Trying To Give Our House Curb Appeal

Our house is a 40 year old house without curb appeal.  The first time Mama drove by it, she was not impressed.  However, the photos of the inside that she saw on the Internet impressed her, so she decided to look at it.  The inside is nicely updated and we really like it.  It's the outside that needs help.  Our house is a white house in the shape of rectangle with green shutters.  It does not have a covered porch and that really makes it look, well, basically like a mobile home.  Lowe's has their shrubs on sale for 50% off, so Mama bought some yesterday.  She bought 11 Blue Rug Juniper and six Heavenly Bamboo.  The Heavenly Bamboo changes color throughout the seasons. In the winter, it will be red and that is what Mama wanted. It does not loose its' leaves.  There are currently a few rose bushes in the landscaping, but they are looking sad since winter is coming.  Mama planned on planting all around the porch.  She was quite surprised to find one section is concrete with mulch on top.  That spoiled her plans. She moved a concrete bench and a statue of a little boy in that area. The was not an easy task because they are quite heavy. She was determined though.  Mama was sad to see that our house still doesn't have curb appeal even with landscaping. She put mulch down today in hopes that it would help.  Well, it looks better, but still it is a sad looking house. She then cut the grass to mulch the leaves. It looks about as good as it is going to look.  Mama had dreams of painting the outside of the house a light brown.  That is obviously not going to happen now.  We know that someone will buy our house and hopefully they can give it curb appeal. 

We think it looks better in person than in photos.

Grandpa is home and doing great! Tomorrow, Mama's BFF is having surgery.  What is it with everyone having surgeries? 

The birds and squirrels have been quite active here since the temperatures have turned cooler.

If I am not looking out the front door, I am laying on the deck.  Scout prefers to lay on the couch or in the folks' bed during the day.  She is definitely not as adventurous as me.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Likes To Dig After He Runs

Mama's Day Out

Yesterday, Mama decided to have a day out without us.  :-O   Can you believe that?  She started off the day by putting some items in our driveway with a "free" sign. She said she was tired to driving to Goodwill all the time and these were bigger items such as coolers, planters, camping chairs, a nice folding camping table and a few other things. She was surprised that no one stopped immediately, but was quite happy when she returned home and found everything gone except for the "free" sign.  She said she probably brightened a couple of people's day by finding these items. She was so tickled with having the items gone, that she has more items out today.  Does it look tacky?  Maybe, but it is only tacky for a few hours.  BOL

Mama decided to stop at Merb's Candy to buy the Grandfolks and herself Bionic Apples. These are big apples with caramel and nuts.  These are not your normal caramel apples though. The caramel is really rich.  Mama ate one last night and said it was the best she has ever had. We didn't get any of it.

She then stopped at Bed, Bath and Beyond to buy a jewelry holder. She planned on buying a larger one, but realized it was too long to hang in her closet in the RV. She chose the smaller one which is perfect because she doesn't have a lot of jewelry. She realizes the necklaces will probably get tangled.  She will make adjustments after she sees how it does.

Jewelry holder that can be hung or folded up.

 Mama then went to the dog museum that we visited with Bunny and Blueberry.  They told her she could tour for FREE since she was there last week with us. Wasn't that nice of them?  You have probably seen these items in Bunny's blog, but on the rare chance that you haven't, here are some items from the museum.

Painting of Millie, George and Barbara Bush's dog.

Whippets/greyhounds on couch.

Racing greyhounds.

Poster for "Greyhound Bus" promoting designated drivers for Spring break

Mama then decided to eat at Poor Richard's. This is a place that the folks really enjoy in Eureka, MO.  They have really good burgers. They offer a half order of breaded mushrooms and it is larger than most regular sized orders.  Mama has been craving their hot wings for months, so that is what she ordered.   The wings come with a salad and cheese garlic bread.

Salad

Wings and Cheese Garlic Bread

The wings were as good as she remembered.  They seemed to be deep fried and then dipped in a sauce and maybe baked.  She is not sure how they are made, but they are very good.  Their prices have gone up since she was last there in March.  Her lunch was pricey or at least pricey to her.  It was $13 with a Diet Pepsi.  The food was excellent as was the wait staff.

Mama then headed to the hospital to visit Grandpa. He wasn't feeling well yesterday. He said he felt fine after the surgery and the next day, but yesterday he was in pain and very sore. He may be allowed to come home today.

That was Mama's big day out. Scout and I just laid around all day.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Thinks Bionic Apples Look Good

Bittersweet

Yesterday, Mama went through all the boxes in the basement.  She was dreading that. She doesn't like being in that basement.  She went through all the Christmas boxes and found the items she wanted to keep.  She found another large plastic container that held her wedding gown, but it also held other treasures that she had forgotten about.

Some of the treasures.

This is one of the ornaments we told you about.  It belonged to her Grandparents on her Dad's side.  Notice the hook. it is made of a wire and rope.

