Sunday, January 16, 2011

The 5 and Dime - Certified

Ok it is official, I am now considered a certified loony. Never, ever have I considered making twin scarves for Lame and me until a day or two ago. Remember the fabric we purchased from Olivia while at Wal-Mart? But if that wasn't sick enough take a look at who else I made scarves for.






This really is going to make me cry :(
Sick, I am plain and simple - SICK.
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The 5 and Dime - What a Surprise!

Just when you think nothing can surprise you anymore you realize that isn't so. You can never guess who came to visit Kenny and me this weekend, QUEEN GARDEN GUARD! Yes, yes, you read it correctly and yes I swallowed my tongue as well.

We had a great visit and she was very helpful. When we headed out to the barn to feed the horses, muck the stalls and spread hay I yelled to her to come grab some hay but I couldn't find her. I only heard a voice informing me "I can't help because I'm holdin' the baby!" see pic




Deja vu, I feel certain I have heard those words before!

But you know what, we were THRILLED to see her. Thank you friend for making our weekend so special :)

Thursday, January 13, 2011

The 5 and Dime - a puzzler

What word can be made plural by adding an "s" and then the letters can be
separated in one place to form 2 words that are the singular for the plural word?

Ohhhhh, this is a tuffie - can anyone come up with the answer?

The 5 and Dime - Halt and Lame's Big Excursion

Halt and Lame are heading out for their big day on the town. We have waited and waited for this special day and the morning has finally arrived. We cleaned up and put on fresh clothes (well some of us did while others of us seem to think wearing the same clothes for a week is just fine and dandy). We decided a picture of our starting out was in order so here is how that worked.

Lame says: "Hey that is a good picture of me so lets use it." Halt replies: "No, no, there is too large a frow in my brow.I want to use the other picture."



Lame looks over this one and declares she looks old. Halt thinks it is better of her because it isn't up so close. I can see this is going to be a long morning out but off we go.




Finally we have arrived at our new favorite store. Yes, yes it is Wal-Mart and for all of you highfalutin people who are putting your noses in the air about our store - all I can say is you try coming to stay out in the boonies with Halt and Lame for several days and see what you think then!!!! I guarantee you everything you once knew as being good is all bad and everything all bad is now good. Your whole idea about everything is G-O-N-E!!! Lost forever. So lets get on to the excursion.


Look at the sheer joy in Lame's eyes as she steps inside this big, beautifully stocked store. There is so much to see and do. There are even other people around to talk to - ohhhh, life really was made much sweeter when Wal-Mart came to town. Praise you Wal-Mart and promise never ever to leave us.






Meet our new friend in the fabric section - Olivia. She hails from Covington and she misses her mother sooo much as she died several years ago. She thinks it is wonderful that Halt and Lame came to buy fabric so they can make matching, polar fleece scarves. Ahhhh, isn't she just a sweetie, I wonder if she will come home with us???







Lame has never been able to go down the stationery aisle without fondling everything. Perhaps she should have been a teacher, they get to buy all of those notebooks, pencils, stars, red pens .......






Success at last. We have tons of great things ie. wine, veggies, wine, photo album, wine, table mats, wine ........


Life is so wonderful with a Wal-Mart store, lets head home.







Hey Lame, get ready it is time to begin our YOGA practice.



Wednesday, January 12, 2011

The 5 and Dime - PG 35?

What I am about to show you is truly a scary sight and one that no young person should ever have to think about at their tender age, much less witness visually. It is for this reason I have rated it as questionably appropriate for folks 35 and older.

The title is "Yoga with the Halt and the Lame". Halt is a 57 year old loony and Lame is an 85 year old woman who made Halt loony. See pix below -



(Man, I am not sure it gets any worse than this?????)







It has been difficult at best attempting to come up with ideas to keep Lame busy and active while Halt tries to maintain her sanity now that her daily routines are gone.. Halt has especially missed her varied exercise routines so to ease the loss she decided to practice her yoga.


(I wonder who is the trainer and who is Lame?)





Most of you know that Lame hates being alone so she decided to join in on the "fun". When you can't beat them you might as well join them. Now Halt and Lame plan their days around their 2 o'clock yoga class. All phones are turned off and no visitors are welcomed. (Of course no one ever goes out that far to see them but should they try they would not be received during class time.) The class period is 45 minutes so be warned - should you go to visit! Following this piece a few more pictures have been added for your viewing.



Breathing deep we only pray we won't get dizzy and fall over. OOOPS, that prayer wasn't answered.







That is downward facing dog in case you couldn't tell. Now the next move is to get up off the floor all by yourself. CLASS IS OVER, see ya around Lame!!!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

REAL ESTATE - Frozen Real Estate

FROZEN REAL ESTATE

Last month, I arrived at the office and took my usual morning stroll through the parking lot to check on our rentals. It was one of those bitterly cold mornings,
so I was alarmed to see the garage door open in one of the units. This particular
rental was essentially vacant since the new tenant was about to move in and had been there the previous evening to measure for furniture. It's is a one bedroom unit on top of a double garage with the water heater, washer & dryer in the garage. That's a major concern, exposed pipes on a cold winter day. As I entered the garage it was apparent that the door had been open all night. Broken water lines were already visible as icicles hung from the cracks in the pipes. The next few hours were frantic, finding a plumber, shutting off the main water supply, thawing the pipes and trying to determine the extent of the damage. Repairs took 2 days before the tenant could finally move in but it was another reminder that that some folks just forget what can happen when winter comes.

One of my regular fall jobs is preparing houses for cold weather. It starts in October when I make the rounds to disconnect hoses and close crawl space vents (Tenants never do this). Then I try to remind every tenant to keep the hoses disconnected and keep the garage doors closed when the temperatures go down.

Probably the most important tip for tenants and homeowners is shutting off the water valve if you will be gone for more than a weekend. The main water valve is usually easy to find and close and it’s a small task to insure against a huge flood. No one wants to come home from vacation and find a house flooded from frozen pipes, a broken washer hose or leaky toilet.


Jim