SPRING? NO FOOLIN'

They said it was going to be an early spring.  The farmer's almanac, the groundhog, the woolly worm.. all wrong!!  We had 70 degrees and the birds and critters were happy and then.. it got rainy and then COLD.. really cold. We woke up to 29 degrees after a low of 17 and snow covering everything that had been bursting forth with buds and flowers. Nice for people with allergies, non existent right now. If we have a long hot summer then I am just fine with a colder spring. Bring it on..just not the snow. By the end of our week it will be back off the roller coaster and into warmer weather. Maybe this is the last blast.. (yeah I said that the last time.) It's weather in Michigan and it sure can change in a hurry. We have to deal with it. Next week they test the tornado sirens. Weird indeed..

At least 3 inches here overnight.

Yes, they put out the lawn chairs...

 

YES it  sure looks beautiful..

Yes they put out the hoses already and some planted flowers. 

 

 

 

~~~MERRY CHRISTMAS~~

It's coming soon. SOON.. Hope you all have your plans set and shopping done. I have been baking with my 4 year old "helper". He had a really fun time and yes the more icing the better. He was really good about NOT eating the cookies after he iced them. I told him that the ELF on the shelf would report back to Santa that he was doing a great job. This is his first Christmas with the ELF and it seems he likes looking for him and being GOOD. Bless the person who thought this idea up it really helps. I had to reflect back when his mother was his age and decorated cookies at this same table. It was a tradition to visit Grandma's house and decorate cookies with her cousin every Christmas.       

Seeing a third generation following along made my heart happy. I know his Grandma in heaven was watching and smiling. In the years to come he will find that making them and giving them away will bring him a great feeling of joy. 

I hope this Christmas, that whatever gives you the greatest JOY and blessings find you and your family. 

 

 

GRATEFUL THANKSGIVING

SITTING in my nice apartment I am so grateful this year that the ground is green and we have no ice or snow to deal with. We had 9 inches earlier in the week and it was 14 degrees one morning. This morning it is 55 and it is all melted. We had our preview of winter. I decided to put up my tree this week and enjoy looking at it. Gets me in the holiday spirit.                                        

Yesterday I prepared several dishes to carry to my Niece's home for dinner today. I am so grateful they moved to my town and we can visit and see each other more. I am so used to preparing dishes to pass for so many years that THIS year I can actually share them instead of eating them alone. She has a 4 year old and that is always fun being around kids for the holidays. Traditions come and go and since Mom passed in 2011 life has been all over the place for me. I am grateful this year we are all together and celebrating the holidays together again. I hope whatever you do and wherever you are this holiday you stay safe and enjoy the blessings of the holiday with family and friends. 

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN..

Boy am I behind... time was long ago I would make many blog entries every week. Now I make one once a month. I still get out in the world but not very often. Depending on the bus now days to get me around is fine but sometimes not in the budget. I managed to get a few photos on my last trip out. The fall is slowing coming to a close here. Trees turned slow and mostly yellow. I did manage to find some color here and there though.These were taken at a local apple orchard near town. Never have I seen a person deliver gallons of cider on the back of a 4 wheeler though. This place had a whole little house where you could go and pick what apples you want. Kids love it..temperature controlled most of the time. Fresh donuts being made were mouth watering. Nothing like them in the fall. Here are some recent photos

Delivering Cider 

     

APPLE HOUSE

I ventured into our downtown and found it celebrating a scarecrow contest. I began to see a theme start. I am not sure what the one above was supposed to be.

This was the spa.

  

A nurse at the health dept.

On the bus for a country ride.

GOLD tree in the park.

                 HAPPY HALLOWEEN !

WHERE DID SUMMER GO??

Wow I have not updated here in months. I sure am slipping. Blog entry what is that?? I have to remind myself to even look at it when it used to be a daily routine. Life happens.. now I am more settled in my place and enjoying my freedom and have things to keep me busy. Things are still green pretty much here but I expect them to start turning very soon. I am keeping an eye out for the woolly worm to see what he predicts for our winter this year. Last year he was 100% correct for my area anyway.Here are some photos I have taken over the summer..odds and ends.The sky was so orange when a local fire hit. Reminded me of how bad it was in Ca. where fires were eating up so much of their land.Sure was an eerie sight. I took this at a local Walmart made entirely out of their stock. It was very creative and boy it screamed  F A L L !

Haven't been able to get around a whole lot because of the heat this summer. I wait for the cooler days. It is so much easier to breathe.

It was a summer of firsts for my niece's boy Theo.. he had his first real birthday party and his first trip to the local county fair.

Watching him grow up reminds me how short life is and we must enjoy every minute of it.

HAVE A GREAT SEPTEMBER...

THAT OLD HOUSE...

