Random 5 for October 25 – Courtesy, yard, DNA, traits, Halloween

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That was nice! – A friend called earlier this week. She left a message with her phone number. Instead of looking it up in my book, I wrote it down and called. I got a generic message on an answering machine so I left an upbeat note with my phone number. A day later I got a nice call from a woman telling me I had called the wrong number. That triggered me to look up her number in my book and I had a wrong digit. (We’ll blame that on my hearing and not on anything else!) That was so nice of the stranger. I don’t think I’ve ever done that with a wrong number message.

Old garden with shed in background.

Peace and quiet – Remember my garden? See photo. It’s all gone without a trace. This week a landscaper came in with a bobcat backhoe. They regraded and planted grass seed. Goodbye sweet garden. I’ve transitioned.

DNA update – I periodically receive updates from my DNA test company. As they gather more samples they are able to get more specific. This week they let me know that I have 2% Neanderthal in my genes which is about 56% more than most people.

Great-grandma! Aside from the PMS look, isn’t she a beauty?

The rest of the story – They also listed some traits I’m likely to have as a result – itchy mosquito bites, difficulty in discarding objects, don’t get hangry (angry when hungry) and a terrible sense of direction. I do get grumpy when I’m hungry and I have difficulty discarding something that can be useful to someone but the rest are on target. As far as direction goes, I learned early in life that if I think I should go left, right is the right way. Funny how we learn to adapt.

Trick or treat – Will they or won’t they? Probably not but we haven’t seen any official notice yet. Update: There will be trick or treating in my area. What to do? Stock up on candy when no one will come? Turn off the lights?

So how was your week?

That straw is covering new grass seed where the garden was. The shed looks two-tone because the door was replaced. The paint on the rest of it had faded. There are three arborvitaes that are volunteers. The deer trim them. The dead ones are in the water retention area in the back of our property. We had some grading done to drain water down to the area.

54 thoughts on “Random 5 for October 25 – Courtesy, yard, DNA, traits, Halloween”

  1. Good idea getting someone with equipment to come in and clear the garden for you – we got rid of one by hand/shovel one time and it was a real chore. I also have a few percentage of Neanderthal DNA! Always so interesting finding this information 🙂 I’m not sure what is going on with trick or treating here – I had read the city had cancelled it (our numbers are going crazy) but haven’t seen anything on the municipality’s website, so not sure how official that was. We may well have candy out anyway – not sure yet.

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    • We were lucky to find someone interested in the fencing. They came and took it away but there were landscape timbers (rotted) that framed the backside as it was on a hill. The timbers were just rotted enough that no one could use them but they were too big to easily handle. Fortunately the landscaper took them with no extra charge over his original estimate. My husband cut up a few and he said doing a few a week to put in the trash would take until spring. Sometimes you have to throw in the towel!

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  2. I don’t blame you on the gardening Kate … you’ll go to farm stands in the country to get those beefsteak tomatoes you showed us, fresh from the garden, ripening on the counter or a bowl. Less work now for you – you have the pond and that’s a job. I told you I had a butterfly perennial garden in the backyard, annuals up the side of the house and front. I felt like all I did was maintain the garden. I watered and weeded before I left for work to avoid them being too wet overnight; came home from work and re-watered what I called “the needy flowers, the Gerbera Daisies and the four impatience bags that hung on the fence … three in front, one in the back as a “backup bag in case the other ones got leggy”. Deadheading took hours every week. Years of doing this and my mom said “why do you do this – you spend all your time out there – relax a little” and after I started the walking regimen in 2012, I only kept the perennials, the rest are silk flowers in pots, baskets, wheelbarrow … then I lost most of the perennials after the Polar Vortex. I never replanted and never looked back.

    We had a hysterical woman that began calling our phone number shortly after we moved here in 1966 – the woman spoke English with a heavy Spanish accent and my mom answered the phone and she’d call my mom some really ugly names for having an affair with her husband. She claimed she found our number in her husband’s pants pocket when doing laundry. My mom would hang up and she’d call right back – it was before caller I.D. so my mom would take the phone off the hook for an hour or so. My mom finally called the police to ask if they could trace the call and talk to this woman – they could/would not get involved and we changed the number to get rid of her. I haven’t thought of that woman in decades.

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    • Wow! I remember having friends who changed their phone number frequently to get rid of boyfriends. We’ve had the same number since we moved here. Same for cell numbers too. Now your mother would have been able to track her. She should have been pounding on her husband rather than your mother.

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      • Yes, my mother hated to answer the phone – this was long before caller ID – the police did not want to get involved The number I have now we got after my father left – we changed the number and that was 1984. Coincidentally it has been unpublished since 1984. I got a call back in April from a girl I knew from the bus … I asked how she got my number and she said “I Googled Linda Schaub in Lincoln Park, Michigan” and it came up and your address too. I contacted AT&T and said “I don’t want my info out there and I pay $5.00/month for that privilege!” It’s probably more than $5.00, that is what it was back in 1984. This woman was hysterically crying and swearing at my mom every time.

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  5. I’ve called a few times when someone left a message on our phone by mistake. I remember one was to a doctor so I wanted to make sure they knew they had called a wrong number.

