Hmmm, I think I'm cranky today

I can't decide it I am cranky or just majorly STRESSED OUT!!!!! Seems I am being pulled in 100 different directions and I am doing NOTHING well. 8/31 is the end of our current tenant's lease...thank goodness. I am now in the midst of the application process, which I hate!!!! How do you really know someone in a few minutes????? I guess it would be different if I was working on renting to people in a complex, but our carriage house is right on our property. The person(s) I choose are my neighbors. Over the years I have heard every crazy excuse out there and seen ALL kinds of people. I have heard the truth strecheddddddddddddddd to the point of not being the truth. Today my current tenant asked me if I thought I was her mother!!!! No darling, if you were my daughter you would NEVER speak to anyone the way you have spoken to me today. It IS my business who you have stay for days on end and park and smoke and party. It IS my business that I am being hounded to give you a good reference and you haven't even freaking moved out yet. It IS my business that the police have been on my property more in the last year with you, than the last 21 I have lived here!!!! Furthermore....a rabbit is a pet and smoking by the front door, that is open is still SMOKING. Lastly, my dear discussing when people will stop by on MONDAY when they are coming on WEDNESDAY is 24 hours notice.

Opps, almost forgot in NYS you give a person a Notice to Quit when you are not renewing their lease...and telling you that you should be careful parking on the hill, that the big tree came down on is for your OWN safety.

THE END

Frogs and Turtles

Last week at the lake I also worked on some frog and turtle stepping stones. I think I have made at least a dozen of these guys. They grace my gardens at home and the lake and I have even shared some with my friends. They are made of cement, so a little too heavy for shipping around the country! LOL

Norman asked if I have the molds and actually pour the cement...yep, Norman, I get right into the whole mess of the thing!!!! Ask your woman if I should bring the molds to our "meetup" and we can get cement and all make some! LOL Wonder how the hotel would feel about that!

Mosiac Table Project

I have had a wrought iron table base in our barn for over 15 years. It made it's way over to the house and I have been wanting to make a mosaic table top for it. I decided last week I would take it to the lake with me and work on it while on vacation.

First I bugged my husband to cut me a wood top for adhering the tiles/stones to. He made a trip to Home Depot and found an off piece for 51 cents!!!! Yep, that's right! He cut it into a nice circle according to my specifications.

Next, I primed and painted the bottom with good quality paint. I haven't decided if this will be in an outside location on the deck or one of the patios or if it will be inside on one of the porches, so better safe than sorry.

Of course I had to take along my odd box of tiles from various house projects over the years.





The whole layout thing was by trial and error. I didn't glue anything down until I had a pretty good idea of where I wanted things to go. I worked some beach stones into the project.



I got a little antsy, so I did start to grout some areas before I had finished with all the gluing. We found the beautiful cobalt tiles for only $1.97 and got the glass beads at the dollar store for $1 per bag. All in all I only purchase about $4.00 worth of additional supplies, which is great. I like "using up" stuff I have had for a long time.

The finished project top. I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out. I still need to fabricate the edging. I need to hunt around the garage and barn and see what I can come up with. I will post a photo of the table top on the actual base in the next day or so.

I'm pleased with it :)

Thanks~

Thanks to our friends Pugsley, Buster, Cricket and Daisy for thinking our gang rocks!

We think everyone out there is rocking!

Our son is back or I think I'm running a hotel

This guy is home, or at least there is a rumor around our house he is here. He took the transfer back to Rochester from Buffalo. He came into town last Wednesday. I have not seen him in human form yet! I know he's here....socks, dishes, bag of clothes, boxes in dining room..yep he's here somewhere. Perhaps I should check his old room...I mean the guest room!
He said that they were putting him up in a hotel for two weeks and then he would be home for another 3 weeks before moving into an apt. in Sept. Who knows what happened to the hotel..something about you can have money instead. So now the "mom worry" starts again. When he lived in Buffalo, out of sight, not knowing what he was up to...it was different, now I can worry again...yep Sandy....it NEVER stops!

Also, our daughter's friend is having roomate trouble. So she has been staying here too....heck why not? LOL Last night at dinner it was sweet to hear her talk about the "great" home-cooked meal! Okay, my cooking is okay, but "great" would not usually be a descriptive word for it!

Sadly, Tiny gets her wings too........

There are no words to describe the sadness in our hearts for Sandy and her family today. Their little Tiny joined Chichi and passed. No little Pugs could have asked for a better mama and daddy! We all feel their loss, times two.... we love you guys!

Last day of vacation

P went Salmon fishing at 4:30am this morning, so breakfast time came a little late today. Here is Rosie using "mental telepathy" to move the sausage to her side of the table....



Zoey's methods are more instense...

Marty poses for his "sample".

Chloe was under the table waiting for droppings.

After breakfast P decided a little nap was in order. Marty and Chloe thought that was a great idea.

Then we all went outside to hang in the pen, while P did some re-leveling of the trailor.

All in all we had a nice week. Plenty of relaxation. I read FOUR books, made a mosiac table top, 3 cement/mosiac stepping stones, hung out with neighbors, went fishing, boatrides, walks, and plenty of naps. I think we're pretty rested, but are dreading back to work tomarrow!!!

*** Lisa, we got a screen room!!!!

My husband needs to start throwing them back!

throw us back....throw us back

please, please throw us back!

We may need a bigger boat.....

