Quarantine and chill and kindness chatty clubhouse: Jump in and join the conversation! All is welcome!

[flyingdumbo127]

Hooray for your grandkids having fun with Mickey dear Snowysmom. I agree with our friend dear PollyannaMom on the back up training. I am so thankful that you are able to cut back on work hours!

I am very excited and so humbly grateful to God for today. Finally, I literally get to step towards God's blessing to me of a full recovery. God willing, I will also get a positive answer to an insurance question today as well.

Have a wonderful Monday, dear Quacker family

 

[lynxstch]

Good morning. But it's a sad morning for me. One of our cats was named Half Pint, because she was so little. She was Don's lap cat. Anytime he sat down, she would jump on his lap and not move until he did. I got up this morning and went to feed the cats, and found her on the kitchen floor. She's joined my other cats on the Rainbow Bridge. If cats can die from a broken heart, I believe that's what happened to her. She's been so lost and sad since Don died, that she finally gave up.

Summer's mother is a piece of work. The guy finished all the work on her car yesterday, and she went to get a front end alignment. They told her that her 2 front tires were so bad they could burst at anytime. She can't afford new tires, so she looked on the marketplace and found a brand new listing for 4 mounted tires, in her size, for $150. She talked the guy down to $125 but didn't have the money until Thursday, but has to drive her husband back tomorrow. She texted me that her and her husband were on her way to her mothers house (2 min down the road from me) to get a washer and dryer in the shed that was being given to Lily. She asked her mother if she could borrow the money. Was rudely told, no,, that she didn't 'have it', and then turns around and shows her the brand new washer and dryer she bought just because 'she wanted them'. She didn't even let her get out that she would pay back half this week and half next week. If her name had been Luke, it would have been a different story. IHer mother lives 2 miles away from the same free ATM as I do, and has a lot more money than I do. I told Summer to stop here and she could borrow back the money she just paid me back on Thursday. She got here and was in tear at the way her mother treats her. Her husband got out of the truck and hugged me and thanked me for helping them whenever I could. My opinion of her mother is now as low as the one I have for Luke.

Summer is picking up the tires this morning and her husband will put them on. Since they're already mounted, she doesn't need to take them to a garage and the lug pattern is the same as the one on her truck. Her mother even went out and looked at her tires and saw how bad they were. Apparently she doesn't care that her daughter has to drive 9+ hours and doesn't care if her tires blow out on the way. So sad

I just cut back all the echinacea, they were past their prime and now I can see the front birdbath and fountain again. Temps today will be 78 and almost the same all week. Out of nowhere last night we had a huge storm and pouring rain for almost 2 hours. Chance tomorrow and Wed.

Have a good day

 

[Pea-n-Me]

You are a good person, Lynn. I know it can’t be easy. I’m so sorry about your cat. So hard to lose them.

 

[Snowysmom]

Lynn So sorry about your cat. They do miss their humans. She is at the Rainbow Bridge. You are so kind to help out Summer. Now they can drive safely.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We have a saying in my house: When you give, you get. And I believe it’s true.

I read this story once, I wish I saved it. It was about a pastor who had hit hard times. Church was closing, he and his wife were losing their place to live, he was out of a job, plus he had medical problems, etc. He wasn’t sure what to do, but he prayed on it. And what came to him was that they should take their last $2500 from savings and donate it. His wife thought he’d gone mad. But she trusted him and they ultimately did donate the money. Within a short time his medical issues had resolved, and he decided to write a book and wound up becoming a best selling author. Everything fell into place for them.

I often think about that when I make donations, even if things are tight. I know not everyone believes in this type of thing, and not everyone will have such dramatic results, but I do think that giving of ourselves is one of the best things we can do in this life. I know it’s not always easy. But in the long run it can benefit us as much, if not more, than those we donate to.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Oh, @lynxstch, I'm so sorry about Half Pint.

 

[lynxstch]

Oh, @lynxstch, I'm so sorry about Half Pint.

