thinking, thinking, thinking...

This poor old shed desperately needs a makeover. The assortment of varments that call it home are perfectly happy, but the human owner is ready for a useful-for-her building. Something for tool storage and chickens and a larger place to do artsy-fartsy projects.....mmmmmmm!!! The little studio" at the far end could become a little greenhouse. It has windows on 3 sides.

The old lath-house has terminal dryrot too. It was very classy in the 60's.

And just look at what she got for Christmas! Stylish Sheds! and four new little signs to put in the new Stylish Shed!

It would be a task but kinda fun, I think, to dismantle this old building (circa 1937) and recycle what we can into a new building. It has a concrete floor and a rotting roof and lots of little furry critters. Masks will be needed. There is an awful lot of rodent feces in there.


So now I just need to win the lottery.

Christmas mystery

When my family members were leaving my house last night, a cute snowgardener and a huge stocking (filled to excess with goodies) were discovered by the door. I have no idea as to when they arrived nor have I been able to figure out who left them...YET!

Since the humor expressed in the note about the deer and on the Peace meeting plaque fits pretty much ALL my friends, its making it very difficult to figure this out. Has to be neighbors, that much is a given.

There are little gardening ornaments, no less than three bars of soap, a bag of Sugar Daddies (not exactly what I meant when I put that on my Xmas list!), bread mix, salad dressing mix, Udder Balm..which I hope was intended for my hands...hmmm?....lip balm, a fat candy cane, note cards and a pair of cute Santa socks....all crammed into a huge stocking with deer on it. And, there was yet another filled stocking inside the big stocking. Oh yes, and the egg beater!

Since gifts had already been exchanged with most of my Obama-loving, gardening-loving, hilariously funny neighbor-friends the list is narrowed down to D and E or maybe the sneaky T and C who had been by earlier with yummy treats......None of which really have the time to individually wrap each and every item in the stocking(s)..

The Great Christmas Stocking Mystery. Thank you, whoever you are. (whomever?) I will find you! I do not for a minute believe it was the "Carmichael Colony Deer" but the "and Friends". They're all so sneaky though!

Since it isn't raining at the moment and since poor Phoebe-dog has been stuck in the house for the past few days, it is time to go for a walk. Phoebs has been itching like a maddog but has no fleas...nor has her diet changed...so maybe its boredom. She doesn't stop to scratch if her mind is occupied on other things.

Besides, there are 9,354 calories that need to be burned out of my body. A lot of food will be going to work with me tomorrow and hopefully eaten by "the boys"....the girls too but those boys can really put away the food you know.

We'd best get going before the wet clouds reappear.

Merry Christmas everyone!

And now Mz Tree

Has matching candles! They won't be lit but they do GO, don't they!

teehee

Christmas tree

Okay...with or...

without the tinsel?






















the black blob in the bottom of the 2nd picture
is this elegant black and silver reindeer with black
feather boa.

Never in a million years did I think I'd ever want a pink Christmas tree.
I still wouldn't want a BIG pink tree but this one is fun. Even if the balls
are a mite large.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!

I know, I know. This ain't nothin' to those of you who are dealing with mega snow, major ice, no electricity..wait, if you have no electricity you can't be reading this...but I digress. It was cold enough this morning for the birds to don their ice skates and practice for the Avian Olympics....sorry

The temperature is all the way up to 63° here in the den but still a chilly 59° in the diningroom. Did it not get this cold when Dad built the house in the 1950's and that's why there is no insulation? The single pane windows are easy to explain; my folks were ever the recyclers. I don't ever remember being cold in here when I was a kid. But hey, that's what afgans and blankies and dogs and cats are for, right? (This weather keeps up and I may be forced to get another dog! Two would be warmer than one.)





My brother used to pull me in this little red wagon when I was a wee sprout and he a gangly teenager. I'd urge him to "go faster" He would, and then he'd turn the wagon around at great speed and dump me out on the gravel driveway. I'd scream. He'd get in trouble. And then we'd do it again. Probably a good thing the tires are shot on this late '40's wagon or we'd probably do it again. We both happen to be in better shape than the wagon.

The mind wanders here.......
"911. What is your emergency?"
"There's a 75 year old man laughing hysterically and a 63 year old woman with road rash..."

I just heard part of a 9-1-1 call on the scanner;
"...falling back and landing on her entertainment center...."
Do you think he was talking about a piece of furniture or part of her anatomy?

Cold as I am, my kids are colder. Leslie is in Bend, Oregon, working nights clearing snow from parking lots and private properties and Mark & Jennifer are in Portland, Oregon, hoping that they got all their pipes wrapped, their vents sealed, and their house bunnies in deep enough straw in the garage. My grandpuppy will will be warm as toast inside with them.




One more iced birdbath.

Now I'll hit "publish post" and find all the words jumbled up at the top. Oh well. I'm too cold to care. NEED...... MORE.... COFFEE!

bloom day

Its amazing that anything feels like flowering at all in this cold weather. Its not that cold of course, this being Sacramento and all, but it has been anything but balmy today. I didn't venture outside at all yesterday.

So. Blooming currently in the garden;

Princess bush
Salvia
Acidanthera bicolor? (it just appeared. I don't remember planting it.)
One of the trusty Christmas cacti.
And the Sasanqua camellia.

my Christmas tree

Since not everybody is "coming home" for Christmas this year
buying a tree just seemed silly.
However, we needed something
and this bamboo ladder has been
begging for a use for at least 2 years.
There were orange lights and purple
lights wanting to be used, and some
el cheapo pale green plastic ornaments
from The 99 Cent Store which needed
hanging..the ornaments not the 99 Cent Store..

The sun makes a perfect "angel" in my
biased opinion. The guppies can be heard
singing "Ohhh! Pretty! Sparkly!" (They are
actually chanting "She feeds us, don't worry.
She feeds us, don't worry")


It looks better than this at night.
Really! It does!