The Writing Is On The Wall (and the toilet and the door)

I know I shouldn’t complain about my home, because I’m fortunate to have a safe place to land each day. But for the love of everything, it’s overly needy.

It’s usually the electric gate, the air-conditioning, the water or the plumbing. Always with the plumbing.

Since we have people coming and going and my husband isn’t always so focused on things that aren’t functioning properly, I add a handy dandy little note. so we don’t get caught in a dry pickle. We are on a well system and get our water via a reverse osmosis tank; if you let the water run and run, the tank will empty and we will have zero water. none. zip. zilch.

This makes for a cranky Suz, although I don’t need the finest things in life, I’m a much better person with running water.

Our current Sign Situation

Bathroom One: I love threatening people.

I used to have great handwriting, but as I’ve gotten older (lazier) it’s not as neat, plus I’m guessing I was in Frustration Mode when writing these notes.

Bathroom Two: I’m tempted to change sticks to sucks.

Main door to the lanai won’t open for no apparent reason: I put that note for our 23 year old dog sitter when she stayed here last weekend. I knew she would get it.

Bathroom Three: Some of you might recall this sign and post from 2021 when our painter Jeff Spicolli Super Stoner, didn’t want to read this sign all the way through because he thought I was sharing GOSPEL information and not toilet information.

Spicolli felt terrible about us being without water for 13 hours after that incident, so he did a nice repair the next day. Sadly, that toilet is again running. I’ve not added a sign, I’ve just closed the door and not let anyone in there.

I don’t want to jinx it, but our toilet in the master bathroom is in perfect working order.

We also have two sinks (kitchen & guest bath) with the absolute worst water pressure in the twenty first century. Add in that in our master bathroom, I had to turn off the hot water to our sinks because my side would continually drip, even after a plumber looked at it twice. *sigh*

I have new plumbers, the ones who installed our tankless water heaters and they will be out next week to address ALL of the things. Well, not the door. Not sure when the Coach will be able to tackle that one.

Wish me luck!

Anyone else leave little notes around your house regarding the broken stuff so it doesn’t get worse?

XO

Fainting Goats, Flowers Galore, Sprayed Wine, Laughter Even More Galore

My amazing friend D’Anne, along with her sister Jana and I had been trying to plan a girls’ getaway trip for quite a while, but we could not come up with anything, which seems unimaginable.

Finally I said: We have dates booked for Georgia, why don’t you come spend some time with us there? It took them no time to book a flight and I felt like I had genius status for at least a minute.

The Coach and I were there for a few days before the girls arrived, but I didn’t make big plans for their visit as we tend to just roll with ‘how we feel’ and go from there.

In the four and a half days they were there, we visited Gibbs Gardens. (We have a thing for gardens, and this one is always evolving with the seasons)

Can you believe the size of this Snowball Verbena?

We also had a windy good time at a Winery, enjoyed an afternoon in Dahlonega, filled some garden bowls on our deck with flowers, worked on a puzzle, ate many meals, drank a bit ok, a lot of wine, *sampled Georgia moonshine right from our freezer, talked a LOT about everything under the sun, enjoyed the fire pit on a very dark night, ogled the starry sky, laughed more than a human probably should and had a nice long *adventurous tour of Double L Ranch on the UTV. Oh, and of course, D’anne had little gifts for me each morning, just like last time, as only a lunatic friend would.

My innovative way to de-callus my tootsies–FIRE

Say It Don’t Spray It.

I have to write this down, really for my own posterity. One evening we were enjoying a lovey dinner at a nearby restaurant; the weather was perfect, so we were seated on a patio. Our dinner was finished and we were just drinking wine and talking. I wanted a pic of D and Jana; they obliged with their lovely smiles, then they decided to make Fish Faces. We giggled, I showed them the result of the fish pic, right at the same time as D took a big sip of Cabernet. Well, hells bells, she laughed so hard at seeing the pic that she sprayed her wine across the table onto Coach and I. Well, mostly our finished dinner plates and some of Coach’s shirt. This of course, made us ALL laugh even more! You couldn’t have planned a spray this big!

D was beside herself, but we could not stop laughing.

Me: I’ve probably been sprayed by worse people and worse things!

A gift for the hostess. 🙂

All The Goats Faint

The Fainting Goat Winery is only twenty five minutes from our house and I can’t believe it took me this long to visit. The views coming from (and going to) are breathtaking. We had to pull over to take a pic.

It was crazy windy the day we visited the winery, but still, like loons we wanted to sit outside for the views. We had a little charcuterie and our small glasses of ‘tastes’ and every once in a while a gust of wind would pick up and we would all put our arms out to hold our glasses and the food/napkins/etc. It was hilarious. We thought about going back inside, but the thought of picking up all our glasses and snacks seemed like too much work.

I was so distracted by the wind, that I didn’t get to ride see the fainting goats up close. In hindsight, had we ordered a REGULAR sized wine portion, there wouldn’t have been a worry.

The wine, even thought it was from Georgia and not New Zealand, earned my snobby seal of approval.

Did you even visit a winery if you don’t bring home a few bottles?

We had such a great visit and I hope they return again; so far D has seen Fall and Spring at our place, but she’s not seen summer or winter yet!

*We had a bit of trauma/drama while visiting the Double L. I’ll share that story next time.

