Littlesister

Ambergris, you have done a lot. I know all that garden keeps you busy but well worth it. 

Love the pictures.

Ambergris, His mother said he wanted to move now but he just started a new job Thursday. I have some pictures of his damage to my things now.  His mother told him to wait till end of May so that he would be working at least a month. After the end of May there will be no trying to keep me from kicking him out. This is not the same Grandson that I knew. He has become very inconsiderate, refuses to apologize for the damage he has done to my house. he choses jobs where he can smoke weed. My constantly cleaning up behind him. I tried a couple of times to out wait him to see if he would clean up his messes but no luck. That is why I clean up behind him. I don't need ants and roaches in the house. Sticky messes on floor and counters as well as the stove would cause that if I leave his mess. It would sit there for days one end. 

If he's not out by the end of May, I don't care what his parents say is going to be living on the streets. He can go back to living in his car. 

He did stop trying the scare tactic on me.  First I had ghost in my house and it was haunted. Told him this isn't halloween and there is no such thing as ghost. He kept it up to the point I told him his grandfather is about to kill him. Of course his GF has passed away and that did stop him from the ghost trick. Then it was a truck driving by house several times really slow during the night. So I stayed up and sat outside a few nights waiting to see this truck. It never happened. Stopped that one also. He said the house was being cased. told him I had what I needed to take care of intruders. Then it was someone is walking around my yard. I would not pull out my protection.  But told him here is the bat. Go have fun as your tricks will not scare me. So move out if you have any issues with ghost, break-ins  or anything else. Because if I decide to sell the house for the reasons he keeps telling me thinking he will scare me so he can permanently live with me, it would not work because If I do sell the house he would be on the street a lot sooner than he thinks.  That worked like a charm.  He stopped trying to use the scare tactic on me. 

His mother is finally helping him to find an apartment as she is finding out I have had enough. None of my family will be living with me as I am selling or giving him the bedroom suit that he is using. I will no longer have a guest bedroom as the grandchildren think I am a permanent hotel.  This is the second G. child that has moved in on me and I am waiting for the 3ed if she and her husband don't make it in Washington State. As her DH got out of the Navy and not working now. They will be moving in with her mother.  After GS she will not talk me into letting another child live with me. Told her I am selling the house and buying a one bedroom house. No room for boarders.

The videos were really nice. 

I must have forgotten to log off last night.  

Didn't do much this morning outside as it was so windy it was hard to do things I needed to do. And we are suppose to have a bad storm this afternoon.  

GS started screaming this morning and got up and told me to close the window. He stuck a book up in the blinds thinking it would stop the wind from blowing the binds and making a noise. So he bent up my blinds. I am going to close both windows and he won't be able to open them again. I am so tired of him breaking stuff around here. Want to know what alcohol does to furniture?  Yep he ruined my kitchen table. And nope not even an apology. 

Hoping that after Church tomorrow I can get some things done outside. Hope it won't still be raining. But will see. GS was suppose to help me this morning but that didn't happen either. But I had to clean his mess up in kitchen this morning. All I can say is he best be moving out by end of May because I have things in house I need to do and can't till he moves out. I can't keep cleaning up behind him and do other things in house as well. Mopping den, kitchen and living room floors is now becoming a daily choir. 

I'm tired already. And need to work on garage some more.

Mt. Rider I do hope this new medicine works for you.  I am still trying to figure out where my energy is coming from to do all the extra work I do around here. 

Kappy, you have a good thing going on your property.  And all for the good. 

GS left for work at 3pm and he best not wake me up tonight. I am not as sore today but still a bit hard to get up and down but it didn't stop me from doing what all I needed to do today.  

Got the garden cleaned up and almost ready to start planting next week. The area for the tomato plants is ready for planting now. Next week maybe Tuesday, I will be able to plant everything. I really hope so. I already have herbs planted. And almost finished up the weeding of the flower beds in front of house. Don't know if I will plant more herbs, flowers or something else but I need to make it look better than it has been. DD told me to plant azaleas across the front of house but I want something that I don't have to keep working with. Don't want anything I have to trim every year like on the one side of house as well as my neighbor's bushes that keeps growing on my side of fence.  I need to cut them off the fence and I am not as strong as I once was to do that. DH always did it so he wouldn't keep getting hit in the face and arms when cutting the grass. But I am going to cut them way in one the other side of fence. Hoping that will take care of it for a while at least. 

