Back to normal, I think

I was just reading a blog from one of the nice ladies at Digital Scrapbooking that she continued over on her blog. What a really neat story and such a sweet little man who loves his "pretty mommy". I've decided to post the one I have of myself which was taken in 1962 along with one in my uniform in 1962.

Naval Station Long Beach, Calif. Aug.16.1962

I believe the only one can still wear that dress is my 11 yr old Great Grand daughter, Olivia but if she goes the way of the rest of the females in our family the Top isn't going to fit. lol

A couple of weeks before the wedding and I was really glad to get out of that barracks.

Am not feeling so good right now so am going to lay down. Have a nice day and Hugs from Grandma Sarge

Beautiful day to be outside

I spent a little time outside with my camera today.  And before I list the pictures, let me explain, the people who own this great house, are outdoorsy folks. Big Motor home, kayaks, off road vehicle, smaller size ATVs, a boat, and a couple of cars, plus a flatbed trailer to move things around when they go hunting or camping. A lot of the "toys' were in the back yard so there are some bare spots and not a lot of grass but a lot of weeds. I'm working on the weeds but I think I'm going to let 'Round-up' take over that job.   Now for the pictures:

This is the terraced section that I fell and hit my head on those fancy stone slabs. Big 'Owie'. I'm see the doctor on Tuesday so she'll probably order an x-ray or two.  The wire cage is two tomato plants that were given to us as a house warming. I was trying to get to the upper level with some cut up potatoes to plant them there when I fell forward and hit my forhead and hurt the shoulder.

These are a couple of Rhubarb plants that grew up from previous years. But I like Rhubarb-strawberry pie so it's all good.

This is a patch of 'Wild Mountain Strawberries' which I don't think are going to very big and if Olivia even allows them to grow up at all. She's a fruit addict.

The strange contraption in the back is a vertical garden made of 'pallets' that you can usually get for free from some stores or even a pittance if they're stingy. There's some chocolate mint in the bottom and I'm not sure what's in the other levels.

The landlord left us the compost bin and I sent Grand daughter Bridgit to the store after some fat red worms to put in there. That was a terrific sight watching her hold the bag with 2 fingers and dropping it on my desk. There is a third vertical garden on the other side of the fence but I don't think it has anything growing in it. We shall see.

Landlord said they were 'horse radishes' I don't like them so I'm going to let someone else have them when they are ready. As you can see Mrs Beasley likes wandering around through the front to back or in this case back to front yards. If I leave the gate open.

I'm not well versed in these plants but they had some pretty blooms.

and there are 2 of these red pots with something in them, that the landlord didn't want to move so he left them behind.

There's 3 or 4 of those long gray planters and they all had green onions in them when we moved in but they got sent to the dump where they can propagate to their hearts content.

There are some pretty pinkish Iris's and the barrel is really full. I can imagine since it wasn't thinned out they aren't going to bloom.

I can't tell if the bus covering the iron arbor is hydrangea or azalea

Then there is the corner garden with it's rock cover but 2 lilac bushes and a couple of others. Maybe I'll make some closeups of these plants and then Kyra can tell me what they are.

Bridgit and Jess planted all sorts of flowers in those orange planters hanging on the fence. And in a couple of the gray planters also. Don't know what they planted but we'll know when they bloom. They are doing great. Getting watered by the sprinkling system 2 times a day helps a lot.

If you look close you can see where 'Serenity' is making us a golf course in the back yard. She comes in the house through her doggie door in the laundry room several times a day soaking wet and muddy. I think she rolls in it. I know Mrs Beasley does, it shows really good on her shiney black and white coat.

This one is Dark Green Basil.

This one is a candy cane rose bush that Jess got for Bridgit.

The two hanging plants are known as Party Palms. One of those pots actually has 2 so I should be separating them again. Then there are 'Holly hocks or something like that in the 2 pots at the base of the porch supports. This is where we had the big house warming party. There's a gas BBQ in the corner and a Fire pit so entertaining out side is going to be fun.

I did take a bunch of pics today so if you have any idea what I've got growing let me know. I can't pick them out unless they come with a little stick with a name on them.

Have a nice week friends. Got to go to bed now!

In the new house!

