Looking up and looking down

 The garage sale has been a success, lots of items found new homes. Most of what is left will be donated.

I was stung by a wasp in the morning, but he barely got me so no huge reaction just a little owwie and some swelling. Granddaughter Maddie spent the morning helping me with the sale. Jen and Andy helped on and off throughout their busy day. 

Here is my looking up photo..  Little Elvis is looking up but showing his age and is more senile than he was a few weeks ago. I have told him it is okay to just slip away in his sleep, but of course he cannot hear anymore, can hardly see…but his nose is still good. 

My looking down photo is a plate of steak that my talented son in law grilled for supper last night with salad and corn on the cob…it was all excellent. 

These were the left overs resting.  Nothing better than a great steak! 

I believe Far Guy will be coming to get me sometime today, then we will head back home together. 

Far Side

Sale

 Lots of stuff for sale Up North

At least the rain stopped!

Garage is ready for the big sale. Sadie has been really good staying under the check out table near my feet.

Lots of good conversations with different people. Sales could be better but they are what they are.

Far Guy managed his infusion back home all by himself, he will be back to pick me up one day soon. 

Far Side

Seeing Green

 The grass is finally green...hurt your eyes green.  It rained enough to turn the grass green!

There are plenty of acorns dropping all over...I hate when I step on them.  Far Guy reports that on the West side of the house you can roll along. 

I will have to mow again soon... Far Guy got me new mulching blades for my lawn mower.  Seems I wore that last pair of blades out....they had not much chop or beat to death left in them.  He put them on the mower for me.  

I finished up the garage sale with my parents...got their garage mostly back in shape again.  They got rid of lots of "stuff."  So it was a success!

Onward and forward to the next project.   Not sure what that is yet.  I should make a list. 

I took some time to look at some Nativity Stamps....I ordered one and I will see how it works out for Christmas cards. 

Far Side

Blast from the past: a coat

 My Mother keeps many things.  Imagine my surprise when I opened up a tote and found a fake fur coat I wore back in the early 1970's. 

It had great pockets...but it was very short...it had to be dry cleaned until the day I threw it in the washing machine and it didn't fall apart.

I marked it a quarter and a young lady was thrilled to have it!   I think my Mom was going to use the fur to make something and never got around to it. 

Far Side

Busy Days

 Busy days at my parents garage sale.  They got rid of lots of "stuff."  There were only two garage sales in town on Saturday just one block apart so we had lots of business.

My baby brother was there yesterday afternoon, Mom asked him to change a light bulb in the garage....the ceilings are very high.  Long story short he fell off the ladder onto the concrete hitting his back and head. He fell a long ways down; the ladder it is a five foot ladder and my brother is over six feet tall.   I did a quick assessment...he could move everything and didn't want an ambulance called.  His bride took him to Urgent Care where he was x-rayed and nothing is broken...just lots of muscle pain.   Thank goodness it could have been much worse but he will be pretty miserable for a few days.

Baxter came home with me for awhile...after we closed up the garage sale for Mom and Dad.  

I am way TOO OLD to have that big adrenalin rush...when I was younger and an EMT it was just an everyday occurrence.  Not so much anymore.

 

Far Side

Sunday Visits

 I finished setting up for Mom's Garage Sale,  she who sees Robins first showed up and with her help we made quick work of what was left to set out.   It got real warm before I headed home.  My Dad was having a really good day...he knew who I was and knew my brother too! 

I have a cousin who is going to be a Grandpa for the very first time as both of his daughters are expecting babies.   We dropped off gifts for the upcoming baby showers and had a good visit with him and his wife. 

 

The sky was very orange when we headed home.

My other baby brother and she who sees Robins first stopped by just before dark. 

Far Side

Tired

 It was a busy day and I am tired.  

I spent most of the day at my parents.  Dad was so excited to see me!  He was having a good day...he remembered I was the oldest "kid" and my name! He even recalled where he was when I was born and how when he came home from Korea it was like I knew him as I held my arms out so he could take me. He said that I was what got him through the tough times in Korea. 

Mom and I worked on sorting and marking things in her garage for a garage sale later in the month.

