Thursday's Tiles

Well, this morning I was awake by 0430 and could not get back to sleep, so I just got up. I think it was from the late nap that I took yesterday, now I am ready to crash again. Oh well, now for today’s tail.

Since I was up so early I read the paper when it got here and then made a pot of coffee and started my omelet. Kathleen came downstairs and made herself some English muffins. The mail came as I was clearing the breakfast dishes and putting them into the dishwasher. I went through the mail at the kitchen table but there really was not much there.

After recycling the paper and the mail, I put on my work jeans and went up into the attic to see if I could the light switch wiring in the north bedroom. I disconnected the wire to the light and then found where the switch came from. I noticed some very creative wiring, and was able to eliminate a junction box and abut ten or twelve feet of wire.

Once I had cleaned up that mess, I connected the wires up the way they should have been and then looked down at the switch, which was on but the lights were still not on. I had to climb down and take the switch plate off and then remove the switch from the box to see what color the wires were and to which side of the switch they were connected to.

After seeing how they were connected, I went back upstairs and rewired the junction box so that the switch would work...and surprise, surprise...it did. As I was going back to the entry hatch, the overhead light went out, so I had Kathleen check to see what else was out.

She told me, so I traced that wire to another junction box and noticed that one of the wire nuts was not tight. I tightened it and the overhead light came on and so did the light plugged into the outlet that was out before. I made my way down the hatch before anything else went out.

The wiring is so messed up, that every time I have had to fix one thing, it not only takes me five times as long as it should, but I have to fix two or three other things in the process. I am not sure what is in worse shape, the wiring or the plumbing! Both are in really sad shape. I have fixed several things, but I almost need to replace both the plumbing and the wiring in most of the house.

It only took me from 1030 until 1130 to fix the wiring this morning, much quicker than yesterday. After cleaning up I went downstairs to sit down and relax, but that only lasted a short time. I thought I had better ask Kathleen when she was planning on sealing the grout. We could have gotten the toilet and the sink put in today, but we needed to have had the grouting done already.

When I got upstairs she was in the bathroom contemplating doing the grout. So I got a bucket of warm water and she cut up a couple sponges. We finished about 1630. I went downstairs and promptly fell asleep in my easy chair, I probably still would be sleeping except Toni called and wanted to know if we had left yet for Giuseppe's, a nice Italian restaurant.

We had not, so I made it upstairs and changed into my good jean shorts and off we went. Toni, Andrea and Brandon were already there, so we joined them. Chucky was coming from work and would join us after a while. Dinner was good, but I was really tired from being up so early.

We finally got home about 1730 and I am ready to crash, as soon as I finish this, I think I will call it a day. I think I probably wrote enough for one day, so I am just going to say good night.

Wednesdday's Wirings

Well, where do I begin? After breakfast and emptying the dishwasher, I read the paper and made myself a pot of coffee. After the paper I started to clean off the counter and the stove top. I had noticed some ants, and thought that I would make it less attractive for them by scrubbing everything and getting rid of anything that might attract them.

I heard the mail come, so I got it and opened it, not much there except a couple sales fliers. I took something upstairs, and Kathleen was up so I told her about the ants and she came down stairs to look.

While she was there she made herself some breakfast, so I told her that when she got done I would need her to shut off the circuit breaker so that I could work on the wiring in the attic. When I went up there, I thought that it would probably be about a half hour job.

I finally tracked down the wire, but it seemed to be hot at one end and nothing at the other, so I used my tester to determine where the current stopped. I had hoped that it was in a connection somewhere, but it was the wire.

So I went back down and got my box of wire and replace the wire that was bad. Well that fixed the wire and the lights that were not working before. So I gathered everything up and climbed back down the ladder. Then when I went to turn off the light in the bedroom where the hatch to the attic was it would not go off...so back up to the attic again.

I traced where the wire was, and it was loose, so I reconnected it and asked Kathleen to turn it off, again it did not go off. I wiggled the wire at the light and I could see the light go off and on downstairs, so I went back down and took the light fixture apart and there was a loose wire, so I rerouted it and reconnected it. That still did not fix it, so I took the switch out and replaced it, but again it still stays on all the time.

I had been up in the attic for about three and a half hours and my body was really aching, so I decided that I would just leave it on for now and go back up into the attic tomorrow. The attic is so full of wires that either go nowhere or are inter connected. I have wanted to redo it all for a long time and it looks like I am getting my chance to do at least a few of them.

