Craziness - and is it heredity?

Mom has a couple that she likes and they come and do some cleaning in the house - they change her bed, clean the bathroom, vacuum - a couple of hours of work - and they are so sweet to mom (that is probably what she likes).  

And they come on Monday morning.  However, yesterday was Memorial Day - you know, HOLIDAY?????  So, I got up at 5:45am, took the dogs out, fed them, walked them and then went back to bed for a nice sleep-in.  

Mom comes to my door at 8 ish and says "Are you sick?"  Which is code for "Why are you laying in bed? And not hopping to fix my breakfast because the cleaners are coming?"

And, I say "It is a holiday, don't they get the holiday?"

Not the most correct answer.

So, I get up and get downstairs and mom is sitting in the library and she tells me that "they have called 3 times already and NO ONE got the call.  I want you to go out and buy a phone that works upstairs so this doesn't happen anymore."

My response what that they probably called to say that since it was the holiday, they would come tomorrow and that maybe she should touch base with them on Saturday or Sunday to make sure for the Monday arrangements.

Also, not the most correct answer.  And that colored her whole world for all day.  Which most likely lead to what happens next.

So, here it is, Tuesday morning and I take her breakfast in bed and see that there is a pretty big red wine stain all over her bed covers.  Where did the wine come from?  I always bring her leftover vodka tonic (CLEAR liquids) upstairs at night.  But last night, I went up before her and I took her drink - to prevent her from tripping and spilling it on the landing.  See, planning ahead.

So I am mulling this over and gather her leftover breakfast dishes and there with the plates is this bottle - that I use to water the small inside plants in the kitchen window.

And, yes, I opened it and sniffed.  Even though it had been rinsed out - note the residue of water in the bottom - it smelled like wine.  

Actually, that makes me seem like a crazy person.  

And what is crazier, I am going to ask her.

Or - I will take the high road and not.  Hmmmmmm.

I will let you know.

In other news, Duke won the lacrosse National Championship and beat Notre Dame yesterday.
(I am looking for the cut and paste icon here because this is out of order.  There is no cut and paste.  Maybe I had better do some studying on this blog thing.  Oh well.  Suffer my writing.)

I continue to work to get rid of the English Ivy that has taken over the side yard - and the poison ivy that is popping up.  

And as May closes, we get closer to Carolyn's graduation from medical school - Lori and Jim are bringing Snoopy to Amy to take care of while they do the grad thing, Jim's change of command and the annual epic 2 week trip to Hilton Head - that is with Mom.  A fair trade, Snoopy for Mom.  And 2 weeks off for me.  Cross your fingers that it actually happens.  

Love,
Walking the Plank,
Leslie

Addendum or PS - I did not take the high road.  I asked.   Very nicely.  And she denied everything.  

Double Duty Day

While I was sitting at the computer in the kitchen, I noticed this female cardinal ~ and if you notice, she is pulling the pith strands from the basket.  She is using it to build a nest!  Fun to watch.

It is Sunday and I planned on working in the garage - so I got to it.  Pulled out stuff, put together stuff, swept stuff.  Here is what it looked like:

Pretty awful. So, music on to annoy the neighbors, dogs on the porch in doggie jail:

"I swear I will stay next to you and not chase off any squirrels!

and work, work, work.   Fabulous when done, or actually, just better.  My mistake:  doing the job on Sunday when the dump is not open.  So, crap has to come back in.  Darn.

Pictures later when I go to the dump and Good Will.  You will just have to wait with baited breath!

This is the bed on the right side of the mailbox - looks much nicer!!!

And this is the bed to the left of the front porch, as you stand on the porch.

So, some work done on this Memorial Weekend.  So now we are not "that house".  You will have to come and see.

Much love,

Leslie

Happy Memorial Day!

Lori, this is for you!  Lori convinced (pressured) me to start this blog and this cartoon says it all!

Happy Memorial Day!

This promises to be a beautiful weekend ~ so much available to do ~ Mom and I did some grocery shopping today and I went and got a new weed whacker.  I have gone thru around 4 and I upgraded to a bigger better one.  And I hated it.  I like electric ones and this had a dual feed of plastic string - horrible - so back to the cheap and tried and true.

I continue to get rid of poison ivy - and today while edging, saw some more.  Hopefully, I caught it before I whacked it.  

Melanie has had a couple of accidents and of course, she has them in Mom's room.  Not sure what the problem is - but I have adjusted their dinner time and we always have a last walk before bed, so hopefully I can prevent the problem.  Mom just yells for me to come and deal with it  ~ personally, if your day starts with poop, it has to get better.

Got up this morning at 4:30am for the Community Yard sale.  I had some stuff, not alot, but it was in the way so I had a table at the end of the driveway with a red table cloth and was getting ready at 6:30 for the 7am start.  People started coming at 6:35!!!!! Cheaters!  But if you showed me the money, I sold.

I got rid of almost everything by 9am - didn't make a bunch of money, but it was stuff I wanted to get rid of and people paid me money to take it.  Genius.  