When I got home I had a nap...then helped Far Guy with supper...ham, sweet corn and fresh peaches. After supper I went out to the garage and cleaned up another corner and organized some stuff, filled bird feeders, picked and watered tomatoes.  Felt like I needed to kill something so I grabbed the roundup and went to my other baby brothers shop and killed weeds, and filled my mower with gas. Straightened up the patio...cause we may get a rain storm...probably not but you never know.  

The next County over from us (where my parents live) is a new hot spot for Covid according to the CDC. A little church in the nearest town...the Pastor and his Wife got Covid and exposed the whole congregation. 

Minnesota is offering $100 dollar Visa cards for people who are newly vaccinated.  Apparently they are not being overrun with people to vaccinate.  The anti vaxers are digging in their heels...so sad that they cannot bring themselves to help protect young children who cannot get the vaccine.  Not sure why they think the way they do...I think it is selfish.   We cannot get herd immunity unless it is a good effort...the virus will keep mutating and soon it will be a super virus that there will be no vaccination for.  Well enough of a rant for today. 

Thank you to those of you that got the vaccination...you did your part! 

Far Side   

Busy Monday

 We are all done with the garage sale now, our last day was Saturday, we did quite well and got rid of lots of "stuff."   Monday morning I packed up a few things (mostly books) and donated them to the thrift shop in town.  They are happy to get the donations! I am packing up a few things to take to my parents...they want to have a garage sale sometime in August. ...so I will help them with their sale.  

I put away the signs and straightened up...and then a cold front blew in and it rained a bit not much but it was wet. 

I have a few more mornings to work out in the garage before I can relinquish it back to the new old car/Tilly.

Mom called in the afternoon...they admitted Dad to the hospital for IV's to try to get his Cellulitis under control.  He will be there a few days.  He might have to miss Bingo this week.

One of the fawns in our yard...they are tasting my flowers.  

Supper was  an adventure.  I was following a recipe and figured it was just not going to work for us.  So I made my own version.  It was pretty good!  Kinda like a chicken pot pie.   Add I can cream of chicken soup to about 2 cups of cooked shredded chicken, add about a half of a can of water, stir well and put in baking dish, top with Crescent rolls...just stretch them out...at this point I was exclaiming loudly that I sure hope this works...Far Guy said "Do you know what you are doing?"  Nope but I put some cojack cheese on top and baked it for about 25 minutes...and it was tasty. 

Far Side

Hanging out

Yesterday we hung out at the garage sale all day.  We had some customers even though it was a warm day.  Today we have shortened the hours as it is supposed to get real warm and we need our naps. 

We had a picker come by and buy a bunch of stuff.  I don't care if they resell "stuff."  Better at their place than ours. 

For supper I steamed those Crawfish...yum...but I have forgotten how much work they are to eat.  They had good flavor.  Not as good as in the Gulf Coast...but still good.  So much for our foodie adventure!

Towards dark we went to town stopped by DQ and then drove over to the  Church parking lot...the fairgrounds is right across the highway.  We ate our ice cream and watched the rides. 

This one gave you a two minute ride and one time over the top...sometimes two times...the two times was probably screaming girls...and they wanted to hear them scream again. 

It was a good date night! 

Far Side

Quiet Sunday

 It was a quiet sale day, I got some more sorting done in the garage and washed my baby brothers Gator.  We got rid of several big items...a plow, disk and an old hog feeder.  Several people were interested in the plow and disk so we had more company!  

In the evening we went for a ride. 

The sun was fire red most likely due to the Wildfires in Canada.

The neighbors Sorghum field.  Sorghum looks like corn but much shorter.  It will be baled once it is dry.

We have a busy week coming up...Tuesday is the only day we have as a free day. 

Far Side

Another sale day

 We had a good sale day yesterday.  It hardly seems like we are making progress because we keep adding items.  Saw a neighbor we had not seen in quite awhile...known for his jokes.  Had a number of out of State customers. 

One more day today and we will close up for the week.  We will see what next weekend brings. 

I walked through the East Wildflower area after supper...I need to put on my boots and take care of some poison ivy...again.  Leaves of three let it be...or let me spray it away:)

That is PI snuggled up to the Gaillardia....PI is an opportunist plant...it will snuggle up to something worthwhile to increase its chances of survival. 

We took a short ride and took care of some more Canada Thistle....miserable stuff anyways.  There was an area I was hesitant to drive into...but Far Guy managed.

