Category Archives: Life

Germ Warfare

If you’ve ever had kids, or been around children for any length of time, you know that when they are young and their immune systems are developing they basically become the world’s cutest little plague carriers. For several years, pretty much every bug going through the day care/school comes home to infect the whole family. Fortunately, as the kids grow and their immune systems strengthen, not every illness comes home. Then, after several years, the grandchildren come along and the process begins anew.

As of this writing, Kenn and I have three grandchildren: a twelve-year-old grandson, and his three-year-old brother and sister (fraternal twins). Up until our oldest son and his family (which includes all of the grandkids) moved to South Carolina, we kept our oldest grandson every other weekend; one of the times I have been the sickest was courtesy of him. At the time he was nine months old and fond of giving open-mouthed kisses as babies do when they’re first learning to kiss. It was adorable until he basically took out the whole family. I was sick as a dog for two weeks; everyone else shook it off after about a week. As for the grandson, he was fine; he was just a carrier. We still refer to it as the Babe-onic Plague.

Earlier this month, the twins were down visiting their other grandparents for a few days. Since we were headed to South Carolina for a weekend visit, we took the twins back with us. Lulu got a dose of Dramamine before we got on the road since she tends to get carsick. Everything was fine until just before we reached the Georgia/South Carolina border when Lulu started getting fussy. We took a break at the South Carolina Visitor’s Center so everyone could get out an move around. Lulu was not interested in anything. As I was carrying the pitiful little girl across the parking lot, I realized that she felt a little warm, but didn’t say anything. Kenn and I swapped off keeping an eye on the twins while the other went to the restroom. When I rejoined the group, Kenn said “Lulu feels a little warm to me.” I agreed, but we were almost to their house, so we loaded up and continued the journey. When we got to our son’s house, I told him that Lulu was fussy and felt a little warm, but he didn’t think she had a fever – until he took her temperature. Poor little girl had a temperature off 100.4o. Our daughter-in-law joined us at that point and our son greeted her with “Why does she get sick every time she visits your parents?” Of course, that’s one of those questions that has no answer. Poor little Lulu was sick all weekend; she was just miserable with a low-grade fever and a cough/congestion. (Linus, meanwhile, was fine.)

Kenn makes a pretty good napping buddy for a sick little girl.

When Kenn and I headed home on Monday, I was sleepy – which tends to be one of the first signs that I’m getting sick. The kids contacted us to let us know that Lulu’s COVID test was negative and that she was starting to feel a little better. Once we got home, Kenn and I spent the next few days suffering from a mild fatigue and I had a day of “brain fog” where words just weren’t working. After we started feeling better, I told him that I felt like I’d had a really mild case of COVID. It turns out that we probably did. Apparently there are a couple of new COVID variants that a lot of tests don’t detect. I’m just thankful that Lulu was feeling better in just a few days and that Kenn and I were only slightly under the weather.

Are there any Babe-onic Plague type stories in your family?

What once was lost, now is found.

I tend to be an organized person, although I’ve relaxed a lot in retirement. However, I still find it annoying when I can’t find something – especially when I just had it and I haven’t moved from where I was working. Pro Tip: always check under the cat. (Of course, now that Roxie is a member of the family, things go missing more often; the girl is a total kleptomaniac.)

Roxie, aka Klepto Kitty

We are currently trying to find the biggest item we have ever misplaced. Actually, we didn’t misplace it, we’ve never known where it is.🤷‍♀️ The Cabin is our third home, but the first to have a septic tank. The general rule of thumb seems to be that a septic tank should be pumped out every three to five years; as of August 5th, we have been living here eight years. Kenn and I have had a few discussions about having the septic tank checked/pumped, but then it slips our minds. However, we have finally taken action. (Go, us!) We had someone come out last week, but the ground was too boggy to do much. He’s supposed to come out again this Friday, but what with regular rainstorms, I’m not sure that the ground will be much better.