I am off to take Mom to the hairdresser.  Then maybe nap time.  

Celebrate everyone who has served.  And Go Duke!
Love,
Leslie

MADD Walk in Baltimore

What a beautiful day in Baltimore today!  I had to be at Federal Hill by 7am this morning ~ which was hard to get up for!!!!!

Anyway, I had used Parking Panda to find a close parking place and that site is genius!  I found a space, paid for it and printed out the pass and voila!!!!! It even told me what number my parking space was - it was perfect.  I support Parking Panda whole heartedly!

Here is my view from the top of Federal Hill, where the walk starts and ends.  It was a beautiful day!!!!

This certainly makes up for the rain of yesterday.  Next year the walk will be the Saturday before Mother's Day.  Check out your walk in your area - it is a wonderful, small event.

I have the Maryland - Bryant lacrosse game on, Duke plays tomorrow.  Amy says she finds lacrosse to be very boring.  What does she know?

Much love and Go Duke!
~Leslie

Slow and Steady

Today, our next door neighbors said I could put some trash in their dumpster that was being picked up tomorrow.  So, I got the wheel barrow out and made 4 or 5 trips and removed some of the trash - alot of wood from the old deck - on the side of the house.  It was along the side of the fence where I was painting. 

It does look really bad ~ but it is much better than it was!!!

So, it does look a bit better.  The paint on the fence DOES make a difference!  It took a gallon of white to do 3/4's of that fence.  2 more gallons to go.

It really looks pretty - notice my supervisor in doggy jail.

Tomatoes are planted and I gifted Amy and Tim with 8 tomato plants and two pepper plants. I had nowhere to put them.  The great tomato orderer said "Just throw them away." Is that being passive agressive?  I should be able to recognize it better.  

Tomorrow we are supposed to get up to two inches of rain! At least I have the dry creek bed all ready for the water.  Too bad we can't bottle it up and send to southern California.  Yikes it is dry out there!

Cross your fingers and hope that my next blog does not talk about water in bad places.  The dry creek bed is ready for whatever we get.

Much love,
Leslie

PS and a day later - we got a ton of water, but everything held and worked.  And we had between 4 and 5 inches of rain!!!!!!!!

Channeling Tom Sawyer

Today was a continuation of the great tomato planting.  You know Mom bought 38.  I kept saying that was a high number - mom, of course, denied that.  Today, I had conformation.  Matt Ciminelli came over to view our water dispersal method - where we are getting water in the wrong place.  Remember my post of Our War with Water, Part I and II.  

And, by the way, did you know that Matt bought the Meadows Farms place on 214?  He has chickens so you can buy fresh eggs and vegetables, all his flowers come from local farms - and it is all organic.  It is called the Ecoasis Garden Center.  

I told Matt about the tomatoes and he said "38?  That is enough for a farm!"  In 60 days, if you want tomatoes, come over and get them.

See these bags?  These have tumbling tomatoes in them.  I used a hole punch and put holes in the bottoms, layered some coconut pity at the bottom and filled with dirt and planted the tomatoes.  I will let you know how it goes.  (Don't you love the new umbrella?  Happy Mother's Day from Amy!!!!!!)

I also started painting our fence.  Boy is that tedious!  Luckily, I treated the neighborhood to my ipad music and had my two faithful companions to supervise.  Melanie stayed close, but stayed out of the paint.  Bennett, on the other hand, has paint on his ear and his head where he laid his head on the fence.  He is so sweet, but pathetic.

Here is what I have accomplished on the fence:

 

The bright white is where I have painted, front and back.  And it does look nice - of course, it couldn't have looked much worse.  

Now it is time for a drink and Advil.  And a bath.

Much love,

Leslie aka The Gardener

May 11 ~ Celebrate Mom's

I got up early, I need to finish planting the tomatoes ~ but laziness prevailed.  We are going to Nancy's house for brunch, so I need to get going.  I have a pretty pink hibiscus plant for her and I am going to plant it on her deck for her.

I was out taking pictures.  The ferns are coming up and I tried to get some good pictures of them.  They are so cool.  Because our winter was so long, I thought I had lost them, but they made it.  

They are kind of hard to see and they are surrounded by the vinca that was in Carole's wedding bouquet.  (Look familiar?)

Ok, I have procrastinated enough and now I have to get going.  Hopefully, more later.  

Wow!  What a brunch at Nancy's!!! Creme Brulee French toast, ham and cheese scones, home made hash browns, scrambled eggs (made by Drew) - absolutely delicious!!!!!  Of course, I thought it was at 11:30 and was late and Amy and Tim thought it was 1. (How hard is it to remember 11 am ???) Everyone was late, but made it and ate everything.  Yum Yum Yum. 

And, in order to embarrass Zoe, here is some of her art work - Which I happen to love!

Of course, I have piddled enough time away, and it is time to plant the tomatoes!!!!!

Hope your day is beautiful to all the Mom's in my life.  Happy Mother's Day!

And, to Jim ~ congratulations on receiving your Master's from Duke yesterday!  We are all so proud of you!

