Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Rumblin' Tumblin' Bumblin'

Thoughts in no particular order....


Our air conditioner is not working. This happens to us no matter what house we live in. It seems like a normal occurrence. I'm a bit toasty.

I've put wires on the old iron clothes line and I've been using it. It's delightful to see our clothes flapping in the wind and they dry so much faster than if I stick them in the dryer. But, I hate line dried towels. Too scratchy.

I'm the assistant teacher for one of the 4th grade classes at VBS this week. Our new church has the most organized, most incredible, most outreaching VBS I've ever seen in my life. I've stood around with my mouth agape in awe much of the week. The volunteers, the kids, the staff, the food, the songs, the decorations, the lessons are all amazing. But so far, my favorite moment was when little Mike in my class walked up and hugged me around the waist...because he's really little for a 4th grader, but so dang cute I want to eat him. My kids are having the best time. Ellen is helping with recreation and working with a crew to fix up a house for single women with mental disabilities. Today she came home covered in paint. Seth is helping with one of the 2nd grade classes and today I saw him dancing with one of the little guys in his class, That little guy beamed up at my big boy with admiration. We're pooped when we get home, so not much is getting done around Coal Creek Farm. Especially painting the #$! dining room!

My dad will be here tomorrow. He's preparing to do BAK, that would be Bike Across Kansas a 400 mile ride across Kansas. A couple weeks ago he did a 200 mile ride through the flint hills of Kansas. I can only hope I have as much determination when I'm 65, but I don't think it will be on the seat of a bicycle.

I need help from any gardeners reading. I think I have scale on my tomatoes and I have ants, which like scales. I need advice on how to get rid of the ants quickly. I put out a couple of bait traps and that is helping a bit, but I think my property is infested with ants. Please advise.

My daughter, you know the one I bragged about yesterday? Yeah, she's sighing heavily behind me to get off the computer. Because we are down to one computer and can only used it when Clay gets home it's a bit like waiting in line for the roller coaster.

Broken Things in My Life Right Now
1. The air conditioner
2. My computer
3. The weed wacker
4. Does the dining room wall count as broken? Yes, I think so.
5. The basketball goal.

Ah well. Life goes on and I need something to complain about, right?


10 comments:

jean said...

Well my Mom always told me that things happen in 3s. So you just need one more. Here it's been the central air conditioner, the lawn mower and the dehumidifier. Not exactly a cheap week.

I think you're really lucky to find such a great church. It sounds like they really get out and involved in the community.

Umm, you need to talk to your sister about the garden stuff. I hear she loves it went people ask her questions.

H said...

April,

If you toss your towels in the dryer for 10-15 minutes before line-drying them, they will be MUCH less scratchy. :)

Jean Martha said...

blah blah blah...more piggy pictures please!!

Anonymous said...

Okay, I went to the gyno's office today for my yearly. And, the receptionist commented on my PO Box in the town I live in. Anyway, I was telling her yes, this is the only town I know that if you don't live on a certain road, they won't deliver your mail, plus the whole town is infested with ants. I have never had ants anywhere else. I swear she told me that if you put "semen" out it gets rid of the ants. I was too embarrassed to say what? Maybe I had semen on the brain being surrounded by all those pregnant women. So, it was either semen or salmon. Try both and let me know, will you?

Mylinda said...

When my dryer broke, I had to use the line to dry the clothes. I found that if I put extra liquid softener ( like 1.5 cups instead of the usual 1 cup...or even a little more), the clothes might still be a little stiff when taken off the line, but tended to soften up after a bit of "fluffing" by me. Have fun! :-)

April said...

Julie,
Um I just can't imagine putting semen around my plants. No. That's just not right, it can't be and I want to know how that was discovered in the first place...wait no I don't.

Karen Deborah said...

Way to go with VBS! Piglet and Tigger will be working with ours next week. Isn't it exciting to see the wonderful responses from the children? Good for you and your family. Housework and chores are never ending; it will all still be there next week. One week for the Lord is not too much, right? I asked my husband to paint our dining room for my birthday present this year. Painting my kitchen wore me out.
Ants can be killed with 20 mule team borax. Put it on their hills. You can also mix up soap suds and spray on the plants not to strong. It seems like somewhere in my head, that ants don't hurt the plants. Fire ants are the only ants I worry about and those little "piss" ants that also bite.
Hillary is right, you can line dry stuff and fluff it for a few minutes, I do mine after. Also fabric softener in the rinse water makes a big difference. I love to hang wash, and it's cheaper. Sometimes if we have a lot of humidity the stuff won't dry though, now that is humid.

Patty said...

I'm not sure about this, since I've been sitting here reading your most awesome blog, instead of doing any of the endless possibilities of being productive around here - BUT - My aunt told me to pour boiling water on the ant hills, and that would kill them. Safe for kids and animals, that's what I was looking for. I think I'll go heat some water!

jennifer h said...

Julie,

I lived in a town in OK where if you lived a within a certain distance of the PO, they wouldn't deliver. We lived about a block away, so we had to have a PO box (although we didn't have to pay for the box).

On your other um suggestion um, who and how is one to get enough of said ant deterrent to kill the ants? Hmmmm? Like April, I don't want to know.

www.las-palmas-3d.com said...

What namely you're saying is a terrible mistake.