When I picked up Chewlee today and brought her back here, she cracked me up with her excitement over the flower box being made and ready.  She put her hand into it to feel the dirt and said, *This is too wet, Gramma!  We can't plant the flowers yet.*  Where she got that idea, I have no clue but she did make me laugh at how matter of fact she was when she told me that.

She spent most of her time with me leaning back on me or on my lap.  At one point, she leaned back into me and just wanted to be held.  She asked me if she could stay and I told her not tonight and she said, *Please Gramma* in such a low voice that you almost couldn't hear it.  I told her on nights where she had school the next day, she couldn't stay but she could on the weekends.  She gave me a blank stare so I told her AFTER bubble gum day and she understood that.  Since Sheepie is coming on Saturday, I guess I will have to keep her on Friday night just to make her happy.  When Johnnycakes came to pick her up, she was in the middle of eating a popsicle.  We had to convince her that I would put it in the freezer for her for when she comes back or she would have fought to finish it since Johnnycakes told her no food or popsicles in his truck.

I was rocking her at one point and she told me not to rock her because she wasn't a baby.  I told her that she didn't have to be a baby to be rocked.  I told her *I* like to be held and rocked sometimes (yeah, right!).  She told me then that she wanted her mommy to rock her on the couch at her house.  I told her I would be sure to tell that to her mommy so she would rock her.  I did tell her that SHE could ask her mommy to rock her and mommy would probably like that.  She made no comment so I guess she was going to have to think about that.  Trust me, if she does ask her mommy and her mommy DOESN'T rock her, *I* will hear about it from her.  On some things, kids have memories like an elephant.

The Beast finished putting together the last of the veggie beds he made up (with some help from yours truly).  I couldn't believe the number of screws he used to put it together but, considering he wants them to last a long time, I guess it shouldn't have.  After he gave the glue some time to dry (he also had glue where he screwed the wood together), he flipped it over and spread the weed barrier over it and stapled it well.  I then helped him carry it into the back and put it in place.  That pressure treated wood is so heavy from whatever it's soaked with (it doesn't smell like creosote so I have no idea what is used) and it feels wet for a long time.  He used 2x4's for the straight sections, 4x4 pieces for the corners and another size I didn't pay attention to but it was damned heavy!!!

Even without the dirt in it, the frames are going nowhere.  I think it would take a tornado to move them.    He's going to fill them tomorrow and get the rest of what he plans on planting in it.  I'm just glad he's done.

The Beast called me in to show me something he plans on buying.  **Insert eyeroll here**  Have you ever seen the movie *Tremors*?  Burt, the gun guy as he's referred to, has a whole storeroom full of MRE's.  That stands for Meals, Ready to Eat.  Burt has ones that each pack contains everything you need from toilet paper to coffee to a nutritious meall.  The ones the Beast is buying are more MRP's....Meals, Ready to Prepare.  You know.  Just add water.  They are all foil wrapped and then packed in a bucket that is easy to grab and run if required.  It has 82 meals in it (actually you have to divide that by 4 since most everything is figured for four adults).  The menu sounds interesting but who knows how they will actually taste?  I just looked at him and said, *YOU will be eating them and I mean it!*  He can find more ways to waste money.

The Beast decided to read all about sweet potatoes because he didn't believe me when I said they became vines and very large.  Score one for me (but who's keeping track?).  So, after some discussion, we decided to put them on the side of the barn between it and the next door neighbors fence.  It's an area that was tilled before (just not very well), gets enough sun and the area is kind of useless to us except to park the ATV and cover it up.  But, the Beast said he can put the ATV under the deck if he needs to or at the back of the barn if he moves a couple things he has out there right now because he uses them quite a bit (the spreader, for example).  The neat thing about sweet potatoes is that they will actually prevent weeds from growing.  There's something about a secretion or something like that.  It said you might have to pull a few weeds until the vines start up well but after that, there will be none.  That definitely was appealing.

Also, besides the nutritional value of sweet potatoes, all you have to do for next years crop is cut sections of the vine, put them away for the winter and then just poke a hole in the ground, put the section of vine in and water it.  Voila!  Your new crop of sweet potatoes. 

