This Side of Death

[cineater]

My first attempt at needle felting.  Mines the one on the right.  

[cineater]

I was suppose to be sitting on my ass by now watch GNR shows!  We've had a rainy spring.  Cloud cover is my battle cry.  Nothing new with where don't I hurt.  Can't wake up without a charlie horse in my left calf.  Damn those things hurt.  Only solution is to get up and get those muscles warmed up.

We keep getting small tornados with no warning.  Regular rain passing through and then what they call a spin up tornado hits.  Yeah it's not going up, it's coming down!

The gardens have been getting a lot of visitors.  Not sure how we got on so many people's radars.  Turns out this one guy who was there for a meeting is a real reporter.  Those people are scary.  He took an interest and for some reason thinks I'm great.  "You tell good stories."  He wants to send people out for a real story.  Wanted my home number and me for it.  Don't quote me god damn it.  Your machine gunning me with questions.  Looking me over from top to bottom.  Liked my shoes.  You mean the ones covered in mud and grass?    And stop taking my picture, I'm not photogenic.  I threw Phebe under the bus, take her picture.  

I have a meeting with the culture arts center this week.  Going to see if they want to do an art display in the gardens next year.  Maybe around America turning 250.  Art that would stay in the gardens, another draw to get people to come to the gardens.  Something the city would promote as an attraction.

Real reporters and city attraction is not within my skills, way out of my comfort zone.  Good for the gardens so were going to do it.  I'm pretty mellowed out on pollen so I can roll with it.  Other folks use alcohol and drugs, I've got allergies.  

The more people I talk to the more the chances I get recognized.  Got caught the other day on a tour.  The moment I said my name.  "You're her?"  Fortunately, it's generally, a you helped me so much.  It's just a change in personality, I have to put on a different hat.  You know, I can be proud of the work I use to do but I don't want to be her any more.  I'm pretty happy with my guard dropped and easy living.  Pretty happy out here playing in the dirt.

[cineater]

Aww, my last Monday as a full time babysitter.  My grandson starts therapy daycare 3 times a week next week.  They've got him diagnosed on the autism spectrum.  He's been delayed on his skills but eventually he gets them.  He's 2 and a half and just attempting to talk.  I'll still see him regularly and I can pick him up whenever I want.

[cineater]

Happy Father's Day 

[cineater]

I feel like fresh meat everytime I step out the door.  I need a bug spray shower.

Oh man, they took the baby to Great Clips for a haircut.  It will grow back.  Looks like a different child with his baby locks cut off.

I've lost where I'm at in my story.  Left off when the two trains came head to head.  Wasn't a crash, a joining up.  I swear I saw somebody get on the train while all that was being worked out but maybe it was just one of us.  People are starting to look for me.  Some of them finding me, not really working out for me.  I don't want to listen to that shit.  I'm still around, they see me but I disappear pretty quick.  No idea where the story is going but I've got to write myself out of my current situation.

[cineater]

First ever heat advisory issued for Alaska.

[cineater]

Anti tourist protests.  I totally get their point on that.  Seems like that is a problem everywhere.  You try to go somewhere and end up in a mass of people with sky high prices.  Spend half you time on transportation to get to the even and standing in line.  I can't imagine what it's like for the locals.

[cineater]

It's my birthday.    Turned 68.  That's a big number.  Don't know what to make of that so I just won't.    I even wore a dress.  Yes, I do own a few.  Still going pale face but when was the last time I shaved my legs?   

Started my day at the nursery.  Never got out of the native plant section.  Got myself a cinnamon fern.  Pretty cool it gets like a tall, red stalk on it.  And a shade milkweed.  The rest of the haul is for my moon and milkweed gardens.  The place was crawling with long haired, young men.  Who knew?  You know I have a preference.     So who's your grandpa?   


Oh wow, I saw a station wagon, green complete with wood paneling.  How old is that car?  Those were popular back in the 70's.  Didn't like them then but it got my attention now.  Without the wood paneling, the station wagon was a pretty cool car.


People are feeding me today so I had to postpone what I wanted to do but I'm getting ready for my day.  Had the power washer brought home and filled up my gas can last night.  Ahahaha, my most favorite power tool after the gas weed trimmer.  We're going to spend the day together here soon.

[Muerto]

It's my birthday.

