cannas revisited

Several years ago when I lived in Burleson, there were cannas all along the fenceline, well nurtured by the septic tank lines. They have a propensity to be prolific, and needed to be thinned periodically, so several went to Nolene. When I moved, I didn't get around to digging up a few to take with me.

Time went by, and while I planted several things at my Alvarado house, cannas weren't in the mix. Nolene's cannas still prospered.

I've been here in Mansfield a year now, and this year I've been able to work in the yard a bit. When Nolene said they were clearing out some of the cannas (Joe had already mowed some down), I jumped at the chance to get a few. I've put some in the front, some at the side (mowed by Joe!), and still have a few to go in the back with Troy's mums.

Have a good Memorial Day weekend. Take time to remember and give thanks for those who serve and have served to keep us free, especially those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

Gotta hurry...June 1st will be here soon!

As I've mentioned, my intent is to have my office (the bedroom with my computer) finished by June 1st. Well, as the date gets closer, I'm making good progress. (No pictures today, too messy.)

I'm almost finished painting, just a little cutting in to do at the top of one wall. Don't know why, probably because I just wanted to get it done, but I slapped some paint on that part of the wall, and it was still too wet to get to the top for the cutting in before I gave it up for the night. Usually I cut in first, but oh well. I'll get that done in a little bit, then the paint supplies can go out to the garage. Next on the agenda is putting up some brackets to hang some shelves over the desk area, which won't take too long, then hemming the curtains. I've hung them up to see how they'll look, and to measure where the hem will go, and left them for now.

One casualty in all of this is the two drawer lateral file. It's one of those put-it-together-yourself kits from an office supply store that I've had probably 4 or 5 years. I can't get the drawers to stay shut, and it wants to tump over. I'm going to get the good old standard metal 2 drawer cabinet that will fit in the closet, and chunk this monster. It's a pretty monster, but a monster none the less.

Don't know how much I'll get done today. Robert and Angela have signed on a new home, so I'm going over today to help them pack. The movers are coming Thursday. What fun! It's always fun to start a new chapter in life, and that's just what they're doing.

sonogram

I went with Elizabeth and David Monday to see the sonogram on her 20 week visit. Definitely a little girl, and everything is progressing nicely. Things have come a long way from those many years ago when I had my kids. Progress is a good thing.

It's May already!

I've set a goal for myself that by June 1st I'll have my computer room straightened around the way I want it....excess stuff gone, fresh paint, bring in a little chair and table for a sitting area. I've been chipping away a piece at a time on this for awhile, far be it from me to jump in there and get a job done right away.

Thursday night, to avoid falling asleep on the couch again and getting nothing done, I went to Lowe's and picked up some shelving materials for the closet. I had the measurements with me, and the fellow in lumber cut them to the lengths I requested, no problem. I put up shelves on one side Thursday night, and the other side Friday night. You realize of course that to put up shelves, you practically empty things out of the area you're working on. I pulled out puzzles, canvases, paperwork, photos, and whatever was in my way. Some of them found a new home in Goodwill, some in the trash. I've shredded quite a bit (understatement). Packrat that I am, I came across about 20 years of paystubs. I kept one for each year around my anniversary date, just so if my curiosity comes up I can see a history of the changes, and shred the rest.

A lot of the paperwork went into the recycle bin, and I'm recycling quite a bit by sticking them in the printer to use the back side of the paper. I usually print off the geocaching sites I want to look for, then they get tossed, so the paper will have served double duty.

The down side of all of this? The room's a mess! While I'm in this mode of going through and "touching" everything, it's spread all over the place. I've never been known to be a great housekeeper, but even I am saying "enough"!

Ah well. Moving on. Since I mentioned geocaching, I'll note that I went out with Liz, David, and Lily yesterday, as well as picking up a couple of caches on my lunch hour Friday. That brings me up to about 93 or 94 finds over the course of 2 or 3 years. On one hand that may sound like a lot, but there are people out there with thousands of finds, so I'm obviously a novice at this sport. It was good to have David along yesterday, his height came in handy. The cache was in a bird house about 6' off the ground.

And I have a book recommendation. I picked up Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas, and it was a good read. As it states on her website, "Prayers For Sale, Sandra’s eighth novel, is an unforgettable tale of a friendship between two women, one with surprising twists and turns, and one that is ultimately a revelation of the finest parts of the human spirit. In 1936, Hennie Comfort, eighty-six, meets Nit Spindle, seventeen, just as the old woman learns she must leave the Colorado mountains that have been her home for seventy years. Nit has lost her baby, and Hennie takes the girl under her wing, telling her stories about mountain life, stories that are as much about Hennie as they are about the historic people of the high country. The harsh conditions of life that Hennie and Nit have suffered create an instant bond, and an unlikely friendship is formed, one in which the deepest of hardships are endured and the darkest memories are confessed." When I looked at her book list, I realized that I've read one other of her books years ago, The Persian Pickle Club. The next time I head to the library I'll look for other books she's written.