ca. 1915. Grandma is standing next to her mama. (Love how the house looks tilted. I saw this house last June. It is in really bad shape, but it is not tilted. lol) As usual, click on pictures to view larger size.

This Grandma (I can't figure out how to link to older posts):





The strangest thing happened yesterday. This was just a fleeting thing, but it was so very real.

I was working in the kitchen. Was I cleaning the stove top, wiping out the oven, or emptying the corn starch into a bug proof container? I don't remember, and I guess it doesn't matter. Yes, I do to remember. I was sifting the cornstarch into a container to make sure there weren't any bugs in it.

Just as normal/natural as could be, I realized my grandmother was off to the side and a little behind me. I told her that most young people now have never been so poor that they have had to sift the weevils out of the flour. They would just throw it away and buy new. (I can remember lots of times having to sift out the weevils. I can remember Grandma doing it, too, so it didn't gross me out.)

Then Pete dog walked through the kitchen. Not Grandma and Grandpa's Pete (Pete I with Patches ? as a puppy):




but Pete II:




Grandma spoke to him. But Pete ignored Grandma. I told Grandma that this wasn't her Pete; this was Pete II - the new Pete. I had the distinct impression that Grandma's feelings were hurt. Then she was gone.

I was working in the kitchen. Grandma's kitchen. I was not conscious of the date until just this instant. Grandma Margaret b. December 1908, d. February 10, 2008. Grandma, oh, how I miss you! God grant peace to your soul.



And, you may now honestly say that I am completely "losing it".

****

Random photos

Bed "hogs"




"Hahaha. I have your bed. nanner nanner nanner." (This is one of the dog's bed.)




Look what I found in the far back corner of the cupboard in the laundry room. Okay you young vintage lovers - eat your heart out. LOL For those of you who don't know what this is, be glad you haven't had to use this. My arm used to get sooo tired. Hint: I use a spray bottle only when needed now instead of this.




Roughly from 1953 or 1954




On top of the world (about 2006?). (I am down in the bottom of one of those canyons.)

Twice Mean

house mouse : Source: US Government


Around 4:00 AM - cat yowls. I figure she just wants to go out, but she can use the litter box. Dog is pacing the floor, but not bugging me. Then quiet. I roll over and go back to sleep.

5:01 AM Dog gets up again. Cat is making noise. Nothing unusual, but I really have to go. I stagger barefoot into the bathroom. The dog is lunging at the tub trying to decide if he wants to jump in with the cat who is running circles around the inside of the tub. MOUSE!

I left the cat to take care of the mouse. I then woke up my husband to make him dispose of the mouse. (It was just a little after 4 AM my husband's time. He had to get his gloves out of the car, and then take the mouse back outside. Poor guy. But, THANK YOU, he was here to do it.)

Husband goes back to bed and sleeps for another hour. Because husband was here? I went back to bed and slept for two more hours. He took the dogs out for their morning walk. It was wonderful.

----

The tub was soaked with bleach water, but found out that the stopper still lets the water seep out of the tub.

There were mouse droppings all over the floor in the laundry room, kitchen, both halls, both bathrooms, and the pantry. YUCK Probably more than one mouse. I am leaving closet doors open for the kitties to do their job.

----

Ironically, every morning I find one to several dead mice by the front and back door. This morning I found none. The two cats that had been out all night came in "empty handed". The cat that stayed in caught the mouse.

Happy New Year to All

I'm sorry I haven't posted for a while. Life hit a few rather nasty bumps, so I really haven't felt (mentally) much like sitting down and writing anything anyone would want to read. Pity party for one is now over.

Last night: I wish I had a picture. There were 3 dogs and a cat on the bed with me. (Some nights there are two cats and only two dogs on the bed.) No, I didn't have much room, and part of the time the only cover I had was a fleece throw. No, short of starting a world war, I couldn't get them to move. The room was cold, and they were way too comfortable. It is a good thing the animals gave off lots of body heat. LOL (Pellet stove has quit, again. This time, it is really dead.)

Here are three of the culprits: It you look closely in the bottom picture, you can see part the cat's feet. She's asleep on the dining room chair. The fourth culprit is a medium-sized Border Collie. (I have a camera; I just don't know how to download the pictures from it.)

