The Beast is happy but a bit puzzled by the poliferation of blossoms on all our cherry trees this year.  He's happy because it MAY mean we actually get some cherries for ourselves this year but a couple of the trees that are older than the one next to the house have never before blossomed and this newer, smaller one is just loaded!  He's thinking that perhaps all the things we did for both getting rid of the fungus and improving the Ph of the soil made the big difference.  At least, he's hoping so.  He's had his nose buried in all kinds of articles about fertilizers, lime, watering, ground Ph, and I don't know what else just out of sheer happiness.

He did admit that he's afraid to be optimistic about our chances for a good harvest this year but you can see he's happier than he has been in a while about all the trees.  He's also flabbergasted by the crab apple tree.  That is just beautiful in bloom.  I was really surprised.  It's absolutely FULL of blossoms this year.  All of the trees look very healthy, too.

I put out my hummingbird feeder today and it looks like I was right on time.  The Beast was inspecting one of the trees to see if the bees were busy doing their job when he had a close call.  A HUGE bumblebee was heard and, as he turned his head towards the sound, he almost fell over laughing at the sight of this huge bee chasing a hummingbird!    I thought at first that he was mistaken about it but was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.  I thought it might just have been another, smaller hummingbird chasing it around since they DO play like that.  I told Bratfink about the incident and she said maybe the bee and hummingbird were playing.  I told her I didn't really think they had that kind of relationship and they might have been after the same nectar or something.

However, later on, when the Beast and I were sitting outside in the balmy 80+ temperature (he was oiling up the various parts of the rifles since they will be spending a lot of time in the gun safe over the next few months), what comes sipping at the hummingbird feeder but one of the little ruby-throats.  It wasn't there for more than four or five seconds when it took off and this huge bumblebee is chasing it.  I said to the Beast, *Holy chit!  Maybe they are fighting over the feeder!*  I'm going to keep a close eye on it for the next few days to find out.  Although I really don't know what to do if that is the case.  Just leave it up to nature?  Or bring the feeder in for a while?  If it IS that, I definitely want that lazy ass bumblebee to quit taking the easy way and get busy fertilizing by gathering it's groceries the way it's supposed to.  Trim that sucker down! 

I told the Beast he's got to get serious about putting together the brickwork for the flower garden that Chewlee and I will be putitng together.  I got my rose bush today from the nursery that I ordered (it came bare root via UPS) so I am temporarily putting it in a pot to get started rooting well.  It's a purple and white rose with the purple at the outer ends of the petals.  It doesn't require shade so I am tickled about that.  They have really gotten good at their hybridizing now.  Even the blue roses don't require shade most of the day like they did once.  I just know that Chewlee will get a kick out of these next year since I doubt we will see any roses this year.  If we do, that will be a nice surprise. 

The Beast has decided that he wants to take me to the gun range to get me used to the rifle that we will be keeping handy for protection against any unwelcome intruders at night.  I agreed to go with him just so I DO know what to expect, even if it's HIM using it as far as the noise it makes.  I already know how to load and unload it, put the safety on and off and even refill the clip for it (yes, a rifle with a clip...it's a semi-automatic).    I'll let you know how that goes. 

First, news from the *farm front*.....the cherry trees have started to bloom including a few that are blooming for the first time.  The Beast was beside himself in happiness.  Even the pear trees are blooming.  I can't say I blame them.  The weather we have had (mostly) the past couple of weeks has been incredible.  Sunny, warm, some good rain.  Just perfect for waking up the trees and saying, *It's Spring!  Wake up!*

Now as for Chewlee......when the Princess brought her over to me today, Chewlee was very, very quiet and subdued.  She stood by her mother's side, head down, clutching her tee-tee.  The Princess told her to show me what she had done that she was in trouble for and I told Chewlee to sit down.  She kept shaking her head and I didn't know if it was for what her mother told her to do or what I had said so I picked her up and sat her in my chair.  That's when the Princess told her to show me.

It seems Chewlee wrote all over herself in pen.  She even wrote on her butt!    I noticed that she wrote on herself mostly in places that didn't show.  Hmmm....so she knew she was doing something she shouldn't do and was trying to hide it.  She made the mistake of telling her mother, when she was on the pot, that *her butt hurt* so the Princess came in to take a look and discovered the writing.  Chewlee was cowed but not really repentant, I could tell.  But, once her mother left, she came over to me all grins and good natured.  I made her sit down and told her that she couldn't write all over.  Writing was for paper and ONLY paper.  I also told her that if she did it again, she wouldn't be able to come and visit grandma because her mommy would be really, really mad.  She finally said she wouldn't do it any more.

