183 - New

Not much happening around the 'ol homestead. I finished all the mowing and there is no TCA work to do at them moment so I started working on my own website. Only one pic. Of a ladybug.

And maybe one more, of my quesadilla. Because it's food blog worthy, and I love my griddle.

I've been interested in essential oils for a while now, and I've acquired a few bottles over the last couple of years. I am not a fan of MLM and I don't like selling to people, but I figure there are a lot more people like me out there who are already going to buy it anyway, so why not buy through me?

I guess I'm excited because there are more and more uses for essential oils these days. You can use them instead of burning candles (no, I'm not going to stop burning candles, but you can't burn them all day) or using air fresheners made from chemicals. You can apply them topically to fight infection, or in massage oil. You can ingest some of them, such as a drop or two of lemon oil in a glass of water, which alkalizes your body and fights disease. And one of my favorites - pest control. You can add EO's to coconut oil to use topically when you're outdoors and it works! I mowed the lawn and none of those flying bastards touched me, I just used 5 drops of lemongrass and 5 drops of lavender in about 1/4 cup of coconut oil. And if you use lavender oil and water as a spray you can repel fleas and mosquitos. I could go on, and will, but I'll space it out. :)

doTerra seems to be one of the highest quality oils on the market and the sign up fee is pretty low, so I'm not losing much if this doesn't work out. I polled some of my friends and there is some interest there, but beyond that I figure if I can create a website that has interesting content, not just a sales pitch for doTerra, maybe I can keep people coming back and it will be passed along to others. So that's what I'm working on now. I'm trying to get the structure set up now. I was going to have a blog page and then other tabs, but it seems to make more sense to treat almost all the pages as blogs. That doesn't matter to anyone but me, I'm just thinking out loud.

Anyway, the site is http://albo-talbot.weebly.com.

Weebly again, I love it, it's brilliant and best of all it's free. Any time I have a question, they have an answer and it astounds me how well thought out it is. The only thing I don't like is that so far, I haven't found a subscribe by email option. But maybe it's there. Doesn't matter, it's still one of my favorite finds of all time.

182 - The First Cut is the Deepest

So in another effort to be frugal, and because I'm tired of wasting money on bad haircuts that make me want to shave my head... I ordered my own shears and thinning shears. I watched a few YouTube videos on how to cut your own hair, gathered up my courage, and dove in.

I learned phrases like point cut, overdirecting hair, and base cut. By the time I finished watching the videos I felt like I could do it. No sweat!

Until I actually had these in my possession... and then my confidence dropped to my toes along with most of the blood in my body.

What am I about to do?...

So this is what my hair looked like when I started. It had been a few months since I'd had a hair cut and almost a year since I'd had a good one (or whenever Missy cut it last). I was living in ponytails pretty much all the time. This is not the best example of my hairstyle because it had been in a ponytail all day and I mowed the lawn so it was kind of dirty, but I wasn't going to wash and dry my hair twice just to show you what it normally looked like. There were a couple of spots where my cut was asymmetrical or heavy. Not intentionally, but because the people who cut my hair cut it that way. Grrrr...

I'm just stalling here. But I'm doing it like they do in the salon... wash, condition, leave it pretty wet for the basecut.

And here I am... wet hair, combed out... still procrastinating. Can you see the fear in my eyes?

Now I've sectioned my hair into quandrants and clipped up the front so that I can concentrate on the back part of my hair. Oh yeah... this is really happening...

First cut... no going back now...

So the basecut is pretty much done. That's just cutting the ends to get a general shape. Or that's how I understand it. I haven't been to school for this.

Now I'm starting to cut the layers. If you pull the hair straight up the layers are more noticeable. Pulling it to the side makes them more gradual. These are all things I've seen my stylists do, but seeing the videos sort of brought it home for me. I started to (kind of) understand the principals behind it. Bringing up both sides at once ensures that the two sides are even... for the first time in a year...

So now they're even.

So the layers are all cut and I'm not crying yet. Time to dry and flat iron the hair so I can start taking the weight out. See? I've been paying attention during my cuts.

