You Will Be Missed!

After sharing a roof for 4 1/2 months...Connie packed up and we took her to meet her sister, Alice (from Puerto Rico), in Ohio to catch the Amtrack to Washington state. The picture you see was created by Connie when she had originally planned to drive back...that was before her car refused to be a part of the plan.

Alice is 11 months younger than her sister Connie...
and I know they will enjoy their time on the train...

I am positive they will be laughing...alot!

You will be missed around here, Ms Connie!!!

I will miss my female companionship…with all her tidbits of information and wise sayings and pretty pictures…Jesse will miss you…he doesn’t realize all you do around here…but he will…William will miss you…not because he won’t have anyone to argue with…cause he’ll find that anywhere…he’ll truly miss you… Winston will miss you…I know he looked forward to your walks…Pikachu will miss you…and the little tidbits of food you shared…the garden will miss you…the birds will miss you…the neighbors will miss you…all the visitors that stop by will miss you…How will I ever make Emily understand where her Ms Connie is?

Just because I am not creative in expressing myself like you are…don’t think you’re leaving will be unnoticed…You will be sorely missed…I so wish you could have just gotten an apartment here in Lexington. Washington is so far away…but we’ve been here before and managed our friendship…we’ll do it again!
I wish the best for you in the new spot. I pray you can settle and gather dust. :O)

And no matter where you are…remember, your Donna loves you…even in her busiest times…

Kentucky will miss you!

Seasonal Mistake

Back from vacation but still have a few days before I must return to work so, I set out today to take care of some house cleaning…that NEVER gets done unless I do it…and HAS NOT been done for a while…a year at least. The first item on my agenda was window cleaning. I believe this is a spring cleaning type of deal and was looking forward to completing the task. Windows are important to my serenity.
Yesterday evening when putting away the groceries I cracked my right elbow on the corner of the microwave. It was still swollen this morning and achy but this was the allotted time and so I ignored the elbow pain and at 8:30 this morning, I began by taking the little valances down from ten windows. I have more windows but these are the only ones with little lacy valances. I got them started in the wash and began on my bedroom windows. A little snafu occurred as I was taking the screens out…the little plastic, not good for anything locks on the screen broke.

This has happened before and it takes a bit of nudging the guy who is locked into his computer business. While I was attempting to lite the fire under him, I decided to use an ammonia/water mixture and the car washing brush to reach the outside top windows. Doing this created a white milky mess that was incredibly hard to get off the windows. I used vinegar, glass cleaner, and alcohol…not the drinking kind…however, if I had use the drinking kind, I might have not been so concerned with washing the windows. It was early morning though so, that option was out anyway. During the scrubbing, I hooked up the water hose to try and rinse whatever transfer I had made from the brush to the windows. NOTHING was working!!!! I switched from paper towels to a white t-shirt…still the same…I cut up a pair of jeans and use them…still the same. I was experiencing such difficulty beyond my belief!

After the combination of scrubbing, rinsing, not using the brush, leaning out the window backwards working my fingers to the bone the white milky smeary stuff was disappearing. I used all my glass cleaner up on the two windows in my bedroom. I had cut up clothes, I had climbed in and out the window so many times that my back was already hurting, my elbow was talking to me but Pa had gotten up and fixed the screens and the two windows were clean. So, I cleaned up the extensive mess and moved to the dining room area.

I mixed a vinegar/water mixture and used it on the back door glass with paper towels as a test. All is good and I move on. The three windows by the kitchen table should be easier to clean than the bedroom and I began…only to have two of the screens do the same thing the bedroom screens did…again, getting Pa’s attention and the screens were mended.

I then move to the front windows. I open the first one, and try to remove the screen and I don’t need to tell you what happened. I opened the second window and a swarm of ANTS went helter-skelter everywhere! I would shut the window and clean them up and when I would open it again, a bigger brood of ants would run into the house. Connie assisted in the killing as I got a bucket of water and went outside to douse the window and wash the pests away. It didn’t work…and so we are trying to control this invasion…I send Papa out with the broom to brush them off the sill…yes, even after the water they are still parading around in swarms…I found they were dropping out of the window casing…so from the inside of the house I started spraying up in the casing to make them fall out so Pa could sweep them off.

It was working really well until I accidentally sprayed Pa right in the eye with the vinegar/water solution. As I am apologizing profusely…he stops trying to treat his eye and I see him put his hand to his mouth. He spits something into his hand…couldn’t figure out what was happening…until he looked up and said, “I jumped back and knocked my teeth together and now my tooth is broke.” OH! MY! STINKING! GOODNESS!!!!! I postpone my fight with the ants and call the dentist, Connie continues to fight the ants and Pa goes to the bathroom to assess the damage.

They can see him today…I am so grateful. Ant poison was applied to the windows and the cleaning was eventually complete. Valances are hung back in place. I look up at the clock and it’s 1:00... 4 ½ hours to clean 10 windows. I have NEVER!!!! Taken so long…I used to clean houses for a living…I would clean a big house in Hartland, upstairs and down in 4 ½ hours, have something to show for it AND make good money!!!!


All I can figure is, window cleaning is a spring cleaning kind of deal and one should not try to wash windows in the summer.

View I noticed from my kitchen window as I was cleaning. Taken after the cleaning of course!

Two days without internet service or shower capibilites...three days without a signal on my cell phone. The first few hours of no signal were distresting...but it got easier as the time went by. We get use to our technology and can't imagine life without it.

My camera can't even measure up what has transpired in the first leg of our trip. The photos taken don't even come close to the first hand sight of the wide open sky view with mountains after mountains looking like ocean waves in a distance. It couldn't capture the thrill of playing around in the pool with my husband...yes, youngun's Pa was in the pool, "swimming like a seal."

I didn't dare use my camera to capture the stuning flutterby that was resting on dog turds.