I really wanted to get her to see that writing on anything but paper was not a good or a happy thing because I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that her next move would be to write on the walls.  Not here.  I think she learned her lesson at Grandma's house.  But, in a rental apartment, the walls are not covered with great paint.  It wouldn't be scrubbed off without doing damage so it would force her mother to repaint or lose her deposit.  I just don't want to see that happen or Chewlee unhappy.

Chewlee was in need of some serious attention today.  She decided she was going to be a cat and she kept crawling around, meowing and trying to lick my arms or face.  I was ready to choke her at one point but I finally got her to stop and we watched some Sponge Bob before our Harry Potter movie came on.  Actually, Harry Potter was on all day but we weren't going to rewatch the ones we had seen the past couple of days. 

Later on, she decided that she was going to be a puppy and she crawled around on all fours, barking at Baron and he looked totally confused by what she was doing.  At one point, while the Beast was throwing around the dog's squeaky toy, Chewlee beat Baron to it and brought it to the Beast to throw again.  Baron, who would race her for it was not about to try to take it from her when she got there first but, when he finally got ahold of it, he then played *keep away* from Chewlee when she crawled towards him.  It was funny, actually but, again, I had a tough time getting her to stop. 

She came into my room, put her *paws* on my lap and said she wanted a treat.  I told her that dogs and puppies don't talk and the only dog treats we had here were little doggy bones.  She didn't want that so she finally got to her feet.  I told her if I gave her a treat and she started playing kitty or doggy again, I would take the treat away.  She agreed so she got her bubble gum and I got a bit of relief. 

I gave her a bath and we got most of the writing off of her.  I didn't want to scrub her too hard but it will barely be noticeable where it has a bit of residue.  She let me brush her hair again with little complaint and then, after she got redressed, I painted her nails and toenails with a very neutral nail polish.  She just loves having it put on and she gets so girlish afterward.  We then made some popcorn for us all.  She wanted another *something* and she decided that an orange would be just the thing.  I peeled and sectioned an orange that we shared and then we had another half each. 

Now, this kid can be an eating machine at times.  She ate a salami sandwich (but this time she *saved* the crust for Baron) and drank some milk.  She had some pudding and some iced tea.   She even ate a half slice of some cold pizza from yesterday.  All this during the span of just a few hours.  Ick!  At least there was no asking for candy today and I had told her earlier that there would be no popsicles because of the writing on herself.  I said only good girls get popsicles.

When her mother came to get her, I was ready.  Now, all I can hope for after this four day working weekend is that I don't have to pick her up until Friday this week.  I'm really feeling frazzled.  I slept well all night, got up feeling good but crashed for three hours before she got here.  I think it was a good thing. 

That might actually be an understatement.  Parts of today were just AWFUL!  It was ONE OF THOSE DAYS for Chewlee because she couldn't make up her mind if she was good or bad.  She left the freezer door open and put a popsicle on the kitchen table (still in the wrapper but she had been told to put it in the freezer).  The Beast got home just as I was going to get up to check and see if Chewlee had done what she had been told.  She hadn't.  I held out the popsicle she left on the kitchen table and told her to put it away and she gave me her shoulder and said, *No!*

I said (in a mild tone), *Either you put this in the freezer and close the door tight or you will NEVER get another popsicle at Grandma's house.  I don't know if it was the tone having some kind of signal that she picked up on or what but she grabbed it and kind of stomped over to the freezer, opened the door, placed it on a shelf and close the door....tight.  She gave me a good five minutes of attitude but, because I ignored her, she finally gave that up and became *my* Chewlee again.  This didn't last long.....

She can switch from being willful to loving in a split second.  Cooperative to stubborn as hell.  I tell you, it just wore me out.  I finally told her that I might have to tell Mommy (the Princess) that I can't take care of Chewlee any more or pick her up from school because she is so bad and just makes me too tired.  I have to tell you this....the look of horror on her face was incredible.  I think she knew she had crossed a line. 

Earlier, she asked me for some iced tea.  I use herbal green tea when I make it for her so I told her I would make her some.  She was underfoot as the Beast got home from Walmart with some things I needed for washing clothes and he was bringing stuff in from the car (he never gets just what you order).  I filled up the tea kettle with enough water for about two cups of tea, put the tea bags into it (I know that's a no-no but...its faster) then put it on the stove on high.  I started to help the Beast put away some of the stuff he had bought (mostly my liquid detergent, fabric softener, bleach and the Clorox2).  As I turn around, I see Chewlee with her arm fully extended and on tippy toes, grabbing the HOT tea kettle off the stove.  I dropped what I had in my hands, smacked her hand and grabbed the tea kettle away from her before she could put her other hand on the bottom of the tea kettle.  It was headed that way.  I yelled at her at the same time I grabbed the tea kettle and told her she was NEVER.EVER. to take ANYTHING off the stove because she could have burned herself badly!!!!

