§ The Happenings....

It's been kinda a busy week for me...besides out walking, visiting the aquarium, the botanical gardens, birding at parks, getting oil changed in the car [again?....time flies!!], some legal paper work updating with the lawyer, a couple of luncheons, being highly disappointed in the Houston Astros World Series so far, volunteering to help make pizzas for a kitchen, helping Bud do some yard work before the cold and wet front moved into our area....at least I helped until I tried to cut my thumb off with the hedger! And then, most of all, working on resizing hundreds of photos for the week off the camera card to get uploaded on my blog!!

So, this will be a bit eclectic in composition today while I continue getting the botanical and bird photos of the aquarium in order...hang in there. Some are what made me quite opinionated, while others are of a fun nature [at least I hope]....

...first: over kill [click on images to open up lightbox slideshow, enlarging them].

Y'all know that Halloween is my favorite fall 'holiday'. But when I drove by this home in the King's Crossing area of town the other day, I had to pull off the road and take photos. Just to see if you agree with me. There is no rhyme or reason to this themed yard!! Dozens of hot air figures swaying in the breeze making it eerie even in daylight, but too much with no reason of placement...just a Halloween NIGHTMARE!!! Agree?

....second: A church's pumpkin patch. I like the white pumpkins and within the last decade I've seen quite a few 'turquoise green' pumpkins. Did you know that there is a purpose of placing this color pumpkin out so trick or treaters will know you have allergy free treats for them? Here is the explanation:

Placing a teal pumpkin on your doorstep or at the front of your home is the first step. You can add your location to the Teal Pumpkin Project map to let trick-or-treaters know your stop is food-allergen safe. Recommended non-food treats include small containers of bubbles, spider rings, glow sticks, pencils, stickers or finger puppets. And if you do participate in the Teal Pumpkin Project, that doesn’t mean you can’t also provide traditional treats as well. If you do provide both non-food and candy treats, FARE recommends asking trick-or-treaters if they have a food allergy or just give each child the option to choose which kind of treat he or she would like.

....third:

A couple of funnies. My sister texted me that she and a friend went to a scarecrow festival in her town in Colorado. She attached a photo telling me that she thought of me right away and couldn't resist getting a photo of the 'crow. [notice the bird on the scarecrow's right shoulder?] I thought it was a HOOT!  And besides, it's much better dressed than I am when out birding!!

"birdwatcher scarecrow" -on the sign

Now, my photo taken...I couldn't resist this. The implication was funny. Sorry, I couldn't get a selfie of it and stand behind the sign at the same time!! But, you should be able to get the gist of it all!!!!

...and lastly. If you're not into the grossness of blood and injuries skip this!!!! The blades on the hedger caught my thumb when I accidentally hit the trigger when attempting to move it from where I was working....it lodged in the thumb, cutting a good slice before I lifted my hand from the power button. I worked my thumb loose and rushed indoors with Bud right behind me. We 'doctored my owie" and I called it a day while I sat outdoors on the patio bench and watched him finish the work. This photo is actually a cleaner version of the initial photo where the hand was much more bloody.  Bud made me a thumb splint 'cause for the past few days since it happened, you don't know how many times I've hit it on something and the pain is there again!!  The wound is healing nicely and hopefully no or little scarring.  So far, no infection.  I probably should have gone and got stitches, but I just didn't want to. 

§ A week in review....

along the downtown marina park




CONNECTING TO:






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SUNDAY'S SUMMARY

First off, if you're kinda squeamish, and don't like to look at bodily injuries, you may want to skip this part.  This week, outside, Bud and I mowed and edged the lawn.  Of course, the mowing is in Bud's duty book....my job is to edge along the driveway and sidewalks.  And, my edger is electric, not gas powered.  Nor does it have the rotating blade as some, it has the plastic edging strings.  Two coming out around the spool on both sides.  I wear tennis shoes to do my yard work when I'm edging.  I was done!  There's this little gizzy-wich that you wrap the cord around a 'hook' to keep it stable.  Still plugged in, I started to pull that loose, and my hand slipped onto the trigger mechanism.  The strings cut off the top of my tennis shoe...sliced it right off from the laces to the tongue.  And pretty well scraped the top of my foot!!! - - -After I realized what happened and the stinging, burning set in, the grey matter said a few choice words, and I called to Bud, "I just about chopped my foot off." Of course he barely heard me, but he saw the part of the shoe laying on the lawn...he stopped and came over. Asking me, "Does it hurt?" Men!!! Duh, it hurt like the blazes. I cleaned the wound and made a temporary, sanitized wrap with the over-sized bandage and sat down on the bench in the garage for a while letting the pain subside. Telling Bud to finish his work while I watch him. He made the job of work a rush job. When the work was done and the equipment was put away, I showered and cleaned the wound more and then medicated it and Bud wrapped it snugly with the first aid kit stuff. By nightfall it was quite bruised, but the redness surrounding the scrape had disappeared except for the cutting lines. The pain slowly subsided during the rest of the day, and by bedtime, it didn't keep me awake. And it looks much better now than the past few days. I never thought to have him take a picture of the shoe...as he cleaned up everything, he tossed the sneakers in the trash ---it was trash pickup day and the trash bin was at the curb. By the time I figured I shoulda had him take a picture, the city had picked up the trash already.  I can only add my thought....It could have been much worse!!!
Another thing, a bit comical happened to me this week also. When I returned home from the grocery store, as I neared our house and driveway, I clicked on the garage door opener...the door started opening, then stopped half way, came down, closed, then began opening again...over and over. I just sat there, in the car contemplating whether to attempt getting the car in the garage or not. To be crushed or not to be crushed!! I looked down and noticed the little red light on the opener's remote was blinking...off and on, off and on. The button was stuck!!! Realizing what the problem was, I got Bud out and after the door closed I had him use the switch from the garage wall. It stopped acting funky, and got the car in. Unloaded the groceries and high-tailed it to the hardware store to replace the remote opener! Kinda comical there for a while...something out of the Keystone Cop era. Geez.
Still, I'm working diligently on genealogy off and on when I receive an email from someone willing to help me out from other parts of the country working on the same lineage or has access to CD's with history I need....we went birding one day only this week, it's just been too hot.  I took the car in to get new tires, we trimmed one of our crepe myrtles...it was just too top heavy and drooping.  Reading a little bit here and there - Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler.  Hardly cooking at all; mostly sandwiches and chips and salads.  Foundering on gallons of lemonade!!! [I started craving it when we were driving home from the islands, we shut off the A/C and made use of the winds through the windows....but once we stop, it was hotter than a snake's belly in a wagon rut.]  And lemonade came to mind...been making a batch each day since.  LOL  Oh, and I need to make a note to myself to get some new tennis shoes.  Bud'll love that   when I tell him!!!!  Also, to conclude the week's activity summary, we cleaned closets of summer clothes we haven't worn since last year, and took them to the donation station at the thrift store, where I found a tea for one Santa set [image posted here...the link should open in a new window] and then perused the antique mall and found a couple more Santas for my collection.