HAD to update here on the progress for our old house. MY my..seems the neighbors that lived around there were pretty sore about looking at it.

  The new owner had really let the place be trashy and unkempt and it needed help badly.They started painting it and the color was well .. not great...It proved to be a real pain to finish the job. When the spring and summer arrived things changed. They picked up the yard and removed the trash and PAINTED THE HOUSE.They hired someone to paint it.. It was a big deal because this old house NEVER had a COLOR before. It's probably 140 years old now and was ALWAYS white. Now it is fresh and clean and looks like this..

There is still plenty to finish up but this latest photo is so very nice to see. I am very happy for the old place to look good again. I love the color and it is such an improvement. AS FOR HELL HOUSE next door.. it is still standing and up for public auction and everyone is wondering if they will get any buyers for it. As a refresher.. Hell House was a home that had three or four apartments and left for the critters to inhabit. It had seen drug dealers and numerous arrests and fights and police visits in its past. The whole neighborhood would rather it be razed to the ground than bought and fixed up. It was gutted after the last tenant left the water connected in the winter and the whole place flooded and then black mold grew inside. It is nasty. Just glad our OLD HOUSE...looks good again.. Mom and Dad surely would approve!

RANTS WORKED...

Well after my last blog rant here, it seemed to have worked. I contacted the manager who contacted the window company. YES... she called and said she lit a "FIRE" under them because I had been waiting so long. {It did not help that I have been through two managers and so I think the ball got dropped and or lost regarding the window.} So Friday he came and it only took him 20 minutes TOP to replace that window. GOOD!!

While he was replacing it I scraped the old duct tape off the other window and cleaned it up. I picked up my cell and called the office about having my air conditioner put in the window ASAP because the weekend was coming up. I sure did not want to put the AC back in and make a mess of it. So the maintenance man came and WHAM in about 45 minutes...

You have no idea how happy I was to finally get it installed correctly. It had been leaking with all the rain we have been having. No more complaining. Wish I could keep it in the window all year round.. NOPE.. not even with a cover. NEW policy.. they all have to be REMOVED in the fall when the heat is turned on.They pay for heat so I am happy to oblige them. So I hope I can take it out myself..if not I will put my name on a list and hope the guy can come back and take it out.Sliding windows sure are a pain. This AC had to be silicone sealed with plexiglass, so it is not an easy removal. Ordeal over with.. FINALLY.. WHEW what a relief.

WINDOW RANT!!!!!

 ALLOW me to RANT a little....

Well here it is ..coming up JULY and nothing has been done about my window. Despite calls all the way to the district manager .... ZIP.. Almost two weeks ago she promised me that the window was already ordered and ready to install next week. Now you know why I don't believe a word they tell me. So this has been on going since MAY 4th. Meanwhile mother nature and SUMMER decided to rear it's ugly head.I placed the small room air conditioner halfway in the window any way I could and PRAYED it would not fall out. My place faces EAST and boy does it get hot so not putting the AC in was not an option. Then we got storms...one after the other. Towels to the rescue. High winds hitting the window forced me to duct tape the plexiglass down best I could.I had to use a lid from a plastic tub to reinforce it.  It's a real mess.The  heat from the sun coming in kept making the duct tape not stick. Got GORILLA tape and used it. Finally success.

I place towels around it where the rain might come in and I wait. All this for a little tiny nick in the window that "management" said it needs to be replaced. OKAY.. WHEN??? I have lived in so many different places and adapted to so many things and this is just another one I tell myself.. OH WELL... Soon I won't need the air conditioner and will take down the tape and shut the window. I am not going anywhere. I waited a long time for this place and am not going to let RAIN, or a flooded carpet make me leave it.Tomorrow is another day.. WHEW.. thanks I needed that...

AFTERMATH...

If you follow me on Facebook you might know what happened with the flooding situation. I posted some things on there and then deleted them. I was reminded by a friend of mine that it might seem I was COMPLAINING too much and should be putting that someplace else. I was shocked at the statement but then started to think what others might think also so I deleted it all. 
 

The guy carried most everything off the floor of my closet..only a small portion of the floor was wet.

YES, the owner of the apt. building did pay expenses for the 3 day clean up. It was not a clean up for certain it was a DRY OUT. The machines ran in my apt for 3 days and nights BLOWING air and sucking out the humidity. When the man came back on Monday morning I was more than ready to see him. I confronted him by telling him he LIED to me. He lied saying it would be warm in that room. It was 100 degrees for three days. There was NO staying in the bathroom or the bedroom at all! GET IN and GET OUT. The noise was like jet engines..you could not hear yourself think. Thank GOD I could close the door and block some of it out. I can only imagine what the guy upstairs thought. HEAT rises and I am sure his apt was HOT up there too. 
 

