Small Town Living

2012-09-27T10:28:00.004-07:00

I do love my children and grandchildren. Even though sometimes they drive me crazy. But that is life, right. I like being the granny who babysits the grans whenever needed. I like letting the grans do whatever they want, within reason. Even when they leave my house looking like a disaster area I don't feel like clearing. Not just one room but every room.

They can surprise you once in a while. One of these times, I let them stay the night. Put them to bed and went to bed myself. The next morning, I woke to all my towels folded and put away. The living room, which is a favorite place to play, was picked up and navigable. The dining room table, their fort, cleared of toys. I was surprised.

They will probably continue to surprise me the rest of my life. But that is life!

My Life

2011-03-07T14:02:00.000-08:00

I have lost my iPhone account. I have a new cell phone number and I hate it. It is for people who have no money.
Safe Link will send it to you if you can prove you make no money! It is a cheap do nothing phone.
The up side is that I have a phone to call to see if I can get a job.
I did start cleaning a house today. Oh my God.I realized I do not have the energy for this.I am so sore. I had to clean out the refrigerator. If these people knew how blessed they were: they have so much food. I had a hard time finding enough room for all the stuff.
It doesn't seem to be hard. Just a lot to get clean and keep clean. I hope it works out.

Gossipers

2011-01-07T14:38:00.000-08:00

I was doing fine without electricity. I think I could have gone through the winter. Who knows, now. Someone blabbed to my mother in law and she called crying and upset because I was living in the cold. There was just enough people to know to get word to her. She paid for the unpaid balance and the turn on fee and three months. Now, I am in debt to her. Grateful, but in debt. I hate that she had to do that. She is on a limited income herself.

The job situation is getting to me. I need a full time job. Now.

Owing Money

2010-12-09T11:56:00.000-08:00

You know, owing money stinks! My daddy said that people who had to work stink. Now, I know why he said that. Most people who work owe money!.
I had my experience of going to justice court for a bill I had gotten so late with they put a judgement against me. Oh well, I guess that will go on my credit record and I won't be able to get a job. Like I could get a job anywhere anyway.
Now, Minette's has told me that I will be working part time. They are unsure about how many hours a week. I'm thinking 21. It will be Friday, Saturday and Monday. What a joke. Working every Friday and Saturday stinks. I have got to find something else fast.

The Red Dog is Gone!

2010-12-08T09:57:00.000-08:00

Thank you whoever you are that came and took away the red dog stalking my yard. Of course, it could have been that she left becasue my neighbor, (who was feeding her in my yard and beating her when she went into his) left for a week to go deer hunting and she decided it was time to find a new feed source. I will never know. But, the dog is gone. Thanks...
However, my shi-tzu, Pepper, has been hit by a car. Stupid dog, likes to think he was stronger than the rolling vehicle and attacked everytime one went by. But now, he is in my house and limping. Its kind of sad because, when we take our morning walk he can't raise his leg to tinckle or stratch the ground afterward. Such a male dog thing to do. Just to show he is a big dog even though he is only 10" high. I wonder if he will still chase cars when he can walk again. Probably. That, too, is such a male dog thing to do.

Pioneer Living!

2010-10-27T14:14:00.000-07:00

I was looking at a barbecue grill the other day thinking, Wow, I could cook on that and not have to worry about electricity anymore. It is a wonder no one has come up to me and said, "You don't have an electricity at your house!", yet!
But you know, I keep a candle burning in my bathroom. So there is light in the bath. I am getting use to taking cold showers. Even washing my hair in cold water. With the door closed the heat from the candle keeps it warm right now. I'll let you know when it starts freezing if it still works! I have taken to trying to make my own candle from the melted wax, but I haven't found the trick to it yet. I think it didn't work because I had nylon string. Then, I found out you have to use cotton string. I have lots of that from knitting. I'll try again another day.
I have tried to find another job with no success. And my democratic neighbor has the gall to tell me the politicians want to do away with minimum wage. I know my employer would pay $2.00 an hour! My employer only pays 37 hours and week when I am working 43!
I had a facebook request from someone who knew me in junior high. He was living in Florida. At the end of his request he said, Life's sweet! Well, my life sucks!

Latest News

2010-10-22T08:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I know what its like to live without electricity, now, I guess I will learn about having no phone.

How is a person to live on minimum wage? Working less that 40 hours a week and can have no overtime. All the creditors are harping down my neck: Tower Loan, IRS, electric company, phone company, my truck needs to have points and plugs. Then my employer decides to not sign the payroll checks on the day they are due. "If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all."

My spirits are really down.

Snakes!