The Beast also happened to find online a selection of seeds for a complete garden that comes specially packaged to last for many years.  It's so you are prepared if the economy fails and you need to be able to start your own garden in order to feed your family nutritiously.  It's enough seeds (and quite a variety) for an acre of land.  Now, we know not many people except those of us that are kind of below the radar and living in the country have access to that much land but he thought it a wonderful idea to have here.  He would never have thought about something like that until he read about two different places in the world where seeds are being stored against any catastrophic future event so that any mankind remaining could get a good start once conditions were right.  So, we will be getting our supply via priority mail in a couple days.  **Sigh**  I told him he had better think about getting himself a really good rototiller because there is no way in hell he can build enough of his *garden boxes* for that.  We couldn't afford it.  As it is, he would have to rototill between all his various fruit trees, too.  It's tough living with a man that thinks the whole world is going to go to hell in a hand basket soon.

The whole kit and kaboodle comes also with a guide on how to prepare and dry some of the various beans, how to can some of the various veggies and how to store seeds from all the plants (all are non-hybrid so have to be replanted from seed each year).  I told him it's a good thing it also tells you how to collect the seeds from some of them.  I've never seen seeds from a carrot except when I buy them at the store, have you?  He's also wrapping all the seed packages we have here in foil since he read they don't keep well in paper.  See what I live with?  This man is serious about the things he believes.  All I can say is.....come what may, we are certainly prepared.

I need to get the guest room ready for Sheepie, who will be here on Saturday.  Since I hurt my back, this may take me a while.    I slept better last night but not good enough for my back to miraculously heal on me.  Only time will do that.

A bit of advice.....if you order a DVD from one of the Amazon associated vendors because you don't mind used or (gasp!) the occasional new one at a cheaper price, do NOT order one from England.  I made that mistake for someone living in the US of A.  It won't play on our DVD players because, as my DVD player told me on a popup, it's not authorized because it is for Area 2.  I am assuming that means either Britain or Europe.  Hopefully, it also includes Canada because I may be able to send it to a friend or someone.  It's a brand spanking new copy of The Stand.  **Picture me crying here**  Oh well, as I have said before *C'est la vie!*.  We all live and learn.

All I can say is we certainly are prepared for anything now.  Feast or famine, whatever the future holds, we have our hedge against both inflation and shortages.  I even have large containers of some popular spices because those will be in short supply too, I imagine.  And this years garden will hold (so far) tomatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, string beans, bush beans, radishes, onions, green peppers, cucumbers, rosy tip lettuce, turnips, beets, yellow squash, cantaloupe and watermelon.  What more can anyone ask for? 

It was another dismal day but, so far, no rain.  Weather was in the 50's but will hit the 60's Wednesday.  They are saying we will have more showers Wednesday night.  I hope so because Chewlee and I will be planting our flower seeds.  The ground is damp but it won't hurt to have it rain.  I've been using the water from our rain barrel for my seedlings and the Beast will use it for the garden.  No chemicals in it so it should be better for them.  Now the Beast is thinking we might need another one or two more to be on the safe side.  He would rather use rain water on the garden but one barrel sure won't be enough once summer hits.

I woke up to a dismal looking day.  Not surprising since it rained hard last night and was a big (large in area) storm because we had a couple hours worth of thunder and lightning.  Well, actually, I guess it could have been a slow moving storm.  Hmmm!  Regardless, I also went to roll out of bed and discovered I had hurt my back while I was asleep.  Talk about a major groan coming out of my mouth.  It startled the Beast sitting at the kitchen table even. 