Happy Birthday !!!, there are still a few hours left in the day, I hope you are having a great time. 

[cineater]

It's my birthday.

Happy Birthday !!!, there are still a few hours left in the day, I hope you are having a great time. 

Thank you.    Well, at 5 I discovered my air conditioner wasn't cooling.  Called Craig and he'll be here in the morning.  Left and went out for ice cream with the kids.  It will be fine.  It's been a nice birthday.

[cineater]

Son of a bitch.    Was having a great time with the power washer and the hose blew out.  Could have been on my birthday list!  Guess I'll gift myself.

AC is working.  Craig is getting a divorce.  I was kind of hoping he would buy up the house across the street and flip it but everything is tied up.  Maybe move in and be my neighbor.  I gifted him my Dodge Trucks utility pocket knife.  Something my dad gave me back in the 70's.  He thought it was pretty cool, it is but I needed to find it a home before it ends up in my death junk they throw away.  He's a Ram truck guy and likes little shit like that.  I call them glove box toys you put in collector cars.  It was a promo back in the day.  Gave him the valet key for a Chrysler New Yorker he thought was pretty cool too.

Guess I'll run up to Home Depot before the band goes on.

Couldn't end the day without something else going wrong.    My cat has a urinary tract issue.  Fortunately she's easy to get in the crate and up to the vet.  I'll get back to power washing another day.  We have a little project going on at the gardens.  With heat warnings, I'll get there at the crack of dawn, do a little and come home to hide in the AC.  What I did get to looks nice.  

Summer is here!  "Since it costs a lot to win, and even more to lose", yeah I'm doing all of that.

[cineater]

Does the intro to Suspicious Minds sound like you could sing, early one morning the sun was shining, I was lying in bed, wondering if she changed at all?  I was expecting a Bob Dylan song.

We're under an excessive heat warning for 4 days.  My doctor suggested I stop one of my medications and see if it helps with my heat exhaustion.  I think it did.  Kristine and I are out there building 4 raised beds and installing them.  Bed kits so we built them in the building in the AC, not so bad there.  But what are two 68 year old, retired women doing out there in this heat?  I blame aging rock stars.     I was buying into you're old, you can't do that shit any more.  But here they are out there doing it in their 70's and 80's.  You guys need to sit the fuck down.  You were a bad example in my youth and still being ones.     I guess if it kills us, people can say we were having a good time when it happened.  Rock on! 

You ever wonder if Lisa Marie Presley upon meeting Axl said she loved November Rain, reminded her of her dad's song Kentucky Rain?  Or Axl said something about his song was inspired by that song?  Some connection there for the two of them from those songs?  Guess I should ask that in the GNR section.

[cineater]

That design for what we are doing isn't settling well with me.  You walk down the brick path, under the black metal arches through 3 beds on each side.  Your facing the compost bin where we put in a metal decorative panel.  We're installing 2, 6ft beds under the panel that are butted together.  It's like all the sudden there's a wall.  But what if we pull the beds apart and put a black bench there in the middle?  Path ends at a place to sit.  The two beds would line up more with the beds along the path.  And the side beds would butt up to those.

So I call Kristine, not knowing what she's going to think about that.  She loves it.  Ask her if we should consult the team, nope.    That's her area.  Okay, she can pick out the bench.  She likes my idea of having storage in it.  It's just a little more digging and we'll probably put a brick pad under it so a few more days added on.  Good thing about Krintine, she'll get up there at the crack of dawn too.

[cineater]

Left Kristine up there at 10 still working in the heat.  She's got the excited energy going.  I have a soaking wet bra and I'm done.    Really wasn't room for both of us to install the bricks for the bench.  We want to do that before we do the final install of the beds.  Hopefully before Saturday and we can start filling the beds up.  Just get a little break in this heat would help.

Saw a guy from California talking about the transplanting trouble he had with his milkweed.  Sent him an email on the newspaper tubes I use, might help.  He has a Heart Leaf Milkweed we don't have here.  Pretty cute.


Update:  My email did reach him.  He thought that was a cool technique.  Might try that next time he grows them.   Might have helped out the monarchs in the west.  Let me tell you he has some shit growing conditions and grasshoppers.  No rain for you California.

