Bogieblog

Work and Play for the Weekend

We have been really busy here at the Bogie estate. Most of last week we weren't even sitting down to think about making dinner until about 8 PM (suspiciously close to my bed time). There was my pet-sitting, and coddling of GT (who never did eat, but according to reports, as of yesterday was still alive and being fed by eyedropper). When it quit raining on Sunday, the weather decided to warm up some, to the tune of upper 80's and mis 90's (I don't mind those temps, I just want them a little more than 4 days afer it had been in the 40's! Not only was it hot, the humiditiy was at something really low, meaning anything that was newly planted, or in pots, or in the greenhouse, needed to be watered. Most of that watering had to be done by hand; Since Wednesday, I have had a 3-day rotation going until we get a decent rain.

Then Saturday, I started planting trees in the area formerly of the fruit trees. I ran into a humongous rock, so by the time I had spent 2 hours out in the blazing sun, I had exactly 1 tree planted and a sun burn. I came in and started staining the new linen cabinet. As I hadn't been able to decide which color matched our dressers (old ones from Cop Car), I had bought 2 different stains. There is one fixed shelf in the cabinet (4 removeable), so I did the top half in Red Chestnut and the bottom half in Red Oak (thank goodness I did, because the test pieces I had done didn't show any difference in color - but there is a huge difference!).

WS was busy hauling in manure, shoveling it into the cart to transport up to the garden, spreading said manure, then rototilling it in. He used the neighbors 1 ton w/dump body to bring in 2 loads of manure - it took some work to get it all to the garden!

Yesterday was more productive for me. I managed to get 2 trees and 6 shrubs planted after running around in the morning (pert-sitting, groceries, dog food). I had promised myself when I went to Agway to get dog food that I wouldn't look at any plants. I didn't, except for those on a table just outside the entrance. JIm, the store manager, is an evil, evil man! He had just placed some blooming roses next to the entrance. One of them was a Peace Rose, which I have been looking at for some time. It had one fully open bloom (pictures I found on the internet just don't do it justice), and 3 well formed buds. Naturally, you can't just buy one rose (I think it is a law or something), so I started looking for another, and found an extremely scentfull (is that a word?) Arizona rose. It had 3 buds and just a whiff of one was enough to convince me that it was going home with me!

Yeah, like what I need is another plant right now (I still have a couple of trees and bunches of shrubs, not to mention the veggie garden to get in). Hey, and the plug for the day, if you don't know about HelpMeFind for roses, go check it out.

Anyway, WS mowed then decided to finish staining the cabinet (so I could continue planting). After looking at the two colors on the inside of the cabinet, bringing in a drawer to see what matched the closest, I decided that the Red Oak would look best, but really, a mix of the Red Oak and Red Chestnut would be perfect. So, off to the hardware store went WS to get a bucket for mixing the stain (one with a lid to save the leftovers). Also, he had to stop at Agway to get me another bail of Pro-Mix as I was afraid I would run out.

He got the cabinet completely stained, I planted what I was going to get planted for the day, we both took showers, then we jumped on the bike and met with Jim to go to the Sky Show in the Manchester Millyard. It is a mixture of carnival (no rides that I saw, but rock climbing is there), exhibitions of motocross bikes (or skateboarders or whtever is slated for the year) food and concerts. The finale is a 45 minute fireworks show over the river. It was an awesome show!

Today we are supposed to take the day off and take a ride to the seacoast, then wherever we decide to go from there.

Next week will probably be light on posting again; I have pet-sitting duties and I have to polyeurathane the cabinet. WS will be working 11 hour days, so he won't be able to help this time. I'll also have to water plants unless we get more than the 1/8" of rain we got last night. The carpet people are supposed to be in on Friday, so the cabinet HAS to get done, and be cured enough for handling, before then.

Hope everyone has a good week!

Memorial Day 2007

Please take a moment on this Memorial Day to remember all our veterans and fallen soldiers.

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday to Wichi Dudette!

Bursting to the Seams

Geeze, if we weren't pressed for room enough between the den stuff upstairs, and GT convelescing in the workout room, WS has to bring a piece of furniture home this week. Late February I ordered a new pantry from an unfinished furniture store. It is to be used for linen and blanket storage as the old cabinet (made of glorified cardboard) just can't hold up much longer. Of course, the ordering took place before the boiler over-raneth itself.

This is a custom cabinet, size-wise, so took some time, and the first piece was damaged in transit, so he sent it back. 3 weeks ago, the unfinished furniture guy called to let me know it was in. I told him there was no way we could take it now as half our house was torn up (yes, a slight exageration, but harms no one). I asked him to hold it a couple of weeks (figuring the basement would be finished and I could stain and polyurathane in the back bedroom upstairs).

This guy doesn't have a very big place, so I am worried about it getting beat up while he is moving other stuff around it. I told WS to go ahead and pick it up and I will stain/polyurathane in the den (no carpet or anything to worry about anyway).

The only problem will be finding someplace to put it when the carpet guys finally do come in. Oh well, we'll figure that out when we get to it.

Taking a GT Day

Here I am at home today, on a day I should be at work. Actually, I just got home about an hour ago, but never made it to work.

I have been pet-sitting since Friday, and since that day, one of the cats in my charge has not eaten. The owner had indicated that GT, the cat, was having trouble eating dry food, so he was giving her canned food along with dry. I have a feeling that she has only been picking at the canned food, because she has lost a lot of weight since I last saw her. She also has been huddled in as warm a spot as she can find.

Her owner is in Mexico, and I have been unable to reach him. I leave voicemails and emails, but have had no response (except 1 email to let me know the voicemail wasn't working down there).

