A new Door Opens!

I know I should be doing a year end wrap up post, but dang what a bummer that would be. Instead of talking about what I did; I'm gonna talk about what Im gonna do.  I had a difficult year.  It did end well though and I just have to get my head around "what's next". 

So I ended up buying my x's share of the old place, its right next door to where I LIVE now.  We had already split the land up between us and my Mom and I had added to my Mom's house and am living here..but I just didnt want to let go of that land next door so I traded 4 acres of wooded land for some cash and added a bit to it and now I own the old place...its in bad shape but it can be made nice.  NOW The big question is WHAT TO DO WITH IT? I  could sell it and have it moved off the land....or tear it down and sell it for salvage,  or rent it out or just keep it for my son...

I showed you the house in snow in my last post, here it is in summer..

SO now the clean up will start, 13 yrs of neglect to erase and spruce up and on my beer budget that means a LOT OF DIY projects.  Im no stranger to hard work...but dang Im getting up there in age and although we all like to think we can keep right on doing what we did at 40 at 60 but the truth is WE CANT!!

So anyway....the first order is to tear down the old tool shed it had a potting shed on one end, and its all too rotten to replace so I plan to tear it down, salvage what I can of the timber and tin and use that to start roofing over the old barn.  The backside of the barn has a 3 ft x 24 ft area that was used to store feed and hay when we had horses, so that will become the new tool shed for the big stuff...I plan to add a lean-to shed at the back for the lawn equipment...and KEEP the barn stalls for critters that I plan to adopt!

NOW Ive made some progress, I tore the old roof off the barn a couple yrs ago, and Ive been keeping the pasture mowed so most of that brush is gone...

Before ....

after...

Now even the old rafters are gone, I took those off on a different weekend...so this old block barn is 24 x 18 feet it has 2 barn stalls with a wall separating the two stalls, and a wall separating the storage area from the stalls.. It will cost less to put a roof on this old barn than to start over building a new tool/storage shed.

I moved my martin houses back to the middle of the field and I am very hopeful I will get martins since the neighbors who used to house the colony sold their house and they took the martin houses with them! SO When that colony returns they will find their home is GONE..but mine is right across the road SO I hope to get all sorts of new life into this old house! 

I hope to include some of these projects in the blog, as time goes on... so stand by for more...

in 2013 !!

PEACE

DixxeLand Christmas Wish

We have no snow for Christmas, but here is some from times past to wish you a Happy Holiday from ME here in DixxeLand!!

For anyone who wonders where and what DixxeLand is, I shall explain!  DixxeLand is where I go inside my mind when I want peace and tranquility. It comes expressly from my imagination, and its  that comfort zone I turn to when I need solace and when my spirit needs to be refreshed.  ITS my special place to commune with my  friends real and imagined and its a place where ALL my Dreams DO COME TRUE! So wont you join me in DixxeLand? You can be anyone you want to be when you're there and you can enjoy doing anything--- you are only limited by what you can imagine!

IT is my virtual reality and my sanctuary when times are hard.

A bright spot that I can carry with me no matter what!

...cause whatever burns on the inside, shows on the outside...

hope you can find your way to DixxeLand when ever you feel the urge!

No matter who you are or what you're facing it can be made better, in DixxeLand!

Y'ALL COME 

PEACE

12 Days Till Christmas!

OKAY the world didn't end today...

Oh yeah that's next week DUH.. so if it does, all this hard work we had done in our house was for naught..

I got nothing of interest to blog about but figured I would  update anyways...I know you're probably saying "oh' you shouldn't have" HAHA

..We did survive the Renovation from HELL, its only a bad memory now...lol   We're are happy we got this job done it was an absolute necessity...

The kitchen, the entire floor sub floor, joists, and one large main support beam had to be replaced...due to OLD termite damage! They literally torn out the entire FLOOR we could see the ground!!!  We designed it to look retro "70's!! LOL  NO we did NOT...its the REAL thing no retro here...this is our 1970's kitchen it's almost coming back in style, maybe in another 10 yrs?  We had hoped for a brighter color on the floor but this is growing on us..

The Living Room had carpet over old worn out hardwood it was unsavable! So we went with laminate wood flooring in there, a red oak color...we love it..we still have to get some area rugs for the dogs, for now we are using the old ones we've had.  I think I see Mom's feet in this shot..HA!

PHOTO?

                                

                     Lucky for us, it didnt take a month, the time it did take was long enough!!!  Meanwhile now its a week till Christmas...IM so busy at work I can barely take a lunch break....I plan to ask for Wed, Thru, and Fri after Christmas OFF cause I really need a break. HOPE she will give it to me...if she does I want to go somewhere!!

I 'fixed' up these little bags of goodies for my coworkers..all 4 of them!

                  

Hope you're all set for Holiday Cheer, and if not you got 12 days to get your act together!!