Moving day was quite exciting. We had a crew of at least 25 friends who came over and made the walk down one driveway and up the other to the new house. Not a very far move but it's like moving from the projects into Buckingham Palace.  I just finished my bedroom today and the only thing left to put in there is the Foux Fireplace to go with the new electric logs I bought a month ago in anticipation.

The finished bedroom:

Got the quilt on the wall (present from Dani a few years back) that I just love, cat play station which she ignores, and the recliner that I sleep in every night to I'm at enough of an angle for my breathing.

An old seascape from years ago but still in great shape and I like the picture.  The Lighthouse picture was a gift from a friend and it goes well with the seascape.

Last year for Christmas I got Mrs. Beasley the window perch so she could lay in the sun which comes streaming in there in the afternoon.

Looking down the hall way from my room . Olivia's room on the right and Bridgit's room at the end of the hall.

This alcove was done by the landlord to accommodate his son's guinea pig but now it's my work space and it's just right. 

Mrs. Beasley is enjoying the afternoon sun while it's still not such a burning sun. Later on this summer, it'll be too hot and I'll have the sun block shades up there. But it's comfy so she might like it anyway.

The hall way behind my head is where Bridgit has put all the pictures of herself and her daughter along with her siblings. 

Bridgit is hosting a House warming and a Thank you party for all the people who came and helped us move. It's getting a bit loud around here so I'm not going to try any more thinking. I may post some more after everyone leaves after the time around the fire pit that the new landlord gave to us. I guess he got a new one for his new house.

Talk to you later.

Moving Day

Tomorrow is moving day. We're moving into a house with all the amenities (wash+dryer), dishwasher, A/C that works, Stove that works in both top and oven, Heat in all the bedrooms, finished floors (not contaminated with excrement) and a fenced in yard with a doggie door for the puppy who isn't a puppy any more but still real small dog. We had to purchase our refrigerator when we moved in here, since the one that was here was contaminated with black mold so our frig will sit in the laundry room by the hot water tank. It's going to be great. And I'm starting seeds for my garden. It isn't going to be real big but at least I'll have one this year. And the strawberries are already green but no berries yet. There are several plants along the back fence and I might put a couple more in to fill it in. I understand I'll also have some pumpkins that her son planted and they will probably come back. There are containers of onions already to picked in the front yard but no one in our house likes onions. Guess I'll pull them and give them to daughter's boyfriend to see what he can do with them.

I can hardly believe our good fortune. And the best thing is we only have to move from one driveway to the next driveway with our dollies and a good crew to do the work. Their plan is to put the kitchen stuff over there first and me to put it away. With my lungs and bad hip, I wouldn't be much help any way and that way I'm out of every ones way. I'll put the dishes away and arrange the food in the new pantry, at least the food that doesn't fit  in the kitchen. I'm also going to make pizzas with the emphasis on the plural. It'll be the first time in 8 months we've baked. We do have a small portable "toaster oven" and a toaster too but couldn't do pizza or casseroles or cakes. Pans don't fit. Now we have a regulation sized oven so we can bake to our little hearts content, cakes, cookies, main dishes, fries in the oven and whatever else.

I think it's a crew of about 6 grown men and same amount of women along with some teenagers and our 'tween' who will be 12 in Dec.  And we will probably have to run down to Lil Caesars for their $5.00 ones if I run out of the homemade fixin's.

My TV will be back in business on Monday the 28th but the internet & phone won't be done until Tuesday the 29th in the afternoon. I will have an office nook in the hallway and out of the living room. Looks to be just big enough for my desk and one book case to put the printer on top of. Today my computer for some reason won't acknowledge the printer so I'm going to have to reinstall it after we get to the new house. Luckily I still have the disk that came with it, in one of the boxes that I've packed.

Anyway, this is going to be it until next week sometime when everything comes together at the new house. I'll have pictures to share of old and new.

Have a great weekend and God Bless everyone.

Our little 'Tween' who had a marvelous time at a RADCON convention. She helped with the Security team, running errands and such. They all adored her. The gentleman with her is the designer of some of the Star Wars costumes. 

