We've Gone to the Birds!

Beautiful weekend, lots of yard work, and sore muscles! We are developing quite a bird sanctuary in our back yard. We have 4 different kinds of woodpeckers. The most gorgeous one is in this picture. It is the Red Headed Woodpecker. We have seen at least 2 of them. This view is from his back, he came up to the little pan that we put birdseed in, on the porch railing.

The other pic is of the Red Head on the ground with some doves.

Then we spotted hummingbirds so got a feeder out for them. Well these Orioles showed up. As near as we can count there are 5 males and one female. They were trying to hang onto the hummingbird feeder to drink, so we found our oriole feeder and put it out. Then we thought that there were so many of them and they were hanging around, we put some jelly out in a bowel on the railing of our little porch on the utility building. Then we put a bowel with some oranges pieces out. Well they just hop from one to the other and slurp up the jelly. Not sure but think the strawberry is winning out over the grape! I will get some pictures of them soon. Have to sit out in a chair quietly and wait for them.

Plus there are lots of blue jays, robins, gold finch, and then in the evening the doves and cowbirds come in. We may have to take out a loan to buy bird feed. This is almost as bad as all the quail we fed when we lived in Nevada. There was a flock of over 100 that swarmed the back yard every day to get their share from us.

Thought for the day: Put yourself first. You can't be anything for anybody else unless you take care of yourself.

Rugs for Sale!!

OK I am ready to sell some rugs.

Got 3 more in. of rain last nite, lots of lightning. Scared dog had to sleep huddled next to my legs. Sort of hard to sleep with a big dog quaking and shaking. We got 4 in just a few days ago. sure making the grass grow. And the trees are leafing out so nice. Glad when they get fully leafed out, Then the neighbors can't see me sitting on the back porch in my nighty.

Any one wants to buy a rug, leave me your e-mail address. I will prob list some on e-bay in my e-store. Want to get restrung this week and make a batch of table runners and placemats.

Thought for the day: When governments fear the people there is liberty, when people fear the government there is tyranny: Thomas Jefferson

Now where was I?

Been busy and seems the busier you are the less you can think of to write. Now that doesn't make much sense. So lets see. I have joined the YMCA. That was a good thing. Did the pool exercise Mon. They sure have a nice pool. Was going today to use the weights but it was such a beautiful morning I just headed into town where my store is and did my walk thing. My sister calls me a street walker!! But there are alot of hills and it really does make a good walk and if I take different streets I get to be barked at by different dogs! The weather is warming up though and they gym will be alot nicer to workout in, as it gets pretty hot to be walking after 9 AM.

Been weaving rugs, Got a cute green plastic tub to put them in for selling.

Spent my "weekend" off working on our garden space, will take a pic later. It is Railroad ties stacked 2 high. We had alot of ground up tree stumps rotting down all winter and then hubby hauled a couple pickup loads of this great soil from a recycle place. It is part potting soil, manure, and top soil. Only costs 10$ for a big front end loader scoop. I think we got 3 scoops in all and will make great garden soil. Then got my wave petunias planted. Sun did a book sale in the driveway to get rid of some excess books, then hauled the rest, about 20 boxes, to a guy for this little auction that he does weekly. I don't care what I get, just want to be rid of them. They are the left overs from the 3,000 books I bought last fall from the flea market booth that was going out of business.

A week ago went down to Ar. to see my daughter and grand daughters. Was a good trip. The twins will be 15 later this mo. and the oldest (19 year old) one is going to be a mama this summer. Soooooooo I guess that will make me the youngest great grandmother in history!! Can't believe it. Gee, I can't believe my daughter will be a grandma! Well on that note, I best get busy here and do something productive.

Food for Thought:
"You don't need organized religion to connect with the universe. Often a church is the only place you can go to find peace and quiet... But it shouldn't be confused with connecting with one's spirit." -- Alice Walker

Meet my Baby!

Well there it sits on it's new throne. Ain't she perty? I am all ready to start. I will try to add another picture of the favorite rug that I made. If you click on the picture you can get a bigger one to see better.

Oh, I need to correct something that I posted earlier. I did not go to Ia. to learn to loom! I learned to weave! I guess thats like saying I am going to car, when I mean drive. Laugh is on me.

I had a great vacation. I highly recommend including learning something new on your vacation. Makes it so much more memorable. Of course all the midnight chats and gallons of coffee that I was "forced" to drink only added to the frivolity. I took alot of pictures of the little town of Bentonsport. Found out that there are about 50 residents there now. Not sure how many during its hay day back in the late 1800's. It was a thriving river town with a mill and many industries. Most of the homes left are the old 2 story brick homes built at that time. Will add some of those next time. Lots of history there including a little of my own. As I lived for a short time in one of the little buildings on main street when I was about 8 years old. It was always called Dolly's House, ( I think Dolly was a naughty lady) Anyway it was just one room down stairs and one upstairs. It was moved a few years ago and is now a little shop that is open in the summer. The old bridge was converted to a walking bridge a number of years ago, I great part due to the efforts of my friends there. They saved it from being torn down to put the new bridge in. Now the new bridge is down stream a little and makes the entrance into town seem strange. I have walked across that old bridge many many times. It was a one way bridge, which meant that if you drove up the approach and another car was coming you had to back up to let them cross first. See later on when I was about 14, I lived in a house on the other side of the river. We are talking about the Des Moines River.

Thought for the day: Be willing to learn from your friends and family.

Whats it worth?

Total 943 miles driven.

Gas for trip $137.75.

Store closed 1 week. Lost Revenue ###$.

Price of used loom ###$.

Time spent with old friend and learning new skills, PRICELESS!!

Wish you were here!

Having a great time. I am still in Iowa and just have to share my "stuff" so far. Trip so far:

Saw a sign on a rural building, "Chop Shop, Custom Butchering."

Knew I was close to Ia. when I started noticing folks doing the little "wave." That's where you just lift your hand or a few fingers from the steering wheel to acknowledge the oncoming driver. Its an Iowa thing.

Was able to find the old "home place", well the place I lived for about 4 years at one time growing up. Haven't been past there for many years. Only thing left to recognize is a huge pine tree in the front yard and the old barn, oh and the 2 ponds. Amish have bought it now and there is a huge white house on both sides of the road. I stalked them a little and took a few pictures from up the road.

Met up with my sister in law yesterday and we took a little trip up thru farm country to a town named Kalona so I could get some cheese curds to take home. It is a huge cheese factory, and if you have never had fresh cheese curds, I just can't explain them to you. But they are the fresh product in the production of cheeses, and the squeek on your teeth. Wonderful.

I am getting the knack of weaving. Love it. The biggest job was to learn how to string up the loom. But I have the best teacher and if I make a mistake, I am sure its because we are yakking too much. Don't get to bed till almost midnight. Weather has been great, cool, but mostly sunny. Have taken alot of pictures around this little town. I will put some links up later to direct you to this little county that boasts either one or no stop light in the county. Look up Villages of Van Buren County and you can find it. I am in Bentonsport. Now that's all the info I can give out to protect the innocent, ya know? I will post pictures when I get back to my computer

Oh, the boss is getting up, so I have to get out of here and get busy, {she is a slave driver} but don't tell her I said so.

Thought for the day: If you have a price to pay, the sooner you pay it, the less it costs you. (those words of wisdom, fresh from the mouth of the "boss" as she came out of the bedroom!

PS Hi to my sis in Mo. that reads my blog. And to her and to my friend Jan, send me an e-mail and I will pick it up from here and can send a reply. I didn't bring any e-mail addresses with me.

Leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again!

Actually I am driving. Headed out Sat on some alone time for 8 or 9 days! Well sort of alone. Headed to Ia. to spend time visiting old friends and some family, too. But mostly to stay with my "girlhood" friend and learn how to loom rugs. Yea, thats right, never know when that skill may come in handy. Been wanting to do this for years when I was up there last spring I found that she has a table top size loom and I told her that was just the right size for me, to hold onto it and I would be up. Promise to bring back some pictures. There is a long story here so maybe someday I will write it.

Just finished a very good book. If you want a really good read, pick up The Other Boleyn Girl! By Phillippa Gregory. Learn a little history too, The setting is in the 1500's. Women we have come along way, let me tell you. I know there is a movie, is it here yet? I never know when I see one advertised if its here or coming soon, as I rarely go to movies. I did see a movie for TV coming in April that is from the book I read last month, so hope I remember to watch it or tape it. The Memory Keepers Daughter. It was a good book so I look forward to seeing what they did to make it a movie.

Well got lists to make and them I am hitting the road. Now do I want peace and quiet or CD's to listen to, hmmmmmmmmmm?

Thought for the day: Whatever we Think about, Thank about, We bring about!

I love "Bare" jokes!