While I was up in the attic earlier, I had rewired a wire and eliminated a connection box and a couple wires that went no where. There must be yards of wire that just wind around, I eliminated about twenty feet of wire earlier and there is two or three times that much more that I could eliminate when I get the energy.

I was really exhausted and tire by the time I finally got out of my clothes and into my shorts and tee shirt. Kathleen made me a couple salmon, onion and lettuce sandwiches and when I finished them I went upstairs and took a nap from about 1600 until 1945. Kathleen is now heating up some beef stew for dinner, I am still so tired and sore that I did not make it to tonight’s gathering with the guys.

Well, my wrists are really hurting and every so often they freeze up on me, so I think that I am just going to say good night and call it a day.

Tuesday's Turnaround

"the water had receded from the earth". I think that this verse is appropriate for us today, as after three straight days of steady rain, over three inches, this morning when I got up it was not raining. Our back yard was beginning to look like a swamp and from the living room looking out toward the street; it looked like we had lake front property.

Kathleen got up before 0800 this morning, and made herself breakfast; I was still reading the paper, so I made myself an omelet when I got done. Afterwards, I emptied the dishwasher and then did the dishes in the sink.

As I was finishing up it started to downpour, but it only lasted for about twenty minutes or so. After it stopped I went outside and picked up some fir branches and cones, but for as stormy as it was suppose to be there was really very little that had fallen. Then I got out my hoe and re-trenched some of my water runoff ditches, in the summer time they are where the grass and garden meet and I call it edging.

While doing it I discovered that a root that I thought belonged to one of my rhododendrons really did not, so I got out my stubbing hoe and chopped it out. that will also make it easier for my trench to work better. I also pulled out a filbert tree that was starting to grow near my Japanese maple tree.

While I was out I decided that I would transfer the electric cord to the new reel, so I got the old one out and unwound the wire and then rewound it up onto the new one. It was really too muddy outside, so once I finished those couple things, I went back inside and cleaned up. I decided to go up into the attic and put up the string of lights that I put together yesterday. I stretched them out and hung them up in the peek of the attic.

I had planned to do some more, but my knee got to hurting so much that I had all I could do to make it back to the hatch and get out of the attic. I thought that after "babying it for the last month I would be alright to knee in the attic, but it is still really tender. I kind of think that it might be the nerves that are causing the pain rather than the knee itself, but what-ever it is sure sore.

Kathleen had gone out to Mount Hood Community College to see one of her friends, this morning, and she finally got back around 1800. It what then that I discovered that the outside light was not working, so I must have moved one of the wires and now I will need to get back up into the attic tomorrow.

It seems that our bedroom ceiling light is also out, so it must be a wire got disconnected somehow. Oh some of the joys of owning an older house! I sometimes feel like I take one step forward and three steps backwards.

While Kathleen was out she stopped by Fred Meyer to pick up one of her prescriptions, and while she was there she picked up a nice Chinook Salmon fillet, so that a couple baked potatoes and some mixed vegetables is what we had for dinner.

It looks like our rain is scheduled to return again tomorrow, it was nice not to have it today, but this time of year it is almost expected to be wet outside. I am just thankful that we did not get the strong winds that some places got and because we are high enough up we were not affected by any high water from rivers overflowing their banks.

I guess I will call it a day, I did get a few things done today, and maybe with the help of knee pads, I can make the trip into the attic with out too much pain. We still need to put the sealant on the grout, but we almost need two people to do that and Kathleen was gone most of the day.

As you can see, I am writing longer blogs again, I have not been wearing my splint very much lately, only if I am going something that might injure it or when I go out. Mainly to let people know that it is still injured or at least not at full strength. Well, it is time to say good night for today.

Mopping up Monday

Well it was still raining this morning when I got up...almost three inches worth over the last three days. The temperature was in the fifties this morning and got up to the sixties. Is this really December?

After making and eating my oatmeal I emptied the dishwasher, did some of the dishes in the sink and added my breakfast dishes to the dishwasher. Then I went into the living room and read the paper. The mail came before I had a chance to read the paper, so after I finished the paper I got the mail. I got a one hundred dollar check from a contest that I had entered and that was my winnings. Kind of a belated birthday present I suppose.

I was getting cabin fever from having to be inside for the better part of the last three days, so when the rain slowed to a drizzle, I went outside and redid a couple of my trenches to divert the water away from the house and driveway.

