Category: dog

Things Are Happening Around Here!!!

Wow! We’ve had quite the busy time around here, and it’s been very cold. Yesterday, it finally warmed up, and today it’s supposed to be above 70*. My whole outlook has changed. I’m going to buy some pansies and fill planters today, for the patio and front porch. I’m not fixing chili today, as I have the last few weeks, but thinking something more spring like. Actually…I’m thinking my hubby will take me out to eat! LOL

This past month, I’ve done some more organizing. There are SO many things that need to be done. So I’m doing a little here, and a little there. One of my major projects was cleaning out my pantry. That was no small thing! I did a lot of purging and bought new containers for things. My grandson, who’s 2 1/2, looked at the finished result, and said, “No more big mess!”

OK…my photos aren’t rotating or lining up, as much as I change them and save them. Weird day for my blog. Sorry. You’ll have to turn sideways to see the after picture…..Oops, it did it!

A small project was taking down the shower curtain and putting up a new one. I had washed and dried the old one, last fall, and it had shrunk. Looked crazy. I bought a new one last week, and my hubby put it up. It looks so much better! (of course, if you look closely, he put it up backwards.)

before
after

I am a piano teacher. The mess of music that was in the corner of my music room was driving me crazy. We bought a four drawer chest at Walmart, and my hubby put it together. I spent some time sorting through music,and now it’s all put away in the chest. I love the new look!

The messy piles
Looking better!

Obviously, my pictures are not lining up with things. I’m so sorry.

We’ve had our black lab, Bill, for a year. He’s three years old. We adore him. He’s such a good dog. But he’s had such allergies, that he scratches and bites at his body so much that the hair on his haunches has almost disappeared. He’s been on steroids for several weeks, and the itching has completely disappeared. But he can’t be on steroids the rest of his life. The vet talked us into getting an allergy test for him. That was $500!!! Well, it came back with several pages of what he’s allergic to. My word. He’s allergic to our grass, to oak trees, to maple trees, to corn, beans, peas and beets, etc., etc., etc.. I’ve had to put him on a different diet…did you know most dog foods have corn in them? We will soon need to start giving him injections. This is becoming an expensive dog!!!

The weather was so nice, yesterday, that I was able to take my grandson to the park. It was so nice that he played and played. I enjoyed just feeling the fresh air, and having time with my little guy. AND…he took a two hour nap! Yeah!

A little windy for the hair, but oh, so much fun!

Life is good. The only blight, at the moment, and it’s a big one, is my church. I’m a member of a United Methodist Church. There’s been a big controversy in the church (the whole church, not just mine), about whether or not to allow LGBTQ ministers, or whether or not our ministers can perform wedding ceremonies for LGBTQ people. It’s still a big mess. It saddens me.

Enjoy your warm spell. If you liked this post, please press LIKE, and leave me a comment. Please add your name to the subscriptions!

Grandma Ruddell

Odds and Ends

I’m sorry, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted.  We have had cold weather , rain, rain, and more rain, and now it’s finally feeling like fall.  Crazy weather!!!

I thought I’d just put some odds and ends here, of things we’ve been doing.   We have a vacation to Florida coming up next week.  I’m a little iffy about going through Florida.  Wasn’t the devastation awful???   And now we may be in for lots of rain, from the next Hurricane coming in through Mexico.

We are getting ready for Pledge Sunday,  at our church.  That will be next week.  It will be the culmination of a month long campaign.  Dick and I have been co-chairs, along with another couple, in manning the “Freely We Give, Freely We Receive” campaign.  (Notice we’ve never said the actual word, PLEDGE.)

Our job, as co-chairs, was to stand up in the service, and talk about the different things, and rev up the people.  The first Sunday, Dick talked about the Devotional Booklet.  I was “Vanna White” and showed the booklet around.  The next Sunday, Dick did the talking, and I was “The Opera Lady”, with my mink stole…Isn’t it GORGEOUS!!!…and I had a few quality items that I put in individual packages to hand out to the congregation for “Freely I Give”.   This past Sunday, I talked about the Giving Card that they would be getting in the mail, and we also did a Stair step of giving units.  Dick came out as “Ross Perot”, and brought out a huge chart to fill in.  It was the first time he’d ever had hair gel in his hair, and we tried to make his ears stand out a bit.   We haven’t figured out what we’ll do next week, but I’m sure it’ll be more serious, since it’s the culmination week.

It’s been fun having my two-year old grandson discovering Halloween.  He’s kind of scared of some of the things, but he was really getting into getting some candy.  We’ll go to a pumpkin place tomorrow.   Yesterday, I joined him and his mother to go to Grapevine. We met my nephew and his girlfriend, and had lunch and wandered around.  If you’ve never been to Grapevine, TX, you need to go!!!  It’s a very happening place.  They have the cutest little shops.

The weather was nice for a day.  I found a beautiful butterfly in my garden.  Then it was cold enough for a fire.  Seemed like a good time to make chili.

What do you do, when it’s cooler and you’re feeling like it’s FALL??  I like to cook.  Today I made a pumpkin pie.  Nice to have the house smelling like fall, with pumpkin things, baked breads and cookies.  Yummo.  Because, truthfully, Texas doesn’t have a lot of cold weather.