Today: Wash bedding and throw rugs.

This morning I grabbed a package of bacon out of the freezer. I was going to cook the bacon for breakfast and then brown a rump roast in the drippings. Well.... the bacon was bad. It stunk up the whole house. (It was so bad that now the thought of food makes me a little queasy.)

I didn't want to just do a plain ol' pot roast, again anyway. BORING

Ah ha! The other day Motherhen68 posted her January menu list and links to the recipes. One place she had listed was A Year of Slow Cooking. For fun, I had done a search for rump roast recipes. One in particular intrigued me. But! It sounded too weird. It had beer in it. My husband hates beer. So, I didn't copy it down.

Today I went back and got the recipe. This was submitted by a commenter who goes by The Momma (don't know anything about her):

Slap a hunk of beef in the pot (I think I had a 3lb rump roast), sprinkle on some Italian dressing mix (the powder stuff) and then add 12oz of beer. Cook on low for 10ish hours. We ate it with some of the jus and I'm gonna make burritos and something else with what's left over!!

UPDATE: This was very good! Make sure there is enough liquid to cover most of the meat!

This is in the slow cooker as I write. For once there was everything in the house that the recipe called for. Thanks, Mom and DH. I mean, I never keep Italian salad dressing mix in the house, but there was some in the pantry! DH brought beer last weekend when friends came down to help us. We didn't drink any of it! Anyway, I'll let you know how it turns out.

Peeping Toms?

Sorry for the long delay in posting. Things have been a little on the crazy side. My mom and I took the trip to Utah and Wyoming. (See last post for a few pictures.) What I didn't mention was that my mom became really ill on the trip. A round of antibiotics perked her up enough to get home. We've made several trips to doctors since we've been home. Mom wound up having minor surgery, so I have been staying with her. She still isn't feeling well and will being having different surgery done on Thursday. I'd appreciate your prayers that all goes well.

Anyway, last night at Mom's, I went to my room to change from jeans to a bathrobe. (Please note that these pictures were taken with my cell phone at after 9:30 PM through the window screen. See how light it was?)

We only shut the curtains on the back side of the house to block out sunlight. No one in their right mind should be out there looking in. Only last night I got the "creeps" that told me someone was watching.

This was my peeping Tom. He was only about 30 feet away.


Then I realized I had another peeper. This is a peeping Tomasina, er, Spooky cat.


We all stared back and forth at each other for at least 15 minutes. Spooky finally wandered off probably to hunt, and the buck got tired of standing. All this time, I had two dogs in the bedroom with me watching the buck watching us.





The buck stayed there until after it was dark. He finally got up, stretched like a dog, and wandered off up the hill.

Odds and Ends (Again)

Thank you to all who have commented here and by email. What great and fun tools blogs and email are!

(Oh, I had a troll make an ugly comment about my brother-in-law, so I implemented the comment moderator. Sorry for the inconvenience.)

For some of the clothes stores various people mentioned, we will have to take a trip to Boise, Spokane, Seattle, Atlanta, Las Vegas, or ???. (At least one store doesn't sell on-line.) Wanting or needing to shop is a good excuse to go on a trip, right?

It is snowing Great Big Flakes and sticking.

The snowdrops are in bloom. In the 20 or 21 springs that I have lived in this town, May is the earliest I've ever seen them bloom (before now). (I've lived here three different times, so I get confused about the number of seasons, but not about when flowers bloom.) It's too early to remove the mulch - hence the debris around the flowers.

I love spring flowers. They look so delicate but are so hardy.

The lilacs usually bloom in mid-to-late May and almost always get snowed on.

Along Lapwai Creek, the stems of willows and dogwood? are changing colors. The trees look like they are getting read to bud. The elevation is much lower near Lapwai so their spring comes much earlier.

I almost hope it freezes (here) again so that there isn't any mud for a while. I hate mud. The dirt here is black, not dark brown, but black clay. It is slick and gooey when wet and hard as a brick when dry. It is almost impossible to wash out - very similar to Georgia's red clay - except much more fertile.

