A Beautiful Fall Day....

The leaves have not started turning in this area yet, however, the sky definitely has the look of Fall. It has the crisp, beautiful blue, with a few white, puffy clouds floating by - so pretty.  Only 68 as I sit here typing.

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 The squirrel population started their "dining al fresco" in the hickory nut tree late this year.  Usually they start around mid August, but for some reason  they did not start until a couple of weeks ago, so it is officially "hard hat season" around here.  I am guessing since we had such a strange weather pattern this last Spring and Summer, the nuts were slower  maturing than normal (just a guess).  Anyway, the squirrels are making up for lost time, and judging by the size of the mess they leave at the end of the day they have invited their friends in from other neighborhoods to dine with them.

Joining in @ "Outdoor Wednesday"

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So what did I do on such a beautiful Fall day ? Stayed in most of day as allergies went into overdrive,  put out a bit of Fall decor (finally), and made soup.

Made it a little different this round - used some frozen meatballs instead of ground beef that I season myself.  That was a mistake and after eating a bowl of the soup, I took the remaining meatballs out of the pot of soup, and added a couple hands of pasta. I had used a few of the meatballs out of the package a while back and did not care for the taste, but thought maybe in a pot of soup they would be ok - NOT!   Make note to self: Self - Do not buy that brand again. Also, used a package of frozen vegetable soup mix (already seasoned), and don't think I will do that again either.  Package said seasoning/spices added, I missed reading the sodium content when bought it, and also suspect they included red pepper flakes - hence the reason for adding some pasta to tone it down a bit.

End result:  Edible, but certainly not the best soup I have made.

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Hoping the weather was as beautiful in your area today as it was here.
Have a great week!
Glenda

Somebody Moved !!!

No - Not me !   I Wish .
Someone decided they needed a bigger abode.  Think that will be enough cabinet space in the master bath vanity?

Yes - It does have  double sinks....

New appliances that came with the house - manuals and paperwork attached..... 

 The "little redhead cupid" found out it was fun to push the different levers on the ice/water dispensers on the door. Ooops!!!

Don't think that will be enough cabinets?

 Then check out the other side....

Yes - that is real wood paneling and cabinets in the kitchen and a room off the kitchen. What will they do to update the  look  you ask?  They have already been looking at all the possibilities, but not in a hurry to make any decisions/changes.  The great news -  New carpet, flooring, counter tops, paint through out, and baths have all new fixtures.  The previous owners  left a few of the wall heaters in different locations around the house after installing central air.  I am thinking that was a smart move  in case the central heat ever went out.  Daughter plans to put something decorative in front of them that can be easily moved if the units are needed.

OH! What will she do with that huge kitchen and all the cabinets?   No worry - She does a lot of cooking, freezing, canning, making jams and jellies, has a lot of craft/redo projects going on, big kitchen table for family meals, and where homework will be done.

Now.... If I can get her to remember to take before and after pictures of each project so I can post about all their accomplishments.

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Is everyone thrilled about the big move?  Absolutely NOT!
She called when taking a load of furniture to their new (to them) abode, and in the back ground I could hear a certain furbaby meowing (actually yelling)  at the top of his lungs.  
Remember this sweet face?

 Well....It seems that sweet furbaby, did NOT have the same enthusiasm  about relocating as the other family members.
I think he was happier setting in the window alerting "his family" of the dangers of a runaway horse in "his driveway", or fighting off neighborhood cats picking on strays looking for a meal.
Talked with her later, and she said he had settled down a bit.  He is getting on up in the years, and we were concerned how he would adjust to this move. 

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Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend, and looking forward to a great week!

Glenda  

Absolutely Gorgeous Weather

Don't know what the high was yesterday, but certainly not above the mid 70's,  with a gorgeous,  blue sky and having a repeat performance today - 68 as I type.
Doing the "Happy Dance" as this is my kind of weather!!  "Probably a good thing you can't see me dance". :-D
Had planned to venture out to buy mums and pumpkins at the farmers market yesterday, but plans changed - we all know how that goes. So, will share some pictures I took last year.....

 Fall 2012

Beautiful Fall day and time to make a trip to the farmers' market.

From the typical orange and white...

to a wide range of gourds and pumpkins to select from

 Those with warts to pastels....

 Linking up @  "Mosaic Monday"

                         "Outdoor Wednesday"

Have a great week!

Glenda

 

One of "Those" Projects

One of the things on my "L" to get done was to remove the HD from a old PC that needs to be "laid to rest". First - Let me say I am not using correct terminology writing this post, because I would hate to think someone researched how to do the same and came across my post and they ended up more confused on the subject than I was.
Plus - I don't know the correct terminology. 

OK - So I researched  utube (I know - not the right spelling) on  "how to remove the HD from the PC tower".

Step 1 - Remove the side panels. Small problem - my PC is NOT like the ones used in the utube demos, so I was pretty much on my own with that little detail.
                                    Mission accomplished!

Step 2 - Remove the HD from the tower. Again mine did not look like the one in the demos, so had to wing it, but after removing a couple of screws it popped out.


Step 3 - Remove the wires and that strange 
looking, wide tape "thingy" that is plugged into
the end.


Now - How am I going to destroy that thing if it is encased in a metal frame. 3 screws were removed without a problem, the 4th was  stripped out, so had to round up several different size screwdrivers until found one that would work.

And the prize is......

Did a bit of research on how to destroy one of these little black boxes and think I will save that project for a day I really need to vent, let off steam, get rid of some frustrations, etc...
Add to "L" - find out where I can take the PC to have it properly disposed of.
If anyone has any fail proof suggestions on how to destroy a HD, I would love to hear them.

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I have noticed around the land of blog, many are starting to decorate for Fall.  Think I will wait a while since..........