Jeepers, I have been trying to teach GS how to do a budget but it won't sink in. He orders his food online for home delivery.  Everything he does is on line. I have only gotten him to a store twice since he moved here. I have been teaching him about sales and coupons at the stores. He did finally get it that in order to get the sale items he needs to get a kroger card, Harris Teeter card and a food lion card in order to get the sale price.  Now he says he needs to buy cargo pants for his job. Told him what stores to go to for that and he said he will just order online as he knows his size. That might be true but he might not like the way they fit without trying them on first. Either way I will leave that up to his mother. 

After working in garden, I washed the car finally. It was nasty. Then came in and cleaned up whatever GS spilled on floor and washed his dishes. Can't stand a dirty kitchen and he will not clean up his middle of the night raids. 

Note to self. Don't walk in kitchen barefooted. Yes my feet were sticking to the floor. No idea what he spilled but was saved for me like always.  The good news is that he may be moving out by end of May. I love him but he is unteachable, does what he wants and will not clean up behind himself.  I will be fumigating the house when he leaves. manly his bedroom. Once the bedroom suit is out of there, I will be scrubbing it down, airing it out as it smells of cigarettes and or pot as well. I will also be painting the room after I get the walls scrubbed down. He was told when he moved back here that he best not have pot on my property. So much for that rule. 

I am hoping I can finish up outside tomorrow but I think we are in for some rain. If so I will work on garage. I worked on it a little this evening and saw that the hot water tank was leaking. So need to call my plumber to check on it for me. If it is going bad, I have a brand new one in shed.  So at least that will save me some money but I am thinking it might just need draining and cleaned out and then refilled again. It's still working fine but I don't know where the water came from as it is under the tank. Will be checking it out more in the morning.

Miki, those chicken and dumplings look good. I will have to try that one. 

Kappy, glad to see you and Mary are doing ok. I am sure the two of you have been very busy.  Sorry to see that you are having issues with your repaired back.  Maybe you can find a better doctor to redo the surgery if it is coming to that.  I hope and pray everything will turn out better this time around. 

Becca Anne I am sorry to see you are having issues with bad neighbors.  At least mine are gone now and things are much better in this neighborhood. We had 4 bad neighbors with one using a slingshot hitting peoples dogs with it. Dogs would be in their on yards and he would hit them. He hit our dogs only once while DH was in the yard and caught him. I won't say what DH told him as it was not good. But that neighbor moved out a month later.  He was the first problem to go. The other 3 were gone about 3 or 4 years later. 

Jeepers, You are really getting it together at the Indy house. Seems you have a really good plan for that house.  With all you are going through with the construction on the Ohio house you are really keeping it together. As Miki said you are a really tough girl. You can do this. Things are coming along for you and before you know it you will be in Indy for good and enjoying your GS. 

The muscle relaxer helped me a lot. The muscles are better but still slow to get up and down.  GS was a trip. He started his new job last night and got home around 1:30 this morning. I was sound asleep when I heard a loud knock on my bedroom door. Grandma I need to talk to you. Think you GS. I was in a deep sleep. But I got up to hear how his job went.  Seems he loves this job. I am so glad of that. He will get paid every 2 weeks like his other job. This job is totally different from what he is used to doing. He is learning to cut countertops. The machines he uses is hard to maneuver, but he will learn as he gets stronger holding the equipment for that. And it was only his first day. I have never seen him this excited about any job he has had. I really hope this works out for him. He can move up the ladder and he gets yearly raises. That will help him with apt. and such. He may be moving by end of next month. I sure hope so because I am done living in his messes. Yes the kitchen floor was sticky this morning and I had to mop it all up. I just mopped the floor yesterday.  I did anything I could do that didn't require squatting down. Squatting down was a killer. Still a bit sore today but much better.  After talking with GS half the night I fell asleep on couch. He did finally calm down and went to bed. 

