Today On Wednesday

 

I am so glad today is Wednesday. Do you ever have one of those weeks, by Wednesday, secretly you have this thought, "Maybe I will just spend the whole day in bed." I have been having one of those kind of weeks. My son asked me if perchance I was getting a little uppity in the humble department. Who knows but I am beginning to wonder.  I think the hardest part is it falls on Ron to fix everything.
He had to fix the lawnmower, on Saturday, all day. I may or may not have gotten so mad I stomped into the house and fixed myself a cup of coffee and left him out in the cold and he had to pour his own. I was not even sorry, because I was still so mad. (He couldn't get a bolt out and I thought a bolt cutter would work.)
He didn't want commentary.

 

The bathroom upstairs had to be fixed. The sprinklers in the flowerbeds broke because of the freeze and those had to be fixed. The eye doctor I am going to on Friday sent the paper work so I could fill it out before hand. I decided that I would do it on Monday. As I was filling out the paper work it had these four
questions and I thought the boxes meant " No," So I checked what I thought was the No boxes and then reading back over the paper I realized you were supposed to check the boxes if you have ever had sexually transmitted diseases. I had just checked I had them all. So feeling really dumb, I have to go in there on Friday and get a new paper to fill out.

 

I think yesterday though was the worst. It all started by me cleaning out the refrigerator. I put some things in the garbage disposal ran it and every thing was fine. I had my list and I was checking off all of the things I had got done, when my son called to me that the sink in the kitchen was  stopped up. I went in and tried it for myself. I thought that if I get the plunger it will be fine. I grabbed the plunger and plunged. I broke the plunger. Who does that?

 

I plunged with the now broken rubber part which didn't work at all. I ran water and dipped water out of one sink into the other over and over. I tried taking baking soda and then putting vinegar and boiling water. Since I broke the plunger I found how I could take a small plastic cup and it fit just inside the garbage disposal and I could dip water that way. Then the funny thing happened when I did that. Water would come spraying out of the little thing on my sink which is some sort of drain. Which in my mind I thought was helping get the water out. (The water was really going under the sink. That was the overflow. )

 

I remembered and really I should have stopped by now, but I was in a panic. Ron has been really, really busy at work. I knew that he was going to be upset and I thought if I could just get it unplugged he wouldn't have to know. So I went out to where I store my supplies for my soap and grabbed a can of lye. I read the back of the can and it said to use one tablespoon and let it sit for a half hour. Well, I thought, if it says a tablespoon, just a good sized glug won't hurt.

 

I waited and then I tried it. It didn't work. So then I had another problem, now I had standing water with lye in it. Lye hurts and I didn't use gloves. I got the sink bailed out and then I had to tell Ron when he called. I told him first I broke the plunger. Then I told him about cleaning out the fridge. Then I told him I broke the garbage disposal. I forgot to tell you that the disposal wouldn't turn on after the lye. He was silent on the phone. Just silent. I finally said, " Are you still there?" It was worse than I imagined. He told me to have the sink all cleaned out when he got home and he would fix it. I had a horrible afternoon. I really felt like maybe I had taken stupid pills this week.

 

He came home from work, his ole happy self. He said, that I always beat myself up worse than anything he could ever say so then he changed and got to fixing the disposal. He fixed it and then got it all back together and then tried to turn it on. It was a light show as sparks and fire shot out from under the sink. He kind of looked at me from the floor. He unplugged it and said he would fix it this weekend. At least the sink drains.

 

Oh and he wasn't mad. He even brought me a present. I think I am pretty special that he still bought me a present yesterday.

It is a nice one too. I just hope I don't have to use it any time soon. Such is my life. Today though,
I will just be doing things that are safe.

I hope your Wednesday, is a wonderful and great day.

~Kim~

Monday January Morning

 

I wanted you to know, that the flower pictures I am posting are from this summer. I don't have a single flower anywhere around here just lots of shades of brown and naked trees. I talked to my daughter yesterday, and she said one of her friends lives some where that it is so cold at their house that it is warmer on Mars. I laughed and laughed but I thought of it all day. That is just cold.

 

It is January. I am always happy to have a new month in which to read "The Book of Stillmeadow." As I was looking for pictures of summer flowers to send you today. I ran across this passage. " The summer flowers are a memory now, the house still looks loved with the green arrangements in ironstone of a shining copper bowl."  This time of year, I find I walk in the grocery store and stand and drink in the sight of flowers and their smell. I think it would be so hard to live in a land without flowers.

 

Gladys Taber writes of January like this: " We all need to spend some time alone; people who cannot bear their  own  company for a time have thin souls." I think one of the things I had to learn in 2013 was how to spend time alone. I think my soul had grown thin and now, I have come to welcome the peace and even look forward to those times, because of the quietness and tranquility it brings to my soul and quiets my mind.

 

Little did I know when I was taking pictures in the summer that I was really capturing bits of summer in morning glories for the days of January to give me joy.  Gladys goes on to add about January, "  The deep part of winter gives most of us a little more time alone. The natural rhythm of time has changed from that of summer. But instead of dreading the dark winter days, we ought to savor them for what they can give. Now there should be a time to reread old books, to absorb some philosophy, to play a whole symphony without hurrying.