Before I knew it, it started raining really hard again, so I went inside. About a month ago I bought a sting of work light, that I put together, basically adding the plastic cage to the sockets and putting light bulbs in them. I plan to use them in the attic while I do some work up there, and then the garage when I do some rewiring.

Luckily I had gotten several catalogs in the mail today, so I looked through all of them and before I knew it, it was 1600, so I took a shower and got ready for going to Alyssa's for Natalie's birthday dinner and family party.

Alyssa is having a party for Natalie on Saturday with several of Natalie's friends, but decided to have a dinner and cake tonight for the family. I am sure that she will be posting about it tonight along with some pictures, so no need for me to do that here.

We got home about 2000 and both of us were really tired. I think that it has something to do with the anticipation of the wind storm that kind of put an emotional strain on us. Well that is it for tonight, so I guess that I will say good night and call it a day.

Soggy Sunday

As I sit here writing this it is 49 degrees out and before the night is over the temperature is suppose to get to the mid-fifties. What is wrong with this picture? Unfortunately for us, we are getting the left-over from a couple South Pacific typhoons, hence the rain and the 109 wind gusts on the coast with even higher expected winds tomorrow.

Let me back track a little, I woke up this morning, hoping that I would feel well enough to make it to church or at least Sunday School, but my sinus' were draining so much and irritating my throat that I could not stop coughing. Then when Kathleen got up she did not feel very well either, so we just stayed home. When I first woke up my eyes were just about glued shut with eye goo.

Yesterday at Alyssa's my eyes were really burning and itchy, so I must have gotten into something that irritated them. I am not sure what it was, but that is probably the same thing that is causing my sinuses to be so active as well. I think that I will have to take some medicine to see if I can get my sinuses to calm down a bit.

After eating my morning oatmeal, I unloaded the dishwasher and then went into the living room and read the paper and comics. While reading the paper, I got up a few times and put the caps on the outside faucets, although I do not think that there is any danger of freezing at least for the next few days or so. I also got all my 18 volt batteries and charged them up in case we loose our power tonight or tomorrow.

I also transferred my tools into the new bags that I bought last night. I think that both of them are going to work out pretty well. Right now I have my electrical tools in two heavy nylon bags; one is a little bigger than the other and some spare parts in a medium size plastic container.

I have my carpentry tools in a large heavy nylon bag and a large plastic container, and I have my plumbing tools in a medium size canvas bag. I also have some spare pieces of pipe other spare parts in a medium size canvas bag and a medium plastic container.

I did not get much done this afternoon except cut coupons and organize some of my cordless power tools a little. Most of them have been scattered all over the place and now I have them in two places. I even found one that I could not find, I had seen it and just could not remember where, so it was nice to find it.

I also tested all my 18 volt batteries and found that one of them was defective, so I know not to try to charge it. Now I just need to get ride of it, so that I do not try to use it some time in the future. I did use a "Sharpie" and put a "D" on it to remind me until I can dispose of it.

Tonight Kathleen heated up some left-over Thanksgiving turkey and made a couple baked potatoes. I think yesterday was the first day that we have not had turkey in one form or another since Thanksgiving.

Well, I am sure that I will be hitting the sack early tonight to try to get some sleep before the high winds hit, so that just in case they wake me up, at least I will have gotten some sleep. So until my next blog this is good night!

Saturday's Surprises

Well this morning I had a meeting at church that lasted until about 1130 and by the time I got home it was time to go to Alyssa's for my lunch party. We left the house about 1215, because we had to stop at Winco to pick up some things for the salads.

We did not get out of there until almost 1300, because we picked up a few items that we would need just in case we get the storm that they are predicting that we are suppose to get. Anyway, we finally made it to Alyssa's; Andrea, John and Brandon were there already, but Tami and the girls got there a little later.

Aaron stopped by for a little while as we were finishing eating and was able to share in the "Happy
Birthday" singing and also the angle food cake, but had to get back to work. Toni and Chucky stopped by after Toni got off work, so eventually I had all four of the children, their spouses and all six grandchildren...the makings of a truly happy birthday!

We finally got back home about 1930 after a stop a Home Depot and the gas station. I wanted to stop at Home Depot as they had a couple things that I wanted to pick up with the money that I got for my birthday and also the Home Depot gift card.

I got an electrician's bag with some tools in it and also a general bag for larger tools like hand saws and wood working type tools.