Kenn contacted the previous owners of The Cabin and asked about the location of the septic tank. They gave him a rough idea of its location, but he wasn’t able to find it. Before the technician was scheduled to arrive, Kenn said he remembered us getting a hand-drawn diagram of the location of the septic tank when we closed on the house. Of course, neither of us could find the closing paperwork. So much for my organizational skill! (I found the paperwork for our first two houses with no problems.🙄)

Kenn has become friends with the owners of the local pawn shop. (How’s that for a non sequitur?) He stopped in at the pawn shop for a visit and asked if they knew where their septic tank is; they did. They also gave Kenn a tip. It turns out that we can get a copy of the latest septic tank inspection from our local… health department. I thought we might be able to locate the information on the Tax Commissioner’s website, but I was wrong. Getting the information from the health department would have never even crossed my mind. Kenn gave the health department a call yesterday, and they have already sent him some information; he also got out and did some digging and is pretty sure he found the septic tank. According to the paperwork from the health department, the original 1979 septic system was replaced and relocated in 2001; the location of the “new” system matches up to what Kenn found. He has also flagged the location so we don’t “lose” it again.

What’s the biggest (or most important thing) you have misplaced?

Also, today is Kenn’s birthday. Happy 63rd, Kenn!

Out with the old.

I don’t know what happened, but when my part-time job ended, I decided that it is time for us to start working on the projects that we’ve discussed seemingly forever. Among those projects are:

  • Replacing the ceiling fan and light fixture in our living/dining area.
  • Install vinyl plank flooring in the basement bathroom and replace the sink and toilet.
  • Replace the counter and sink in the main floor bathroom.

The basement bathroom project revolves around us agreeing on which vinyl plank flooring pattern to use which may take a while. Kenn likes lighter flooring, I don’t – especially for the basement bathroom. The basement bath is between the half of the basement that serves as Kenn workshop and the half where my video game consoles are set up. As such, that bathroom sees a lot of muddy boots (Kenn’s) which, in my opinion, are not conducive to a light colored floor. I think he now sees the logic behind going with something a little darker, but we haven’t found exactly what we’re looking for yet.

Our next door neighbor has his own counter/cabinetry business, so replacing the counter/sink in the main floor bath is only a matter of getting on his schedule. We purchased the sink/counter combo for our master bath from him, so we already know what pattern we want – no decisions to make here!

We usually replace ceiling fans and light fixtures on our own, but the ones in the “great room” are going to require a professional with a scaffold or something due to the twenty-foot ceilings. I will dust the ceiling occasionally, but that’s where it stops for me.

We recently undertook a smaller project. Well, it was a smaller project for me; I don’t think it was even on Kenn’s list. We replaced our mailbox. The Cabin came with a rustic mailbox. (Shocking, I know.) The cedar mailbox was great for our rural location and rustic house, but it required too much upkeep for me. The mailbox looked like a house and the previous owners had stained the sides and roof of the mailbox to match those of The Cabin. They had even painted the “doors and windows” on the mailbox green like those on The Cabin. I played around with the idea of repainting the mailbox “door” yellow after we repainted our front door, but… no. The mailbox roof had faded and needed to be restained; it also had moss and lichen growing on it. I mentioned it to Kenn, and he was enthusiastic. “We can clean it and restain it!” However, I strongly suspected that that “we” meant “me” and “me” had no interest in taking on that task. I’m not a high-maintenance person, and I don’t want a high-maintenance mailbox. So, I bought a basic bronze mailbox and we installed it a few days ago.

The original mailbox.
The new mailbox.

While we were installing the new mailbox, we were also waiting for an air conditioning technician to arrive. Our A/C had stopped working the previous day, and it was time for us to find out if the existing unit could be repaired or if it would need to be replaced. Based on the date written on the unit, it’s twenty-two years old; I couldn’t help but feel that the odds were not in our favor. However, we dodged a bullet. A new switch and capacitor got the unit back up and running. We know it’s at the end of its lifespan, but hopefully, this fix will keep it running a little longer.🤞

Are you a DIY-er or do you prefer to hire a professional for your home improvement projects?