The East Wildflower area is finally getting some Milkweed.  Not sure that it will flower this year because it is so dry. 

We have been noticing an increase in Monarch Butterflies around the yard.

Far Side

Stuff

 Animals are just like people...some are better babysitters than others. 

This years calves must like their babysitter. 

We are busy again with the ongoing weekend garage sale.  Getting rid of "stuff"  when no one is around I have been working in the other garage trying to clear some "stuff" out....finding out from Far Guy what stuff goes with other stuff.  I will most likely forget...but he has forgotten about some of the stuff he has out there.  "Oh yea I remember that now."

Far Side

Progress

 We are making progress selling "stuff."  Many of my cousins have visited so that has been fun also.   The weather has been a tad warm sticky hot.  We will take a break from sales this week and see what the weather does next weekend.  We run the sale about six hours a day so we can get in our nap time.  We take the signs down and close the gate...it works for us.

We went for a ride the other night...we heard that the neighbors have a new driveway....of course we had to check it out.

Seems kinda strange to have gravel roads from all directions and then a tar road on an old farm....it takes all kind to make the world go round.  

Last night we were cooking supper and then lost power for a couple of hours.  Cheese, crackers and fruit was supper.  Not sure what happened but it was a widespread outage. 

Far Side

Bear news and other stuff

 The bear is still around.  I forgot to bring the feeders in one night and went out in the dark very late to get them.  He is visiting my brother's dumpster every night.  I can see where he is also digging up ant hills and he tipped over a bench that we have along the back road.   He may have to be relocated....My other baby brother has one of those dumpsters that has to be unloaded by a truck...I wonder where the bear sleeps:)

In other news, I finally got the garage cleaned out and got everything put out for a garage sale the next few weekends.  We had a trial run yesterday and sold some stuff to relatives and friends.  We will see how it goes.   We got in some good visits yesterday!

We had a really nice rain yesterday...we heard thunder...a first for this year!  It sounded good!  The grass is greening up again...and I will probably have to mow soon.  We got about 4/10 of an inch of rain,

 

We have a nesting pair of Bluebirds...but I have yet to get a photo.   When I was cleaning out the garage I found my Ant tucked away...so I put her by the bird bath again this year....she makes me smile! 

Far Side

Garage Sale

I have spent the week getting ready for a garage sale.  The garage is as clean as it gets, tables are covered with quality junk and hopefully sales will be good and I can cross this off my list.

I didn’t find any surprises in the totes that have been accumulating out there.  I did find a few totes I had hidden upstairs, so hopefully I will have some empty ones after the sale.

It may rain on Friday but highs are supposed to be near 70 degrees.  The neighbors will stop by and we will visit, sometimes garage sales are kinda a social thing. Sometimes I think we just trade junk.

Chance will be in the house or on his lead…he thinks everyone that comes into the yard is his long lost friend. 

We took time out yesterday to go to a garage sale ourselves and I bought two old photographs!   Far Guy went to the Shot Clinic and got his Kenalog Injection.  He gets that about every three months.  So it was a busy week.

Salvia in my small flower bed.

Project Updates: Glass Flowers and Ornaments

Now that the weather has turned cooler I have been working on some more glass flowers.

That basket on the bottom is chipped but it was a perfect color to go with that Forest Green sauce dish.  This creation has the basket with the handle, a bowl, a plate, the green sauce dish and a candle holder.  I am running out of stakes…I need some that are heavy duty…onward and forward to bigger PVC pipe!

This one is a blue vase, a bowl, a candle holder, a blue plate and the weirdest/cutest little square container I turned upside down.  Last weekend we hit a garage sale where glassware was 25 cents each…how could you go wrong?

The Christmas Ornament count is now at 61, I finished five this week.  12 left to go…I am getting real tired of that project.  I anticipate I will finish before Christmas.

 

Wild Flowers Birds and Sales

The last few days have been kinda wild around here getting ready for the garage sale.  Getting everything unpacked…and more corners cleaned out.  It is all set.  The sale begins at 7AM and I suppose I will have people waiting at the gate by 6:45.  The weather is supposed to be  68 F or 20 C eh!  We might have rain showers in the afternoon.  There are two other large sales out in this area so we will probably get a good turn out.

