Very sad indeed.

Okay, not really.

Maverick’s so rowdy

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Justin on patrol

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This is a little orphan rose bush that I rescued from the neighbor several years ago. It usually only blooms once in the spring. Re-blooming Iris Roses Mums Cottage Garden Photos

Other Bloomers

Technorati . . . → Read More: Gifts from the Garden]]> I was outside today doing some Fall garden clean up and I was given some surprises.

This is a little orphan rose bush that I rescued from the neighbor several years ago. It usually only blooms once in the spring.

Re-blooming Iris


Roses


Mums


Cottage Garden Photos

Other Bloomers

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Sometimes, something else demands attention and you just can’t have the door . . . → Read More: Ready to Go!]]> Technorati Tags: dogs

When we get home (from work, errands, etc.) one of us will go upstairs to round up the dogs from the room where they do their time.  The other will wait downstairs at the door to shoo them outside.

Sometimes, something else demands attention and you just can’t have the door open when they come scurrying down.

Here’s what that looks like.

We’ve also been assessing the house and what projects we want to tackle in preparation of selling. . . . → Read More: There’s a lot to be done]]> We have been canning. We’ve been canning a lot. There’s more canning to do. I detest canning. I say that every year toward the end of tomato canning season, but I start over again the following summer.

We’ve also been assessing the house and what projects we want to tackle in preparation of selling. It’s difficult to adjust the changes we’d make for ourselves and the things we’d do to make the property attractive to a potential buyer.

We’ve also dusted off D’s old resume and updated that. Searched the internet for potential jobs in areas we might like to relocate in. Daunting.

Things have changed somewhat. Off and on for . . . → Read More: The Leap]]> When Dennis and I bought our 1919 Four Square in 2003, we expected we’d retire in this house. We looked at a lot of homes and waited until we found one we really loved before we purchased, figuring we were in it for the long haul.

Things have changed somewhat. Off and on for the last couple of years, we have been remarking, “I wish we lived somewhere else” and “If we ever move” and “Wouldn’t it be nice if” and “If I could start over…”.

The frequency of these statements have increased in the last 6 months or so. And the “if” have been replaced with “when” . The discussion has been amped up since Dennis’ friend, Rob, accepted a job offer in Idaho. We looked at the photos of the area and sighed, then said “Rob sucks!”. It occurred to us that Rob doesn’t suck, we suck. We suck be cause we want to take a leap of faith but won’t lift that first foot off the ground.

We’ve been discussing, in earnest, the logistics of moving out of the area. Not just out of the area but out of the region. Both of us have lived in Northern Ohio a long time. Dennis his whole life (45 years) and me since 1970 (moved back in 1997 after living in the Cleveland area for 11 years, primarily because my mother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease). Neither one of us much like the area and it holds little charm for us. This part of the country offers little opportunity these days too.

The economy has been run into the ground by government interference and ‘living in the past’ political agendas. It’s dying here. We’ve worked since we were teenagers and bettered our position — just like we were taught you are supposed to do. We see more and more of the money we work for being diverted to people who don’t want to make their own way. Rather than taking personal responsibility they are willing to sell their lives to the government who pays for those lives with the earnings of responsible citizens. We see more and more of our money going to bloated social programs and corrupt pork projects. We have less and less money that we have earned to do with as we wish and more politicians that seem to believe that money is theirs and they will allow me to keep a tiny little part of it.

We are dealing with people with attitudes like this:

Watch this video on VideoSurf or see more Money (Blackadder) Videos or Detroit 9000 Videos

Enough already. This is not the life we want to live.

We are looking at change our lives, not just our location.

We are preparing to go through the house, sell some stuff, donate some stuff, throw out some stuff (if you are interested in purchasing quilting fabric or quilting books, let me know — it’s going). We are paring down.

At the same time, we start the hunt for a place we want to living. Probably west – Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, The Dakotas… Someplace where a home sits on more than a suburban lot. Somewhere people are warm and friendly — a community. Someplace that provides contentment and appreciation and maybe a little awe.

Leaping.

And we”re canning.  Northern lights, Amish Paste and Romas.

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Whole tomatoes – 11 quarts

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