October 8, 2012

So a year has passed me by and yep, it snowed today up around Timberline Ski Resort (Canaan Valley) and as far as I'm concerned, they can keep it!

This past year has been interesting.  We had a very (VERY) light winter and a rather warm spring/summer and October so far has been quite chilly at night but the days (until today) have been nice (70's).  Today it rained and didn't get any warmer than 45 degrees...sigh...

March came in like a lion for my brother.  His neighborhood suffered a horrible tornado on March 3.  Fortunately for him, his wife and 18 month old daughter were with his in-laws down in Florida and were out of harms way.  Most of the homes around him were damaged quite severely and while his house was damaged, he could at least stay in it.  Most folks couldn't.  It's taken him all summer but he's getting some grass going and some trees planted and even had time to put in a pool.  He took his lemons and made a lovely lemon meringue pie...honestly he could fall into a pile of manure and come out riding a horse!

R and I finally got around to finishing at least one room in our house...our 8x16 closet.  Well, we are finished to the point I need 3-6' pieces of Rubbermaid shelving to be 100% but I'm happy with 98%.  Now on to another room! \o/

Will try to be a bit more attentive to my "blog"...mebbe...

October, 2011

What a start into Autumn...SNOW...no fortunately we didn't get any snow but just a couple hours northeast of us...oh yeah...prolly 3 inches.  Had a very dear friend ask me via Twitter what was going on with the weather down here in the States (she's from BC, Canada).  Can we just be ok that it is part of the "Signs of the Times"?  One thing for sure, it got my attention and I brought in my plants that had been out all summer.  Oh and this next weekend?  Supposed to be in the 80's...Yep...signs of the times...have a great Autumn!

July Here I Come!!!

Don't know about you but personally, I am SO ready for July!  June has been crazy and I'm hoping the first part of July will be a wee bit more quiet.

I have so much facing me on the home front that I wish I could take a couple of months off work just to get caught up. 

I do hope that all I know has a very safe and wonderful July 4th.  I will be (hopefully) working on my house in some capacity but if that doesn't work out, I will be over at my mother's mowing her lawn.

Be blessed!
Puddles

Skinny Latte

Yes, I said skinny latte.

That is the color of my kitchen.  Well, part of it is anyways.  For the past couple of weeks the hubs and yours truly have been working (FINALLY) to get the kitchen cabinets put in.  We were blessed by a co-worker of mine (love you Philie and Janie!) who gave his wife a new custom kitchen from the husband of another co-worker that builds custom kitchens and when Barbara ask Phil "what are you doing with your old cabinets" I was on the receiving end!  (THANK YOU BARBARA!). 

This August will make 2 years that we've had them but didn't have them in.  The only crinkle in this blessing was the colour of the countertops...turquoise.  They were really in great shape but I'm not much of a turquoise fan so I enlisted the help of a very dear friend of mine that is great with colors.  I sent her a couple of photos of the cabinets and countertops right away and when we finally had a chance to discuss it, decided a creamy coffee tan/beige color would work. 

So tonight on the way home (had to pick up my hubby who was stranded...truck in shop for repairs) I shanghaied (sp?) him to Lowes.  I initially was going to get primer but by the time the very dear lady at the paint department got finished with poor Ron, my $12 gallon bucket of primer had turned into a 5 gallon bucket of paint WITH the primer included (1 less round of painting) and tinted "Skinny Latte" and cost over $100! 

I was so darn excited (this has been 5 years in the making people!) that I flew home, fed Ron, and set about sanding between the upper and lower cabinets like a mad woman!  Even Ron was impressed at how nicely the dry wall sanded down for me.  Then as it was getting darker and darker (we still have no lights in the kitchen...I know I KNOW!) I finished the paint job and called for Ron's inspection.  "Looks good hon" was my prize!  (YAY!!!)  Now I know that its prolly going to look rather pathetic tomorrow but right now...that Skinny Latte looks pretty darn wonderful to these baby browns!

Just think of me as one happy little puddle right now...think I'll go make me a cup of "skinny latte" errr decaf w/cream...

June...ALREADY?!?!?!?

I'm 3 days into June and just realized that it's June already...what happened to April and May?  Oh that's right, we had winter/spring, sleet, hail, LOTS of rain, MORE rain and some really wild thunderstorms...then it just turned HOT.  Seriously, we went from a daily high of 60 degrees to 90 in less than 24 hours it seemed.  Folks round here were scrambling around to get their air conditioners put in like crazy. And just in this last week have folks been about to kills themselves to get their gardens planted. 

I just know that the next time I remember to blog, it will prolly be blowing snow again...sigh...and I will be lamenting where my summer of 2011 went...

Spring at Toadhill Manor

After a very long and draining winter, we thought we had Spring in the bag but Mother Nature has or rather is trying to pull a fast one it seems. We had highs on Sunday (April 10) in the mid 80's and yet tonight the weather geeks are saying there "could be" a winter mix when we wake up tomorrow...So with that said, I think we'd all better drag our "woolies" back out for one more go round and hopefully, the beautiful warm days will return and mebbe by July I will be able to replace the flannel sheets with cotton for at least 1 month this year! Until later...be blessed!

Thanksgiving 2010

Doesn't seem quite possible that Thanksgiving is here already. Course it doesn't seem possible that my beloved father has been dead now for 5 years either. Tomorrow, November 24 would have been his 87 birthday. I think I'd faint if anyone remembed this besides me. He wasn't perfect and had faults but who doesn't. Honestly that man could get me so mad I could scream but yet as I type this, tears are running down my face because I miss him...quite a bit too. As I've gotten older and both my daddy and grandmother have died not to mention several aunts and uncles that I was fond of, I am still very fortunate to have my mother, 2 aunts and an uncle left. Not to mention several cousins and other relates. AND I dare not forget all my adopted family on my husbands side. I am incredibly blessed and know it!

I really REALLY wish I could lavish my family with all kinds of presents for their birthdays and Christmas and for no reason except that I saw something that made me think of them and bought it. But I cannot do that and try to build a house. I tend to drive my poor husband crazy when he gets the credit card statement or I come up and tell him "Honeybunch...uhhh...I need to tell you something". Ron then stops whatever he's doing and looks at me and says "what have you bought NOW?" Usually its a pair of Crocs for under $20 because I always call him for purchases OVER $20 and are NOT Crocs. Then he smiles and says "oh ok" and goes back to whatever he's doing. Yes, I am SO VERY blessed!

Right now my mother has called me. She is down visiting her new granddaughter down in TN for Thanksgiving. I miss her too...but I am so glad she is having a great time with her first grandbaby.

Blessed I am...to say the very least!

It is my hope and prayer that whoever is bored enough to read this have a most wonderful Thanksgiving. Think of me and Ron...we will be working on the manor...and eating PB&J perhaps! Turkey is just SO overrated! lol

Until next time...