We Had A Busy Weekend

 

It was a busy one, and we got a lot done. Hectic but very satisfactory. Hubby got on with insulating his shed, along with decluttering junk out of the other one. We delivered some AVON,I did a load of training for my new business - Paw Tree - and handed out some AVON brochures as we did all of our running around. It was all good, and after the storm passed through the weather was lovely. In all honesty, we got very lucky with hurricane Ian, because by the time it hit  South Carolina it was a tropical storm, and it hit on the coast so we were on the western side I'm really got nothing more than a few hours rain and a blustery day beforehand.

Today has been pretty productive so far, I've finished some training online, I fed all the animals, I pedaled for 20 minutes, and then did one of my leg lymphatic treatments. I have a business meeting online at noon, and after that I guess I will have some things to work on for the new business. I also have to do some AVONing, especially with all of the new Christmas stuff that's coming up in the brochures. It's an exciting time. I do love Christmas.

Brunel the puppy is growing in leaps and bounds, he is getting to be quite a heavy little man. He won't like me at the end of the month as he will be going into the Greenville Humane to be neutered, but I am a strong advocate of spaying and neutering and I honestly believe it is healthier for animals.

I have a new chiropractor and our relationship is going well, he likes you to do exercises on a rubber cushion to help align your spine and get your muscles working correctly. Today I put it on my exercise chair and was watching the dogs while I was doing the exercises, and I scooted my butt and the cushion shut out of the gap behind the seat. I was laughing so hard my neighbours would have thought I was a crazy woman had they have heard me.

Well I hope everyone has an awesome day. And this being the beginning of a new week, may we all have a productive and successful one.

Am I Getting More Sensitive In My Older Age?

Being disabled is no fun, and is humbling after being able bodied for most of your life, but it seems there are some who don't realise that we don't choose to be disabled, that it is something that happens that we can't control, and that we don't need to be penalized for it. Maybe I am just getting more sensitive to criticism and innuendo in my older age, I'm not sure, I do know that incidents play on my mind a lot more. When I feel discriminated against it messes with my head and keeps me awake at night, especially when I try to resolve issues with places and they seem to make more excuses and treat me as though I'm ridiculous for feeling that way.

Take for instance a recent visit to a place where it is supposed to be a first come first served non appointment alternative healing office. They have a scanner that you pop your key ring card up against when you enter, which then puts you onto the computer so that you are in line to see the practitioner.

We had arrived early due to finishing our other running around sooner than we expected to, so ended up waiting about 25 minutes outside for the location to open. We'd been there maybe 10 minutes or so when another lady showed up, and about 5 minutes after that the practitioner arrived.

We continued to wait and 2 more gentlemen arrived. Finally, just before they were due to open, the receptionist arrived. When she opened the door I was the first one in and I scanned my key card, she looked at me and told me to sit and wait. Next the lady who had arrived after us scanned her card. The receptionist told her to go on back and then did the same with the two men, leaving me sitting there.

I had been needing to hit the restroom before my treatment and my husband said "go on back and use the restroom" and I said " no she told me to wait here. I've waited 25 minutes I can wait a few minutes more" at which the receptionist threw me a filthy look. Finally after the lady and the two men had gone back she told me to go back.

At that point I had asked the therapist whether there was an app that people used to check in ahead of time, because I honestly thought that the other three people must have used one outside while waiting and that I just didn't know about it. The therapist said she did not know of any app and told me just to message through the website, which I did. The response originally was that no there is no website, at which point I questioned what happened that Saturday morning. Their response made no sense.