Summer is still hanging on around here.

 

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend and looking forward to a great week ahead.
Glenda
Dab of This and That

Dab of This and That

Hope everyone is enjoying the long holiday weekend, whether you are cooking out, with lots of good food and drink, enjoying the company of family and/or friends  or enjoying a nice quiet time at home with a good book and/or a project you have been wanting to finish. Hard to  believe Summer is winding down.  The children in my area have been back to school almost a month now, and I remember when they did not go back until the day after Labor Day.
Had a surprise visit from the owner of these travel necessities ...

The lady bugs on her duffel bag are red  - don't know why they look orange in the pic.

Yep ! The little red head cherub came to visit !!

(I dread the day those beautiful red curls are cut off.)

Got a phone call at 8:15 Friday morning (before I had even had coffee) from her Mom telling me they would be at my house for dinner.  Did I rush to the grocery and plan a big dinner ? Nope  - too hot to cook!  She says they can't get good BBQ in their area, so I save my BBQ runs to a local place  for when they come in town - so that was dinner, and another daughter joined us. Good food and good company.

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When they left Saturday evening they loaded up their vehicle with lots of junk  treasures that I was getting rid of in my effort to declutter.  I was glad to see it gone and daughter was glad to be the recipient, as she is visualizing  lots of  repurposing and crafty projects  in the future.
Too hot to be outside today, so swiffered up the crumbs, wiped the little red headed cupid's sticky finger prints off the glass door and edge of the table, and looking forward to their next visit.  I will look for the faux lime and apple she played with on another day.

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 Enjoy the holiday weekend and the week ahead!

Glenda

Dab of This and That  

A Dab of This and That Ramble

 
Just a "quick ramble" to let you know I am still around.

 Sometimes other things happen in life and we need to change our priorities.

 Praying all the "unexpected goings on"  will settle down to a much smoother ride in life very soon. 

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 I purposely did not post an explanation about my "semi hiatus" from the land of blog, due to privacy reasons (concerns someone else).  However, I want to say a "Very Special Thanks" to those that inquired about my absence and as a result sent their much appreciated prayers and healing thoughts.  You will never know how much they mean - Thank You!!!  I am in the process of answering emails, etc. and hope to be caught up in the very near  future.

 

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The "Nitty Gritty" of everyday "stuff" !

Long list of "to dos" while out and about playing catch up on errands,  one of which is get that nasty car washed!  We all know the one - looks like a dust bunny rolling down the street. You have to turn on the windshield (even on a sunny day)  to clear a space so you can see where you are going.     First stop - pulled up and a luxury car is parked just outside of the exit of the carwash with all of the car doors open, and a man  (appeared to be the owner and was NOT happy), and another person with a clipboard with pen in hand appeared to be inspecting the car and writing a report.  Rolled down the window and asked if it was out of order and was told that "there has been  an incident".  Turned around and moved on, ran another errand and stopped at another car wash and the entrance was blocked - out of order.

Guess I will continue to drive around in a dirty car! So if you see something traveling down the road that looks like a very large dust bunny - it may just be me!

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 DO NOT put mayo on my muffuletta !!!  While out I stopped for a sandwich to go. Muffuletta and a side of potato salad  - have not had one in a while (due to salt over load). Got home turned on computer, grab a bottle of water, sat down to eat, took a big bite of the sandwich ....What is that?!? Lifted the top half of the bread and there was a thick layer of mayo on top of a very small amount of olive salad !  Good grief - Stop messing with the real deal!    Make note - Call restaurant manager!

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Why is it we crave certain things to eat at odd times - especially late at night?  I have done that a lot recently   - NO!!!! I am not.....Get that thought out of your head!!!!!!!!!

For some reason I have been craving things like turtle pie, cheesecake, etc.   What is unusual about this?   Given a choice - I nearly always prefer savory (not sweet).  I have been really super stressed out recently so don't know if that has anything to do with it or not.  I did pick up a 2 slice pkg. of turtle pie at the grocery and indulged, but think I would have satisfied the craving more had I bought the whole pie and cut my own size serving. :)

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Temps in mid to high 90's all week, so may be a good time to get caught up on a few things around the Dab of This and That abode - maybe!

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Just another Dab of This and That ramble.

Have a great week!

Glenda

Wild Life in the Courtyard

Sitting at the computer, typing away and looked up to see a cardinal feeding a "kid,  fresh out of the nest".  At first, I wondered why the adult male was feeding another grown bird since it was just as large as it was.  Then after watching for a couple of minutes, I saw it flapping, exercising its wings and could see it was pretty young.  Hard to get a good pic, but the adult was offering it bits of dead bug - Ewww!  Yeah - I know...

Well apparently Dad did not serve it up fast enough and "junior" grabbed the rest and took off running.

Have had a lot of wrens and robins this year, but gave up trying to get a good picture, they move a lot faster than I do.
Chipmunks have been back, but not a lot recently.  They usually visit in the morning, but since we have had  a lot of rain recently (not to mention the temps are back up), guess they have stayed closer to their "abode" wherever that is.

The cooler than normal temps we have had recently packed up and moved on, and the  typical Summer hot/humid days have returned.  Saw a couple of squirrels laid out on the fence cooling off today when the heat index hit 105.  No current pic as  they ran off when I opened the door.  Took this pic 3(?) years ago of one doing the same.

That is what is going on in the courtyard these days!!

Linking up with:  "Share Your Cup Thursday"
                             "Show and Tell Friday"
                             "Mosaic Monday" 
                             "Outdoor Wednesday" 

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Yes - I am  pretty much still on semi "hiatus" from my blog.  Hoping to be back  with my regular "Dab of This and That Ramblings" in the  near future. 

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Have a great week....
Glenda