Thank you

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Just extra, love dear Lynn. I am so sorry. I do believe Half Pint has been restored to health along with Don and the two of them will always look out for you.

Today was amazing. Living the start of my miracle. I let my friend know my insurance request. I know he will do his best. I will also talk with the therapy director. I have time this time which makes a difference.

Good evening hugs to all.

 

[Judique]

Good morning. But it's a sad morning for me. One of our cats was named Half Pint, because she was so little. She was Don's lap cat. Anytime he sat down, she would jump on his lap and not move until he did. I got up this morning and went to feed the cats, and found her on the kitchen floor. She's joined my other cats on the Rainbow Bridge. If cats can die from a broken heart, I believe that's what happened to her. She's been so lost and sad since Don died, that she finally gave up.

Summer's mother is a piece of work. The guy finished all the work on her car yesterday, and she went to get a front end alignment. They told her that her 2 front tires were so bad they could burst at anytime. She can't afford new tires, so she looked on the marketplace and found a brand new listing for 4 mounted tires, in her size, for $150. She talked the guy down to $125 but didn't have the money until Thursday, but has to drive her husband back tomorrow. She texted me that her and her husband were on her way to her mothers house (2 min down the road from me) to get a washer and dryer in the shed that was being given to Lily. She asked her mother if she could borrow the money. Was rudely told, no,, that she didn't 'have it', and then turns around and shows her the brand new washer and dryer she bought just because 'she wanted them'. She didn't even let her get out that she would pay back half this week and half next week. If her name had been Luke, it would have been a different story. IHer mother lives 2 miles away from the same free ATM as I do, and has a lot more money than I do. I told Summer to stop here and she could borrow back the money she just paid me back on Thursday. She got here and was in tear at the way her mother treats her. Her husband got out of the truck and hugged me and thanked me for helping them whenever I could. My opinion of her mother is now as low as the one I have for Luke.

Summer is picking up the tires this morning and her husband will put them on. Since they're already mounted, she doesn't need to take them to a garage and the lug pattern is the same as the one on her truck. Her mother even went out and looked at her tires and saw how bad they were. Apparently she doesn't care that her daughter has to drive 9+ hours and doesn't care if her tires blow out on the way. So sad

I just cut back all the echinacea, they were past their prime and now I can see the front birdbath and fountain again. Temps today will be 78 and almost the same all week. Out of nowhere last night we had a huge storm and pouring rain for almost 2 hours. Chance tomorrow and Wed.

Have a good day

View attachment 994697

I'm sad to hear about Half Pint.

You have such a good heart and Summer knows it. At least Lily gets the used laundry pair.

Today and tomorrow are forecast for rain here with 72 as today's high temp. Maybe I'll pull out some jeans! Goes back into the low 80ties after that. Watching the hurricane and expect that it will give a bit of rain and surf.

Fell asleep too early last night and now awake early. I'll get up at 5 and get ready for my day.

My kitchen got a full clean on Saturday when I paid to have it done. Two people took almost 5 hours. It's not heavy dirt I just have a load of stuff. But, I walked in and saw my baseboards were not done. That's because I forgot to write it on my list. DD said she will do them.

Meanwhile I found mouse droppings under the stove, just a few but I know them quickly. Old house and old owner! I have sticky pads but ordered catch and release. Now I have to get DD to put them down and check them. The pest guy left the sticky ones, but I'm not dealing with that either. Everything is sealed up and spotless but fall is coming and they are looking for a warm place.

Take care, all.

 

[Snowysmom]

Judique I hope you are feeling better. Glad you got some of the work done that you needed. Mouse droppings are unmistakable. I like the catch and release. I have been spraying peppermint solution Mighty Mint in my basement and garage every 2 weeks or so for mice, ants, etc. I get it at Lowes.

