Autumn leaves are falling in the MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

When I was a kid, autumn was fun because we’d rake our leaves (from the ONE tree in front of our house) to the gutter, and dad would burn them and it smelled so good! Now I live on 3 acres, and close to 2/3 of the lot is trees and other deciduous plant matter. If we were to gather all the leaves and ignite them, every one of you would see the glow in the sky from southern Merrylande!

:open_mouth:

So John Deere, the mulcher vac, and I gather what we can, chop them up, and dump them under the trees what dropped them, mostly in the far reaches of the back yard. That’s where we stand today, having cleared both back and front. but you wouldn’t know that by looking out in the yards. Dammit.

I’m loving the cooler temps, but I’d like the leaves better if the wind would blow them all into the woods.

Happy Moanday!

2

First! It’s good to be juvenile!

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN 'Tis 70 Amurrkin out and cloudy (been rainy) with a predicted high of 82 and could be N.O.S. or cloudy, who knows. Today is spiff da cave day and I have to go pick up a prescription. Sup shall be beast loaf, green beans, mac and cheese, and cornbread.

I mow the leaves in the yahd and that pretty much takes care of 'em.

Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, onward into the day! Rah,

Happy Moanday Y’all!

ETA: Today is the anniversary of the day I signed up on The Dope!

3

Happy swampaversary!! We’re all glad you’re here!

4

Happy swampaversary, indeed swampy!

I’m back in Dallas for a couple of days, visiting my former I.T. Guy.
North Texas is as I remember it this time of year: flat, brown, and hyooomid enough to merit air-conditioning in November.

Everyone keeps scaring me about the upcoming snows in western Michigan, but … I’m so glad I moved outta here!

Having a great time with my friend, though. :wink:

Happy Moan-Day everybody!

5

Two loads of laundry on the lines, the third is in the washer. Critter fountain has finally been cleaned (it takes less than 15 minutes, so why do I keep putting it off??) I need to run to Food Lion because we’re out of milk and cottage cheese.

RoxStar is doing better this morning. No fever, but daughter says she’s phlegmy and coughing, so not plague - just a cold. So that’s good.

We close on our refi this afternoon - YAY!!! Once that’s done, I’ll work out a new budget. I also need to start working on our Book of the Dead, as FCD has labeled it. I need to gather all the documents, accounts, passwords, and such so that when one or both of us die, everything is in one place.

I also need to call Royal Caribbean - they want money for the cruise in Feb, but I need to rebook it. I honestly don’t expect it to sail anyway, but I found one I’d really like to take and it’s still got space, so now’s the time to rebook. And I need to call about getting our pellet stove services. Always something…

Purp - stay clear of plague-ridden Texans!! And enjoy your time there!

6

Morning all. Still trying to figure out how I could have coached better in the tournament, but that will go away after a day or so. As for leaves, I got rid of the trees the builder planted 15 years ago and never regretted it, especially in this season. The stray leaves that wander over get mowed up with the grass.

71F already and the week looks like ~70F highs and nights in the 50’s, so fine weather for this part of the woods. Rain is likely Tue-Wed and the weekend, but we can use it (now that soccer is over).

Shoe, enjoy Texas (if such a thing is possible).

FCM, you have stop giving us these updates; I’ve gotten out of bed as my major accomplishment so far and you’re done two loads of laundry and cleaning. You’re a retired lady of leisure, dammit, not a workaholic! :sweat_smile: :wink: :smile:

Take care all and have a good Moanday.

7

That’s what I do.
This is deeply disturbing.

8

Back from sorting. Nothing went horribly wrong ,but one on the motors in the belt system sounds like it has a didgeridoo stuck in it.

Happy swampyversary!!!

9

Afternoon, mumpers! Happy Swampyversary, I think we are all glad you are here to keep us updated with TMI and tips for sartorial elegance :slight_smile:

Nothing exciting going on here today, I had a call from an academic virtually as soon as I’d logged in this morning, then got a call from a colleague in urgent need of help. So I’s been busy…but also managed to get all the laundry done so we have no dirty clothes in the house.

Meatballs have been removed from the freezer for scoffing tonight, I just need to make a sauce to go with them and some sketties for them to sit on. I am planning a lazy cooking week as I’ve got eight tubs of stuff in the freezer which means two portions of four separate meals. That means no proper cooking until next week! I loves leftovers, I does.

10

Laved, shaved and cocoaed. Furnace is still on the fritz, but flannel sheets and 4 cats made the night nice and cozy. The rain has ended for the next few weeks, so everything gets to enjoy the soaking without mudslides on the burned areas. Off to labor in the backyard garden of Academia for a few hours, then getting in touch with the furnace guy and setting up a “What did I do?” appointment.

Happy swampyversary!

11

Time for a new Moanday Moaning Poast already? Doesn’t seem like a week since the last one started. They say time flies when you’e having fun; it also seems to go by faster as you get older.