The hose drains all the moisture out so the sink was totally unusable.

 So I decided since these machines were totally doing their job I would shower in there at least once ANYWAY.. it so happened that it was over 80 in the rest of the place and humid outside. MISERABLE. My asthma went nuts. The spray they put on to kill any germs was pretty powerful because of the heat in there. Neighbors told me they would have left. I had no place to run to so I had to stay. I was very grateful the whole thing was not worse. Could have been SEWER water but it was not. Clear warm water with a little soap in it. 

NO they did not clean my carpets.. all they did was dry it out. I did vacuum in there after it was over with. That caused dust and dirt to blow up again and so allergies went crazy  and have not stopped since. Time for MEDS.. 
I highly recommend using the plastic tubs in a closet..it saved me a lot. Easy to move and free from any moisture.Now I am waiting for the electric bill for 4 large machines running for three days and nights on my bill. It did not seem like the district manager was too thrilled to pay anything on that bill. We will see when I get it. 

I did put my AC in the window MYSELF..with good ole duct tape and some prayers. It works and maybe SOMEDAY I will get a new window..it's only been six weeks so far. Maintenance man here said he would put the AC back in when they replace the window. He chuckled when he saw ALL that tape on the window. I told him I had to have some way to hold it in there. I used NO screws etc. Scary ..you might say that. GOD is good .. the weather cooled off a lot so I have not needed it lately. Isn't that the way it goes? Taking it one day at a time now..

P. S.  Got another message yesterday.. Another new manager for us here, this one has 20 years experience. I sure hope it works out. She is the 4th manager in less than a year. 

DILEMMA SOLVED...

Around our place a person comes and posts some papers on your door if they need to let you know new rules etc. Well I heard her SLAP the papers on the door so I go out and see what it is all about.

LOW AND BEHOLD.....

The new manager here made a BIG BIG mistake and so the district manager had to let us all know that WE DID NOT have to pay the money for putting in our A/C units. WOW talk about a reversal. A whole lot of tenants were thrilled at this news.Seems you only PAY for help putting it in IF you do not go and get the plexiglass to fill in the windows YOURSELF.{ OKAY, this is not interesting to others I know but it sure was a load off my mind. It's the day to day things that add up and get on your nerves sometimes. I am new to how things work here still and having to learn what goes and what doesn't. }          

I ask about decorating my patio, "Sure do whatever you want out there." Ahhhh well within reason of course. No BBQ stuff and NO umbrella stuff. Can I trust what she says to be true? Will some other person in charge change the rule.. probably. Just

the way it is around here. Some already dug up the rocks around each of their patio and planted flowers in there. That's a lot of rocks!! I dreamed I had a birdbath on my patio the other night..I guess I was dreaming of this one I had in our old yard. I took the flowers out and turned it back into a place where the birds could have some fun. I don't think this place here is a good place to have a birdbath, the hawks might use it to drink out of and capture some snacks of smaller birds...Yikes. That would be a horrible sight. So I will just make do with what I have right now and maybe add some things here and there as the summer goes by. I tried sitting out there the other day and it was SO HOT with no shade I could not stay long.

For those who read this blog and know me, you might remember HELL HOUSE. Well it still stands today abandoned but bought by our local college. Eventually it will be torn down and something will be built on that spot. I am sure the neighbors cannot wait. AS for our old home. Sad to say it looks so bad I just GASP when I saw it recently. Seems those who bought it did some improvements but the outside looks horrible. This paint was applied almost TWO YEARS ago and then just left. They never finished any of it. The porch was full of junk, furniture and the back area by the garage full of garbage and trash. No wonder the neighbors are in an uproar.

She was a grand ole place when we lived there, yes we miss the old days a whole lot when life was good.

Guess I will wrap this up as I am getting too sentimental here. 

                                    

 

 

WONDERING..

I sit here wondering what to do with a current situation I am dealing with. It's summer it seems here in my little apartment. Hot Hot..with the morning sun blazing through the large patio doors.I placed my mother's crystal angels on the door and watched the sun make dancing rainbows all over my living room wall. I love seeing it but boy is it HOT with the sun coming in. So I chose the cool and  closed the blinds and the drapes and shut out the light. Seems one of my windows in the bedroom was broken when I moved in last year and I had no idea that it had LOST the seal. It was a thermal pane window and I didn't know much about those. So this year, new manager it had to be replaced. They measured it and ordered another one but still has not been delivered. My dilemma was that window is the one and only one my air conditioner sits in. So NO air conditioning right now. I admit several times I sat the thing on the window sill let it run to try to cool off at least one room. It sort of worked. You just can't put it in and out. It is a slider window and you have to put a plexiglass panel at the top of it. THERE are RULES here now. I got notice that now the maintenance will put it in for you for $150!! Are you kidding?? That was my first thought. It takes all of 30 minutes if you KNOW what you are doing. The guy here does. So the new management says you can put it in yourself or have someone else do it, but be aware in the fall you will have to TAKE IT OUT. Well, that was like someone dropped an atomic bomb here. People have lived here 15 -20 years and NEVER took them out. So there is a major revolt here in the complex. Twenty four apartments and all the tenants are upset. Would be so much easier if the windows were not sliders. Darn!

