Jellybean

Bear finished. On to the honey jar.

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Jellybean

I would love to say that I've been working on Jellybean feverishly since I last posted, but it seems like something is always getting in the way.

Last night was no exception. My brother and sister-in-law, which I seldom see, due to their living in Kentucky with the many children they have--young ones too--came up north to go to my father's funeral and visit my mother for mother's day. We sat and reminisced for a couple of hours, and then they had to go. I couldn't stay any longer, either. I needed to get home because of late, I haven't been getting enough sleep.

But I had a good time with what little family I have ever had.

I need to do something with my mom for mother's day, and I haven't the slightest clue what to do. Usually she is so easy about such things, but this year, my bother bought her flowers, got her a card AND a little watering can with a packet of wildflower seeds. Then he took her to dinner. He's always out-maneuvering me. So this year, I can't do much of anything that he hasn't already done, and well, it just sort of freaks me out a bit. I'm hoping that I'm over it by the time Mother's Day really gets here.

God only knows what I'll do. I can't just do the same "stuff" that he did. It's never "bigger and better". I'm completely lost.

And yes, I did say that they came up for my father's funeral. My father and I have not been "close" since I was about 6 years old---maybe 7 or 8---the reason is that it's when my brother came along. That's when my family chose my brother over me. At least that's how my little child's mind saw it. But when I look at my life now, all these years and years later, I now know why it hurts me so much when people abandon me or choose to be friends with someone else over me. It's because my little child's heart harks back to the time, that I blocked out, when my father told me that he loved my brother more than me.

My mother told me this happened, and for the life of me, I can't remember it.

time to go. more on it later.

Jellybean Progress

Just the arms and legs to do. But for now, to bed

I am exhausted.

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And So Winds Down Another Work Week

Not a moment too soon, either. I'm horribly stressed by what's going on at the office, and think that there might be someone trying to sabotage my work. It wouldn't be the first time, you see.

I'm home, and my hubby is stressed too. We're both a bundle of nerves. We both have a million things we want to do, and no ambition to do them. To my credit, I did take a little walk down the road, and got in a bit of exercise. I thought it might help with the stress. It really didn't do much but make me more tired than I already was.

Big doings tomorrow. We have to go to the dump early, then hubby has to sand his plant stands. Then we have to load them onto the truck and trailer. Then we have to do this freaking two-hour drive to the customer to deliver them. Think 6 miles to the gallon at $4 a gallon times 240 miles. Something tells me that my husband should be charging for shipping this trip.

Then, he's got a gawd-awful amount of homework from school to catch up on. Me, all I really have to do is crochet on the bear and work on the samples for JoAnn's for the May/June layout. I believe I have 4 things to knit and crochet by the first of the month.

One word comes to mind..."HA!"

Furthermore, I think we are getting our basement back--this means that we actually might stay somewhat cool this year by sleeping in the basement, instead of upstairs where it's really hot. All of our HOT doings (laundry, cooking, dishwashing, etc) we can do upstairs, and sleep in the cooler basement. I think it's a wonderful idea. The animals will be more comfortable, too, and there's a little cat door in the basement that goes into the laundry room, so that the cats can get food, water and potty to their hearts content, without having to bar the door from our dog. Just saying--we are giving it all due consideration!

The reason we're getting our basement back is because my step son is telling us that he's moving in with his girlfriend. I think it's a mistake, but you can't tell this kid anything. He's going to do what he's going to do, and he's likely to get burned doing it. This will give me evenings to start going through all the stuff in my stash room--I told my husband that when I start on that, he's got to start on the room in the garage for me, and it's going to have to be a BIG ROOM--bigger than what I currently have, which is 10 x 10--and it's stuffed to the rafters! So much so that I can't find what I need to find because I can't get "around" the room! Most things are in plastic bins, and I can't see through them to know what's inside. This needs some serious help. Another day. I can't think about that now.

I started out wanting to name my newest bear, Painter Paul. Then I decided Candy. I've changed my mind again. I think this one's gonna stick.

Jellybean.

 Pics tomorrow of my progress tonight.

Flooding Is Bringing in the Wildlife

The Looking Glass River hit flood stage and expanded over it's banks yesterday right into the Maple River Flood Plain. In the process, the wildlife was coming up out of the lowlands and into people's yards in Wacousta. The pictures are pretty fuzzy, since it was a drive by shooting--one came out really nicely, though, and gives you an idea of how many there were. I didn't count, but at first guess, I would say that at the first picture, there were up to 20 in the yard. (Click to "embiggen")
It was a pretty cool way to end the day. I doubt that the homeowner even knew that they were there. I didn't see anybody gawking out the window through the curtains, after all, and I hope that they didn't think I was snapping pictures of their home, as if I were casing the joint.

At one point, this doe was right up to the road, looking at me with her ears held out to the sides, curiosity getting the best of her. She got a little wiff of me, and went back to nibbling some of the sweet grass. It was such a poignant moment between us that I forgot to take a photo at that very moment.

Deer are really nice to watch from a distance, but they can be very dangerous when they are protecting their young. Some of these guys looked like early fawns, but were probably more likely very thin yearlings. Still, there were cool to watch for a few minutes. I left them alone and headed for home.

I Don't Understand.,,,

Last night, the weather service put out a tornado warning just to the southwest of our house. They showed the storm cell moving between two towns on the television, which put the storm in a direct line to hit our house.

I, on the other hand, watched the storm develop from my deck. It was at least 10-20 miles EAST of the picture on the television. The thunderhead cloud developed quickly "over there", and to the southwest, where the storm was said to be, was blue skies, nothing but blue skies.

I wondered if the storm chasers were drunk yesterday evening. We got the slightest bit of rainfall--enough to dampen half of the driveway, and then it was gone, blowing to the northeast. I was sure that I saw a funnel cloud, but it never touched down.

I think we need some new storm chasers that aren't drinking their lunches and dinners at the local pub.

In other news, Candy is coming along. I have most of her head finished. I worked on her quite a bit last night, but I can tell that I'm getting pretty tired of making this pattern--no matter how cute they are. I'm just not the type of person who makes the same thing over and over. I make it once, and you know, it just better work out, or it goes in the frog pile.

My cat is acting weird. She's sitting in my lap and staring at me. I think the food dish might be empty.

A woman (who also is slave to a cat), well, her work is never done.

The Beginning

Thinking Painter Paul isn't the right name. How does Candy strike you?

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