Woman in the Middle

I absolutely can not believe that stinky dog is on my rug. I have to turn my face to get away from the smell!

Maybe if I stare at her and suffer the smell she will get off the rug….

That didn’t work! Now I am really mad…so mad  I feel like my eyes are on fire!

Happy Halloween from me, my dog Honey and my demon eyed cat Blackie. Remember, if you see a black cat, just pet it. I am sure it will thank you for it!

On a recent visit to Taco Bell, we purchased five items. Our order included two items that did not need little packets of  sauce and three that did – two tacos and one burrito. They asked if we wanted any mild sauce and I said yes, we did. I knew if I came home without mild sauce for Hubby’s taco, he would be an unhappy camper, and I don’t want Hubby to be unhappy.

I opened the bag and started pulling out the mild sauce packets. Here is a photo of my new pile of mild sauce:

I counted. They gave us 33 packets of sauce. Yes, that is 11 packets for each of the tacos and the burrito. Seriously, what were they thinking? That my family was going to drink the stuff? Unless the person putting the sauce in our bag had hands the size of catcher’s mitts, it took them more than one grab in the mild sauce bin to get all that sauce in our bag. I am thinking that any profit they made on my little order was wiped out because of the cost of all those little packets they gave us.   Imagine all the money they lose due to the over generous distribution of mild sauce!

The pile is still sitting on my counter. I feel bad throwing out 31 packets of sauce. Hubby just needed two.

As we discovered a year ago in July, when we had to move Brother Dear while he was still in the hospital, he had invested in a number of large plastic tubs with lids, which he used to move his stuff. He didn’t really move that much but I guess he found it easier to use the tubs than to scrounge up boxes. All those tubs came in very handy when it was time to clean out his apartment  after he passed away.

It was really hard, at first, to even think about going through all of those tubs of stuff, but recently I put on my big girl panties and dove in. Since a little time had passed it turned out to be not as hard as I thought it would be. It has actually been healing in some ways to revisit Brother Dear’s things. I carefully made piles of things to go and things to keep. The “go” pile was then distributed to causes that I thought would make him happy. Sweatshirts to the homeless, shoes to a shoe charity, miscellaneous to the Salvation Army.

This left us with lots of empty tubs.   But that was OK, because they have come in very handy yet again over at Mom in Law’s place. I filled a tub for each daughter of treasures they decided to take from their grandmother’s home. Another tub was filled with kitchen items I am putting away because, before I know it, I am sure one or other of the girls will be moving into her own place. Another tub was filled with all the stuff Hubby wants to keep, at least for now. And on and on I went filling Brother Dear’s tubs with Mom In law’s stuff.  How wonderfully handy all those tubs have been.

It feels almost like Brother Dear knew I would need those tubs. I sure have appreciated not having to go buy any and having them so readily available to store stuff in. Brother Dear is helping with this monumental task we have been dealing with and I think of him constantly as, item by item, I fill all those tubs.  Thanks, Brother Dear!

The college youngest attends, California Polytechnic University, Pomona, or Cal Poly for short,  has a large agricultural program. No college I ever attended had a “beef unit.” That is where the beef cattle live. It makes Cal Poly Pomona very picturesque with its cattle, horses, and fields devoted to agricultural production. Every year just before Halloween they have a Pumpkin Festival. We have never attended , even though it is just 35 minutes away. So this year, being Youngest’s last year, we decided to put aside our efforts to clean out Mom in law’s house and spend a morning at the Pumpkin Festival.

One of the reasons we have never gone is that it always seems to be hot on the weekend they hold the festival. This past weekend was no exception, Oh, it could have been worse, but the sun was very warm as we wandered the pumpkin patch and all the booths. I got a kick out of seeing all the people wearing fall clothes int he warm weather. People, it doesn’t matter if is the second half of October, hot is hot!

I can tell you, the place was packed with people and so many bring wagons or trolleys or even strollers so they can roll their pumpkin or five back to their car. They actually grow pumpkins at the school but they also being in tons and tons of “ringers” and put them in the fields as well.