Good morning. It is a cool one here with temp at 51! Temps only going to around 72 today. I have on long pants and a longer sleeved shirt that usual. I do like this kind of weather. Good walking weather and I hope to get to the lake today. I have a new chair coming today to replace the 11 year old chair I got when I had my knees replaced. I felt it was time to let it go. The furniture store will recycle the chair and I hope someone gets it who needs an electric recliner/nana launcher and gets good use out of it. I do not use any of the features any more. And I wanted a chair with a smaller footprint and something new. It is a manual recliner so I can put my feet up. That is all I need right now. My work issue was not an issue at all but just that my boss did not explain something correctly. She acknowledged that. All good. I did not hear from Jeff yesterday so I guess they were having too much fun. I did follow them on MDE to see their lightning lane rides. They were going right into the evening at Studios.

Have a nice day.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Sounds like the right chair for you @Snowysmom !

Very sad to hear about Half Pint @lynxstch.

We rode bikes in mist and wind yesterday and it looks like the same sort of ride this morning.

We are taking calls and doing home visits for SVdP this week, so it’s busy for us.

I hope you all have a good day!

 

[Judique]

Judique I hope you are feeling better. Glad you got some of the work done that you needed. Mouse droppings are unmistakable. I like the catch and release. I have been spraying peppermint solution Mighty Mint in my basement and garage every 2 weeks or so for mice, ants, etc. I get it at Lowes.

Good morning. It is a cool one here with temp at 51! Temps only going to around 72 today. I have on long pants and a longer sleeved shirt that usual. I do like this kind of weather. Good walking weather and I hope to get to the lake today. I have a new chair coming today to replace the 11 year old chair I got when I had my knees replaced. I felt it was time to let it go. The furniture store will recycle the chair and I hope someone gets it who needs an electric recliner/nana launcher and gets good use out of it. I do not use any of the features any more. And I wanted a chair with a smaller footprint and something new. It is a manual recliner so I can put my feet up. That is all I need right now. My work issue was not an issue at all but just that my boss did not explain something correctly. She acknowledged that. All good. I did not hear from Jeff yesterday so I guess they were having too much fun. I did follow them on MDE to see their lightning lane rides. They were going right into the evening at Studios.

Have a nice day.

I set the traps on my counter near the stove for the moment. Maybe I'll leave them there tonight. That's the closest I can get to what I 'think' is a point of entry. My kitchen used to be an open porch and then an enclosed porch. Under it is joining the house basement at one corner, with a cinderblock and cement wall around it's perimeter, but with a dirt base and it's raised about 6 or 7 feet off the ground. When we renovated we raised the floor, and closed the area completely but, since a mouse can get through a very tiny space it's almost impossible to exclude them unless you create an airtight environment. And I can tell you that here in Maryland with the summer heat and humidity you don't want to do that as everything wood based will eventually rot away. My basement still has the 5 older metal surround in concrete windows and they are scheduled for replacement as soon as it cools down, late October to very early November. I think a mouse can come in 'somewhere' along those windows. Then it has a quick journey upstairs and 'under' the floor using the water pipe clearances. I can't do much about that other than replace the windows. We do caulk and fill any areas that have loose cement, but sometimes you just don't see behind or up top.

Nice that someone is getting the recliner! Son and wife are getting a new sofa and chair. They've picked out what they want and are furnishing their walk out family room in the basement with new rugs, the TV, sofa and chair plus odds and ends from their previous 4 rental homes since they married in 2021. His apartment to her apartment to townhouse #1 to townhouse #2. Townhouse #1 was supposed to be pre house buying but owner decided to sell when prices jumped. She should have waited an extra year and would have scored another 100k, but no one really knew.

Oh, and the furniture store guy tipped them off to wait a couple of weeks until the Labor Day sale.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Feel better, dear Judique. May your new chair provide you with extra rest and relaxation time dear Snowysmom. Dear Bobbi, it makes me so happy to hear that you and Tom are riding bikes again. Please though be careful and stay warm!