I might work on garden area later this afternoon when the sun is not on it. It is almost done now. Just need to finish cleaning it up and expanding it a bit more.  I didn't get much done on it yesterday and I need to get it all finished by Sat. as I am about ready to start planting. Going to get GS to help me Sat. as he is off work on weekends now and he gets up much earlier than with that last job. Need to move the wood pile and set up the greenhouse to a more permanent location which is where the wood pile is now. 

I told GS that he needs to stop using vending machines for munchies  as that is costing him a fortune. He said he needs to pack a lunch but the fridge they have there is small and doesn't hold much. So I told him about a lunch box with an ice pack. So might run out this weekend and get him one. Then teach him how to pack his lunch. 

I also have a lot of UFO's to finish up.  Baby blankets for the grandbaby are already done. But I have lots of projects I need to get done. Making curtains for both bathrooms and when I finish getting the garage cleaned out an painted I am making curtains for those windows as well. I already have the material, Just need to get these projects started.  I also saw a pinterest thing on using a curtain rod or really a pressure type rod to hang heavy sheers at the door going into the living room from the foyer. That way no one will see the mess still piled up in there that I need to get organized after GS moves out. He is in a hurry to move now. So hoping by end of May at the earliest. I will sell the bedroom suit if he doesn't want it and when I go to buy furniture I will get a sofa bed but none of the kids will know I have that type of couch. I have my scrapbooking that I need to finish up also. Going to try to paint the rest of house myself. I have a long list of projects but just can't seem to find the time to get back to them. 

Jeepers, glad you made it back safe and sound. Those truckers can be a bit scary.  I know you had a great time with your GS and got a lot of things done as well.  I plan on buying both a new living room suit and den furniture. But not going to do it till GS has moved out. He goes around barefooted outside and then comes in a puts his dirty feet all over the furniture. I have to keep old towels over the furniture to keep it clean. I had already gotten rid of the den furniture and moved the living room furniture to den. Only thing is, it's white. So GS has to go before I buy new. 

Yes, my butt cheeks are so sore I can hardly move. Can't bend down to do anything. Tried working on the garden a bit and then some other things outside. It just hurt to much to bend down to do anything. And if I got down on my knees to work on garden it was very hard to get back up. I hope tomorrow will be much better. Might take a muscle relaxer tonight. 

Jeepers I am thinking you will be taken another trip to Indy in about 4 weeks. 

Miki I am so going to try that recipe.  They both sound good. 

Ambergris That salad looks really good. 

Mt. Rider I hope all goes well for you with counselor today.   all works out.

Went out this morning to work on garden and I can hardly get up and down. Cleaning out 3 flower beds yesterday has my butt and legs so sore I could barely get out of bed this morning. But did manage to get a little bit done. Just hurts to get up and down today.  Cleaned up and then went to Walgreen.  Needed more cough syrup. They had the ones that were by one get one free. But it was a 2 bottle case that had one for day time and one for night time. So was able to get a free 2 pack. I also went ahead a picked up the wound care saline solution. I was low on it so figured while I was there I would pick that up as well. GS starts his new job this afternoon. I just hope he likes it and this job will work out for him.  He has an interview Sat. with BJ's so he plans on taking the job that pays the most for his full time job. Will just have to see how it all goes. 

Well, GS's first interview went well.  He starts work tomorrow. He will be working 4pm till 1am Monday thru Friday.  It's Trinco countertops. They install them. So hopefully this will work out for him. He still has an interview with BJ's wholesale. He is hoping to do both a full time and a part time job. So hopefully soon he will be moving out. Yes, I cleaned up his mess that he spilled and left for me to clean up today. Little brat just will not clean up his messes.

I worked outside most all day.  Got 3 flower beds cleaned out. I must have pulled up a 1000 oak trees. Seems the squirrels  have been hiding acorns all over the flower bed on side of house.  Only a few pine trees pulled up. Tomorrow I will work on the large garden area. Need to clean it out and then till it again. Going to start planting next week. So trip to the feed and seed soon. I am beat and sore. Took a hot shower after I got done and needed to take aleve for the soreness.