To start with. they claimed that it was a computer error and that the computer did not put me in, which would be fine except that the receptionist was there and had seen me scan in, and if it had not gone on the computer surely she  would/should have had me scan again? And obviously she knew I was there because she had told me to sit and wait. For them to claim that the computer missed me until it had put the other three people in ahead of me kind of doesn't make sense. Are they also saying that the receptionist had forgotten that she had told me to sit in the 30 seconds before the second person scanned, and again in putting the two men ahead of me? My husband said that they probably thought that the three able bodied people would be in and out quicker than I would and that it made sense just to put them ahead of me . When I questioned this I basically was told that I was being accusatory in claiming that the receptionist discriminated against me. I did actually tell the manager who called me that I was not stupid because they basically tried to tell me that when she looked at me she wasn't looking at me, I just caught her at an off moment and maybe she was already having a bad day. The general consensus seems to be that I'm lying and unfortunately there is no way of proving that I'm telling the truth because the only person who witnessed it was my husband, I don't know the names of the other three people who went ahead of me and because of the privacy issues I'm quite certain I have no way of finding out who they are. I had hoped there would be security cameras so that I could at least prove that I was telling the truth, but no, the ones outside are only down by the supermarket in the Plaza, and there are none inside, so basically it's my word against the receptionists and obviously the company takes the receptionist's word over mine and I have just misjudged everything that happened that day and there was no discrimination meant.

This has hurt my feelings and, as ridiculous as it sounds, it plays on my mind and actually wakes me up at night. In all honesty I would never have thought years ago that something like this would worry me so much, I would have thought I would have just blown it off. I guess I've just got more sensitive in my old age. Added to which I have always been the person that doesn't jump ahead in the line, because I have been raised that if somebody else was ahead of me that they go before me.

I hate being this sensitive, and I have had to consider things deeply. I've been scheduling my visits when other receptionists are working, because I am a straight person, and when I've got something to say I will usually say it. I'm not somebody that can be nice to your face and talk about you behind your back. So basically, I'm trying to prevent an incident happening in the office that would probably embarrass and upset the receptionist and possibly end up with me being hauled away to jail which is not something that I want to happen. I am now considering cancelling my membership there because of this. I think it's far better to just walk away and find another therapist and get my treatments there, without the bad feelings I have every time I approach the front door of this building. It is definitely not helping my health when it runs my blood pressure up worrying about it. 

I have always tried to be a nice person and treat people decently, and yet it does seem that since I've become disabled I have noticed that's some places do treat you differently. I guess I should be thankful that I do not experience as much ridicule as some, and can usually laugh at some of my afflictions.

Update:  I decided that my mental health was more important then allowing me to continue to stress over something that was not going to get resolved. I cancelled my membership of The Joint and now attend 100% Chiropractic.

Tuesday Tidbits

Good morning beautiful people. Here's hoping your Tuesday is already starting to be terrific.

Mine has started well, I made it to the gym, that always makes me feel good. I indulged myself twice in the massage chair as the hydro massage bed was out of action. Afterwards I went to Publix and grabbed supplies for a nice sandwich and salad for dinner tonight, because it's so hot out I really don't feel like cooking nor eating something hot, and after working out in the heat all day I doubt my hubby would like a hot meal either. I even picked him up a nice parfait for dessert, because he deserves it.

I got some more soft pate canned food for Precious that I can mash down with extra liquid and the high calorie supplement, so as to keep him fed and keep him hydrated and his body fat reasonable. At 19 years of age he is doing very well but we just have to make sure that he gets enough nutrition as his dementia often means that he forgets to eat or drink.

I've been plodding along with my modelling, I look and can see how far I have come since Christmas with all the different buildings and accessories, but still so far to go I still have not laid any track to run the trains on. Waiting on hubby getting all of the base done for me so that I can then actually begin to put things where they go. We had a change of plans which is what brought everything to a halt temporarily. We got hubby a new garden shed so I am reclaiming what used to be my Avon building and that will now be my model building. It means extra work for hubby because I will have double the space, which will also mean that I can devote a greater area to his urban industrial and that between the two we can turn round and have some Magnorail vehicles moving as well, to make it more realistic in ways.

I also need to spend some time adorning the Manor farmhouse with the ivy, like a lot of old English houses have growing up them. It looks very realistic, but obviously is tiny and needs some meticulous positioning to make it look real.