Breakfast was a cheese sandwich, and I’m now working on reducing the proportion of blood in my caffeine system. Shower and clothes to follow. Only real plan for today is the BJ’s/Walmart trip that didn’t happen yesterday. (Lady SCAdian had too much homework to finish.)

Happy Swampiversary!

12

Happy Moonday!

Going to be another pretty day here.
A sunshiny day with a high of 72.

Echo tries to play with the big boys

Going to be a messy day though I think.
Although I already have 10 of my list of 27 things to do done. Most of it is small stuff, like why didn’t my internet bill get paid? Because the card expired, and when I paid it last month I forgot to put it back on automatic. Finally got the stuff for irk done. My son mowed the side yard. I’m putting off going to get cat food until tomorrow.
What I have to do that is going to take some time,
call the mortgage company about refinancing,
call the health exchange to clarify how it works with my son dropping off in mid year,
call Home Depot to fix my account.
My statement says I have interest free for 6 months and it’s supposed to be for 12 months. I know what they did, same thing as last time. I put in an order but they don’t put it on my card until they ship it. Because everything doesn’t ship the same day, the order gets broken up and instead of using the total, each shipment gets processed separately. They can fix it, but I have to call them to do it.
All three of those calls are going to be a PITA, and I need to make them and stop putting it off.

When I got home from the park this morning, Echo ran to the fence and started barking her fool head off. I looked through the fence to see a beautiful pair of blue eyes looking back at me. A Siamese cat was in the yard next door. The neighbor came out to see what the commotion was, and not his cat, but he says it looks sick. Echo found a spot to get through the fence, didn’t hurt the cat, wants to play with it. I have to get the lfb guy to look at the fence and see what to do. Right now I put the old trellis in front of the wide spot, but it won’t hold her back for long. I got the dogs in and went back out to look for the cat but couldn’t find it. If I can, it seems like it’s not afraid of people, I’ll catch it and take it to the vet. Very pretty cat, probably belongs to somebody.

I don’t have the time or money right now to fool with such things, but a sick cat comes first I guess.

I was supposed to pick the neighbor up from the grocery store at 1. He just texted me and asked me to get him at 11:30. I’m supposed to irk until 1, but I’ll log out and go get him. I have already put myself on a flex kind of thing because I don’t know when the lfb guy is going to get here today.

Happy Swampyversary!

Now I have to go get the neighbor.

13

And glad beyond measure I am! :tada: :sparkles: :confetti_ball: :balloon: :firecracker: :sparkler: :clinking_glasses: :birthday: :champagne:

This will help: so far (10am my North American prairie flyover time) I have pried myself out of bed, drunk a mug of Keurig coffee, ate 7 really stale doughnut holes (apologies for my poor taste Swampy) and scrolled through my lefty liberal news emails (with a sidetrack over into National Geographic newsletter). That’s it. Still in my nightgown, teeth still wearing their overnight corduroy coating. I hear the world lustily going about its day outside my window, traffic bustling along, people no doubt accomplishing prodigious things but I’m not one of them and won’t be today. If I get dressed and wander out to the store, pick up my order and mail a small birthday package to my youngest son, that will be cause for great celebration and a sense of remarkable achievement for my Monday. He’s getting wild and crazy dress socks (Happy Sox brand) for his 31st birthday. He has to wear adult clothes for work and it is the little flash of fun and tongue in cheek parody that he can get away with. He can’t wear funky ties (safety issue) so he pokes fun at life with his socks-so far no agitated patient has ever choked any one to death with their socks.

Me too! Tonight’s dinner will be Mongolian Beef, from Saturday nights celebration of surviving the election. It was way too peppery for me (new recipe or cook at Ming’s House? Dunno) but I’ll finish it anyway. Probably won’t order it again though. Pizza or pasta of any ilk are the favorite leftovers at my house.

Mornin’ all. Very gusty here all the leaves are blowing around horizontally 2 or 3 feet above the ground. Squirrels are eyeing my Halloween pumpkin, pretty sure it is about to become their leftovers for the week to come. I may move it off the porch steps and under a sheltered tree to make it less worrisome for them to approach, so they can enjoy their meal.

Boo

14

I always toss mine into a sheltered corner for the critters. Plus, having a gourd melting onto your front steps is a gooey mess. Can’t pick it up, after a while.

Breakfast was I.T. Guy’s specialty breakfast: whomp croissants, stuffed with Canadian bacon and Monterey jack cheese before being baked. Delicious, and ridiculously filling.

Time for a hot cuppa. Chillage is already underway.

15

Lunch break. I’ve been planting bulbs, plus digging up some lilies so there’s room for bulbs. I need to put the lilies on the front hill before Weds when rain comes thru again. I’ll probably do that after I finish lunch.

The towels in the dryer are probably dry, so I need to fold them. And we need to leave at 3:20 or so for our refi appointment.