Keep in mind we were there the second day. Youngest said that there were so many more pumpkins the first day. So many more than the huge number you see here!

There were lots of booths where the clubs at the school were selling a variety of food. We bought the pumpkin spice donut holes. Yum! There were also food trucks and games for the kids. I know we weren’t kids, but we still took our photo with this.

Cal Poly has a Farm Store, which is open year round. It is a fun place to shop and find jelly, salsa, wine, and other interesting things that make great gifts.  They also have plants of all kinds grown right there at the school. I always like to check out the succulent selection. Outside the store they had this big pumpkin display.

I hope you are in an autumn kind of mood now that you have seen the Pumpkin Festival!

I have never really been sure if Sunday is the end of the week or the beginning of the week. It sure seems like the end of the week to me, but just in case, feel free to consider the following musings as the end or the beginning, which ever you prefer.

1. I am officially running a home for elderly pets. Every waking moment seems to revolve around their care, health and happiness. This is not something that makes me unhappy, I am just stating a fact.

2. Speaking of No. 1 above, Blackie does not seem to be feeling well.  It isn’t his constipation this time as pooping has occurred this week. But he has been eating only a little bit for a few days and now, this morning, he refuses to eat anything. Sigh. If he isn’t better by morning, it is off to the vet we go.

“Leave me alone. I just don’t feel good, Mom.”

3. More progress has been made to ready mom in law’s house for selling. I seem to find the whole process mentally and physically exhausting. After about three hours I am just pooped.  Hubby has better stamina than I but since we both like company when we are over there, he tends to have the same schedule that I do. Someday it will be done. The light at the end of the tunnel grows ever brighter!

4. Youngest Daughter went to the Society of Women Engineer’s convention in Los Angeles this weekend. She plastered the job fair with her resume. Most of the companies there were also giving away free stuff, most of it geared towards women. The swag included free nail polish, nail files, nail kits, and kitchen tools, as well as the normal pens and such .   Once company even had a booth where the women engineers could get a free manicure. Youngest wasn’t sure if she should be appalled by the obvious play towards what they thought women wanted, or if she should just be happy with all the free stuff, gender neutral or not. I have no idea how the 20-30% of the attendees who were male felt about the manicure booth or the free nail files.

5. Assuming poor Blackie gets better soon, I am looking forward to a productive week. Lots of things on my list to get done. I hope you have a great week!

It is the time of year where we see pumpkins everywhere!. Every time I go to the store I see tons of products made with pumpkin from donuts to beer. The donuts are delicious. But the beer, well I haven’t tasted it but it sounds weird! So, when I opened the latest post from Jayne from her blog His Heart and Home, I wasn’t surprise to see pumpkins. But I was pleased to discover Jayne’s idea for making cute pumpkin decorations for fall. I stole a photo from her post. Aren’t they cute?

While I do enjoy the occasional craft project, I am not super crafty and, as you may have guessed, this isn’t a craft blog. But, when I saw how adorable and easy these pumpkins are, I wanted to share the idea with you.  I particularly like the one on the right, made from strips of fall themed fabric. Guess what is making that cute pumpkin so plump? A roll of toilet paper! Given that space for storage is always tight, I was thinking how easy it would be to store the fabric strips and the small stick used for the pumpkin stem, and every year when fall rolls around, you can just grab a few rolls of toilet paper and make some pumpkins. Then, when it is time to put it all away, just take it all apart, put the toilet paper back were it can be used for its intended purpose, and fold and store the fabric strips for next year.  Easy peasy!

To see Jayne’s post on how to make these pumpkins, go to http://hisheartandhome.com/pumpkins-patience-perseverance/

(Sorry you will have to cut and paste the link. I need to learn is how to make the links work in a blog post.  Sigh. I will add it to my list….)

Life is made up of little moments that make each day worth living, don’t you think? It is just past eight in the morning and already today is starting off great, because I hit the Raisin Nut Bran jackpot!!! Let me explain…

I do enjoy the occasional box of Raisin Nut Bran cereal. Those little sugar and who knows what coated raisins are delicious! But, sadly, what ever process they use to mix the coated raisins in with the flakes has not been perfected. Sometimes you get a box with a good number of raisins, sometimes you get one with just barely enough to justify the name “raisin” in the cereal’s name.