Gotcha! But I really do love bear jokes. These are my favorites. Another favorite is the campers in a tent, and a bear is reaching under the edge feeling around with his paw, and the Lady says,"George, cut that out." Well there is my humor for this Friday foggy day.


Thought for the day: Two fish swim into a concrete wall. The one turns to the other and says "Dam!"

I Am Getting All Techy!!

My horoscope for today. Pretty cool!

Your creativity will really be luminous today, and your mind will be drawn to light. If you can, get up extra early and watch the sunrise. You will see the world in a way you never saw it before, and who knows? You might realize that you are a morning person after all!

I just updated my Yahoo page and have all this personal stuff on it now for my home page, like local tv listings for the day, movies at local theaters, weather, and even Garfield. Now I am trying to figure out how to transfer all my favorites over so that they are not just stored on my computer. I live in a fear that the computer will crash around my ears one day and all the neat sites and files I save will go with it. My computer Geek tells me I should be storing everything off site. So maybe I will get that figured out one of these days. Baby steps!!

Got my new little mp3 player set up yesterday and loaded most of my music that I had stored on My Music onto it. Worked real well. Amazing to have something so tiny hold so much info, plus its an FM radio, can download audio books to listen to. I know I am way behind alot of folks here but hey, I am traveling at my own pace and it feels good.

On the Up side,weather is awesome, sun shining, clear, and going to be up in the 70's today. On the down side, gas is too high! Yikes over 3$ and going up everyday. Guess we all need to really think before we get behind the wheel!!

Thought for the day: Once you get people laughing, they're listening and you can tell them almost anything". :)

Amor fati (Love what is)

I swiped that from a book that I just finished and feel the need to put my thoughts down about it. The title is: Drinking the Rain, by Alix Kates Shulman. Printed in 1995, it covers 10 years of her life from age 50 to 60. In her younger years she was very active in teaching, writing, and marching for women's rights. At age 50 she feels the need to have some solitude to really learn more about herself, so she goes to spend the summer totally alone in a cabin at the end of an island off Maine. She ends up pretty much living off the land, and learns all the bounty that the sea and island has to offer. She returns year after year. She opens her eyes to see the beauty in living so simple and close to the earth and it changes her and how she views everything.

I reallly enjoyed the book and found it really not so mysterious why I chose it to read. Actually I have a stack of books that I plan to read and this one was pulled out randomly and when I started it was amazing how it tied in with what I have been thinking and feeling myself. It seems everywhere I turn I see these "signs" that are directing me. I have been reading Depok Chopra for some time and just finished one of his books and am anxious to get his new one, and am now reading Ekart Tolle's book, The New Earth. Some will scoff at this as nonsense but one of the statements in the beginning of the book, if you are not already becoming "awake" just put the book down and don't waste you time or money. You have to be ready to be awakened and truly See. And I think that is what this book Drinking the Rain was about. And the Amor fati, was a quote from the book.

So I stop with that thought "Love what is" Couldn't that just change your whole perspective on life. And as Ekart says, "Accept what is< then action can follow"

Thought for the day: "Happiness is not something ready made...It comes from your own actions."---Dalai Lama

Zumba! Me???

Oh, I can't believe I got talked into this! A friend came by yesterday and asked if I wanted to go to an exercise class that one of the Joplin hospitals is sponsoring 2 nites a week. Another friend was going with her and they are both a few years older than me, so I thought "What the heck, I will give it a try." Well if you don't know what Zumba is, look it up in google!! Its a little Merengue, Salsa, and Samba. Oh, my!

But what a HOT instructor. 6 pack abs, tanned. A mother of a 12 year old! She was amazing. If I can make my butt move 1/10th of the action she has going I will be thrilled. I was really pooped about 10 min. from the end, so was basically down to just stepping in place by that time, boy what a slug. And here I am so proud of the fact that I have hardly missed a day on my tread mill since Jan 1. Maybe I should put down my book and increase my speed a little!

So a little IBU and I will give it another try tomorrow nite. Wish we had more than one day to recup..

Thought for the day: If swimming is so good for your figure, how do you explain whales?

You know someone is getting old when you see cars zipping by your intersection at 30 miles an hr. and you hear, "Damn, they sure drive fast thru here!"

Well that is what I have heard, not that I think its true, yet.

Doing OK, dropped off papers to have taxes done. Had a tooth filling replaced. Hated to have it done when nothing hurt. But it was loose on the edge last cleaning and again this time, so I gave in and had it redone. They use a nice white filling now. Sort of wish I had asked to have the other fillings replaced in that area while I was numb. Wonder if he would have done that?

Got a taste of spring again, Sat. and Sun. Up in the 70's, then a blast in the bloomers with a cold rain and down in the 20's and 30's again Mon. But we are lucky as the bad weather went south and north of us.

Had to replace my printer, so got a new HP Photosmart all-in-one. Wow. What a deal. For 88$ plus tax, I got a neat little machine that scans, copies, prints. Plus has ports to plug dig. camera card in and view pictures on a little screen and print photos. Big bonus, the ink refills are about half the cost of my old machine. What a deal. Sort of makes me glad the old one bid the dust.

Been reading Echart Tolle's book "The New Earth" Me and about a million other people. Going to log onto Oprah's site and view the big webcast that they did last nite.

Did I mention I am planning a week long get away for later in the mo. or the first of April? Going to Iowa to visit a friend and learn to loom rugs. She has a small table top loom she is selling me and has promised if I come up she will teach me how to use it. Sounds like fun, besides I can get my Iowa FIX. Visit some old friends and maybe even find some really alone time.

Thought for the day: A man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them......Mark Twain

Stealing ideas again!

I stole this idea from another blogger, but sorry, I don't know how to link to the site that I got the songs from. :)
The idea is to type in a date of importance to you and you get the no.1 song of that day. Some is interesting. Here is my "hit" list.

Date of my birth: The Old Lamp Lighter; by Sammy Kaye

Date of first marriage: hard Day's Night; by The Beatles

Date of Son's birth: Monday, Monday; by the Mama's and Papa's

Date of daughters birth: We Can Work IT Out: by the Beatles

Date started nursing school: Tie a Yellow Ribbon Around Ole Oak Tree: by Dawn

Date seperated from first husband: I'm Leaving it Up to You: by Dale and Grace

Date met 2nd husband: Rise: by Herb Alpert

Date Married second husband: Family Affair: by Sly and Family Stone

So there you are. I thought it was sort of fun. Geeze, I must have too much time on my hands.

Oh, also decided I want to add to each post a little Food for Thought at the end. (so get used to it, O.K.?)

Food for Thought: The more you complain, the longer God makes you wait.

Fairy Tale

This is the fairy tale that should have been read to us girls when we were little:Once upon a time ~~~~~~~~in a land far away,~~~~~~~~a beautiful, independent,self-assured princess~~~~~~~~happened upon a frog as she satcontemplating ecological issues on the shores of an unpolluted pondin a verdant meadow near her castle.~~~~~~~~The frog hopped into the princess' lapand said: " Elegant Lady,I was once a handsome prince,until an evil witch cast a spell upon me.~~~~~~~~One kiss from you, however,and I will turn backinto the dapper, young prince that I am~~~~~~~~and then, my sweet, we can marry~~~~~~~~and set up housekeeping in your castle~~~~~~~~with my mother,~~~~~~~~where you can prepare my meals,~~~~~~~~clean my clothes, bear my children,~~~~~~~~and forever feel grateful and happy doing so. "~~~~~~~~That night,~~~~~~~~as the princess dined sumptuously~~~~~~~~on lightly sauteed frog legs~~~~~~~~seasoned in a white wine ~~~~~~~and onion cream sauce,~~~~~~~~she chuckled and thought to herself:~~~~~~~~I don't think so.

Classics??

I am looking for some help out there. I know you are there, I see you lerking around. :)
I am wanting to read the "Classics". I know I have missed out on alot of them over the years and since I didn't take regular college courses I didn't have to read them there. I am trying to compile a list of what would be consider "Must" reads. I have pulled some from my book shelves to start a list. Any input from folks who read me would be appreciated. Tell me what your most Favorite book is. I really don't want to read Shakespear but maybe Mark Twain, Pearl S Buck, and who else? Will look forward to some feedback.

Why do little boys whine?

They are practicing to be men!


Saw 3 pair of Canadian geese on a pond this morning getting ready to make woo-woo. Guess its that time of the year, so they can nest and hatch those early spring babies. So spring is a coming, just hold on. Last week went from a 73 one day for a high to a 40 for a high, so guess it is practicing.