Daughter had to take Roxy to Urgent care because the Dr won’t let anyone in if they’d had fever within 24 hours. Urgent care doc said he’s pretty sure she just has a cold, but he did a Covid test just to be sure. We’ll know in 2-3 days. in the interim, we’ll be very careful with mask wearage.

FCD wants to drive out west to see all the national parks thereabouts. I’ll add that to our list of stuff we want to do.

16

Oh, bother (said Pooh) – I was planning to do that last month. Most of the tulips (at least 90%) in this neighbourhood are red or yellow, so I want to add some purple and white to the mix.

Including Roxy? :smiley:

The neighbours’ maple tree sheds all over our lawn. I gather up some of the leaves for my daughter’s rabbits – apparently dried maple leaves are wonderful bunny treats. The rest just get mowed, along with the grass.

17

Forgot to congratulate swampy on his SDMB anniversary. Kinda hope you’ll stick around awhile longer…

FCM, that’s a trip that will take some planning. There are a LOT of parks out West and there are hundreds of miles between them. Heck, I spent 4 days just in the area around Rapid City and still didn’t come close to seeing/doing everything just in that area (for example, Badlands, Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Custer SP, Missile Silos and Museum, Caves, Petrified trees, Wolf Sanctuary, Reptile Gardens, Fort Meade (the one in SD, not Maryland), Devil’s Tower, Ellsworth AFB Museum, Black Hills Railway…that’s all within 2 hours of Rapid City alone).

Shoe, that breakfast sounds like it would stuff anyone. Yum.

Boo, I did get a little active, as in getting dressed and dropping off one of the girl’s medals to the High School (where her dad works), then eating at Jersey Mike’s and picking up bananas and a salad bag from Publix. Still need to empty my car (of 4 months accumulated soccer stuff) and dishes from the dishwasher.

Sari, hope you can help the cat out. Echo likes being thought of as one of the gang, while Ripple seems to take a “look at the peasants” approach…

quietly, hope the furnace is not busted too badly. I can just barely get out of my cul-de-sac, the water department is busily tearing up tow lawns about a block away and across the street from each other–hope they don’t have to mess up the street…

All y’all have a good afternoon.

18

Just finished planting the lilies that I dug out of the front bed. I’m done for today. Tomorrow, I’ll plant more bulbs - I want to put a bunch in front of FCD’s shop, and I can do that while Roxy plays outside. Rain is due on Weds, so whatever doesn’t go in tomorrow will have to wait.

Yeppers. Them little vectors are the most dangerous, because they’re cute!

I was going to do something with chicken for supper, but with our closing at 4, we probably won’t get home till 5, which would push dinner past 6. I don’t like eating that late. Maybe we’ll stop somewhere in California for supper. Or I can throw a salad together when we get back. Either way.

19

Yesterday was the first leaf pick-up day for Portland. Yes, they actually drive around and pick up the leaves that you leave in piles in the street, and then take them to their compost facility. This is a free service that helps prevent the sewer mains from becoming clogged from the debris from the huge canopy we have here.

This morning was waffles! Ate a couple, then cooked and froze the rest. Tonight is leftover cashew chicken (not delivery). I’ve decided that if I want decent Chinese food, I’ll have to make it, as the take-out version in this city is nearly inedible.

Need to get my saggy butt out for a walk later, but have to coax the wife into going with me.

20

Howdy y’all. I am here. Mom everyone should take your advice re book of the dead. I am searching for document now even though I keep saying tomorrow. I have been sleeping a lot. I know most of you know by now (though I haven’t read the last MMP) but my hubs passed on Nov 1st. He was just lingering with a certain drug and I had it discontinued and he passed peacefully after seven hours. I have cried buckets. I think I’m OK and accept what is then I seem to have disbelief. Cry, sleep, drink beer ( it helps) though I take a day off just because I don’t want to be a drunk.

I can’t return to irk until my plague restrictions are over on the 16th. I will be ready by then. The celebration of life service is on the 21st. I just got off the phone with the military color guard man and trying to arrange that. I sent him the DD 214. Hubby was drafted during the Vietnam era but spent his time in Thailand. We joked it was because he was so tall he would have been a great target. He was 6’6”. I will miss him dearly. I was with him since I was a young 20 yr old. So over 40 years.

We just had a hurricane last night and a still under a tropical storm watch I think. I was prepared. Closed my shutters and a neighbor was going to keep my generator running if needed. I had nagged hubby early in the season to get gas. He got 30 gallons. I will have to figure out using it but not until the end of hurricane season which is the 30th. It was really a non event here but more north than thought they got walloped.

I have decided I am not ready to retire. I need something to fill my time. Today I slept til 1 pm since with the shutters it’s dark. I was up a couple times during the night checking my canal to make sure I wasn’t losing my vehicles and thousands of dollars with of a/c equipment.