I got up and headed straight for my pain pills and took two of the minor ones.  The other ones will knock me out and I had things I needed to do.  Got my coffee, sat down carefully and waited for the pain pills to kick in while the Beast and I discussed what we wanted to get done for the garden.  I planted some seeds in peat pots to get started.  The Beast had already put the second *garden planter* (I don't know how else to describe it) out back with the weed barrier underneath and started pouring in the Miracle Gro.  He put 11 large bags in and it was nowhere near full.  He got about six big buckets of our soil from a pile we have on the next lot (don't worry, it's ours) and mixed it in before putting another 11 bags of Miracle Gro on top of it.  He then added the six bags of top soil (those bags are slightly smaller than the Miracle Gro ones) and it is now ready to be planted.  That one will be for carrots, onions, sweet potatoes, radishes and rosy tip lettuce.  I joked with the Beast and told him he should just dig up the onions that are scattered all over our lawn and he shot me *that look*, I'm sure you know what kind of look I mean.

He said he's going to plant four or five corn plants at the end of the planter just to see how well they do.  His next planter is going to be for a watermelon and cantaloupe plant.  Notice the singular.  They are space hogs and you have to keep after them to keep them from tailing all over the place.  His original plan was just for three planters but now he plans on a fourth one the size of the smaller one he made to start with.  That one will be for the beets, turnips, bush beans and I have no idea what else might occur to him.  Looks like a busy summer for us.  I told the Beast that if the fruit trees do well, I'm going to be really, really busy canning come late in the summer and early fall.  And we won't have enough Mason jars.  He was all for running out and buying a bunch more while he could but I told him they will have plenty available and we need to find out how well the trees do this year.  I AM going to push him for an upright freezer, however.  The prices will be higher in the fall than they are right now.

NEWS ON BAILEY................................

Johnnycakes found a vet on Sunday and took Bailey in to be examined.  Bailey was sedated and X-rayed and the vet didn't find any pieces in the muscle.  The bullet was easily removed, I think since it was closed up and no vet would leave it in.  Bailey was sent home with some antibiotics and other medication and she will be fine.

After meeting with the landlord and discussing the changes in their schedules since getting Bailey, the Princess and Johnnycakes realized that there was very little time that Bailey would be in the house by herself so they are not going to put her outside any more.  She isn't destructive so she can manage to be alone in a room (I think they will get a baby gate and block off the kitchen to keep Bailey confined just in case she has an accident).  She doesn't bark....even the landlord commented on that so she should be just fine and they won't have to worry about her.  She will only be alone for about four hours at the longest by my calculations.  It will depend on the day and the Princess's work schedule.  Johnnycakes gets home about the same time every day so there will be times he will have to walk her when he gets home.

I'm glad Baron doesn't know he might have had company here for a while.  He would be so disappointed. 

First of all:  HAPPY BIRTHDAY SISTER CEE!!!!!!!  Love you much.  Hope you have a great and happy day.

I slept in this morning (10:15am) but I probably could have slept longer if I hadn't heard my phone beep to tell me I had missed a call.  I figured I had slept long enough so I dragged my carcass out of bed, shuffled over to the coffee pot for a shot of *wake-up juice* and then went to see who had called.  It was the Princess so I called her back.  She gave me the news about Bailey (which can be found in the update you can find previous to this blog) and, after I hung up, I went into the kitchen to see what the Beast was planning on for today.

He was glad to hear about Bailey being found and passed along the news that Tara's older boy had some kind of virus on his computer, thanks to his younger brother.  It seems like every time he uses it, if left alone, he contracts a virus, a worm or gets infected with spybots.  I was surprised that they didn't have some kind of antivirus program on it but I guess they had just been using the Restore feature to an earlier date for most of the problems.  They did have a spybot program that removed those but it wasn't an antivirus.

When they came by with the computer, the Beast discovered that our antivirus program didn't recognize it since it was masquerading as something else.  But, what it was was a nightmare.  It would prevent you from using your computer until you press a *buy now* button for THEIR antivirus program which would then remove the problem for you.  I call it a terrorist form of ransom.  The Beast finally did manage to defeat and remove it but I swear it was half his swearing and half just plain stubbornness.  He didn't even have to reformat Drive C, which he was trying not to have to do.  I swear you need two or three different antivirus programs in order to be effective.