[cineater]

   It really helps when the boss gets stung on the parking lot in an unprovoked attack.  He and the bee keepers were blowing us off about the bee problem.  Must be another kind of bee.  Not being aggressive with the beekeepers.  Of course not, they wear little white suits and they smoke them.  But the boss is also a beekeeper and they have to believe him.  We were getting chased and run down to get stung.  Fortunately I jumped in the car but the little shit still buzzed the window.  I like the bee hive.  I hope we don't lose them but they are running the risk of being kicked off campus.

My birthday gift to myself.   

[cineater]

Fuck, the compressor is out on the AC during a heat wave.  It's already been two days with no AC.  Fortunately I discovered the neighbor had a portable AC for his garage he's letting me use.  The cats and I are confined to the bedroom but that's better than the 86 it got to in the house yesterday.  And what the fuck?  Craig replaced the hose on my power washer.  Used it to wash off his trailer.  I go to use it and I can't get anything to come out the hose.

I do think being off that medication made all the difference in my sun/heat tolerance.  I was able to work till noon over the weekend and not come home to total exhaustion.  But I had to restart it Monday night and I was really feeling it yesterday.  Then again, I had no AC.  I want to do one more time going off it when it gets a little hotter before I discuss it with the doctor.

[cineater]

Is there some reason Jeff Bezos thought it would be fun to have wedding to revival European royalty?     Very un Amazon mess going on there.

I might just want my life back.  I had plans for this week.  I had quit smoking again on my list, clean the house really good, eat better, all good stuff for me going on.  I told Kristine I would help with her project.  She picked this week.  And an air conditioner that should be freezing my ass out of here is going on day 4 of not working.  Not to mention my favorite toy, the power washer is not working.  Every move I make is not improving anything.  Kind of just piling more shit on.     I can't even speak without more shit coming up. 

Uncle!  You've got me down and I'm not even willing to fight to get back up.    I was minding my own fucking business.  You need to be good to me universe because I'm unwilling to play your games.   

[cineater]

Craig dropped off the compressor for the AC unit.  But surgery didn't go well yesterday for his DIL.  He's living with them and they have two little boys.  If they need you Craig I can wait.  And they do, so no AC fix for me tomorrow.  It will be okay.

[cineater]

I got up at 5:30 to clean the house and get the laundry done while the house is cool.  They say you are instantly happy if you clean the car.  Lord knows mine needs it.     Wouldn't hurt to turn the hose on myself either.

Yeah, I don't want my life back.  I want the one I was going for.  I'm retired, I don't have to do anything.  All those struggles are behind me.  The bills are all paid, money is not an issue.  I got the kid off to a good start and she's doing okay.  I've got my health, stable living, everything I need plus more (some of that can go bye-bye  ).  I'm shooting for happiness. 

Had to thin out some of my flowers at the garden.  Came home with bucket of flowers.  Showed up at Connie's and Sandy's with vases of fresh flowers.  One for me too.     Went over to hide out in Sandy's girl cave.  I just wanted to sit in the AC, drink some coffee and smoke where it was cool.  Had never watched Elvira host her horror show, not my thing but it was great!  An old movie called The Terror.  Starred Jack Nicholson and Boris Karloff from 1964.  Should scare the shit out of you, right?  It was so bad.     We laughed the whole way through it.

Thought I was doing pretty good trying to fix the power washer but no.  I left a message for the mobile mechanic to see if he can fix it.  If not, I'm just going to get another one.  Not losing my favorite toy.    Haven't heard from Craig.  He'll get back here at some point to fix the AC.  In the meantime, the cats and I are living in the bedroom with a portable AC unit.  Mike lent me a high powered fan to keep air circulating through the house.  Pretty strong, I may not have to dust.    That man has every tool imaginable over there.  And not using them.  The box fan I bought wasn't doing shit.  My hair is blowing around in the house. 

I didn't follow the wedding.  I couldn't judge the happiness factor there.  Just a bunch of people, dressed up in designer clothes posing for pictures.  Lots of fake smiles.  Did you see this picture of Axl?  That's people having fun.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DLdhDBgsEXu/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

[cineater]

Really, do kids think that's cool?  Beyoncé's flying car broke down mid flight.  The whole cowboy show is what I would call "jumping the shark".  She's got a good voice, showmanship but it's just trying to be sexy with props.  You can only watch the tease so long before your wondering is she ever puts out.