We have five of these.  One broke several years ago.

This is a crochet hook that is handmade. A note attached to it said it was made by Minne Todd.  Mama's Great Grandmother was a Todd, but her name was not Minnie.  She is unsure who Minnie was.  She tried to do a little research, but so far doesn't have the answer.

This nativity ornament has always been on Mama's family Christmas tree.  She is not sure how old it is, but it is old. The angel was bought when Mama was in first grade, so it's OLD, too.

This dress was Mama's.  It was crocheted by Mama's Grandma, her Dad's Mom.

This was given to Mama's brother on his first Christmas.  He didn't want it, so Mama has it.  It is 52 years old.  It used to be a brass color, but Mama repainted it about 30 years ago.

A hat made by Mama's grandma.

This is a harmonica that was owned by Mama's Great Grandfather on her Mom's side.  It is dated 1836, but we don't know if that is when it was made. The writing on it is hard to make out, so we need to find a magnifying glass which is probably at Goodwill.  LOL

Having all of these things is bittersweet for Mama. She doesn't have anyone to leave them to on her side of the family.  She is going to pack them into the china cabinet for now.

Two more huge trips were made to Goodwill yesterday.  The guys there give Mama a big wave when they see her coming. She told them that we are going to be living in our RV full-time.  Their eyes got HUGE. I guess they have never heard of that before. BOL   Mama made a lot of trips up and down the steps yesterday, so she was really tired last night.  She still needs to go through a box that has diplomas and other personal items. The basement is about 75% done.   The next room is the garage and Mama is more than scared to open boxes out there.  When we came home from our trip, there was a very long snake skin in the garage. Where is the rest of the snake?  Yeah, so Mama is putting the garage off for as long as she can. 

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Enjoys Sniffing Old Items

Everyone Is Fine!

The last update we had on Grandpa was good.  He enjoyed a mainly liquid dinner last night. We hope he recovers quickly and is back home soon.  He is Dad's stepdad, which makes him Grandpa to us.  He is always helping us with things.  When we were in Illinois, Scout thought she saw him and when nuts.  She was so disappointed when she found out it wasn't Grandpa.

An old photo of me looking cool.

Dad is fine after encountering Hurricane Sandy. He emailed us yesterday to say it was mainly just windy.  He called us just before 9 p.m. to say that all was well and it was over. He said the other part of the island got hit harder than they did. 

Scout's nose looks really long.  BOL

Yesterday, Mama finished clearing out the junk/sewing room. The kitchen is about as done as it can be for now. She made what seems to be a daily trip to Goodwill.  They gave her more boxes to fill. LOL  (If you need boxes, check with your local Goodwill.  They are happy to give them away.) Today, Mama is tackling the basement which has all the Christmas stuff. She is going to keep her Grandparents ornaments that she was told came from Germany. She is not sure if that is true, but they are definitely very old.  She will take a photo to show you tomorrow.  She also wants to keep a little nativity ornament that is really old and an angel ornament that she has had since first grade. The rest will be donated.

I Look cute in hats, but I don't like them.

Mama's passport card arrived yesterday.  She can now travel to Canada and Mexico.  It is not the same as a regular passport because it only allows her to DRIVE into Canada and Mexico.  So, if we are sent to Canada, we are ready!

 Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Itching To Hit The Road Again

"We Are Going To Need More Trash Bags!

That is what Mama said when she found another tub of papers that needed to be shredded.  Well, it's not the first thing she said, but maybe the second or third. I actually thought she was going to cry when she saw those papers.

Papers that needed to be shredded.

 We started out being pretty productive yesterday.  Mama decided she was going to finish the office by clearing out everything that was not staying. She looked up on the Internet how to clean up her hard drive so she could donate her computer.  It was an easy process.  She loaded up the desktop, monitor, printer table and the laser printer that she bought in 1995 for $1,500 in the Jeep.  Yes, that is how much she spent on that printer. That is what they used to cost. She needed it for the new business she was starting. Obviously, it was a work horse because it still works.  Mama worked it hard in the glory days of her business.  Yes, I think she was sad to say goodbye to it.  After she finished the office, she headed to the junk/sewing room and that is when she discovered the tub of papers.   She was very sad. She decided to go to Goodwill and drop off the donations, grab some lunch at Bandana's (BBQ place) and then start on the shredding.  She forgot to buy trash bags and had to head back out for that.  This bin took her about five hours to shred.  Our shredder only shreds six pages at a time and gets hot, so he needs to cool off. Finally, we finished at 8:15 p.m.

Today is a day of worry.  1) Grandpa is having surgery.  We are sure he will be fine, but still having surgery is scary.  2) Dad is in Jamaica and they are having a hurricane.  He said no one is concerned there.  They didn't board up any of the windows. We hope we hear from him tonight and he says everything is okay.

On the bright side, today is Mama's only niece's 16th birthday!  We hope she has a very happy day.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Tired Of Paper Shredding