She turned around quickly, stormed off in the direction of my room and wasn't heard from for a while.  I made up the sweet tea she wanted, placed the tea kettle at the back of the stove and placed the Beast's frying pan from lunchtime on the hot burner.  Then I went into my room.  She was hiding behind my recliner and, when I looked at her, she hid her head under a blanket she had dragged back there with her.

First of all, you have to realize that she was hiding because she KNEW she was never to touch anything on the stove.  At her house she probably would have gotten a good spanking.  I just let her sit and said out loud....*Well, when you are ready, Chewlee, you can apologize and I will get your tea for you because its done now.*  It took her another 10 minutes or so before she finally came out from behind the chair and laid her head in my lap.  She then said, *I sorry, Gramma.  I won't do it again.*  I stroked her head, gave her a kiss and a hug and asked her if she was ready for her tea.  She shook her head yes and off she scooted towards the kitchen.  I put some ice in her glass and then filled it up with the tea.  I brought it into my room and put the sippy top on it (I have banned her from straws for a while due to her constantly seeming to knock over any liquids even when she is trying hard not to). 

For all her pleading for me to make some for her, after she and the Princess left, I discovered she only drank maybe two ounces of it.    Not to worry.  I put it in the fridge and it's there if she wants some tomorrow when she comes.

Those are just a few of the highlights.  She wanted to sit in my lap but she had a bad case of wiggle butt and, before too long, my legs actually started to hurt!    When I told her to stop wiggling or get down, she started that *Why?*  *Why?* after each explanation.  My mind just couldn't handle that, too, so I just put her down and told her my lap was CLOSED due to hurting.  She then patted my legs and bent over and gave each of them a kiss!    **Sigh** Gotta love 'em.  They do all kinds of things like that to keep them close to your heart even when you are tempted to belt them. 

I'm exhausted and need to just chill out for a bit before bedtime.  I think it will come early for me tonight.  Thankfully, Chewlee won't be dropped off until around 10:30am or so.  If I am lucky, I can sleep until 10:20am. 

I just had to add this now that the house is quiet.  I left off my blog talking about Chewlee being in the bathtub.  This is what went on after that, including a funny thing that went on between her and the Beast later on.

I washed Chewlee's hair, and wasn't looking forward to fighting her over brushing it when she got out.  It was a fight getting her out of the tub (she just loves a bath!) but I pointed out to her that her hands and feet were all wrinkled and they would start to hurt her if she didn't get out.  So, she reluctantly opened the drain (and closed it a couple times as a tease) and I wrapped her in a big, fluffy towel.  She came into my room and leaned against me and said she was cold.  I picked her up and wrapped my arms around her while she leaned on my chest and watched the second Harry Potter movie that was on TV for Friday night.  When she got down, she whispered to me, *Gramma, can I be naked for a while?  I want to be naked but I don't want to let Baron or Papa see me.*  When I asked her why in the world she wanted to be naked when she told me she was cold, she said...get ready....*Because.*  and that was all she had to say.

I told her she could be naked for five minutes but she had to close the door first so she ran over to it, closed it and locked it for good measure.  But, when she went to drop the towel, I guess she got a little chill so she came over and said, *I will put my big girl panties on....but not my jamas, okay?  Just my panties!*  I grabbed the panties and got them on her and she ran in front of the big mirror that is propped against the wall and started dancing.  She turned around, looked over her shoulder while she was shaking her butt and yelled out to me, *Look, Gramma!!  I'm shaking my booty*.  She did that for about five minutes and then came over for her pajamas.  After they were on, I put her in my lap and got *her* brush to brush her hair.  Know what?  Not one complaint from her while I brushed it.

After it was done, I said to her, *Do you want me to put your hair in a pony tail or braids or just let it stay down? *  She thought about it for a minute (with finger on her chin and eyes that told you she was imagining which way she wanted it) and then she told me she wanted a braid.  So, I braided her hair and had to keep telling her to put her head down.  Her hair is long and, with her sitting in my lap, it made it tough to braid it all the way unless she leaned that head forward.  When it was done, she reached in back to feel it, said that was good and then she got up to inspect how she looked in the mirror.  She put it over her shoulder and then whipped her head so that it fell back and hung down. 

A bit later, the Beast came into the room because he wanted me to see what he had accomplished.  He had been trying to use these programs he has so that he can copy movies and them put them on his own dvd disks.  Don't tell me that's illegal; he knows that but a lot of people do it so it won't cost them an arm and a leg all the time to rent or to buy.  We are on a limited budget (when the Beast can stay out of our savings) and he's also trying to *make up* to me how much *I* feel he's just plain wasted.  But, that's neither here nor there.  Suffice it to say, he finally succeeded to download a copywritten movie onto his hard drive.  The next step is moving it from the hard drive to a dvd disk.  He wanted to check out the color, clarity, etc. on it so he was playing it.  The movie he chose just happened to be the second Madagascar movie.  He invited me to come see how good it came out and, of course, Chewlee followed along. 

