Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to pop in and wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I have not been doing miniatures for awhile, but Tessie and Zar are doing as well as can be expected during the Pandemic. Casey

I Just Dropped In... To See What Condition My Condition was in....

To quote an old song title... I had Wednesday Witches here this week.  Then I started cleaning up the back yard.

It was a mess from all of the snow... It stayed on the ground for three days after. I have a mess in the back yard.

The orchids are the ones that I got last year at this time.  Yes.  They are re-blooming!

This is where I spent most of the morning.  I got one and a half bushes trimmed of all of the dead leaves and sticks. This is going to be a two day or maybe three day job.

I have a lot of trimming of dead wood to do.

I covered a lot of the plants and most are doing well. 

The Kumquat did well under a box and a cloth cover. I think that I am going to trim that one branch that sticks out to the right off. It looks strange to me.

Anyway, until I get the back yard back in order, I a going to keep plugging away at the yard.  It should only take a few more days. 

Tessie keeps following me around the garden and pointing out the things that I am doing wrong.  Did you know that that branch is supposed to stick out like that.  She won't let me cut it off.  I think that the next step is getting Tessie to agree that I am in charge of the back yard...

Then I will be going back in here and starting over again... It seems to get worse all by itself if I let it go for a couple of days.

I wonder if there are any professional work room cleaners? If there are, I am about to give up and hire them.  It seems to be getting worse.... Instead of better, like it should.

Hang in there.  I will be back to it soon.

See you in a few days.

In The Mood...But Not for Snow!!!!!!!

No Minis or even room cleaning today!

We Have SNOW!!!

This is about the most snow that we have ever had here and it is scary!!!!

The left side of the back yard about two hours ago.  It was having a hard time covering the area out by the pomegranate tree.  That now looks like the other side of the yard.  Covered!!!

This is the right side... No need for two photos. This is what the other side looks like too, now.

We are staying inside where it is warm for the rest of the day.

I can't work in the workroom. It is tooooo cold!!!!

Even the birds are doing the "Oh! Poor Me!" thing.  There are several on the patio right now. 

I put their bird blocks and some scattered food on the edge.  They aren't any more used to this kind of weather than we are.  Poor Birdies.

I am going back to the bedroom and pull the covers up over my head until this passes! No fun is being had here at all. 

As soon as it lets up, I will tell you what I have been up to!

See you then!

It Looks Like "Whenever I'm In The Mood..."

This morning, we went to the movies with April, Seth and Amare... We went to see the new Legos Movie... I started out thinking that it was going to be boring.  Left the theater humming along with the tunes in the movie. It was for kids,  but with a lot of stuff for adults too. 

Loved it.

I am not getting anything done in the workroom... Jus a lot of taking out and putting things back.

I have way too much knitting to do! I have one of Eben's socks finished... the other one has about an inch finished... This could take another month, at the rate I am going. 

Kota thinks that I am making him a new bed...

I think that would take even longer than the socks!

Not going to happen...

And Tessie? At least she is amused. She is making plans for all of the new beads that I bought.

Did I mention that she's making a LONG list?

She is... And she's setting on it.  I can't start until she finishes the list.

This may take a while.

So far, there are 51 items and counting... She keeps changing her mind.

I am going to go back to knitting now.  See you soon.

The 20s Are Coming!!!

I have been out covering plants. I was wrong. It was not yesterday that the 20s started. It is tonight.

I have been making ghosts all over the yard. It took me about an hour to cover everything that I didn't want to get frostbitten.

And what did Tessie do whilst I was freezing?  Yup. She just sat in her bedroom playing with her goodies.

I did get her out of there.... All I had to say was "Doctor Who is stealing the time machine."

He was trying, but she got there just in time.

She grabbed one of his pant legs and pulled. 

He is now on the floor of the living room and I think that Tessie is half way down to Tombstone.

Did I mention that Daisy took her down there and introduced her to Doc Holiday and Wyatt Earp?  Yup.  They are all talking about double dating.... I am not looking forward to having Daisy and Tessie bringing them home to meet MOM.....They are both calling me mom now... Not a good start to new things.

See you tomorrow!

Another Quiet Day In Tucson...

Or Maybe that should be another COLD day in Tucson. Right now it is 60 degrees outside.

It is suppose to get down to the 20s tonight.  I am going to be spending the afternoon covering plants. 

I figured that I had better write this now.  Tessie is not happy that I have not started her MANY necklaces yet.  Take note of where all of the smaller beads are being stored.  At Tessie's request... Or should I say demand?

I am thinking that I had better get the plants covered quickly or she is going to be having a hissy fit.

The baby tree is doing nicely so far.  No blooms, but the leaves are still doing nicely.

You may be wondering why I am showing you a hole in the dirt in the next photo...

Walter pulled the fig tree out roots and all this weekend.

He said it came out easy.  For him easy.  For me, difficult.  I went and looked for a new one at Walmart this morning.  They have them, but they are basically a two foot long stick with no leaves.  I am going to wait a few weeks.  I am not buying a stick with no leaves for thirty five Dollars. 