Someone sent me a cute little joke about a little 1 1/2 year old girl who was playing with her tea set and kept bringing her Daddy a cup of "tea" to drink (water) and he would drink it and she would do it again and again, Finally the wife came in and Daddy said watch this, isn't this cute? And the toddler brought another cup of tea. Finally the wife said, "you know the only water in the house that the baby can reach is the toilet" :0)

Had the farm shown again this week, I did make a little wish on that leprechon that was going around on e-mails. You know if you forward it to 10 people your wish will come true in 2 weeks. Well a few days left. LOL

OK enough silliness for one day. I feel good except for the back tweak that I got pulling my boot on the other day. Its the little things that get you down isn't it?

How do you keep your husband from reading your e-mail?

Rename the mail folder "Instruction Manual."


Hey I have a terrific chili receipt to share, Have made it twice now and it is really GOOD!

It is Bush's Best Three Bean Chili: Makes a really big pot of chili, but I freeze the extra.

2 cans Kidney Beans
2 cans Pinto Beans
2 cans Black Beans
2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 small yellow onion, chopped. (I use a large one)
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 can (14 1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes
3 tsp. chili powder (I use 4 to 5)
1 1/2 tsp. salt (I omit this)
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp. cumin ( I use 1 tsp, as I really like cumin)
1 can (6oz) tomato paste
I add 1 lg. can of tomato sauce, because it is so thick
Cook beef, onion and green pepper til meat is browned. Drain excess grease. Ad all the rest and let simmer for 20 min. ( I like to simmer for like an hour at least) Also I used our ground elk meat and it is great.

So there is my cold weather idea. Nothing like a nice bowl of chili, served with sour cream, or I like grated cheddar cheese, and hubby likes diced green onions on his.

Oh, and today is my birthday, just thought I would mention that :0)

Bhagavad Gita, one more post

Just want to document my findings about the book I mentioned in my last post. I looked in my library of books at home and found this one big book I bought years ago when I joined a book club, but honestly have never looked at it. It is called Great Thinkers of The Eastern World. So I went to the section on India and found this: Bhagavad Gita, written between the fifth and first centuries B. C. Type of work: Religious epic, metaphysics, ethics. I quote:" It means "The Song Sung by the Lord", It is one of the great religious classics of the world. It is perhaps the earliest attempt by man to arrive at a comprehensive view of existence. The poem consists of 700 verses divided into eighteen chapters. The Gita is a dialogue between Krishna, an incarnation of God, and Arjuna, a warrior. According to Indian tradition, the Gita embodies the essence of the most sacred Hindu scriptures, the Vedas." Very interesting reading, I won't go into it any more here. Anyone interested will be doing their own research.

As my friend says, "We each have our own path to follow"

Just call me weird !

I know I have mentioned in the past how I find it interesting to notice coincidences or synchronicity in my life. ( I have just recently learned that they are similar but different too)
Anyway I try to read (would love to call it study) what I call metaphysical "stuff" for want of a better word. It is rather diverse, from Deepak Chopra to Ramtha, to Whitley Strieber, to Sylvia Brown, to quantum physicis. Ha, would love to say I know alot about all this stuff, but I really don't. I just keep an open mind and deep in my own being I know there is so much more out there that we just can't quite wrap our minds around at this stage. At least most of us can't. All we can do is continue to struggle with what feels right and keep learning. Man has been around this world alot more than the past 2,000 years and I just have a hard time buying into the Organization that modern religion has become. There I said it! That certainly doesn't make me an atheist, on the contrary, it actually makes me believe more firmly in a God. So rather than go off on all that, what I really meant to write about was this coincidence that happened to me.

I list books on e-bay to sell. I try to list the unusual stuff that I don't think will sell in my store and I had taken a photo of this one book several weeks ago, but kept putting it back in the stack.
Yesterday I was reading Deepak's blog site, which I highly recommend.(I think it is: choprablog.com) Anyway there was mention of this book, of the ancient Vedic culture of India. ( I know folks will think I have gone off the deep end here) But hear me out. This morning I was pulling a stack of books to put on e-bay and there was this book, I had forgotten about it and at the time I put it in the stack I had no idea what it was, just that it was a little strange. Well there it was in my hands, Bhagaqvad-Gita, The name of the book that I just read about yesterday and even looked up on the internet to find a site about it. Will leave that site later. Now as I read the back of the cover I find this quote from Henry David Thoreau: "In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad-Gita, in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial." And from Ralph Waldo Emerson: "I owed a magnificent day to Bhagavad-Gita. It was the first of books; it was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us." One theologian, wrote"reminder that our one-sided culture is faced with a crisis that may end in self-destruction because it lacks the inner depth of an authentic metaphysical consciousness.

Amazing, well at least I think so. So I will try to read some of it. Seems it consists of 700 "verses" that are to define a guide to the science of self-realization. Well when you see me levitating around my bedroom you will know I have reached my self-realization!! Just kidding, I do take this stuff serious and know that there is just so much more that we need to learn and do in our lifetimes here on earth. When I come back I want to be one more step up the ladder!!

PS Later same day: Just had a strange and real neat experience that related to this post so had to add this. A (like-thinking) friend came by this afternoon and gave me a tape to listen to and guess who it is about??? Ralph Waldo Emerson!! Honest. Now what are the odds here? Something is telling me to listen up, don't you think?? Maybe he is who I am to be drawn to and not this Hindu fellow. Well food for thought.

What the heck is the Book Lady reading now?

Guess I haven't written about what books I am reading, maybe I should do this more often so I don't forget. You know my Recaller is not as sharp as my Forgetter any more!

1. Just finished Some-Where in Time by Richard Matheson. That is the one that Christopher Reeves starred in. I ended up going on line and ordering the movie. I know I have seen it along time ago, but just wanted it. I had read his other book What Dreams May Come not to long ago. These are different type love stories, as they take on a rather supernatural aspect to them.

2. Have read 2 of Kaye Gibbons books: A Virtuous Woman, and Ellen Foster. Both very good books.

3. The Extra Man: by Jonathan Ames: Quite a different book. About a young man living in New York area I think back in the 50's maybe. And he rents an room with an older very eccentric man who manages to live by escorting older rich ladies to dinner and events in order to live his life style at no cost to him, even though they live in horrible conditions. A very visual book. Anyway he teaches this young man how to be the extra man. A good read. Oh, and the young man is trying to figure out his sexuality.

4. At present reading: Black and Blue, by Anna Quindlen: Spousal Abuse is not usually my cup of tea, but when I started it, it is hard to put down. About a woman who hooks up with a group that rescues abused women when their life is in danger, and about her leaving all behind and starting over.

5. Next book on my stack is Cold Mountain.

So there you have it. Lots of reading going on this winter. Been reading the soft backs while I use my treadmill every morning (well almost every morning) Actually have different books for that. One there now is Silver City (something) Caught my attention because the setting is in NV back in late 1800's during the silver mining days. It is a rough book that holds my interest, a little smutty, so I stay on the treadmill longer. LOL!!

Was going to do a post about drivers that drive me crazy, but guess everyone deals with that. But its the ones that pull out in front of you, (when no one is behind you) then can't get their speed up to the speed limit for at least 2 miles. Mean while I had to drop my speed from 60 to 40 to keep from rear ending the duffas. Where is the courtesy? Oh, and frequently they do that then stay slow because they are turning off about a mile down the road, and have to almost come to a stop on the highway to make a right hand turn. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr......

Its Friday, What Can I Say??

My big brother sent this to me. Hope you enjoy it, and ain't it true? Well I suppose its true. Actually we all know HE is the expert in this department!

Sunny and a little warmer today. Sorry but I wish winter was over and done with, just don't do cold very well. Besides I can't wait to start doing flowerbeds at our new home. We sort of rushed to transfer some rose bushes and hostas last fall from the old house and some starts of favorite ground covers. But I have some ideas for a garden and several flower beds. We had little brother build a cute little porch on the front of the utility shed. We can pull the BBQ grill out onto the porch. Want to make plantings around the porch and do some kind of walkway to the back porch. Will have to do some pictures, before and after. Right now there is a huge pile of firewood in the way.

Oh, we love our fireplace, it is huge and has blowers, so it is saving alot of electricity for us. Besides we always prefer wood heat when we can. But it is so nice to put huge rounds of wood in and close the doors and watch the fire and feel the heat.

We ended up buying a new single bed to put at the farm house for either one of us to sleep on when we stay out there so I could get my bed brought into the new house. So now I actually have a bedroom. Have room in it for the treadmill, and have been pretty faithful on it. (Of course that was my New Years resolution)

Well I am just rattling on here. Not much to say really, just hanging in there. We are doing OK.

Now come on SPRING!

ON TOP

IS IT 2008 YET?

