Gone For A Good While

I'll be gone for a good while it looks like. I spilled something on my laptop and it's gone. I've done everything I know to do and it still doesn't work, so although this isn't a good bye, it is a it will be awhile till I get back.

I still have this old computer that was broken, but it will only run on a Umbutu disc. It has taken me about 2 hours and I don't know how many tries to get this far, so it won't work on normal talking on the net.

I wanted to let everyone know what's going on, so they wouldn't think I've up and gone with an explanation.

Thanks everyone that has come by and I'll be thinking of all of you.

The Lawn, The TV And A New Grandpa

Yesterday a slight miracle happened. My brother has a friend that does lawn and he sent him over here to finish off the rest of our lawn. He asked me what I wanted done and I showed him everywhere I didn’t get and I put emphasis on the weeds down by the pond. The guy did a decent job, with the exception he didn’t have a leaf catcher. So I’ll have to go out and do that.

Yesterday evening I took George down to the pond, along with my trusty long stick to beat on the ground in front of us. No snakes were present. So we stand out there and look for awhile and the first thing I spot in the water is a snake about 20 feet away coming our way. I didn’t yell this time, but I did scoop up George from a running gallop and high tailed it to the door. I’m beginning to think these snakes have a sense of humor. I’m thinking they’re playing let us see who can give FM the next heart attack.

Today all the brothers are supposed to be here to help move Fmom’s TV. She has one of these huge TVs that if it was on the roof people in the next state could see. The only problem is it’s in the den. For her to get to it she has go to down two steps. Since she fell back in Sep, I’ve counted her falling about 10 time and half of those were getting down into the den. Thank goodness nothing serious has happened, but now we’ve decided to move it up to the formal living room where there are no steps to traverse. Fmom was telling me last night that the TV was staying where it was at and it wasn’t getting moved. If think if all of us children gang up, er show her the logic of this, she’ll finally agree.

Finally I found out I’m going to be a grandfather again. My oldest told me she thought she is eight week pregnant, but she’s going to the doctor on Wednesday. I’ve been coming up with nicknames likes little FM and Grandpa’s Little Slacker. I don’t think they will buy off on them though.

The Lawn Again.

I tried to mow the lawn yesterday. I got the front yard done and started on the side when something went wrong. I must have hit a tree root, because the blade was bent. I knew this time not to try and pick up the front end of the lawnmower. Amazing how a fractured vertebra will remind you of that. So I got two pieces of lumber, got them on an incline and rode the lawnmower up that. It actually worked very well. So I worked and worked and worked and couldn’t get the blade off the lawnmower to straighten it out.

It’s my brother’s lawnmower and he has left a few here over the years. I told Fmom that every time I go out to mow the lawn that I know something is going to go wrong with the lawnmower. I can’t just go out and jump on the lawnmower and get the job done. I’m going to have a talk with my brother and tell him if he’s going to leave a lawnmower here that I expect one that runs correctly, no matter what I do to mess it up.

I guess I’ll wait until the brother that owns the lawnmower gets here and tell him to fix it. More than likely he’ll tell me, if I want it fixed to get off my lazy back end and fix it. Where’s the respect for the aged and infirm, not to speak of the lazy now of days.

Hope everybody’s weekend goes good.

Happy Birthday Olivia!!!!!!!!!

I figure if you've got something that works stick with it. So Olivia I baked the same B'day cake from last year. Plus in keeping with your B'day being low-key, I only said it 15 times - well 16 if you count the title. :)

Happy Birthday Olivia, Happy Birthday Olivia, Happy Birthday Olivia, Happy Birthday Olivia, Happy Birthday Olivia, Happy Birthday Olivia, Happy Birthday Olivia, Happy Birthday Olivia, Happy Birthday Olivia, Happy Birthday Olivia, Happy Birthday Olivia, Happy Birthday Olivia, Happy Birthday Olivia, Happy Birthday Olivia, Happy Birthday Olivia.

A little hockey cake for you!

Enjoy your Birthday Olivia!

Getting The House Ready.

We’ve got my Great Aunt O’s B’day this weekend. All the brothers and sister will be converging here. My brother that had the by-pass surgery is supposed to be here today. He talked to his doctor and his doctor said it was fine to take the trip. I sort of think that after the trip he’ll be so worn out that he’ll be in bed most of the time. Fmom’s asthma has been acting up a good bit, and I’ve been running back and forth getting her nebulizer and things ready for her. I have a feeling this weekend might be less celebrating and more taking care of people. We’ll see though.

