Actually, I probably don’t have more to do than anyone else, but I’m a bit scrambled, trying to decide the order in which to attack it all. Usually I prioritize based on what deadline is going to bite me in the butt first, and that usually works pretty well, but I’m going to have to work more efficiently than usual for a while.
I started working in the gardens earlier than usual, but I let a lot of good gardening days get by me. We’ve decided to ask our favorite landscape company for a little help with the lawns and leaves. However, the forecast for the next 48 hours is HIGH WINDS!!!, so we may not need any help with the leaves, unless we get leaves from Iowa while ours go off to the east.
I cut down the peonies on Friday, and Dear Husband carted all my composting trash out to the back. I still have some tomato plants to pull, and before Thanksgiving, I’ll have to cut down the ornamental plant that is trying to block my sidewalk (an artemisia, I think)! But, most of my gardening is almost done.
The Empty Nester sewing group is going to be here tomorrow, so I’ve been working on kits for them, and tonight we reorganized the area where they will be meeting. We added leaves to the table, swapped out a burned out light bulb, and moved the long library table from my studio out to the kitchen. Tomorrow I have to bring out the ironing board, and iron, and generally set up for the meeting. I want to move Halloween decorations in place for them, too, but I’m going to wait to hang the bats. I don’t want to give one of them a heart attack when a plastic bat comes flying at them!
My weekend is booked up, but Monday afternoon I can get back to washing interior windows. I have some plants that I’m FINALLY going to toss out, and several closets to clean. Then, I need to get back to sorting out some of my mother’s things. I guess, I’ll have to clean one day, and organize the next, and work on Thanksgiving plans the following day.
Let’s see….Empty Nester’s, the quilting bee, and Thanksgiving, and Christmas…..Christmas cookies, and decorations and.hmmmm,,,,do I want to do cards this year? SO many things to distract me! *G*

At exercise this week, our guru had a suggestion for those of us who have leg cramps.
She told us that if you press one of your fingers hard beneath your nose for a count of eight long breaths, the cramp should abate.
I think this might be called “accu-pressure.”
Lynda, our guru, said that it had worked with the three people she had suggested it to. It seems well worth trying. Dear Husband gets leg cramps. Next time, I’ll try this on him.
Let me know if it works for you, won’t you?

I was running errands earlier this week, listening to my favorite radio station. They have a new morning announcer I haven’t particularly liked, but he said something that blew me away. Basically, he said that if he didn’t like how something was being done, rather than complain he would take responsibility for doing it right.
We ALL complain about how things are run, done, accomplished or not accomplished, but how often do we step up to the plate and say, “I’ll do it!”?? There are times when I have complained, but I couldn’t see my way to a better solution. I think it’s okay to say we don’t like something, but wouldn’t it be refreshing if, when we complain or criticize, we also offer to step up to the plate and take over the problem?
I tend to listen to talk radio, and have heard some incredibly simple, fair solutions to problems that we are experiencing in government now. Why is it that these well thought out ideas are not getting heard by those who could implement them? We are so overburdened by government that our democracy is going to sink, yet we continue to implement laws and systems that require more man-hours to oversee than we can afford. Does this make sense to you?
Here are some suggestions that we could consider.
A federal tax of 15% for everyone. No loopholes. A similar tax, at a lower rate, for states. Our taxes would become instantly easier to prepare and we wouldn’t need so many IRS agents to audit tax returns.
A consistent form of taxation for everyone, to support education. Ending the use of property tax to fund education. Funding to be based on both the number of students in a school district, and base rates for each school. Towns/cities could levy taxes for additional support, if they wished.
A limit of two to four years on welfare, unless you are disabled. Assistance to train or retrain for a job during that time, to prepare you to support yourself.
Requiring our federal Senators and Congressmen to use the same Social Security and health care system that they have created for us.
Limiting Congressional Pensions
Requiring the budget to be balanced. Cutting back across the board in every department.
And while we are at it, let’s limit campaigning for office to six months, and limit the amount which can be spent on a campaign.
I bet you have more suggestions. I’d be happy to hear them. I think it’s time for the people of the United States to become responsible for their own government.