Well Christmas is over, and I am always glad. Not because of what Christmas stands for, don't get me wrong. But for what it has become to stand for. All the commercialism and guilt heaped on us. About the 15th of every Dec. I start to feel a little panic feeling in me. Not sure just what it means, but I always dread Christmas. I guess it holds too many memories of what was ,and should have been, and never will be. As families shift and change over time things get complicated.
I end up most of the time, letting it sneak up on me and then its like, Oh, my! Christmas is tomorrow and I haven't sent cards or bought any gifts! Darn. Well maybe next year!! Well I am not really quite that bad, but almost. I do manage to get gift cards out to the grand kids before Christmas. BUT, never get to spend Christmas with them, and rarely get a thank you.

Well this is a really Ba Humbug post isn't it. I just know that Christmas is like this for lots of people and we are afraid to talk about it because it makes you feel like a bad person for not having all this warm fuzzy feeling. Instead you feel guilty, feel little or no family connection. In my "previous" life, it was about cooking lots of goodies and indulging in the fudge, divinity, and cookies. Putting up a tree and decorating it. Family around and the excitement of buying presents and watching them be opened and the mess and clutter and laying around playing with the "toys". Now that was warm and fuzzy. Now its like, "Oh, lets eat out, so you won't have to cook or do dishes" Right! no mess or clutter in my life. Come home to a clean house, no gift paper on the floor because there were no gifts, no left overs to snack on, because nothing was cooked. Well it sort of chokes me up, really.

This year I did cook most of the dinner for Sunday and had siblings over and it was fun. We did a traditional turkey dinner and it was nice to have everyone around the table together.

Well I have wallowed in my self pity long enough. The new year is coming, along with another birthday soon after. Maybe I can post a grumpy post about that later!!

A naughty joke from by big sister!

OK, I promised to post this since my sister doesn't have access to her blog anymore.

Do you know what Viagra is made of??
Well here is the breakdown.
You may not want to use it anymore after this!
3% Vit E
2% Asprin
2% Ibuprofen
1% Vit. C
5% Spray Starch
87% Fix-a-Flat


Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I can't believe I put this info out there!

Not much time to write any blogs, Been busy yet with moving into new house. Really dragging it out aren't we? We finally listed the farm with an agent. We did show it 5 times ourselves with just our sign on the corner. And folks wanted it but most had property to sell first. So now I am ready for that out of state person who has already sold their property and have cash in hand! I just posted a picture here of my little dinette area in the kitchen. You can see the new hardwood floor that took so long to get done. But I really like it. The rug I found to put under the little antique table has a rooster in the center. But mostly I just liked the colors.

Had a scare of a repeat of last winter's ice storm but it went mostly north of us, we got just a little damage from it. Some folks are still waiting for power to get hooked up after a week later.

Book store business has been a little slow but I think it was this time last year. Everyone is out shopping at Walmart for all that stuff made in China. My E-Bay store has been pretty consistant with daily sales so I am pleased with that. I try to list a few books every day to keep the inventory up. Anyone interested, the site is:
http://stores.ebay.com/read-again-books53 So everyone go there and order some cool books!!!

And in case I don't get back this week, Merry Christmas to all.

Are we Crabby??

I DON'T USUALLY ADD THESE DITTY'S TO MY BLOG BUT THIS ONE WAS TO GOOD TO PASS BY:

This is a question that is on very MAN'S mind and some women but here's your answer to why women are so craby.




We started to 'bud' in our blouses at 9 or 10 years old only to find that anything that came in contact with those tender, blooming buds hurt so bad it brought us to tears. So came the ridiculously uncomfortable training bra contraption that the boys in school would snap until we had calluses on our backs.




Next, we get our periods in our early to mid-teens (or sooner). Along with those budding boobs, we bloated, we cramped, we got the hormone crankies, had to wear little mattresses between our legs or insert tubular, packed cotton rods in places we didn't even know we had.



Our next little rite of passage was having sex for the first time which was about as much fun as having a ramrod push your uterus through your nostrils (IF he did it right and didn't end up with his little cart before his horse), leaving us to wonder what all the fuss was about.




Then it was off to Motherhood where we learned to live on dry crackers and water for a few months so we didn't spend the entire day leaning over Brother John . Of course, amazing creatures that we are (and we are), we learned to live with the growing little angels inside us steadily kicking our innards night and day making us wonder if we were preparing to have Rosemary's Baby.



Our once flat bellies looked like we swallowed a whole watermelon and we pee'd our pants every time we sneezed. When the big moment arrived, the dam in our blessed Nether Regions invariably burst right in the middle of the mall and we had to waddle, with our big cartoon feet, moaning in pain all the way to the ER.




Then it was huff and puff and beg to die while theOB ? says, 'Please stop screaming, Mrs. Hearmeroar . Calm down and push. 'Just one more good push' (more like 10), warranting a strong, well-deserved impulse to punch the
%$#*@*#!* hubby and doctor square in the nose for making us cram a wiggling, mushroom-headed 10 pound bowling ball through a keyhole.



After that, it was time to raise those angels only to find that when all that 'cute' wears off, the beautiful little darlings morphed into walking, jabbering, wet, gooey, snot-blowing, life-sucking little poop machines.


Then come their 'Teen Years.' Need I say more?


When the kids are almost grown, we women hit our voracious sexual prime in our early 40's - while hubby had his somewhere around his 18th birthday.



So we progress into the grand finale: 'The Menopause,' the Grandmother of all womanhood. It's either take HRT and chance cancer in those now seasoned 'buds' or the aforementioned Nether Regions, or, sweat like a hog in July, wash your sheets and pillowcases daily and bite the head off anything that moves.



Now, you ask WHY women seem to be more spiteful than men, when men get off so easy, INCLUDING the icing on life's cake: Being able to pee in the woods without soaking their socks...


So, while I love being a woman, 'Womanhood' would make the Great Gandhi a tad crabby. You think women are the 'weaker sex?' Yeah right. Bite me.

Never ask a man the size of his spread!

Now that I have your attention, this is the title of a cute little book that I found. It is "A cowgirl's guide to life" it is full of cute quotes.

Whenever you go away, always come back before they learn to get on without you.

Alot of what a man knows, a woman knows better. (I love that one)

Horses always start, they never run out of gas, and they will not get you greasy.

Men, you can't live with 'em, and you can't shoot 'em.

Ok enough for now. Still real busy, will it ever slow up? Guess not till we get all moved and the 20 acres sold. Going to finally list with an agent. We have showned it several times, just from our sign on the corner. Still have alot to put away and still moving stuff from the farm. It helps to take a load at a time and find a place for it before he take more. Will take some pictures of the kitchen now that it is back together again. Hope everyone is having a great weekend even if the weather is icky.

Red Oak flooring

This is a Quicky

Just wanted to share my picture of my new hardwood kitchen floor, down to the home stretch so there is lots to do. Movers coming Mon. And still have kitchen cabinets sitting in the family room! Just have to take a deep breath and not worry, as I know it will get done. One thing, our carpenter does a wonderful job.

Penny Poo

No I didn't get another dog, but my brother did. Isn't she a cutie? She is a cross between a maltese and a sitzsu (I know I spelled that wrong) Anyway they are called Poos. She is 8 weeks old. Looks like a lot of fun in a bundle of fur!

Meet Penny Poo

A Poopy Story!

Funny story for this week.

We have been having work done at the house we will be moving into in Nov. This fence Co. was there this week, and we have a nice wooden back yard fence now. A couple weeks ago we moved alot of wood chips from where the tree guys took out 2 trees and ground up the trunk down into the roots. We started a pile in the back yard where we want to have a garden. Well this week, hubby hauled 2 big tubs of horse (and donkey) manure from the barn and dumped it on the wood chips. Fri. morning he hauled 2 more tubs and noticed that the first 2 were missing. We thought DANG, who would steel our poop!!

Well we found out the fence guys needed more dirt to fill in around the tops of their concreted posts to make everything neat and flush and guess what they used?

Aquarius, yea, thats me!

AQUARIUS - The Sweetheart ( Jan 20 - Feb 18)
Optimistic and honest. Sweet personality. Very independent.
Inventive and intelligent. Friendly and loyal. Can seem unemotional.
Can be a bit rebellious. Very stubborn, but original and unique.
Attractive on the inside and out. Eccentric personality

Picture Below

Below you can see the cutiest little guy ever was!! I was pulling weeds in the flower bed Mon. and looked over at the cocks comb and saw this little green thing nestled down in the convoluted folds of the bloom. Couldn't help but run get the camera. I love little frogs. Sometimes the little tree frogs are on the windows at nite. And the toads get out at night under the yard light in the driveway. We have one we call "red" because he is a rust red colored. He sure took a mauling while we had Suzy living with us. As she would go out looking for him and rake him around with her paw. I rescued him several nites by putting him up in the flowerbed out of her reach. Pups' gotta have fun.

Isn't he cute??

Here cum De Judge!