This morning, I took GT to the vet. The cat is 17 years old, and I was worried that she was experiencing kidney failure (signs: losing weight, disinterest in food, cold body temp - everything that I had observed). Fortunately, the work-up indicated no organ failures. She has anemia and some sort of infection, but it is unknown what from. She was also dehydrated, so they gave her an under-the-skin water flush. She is scheduled for more hydration therapy tomorrow evening and Thursday evening (so I don't have to miss more work). And she is down to 4.5 pounds

We aren't conducting any more tests to pinpoint the cause, because we are unsure of my clients wishes, at 17 years old, how far do you go (it is a personal choice for everyone)? We have started he on antibiotics for the infection, the hydration therapy, and a high calorie/high protein cat food (if she will eat). This is a stop-gap and supportive measure that should get her thru until my client gets back in town.

I have also turned the workout room/computer room into a convelecence room for GT (she normally is a barn cat - severe allergies on the part of the wife). I have placed a childs gate at the door, so she doesn't have to be "closed up", but is protected from our dogs and cats. She has her own private litter box, food/water dishes and nice thick comforter (of which she is snoozing on beside me right this very instant).

So, the vet visit and all the preparations are why I never made it to work. By the time I could have gotten to work it would be just about now (actually, with day-time traffic, I probably wouldn't be there yet). Get in 3 hours of work, and leave so I can take care of the rest of my client's animals - not worth the 2+ hours of drivetime!

Anyway, I'm treating GT as I would want someone else to take care of our animals, should one of them become sick. I know my client appreciates that.

May 2007 Pictures

I wish I could show you pictures of the bear that visited the backyard last night, but you will have to wait until the roll of film is used up and developed. Karen and Jim were over at the time. I was doing the final prep work for dinner and I was keeping up a running commentary of the birds I saw at the feeders.

I got the plates and silverware out of the cabinet, was just getting ready to tell everyone to fill their plates, when I looked out the window and saw the bear stroll out of the woods. I said, "Bear," then continued, "don't make much noise, don't get the dogs excited, but come out here and see the bear." We watched the bear check out the thistle feeder (it is out on the clothes line and is my early warning system for bringing in the other feeders on the deck). Then, he strolled across the back yard, headed for the greenhouse, checked it out real quick, then mosied on into the woods.

Meanwhile, I had snapped several pictures. WS said he hoped the bear didn't get teh idea to come on the deck to get at the feeders. I replied that I planned on bringing them in, so he snapped more pictures while I went and got the feeders. Hopefully, it was light enough that the pictures will come out. I was dusk, and the bear was about 60 feet away so the flash probably wasn't effective. I believe that the pictures will be on the dark side, but the bear should be recognizable in the photos - we'll see.

Anyway, I'll share a couple of pictures from the latest roll of film:

Milestones

Go wish Wichi Dude and Dudette a Happy Anniversary.

Grade Is In

Yesterday I checked on the grade I got for the class I took this spring (they only give grades on-line). I figured I had done fairly well; a B- or a B, maybe even a B+. My homework scores were always a 10 or 10+ (max), I finished all the labs, and I was present at every class and every lab (I think only 1 other person did the same). I had a couple of quizzes that I did really well at, but a couple that I got in the lower 80's. Same with the tests. I don't know what my score was for the final exam as he does not give those back, but I figured in the mid 80's.

The way the instructor figures final grades is complicated; homework counts for so much of the grade (10% maybe?), quizes another portion, completing each lab another, lab reports a comprise a portion, tests a portion, and exams the last portion. Points can be deducted for missing one or more classes and points can be added for getting a "+" on any of the above.

The total scores needed for grades were:

• 93% or better for an A
• 90-92.9% for an A-
• 87-89.9% for a B+
• 83-86.9% for a B
• 80-82.9% for a B-

However, this is the only instructor that I have had that grades on a curve - which throws everything off. I don't know how his curve is calculated , but he did say that if he did it the same for each class, our class would be the spoilers for just about every other EL115 class he has taught. 

Anyway, when I checked my grade yesterday and was pleasantly surprised when I discovered I got an "A" for the class. Cant' beat that with a stick!

Day of Rest

It looks like the den may actually get finished off, and the new carpet laid within the next week (or two, or maybe even three). So, I vacuumed the walls (cobwebs galore) so the new paint would stick and washed down all the woodwork so the carpet wouldn't make everything look shabby. I decided that the heater registers needed repainting, so I dis-assembled them yesterday and started painting them. I had actually been very tired and figured I wouldn't do much, but I guess I was just tired of digging, planting and mulching - because I worked my butt off for most of the day.

Then I moved stuff into the greenhouse so that the frost due this morning wouldn't do any damage. I do have a couple of barrels planted with annuals that are just too big to move. I knew I was taking my chances when I planted - hopefully everything survived the night. By the time I got done, it was almost 6.

WS was no slouch, he rototilled the garden (takes a couple hours) and then loaded the tractor and rototiller up and dropped it off at the BIL's in Francestown. When he got home he mowed (1st time for the season) and then did some other odds and ends.

We then settled down to watch last week's episode of "24". Alas, it ws not to be. The government bit us in the *ss. The VCR had reset itself, thinking it neded to accommodate for daylight savings time. We got to see the last 2 minutes - at the rate this season has gone, we probably didn't miss much anyway.

I had to bring in the hummingbird feeder so it wouldn't freeze overnight. I have to remember to put it back out before I leave for work this morning.

Work all day, miss our TV show and take care of the birds - so much for the nice restful day that we both envisioned!

Mother's Day 2007

Happy Mother's Day to Cop Car who, last I heard (an email a couple of days ago), was out at the Red Cross Emergency Operations Center helping with the flood/tornado disasters in KS.