Occasionally something at the Yahoo home page will catch my eye and I’ll click on it. Today, there were two reports on the subject of how often do you clean bed linens and towels. Do you remember when we used to have chores assigned to days? Monday was wash day, I think. Now, it seems as though EVERY day is wash day!
I usually wash sheets and pillowcases once or twice a week. If it’s been very warm, and we have perspired while sleeping, I might change them more frequently. And, if I have had to use ointment on my fingers, I’ll change the bedding more often, so that it doesn’t have a chance to set into the fibers. Apparently, I’m doing fine with the sheets, but I should be washing the mattress pad every two to four weeks, and I probably do it four times a year.
I very rarely wash the quilts on my bed. Quilts were not mentioned specifically, but comforters should be washed monthly, and duvets should be washed weekly. If you share your bed with a pet, you want to wash the bedding frequently to remove pet dander and dead skin cells. Be sure to dry the bedding thoroughly so that you don’t create a habitat for mold spores to thrive.
Pillows should be washed every six months. If you wash a down pillow, dry it with a couple of clean tennis balls to fluff the feathers. A zippered cover for a pillow should be washed weekly.
This is the season of flu and colds, and attending to the laundry more frequently is one step you can take to preserve your health.
As for towels, the article recommended that you have FOUR SETS of towels per person in the house, and that it’s a good idea to color code them so that they are not shared. The reason for four — one in the hamper, one on the towel bar, one in the wash, and a spare. Wash cloths are especially risky breeding grounds for germs, so it’s important that they not be used by more than one person. When you’ve used a towel, spread it out on the towel bar, to help it to dry out.
We have two towels in three shades of green, and two towels in shades of pink to rose. We never share a used bath towel, but I don’t assign one color to Dear Husband and one to me. Actually, we do share one towel. I have one that hangs in the sink area, and we tend to dry hands on that towel. I might need to rethink that this winter. I have to admit I tend to fold my towel neatly, and DH slings his over his towel bar. All this time I’ve been ticked that he doesn’t fold it, and he’s been doing the right thing. I don’t think I’ll tell him about all this…..

Thursday, two of my sisters and I met to box up the small items in Elegante Mother’s condo. Who would have believed that we shoehorned that much into a one bedroom unit!? The kitchen and the closet took the most work.
I spent most of my time taping up boxes. We went through 25 small moving boxes and two rolls of tape. I brought six or seven of those boxes home with me. One held kitchen stuff, and the rest is a blend of things returned to us, and things for my youngest sister, who was teaching and could not be there.
The movers will arrive on Monday about 8:30 and the condo will be cleaned out. There are boxes of things to go to Goodwill, otherwise, most of Em’s furniture will be disbursed throughout the family.
You’d think that would be the end of it, but eventually I will also have to divide up those things of EM’s that are still in my house. I have her dining set, the china that was given to EM and Dad as a wedding gift from Dad’s sister, and assorted collections of owls, angels, canes and birds. I also have her Christmas ornaments.
So, one day, I’m going to invite my family to visit and let them come and choose the memento they wish to have to remember Mom/Gram by.
The physical work on Thursday wasn’t so terribly hard, but handling all the things that had been so important to Mother was. I’ve kept two items of clothing, a red jacket, and a Halloween sweatshirt that one of her granddaughter’s made for her. There are also photographs, and a painting. It’s hard to see and touch these things, to be closing up her nest, and realize that I can’t turn and talk to her now. I was very fortunate to have EM with me for so many years.

I’m such a sloth! lol I meant to post on Wednesday, and download a picture, and this seems to be the best I can do for right now,
Wednesday, Dearest Husband and I celebrated twenty years of wedded bliss (and mortar dust). We’ve actually been a two-some for about twenty-six years, but we formalized it twenty years ago. I was astonished to realize we had been together that long and mentioned it to DH’s daughter, just as conversation, not to promote anything. She immediately wanted to know if we were celebrating. No……we chose to have a quiet dinner out, just the two of us. We’ll save the big celebration for when we hit the twenty-five year mark.
The picture? Well DH brought me two dozen long-stemmed red roses. He said twenty of them were for our years together and four were “just cuz.” I’ll have to download the pictures I took, and see if I can remember how to post one here.
It’s been a very good twenty years! Thank you, DH!

I suppose that in the process of hugging what seemed to be a thousand people, I must have caught something. I’m not doing too badly, but every so often my sinuses overflow, and I need to cough. I’m Sooooooooo glad it’s not a full time affliction or I’d be unbearable. Luckily for those around me, I’m hanging in there, and hoping for the best.
I’ve been watching the season opener of NCIS Los Angeles, but I think bed might be a better choice, especially since I’ll miss all the Cialis commercials and the discussion of erectile dis-function. I don’t think all this openness on TV is necessarily such a good thing.
I’ve been writing thank you notes today. I have one more to write tomorrow morning, and I need to plan meals for Thursday and Friday so that I can do some grocery shopping. My sister was talking about home made French fries over at Facebook. I haven’t made those in easily two decades. Don’t you love comfort food?? I may have to build a meal around them.
Sleep well, and I’ll catch up with you tomorrow!

I made a trip to the funeral home yesterday to pick up things that had been left in their care. Most of the flowers went to the cemetery, but there were six arrangements waiting for me. The only bouquet that was white was a beautiful low mass of white flowers in a round bowl that must be about eight inches high.
The flowers are packed densely, and are all about the same height. It’s rather like an over-sized tussy-mussy. There are creamy white roses, chrysanthemums that look like Fuji mums, snapdragons, white asters, hydrangea, alstromeria and the pale leaves and flower heads of eucalyptus. It’s incredibly elegant, and I would never have thought to blend these particular flowers. It’s impact was even greater because it was surrounded by huge bouquets in a range of Fall colors. We chose dark red and golden sunflowers, bronze mums and flowers that reminded us all of the height of the change of color, accented with red roses and blue delphinium. I think we have pictures of the flowers, and I’ll try to post them.
I was not looking forward to bringing the bouquets home, but they are providing a little grace as we settle in to the idea that EM is gone. EM would have loved them all.