Well I had my day in court! I guess you can call it court, in a little town like this its very different than courtrooms that you see on TV with the judge in his robes. But I digress.

The good news I got my ticket thrown out! Hey for me. I think I mentioned before about getting picked up last mo. in my little farm pickup that I drive to the store. I park it behind my store which is about 2 blocks from the police station, and they drive up and down the alley many times a day. My tags expired in March but I hadn't received a notice and plain and simple I had expired tags. But what irked me was the fact that they had to have seen the expired tags sometime in the last 4 mo. and the fact that I felt the officer was waiting on the corner for me to pull out then followed me out to the edge of town to pull me over. Oh, and I told all this to the judge, and all he wanted to know was did I get the license renewed, and he had the officer there call the no. in to verify since I wasn't driving it at the time. So end of case. Saved my 72.50$ I am a criminal no more!

Busy time for everyone now for some reason. We have tons of reasons to be busy, with buying the new house and getting some renovations done before moving in, and finishing up a couple problems at the farm before we can get it listed.

Doing the garage thing today and tomorrow, at the sister-in law's house, which is conveniently right next door to our new house! So we cleaned out a bunch of stuff for sale and I helped set up this morning then came back to open the store a little late. But things were selling very well. I know we will do it again next spring when they have the citywide sales going on.

Guess I am helping pay for a Caribbean cruise for my carpenter and his wife. They got some kind of deal on a special price to go on a cruise. He will leave us for a week with my kitchen floor half done. But at least the huge hole is closed up and he went to pick up the red oak hardwood that he is going to put down this coming week. But still has to take out the rest of the cabinets to do that. so he has alot of work yet. Taking pictures as we go.
Had the central heat and air unit checked out and it is ok even though it is old, but the duct work needs some work as all the elbows have big gaps that lets the air blow under the house. So will have to get that done soon.

The guy that I went to City Hall about a couple weeks ago that has all the junk behind my store, has made an effort to clean up. Moved alot of the junk up next his building and moved the truck over about 2 feet. Thanks, but its still on the Dentists property, but I hear he is moving it out soon. (Big Sigh) Right!

Last weekend I bought out a flea market booth of books for an outrageously low price, she almost gave them to me so she wouldn't have to move them. It was a job too. Ended up with somewhere between 3,500 to 4,000 books. So the 3rd bedroom at the new house is full of books at the present.

So thats it for this week. Ohhhhhhh, I about forgot, I opened and E-Store on E-bay for my book sales. Have been doing pretty well with regular e-bay so wanted to expand and hope this will work. Should be more money in my pocket instead of E-bay's. So will see, maybe one day I can take all this stuff home and just work from home, heck I have almost as many books there as here in the store! hmmmmmm but I would miss my customers and this homey atmosphere i got going here.

When I awake "Poof" its all gone!

That's how I felt the other morning when I woke up. But there was a lingering memory of my dreaming. There was this strong feeling that I wasn't dreaming, but that it was the "real" world. Maybe what we see as real is actually the dream world. Anyway I felt this strong "Interconnectedness" Is that a word? And these words were real vivid so I wrote them down right away when I got out of bed because I knew I would forget them.

Spin and Weave
Ebb and Flow

What does that mean? Did I read those words somewhere? It was sort of spooky, but if you think about the words they actually could mean something about life. It just feels like something I should remember for some reason. So there you have it.

MY TRIP TO CITY HALL

Before I forget, I must report my trip to City Hall this last Tue.
It all started a few months ago when I went to the Dentist office next door to my store to ask about buying the lot behind my store.
Well the dentist wasn't to sure about how much of the lot he owned. He had purchased some lots a few years ago so he could expand the parking lot on the other side of his office and it included the lot that runs behind both of our buildings.
So I went to the court house and checked and he actually owned the full lot 28 ft wide behind us. So I went back and told him, well he really didn't want to sell but sure wished we could get it cleaned up. See there is an old big brick building just the other side of the lot, it had been used as an antique store, until the woman who ran it died 2 years ago. Her husband closed it down, BUT has used this lot to haul junk out and leave lay. When I bought my store, he had a huge dump truck sitting there full of God knows what. Finally on City Wide Clean up day he drove it (with tires almost flat, and icky stuff running out the bottom) out to the dump then parked it somewhere else, I was so glad to see it gone, till he pulled a pickup in and has filled it with stuff. The weeds and saplings have grown up now with all the junk under it all.
So the dentist and I got together and wrote letters to the City Council, I included a copy of the deed to show ownership in case that was in question and took pictures. Since the dentist lives 30 miles away, I agreed to present our info.
Which is what I did,(oh, and the dentist had called City Hall a couple times this summer to complain, but nothing was done) So the council voted unanimously that a letter should be sent to this guy and let him know if he didn't clear his junk out, the city would and send him a bill.
See my plan is to get the lot cleaned up. It runs from the alley up to main street, there is a foundation of some kind across the middle as it is on a sort of hill. If we can get it cleaned up the Dentist said he would bring in some gravel for the area behind my store, so I can have some parking and in exchange we will keep the area clean and mowed. Of course I visualize planting flowers and all.
So we will see what happens, I would still like to buy at least half the lot that is behind my store. Maybe later on he will agree to that. Heck I might want to add on, who knows.

Next week I will report on my trip to City Hall next Tue. Going before the Judge this time to protest my ticket I got. Will tell about that one later.

Oh, and we got posession of the house yesterday!! Now the real work begins.

Big Sigh

After a couple fasle starts we finally got closed on the new house today. There was a little glitch with the deed transfer but it got worked out. So now we can get started on the renovation that needs done. I think I mentioned that there was major floor damage in the kitchen from a leak that no one noticed. That was how we were able to make a much lower offer and the owners ( who live out of state) took it right away.

Been laying awake at night and listening to a pair of barn owls that come and sit in a tree in the front yard for awhile every nite. They have a very unusual hoot. Its sort of a hoot-hoot-hoot-purr. Alot of things go thru your mind when you can't sleep and one is the fact that no matter how old we are, do we ever really know what we WANT? I mean I am not the only one to think this am I? It is a pattern with Hubby, we are always changing what we want. But then its not just him, Its me too. I guess I never really ever knew what I wanted from life. In many ways its not what I GOT. Not that I have alot to complain about. Guess I am to much a romantic at heart. Sometimes moving around all my life ends up making me feel like I have no real root. A piece of property is just that, and it seems it shouldn't be that way. That is probably why I have alot of regrets about leaving this little 20 acre farm. IT is my 3rd time to live there, 2nd time to own it. When we moved back it just seemed like it was ment to be for us to end up back there. But there are so many reasons why we need to leave, (while we can) How many times can we start over and remake a house to fit our needs. We are getting to old for this!
So Guess we will get done what needs done and get the little farm on the market to sell. So on that note I will just give a big sigh, and move on.

Oh, we did sell the horse and donkey and found a home for Suzy, so all we have left are the chickens, and heck we could always eat them right????

BINGO, we did it again!

We made an offer on this nice house in nearby town, actually we made an offer much below asking price (will explain why later) and by the next day they accepted the offer with no questions. Hmmmmmm, wonder if we could have gone lower. Guess we will never know.
Now the reason we made a low offer, when the folks moved out last year, the line to the refrig did not have a shut off, so they bent it over. Well it has had a slow leak into the kitchen floor for a year. Still don't understand why the listing agent didn't notice anything. Maybe the buckling of the flooring didn't occure till recently. So we got our contractor guy to get a look at it and even went ahead and paid for an inspector so we know all the problems up front. Heck we are used to having our home torn up. So it is no big deal to us to have the entire kitchen floor torn up, cabinets moved out, then replace it all. We will still come out with a nice home in a very good neighborhood. It is a corner lot so only neighbor is SIL next door and the house behind is quite aways away, as the yards are real big.

So that is the biggest news. Still trying real hard to find a home for Suzy, she is into digging up moles in the yard now. Thats after she has gone out early in the morning when the birds are waking up and catches a sparrow from a bush, then carries it around and either eats it or bury's it. I put an ad in the local ad mag. that comes out weekly. But have looked into animal shelter and found one to take her to if we have to. She is so smart and sweet we hate to do that to her.

Sister is having a big celebration for her 10th wedding anniversary tomorrow. Have a big tent set up, looks like maybe they are having a revival meeting. After her cancer scare last year and treatment from hell, they feel like celebrating. I say GOOD for them. Other sister is just finishing up radiation to her leg from a rare kind of malignant tumor that was removed this summer. So send good vibes to her for getting her strength back now and getting back to her sassy self.

Oh, one last thing, it is so good to be done with that hot summer weather we had. Feels good to sleep with the window open and down in the 50's at nite. I like.

Sometimes its all just too much

Seems that the longer I go without posting something the harder it is to get back to it. Things sort of pile up and its like where do I start. So I have a feeling this will be a long post.

