Willy Nilly Five

A little Willy Nilly Five this morning. Or this could be titled Willy Nilly Five Grumbles!

1. I'm wondering why bloggers don't hide their blogs where they no longer post.  Unless I'm a regular visitor, I have trouble figuring out which blog is active and which has been abandoned. Something to think about.

2. I am about ready to call our cable provider and cancel service. The internet is still stuttering and my telephone service...well may as well not have it. When someone calls, I can hear them, but they can't hear me. I called earlier in the week to complain, yet again, and I was informed a tech couldn't come out until next Friday. Not this Friday, NEXT Friday. And I just saw a commercial talking about their wonderful service. I'm thinking it is false advertising. Either they have no employees or they have a whole lot of problems, like mine.

3. The maintenance man ran his lawnmower into the front corner of my car, which means I had to make a claim against my employer for damages. Never a good thing in my opinion, but it was too ugly to let go. Note the grass spewed everywhere. This has been the way of it for the past several weeks. I guess I should have complained before he got this close.

4. Winter is just around the corner. The low tonight will be in the 30s. Must bring my plants inside. And they looked so nice on the front porch all summer. Grumble, grumble, grumble!

5. Okay, so I'll end my post on an up note. Cox's Body Shop did an awesome job repairing my car. They told me when it would be ready and it actually was! Now how many times does that happen? It was also sparkly clean. Now that's great customer service. I will be recommending them any chance I get.

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Reflections and a little Willy Nilly

Summer is fading fast so thought I would try to revive it with this reflection. We were driving down an old cow-path type of road and came upon a ford. The water was pretty high but JD stopped anyway so I could get this pic.


Linking to Weekend Reflections

On to some Willy Nilly...

1. Those of you who are and have been city dwellers all your life may only think of a ford as a car, as in Ford Mustang.  But here in middle-of-nowhere, a ford is also a road that crosses a creek but has no bridge. There is usually a layer of concrete or rock which has been added so cars/trucks won't get stuck in the mud. 

dictionary.com definition of ford.

noun - a place where a river or other body of water is shallow enough to be   crossed.
verb - to cross (a river, stream, etc.) at a ford.

2. Speaking of fords made me think of another ford which wasn't far from where I grew up. When I was a freshman I accepted a "Would you sit by me at the movies?" kind of date. He was a nice guy, but not for me. So we remained friends and classmates throughout high school. A year or so after high school, he was taking a girl home from a date and went down a road with a ford. Sadly, it had been raining buckets and the water was very high and the current strong. The car was washed down the creek. They got out of the car and the guy tried to get to the shore by the shortest route, but he couldn't swim and the water was too strong for him. Had he taken the longer route to dry land, he could have waded out. If only...

3. On the up side, it is Friday and JD has the day off. I'm hoping for a Friday night date.

4. Sonny Boy and Handsome Lad are coming for a visit in early October! Yay!

5. Camera Club was Wednesday night. My pic tied for 1st place.  Here's a little reminder of my contribution for "motion". 

Linking to Nilly Friday Five

Happy Friday! 

A Squeezable Willy Nilly - Late

So, instead of spending my Saturday morning on the computer, I planned to clean out the laundry/mud room, which is a horrid mess and will only get worse with the onset of winter. Guess where I am? Yep, sitting at the computer. I missed posting for Willy Nilly yesterday, but 'they' say, "Better late than never." Right? This week we are to post 5 things we should or shouldn't squeeze. So  here are my five:

1. The first thing that comes to mind is—Zits! Ugh! Never squeeze them. Gross! I was traumatized in high school by someone, who will remain annonymous, squeezing a zit in study hall!

2. Grandkids! Love grabbing them up and squeezing them tight. Now that they are getting older, they will probably start running away when they see me coming.

3. I squeeze tomatoes and fruits to see if they are ripe enough to suit me. JD is quick to chastise. Something about bruising. Then how will I really know they are ripe?

4. There is the toothpaste tube. I squeeze it until I'm sure I've gotten every possible bit on my toothbrush. A legacy from my father who lived through the great depression and was always frugal.

5. When target shooting, one must squeeze the trigger. I'm learning to shoot JD's handgun. I'm not a big fan of guns, but after our uninvited guest a few weeks ago, I decided learning would be a good thing.

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Now may as well post a critter. Video of Fergus seeing snow for the first time.

Guess we better be prepared. The weatherman is predicting a bad winter!

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Willy Nilly Friday Five

The sunflowers next to our untility shed are blooming. I hope the goldfinches find them soon!

1. I saw a word on facebook this morning—pluviophile. Do you know what it is? Yeah, me either. Sounds like a criminal of sorts doesn't it? But after I read the definition I found I have pluviophile tendencies.

pluviophile. (n) a lover of rain; someone who finds joy and peace of mind during rainy days. 

Not stormy days, but rainy days. Rain is like snow in that I enjoy it when I can stay home and see/hear it from a comfy chair with a cup of coffee or iced tea and a good book.

2. My favorite granddaughter called me with some fabulous news. She submitted a poem for publication and has made the semi-finals. She was so excited I'm sure she was jumping up and down, as I was. I remember how exciting it was the first time I received one of those letters. Fingers crossed!