Round and round we go…

When our state began implementing traffic circles (or roundabouts if you prefer) I didn’t see the point. Part of the problem was that the first traffic circles we encountered with any regularity were in the middle of absolutely nowhere. I’m talking intersections where if two vehicles reach the intersection at the same time at any point in the day, it’s a traffic jam. Once we moved to The Cabin and we began navigating the traffic circle that’s a little over a mile from our house – we got it. The traffic circle is so much better than the four-way stop it replaced. Around six months ago, a second traffic circle opened about a half mile from the first one.

There are basically two roads to take when leaving our house. One has the two traffic circles discussed above. Now, a new traffic circle is being installed (implemented? constructed?) on the other road, about a mile from our house. I’m excited about this one. I navigated this intersection frequently; especially on days I worked. Through traffic on the road doesn’t stop so certain times of day, the traffic entering from the side roads backs up, especially when someone needs to turn left. The pavement in one area was really in need of repair as well. With other traffic circles in the area, the roads were kept open during construction. This time, the roadway is closed and the contractor has thirty-five days to complete the project; so, it should be completed around the Forth of July.

Image from depositphotos.com

Now, when I say the roads leading to the traffic-circle-in-process are closed, there is no doubt that the roads are. closed. There are big signs barricading the roads and plenty of bright orange detour signs. However, this apparently isn’t enough to stop some people – including my husband.🙄 Kenn came home one day about a week after the closure and casually mentioned that he had driven down to check on the progress of the project. Upon questioning, yes, he had driven around the barricades. No, he didn’t think it was a big deal. I begged to differ, but, whatever dude. Then, a little over a week ago, Kenn came home from his Saturday morning errands and confessed that he, along with the drivers of two or three other vehicles, had driven around the barricades. However, this time, the police were waiting on them. So, my dear hubby came home with a ticket and a court date. I told him he may as well not try to talk his way out of it because he doesn’t have a leg to stand on. Kenn agreed and also promised that he will not be violating the barricades again. I also explained to him the definition of FAFO – the non-PC version of “play stupid games and win stupid prizes.”

So, what do you call these: traffic circles or roundabouts? Or, maybe something completely different? (One of my former coworkers calls them “roundy-rounds.”)

There’s bad news and good news.

In my last post, I wrote about how I planned to replace the bird house the bluebirds were nesting in as soon as the babies left home. I didn’t have a chance. I went outside Tuesday and glanced at the bird house like I always do and… it was gone. The only thing attached to the hook it hung from was the roof. The rest of the house was on the seat of the swing. I checked inside; the nest was intact, and I didn’t see any baby bluebird corpses. However, when I checked the ground, there was a shattered egg.😢 I was heartbroken. Nature can be harsh, so I’m well aware that things happen to nests in the wild, but this one should have been safe.

The bird house was wooden and I was keeping an eye on it because the bottom was warped, causing a gap between the base and the rest of the house. There was no indication that there was a problem with the roof, so I was shocked at the complete failure of the structure. I immediately ordered the two houses I mentioned in my last post. The replacements arrived Thursday and Kenn put them up on Friday. (According to nestwatch.org, bluebird houses should be 300 feet apart.) Since the broken birdhouse was in a popular location, we placed one of the new ones there. However, the new one is firmly attached to a post, not hanging.

Saturday, the day after the new houses were put up, I got a couple of texts from Kenn.

A couple of hours later, I looked out the window and saw this.

House Hunters, bluebird style!

Based on the activity we’ve seen, this couple is busily creating a new nest. I look forward to watching the development of the new family. Their new home is well built and made of recycled plastic, so it should hold up for several years. It’s also easy to clean out, unlike the one that failed.