  

PEACE

this old house...

No this is not our house,  but it feels like it at the moment if you recall we are having some renovations done....I have no photos of the renovation because its just too CRAZY! I will however take some after shots...maybe when I get over the shock of it all...they used 3 1/2 inch baseboards where they should have used 4 1/2 inch ones...SO they have to redo part of what they did----DUH, Im no carpenter but I think I WOULD know better than to do that...

SO they show up earrrrly, like  before 8 am, they hammer, saw, bang and drill  all day...Poor Mom, looks shell shocked! THE dogs are crazy barking constantly at the strangers in the yard and house...

I  cant sleep decently never knowing when they will come knocking on the door, as they never tell us what time they will arrive...we have both been very stressed out...

They told us they planned to finish Friday...

But they didnt, so they promised to come today, Saturday, they didnt..

We have been living like an episode of Hoarders this past week.  Everything from the living room was split up between my bedroom and Mom's bedroom, and everything that should be in the kitchen is now on the screen porch! SO we are unable to cook, good thing we love to eat raw veggies anyways..we ate out this evening...

They nailed our satellite connection wire underneath the floor so we cant hook up our satellite dish, so we are back to watching antenna, which is a blessing for a dull evening, kinda, well tonight is IT's A Wonderful Life.
... meanwhile we decided to take our laundry to the laundromat since our washer/dryer is now on the screen porch...and wouldnt you know when we arrived the laundromat was flooded with 2 inches of water covering the floor..SO we washed but I just didnt want to stay and operate a DRYER with my feet in water.....so now we have wet clothes hanging all over the place with all the rest of the chaos!

What a week!!!

PEACE

ONE MONTH can go by fast RIGHT?

Last day before heading back to work after the holiday break ....and a gorgeous fall day here so had to go out and enjoy it!  We went to Sandhills Wildlife Refuge...about 15 miles from us..

We took a hike around the dogs enjoyed that...and we spotted a few cool things; the grasses are awesome this time of year.

there is photo blind wayyyy back behind the lake, toward the upper left in this photo...

trouble is the birds wanted to be far from the blind...

Best I could tell there was Canada geese, ring necks, and coots, and at least one Pied-Billed Grebe

back to the other side of the refuge

a couple of birds came to check us out...

and a curious Robin

TOMORROW big changes here! WE have to replace 2 floors in our house! They said a MONTH omg not looking forward to the invasion.  BUT It has to be done.

We both enjoy our privacy so to not have it is gonna be nasty and we dont really know what kind of shape the house will be in during this renovation!

SO even though I think it is good to live in the here and now, this time IM ready to zoom this clock forward to Dec 24th!

PEACE

THANK YOU!

                                          

I am thankful to each of you that stop by to say hello and share your life via blogging with me!

...and I am thankful for the bees, without them we would have nothing to be thankful for on the Thanksgiving Table!

We are traveling over the River and Thru the Woods to the IHOP in Irmo, SC for a pancake brunch with my SON... since he will be eating a traditional meal at his GF's family table later.

I recall my most favorite Thanksgiving EVER was many moons ago my son was about 12 years old, we decided to go to Myrtle Beach for Thanksgiving! IT was deserted since all the tourists normally leave right after Labor Day, the hotel rooms were half price, and there was no line waiting to play put-put golf!

We ate our meal at an all you can eat buffet there was no cooking and no dishes to wash. WE enjoyed the time we shared together as a family. IT was special!
Hope y'all do something that turns out to be a special moment for you.

Fall is a good time...

TO Plan for the Future!

I'm a big believer in growing my own herbs and so outside my back door I have rosemary, parsley, sage, and I always plant lots of basil in pots.   I save the seeds each yr from the basil and use it to start a new batch in the spring... and bring at least ONE pot indoors before frost, to eat fresh basil until it finally gives up and begins to die back...which can sometimes be well into December!  I think its a good idea to buy an extra packett of seeds when I buy, just in case THE unexpected happens, who knows?  SO while the shelves of retailers is crammed to overflow with cheap Christmas decor, I can pull out the seeds I tucked away and get an early start on my gardening for next yr.  I normally buy extra arugula, spinach, and parsley seeds so I can get a jump on the growing season...you're supposed to start indoors 6 weeks before your last frost, well for me that means I need my seeds to be in the dirt and on the window ledge by March 1.
I dry the herbs and grind them up to use through the winter...

So I save the shaker bottles when I run out of Ms-Dash and other spices...and I fill it up with my own dried herbs, I put a letter on top such as an S for sage, P for parsley, etc!

sage

Rosemary 

I dry the herbs in old baking pan, just let it sit around in a dry location and once the herb is dry enough I use the Magic Bullet to grind it up....

FLICKR ATE MY PHOTOS

Then in the storage containers it goes....