Okay, so it's not bad so far... but it's kind of blah. I'm just happy that I don't look like a freak.

Now the fun begins...

Or not. I accidentally slit my finger open with the flat side of the thinning shears. No bueno. Must pay attention...

Yipes that's a lot of hair, but honestly it's been about a year since anyone thinned my hair out which is another gripe I had. I don't care what the philosophy is behind it, it's my hair and it's how I've had it cut forever, so I got frustrated that no one out here would do what I asked. Thus my desperation and the situation we find ourselves in now...

And here we are. Not bad if I say so myself. It has shape, it looks healthy, it's better than it was... and it's not horrible... I so did this!

Same cut, just tucked behind my ears.

Guess the true test is what it looks like next time I wash and dry it. But guess what? If I don't like it... I can try to fix it. Muahahaha!

181 - Work, work, work

"The true gourmet, like the true artist, is one of the unhappiest creatures on earth. His trouble comes from so seldom finding what he constantly seeks - perfection." I'm so gourmet it's pitiful because it's true... once you've tasted the best, you are never satisfied with anything less. That's 9/10 of the trouble we've with food around here... just doesn't stack up, and that's why it was a risk to get pizza yesterday, but FINALLY it was a pleasant surprise. So now there are three restaurants we can go to in the vicinity if we want an occasional night out. I guess that's not bad, I just got spoiled living where we did, where there were several good restaurants nearby. In a way it made me fat and lazy though, so I'm not complaining about where we find ourselves now.

Today I mowed almost all of the lawn, just a spot on the driveway where I was parked, the culvert and the propane tank-side of the house left to do. I reiterate - anyone who offers to mow your lawn for free either loves you or desperately wants something from you...

My little birdie friend.

I thought I hit the beautiful and elusive blue and purple bird this afternoon on the way to the hardware store. It flew across the road just as I was approaching, but I didn't hear a thump and there's no body on the road... One day I'll get a picture and you'll see how gorgeous it is. I have serious bird envy.

I also saw... I think... an owl. It had an ivory underbelly that was sort of fluffy, and it was large. That's all I can tell you as this also happened when I was driving to the hardware store and I'm not very good at identifying birds unless I have time to examine their face... I didn't see the face.

So this is my patio tomato plant. Can't recall the variety but it's supposed to be pretty prolific in a pot, and as you can see, there is one baby tomato and two potential tomatoes just on this one branch. I also see a bloom on another branch. I CAN'T WAIT TO EAT YOU.

Probably not a helpful thing to say to a plant. (but true)

And this is Mr. Stripey. One solitary tomato that grows ever bigger, but no more blooms... Lemon Thyme in the background seems to be doing well.

The mini herb garden has perked up and I may be able to harvest my own cilantro and parsley soon. It was really touch and go when I planted them, they were very droopy and I really figured they were goners.

Someday I need to break the lawnmower box down and put it into the trash pile...

The freshly shorn grass.

More freshly shorn grass. It may not look like much but I'm probably mowing close to an acre by the time I'm done.

Those are not aliens on the side of the house, they're satellites. :) I guess this gives you an idea of how slopey the lot is... but really it's steeper than that because I'm at a corner instead of straight on. Trust me... you know you're walking up a hill.

Cool little mushroom. I'd eat him too if I knew I could, but I don't know that, so he gets to live out the rest of his brief life, right there in the grass.

Found some longer screws at the hardware store, with the assistance of the Vice-Mayor. Small towns are funny that way, our Vice-Mayor happens to work at the hardware store and as a first responder/search and rescue.

Unfortunately the screws were about 1/4" too long, which I knew when I bought them, but they only had 1-1/2" or 2", nothing in between so I came up with a solution. Tom had put a nut on one of the screws as a guide for me to cut the screws if I had the right tool... I'm sure Mike does but good luck finding it right now... so in the meantime this is how I solved the problem. Worked like a charm.

Welcome to our basement (I moved the shoes into the kitchen, they just needed to dry out a little so I put them there for a couple of days).