Well, when Chewlee saw that movie playing on Papa's computer, she was fascinated.  She waved me away and told me she wanted to watch it with Papa.  I chuckled and left because I suspected what would happen next.

A few minutes later, the Beast came into my room and said, *She's fascinated with that being on my computer and she's taken it over!*  I just laughed.  A little bit later, as he sat in his recliner watching the TV because Chewlee was sitting in HIS chair in front of HIS computer with her feet up on his desk and her hands behind her head.  She was set.  He was not a happy camper.

Even later, he came into my room and said, *You won't believe it.  She has pushed my chair to the side and now has the pillows on our bed piled up and is laying on the bed, hands behind her head, just watching the movie!!!*

By then, I was rolling on the floor, laughing.  I said to him, *What did you expect?  You knew she was here, you also picked one of HER type movies and then you invited me/us in to see how smart you were.  She had no idea you could play her movie on the computer.  I'm sure she thinks you have the dvd and that is what you are playing....just for her!*  He just grunted but I took pity on him.  I went into my room, told Chewlee it was almost her bedtime so she needed to get ready for bed.  She got upset because she was watching the movie and wanted to see the end of it so I told her to come into my room and I would put the dvd in and she could watch it in there.  She ran to the Beast's computer, trying to reach the dvd *tray* (she knows where it's at and how to open it) but I stopped her cold when I told her that *I* had the dvd in my room.  She went, *Huh?*  I told her that Papa had copied it on his computer but *I* had the dvd in my room.  As she ran to my room, she yelled over her shoulder, *I will put it in, Gramma, okay?*  I told the Beast as I walked past, *It's all yours now but you owe me one!* 

I took the opportunity of finding the right scene that she had left off watching so I wouldn't have to fight with her over some of her favorite scenes by forwarding.  She had run to the bathroom and then to get her tee-tee before I started the movie.  It worked out almost perfect and there was just 15 minutes of the movie left (including the song and dancing of the animals at the start of the credits).  Then it was bedtime.  She went but a few minutes later, she came in to me to complain that she couldn't see the movie.  I misunderstood and told her that I was not watching a movie (I had the news on) and she said, *Come see!*  I followed her into the room and she crawled into bed, covered herself and then pointed her arm out front of her towards the closet and said, *See?  I can't see the movie!* 

I knew what she was driving at.  She wanted to go to sleep watching the movie on a computer which does not exist in the guest bedroom.  I told her, *NO!!  You are NOT going to sleep on Gramma's bed.  Papa does NOT let his computer play movies to go to sleep.  You are sleeping in HERE.*  I then kissed her forehead and, as I turned, I heard Chewlee give a big sigh and she whispered, *You aren't nice to Chewlee.*  I turned and said to her that NO ONE is as nice to her as Gramma is and she knows it.*  She sat up and put her arms out to me and said, *I love you, Gramma.*  I gave her a hug and told her I loved her, too.  She then settled back, turned on her side and told me goodnight.  I closed her door and came here to my computer to write this update to my day.  It made me smile....a lot.

Today has been an unusual day and not just because of having Chewlee again. Friday is my usual day for having her, although this week hasn't been usual.  First of all, it got up to 78 degrees,    The Beast, who has done this more than once, went to the barber's for a haircut and left his wallet at home.  When he got back here, he decided to take the scooter back to the barber's because it needed a good run and it was just so nice out. 

Baron went absolutely nuts when the Beast pulled it out of the garage and drove off without HIM.  Then he whined like his heart was broken for several minutes.  He sat at my bedroom window with his chin on the sill until the Beast came back.  It was really pathetic.  He has this idea that the scooter is HIS exercise toy since most of the time the Beast uses it to do just that and take some of the energy out of Baron.  So, to Baron's way of thinking, the Beast should always be on the scooter when HE is with him.  Never alone.  Without him.

I actually wore shorts today and a skimpy top.  What was funny was the Beast's reaction when he saw me in it.  He just stared at my boobs like he hadn't noticed I even had them before.    Since it's one of those little strap, built-in bra tops, you can see how large they are nowadays.  I think THAT is what surprised him.  When I was sick, I sure didn't have much at all. 

Since I knew I was going to keep Chewlee overnight, I figured I had best do some wash and see what clothes of Chewlee's I had here that I could use.  I wasn't sure if I had any pajamas for her or clothes for morning and I wanted to be able to tell the Princess what I would need.  It turned out that I have one top for her and a couple pairs of socks.    I've sent everything home since I know it helps with her school clothes to have things that fit her well.  I did find one pair of jeans for her but.....they are about pedal pusher size now.    That's one of the reasons I try to *recycle* her clothes.  I don't want to see that happen again.

