November 9, 2025 Sunday

Greetings!

Another week in the unpacking saga--lol!  

Oh, and in the small red trays saga, too.  You may recall I said I got quietly reimbursed for the two sets of trays I never received--well, I suddenly got an email saying I had a set of trays being delivered on Friday?  Checked my bank and they had taken out the amount for two sets of trays again...but it only said they were sending one set.  And none of the amounts were ever the same, BTW.  Every amount was different but not by much.  A couple of days later I got another notice that a set of trays was shipped. ??  The one set did arrive.  Will the other one?  I hope so.  Due on the 18th, it says.  I would be glad to have them in the end even if it will cost me about an extra $2.00--lol!  What a crazy order, eh?

The heater quit working.  All Dagan did was unplug it and plug it back in and it has been working all week.  Dagan has that magic touch with appliances and techie stuff.  Half the time he has no idea why they work for him--lol!

Same thing happened with the TV this past week.  It said it was suddenly disconnected from the internet.  Dagan unplugged it and plugged it back in up there back in the laundry room and it worked fine.  Did it again a few days later...same thing.  He showed me where the plug is--lol!  We've been having issues with Midco, but Dagan may need a new router or some techie thing or another.  

Oh, and speaking of the internet...I got a credit check from the electric company from my old apartment and almost fell over!  I've been on the budget plan for a decade where you pay the same amount every month.  But I really wonder when was the last time they actually came out and read the meter at that apartment building!?  I got an overpayment check for $418.00!!  Which is fantastic because I can put it towards a new laptop!!   (You knew I would get to the internet eventually--lol!)  My laptop has been acting more and more strangely and slower and slower for the past year or more.  It is probably 6-7 years old.   (Things don't last like they used to, do they?)  I only need a really basic one...email, streaming, some online shopping, and blogging is about it for me.  Nothing work-related and don't use it for gaming or things like that--so can have a simpler one.  Dagan is going to keep an eye out for something on sale.  They could make up the difference and it be a Christmas present--lol!  So that was fantastic news. 

Before I forget...something I really noticed this past week is that Allie is turning gray.    

Her fur on her back is different from the rest of her fur.  It is coarser and a bit longer.  The rest of her is very soft, but from behind her shoulder blades down her back she has different fur.  And it looks like she is getting gray down her sides and from her butt up--lol!  A vet guesstimated her at about eight years old when she was rescued and that would make her about eleven.  I caught another picture later, too.  Feels like she's been with me forever, but it's only been three years.  

Okay--the unpacking continued...

I found the boxes of all the goodies from my old curio cabinet! 

 Oh how I have missed them!  They were packed up so long ago!!  My crystals!  

My Tibetan bowl and bell and tingshaws!  Found out those high sounds freak Allie out--lol!

I am so excited to be able to do my New Year's Eve welcoming ceremony this year!  Come hell or high water...I will get out my angel cards and burning bowl this year.  And maybe show you more of my spiritual stuff I have accumulated over the years.  I need to feel more connected and grounded, for sure.

Here's another pic of Allie's graying or lightening back.

Dagan did find one of the Christmas bags!

I got out the Charley Brown Christmas tree I bought on sale after Christmas last year and put it together!  The winter garlands were with it, but I haven't put them out yet.  Needed to clear off some space.

Allie doesn't look gray from her soft fur side--lol!

Whenever they are down here the boys (Liam especially) play with the frig magnets.  Liam made a couple smiling faces.  (Dagan happened to be walking by thinking.)

I emptied off those two shelves in the laundry room and wiped them down.  Nowhere else to put that stuff that was on the shelves but on top of the bins and on the floor. 

 I worked at moving the pantry stuff out of the hutches.

Filled the plastic baskets with cans and bottles to haul them over.  Got this far one day.

The next day moved the rest...

...except for the tea supplies.  I plan to keep them in the hutch, hopefully.

Dagan moved some more boxes for me...

...was locating boxes for my black rollie carts.  The "writing/journaling" rollie carts.

Am making headway with the boxes in the studio.  I think I may have made it through about half of the living room boxes.

Just beginning to see an eventual end to these boxes.

Got the two black rollie carts put back together!!  I have missed them!  Needed them.  I needed my stamps, return address labels and other supplies for letters.  I had only saved out some to have with me when I moved and had begun to run out of everything!  Who would have ever guessed I'd be sick and in a flare for six weeks after I moved! 

The chaos seems to grow--and shrink--and grow--lol!