This is the tankless water heater we had installed. We actually have to use the cold water knob in the bathtub now... before, with the electric water heater we just used the hot water and it was almost warm enough for a shower.

I don't have a before picture of the basement, but this is what I managed to accomplish yesterday. I emptied probably six boxes and started collating everything into groups of similar stuff. Anything that I ran across that needed to go upstairs went upstairs, and anything that had a place in the workbench went into the workbench. There were a couple of bag of trash, but only things I knew were trash... there's also an I-don't-know-what-the-hell-this-is pile.

Another view. There was a large box full of coats and boots which went upstairs because clothing, paper or anything susceptible to mildew is not going to last in our basement. Someday we will have to deal with that either by waterproofing the walls, a french drain system, or a combination of the two, and when Mike is home for a few days he'll have to unclog the gutters so the rain will be channeled away from the foundation instead of sheeting down next to it. I wonder if a dehumidifier would work in the meantime or how much they cost... I will check on that after I post.

The water filtration system. We have well water so the far right tank is our pump and the rest is the filtration system. You can see that there is a lot of sediment being filtered out because the furthest right canister on the system started out white. I need to find the manual and figure out how to change it out but I keep forgetting to do that.

This is not a dead mouse but every time I see it I think it is.

Boots. Before we moved they had a great sale on rain boots so I picked up about five pairs of them in anticipation of being here. Ah the good old days when I was the queen of sales and coupons. They will definitely come in handy in the winter. And I found Mike's turtle boots, which he will be happy to know are upstairs now where they will not be ruined.

See? They're okay. :)

So that's it for today. It's been somewhat productive. I'm worn out so I'm going to relax on the couch for a bit before I get bored and find something else to do.

180 - And more of the same

We picked the truck up on Saturday.

From the third Dodge dealership.

And the a/c is cutting out again.

So if you're keeping track, that's a dealership in Georgia, one in Mississippi and one in Kentucky... all of them say it's fixed... but it's not. And it is still doing the 3,500 RPM hangup act because they all say they can't replicate that issue, and so it has never been addressed. At this point, what do we do? We've wasted time and money trying to get it fixed and no one finds the root cause of the issue, they just slap a flimsy bandaid on it and send it back to us. The last two repairs were at Dodge's expense, but there is a cost in not being able to drive your vehicle, there is cost involved in going to and from the dealership in two vehicles to drop it off and pick it up, there is cost in buying kits to charge the a/c in an attempt to get it working while you're on the road, there is a cost involved when the shifting issues dramatically reduce your gas mileage. Not to mention the frustration. There is a high cost in frustration.

So that's what Mike and Jason have been dealing with today.

Me?  It was raining and I couldn't mow so I spent most of my afternoon in the basement trying to sort through the mess. I actually made progress, but if you didn't know what it looked like before, you wouldn't see that I have. There are piles of garbage bags and empty boxes, and piles of things I'm sorting... electronics... miscellaneous tools... manuals... straps... jars of screws/nails/nuts/bolts. I have much more to do... but I did find the shelves for the entertainment center, so a small amount of progress was made beyond just tidying things up down there.

Afterward I decided I wanted to try the pizza place down the road. I haven't had pizza in a long time except for what I've made myself. Turns out, it's really good. And it will feed me to two or three more days. It's literally five minutes from here but they don't quite deliver to the house, just as far as the crossroads which is just as well, it got me out of the house for a bit and I left some of Mike's TCA business cards on the counter.

Hopefully tomorrow I can mow... I'm not looking forward to it, but the grass is getting high again and I need to cut it.

179 - We Now Resume Our Regularly Scheduled Irregular Life

Drove to Alabama to retrieve the hubs on Thursday. My intention was to drive down, get him, and come back home that evening. I thought it would be a 4-1/2 hour trip... but the rain, the traffic and my GPS conspired against me and I didn't arrive until almost 7 pm. So we stayed the night and left at 6 am. Imagine my joy. <--- not a morning person but I wanted to get home at a reasonable time

Friday evening I attempted to make fajitas that taste like Lupe Tortilla. Fail. But the cherry margaritas were amazing.

