Sunday, July 26, 2009

Another Bear Saga

Manley woke me up by growling and barking around 11 pm or so. (I was sleeping beforehand.) I heard something outside and up the hill. I got up and looked out the window and here was a bear eating the neighbors garbage. He enventually moved off and through the pond and over by the garage, and activated the yard light. It looked to be the same yearling bear that was in my earlier post. Then it rained in the middle of the night and is still very cloudy today.

Yesterday I did not go to Silverton with Catherine. She has been extremely busy with her 2 girls, job and one going off to college, plus her husband. So, I went down to the farmers market and bought lots of veggies. I got some lettuce, garlic, tomatoes, cilantro, 2 different types of squash. One kind is the yellow small 'top' shaped squash that I had in my meal at Gabrielle's down by Santa Fe. They are SSSOOOOOO good.

Then I went and got some cat food for the girls and a birthday present for Manley. THE STORY: when Manley and I use to live in Madison, he use to eat those little white rocks used for landscaping. I always worried about him not passing them, but thank goodness he never had a problem with them. (Read chitchat blog for yesterday.)
So, yesterday I was looking at toys for Manley (like he needs any more) and I found this orange and green rock that FLOATS and is not square or round so it bounces every which way. I am standing in the store just teeheeing. (Hopefully) this one he will not swallow and he will play with it instead of just swallowing it.

I had to call my sister Jacque to share the experience with her, as she lived in the same apartment building and saw Manley most every day for years. They also make twigs, large and small, of the same material. What a hoot!!

I then went and did some shopping. I first of all bought the new Daughtry cd---the last one in the store-- and it was strange, cuz they were playing No Surprise on their muzak tape when I walked in.

Then I went and bought a couple of summer tops on sale. Two of them I can wear to work. Then I went home before spending any more money. I spent some time weeding and watering my tomato plants and then sat in the hot tub.

I spent some time cooking yesterday. I made pico de gallo and fajitas with my little squash, fresh tomatoes and pork. It's any easy meal and yummy too!!

The house was shown yesterday morning and will be shown again this afternoon. I have to run out to Lora's to feed Max, fish, water plants and see what other trouble I can get into.
I also have to download some tunes on my computer and then put them on my new little MP3 player. The ear pieces I bought are really nice and have good tone. They fit my ear very well too.

Well, off to do some laundry and cleaning and then watch the Nascar Race. Have a great day y'all and don't work too hard this next week.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

It's Cool Out

It finally cooled off after a nice rain this afternoon.

My van has been running fine now after being fixed. Had a hot weekend so got my work done in the mornings and tried to keep cool in the afternoon. The grass didn't grow much so didn't have to mow the lawn. Manley got groomed (much to his chagrin), got the cleaning and laundry done.

After work tonight I did some cooking. I cooked up the fresh green beans, broiled the london broil, then used that in my steak fajita and made a batch of pico de gallo. I also cleaned strawberries and got my lunch in the containers for tomorrow. Plus I did dishes and cleaned up and got coffee ready for in the morning.

I plan on spending this coming Saturday with Catherine up in Silverton. I have lived here over 2 years and have not been too many places yet, so very much looking forward to enjoying the sights north of here. Shopping, lunch and 'girl time' with a friend.

Of course I will let you know all of the details afterwards!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Y'all remember that movie and the car in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? And the sound it made?? Well, my mini van started sounding like that Sunday. It seemed to be sluggish and very very noisey.
Luckily there is a auto shop not even a mile from here. So, after only $82.30, I have a new spark plug and the van is running fine. I had hoped and prayed it would last until the end of August when I will be getting a new Toyota Rav4. The van is a '98. Hope I can get some money out of it.

Saw Charlie Daniels today. He and his lovely wife went through the drive thru. They have a house in Mancos, 20 miles from here, and are down for a couple of days and then back to Tenessee.

And I saw my chef, Chris, today. He has been meaning to bring me lunch one of these days, but instead he told me that next time I am out at Swing, he will buy my dinner. He told me to make sure he's there/cooking when I go. So, Deb and I will have to go soon. Maybe this weekend if she isn't busy.

Also, one of our customers brought in some BIG cookies and a thank you card for the pharmacy staff. It was celebrating a year since she started doing business with us and appreciated all of the help and good service.

So, today was a good day at work. Erika, the new pharmacy tech, is working out great. She learns really fast and doesn't get rattled. She will be working 11 - 7:30 Mon, Tues, Wed and then Sunday 10 - 6. She is also due to have her baby boy early October. So, I may have to take vacation in September instead of October. Of course I will let every one know when I'll be in Wisconsin.

Must go fill and rehang my hummingbird feeder and then think about going to bed.
Y'all have a great rest of the week.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

A Great Day for Manley

Well, Manley certainly had a fun day. We went for a short walk this morning and then I had to clean, do laundry, fill the pond, sit in the hot tub and then get ready for the house to be shown at 2:30.
Well, about 2:00, I went to let Manley out and put him in the xpen. Then I was going to go visit with the neighbors. Well, I did not put a leash on Manley. (Don't forget, he doesn't wear a collar with id or rabies tag, but he does have a chip.) So, I opened the xpen door and said 'kennel up' and he took one look at me, scooted right past me and took off over through the neighbors yard and down the hill.

