.

So far I have had two tech guys come out…young guys, who seem to be more interested in their cell phone calls, which seem to be non business related, than fixing my service.

I am giving these guys one more chance and then I’m going to blow up when I call the provider. This may not be pretty if my service isn’t fixed fully.

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Vacation and no internet service

Usually when I take a vacation, it’s on the weekend, but I decide to take a few days during the week and go to some flea markets in Indiana. It was a great ride, and I loved taking in the scenery, but it’s so darn dry in that state from lack of rain…like most places I’ve visited that everything looked very dry.

I decided to take my lap top and at the little motel I stayed at advertised that they had free internet service, but they didn’t. Or, there was something wrong with the connection. I’m will however never stay at this particular motel again.

The owner or manager of the motel was not helpful at all, and actually acted like he had never heard of the internet or for that matter, computers in general. Even at the desk, everything was done by hand in a log. Guess I was sort of roughing it, but it was kind of relaxing and they had a pool.

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Enjoying the pool and duckie

When it comes to my kids and swimming, I do believe they are part fish. I personally was a spring and high board diver while I was growing up and then into my late teens. At one time I had considered training for the Olympics, but situations change and things happened that I never did get to go to tryouts. My youngest son has the diving gene in him also swims like a pro, but lately he’s smitten with a floating duck I brought for the grand kids.

We taught kids in our family how to swim as a natural part of our summer lives. We were always going to the water of some sort or fashion. Whether a pool, a deep creek or even the big Lake Michigan, we were always in or near the water on hot summer days.

I wish every kid had the chance to learn how to swim at an early age so they would never be afraid to be in or on the water. You have to learn young – before you become afraid of things like that. I think the perfect age is 4 or 5 for most children. Some people even like to take babies in the water and teach them proper breathing techniques. I think that is wonderful – we need more of this in our children’s lives.

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Garden planning for next year

This years gardens and lawns did not do well at all. It’s sad because I had seeded, planted and even reseeded in hopes that my plants and flowers could or might do well despite of lack of rain. I was wrong. Even watering from the hose didn’t help.

I’ve been looking at various seeds and plants that might do well despite the lack of rain, in case next summer is anything like this summer has been. In our growing area, it’s pretty sparse pickings. No pun intended.

In the mean time, I’m trying to get the remodeling of my bathroom finished, so at least I’ll have the extra money to plant new flowers, plants and veggies next spring. Hopefully, that will be finished toward the middle of next month if all goes well with the plumbing. As far as my gardens go…I’m still trying to water, but it’s a loosing battle.

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In need of outdoor furniture repair

Because of someone, meaning my sons and husband, seem to have had a small party over the weekend, they or their friends went a bit overboard and now I am in need of someone who specializes in outdoor furniture repair. Around here, this is no easy task. I really like the furniture I have and want to keep it, but I know that it might be hard to repair or heaven’s forbid cost more than it would take to replace it. But I’m bound and determined to have my old furniture repair. It matches my deck and all of the other finishing touches I added that also mate the furniture.

To refinish patio furniture, I want someone who knows exactly what they are doing and I believe I have found such people to do this. I’m glad, since my furniture is not antique, but it is vintage and I’m really partial to all of it.

I have one patio chair that is going to need a whole lot of work. It is my favorite and happens to be the chair I always sit in. It looks like it went though a hurricane and was spit back out by the wind and ocean, after being dragged to yonder and back. I indeed will be needing a patio chair repair person who knows exactly what they are  doing. I know for a fact that the next time I go away, there will be no parties or disrespectful people here, but at least I found people who can fix my furniture, at a good price, so I don’t have to go out an buy new things that can’t compare with the good items I have.