Monday, April 20, 2015

Fairy Lights


I bought 2 packs of them  ....................for the garden


But the copper wire is so thin that I'm afraid the Squirrels will use it as floss
( they've eaten through most of my regular wire Christmas lights out there )

And so they ended up in a beverage dispenser that sits on the kitchen counter - creating the prettiest
accent lighting :)
They may end up outside after all - in a glass container - I'll beat those squirrels at their game if it's the last thing I do lol

Meanwhile I've been painting ( white washing ) the fence planks inside the outdoor " dining " area

This is how it looked


Though it doesn't show so much in the photos - the wood was a really ugly orange color for some reason
All the other planks surrounding the yard have aged beautifully..................

This is where I'm going with it


I hope it lasts because like Tom Sawyer I'm never doing it again

I'm trying to talk John into making me a faux fireplace to put against that " wall "

There's conversations I CANNOT repeat over that - but I think he may do it :)


You know a place to keep a beverage bottle filled with fairy lights lol



( DIY Fireplace post HERE )

Hope you have a wonderful day -
They're calling for rain for most of this week - blah - just when we were really getting started outside.

Big hugs,
Me


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Friday, April 17, 2015

A Friday Chat ( about this & that )

Our mail man is a French Canadian - he uses a Canada Post truck ( I've never seen him walk except from the truck to my house actually )
He parks outside after he delivers our mail ( around noon ) and has his lunch almost every day.

On Monday he pulled up with music blasting - BLASTING - ( I would guess he's in his early 60's )
So what was he listening too?
A French ballad perhaps?
Nope !
Good mornin' America - how are ya?
Don't you know me I'm your native son 
With a perfect French Canadian accent - it was priceless lol - and I've been singing it all week.
Without the accent.
Now you can too.
You're welcome.
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Has anyone else noticed how many exclamation points are used in Bloglandia ?
I'm over the top with them - sometimes using them in almost every sentence !
What is it with that ?
If we added them all up they'd surpass the population of the planet !
Just food for thought !

Someone should do a survey on it - bet we use them more than anyone else !!!!!!!
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Spring clean up has officially begun in the backyard
Our little dining section had John's summer tires stored in there - covered in plastic bags and the remnants of Fall leaves.
I decided to drag all the tires out to the edge of the pool.............partly as a barrier for Soda - and because I wanted to get in there and clean.
Upon depositing the 3rd tire I noticed movement on the top step of the pool.
( I am so mad at myself for not taking a picture - the camera was outside with me )

Now normally I would go BAT $HIT crazy - really I'D go into a state of frenzy over this..................
This time I just did a quick shuffle - soft shoe - side kick - picture Ginger Rogers a little frightened - and called out to John,

Suzan says - JOHN !!!  COME QUICK !  BRING THE POOL NET !
John says - I'm not ready to work on the pool - I've got things to do out here first
Suzan says - GRAB THE NET AND GET OVER HERE !  PLEASE.!

John comes over with the net
Suzan says - Get HER !!!
John says - What ?  Bash her on the head?
Suzan says - OMG - YOU MONSTER - CAN'T YOU SEE SHE'S PREGNANT?  She's ready to pop !
John says - What do you want me to do ?  Assist in her delivery ?

She was nervous, I could tell and I was terrified that she'd end up in the pool and drown.

Suzan says - Lift her out with the net !
John says - And than what?
Suzan says - Run down the street and deposit her somewhere safe.

And that's how Mrs. Mouse made it to a safe haven.

So if any of my neighbors read this blog - and thought John was losing his mind - running down the street with a pool net and me jumping up and down screaming Go GO GO !!! ( like a cheerleader ) well now you know.
If she ends up in your yard please be kind.

And what happened then?
Well in Valois they say
That the Grouch's small heart
Grew 3 sizes that day !!!

We watched as she scurried along a path and disappeared.

And I planted a big fat kiss on the grouch's cheek.

I can tell you that's the first time I've ever been moved by a mouse.  ( or directed a move of a mouse )
I have a phobia about them - but I'm obviously bigger than my phobia - I am woman - I am strong - I am invincible................

Somehow the true meaning of Spring cleaning came through
And I ?
Well I found the strength of 10 Suzan's.......................plus two.

But I still have a trap in the kitchen - I mean if they're going to have the audacity to actually come in my house - well that's a whole different story.

Still I've come a long way - P.E.T.A. - if you're looking for a model please contact my agent.

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The Grackles are back...................I've said all I'm ever going to say about them HERE
Miserable things.

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I don't know why - but I left my white net curtains hanging outside all winter.................pretty stupid and I can't think of any reason other than I was simply too lazy to take them down.

John says - Why did you cut the curtains like that?
Suzan says - I didn't cut the curtains !!!
John says -  Well I didn't - and there's no way they cut themselves.
John says - You probably cut them off for a project and can't remember
Suzan says - I DID NOT CUT THE CURTAINS !!!!!!!!!!!
Suzan says - The squirrels must have done it running across them all winter
John says - C'mon - you think I came over on a banana boat? ( see previous Friday chat for that quote )
Suzan says - Do you seriously think I came out with a pair of scissors and cut half the curtains?
John says - I don't think you did it - I KNOW you did it


My Son had come over to do some work in the den and joined us outside for a minute.

Gordie says - Wow - looks like the squirrels attacked your curtains Mom.............................
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GOOD NEWS STORY OF THE WEEK - what an amazing young man !

HUFFINGTON POST

CEO SLASHES PAY

Three weeks ago, Dan Price took a $930,000 pay cut.
Growing income inequality had been on his mind for months. But as he went for a hike with a friend one afternoon and listened to her describe her struggle with rising rent prices, he realized he had to do something for his own employees.
So Price, the founder and CEO of Gravity Payments in Seattle, decided to raise the minimum salary at his 120-person payment processing company to $70,000. At a company where the average pay was $48,000 per year, the move -- which was first reported by The New York Times on Monday -- affected 70 workers, 30 of whom saw their salaries double.
Most of the money for these raises will come from cutting Price's salary -- which is now $70,000 per year rather $1 million. The rest will come out of the $2.2 million the company expects to earn in profit this year.
“There’s greater inequality today than there’s been since the Great Recession,” Price told The Huffington Post on Tuesday. “I’d been thinking about this stuff and just thought, ‘It’s time. I can’t go another day without doing something about this.’”
The $70,000 figure is just below the $75,000 salary pegged in a 2010 Princeton University study as an ideal benchmark for achieving happiness. About 28 percent of Americans said they would feel successful earning at most $70,000 per year, according to a 2012 survey from the jobs site CareerBuilder.

That's from a salary of 1 million dollars -

Wouldn't it be something if all CEO's of major companies followed suit?

The Walmarts - Banks etc......................who are making a lot more than this young man - followed suit?

A lot of those companies CEO's are making 350 times what the workers are paid............the highest disparity in history.
Something's wrong..................something's terribly wrong with the " system ".
The greed is staggeringly shocking and I think they could learn a thing or two from this young man.
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Let's see, we've covered the Squirrels -
The Grackles
The Mice
All that's left to make an appearance are the Ducks ( last year's run in HERE ) Mr. Ground dog - and the 2 skunks.....................

Ok - I've got to take down those curtains - the squirrels obviously aren't going to finish the job !

Have a wonderful weekend everyone -
Hope the sun shines for most of it!
Much love,
Me