Well, since it is already mid-afternoon, I won't get half of my (potential) plans done. Really, I have goals for the week:

I need to mow, first of all. I will do that today, and then start seriously on the fall window washing - I've already done the two picture windows from the outside, but the 16 other double-hungs are waiting.

Yes, garden clean-up, sweeping leaves off the patio, repairing the loose head on the mattock, buying some soil mix for my container trees that need replenishment, getting my indoor space ready for the citrus and passionfruit and other tender perennials, switching out the screen door insert to the storm...oops, I never got around to painting that insert to match after I painted the rest of the door. It wasn't the final color (which I never got around to buying). SIgh, guess that need to be done tomorrow!

I just woke up. I have a really wonky schedule this week because the other night minion has still not learned to make travel plans around his actual vacation days. My house really needs to be given a good scrub. I like doing it this time of year because I can open the doors and let fresh air in without it getting hot and sticky or letting bugs in. My walls and wooden ceilings need to be dusted. How is it that one day, they are fine, then the next, there are dust bunnies all over them??? So do my ceiling fans and probably every other surface. I want to scrub my baseboards and chair rails. And all the floors. Shouldn't take more than a few hours to clean the whole place. But will i do it today?.........I don't know. This couch is really comfy right now. I also need to power wash the front porch. I dont know how it gets so icky.

I also bought a lot of bulbs that need to be planted. Daffodils, tulips and hyacinths. This house had no flowers or anything when we bought it and I am having fun changing that. I think those will have to wait until next month to be planted. SO said he would go rent one of those trench digger things and dig the hole for them. (I did get a LOT and plan to get more) I want to plant them as a border completely surrounding my rose garden,since I still dont have any official flower beds.

There are a couple cats (a mother and one kitten) that have taken up residence under SOs shop or in his boat that need to be trapped and taken to be fixed.

Sigh, maybe later.

I have been doing my daughter's laundry today. Her washer is broken. She is out grocery shopping for us both. I don't grocery shop any more. The weather is so nice today. The leaves are turning but not a lot have fallen. My garden looks really good and I thought we had a frost! Zucchini is blooming. Probably no bees to pollinate. My plan is to go to bed early. Hope everyone's day is going well.

Sue

Sue, my vegetable garden has died but my front flower bed is in full bloom. The only flowers that are partially dead from cold and no water when I was gone are the zinnias. I've done most of my errands out. Now going to make tacos and listen in on work's conference call.

Just a suggestion if you have not already removed that raised bed under the oak. I do not know how big it is but there are some shade loving plants such as hostas and heucherella that add color with their foliage. Lots of other plants but those were the first to emerge from my brain.

So, I planned to drive to Bentonville Arkansas today, and ride the Razorback trail. Then, tomorrow drive forward, to Eureka Springs with a BIG bunch of Mini Cooper drivers for a fun weekend of driving.

Well, this morning I started out, with two bikes on the back of my car... driving to Tulsa to drop off my bonus grand daughters bike. (its here since last week, when I ended up with car problems, and a friend hauled us back to Tulsa cause GD was supposed to go to her dads)

Another Well... about 30 miles out, my car tells me, I have engine problems. YIKES, I just got it back yesterday morning... since my car problems last Wednesday.

I am back home. Got towed back to the mechanic, and hopefully (but I don't seem to be able to trust it) it is fixed.

I just called and cancelled my room for Thurs. Frid. and Sat. and I am rather bummed. Sort of feel like a whole day was wasted.

Moni

Sorry your trip was ruined by car trouble, Moni. Hope they get it fixed for good soon.

I had to take a break. 30 minutes of messing with the caulking gun and fixing part of the crack in the brick and my hands are hurting. I don't have a lot of grip strength and I think I lost most of it trying to push out what little I did get out. You would think they'd come up with a better, easier way to do this. lol.

I took my niece's dog for a walk in the cool sunshine, bought new Gortex trail runners as I was slipping a bit on the wet rocks and roots so figured the tread was gone, did a little grocery shopping and did some laundry. I have strength class tonight.

It was 5pm before I even decided to go out of the house, other than this morning when I went to the bank and a quick stop at the market. It was cold and windy all day and I just felt like staying inside.