Bridgit as R2D2 and the 'Tween' as Dead Pool. Haven't got a clue who that is. Haven't seen a Star Wars movie since the first one. And I can't remember whose quick page I used for this one but when I find out I'll fix the Post.

February is half gone and I've not been out here in the big world. And now it's March.

This has been a difficult year so far. The Slumlord we rent from doesn't want to invest anything in his property. He thinks because he's renting to us at a pretty reduced cost that we should fix all the things wrong. Why didn't we finish the bathroom walls and re-floor the bathroom? Bridgit told him it's his house and he's supposed to be doing that. Keep reading, it get's better!

Here's a little background: I'm a 76 year old Veteran, living with COPD and some other Nasty stuff, all of which are centered in my lungs. My Grand daughter worked her self into the ground getting this house ready for us. She worked the whole month of July, mostly by herself, painting, ripping out carpet, staining  the hardwood floors and sanitizing the floor in my bedroom where she ripped out the carpet. I have a Therapy cat' so the landlord (lives in Seattle a good 6 hr drive) said we needed to finish the floor in tiles because of the cat. Mrs Beasley has been spayed and de-clawed for 13 years now.

At this stage in her life, I think she's getting "Kitty Menapause". She is grouchy and very needy.  Grand daughter got rid of the urine that went thru the carpet with a spray of Hydrogen Peroxide and a little water. Boy did that fizzle all over the room. Had to do the floor about 3 times before she laid down the tiles. Human Urine fizzes more than animal urine although they do fizz also.
I picked out the tiles that looked like wood so my room actually looks like it's a wood floor. Quite pretty! Then I hung some pretty Sage colored sheers with a long scarf thingy and they match the sea foam green walls nicely. I don't sleep in there very much since it has a hospital bed with some some pretty saggy springs so it's very uncomfortable. But it looks nice. And Mrs Beasley likes the bed for her many naps.I have returned the hospital bed to the organization I got on loan from. The Knights of Columbus are a great organization. They sort of favor Veterans but I'm sure they loan things to other people too. And they accept donations of sick room equipment from anyone. I've told my family to give them my wheel chair, walker and whatever else isn't of use to them. Like maybe the chair in the tub so I can sit down to shower.

When the weather started to get colder in October and November last year Grand daughter sent the land lord an email telling him the 'Baseboard' heaters in the master bedroom and the small bedroom next to it didn't work. And the baseboard in the bathroom doesn't work either. She went back and forth with him about not having heat and winter setting in. He suggested heaters but that has sent the electric bill through the roof. He sent an electrician (certified electrician) and he crawled around under the house and found out that none of the thermostats are connected to the heaters in those rooms but the kitchen, the living room and my bedroom are working fine. When we got an electric bill over $500. bucks and the the rent is only a little bit more than that, we had trouble meeting both. So we paid the electric and part of the rent with me catching most of it. Then all of a sudden he said he was evicting us. At that point I started to pack my things. And he thinks the electrician is ripping him off saying it'll be $4,000. to bring the wiring up to code. The wires fall apart if you touch them.

He came down for the weekend at the end of last month to see how much "damage" we had done to his house. I don't know why he thought one old lady and one child with a mom was going to tear his house apart. After he inspected the house he could only say how nice the floors looked and the walls also. So he decided he wasn't going to evict us. We don't have a signed contract. We gave the only copy he signed to the electric company to change it over from his name to ours. He said he was working on some revisions so we weren't supposed to sign anything. Hence no mutual contract. He did give us the first and last months rent for Grand daughter's labor and my expenses in buying everything to do this fixer upper.

We had to buy a refrigerator because we found 'black mold' in the freezer of the one that was in here.
We told him the oven didn't work. His electrician that came out said he'd get the part to fix the oven and when it came in he'd be back to install it. It didn't get here until after the landlords visit so he said he'd fix it himself. He has a PHD in Micro Biology and he thinks women don't know much. Not what you should be saying to my Grand daughter. Well he pushed the stove out from the wall and started tinkering around. All of sudden we heard pop and smelled burning. The kids asked what was burning...his reply "Oh don't worry, that was just me" .  Four days later the electrician came by with the new part and said it wasn't going to be any good any way. After he looked in the back, he found out the landlord had 'fried' the computer piece  so the new part wasn't going to work but since he'd ordered it and paid for it, he put it in. Just can't use the oven until he buys a new circuit board for it which he isn't going to do. I have since discovered that after two days of his tinkering around here and there, that all he actually accomplished was to replace the light switch in my bedroom and sodered the little knob on one side of the the TP holder so it wouldn't fall onto the floor. I mean he should probably stick to his books on micro biology and leave the house fixing to someone else!