While this was going on, Tara's poor son was drafted into moving the bags of Miracle Gro from the bed of the truck to a spot in the back yard for the Beast.  It will make it much easier for him when he finishes making up his other two *gardens* once the forms are ready and he fills them with that stuff, some of our natural soil here and then puts the topsoil over it all.  Once the plants are large enough, he also plans on putting mulch on top of all of them, including my flower box out front.  Hopefully, it will reduce the amount of moisture lost so they can go longer without needing watering plus it should also help keep weeds out of it.  At least, we hope so.  Then, next fall, we can just churn it all up and let the plant remains become natural mulch and fertilizer.

He also enlisted his aid in putting together the next form that will go down.  He had cut all the wood for it but was reluctant to ask my help because I was busy doing housewifey stuff.    I was doing some hemming and sewing and packing some things up, too.  He knows how cranky I get when he stops me when I am busy with MY realm of responisibility.

Tara has been dieting and I had to compliment her.  I hadn't seen her in a couple weeks and I could tell she had lost weight.  She's lost 15 lbs. so far and she looks so much better.  She told me she is also feeling better.  We sat and chatted for a while and she asked about Sheepie and Buttmunch, Mustachio and Marcus Aurelius.  She also told me about one of the *kids* that we knew from Sunrise (he was her first boyfriend) that was only 42 and died suddenly just when he had finally gotten his life all together and had even found the woman he loved.  It was all very sad.  We used to refer to him as *Peter Pan* because he just never seemed to want to grow up.

He had started a business and it had become successful with him getting contracts with the school systems in both Dade and Broward counties in Florida.  He had bought a house in an upscale suburb of Ft. Lauderdale.  On the first night that he and his fiance had moved into it (they had bought it but had been working hard at fixing it up the way they wanted it), he got up to go to the bathroom and fell down dead.  He either had a heart attack or an aneurysm that finally bled out.  They hadn't gotten the autopsy results yet.  I thought that was so sad.  Tara had been in contact via his Facebook site and she was so glad he had found the love of his life and was doing well.  Then, this!  Like I have said time and time again, life is short with no guarantees for anyone.  That's why I say....always tell those you love that you do love them each and every time you talk or part.  It can be consoling for both people involved. 

By days end, the Beast and I were both too tired to think about eating so the Beast threw some pot pies in the oven.  Quick and easy and it fills the hole.    Now I am going to just relax for the rest of my evening.  The Beast has gone to bed early because HIS activities were a bit more physically challenging than mine.  I'll be playing games on Pogo for a while and then will go to bed and just dream sweet dreams, I hope.

I didn't get Chewlee today, I guess because Johnnycakes didn't go into work like usual due to the shooting of Bailey and trying to find a vet that answered their phone.  I hope I find out what happened tomorrow and I will keep you posted on that.

I stand corrected on Bailey's breed.  She is a husky.  Drove me nuts when I thought about calling her a Malamute because those are large dogs and Bailey is not large.  You would call her a medium size dog...medium/small.  If you check on the breed, they are not known to bark or be aggressive.  So being shot was not due to her being a nuisance.  She was found/came home.  I'm not sure now because Johnnycakes bathed her and found the wound in her hind end.  I'm wondering if someone just shot her to try hitting a moving target, albeit a limited movement target since she was tied.

He bathed her to clean her up and the wound but she has to be x-rayed so it can be determined what she was shot with and it will need to be removed.  Johnnycakes was trying to find a vet that would answer their phone to get her into one.  We will be keeping Bailey for a while so that she won't be a target for whomever it was that shot her.  Baron loves the company and there's always under the deck for her to hide.    She often hides under the stairs when she gets tired of running around the yard and wants to get away from Baron.

The Princess called me earlier this afternoon to let me know that Johnnycakes might be late picking up Chewlee because she had gotten a text message from him saying that a neighbor had shot her pup who was tethered out in back of her apartment.  I gather another neighbor saw it happen and called to let him know or else he saw Johnnycakes and told him.  All he said to HER in the text was the dog was shot.  Period.  She tried calling him and texting him but he didn't answer either one after HIS text to her so I had to wait to find out what happened. 

