My Work Station

This is an antique secretary desk that my mom and dad gave me a long time ago. It is perfect for my laptop and other assorted things. At the moment it is squeezed in between my bed (to the right) and my window to the world (to the left). It is the place where I spend a great deal of my time socializing via electronic means - e-mails, FaceBook and this blog. I also do some writing - it is my way of venting, remembering and stretching my mind.

For a long time this little gem of a workspace sat in my other room - the one that holds my recliner, my television, my PC (which has since died) and my treadmill (3 years old and unused to date - time is coming though because I am losing weight to make walking easier - so far all I have had to do is cut back on my food intake and eat the right things).

When Adrienne visited me this last summer I moved it into the dining room so that we would have a place to set up the laptop so that we could download pics from cameras, set up files to share and put pics on thumbnail drives. It worked out so well that I decided to find a way to squeeze it into my bedroom - I succeeded. After tomorrow it will have even more room. I am putting up my new bed (a full size rather than queen - don't need all that room any more), moving out the cedar chest and putting in a much smaller table to become home for the small printer that I bought to hook up to the laptop. Then my workspace will be complete - fully functional.

I will continue to enjoy the best of all worlds - I can do my writing, listen to my music, watch tv programs that I missed, and keep in touch with my friends all while I keep track of what is going on outside my window (watching the seasons come and go as well as the wildlife that inhabit my yard on a seasonal basis). I can also give the cats back their window perch so they can enjoy the view as well.

Fall 2010 (November)

This is the beginning of fall at my house. The tree on the right was the first to drop all of its leaves and the tree on the left was the last. I can finally get the yard cleaned up next week. It will look so much better. Fall has been very confusing this year. Flowers in my yard (petunias and clematis) are still blooming - they just don't know to give up. I just hope that they come back next spring in all of their splendor.

I wish that I could figure out this photo thing - I know that I used to do it better but for some reason things are not working out like I want them to. The tree at the top is what my front yard looks like - thus being anxious to get the leaves gathered up and taken away.

Novermber 2010

Not much has happened during this month - the biggest excitement was that a young doe (100 lbs soaking wet) decided that she wanted in my yard. She did it the hard way though - through the gate rather than over the gate. She spent about 3 minutes in my back yard trying to get out. She hit and bounced of the fence several times before she figured out that she was better off going over. Once she did it took all of 1/2 second for her to be gone. I am just sorry that I didn't think of getting my camera until it was too late.

Last Wednesday of the month

I have spent a good portion of the day sitting at my computer typing. For some reason I had the urge to put fingers to the keys and write. I wrote about Christmas trees (the fact that my dad roamed the woods of Northern California to find just the right one to send to us), Christmas memories (mostly Sievert/Hemping family get togethers for the holidays) and started to write about my "formative years" (mainly my years in Iowa). I will get in the mood again I am sure and will expand on the formative years then.

Scooter, the heaviest of the two cats that live here, sat on my mouse awhile ago and she "killed" it. I don't know what she did to it, but it no longer works. I had to scrounge the mouse from my PC, which died a couple of weeks ago. I do believe that a virus attacked it and wiped out programs etc. so it doesn't work anymore. Not much that I can do but replace it. It is a Dell and they are notorious for not allowing the hard drive to be updated. Real bummer. I am currently stuck with using my laptop, but that is okay. I have grown quite accustomed to it and actually prefer it. I bought a printer to hook up to it so that I can print stuff. Printing is all that it can do - no fax, no copy.

It is time to quit for the day. My fingers have not worked this much since I retired and they are letting me know that they are ready to relax.

October - confused month

October is almost over - seems like it was only yesterday that I was saying September was almost over. Time is flying by.

October has been very confusing weather wise. Really nice fall weather, colder some days and warmer others. Trees are turning color, but for some reason my spring/summer flowers are blooming. My clematis is almost ready to bloom big time and I noticed that the rose bushes up by Denny's restaurant are blooming in all of their glory as well. I have the feeling that when winter hits it is going to be with a vengeance overnight. We will wake up and winter will have arrived and will be staying.

Aaron finally finished up all of the little jobs that I wanted done outside. My windows have new caulking, my fence has been fixed, new covers have been put on my window wells and I can now put up a curtain on my back porch (i can install the type of curtain that works like a curtain in a hospital). I still have to buy the rail system and the curtains, but now I can do it and not have to worry about how. Aaron is my go-to guy for doing things like this.

Halloween will be here in a few days. I am looking forward to seeing the kids in their costumes. I hope that we have plenty of "trick or treaters" this year. Did not have a single one last year. Eddie didn't even hit our neighborhood. He has a neighborhood full of town homes that he hit every year - gets a lot of candy. I guess that is why he goes there - more swag.