Coffee Chat: Rainy Day At Home

Hello dears.  Coffee will be ready in a moment.  Did you get too wet outdoors?  Mind you it's been raining for about 12 hours and has only just slowed down a bit.  John asked me to stay home today since there was so much rain and I honored his request.  Traffic was bad enough yesterday when he and I were out that I wasn't too keen on going to Perry with wet roads and diving in and out of places getting soaked through and chilled, too.  Mama said she knew when it began to rain so heavily in the early hours that I'd be cancelling if it didn't let up.  She was none too keen to go out in it herself.



I've been busy this week doing everything but exactly what I'd planned to do.  Mind you I did plan to bake but it went so easily, I never felt a bit of strain.  I fit it in between doing other things and it worked out very well for me.  However, shopping this week, besides getting groceries, never happened.  I've tried to leave home four times to do the last of my shopping with absolutely no success.  Each time I've had to change my plans.  At this point, I'm thinking I'm just not meant to go out to shop and I'll take the hint.

We've had some lovely days this week which were much appreciated after the wet end of week we had last week.  Bess came by on Monday and the boys played outdoors for just about the whole of the visit.  The yard was still a bit squishy but I kept steering them out of the muddy places and they actually managed to stay clean.  Isaac was thrilled to walk up the steps next to the tree.  He kept pointing up to the top of the pecan and the sweet gum.  I think those big trees, which are bigger than most in his yard, were just beautiful to him.  He kept saying "Pitty, pitty."

Tuesday, we went to pick up the bicycle that John won in a raffle.  Silly me.  I'd thought it was a woman's bike and I was all gung ho to have it.  John mentioned on Sunday morning that he was thinking of donating it and I was okay with that but a little disappointed I wasn't even going to get a chance to ride it once.  When I saw the bike on Tuesday, I knew there was no way I'd be riding it anyway.  It was a men's bike and so tall that the cross bar was well above my waist.  John mentioned grandchildren riding it but they will have to be fully grown teens before they can!  In the meantime, the bike is in the shed with the mower and eventually, knowing my husband, he'll come across someone who has a teen boy or is a man who will casually mention his desire for a bike and off it shall go.

Yesterday we went off to buy groceries at Aldi.  I didn't bother to try and stock up on much.  I was mostly concentrating on our family party needs and how much room I might spare in the fridge for the cold items.  I mean to prep things this afternoon but I was ready to have a bit of a sit down and to talk.  I've got nothing but time on my hands today, since I'd hurried through housework after we got back from shopping so that I might have today to visit with Mama.

I slipped outside earlier to take a photo of the sodden yard with all it's deep trenches from big trucks this week.   The Fed Ex driver got her smaller truck stuck on Saturday.  John got her free and told her when she got started not to stop until she was on the main drive into the property.   He fussed a bit after she'd left about the state of his yard, but I pointed out that the driveway is not marked and people who seldom come cannot be expected to know just where to pull up.  I suggested we lay out landscape timbers to mark it out and he said he would hit them with his mower.  I told him that he couldn't fuss over much then if others had no clue where exactly they were meant to drive.

Yesterday, just after we returned from shopping and before the car was unloaded the bit truck came to pick up the skip.  Well he did indeed make a mess of the yard and it had four days to dry out since Saturday, though as I noted it was all still a bit squishy on Monday.   He made an even bigger mess.  John backfilled all of the holes and tamped the grass back into place but the rain has caused the dirt to sink and so the trenches are deep scars on the ground now.   It's all a bit of a mess.  I'm not expecting any deliveries and should our propane truck come he will park in the main drive and walk to the house to check the tank before chancing coming up the driveway. note:   he drove up and backed down and out which worked just as well.


You can see some of the deep scars here...and the newly painted sheds that I finished up early last month.  And lots and lots of water standing in the yard.  Water will be running down the ditch banks like waterfalls.  So glad I called the county road crew back to clear out the ditches they filled in when they scraped the road.  I knew full well we'd have a mucky messy road if they didn't come back.  They are good to come when called.

You haven't seen the pets in quite  a while and I don't believe any of you have even officially met Charlie Rufus.

 Maddie's looking older...The white about her eyes and nose is whiter than ever.  She still thinks she's just out of puppy stage, though.

Misu never seems to age but she is older than Maddie.  I think we got Maddie in 2010 and I feel reasonably sure that Misu was brought home in her 1st year around 2008.   I don't think I've ever had a cat for as long as I've had her.  The odds are against outdoor cats and increase even more when you live in the country.  The average life expectancy of any outdoor cat is two years.  So you see how remarkable it is that I've had Misu here for 12 years.

This is Charlie Rufus.  He is an older dog, with flecks of grey in his black fur, but exactly how old I couldn't tell you.  He was my niece's dog, a stray she'd picked up and then abandoned when she left the little house over the field.  My brother went up and watered and fed him. I said often I'd bring the poor old thing home but my family members tend to be singularly possessive about things and pets even if they don't want them.

When Sam and Bess bought the place we joked that the dog "came with the house", which related back to a story that a friend of mine told me about the two hundred year old home they'd bought in a small town.  They woke up the morning after they'd moved in and found a very old black woman in the kitchen cooking breakfast.  She said "I's come with the house..." and she worked for them and nannied all the children until she was too old to work any longer and then she just stayed with them until her passing.