I’m considering having a lady come and clean my house, once a month.  She’s coming tomorrow to give me a price, or tell me it’s too gross and she won’t do it.  I have lots of recommendations for her.

 

Bill, our 75 lb. black lab, has suddenly decided he’s a lap dog.  It’s pretty funny.  He barely fits, but he needs some lovin’ and scratchin’.

And finally, I want to show you my corn maze.  Do you think you could make it through?   LOL

How is your fall going?   Do you celebrate Halloween?   Will you dress up?  Do you have a child or grandchild, or neighbor child to enjoy the holiday through their eyes?   I firmly believe it’s a fun celebration to have fun dressing up and getting candy.

Press the Like button, below, and leave a comment below.  I hope you will become a subscriber!

 

Grandma Sherry

 

September Happenings

September….wow…lots of things happening here.  It has been a month of travelling, parties, grandkids, dogs, and a smelly carpet.  My piano students have started back to school, and to piano lessons.  They continue to be a delight.

The last week of August, going into the first week of September, we were on vacation.  We spent a week in Gatlinburg, and then three days in New Orleans.  We were at a resort, that had several units.  Our particular unit was brand new, because that unit plus three more they were building, had been destroyed in the big fire that Gatlinburg had, a couple of years ago.  Gatlinburg is rebuilding, and you have to look hard to find burnt out homes and trees.  There was a little gurgling brook going alongside our unit.  On the way there, we stopped to see Loretta Lynn’s house.

Gatlinburg is a little bit like driving through the main drag in Branson, Missouri.  Very congested, to say the least.  And it was Labor Day….some kids were having their last big hoorah before school started.  Once the weekend was over, it was less crowded.  The cool thing is that at the end of the main street, the Smoky Mountain National Park started. My hubby loved the park, and he hiked part of the Appalachian Trail.  When we drove, slowly, over the mountain to Cherokee, the road was the only main road going across, and hemmed in by beautiful trees.  My claustrophobia really kicked in.  I was glad to get back to civilization.   One day, we did see a bear, and that was exciting.

Other things we did included going into Pigeon Forge, to the Island.  We ate at Paula Deen’s restaurant, and shopped at her store.  There were lots of fun shops, and I got a start on my Christmas shopping.  We also went to Asheville, North Carolina to see the Biltmore estate.  What a place.

In New Orleans, Dick fulfilled another thing on his bucket list.  He visited the WW II Museum.  I spent some time at the Harrah’s Casino, losing my money.  Sigh.  New Orleans is always hopping.

I had a lot of Mystery Shopping this month.  I’ve gotten very good at picking out good TV’s and computers, and knowing whether or not the sales people are doing a good job when trying to convince me to buy.

My Granddaughter, Libby, turned three years old.  We had her birthday party here.  They brought their new dog, which is a Labradoodle.  Bill, our Black Lab, was rather jealous and they had a few territorial fights.  Bill grabbed not only his own big chew treat, but also the other dog’s treat, and gobbled them down as fast as he could.  Then they had some other treats.  So…here’s the plan for the party:

  •  Grill burgers and dogs outside
  • Kids will play outside in Sandbox
  • Open gifts
  • As kids play inside, adults will watch a big game on TV.

What could possibly go wrong with that????

  • It rained.  We had to cook the food inside.
  • Kids were running around and underfoot.
  • Libby opened her gifts….yeah!
  • During the gift opening, Bill got sick….at least 6 times on various carpets throughout the house.
  • The TV went out on us, and we couldn’t watch the game.

Lord help us, it was one disaster after another.  And I tried to clean the carpets from vomit and pee, with a urine/vomit out carpet cleaner.  It totally stunk for a week or two.  I was so embarrassed!

My good friend, Gayle Landers, was in town for a few weeks.  She and her hubby moved to S. Korea a couple of years ago.  They are planning on moving back in another year and a half.  So while she was in town, I invited all of our Punch Bunch ladies, from church, to a luncheon for her.  It was a salad/dessert luncheon and everyone brought something.  My husband couldn’t fathom a meal without meat!  LOL

We had a fun time.  Lots of catching up was happening. After several ladies had left, there was a small group left.  We were all laughing so hard, and telling crazy stories.  (Which direction do you begin, when shaving your legs?)  All of a sudden, the doorbell rang, and it was the Bug Man, come to do the quarterly spraying.  He said “What is going on???  I could hear y’all clear down the street?”  I told him to beware, we were telling a lot of stories.  He just shook his head, and went about his business.

That was on a Wednesday.  On Friday, of that week, my sister-in-law, Lu and hubby,  Cliff Mark,  came up for the weekend.  It was our weekend to play Euchre…all weekend!   Dick and his sister, Lu are one team, and Cliff and I are the other team.  It was so fun.  It was also Lu’s birthday.  So we celebrated that.