2010-09-22T12:46:00.000-07:00

     Well, the fleas are about gone! Sevin spray has really taken care of them, for the most part. But let me tell you about the other pest I have.
     My dad always liked having a snakes around. I never understood why. Whenever I saw one, my first response was to kill it, but he looked to see if it was good or bad!  Who takes the time to look at a snake. It could attack while you are looking. In my opinion, they all bite and they all hurt.
     When I was seven, we had just moved to the location I now live. As all kid did in those days, we played outside until we were told to come in. My siblings and I were playing across the road, someplace we were told not to go. There was a dirt bank that you had to climb with holes for footholds and handholds already in place. I guess you could compare it to the rock climbing walls of today.  This bank was as high as our house, so when we got to the top we could look down to see everything. We were the king and queen of the hill.
     Well, one day we started our ascent. Using the foot and hand hold that were in place. I was the last in line. When I got knee high to one of these footholds, a "stick" hit me on the knee. But I didn't let a stick keep me from climbing to the top. Once at the top, my siblings wanted to go deep into the forest arces on top and explore.   By then I was sick to my stomach. I went inside as they went on. My knee was swelling and looked like a yellow melon. When my mother saw it, I don't know if she was more upset that we were playing in a forbidden zone or that I was hurt. I was sent to bed.
    Later that night, my knee really started swelling. It was decided to take me to the orthopedic doctor to see if I broke it. This was before HMO, PPO and the need to get a call from your family physician. You just called the doctor you needed and went. My parent decided I had broken my bone, not another physician. I don't remember much about the trip to the doctor or going into his examining room, but once we got there the doctor saw the fluid on my knee and drew some out with suction. After he examined it in his office under a microscope, he found it to be snake venom. What kind of snake was still unknown. I don't remember if I was given a shot or not. It all is just blur.
     I do remember waking up at my maternal grandparent house. Sleeping on her fold out couch. My knee was bandaged so heavily I could not bend it. I missed the second grade classes for a while.   Mom brought my lessons to me and I would finish them and she would take them back. To this day I don't understand why I was not at home.
      Weeks past and I would not walk. It hurt too much. I would stay in bed, sleeping most of the time. When in became apparent I would not walk again, my aunts bought me a surprise. When I woke up, they told me there was a surprise in the house somewhere. I would need to find it. Try as they might I would not get off the bed. When I put any weight on my leg I would collapse. So they told me to close my eyes. I did so and started hearing a whining. When I opened my eyes there was nothing there. The noise was there but nothing to go with it. They told me I had to find the noise. So sliding around on my bottom, I found the source of the noise behind the TV. It was a black and white puppy. I had found him like you find a lucky penny. So I named him Penny.
     I recouperated from that snake bite and went back to school and home taking Penny with me.
Later, one summer we found a snake in our mailbox. There was a den of snakes found in the back yard. So many snakes around in the country.
     When I moved into my daddy's house after his death I didn't think about the snakes that were there. Over the years of visting him, he had said don't kill them and I wouldn't. But after about a year of living there, one decided to come inside. I had a small dog staying in the house with me. I have always had a terrible time sleeping all the way through the night. So when I do sleep it is a miracle. But this night of miracles I was awaken by my dog barking like there was no tomorrow. With my cell phone in hand, I went in to the dining room to see what was going on. He would just bark at the kitchen. He would not go into the kitchen. The light switch for the kitchen is not at the door, you have to enter the kitchen and turn the light on from across the room, walking through the dark. With the dog still barking, I entered. Turned the light on. Looked around at the dog and said, "see, there are no bugger bears." But he continued to bark and would not come in the kitchen. After lots of screaming and threatening for the dog to stop barking I noticed what he was barking at.
    Under the ledge of my oven was a 12" snake. Just laying there. Not moving. I had already walked by him several times and had not noticed. He was heading for the dog's water bowl. Needless to say, I screamed even louder. I had just taken my grandchildren and their mothers to the zoo in New Orleans. We saw the snakes. This one looked like the coral snake that was behind the glass.
     It was 2am, my children were out of town but I started texting from my cell phone anyway. "I have a snake in my kitchen." I was standing in the kitchen chair, jumping up and down. I guess if anyone had been there they would have laughed because it is not everyday you see a 200+ pound women screaming in a chair. My younger son who was the furthest away and has a sleeping habit much like mine texted me back "??" At least he was awake. If I was bitten, he would know what happened. What's a single person to do, without a phone?
     So, I gathered my wits! Got a broom and went after the snake who had not moved. I jabbed at him with the brush end of the broom and he went wild. He was doing crazy eights in the broom. I dropped the broom and stayed in the chair. Never use a broom to kill a snake. He wiggled behind the refrigerator.
Now have you ever had this happen to you, a snake behind the refrigerator? I texted my son again. I told him where it was and that I was going to kill it. I got down out of the chair and got a walking stick!! I climbed back into the chair. I don't know why I was standing in a chair, snakes can climb walls. Somehow I was able to move a full refrigerator from the wall and stab the snake who was climbing the wall by this time. I texted my son, "the snake is dead." He was deposited in the trash can outside.   I didn't get any more sleep that night.
     Just a few days ago I had a leak in my bathroom. There are no shut off valves under the sink (must be another great idea of my parents), so I had to go to the main water valve outside and turn it off. When I raised the lid, I noticed several white leathery oval balls in the dirt. Not knowing exactly what they were, I broke on open. Out rolls a baby snake. All in all there were six eggs. Now, I didn't think snakes laid eggs. Such is the life in the country. I did notify the water company. Just in case the meter reader came across the mama one day.
    The country is not a place for wimps. Of which I am one. Rural Mississippi is country.