Tuesdays are my one weekday off from therapy. I will extra do exercise on my own and get ready for tomorrow. My friend William and I will be leading a kindness craft today which will be fun. Each person can decorate a wooden shape magnet by coloring or painting it. Of course, stickers will be avaliable too. The idea is to make one for yourself and a second as a thank you to someone here for brightening your day in some way. Reminder that we each matter so much and are all connected. God has given each of us the blessing of serving Him and being able to make a kind difference as called. I will share later how it goes

Happy Tuesday to all.

 

[lynxstch]

Cooler day here also. 66 now going to a high of 72. It's gray and cloudy but they aren't predicting rain until tomorrow. I don't like having to turn a light on this early in the day.

Thank you all for your words of kindness at losing Half Pint. I don't think the other cats have even noticed that she's not around.

Summer has to drive her husband to the work pick up spot so she has a long drive up and back. She said the 'newer' tires seem to be fine. Her mother texted her last night asking if she got her tires yet? Summer texted me and said "Didn't I send her the pic this morning with the message saying you lent me the money?" I said "Yes, because you sent me a copy of it." Maybe her mother is having second thoughts now, but it's too late. I hope she regrets not helping her, but somehow I doubt it.

Going to gather trash and take it down to the street and water the flowers while I'm outside. Don't have anything else that must be done other than clean the fridge and make a grocery list.

Enjoy the cooler temps

 

[bobbiwoz]

It actually rained, not just misted, so, no bike ride today.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We have a really good mice guy that comes in. Not exactly sure what he does but whatever it is, it takes care of them for a good, long time. Thanks for the reminder it might be time to have him come in to check for activity and do whatever it is that he does to keep them out for the winter. I know he puts bait around (which is safe for the dogs as it’s in a receptacle, which they eat and then bring back to their nest). He also had an assistant come in and put steele wool in any crevices that could be entry points as they can’t chew through it. We have a crawl space and that’s where they seem to get in.

Not sure if I mentioned here we had a rat last year! Scared the dickens out of me, I actually screamed bloody murder when I saw it! And ran! Put in a STAT call to our mouse guy and he came out and looked around (no rat activity), told us what to do. DH caught it with a trap by our outdoor barrels. Turns out our neighbors down the street who have a gross yard with old cars, and goats and ducks, etc., gave them a nice place to live and reproduce, and one brave one made its way over here. We haven’t seen any more but that freaked me out. The neighbors between us have it worse. People need to clean up their crap! I did speak to someone about it and there’s not a lot they can do but I think they might’ve sent someone by there, not sure. I did spread word around that everyone needs to cover their trash cans and whatnot so as not to give them a food source. Unfortunately the barnyard animals in the neighborhood are a perfect spot for them to get food and old cars hold their nests, etc.

Rodents freak me out, unless they’re little, cute, fuzzy, and invited to live with us. (That’s a story for another day.)

I got a new reclining chair this spring too when we redid our floors. Got a new sectional, as well. I love them both. I got the chair on Overstock, believe it or not! (And the sofa at Macy’s.) Wasn’t sure how the quality would be as it was quite affordable, but we’ve been happy with it. DH and I take turns sitting in it each night. It’s nice getting new furniture once in a while. Last time for us had been at least ten years ago, probably more, and then the sectional was from a second hand store. I needed a certain size and found it there. It worked for a while but with a lot of use it got haggard looking as it was a cream colored leather. I was a little sad when the junk guy was hauling it away.

DH and I cleaned out the bathroom closet this past weekend. What a job! Took us several hours. I kept buying things as I could never find them. Well, we found all of them. Must’ve had 30 bars of soap if not more. And lots of other things. But all sorted through now and nice and spacious in there again. The one problem I’m having now is sheets. I can’t remember which sheets go to which bed, and we have various sizes of sleep surfaces throughout the house between beds and sleep sofas. I have no idea what’s what. I guess ideally I can buy some on sale or something and keep them in bags that are labeled for what they’re for. Will have to keep my eye out.

Thinking of all of you. Have a good Tuesday!

 

[flyingdumbo127]

andare the only mice I ever want to see!

 

[lynxstch]

Must’ve had 30 bars of soap if not more.