Austrian crystal angels and one BEE!

Magic rainbows!

To find someone to put the AC unit in and out each season will take some doing. I will learn how to do it myself..I just need a few lessons I think.
When there is a problem you solve it, that is what I was taught to do. What if you are unable to do it somehow? Wondering what the consequences are if you do not remove it from your window at the end of the season? Guess we all will find out when the new "memo" comes out in the fall.  At least I am on the ground floor, that's a big relief to me, if it falls out it won't have far to go! ;-)

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!

ICY SUNRISE

THANKS to a good friend of mine I am able to take photos again. This camera takes much clearer photos than my old one did. This morning I rose to this spectacular sunrise on ICY SNOW..When you think that this exact same scenario may never happen again.. I decided to capture it. 

When the sun got higher
Daylight Savings time starts Sunday morning.
I am ready for it. Come on SPRING!!!

GOODWILL HUNTING.. REALLY I DID

I went GOODWILL hunting for new things for my apartment. Sometimes people get rid of really good items or even NEW ones. On my budget this place is a real Godsend for many things. I decided my new bathroom was WAY too small so I needed a new look that would make it look bigger. I had a lot of dark towels and such that made it small. I changed my look to more of a beach style, lighter and brighter.  The very next week look what I found.. it started the ball rolling, from there I got shells, new towels and then I found ....several beach items that really helped set the tone.  Great prices and just what I wanted.. how lucky can you get.  It's a work in progress..I keep adding things. Another trip to the GOODWILL again and I might just get it all finished.. I won't stop looking there, you NEVER know what you will find!! ONE MAN'S TRASH IS ANOTHER MAN'S TREASURE!!

                                                   

This was marked down because the back had a small hole in it. $2.99

This was $1.99

Made a nightlight out of this. $1.99

GROUNDHOG SNOW STORM 2015

HE saw his shadow.. yeah right... they already decided before he was pulled from his nice cozy bed. All the snow that is here today is it any wonder we will see another 6 weeks of winter?  The storm lasted 24 hours. Non-stop wind and heavy snow that kept accumulating  at least 18 inches in places without the drifts.  By 2 AM on Groundhog day it had finally let up and the snow plow guys came and cleared off the sidewalks. So glad I don't have to do it all. It was enough to keep up with my own patio spot. 

I recall that back in the fall I saw at least three woolly worms and they indicated that at the back end of winter we would be in for some heavy snow. They were so right! I have been really spoiled this winter so far I guess it was time to bring the cold in.

We expect some more later this week, but not as bad as this storm was. Hope where ever you are you are staying warm and safe this winter. 

SPRING IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER...

DECEMBER UPDATE

SO December rolled in and NO SNOW, we have green grass and warm temps and it seems more like November weather. I like it one way and not in another. Reminds me of my winters in California. If we had some frosty mornings there it is all we could ask for.  Will it snow by Christmas, who knows. We just wait and see. In my new apartment it is really different because it is warm inside. Luckily, heat is free here so I am enjoying a nice break this year. 
                                                                

 I went on a search in many places for a 4 foot tree with NO LIGHTS. I had no luck.
I am still looking for it. Seems all the ones they have already have lights and cost way more than I want to pay. Whatever happened to simple. Well I bought a smaller one and I guess it will do for this year. I got rid of so many of our old things that I have not much left so am starting a new collection. I can't wait until after Christmas ornament sales. Know I will get some real gems. I went on a search through so many boxes looking for the stockings that my mother knitted back in the 60's. She took to knitting really easy I was told by the neighbor lady who taught her. I sure am glad that I found them.   These two were used just as decorations. 

One was really large, I don't remember why she made it that big but it sure has held up well all these years. The lady who taught mom made all us kids our own stockings and boy did we use them too. 

Starting my baking late this year, not sure what kind of cookies I will be making but I will be making them. Hope the neighbors help me eat them.  ;-)

WELL WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING ...

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON.