A different Amaryllis

A chilly morning...but still very nice. My appointment for noon just showed up (8am)....I really do not mind because then it is over with. It is the electrician for the HOA....who knew there were reset buttons on the lamp post electrical outlets!?
Yesterday when I went to Lowes to construct a simple birdbath for the garden, I remembered to buy my Christmas Amaryllis...

 have you seen this kind yet? It is encased in handmade wax and needs no water! I was told that it is true and will bloom without needing to be cared for...just put it on the counter and leave it alone. While there I also bought a lovely red Poinsettia; both of these are a Christmas must.  I did buy 2 small bushes for the front area... Eremophia maculata Cupid known also as the "emu bush". Where do these names come from. As soon as there are blooms I will share a picture. It will add a bit of color to the porch area. These may be mauve in color and will be good for the hummers.
Today needs to be ---organize the Christmas boxes to the shelves in the garage....should not take too long. After that I plan on doing...if you guessed nothing you guessed correctly. I have dough thawing in the fridge for doughboys...also known as fry bread for later. Time to finish my coffee....before the electrician returns from getting part for the lights. Always nice to chat with you. Thank you for your kind words and for caring. Thank you for your friendship.

A rainy day all over Arizona

We do need the rain but over the entire state all at once!? The storm off the coast of California is what is happening here in Arizona.

Gloomy morning skies are a big change from the sunshine. Rain drops cover my palm tree and fill the birdbath. Flash flood warnings are out … luckily I do not live in a flood area but there is flooding on the roadways everywhere. The news is full of pictures of the roadways and highways flooding.  I do not plan to leave the comfort of my home today. The fighter jets from Luke Air Force base are flying overhead.... rain does not keep them down. Love the sounds of rain and jets.

I will be finishing this shiny green star today. The parts were ready but I put it aside to work on the Stain Glass Rose Star. The pretty pink star was brought to mother Eva P by The Brother Alan when he returned to RI. She loves it. This will be for my tree.... yes I do try to keep some things for me. I am waiting for the beads to arrive to make a Santa star.... tracking tells me the package will arrive on Thursday. So that will be a possibility for the weekend. I also want to try those denim feathers. Of course I still have not tried removing the water system from the kitchen faucet or getting the kitchen light to work. My priorities are elsewhere.
Guess that about covers the happenings around here.....very happy to share my day with you. Thank you for stopping by and for your kind thoughts and of course thank you for your friendship.

Always something to do

Whether I want to or not, there is always something to do. Right now I need a plumber, a carpenter, an electrician and a "pond someone" and assistance from Cox? maybe. The pond definitely has a problem...hopefully an easy fix. At the moment it is empty of water and there is expected rains coming the beginning of the week so it will remain off to the dismay of several birds who thought their pond was back. This includes the bunny too. The kitchen light is not responding to the yard stick taps so I have half lighting. The last time I attempted to climb the step ladder to "fix" this I almost landed on the stove top. Happily there was nothing cooking. I see there is a ?shut off valve under the sink on the water dispenser, but will that be enough for me to try to disconnect the system??? I really do not need water running everywhere. The cable went out again yesterday as did my bathroom lights! Once I reset the lights at the electrical box the cable returned??!! Cox  was as confused as I was. So far cable is working today but I am still having them come out later today to discuss this issue. At least I was not the only customer  in the area calling them the last 2 days. As I was Swiffing around the TV in my bedroom yesterday I found

this frayed HDMI cable...you didn't know that I knew what it is called, right? I learned a lot from My Denny. Of course there was a replacement in the garage! Yes, he always had extras of this or that, remember the 4 drills??? It was an easy fix.
Thank goodness for going to lunch with Glenda yesterday to break the craziness around here.
I began putting together the beaded Rose Star and hope to share that over the weekend, but I will show you these.....

A gift from Lisa...lovely wire wrapped "beach glass" earrings....we both love the color purple/lavender! the picture does not do them justice but I think you can see they are delicate in style. She also gave me

A beautiful wrap bracelet....a silver formed piece with a piece of turquoise and silver beads....I love it. Thank you Lisa for being so thoughtful. The washer is swishing and I will walk the Bissell soon. Then back to trying to do nothing. At some point I should make breakfast and another cup of coffee. Glad you had time to visit with me.... thank you for your kind words and for your friendship. DebbieB if you are able to read this I hope you are enjoying yourself.... talk with you soon! Honey, AKA Keith, hope you are feeling good after your shoulder surgery. I am feeling better today, thank you Glenda for the special chat. Let's have a good day everyone.

