The weather has been warmish up to now - most days in the 40s or even 50s. We did get a dusting of snow back on November 7th. 

I've been using my phone to take pictures as I keep it in my back jean's pocket and therefore, always have it. And I quickly took the snow picture before it melted!


In late October, I defrosted the freezer - a major task since it was desperately needed. Everything needed to be moved out of the freezer - which required weather that was moderate - not warm so stuff wouldn't melt but not so cold that I would freeze while working in the garage  I remember having a large chest type freezer back in our Somerdale house and again, in the Voorhees house. Both were in the garage for easy access. I had "areas" for different types of food - chicken, pork, veggies and such. It made locating things easier. Chest freezers are deep and stuff can easily get lost. At the Lake I had an upright freezer and stuff was organized by shelves rather than sections. This freezer didn't need defrosting! A nice luxury. When we bought this house I got a large chest freezer with sliding baskets. And again, organized by areas. And I finally got it defrosted and re-organized. 

Before with frost really building up!

And after all cleaned out!

Last year I purchased a Cricut cutting machine. And after a lot of reading, trial and error, reading FB group posts and watching lots of U-Tube posts, I ventured into paper crafting. And below are two of the projects.

These are candy huggers - little characters with long arms that wrap around a piece of candy. They are layered and I enjoyed making them!

Another thing I'm doing is making cards. This witch is three layers that are cut out on the machine and then glued. 

While I enjoy crafting, my creative ability is limited. However, this is an Internet based craft that enables files to be chosen, modified and made. I'm really enjoying playing with this - and am now working on some Christmas cards. 

Technology Problems

Anticipating the onset of rain, we headed out this morning to breakfast and then Sam's. We had only intended to check out one thing.....naturally we found several things that we needed. They were having a sale and with Thanksgiving closing in on us, the "deal" on stuffing was too good to pass up. Of course, that wasn't all we got.

Every time I think about posting, I wonder what to post about. Quite frankly, our lives are rather mundane, not much exciting happens and we do the same old, same old. But when I think about what we have been doing, I believe it might still be interesting even if it isn't exciting. 

We have been having technology woes lately!  We got a new TV to put in the master bedroom with the intention of moving the TV we had to another room. We have Comcast cable, Internet and phone. We had gone with them after having an ongoing frustrating time with ????  Hooking up the new TV should be simple - unplug and unhook the current one, and then plug in the new one. Not so simple.....  The TV turned on and needed to be set up. First the directions suggested we use an app to set up and use the TV. After checking that out (could not find it on the Apple store site) we opted to simply set the TV up using it's remote. Rather straight forward and only needed information on our Internet password. But then we could not get the TV to "talk" to the cable box - and we were positive all wires were correct. Long story short, we called Comcast and B had a lovely conversation with the numerous people he talked to who made all kinds of requests for us to do. However, none worked. (this happened yesterday). They said they would "ping" us in a short while and then it should work...it didn't. We chose to wait until today. B again called and got a different person who had him do some of the same things but one new thing (pushing a different button on the TV remote) and we got a picture! YEA....  however sound was not controlled by the cable remote but could be controlled by the TV remote. After asking him to do several more things, it was suggested that we take the cable remote to the local store and get a new one. That's on tomorrow's to do list. The important thing is we have TV.  Hopefully, when we move the old TV and hook it up, it will go smoothly.

I'll let you know....

September 8 2017

I find that when I think about posting I wonder what to say. Which, for those of you that know me, is funny because I'm not usually at a loss for words. But really, same old, same old!  However, I also find that going back and reading what I've posted in the past reminds me of the interesting and enjoyable things I've done. 

The weather has been unusually cool. The trees are starting to drop leaves and my tomato plant finally bit the dust having taken quite a long time to bud a measly 3 tomatoes - then it got bumped when Honey took off around the planter and I crashed into it bending the tomato cage. So yesterday I cut it down and pulled the roots out. The patio looks much better!

It was raining off and on all day. B was busy doing stuff in his office and working on the iPad. I started to bring out the fall decorations - why fight the weather? Fall wreaths are up and I washed towels and table cloths that were stored downstairs. We have a lovely LARGE storage area at the bottom of the lower level steps. The rest of the lower level is carpeted and there is a large TV and very comfortable sofa that I enjoy using at night when I binge on Netflix. But off to the side is a huge space that we have set up for storage. And as well as shelving, I store seasonal things in totes.  I also vacuumed the tile floors on the main level and the steps going down to the lower level. Honey takes her numerous walks out back using the slider that open onto the back yard and then tracks dirt up the stairs. I change shoes so my outside shoes rarely go beyond the shoe/boot tray. 

While our weather has been cool, we are fortunate that we are not dealing with hurricanes and earthquakes!  I follow several FaceBook groups that deal with crafting and one of the major topics has been how those living first in Texas and now in Florida are preparing for the terrible weather. We count our blessings.

Summer Cleaning

We have been enjoying outdoor living over the past month - warm but not too hot temperatures have encouraged us to use the deck for morning coffee and paper reading. I've planted flowers in containers on both the deck, front porch and patio while B has been feeding the lawn and shrubs. Some outside furniture from the Lake house was brought over in the early spring. 

After washing a few outside windows, we noticed not only how much the windows needed cleaning but also how dirty the front brick was. The sidewalks, front porch and back patio also needed cleaning. Having had success with having the roof washed, B suggested we again contact Apex Soft Wash. A representative came out and we ordered a home exterior soft wash that included the entire house, front walks and back patio. They came this week and we are amazed at the difference! And of course, I was out with the camera taking pictures.

All the furniture had to be moved off the patio along with the potted plants

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The two deck boxes were emptied and moved

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And a very dirty patio was left

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They first sprayed the cleaner on the house including the windows. The spray was "soft" enough that spraying the windows presented no problem.

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Honey supervised from the master bedroom window

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The spray reached the top and got all the windows

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The brick on the front was done

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And the front porch as well as the front walks

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Here they are using a round scrubber to clean the back patio - this was also used on the front patio and sidewalks.

An amazing difference!!!

We are so happy with the results! The lawn guys will be trimming the overgrown shrubs within the next few weeks. This summer we are looking forward to enjoying outdoor living at our Park house. 

Rainy Memorial Day 2017

As many of you are experiencing, our weather is wonky! We had 90 degree temperatures for two days earlier in May and this past week has been cool....and today we again have rain! Thankfully the past two days were partly sunny and the temperatures did get into the 60s.

Yesterday I went out and cut some plants - the rhododendrons are in bloom and one of the perennials is flowering. I also cut a few twigs off the shrubs to fill in and ended up with several nice displays that I've posted below.

One of the things I like about this kitchen is the small island. And lately I've been trying to use it as a display area. The reddish "flower" is from our rhododendrons and the fill is shrubs. We have a red maple tree in the front that is just lovely - and one or two branches are sticking out. So, I liberated them for this display. This shot is toward the breakfast area.

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Same bouquet other side of the island shot toward stairs to the lower level (the door is closed) and the dining room. See the picture on the wall? A close up from the Lake house. I've always liked to take flower pictures.

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To the left of the sink is a long stretch of counter topped by a "shelf" that is wide enough to use as a display area or a holding spot. This bouquet has some rhododendrons and a flower branch from the perennial planted two years ago. Anyone know what that is? The yellow and red go well together.

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And to the left of the vase above, is the final rhododendron flowers. You get a better view of the breakfast area. 

We are thankful to those who served and enabled us to enjoy this day.