Kathleen heated up the last of the turkey soup and made some melted cheese sandwiches using garlic Italian bread. Well, I am exhausted, I had not stopped to really rest since I got up this morning. Not that I did anything strenuous, but just that I did not have any alone time.

I had a good time with the grandchildren, I read stories to all of them except Brandon, he was too busy crawling around the floor and climbing up on things. It has been a good day, one of my better birthdays in a while. I am not sure why, but I enjoyed it more and was not disappointed after everything was said and done.

I guess that is about it for today, good night and thanks for the memories!

Finding Friday Fun

Well this morning when I got up I called my Mother and wished her a Happy Birthday, even though it was about 0700 here it was about 1000 in New York, so I knew that she would be up. We had sent her some flowers and she said that she really liked them. My sister Sue told me that as well.

It is always a little scary to order flowers and not really know what they will look like, but several years ago I had asked Sue is she could recommend a good florist and she recommended one to us and we have been using them ever since and always had good luck.

After talking to my Mother I did my computer stuff and then took off to meet with the guys for breakfast. It was really crowed and we had to wait fifteen or twenty minutes to get seated, but the food was good once we got it and we did not leave until after 1000.

When I got home, I called Stan and let him know that I was back and he could come over and do the caulking and put up the molding around our new door. He got here around 1100 and worked until about 1730. Next week he is going to be working on another job, so Kathleen and I will be sealing the grout and painting the ceiling and walls.

He did say that he would stop by one afternoon and help put in the new toilet and sink, so maybe we will be able to actually use it next week. It is hard to believe just how much better the "new" bathroom looks compared to the "old" bathroom. Even without the sink and toilet, it looks good.

For lunch I made myself a sardine and dill pickled relish sandwich, while this may not be quite as tempting as Alyssa's phyllo filled "left-over turkey, potato and dressing" wrap, it is easy to make and in case of power failure you can still have this as a meal. Try that with your fancy wrap!

Actually it really looked good, especially since we had left-over turkey, mashed potatoes and dressing for dinner tonight, but I do not think that Kathleen saw Alyssa's blog when she heated our dinner in the micro-wave.

Well, just getting out on my own was fun today, as was meeting with the guys, some simple things that I have not been able to do for about a month. Since I cannot think of anything else to say, I think that I am just going to say good night and Happy Birthday Mom!

Tiling Thursday

Well today Stan got here about 0900 and grouted the walls and then the floor; it took him until about 1530 to finish. Now it just has to sit for seventy-two hours before we can do anything else to it.

I think that tomorrow he is going to caulk around the edges and maybe up the molding around the door. Then next week we can start putting the fixtures in i.e. sink and toilet. Since there was not much I could do while Stan was grouting, I dinked around the house.

I vacuumed the downstairs, washed dishes, and watered the house plants, which reminds me, our Christmas cactus is really starting to bloom nicely. I also went outside and dug a couple channels to help the rain water drain to where I wanted it to go better.

Luckily I got several catalogs in the mail today, so I flipped through them to kill some time. I also loaded some of the updates for my laptop as Kathleen has had it in her sewing room for a while and I had not gotten to update any of the software for a long time.

Tomorrow morning I am suppose to go to breakfast with the guys, it will be my first time driving since I fractured my wrist. I only wore the splint for part of the day, and I tried to use it as much as possible so that I can start building up strength in it again.

Well, not a very exciting day, but that is the way many of them are. I guess I will just say good night and call it a day.

Wednesday Work

Since Stan was not coming over today, I took my time getting going and before I had a chance to start on the tile, Jack called and wanted to come over to fix some of the problems that we brought to his attention the other day.

While I was waiting for him to get here, I swept and vacuumed the upstairs bathroom floor, then I started to scrap out the extra dry mud from between the tile so that Stan could start grouting when I gets here tomorrow.

I got most of the long wall done when Jack got here, so I stopped so that he would not have me in the way. While he was working, I read the paper and the mail and just kind of puttered around the house.

Jack worked for about three hours and then I helped him take his tools out to his van. Then I started back on my project for the day. I could only work for short periods of time as I was getting too stiff and my wrists would get to hurting too much.

I did not wear either my old splint or my new one while I was scrapping, but I wore the two wrist supports that I bought yesterday. They gave me a lot more movement and a little support, but by the time I finished me wrists were both really sore.