A bit cold out this morning. But going out in a bit to work on the garden. I want to get the squash and zucchini in ground soon. Then will be working on the flower beds after the garden area is done.  

Going to move the wood pile to another area. I still have about 1//2 cord of wood. But it is all by the garden shed. So moving that and that is where the green house will be tied down. Once tied down I won't have to keep moving it and it will be ready for next year's use. I have the tie downs so it's just a case of moving the wood pile and then moving the greenhouse to that area for a more permanent setup. Need to make sure my rabbit deterrent will still work. I have 3 units that emit a sound that will keep the rabbits out of garden.  Still need to get the fencing around the garden but the units I have will work till I can get that done. 

GS has a 4pm interview today.  I hope it will be a good salary to live on his own. He has another interview either Friday or Sat. I told him to take the one that pays the most money.  After I jumped on his mother for doing nothing to help him. She is the one that found the house for him. And is helping him on jobs around here now. It did take some of the pressure off of me. He is now starting to follow through on things a bit better. 

My daughter has 4 bedrooms so now it is her turn to let kids move in with her. Which her daughter and her husband is going to move back in with her from SC. They are the ones that moved in with me back before I bought GS back from Washington state. Her DH is going into the coast guard next month and will be gone for 10 weeks. And with her expecting a baby now he didn't want her to be living by herself. I can see his point on that. But no more kids are going to live with me. It has become to much work on me with cleaning up behind them. It's either I do it or the house stays a mess.  I am waiting to see if the oldest GD makes it in Washington now that her DH is out of the military and not working yet. If they don't make it they will have to move in with her mother or his mother in NY.  They have 2 dogs and 2 cats and are not trained. They poop and pee all over the house and the cats are all over the kitchen counters. I will NOT have that in my house to clean up behind and train her animals. I am way to old for that mess. And no she will clean that up when she gets around to it. Her sister said if she ever goes to visit her again she will be staying in a hotel and they can go out to eat. These kids are something else now that they are grown. Other than GS, they were not like this growing up. They spend weekends with me all the time when they were younger. And DH taught them a lot about gardening and took GS fishing and stuff. But now they are grown up and make big messes here. I just can't deal with all that extra work on me now. Guess I have just had to much on me the past 4 years and then construction and house is still not where I want it to be. So just can't take the kids moving in on me.  Rant over.

Darlene, those cakes look really good. And I like the idea of the chocolate chips in them. That will add more flavor to them.

I don't have the zukes yet but will be getting some soon. 

I am doing better. Just can't get rid of the cough. But that is slowing down now. next week or maybe end of this week I will be planting.  I would love to get pictures on here but it has not been letting me do it but I think I have figured out the issues but not how to correct it. Seems for some reason the computer put my pictures in onedrive instead of where my pictures were in my folder under pictures.

I did take it a little easier today. I haven't done  a lot of work today, But did teach GS how to put oil in his car. His light came on and I got him to check it and it was a quart low. So took care of that.  Yes for a 21 year old he didn't know how to check the oil or where to put the oil in at. But he says he knows how to change the oil and filter. I question that. I also washed towels today didn't get to that yesterday. 

GS has 2 interviews. One is tomorrow and one is Friday or Sat.  He also has found a house to rent. So if he gets one of the 2 job offers, he will be able to get the house for rent.  This will get him out of my house much sooner than July 1st if all goes well like he is planning. It even includes washer and dryer and electric as well. The house is on the owner's property. Saw pictures of it and it looks really nice.  Praying this will all work out for the best. And I can get him out of house sooner. 

Miki, glad you have both cars fixed now. 

I have a lot of things I want to do as soon as GS moves out. I really need that bedroom back for my office, sewing machine and craft stuff. The living room is open to the front of house at the foyer and anyone can see my mess in it right now. There are no french doors on it and it is open to the dining room also. I don't think the living room will work for all my junk and I can't really organize it as there is only one wall and other side is a 12 foot window that I really can't block off but so much.  I am not going to have a guest bedroom any longer as DD will sent kids to live with me without asking if it's ok for them to live here. They just show up with the exception of GS that I bought back here because he was living on street and about to lose his job as he had no way to take a bath or anything living in his car. So now that he might be moving out sooner than July I am putting a stop to anyone moving in on me. They can visit for a day and then leave. 