They left on Sunday, and on Monday, I hosted Ladies’ Poker.  It’s such a fun group of ladies!    Then I had a few days of normal activity.  I made a reservation for us and three other couples to go to dinner, on Friday.  Our S. Korean friends were back and ready to see old neighbors.  I thought about who I invited, and made the reservation for 6 at 6 pm.  When we got there, and waited for our table, I counted again, and realized I forgot to count us.  I think my brain had been in overload for a couple of weeks!

This week, I’ve relaxed.  Tomorrow is my dear daughter’s birthday.  Tomorrow evening, Dick is going with a bunch of guys to San Antonio.  This is their annual golf trip, to play three games of golf over the weekend.  I must admit, I’m looking forward to some alone time.  I have my plans!!!!  Winstar, here I come!!

How has your September been?  Feeling some cooler weather?  This may be a fluke day, but it’s nice.   I’m still thinking about those folks in North and South Carolina, and along the coast, with the flooding.  What a tragedy.!

Toodles,

Grandma Ruddell

The Weekend….Weird, Wonderful, and Woeful

This past weekend we went to Kansas City, to my nephew, Alex Treaster’s, wedding.  It turned out to be a weird, wonderful and woeful weekend.  I’m going to tell you what happened!

From Ft. Worth to KC is a long trip.  Dick and I were going, and my daughter and hubby, and 23 month old were also going.  My son and two kids were going to go from Guthrie, OK.   We were all trying to save money.  My sister had recently moved from her apartment to a new house, and we could stay at her apartment and sleep on air mattress.  Very basic, but fun to stay together.

My daughter drove, on Thursday night, to Moore, OK, and they stayed with my son-in-law’s parents.  No charge there!    I called and had a free night at Winstar.  Only when we got there, they told me it was $150 for the room.  Noooooooo…I don’t THINK so!   There was a lot of conferring with the manager, and finally they gave us our free room.  It turned out to be a good night….I left the casino floor with $700.  WOW!  I usually leave with barely anything, because I tend to put any winnings back in.

 

We all arrived in KC within 15 minutes of each other.  My sister had left the key under the dog, on the front porch.  We blew up the air mattresses.  Then we went out to lunch at Fritz’ Railroad Restaurant, in Crown Center.  It was pretty cool, with trains delivering our meal.  The kids loved it.

Then we went back to the apartment and changed clothes.  We went to the Rehearsal dinner.  It was fun.  It was good to see everybody.  Everyone was in a jubilant mood.  Only later did we find out that my brother, the pianist, had forgotten all of his music.  He was almost to KC, from 3 hours away, when he realized it.  He had to do some major buying , running off, and practicing before the wedding, the next day.

 

The next day, we did this and that, and then went to the wedding.  It was totally beautiful and fun.  It was so fun to see my youngest grandson dancing with a little girl.  (His Grandma and I have already planned that wedding. )  We left the reception about 11:00.  Everyone was pretty tired and wanted to go to bed.  My son and kids had already gone back to the apartment.  When we got back, the door was locked.  We banged and banged on the door, but couldn’t rouse anyone.  Tried to call, to no avail.  My daughter’s and us decided we’d need to get a hotel.  We both got one, online.  When we got to ours, they said “No, we’re booked up tonight.  That reservation is for tomorrow night.”  The kicker…there was no refund because it was online.

My daughter’s had reserved a hotel, online.When they got there, they said they had been ready to call them, because they were all booked up for the night.  No..it wasn’t refundable.  So they went to another hotel, and somehow talked to the reservation people and  got a refund on the first hotel.    The second hotel was another hundred dollars than the first.

We finally called my sister, and she had a spare key.  She brought it over, and Dick and I were able to get in.  My poor son was appalled, the next morning, that the door had somehow been locked and he had had his phone off for the night.   But it was OK.  My daughter’s came back, the next morning, and we all got packed and cleaned up the apartment.  My sister had a nice brunch for the families, and then we headed out to the farm, where my brother and wife live.  That was our landing place for the night.

We had left Bill, the dog, with one of Jessi’s friends…actually, her boss…who thought everything would be fine.  She had a dog, they had met, and she came home at noon, and after work to let the dogs out, and walk them.  She sent texts, saying they were having a good time.  The morning we were leaving my brother’s house, her text message changed.  She mentioned that things weren’t going too well the last few days.  There was pee and poop all over her house, and her couch was a mess.   I  practically hyperventilated all the way home.  When we got there, she was very gracious.  I offered to pay for cleaning her rugs, and buy a new couch.  She declined, but her rugs were rolled up, on the patio, waiting to be cleaned.  We apologized, felt really bad, and left quickly.

Look at that dog!  Doesn’t he look sweet and wonderful.  He’s back home, enjoying the peace and quiet of his home.  We are too…except for the 106 degrees.  This will be a wedding weekend to remember!!!!   And now, I realize I don’t have a picture of the bride and groom!   Glory.

 

 

About Grandma Ruddell

Minion Grandma

Grandma Ruddell….aka Sherry Ruddell, lives in Ft. Worth, TX.  She loves to play with her Grandkids and do craft projects with them.  Grandma loves to cook and create new recipes, do gardening, travel, organize and redo her house, and TRY to exercise.  She’s hoping that she will exercise more, since she is walking her new dog, Bill.  Grandma tries to find moments of joy in her everyday life.