Amidst The Rubble

The Morkie and Mr. B.

Construction happening everywhere, and suddenly, out pops that cute little face--Rosco--that is.  He's waiting for me to finish taking pictures and get back in the car.

My 3 dogs patiently waiting for me to get back in the car and resume their doggie ride.

My Pods Are Procrastinators!

In the beginning.....

I was so excited when I brought home my 72 pods to plant my vegetable seeds.  The photo above was taken May 7th, all but 6 to 8 individual pods were sprouting.  Now it seems the only seedlings doing any growing at all, are my tomato and bean plants.  The other side refuses to grow.  Or maybe, they're just procrastinating. 

2  1/2 weeks after the above photo, I have 6 rows growing out of 12

Laundry Day Can Be Anyday at My House. Now.

Beautiful, aren't they?

Yep.  It's happened.  It's finally here.  Four months in the works, and I finally have a working washing machine and dryer.  Mr. B. finished the overdue project.  (Perhaps I meant to write the long overdue and finally finished project?)  No more trips to the laundromat.  No more waiting for an empty washing machine.  No more saving quarters for the machines.  No more dropped clean laundry on the dirty laundromat floors and having to start all over again.  Yes, and at long last, no more stinky, dirty clothes laying in a heap, waiting for me (emphasis on me) to take to the laundromat.  Welcome back, washer and dryer.

and no more of this.  Hanging wet laundry everywhere and anywhere in the house (except on the dog)

Eeeks!! It's a Mouse!!

Of Mice.....and a Man!  Mr. B.'s sexy, hairy legs standing & observing the scattered mice on the floor.

Make that, MICE!!   At least that's what I thought while out shopping today, lucky for me, the mice were the furry, non-living type.  I turned around and saw something on the floor at the end of the aisle.  My heart skipped a beat, but upon further inspection, looks like someone was playing a prank.  Mr. B. said it looked like a cat was in the store having some fun!

Someone was at play here, and I don't think it was a cat.  Blame it on the Midnight Crew!

Memorial Day--Stop the Noise--And Remember.

It's Memorial Day, I took my father, a World War II U.S. Navy veteran out for lunch today.  With all kinds of noisy firecrackers and fireworks going off in the neighborhood I live in, does anyone remember what they are celebrating?  How about all the sacrifices all the young men and women have made; all the lives lost?  A beautiful tribute, follow this link:           http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8qedwSRkug&feature=youtu.be

Girl Power and a Push Mower

Lola gets a workout

 This is how we get things done at my house.  Well, cut the grass, that is.  No gasoline needed.

Girls can do anything!!

Rosco's Ready For a Vacation

I took my Dad to lunch today, came home and found the cute little Morkie in his Hawaiian shirt Lola bought him on her recent trip to Hawaii.  Looks cool doesn't he?  Perhaps 88 degrees is too hot for a t-shirt on Rosco today, regardless; he's now ready for Hawaii.

Rosco relaxing in his Hawaiian shirt

It Was a Geranium and Lemonade Afternoon

I was busy yesterday, I bought more geraniums, planted more geraniums, watered more geraniums and made lemonade.  I just couldn't resist buying more of the red, pink, and white geraniums when they are priced at only .99 each.  The red ones I planted a few weeks back are growing like mad and getting really tall and colorful.   They're so bright and hardy for this wild, unpredictable weather we have in the Midwest.  Yesterday afternoon, Mr. B. and I started a small floral garden in the front yard of the yellow brick house, after we were finished digging holes and planting flowers, I made my own lemonade.  I don't know why, but I have been craving lemonade lately.  My body must be in need of more vitamin C.    

While Out and About...

So True....so true

I found this sign in a restaurant where Coco and I went for Mother's Day lunch.   But then, when I asked her where the restrooms were,  she replied, "Go West, Go West."
I asked  her again.  "What?"  "Where are the restrooms?"
Coco replied, "Go West."  "Just follow the sign."

                                        So I did.

Coco was right.  Restrooms to the West.

7/8 Finished!

Laundry Here......

Laundry hung there......

Laundry everywhere

So the RV is here, but the laundry room is not.  Guess who took the priority on this one???  My thing is I run to the laundromat and do the wash, bring it home and hang it everywhere and anywhere I can.  I don't like to use the dryers in the laundromat because:   a)  it's too long of a wait, b)  it's too hot outside, even hotter inside,          c)  I just want to get the hell out of there!!!              

So Mr. B. finally hooked up the gas line for the stove/oven  on Saturday.  He finished, turned on the burner then said, "There you go, now you can cook to your heart's content!"         Really?!  Does he really think that's the only thing I want to do around here?   I really want a laundry room, and all I can say is that RV should have waited, it's causing problems.                                                               The RV--that was Mr. B.'s priority.  I caught him outside washing it on Sunday.  I yelled out, "What are you doing?"   "I need to wash laundry, remember?"   That's my priority, washing clothes, not cleaning the RV.  After the RV washing, and my yelling,  Mr. B. started working on the washer and dryer.   He came inside.  I looked at him and said/asked, "Well???"                                              His reply, "I'm 7/8 done."

