Naughty Sugar

 

          Before he passed away, our neighbor purchased two small goats as he was unable to mow his yard.  The goats are named Cocoa and Sugar.  Cocoa is the smallest of the two and happily chows down and makes no attempt to leave the yard.  Sugar on the other hand . . . she is a naughty goat who has shown more interest in escaping the yard than eating any of it.  Why chew on grass when there might be plastic on the other side of the fence.

          Our neighbor has left the gate open so that the goats can start mowing our lawn – though I don’t imagine we would want our yard to look as desolate of hers.  But there is plenty of grass to go around.  However, I think we have spent just as much time searching for and corralling Sugar back into our yard.  I have actually lost sleep over it.  That isn’t right.

          Our neighbor looks drained.  I thought death could claim her before it took her husband as she’s not in the best of shape either.  Though she did seem somewhat better.  At least yesterday.  She looked haggard this morning.

          Sugar’s eyes are not the same color as my son’s dog – but there is something about her eyes that remind me of his.  They both have these wide round eyes that seem to present themselves as innocent when I know darn well that they’re not.

          She is back in our yard.  As Cocoa continues on the lush green grass, Sugar has decided to attack our blueberry bushes.  She seems to desire human company.  Cocoa could care less.

 

         

Lousy Neighbors

 We are lousy neighbors.  House to our right is for sale.  We never met the people who lived there though we did know their names. Their house is evidently in a trust.  I don't know why they moved.

We have met the neighbors to our left - though we haven't seen them for a while.  I learned just today that he died a month ago.  An entire month has gone by since our former bishop and his brother-in-law stopped by to inform us that our neighbor was on hospice and they had been by to give him a blessing.  He must have died right after that. 

Her son was living in our ward until recently.  We were supposed to pick up their oldest two to take to the temple with us - but were informed they could not go.  Perhaps our neighbors passing is what changed the plans.  I don't know.  I feel so out of the loop.  How terrible of me.

Just Give Yourself Time to Think About It

 I like to read and watch mysteries.  

I like to see if I can figure out who is the killer, the thief 

or what have you.  But in real life I would not 

be sticking my nose into the crime scene like 

some of the characters who get involved.  I always think - 

"stupid, stupid" not "oh, that's a good idea" or 

"not bad" "how clever".  I usually shake my head.

 "Oh, girl . . . you are cruisin for a bruisn.  Why?"  

Often I view the story as a comical situation rather than 

a realistic encounter.  In real life I would keep my 

mouth shut and not get involved.  I doubt I would make 

a good witness or jury member.

Absent from the Web

 Ever since I changed the appearance of my blog, my posts haven't had any views. Coinsidence?

It isn't important I guess.  What's important is that power is restored to so many across the nation who are without.  That our nation can be restored to a strong civil nation and not such a disgrace. 

I would like to wish everybody well.

Elements

 yesterday the sun shone bright

blinding bright

It has seemed such a long time

This morning the fog is back

swallowing our surroundings

I Can Live With a Crooked Floor

 As I mentioned in my last post, we replaced our water heater but not our floor. 

 We had our floor redone less than three years ago due to water damage.  

It's sad that we don't have the money or that the insurance won't pay.  

But it isn't as bad as being without power.

Or shutting down the government.

or not being able to travel due to the snow

and closed roads due to the elements

or accidents

or being a victim to the ICE (the Gestapo)

or not even knowing what is true anymore

I would rather have uneven floors -

it seems so minimal compared to everything else that is going on.

May the power be restored to the many who are without.

May the harm and blows be softened.

May we all be kind.

Replacement

 Jaime had noticed that her carpet was wet but didn't know what from.  Richard tried to blame the dog, but in actuality it was the water heater.  It hadn't occurred to us to replace it sooner - no we have to wait until after the water leaks before we had even thought of looking at the 33 year old water heater that has probably been leaking at least the last two years.

We had a friend tell us that the insurance wouldn't replace her flooring when her water heater gave out.  She said the insurance company had discredited her because the tank had not been in a basin - even though that hadn't been code when it was initially put in.  It's code now!  So both of us now have new water heaters and uneven floors.

We didn't know where it was even leaking from until the plumber started to drag it out.  I did not get a picture of the rust corroded bottom, but did get it standing upright out on the curb.  Our new one is so much nicer.  It should outlast us.