Kenn also built a house for the Carolina wrens and mounted it on the carport post near the location of one of the earlier nests. Once again, according to nestwatch.org, we are in the height of Carolina wren nesting season, so it will be interesting to see if it will get used.

Here’s hoping for happier bird watching in the days and weeks ahead!

Bovine Chic

Ally Bean at THE SPECTACLED BEAN writes an entertaining blog featuring miscellaneous topics, thought-provoking questions, and links to a variety of quizzes. One of her posts included a link to a quiz to determine your home decorating aesthetic. (I was going to link directly to the post, but I couldn’t find it. Sorry, Ally!) To no great surprise, the quiz determined that my aesthetic is Farmhouse Chic.

The rustic nature of The Cabin is one of the reasons I fell in love with it. Our first viewing of this house is my only experience of love at first sight. (Okay, maybe that’s not true. Any random kitten provokes a similar feeling.) Not long ago, I realized that I may be leaning a little heavily on the “farm” portion of Farmhouse Chic. I told Kenn, “I may owe you an apology. I seem to have decorated the whole house with cows.” (Hobby Lobby feeds into my bovine obsession.)

My love of cows traces back to my childhood. I grew up living next door to my maternal grandparents. My grandmother was a bit of a hobby farmer and always had a few cows. Growing up around cows is how I learned that the saying “Curiosity killed the cat” should actually be ” Curiosity killed the cow.” Cows are nothing if not nosy. Stand in the middle of a field of cows and it won’t be long until you’re surrounded by cows checking to see what you’re doing.

Now for a peek at my “bovine chic.”

Our dining room wall.
A close-up of the wreath on the dining room wall.
This one hangs outside the kitchen door. I almost forgot about it.
Shower curtain in the guest bathroom.
Artwork in the guest bathroom. I added goats!
In the master bedroom.

What’s your decorating style?

Stormy Weather

I love the Progressive Insurance commercials about turning into your parents. I absolutely LOL’ed when they released the weather commercial; it perfectly describes both Kenn and our oldest son. Every morning, Kenn gives me a weather report including the high temperature expected and any chance of rain. Yesterday’s weather report was basically, “Things have changed. The rain now isn’t expected in this area until around 5pm. Radar shows a big blob of rain over Birmingham, AL.” With that, we went about our morning.

It was a muggy day, so we elected to sit inside at church. Inside was a good call; when the service ended, it was obvious that a pretty good rain shower had moved through and it was still sprinkling. Kenn and I said our goodbyes and headed home. (He volunteers with the parking team, so we usually drive separately.) As I drove, the rain picked up enough that the intermittent wiper setting wasn’t enough and I switched to the lower “continuous” setting. Then, about halfway home the rain changed from a steady, semi-hard rain to what my youngest would call a “wrath of God” rainstorm.

Y’all it was horrible. I switched the wipers to the fastest setting, turned on the defroster just in case, and turned on the hazard lights. Fortunately, there wasn’t a lot of traffic on the two-lane road I was on. It was one of those storms where it would probably have been best best to pull over, but doing so was impossible. That stretch of road has no shoulder to speak of; pulling over would mean going down an embankment and into a field. There’s also a section of road work where a traffic circle is being installed. So, I hugged the center line and kept my eye on the white line at the outside of the lane. However, even with the wipers at the highest setting, I could only get a glimpse of the white line every few seconds. The rain was blowing across the road in sheets – which occasionally included small limbs. Since there are a lot of pecan trees in the area, I prayed that, in addition to staying on the road, no limbs would come in through the window. I have never been so glad to get home. I made a dash inside, then stood at the window watching for Kenn. He and I take different routes home from church so I had no idea what he might have encountered. He did arrive home safely. It turned out that his route had several trees and limbs blocking the road.