3. I have a cousin coming to visit this weekend. She lives the pacific northwest, so she doesn't come every year. Our family reunion is Sunday. It will be good to see all the family. My mom was one of 14 children with only 5 left. I fear the reunion will be no more once these are gone. The younger relatives don't seem to be as family oriented as their parents were.

4. Speaking of family reunions, I need to bring a couple of covered dishes. Any suggestions for something different? 

5. August is ending and September is beginning. I'm looking forward to a couple of fun weekends. My favorite granddaughter plays clarinet in the school band. They will be marching in a parade next weekend. Another weekend, Punky Doodle has invited me to hop in for a trip to see Sonny Boy in Tennessee. Can't wait!

Linking to Willy Nilly Friday Five

I'm still having computer issues. The new modem is supposed to arrive today. I apologize for my failure to comment, but everytime I try to go visit a blog the internet drops me! It has taken me approximately 2 hours to finish this post.

Reflection and Reflective

This is yet another shot of Bro O's pond. My go to place for reflections. On this particular evening, it was cooling down. It was a nice evening for gardening.

Linking to Weekend Reflections

1. Somewhere between 2:30 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. last Saturday morning, we had an uninvited visitor. Someone kicked in our front screen door and tried to shoulder his way inside the house. I called 9-1-1. Thankfully the police responded within 3 minutes, before he got inside. The Sheriff's Department is 1/2 mile away.  It turns out he was probably just a very drunk guy who lost his way after a party next door, but we didn't know that at the time. It was a very scary experience.

2. It's been a long week for a short one. I'm supposed to have today off, but due to too much work, will be spending the afternoon in the office. We had our 4th of July celebration last weekend. Four of my five grands came for the fireworks. Fergus was extremely happy to see them. He seems to have a special love for the littlest one. Not a good shot in the evening light with lots of movement. But it's the only one I have where you can't see his face. Can you see the love? Those two are on the move constantly when they are together.

3. Dogs and Firworks. My beloved dog, Willie, was terrified of fireworks. I couldn't have him outside, so I would give the poor boy a vet-approved tranquilizer and leave him inside the house where he vibrated in the bathtub until his food lady came to rescue him. Fergus, had a totally different reaction. I could tell he was a bit concerned as to what was going on, since he backed up against my legs and stayed there, but he watched the whole show. I'm one happy food lady. Thanks Anni for the story about your dog. I leashed Fergus, just in case.

4. I decided not to take any pictures of fireworks this year. After all, how many pictures of fireworks do you really need anyway? Usually I'm messing with the camera or cameras and only see the show through the viewfinder. This time I ooed and ahhed with everyone else. 

5. Hubs has to work this holiday weekend, so after I get back from the office, I'm going to spend time with Fergus. He has been sorely neglected this week. We will go for walks, toss his favorite ball, and throw frisbees until he hasn't any breath left, or I keel over—whichever comes first. I'm betting on the latter.

Happy 4th!

Linking to Willy Nilly Friday Five

Willy-Nilly 5

Wow! A new photo theme. This one is called Willy-Nilly Friday Five. Yay! Rules? Well the rules are— there are no rules. Well except for the directive to post 5, count them 5 random thoughts, link up, and visit some blogs. According to our head guru, Tanya,wil·ly-nil·ly is an adverb—without direction or planning; haphazardly. That's the way I live life, haphazardly. So here are my five: 

In case you haven't read my blog before, this is Fergus. He is celebrating his 1st Barkday, today, Thursday, while I write this post. He has filled the void left when Willie crossed the rainbow bridge. Willie was a much calmer sort. Fergus is a bundle of energy and keeps us old folks on the go. Not a bad thing. Fergus can destroy a dog toy in seconds, well, unless it is made by Kong. This red dumbell is made by Kong and he is obsessed with it. We gave him two more balls and a squeez toy for his birthday. He is in doggie heaven.

Fergus is also obsessed with his Pop. I will do in a pinch, but Pop is the bestest human ever. Pop was busy filling a watering can to water the window boxes. Fergus is busy watching his pop from the confines of our screened in porch. Note the tongue hanging out gathering lots of slimey saliva to smear on his red dumbell before begging you to throw it. And if you don't readily accept it, he keeps nudging you with it, thus wiping all the slime on his humans.

As I posted earlier in the week, I went to granddaughter's dance recital last Saturday. I did find one other picture I can post without showing her face and this is it. It's the final pose of her hip hop dance. Did I mention she was a wonderful dancer? Oh, and I'm not biased at all.

One of my favorite things to do is look for deer while out driving on the country roads. We often see them when coming home in the evening from our garden on Bro O's farm. This is one we saw a couple of nights ago. She was all alone eating some of Mr. Farmer's new soybeans. Mr. Farmer won't be happy, but I enjoyed seeing this doe.

Small towns really don't provide much entertainment for the kids, so I was happy to see what was advertised as 'Family Day'. I drove by in the early afternoon and it looked like everyone was having a good time. I hope it becomes an annual event. We need more fun for the kids.


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