But I got the dressers cleared off by the window again.

Took a couple of days but I moved all the curio cabinet things...

...into the one hutch!  Not sure if they will stay like this, but that is how everything is being moved here--temporarily shoved in somewhere or another.  LOL!  They will be in this hutch, but maybe some of it will be moved below if there's room. 

Then, because I got my black rollie carts up and running--I could set up letters owed!  Nine of them are all set up and ready to start.  Sorry to my snail mail folks that I am so behind, but I will be writing soon!

I saw way in the back of the studio on the floor was the other lazy susan Leah had told me about for under the sinks and some storage boxes of some kind...so I asked Dagan to come down and get those for me.  After falling, I didn't want to chance it climbing over the stuff on the floor there.

Allie snoozes when I am busy unpacking a lot.  She is afraid of being trampled--lol!  Is usually asleep under the folding tables.

First time I have gotten it cleaned off on the dressers under the TV!  

Allie is a very chunky girl and has a hard time jumping up on my chair since we moved.  I don't know if she has lost her confidence or what.  Because if she tries several times she can do it.  She can't jump up at all to the bed in the red chair.  She has to cross over from my chair using the end table.  I have tried putting the stool in front that I used to have in my bathroom to climb up to the shelves over my washer and dryer at the old place.  

She's never been around stairs I don't think.  She doesn't seem to have any idea what they are for and won't go near them.  I will leave them there for a while and see if she will try them eventually.  Otherwise, they will be donated, too, as I have zero room for them here.  The folding stools take up much less room.  :)

I keep plugging away at things on the table.  Some of it is moved.  All my energy-work books and bibles and such went into the bottom of the hutch.

Allie follows me around half the time.  Wants to know what I am doing.  Why isn't she curious as to what steps are?  Duh!

End of the week...I even made a spot for my new paint kit to be used!

Yes, I ordered some things I could keep in my cat tote for now.  Things I have never had--like the type of brushes (heard they were cheap fake quill, but good--we'll see).  Things I use all the time--like painter's tape and my favorite Daniel Smith paints.  Just enough to be able to paint once in a while.  I got this far last night--drew a pencil flower sketch on the smaller paper you can't see very well that's taped to the white board--but then was too sore to sit there anymore--LOL

I really, really need more of a calming escape than just watching shows and YT videos.  Have had those transparent flowers on my mind ever since I first played with them.  When I am actually creating something, I can get lost in time and I desperately needed to be able to do that at least once in a while.  Just having the supplies arrive I could feel my shoulders relax, you know?  I guess I learned that I am more likely able to do that earlier in the day--lol! ;)  But I will be doing that--hopefully once a week or so.

When I DO paint...I have to block the mess out of my mind...all the things I "should" be doing...even if it is only for half an hour or so.  The stuff in the studio...

...and the mess in the laundry room.  Feels like nothing is really organized.

My faithful companion was wondering why I was walking around taking pictures.  Notice--Leah taped down the corners of the rug and they are holding up well.

The unfinished unpacking...

...and even the dishes ready to be put away out of the dishwasher.  (I love that you can set this new dishwasher to pop the door open to air dry!!)

Maybe I need to put out the winter garlands somewhere?

Okay!  Under the TV...

...and around the Christmas cactus--that has one more regular blossom!  (I'll be glad when I have a place for the printer in the studio.) 

There!  I got a little something done today.  But that's it for me.  If I do anything else today besides work on letters it would be to get lost in time painting transparent flower petals--lol! 

Winter is coming.  It's been below freezing all day.  Not really sure I will last long even writing letters.  Body is pretty darn cranky today--lol!  Wasn't happy about the garlands even.  Definitely pushing for a day off.  ;)  

On Tuesday there's a guy coming to check the furnace for the winter.  Leah's going to be here while he's here and told me to pick a couple things from the "Leah list" for her to do.  (We have so many on the list--lol!)

Oh, and I probably only miss doorbells going ding-dong because I have lived most of my adult life in apartments where you heard a loud annoying buzzer--ROFL!  Ding-dong has good memories for me from long ago--lol!  Hey!  My mom was even an Avon lady when I was in grade school!  Do you remember those commercials?

Until next time, my dear friends...you are soooo appreciated!  I can't really tell you how nice it is to hear from you--old and new folks.  I will be catching up with my snail mail chats this coming week, too.  Have a wonderful week!  If there's anything you love to do where you can get lost in time...get lost this week!!  :) :)