The A/C doesn't work either and last August we had some days where it was 104 degrees and me and my lungs had to go stay with friends or end up in the ER! In all of his tinkering, he cut the big 220 cord off the window A/C and covered it with plastic which he taped up with painters tape. Coming loose already. So there's no A/C for the up coming summer either.

I'm going to post this blog today and I'm just going to save it for when he tries to take us to court. With the electrical wiring in this house being at least 30+ years old and probably more, I'm arranging myself so that if a fire starts in this house, all I have to do is grab my cat and my Gr Grand Daughter and get out of the house with Bridgit. You see, I'm on Oxygen therapy and I have 4 large bottles of O2 and 12 small bottles of O2 which if engulfed in flames will more than likely become missiles going right through the roof and coming down who knows where. There's a sign on my front door...No Smoking, Oxygen in Use..

I should have the house condemned after I move out because we found out he had it listed for $133K when he rented it us. Maybe he thought we were going to do all sorts of  repair stuff and then he just sell it out from under neath us. He never told us it was listed for sale. He was expecting a lot from 3 females. We're tough and we won't back down from a fight but none of us know about electrical wiring or pluming for that matter.  He'll have to sell just the land because no one will pay for all the wiring and plumbing that needs to be done. And the Electrician who was going to do all the rewiring was under the house and in the attic and says there isn't any insulation worth mentioning left anywhere.

Luckily our neighbor on the right is moving to a new place that's 2 acres large so his son can have space to play or do whatever. He's agreed to rent us the house next door on McClellan. It's going to be a about $200 higher than we pay now but is't well insulated and the wiring in that house is newer since the owner is an electrician and has done all the work himself.  We'll make up the difference in lower utility bills. A $375 Electric bill on top of the rent was just way too much.  So we're moving right next door in 4 weeks and I'm going to get this house condemned so he can't rent it again until he actually fixes everything. I have a list of the things not working so I'll be happy to pass it along to whom ever comes by to look at it.

On a lighter note, here's a couple of scrapbook pages I've made since the first of the year.

Daughter Charlie at a New Year's Party.

My sister-in-law Joanne with her dog Bing Crosby.

She's such a lovely lady, I just love making scrapbook pages of her.

This is my very dear friend Moe who was an Airline Hostess back in the day and she shared this picture so I put it together with her newest one. 

This is little Serenity at 1 yr old she did enjoy having Christmas. She is still trying to chew up the Santa and the Snowman I put in her stocking. Neither one came with any stuffing so all she can do is chew off his face. Poor Santa.

Now I'm going to make some more scrapbook pages and in my next post, I'll tell you about my newest hobby and I'll have a couple of pictures to go with it.

Hugs to all from Grandma Sarge

Happy New Year (a little late)

Wow, it's been awhile since I've posted anything. Shame on me. The month of December was pretty full. Full of Doctor appointments, shopping, and just getting ready for Christmas.

As you can see, it's a pretty white tree with Red & Gold decorations. The Santa's on the book case are a very small selection of my collection (27+) but this house didn't have enough room.

My Christmas Choo Choo had to stay in the house because this house doesn't have any out side electrical outlets. "Stockings were hung on the bookcases with care" and when they got filled they all fell down.

Little Serenity behaved herself the whole time. Didn't go after the ornaments or the decorations on the floor. Pretty proud of her. She didn't like the Christmas sweater but she tolerates us.

These are some of my Snow People. Not all of them fit either.

I have been to the doctors and had more tests done. Besides a couple spots of Asbestos in the lungs, the dysfunction in the heart has progressed a little so I had to give up skiing (just kidding, I don't ski).

But we had a great time getting ready for the holidays and eating lots of great food. Got lots of neat presents, including a toaster oven which I'm absolutely thrilled with since the oven in this house doesn't work at all. 