Kathleen had called Stan to let him know that I had discovered a tile that had not been set in place with the mud and also one of the glass tiles was really loose, so after he finished his other job, he stopped by and put some mud on them and reset them.

He also said that my scrapping looked really good and that he would be back tomorrow morning to start grouting. After Stan left, I watched the news and Kathleen made some spaghetti for dinner.

Well, my wrists are letting me know that I exercised them today, but it is nice keyboarding without that old splint on. The new one that I bought does not come up as high in my palm and I am able to use my fingers better. With that, I think that it is time for me to say good night.

Tempting Temperature Tuesday

Well, this morning it was not windy or rainy out so after I had my omelet and read the paper and mail, I went out and worked in the yard. Since Stan was not working here today, I could do what I wanted to do, well almost.

I pulled weeds in the rose garden, berry patch and under the fir trees. I also worked on the raspberries, and took myself for a little walk, something I had not done since my fall. I could not do as much as I would have liked to as Kathleen had her doctor's appointment at 1300, so I needed to stop and get cleaned up a little after noon.

We got in right away and the doctor spent about an hour with Kathleen, she seemed pretty nice and knowledgeable. She was Romanian and specialized in the Endocrine system, so hopefully she will be able to help Kathleen get her thyroid under control. She also asked questions about Kathleen's diabetes and cholesterol level, so maybe she can attack several of Kathleen's problems at the same time.

She gave Kathleen a new prescription, so after we left the hospital we made a quick stop at the credit union so that I could deposit a check. Then we stopped at Home Depot so that I could pick up a few things that I needed for the remodeling.

Finally we went to Fred Meyer to pick up a prescription, but there was a problem so it took over two hours to get every thing corrected. I bought a different wrist brace, this one is not as long and is not as annoying, it also has gel in it as well as the steel like my old one had. I also bought a couple really small wrist supports, one for my sprained left wrist and one for my right wrist when I take the brace off.

We finally made it home at 1740. We were both pretty tired so Kathleen fixed me some chicken gumbo soup and some lentil soup for herself.

I think that is about it for today, I am still not sure if Stan is coming over tomorrow, so I am not sure what I will be doing tomorrow. Well, I guess all that is left is a good night!

Monday's Make-over

Stan got here this morning around 0830 and we finished laying all the tile. Now we will have to wait a couple of days before we can grout. So before Stan took off today we hooked up the switches for the overhead light and the light/fan/heater/night-light unit. We tried the out and everything works!

While Stan and I were working on the electrical, Jack stopped by with his plans for the sideboard and hutch for the dining-room, and we shared some of our concerns about the work he did in the bathroom. There was nothing really major, just a few things that are a little annoying.

We figured that as long as we were having the work done we might as well have it the way Kathleen wants it. Also the molding he put up was a different color white than the cabinets, so we would like him to paint them the same color.

Alyssa come by as Kathleen is taking her to the doctor's to see what can be done to prevent her from getting kidney stones so frequently. So they took off and I helped Stan clean up his equipment and he left around 1430. Stan will not be back until Wednesday or Thursday as he is working at another customer's house.

As soon as I got cleaned up I made myself another Limburger and herring sandwich, yum, yum! Once that was finished I emptied that dishwasher and then added some more dishes. Then I went into the living room and read the paper. After I finished the paper, I added it to the recycling and took it outside.

Kathleen is still not back, but she is planning on having left-overs tonight, since I eat dinner around 1500 I am not all that hungry yet. Tomorrow Kathleen has her own doctor's appointment, I had not planned on going with her as I thought that I would be working on the house, but now it looks like I will be able to go with her.

Well, I think that is it for today, so I think I will just say good night.

Sunday's Scrapping

Well, this morning we made it to church but not without a little excitement. We saw that the lawn was white from frost but did not take into account that we would need to scrape the windows of the car. So first we had to find an ice scrapper, I found an extra one that I had in the garage, but using it with my left hand was not the easiest thing for me to do.

After church I change back into my shorts and tee shirt, this was the first time that I have worn long pants in six weeks and also the first time I have worn a long sleeve shirt since last winter. Then when I got back downstairs I made myself a Limburger and herring sandwich, what a delicacy!

After reading the paper, I did a couple loads of laundry, folded and put it away, but that was about all I got done today. For dinner tonight we had some of the turkey soup that Kathleen made. It give it a little special flavor Kathleen added some Lingenberries.

