What I Buy Wednesday

I didn't buy anything last week. After the tree damage, Butch shopped for a new umbrella stand. They are sold out everywhere. So, we moved the one from the lounge chairs to the table. That's fine for this year.

We did go to Jack in the Box last night. I wanted to try the new "tiny" tacos.

We got the loaded ones and the plain. They were delicious and tasted exactly like the big ones. Go ahead and splurge for the loaded---$4.00. Only a dollar more than the plain! Plus, they were so darn cute!!

Monday Mystery

If it's not one thing, it's another! Seems like there's something every week! Last week it was the tree, the week before, the pool filter, then the chimney, then the pool cleaner---always something. Now we have an air condition unit out. So what I'm about to get in to is not expensive--thank goodness--just annoying and a mystery.

This morning, when I got home from my walk, Butch said, "Go look at the pond." I replied, "Oh no!" I knew before I went out there what it was going to be. I had deja vu from 2011 when this happened. I was certain that something had once again, eaten our fish. This is what the pond is supposed to look like:

 The shamrock plant is beautiful and was spreading out quite nicely. The water hyacinths had filled in too. When I stepped outside, I first noticed this:

 That little turtle which is a key holder that we don't use that way, was tossed. The two plants that sit on the ledge---including the shamrock plant were gone---or so I thought. Instead, they were laying in the bottom of the pond.

The fountain spout was tossed out. Then, I held my breath as I peered over the edge to see whether the fish survived this attack. To my surprise...

...there they were! Phew! We started to speculate as to what, somewhat large animal had done all of this. If you know anything about water plants, those pots are very heavy! And to toss the fountain out! What could it be? I'm thinking it's a raccoon. But even that doesn't seem like it would be strong enough to move those plants. 

Whatever it was, either it wasn't really after the fish, or the fish had enough places to hide. We're assuming it happened after dark, but we don't really know for sure. It's a mystery. One, I'm sad to say, will probably remain unsolved. 

Or, perhaps it was Bruno the bear!

He's wandering through Missouri. Maybe he's made his way down here. Hmmm, a bear...they like fish and are very strong. Just maybe...

A Few Things

1. Sandy, Victoria and Elizabeth came in town for the 4th of July weekend. We started with "happy hour" at Stephanie's. We all contributed something for a charcuterie board. After our regular round of "catching up" where each person tells about their week, we planned for this. Can you guess what it is?

 If you guessed Hamilton you would be correct! We couldn't wait for the release. The girls and I had seen it on Broadway a couple years ago. Stephanie and Mindy saw it again here in Nashville in January. Butch was seeing it for the first time. It was so good! But, we didn't remember how long it was---2hrs. 40min. Still, we girls loved it!

2. We started the 4th with pancakes and sausage at 10 a.m. Then it was pool time.

Our plan was to eat dinner around 3. We were all looking forward to pork steaks. We haven't had them in years. Jeanne brought them from St. Louis when she came for Camp Aunt Barb. They were so good even though a few got a little crispy!!

 This family goes through a lot of food!

 7 lbs. of zucchini. In addition, I served Italian bread (also from St. Louis), deviled eggs and fresh lima beans.

Mindy made the Red, White and Blueberry dessert. It was fabulous!!

3. Another puzzle in the books.

4. Last week, we went over to Stephanie's so that Butch could put up a couple new lights. Of course, one thing leads to another. When he removed the old fixture, I had to go to Home  Depot to get a ceiling medallion to cover the unpainted wood.

 It looks perfect!!

 There may have been some foul language involved in this installation.

 5. Sandy decided to have her hair dyed a color. 

 She's been wanting to do pink for a long time. She decided to just go for it.

 Mindy did hers a couple weeks ago. 

She opted for teal. With working from home, this is a good time to try something fun.

Just a few things to finish off this holiday weekend!

Tree Update

Well, our magnolia turned out to be nearly a 60 footer!! The trunk was 18” in diameter! So sad. Turns out, it was rotting at the base—it basically broke off below ground level with the high winds. The tree was perfectly healthy looking and gorgeous. The flowers were dinner plate size! 

I would have thought that it would have shown some signs of distress if it was rotting. Oh well. 

Butch called a few companies right away to get it removed. He was told it would take 2 days. When he decided which company he was going to hire, they said they'd start on Thursday. Our family party was to be on the 4th, so that worked just fine. By 11 a.m. on Thursday, we were becoming concerned when no one had shown up. Butch called, the guy said they'd be there that afternoon. The "crew" showed up at 4:45. It was amazing to see how fast 4 guys got it cleaned up—2 hours. They had to haul every bit of it by hand since there was no way to get a truck back there. They did a great job with the clean up. 

They haven’t ground the stump since they couldn’t get that back there either. On the other hand, Butch said it broke below ground level so maybe there isn’t anything to grind. The hydrangeas and crepe myrtles are bedraggled and the umbrella is toast. It looks a little bare, but at least there are other big trees outside the fence. I think I’ll get a Forest Pansy Redbud to put there.

If you didn't know there was another tree here, you would never know it was gone. Actually, as much as I hate losing such a beautiful one, I like being able to really see the even larger tree that was behind it. It barely looks like anything is missing.

The damage ended up being pretty minimal. On Friday, Butch spent a couple hours getting everything cleaned and back in place for the weekend. He said that in reality, the tree fell in the exact place to cause minimal damage. 

We have two more magnolias left, so I still have plenty to use for Christmas decorating. But, if this one comes down, we're moving!! There are no big trees behind it!

Friday Funnies

Waking up to a surprise!

And not a good one!

 Our beautiful, 40 ft. magnolia was on the ground! Apparently there was a storm on Tuesday night.

 We slept through it. We can't believe that we didn't hear this huge tree come down either.

 The tree completely engulfed our side yard. I know that many of the hydrangeas and crepe myrtles are smashed.

 Somewhere buried under there is our patio umbrella, table and 6 chairs. We don't know yet what might have survived.

We are very fortunate that it did not crash through the sunroom---which is all windows. As it is, the tree is about 6 ft. away.

We've gotten someone to come clean up the mess. It's going to take two days.They are starting today. We're hoping they get it done before Saturday as we've planned a family pool party and barbecue. We just found out today that Sandy and family are coming in town on Friday night. That's a nice distraction for me as I mourn the loss of that beautiful tree! I know that sounds silly, but darn it!

I'm hoping it won't seem like there's a big hole there. On the outside of the fence is another, much larger tree, so we'll still have shade. Maybe we won't even notice it's gone. I doubt it.

What I Buy Wednesdays

My purchases were actually the week before last for Father's Day. We celebrated a week late since we were at the beach.

I like gadgets and this seemed like a good one. I even bought one for myself. Okay, the flashing lights are a little much. At least the family got a good laugh.

If this works, it could be a game changer. We've tried everything to keep the mosquitoes at bay--citronella candles, those oil torches, dryer sheets, those wrist bands and even some sort of "Off" fan thing. I'm not sure when we'll be able to try it out because the mosquitoes haven't really started up yet. They usually do by May. It's a weird year for everything.

I didn't exactly buy this paper trimmer right now. I actually got a spare (you know my multiples problem) when Creative Memories was going out of business, years ago. I just finally retired the old one. Way back in 1999 when I first started scrapbooking, I had the original one. When this style came out, I replaced it. Still, I have gotten nearly 20 years out of the one on the left. Hmmm, 20 years. I don't think I'll need another one!