...the naughtyness of furry paws

so after drinking a liter of water...
and a lovely Dos Equis amber...
I found myself in the bathroom...

since I hadn't bothered to turn on the overhead light...
[there is a night light...]
I only realized something was "amiss"...
when I felt it with my foot...

thinking at first that it was a towel...
I reached down and found this...
[easy to see AFTER the light was on...]



then I looked to the right and saw this...




at that time...I had several visitors...
but I KNEW who was guilty...
she was sitting on the sink...
avoiding my gaze...

and my annoyance...
as the roll was new this morning...



Miz Sneaky Pie...despoiler of tp rolls...
destroyer of sanity...
able to unroll a full roll in mere moments...
with a bit of deft "slight of paw"...

she never tires of it...
is endlessly transported into worlds of wonder by it...
and always looks so innocent upon being...
"caught in the act"...

*SIGH*

CATS...

...pleasant Sunday

I always hear people speak of Sunday...
as the day they sleep in...
spend long hours over the papers...
a leisurely breakfast... or even brunch...
a day spent with family...relaxing...

I remember having Sundays like that...
generally between "church jobs"...



it's different now...
I still have obligations & duties...
music to prepare & perform...
Psalms to chant...rehearsals to lead...
[and remember to end on time...
no dismissal bell here...]

but unlike those other "church jobs"...
there is no place I'd rather be on Sunday morning...
and no other people I'd rather be with...



for our choir...this was our 2nd Sunday "back"...
our first rehearsal after church a couple of weeks ago...
instantly "snapped" me back...bringing a big smile to my face...
the joy of singing with this responsive & talented group...
is beyond nearly any other "group" experience I've had...
[and there have been some amazing ones...]

so after another warm & familiar service...
emphasizing how God will provide all we need...
and a rehearsal where much was accomplished...
we all made our ways on towards the rest of our day...

some had family plans...
some would stop at groceries and such on the way home...
some would go out for lunch...
I came home to write this...

first...I went into the back yard to check out my patch...
the trowel had fallen out of place...
but the clamp was still there...
I took it away... et, voila... it works !



and if there is any problem...



I'll just nail this pie pan over the outside...
to keep out the wet...[glue,you know...]



by the way...if you live near Mudville...
and need any potting supplies...
I might be able to "hook you up"...

[sigh...]

and this is AFTER tossing all the old broken pots...
and all the ones that plants "came in"...


you may remember this bed corner area near the garage...



now that it's clean... it looks like this...



cyclamen [red & white]... some creeping thyme...
catmint...[strangely enough, unmolested] garlic chives...

and to the right...



the 5 gal. gardenia replacement for the one in the front...
I have to wait for the creeper to lose it's leaves...
before I can dig out the dead one...



immediately opposite the gardenia to the north...
my next "target" mess...

this pile includes fountain/birdbath pumps...
planting bed designs... wooden pathways...
several wire carts...
a number of red anagazanthus that need planting...
and junk that has migrated from other piles...
that are now cleaned up...

but tomorrow is soon enough for that...

today...being Sunday...I'm going to "rest"...
and relish this...



the clean[again] driveway...[thanks to GotJunk...]

I'll find my Excedrin...
and my water bottle...

and sit in the back while I listen to the Giants game...

hummm... there WAS a cold Dos Exquis...
and I have some marinaded lamb to grill...



and then this evening...
I could take the new rocker...
for an extended test ride...

I love Sunday...

...rock around the clock

being "determined"..."focused"...
are admirable traits...

"stubbornness" however... is often seen as less than admirable...

and depending on the degree to which it is carried...
a LOT less...

I'm willing to admit to being stubborn...

it would do me no good to try to "paint it as something else"...
especially at this stage...

I know it comes from my Mom...

as she got older...
and the "little, everyday things"got harder...
I'd see her narrow her brow... watch her jaw tighten...
hear her voice become edgy...
and get out of the way...

she took great delight in "overcoming"...
which is probably why she lived alone successfully...
until into her 90's...on a ranch...out in the country...
and when she was forced to live in a "care home"...
her mind still jousted daily with any impediment in her path...

I have several ongoing battles...
not the least of which is my acquired handicap...
of having only half of my right thumb...
and that stump is sensitive if pressed too hard...

I thrive on "doing" for myself...
always have... and like fixing things...
or putting something together... from a kit...

since I also have back/leg nerve problems...
I wanted a rocking chair...
but was having trouble finding the right size & style...
that I could afford....

then back in November...
I found a kit for a mission style rocker with a leather seat...
and waited until January for it to be "on sale"...



it wasn't $500-750 like some I'd seen...
it was quite reasonable [$350] because it was a kit...
[AND on sale...]

I won't bore you with all the details...
or should I say "travails"...
if you enjoy pain, suffering & frustration...
read the 1/16/08 post, "update from the front"...

after all I went through, that chair is really comfortable...
I love rocking...and it looks good...

being who I am...[catalog capital of the Nor Cal area...]

I get catalogs all the time...
and once I got used to the rocker...
the chair on the front porch seemed...
too low... too "still"... and a bit boring...

so...I catalog "shopped"...