Well, I guess that this is it for the weekend. Tomorrow Stan should finish the tiling and the in a couple days he can do the grouting then maybe we can even put the toilet and sink in. So maybe next week we will once again have an upstairs bathroom. That means no more middle of the night trips downstairs.

I cannot think of anything else to say for today, other than it was cold all day. So I guess that I will just say good night.

So-long Sunshine Saturday

Well, the weather is once again changing, it was not nearly as windy as it has been the last few days but it also was not as sunny either. Since Kathleen went grocery shopping yesterday I was able to make my Saturday morning omelet with onions and mushrooms.

After eating, I emptied the dishwasher and then got the mail as it arrived just as I was finishing the dishes. Not much of anything, except for My American Express Gold credit card bill. Jack arrived about 1030 and worked most of the day on the molding and installing the doors, draws and their respective hardware.

While he was working upstairs I swept and mopped the kitchen floor. Once the floor was dry I put the rugs back down and then washed some of the pots and pans that had been sitting around for a couple days. With only one good hand, washing the pots and pans is difficult to say the least.

I had also re-hooked up the charger earlier this morning and when I rechecked it the battery had charged, so I unplugged it and put the charger away. I then hooked up a solar battery charger that I had bought last summer to see if that would keep the battery charged. I had kept forgetting about it when I had charged the battery before.

I also dug up an arborvitae and cut it up into small pieces. Jack discovered that he had forgotten something so he had to run home to pick it up. By this time it was lunch time so I mixed the left over potato chowder and Kathleen's bean and bacon soup and had it with a herring sandwich.

I finished just as Jack returned with the long pieces of molding he had forgotten. Jack finally finished around 1600 and other than not having a toilet or sink the bathroom really is starting to look like a real bathroom.

Tonight we are having some left-over turkey and stuffing for dinner and I think Kathleen is going to cook the bones to make some turkey soup. Well, I am tired, my wrist is sore and I think it is just time to call it a week and say good night.

Friday's Finish

This morning after breakfast I went outside and finished pruning the roses. I did not do the two by the back steps to the basement as I was not sure how I wanted them to look. I also hooked up the charger to the Jeep. I figured that even if I could not drive it I could run it for a while once a week or so.

I also cut the rose buds and put them into a couple vases, I thought that if I left them outside they probably would not bloom anyway. While I was back in the rose garden I noticed a blackberry bush coming through the fence, so I got my shovel and dug it out.

Then I got my pruners and went to work on the mugo pine. I mostly cut the dead branches out of it although I did cut out some of the green branches to give it a little better shape. I am going to dig it out eventually, but just not right now.

I was getting tired, so I went inside, cleaned up and made myself some lunch. There was just a little of the ground turkey, rice and pea dish that Kathleen made the other night, so I finished that and added a can of sardines to it.

Kathleen left to go grocery shopping, she asked me to go, but I was too tired from working in the yard the last couple of days. While she was gone, Aaron stopped by to return some of my things so I got to see his new car. It looked pretty nice and is more practical then his old car.

Kathleen came home around 1700 with lots of groceries, so I helped her unload the car and put things away. She was tired from shopping so she heated up a can of minestrone soup for me and she had a can of bean soup.

Well, it is hard to believe that this is the last weekend in November, but it is! I think that I have run out of energy, so I am just going to call it a night and say good night.

Thursday's Thanksgiving

Well, I actually slept in until after 0800. After putting the dishes away and putting more into the dishwasher, I went outside and raked leaves. It was still pretty windy, but there were not that many leaves to contend with.

Once I had the leaves up, I decided that I would mow, so I got out my Honda mower as with all the raking some of the grass the does not get cut very close to the ground was sticking up. It also gave me to try to run the rest of the gas out of the mower. Well, I finished both front, back and sides of our lawn then I mowed my neighbor’s lawn and the driveway strip of my other neighbor's next to our fence.

After doing all that I still had some gas left, so I mowed our front lawn again, this time going in the opposite direction giving it a diamond effect. I still had about a quarter of a tank left, but I decided to put the mower away and maybe do it some other time.

I had not gone anywhere in my jeep lately, so I got my key and went to start it to charge the battery a little...too late! I thought about pulling the battery and putting it on my charger, but I decided to wait until I could drive it if it were charged.