Her pup isn't even a year old and won't be for another three or four months.  It's the cutest little female malamute.  She and Baron love running around our yard together.  She's got a really sweet disposition, too.  Why a neighbor would shoot her is beyond my comprehension.  When Johnnycakes came to pick up Chewlee, he said he found the blood in the back but no sign of the dog anywhere.  The dog was seen running into this area that is heavily wooded and full of briars.  Johnnycakes went over and called for Bailey but not even a yip.  He drove around the area, getting out and calling her, hoping she would come to him....but we all know that supposes that she is still alive.  It just made me nauseous to hear about it.  I am wondering how Chewlee will react to Bailey being gone.  I don't think they will tell her anything more than that Bailey ran away.  She really wouldn't understand any other explanation.

But how someone could go outside and just shoot a dog that was tethered in someone's back yard, I don't understand.  Especially one as cute and sweet as Bailey.  Actually, I have a difficult time thinking of anyone shooting a dog or a cat even.  Around here, dogs are almost always someone's pet.  I do admit that we get a few *drop-offs* from time-to-time but Bailey wasn't running around free and annoying anyone.  Maybe she was barking and someone got ticked off but that's no acceptable reason.  You go to the neighbor whose dog it is and tell them about your problem.  The kids would have found a way to deal with it but to just up and shoot the dog is totally inexcusable as far as I am concerned.  All we can do now is hope that, if she is only hurt and not dead, she finds her way home again before she IS dead.

Chewlee and I had a really nice day today.  The bad thing was it was raining; the good thing was she was happy to watch Spongebob on TV and didn't expect to plant her flowers with it raining.  I did, however, run my purple roses out front and put them into the new flower box.  I could have choked the Beast for the surprise he gave me because there was a big bunch of onions sitting in the dirt (with a rubber band around them) that he had put there to keep from drying out until the vegetable garden was ready.  He never mentioned doing that so, at first, I thought he had planted something in there without discussing it first.

Chewlee spent a lot of time running to the bathroom and I swear it was mostly so she wouldn't even accidentally wet her pants.  But she always had a smile on her face today and was in a cute, playful mood.  At least until I went to put her down for her nap.  Then she got miserable.  However, when she called me and I would come in, she was hiding under her covers and would giggle and laugh when I would pull the cover down over her face so I could see her.  When she first did it, I said, out loud, *Oh...where is Chewlee?  I can't see her.*  Then I would slowly move the cover off from over her face and she would get the biggest kick out of that. 

She laughed and giggled every time and then would tell me what she wanted.  When she finally fell asleep, she fell asleep HARD.  She was still sound asleep when Johnnycakes got here and I woke her up gently with little kisses and smoothing her hair back off her face.  She didn't want to wake up but she had a sweet smile on her face.  Once, when I kissed her forehead, she brought my hand up to her mouth and kissed it (her eyes were shut because she really didn't want to open them).  I put her flip-flops on her feet and Johnnycakes lifted her up to carry her to the car.  I gave her a hug and she put her head on his shoulder and had her eyes closed again.

Johnnycakes told her she could finish taking her nap when they got home and he would take a nap, too.  I hope she DID go back to sleep.  I think she needed it.

The Beast has decided that our vegetable garden is going to be above-ground.  You know, kind of like an above-ground pool is except this is not as deep and has dirt instead of water.    He's doing it in three different sections.  He has one section finished that is 10x2.5...the other two will be 10x4.  That's mainly because he wants to plant corn.I think one will be strictly corn; the other will be for one cantaloupe plant and one watermelon.  This time he IS going to make sure to put the developing melons on top of some plastic boxesor some such thing like farmers do.  Keeps them from rotting and is the reason that the melons always have that one spot on it that isn't either textured or green.

As a human, I am subject to many failings, unfortunately.  Anger, jealousy, sloth, hurt feelings....and there used to even be lust.    Nowadays, that is just too much work if you think about it....LOL.  But, I am also capable of love and generosity on many levels.  After all, you can love a husband, a child,  a grandchild, a great-grandchild ()....a friend, a neighbor, your brothers and sisters....your parents, although mine are both dead now.  There are many different levels to love.