I want to get to Walmart tomorrow with Chewlee to pick her up a pair of sandels.  She wants some that are like flip-flops (she said) but are different.  I know what she meant.  She doesn't want the rubber ones but rather the leather ones that are sturdier.  I'm just hoping they are out.  The weather will be great again so she can wear them.  She's always so cute when she has something new on that she likes.  She's fun to take to the store because she says hi to everyone.  If they say hi back, she will say, *She/he likes me* and get this shit-eating grin on her face.

Speaking of which.....Chewlee was returning a picture of her cousin's to my dresser top while the Beast was playing Hearts online.  He got upset and said *Shit!*.  Well, Chewlee was just horrified and had to come and tell me all about him saying *shit*.  She said, *That's a bad word and we don't say shit, do we?*  I told her, *No, we say Oh Darnit!*  She then told me that she was gonna go and tell Papa that he can't say shit any more but has to say Darn it!  She then ran into the bedroom and told him...*Papa, you can't say shit any more!  You have to say Darn it!*  He looked at her and laughed a little but he said, *Okay.  I won't say it any more.*  She then made him say Darn it a couple times he told me and, while shaking her finger from left to right to emphasize what she was telling him, she said,  *Now remember!  You don't say shit, you say *darn it!*.  With that, she came back, closing his door behind her (which means he is in a *time-out*) and announced to me that he would only say Darn it now.

Remember I told you about her screams being able to shatter glass?  Well, Johnnycakes (aka *daddy* to her) had enough and took away her TV until she stopped doing it.  She has even stopped doing it at school.    She told me all about it and said she was going to ask daddy if she could please, please have her TV back.  He told her no the other day but the teacher at school noticed it and told me that she has stopped her screaming even.  Her whole demeanor (along with the potty training finally kicking in) has changed at school.  She's become even more cooperative than she ever was and they are loving it.  Especially because she is so bright.  She is also the first one to give another kid who might be crying a hug to try to make them feel better (or she will try a toy to distract them).  She will ask them what's wrong? and she really wants to know.  She will sympathize with them if someone is being mean and then she will either yell at the kid who was being mean or tell the teacher about it making the other one cry.

Well, the Princess just dropped off the clothes I needed for Chewlee and I found out that I will not have Chewlee from about 10 am until the Princess has to go to work (which means she will drop off Chewlee around 3:30pm)   She isn't working a double tomorrow for a change.  Chewlee is in the tub, I already washed her hair (which is a chore in itself because it's so long) so now is her play time until her fingers get all wrinkled.    Remember those days?

I'm going to close for now with a wish for a great weekend for you.  I'm pretty sure we will have one and I love to share.  Love you all. 

Yes, I ended up picking up Chewlee from school today and kept her until her mother got off work.  She had one party that just didn't seem to want to leave so she was there much later than she planned.  I had given Chewlee a bath and put her in her pajamas since I knew she would be going straight to bed when she got home.  Her mother didn't get out of the restaurant until almost 10pm (11pm Eastern time) and we found out she wasn't bringing us the pizzas we had hoped for because the ovens at work broke.  She works at a nice Italian restaurant that also has a good pizza they serve.  Lots of people were disappointed. 

It ended up that I took out a cheapie pizza we had in the freezer, jazzed it up a bit and made it just because I really, really had my taste buds set.  It wasn't great (not even close!) but it got rid of the craving.  However, it's why I lost track of time.  Sorry about that.

Chewlee was in a great mood and why not?  The weather was incredible and the kids got to spend a lot of time out on the playground.  Heck, it was 76 degrees here, sunny, no wind and just as great a day as you could ask for.  Chewlee and I watched the Harry Potter movie on ABC Family channel.  They will be running on a day (two on Sunday) as part of a *Harry Potter 4-dayWeekend*.  It works out great for me because I will have Chewlee for the next three days so guess what we will be watching at 6 Central (7 Eastern)?  Don't know when the early one will be on Sunday but I'm going to guess around 3pm.

What Bratfink and I both noticed about the first one today (yes, we were both watching it and commenting back and forth via IM) is that what they were playing has some scenes in it that we didn't have on our DVD's.  We figure it must be a Director's Cut but it's really cool.  Plus, they are showing scenes from the new Harry Potter movie at intervals (at end of commercials).  I can hardly wait to get my DVD that I pre-ordered from Amazon.  That one is going directly to the big TV in the living room when I get it.

I was surprised that even Chewlee noticed some of the scenes that were in the Harry Potter we watched tonight that we don't have on our Harry Potter one.  She pointed some of them out to me before she finally *got* it that they had the version that they didn't give to people.  She told me that it *wasn't nice* that they did that. 