It was so sunny out that I wanted to stay outside as long as I could, so I got out my pruners and started giving my roses their winter pruning. I left a couple rose buds and flowers and I will need to go back and finish them up. I got all the roses in the two big rose gardens in the back yard and a couple along the driveway done.

My barrel was full so I stopped, knowing that I needed to do a couple of the others later anyway. As I was doing the roses along the driveway I noticed a five foot hawthorn tree growing, so I got out my shovel and dug it out.

By this time I was getting pretty tired, so I went into the house and got cleaned up and made myself a baby spinach leaf salad. After putting my bowl into the dishwasher, I went in and went through the paper. I think it was one of the largest papers that I can remember.

After finishing looking through the paper and the ads, I took a shower and got ready to go to Alyssa and Dan's for Thanksgiving dinner. When we got there Andrea, John and Brandon were there and Alyssa and Andrea were working on putting the finishing touches on dinner.

Aaron, Tami and their girls arrived a short time latter. They came in their new vehicle, but by now it was too dark out to see it. After a while longer Dan and the children came from Dan's Mom's and Chucky showed up as well. Toni did not come as she had to get up for the early sale at JC Pennies.

The food was all so good that I could have eaten a lot more, but I just took one helping of everything...well except for Alyssa's yams and Kathleen's stuffing. I needed to have a little extra of those two. Andrea had made a couple of pies, a pumpkin and a lemon meringue, but everyone was so stuffed that we did not even slice them.

Normally after our big family meals I would wash the dishes, but this year because of my wrist being in the splint I was not able to do it. We finally made it home and it was almost 2200. I was just a little too tired to do my blog then, so you are getting it now instead.

I hope that everyone had a really Happy Thanksgiving!

Windy Wednesday

Stan called again this morning and said that he was running late and that he was on his way to Home Depot to pick up another bag of mud mix. So I decided to vacuum the living room and the entry way as that is where most of the fir needles land.

Then since it was a pretty nice day, I went out and swept off the front porch to get rid of the fir needles there. After I finished that, I got out my blower, the first time I had used it since my fall a couple of weeks ago, and blow off the sidewalk.

Once I finished the sidewalk, I decided to do the driveway as well. This time I was really aware of where I was when I was winding up the electric cord. Stan still was not here so I decided to do some pruning in the back yard.

Stan came as I was cutting up some of the branches I had cut, so when I finished cutting up the few branches that I had left, I helped Stan unload some of his tools. After he mixed up the mud we went upstairs to see what we needed to do, he also needed to let the mud set for ten minutes or so.

Once the mud had set up, Stan marked up a few tiles for me to cut while he put up some more full tiles. We finished the wall by the door and behind where the toilet goes and then started on the short wall between the shower and the vanity.

We finished that wall and continued along that wall up to the wall behind the sink. Stan needed to go across town and pick up something for another customer, so he had to stop and clean everything up to get there before the place closed.

I helped clean up the tile saw and gathered up the tools. Since it was getting late, Stan took off, so I stacked all the tool boxes on the porch and took apart the tile saw and put it there as well. Stan said that he would be back when he picked it up and delivered it to the customer.

Now I get four days off to try to get some yard work done. Right now I am looking forward to getting back to my schedule instead of working around Stan's schedule. I fell asleep in my chair tonight before dinner, so I kind of know that I over did a little.

Well, my wrist is telling me that I have keyboarded enough tonight. I think that I will say Happy Thanksgiving and good night!

Tuesday's Tiling

Stan called this morning and said that he would be late this morning, so I picked up some of the debris outside. I would have liked to have been able to rake some leaves in the back yard, but everything was just too wet, so I went back inside and vacuumed the downstairs.

Stan got here around 1000 and after getting everything unloaded from his pickup, he takes most of his tools home each night, and getting the tile saw set up he mixed the mud for the tile. We were able to finish the two walls we started yesterday and just about finished the other side of the door and the area behind the toilet. We also installed the counter top so tomorrow we will be able to finish were we left off today and then hopefully start and finish the area around the sink.

Tonight when it got dark, I put on my headlight, a LED light that is on an elastic band that one wears on their head, so that I could see where to make my cuts. Then as we were cleaning up, I noticed that the moon was getting rather large and there was kind of a halo around it from the fog that was forming.

The days are nice with the temperature in the 40’s or 50’s but the nights are getting down into the 30’s, so fog is pretty common. To night for dinner Kathleen made some hamburger and rice stew with some Mexican spices to give it a nice warm taste. The stew was a good choice for such a fall like night.

