Let me tell you......

        This has absolutely nothing to do with my garden. But it does say how gullible lonely people are and they can get into bad situations innocently. I give confession, this internet thing is relatively newish for me. A little over a week ago, someone added me to their circle. I thought it was same old, same old. He (or she I now have no clue) was a quick charming talker. They got on my chat page. We started to chat. Innocent, right?? Well, in no time at all he(?) was telling me there was something in my profile that really struck him(?) We chatted for hours; I have to say it was really fun. And then the BS started to smell. This person said that HE(?) was falling in love with me. A little bs flag popped up. Well, not being that sure what I was getting into, I started to joke around. A few days later, he(?) who was supposed to be in the Army and stationed in Kabul, said he had several thousand dollars saved since he started serving. I guess there are no banks in Kabul, because then this person, claiming they had fallen in love with me, asked if they could send all this cash to me for safe keeping so we could be together when he(?) got out. I did know it claimed to be a man in the many chats that lasted hours. This money "package" that was comming to the US via courier, started the wake-up call.                                                                             When the package started it's trip, I got an urgent Email stating the United Nations Courier Service needed me to URGENTLY send 650 dollars so I could take posession of it when it crossed country borders. AS IF!!!  When I said that there was no way I had that cash for immediate disposal, he (?) got crankey. This led to two anguishing days of arguments. I was the one that wasn't making this new love work, and was messing with our future! Well, I might have been born at night, but not LAST night. A really really big BS flag went up then. The conversation was dominated by this delivery from then on. I asked why I had to pay all that $ to have more $ delivered. Then the emails started to come, from the courier demanding they needed this money as soon as possible, preferably immediately. When I said there was No possible way to get it, this person begged if "we" could borrow from friends or relations. Well, most of my readers are familiar with my brother, The Silver Fox. He, being soooo much more savvy in internet things than older sis, said the whole thing stunk. Well, he came over and looked up internet scams for me. When he punched up my new sweetie's profile, lo and behold, there was about 300 examples of how this person had been used for internet scams!!~Wow.~ I was in awe. Not to mention a tad heartbroken. I thought the lonely spell might have been history. Alas, not this time. Well. A little time later this scuzball Emailed me again! I told him(?) to go scam someone else cuz I thought the real Ray Chandler might be upset to have his good name used in such a way. This gentleman was a highly decorated Officer in the US Army. Very High up there!  I thought the matter was put to bed. A couple of hours later, I got several nasty Emails swearing at me and calling me names. I had to quickly take a crash course in how to block individuals from your site. Once I mastered this, peace came back. Really almost got sucked in on this one. Just because I was vulnerable and let my guard down for a millisecond! Now this thing is behind me, I'm wiser,  and get to warn others that might be as innocent as I was. This is a warning from the heart. Please please beware!

this beats snow

I am getting ready to go out to do more lovely weeding, but had to sit down at the 'puter  anyhow, so thought I'd get a short bit in. There is lots of color today, the phlox and daylilies love the humidity.....me, not so much, but it sure beats shoveling sidewalks. I'm on a corner, so I have two! And they are rather long.               I never noticed how many colors of lilies I have acquired over the 26 years I have been living here until yesterday. I'm going to have to attend a 7 step program if I don't stop. So many lilies, so little time....

work,work,work.

     It is totally dark outside, and I was forced to come in. Weeding the huge amount of weeds that have established their home in the gutter of the sidewalk on one side of my house. I started this tedious project yesterday. Have about half finished as of tonight. Some of the weeds are Really in there! I have a pail of water to pour on the roots: they come out a lot easier when they are wet. Dry soil, I have found can be like cement when you want to get the whole root out. And if you leave any, those buggers grow right back!! There was a moment of gratitude, tho, because one of our Town Counselors was walking by with her husband, and commented on how great the gutter was looking. She thanked me!!!!! And said she wished more people would tend their yards. (I just smiled,) because the first thing that came to my mind, was (and of course I never SAID it,) was how in previous years the town always took care of any weeds in the gutter FOR us. Maybe it is a "Budget" issue this year. Anyway, after I do a stretch, I stand back and smile at it. It is not the most favorite thing I have on my "Get around toit list", but it pays off big in self gratification. Call me childish. But indulge me. I think all of us have one thing we have to do but do not relish the task. I do not think it would be wise to use weed killer on these weeds, because it is in the gutter, after all, and would eventually be in the sewer system. Eco- safe, etc,etc.                                                                                                                             One good thing happened today, and it was free! There was a Coneflower growing across the street in really bad soil. So I scurried over with my little shovel, and dug it up!!! It wasn't in anyone's garden, just stuck on the side of the road begging for a new home. So there I was. When my truck is running, I always have a small shovel, a pail, and jug of water in the back of the cab in case I see a lone specimen on the side of the road wanting to get a new home. And I have gotten some great stuff over the years. And the price isn't too bad, either! hahahaha.     So keep digging, friends.

This One's For You, Jerry!