I picked up a box of Raisin Nut Bran at the store yesterday and decided to have it for breakfast this morning. I admit, a bit of anxiety hit me as I opened the new box. The last box I bought was one of those boxes where the raisins were few and far between. So, it was with concerned taste buds that I started pouring the cereal into my bowl. Immediately, those delightful covered raisins began pouring out! Jackpot! I have never seen so many raisins before in a box of Raisin Nut Bran!

I am hoping this means the rest of the day is going to go well, as well.    Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket,,,or maybe I should just be content knowing I had a yummy bow of cereal this morning.

Since am getting old I can never remember what I have told anyone, including you, dear readers. But I think I may have mentioned Facebook to you before and my feelings about it. Like the fact that I just don’t get it…..But, I understand the usefulness of social media in this day and age so I am on Facebook and I do check it on occasion.

Somehow in the year or two I have been on Facebook I have managed to accumulate 91 friends. I have no idea how that is possible. I didn’t know I knew that many people. I still get about one friend request every two weeks or so from people I know. I usually add them to my friend list. I don’t post anything on Facebook that they shouldn’t see. Actually, I don’t post a whole lot on Facebook period but what I do post is pretty tame stuff. No religion, no politics, no rants about much of anything.

In order for someone to become my friend on Facebook, I do have one requirement –  that they be people I actually know. Crazy, I know! But, lately, I have been getting quite a few friend requests from people I do not know. I stare at their name, I stare at their picture and, nope, no recognition what so ever. The craziest one so far was from someone calling themselves Gustav Klimt. I am no art history major, but I wasn’t born in a barn, either. I immediately recognized that as the name of a painter. Since that painter died in 1918 (I had to look that up) I don’t think Gustav Klimt the painter is trying to friend me on Facebook. I ignored that friend request. 

Given the amazing commonness of my name I often wonder if these folks are trying to friend someone else and accidentally wind up with me. Who knows. But I do know they are not doing to get to be Facebook friends with me!

Do you have total strangers trying to friend you on Facebook? Or are you even on Facebook?

Anyone who reads this blog for any length of time knows I love history. My family, thank goodness, is usually up for visiting at least one historic place when we are on vacation. The one that kept popping up as we looked at things to do in Portland, Oregon was Pittock Mansion. a beautiful home on the National Register of Historic Places.

Pittock Mansion was built in 1914 by Henry and Georgiana Pittock. It suffered sever storm damage in 1962 and was almost torn down in 1964. But he citizens of Portland rallied around the mansion, donated money, and Pittock Mansion was saved.

The rear of the mansion, but the first thing you see, as you come up the drive way.

The front of Pittock Mansion.

Youngest Daughter in the kitchen. Stoves used to be works of art, didn’t they?

Also in the kitchen was this seriously amazing water pitcher. I had never seen anything like it. Do you see how that beautiful fluted edge is just gracefully folded over at the top, in spite of my bad photography?

The view of Portland from the mansion grounds was amazing, even on a day that was a bit overcast.

The entrance fee to Pittock Mansion is $9.50 for adults. You can learn more about this beautiful home at http://pittockmansion.org.

I got up this morning, it was overcast, and the house temperature was only 69 degrees! Given that it was practically snowing ( LOL!) I actually put long pants on. This is the first pair of pants that reached almost to the floor that I have voluntarily put on since, oh, June or so. Feels a little weird to have material flapping around my ankles, but I am sure I will get used to it.

Gone are the days when the light holds until 8 p.m. I wish I could say gone are the days when it is really hot, but I am sure we will get another burst of heat before October is over. Then we will be able to comfortably settle in to our long pants wearing for a few months, anyway.

A shot of our overcast weather, looking from the back of the house across my back yard at about 8:30 this morning. In this photo you can see my carefully covered lawn chairs  and my dead grass. I wish I could say we are conserving water because of the drought, but the grass is brown because the sprinklers in that area are broken. So we are saving water, but not for the reason you might think!