My niece dubbed the dog Charlie but Josh insisted his name was Rufus, so he is now Charlie Rufus.  When Sam and Bess started coming back and forth as they worked on the house, Rufus followed them here.  He and Maddie became great pals and thoroughly enjoy one another's companionship.  They play about all the time.

He's a great little dog.   I thought when Bess moved, Rufus would, too, but no.  He's here every morning and he's quite protective of me when the delivery men come by.  He'll stand near me and as they approach he moves forward slowly, growling more intensely with each step.  As they retreat, so does he.  He goes each afternoon to Bess and if he can lure her out he likes to play rough with her for a bit.  We think he's got a third house he watches over as well because there are times when he's neither here nor there.    Like Maddie, he loves the children so they needn't fear him in their play.

I tried to trim his eyebrows back so he could see this morning but he was having none of that.  He'll let Bess do it.  He's got the sweetest brown eyes.

I thought you'd like to see the little cabinet I got for the kitchen.  I'm no good with dimensions.  I know what size things are because I do use measuring tapes to see, but I really failed to comprehend how small this cabinet would look on this big wall.  It holds everything I need it to hold, but I really need a much larger cabinet simply because the piece is so dwarfed by the space it occupies.   Well never mind that now.  The cabinet is sturdy and is not broken and was absolutely the best I could afford at the time.  There were larger, cheaper cabinets that looked cheap and I wanted a nice looking piece.  Eventually I'll have more money and will be able to buy a bigger piece to go here, and I'll likely purpose this one for holding fabric in my sewing room or install it in a bath to hold towels, etc.
In the meantime, it serves nicely where it is.



I had just so much I wanted to say earlier and as I've talked I've gotten all off subject and into a rather picture heavy post instead.

Since July I've discovered vlogs.  I like Coffee with Kate, Budget Girl, Out In The Country, Tiny Notes From Home, The Life I'm Living, among a few others but I'm always looking for new ones.  Do you view any vlogs on a regular basis?  I think vlogs are the wave of the future, I do.  I've considered how to go about doing one myself but I'm just not sure that I have either the right equipment or the persona for a vlog.  I'm much, much better in edited form, believe me, lol!  I ramble on and misspeak and lose myself in minute details that mean nothing  And too, John is uncomfortable with my sharing too much on the blog so far as pictures go.  I imagine he'd be really nervous if I started sharing videos of the house and such.   Never mind all that.  If you do view vlogs, I'd love to hear which ones you like so I can check them out.

I have had a spell of not sleeping well again.  I went off the progesterone as I started having a continuous headache and mood swings while on it, so I dropped off that.  I recently came off all the anti-anxiety medication, having reduced it as far as I might.  I don't really know what the solution may be for me, but I'm going to research every single thing about what promotes sleep and what prevents it and try all natural holistic remedies that I might.  John finds lavender an unpleasant scent so I'm reluctant to use it often in my home.  I have given in and gone back to bed the last two or three mornings that he's gone off to work and each time I find that I not only sleep about two hours more but I feel quite rested and my body seems to respond well with less pain and kinks, as well as clearing the brain fog I begin to feel as night after night rocks on with less and less sleep.   If this had not been a very real life long battle for me, I'd probably have taken it much more seriously but I find as I get older the effects of the lack of sleep are increasingly noticeable.   I have the luxury of being able to go back to bed a few mornings a week and sleeping a little longer if necessary on other mornings, so I am taking advantage of it.

I've had a few passing thoughts for next year, things I'd like to consider doing, things I'd like to buy, things I'd like to see come to fruition, etc. but this year I seem to be preoccupied with many things and so I've give no real deep thought to anything much just yet.  I've hinted at things in my journal and inspiration notebook but I expect next week to slow down and really concentrate.  This family day will be done, the holiday for us will be over except for the small amount of removing décor I will do the last day of the month.  I am not planning any major zone work or anything else for that final week.  Instead, I mean to do nothing but sit and plan the year ahead and work on my budget with variations for retirement scenarios.

I feel a bit as though I am behind times doing all this planning the last week of the month but when I look over my life this past autumn, I realize we've just plain been busy.  I have only one project left that I want to finish before the end of the year and that is painting the last of the outside of the chifforobe.  The interior can wait but I will finish the outside work.

Did you realize that tomorrow is Winter Solstice?  The shortest day of the entire year will occur tomorrow and from there the days will grow a little longer on a daily basis.  In my planning I'm going to try to make notes on seasonal things I want to be sure and enjoy this coming year.  Like hot cocoa on a cold winter's night  and the warming glow of our little propane heater and the weight of an afghan or putting on socks warm from the dryer and brisk walks on brisk windy days.    I can think of so many wonderful seasonal treats as I sit here to think but then I get busy and forget to savor the season.  I want to find the balance between busy enough to feel I've worked well and achieve a sense of satisfaction and savoring the NOW of my life, you know?  I feel so much of it just goes by in a dark whirl, seen out of the corner of my eye as it spins away and time is lost.

I seem to have run down so I guess I shall go ahead and see what I might prep ahead for the family party on Saturday.  I'm thinking I'm pretty much down to making the dips as all else will have to wait until last minute.

Bye, dears!