Saturday we made the trip to Glasgow, KY to get the truck. The a/c works again... who knows for how long... but the transmission is still a mystery. Since we were nearby, we went to Chuy's for lunch and then to Home Depot because Mike needed a ladder, then an hour and a half later we were home again. The guys tarred around the chimney a few weeks ago but there was still a small leak, so Mike got on the roof and sealed it himself. We need to clean the gutters out soon but I'm not getting on the ladder when I'm here by myself so it will have to wait. For dinner I used up the last of the duck and made a Tyler's Ultimate recipe that was delicious. I'd always heard that duck was fatty and some people don't like it... it does have a large fat cap on it, but you fry it and it becomes crispy like bacon, and the grease ends up in the pan. I rather like it, and it's one of Mike's favorites.

Today was just one of those days... Mike had to go back to Alabama to get Jason so they can head to Tampa tomorrow for vendor-provided training. So much for never going back to Florida, hahaha. So yeah, Mike's gone, the blogging resumes, and I find projects to do so that I don't sit around being glum.

We have woodpeckers! Two of them. And they like some of our trees and power lines.

This is a much better picture... that I didn't take... just wanted to show the type of woodpeckers we have. They're pretty good sized birds and have a distinctive call. But no, they don't have an annoying laugh like the little cartoon guy.

And this is what I did today. I put hardware on the cabinets. Mike got me a jig so it was as simple as marking the holes, drilling, and screwing them in.

I plan to paint the cabinets at some point but I'm waiting for things to get back on track, and also trying to decide which way I want to go with them. Part of me says dark like espresso... another idea is sort of an antique ivory... and the sort of crazy idea, and the one I find myself considering the most... is this...

It would match the countertops and I like it. It's different but not DIFFERENT.

So... I need longer screws in order to attach the hardware to the drawers, but I figured while I was at it I would go ahead and drill the holes... saves time and cleaning up another mess. I also ran out of handles, because I did the bathroom too... so I had to order some more and my project is on hold until they arrive; it's not worth the 45 minute drive to Cookeville when I can get free shipping.

We have a lurker. I can't believe how long the legs are on the daddy long-legs out here! All told this guy is probably four inches across. He was hiding in one of my kitchen brushes the other day, then he migrated to the window - which must have been frustrating for him because when the kitchen light is on at night it draws a ton of bugs... but they're on the other side of the window. Makes me laugh even though I know it's mean to laugh. Anyway, now he's hanging out on the ceiling. I like knowing where he is so he doesn't surprise me... I know they don't bite but they're still spiders, which makes them creepy.

And look what I found!!! I was in the basement looking for the keys to the motorcycle, and I noticed a box that looked interesting. I started digging around... how could I have forgotten about one of my favorite lamps??? It's so pretty and I love the glow it casts in the evening. Looks so pretty on the Hooker.

So now I'm watching tv and balancing the checkbook. We *may* have an offer pending on the house. There was a couple who liked everything but the floor, so my realtor told their realtor to submit an offer taking the floor into consideration. If not, I am now offering a $1,000 flooring incentive... it seems that people get hung up on the floor, forgetting that it can be replaced or negotiated... or hey - if you put furniture and area rugs down, there's FAR LESS TILE VISIBLE THAN IN AN EMPTY HOUSE... imagination people - use it! But people don't... so I figure if I offer the incentive, I don't have to drop the price (not outright, which would probably drop it by $2,500 instead of a grand) AND I'm giving people the idea... planting the thought in their heads... that the flooring... CAN BE CHANGED! What a concept. *head smack*

Tomorrow is lawn day. Maybe tomorrow and the next day... really depends on whether or not it rains again and/or how hot it is out there. Since I was able to mow last week and cut it considerably lower than it was, I'm hoping it won't take quite as long the second time around... that I can just push and go without having to go slower because of the height. And then I may start to tackle the basement... I hate the idea... loathe it... but it needs to be done... and I know that if Mike is in class all day I'm going to get bored, because not only will we not be talking intermittently throughout the day, but there will be no TCA work to keep me occupied.