No. 1. I just deleted a big whinny comment about my heart problems and whether anyone cares. Decided I won't go there anymore for now.

No. 2. This is a biggy, we have decided to sell our little farm that we just bought a couple years ago and move into town. It was sort of one of those things that the inspiration hits you out of the "blue". and it just seems to be the right thing to do. A couple weeks ago we were both working our butts off and it was so hot, and we have so much to mow and so many projects that we just can't handle or get to, that I just blurted out "why don't we just sell this and buy the house next door to your sister that is for sale?" Honest to God, I don't know where that came from, but it just hit us that it was what we should do. So we hashed it over all weekend and the next week went to look at the house. So I can talk about all that later if it materializes. We just used our hearts instead of our minds when we bought this 20 acres back. One of the reasons we sold it 10 years ago was that it was to much work. Of course we have to have critters, you know if you live on a farm you have to. But they are expensive to take care, vet bills, feed, and equipment. It sure adds up. So there we are, after all the remodeling and hard work that has been done this last year.

No. 3. We sold the horse and donkeys. Wasn't as painful as I thought it would be. I think we found a good home for them. The guy who bought them brought his "hand" with him. He looked like he belonged on a horse, a skinny guy about 30 with a big wad of tobacco packed in his lower lip and a huge cowboy hat. He saddled up Sam and took him out in the pasture and talked to him and carefully got on board, and Sam bolted into the gate. So this guy is real cool and just talks to him and sits there for several minutes to let him calm down, then walked him around a bit. They both agreed he was a smart horse and just needed to be worked (and put on a diet) I imagine hubby has packed a couple hundred pounds on him in the last year. After that hard workout, Sam had to take a good roll in the dirt, and get a drink of water, then he nuzzled everyone to see if there were any treats! They will use him at the sale barn to herd cattle and such. So he will be a working horse. The donkeys will just be put out to pasture for now. We don't want to know what happens to them. The cowboy guy has his 3 kids with him, Real nice kids, all in cowboy hats and they had fun leading Flossy around and picking up her feet. She needs someone like them to mess with her. So maybe they will end up with her. Poor old momma donkey prob won't make it thru another winter, so at least we won't have to deal with that.

No. 4. Guess I am back to my medical thing just for a bit. Only to just say that I HATE the medicine that they are trying on me. Makes my blood pressure to low and that makes me feel tired, and then I have a head ache all day. So hopefully it will ease up soon or we are going to try something different.

No 5. Going to City Hall tonite to do a presentation, to try to get the lot behind my store cleaned up. I did the research and found out that the dentist next door (he has office hrs. only 1 day a week) owns the lot. So I got copies of their deed and a lot map, and I wrote a letter, and the dentist wrote a great letter. So I will present it and I even took a picture to go with it. See the next lot over after this open lot belongs to a guy who owns the big building there and he hauls all this junk out and throws it down and the weeds and brush is all grown up. All we want is for him to clear out his junk then the Dentist will help get it cleaned up and I agreed to keep it mowed and clean so I can make a parking place for a couple cars behind my store, I wanted to buy the lot, but the dentist isn't ready to let me do that. Maybe later on.

No. 6. I mentioned trying Dr. Gott's no sugar, no flour diet. Been sticking to it pretty faithfully. Lost 6 lbs. so far. Slow and easy should be the best.

Had almost 6 in. of rain Fri. nite and Sat. morning. North of us got alot of flooding and over in Oklahoma again.

OK I am done for now. Oh, has anyone ever bought or sold a house on E-Bay??

Women are Evil by Nature

A woman went up to the bar in a quiet rural pub...
She gestured alluringly to the bartender who approached her immediately.
She seductively signaled that he should bring his face closer to hers.
As he did, she gently caressed his full beard.
"Are you the manager?" she asked, softly stroking his face with both hands.
"Actually, no," he replied.
"Can you get him for me? I need to speak to him," she said, running her
hands beyond his beard and into his hair.
"I'm afraid I can't," breathed the bartender. "Is there anything I can do?"
"Yes. I need for you to give him a message," she continued, running her
forefinger across the bartender's lip and slyly popping a couple of her fingers into his mouth and allowing him to suck them gently.
"What should I tell him?" the bartender managed to say.
"Tell him," she whispered,
"There's no toilet paper, hand soap, or paper towels in the ladies room.

I AM P*##ED!!!!

Got picked up yesterday by our friendly little city cop lady. All smiles and sweetness, she informs me I am driving my farm pickup on expired tags. WHAT?? How can that be, I never got a notice of renewal from the state. She very sweetly says."Oh, that is just a courtisy, they are not required to send out notices" You have to be kidding, in all these years, I have always gotten renewal notices no matter where I lived.

So since they have been expired since APRIL!!, she had to do her duty and give me a ticket. $72.50 friggin dollars. Plus she informed me I would probably have to pay a penelty when I get the new tags!

Now I thought of something last nite at home. How come the city police drives by my truck every day behind my store, (police station is about a block up the alley) and they never noticed till now. I think they noticed and she was sitting out waiting to nail me when I was on the street heading home. She followed me a few blocks before pulling me over.

All my years of driving I get 2 tickets in the same year. The other was a speed trap a few months ago. OHHHH, I hate it!

OK I am done, but I refuse to pay my ticket till the last day!!

R.I.P.

R.I.P. Guinea Gumbo!!

Sorry to say we have put out a wanted poster on Suzy. Sat. she managed to get our lone guinea cornered and killed him. Actually we had taken a poster I made up on her to the vet that morning, in hopes of finding her a home. We now have the poster up at a couple vets.

We really aren't mad at her. She was a street girl and probably used to eating road kill or killing something to eat. Also she has enough of some little hunter, terrier in her and she just can't help it.

We have her house broke now so she will make someone a nice pet. As long as they don't have any chickens (or guineas) running loose.

I will attach a picture of Guinea Gumbo. Oh, did I mention how he got that name? Well....... last year we bought 3 guineas from a guy and kept them penned up for several days so they would learn where home was. Well the first day we let them out they took off for the timber and we never saw them till 3 days later and this one showed up. So I was determined to keep him shut up with the chickens at night so a hoot owl wouldn't get him. (Owls love guinea) So all was going well for a week or so and one night he just was not going into the chicken house, after I had run him around the house for the 5th time. I threw down my stick and yelled at him. "OK, you just stay out here and you will end up being Guinea gumbo!! The guy we bought him from had told us how he like anything made into gumbo, including Guinea.

So he has been an independant soul and roosts where ever he wants, sometimes even in the chicken house!

"If you can't be a lifter, don't be a leaner"

Wow, it's Sat. again already. Busy week. Been listing alot on e-bay and having pretty good luck so far. Been sorting out alot of duplicate books and older stuff that hasn't sold very well. I take pictures, crop them and then they are ready as I list things. Been ordering CD's and books for folks, and charge a small fee for doing that.

Have a follow up apt with Dr. Mon after the tests I had. I mentioned in last post that after cutting the caffeine the PVC's had about stopped. NOT> Took about a week but they came back, so I started the beta blocker that he gave me some samples of, Can't see that it is doing any good. yet. But the good news is that I have stayed off of caffeine. I have 1 cup of decaf coffee in the morning and a cup of hot tea later in the morning, And have about given up my Pepsi. Only had 2 all week. So that is still a little caffeine but not like I was consuming. Oh, and my ice tea is decaff and only a glass once in awhile instead of a pitcher a day!

Anyone read Dr. Gott in the paper? I decided to try his no sugar, no flour diet for awhile. Have lost 4 lbs in the last 10 days. Part I think from not drinking so much tea, pepsi, and coffee. Even though I didn't use sugar I have read that it hinders wt. loss. So maybe there is something to that. Will see. Anyway its sort of like eating Adkins, which I have done in the past, but now I have my fruits which I love. Not really hard to stick to. Just have to make up your mind to start it and get'her done!!

Getting more rain. 1 1/2 in last nite. Yard and pasture is greening up again. Yeah!

Ground is like a thirsty sponge

Finally a break in the heat wave. Cooled off only 89 degrees right now at noon. Got a nice little shower last evening and a small one this morning. Supposed to get more rain as it builds up down in Texas. Poor Texas, they have sure had the bad weather.

Been a rather busy week, seems while it was hot folks stayed home and cleaned house. Have had quite a few books brought in. Some were freebie's. Hey I like that. Even if I have to sort out what I can't use. I have a couple boxes to drop at the Salvation Army Monday.