What next ? ! ?

I  decided to work in the garden yesterday

and this was the result of trying for 1 hour to connect 2 drip lines. Lots of bad words seemed to float around the yard. Thank goodness for Don who came over and in 15 minutes had both lines attached.
Then it was to finish my tatting

The snowflake is finished, not perfect but complete and needs a bit of blocking. I had hoped to make another one today....we shall see if the hand is healed enough. Then the rains came....yes indeed they did. Of course almost always at night and they did not disappoint.

It pored, the wind blew everything, the chimes sang merrily  and look at the metal plant hanger over the pond how it moved! The Fountain Grass which stands 5 feet is a flattened mess and the pond is filled to the brim. Water everywhere. Good news is that the new gutters work just perfectly. The plants that I worried about yesterday did not need to have a drip line yet! The bad news? Well I have no electricity to either of the 2 bathrooms. No lights...also the outdoor backyard flood lights do not work. Oh and the cable....that is not working either. I tried to re-boot the boxes myself ( at 3 AM) but that did not work. I went on line for Cox support, she could not re-boot them. So today, the A/C guy---Brent---is supposed to come to put a new part in the 7 month old unit to stop the noises (it works just fine otherwise) and then Cox will be out here in the late afternoon to "fix" my cable problem. The bathroom electricity? Well, I am not comfortable trying to play with the switches. The electric box is outside and I have no clue what to click. Just had new master switch put in this past March. Sleep...I have not been to bed yet! I was up at 3 AM yesterday and here it is almost 8 AM and still awake.  So my friends I am not in a happy mood! I am sure things could be worse. It is what it is. Just other issues to deal with. I guess I might as well try to get the electrician out here today to check the electrical box situation. Why not, we could have an all day fix it party. I have the wine cooling....
Hope your evening went well and your day is better than mine.

UPDATE

At 8:30, neighbors Robyn and Dave who live across the courtyard read my blog and Dave came over. He showed me how to re-set the electrical switch and there is electricity in the bathrooms! Then he re-set the cable boxes and now there is Perry Mason! I am so lucky to have Robyn and Dave as friends. So, things are looking a little "brighter " just waiting for the A/C guy and due to the weather he may cancel. Guess I will cancel Cox's visit. 

Yard stick electrician

The end of the week already. Days are disappearing. Each year I subscribe to Jacquie Lawson's Advent Calendar. Denny and I would click on the ornament for the day together each evening after dinner. It was strange sitting here at the computer clicking it myself. Just another one of those days. I did get the village down and on display....

 When I rearranged the living room area I also lost the usual table for the display. It was just a few adjustments but it looks just fine. It is a small village but one that each item meant something to us through the years. Once, a long time ago we had a larger set up but that changed when we moved here.

There are only 3 buildings....in front is the Knit Shop...for me and in the back is the Sweet Shoppe for us. Various people just because.  The tree in the center is one of the oldest pieces, about 30 years old and standing about 14 inches. The lights on it are the original and still all working.

This building in the back is the nursery .. of course for Denny. We each had our favorite pieces so there are wonderful memories of each item. Of course once the snow was added to the scene it was everywhere and the Bissell handled it for me.
Don re-set the irrigation for me yesterday and showed me how to change it when I am ready the next time. Remember the kitchen light issue...

This neon yard stick was used by me, myself and I several times to strike the light box which cause the light to come on. Who knew? So far I have had to whack it a few times but it is working. Eventually I will have to climb up and check it out. My expert opinion is that it is a loose connection up there.
Thank you for the emails regarding my doctor appointment. It was because a week ago Sunday , in the wee morning hours I woke with terrible pain in my calf area. By days end it was swollen and the veins looked like they would pop. On Monday I had a bruise along the side of the knee and it was painful to walk. Glenda thought I should phone the surgeon on Wednesday so I did. The gal who answered the phone did not think it was necessary that I should be seen as the insurance would not cover it. After I firmly insisted to be seen she gave me an appointment for this past Thursday. When I was seen by the doctor I told him about that and he was not too pleased. He assured me that I should have been seen that day or as soon as possible as I could have had a blood clot. I did say I mentioned that to that gal who told me she did not think so! He ordered an Ultra sound right then and there. As it turns out I have Superficial Thrombophlebitis...." an inflammatory condition of the veins due to a blood clot just below the surface of the skin".  As it turns out, I did rest the leg up and applied ice and took care not to rub it at all...all the right things....but it could have been more serious is what the doctor told me. Not to worry, I am doing okay. It is painful and still swollen and black and blue even after a week of doing the right thing. So, let's not tell him that I did lift a large plant to move it, and did climb the step ladder and ... and... I am now following orders of rest and ice and Naproxen as needed. Today is my day off!
Plans are to do only the essentials and do some crafting....found an adorable ornament to make and what else I find in the craft bin to work on.  Thank you for your kind words and emails and caring friendship. Let's have a restful weekend.

