Lookin' Out the Back Door

Should've taken "before" photos...but didn't.  Just overnight the trees have started dropping their leaves like crazy.  Fall has fell!  They're coming down like big yellow snowflakes. (These pictures were taken about noon today...and we've had some pretty good wind all day - 25-35 mph with gusts to 40 is what Channel 22 was reporting - so I'm betting the leaves are considerably deeper now.)  The weird brown box on the right edge of the second photo is the corner of my neighbor's house.  That wall is actually straight up and down...the photo's crooked...new camera, ya know.  (We all have weird brown boxes that we live in....AND I LOVE IT!!!)  There were two bright red maples in the easement out front...but they're now just sticks, no leaves.

It's been really pretty here.  I hadn't ridden for a couple of weeks because I was babying an eye issue..but last Sunday Carol and I rode to Nickerson (32 miles) and Monday Carol, Mary, and I rode to Partridge (43.84 miles!!!)   So pretty much Monday was kind of "lost" after that.  Had a shower, had some soup, that about covers it.  I hadn't ridden much in the past two weeks and it pretty much used me up.  Sure felt great at the time though.

We didn't get in a ride yesterday as I had an eye appointment (and got a good report on healing.)  Carol and I had planned to ride this morning and a big dark cloud was looming overhead, so we didn't.  By the time the clouds passed (and a tiny dribble of rain), the wind was up.  Tomorrow maybe.

More about "The Dog"

I've said it more than once...even more than twice:  She's gotta be part cat!!!

I said, "There goes the trash truck..." and this is where she decided was ok to go to see out.  And then she stayed there for awhile.  Goofy, huh?  No...that's Schiz...also apropos.

Update on Schiz face!

Becky sent me this photo which she based the painting on...even better, huh???!!!!

Cousins Visit

My cousins, Shon and Becky (sisters) came to visit today.  One from near Manhattan, the other from near Topeka.  Both are extremely artistic and talented.  They brought me a house-warming/birthday gift...one, a bottle of chocolate wine that looks and sounds delicious...and two:

Becky  hand-painted this picture of Schiz!!!  And she NAILED it!!!  Here's a shot of Schiz with a little longer hair about a year and a half ago

Isn't this just great??  I love it!!!  Thank you!

After lunch at the Anchor Inn, a stop at the DQ for sundaes, and a great visit with lots of laughs and memories, they had to head back home.  I could spend a lot more time with them...we never run out of topics to discuss!!!

Count your blessings....you'll be amazed!

Mission Desk

Ok...here's my latest project:  sorry if the picture is small...it's the best I can do!  Now...just so ya know...I ordered this and received it back in July.  Since then I've moved and am beginning to get settled so today I decided to open the box.  When one orders something like this and it arrives in a 90 lb. box that's not over 6 inches thick, one should probably have a clue.  Well...actually...I did...even before I ordered it!  There are 162 pieces of hardware and 37 pieces of wood...all "to be assembled."  Nothing is together.  Currently it resides in/on the dining room table...and all around the dining room walls.  Tomorrow's another day!

I'm beginning to get fairly well settled in my new home.  And...I love it!  For the past three days I've been cleaning windows (inside and out) and wooden venetian blinds.  Lots of them!  8 windows in living room, 7 in master bedroom, 1 big wide double window in dining room and 1 in kitchen.  All that's left is the guest room...and it'll just have to wait.

Well...it's now 24 hours (or more) since those first two paragraphs were written...and my how stuff changes!
My camera decided not to work...wasn't batteries...finally got it to turn on...took pix...thought I was downloading them...but now can't find them. Got message "no new photos"...and my sweet disposition thought:  Oh my...maybe I need a new camera.  SO.....I went to Wally world and bought a new camera.  Not a real high dollar fancy job...that would be a waste for me...but a nice little Nikon.  SKINNY!!!!!  I'm still learning but I think I like it.  So..now I'll try to add some photos to this post:

Photos1 - 2 - 3 above..add about 4 hours time...and you get photo 4!!  Wasn't too tough at all...once I figured out that #6 screws are not #9 screws.  Kept thinking "well...these aren't gonna be big enough to support this...", then figured out I was using the wrong hardware!  DUH!

 
 These are living room windows...now clean inside and out and wooden blinds wiped down individually with a damp rag...sorry, but Swiffer just doesn't do it for me.

And hidden behind these drapes are three more just like the living room windows...these are in the master bedroom however.

And this one is in the dining room...and there's another one in the kitchen (and two more in the guest bedroom..but they aren't done yet!)  Remember "back in the old days"...ever go to the library and look something up on a fish (fiche???)...and after awhile you feel like you're going to tip over and fall off the chair?  Well...cleaning blinds does that too!!!

And the latest news of the day:  someone (much nicer term than I've been using) hit my mailbox and polycarts in town at "my other house"...the one that is sold and we close on Monday.  WHY couldn't they have waited one more week?  Anyway..no great damage other than I need to get a new mailbox post and mailbox put up for the new owner.  Tomorrow.... already got the handyman lined up.

If I'm not drunk Monday evening I'll not know why!  This has been the most frustrating house sale I've ever been involved with...and I've been in a few.  More on that MAYBE after I have her money in my hands!  Ok...one short story....long small window beside front door...frosted design but one can still see through it...I'd had plain white contact paper on it, but had removed it when I put the house up for sale.  I mentioned that to the buyer at the time of inspection (as she'd commented that she'd need some covering on that window)... So....she called me...asked if I still had that contact paper!  HUH?  Yeah...sure...No, I threw it away.  Then she wanted to know if I had anymore and I told her no....and the beat goes on!  See, I told ya so!  Come on, Monday!!!!!