Let them grow the first few leaves so that I will know it is really a fig tree and not just a stick.

I am going back to work now.  Tessie is not getting a necklace right now.  I have other things to do.  Plant covering comes next.

See you tomorrow.

Saturday and Sunday....

I am amazed at people that will throw a watch away because the battery went dead! All eight of these were in a jar that I bought, not to long ago, at Goodwill. All I did was replace the batteries with ones that I bought at Dollar tree.  Four for a dollar! Every one of them works just fine. Now all I have to do is make them some beaded bands.


Saturday, we met April, Seth and Amare for a tour around the tents at the ballpark and then to lunch at Michas. It has reopened and we really enjoyed it.

For those of you that don't know, that's our Mexican restaurant of choice here in Tucson. It has been closed for a while.  They had a fire start in the kitchen.  It wiped out the whole restaurant and they had to rebuild the inside. The food is still as good as ever.

Walter and I went to the ballpark again today.   I grabbed a lot of beads to work with. I got home and sorted the piles out to see what I had...

Then I left the room for a few minutes.  When I got back Tessie was in the middle of the tray. 

As I watched, she kept saying.... "This is mine... and this is mine... This is mine... This is mine.  I think that she said that about 40 times.  Then I stopped her... I grabbed the tray... Put her back on the bed and told her emphatically "This I ALL MINE!"

I will probably have to make her a crystal necklace or two.  But at least I will get most of it.

I am thinking of doing the blog Monday through Friday for a while and see how it works out. Today is Monday... Only four more days to go and then I get two days off.  Maybe.  We shall see. 

See you tomorrow!

Once Again the Gem Show...

 Before I even hit the first tent.... I bought some beads.  These were two and three dollars a strand. I got four for ten dollars... Outside the main tent at the ballpark. In a booth set up under a canvas tarp.

When I got inside, I bought two of these.  One for myself and the other one for Amare.  He likes snakes too....

Mine will become a pendant. I am not sure what plans he has for his.

I also bought ten tubes of seed beads for 20.00.

Just what I need.  More seed beads!

In case you can't tell. I'm a happy camper.

I am off to sort through my ill gotten gains, again. 

Back to the beads. See you tomorrow. 

Life Goes On....

 Tessie and Zar are enjoying the morning on Zar's rooftop deck.

I was not invited...

Eskiaga and Zar's ex maid are enjoying lunch and chatting in the Southwestern Room box.  I was not invited...  

Einstein and friends are chatting on his front porch... and where am I spending my time....???

I am still knitting my fingers to the bone... The sock that you see to the left still has two and a half inches to be  done! Then on to the second one.

I have to stick to it! See you tomorrow.

Birthday and Presents!!!

It's my 12th Birthday again!!!

I refuse to get any older!

This is the Birthday card that Walter made for me.  We make each other cards every year.

The inside looked like this. It had a photo of my biggest present inside! New Car!!! His name is Charles Xavier III. Walter got his older brother on the first of the month.  His is a CX-5. They are both Mazdas

We are both very happy with our early gifts!

Back to knitting.  See you tomorrow.

Not A Lot Done....

Actually, I did get a lot of the sock done.  I am down to the last half inch before the toe decrease of the first one... Then I have to do it all over again!

The way I am going, I may have to look into the two socks at a time method of doing things! That involves a LONG circular needle... Not sure that I want to do it. I can't quite see how that saves time... You are just doing both socks at the same time and it still takes you the same amount of time, as far as I can see.

I have been moving things around the past couple of days.  Zar's  Den in a box came to rest in the bedroom by the phone.... He is already complaining.  He wants to switch places with the phone.  He can't see the TV unless I switch the positions.

He is worse than Tessie when it come to wanting to watch whatever is on.  If the TV is on, he is in front of it. 

Tessie actually cooked his breakfast this morning... Now he is hounding her for lunch... Dinner or whatever else she is willing to make. 

I do wish that she would cook for me once in a while... No... Wait.... I don't want the whole kitchen in a mess. I will do the cooking.  At least I am only cleaning up after myself if I do it.

Back to work. See you tomorrow.

Moving Right Along.....

I spent the morning in the bedroom and cleaned up the mess that you see here....

Then we went to a movie.  Big mistake! "The Favourite".  The costuming was all mixed up, the story was lame, and the background music was annoying... That's all I am going to say.  Some people evidently like it.  It is up for some awards.  I can't think of anything I would nominate it for.  Maybe for most annoying movie I have seen in a long time. 

Anyway, I think that I should have stayed home and cleaned up the rest of this table and more of the workroom...

 As you can see, I should have stayed home!

I could have had some of this cleaned up!

And some of this too!  Tessie didn't help at all whilst I was gone...

She and her pet snake stayed in bed until we got back...

This is the FIRST bed that I ever made in mini.  It is a copy of an early American rope bed.  See the ropes going in and out of the holes in the side? That's what held up the mattress in the old beds. 