Well, I am tired and my wrist is sore, so I think that I will stop here and say my good nights.

Milder Monday

While today was much drier than it has been for the last three days, it was still wet today. Stan got here about 0830 and sanded the walls and ceiling and then textured them. I think it will look much better than it has in a long time.

After he finished the texturing of the walls and ceiling we worked on the wall tiling. Stan was putting the tile up while I tried to keep up with him cutting the tile. He was really able to go pretty quickly when he got to the whole tile sections. We were able to get one wall just about done and got a pretty good start on the other two walls.

We did not go any further on the one wall as we were not sure how high up Kathleen wanted to go so we stopped short. Kathleen was out with Alyssa and her children, so tomorrow we will be able to finish the first wall and most likely the other two as well.

We stopped where we did because we used all the mud and it was late enough that Stan did not want to mix any more. I was having trouble seeing where to make my cuts anyway, so I was glad to stop as well.

Stan left about 1730 and Kathleen got back around 1800, she had stopped off at Burgerville and picked up a couple burgers and shakes as she was too tired to cook. Well, it has been a pretty productive day; I am tired so I think that I will just say good night.

Such a Soggy Sunday

I slept in a little later this morning than I usually do and could have made it to church and Sunday School if I were able to drive, but with only one available hand I did not think that was too wise. So I took a little extra time and made myself a salmon omelet.

After cleaning up the kitchen I went into the living room with my coffee and read the paper and comics. Kathleen made it downstairs about 1100 and looked more rested then she has for a while. She said that the smell from the salmon woke her up. She was hoping that I had used up all the salmon, but I told her that I had not.

There was just enough salmon to make a couple open faced salmon melts for lunch, so that is what I did. I really did not want to have salmon twice in the same day, but for Kathleen's sake I went ahead and used up the rest of the salmon. The sandwiches were really good and I would really liked to had some more, but it was probably a good thing that there was not any more.

I sanded on Zander's walking stick a little more, it is starting to dry out a little bit, but it is still pretty wet. I have not been able to do too much with it because it is just too hard trying to do it with one hand.

For dinner tonight Kathleen is making some ground turkey and dressing, I think to get in the mood for Thanksgiving. Well, it has been a really wet weekend...as wet as we have had in about eight months, but I guess that is to be expected this time of year.

With that said I think I will just say good night as my left wrist and hand are letting me know that I have been using them more than it is use to, so good night!

Saturday's Surprise

This morning started out where yesterday ended...with rain. I made myself a couple peanut butter and jam toast and a bowl of cottage cheese, I was getting a little tired of oatmeal and I did not have what I needed to make an egg beater omelet, so I was left with toast.

Aaron called and wanted to know if I were going to go to the men's breakfast this morning, but since Kathleen was not feeling well and I could not drive I had decided earlier that I would not be going. I called Sue and wished her a Happy Birthday and the talked to Mom for a while.

Kathleen got up and still was not feeing great, so I advised her that she should call and let the folks we were suppose to have dinner with tonight that we would not be coming. Finally after a while she decided that it would be better for us not to go.

I got to watch a little of the Ohio State vs. Michigan game, but we needed to leave to go to Becca's family birthday party. We had a good time and so did the grandchildren. Tami made several pizzas and that was a big hit by all.

Becca and Alexis drew some pictures and showed them to me and one of the presents Becca got was a word game that she asked me t o help her with. Then just before it was time to go Natalie brought a book over for me to read, I am not sure if no one else would read to her or what, but she had not said much to me all afternoon.

When we got home I checked my computer to see how Ohio State did and was glad to see the results. For some reason I usually seem to miss the Ohio State/ Michigan game and today was no exception.

While talking with Alyssa, she mentioned that Zander met someone using a walking stick and was fascinated by it, so after checking the score, I went out to the pile of branches from one of the trees that I had cut down a couple of weeks ago and found a branch that I thought might make a good walking stick for him.

The wood was really still too wet (green), but I did not have any dry ones. I began by whittling branches off and the whittled the bark off the rest of the branch. Next I smoothed out the rough spots where the small branches had been so that the stick was nice and smooth.

Right now I have it sitting by the heater vent to see if I can get it to dry out a little. Kathleen just came down and asked if I wanted some clam chowder, I think that I could always have clam chowder so I said sure. Well I think this is going to be as good as any to close and say good night.