tinkling around

yesterday afternoon, there were a few things that i needed an extra set of hands to do. and it turned out i needed two extra set of hands, and quite possibly the job would have been easier if i'da had even more extra sets of hands, but that was not to be. we made do with another extra set. that's the great thing about family living so close, ya can just make a call, ask them to zip over and lend a hand or two and POOF! the job is done.

so jert and i got the frosted green glass panel placed in the door {argen fargen, sigh, if i mess with it again, i'm just gonna insert obscure glass and have done with it; the frosted paint just scratches right off, so it's not what we were wanting after all that finagling; but ya live and learn, so now we know}. we also got what used to be part of a huge awkward corner cabinet thingy taken apart, with the extra planks set aside and there are now two wonderful bookshelves. since we can always use bookshelves, we were pleased with them. we moved them into the living room, so that we could have the front porch a bit more available for this weekend's father's day cookout. right now, the living space is a bit congested as it's a sort of repository for lots of wooden shelves, dressers, a sewing machine, and such. those things will eventually find their homes in some of the rooms that we haven't yet cleaned/painted/etc. i think that the folks coming for the cookout will be fine, cuz the jumble is not blocking the bathroom and there are plenty of other open spaces, access to the table and some chairs {altho, since it is a cookOUT, i'd think most folks would be OUTside; could just be me being all logical and making assumptions tho, doncha know}.

we did some other odds and ends, including brushing shaddow. we've tried various methods and tools, such as the furr-minator. but the best, absolute best, tool is actually a metal grooming loop with teeth that is generally used on horses. shaddow loves it, she will sometimes lay down and stretch out, relaxing completely to be groomed with this thing. what i like best about it is that you don't have to keep clearing the teeth; you just keep brushing and the undercoat just sorta wafts away in lil tufts. the best ten bucks i've spent on her!!

thing is, you could brush her for hours and hours and there'd still be loose hair working free. but it has cut down tremendously on the small tumbleweed-like clumps rolling around the floors inside the house. i know once i actually scrub/wax the floors, they'll be easier to keep clean; but right now, i sweep the floors every day {it seems} and gather up enough shaddow furrballs to make another smaller dog.

speaking of smaller dogs, harley {the chihuahua/whippet mix; would that be a "whip-cha"?} wanted to be groomed too. he sorta wedged his lil body in between jert and shaddow and streeeeeeeeetched up so that he was RIGHT THERE; so jert used the tool as lightly as he could, cuz harley is sorta thin-haired and doesn't have a massively dense undercoat. harley loved it! his lil eyes slitted shut, he arched his head forward and rolled over a bit so he could lift his leg in utter complete bliss.

pearl, a rat-cha {rat terrier/feist and chihuahua blend} wasn't getting in on the doggy-action; she woulda {i'm sure} but wasn't on hand, so missed out. there'll be other times tho, and i'm sure she'll discover it too. she gets terribly excited about the possibility that you may be might could possibly pet her and so i'm sure she'll be like "Oh My God!" over that. her lil barks are three quick sharp short ones in rapid succession, so i assign all sorts of attitude that might be working for her.

after cleaning the "lil" {uhm relatively speaking, since we just installed a 29 THOUSAND btu window unit, yes yes, window unit...who'da thought you could get one that large and still be a window unit?!?! not that i'm complaining, cuz dude, way lots more work and expense woulda had resulted if'n it wasn't a window unit, ya know?} air conditioner and taking apart the fan and cleaning it; i was filthy, so climbed in the shower. i remembered to take my clothes off this time, but left my shoes on. you'd think after 35 years of me bathing myself, i'd've that whole 'take off the duff' thing down pat...you'd be wrong tho, as it seems i tend to leave a few articles here and there on every now and then.

the shoes really needed to be cleaned tho, so it's allllllllllllll good.

this weekend is summer solstice, the longest day of the year. to me, this always seems wrong. it feels to me like the longest day oughta come in august or even september. ya know, when we are having our hottest days. of course, no one consulted me when they were messing around, tinkering with the earth's spin and the orbit 'round the sun and all that tilting stuff going on. it's a good thing too, cuz i'da been forgetting to take into account something and we'd be even more messed up than we are now. human errs, whatcha gonna do, tho; ya know?

well, gotta get the lil doggies in outta the heat. the index says, "95" and it's still morning here in mississippi! toodles, tinkers!