She told me quite a bit tonight that she loved me.  No prompting.  No asking.  She would just say, *I love you, Gramma*.  Just makes me go all weepy because she is so damn sweet.

The Beast is chomping at the bit for more of our trees to bloom since he's looked at the forecast and it looks like we might actually be seeing the last of the real cold.  All our weather for the next week is supposed to be in the mid-to-upper 70's..    I know!  I was surprised, too.  But, if it's true...WOW!!!!!

It was not a good start to my day.  I got up to pee and found that Baron had waited until the Beast and I were sound asleep and got up on our bed with us.  Unfortunately, he decided that one of my feet was a comfy spot to lay part of his 110 lb. anatomy on.  So.....for I have no idea how long, he lay on my foot and hyper-extended the muscle from my ankle to my knee along the left side of my shin bone.  How do I know this?  When I yanked my foot out from under him, I had a hard time putting it flat on the ground and PAIN! took hold of me.  I limped into the bathroom and limped out of the bedroom into my computer room.  I started off rubbing my ankle where the pain seemed to be located but....as I massaged it, I followed the pain up my leg and found out it hurt all the way up to just below the knee.  I got the Beast's super massager and plugged it in and ran it up and down the area until there seemed to be no more pain.  I then wrapped the heating pad around it and, while I was just sitting there, decided to do something on Pogo to pass the time until I could manage to get back to bed.

I have no idea why I picked doing the Trivial Pursuit challenge.  My brain was barely working but, at least I got the badge in just one game.  Then, since the muscle was still a bit sore, I did the word search challenge.  I have no idea how many I had to do for that one but when the badge popped up, I decided it was time for bed.  It was about 6:30 or so and I went back to bed, threw the dog off it and made him lay down on his bed and went back to sleep for four hours.  I ended up sleeping on my side because I didn't want to take the chance the damn dog would get back on our bed and do it to me again.

It became a BIG discussion with the Beast about Baron when I got up and had my first cup of coffee.  He actually was entertaining the idea of buying a king size bed so we ALL wouldn't feel crowded.  I nixed that idea and was VERY adamant about it.  I told him we are NOT buying a bed so the dog can sleep with us.  Bad enough he lets him get up on it when he's on his computer.  I told him all our sheets, comforters and spreads are for a queen size bed.  It would mean all new linens and blankets, etc. and thee is NO WAY he can justify that to me.  I told the Beast we have to train him now to stay off the bed just like we got him to stop laying on the couch.

I've been keeping my eye on Baron all day and making him get off the bed every time I see him up there.  The Beast finally got on him, too.  We have two different beds in this house for him (dog beds) so there is no reason for him to get up on either bed we have here.  I have been keeping the guest room door shut, too.   

When Baron gave me what I believe is a dirty look while getting down off our bed, I actually looked at him and said, *Our bed isn't big enough for the three of us!!  YOU are a DOG.  You will act like a dog, do you hear me?*  When I turned and left the room, he gave this little whine as he lay down on his bed.  I swear, even though it sounds stupid, he understood me.....or at least my tone of voice! 

Other than that, the Beast spent part of his day spraying the trees with open blossoms on it.  He did the *before* they open to spray against peach curl and the spraying today was some kind of fertilizer, I believe.  He has to wait for the leaves to start budding before he can spray them against the Japanese beetles but...he's ready!  He makes me laugh sometimes. 

He's certainly hopeful.  I discovered that he's bought me more Mason jars for canning so he's optomistic about having a good crop.  We shall see what happens.  He wanted to know if I want a vegetable garden this year or not and I told him I would do one IF he rototilled it well.  Meaning until it was not in big chunks like he usually does.  I told him we can add some soil to it while he's doing it to help break up the clay but he didn't seem too enthused.  All I can do is wait and see.  He might wake up one day and decide to do it.  You just never know with him.

I'm writing this on the REAL *Hump day*....**color my face red** but you won't read it until Thursday.  I can only plead *Old Timers* since one day is pretty much like another to us retired folks.  It's easy for us to lose track of time.  I even discovered it when I talked to the Beast and asked him if he took out the bin for pickup.  We had to check on the TV and....duh...I was a day ahead of myself.  I should have gone back and corrected my blog but...I forgot I had even mentioned it.  Another *Old Timers* (or more likely a blonde moment). 

Have a great Thursday.  Love you all.  Pray that we are successful with getting our small horse of a dog trained to STAY OFF THE BED!!!!  If anyone had any suggestions, I would be glad to hear them.  Leave a comment. 

I don't know why  the weekend should appeal to me except that I spent so much of my life waiting patiently for it to show up.  That's what working most of your life does for you.  Being retired, however, has it's own problems.  Take yesterday.  I really thought it was the night we put out our garbage for pickup.  I asked the Beast if he had taken it out and he got this stricken look on his face because he actually had to stop and think if it WAS the night to take it out.  He then looked at me and said, *Look it up on the TV* (when you hit the info button, it shows the day, date and time as well as the channel information).  We both laughed because I was wrong and the Beast was unsure.  That's retirement.  One day can be pretty much like any other day unless you are one of those people that schedules appointments every day to help you remember.  Honest, there really ARE older people that do that.