I’ve finally decided I’ve got to win the lottery. This constant running back and forth and cleaning and re-cleaning is tiring me out. I figure to be able to slack and become comfortable to the life I could easily become accustomed to, I’ve got to buy that ticket. Only problem is to buy the ticket is over a three and a half-hour drive. So if anyone happens to buy a ticket and wins, feel free to send along to me. I’ll certainly put it to good use, oh and I’ll send you some flowers for your troubles.

Hope everyone’s day is going good. Now back to cleaning.

Wednesday Pond Picture Diary (PPD)

This is the first in a weekly series of pictures of my backyard pond. I stitched these first ones together from three seperate shots. What I'll try to do is show the changes in the pond over a years time. Since I'm starting out with a stitched picture, I'll try and have one every week. However, I'll have seperate shots also to show different vantage points. If anyone has any suggestions please feel free and post me a comment.

Click to Enlarge
April 17, 2007
Taken around 3:30 pm

Click to Enlarge
April 17, 2007
Taken around 7:00 pm

100 And Still Chugging Along.

Well this month is one of celebration for the family. My great Aunt O will turn 100 on the 22nd. Although she uses a walker to get around, her mind is still as clear as ever. I keep hoping that my mind is as clear next year as hers in after 100 years. We’re supposed to have a big gathering for her B’day and I’m hoping she will have a very good time. However, as most of you know, a big gathering for my family is almost a common place thing. I always love to see everyone, but sometimes I look forward to just the quiet and slackerly days. Who am I kidding, I always look forward to the slackerly days. 

I haven’t posted in a couple of days because I’ve felt very tired and have a major lack of energy. I think it has something to do with my quitting taking the Effexor that was prescribed for my migraines. I decided that it wasn’t helping with the migraines and it made me feel so devoid of caring about doing anything, that it was time to stop it. I found that the stopping isn’t that easy and the lack of energy is a side effect of the stopping. I’ll be glad when I’m done with the whole thing. I’ve got to get a lot of stuff done that I’ve put off during this time. It seems a little bit overwhelming right now, but if I keep putting it off, it will become too overwhelming.

I’ve decided on the spot I’ll take the pictures for the pond series and also that I’ll post a Pond Picture Diary (PPD) once a week. I’ll take pictures during the week and pick out the best ones for that diary. The PPD will be a work in progress, so if anyone has any suggestions please feel free and post them.

Well it’s time to get some stuff done around here. I hope everyone is doing fine and you have a good week ahead.

Messing Around With Pictures

Another night of messing around with old pictures. I was making myself stay up until 8:30 pm last night so I could get a good night’s sleep. Didn’t happen though, so I’m doing stuff to old pictures.

Picture 1. Don’t know what kind of flower it is, but I darkened a good bit around it and used charcoal and pencil effects.

Day Light Flower

Click to enlarge.

Mid Night Flower

Click to enlarge.

Picture 2. This one is for Andi. This week once I figure it out, I'm going to start taking a picture of the pond once a day or week, depending on scheduling. I have to pick a spot and take a picture of the pond at the same time with the same camera settings to show the changes going on during the year. This however, is going to take me out of my slackerly realm because this will take some effort, and we all know how much I hate to waste energy.

I didn't do any changes to this picture, but this is pretty much how the pond looks at the moment. Now I have to go and ponder location, camera settings and all that good stuff I haven't thought about before.

Have a good day everyone.

The Migraine & An Old/New Picture.

I went through a migraine yesterday. It wasn’t as bad as some, but it still wasn’t a feeling of I want to go back there. I had to go to the doctor’s office for this one. That always presents problems. My b-I-l was on his way to a meeting so I got him to drop me off at the doctor's office. After that Fmom had to drive to the doctor's office to pick me up. They ended up giving me three shots and obviously I couldn’t drive. To show you how bad it was hurting, I would only agree in this instant to let Fmom drive. The office is only two miles away and Fmom did fine for that little of a drive. I told her after the shots that George could be driving and I wouldn’t have cared. This got her into a huff because she thought I was belittling her driving. Actually she did pretty good and only went off the right side of the road once. She told me she could drive from here to Memphis and there would be no problem. I told her the only problem that would be is her going by herself, because I wouldn’t be riding with her. That thoroughly put her into a bad mood and luckily when I did get home I went to my room and didn’t have to suffer her huff.