It would make for a fast green house if not for protection from weather.

Backwoods and Encyclopedia of country living. Both are great  I have many books that I fall back to for information on things but can't think of the names right now. will check the bookcases for the names and try to get back here to post what they are. I think one is the Lost books. They have a lot of info in them from the old ways of doing things.  

That was a great story. I enjoyed it.

Mt. Rider, glad you got that moisture. It's needed with wildfire season coming up. And that you were able to set a plan for reminding your mom about taking her evening meds. 

Becca Anne, If you have gravel under the grass it more than likely was a driveway. We have several neighbors that have that type of driveway. They have to kill the grass off every spring through fall. That area would be great for a greenhouse or raised beds. 

Miki, that is a bummer to have both cars in shop.  But at least you now have one that is now working.  Hopefully you will have yours back soon. 

I have been busy with garden. It is almost ready for me to start planting. Past few days I have been working in yard between rain showers and working in the house. Need to finish up on the garage also. I have gotten rid of a lot of stuff in the garage but still a long way to go. I think we are now past all frost. Rain yesterday and cooler today but still able to have windows open. I love when I don't need the heat or the air. Been a while since I could do that. We would go from winter to summer around here sometimes. Now we are having  real spring weather. 

Euphrosyne, the Farmers market is on Main street in Smithfield.  We can go together if you would like. It is a big one and more vendors will be coming in as produce and such come in.  Also there is a small one on Bennett's Pasture Road down the street from me.  It is not as good as Smithfield but nice. Lots of baked goods and such also.  There is another one downtown Suffolk but not sure if that one is open yet or not.  And another one on Wilroy Rd. behind the old Bunny's restaurant. 

Early this morning I washed clothes and cleaned kitchen behind GS's midnight raid. He did empty the dishwasher and reloaded it though but made a mess of the microwave. Heated something up without covering it over and it splattered all over the microwave and had to clean out sink and wipe down the counters again. This is getting to be double duty as I can't use the kitchen when he leaves a mess till I get it all cleaned up again. Then breakfast and cleaning up again.  July 1st is his move out date so I just need to hang in there with the extra work till then. I'm getting to old for all this but it is what it is. I would hate to see his apt. when he gets one.   I got really tired this afternoon and laid on couch for a bit. Yeah, I fell asleep and didn't wake up till 8:30 tonight. I must have been really tired. Just hope my thyroid isn't off again. 

Farmer's market didn't have as many vendors as I thought but will get much bigger as time goes by. Fresh veggies are coming from SC and NC right now as it is to early for the VA markets yet.  But did get fresh eggs straight from the chickens, rockfish, fresh garlic and some plants. 

They had caster bean plants and I bought one. We used to have a flower bed full of them and it kept the moles and voles away. So I bought one of those and a stevia plant.  Not much for the first time opening but got some things I wanted. 

My neighbor and I went to a vintage store after the going to the market and then breakfast. Then came back from Smithfield and went to Jebs market. They really didn't have much today though. Glad we took a cooler with ice for our fish. Didn't know they would have that and I have been wanting some rock fish for a long while.

You have been very busy Darlene.  Things are just starting to come in here at the farmer's markets but they are coming out of SC and NC right now. So hopefully in a month or two we will be getting it all from VA.  Got fresh eggs today straight from the chickens. They were selling them at the farm market this morning. 

Going with neighbor in a bit to farmers market. They are opening for first time today. They are open every Sat. weather permitting.  When I get home I am going to the Dollar Tree and Mcdonalds nursery. Then home to work on garden area. Need to double check on my bone meal and such for the tomatoes also. Going to be a long day as I will clean up the big garden this afternoon and then till it again. Then it will be ready for planting.  I have some herbs in front of house in flower bids I need to trim back. The rosemary bush is taken over and need to trim that back again as well. I will be giving rosemary to neighbor as well as drying some for myself. I have mint growing in a pot behind the shed. It seems to do very well there. Going to do some other herbs in pots and put them behind the shed as well to see how they will do.

