Cranking away!!!

I'm doing pretty good for September. I have a lot of my Christmas gifts done.

Ty and Steph..... Done

Jamie............ Done

some stuff for the kids, but they aren't close to done!!!! I'm thinking topping it off with a gift certificate to toys-R-us, instead of racking my brain trying to figure out what they have, and what mom's gonna get them. Let them pick out what they want!

Brenda and Alan got their gift early.... so they are done

Barb finally gave me some idea's for her gift!!!!! So, I'm on the hunt.

Got my Aunt Harriet something nice

And since Eileen doesn't seem to be talking to me for some strange reason,
(Don't know, and not gonna ask why) I don't have to worry about getting her anything! Besides she would just be pissed off that I'm not going to her house for the holidays anyway!


So that just leaves a few more, and I should have enough money by next month to finish up. YIPPPPPPPPPIE!!!!

Listing winter chores

I do a lot of things these next few months to get ready for winter.

I know, I know, most people wait till November to get ready..... but to tell you the truth.... I HATE THE COLD!!!

One of the first things I do is go to the storage, I have a shed so it's easy, I grab all my fall decorations, Christmas stuff, winter clothing..... and put them in the FRONT of the shed... where they can be reached without digging around. Same would go if you store in the attic or basement. Anywhere it's unheated, and you just want to go, grab, and get back to the warmness. GIGGLE

Then the inside of the house things.

I rather check the weather stripping on the doors, when it's still nice and warm, then to do it when I'm freezing! And stuff like weather stripping has to be done with the door open..... so freeze, or keep warm? I'm getting it done now.

First I close all the doors on a sunny day and then look at them from the inside. If I can see light from around the frame, "weather stripping time!" Very cost effective, the self adhering weather stripping is very, very cheap, and will save you hundreds all winter long!

Usually people will get out the glass inserts for their storm doors, clean them and get them ready.... but I find that I open my doors quite a few times in the winter (shore winters tend to be milder) so I only get the glass up on the one door that I don't usually use. I leave the screens in the front door, so that if the weather is nice, I can open it up and still get some air. But the side door is only used during the summer, so the glass can go back up for the winter.

Then the windows. I have high energy efficient windows, so not a problem, but you have to open the windows, and clean out that strip where the window fits down too. After a summer of open windows, all kinds of dirt, bugs and shit have built up there.... and if the window isn't closed right because of them..... you got leakage!
Even if the window seems closed tight, those bug bumpers will allow some air to get in, so I clean them out!

I also get out my winter sheets.... those flannel or t-shirt ones, wash them, and get them ready to put on the bed. I also wash all my winter blankets, and put them where I can reach them. No digging thu closets on cold nights. Nope, I have them handy and ready.

Now, I won't do my major winter house cleaning till late October, after I do the windows and cleaning, I'll re-enforce my cleansing spell, and clean my crystals for the winter ahead. Good way to remember to renew your cleansing spell in your house is to always do it in October, and in May. Never vary, or you might forget to do it.


This October I'll do a mild spell, since it's been a pretty good summer, and I don't feel that horrible build up of bad things in the house's aura, that sometimes happens. No arguments, or people of questionable aura's have been in my house all summer.... just good people and peace.

So just a quick cleaning of crystals, and re sprinkling of salt should do just nice.

STRESS!!!!!!!

TRUE BLOOD

This here picture is Sukey and Bill



When HBO announced that "true blood" was a new show in their fall line up, I was interested, but not having HBO...... well who cares!


Then I saw a preview of the show, on the Sci-fi Chanel, and realized that the show was all about a series of books that I've been reading for years now!!!!!


Sukey Stackhouse, and her group of vampires, shape shifter, werewolf's, and fairy's and much more..... set in the down bottom half of Louisiana. Sort of like hicks meet Count Dracula.... but his name is Bill! GIGGLE


When I found out it was about the books, I fought with myself for like a month...... I can't afford to add more to my bills, and HBO costs...... but the closer to the premiere, the worse I was fighting with myself.... till finally I said.... WHAT THE FUCK! and ordered HBO


I figured if the show sucked, well next month I could cancel HBO, and only be out a few bucks........


GUESS WHAT?? THE SHOW DIDN'T SUCK!!!! IT'S TOTALLY TRUE TO THE BOOKS!!!!!


Except for the nude sex .... not in the book, but pretty cool on HBO.


So true to the books, that I knew what was going to happen, when, and with who. It was like reading the books out loud. Pretty cool!!!!!

The end

As she slid beneath the waters
Her tail tightly curled.

The mermaid watched in sorrow,
the end of the world.