Hope you have an amazing day. I'm hoping mine will be productive.

Monday Morning and I am Motivated

It seems of late that I have been more procrastinating then actually doing the things that I need to do and that I keep telling myself I am going to do. I get waylaid more easily. I have so many things I want to do for my business and yet it seems I go off on a tangent, I walk into a room and find 100 things to do that are not what I went in there to do. I know old people joke about this all the time but it's true.

Mark took off work last Wednesday and Thursday for our wedding anniversary on Wednesday. 37 years and we are probably just as amazed as everybody else that we haven't killed each other yet. On Wednesday we had lunch at Clayton's Deli and grabbed our pre-ordered pound cake from The Pound Cake Man. Then we kind of had a lazy rest of the day, we played with Rover outside as he was still here at that point (we had to take him home to his mummy on Friday), we caught the Australian Masterchef on the telly, and decided we like that as much as the American one if not more and that we really don't like the Canadian one very much.

We did have to take Precious to the vet as he was dehydrated and unfortunately it seems like his 19 years are finally catching hold. He had some fluids while he was there and I now have a bag have fluids so that when he needs them at home I can do them sub Q for him.

Over the next few days we caught up on a lot of things. Hubby replaced the pump in his window washer on the truck as somehow it had died. After I got my car back on Friday, he changed the oil for me, so that when I give it back to my granddaughter on Sunday, it is good to go. It does need a tune up but that's gonna have to wait for a few weeks as Mark has looked at it and unfortunately it looks like a bigger job to get to two of the spark plugs, than what he can do easily in the driveway so it looks like we're going to need a mechanic to do it for us.

He moved the chicken's day pen back where we had originally had it. We have left the grass to grow so it is a good 6 to 8 inches high and gives them plenty of greenery to scratch about in. They were quite happy to have it in another new place. I didn't move them today as the hawk was out and sometimes they don't go exactly where I want them to go, and I don't need to be chasing them around trying to catch them with the hawk hovering overhead looking for lunch.

I've just finished reading a book, Looking for Peyton Place, and it made me look on YouTube to see the original TV programs that I watched as a child without fully understanding what it was all about. I've now ordered the original book from the library. I still love to read, and when I am pedaling on my elliptical cycle it whiles away the time real quickly. I just escape into the story, into another world.

I made a sun dried tomato and basil cheese bread and it came out pretty good. Next time though, I will omit the parmesan as it came out too Italian for my liking.  I also batch cooked a brilliant beef curry. You all know how much I LOVE my curry. I did spend quite a bit of time in the kitchen but it was all good.

This afternoon I'm hoping to catch up more on my AVON. i have some blogs to write for that.

I hope you all have a productive day.

Busy Batch Cooking Day

I've spent most of this afternoon in the kitchen ... hubby and I decided to batch cook for the freezer. The original plan was to do lunches for him for work, but then I decided to do 2 meals for me too. I still have loads of Chinese and Indian meals in the freezer, but figured a couple of roast dinners would be a nice change. I have dishes to do 9 for hubby ... any meat left over will just end up frozen in Ziplocs.

I made macaroni cheese from scratch, hadn't made a roux since I was an 11 year old schoolgirl, and it came out perfect. Used almost a 1/2 gallon of milk, and then a pound of sharp cheddar and about 4oz of an Italian 5 Blend, in the sauce for one box of pasta. It made 2 nice deep trays full. One is being frozen as is, either for hubby to take to work when they have a pot luck lunch, the other will be portioned with his bbq pork dinners, along with either baked beans or corn. Some of the pork, corn and/or beans will have loaded baked potato mash instead of macaroni cheese.

His roast pork dinners will be with sage and onion stuffing, loaded baked potato mash, corn and gravy.

Mine will be with boiled potatoes, brussels sprouts, carrots, gravy and sage and onion stuffing. I do love my stuffing, even if I can only have a little bit because of the sodium content, but it's always a treat for me.