That soup looks good. I have used carrot tops in the chicken soups I make and can. Never had any issues with it so far. But I don't put a lot in it. 

Mt. Rider, I pray your landlord don't have covid and that everything with that fall for heals fast.  And I hope you can get the electric figured out and fixed as soon as they are well and back on their feet. 

Euphrosyne, Glad you got to sleep in late at least one day. I know that felt good.  And yes the baby isn't a baby anymore. River is growing up to fast. 

Yesterday I had some errands to run so didn't get back in time to work on garden.  Today we had rain and they say rain tomorrow but if not I will be working on garden.  Went to hardware store yesterday to get some tie downs for the green house. I don't want the wind to take it sailing again with all my seedlings in there. So making it more permanent. those small ones will blow away fast if not tied down.  Going to move what's left of the wood pile and make room for 2 or 3 cords for next year. Now that I have done the trial run to see how it will do. Next winter I will try not turning on furnace at all and heat with the wood stove only. Just need a better place to stack it. 

This morning I had to go have the MRI for the pituitary tumor. So that's out of the way but don't know when I will get the results.  Then left there and went to Lidl's.  They have moved a lot of things around and much less food now. Not a good sign. And I have also started noticing they have signs up again that says sorry for the inconvenience but there is a shortage on some items. That also is not a good sign. But the stores seem to be full for the most part with the exception of frozen foods. 

I really need to get into the attic and look around up there. I have forgotten about a lot of things DH and I bought for hard times before he passed. We were putting what we could up in attic or in storage shed that I also need to get out there and clean out.  

Need to figure out where I want to tie down that greenhouse tomorrow. Might go out and look around for a mostly sunny spot for it this evening. I know where all the places are I would like to put it but can't make up my mind yet. 

Mother, I tried growing sprouts once and it didn't work out well. I am getting ready to try again soon. But trying something different this time.

Becca Anne, that is one proud boy you have there with his seedlings. it's good he's learning all this as it will go with him for life. You are doing great with your gardens and chickens as well. I am going to try next year to add chickens.  That is if I decide not to move. These kids are driving me crazy and I need to down size the house and not just what is in it. They move around and then decide they want to live with me which would be fine if they would clean up behind themselves. Mom did not teach them to pick up clothes and put them away or clean up your kitchen messes or anything. They do what they want when they want. But at least I have 2 grandkids that like to garden.  One if I can keep him out of bed in the mornings. 

Yesterday I was going to clean up the big garden area and till it again but ended up having some things to go do yesterday. Today it rained and I think tomorrow it is suppose to rain. But if not I will be working the gardens. I am ready to start planting now that there is no possibility of frost now.

Mt. Rider praying you won't have any issues with wildfires. I think we all have enough to worry about without having to deal with fires, tornadoes, hurricanes and such.  We all have enough on our plate just trying to keep cost down. 

I got the bigger garden area tilled today and tomorrow I will be cleaning it up and tilling in anything the soil might need. Though I haven't planted anything in it for 3 or 4 years now. But in that area, I will plant squash, butterbeans, zucchini and not sure of what else yet. Not going to plant green beans this year as I still have so many from before that it will get me through next spring.  I will be planting tomatoes, okra, cucumbers, and asparagus. I have had 3 different lettuce growing in my aerogarden all winter and will keep that going all year. I am going to be looking harder at that larger garden area as I am thinking of maybe expanding it out more.  I am trying to decide about growing watermelon and cantaloupes this year. Going to start planting next week as I think we are now past the frost issues. 

Euphrosyne, I have that very same greenhouse. It works great. But I need to work on mine a bit this year. I have had mine for a few years now.  Need to get it together and start the seeds. But being sick slowed that down as I should have already had seeds started by now. Maybe by this weekend I will have the greenhouse put back together and start the seeds in there. 

Just wish I had some hunters in the family, so we can all have meat. But fish works also. That I can do.