We had friends from Germany that were really puzzled by our always saying *Love you* as part of our goodbyes to them when we spoke on the phone.  They finally said to us, *Why do you say that when you are not in love with someone?*  I had never realized that many Germans (according to our friends) never say *I love you* to anyone but either someone they really do love enough to marry or their spouse.  I asked the male friend, *Didn't your mother and father tell you they loved you?*  He laughed and said, *Oh, that's different.  Children need to hear they are loved.*  I just told him, *Everyone needs to know they are loved...by family AND friends.*

There was much discussion on the subject for a while that night but it ended up being something that they, too, included in their conversations with family and friends back in Germany.  It was easy to end a phone conversation with a *Love you!* that was short and sweet and let the person on the other end know that you cared about them more than just in passing.  It tells them that they are important in your life.  You matter to them.  Two little words that carry a lot of meaning.
It's second nature to me now because I have lost a couple people that I loved.  I am glad to know that they may not have heard from me for a while before they died but......the last words I said to them was *Love you*.....and I meant it.  I have a couple friends from high school that started using that after we had talked a couple times and it made me happy to hear it.  Life really IS too short and, when we lost one of the *girls* suddenly, that was the thing that made us all feel good.  We tell each other *Love you!* when we part or are saying goodbye on the phone.  Short.  Simple.  Easy.  Full of meaning.

I say it to anyone I would miss if they were suddenly to disappear from my life.  That could be a lot of people at my age or I could suddenly disappear from YOURS.  The days of my life get shorter and shorter as I age.  Time just flies by.  So, I try to live each day well.  I do at least one thing that makes ME happy and one thing that makes someone else happy, too.  I don't have a bucket list because I doubt I could find 25 things I wanted to do before I died.  (Who decided on the number 25 anyway?).  I figure I'll make one up after the Beast kicks the bucket because that will tell me the time is getting close for me.

Almost all the trees that blossomed last week have now lost those same blossoms (except for the crab apple tree which still looks amazing with it's red blooms).  So, of course, today the Beast was outside inspecting alll the trees to see what he could see.  I was looking at the Alberta peach and discovered.....little baby peaches!    And we found little pears on two of the pear trees out front.  I didn't go inspect the cherry trees with him because some of them still have blossoms on them and I'm more interested in the end product.  I'll let the Beast worry over their daily development.  It will keep him busy. 

Surprised Chewlee today by picking her up from preschool.  All the teachers that work with her know all about me.  Chewlee tells them that she has to be good and go potty or she can't go stay at Gramma's house.  They all think it's funny how excited she gets when I show up. 

Today she couldn't wait to show me her new shoes.  They look like a variation on Roman sandals and they are adorable.  She even ran over to show Papa when we got here at the house.  She looked so cute today with part of her hair pulled back so it wouldn't get in her eyes and her mother just gave her wet hair a twist and it was just full of ringlets hanging down with one very long one right in the middle.  She had a cute blouse on in a red print and a beige skort that looked like a mini-skirt.  At first, I looked at it and thought the Princess was crazy to buy her a skirt of any kind until I realized what it was.  And she was proud of the fact that she is still wearing her *big girl panties*.  She's gotten really good about getting to the pot on time so she doesn't have any *accidents*.  If she so much as gets a drop of liquid on her panties, she will NOT wear them.  I understand that but, since I don't have spare underwear for her here, it can pose a problem. 

The Beast told the Princess the other day that he was glad they didn't live here with us any more since he couldn't afford the toilet paper that Chewlee uses on a daily basis.  I had to tell her she wasn't allowed to take her own any more because I was finding that she either halfway clogged the toilet or I found unused toilet paper in the waste basket.  A LOT of unused toilet paper.    She, of course, thinks she can do that herself since she is now going potty all the time...by herself!  I told her she had to learn about how much toilet paper to use to wipe herself and, until then, I would help her when she was here.  And I do show her.  She told me tonight...*I can do that!* like it finally dawned on her that she didn't have to have a huge handful of it to wipe her butt.  I also showed her how to stop the toilet paper on the roll when she had unrolled enough.  It never occurred to her to use BOTH hands. 