I've also got 2 chicken breasts roasting, and he has 2 smoking, so that I can slice the roast ones for future sandwiches, and I can do him a couple of bbq chicken dinners.

I still have to portion everything out once it's all finished cooking, so am getting a quick break, but it's all good.

Life Goes On

The past few weeks have been hectic, in ways. Hubby and I have got a lot done but in small dribs and drabs, our decluttering and reorganizing continues, and our black and white strays keep multiplying (thankfully, not with kittens, they just keep bringing more friends!).

Hubby's been working on my granddaughter's car off and on, replacing this and that. In the meantime, I've left my car with her as she has my great-grands to ferry around (and my car has ac which is a must have in these 90-100 degree temps most days). I do miss being able to wake up and head to the gym, but hubby and I went last Friday and I hope we'll be able to make it again this weekend. 

We got hubby a new shed, so he is getting all his "stuff" organized in there. I got him 2 of those holders that adjust so that you can use them for brooms and mops, so that he can hang his garden shovels and forks in them. He was quite chuffed ... and I got them from AVON so got a discount on them.

As he clears out the other shed (that he's just been piling stuff into  over the past few years), I am waiting for him to get to my ridearound so that we can go to the zoo. I can't walk around the zoo, even with my walker, because it is hilly so need my motorized cart to do it. The other thing I need him to get to, and get running again for me, is the rototiller, so that I can then pay someone to come till some of my back field and get planted with veggies. At the moment, all of my veggie growing is in tubs and troughs, so that I can sit and do what I have to.

I've started going to a chiropractor again, and even after only my first 2 visits, I'm seeing improvements in my body, for which I am very thankful. I have a long way to go, but every small step is a bit farther along in the journey.

For my birthday, we had a mini-vacation and went to Tryon, Hendersonville and Saluda, visited a couple of model train museums, a small air museum, and enjoyed some pretty scenery all around. It was a nice break, marred only by the worst Holiday Inn experience we've had in all our stays. Sad, really, as we do love our Holiday Inn's but everything came together wrong for this one, from no housekeeping, cold showers, the disabled-friendly room having too high a bed and too low a commode ... it just ended up being best just left behind as a bad memory.

Now that my health is improving and I am having more good days than bad, I am trying to focus on rebuilding my AVON business, which has suffered between my health, and the Covid stuff and gas prices, and people having a lot less money to spend on frivolities when they have to feed their families and keep the car running.

I've also been working on my models for the village on my train layout. Still no layout yet, more work for hubby to complete beforehand, slow going but I'm currently working on the fire station. Then I have to get back to working on his train turntable, his engine sheds and the service station. Still plenty to do and keep me occupied.

So, life is going on here in sunny South Carolina. Make that stormy South Carolina, as we've had some deluges with wind, thunder and lightning, the past couple of days. But I do love it here. I hate all the subdivisions popping up everywhere in what was the boonies, but I'm thankful that the builders let me raid their bins for scrap wood and stuff I can use for my train layout.

Well, time for me to get on and do ... enjoy your day

Slow progress on the train set

Well, everyone has expressed wanting to see how things are coming on. It's slow, but it is getting there. Some people may have already seen some of the pictures before.

I'm currently working on a beautiful church, I just have a few more additions and it will be complete. I think this has been my favourite build so far. At the back, you can see the war memorial I made a few weeks ago, and the terraced houses that will eventually make their way back to the table in the other room. I still have the chimneys to finish on the one.

The framework of the table is done on one side of the room, and hubby has been figuring out the electrics for the buildings along the High Street. Everything is still a mess, but it's a work in progress and beginning to come together. 

This is the far end where the first panel, the High Street one, is going to  be.  The roll, you can see, is a sky and tree backdrop that will go along the back as well as the left side. Hubby has some wiring tidying up to do but has a couple of switches under the table on one of the cross beams, near the front.

This will be the front of that first panel, the High Street of my little town, St. William  Once it is put in position, I'll glue the remaining buildings into place. Some have been glued, but as hubby needed to lift those he was putting lighting in, some aren't.

