New Visitor...

The Orkin guy just finished up. I have carpenter bees not carpenter ants. He treated the outside and said that would deter them. Whew, glad that's taken care of. Course I had to sign a one year contract with them but that is a good thing since I live in a log home and can get all kinds of creepy crawlies in here that might eat the wood. And he found bat droppings too. I knew something was coming in the cabin at night and making squeaking noises but I thought it was chipmunks. Gotta get the eaves sealed off.


I have a new visitor to my humming bird feeder. It keeps coming back and of course it sets still longer that the hummers so I can get a good pic of them. The one of the hummer isn't so bad either so I'm posting both. This is pappa whom I'm calling H1.


Didn't sleep well last night so I'm headed for the couch and the book. Talk to y'all tomorrow.

Birds and Bugs...

Another pound down and 41 to go!! I really tried hard this week even with my splurge on Friday. I sure am glad there was an improvement.

The exterminator was scheduled to come today and called yesterday morning to cancel all together. He said his boss wouldn't let him bring the truck up on an unpaved mountain road. So the only other alternative I had was to call Orkin. They scheduled for today too and I've been staying off the computer to wait for their call to get directions to get to my house. They were supposed to be her by noon and just called to reschedule for tomorrow. ARGH!

They hummers are so cute. While the Momma eats from the feeder the baby does an air dance under her going back and forth about 20 times. I haven't seen her feed the little one any more but sometimes it comes and sets on the feeder and just looks around like it's saying "where are you, I'm hungry." I think it's a female since it doesn't have a red throat but I don't know much about the development of them and whether the red comes later or not. But they are fun to watch. They were a little upset with me yesterday. The feeder was getting too low so I made some more sugar water for them and put it out. They'd take a drink and back off and look at the feeder for the longest time then take off. That went on all evening but they are eating regularly now. The reason for the upset is because the one they had been drinking out of was half sugar and half water. I make it strong for the first feeder full so they have lots to supplement them after their return from down south. I then cut it back to 1/3 sugar and they didn't like that at all.

Hope your hump day's the humpiest!!

Dental Ordeal

I am writing this Monday night and scheduling it to post Tuesday morning because I am going to be sleeping ALL DAY on Tuesday! zzzzzzzzzzzz

What an ordeal that was. I was scheduled to be at the dentists for 1 hour. I was in the chair for 2.5 hours. Two of those hours with my mouth wide opened. When he finished and took the dam out and I finally ::ouch:: got my mouth closed he wanted me to open it again so he could look at something and I just sat there shaking my head no and telling him he wasn't allowed back in there today. Well, I did allow him back in there but I had to rest the jaw joints for a little while. He was prepping two teeth for crowns and while he had me numb he went ahead and replaced a filling that needed attending to. I got out of there 10 minutes before the Department of Motor Vehicles closed, so I drove like a mad woman and got there 1 minute before they closed. Got that taken care of too, whew. Don't want to run around with expired plates and won't be going back in that direction until the middle of next month.

I then hit Wally World and got that shopping done. I better have enough food to last me for 2 weeks because I almost choked when the clerk told me how much my bill was. Course there were some doggy snacks in there and a couple pair of shorts and a top. Oh, and gasoline was $4.05 there and I didn't need much but filled up anyway.

I left the house at noon and didn't get home until 6:30. I'm so exhausted I just put the fridge stuff away and all the other bags are setting on my counters and table and they will be staying there until sometime late Tuesday. I didn't even have enough energy to cook myself any supper so I just ate a sandwich. Oh, and I was so hungry in Wal-Mart that I grabbed a slice of bread and slapped 70 calories worth of ham on it when I got to the car, to eat on the drive home. So all together today I only had 1055 calories and I just don't have the strength to eat anymore tonight.

Ok, I lied, I'm up. Just had to add this. I was setting here reading emails and saw 2 humming birds setting on my feeder. This isn't unusual for some people but it is for me. My hummers are territorial and will buzz each other if there is one already on the feeder and another one wants a drink. They just don't seem to want to share. But one was thin and the other plump. The plump one was just setting there watching the thin one drink and was kinda wobbly while setting there. I kept watching and low and behold the thin one finished drinking and leaned over and fed the plump one from her beak. That was so cool.