Ah, the country life...

2010-09-08T08:28:00.000-07:00

I have fleas. Well, not me. I don't know, maybe me. My house definitely has fleas. I have flea bombed it and limed it. I don't know what else to do. It is because of that stupid dog. She has fleas, I walk through the yard to the house and bring them inside. I am going to have to spray the yard. I have bites all over my ankles. Little bitty red dots everywhere. Last night, I put out small lights inside water bowls to try to catch them. I don't think I caught very many. When I walked outside this morning to go to work, the little blood suckers jumped on me again. My neighbor has told me he knows someone who will take the dog, he thinks. He will ask today. Maybe my flea trouble will be over soon.

Crazy Red Dog

2010-09-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

     At the beginning of April 2010, I had the joy of being the recipient of a dog dropped off at my house. I live in the country with about seven acres.   People just decide to get rid of the family pet in my yard. This is not the first time it has been done. When we were young someone dropped off a really cute Shi-Tzu type dog that we kept for years. She was a joy to have around. We called her Poochy. She was all black with long hair. She followed us everywhere.
     This time the dog was a red pit bull type and she was pregnant. She took up residence on my carport.  I, of course, felt sorry for her and feed her.  Easter morning, I was heading out the door for church and there she was having puppies. I went to church anyway. When I got home she had seven, one died. They were all pit bull look-alike. So now I had more dog to try to find homes for. But luckily, everyone loves puppies and they left for new homes very quickly. But try as I might the mama dog stayed.
      This dog is not the friendliest of dogs. She will not come when you call her. She acts like she has been beaten all her life. The only person who has gotten close to pet her is my seven-year-old granddaughter. She has the most fierce bark I have heard. It sounds like a coon dog trailing a coon mixed with a yard dog killer bark.
    She has a hunter's instinct. She killed one of the stray cats in the forest acres around my house. I found it in my yard. It was pretty bad. She will not go hungry. But the cat population in smaller. I liked the cats they ate the rats. She must be doing that now.
   I haven't given this dog a name. Don't want to keep her. Any takers. Of course, after reading Greg Iles' book about Natchez having a fighting dog club, maybe I should ask for references when someone comes to get this dog.

My life without electricity

2010-09-07T07:41:00.000-07:00

     I have been without electricity for three weeks. I feel like the family in Karen Kingsbury's book that had the pulsar take out all the electricity all over the world. I do have running water, however. Cold showers are good in the summer but I hope I can have my electricity back when it gets too cold. I have thought about getting a generator but I am sure that would cost way to much.
     I had my power turned off because I could not pay the bill. My bill got up to $300 in the summer and that was more than I could pay with my weekly paycheck. Did I mention I work for minimum wages and not even 40 hours a week. It was all I could find in this horrible economy that Obama has put us in. How are single people suppose to bills with that much money? I just glad I don't have a car note or house payment, I really would be on the streets living the homeless lifestyle. I am thankful to have a car and house. I could borrow money against my property but Obama has the banks all whacked out and paranoid.
     Living in the dark has it advantages. I get to bed a lot earlier. I have all my windows open so I hear all the night sounds, which are soothing. But there are disadvantages too. I have a cooler for refrigeration that I have to keep full of ice, which is getting pricey. Reading, which is my favorite thing, is with flashlights or lamps. I have to go the wi-fi cafe to use my laptop computer. Thank God I was not always in the state of affairs.
     I not only hear the night sounds of crickets and frogs and bugs but all the truck and cars going by with the mufflers and reved up engines.  The other night I was awaken by one of these loud trucks. Whoever it was pulled into my driveway. Got out and this red dog I think is a pit bull breed that has decided to live at my house (another story) started barking like the wild animal that she is. I could hear the men in the vehicle get out and start talking.  But the conversation was so muffled I could not make out what was being said. I got out of bed and started toward the door. I thought it might be someone I knew, even though it was 1:30 am! The dog barked so loud and so fierce that whoever it was got in the vehicle was zoomed off, engines roaring, before I could even get to the door.
     I guess if you're not going to have electricity it is a good thing to have a crazy, fierce dog in the yard!

Small Towns

2010-09-03T12:09:00.000-07:00

There are several reasons small towns are good and many reason they are not. I hate not being able to find what I like and "buy locally" which is the catch phrase for every business owner in this town. The Internet is a great way to get what you need. I hate that everyone knows everything about you (or they think they do). The gossip is the only thing that keeps this town going. That comes from most of the garden clubs around here. They believe in enforcing the idea of the "haves" and the "have nots." They also believe in keeping the have nots from having anything they might have. If the cast system were enforced in America, Natchez would already have it going on.
The stores close at 5:30. I think the saying is "They roll up the streets at dusk around here."
You might as well be living in a glass bowl. I am ready for that bowl to break. This is one way it can break. Just put all my thoughts and happenings on a blog site and let the chips fall were they may.