Funny thing happened to me on the way to running up huge bills for cardiac testing! I had to stop the caffeine for 24 hrs prior to the tests last Monday. So I have been a good girl and stayed off it. I know I was drinking to much coffee (even though it was half decaf) and ice tea. So wouldn't you know the PVC's have about stopped!!
Should have tried this to start with, but a couple years ago I stopped for a couple mo. with the caffeine and it didn't make any difference in running the PVC's So I am just hanging in there, still feel a little head achy and tired from the lack of caffeine but I can deal with it. Just keeping busy.

Going to try to go to an auction Sunday. Got a flyer that they are selling alot of collectibles and books. Will at least go look. I am getting so crammed in here now not sure I sould bid on any, but want to see what they are. I really need more western.

Hey anyone out there want to sell(cheap) western paperbacks. I will pay shipping for sure. But not Louis L'Amore. Got lots of him. I really am looking for William W. Johnstone and Terry Johnson. Been buying a few lots of books on e-bay. Got stocked up with Anne Rice books!! Sort of got carried away. Been listing some and was blown away by bids on 25 old Barbara Cartland romance from the 70, sold for 31.00$plus 6 $ for shipping. Can you believe that?? Just never know.

Well now that I have tried to solicit what readers I have I better get out of here.

PS. this was written Sat. but for some reason it would not post onto my blog site, so will try again today.

Stewed tomatoes on the vine!

Still in the middle of this heat wave. What can I say. At least I can be in the store and keep cool. I think I mentioned that we got the hay put up. Thanks to our wonderful neighbor gals. They rock, let me tell you, nothing like good neighbors. Ila from up the hill from us and the Sherry from across the road from Ila. They came down with a big trailer and a couple young nephews and they loaded a big wagon load right out in that heat. That was last Thurs, and I had a Dr. apt in the afternoon then stayed in town for an Avon mtg. Hubby helped them stack it in the barn in the evening, then they came back and loaded one more and he made them take it home with them for helping us. We got all the hay we need, so thats only fair. Boy the barn smells so good with fresh hay! The hay field is all turning brown now with this heat, and have started feeding a couple flakes of hay in the evening because the little pasture is nipped so short. supposed to cool down this weekend and 40% chance for rain. Sure hope it does.

Monday I went in for the tests that the Dr. ordered last Thurs. Took 5 hrs. Had lab, a nuculear stress test, cardiac echo cardiogram, and a halter monitor to wear 24 hrs.
Was glad to be rid of that, the sticky patches caused burn spots that look pretty nasty. Having all the tests because those pesky PVC's came back the last 6 mo. and seem worse at time. And I have been doing some reading that they might not be so beneign as they have always thought. My primary Dr. felt I should have a better work up done than I did 2 years ago when I had the halter monitor and the Dr. in Nv. just tried to reasure me that they would not hurt me and to relax and not worry. FINE, but the thumping around is not in his chest, its in MINE>
If all is fine with my heart, which I feel it will be, then I have 2 options, actually 3, one being to do nothing, two to try taking a beta-blocker,(ugh, drugs) or three they can run a little wire thing up into the heart and zap the little spot that is triggering the PVC's with a radio wave thing and that gets rid of the problem.
Right now I am off of caffeine. Tried that last time with no helpful results. But this time they do seem less. So not to wild to take the Rx. samples that I was given. Have a follow up apt the 27th. So will play it by ear. One good thing that I saw, was that I had no PVC's while the stress test was going on with my heart rate up to 140. So that is good. I did have some just after it while I was in the recovery phase.

Well enough about my health. All else is fine. Just dang hot here in the midwest.And I think the tomatoes really have stewed on the vine, at least the tiny cherry ones that are right in the hot sun. And when we gather eggs they are so warm!

HOT in the midwest!

I know I am not alone with this miserable heat. I do remember last winter when it was so cold and we had all the ice that I said that we would be wishing for some of that cold come July and Aug. So here we are. Ready for fall. NOW!

Finally got the hay cut again. It had about all dried up before he cut it. Believe me the drunks that cut our hay this year won't be invited back next year. So hard to find anyone to bale small bales on small acres. Hope he gets it baled today.

Had an interesting day yesterday at the store. Since its been so hot business in the afternoon has been really slow, so I expected that, but had a steady little flow all day. Had a hitch hiker stop in. Made me a little nervous, but had another customer in the store. His story was that he lived in Springfield and the VA hosp had given him a bus ticket to Ar. for a medical apt. but failed to tell him it was only one way that they paid. So he didn't have money to pay for bus fare and was catching rides all day to get home. It was stinking hot, so he stopped in to cool off. He was clean, had a clean tote bag, so I believed him. Even gave him a soda out of my frig. He stayed about an hr. Another customer came in, unloading alot of books on me from his garage sale, (I get quite a bit of that) About 20 really nice books free was great. But I took this huge set of encyclopedias, very nice and clean. I told him I would try to sell them or give them away. So they are stacked by my desk with a sign, "Make an Offer". Anyway the hiker left, hope he got a ride home.

Sat I went to a customers home to pick up books he wanted to get rid of. I have learned to not believe folks when they say they are "nice" books. Well ended up with a pickup load, no kidding, of old books. He was going to burn them, they were left from an auction he did. So I hauled them all home and have been sorting and wiping down all these books. The majority are harlequin romance. I scoff too. Buttttttt, hold the boat. I checked e-bay and was amazed to see that large lots of them do sell pretty good. So am working some up to list in lots of like 25 or 30.
I did get about 1 box of nice books that I am sure will sell. The other thing I do is fix up boxes of 40 and call them my "grab box" and sell for 5$. I sold quit a few of them last summer, after I threw alot in the dumpster because I thought no one would want the dang things. Go figure, huh?

Well gotta run. The boss, (Oh, thats ME) says I have to close up shop this afternoon for an apt. in the big city. So taking the rest of the afternoon to run errands and attend an Avon mtg. this evening.

She's a good girl when she is asleep

OK, so we are't as heartless as I sounded on last post. At least I posted about how we were going to have to find a home for Suzy. Well she has weezeled her way into our hearts so we are going to allow her to finish growing up and blending in with us. Ha!! Who am I kidding, we will will be the ones adjusting to HER>
She is doing real well on the housebreaking. Understands to tinkle when we take her out. As for the other business, she prefers to head out to the pasture as soon as she eats, so that's not a problem. Stays outside most of the day. Biggest problem is poor old Molly, not knowing what to do with this kid. Sort of wants to play with her but not sure how, she pokes her with her nose and sort of snaps at her ears. Lucky Suzy is very submissive to all this, but you can see she would like to play.
Got her stitches out today, all healed up, and has gained 1/2 pound since we got her.
OK enough about her.

The other critter that we are concerned about is the old Momma donkey, Jenny. Had the vet out this morning and was afraid he would have to put her down. She is pretty old and has bad feet and for the last 3 days can't put wt on one front foot. Have been carrying feed and water to her. But the vet thinks she was foundered years ago and will get these infections in the hoof from time to time and it goes up into the leg. Gave us antibiotics to give her and gave her a pain shot. So we will see. He seemed pretty sure this would help, and she would be back on her feet (all 4 of them) soon.

Hot, Hot, Hot. Boy can't believe how hot it feels and we haven't hit 100 yet this year. But the humidity is so high it makes 95 seem like 105. I feel sorry for folks who have to work out in this.

Well hope all has a good weekend. Remember this: The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.

Awwww

Past behavior is a predictor of future behavior

Well something like that per: Dr. Phil.

I am a good example or I should say hubby and I are. Had a little talk Sun. about our behavior of tying ourselves down with critters and end up pouring any extra money into them or remodeling the house. I won't even go there about the house thing, that would be an entire blog. But for the critters, they do tie you down. It ends up feeling like everyone is out taking trips and having a good time and we don't. I know that is an excuse but somewhat true at the same time. There are short events that we could go to like a few hours or even all day. But the money thing is so true. By the time you buy feed, then there is always something like fixing fence, need to hire someone to put in a new cross fence between the horse pasture and the hay field. Then there is gates, worming, and then hoof trimming at 25$ each animal 2 to 4 times a year. Then what if they get sick. Right now Sam has a sore eye from the flys. The neighbor gal is wonderful with horses and came down and Sam let her put some fly repellent that comes in a cream on his face. He hates the spray stuff and won't stand still for it. So we learned something new. Hubby is off today to buy us some plus a face guard to put on him to keep the flys off.

But overall the 2 days at home was good. Went to lunch, took SIL, on sun. Then on Mon took big Sister to her radiation tx. Hubby did a wonderful small roast on the grill Mon evening.

Cloudy this morning so did my morning walk in town with Chopra in my ear. I am listening to his book: Life after Death. It is wonderful, I highly recommend it. I will have to listen to it alot of times to take it all in. I think he is my biggest hero of all times.

Walked my MAD off

Well I did walk my mad off, and now I am hot. Don't know which is worse, being mad or being hot and sweaty, I mean dripping down your back and running into your pants, so that when you sit down it feels like you have wet yourself.