Hope your Monday was more comfortable than mine.

Boring

I had a rather boring weekend. Not much to report except that I did stay on my eating plan.

Pounded a nail in my porch to hang a basket of flowers that I got for my birthday. Watched a really good movie, "National Treasure" (the second one). Talked to my sister-in-law and had a brief visit with a friend while her boy friend cut my grass.

I'm preparing myself for a trip to the dentist this afternoon. Not looking forward to that at all. The only good thing about it is that I won't have the broken area anymore that my tongue just won't stay away from.

Gonna try to take care of as many errands as I can while in the dentist area, which will include filling up my gas tank because gas is usually about 10-15 cents cheaper down there. Course it takes almost 4 gallons to get there so it won't be a cheap trip by any means. Both with the price of gas and the cost of two crowns in my mouth. Thank goodness for credit cards. That will at least put off forking the money out until the end of the month. I always pay the credit cards off completely at the end of the month. If I can't afford to do that then I just don't buy what I might want at the time. I used to just charge, charge, charge. When my late husband and I got married I had quite a bill I was paying on and he got me out of that debt and showed me how to not get in that mess again. "Thank you, Larry, for one of many wonderful things you brought into my life."

Hope you have a great week.

Not much to talk about...

Three year olds are so cute. My first born called at the dinner party the other night and her 3 year old step-daughter wanted to talk. She was so excited about a surprise she got at day care that day that she laid the phone down and ran to get it and tried to show it to me over the phone. Then she wanted me to hurry over to her house to see it. (They live in NJ.)

After I posted yesterday morning I got a call from the friend that cooked for me and her downstairs was flooded. She said she kept hearing something after we left and couldn't figure out what it was. When she went down to investigate she stepped in 2 inches of water at the bottom of the stairs. Her down stairs consists of a family room, two bedrooms, one bath and a laundry room. Evidently the pipes to the cistern had burst and the entire 1000 gallons ended up on the floor. She just had all new carpet and laminate flooring put in down there last year and it all had to be ripped out yesterday. I did her laundry for her yesterday evening because she had some loads of wash sorted and ready but laying in the floor and they got soaked. Couldn't leave them that way.

I did really well yesterday on my eating. But I did spend a lot of time in the bathroom which I was ready for. Boy, when we eat stuff our bodies aren't used to they sure do complain, don't they?

I haven't walked in almost 2 weeks. I just can't make myself get out there and do it. I just don't seem to have much energy at all lately. Sure wish I had all of the stamina and will power you people out there have to exercise.

Have a great Sunday.

The Morning After...

What a wonderful birthday party! It was the best I've had in many years. And I thoroughly enjoyed every bite of my meal. And...I don't feel guilty either. And your birthday wishes made my day even better, thanks. And here's a picture of me in my size 14 jeans.

One nice thing about yesterday is that I didn't have to go to the grocery store. The friend that threw the party called me as she was entering the grocery store and asked if there was anything she could get me and I had her pick up my salad stuff. Now I can wait to get the rest of the stuff on Monday. I have to go to the dentist on Monday and that will kill two birds with one stone...or rather one tank of gas.



The new yarn I ordered came in yesterday. So I'll be spending the weekend making a pair of socks. I've never tried to make socks before so it will be fun. Boy, sock yarn sure is expensive. The price range was $5.50 to $35.00 per ball. I got the cheapest ones and it takes two balls to make a pair of socks. Can you imagine anyone having a $70.00 pair of socks? I sure can't. I hated biting the bullet and spending $11.00 on one pair but it is something different to try my hand at and I have seen socks in stores that expensive. Wish me luck.



Have a great weekend y'all.

Birthdays and poop and bugs...

