GOING TO THE DOGS

Yesterday Paros's turned 7 and the day before that is was the 11th in Greece so his birthday has been celebrated for 2 days now...going on the third. I am hoping to have a few of his pals out next weekend and we grill chicken for them, steaks for us and P since we are expecting rain this weekend. I had paperwork to do on Wednesday so suffering the horrors of scanning, resizing, and emailing (before I heard of an awesome software program that makes this easy), I kicked off early from duties on Wednesday and we just hung together off and on Facebook, walkabouts, treats, and LOTS of love! Of course I am still singing "99 bottles of beer on FB wall" so hopefully the ear worms will go :/

And had a nice visit with a neighbor since last post where I saw a bunny in her back yard. We just were a swingin' lol with all the 13 year cicadas still making all their ritual noise, lightning bugs, and just that feel of country living that makes this place soooo desirable! No horns, no sirens, no people...just owls, woodpeckers, whippoorwills, and occasional dog.

Then the doc said my liver was worse than last year and fussed with me about not going 2 hours away to the specialist. It hit me after my visit with him why he didn't think it was far...he probably doesn't realize all the office an hour away does is discuss things. There is no equipment  there and barely any seating past the few metal folding chairs in the wait room :/ Still have never met the man so I am going but be damned if I will allow them to touch me :P

So bed rest again...on the sun lounger in the gardens, sit at computer, sit on mower, game in den or bedroom lol. Just didn't get very physical so had a great niece come visit for a week to keep me company :) I showed her how to cut, wet, form, paint masks, bought her some canvas and acrylic art kit, played Minecraft (but put her on adventure Kinect for some exercise), took her shopping, and then to her first fair (other than 6 flags). It's been 5 years since she has come out to stay with me by herself and from when I got the pics of her and Jim by the oak tree we started cleaning and clearing. Or taken the photos of her and Bayou when I first bought Bayou for her (mom didn't want at the time so he became Jim's little buddy). Most of the dogs in the family are all the same age so they kind of grew up together. My daughter's dog Sadie and Puppy, sister's dog Buck, Bayou and Paros (and Annabelle 3 years later), etc.

As for the kitchen and house remodel...I have had that on hold to add breaker boxes to my estimates and with the visits and doc stuff :P I do notice a pattern of when the water is bad though. Seems to be

before May...and sometimes in the winter around November. My doctor also told me the health department will test my water for free so this will save us a bit of money. I've been testing it with home test kits for $25 found at Home Depot or Lowe's. Still have all the wood flooring in my foyer because I am hoping to put in a reverse osmosis system a friend and doc has been telling me about but that is where I had contractor come in...may as well do the windows and cabinetry before putting that in, then floors last :/ I am past "Oh Jesus" onto "Oh My God" and destest using His name in times of ...well....Omg lol :D I try and use "Ohhh dear, brother, boy or WTH, Oh my gosh" :l

Well...I'm hoping this will go quicker than with just us doing it and can upgrade the engineered floor for solid hardwood. Stopped pulling tile up in kitchen and forgot I was scraping ceiling from the bathroom we just tiled, and my craft room. I had to stop when the grandkids came to live and picked up the bathroom when we did the tile. I have only 3 rooms and the balcony left to floor and the entire upstairs will be done and not to mention we are still a bit behind burning the trees we downed this year. Don't have many more diseased or crooked trees left to go and wanting to get in 2 pecans, a magnolia, another peach and pear, and walnut tree. Also still clearing the old drive and there are tons of blackberry, raspberry, and grapevines growing all along side of it. Want to get that cleared enough to trim and spray a few I want to keep :)

Before this year starts looking like last year...with the missed paid for vacations, watching plants grow, and hanging with family...I do want to squeeze in some more updating around here and replace my NordicTrack and pay the last $300 on the Christmas vacation (along with some on the Europe one) while I am home bound. I didn't get the house sprayed since I've been gone lots but now is a good time to get them out here before we start ripping up all the downstairs flooring. Or getting the contractor to do his thing. Whatever we do, we are in for one long, hot summer. We will emerge from "Going to the Dogs" to "Pet Friendly" (and human with the osmosis lol). So once everyone figures out what they are going to do or not do...we can come in with what we already have going on ;)



And Happy Birthday to my 3 grandsons and Paros. Annabelle is also in the clear so this summer will bring a spay. Regardless of her weight :l

 

BTW...AT&T was down yesterday and cyber security alert levels were high. Even though I need to finish my taxes off this month...I often think how some ID thieves do others taxes only to find the IRS swooping down into their bank and emptying it  lmao :D Surprise!! some of us has to pay them :P

 

Life Lock and Identity Guard are worth the purchase ;)