Soft sea's, again, claimed her.
And In her tears, and sorrow deep,

flowed the salt of all the Oceans,
as she saw the world weep.

But the mermaid's secret power once again
calmed her soul, and let her be.

for in the cold deep oceans
spring the tides of eternity

JO

How does your garden grow?

Yesterday, before the rain, I went out and gave both blueberry bushes a heavy shot of acid fertilizer.... they are going to need it to produce huge berry's in the spring. The rain helps putting the fertilizer into the soil, better then just watering it in.


Then I went out today and planted two pots full of spinach. Spinach makes a good fall crop. It takes warm weather to germinate them, then cooler weather to keep them producing. So in late September and October I'll have tons of spinach salad!


Next thing to do is trim the rose's.... but they are still blooming, so I'll wait till the end of October or November to trim them down. A heavy pruning gives them renewed growth in the spring. I'm going to get rid of the miniature rose, it didn't do well this summer, though it did survive the winter.... I just didn't like them.


This spring I'm thinking of adding a nice dwarf tree to my lot of stuff. I'm not sure what kind, maybe a fruit tree, I'll think about it during the winter, and decide in the spring.


The Gooseberrys have doubled their size over the summer, and next year I should get a good crop of them.


That also goes for the beach plums, they have grown and survived (no watering or fertilizing for them, they like the beach soil and no care at all) so next year I should be picking and eating plums. Beach plums are small, but really strong in taste.

And of course, I'll pick some rosemary, and hang it in the kitchen to dry for next year. I used a lot this year and my stock of dried is almost gone. Thank the Goddess the rosemary LOVES were I planted it, and grows like a giant weed!!!! The smell is FANTASTIC!!!

I'll also go out today and put some water fertilizer into the earth around the front bulbs and plants. When the soil is wet with a recent rain, the fertilizer is absorbed more slowly into the plant.... and that's what you want!

UPDATE:

I gave up on the dwarf tree after seeing what was out there, instead I decided on a bought a "Wegilia" commonly called the "Cardinal Shrub". It has pretty red flowers that the hummingbirds love, and when trimmed stays small.... also it was my Mom's favorite shrub, and her favorite bird, at the same time. My little memorial to her.

Big Storm

We're expecting a big storm tomorrow, part of the hurricane that's hitting the southern coast.

Living in N.J. I'm used to the, as we call it, "the tail end of the hurricane", so today I got ready for it.

1. checked my supply of candles, and lighters


2. went outside and brought in, placed in the shed, or covered up, ANYTHING that could blow away or be ruined by the wind. (And that included the canopy on my outside swing, damn thing acts as a sail in high wind, and tips over the swing, maybe damaging it!)


3. tonight I will fill my newly cleaned bathtub with water. Great for flushing toilets, and for drinking water if the power goes out. (I have gas for cooking so that's never a problem.)


4. usually I buy a supply of books, cause if the power goes, so does the TV, but I didn't have money for books this time, so I'll just read over some old ones.

And there you are, I'm ready for anything. Thank the Goddess we aren't in a flood zone, and this place has NO BASEMENT.... so no pumping water out!!! Yippee!!!!

And tomorrow during the storm, I will sit and sip my tea, and eat my cheesy poofs, and re-read some good books, and enjoy my nice cozy rain day!!!!!

UPDATE


Storm? What storm? No high winds, just some rain, and not even tons of rain, just mostly drizzle.... ahhhh well, they were wrong again..... but I still ate my cheesy poofs. GIGGLE

HAPPY!!!!

I'm very happy to announce that my son Matt.... who by the way is in his FORTH YEAR OF COLLAGE, finally got his High School GED Diploma!!!! Good Job Matt!!!!!

Work in Progress

The living Room is a work in progress. With the sofa broken, I had to rearrange the furniture, and it seems to be working out. I want to do the WHOLE back wall in bookshelves, but I could only afford to get two of them this month. So I'm going to live with them, check it out, and see if I really want to add two more. But I think I'm going to have to add them, since the two of them are filling up rapidly!

Also I need a REAL sofa table!!! The tiny table to hold my lamp is not doing it!!! It's kind of wobbly and doesn't look just right, so I'm going to have to think about this some more. GIGGLE

Unexpected Company

As you can see from the photo's ... Jamie, Brian, the girls and the baby, Josh, all showed up on Sunday to go crabbing!!!! Just a spur of the moment trip down to the shore. Unfortunately, crabbing sucked, and all they caught from two days was like 6 small crabs!!!!!









I think there were just too many "Bennies" crabbing over the last few weeks, and crabbed them all gone, or it could have been the colder evenings.... but all in all we had a GOOD TIME!!!!!