Count your blessings.... I do.  Oh yeah...been a little rainy or rainy-ish here...haven't ridden much in the past few days...but I have about 3600 miles for the year so far!  And I've lost a few pounds too..and with my diet that IS amazing!!!  Micky D's   3/$1 chocolate chip cookies...VERY familiar with those!

An Update of Sorts...Kinda ...

Much, much, much has happened in my life in the past six weeks or so...but honestly, not much I care to post here.

Mainly I've bought a different house.  I've moved.  I've sold the other house.  I'm still riding quite a few miles every day...usually between 32 and 42 per day.  I've been so busy I can't even tell you what my total for the year is right now.  I've kept it...it's on another computer...and it's just not currently handy.  But we ride nearly daily and usually about the same number of miles.

On one of our rides we discovered (well...I'm sure it wasn't undiscovered or lost..it was simply the first we all knew about it) an incredible, beautiful garden.  HUGE!!!  I assume that's somewhat what a commercial garden looks like.  The Amish lady that was out in the garden told us they have seven children and they all help.  We were on bicycles that particular day so we didn't buy anything, but a few days later the three of us took a car and bought some fresh veggies.  Yummy!!!!   They have simply everything and it's an extraordinarily well groomed garden.

Yesterday we had rain.  You know, that stuff that falls from the sky and it's wet.  Well, we actually had a great rain all day long.  Evidently it seemed a lot nicer that what it actually was, as the weatherman said we had some small amount (like .34 inch)...and it seemed like we surely had at least an inch!  We need rain so badly that we're excited to get ANY!  At my new place I'm told I should expect to see deer and turkeys on a regular basis.  Yesterday turkeys were in the neighbor's yard and they were soaked....still struttin' their stuff, but black and slick with rain.  I have a wooded area behind my house that I lovingly refer to as "my woods."   I keep peeking out the windows at dawn and dusk hoping to see a deer, but not yet.

Some of you will remember that I had a bit of a conflict over a different place that I'd tried to buy and the dingbat that was selling it changed her mind.  Long story...not here.  I can only say that someone was watching over me...I love this new place.  It's unique and I think just gorgeous.  A good friend of mine came out and kept saying over and over again, "Wow."....."Wow."   Later she called and said she had come up with the perfect expression to describe my place:  "Wow."     I feel the same way.  Neatest place I've had yet!

Life is good and I'm always happy to count my blessings...they're many!!!  Count yours too.

Friendships

One of the women I ride with every day sent this to me...it struck home!

They Teach It at Stanford 

In an evening class at Stanford the last lecture was on the mind-body

connection - the relationship between stress and disease. The speaker (head of

psychiatry at Stanford) said, among other things, that one of the best things

that a man could do for his health is to be married to a woman whereas for a

woman, one of the best things she could do for her health was to nurture her

relationships with her girlfriends. At first everyone laughed, but he was

serious.

Women connect with each other differently and provide support systems that

help each other to deal with stress and difficult life experiences.

Physically this quality “girlfriend time" helps us to create more serotonin -

a neurotransmitter that helps combat depression and can create a general feeling

of well being. Women share feelings whereas men often form relationships around

activities. They rarely sit down with a buddy and talk about how they feel

about certain things or how their personal lives are going. Jobs? Yes. Sports?

Yes. Cars? Yes. Fishing, hunting, golf? Yes. But their feelings? Rarely.

Women do it all of the time. We share from our souls with our sisters/mothers,

and evidently that is very good for our health. He said that spending time with

a friend is just as important to our general health as jogging or working out at

a gym.

There's a tendency to think that when we are "exercising" we are doing

something good for our bodies, but when we are hanging out with friends, we are

wasting our time and should be more productively engaged—not true.

In fact, he said that failure to create and maintain quality personal

relationships with other humans is as dangerous to our physical health as

smoking!

So every time you hang out to schmooze with a gal pal, just pat yourself on

the back and congratulate yourself for doing something good for your health! We

are indeed very, very lucky.

Sooooo… let's toast to our friendship with our girlfriends. Evidently it’s

very good for our health.

Life isn't about surviving the storm; but how you dance in the rain.

It's R A I N I N G ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Well, that may not seem like such a big deal to some of you, but we central-Kansans are in dire need of rain.  Yeah...means I didn't get to ride this morning...but it's beginning to clear off a little (and we didn't get NEARLY enough rain) so I may get in a ride yet today.

My "main" riding buddy is in Colorado for the next week or two but Mary and I rode to Nickerson yesterday morning.  We had planned to ride today but it was wet.  Tomorrow and Thursday Mary has other plans so I may have to just get out there and DO IT!  So much easier and so much more fun with others.

I stopped by over at a friend's house this a.m. and she has a not-quite-6-month old Yorkie.  He's up to 3 lbs. 5 oz. now.  Without a doubt the cutest thing I've ever seen.  Brutus!  I didn't have my camera with me but I have to get photos soon (if I can get him slowed down enough.)  They're having a 6-month birthday party for him September 4...maybe then.

Hope you're getting rain if you need it...hope we get a little more.  

Too Funny Not To Post

My apologies in advance...but this just cracks me up!  A cousin sent me this as an email and it just made me laugh!

I suggest all men should boycott Kohl's until the cruelty stops!!!

Neighbor's Cactus

This is my neighbor's cactus.  My understanding is that it only blooms once per year...and it had 22 blooms.  It still has a BUNCH more buds that she assures me will still open.  I didn't get there in time to take pictures when it was fully open...but I took pictures of her pictures.  This would almost be reason enough to have a cactus...but I don't have a very good history with cactus.  Gorgeous, huh?