Friday the 13th. Interestingly enough it's usually a lucky day for me. But not so today. Well, most of it will probably be alright. I am officially a retired person today. Yep, today's my 62nd BD. Now this is the last time you'll hear about my age because as of today I am going to stop counting them. I've made it over this hump and it's all down hill from here. Now if I can just make it over the 190's hump and get the weight loss on a down hill track. But not today. A friend is throwing a party for me. Gee, I don't think I've had a birthday party in so many years I can't remember. It's going to be a dinner party. She called Wednesday to ask what I wanted for supper. I told her what I want and what I can have are two different things. She is very supportive of my weight loss and told me what she had planned. Everything was just what I could eat and still stay on track, but also soooooo boring for a birthday dinner. After asking me if that was alright, I told her what I really wanted was fried chicken with the skin on and lots of crust, and mashed potatoes and gravy (I haven't had gravy in over a year). She said then that's what I'd get. I know I've not been good this past week and I shouldn't but hey the first birthday party and many, many years! I've got to enjoy myself, right? I know I'll be sorry tomorrow and probably beat myself up but at this point it will be worth it. Wonder if she makes gravy the way I like it?

Have you ever seen humming bird poop? It's so cute. Wait...poop and cute don't belong together. But they do. It isn't like other bird poop. It's clear (or red if you tint the sugar water in your feeder). I used to hang the feeder in front of one of the front windows on the porch but this year decided to hang it in front of a side window so my cats can't get close to it. They never did catch one but it was aggravating watching them try and I'll bet frustrating for both bird and cat. Now I won't have little red dots on my porch anymore. Since it's hanging right outside the window closest to my computer desk I get to watch them more anyway since I spend a lot of time here. And they are watching me too. Right now they are a little skittish and when I move they fly off. One has even taken to hoovering at the other window to see if I'm setting here before he eats. (My desk is in a corner with a window on either side). Ahhhh, the simple pleasures of nature...

I didn't get the grocery shopping done on Wednesday as I had planned because I sat here all day waiting for UPS to deliver the package the tracking said would be delivered that day. They didn't show but instead left it at a friends business for me. I called the exterminator yesterday morning and couldn't go to the store then because I had to wait for him to call me back. So today I have to go to the grocery store. I'm out of salad stuff and I can not go through a weekend and be good without salads.

The exterminator had me describe the sawdust I found in my living room and he said he didn't think it was carpenter ants but rather some kind of beetle. He said that the beetle is already in the wood and can lay dormant for up to 10 years before coming alive and start eating. He will be here next Wednesday morning to take care of the problem for me. Whew, will be glad when they are gone so I don't have to worry about my roof falling in on me.

Have a great weekend, blogger buds!

Blue's Train

What a frustrating day yesterday was. Boy, was I down. I just had no enthusiasm for life on this diet excursion. Really and truly, I was contemplating giving up all together. I just kept thinking the body doesn't want to be thinner. It just wants to stay here. It just wants me to put anything and everything in it that is bad. It is foiling me at every turn right now. I've eaten so much chicken that I think I'm starting to turn in to one. What are those little things that hang down under their beaks? Oh, yea, a wattle. I have one of those so maybe I am. So I deviated from my usual plan and thought what the heck, who cares. I had french bread pizza for breakfast, Chex mix for lunch and a burger pattie with 5 ears of corn for supper (yea, with lots of light butter) then my pumpkin custard for dessert. I was really disgusted with me and life in general.

I'd been waiting for a package to arrive from Wal-Mart.com and it didn't arrive until late in the evening. (Brought up by a neighbor, the UPS driver didn't want to come up on the mountain.) In it was a pair of size 14 jeans. They FIT!! Now that was the pick-me-up that I needed yesterday. So my head's back on straight today, so far. Think I was on the blues train with Cammy but I didn't see her, she must have been in a different car.