30 bars of soap? I can't remember when the last time I had one bar of soap in this house. Now if you were talking Bath and Body shower gel, I probably have 30 bottles

 

[Pea-n-Me]

30 bars of soap? I can't remember when the last time I had one bar of soap in this house. Now if you were talking Bath and Body shower gel, I probably have 30 bottles

Haha yes, I only use Dove soap on my face. And I buy soap from the UK specially for the rest of me.

DD is a big BBW person but I still like my soap.

 

[tazdev3225]

Good morning all.

@lynxstch - sorry for the loss of Half-Pint. It's never easy to lose a furbaby.

@Pea-n-Me - I can probably beat the 30 bars of soap. I cleaned out the Hall closet about 2 years ago. I think the final tally was: at least 50 bars of soap, 40 bottles of shampoo, 30 bottles of body wash, 70 razors, 40 tubes of toothpaste, at least 40-50 toothbrushes and several containers of baby powder and body lotion. I would buy when there was a sale and I had coupons so I was getting everything almost free. However the closet wasn't really organized so I just kept buying. My mom looked at me and forbid me from buying ANYTHING for at least one year and she would check up on that. The withdrawal was hard; I was a coupon addict. I got it from my dad LOL. We have slowly whittled down the stockpile and my kids come and grab some things now and then. I won a basket at a raffle last month and gave the shampoos and conditioners to my daughter and granddaughters. They were 60 oz bottles. I don't use conditioner and it might take me over a year to use one bottle of the shampoo. I have short hair, they all have very long hair and could use it.

Had a busy weekend and we took Crystal to celebrate her birthday at some convention - Oddities and Curiosities. Definitely was odd. I kept getting creeped out by the taxidermy exhibits, stuffed animals sort of freak me out and I feel like they are staring at me. Some of the other exhibits were weird: human teeth, embalmed animals, embalmed and stained fluorescent animals, etc. Crystal loved it. She was dressed in Goth and fit right in. I'm just glad she had a good time, and it was nice spending time with her and my daughter. I did get a Christmas present while there though. Kyle loves Krampus. One of the exhibits was all Krampus and they had t-shirts up to 6X which was great as Kyle takes a 3X.

The other part of the weekend that was busy is that the work on the house is finished for the moment. The storage shelves have been built in the "garage". Can't really call it that as it is now just a storage room, but I have a ton of space in there and the shelves are sturdy enough to hold my grandson's weight. The cement work will be done while I am in Disney at the end of September. My driveway is in bad shape, and I want to cement the "lawn" area. All it grows is weeds and I am done dealing with them. I'm getting a landscaper to deal with the back area as the weeds have taken over every space available which is depressing. Crystal's BFF's stepfather is a landscaper, so she is going to get his number for me.

Once I am home from Disney, we are looking at the bedrooms. I know 2 windows need replacing. My grandson is ripping down the outside walls in all the bedrooms and putting in new insulation and then drywall. New floors like we have in the rest of the house since I am done with carpeting. Carpets and cats do not mix well. Ceiling fans with lights in the spare rooms and fresh paint and we will be done!!! I feel like I bought a new house without moving. we need this work done by early summer as the friend I am travelling to Disney with wants to come and visit late June. Since she lives in Indiana she will need somewhere to sleep.

I know we did a lot of work over the last couple of years, and my neighbors have been speculating on how I could do it. I guess they never heard of saving money for what you want. It also helps that my grandson is trying to start his own business with his friends, and I am his demo house. I get the labor fairly cheap, and he uses my house for his portfolio.

Only in the 70's here today which is nice but I expect some heat before the fall sets in. Heading to the shore on Thursday and the hurricane should be offshore but in the general area. I'm hoping for some good wave pictures and maybe even some good shells on the beach. We don't do as much as that goes anymore since the kids are all older now but we do like to walk along the water's edge and I need the trip. Something about the sun, salt water and sea breeze just brings me pure calm.

Hope you all have a great day