For now, it is just sitting down the other end of the table, out of the way. It looks so small just sitting there on part of the frame. Once it is in its proper place, I will have 2 rows of terraced houses that will sit behind the houses and pub at the right, on some kind of a step up, to add depth. They are only half as deep so as so be used as a background to the main aspects of the layout.

Here you can see a semi-aerial view. The whole are needs re-vacuuming (I have a hand held) as it seems to attract dust and "bits". The envelope, at the right, contains my Belisha beacons for the 2 zebra crossings, and the electrical stuff to make them flash on and off, like the real thing.

This weekend, we are hoping to get this panel set in its correct place, and then put the other bare panels in place so that I can start figuring out the first track route, and bring in the other dioramas-in-progress and planning where they will all go in the bigger scheme of things.

I have a "stone" farmhouse and farmworker's cottage built, and the barn to go with it, is ordered. I now have some "stone" walls that will feature around the farmyard and have been working on the "cobblestone" yard area. The greenhouse and some other buildings will probably be near the worker's cottage, and I have a cornfield to "plant". A previous attempt to do that resulted in disaster, so hopefully this time, I'll do better.

The plan for Mark's motel, KFC and Travel Center, is for it to be at the back of the other wall, and have  the track on the opposite side of the road, like we see it locally, here, a lot of times.

The KFC will be to the left of the motel diner. At KFC, I have a lady taking orders and a couple of people in line. In the diner, I have people sitting in booths and lining up at the register to either pay or be seated, plus a  couple of other people walking around inside. 

The office is between the main motel rooms and the diner, and - again - I've tried to make it look like there's something going on there.

I still have a lot of work to do on this diorama though. The parking spots and road to mark, and some kind of verge, bushes or wall to divide the road from the motel. I haven't decided which, yet.

There are people coming and going at the motel and once I have the parking spots marked out, I'll get some cars out front and people by some of them. I'd also like a couple of people going up and down the stairs. All future plans.

There's a line at the pictures - it must be a Saturday matinee I guess - and someone headed into the tobacconists for his "nicotine fix".

I am enjoying building all the different pieces, and am impatient to have it all together ... but what I've done so far is probably less than 1/4 of what will eventually be how it ends up. 

Mark has some soldering to do on the turntable, and then I have to complete that, for his end. Once we then figure out where that will go, I'll build the engine houses that come off of it. I can't do those before the turntable, as they have to fit certain angles where the track comes off the circle.

Then, we also have to figure where some of the lines will run off to factories and yards in his industrial areas, and situate all the buildings that go there. His skid row end will also be down there. 

So, much is still far off in the future, but we plod on!

A Productive Friday

It's been a good day. We've been very productive.

Hubby went in and worked overtime until noon, and then we did some running around and delivered AVON to one of my customers. We grabbed lunch from Tropical Grille and parked down by the railroad tracks, but no trains came by so we weren't lucky enough to see one today.

We came home and spent some time outside. 

Hubby brought over one of my raised beds, that's been lying fallow since last year, and put it down by the other two, and I planted some pepper and green onion seeds.  My cabbages and peas are all growing well, the peas are 4"-6" high and the cabbages are about 2" and leafing out nicely.

Hubby planted tomato seeds in one of my large planters and I came indoors and planted some micro-salad seeds in compostable containers. The lemon balm that I planted last week now has 4 shoots in the pot, maybe 1/4" tall, if that. 

Today, I've also finished my first card model. I have a lot of learning and improving still to do, but it came out ok.

I prefer the plastic models, but - for a backdrop - the card ones will be fine. They'll be against the sky to provide depth and I plan on setting a couple of rows at different heights.

So, all told, we have had a good day. I hope yours has been good too.

