Monday, October 25, 2010

Updated Live Writer

Finally I was able to link Live Writer to Blogspot. Still not sure what the problem was, as the error message made no sense to me. Now I have to figure how to use this newer version. I was used to the older one and found things easily. With this one I’m hunting for things…at least for now. Reckon that will change.

We had rain last night. Nearly an inch. Tomorrow we’ll be under a wind advisory for a while. We had heard this was a much stronger system, so we’ll see. We are needing rain so badly, that the .9 received last night won’t last long. I’m sure the ground just soaked it up like a dry sponge. Everything looked so fresh and bright this morning. Didn’t realize how dusty everything was, although I should have known.

Today I canned some chicken. We had some old hens that weren’t really paying their way anymore. Garry dressed 4 of them. I cooked, deboned and put into jars. Ended up with 9 pints of meat and 9 quarts of broth. That is my version of instant food. Open a jar of chicken and one of broth, add rice, or for a quicker meal, pasta.   Our layers are now down to 6 pullets just starting to lay and 2 hens that were raised last year. We also kept one old hen that both of us have decided deserves to be kept. She is the only one left of the original hens Garry bought about 5 years ago. Have no clue if she is laying, although she does look healthy.

Snickers has become more like my ‘old’ Snickers since we’ve been keeping her inside. She seems to want attention a lot…jumps on my lap about every time I sit down. She will even sit on my shoulders if the dog is in my lap. It’s just amazing that she’ll be that close to him.  As I’m typing this she decided it was time to be closer, so she’s at my shoulders. Rather hard for her to jump into my lap when the laptop is sitting on it. Smile Oh, she just shifted into purr…something about a purry kitty is so comforting.

Well, perhaps this is enough to find out if this thing will work okay. I’m sure it will. I just need to learn how to use it. It’s bedtime here, or nearly so.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

The sun was shining early this morning, then it became cloudy...enough to make me hope for rain. We are extremely dry here. Yesterday I noticed some plants looking super wilty. These are plants that haven't wilted all summer in spite of the heat and dry conditions. Needless to say I carried water to give them all a drink. Tomorrow I'll water them again. We collect rainwater to use for the garden and flowers. Thankfully we still have some in our tanks.

Today Garry and I went to Glasgow to do some shopping. He indulged me and stopped at my favorite thrift shops. Interesting thing was he found more things than I did...socks (new), jeans and a book. One shop was having a $1 sale on certain color tags.  I found a crocheted bag with a pink tag meaning it was only $1. It's a nice size to use for one of the many projects I usually have going...mostly crochet. It just helps keep everything together and ready to grab to work on, or take along if we're going somewhere. 
We had an enjoyable day. Much nicer than if I had gone by myself.


While driving along the Parkway, I noticed that some of the trees are really beginning to look bare. And others were just gorgeous with their colors. The maple trees in our yard have lost nearly all of their leaves, while the oaks are just turning a lovely shade of red.


The acorns have really been falling today. How do I know?? They make a lot of noise on our roof when they do. It's interesting how they fall by the bunches. Our son like to throw a handful of acorns onto our roof. Of course, the grandkids are more than willing to pick them up so he can have several handfuls to throw. Anyway, this morning a bunch hit the roof that if I hadn't known better I would have blamed Darryl. I have no clue what makes several turn loose at once. Just one of the 'perks' of living in the woods, or nearly so.


Hope everyone had a wonderful day!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

It's Raining

Rain hitting the roof is a wonderful sound...one I'm enjoying as I type this. Yesterday we received nearly .10 inch of rain. It almost settled the dust. We are really dry here. Today they put us under a 'no burn notice'....absolutely no burning of any kind.

Isn't the rescue of the miners in Chile great news! We watched some of it. Saw the last one brought up. I can't imagine what it would be like to be underground that long. Just pray they'll all recover totally from their ordeal.

Speaking of things hitting the roof. We have several oak trees close to the house and quite frequently hear acorns hit the roof this time of year. It amazes me how loud it sounds on the roof, then it rolls off onto the deck with a little 'ping'.

Today I finally did the bread I was planning to do yesterday that didn't happen. I made 2 batches of bread into 32 hamburger buns. We had a couple for supper tonight...pretty tasty...without hamburgers. I had made soup and that fresh bread just seemed ideal to go with it. It was good.

 

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Another day

Today has been cooler and cloudy. We even heard some thunder, enough that we unplugged the computers. Rather be safe than sorry. One of our sons had the mother board 'fried' as a result of lightening a few years back. I really don't care to deal with that.

We did receive a little rain today. The ground is just powdery dry, so we definitely need rain. Tomorrow is  a higher chance, so hopefully.

I took some cuttings from my Plumbago this morning and put them into water. Probably need to plant them into the starting soil fairly soon. I have so enjoyed that plant. The blue flowers are so beautiful. It has made me smile whenever I've looked out the back door at it. Also, it has NOT looked wilty in spite of the dryness. All good points in it's favor.

Yesterday the 4 year old granddaughter sure made my day. I was at her house.  She was busy drawing a picture of what looked to be a little girl and a woman. When finished she presented it to me telling me it was for me. Then asked if I knew who it was. I suggested it was her and her mommy. She said, no, it's you and me. Man, did I ever about dissolve into a puddle...so precious. The picture is now hanging on my refrigerator. You should have seen her smile when she saw it there today.

We have to keep our Snickers cat in the house all the time now. She climbs trees and onto our house. Then she can't get down. I always figured if a cat could get up a tree they could get down. Apparently not so...they are terrified. Cats have been known to become so weak from lack of food that they fall from the tree. Or just die, then fall. Not a pretty picture. The last time she climbed a tree, a neighbor happened to hear her and had a grandson ask if Mammaw's cat was missing. When I stepped outside, I could hear her and the terror in her voice. Garry came home about then, so he went after her. As soon as he was close enough she jumped onto his shoulder for the ride down. Unfortunately, when she got to the ground, the grandchildren's dog chased her and up another tree she went. Garry managed to rescue her again with the children holding their dog this time. We decided we didn't want our cat to disappear with us wondering if she was stuck up a tree. Plus Garry seems to think he's really too old to be climbing trees, especially so high. Since that time way back in the summer she has been an inside cat. And seems quite content, not even asking to go outside unless we're out, then she wants to be with us. 

Probably enough for this time. I haven't been able to connect this blog with Live Writer for some reason. It starts, then has some error that I don't understand. I may try upgrading to the newest version of LW and see if that makes a difference.

Monday, October 11, 2010

I did it

I just signed up for Blogger. Now to figure out how it all works. It will take some time. I'm not the most regular blogger, just don't always take time to do it. Oh, I compose wonderful posts in my head as I go about my daily tasks. Only problem is they seldom end up written and posted online. So we'll see.

As for right now I really must go to bed. My husband and the cats have already gone, so it seems like a good idea. Hopefully I'll have some more time to play with this tomorrow. In between baking bread and, perhaps even doing some cleaning around here.