I absolutely was in love with a high end "outside rocker"...
made of oiled teak...craftsman-ish...
substantial...and $ 800 !!![with cushions...]
it WAS available as a kit...for $500 [with cushions...]

but I wasn't willing to pay that...
not and have to assemble it too...

so I kept looking...

the "big box home stores" [and their catalogs...]
had lightweight ones for $120- $200...as kits...
painted...stained...or "natural"...

I'd look at them...and they seemed "cheesy"...

and none offered cushions...
[I NEED cushions for back support...]

as the summer season progressed...
the prices began to drop...

the really "high end" stuff dropped down into the $450 range...
the cheesy stuff stayed the same...

and then Smith & Hawkin came through...

my porch chair came from them...
so did my media cabinets...
and my fireplace screen & tools...
[my chimney sweep thinks they are terrific...]

they were offering, in their end of summer sale...
a "natural Brazilian cherry"[sustainable] outside rocker kit...
for the sale price of $189.00 [it had been $279.00]....

AND... they had forest green cushions, specifically for the rocker...
and a rectangular lumbar support pillow...ALSO on sale...
as was a winter cover that would fit it...

the entire package cost me...
about what the rocker would have cost alone...
before the sale...

so when it arrived... I unpacked it...
shooed away Sneaky Pie...
read the instructions...
shooed away Gracie...

assembled the tools I'd need...
[wood glue, Phillips screw driver,rubber mallet...]
shooed away both SPie AND Gracie...
as well as Mack & Lucyfur, who came to "help"...

re-read the instructions...
examined all the parts...
shooed away Thomas, et al...
and began to assemble...
with an eye to the door...
as Got Junk was coming by, AGAIN...
for another load from the back yard...

I applied glue, wiped up the spillover...
channeled "Norm Abrahms"["This Old House"]...
shooed away "helpers"...
put pegs into holes...tapped with the mallet...
wiped up more glue...
shooed away more "helpers"...
applied some wood screws...
and was done...

I cautiously moved it outside...
[it has to set-up for 24 hours...]
tied on the cushions...
placed the lumbar pillow...
and left it to "cure"...



the GotJunk guys came & went...
they liked my back yard...
said it was nice & green...
[now that you can see it...]

now that the leaves and debris have been hauled away...
[it was about a quarter truck...]
I have the "container room" to continue the clean up...
[wait... that wasn't so smart...
I could have rested...too late now...]

I'll just have to rock away my aches & pains...
now if only the contractor would call...

...wind songs

I love wind chimes...
I collect them...
but not for their appearance...
or style...

musician that I am...
it's their sound...

some light and tinkly...
others rattly... or bongy...
or even brassy...

some very high pitched...
some mellow...
others deep & profound...

some tuned to certain notes or keys...
others... more random...
and the timbre is the thing...

they sing with the wind...
clamor in the storm...
and sigh with the merest of breezes...

they are the sound track of my life these days...
the laughter and the song of God...

sometimes...style and timbre meet...
in a serendipitous blend...



as in this copper, Mission style w.c....
hanging on my front porch...



this is not a w.c....
but it hangs & twirls in the breeze...
and always makes me smile...



I have most of my collection in the back yard...
here on the Valley oak, are 2 smaller ones...
they flank the hummingbird feeder...
and have a very "tinkly quality"...
though the one on the right has a shimmeriness to it's sound...



this large group is my most varied grouping...

there are ceramic bells from the Oregon coast...
a ceramic garden Nymph w/oak leaves from Orcas Is, WA...
[she's holding a temple bell...]
there are 2 multi tubed chimes...
similar to the ones percussionists use...

there is a "tuned" one...
and another ceramic one...
I just can't remember where I got it from...

as the breeze is blowing...
I hear them singing outside my window...
even as I write this...



in this close-up...
you can see the 2 ceramic ones...
as well as one of the several tuned ones...
I have in different "keys"...



in this close-up...
you can see the multi tubed ones...
flanking another hummingbird feeder...
and behind the one on the right...
another ceramic chime...


here... you can see an old ceramic bell...
that was my great aunts, then Mom's...

it hung outside my bedroom window at the ranch...
and it's hollow "bong" takes me "home"...




past it, is a rusting[it's supposed to...]pyramid chime...
and just to the left...
a tiny cat chime I found in the leaves...
I thought it was lost...
such a tiny delicate sound...
it's closest to my office window...



this chime was Mom's...
I have one just like it in pieces...
a victim of winter storms...
Mom had hers re-strung...

the blue hummingbird to the extreme left...
was also Mom's...
it was a gift from a teacher friend...
and she had it in her room at the "home"...



here...you can see the grouping...
the blue hummingbird chime next to the feeder...
on the right is a granite shard chime...
it has an exquisite quality but is very fragile...
as is the petrified wood one that needs to be restrung...
on the left...my glass "autumn leaves"...



here's a close-up of the "autumn leaves"...
it has a very tinkly sound that goes so well with the granite...