Nowadays, I look forward to the weekend because it means that we will have Chewlee here.  It will be even more fun once the weather truly gets warmer and we can spend more time outdoors.  She just wants it to be warm enough (and for Grampa to build it) for us to plant our garden for out front.  She will start nagging Grampa soon when she realizes that we aren't having any really cold weather any more.

It was too cool to do some of the things we wanted to do and it's also too cool to put out my hummingbird food yet.  I WAS debating planting some of the butterfly/hummingbird attracting flowers that I have since they are in seed form but I thought I would hold off until the weekend and let Chewlee help me do that.  It's only for the planters I have on the deck but it will help occupy her for a while anyway and she will know that those flowers are for the birds and the butterflies, not mommy. 

I am starting to feel that pull of spring cleaning and I am really trying to talk myself out of it....for a while anyway.  I found myself looking around at the condition of the blinds, the curtains, etc. but I caught myself and gave myself a mental slap.....*not yet!  not yet!*.  Heck, I still have a box of Christmas stuff hanging around the house that needs to go up in the attic....who am I kidding?    It's just a small box so it's easy to push in a corner and forget about.  You know how that is.

It actually poured like crazy last night and we had all kinds of thunder but no lightning, strangely.  That was okay with me because lightning usually also brings with it power outages.  The rain passed and more flowers bloomed on our trees.  Please, please, no frosts now.  Oh, the Beast was happy as a lark because he found several bees busy doing their flower dance on the tree blossoms.  He came in with the biggest grin on his face.  Looked positively gruesome. 

When I picked up Chewlee from preschool today, she was definitely shocked.  She wasn't expecting me at all and she got confused and thought it was *bubble gum day* (Friday).  She ran out to the front office and told them she *needed her bubble gum*.  She had this shocked look on her face when everyone told her that wasn't today.  So, after grabbing my hand as we left, she said to me *Gramma.....what are you doing here if it's not bubble gum day?* 

I told her that daddy was going somewhere with some friends and her mommy, the Princess, was in Gadsden shopping.  She stopped dead in her tracks, put both hands on her hips and asked, *Then WHERE are we going?*  I told her to Grandma's house and she just said, *Oh!*, got a grin on her face and ran to the car.  I kind of figured she was happy about that.

I knew I was only going to have her for about an hour since the Princess's friend had to be back by 6 pm.  But Chewlee knows how to make the most of it.  She told me she *wanted lunch* and I had to ask her what she wanted to eat.  She came over, took my hand and gave me a tug and said, *Let's go look!*  She skipped out to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door.  That alone is a treat for her because she can't do that at home.  She thinks nothing of going in there and rooting around and getting into stuff she shouldn't.  And she's not good about putting things back that she might pull out either.  At least here, I always go with her and I make it a cooperative thing.  If I take something out, she puts it back and vice versa. 

She also loves the freezer section.  That's because it's where I keep *her*  popsicles.    The first thing she headed for was the salami.  She always has to have 3 slices.  She ended up finishing up the rest of the salami we had and gave me the instructions that I had to get more when I went to Walmart.  She added that I couldn't go without HER.  When I laughed, she turned around with this mad look on her face and said, *I mean it, Gramma....you have to take Chewlee with you when you go to Walmart so I can show you.*  When I asked her what she wanted to show me, she told me she wanted to show me what she wanted for her birthday.

One of the reasons I don't like the children's channel (like Nickelodean) is the commercials all are kid related.  Toys, toys and more toys or else kids meals from McD's.  And that's only today's commercials.    Chewlee gets so excited and, of course, she wants it all.  Well, except for what she calls the *boy toys*.  Right now she keeps saying she wants this one or that one *for her birthday*.  Then she goes into the begging:  *Please, Grandma.  PLEASE! PLEASE!*  Luckily, I can get away with a *We'll see!*  I have this feeling that she thinks that *we'll see* actually means *of course!* 

I do, however, really like many of the programs they have.  When my kids were young, there really were only two programs that weren't just cartoons and more cartoons.  That was Sesame Street and The Electric Company.  Both of those are/were good but now they have cartoons that are aimed at learning, like Dora the Explorer and Ki Lan.  Dora makes learning Spanish words fun for kids and Ki Lan does that for Korean, although Korean isn't really a language I can see being useful here.  It does, however, introduce kids to learning another language and about how different cultures have different customs.  It's about acceptance and tolerance.  I like that because it's done nicely and in such a gentle manner.  It makes me hope that sometime in the future there will be less teasing and bullying by kids who think *different* is  funny or an excuse for acting stupid.