It's still dark outside

Here I am not only awake but up and out of bed at 5 AM and the washing machine is swishing . My coffee began with an issue...I should say that there would not have been half ground beans all over the counter if I had not lifted the grinder lid while the beans were still whirling. So it was start over and now I am enjoying my first cup of the day. I think my love of coffee comes from my dad who loved his coffee. He had a wood burning stove in the basement and would pour water and coffee (already ground) into the pot and bring it to the boil. Not my kind of coffee, but I do enjoy fresh brewed coffee. I tried tatting yesterday afternoon but I have a small cut on the index finger that got caught few times and do that ended. Instead it was back to the computer to ...well, let me start from the beginning. Friend Dianna makes beautiful picture books with Shutterfly. She offered me a coupon for a free 8x8 20 page book. Yes, I want to make a book. So yesterday she brought the coupon and gave me a crash course on how to navigate the site. We took a break and went for a hamburger and then I returned to ...let me just say it took quite a time to upload and scan photos. Guess what I will be doing for the next week.
The Sweet Memory is in bloom

Do you see him hidden in the blooms? Lots of blooms to enjoy right now out there. I think there is a tomato getting ready for me. Those beans...they are growing but yet to see beans.  Remember the fluorescent light issue? Late yesterday it was working just fine. Last night and this morning...back to only half a light. Just when I thought I would not be playing with it...I think (she says with a note of know-it-all) it is a loose connection. We shall see later today when I attempt to check it out. The residents in the aquarium are having a spa day...adding water and a shot of water treatment so it will be a later breakfast for them. Amazingly they are doing well.
Still have not gotten into the Christmas storage cupboard to find the village...right now it is take one wash out and put another in. So, hate to leave you but today is the maids day off. Thank you for chatting with me and for your kind words and for your friendship. 

Halos and electricity

Well....at 10:55 PM exactly there was a pop noise outside and all went dark inside. Of course I knew there was a flash light in the bedroom as well as one in the kitchen but to get to either of them without causing a catastrophe. Found the one in the bedroom and lighted my way to kitchen. At first I though it was just my house but when I glanced out the window it was everywhere around me. As the time ticked by I figured any minute there will be light. Forget the movie because it was over by now. The sound of the kitchen clock ticking let me know that it was not happening soon. Plan was to just fall asleep and all would be right in the morning. Certainly I thought so. Sleep was not that easy. I kept waking to see if the electricity was back on.  Finally at 8:03 AM ta-da...on came the lights and the TV and the air conditioner and the refrigerator...the fridge...there was water dripping between the freezer door and the fridge door. I do not plan to peek inside just yet....The pond fountain is working and the aquarium pump is flowing so that is good enough for now. As for the halos...

the two angels are now complete...their halos ae not as the pattern called for but rather what I wanted to do....their skirts are trimmed with

beads. I do not think I will starch them. They are ready to travel to someone's home and maybe to a Christmas tree. This are what I made while sitting with my Denny those last days. I had made a couple a few months back and he really liked them and suggested that I make some to give away....so these are with his thoughts. I have one more to finish and I plan to add colored beads to the bottom of that skirt. Feeling pretty good that I finally accomplished something creative yesterday. Maybe I am moving forward instead of sitting still. I made a few more of the necessary phone calls yesterday and so that list is dwindling.  So much to still do in that area but one day at a time and it will get done. Sounds good doesn't it. I no longer have a norm for my day so I will just adjust to what is now. How can I ever thank you all enough for the loving, kind encouragement and most of all your friendship. You are truly the helping force for me.....Although my heart is aching and my eyes are tearful, my heart is full....💔