My dad just emailed me several old family photos that I had never seen before. Also, there were pictures of headstones and lists of family members with birth and death dates, birth and death places, and women's married names! I'm officially in hog heaven!

Dad also sent pictures of some family members (that are my age) that I haven't seen or seen pictures of since we were in our late teens/early twenties. Their daughter just got married and is younger than my oldest child, but why do THEY look so OLD? HAHA

Small world:

*Note to a Certain Young Woman in Texas: I just found out that one of my "old" college roommates lives in Austin. I lost touch with her years ago, but (re)met her mother at a church meeting the other night. She (the mother) and her husband moved here a couple of years ago.

*Aunt of Certain Young Woman used to live in a town close to here and drove over here to go to church. Wonder if our paths ever crossed? Probably. This is a small town.

My friend has two grandsons who are completely out of control. My friend is so upset. I hope things get better soon.

Note to young people - (most) parents never stop worrying/caring about their children, and the grandchildren and even greatgrands. Note to my children: You will always be my children no matter how old you get - so you'd better behave! lol

This is what my kitten did. She would streak through the house and hit the top of my desk sending everything flying. I had already picked up quite a bit before I thought to take a picture.

Kitten when we first got her. I set the cup there so we could remember how tiny she was. I took a picture tonight, but it didn't turn out. Can't get her to be still long enough!

Since it's time to put the dogs out (10:45 pm) one last time, I'll quit jabbering.

Rosie

Rosie - Fall 1993 to February 4, 2009

Picture taken in November. I still call her and look for her before I remember she isn't with us anymore.

Fleas

Oh, yay, I think we have fleas at our house. What, you say? How did that happen? Let's see...

We have 4 inside dogs, 2 inside cats, and there were 2 other cats visiting over Christmas. The 2 cats that were here at Christmas play with another cat. The humans that belong to those animals visit their friends who have pets.

Everyone of the employees where my husband works has pets. A couple employees even have ferrets, gerbils, mice, chickens, ducks, horses, goats, and sheep besides the prerequisite dogs and cats. (One has to LOVE animals where my husband works. I draw the line at the mice and iguana.)

The brother and sister-in-law that live fairly close have 5 dogs and a cat. One of his sons that often comes to visit always brings his dog, and I think his girlfriend has a cat and dog. My mother has 2 dogs and 3 cats. My other brother and sister-in-law were also here in December. They have a dog and 3 cats, and they are foster "parents" for dogs that are waiting to be placed in new homes. (I couldn't be a foster parent of anything. It would break my heart over and over again.)

Let's see...

My husband also has a repair business (besides a "regular" job) which requires him to make house calls. He has to take in his tool kits and sometimes brings items home to work on. (He tells me that some of the houses he goes into makes our house look "down right" sterile.)

We have attended a funeral and a concert. We've been shopping; we've been to church, the banks, the post office, the library. Besides a couple of customers and some friends, the Schwan's delivery person and piano tuner have been here. On and On and On.

While it was really snowy and cold for a while, we just had a few days of warm sunshine. That's all it takes for the fleas and ticks to show their ugly little bodies. And, once they get inside where it is warm...

I'm off to start cleaning. Now maybe if I had decluttered a bit it wouldn't be such a chore.

Great Day in the Mornin'

If you are squeamish, please don't read any further.

I'm actually in a really good mood. The funny thing is I shouldn't be.

When I went to put the dogs out this morning, one or both of the dogs (that stay downstairs) had been sick - both ends. What a disgusting mess. It was so bad that in a several spots it was soaked clear through two layers of really thick cardboard, the carpet, the pad, and into the wood. Luckily, most of the actual mess was on the cardboard, so that was easy to dispose of. But, most of the rest of the carpet was soaked and the pad was pretty damp. So, I spent my whole morning ripping out the carpet and pad in half of the back room and doing a quick clean up of the floor. (The rest of the room is blocked off and used for storage.) Luckily, the carpet was in bad shape before this happened. (In a little while I'll go put down a sheet of plastic and put flattened cardboard boxes over the top.)

About lunch time, I remembered I hadn't taken anything out of the freezer for dinner. When I opened the freezer door I got a face full of frozen food - hard packages of meat that after hitting me in the face fell and landed on my toes.