"7/8 done?"  I asked.   "What does that mean?"

Mr. B. explained he doesn't have the washer hooked up to the sewer line yet, the dryer needs an outlet and a vent and the floor is not finished.

But 7/8 done?  Who says that?  Only a man.  If it was a female, she would be 1/2 done, or almost done, or 3/4 of the way finished.  But 7/8 done?  That's man code for something that's going to be another month or two, or even more.   I still don't have a working washer or dryer. The RV works, and it's now clean, all 7/8 of it!           

I attached a clothesline from the tree to the cupboard handle.  I use the rails too to dry my clothes.

Bee Gees

First Donna Summer...now Robin Gibb, co-founder of 'The Bee Gees'.  Robin Gibb lost his battle with colon cancer on Sunday at the age of 62--following twin brother, Maurice, who died in 2003.   Another great singer dying too young.  Robin Gibb, with his tremulous tenor that distinguished their group from the others; the group that has a signature sound which is instantly recognizable.   You know when you hear the music, it's 'The Bee Gees."   They quickly became one of the most loved and listened to pop/disco groups from the 1960's to present day.   'The Bee Gees' never wanted to be identified as a disco group, but most of us began to take notice from the 1977 movie, 'Saturday Night Fever.'    Their great songs from the movie, "Stayin Alive", "Night Fever", and "How Deep is Your Love" made the movie soundtrack album number 1 on the charts for 24 weeks.  I was one of those teenagers that played that album over and over again and again.  I am so glad and so lucky 'The Bee Gees' played the music that shaped my life.

In this Nov, 6, 1979, file photo, the Bee Gees from left, Maurice, Robin and Barry Gibb sing close into the microphone at a Miami Beach concert in Miami.   (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin, File)

Finally Got The RV

Our new--used RV.

I am happy to report that after weeks and weeks of looking for an RV, which turned into months, which turned into a year, Mr. B. finally made a decision. We actually found a legitimate seller on Craigslist.com--of all places.  Going through all this, we became experts at the countless amounts of deception posted on this website, which I wrote about in two blogs detailing the lies and tactics used by criminals that steal information and photos from others to swindle money from unsuspecting, trusting folks.  How did we know this was a legitimate ad on Craigslist.com?  We didn't.  We sent an email requesting information that was followed up by the seller returning a phone call answering all of our questions.  A meeting was arranged to look over the RV, rather than sending money to some creep that thought we would buy his advertised RV- sight unseen.  I have to admit that reading the criminals' pretend sob stories in their return emails detailing why they were selling the RV, was quite entertaining indeed. 

 We arrived at the seller's house, in a respectable neighborhood and they were very nice, trustworthy, honest people.  Funny thing the sellers told us, they were wary when giving out information on the RV because of the number of times they had encountered scammers replying to their posted ad on Craigslist.com.   It seems the criminals tried to get something for nothing once again by attempting to send a fake money order to the sellers over and above the amount listed for sale, then requesting that the sellers send the change back to them in the form of a money order, which usually amounted to thousands of dollars.                                                                                         Note to people looking to buy or sell something via the internet:  BEWARE. (Read May 9th blog for details)

A happy ending for us.  Finally.

Thanks for the Memories Donna Summer

We baby boomers are fortunate for so many things in our growing-up years, but disco definitely takes the cake!!!  It was so much fun!  The 1970's and early 80's music and disco dancing is a time I'm glad I got to experience firsthand.  Just thinking about it puts a smile on my face.  My favorite disco songs are from Donna Summer.  Donna Summer, "The Queen of Disco" with her great techno music and beautiful voice defined the disco era.  I loved dancing to all of her songs, it's hard to pick just one favorite.  "Hot Stuff" and "On The Radio" are great songs to dance to, but who can forget "Bad Girls"?  Boy, if those three songs didn't get you up and dancing, I don't know what could.  "She Works Hard For the Money", definitely ranks at the top of my list along with "I Feel Love."  Just thinking about these songs will transplant me back to the disco dance floor where I begin to visualize the lights, the music, the disco ball, and the great disco dances.  Who can forget the disco dance called  'The Bump'?   It was 1979, I was out one night with my girlfriends, all four of us were up and dancing our feet off at the disco in the big city.   We started doing "The Bump" on the dance floor when an unknown big girl beside me (about 270 lbs.) gave me the bump and sent me(skinny Kim at 128 lbs.) flying across the dance floor!   Apparently, she did not realize how much power was in her bump!   I pulled myself together and continued dancing, but stayed far away from her.

Photo: Donna Summer in 1979. Credit: Larry Bessell / Los Angeles Times

Donna Summer died Thursday, May 17th at the age of 63.  Too young to have cancer take you.  Donna Summer meant more than disco to my generation, she will be missed and those fabulous songs will never be forgotten.