Tessie seems to like it.  I am not going to argue with her.  Especially when she sleeps with the snake. My motto is never argue with "Monte Python".

Back to work. See You Tomorrow!

See You Tomorrow!

Cheating Just a Little...

I am doing just a few other things today... This sock has to be knitted to the end of the ruler and then I have to knit another one just like it. Seth's brother came back to Arizona for Christmas this year.  He is living in Michigan right now. Not a nice thing to do to an Arizonan!

Anyway, I waited to do his Christmas socks until I could measure his feet.  He and Seth are about the same. Eleven inches long!!! This could take another week or two, but I am determined. Then I will have to start on socks for everybody for next year...  I see a lot of socks in my future.  I want a few for myself too!


I also did a bit of planting this morning.  Actually, I planted this one a few days ago.  I am working on getting some roses back in the yard.  When we first moved here I had four rose bushes and lots of flowers.  Over the years they faded away.  I am starting over.

I also found this one at Walmart this AM. I think that a lot of you have been around long enough to know that I am fascinated with Euphorbias. Unfortunately, the pot that it came in just said Euphorbias/Assorted... I am going to have to see if I can find a photo on line to see if I can identify it.(more time spent out of the workroom!) Nope. I am not going to look for it now.  I am going back in the workroom and start sorting again!

Tessie is following me around with a whip and a chair.  Help! I am being harassed!

Back to work now.  See you tomorrow.

Just A Little More Time...

I miss you all.

I have decided to (once again) go through every box and drawer in the workroom. 

It may take me a week, but I am going to do it.  every time I decide to so something mini, I can't find anything!!!!

Tessie is no help at all!  She retreated to her cottage as soon as I started making lists of where things should go this time...

I may have to bake cookies to get her out of there.

This is the contents of one drawer!!!

The gem show starts Thursday... And I don't have room for more stones and beads.

 Some of it will go quickly.  George doesn't need anything but dusting.  The books just need rearranging by category. The room boxes just need a bit of sweeping up.

Once I get all of this cleaned out, I am ready to start on working every day.. Be it minis, beading, or knitting.  I just need ORDER in my world.

See you tomorrow.

Have a great day!!!

Normal Blogging Can Be Fun!

Tessie here!!! Casey is refusing to blog again!

There is no excuse.  She just didn't want to do it today. I don't know what I am going to do with her!!!

She told me that she is now going to blog when she wants to.  Don't ask me when that is going to be!

OK! Casey here now!  I kicked Tessie off of the keyboard and took over.  I forgot to write today. I am thinking now that I am going to do this the way that everyone else does it.

I am going to do it when I feel like blogging and if I don't get around to it, I will do it a day or two later.  Sorry that this is so late in the day, but I really did forget. 

I am not sure when the next blog will be, but I will try to get back soon. See you then!

Good Night! Sleep tight!

Not Today...

 

I have decided that every day is not going to work anymore.

I am thinking that once a week is more like it. I am already losing sleep.  I wake up about three in the morning and start trying to think of things to write about.

I will try for Friday this week.  Maybe by then I can think of something to write about.  I went to Wednesday Witches today and they told me that I should just do an entry when I feel like it.  I am tending to agree with them.  I will see you again on Friday.  Maybe by then I will have something to say...

See you then.

Cleanest House On The Block

Walter did most of the planting. I just held Oscar upright.  I decided to name the new saguaro Oscar because he is green, prickly and a grouch. 

The photo was taken from our driveway.  He is planted next to the driveway so that we can see him as we go in and out and other people can see him as they go by.

This little guy was trying to grow under the prickly pear.  He was struggling.  I got him out of there and put him in the back yard.

I don't think that he is a saguaro.  Maybe a barrel.  I am just going to have to wait and see how he grows.

Evidently a seed from somewhere in the neighborhood landed under the prickly pear and was caught.  I can't wait to see how he turns out. If he is a saguaro, it will take him about 20 years to get to the size of Oscar!  The saguaros only grow an inch or an inch and a half per year!

I went and inspected Zar's trailer this morning... He is way ahead of Tessie in the cleaning department!  If I go by who is the best cleaner, he beats ALL of the witches! 

He is going to get his He Shed finished before I do Tessie's She Shed.

I am going back to work now.

See you tomorrow.

Clean? I Don't Think So!!!

I have been cleaning and knitting.  I have this much done of a sock for myself. I like the colors.

It's just plain knitting yarn. Not particularly for socks, but I like it.

While I was doing that and going to a movie, I told Tessie to clean her cottage so that I could take photos when I got back...

When I got back, I ran my fingers over the floors and came up with very dirty, dusty fingers...

She kept saying, "But I did it!".  I could tell just by looking that she was fibbing!

I am not doing any new things for those that can't keep things clean.

I am now going to check on Zar's trailer... If it isn't in good enough shape to take photos, he is not getting anything done either!  I an going on strike until some of those little people do some BIG work! I put the work into the places that they live.  The least they could do is keep them clean. I am officially on strike now!!!

Back to knitting.  See you tomorrow.