Then, I decided that since the ice finally melted from in front of the garage door, I'd better get the potting soil out of the garage so that I can take care of the house plants that the kitten tried to destroy. I opened the garage door. The rolling cart for scooting under the car fell (why was it standing on end just inside the door???) and scraped down my shins while a garbage bag of recycling hit me in the head (recycling has to go to another town) and the plastic end of leaf rake hit me in the face (why wasn't it hung up?). Also, several empty cardboard boxes fell over. I did screech; I don't know if I swore or not. Did I get the potting soil? NO. DH has old computers stacked on top of the sacks of potting soil (HUH?). I was no way in .... going to move those heavy things. (And to think that DH didn't want me to buy potting soil the other day because "we have some in the garage".)

I should be used to this by now. It really, really is a good thing that I am in a good mood. I'm even going to be nice and cook dinner.

The Toilet Seat Won

Last night I was really trying to be so quiet.

My husband went to sleep early (for him) because he had to get up at 2 a.m. to get to a job by 3 a.m. I wasn't ready to go to sleep so I sat in bed and looked at a wonderful picture book (all kinds of neat storage space ideas) until I had to go to the bathroom that one last time before crawling into bed.

Of course, trying to be quiet, I just pushed the bathroom door closed but didn't latch it. I had just finished, stood up, and barely turned to flush when the kitten charged through the door going full speed. She took a flying leap and hit the broken toilet seat. The seat went flying - ricocheting off the bathtub and landing upside down on the floor. The kitten landed in the toilet.

Have you ever heard a flying toilet seat hit a bathtub? Have you ever heard a toilet seat hit the floor? Have you ever heard a cat when it lands in water unexpectedly? Have you ever heard a woman laughing hysterically? (The door probably banged, and I probably screeched, too.)

Yes, I had to give the kitten, the floor, and myself a bath (and change pj's).

Yes, it woke my husband out of a deep sleep.

Laundry hint of the day

We have house pets - four dogs and two cats. As you can imagine, pet hair from shedding is a major problem.

For items that have static such as fleece, acrylic, polyester, silk, some rayons, some blends, I have learned a neat trick. (This might not work if you have to do your laundry in coin operated machines.)

Wash the item as you normally would - by hand or in the washing machine. First, when the wash tub is filled, aggitate the item(s) a little first, then stop the washer and carefully skim off the pet hair. If you forget or don't have time or have a front loading machine, don't worry about this step.

Next put the item or items in the dryer - the fewer the better. Make sure lint trap is cleaned out. Then, set to air fluff - NO HEAT or dryer sheets - for about 15 minutes. Heat causes static, which causes the hair to cling to the items. (Even the most delicate items can usually go in the dryer as long as there isn't heat, Velcro, zippers, or hooks.) Clean out the lint trap, again.

Now dry the item or items as you normally would, whether by hanging to dry, laying flat, or finishing them up in the dryer with or without a dryer sheet.

I have found that items put in the dryer on air fluff have usually lost quite a bit of the moisture that was in them so the heat cycle doesn't take as long. This can be a way to save energy, too, since it is the heat cycle that uses the most.

(In)Sanity

In a blog I follow, the writer asked what we wanted today. I said sanity. I suppose what I really meant was serenity or peacefulness or just plain old quiet.

At the time I said that, the mail person came to the door so the dogs were barking. Then the kitten (Hissy Fit or Hissy for short) decided to torment the old cat, Rosie. (Old cat was named after Roseanne Barr because she was so ornery when she was a kitten.) There was running and jumping and hissing and spitting and growling all over the house. Papers were flying; books were falling off shelves.

When Rosie got tired of the chase, Hissy decided it was time to attack Chewie's (our Border Collie) big beautiful bushy tail. (How was that for an alliteration?) Not to be left out, the old dog had to get into the fun, which caused the other two dogs to want to join in. Since the last two mentioned are banned from the living room, they had to fuss and whine and dance at the gate.

This routine (minus the mail person) goes on several times a day, every day.

Am I complaining? Naw. Who wants a silent normal household? LOL