MARCH INTO SPRING

Just threw out my Valentine roses. March is here, St. Patty’s Day only two weeks away. January and February just a blur!

Getting house projects done before the seasonal heat starts. Replacing the awning on the back of the house, it protects us from the hot afternoon sun. The old one is nine years old, worn, torn and nasty looking… we have been measured and chosen a new color; it will be put in place after our ‘fumigation’.

Way back in October we found out we had a dry wood termite colony in our foundation (Pillar and post). I first saw a small pile of granules on the baseboard in the front hall. Could not see any reason for it or where it might have come from. We were scheduled for our annual subterranean termite inspection, so when the guy came, I handed him a plastic bag with some of the granules. His nose wrinkled, “Ah, wood termite feces.” WHAT!? I had handled, sniffed, everything but tasted! He then pointed out two pin size holes in the wall above the baseboard… he was able to drill the holes a smidgeon larger and spray gas of some sort into the wall. It did the trick, but he said it would be short term, there was no other way to be sure we were rid of the wood termites without “tenting”. I had seen houses in our area “tented” before. Like any house project I immediately freaked over cost. But when it came down to it, not nearly as costly as I had feared. So at this moment we are packing up the house (again) to prepare for the fumigation that will take place this weekend. All food item (including frig contents) have to be taken out of the house. Plants, out. Any cosmetic, cleaning product, anything with a screw lid. Plastic bins packed up and ready to be moved to garage are throughout the house. Biggest project is going to be the pantry, I will tackle that today, and we want to eat at home as long as we can. Friday we will move into the lovely Magnolia Hotel, downtown Houston.

It will take a cherry-picker to put the tent in place over our two story house. Once done and before the gas is released, a guard will be on duty to make sure no one enters the tent/house. This is really a problem? Late Monday we should be able to move back in… the best part of all of this (besides getting rid of wood termites), I have thrown out old cosmetics, outdated drugs and oodles of samples I have collected over the years!

My Journal Writing class perks along… A great group of twelve women. Monday we did a fun exercise, would make a good ice breaker at a party. People pair up, the less you know the other person, the better. One is ‘A’, the other ‘B’. ‘A’ stars by writing a line of dialogue, ‘B’ then responds to it with his/her own dialogue. Go back and forth for five or ten minutes, and then read aloud… some big laughs in class.


Tuesday March 2 – A bobcat was seen, and then captured in my husband’s parking garage downtown Houston! After a check by a vet and declared healthy, it was released in a state park. As my sister said, “Oh, good, he can get back to watching for joggers the way he is supposed to.”

I like folk art and have found a husband and wife team that make incredible things. My latest purchase, their Darwin fish. Anyone who knows me, I am partial to anything ‘fish’. I found them on ebay, but they now sell direct. Check out their site, Cart Before The Horse.


Rodeo time… Mama’s got boots!

Seeing Dierks Bentley tonight and Lady Antebellum on the 15th.

Totally disappointed in the new line up for Dancing With the Stars. Should be called, Dancing With the Lame. Disappointed or not I will tune in once or twice, if only to see how Pamela Anderson dances with those ‘ta-ta’s’ of hers.