Guess my mad was just an accumulation of stuff this morning, crummy way to start a Saturday. But didn't sleep much last nite. Blame that on the new dog Suzy. We (I) have started letting her stay in the house at nite. She has been doing real well on going out the front door and tinkling right away and gets alot of praise and allowed to come back in. Have had a couple accidents. But I think she is doing pretty good. Of course when I wake up in the middle of the night I take her out again because I don't trust her to go all nite yet. Last nite her ear was bothering her, so I did my doctoring with a little vinegar and alcohol in her ears, (It worked real well over a week ago). Well last nite it set her off and must have hurt. This was about 10pm. She rolled, flipped and rubbed her ears on the floor. Had to hold her to calm her down and tried warm water to rinse her ears out, and took her out side and sat with her while she rolled on the grass. Anyway it calmed down and she came in but I didn't sleep much at all, listening for her and getting up at 3 and 5. So I am mostly just tired this morning, and it seems like all the little things get to you. Like closing your finger in the drawer, can't make my walkman work,(yes some folks still use walkman's) prob dead batteries, after I looked for the carrying case for 10 min. Suzy putting dirty paws on my clean shorts. So was late getting out of the house, as I wanted to get in town to walk for 30 min. before it got to hot. Well that didn't work to good. Did get the nice long walk in, (without the soothing voice of Deepak that I had planned on) Ohhhhhhhh, doesn't sound so bad but it felt like it at the time.
Store has been slow this week. Everyone off having fun vacations, I am sure. Worrying about if I made a mistake keeping this dog. She is so sweet, but we really did not want another dog. So if the opportunity came along to find her a good home I would probably jump on it. Our old dog is having a hard time dealing with this young one.

Well I have whined enough for now. Think I am grouchy too because hubby has had to spend so much time helping his sister getting unpacked, but I knew it would be this way. I don't mind that part, but what I do mind is the fact that at his age, she is using up his time and wearing him out, and I can't help but resent her "using him up" Know what I mean. Dang it he is mine to "use up"

The new Suzy

Here is another picture of Suzy. We have decided that the front half is a mix of terrier and the back half has some beagle in it. Well maybe the nose if beagle too.
Got her spayed last Fri.and all her shots. Having trouble getting her to slow down. She went out last nite when we fed the donkeys and she got to running in the pasture and hiding in the taller grass and then run and flip herself over. I could almost hear her laughing. Now if we can just get her house broke. Only let her in for an hr or so at a time and of course she loves it. Have had a couple accidents. Its catching her so I can scold her is the problem. She is learning the no word pretty well. OK that is enough dog stuff, but she is cute isn't she?

Caught the big daddy coon last nite. Found that something was taking the lid off the plastic garbage can in the tack room that we have feed in for the horse and donkeys. So set the trap again and got him. Sorry to say he was not a catch and release like the Mom and 3 kids. Our neighbor has lost all their chickens in the last couple weeks. So he looked rather guilty and real mean. He was a little rough on the humane trap that we caught him in.

Bought 7 more pretty red hens this morning. Well actually they are pullets as they aren't quite old enough to lay eggs. So that will make us 18 hens not counting the 3 wild banties. Funny thing, now that we have Suzy outside, these 3 are staying away from the flower beds and deck. Yea, for Suzy. I notice they stay inside the chicken yard most of the time where they are safe.

Should think of a chicken joke but I think I used it already!!

Suzy

Getting SIL settled in

Movers came with all of SIL's "stuff" yesterday and got unloaded in good time. She has a cute little house in near by town about 10miles away. Wish it was closer as hubby has to go daily for awhile to help her with unpacking. But all the essentials are done. phone, cable, banking, a few groceries, beds made. She is amazing that she is getting around so well, supposed to be using a cane, but haven't seen her use it yet. Been after her to carry the cell phone in her pocket. She had lifeline while in Nv. after her hip fx. but not sure if she wants to hook it up. I am trying to talk her into wearing a fanny pack or use a pocket and get in the habit of putting the phone on her all day, and then charger at nite by her bedside. So will see.

Tomorrow is vet day for Suzy. Hope I am doing the right thing, I didn't want another dog, but will give her a try. Want to try bringing her to the store with me. Can put up a little kiddy gate to keep her in "my" space, She seems pretty smart. So she is getting spayed, shots, and wormed. When we lived here before about 10 or 12 years ago we took in a little beagle and did the same thing with her and then donated her to a group home in a near by town, so she had a great home. So will play that by ear.

Closing thought: Be what you is and not what you ain't, cause if you ain't what you is, you is what you ain't. Ponder that one for a bit.

When bugs give a party, they never ask the chickens!

Well hubby made it home safe and sound, and not a day to soon. He may have had to commit doggy murder! Traveling 3 days across country with an 82 year old sister with 2 VERY spoiled chiwawas!(its just easier to really spell it wrong!) He said it would take them up to 2 hrs. to get packed up, eat, and tend to the dogs. They be very fat little chiwawas too. SIL worried that they couldn't poop so they had to stop at every other rest stop to put their harnesses back on, (you know they don't like to wear them) and walk their little butts around. SOOOOOOOOOO glad I wasn't there. I am sure hubby deserves a metal for this.

But they are all safe after a near colision coming out of the big tunnel west of Denver. The moving van will be here tomorrow and unload all her stuff. I am sure it will take her till Jan to get stuff put away. But we will help as we can.

Meet Suzy

Is this a face you could not love?? She is a real charmer. Very quiet and submissive. Have started letting her come into the house to see how Molly will accept her. So far so good. She just bet not try to get into Molly's favorite chair. But she goes behind the recliner to the tub of stuffed "bunnys" ( all of Molly's animals are called bunnys) and gets them one at a time and takes them into the bedroom where it is dark and puts them on the rug. I call her name and she comes bounding back out then gets another one. So far she has learned her name and does pretty good with the word no. Except last nite when I went out to do the chores and she chased the barn chickens clear out into the pasture till she lost them. At least she is keeping them out of my flower beds in the mornings.

A little sharing of a paragraph in the new Dean Koontz book I am reading. The Good Guy: Under the night-light of the sentinel moon, ruffled hems of surf and a decorative stitching that fringed the incoming waves suggested billows of fancy bedding under which the sea turned restlessly in sleep.

He sure has a way with words huh?

Meet Suzie

Do I Know You?

What do we really know about each other? I mean realy deep down in our hearts and souls? We work so hard to hide our true selves. We have this image that we want others to think is who we are, but it is so false. I was listening to a CD about humility and humilation. It just made me think, well guess that was the point, right. We have a fear of humilation that is deepseated, probably the underlying fear of all fears. Fear of loss, rejection, failure, all are really fears of humilation. But if we can develope our humility, we can loose those fears.
When you see the person who is all bluster and indignation, they are really afraid. So can we look at that person with different eyes and see the real person? It can make us see things so differently, help us lose our frustration and anger, help us to accept that person for who they really are.

If you think about our fear of failure as fear of humilation you can see it in everyday little things from how we fix our hair, what to wear, how much we weigh, what we do for work,and leisure. About everything we do carries a worry of being humilated. And what makes us this way? Is it our lack of trust in ourselves? Trust in some higher being? Wow, this could get really deep.

Guess I just felt like being a little philosophical today. (had to look that one up)

So just my thoughts today. Maybe I need more vacation time, you think?

Branson Vacation

If I did it right my video from Silver Dollar City, outside of Branson, should come up just after this post. Hope you enjoy it. The Swing is a new ride there. No way I would get on it, but as you can tell by all the screams the kids love it.

I had a nice relaxing time. I hit alot of garage sales on Fri as I drove down. A two hr drive turned into 4, but thats OK. On Sat my brother came down and we had dinner out and took in a show, then on Sun went to the IMAX theater and saw the movie they did special for IMAX about the La. area, before and after the hurricane. Was very educational. Didn't realize that it was mostly man caused that so much of the swamp area has dissapeared and that was the buffer for the ocean storms. Quite a good show and of course you get dizzy looking at this huge 12 story screen, you feel like you are flying over the swamps.

I will post pictures on my other blog site of the area, if you can't find it, just scan down a few posts as I put it there.

Was glad to get home, came back a day early since there was company coming in from out of state. Plus hubby was packing up to head out Sat to go back to Nv. to get his sister moved. He almost got caught Sun nite in Utah on the east side of that huge fire, but by Mon mornig they opened the highway he needed to get on and he make it thru OK without having to detour way south. IF all goes as planned, the movers will load out Fri and they will start back on Sat. Guess SIL is doing well after the fx. hip and is about ready to get rid of the cane.

Have a cute little stray dog that "showed" up Sat. Is it true if you bath a stray dog you have bonded for life??