Well sun is shining now, less windy. I snipped some berry branches to refresh the garden gate wreath, then cut back the phlox and day lilies behind the small barn. A whole 45min. of work for me today.

Tomorrow is suppose to be another clear day, so I'm going to mow down the weed and wildflower patch in the orchard. Someone gave me a weed trimmer mower they no longer wanted, I bought some line for it and the thing actually works pretty good on the tall stuff. I'll use that and then probably go over the area with my riding mower. Normally I just set my riding mower deck on high and go back and forth, lowering the deck a little at a time until the weeds are mowed down. But I have a new mower, so gonna use the trimmer first and see how it all works out.

Got to work at quarter to 8 this morning and was at that job for 3 hours then walked the 2 westies.

Picked up the goldendoodle. She is healing well from her surgery and seems to have no pain. Her owners say she is licking at her nose though so must watch her. The vet suggests it might be a numb feeling from the anaesthesia. Have her till next Thursday. She's a complete joy so the whole family is always happy to see her. She can only take short walks however so no hikes as a group this time.

I will do a bit of shopping this afternoon then off for my evening job for about 5 hours till around 11 p.m.

Well, I'm done for today. Once I was done with the small cracks and cut open the tube bigger it went a whole lot faster and easier. I still have some of the caulking around the garage to do but the brick part is all done. That will have to wait till tomorrow. The sun is already going down here. Of course I see another job I need to do, the painted metal strip around the top of the garage door is rusting. Next Spring I'll have to paint it when I do the garage door. Never did make it to the garden.

I'm almost done. I ran out of some cleaning stuff I need. And I managed to break my blinds while cleaning them. I guess it's off to YouTube to see if I can fix it or if I have to buy new ones. :(

Oh, no, Amylou. Hope you can fix it. I need to deep clean my house too but there is so much stuff packed into two rooms that I don't know if I want to bother. Both kids have filled the livingroom and one bedroom with their stuff. Was hoping my son would come get his when we were in Japan but no such luck. He was tired of driving long distances.

My three pairs of pressure socks, for the varicose veins, have been worn in rotation almost daily for 12 - 14 years or so - $40.00 each ($30.00 after immediate discount using loyalty card, which usually gives points). The homecare place called a year or so ago to ask how they were doing, I figured O.K. - how do I know when not?

"They slide".

"Mine aren't sliding".

I wash the pair that put the squeeze on the from-knees-down nightly.

There's non-elastic fabric on heels and toes, which has needed substantial darning over recent years, and I tried some last night but was having a hard time seeing precisely where the holes were ... so spent a couple of hours doing it in the sunshine this afternoon.

ole joyful

We are having several main rooms inside our house painted this week so I’m not getting very much done. Except I am excelling in living with chaos. I did go out and pick about a dozen small tomatoes this afternoon after the painters left and we enjoyed a BLT for dinner tonight. I went to the gym before lunch and then took some things i had cleaned out of my closet to the thrift store. DH did some volunteer work early so he was home with the painters for a while. I actually could leave the guy and his helper here alone. He has done work for us previously and I would trust him while I ran errands.

Not sure what snow stakes are.

We've had beautiful weather for a few days, but rain is coming in. I used this week to get some outdoor painting done around the front and back doors. Got a second coat and touch-ups done today. I've started some purging. Went through my closet and found several shirts I didn't wear this year. Also tossed two bar stools. I've got a pretty long to do list, but it felt good to get something done.

adellabedella.....Snow stakes They are placed along the streets, 1 foot off the pavement, to keep the snow plows on track.

I spent the entire day getting my Mom to/from A doctors appointment. Singular. One appointment. Had to clean her up and change her clothes and then into the car. That was an hour of it. Blasted Carole King, Tapestry album. She loved that. The appointment wasn't at the hospital where I work or where she's typically a patient. That was an hour drive. Spent a half hour in the waiting room, ok, typical, but then they made us wait an hour and half in the exam room?! Sigh!!!! Spent another half hour getting back to our side of town to go out to lunch. Blasted Neil Diamond. Loved that even more. She picked steak and savored every bite by dipping it in bleu cheese salad dressing. Another hour. It was the best hour. She finally relaxed and was happy for the music and the food, got on her good side. She acted like a three year old when it was time to leave. She wanted to bother the server to bring her butter so she could take the last half of the baked potato back to the facility where she has no refrigerator. I put my foot down, but ameliorated her irritation by taking her to my house for a few minutes to pet my cat (one of her cats had to be put down a couple of weeks ago. She doesn't know it yet). Took her back to the nursing home and we went through her stack of cards and I went home to finish work I'd been doing all day via phone. I'm ready for bed two and half hours early. She gets to do it all over again tomorrow, this time at the hospital with my brother.

rob, you are good daughter.

