The issue with the painter is that he called with a migraine & stomach ache....too sick to come that night & never showed up & never called the following days. I decided he was just fired & told his friend that I was planing on firing him anyway.....so he just made it easier.

I did send an email to his friend with all the issues I had about the painter so it could be written down & that if the painted wanted to add me to his sob stories here was at least my side of what he did wrong.....the list was extensive for sure. Add to that, the missing things when I came back.....just little things but still. I went crazy looking for the scoop/funnel that I used for the bird seed. He had finished up the bird seed from the bag....must have left the scoop in the bag & thrown it away.....what a jerk....& that wasn't even the painting issues.

Now to organize myself over the next few weeks & get it finished myself (with some help where needed). I had to replace the broken front door latch & dead bolt. Wouldn't you know, the screw head was stripped & all the tools I purchased to help didn't work. It turned out my friend came over to save the day (once I cried uncle....I don't give up easy). He could have just told me what to do....easy fix actually. Now I know for next time...won't need the help. He was going to finish putting in the dead bolt, but I needed to do it myself.

I met a lady (the daughter of the organist I met at church) that has a carriage business here in Kentucky. I went over to visit her farm & meet her draft horses. She had a funeral she was doing on Monday morning, so invited me to help keep Fred still (stand at his head while waiting). She has both the carriage for weddings & the cason for the funerals. It was definitely a wonderful experience.....a veteran's funeral with the flag & 21 gun salute. The cason from the funeral home to the cemetary (just down the block) was very fitting with the flag drapped casket & the rain storm. I am glad to meet some people around the area....in many different areas. Add to her horse interest, but her husband is a flute player....instructor (with his masters in Music). I play flute also, so this is really great.

I guess holding the horse at the funeral was a bit exhausting or something. I slept from 5pm yesterday until 7:30am this morning. I know some of it's stress with the house because when I got home from the funeral after being drenched, had a hot shower, looked around at all I had to do in the house.....decided to take a nap & that was it.

Oh yes, Leo is quite the ghost. I went to a wedding Saturday night & put up the pen for him so he could stay home. I got home & he was out at the door barking at me. I looked & nothing had been opened. The bottom of the cage had fallen, so it looked like he lifted the cage & crawled out from under it (that's a heavy cage). Well, I figured out how to keep that from happening again. Then I made sure the top of the cage had twist ties all around at places where he could lift the top & tied the door shut so he couldn't unlatch it. Monday when I went to the funeral, I put his food & bed into the crate & chased him around a bit to catch him & put him in. All was dog proof (or so I thought). I got home from the funeral & there he was at the kitchen door barking at me when I arrived home. I looked & looked again. He had untwisted one of the twist ties...a very long one that I had twisted tight. He got that off & another one & squeezed out from the top of the cage. I have a Hudini dog. He hates to be caged up & will do everything possible to escape. Not only that, but he had to go to the bathroom, so he pushed my upstairs bedroom door open & went on the plastic tarp paper I have laying on the floor. He is such a crazy dog....too smart for his own good most of the time.

Anyway...I'm going to be focusing on my house for the next few weeks, so won't be here much.....all has to be done before I leave for California in 2 weeks, so have more to do than I might be able to get done....but am determined to spend Christmas here with my furniture....& my daughter.

I placed several photos of my farm in the gallery to look at. It was beautiful the other night. I looked out in my backyard there was a deer. I looked again & there were 2. Looked again & there were 3, then 4, then 5. They munched on my grass for awhile before exiting into my woods. That was so exciting....I do love the nature around here...nothing can compare with it in California except when I would be on vacation in the mountains.

Hope all is well with everyone,
Debbie