It makes me feel good to know that I CAN grow some of what I eat and I can preserve and save some for the future..its not exactly gonna save me if 12.21.2012 is the last day of civilized life as we know it but I can at least sprinkle a little flavor on my cardboard if it comes to that!

Another way to plan our future is to get out and vote on Tuesday, I voted early with my Mom, people over 65 can vote early and so can their care givers...so my vote has already been cast and counted!! I believe our governing system needs to be completely revamped but UNTIL that happens we have to go with what we have. 

 

PEACE

Another door opens...

SO the news is...

as of 10:30 EST today Im again a single woman! FINALLY....Yep married since 1975 separated since 2001 and now divorced today.

AND the offer was accepted so I do keep the property!!! WHICH thrills me cause I really want this land to pass onto my son...and so forth and so on....keep it in the family and not have it sold to a complete stranger. 

All that  news said and done...now the bad news

I HAVE to come up with the money in 30 days or be in contempt of court OUCH!

SO, Hi Ho Hi Ho Back in Debt I GO!!

Without the help of my family I would NOT have been able to make this offer...so BLESS YOU- MY SISTERS!!!

PEACE

Hiatus

WELL looks like we have to use the new interface like it or not I don't do well with change especially when its not my idea.  HA!!.

Wanted to give y'all  a heads up that Im on hiatus from blogging for a while,  having a time crunch lately..
 and its not fair that I don't have time to come by and visit your blogs so I best just keep my mouth shut for a WHILE!   Actually my Mom returned home and so its a lifestyle change for me and my sister is also visiting for a month..So the time I used to spend blogging is now spent visiting with my family..

WE did a hike last week and enjoyed this great waterfall so here's some photos from that, hope y'all don't forget me!! Ill be back soon!

Annie

floss

Jim

PEACE

GLORY DAYS

ALL last week I was sporting 2 black eyes and fire ant bites on my left foot!! Course the 2 black eyes were not on my left foot they were on my face! AND still are but not as bad this week....I called it the week from Hell..the grass bagger fell on me while I tried unsuccessfully to slide it on top of the tool shed...and while I was engrossed in photographing some butterflies I stood in a fire ant hill...they let me know right away I was NOT welcome there and since its the south and summer flip flops are the favored footwear...SO OUCH!!

BUT NOW...FOR the first time in a LONG time the windows are open! Finally a  beautiful cool day; sunny and breezy - just perfect.  Had a great girls night out last evening with my best girlfriend at Outback, blooming onion and garlic mashed potatoes, and all the beer I could guzzle and still drive home... yeah I had some  amazingly bad breath this morning...lol

and then I did some birding today...YES Sondra,  there is a Santa Claus!

IN the trees of the pasture I spotted this pair of what looks like immature pine warblers, but it turns out this is a yellow throated vireo...

Prairie Warbler, 

Upside down and gorgeous was the brownheaded nuthatch..

More nuthatches feeding high up in the canopy...

I heard summer tanagers, hairy and red bellied woodpeckers, chickadees every where, and white eyed vireos but too quick for photos...did manage a shot of this busy northern cardinal with a turn at the feeder..

A tufted timouse scolded me for a while then went on his way..

AND WTHECK is this thing? Found it devouring one of my potted plants...had to get my butterfly n moth book to look it up...

 LOOKS like graphic art.....Its called a saddleback caterpillar, and it turns into a rather dull brown moth...amazing, book says its a STINGING caterpillar ouch..I did move it but it didnt sting me, also had some black swallowtail larve eating the devil outta my parsley!

Flossie was showing off her beautiful tail in the breeze, she moved just as I pulled the trigger on this one but her coat was so pretty I let it slide...SHE's a tough keep cause of this heavy long coat its a grooming nightmare!

ANNIE was around but not in the mood for picture posing...see this house finch (below)....well I walked right up and grabbed her off this feeder, she is almost blind! So now she's in infirmary and receiving treatment for conjunctivitis...she should be fine a few days..

                                                              Good as new in a few days

Here she is in the treatment cage its small but I'll need to be able to catch her everyday and treat her eyes so smaller is better in this case I can catch her without a big "chase".

 

THE star of the weekend bird watch was a pair of Red Breasted Nuthatches that are hanging out in the yard !! ITS been fun to watch them...and thats NEW to my yard list! Usually see them a bit farther north, but they DONT know that....LOL..

NEXT weekend my MOM finally returns from Colorado! She went to stay a month and stayed a Year...lol  my sister will be driving her back and she will be with us for a month...and MY sisters and I  plan to do at least one waterfall hike...3 of us are having birthdays too..

One of us will be 56, one of us will be 59, one of us is 63, and one of us will be 88...

YA'll can figure out who is how old 'iffin you want to.

Im enjoying good times while I can! Hope you're doing the same where ever you are!

PEACE