 

I went out early the other morning, and there was Jupiter , shining so brightly. I wanted to grab binoculars to see if perchance I could see Europa, one of it's moons. I find that there are surprises to see in winter that I don't notice in summer. The  trees are without leaves and I watched a Blue Jay try to open a pecan. He had a terrible time and would drop in on the ground and have to fly down and pick it up. As I watched him and I had been having the same problem in the house holding onto things, as my daughter remarked, " It must be a heavy gravity day." So I thought that as I watched. He did finally get to eat his pecan.

 

On Monday, I need to be up and getting some things accomplished instead of sitting here writing away the day. The dryer is running and clanking, because my first load is always jeans. The kitchen is clean from round one of breakfast. I have wool soaking in the sink so I can use my dye pot  a bit later. The sound of the heater coming on fills me with joy because I am happy to have heat. I have gone outside and walked around and looked at things a couple of times. I always enjoy walking into a warm house. I think that today, what I am thankful for are the things that are mundane. Those are the things I most long for when life gets crazy. There is peace for me in the daily routine things of home.

Have a lovely Monday,

~Kim~

"Stilled now be every anxious care;
See God's great goodness everywhere;
Leave all to Him in perfect rest;
He will do all things for the best.
(From the German.)

Saturday in January

I have read your blogs this morning, and I realize how ill equipped I would be in the cold. My heart goes out to you all that are in the deep freeze today. I wish I could send you some of the "warm" from here. I drew
out a couple of rugs yesterday. I now have four that I need to hook for this coming year. I am working on the snowman rug and my next project will be  Mrs. Rabbit.by Sharon Smith.

Ron bought it for me for Christmas so that will be the next big project I do, I will have to die wools for it and that will be so much fun. Here is a picture of Mrs. Rabbit I took when I went to as my kids called it, "The Wool Con."

 

For some reason, I always think of Peter Rabbit's Mom out to sell flowers and to gather rabbit tobacco for
Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail and Peter. Who will have Camomile tea and blackberries for supper. I have loved this pattern so much since the first time I saw it.

 

I have spent the afternoons sitting and having coffee and looking at seed catalogs. I have no idea why I torture myself with them. I know it is still even to cold to start seeds indoors. It always gives me a terrible case of spring fever.

Emilie is going to be matron of honor at a wedding in March. She called the other day to ask if she could have the bridal shower here. I of course said yes, but then she didn't have a date. Yesterday,
my son came down to tell me that he had been asked to make invitations for the shower. I asked, "So did she give you a date by any chance, for this shower?" He said, " Yes, February 8th."  Which was three weeks earlier than she had given me. It is good though, now I have motivation to get this house clean and all of the throwing away and to get this house purged. It really needs it.

 

So now I have that on my horizon. It is nice thought to look forward to a girl party. I love girl parties and I think it will be a high tea which makes it even more fun. The girls in the bridal party will do it all and I love watching all of the girls do things like this. The Bride's Mom is one of my closest friends, and I imagine we will sneak off and go watch chickens.  We can spend hours talking of nothing but chicks and chickens. It is always nice to have a friend like that.

I love this part of the new year, a blank book filled with blank pages. Just waiting for new adventures, new rugs to hook, new plans to be made and lots of life to be lived. All of it filled with goodness. With just a few threads of black to make life's design come in clearer and more distinct.

Downton Abbey will be on in the U.S. and Canada this week, so how great is that?

Have a wonderful weekend,
~Kim~

A Good Day

I hope you had a nice first day of 2014. I did important things like freshened up my blog. changed the background. I took all of the Christmas songs off my IPod playlist. Read a book, that did nothing to improve the brain cells. I had a very nice day. I took some pictures too.

I am working on a snow man rug. the background is supposed to be blue. I kept trying to use the blue that I had and I just didn't like the color-at-all!! I would find I was mad by the third loop so I would put it down. I kept thinking about it and decided I would try and get some blue I could work with. I broke out the ole dye pot. At first, I was disappointed but then the more I petted it and looked at it the better I liked it. (Surely I am not the only one who pets wool.)

 

I had to take the picture out on the railing in the morning sun because it was too dark in the house. It is much prettier in person. So I think after I do a bit of reverse hooking (ripping out) I can use these pretty colors of blue. I have a whale rug that I need to finish but I never liked the blue for that either so I think I can finish it now with some of this blue.

Now while I am a slacker, my husband it not. Since he was off today, he was out in the cold bright in early. He wanted some tractor time so first he dug holes with his post hole digger on his tractor for twenty trees to be planted.

 

He is adding more trees to his Bonsai section of the garden area.  He will be cutting his other trees down to sticks. So the base will keep growing. I imagine screams from the trees as he walks around thinking of ways to wire them in twists and turns and then cutting them down to the ground to be about 12 inches. I never even realized the mayhem that goes on in Bonsai circles.

 

This was where the old chicken house was so today he hauled 26 bucket loads of manure and dirt to my garden. He finally got it down to nice dirt and I of course walked out and said, " How about a Koi pond out here?" He looked up shocked and said, " I was just thinking the same thing." Great minds and all that.
He wants to move all of his Japanese Maples out here so he could have a little garden. 

 

He hauled all that wonderful, good stuff out here to my garden and mixed and mixed and made it look so nice. I hurt my back earlier in the week, or I would have been raking leaves to add to this. I brought my chair out while he was working and dreamed of a new garden and what I would plant and it was a very nice way to spend the day.

I really need to get the berries all cut back and get all of the leaves raked and then my home away from home will be all ready for the New Year.

Thank you for stopping by, I need to go finish up my Calzone for dinner. I have a houseful of boys here playing board games so I thought it would be nice to feed them something.

Have a great evening,
~Kim~