Saturday Jan 18-19   1997. Came home from work, all pipes frozen. Poured warm water down sink, toilet, and washing machine drain pipe. Thank God nothing seems to have cracked.  Florida seems to be looking pretty good.             Jan 21.  Started to tile kitchen backsplash, kinda fun once ya get the hang of it.  Jan 26  the kitchen faucet broke. Went to John's to get a replacement. I fell. Really got hurt!Black eye....concussion , and gash on head.                                       Jan 27 Finished backsplash. LOVE!                                                                            Jan29 Grouted backsplash. WOW                                                                              Feb 10 Bunnies born today. Hooked up droplight to keep hutch warm.                  March 4  Babies eyes are open. Huge snowflakes-Beautiful!                                  Mar 18 Rehab contractors walked thru from town. Getting a new roof and pull down stairs because the Handicap door will take out the old ones.                      Apl 17  Gonna get two new front room windows too.                                              Apl 29   Back door is in . Change order. Sill is rotten! Renovation is unpleasant business.                                                                                                       May 22 Change order again. Roof is rotten.                                                             6/3   guys done. House is a disaster!                                                                         6/10  Started thinsetting mudroom floor for the tile.                                               6/12  did more on floor.                                                                                             6/14  painted bulkhead door Had to replace two hinges. Kinda looks brand new. Had to paint the trim on the cellar window.                                                            6/17  Grouted half the mudroom.                                                                              6/24   Finished mudroom floor. Now the bathroom floor is rotten. Have to buy cement.                                                                                                                      6/26  cemented bathroom floor. Polyurethaned bathroom door and sill. Painted threshold of mudroom grey. Painted toekick in kitchen.                                     8/1  Built brick planter outside mudroom door. ( I feel like the three little pigs).                                                                                                                                 8/3  Kitchen tiles (plastic) previous owners put up are cracking and falling off. Another huge job. What else is new?                                                                          Painted outside trim of new windows.                                                                       9/5 Put baseboards cin the kitchen and bathroom.                                                   9/22  Sump pump went on. Checked the cellar. Flooded. Heard leaking Called thetown. Broken pipe under the street.                                                                  9/25 Town finished today. I had to fill dozens of holes in kitchen wall with caulk.                                                                                                                                  10/11 Had to install a backflow valve in the sump pump. Don't think these workmen know shit! But they get lots of $ while I have to go after them and do it over for nothing. Resentment plus.                                                                                     12/25  Had to replace bulb in sidewalk light.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Well, Jerry,   That wraps up the year 1997   Enjoy!                                                                                                                                                           

Keeping the ol' girl busy

Hard to beleive, August is in my garden journal and whipping right along. I never did mention my journals, so here I go. Every year since 1996, whenever I have done anything to my house or in my gardens, I have entered it in a blank notebook (now they have evolved to hardcover journals, about 100 pages each) which I purchase around Jan1 at the same store. Continuity is everything when they all are lined in a bookcase..... I have recorded all things, from caulking windows, cleaning the driveway ditch, gardening, even mistakes I have made. It was said in one of Dan Fogelburg's songs, "remember what your failures taught you or you will make them over again". I record what does well, and what dies, and where I plant what! This has really helped through the years. Once when I was shoveling a lot in a severe winter, the little journal even went to COURT with me. I had been writing how much I did in one storm, but the police still gave me a ticket for "not clearing my sidewalks". I entered in the daily entry, "don't they have crooks to catch??!" The judge asked for proof I had done any shoveling, and a wise friend had told me my journal was legal evidence, which is why I had brought it to court on the day of my summons. Well, when he read the whole entry, ending with the "crook" comment, it not only got me off, but he had quite a chuckle.(I think that happened in 1982). So that, my friends, is why to this day my records are prolific.                                                                                               Today I came in about 9pm. Really got a lot done.Tonite is gonna be an early one, so I can get back out before two days of rain get here. toodles

Too much time on my hands

  Boring Monday.......Tons of stuff to do and no power to do them. Hopefully I'll get to weeding before the heat sets in. Seems like that is my song day after day (hahaha) Just looked in the mirror and I have a rather long black bruise on my right cheek! The mouth hurt a lot yesterday which puzzles me 'cuz the teeth came out a week ago. Thank God that is over! Did not sleep at all last night so I got busy doing housework I've been putting off. Got tons accomplished too. It seems I do my best work about two AM. Still looking for a plum recipe before the birds get them all. Yesterday they were chirping a lot and when I checked to see what the fuss was about, about 50 were in my tree picking them . Now today I have to clean up the mess they made.  All over the ground. Maybe I should stop feeding them and build a scarecrow! Never thought I'd get to this. Weed wacking to do, yard debris to gather, Weeds to pull EVERYWHERE. Poop to pick up, street needs weeding too. My neighbor is mowing his lawn right now. The garden bed I started last year is soooooo overgrown with crabgrass ( my favorite) that I have to get my big garden fork to loosen the grass before I can work on it. Weeds are us! ( Instead of Toys Are Us) And I should get some of those rose hips for jelly.                                                                                                                                         On a different side of me, I was watching the Liquidation Channel yesterday. They have the best prices of any shopping channel out there. If you are a jewelry whore like I am, I strongly recomend them. It was Sunday and everything is under 10 dollars. They offered several items with Rose Amethyst stones. Amethyst is my big two, along with Russian Chrome Diopside. (I hurt myself getting to the phone!) So in about seven days I will have more rings to smile at. My ring box is filling up nicely. The rose amethyst is very light lilac color. Purple is my fave color so I couldn't pass them up. Joy joy joy.  Does any body out there share my love of stones?????Let's chat...