My Weekend Beginneth

 I love Fridays. My hubby usually has a 3 day weekend, and so we get to lie-in and then take it easy throughout the day. It's also a day for catching up on chores, without feeling stressed about doing so. Like earlier, he was outside mowing the yard. Enjoying the sunshine while he was out there. We've already been grocery shopping and I've pedalled some on my elliptical cycle whilst reading one of my latest library loans. I made a quick and easy grilled ham and cheese for lunch, filled the spot without blowing my fat/sodium/calorie limits.

A week ago, at my doctor's office (I only weigh on their scales when I have a doctor appointment) I'd lost 12lbs since my last visit and she was pleased with me. Oddly, we may have to cut my thyroid medicine again as it seems it may be moving me towards hyper status ... and that affects my A-Fib. It's a delicate balancing act, enough to remedy my body's lack of hormone without exacerbating other health issues that I have. Getting older is definitely a journey, that's for sure.

My second childhood is definitely underway, and I've been working on buildings for my train layout. I have a small section of hubby's American urban industrial end done. It's a "skid row" section, with a bar on the corner. I'm planning on police and a fight scene at the back of it, and have bikes and bikers lined up at front (and 4 more bikes to make. The kit is so fiddly, it hurts my fingers putting them together.

My little English High Street is coming on nicely. I've named my town St. William, my dad's name being William, and this is kind of dedicated to him. I've room for some more shops along one side. I have some signage to work on, and some buildings that I have not yet glued in place as hubby is trying to learn how to do the LED lighting properly, and until he does that and puts the lighting in the buildings we intend having it in, I can't fully complete them. He's also working on the table area, in the corner bedroom, so that we can move the sections and put in there.

I did set up a farm vista the other day but the glue warped the base so I took everything off and will have to start that bit all over again. 

We spent the later afternoon decluttering, somebody came by that wanted to buy our 2 old mowers and he told them "take them" , then we took a load of donations to Miracle Hill, before heading out to Berea to deliver AVON to one of my customers.

It's been a great day. I'm about to pedal again and then lie on the couch with my legs in the air, as they are swollen from my ankles to my knees. They do NOT like me being sitting and driving around.

So, hope this has been a good Friday to start everyone else's weekend as it's been pretty perfect for us

 Well, today, I finally managed to finish the second pair of Victorian semi-detacheds. I found a base from another project that I hadn't used, that fit it. Once I had it on the base, the fencing and gates were accomplished in short order, and it took its place next to the grey.

Then I put together "The Bell Inn" pub and settled that on the corner. Tomorrow I am getting some hibiscus bushes from Hobby Lobby, to set out front of the pub entrance. Later on, I may see if I can get some outside benches and table to set on one side, if I can find a set that will fit.

So Traze Way is coming together nicely in my little town of St. William.

The Discovery of Things Forgotten

 Before I even bought my Flying Scotsman, in December, my husband had trains. We'd got them, and they'd never ended up being set out or played with, it was always an intention but somehow we didn't get around to clearing the space to set up a layout, and so everything stayed in a large plastic tub.

With me getting my long-wanted train set, I wanted to make a start on a layout. It'll have to work for both of us so - despite the fact that all the trains will go around the whole track - "my end" will be English style buildings and scenery, "his end" will be American style stuff. My loco is a steam one, steam being one of my passions, his are diesel. 

I've been working on "my end" for a few weeks now, painting fiddly bits of model pieces so that I can get buildings put together, and playing with how I want it to look. I've changed my mind quite a few times since Christmas. It's a learning journey, and one where patience is definitely a virtue. 

Tomorrow, I have to get more paints. The building I am working on currently (2 Victorian shops) needs blue and green for the different shop fronts so I'm at a standstill.

I decided to snoop into hubby's tub and check out what we'd got him in there - it being 10-15 years or so and neither of us remembering. We both got a huge surprise, as we don't remember ANYTHING in this tub! It's all buildings that somebody has already put together, kits, track, a couple of wagons, and other accessories. We can't remember if we bought it for him at a yard sale or at a fleamarket. It doesn't matter though, as it's a treasure trove..