    We don’t get many, if any, trick or treaters on our street in normal years so I don’t expect any this year. I’ll miss the Halloween party our neighbors have but I’m hoping that next year we’ll all have a do-over.

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  8. We have been going out to dinner for years instead of handing out candy. Halloween is not a holiday we celebrate. In fact, the only holiday I truly enjoy is Thanksgiving and I am pretty sure this will be our best Thanksgiving in years. I think Neanderthal is a plus! Our week was peaceful and pizzarific… I loved our week. Your shed area looks awesome!

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    • I love pizzarific weeks! This past week wasn’t one and I’m suffering withdrawal. I haven’t participated for Halloween in decades. T-day is up in the air. We usually have my brother and his wife along with another friend. We’ll see if they are up for it. They don’t go out because they are at risk so it would be safe. Otherwise it’s just us. Much as I loved the garden, it was turning into more work than I wanted to do. I love the clean look even if the grass hasn’t sprouted yet. It will be so much easier to keep clean and weeded.

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  9. I call people back when they leave a vm that was quite clearly not intended for me. I never have thought not to do that. I wonder if that is a regional thing?

    I don’t know if there’s going to be an official trick or treat around here. We won’t be participating, a first for me. Lights off, no decorations. I’d feel awful if I somehow gave the virus to a kid– and awful if I got it from a kid. No win situation.

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    • I always think wrong numbers are a result of someone giving a fake number (mine) to someone they don’t want to communicate with but I’m clearly wrong! We won’t be participating either. I don’t see it as a risk at best. Parents can come up with something else for the kids. Maybe visit their grandparents.

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  10. OMG, I think the Neanderthal is strong in my family too! I’ve had my DNA done and don’t remember this being pointed out, but hey – I used to manage a lab that did DNA work, and mistakes can happen! As in any lab, no matter how diligent. Hmmmm….I really want to blame my behaviours and tendencies on my genes now 🤣🤣🤣

    Deb

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  12. Envy you your shed!
    I once called the wrong number and sang Happy Birthday down the phone to someone who was not my Mum. The lady let me finish, then told me I’d made her day and she was sorry she wasn’t my Mum. We were chatting for about five minutes, and I still don’t know what number I dialled.

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  14. Hubby is anxious for the post Hallowe’en candy sales – he figures there will be plenty of unsold candy. Our house is too remote for trick-or-treating, so whether we shell out or not is not a consideration. That said, if we did live in an urban area, our house would be dark – people being people, and kids being kids… I think it’s best to discourage any social interaction,

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    • I’m with you. I’m scheduled for a minor procedure in December and I am being extremely careful. I don’t want it postponed. It took me 3 months to get the appointment. I did buy one bag of assorted candy to have on hand. Not for Halloween but this time has the best selection. It will last until Easter. Maybe longer since my brother doesn’t visit much!

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  15. Marley is very happy to use the phrase, “the other left” with me…totally can’t do directions. And we will be turning out the porch lights and hanging out for Halloween. Aside from having to manage cats and three dogs,(Leelu barks very loudly at every little noise that startles her and goes nuts with people on our porch) the concerns about the virus outweigh other factors!

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    • I’m with you on the trick or treating. I don’t think we would get many kids anyway. “The other left” is something I hear often! I remember being in NYC with a friend. We came out of a restaurant and I said to her, “I feel like we should go left so let’s go right.” It was the right move.

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  16. I wanted Andy to rig up a pulley system so we could send candy down from our porch to trick-or-treators (clothes pinned to the line) and they could pick their favorites. He keeps telling me all the engineering issues that make my idea problematic.

    Baby D wants to use a catapult. Baby D is not understanding the concept of injury liability.

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  17. I’ve always bought treats for Halloween hand-outs that David and I like…….we never give everything away so it’s great to have some treats left for US. They will have “modified” trick or treating here – they want people to put treats out in a cooler or big basket, etc. with a sign asking kids to please take one (hahahahahahahahaha). We haven’t decided whether to just turn off the lights and watch scary movies or leave treats on the front porch for kids. I’m thinking the former rather than the latter.

    Hugs, Pam

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    • For a few years we put a basket of treats on the front porch with a sign and went out for dinner. Then we heard that a group came and just emptied the entire basket into their bags. That was the last year we did that. My best guess is that people with young kids will take them to people they know and will forego the visits to strangers. Maybe I’ll watch a romcom! 🙂

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  18. Hi Kate, The phone number/stranger/text has happened to me before. It was an urgent situation and I greatly appreciated the kindness from a stranger. Adapting and part Neanderthal……yes, you have evolved, Kate.😊

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  19. If it sounds like a genuine wrong number, I usually call back to let them know. I don’t if they sound angry, annoyed, out of sorts, or deranged.

    Did Neanderthals like cats?

    For Halloween, buy treats that you and hubby will happily consume in the coming weeks if no one comes knocking.

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    • We don’t eat candy so it’s tough. We normally go out for dinner (yes we are one of those) but not this year. We’ll see. We have very few (like about 3) young kids on our street. Sometimes they bus in from the inner city and somethings they don’t. Our houses are set far apart so there’s a lot of walking to get a good bounty.

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