I have to say that yesterday’s storm is in the Top Three worst storms I’ve ever driven in. One of the other worst storms was also in the local area. I had headed out to pick up my oldest grandson for a visit when a horrible rain storm moved in – equally as bad as yesterday’s storm with hail thrown in for good measure. I did find a place to turn around so I could head back home, but that time, I actually wasn’t on the road and didn’t realize it until a sign suddenly appeared ahead of me. I veered to miss the sign and wound up in a field. Fortunately, I was driving the Tundra and I managed to get out of the field, back on the road, and crawl home. The other Top Three storm occurred in Fort Smith, Arkansas when I was driving to Estes Park, Colorado. There I was, on the interstate in an unfamiliar town, and I couldn’t see a bloody thing. As soon as the rain let up and I could find somewhere to pull over, I did so and just sat in the car and shook for a few minutes.

Image from depositphotos.com

Fortunately, Daisy waited until yesterday evening to act up. Kenn and I met friends for dinner and on the way home, Daisy lost her mind. She started beeping and displaying error messages. “Eyesight disabled.” “RAB disabled.” “Check engine.” Simultaneously, the engine lost power and began running erratically; we managed to pull into a parking lot and began doing research. I thought I was going to have to call our friends and ask them to circle back and take one of us home to get the truck. We were able to eventually get the engine running smoothly enough to be able to make it home. Once at home, we disconnected the battery for about fifteen minutes and removed and replaced the gas cap making sure that it was sealed correctly. One or the other of those things fixed the problem. I’m convinced that some sensor got wet and temporarily malfunctioned. As of today, Daisy is still running fine. I’m just so, so thankful that whatever happened didn’t happen during my drive home earlier in the day.

Now that I have the song stuck in my head, I’ll leave you with a link to Lena Horne’s version of Stormy Weather.

Pavlov’s cats

Most of us are familiar with Pavlov’s dogs. In short, Ivan Pavlov, who was studying digestive processes, would ring a bell and present dogs with food. He soon realized that the dogs would begin salivating when the bell rang, even if no food was present. This is what became known as classical conditioning and helped develop the school of behavioral psychology.

A few months ago, I realized I have accidentally trained our cats similarly, even though no food is involved. We have two Ring devices: our front doorbell, and motion-activated floodlight which covers our carport and back steps. I have the Ring app on my phone and have different alert tones assigned to each device so I’ll know which one I need to check when a notification sounds. The cats have learned that when the tone for the carport sounds, it is frequently followed by someone coming to the front door. It’s funny to watch them. When the carport alert sounds, they either run for the door and look out the windows in the sidelight to see who’s coming or just sit up and look at the front door. Actually, I’m pretty impressed that they put all of this together on their own.

On another note, I found myself in need of Mark Petruska’s (as yet non-existent) cat scratcher business this weekend. As the owners of multiple cats, we have a variety of cat scratchers and cat trees scattered around the house. When the scratchers wear out, we generally buy a new one. At one point, we bought sisal with plans to just repair the scratcher. Well, I have no idea where the sisal went, and we never did repair that scratching post. When I was vacuuming last week, I found a mystery substance on the floor. I soon determined that the cats had scratched through the rope on the scratching post and were now in the process of destroying the cardboard tube that functions as the base of the scratcher. I assembled the replacement cat tree over the weekend, a process which required a lot of feline “assistance.”

The shredded scratching post.
Bear had to get in the cubby as soon as I finished it.
Roxie had to try out the new scratching posts while I was still working on them.
More progress on the cat tree, and I exchanged Bear for Roxie.
All finished. Bear and Roxie were exhausted from all that work.

I hereby pinky swear that next time, I will repair the scratching post, not replace the whole cat tree/scratcher.

What behaviors have your pets learned without training?

Happy Star Wars Day!

I wear this shirt once a year and post it on social media for the sole purpose of getting my adult sons to roll their eyes. This year, I’m sharing it with y’all, too. (Lucky you!🤣)

Even our church got into things this year. (Big shout out to the lady wearing the bedazzled R2-D2 shirt.)

May the 4th be with you!