Well I got the wild flower and weed patch mowed down today. Glad that is done. This year I started out with the mower trimmer someone gave me. It whacked down the grass and the big stalks alright but was hard to push. Guess I'm spoiled by the self-propelled mower. Ran out of gas about 15min. into the job and had to stop and go fill up the can at the gas station.

The strings broke easily, I think I replaced them twice. Plus sometimes chunks of debris would fly up and hit me, boy that stung. Then I followed up with the riding mower. I still had to rake a bit. Not sure using the trimmer first was all that useful.

Looks like treat or treat in town will be a wash-out. Rain, a thunderstorm, and a downpour predicted for Saturday beginning around 2pm. ToT is from 4p to 6p. So I have all this candy I bought to participate in Trunk or Treat at the church parking lot. It coincides with the town's ToT. I don't know if they will reschedule or not. Last year we sat in a drizzle the whole time.

ETA: at least it's not a blizzard!

Major heat wave today - it was 96° this afternoon, and despite the hot weather, I am still recuperating from a cold that I've had for about a week now. I am also recuperating from surgery to remove melanoma, and I have to go back to my dermatologist next week and the week after that for yet more surgery, but it will be less invasive than the melanoma removal.

I met with business partner this afternoon at my house (I am not supposed to drive while I have stitches), and we worked out a deal for new furniture designs that will be made in Mexico. We had a conference call with the manufacturer in Mexico, and that went well, and so now I have to do some more drawings/designs. Having this new work makes me feel better and lifts my mood, which has been depressed because of the cold and the surgery. I had planned to go to Cathedral City this week-end, but since I cannot drive, that will not be happening. It's hot enough here anyway. It's actually hotter here in Los Angeles than it is in Palm Springs, due to the Santa Ana winds, which unfortunately cause me to feel depressed. Fortunately, I had a visit today, and that helped alleviate the depression, which was not severe anyway.

Because of the heat, I had to water some of my chili plants twice today. If I were able, I would repot some of them, but my doctor has told me to wait on this, as I am not supposed to lift anything heavier than a gallon of water for a week. Next week my surgery will be on my left wrist, and that will also make gardening more difficult. However, it appears that I will be getting a good crop of chocolate Habanero chilies, and I did not realize that so many of my plants were this variety, as they are difficult to grow. I am also starting some seeds for winter herbs, including scallions, Indian basil, parsley, cilantro, and dill. I can grow these in the summer, but they seem to do better in the winter.

Abellabedella, I need to do that too. Can't wait for the kids to get their stuff out of my house.

Rob333, it's hard taking care of parents. I love Carol King too, by-the-way. Have tickets to see the musical next month and I can't wait!

Schoolhouse, they're predicting rain on Halloween here. I'm hoping they're wrong. I bought a lot of candy this year. I usually work on Halloween but this year am looking forward to passing out candy to all the kids. Been quite a few years since I last did that.

Lars, I wish it was in the 90s here. I can't imagine living somewhere where you can start seeds in the Fall. Would love to garden year round. I still haven't put my garden to bed for the Winter. Have to work 4 hours this evening and the next 5 days but maybe I can force myself to get up early on Monday and do it. Hope your surgery goes well and you recover quickly!

Let me know how the musical goes! I have thought I'd like to see that.

I saw the Carole King musical "Beautiful" and it was grand! I actually like the voice of the actress playing Carole King better than the real Carole King (shhhhhh, don't tell her) and anyway, the story and the music was just wonderful. Hope you enjoy it!

(A few weeks ago I saw Tootsie the musical and it was just great - when it comes around on tour, I hope some of you can see it and laugh as hard as I did! It won several Tony awards - well deserved IMHO. )