I do remember buying him trains many moons ago, I think they must be up in the loft. We'd thought they were in this tub. One year (for his birthday or Christmas) my sister had bought him a load of accessories, people, trees, and such like. We haven't found that yet either. The tub is definitely not the things we remembered having!

Some of the buildings are damaged, some were crudely painted by someone with (surprisingly) less talent than I, so I now have half a dozen on my work table that I will be taking care of along with the building I am working on. I washed 2 smaller buildings earlier, and after drying them thoroughly, have begun repainting both. They are now sporting new grey rooves! 

On my projects, I had to reattach (yet again) the drainpipe to the station but then I glued the whole thing to the platform, so now that part is done.

When I was a child, platforms had big weighing scales on them. You'd put a penny in the slot, stand on it, and it would speak your weight. The platform accessory set is green plastic, and very small. I have painted the scale face white, earlier, and now the back red. Tomorrow I will repaint the red, and then, once that's dry, will paint the front (except for the face) red as well. That will then affix to the outside of the waiting room area.

Another piece is a bench for passengers to sit on, while they wait, so I have begun painting that the lightish brown colour that those benches are, It's slow going as these are fiddly little pieces (tomorrow I will get a craft toolkit, so that I will have special tweezers to hold pieces while painting or gluing them).

There is definitely a satisfaction in accomplishing each step, but they are definitely time consuming, and I just - as the song says - want it all and I want it now! 

Slow Progress

Well, have been  "messin' around" again on the first segment of the train layout. Nothing is pinned or glued yet, and I'm waiting on sheet packs of roads and pavement with kerbs so as to complete this scene and then will affix everything into place. We are still trying to figure how we want to do the stream to go under the bridge and culminate in a small pond at the left.  Then, in order to make this the Winter scene  segment, we'll have to "snow" most of it.

The station painted up pretty nicely, time consuming with the fiddly bits, but I'm pretty pleased with the results. Likewise with the trays of veggies for the Victorian shops ( the first bits I've painted out of that kit, after the roof). As you can see by the Emery board alongside, they are tiny tiny!

 

It took me 3 sessions to paint them. First the trays, next time the outside "fruits and veggies" and then the inner ones, as had to allow everything to fully dry inbetween.

I just wanted to see my Flying Scotsman on the track. Sadly 2 pieces on it arrived broken, but I'm going to get a hold of Hornby to see if they can give me tips on fixing them. 

Each of the buildings has an LED light in and they look pretty in the dark, but sadly, my attempts at taking a pic in the darkness doesn't work, as you will see below. I am thinking I will have to put some other lighting one the station, so that it illuminates the houses from behind.

Eventually, the Victorian shops will fit on the row here of other shops and homes, but methinks it's going to take me awhile to paint all the pieces and then put the kit together. It's not a race to the finish but I so wish I had more talent with the painting, and I am so impatient to get it all done and be able to run the trains around the track. 

This is the first panel, 2' x 4', one of 4 that will slot together to make the first basic 8' x 4' layout. Being unable to stand and work it, I had Mark divide the 8' x 4' into 4 segments that will slot together. This way I can reach all of the area on one board. It may be more work, in ways, but it's the only way that I can do this since I need to be seated to do everything.

Unfortunately, my attempt to capture the "night" scene with the lights on in the buildings didn't come out very well but it does look pretty "for real".

Still a long long way to go, but having fun "doing".

Planning and Playing

 Well, this morning I've spent some time working on what will eventually be "the train layout". I painted some more of the station building, sadly my painting skills are lacking so it's taking me longer because I'm constantly having to clean up mistakes. Nonetheless, I guess it keeps me busy and, as my nan used to say "if a job's worth doing, it's worth doing properly".

Messed around, on my craft/train table, with some of my buildings and accessories to figure out a Winter scene. The 2 black cars in the pic, I didn't realise I had left there. They are not a part of this scene. I am thinking this is a neat little street, and I will have to get some "road" to put in front of the houses between them and the bridge, and make a "stream" to go under the bridge. The stream will end in a small pond at the left, near the church.