Thank goodness it's only a rented house. We're making plans to relocate early this year.  I usually don't like moving in the winter but this one is actually necessary. Wall plugs that don't work, circuits blowing if you have 2 items on them and really the house hasn't been electrically refitted for more than 20 plus years so it's really due.Baseboard heaters don't work in 2 of the bedrooms so it's time for the Corbin girls to move on.

Here's the Christmas and New Years pages that I've gotten done. Don't ask what occupies my time 'cause I don't know how the days get gone on me and I haven't accomplished very much (as an English major in school, I didn't pay much attention I guess).

Darling Amyah in a page done with 'Merry Christmas' by Miriam's Scraps

Ashley with Olivia and again with Valerie. Page Christmas with the Countess by Kyra at Russian Dutch Heart designs.

Bridgit with her nieces Kaddie & again with Valerie. Page done with 'Home for the Holidays' by Baby Bear designs.

Daughter Charlie holding the New Years Eve sign which I corrected a little. Page done with 'funny New Year' by Butterfly Designs

My niece Consuelo and her grown up son Jonathan. Page done with 'White Christmas' by Miriam Zimmerman.

Sister in-law Joanne and their dog "Bing".  Page done with "Christmas with the Countess' by Kyra @ Russian Dutch Heart designs.

Joanne looking lovely in another page done with 'White Christmas' by Miriam Zimmermin.

I guess I got hung up on that White Christmas by Miriam Z'. This is Olivia at her 11th Birthday party in December so I already the Christmas kit and I used it.

My 3 girls hamming it up, Ashley, Olivia, & Bridgit. Page is "Cup of Cheer' by Raspberry Road designs.

I think I've been showing off for long enough. I'm going to do another one of my college classes. This one is  An introduction to C.S. Lewis: writings and significance. I can highly recommend the online courses from Hillsdale College in MI. If you just want to expand your mind (I'm warding off Dementia by keeping the mind active), I can recommend the Free courses on the Constitution, and a whole lot more. Just go to their web site and sign up, It's free: http://online.hillsdale.edu/dashboard/courses .

Hugs from Sarge!

December is here so our house is looking Christmasy!

Naturally the computer didn't like that word at the end of the title. But what does a computer know anyway..LOL.

I don't really have a lot to say except that we got 2 inches of snow one morning and something melted it all by the next morning. I'm really bummed by this but then I guess if I want snow all the time I have to move further North.  At least I got a picture or two but it wasn't even enough to make a snow man. Maybe later this month.

All the decorations are up inside the house but we can't put anything outside because we can't find a plug to use. And there isn't a porch out side the front so there's no where to hang anything anyway. I could put up the pictures I did from last year when the wind storm took my Santa train off the roof and we had to anchor him down in the Rock Garden.

I'm going to post the last of the pages I made in November even though it's now December.

A picture of my younger sister when her girls were really young. They are all grown up and one has a son in college and the other one has a son thinking about the service. Quite a long time ago. This was one of those Throw Back Thursday pics and I just had to snag it and do something pretty with it.

A picture of my lovely Sister-in-law Joanne with her precious dog Bing.

Joanne will pose for the camera if you ask. But she's so pretty who wouldn't ask!

Beautiful Olivia's 5th grade picture. Can you tell she had her hair dyed Blue & Pink?

We caught her sleeping before the movie they watching was even finished.

As you can see, this was Olivia's sleep over during a vacation period when other parents had to get up the next morning for work. We didn't so it was a fun evening.

That's it for today. I don't have any new pictures and I've been on the internet getting some freebies from the great designers who contributed to a World Wide Christmas train. It's always fun to see the different ways each country celebrates the holiday. We just have a grand time and we'll go the Christmas Eve Mass and one of the churches has a live presentation with horses, camels, sheep and live people.  Then there is the displays that people put up in their yards and some are tuned to music which means the lights are bouncing around and one place out side of town has a good half acre we can drive through and around under the lights and listen to music. They just post which radio station to tune in to and it's really quite a show. I tried to upload one of the videos I made when we were driving around and stopped to watch a house that was really light up and we were listening to the music on our car radio while the lights were just going all over the yard!

That's all for now. HUGs from Grandma Sarge!