So, who wants to visit and join me for a tour of the winery, the gardens or just sample some local moonshine and call it a day?

(personally, I don’t do moonshine, but I don’t judge those who partake)

XOXO

Who Planted That, The Longest Meeting And The Prettiest Barn

Hello, it’s Me.

The Coach, and I along with the Frenchies headed to Georgia for a long getaway. Lest you think our long getaways are all R&R, sadly they are not. Back when we were deciding on purchasing a vacation home I thought I might actually get a vacation there. What was I thinking?! I envisioned ALL the relaxing and it’s merely another house to maintain! It might sound like I’m complaining, but I’m really not. OK, maybe just a tiny bit.

In my opinion, the only true vacation involves room service, dinners prepared for me, and no laundry.

To Quote Gomer Pyle: SURPRISE SURPRISE SURPRISE!

I consider myself fairly observant, so I was floored when I went out to our dog yard after we arrived and noticed this gorgeous yellow Azalea blooming. I DIDN’T KNOW WE HAD AN AZALEA IN THIS SPOT.

Where did that come from? I mean, I remember a little bush being there, but I didn’t know what it was, as I had never seen it bloom before.

Add in a flurry of tiger swallowtails, and be still my heart!

I was also super excited to see all of the blooming Dogwoods and pom-pom viburnum around our yard and elsewhere.

Within a day of arriving, I had the house full of groceries and made a big trip to the nursery to fill up the window boxes and large pots that needed updating. You might recall my Big Fall while updating the window boxes a few years ago so that task is solely up to the Coach as I’ve been put on restriction.

The Meeting Of Meetings

We had a few things scheduled for this trip and one was a meeting with our house builder and our designer, to iron out some details of the new compound house. Man, just typing Our Designer makes me feel all sorts of fancy and that we should be on an HGTV show.

Our meeting ended up being seven and a half hours long; mostly at our current house, but then we made our way to the actual property as well; still finalizing the driveway layout, dock placement in the pond, making sure we were happy with the views from our bedroom and kitchen, and the layout of the laundry room, as that is where I spend most of the time, don’tcha’know.

It was an overcast day, raining off and on, so the Georgia Clay was extra mucky and I refused to let the Frenchies wander into it.

WE COULD LIVE IN THAT

Coach’s Maintenace Barn is almost finished and she sure is pretty!

This barn will house his big equipment, but honestly, you could add in a little kitchen and bed area if you felt compelled and live there. (there is indoor plumbing)

My husband doesn’t know how to do things on a small scale and couldn’t half ass a project, he’s full assing everything, which can be both a curse and a blessing.

I’ve got much to share about this visit but that will have to wait as I’ve hit my (self-imposed) limit today!

Has anyone else been surprised by a New To You Plant in your space?

Could you live in a barn? On A Ranch? With Frenchies?

XOXO

My 80’s face And When Reviews Go South

I’m preparing to be away from my ‘puter again; please don’t cry too hard, loud or long.

I’ll leave you with some Random stuff:

  • As I was washing my face the other night, I had a vision-memory pop into my brain.

It was the late 80’s, my Mom was down from GA visiting me in Florida, I was living with the Coach. I was in the bathroom washing my face, with the door open, I was scrubbing my skin with a Buf Puf and that apricot exfoliant cleanser that literally felt like rocks mixed with liquid. (Do you remember Buf Puf’s? They could take paint off of a car!)

I already looked 12, how young DID I want to appear?

I came out of the bathroom ALL red faced and shiny and my Mom said: You know, I don’t think that is good for your skin. She was being delicate with her words because at that time, I didn’t have much patience for her.

Me thinking she’s crazy, as I reached for the SeaBreeze astringent. I can still feel the burn, thinking I’m doing something good, something healthy.

Today, at 56, I’m lucky I still have skin on my face.

Putting in an emergency call to Eckerd for more Buf Puf’s!

  • I’ve been purchasing my underthingys’s from Soma for years. The same under-roos for years. Recently, I wanted a few new pairs, went to the website, ready to order and FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING WHAT HAS HAPPENED? They’ve discontinued my fave style! I was shocked. I was dismayed. But worse: I wasn’t prepared for what I saw next.

I had to try a different style, so I chose a few that I thought might be close and started reading the reviews when I was slapped in the face 2024 style. (I’m paraphrasing the reviews because I didn’t save them)

These are so soft and comfy; they don’t ride up and the XL fits me perfect. BTW: I’m 5’10, 190lbs, male.

DO WHAT NOW? Are these unisex? What will I do with all that extra space in the front? Perhaps a stash spot for my lip gloss?

Slightly shaken, I went to the next style and read:

These are my favorite! There is no visible panty line, they’re breathable, I can wear them all day with no issues.

Seems great, right?

Except there was a photo attached of a MAN, sitting on the edge of his bed, wearing said underwear and a camisole top. (they didn’t even match!) This didn’t appear to be a woman who transitioned to a man, this was a bonafide man, five o’clock shadow and an unmistakable package.

I wonder what size he bought; he didn’t divulge and that would have been helpful.

Anyhoo, I ordered them both in Medium and let’s see if these guys know what the hell they’re talking about! 🙄

XOXO

Do any of you remember Buf Puff’s, Sea Breeze and when mostly only women wore women’s underwear?

(I know, I know, there have always been men wore ladies panties, I’m not that naive; I’m floored that they also like Soma!)