The train track will then run behind the buildings, and the station and platform will be somewhere close by.  For now, though, I like this scene. All of the buildings have LED lights inside, so they should look awesome in the dark.

Still a LONG way from having a lovely-to-look-at layout but I'm excited at the prospect of how it can all come together, eventually.

Will have to talk to hubby, when he gets home from work, to figure out whether to do this on a small section that can then be affixed to a main segment, or to do it directly onto a main segment. This is just the beginning of a long project.

The Front Porch is Looking Cosier

My plants are definitely liking the front porch and having the trays underneath, so's they can soak up the water as needed, or it can drain through.

The fern was one of two that somebody had dumped, they were all dried up and brown, I lost the other one but this one is slowly coming back, but it's taken a lot of TLC.

It's one of my relaxing spots.

Front Porch Tidy Up

So, today, hubby and I did a Spring Clean on the front porch. Madam's pine litter had been strewn all over and even into her feeder (messy little moo) and watering my plants yesterday had resulted in a lot of leakage, causing hubby to ponder "something to put them in" so that they could drain and not soak the front porch in the process.

The Dollar Tree provided just what we needed, and he picked up half a dozen cat litter trays, all a pale taupe colour, that I could put the pots in, and arrange together on the stand at the end.

The plastic tablecloth, that goes under the plants, went through the washer with bleach, and came out bright and ready for another month of healthy neglect. Hubby also popped a of board under it, on the stand, to add a bit more support.

When he picked up the bird feeder block at Tractor Supply, he got me a pretty pink watering can, so - between the cute and functional gardening tool set and basket that my grandson and his wife gave me for Christmas, and my new watering can - I am now better equipped to take care of my seedlings, cuttings and house plants.

It's been a good day, and tomorrow, we'll tidy up the rest, vacuum the rugs (got shake 'n' vac on them overnight) and I'll polish the rattan seating so's it smells nice and lemon-y.

Does AVON's clothing last?

 I get asked this question a lot, and my response is always the same. 95% of what I wear, I bought from AVON. That's shirts, pants, bras, shoes, sweaters and jackets. It's been that way for about 12 years now, and I have only been dissatisfied with an item, once. That was a loose sweater, and unfortunately, got caught on everything and snagged easily. I still wear it though, for outdoor chores and lounging/staying warm indoors ... and I've had it about 8 years now.

I am heavy on shoes, and I buy the loafers, worn every day, they last me about 6 months. When they are on sale, I stock up. I like buying on sale, and then saving even more with my discount. I am kind of boring though, in that I only ever buy black shoes. I have no idea why. When I was younger, I went for other colours but now I just seem to stick with black.

I've been turning people onto our shirts and pants for about a decade now.  My current favourites are the everyday leggings. I do wear them everyday! They are so comfortable and easy to care for. I've been wearing a couple of pairs now, for about 4 years. Every time they feature in the brochure I buy another pack of 2.

A couple of years ago, I bought myself 2 grey polo-necked, cabled sweaters for Winter. They are so warm and cosy. I loved them so much that, that Christmas, I bought one each for my granddaughters here ... and they loved them too. This is me with one of my great granddaughters, wearing one of mine. 

When AVON brought out their Boss Life tee shirts, I treated myself to a couple. Everywhere I went, people complemented me on them. They are now slightly threadbare but still much loved for slouching in, some 3 or 4 years later. The same with my "wifi" shirt.

My Winter jacket, was an AVON buy from about 8 years ago. It still keeps me warm when it's cold and windy outside.

What I like about all of my AVON clothing is how easy it is to care for. Everything I wear goes through the washer. The cable sweater and jacket (plus a couple of other sweaters including my latest) go on a delicate wash, and likewise, everything goes through the dryer.

My latest: so comfortable and yes, again, easy care.

So, my answer to the question "does AVON's clothing last?" would be a resounding "yes!".

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