Weekend Recap 10/28

There she is. Is she a beautiful little girl, or what?? In her leopard skin hoodie, jeggings and little socks that look like Mary Janes with pink bows. My great-granddaughter is being held by her grandpa, my son the plumber, always mugging for the camera. This is a very calm and happy baby, content to be passed around and held by her adoring family, sleeping right through music, TV and conversation. I'm in love.

 

I was reading Cliff Mass's weather blog and he is saying that the computer models are all coming together with the indication that we are in for a "neutral winter".  That sounds good, doesn't it??  But "neutral" is misleading because that is when we can get our worst winter weather.  Think big wind and snowstorms.  I hope that it does not happen but I'm gonna be prepared.

So far, in my winter preparations, I've had the windows caulked, gutters and roof cleaned, heat pump installed, veggie gardens put to bed for the winter, and the car detailed and serviced.  This week, I'll have Costco rotate my tires while I'm shopping and have Chris, my yard guy, come for a final yard service.  I have yet to clean up my front flower beds because I've come to realize that now that I'm retired and gardening on practically a daily basis, I need to update my compost system.  What do you think??

I've outgrown my composter!!  This has worked really well for 25 years when I only gardened when I had time from work, once a week, at best.  Now it is time to add to it and I'm thinking something like this:

Pretty fancy and very exciting.  This is Costco's model and looks like it would really do the trick.  I'll keep you posted.

Vet Fund Update:

Now I know what the problem is with my vet fund.  I was reading Bob's blog on retirement and he thinks that putting $100 per month into his vet fund is spot on.  Me, too!!  One problem.  He only has one pet!!  I have four of them.  One is elderly with a bum ticker, one is aging with bad teeth, and one likes to go out and fight things. 

Only one of my critters is youthful and healthy, so the problem is that I need to put $400 per month in that fund!!  This is just not going to happen anytime soon.  It seems that I cannot afford my pets, and I am sure that this is a common situation, now that going to the vet has become crazy expensive.  I remember taking all four of my poodles to the vet for their annual shots and with litter rate, the bill came to $40!!  Those days are over. 

If anyone has any ideas on how to deal with the rising cost of veterinary care, let me know because I've hit the wall on this.  I just recently moved $1000 from savings into my vet fund and it still has a negative balance of $14!!