She is in such a hurry to grow up.  I remember feeling like that as a kid.  I told her that she would grow up fast enough.  Just enjoy being a kid and playing and learning while she can.  But she wants to go to *big kids school* and *ride on the bus* and a lot of other things.  She gets excited and starts talking faster and faster until you can barely understand her.  I have to keep telling her to slow down because she is talking way too fast for Gramma's old ears.  She insists I am not old.  Know why?  I asked her and she told me because I don't have a bald head and I still play.    Out of the mouths of babes.

In between inspecting some of the trees this morning and picking up Chewlee this afternoon, I managed to do a little wash.  A LITTLE?  OMG, you should have seen the huge load of whites that were almost all the Beast's underwear and socks.  He wears an undershirt most of the time or one that pretends to be something else because it has a pocket on it.  He likes those because he can wear them without a shirt over it when the weather is so-so.  He likes them in hot weather, too, because they soak up a lot more sweat and he can really sweat!

Bratfink told me the Boy was towed home the other day.  The van has apparently died a hard death.  Since he had sold his truck, it meant they had no vehicle.  He, however, went out and bought another van like the one that died, only newer.  And it's grey or silver.  Bratfink says silver, the boy says grey.  Take your pick. It even has what she thinks (she hasn't seen it but the Boy said he found a TV in it) is one of those built-in DVD players for the passengers in the back.  He spent the day clearing out the old van since the dealer is coming to tow it away tomorrow.

He has also decided to remodel the house he inherited from his mother rather than look around for another.  It will cost a lot less money, all-in-all, and allow him to keep more of the cash he has.  It makes sense to me since the house is paid for so there's no mortgage to worry about.  Better to make yourself more comfortable where you are if you can than try to find someplace you like better.  You could waste a lot of time that way.  Look who's talking.  I sent the Beast off by himself (well, he took along a buddy) when we decided to look for a summer place for him.  He ended up buying a brand new house instead of a possible fixer cottage that we imagined having to buy.

The Beast has been really listening to various economists and reading a lot of things online and has decided that prices will be going up A LOT in the near future so he decided to *stock up*.  Wow....he really has.  I guess I haven't been playing close enough attention to his various sprees.  It's obvious to me now that he didn't bring many things into the house but put them right on the shelves that he built out in the garage.  Good thing they are sturdy.  He has cases of soups, vegetables, beans, rice, corned beef hash, olives, peanut butter, oils, vinegar, sardines (his favorite snack), jellies, cereals, tea bags....it's amazing.  I wouldn't have realized it but he asked me for some help when he decided to straighten up the shelves and get the goods in some kind of order so we could easily find anything we might need.

He also asked me what else I thought he should be stocking up on and I told him sugar, flour, coffee, creamer and some of those canned potatoes that we like to fry up sometimes.  We have air-tight containers for the sugar and flour and I used up what other air-tight containers I had for the beans (black, northern and split pea) and they held anywhere from 10-14 packages of beans, depending on the size of them.  When I say he *stocked up*, I really mean it. 

When I stepped back and really looked at it all, I got the feeling that our neighbors will think we are going to be opening up a grocery store soon. All but one shelf is really filled and layered.  I told the Beast if he's stocking up, get some toilet paper.  That will take care of us at both ends.    He even has a bag of potatoes hanging from a hook in a net bag and another of onions.  Oh, they only have about 10 lbs. in each but it shows he's thinking seriously about this.  I just shake my head.

At least he's FINALLY making plans to erect the flower garden because he was figuring out how many cement blocks he would need and what the volume of it would be inside so he would get enough soil.  He even figured out how much of the heavy plastic he would need to keep the weeds from coming up from underneath so I won't have to worry about that for a while.

I can't wait to see the happiness on Chewlee's face when we can plant the seeds for the flowers.  I'm going to put my purple rose bush out there, too.  It won't produce this year but will next year.  I'm also going to transplant one of my lilac bushes out there while they are still small.