Love, Leslie

PS ~ I have planted most of the tomatoes.   That is very tiring.  However, I will enjoy them later.  Right now, not so much.  And in homage to Tom Sawyer, I am painting the fence tomorrow.  How come you can never find some kid to do it for a quarter?  

It is Always Mother's Day - Isn't It?

Today Mom wanted to go to a funeral - one of Dad's classmates had died and she wanted to go.  So we got up, got dressed and took off for the Naval Academy.  Astonishingly, we were the first ones there.  

As I parked, Mom asked me to call the Chaplain's Office to make sure of the date.  (This is foreshadowing - I can hear the music now.)  So I called - and yes, the funeral was yesterday.
My mistake was laughing.  

So, I took Mom to Target and then to Whole Foods as requested.  Of course she bought 5 pounds of potatoes - I am going to research some recipe that uses potatoes besides the obvious baked and scalloped.  I have mastered the spinach omelet, the baked salmon and the fantastic steak in the oven.  I am going to try biscuits and a chicken recipe next.  

My next job is to go and get more dirt.  Mom told me that she had ordered her tomatoes that she likes.  Every year I ask her to buy fewer plants - and this year especially since Amy took out one whiskey barrel and I took out another one - we don't need as many.  Well, she said she bought 22 plants.  I did squawk a bit - and then found out that she lied (do you see a trend here?) The actual total is 36 plants!!!!!  36 tomato plants!

My problem is that I have not yet conceptualized that we are a road side stand and not just two people.  Actually one person and one worker bee.  My job is to plant, water and tend.  I should just accept this - and roll with the flow.  

I have researched container gardening for tomatoes and I know how to build bamboo cages - (Mom just told me "the package is here - it's the tomato plants!!!!!!!! Happy Days!!!)

Supposedly she also bought tomato plants that hang down - perfect for hanging baskets.  Of course they don't come with the basket, so I researched that and evidently I can use those recycled bags, fill them with dirt and plant the tomatoes in those.  Who knew?  So I have the hardware to hang off the deck and I reinforced it with zip ties.  

So, enough piddling around.  Time to change and get the tomatoes unpacked and planted. Crack that whip!  Pictures to follow.

Enjoy your Mother's Day!
Love,
Leslie

Planting is the Pits....but will be worth it in the summer

At last, the deck is planted ~ and the suggestion was planted for new umbrellas for Mother's Day.  It is so hard to appreciate newly planted flora, but in the summer months, it will be so beautiful.

I planted herbs for mom and the flower colors will be reds, purples with a touch of yellow and pink.  Oh and some lovely bright yellow-greens!  

We didn't do anything last year because the deck was being re-done and this year I am determined to have summer gorgeousness!  When I finished the labor, I sat out and enjoyed sweet iced tea and watched the hummingbirds dart and dive around the feeder.  

No pictures today ~ they really don't do justice ~ but in a month or so, I will break out the camera and share my backyard views.  

A herd of goats went by on the other side of the fence and got chased by the dogs - to the fence line.  There were about 30 of them!  I believe they are the Eco goats that are brought in to eat the poison ivy and invasive ground cover.  We have deer and a red fox - I enjoy watching them stroll by.

It is getting dark and we are supposed to get some showers - it is pouring in DC for the Dodgers-Nationals games.  I watered all the new plants, but the rain will be good for them.

On the family front, a certain someone will be putting on Captain's bars when she graduates from medical school in June!  She is currently finishing her final rotation.  And the other certain someone just finished her second year of law school and is positive she failed everything.  HA!
She will be starting her summer internship in the Orange County DA's office.  I still find it hard to believe that I am their Aunt.  

Here's to looking forward!
Love,
Leslie

The Beginning of the Summer Season

It not only was Star War's Day (May the Forth-ce be with you) - it was gorgeous.  For Amy's birthday, I got the plants, dirt, and mulch and planted the pots on her patio.  This is the beginning:

And then I decided to do Mom's deck ~

More to go tomorrow:

My faithful assistants, who worked so hard!

And now, rest and relaxation ~ 

It will be so beautiful to be outside and enjoy the flowers, birds, good friends and family.

See you there!

Love, Leslie

Navy Baseball does Frozen - LOVE IT!!!

Drat. War with Water, Part 2

I guess I can't complain, we had a ton of rain for the past two days.  As I went out to feed the birds this morning, I looked over at our past flood zone and it was back.  So, I got the portable sump pump to pull the water out of the window well and a shovel.

And I re-dug the trench.  This is not the way that I wanted to start May Day - but as I write this, it does sound somewhat appropriate.  May Day, May Day, May Day.

This is the view from the window - what a mess.  

And here is my trench, along with the hose from the sump pump.  And my shovel.  I think we should dig it out and have some sort of creek bed.  It would solve any future problems and might be cute.  

The one good thing is that while I was digging, a ruby-throated hummingbird visited the feeder. And of course, no camera.  

The sun is now out, and hopefully everything will dry out.  I will go and have a peek in the basement after I have breakfast.  

AND, HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY!!!!!!!

Love, Leslie