The Hoary Puccoons are in full bloom.  I first saw them peeking out on Sunday June 1 2014.  I can tell you from the note in my Wildflower book that I first noticed it blooming on May 16, 2010…so was that an unusual year?  Maybe.  I think Aldo Leopold kept records on the Hoary Puccoon for nine years.

“Tell me of what plant-birthday a man takes notice, and I shall tell you a good deal about his vocation, his hobbies, his hay fever, and the general level of his ecological education.” Aldo Leopold

Of course the Hoary Puccoons are hard to miss, they grow wild in the ditches before the grass has a chance to grow real tall.

Puccoon is a Native American name for any plant that can be used for dye.  The root will make a reddish dye.  All the wool people would love it as a natural dye.

I stalked this American Goldfinch for awhile one day.  They sure can sing.

The Oaks are filling out finally and with all the rain we have had in the last week the grass is growing like mad.   I mowed on Monday and I will try to mow again tomorrow or I will have to make hay instead of cutting the grass.

I am feeling better.  I am cautiously optimistic that I am on the road to recovery.  Far Guy says “You are not that much better”  My optimism sometimes gets a reality check by his pessimism.  Time will tell.  My head no longer throbs and my fingernails and teeth no longer hurt..so that means I am better!

Outhouse

Some days we just have to get out of the house.  One day we managed to travel about 20 miles into the boonies to an estate sale.  It was located just off a forest service road…or the end of one.  Much of the land had been clear cut.  It must have been a beautiful forest one day and will be again …in time.  Finally after meeting several cars on a barely one lane two track road we arrived. 

The estate sale had lots of “guy stuff.”  I bought an blue speckled enamel pot with a lid…nothing special.  We visited with the folks there.  I tried on a Shotgun for size..Far Guy laughed when I shouldered the gun…the barrel was way too long for me.

They had a new fangled outhouse complete with a vent.  I asked if I could take a photo and they said “Yes, but be sure to get a photo of the inside too!”

A cushioned seat with a view.  The windows had screens, fancy smancy.   There were even curtain rods for curtains. It was a fine out house.

I grew up using an outhouse, we didn’t get an indoor bathroom until I was in the third grade.  This one looks like the Taj Mahal of outhouses:)

 

Winey Snob

I do like a glass of champagne every once in awhile.  I have about 4 small one serving bottles in the fridge …they have been there about a year.  Cooks I believe is the brand. I must be ageing them. I love the bubbles in a half way decent champagne.

The last time I had a glass of wine?  Easter.

I heard it with my own ears.  “I keep an opener in the car, just in case of a wine emergency.”  What I wondered would constitute a wine emergency?  A flat tire?

I keep an extra couple of blankets in my car just in case I might be freezing to death and a small bag with necessities; an extra collar and lead for Chance, in the summertime a bottle of water and a dish again for Chance just incase he needs a drink, Kleenex, a couple of plastic bags to clean up after you know who in case he poops away from home, hand sanitizers and a couple of pens oh yes and some toothpicks. Not a wine corkscrew to be found.

Perhaps the wine emergency gal and this gardener are related?

No probably not, the Black Eyed Susan Vine is climbing up a piece of wood with dowels that holds old pop bottles. I am sure the wine emergency gal probably only drinks designer coffee and wine.

This recycling gardener had some beautiful sunflowers.

It was worth stopping for.  I wish they had been out in the garden working I would have you whooed and wrangled an invitation to get a closer look.  As it was I stood at the edge of their property and leaned in as far as I could without falling over.

Yesterday we had a leisurely day together just the three of us, going to garage sales and looking over different parts of the county, then we came home and had a nap:)

Old Wheels

My parents had a garage sale..and I bought this wheel. It rested for several weeks near my garage waiting for a really good spot in the yard.

Finally the perfect spot was found.

Not much grass grows way out there anyway..it won’t have to be trimmed around very often.

It might have been from a rake.

I admired this one at a friends.

I don’t know what kind of machine would have this wheel..but I like it.

I have old wheels here and there in the yard..I like the looks of them..old, worn and resting.  A little rusty but who cares..a little rust just gives them character.  Wheels are wonderful pieces of art! 

I suppose someone will line them all up someday at a garage sale or an estate auction..I wonder how long the line of old wheels will be? :)