The one funny thing about the doctor’s visit is when the nurse gave me the shots she said I should be out until tomorrow. I tried to explain that these medicines have the opposite effect on me. They deaden the pain, but they also make me hyper. When Fmom finally showed up at the office, the nurse was aghast that I was up pacing back and forth. I told her that when I got home I knew from experience that the only thing that would happen is I would be sitting in my chair rocking back and forth and if I was lucky later on I might get some sleep. Well that’s exactly what happened and now my head is down to a dull roar and I’m able to tolerate light a little better.

My blood pressure (BP) was up pretty high when I went in and the doctor said she wanted to see me again after the migraine was gone so we could see how my BP was doing. I felt my BP was keeping in step with the pain from the migraine, but she wanted to check it again to make sure. During the time seeing the doctor she asked me how my back was doing and I told her. I also told her that when I fractured my vertebrae it was nothing compared to the migraine at the moment. I think she finally got the idea.

While sitting at the computer in my medicine induced haze I started playing with an old picture of the pond and doing a lot of different effects on it. This is where I’ve gotten so far and later on today after I’ve gone back to sleep and woken up again; I’ll have to see what I did. What do ya’ll think?

The pond in colored charcoal.

Click to enlarge.

I don't know why but out of the entire picture this one branch keeps catching my attention. I can only guess because it is more realistic looking than the rest of the picture.

Click to enlarge

Well it's off to try and get some more sleep and hopefully when I wake up, I'll be out of pain and out of the haze.

I hope everyone's day and week are good and take care.

The Magic.

Easter has come and gone and Fmom and I stayed home yesterday because we weren’t feeling well. Everyone met at my niece’s house and they had an Easter Egg hunt for my two youngest nieces. When my daughters were small we would have the big Easter baskets made up for them and we would get flour and dip our pointer and middle fingers in it, and make tracks around the house so they would think the Easter Bunny had been looking for them. I always loved doing that stuff. So they could keep a little of the mystery and wonder going as long as they could. Goodness knows it goes to fast for children now. Or either it’s always been like that and some parents just don’t grow up and want to keep the mystery and wonder going on and on for their children. It never does work though, because someone in school will tell the truth.

So the eternal question. Do you keep the magic going and later on have them ask you why you lied to them, or do you tell them the truth and never let them have Santa or the Easter Bunny.

I go for the magic myself.

Coffeepot Kaput.

My coffeepot went kaput this morning. I dug out the old one and by the time I got coffee made and back to the computer, I realized it was only 12:00 am. There’s no going back to sleep, so I guess I’m up for the night. My next biggest decision will be whether to have warmed over Chinese food or to cook up a hash brown casserole. I think the Chinese food will win out. I don’t have everything I need for the casserole.

And Chinese it was. Nothing like pork fried rice and hot and sour soup for breakfast. George is a little mad at the moment because I didn’t share with him. His favorite is Italian, but Chinese comes in a close second with him.

Hope everyone’s day goes well.

Azaleas Blooming

Things here have been going pretty slow. My brother is finally out of the hospital and he’s doing ok. The grass is growing and there are weeds a plenty. It’s pretty yellow around here with the pine pollen. I thought the rain would get rid of some of it, but it just moved it.

I thought I would do the lawn today, but when I took George out I saw a really big snake out by the pond, so the lawn isn’t going to get done, and I might put George in the car and take him to the park to use the bathroom. Then again, just going outside isn’t big on my list today. I intend to give that snake as much room as possible.

Fmom is talking about going out to see my brother again. I think she’s serious about going this time because she went to the beauty shop and had her hair done. Speaking of, I’m in a bad need of a haircut.

I thought I would put up a picture of what’s growing in the front lawn. Hope ya’ll like it.

Click to enlarge

Added: I thought I would take some inside picture of George. George is in need of a haircut too.

George's back end

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George's Front End

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A little FM with one of my uncle's prize bulls.

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This is an old one, but I've always liked it. A movie of the pond with music.