over in the plum tree are a couple of the tuned ones...
the long one is the "Westminster Strike" one...
the copper teakettle has a nice mellow tone...



this is more of a grouped shot...
that includes another tuned one...
my new copper rain chain...
that clanks in a strong wind...
and a couple of small tinkly/shimmery sounding ones...
around the bird feeder...
they let me know when something is eating...



here is my "Celtic copper leaf" chime...
although it rattles & clanks more than chimes...
the black tubes next to it are the most resonate chimes I own...
and remind me of a tam tam gong with the length of it's sound...



back under the peach tree is a faded "dolphin" chime...
it used to be very bright & tacky looking...
but has always produced such an exquisite sound...
that I looked past the tacky appearance...



in the nearby cherry tree...
there is a small copper tuned one...
a medium tuned one...



and what's left of another medium sized tuned one...
the victim of winter storms...



which will go with all the other tubes...
to be re-strung...and to someday sing again...

...taming the back yard, 1.5

yesterday...we left my "patch" setting up...
today...the first thing I did was to glue it to the door...
[where it will "set-up" overnight...]
of course... my clamp was just a bit too short...
to fit as the manufacturer intended...so I "jury-rigged" it ...
using a trowel for leverage and the expansion lever of the clamp...

I actually looked up the term ...it is "jury-rigged"...
which means an emergency repair from whatever is at hand...
NOT "jerry-rigged" which comes from "jerry-built"...
and means built with inferior materials & poor workmanship...
an intentionally fraudulent item...built to sell, but not to last...

so now that I've gotten that out of my system...



we move on to today's target areas...
the corner next to the house, by the gate...



half of the massive "pile o'leaves"...
behind the gate, next to the fence...



the other half of the "m p o'l"...
on the other side of my cover/cushion storage bag...
in front of the fence...looking towards the garage corner...
[yes...that IS a kitty/critter door...
in the garage door...that REALLY needs paint...]



from the other side of the "bed"...
looking towards the fence/garage corner...
across all the crap I need to sort/move...
[sigh]

after cleaning out the corner next to the house...
I decided that the 1st half of the mpo'l...
which had been greatly added to from the corner, had to go...
my question was "how ?"...

I have a limited amount of exertive physical maneuvers...
in my aging body before I lock up in a spasm of arthritic pain...
so I needed to minimize my efforts...
in the most efficacious way I could dream up...

this was my first attempt...



use my mini clamps to clamp the plastic bag open in the can...
fill it using the plastic grain shovel...
the spillage just falls in the can to be disposed of later...
then unclamp the mini clamps...and lift the filled bag out...

the concept was sound...
BUT...
the mini clamps ripped the bag
when I stuffed the bag too full..
[also when I didn't stuff it too full...]



it was all I could do to get the bag out without it falling apart...
I ended up just dumping it into the green waste can...

NOT the outcome I had wanted...
and... it took too much time and messing around...
not to mention effort on my part...

I eventually found a box of stronger bags[Forceflex]...

there was still some tearing...

BUT...

I finally figured out that that it would "work"...

if...

a] I was careful HOW I clamped...
and...
b] I didn't stuff the bags so full...



several sweaty, sneezy hours... and 9 bags later...
I had disposed of the leaves...from the patio area anyway...

also 2 planters the bottoms came off of...
the metal cart that was rusted through...
the past-its-date cat food...
a mile of creeper vine...
a rusted wood holder...
a ton of brittle plastic[in the trash can...]
and several disgusting old cat beds...

as well as having sorted out and stored...
a LOT of potting supplies...

having had enough...I sat down, had a drink...
and noticed the grapefruit on the patio table...

there had been a bunch of grapefruit on my tree...
I had picked..and tried to eat them...
they were all pith...or dry & woody [frost damage...]
so I reluctantly threw them away...
all that is, but one...

it was heavy...and felt like a grapefruit...
so I kept it... I just hadn't checked it out yet...
since I was hungry...I peeled it...
it looked good...



then I tasted it...yummm...
just what I had in mind when I bought this tree...
sweet red grapefruit...juicy... no sugar needed...
a perfect snack... sitting in a breezy backyard...
the Piglet on the prowl...and the blue jay harassing her...



here you see my "true dwarf" "Rio Red Grapefruit" tree...
and the good news [for me, anyway...]
it has 7 or 8 immature grapefruit on it...



click on the picture if you want the particulars...
of this tree variety & grower source...
[I got it at OSH...a couple of years ago...]



here you see the clean corner, by the garage...
where there was a huge pile of leaves...
the "bed " to the right is where the huge pile of crap was...

you see my hibachi grill...
the 2 planters that still HAVE bottoms...
a glass water bottle that may some day...
be a wonderful terrarium, again...
and one of my 2 strawberry pots...
with some rosemary setting on it...



by the fence...the bakers rack with plants...
this was before I moved the cover/cushion storage in front of it...



the old coffee table with all 4 ferns on it now...



the cover/cushion storage in place...



the corner by the house...



and the patio area...

I need ...

a large drink [of water...]
several Excedrin...
lunch...
a shower...
& a nap...

[not necessarily in that order...]