Ok, there is a main road about 2 blocks away but LOTS of woods, houses and side roads in between. Lots of deer trails..... Manley is not aware of what cars are all about, so of course I worried---a lllooootttttt.

So, I called for him and went into the wooded area looking for him.......
Then the people looking at the house showed up and they really didn't care if I was there or not. At least they liked my place and were interested in keeping me as a renter. THAT was good news!!

About 3 & 1/2 hours later, after driving up and down the main road, plus a lot of back roads yelling for Manley, I gave up and sat down and cried my eyes out. I was praying that some one took him in and was keeping him safe and sound.

I then called Animal Control to see if someone had reported finding a Golden Retriever. Thank God, some one had. So I called and met the Animal Control person 2 blocks north of here and followed her up and around the big hill and to a house nested in amongst 3 more houses.
(Up where I had been looking.)

Manley, thank God, was safe and sound, kept this couple company and was sticking around and watching the guy putter in the garage. They had eventually put him in a small xpen with water.

I drove up and saw their dog, who is next door daily wandering around, and knew why he had come this far.. He had been following that dogs trail to his own house.

So, Manley was happy to see me and we thanked the couple and gave hugs all around, then got in the van and drove away.
As the crow flies, their house is about 1/2 mile north west from mine. Pam now has my phone number in case he shows up there again. And he better not!!

Lesson learned---always keep Manley on a leash and/or keep a collar on him with the id tag on it. And don't take it personally when they run off. They don't know how upset that will make you or how many tears will be shed or how many anxious moments will be spent waiting for them to show up at home on their own.

He is now sleeping next to my chair, his head on his newly laundered purple bunny, sound asleep. Thank you God for listening to my prayers today and keeping Manley safe.

I plan on sitting on my butt and watching the Nascar Race from ChicagoLand this evening and going to bed early.
Not much to do tomorrow except drive out to Lora's and meet their cat that I will be taking care of when they go on vacation in another week.
Lawn doesn't need mowing so will just read and relax the rest of the day.
Perhaps will take Manley for a walk---the opposite way that he went today.

My mom's husband Ray made it though surgery yesterday and then had a small set back last night so my mom has had a long day. Hope she can get some rest tonight and things go fine and Ray is on the mend.

A yearling deer just walked through the rock garden to the pond and then past the garage. He wasn't real concerned with Manley barking at him. Just walked off.

Later.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Another Relaxing Weekend

Well, I got my list of chores done and then some. The weather was hot but cloudy and I spent a lot of the weekend outside trimming saplings, weeding, mowing and then watering. I could see some of the fireworks from the front deck last night. And you could hear the pharoomp (sp?)
when the big ones went off.

I got Ollie, the Toy King Charles Spaniel last evening and he chases the cats, so they are hiding when I am in the house and he is loose. Gary will be gone until Wednesday.

This morning I made some brownies and took some over to Jim, Cynthia and Erin. Jim thinks I should go into the brownie selling business cuz he gives my brownies an A+.

This afternoon Cynthia stopped over and invited me over for supper. She made a rice soup with chicken/pork/cilantro meatballs. And we had salad and bread with that. It was delicious. And Erin made a chocolate pudding/crusty dessert. Yummy!! We sat out on their deck and had some wine and conversation before supper and after. It was nice to spend a couple of hours with nice neighbors.

I went to the grocery store yesterday and got a lot of fruit. Strawberries, mangos, cantaloupe, blueberries, bananas and grapes were all on sale.
So, I'll just be very fruitty this next week. :)

Well, back to work tomorrow. I am really enjoying my weekends off because I can do some chores one day and some the next day, unlike this last fall and winter and spring when working on Saturdays.

Hope you all had a good 4th of July and enjoyed the fireworks and parades.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Fourth of July

I have many things to do this weekend, as usual. Just relaxing right now with my cup of coffee. Made my list of things to get done already.
Laundry, change bed, dishes, garbage, litter box, dog piles, clip cat and dog nails, add water to the pond and hot tub, take Manley for a walk, pick up pine cones, mow, water lawn and weed.

(Having a power battle between Kisa and Sparkle, but Kisa won as Sparkle had to step back to let Kisa out of the bathroom. Thought it might be a little more interesting :) )

The boys are gone for the weekend and so I have the place all to myself. They left Thursday evening and won't be back until at least Sunday night. They will be moving out at the end of this month. They were just perfect for here and me. Work all day, watch tv at night, leave on Thursday and come back Sunday. Sounds like my cup of tea!

Durango is having a big festival downtown today. Don't think I'll go, as I really don't care for crowds and I have seen many years of fireworks. And do you think they could outdo Madison? No way.
So just a quiet day of doing chores and relaxing when I can.

Have to check on the Nascar Race time. OH!! The new tech at Walgreens at least knows who Jimmy Johnson and Chad Knaus are---you non-race fans!! :)

I'm reading a good book---Cemetery Dance by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I'm almost done and would certainly recommend it to the not so faint of heart people. It's a little too descriptive in places, but I'm not easily grossed out.

The day lillies around the pond are orange and very vibrant!! Love them and took some to work to share.

y'all have a good day and will see you on the blog-side.