Back to the lake

Marty is blending in quite well with our family. He is very good "off leash" and follows me everywhere. This week after he followed me outside at camp, I asked him to sit for a photo...show everyone real boy Pugs can look good in Pink!!!!

We came home for the night last night to do some laundry...ugh, check the swimming pool, water the flowers, check the crazy fighting tenants, on and on....anyhow, on Tuesday we took the Pug kids on the boat to a beach a bit up the lake from us. Marty ran down the dock and jumped on board the boat. He ran up into the bow and sat there waiting for us to go! I said to P..."this guy must have gone on boats before!" It is strange since there is so much we don't about him. He had a whole life before us, but they'll never get him back from me!

Sweet Chichi gets her wings

Another angel has gotten her wings....she is running and playing with those who have gone before her.

We can only imagine how sad Chichi's mama and daddy are! Know that all of us....have sad hearts tonight too!

We love you!

Hydrangea and find the angel and Friday the 13th!!!

It's Friday the 13th...not sure if anyone out there has any problems with that? So, if you do...stay out from under ladders, watch out for black cats, don't break any mirrors, and if absolutely necessary...wear a string of garlic around your neck!

In happier thoughts... my Hydrangea seems to be a "late bloomer" It is finally blossoming.




The angels in the patio tend to move around a bit....can you see your angel Sandy?






Have a great weekend!

Did I mention I had a pet toad?

Here is where my pet toad lives....

Nope, not in that plant, he lives in that bag of top soil. You see I was repotting some plants out on the patio and when I scooped out a big saucer full of soil...there he was...looking at me! He filled the entire saucer and I am not sure who jumped further. I screamed so loud, I think the baseball game at the middle school stopped thinking someone was being assaulted. I flung that saucer and back into the bag that silly toad went. I believe he is still in there, that cool, dark soil.....waiting...........

Lazy Pugs & Cat & deal wasps

Everyone is feeling a little lazy this morning. We all woke up around 6am and went outside, then back in for breakfast.



We were headed back outside on the deck and I noticed a wasp. Being a careful Pug mom, I whacked it with the grill brush....except, suddenly his friends all came out of the grill!!!! I yelled everyone inside and we ran! Of course I couldn't leave things along, so I waited for them to settle down, snuck out and turned on the hose. Then I went out the front door and around the house and bombarded them with water. Fierce, aren't I? After several minutes of intense watering, I went back through and got my flying insect killer and finished them off. Wait until P sees a grill full of dead wasps and empty hives.

Sorry nature lovers, but wasps were hurt in this episode.....can't have them stinging my babies!

You will notice this grill has no tank. We actually don't use this one anymore as we have a stainless grill now. Not sure why we haven't given this one away, but I'm thinking the wasps thought it was abandoned.

Meanwhile, Buster does his thing....rest. Buster is 17, and the only cat we have left from the four we had for many, many years. He is in real good shape. He doesn't mind the Pugs and sits and waits for liver treats when I pass them out. We hope to see him get to 20!

Stop over to Alfred's Mom and read about our Bloggy Meetup to be held this Fall. Come on, if I can make the drive from New York State, you guys can do it too! Anyone want to car pool?????

Wine Tasting Party

Summertime......

Marty says things have been a little hot around here lately....







Zoey doesn't care, she'll just rest in the sun...

Rosie says, forget it, I'm going fishing with dad......

Chloe...hmmm, she was under the table waiting for scraps.

Independence....

According to Webster's Dictionary:

Independence - The quality or state of being independent.

Independent - Not influenced or controlled by others; not depending on something else; no relying on another for aid or support; not subject to another's authority or jurisdiction; free from political party commitments.

America...don't loose what this country stands for Happy Independence Day!

Vacation Day

Our receptionist had her last day on Friday. Since the 4th of July Holiday is on a Wednesday this year, and our new receptionist doesn't start until the 9th, our boss gave each of us an extra day off. My day was the 3rd.

Here is how my "vacation" day went.

Slept in until 7:45 a.m.

Moved hutch top to upstairs hallway where the bottom has been for 3 months now. The top started out in my dad's room, went into the porch when his room became my office, came out of porch to dining room, and now made it to it's proper place...phew. Moved trunk from my room to front hall. Moved chair from back hall to front hall. Moved dollhouse to guest room. Turned mattress on our bed. Cleaned off my dresser. Shampooed (spelling???) back hall carpet and bedroom carpet. Talked to C on phone twice.

11:15 a.m. - Wondering, should I stop now or keep going???? Showered and dressed. Off to Post Office with 14 packages to post for P (Ebay stuff). Then off to Motor Vehicle to renew P's truck registration. Computers down....waited....finally 1 1/2 hours later, all set. Off to hardware store to drop off broken storm window, stopped off to recycle cans and pick up a few things at grocery store.

Back home at 4:00pm....groceries away, played with Pugs, finished up laundry.

7:15pm - met my dad and A for her birthday dinner, then back to our house for cake.

10:00pm - BED!!!

I think I used most of my day!!!!!

Around New York State - Stoneybrook Park

This weeks place to visit in New York State is Stoneybrook Park This is a very cool place to visit. I visited here many times when I was younger, but I have never camped here. My son has camped here a couple of times and has also taken several day trips here. He loves it. The photos today were taken by him.

The falls are very pretty and the wading pools are fun! Be sure to bring your water shoes...you'll want to go in them and it can be slippery!