I've got a big problem with the cabin. I started noticing saw dust on my carpet and furniture right down the middle of my living room. Me thinks there must be carpenter ants eating away at the main support beam of my roof. I think they are carpenter ants because as I was lying in bed reading night before last something crawled on my arm. I swatted it away but evidently not far enough because all of a sudden I got bit on my side. I jumped up and saw a HUGE black ant in the bed with me. We battled for a while but I got the little bugger. He's just squished up guts now. So, I'm calling an exterminator this morning. When we built the cabin we sprayed the outside of the logs with a penetrating insecticide that said would last for many, many years. But couldn't spray anything on the inside. Just not safe for people or pets to live in a closed up environment with those chemicals. Guess they got in through the roof vents and found fresh wood to enjoy. Bet that's going to cost an arm and a leg, but it's better than having to replace that beam.

Have a great day!

PS: Cara suggested I put a photo of the Hillsboro fog and one without so I just downloaded them into my photo gallery. You can see them there along with the newest member of my family. Just click on the cabin at the right of the page and down a little.

Foggy morning in the valley...

Boy am I ever off schedule. For some reason last night I was really sleepy around 10:00 and decided to give in to it. So I went to bed at 10:30, read for about a half hour and was out like a light when I put the book down. What is that? Oh, well, guess my body needed it. Course that means I'm up early and have a longer day today but what the heck. When I got up and looked out the kitchen window while running water for my coffee I saw this sight. I just love looking at the valley covered in fog. Don't know if you can really tell it by this photo but usually the fog is flat and really looks like a frozen lake but this morning there are bumps on top of the fog. Just like clouds, duh, that's what it is really, clouds just low ones. Not to self, reset the date and time on the camera. The photo says it was take in May and I just took it this morning.

Checked the scales this morning since it's my official day and there was no movement on them. As I always say better no movement than movement in the wrong direction. Sure wish I could get out of the 190's though. Seems like it's been forever since I've been in this 10 pound range. I've been keeping my calorie average around 1350 so maybe I should try to get it down to 1200. Don't know if I can do that or not but will try.

Was hoping first born would come visit this weekend but doesn't look like it. Gotta find out for sure before hitting the grocery store tomorrow.

Happy hump day!

Stubbornness...

One of my friends is off on Mondays and she called yesterday morning wanting to borrow something. I suggested that I drive down to her house to bring her the borrowed item and we head over to Cranberry and get a good walk in. She started moaning about how hot is was and how about waiting until the evening when it cooled off some. Well it wasn't really that hot by then, only in the high 70's but I said alright and she came on up. We had a nice little chat on the front porch watching her dogs and my dogs play. Then the day continued...

I was going to make one of my favorite meals but didn't. I like to brown lean ground beef patties and pour a can of mushroom soup over them and let them simmer a while. I've had this many times through this weight loss and was looking forward to it. When using WW points system it wasn't that many points, maybe 7 total with the veggies I like with them. I went online and started checking the calories. EEEEEEEKKKKKK!!! That would have been almost 600 calories. I even had the patties thawed out already. Now I know why my weight loss has been slow to non existent on WW point system lately. I am not using that system any more. That just clinched it for me. I think it was a really good way to start this mission because I could eat the things I like and still lose weight in the beginning but in the long run it just isn't a healthy way to eat.

Now let me ask you a question. But first let me explain. My friend was really complimentary about my weight loss. I had tried to get her to go on the diet with me and she said that she would just use her doctor's diet instead. (she's overweight too) Well since we started I've lost 57 pounds and she's lost 12 and that has been up and down. She was bragging that she was really watching her salt and that was the way to go and couldn't understand why she had only lost 12 and me 57. Lack of salt makes you lose weight? Does it? I know salt makes us retain water and that is really one of my downfalls. I love salt. But I've switched over to sea salt because it is saltier and I don't need quite so much to be satisfied. I know her real problem. It's the sweet tea she drinks all the time and the inch of fat she cooks in. I've tried to get her to buy a can of Pam and finally did talk her into getting olive oil instead of using crisco but she uses a cup or so of olive oil instead of a tablespoon that will work just as well. Some people are just too hard headed to any suggestions. And for some reason this person will listen to any one except me when it comes to advice. Looks like she could just look at me and see that I know what I'm talking about.

We didn't go on our walk. It was a sweltering 90 degrees at 7:00 and I didn't even call her to remind her. I just wasn't walking in that heat.

Have a great day :o)