On our way home from preschool, I got an inkling that some of what we told Chewlee may have sunk in.  As we were passing the dogwoods that are in bloom all along the road we take back to the house, Chewlee asked me if they were *picking flower trees* or *fruit flower trees*.  She got a big grin when I told her they were  *picking flower trees* and clapped her hands together and said she was going to get some of THEM for her mommy.

Our ride home is really a nice one.  We pass several cattle ranches, a couple horse ranches and even a small farm or two.  Chewlee always looks to see if the cows and horses are out on the pastures we can see from the road.  They obviously  change them and I had to explain why they did that to Chewlee.  That made sense to her and she said she didn't want them to go hungry but she DID want to see them.  I told her that they would be back sooner or later and she would see them so she shouldn't worry.

Chewlee was reluctant to leave me tonight but her mother told her that, if she was good, she could come back in a couple days.  I told her she still have a couple Fridays or Saturdays that she could stay with Grandma until Sheepie came for her visit.  Chewlee always gets excited when she hears the name *Sheepie* and she tells me that Sheepie is HER cousin and she loves her.  What cracks me up is that she will act all shy at first when Sheepie gets here.  Happens all the time.

Love you all and I hope your week is going well.  It's *HUMP DAY* today so the week is half gone.  Here's another grandparent tidbit for you to think about:

     Grandma always made you feel she had been waiting to see just you all day and now the day was complete - Marcy DeMaree              

I really can't find the proper word, if there is one, for what having Chewlee here when she spend it staying overnight.  It can be incredibly funny.  Happy.  Frustrating.  Torture (when her hair must be combed...she has a scream that can shatter glass, I swear).  Mostly it's actually a joy.  Even the Beast loves to see how she is growing in knowledge, her use of words (Papa has now become Grandpa).  She thinks the Beast is *awesome* when he takes her picture like he did today.  The problem was she can't stay still for longer than two seconds so it becomes a real chore to hope to grab a good one.

Today Chewlee committed an unforgivable sin as far as the Beast is concerned.  I told you the peach and nectarine trees are in bloom, right?  Well, he put her next to one of the trees to get some of the blooms showing in the picture, too.  She was the pretty flowers and, as soon as the Beast gave up and went to walk away, she reached up, grabbed one of the small branches full of blooms and broke it off......*for mommy*.    I thought he was going to have a heart attack right then and thee.  I was stunned and told her that she never, ever took flowers off one of *papa's* trees.  Those flowers made fruit for us to eat and she likes fruit, right?

She was shaken but stood her ground and said, *I sorry but those are for my mommy.  They are beautiful.  See?* as she held them out for us.  She did say, shyly, to the Beast, *Did you want them back?*  He told her no because now they would die and she hurt the tree when she did that.  I think she knew he wouldn't take them back but he told her this:  *When you plant your garden that I am going to make for you, THOSE flowers you can take to your mommy but DO NOT TOUCH MY TREES!!!*    She pulled her shoulders up to her ears and said she wouldn't do it any more and that was how it was left.

When the Princess showed up to take her home, Chewlee ran to get the *flowers* and handed them to her.  The Princess actually thought they were artificial until Chewlee told her to smell them.  The Princess's jaw dropped when she realized they were from one of the peach trees.  She told Chewlee that those trees were not flower trees.  Chewlee looked a bit confused because it was so obvious they had flowers on them but the Princess went on to tell her that the flowers on those trees would turn into fruit that Chewlee could eat.  She even found a small fruit on the bunch and showed it to her.  Again, Chewlee said she wouldn't pick any more of the flowers on the trees.  The peach blossoms really are pretty so I can't say I blame her for it.  She really loves flowers and loves to give them to me and her mommy.

The Beast printed up one of the pictures of Chewlee and Chewlee just loved it.  She asked the Beast if she could have one to take home.  He told her she could have the one we were looking at but it had to dry first.  She remembered it when she was ready to leave and ran to get it from the Beast.  She had to show it to her mommy and had such a cute big grin on her face.

I gave her a bath before she left since her hair needed it.  She's gotten better about it now and tips her head back so you can wet the hair and rinse it.  I just have to have a washcloth for her so she can cover her eyes.  The Princess braided her hair before they left so it would be nice for school in the morning.  The college is on Spring Break next week so Chewlee won't have to get up quite as early as she normally does on Mondays.

We did all our usual things...watching cartoons, Godzilla movies, Madagascar 1& 2,  Shrek and lots of Sponge Bob.  She ate at salami sandwich (), some penne pasta, two bananas and countless snack items.  She also had a waffle before bedtime...  I swear, she's like the Beast that way.  She has to have a full stomach and she goes to sleep quickly.