We are home and Ed is resting. He bought a new western that is keeping him distracted for now. The procedure went well, even though he is sore. It was to be expected. He isn't in that groggy state now either. He is allowed to go back to work on Monday if he wants too. I think he wants to, he is awfully bored, even with a good book.

Well, I'm off to go and muck stalls, and feed the chickens, and the stove. How that stove loves to eat big chunks of wood! But I will gladly feed its big mouth if I can keep the house warm and toasty!

This was written for me!! It says it all, as if I wrote it which I didn't. I thought you might get a kick out of it too. For me it is all too true!! Waaaa!!


A few smiles in this very serious weight loss
journey of ours are needed once in a while.
Dawn wrote, "I thought this might be a light
hearted reminder for all those "slimmers"
out there!"
"'Twas the month after Christmas, and all
through the house
Nothing would fit me, not even a blouse.
The cookies I'd nibbled, the eggnog I'd taste
At the holiday parties had gone to my waist.
When I got on the scales there arose such a number!
When I walked to the store (less a walk than a lumber).
I'd remember the marvelous meals I'd prepared;
The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared,
The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese
And the way I'd never said, "No thank you, please."
As I dressed myself in my husband's old shirt
And prepared once again to do battle with dirt---
I said to myself, as I only can
"You can't spend a winter disguised as a man!"
So--away with the last of the sour cream dip,
Get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip
Every last bit of food that I like must be banished
'Til all the additional ounces have vanished.
I won't have a cookie--not even a lick.
I'll want only to chew on a long celery stick.
I won't have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie,
I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.
I'm hungry, I'm lonesome, and life is a bore---
But isn't that what January is for?
Unable to giggle, no longer a riot.
Happy New Year to all and to all a good diet!

Hello all. Life has a way of throwing us curves once in a while., doesn't it. On Tuesday morning in the early AM, I think he said it was 3:00, Ed woke up with pain in his lower right abdomen. He tolerated it until about 5:00 and had me call the hospital and ask what appendicitis symptoms were like. Of course they couln't really be specific, as it is different for different people.
I went out and did the very early feeding, and then drove him to the emergency room. It turns out that he was having another kidney stone episode. They gave him a couple of pain shots, and a prescription for meds and sent us home.
And told us to make an appointment with the urologist. This is the same dr. that did his 'kidney stone disintrigration' about 7 years ago.
Well after doing some diagnostics, cat scan and x-rays, and some other stuff, it seems that this stone is stuck just short of getting into the bladder.
He has some pain off and on, but is doing ok.
On Friday morning they are going in to get it, and as his other kidney has stones in it too, they are going to blast them into itty bitty bits and they will pass out on their own. But this one has to be taken out as it hasn't passed and it is causing swelling and such up in the tube.
This is the fourth time he has had stones! He had one last summer too. They are going to do a metabolic something or other, I forgot what they called it. It involves some blood work and a urinalysis. It is to find out what is causing him to produce so many stones. Is there too much or too little of something? They will do that in about 2 weeks.

Ok, enough of that. Keep us in your prayers.

And then to top it off, my computer modem crashed! When it was so windy on Tuesday, the electricity went flashed off and on three times, quickly, and it messed something up in it. But...I'm back on line now, so everything is back to normal in that department.

I am still deciding on what to make for the tea party. Somewhere I have a book of weekend projects to make. Now if I can just find that book!!

My Life as I See It

This is sure a strange January. It was so warm today. I turned the horses out this morning, picked stalls, and rebedded them, refilled all the water buckets, filled the hay racks for the horses' evening meal, and swept the barn aisle, all in just under an hour! Oh, and fed the cats and the chickens too!
I really don't mind picking stalls, but I like to have it done first thing in the morning, so I don't have to look forward to 'doing it' later in the day! Especially when I am trying to get supper started and whatnot. So I like to have it done early.

We had an insurance rep come and look at our place and give us a quote, and he called later and it seems that they can do it for half of what we are paying now. So we will likely change. Also their auto rates are quite a bit cheaper too. We have had our insurance with a company that Ed's sister works for. But that is about to change!

I didn't feel like cooking tonight so we went to Subway and I had a Veggie sandwich with Sweet Onion dressing. It was so yummy!

I made those brownies I spoke of in a previous post. They were very good. They were chocolate cinnamon, with candied cherries and walnuts in them, but...I know me pretty well! I wanted to eat the whole pan! I did eat a couple, but I put the rest in the freezer. We were given a Foodsaver Vacuum Packaging machine for Christmas. I put those brownies in a bag and it vacuum packaged them. Now they are safe from ME! And maybe we will have them for Lois' teaparty?

My Life as I See It
I had to go into Spencer this morning to the post office. Well, when I got into my truck, I discovered that the drivers door wouldn't latch! I had to hold the door shut with one hand and drive with the other. It is 6.8 miles to the post office. Whew! So I called Ed and we decided to have it fixed. This is just the 3rd time, we have had major problems with this door. The first time we took it to the dealership and we think they messed it up even worse, because it acted strange when they got done with it and they told us "it is supposed to do that". Well, it DIDN'T do THAT before they got in there. Ok,that is my rant for the day!

How is this for a relaxing Sunday afternoon?? Sh, he doesn't know I took this photo!

This morning as I was making the bed, I looked out the window and this hawk was sitting on the top of a fence post along side the horses' pasture. So I took his portrait. It was a long way away, but I think he looks majestic sitting there. It was rainy and gray, but you can still see his colors. I need a 600 mm lens to take photos of wildlife. Mine is too short. OH, well, someday.

I'm headed out to make some brownies. You are all invited to come and help me eat them. The coffee is hot and the milk is cold. Pick your favorite. And the door is open!!

Hi all, nuttin' much going on around here. And that is a good thing, I guess. Don't need anything unexpected to surpise me. I'm impatiently waiting for winter to be over. We had a taste of it a couple of days ago. It was 67° ! More, more! Well, it was nice while it lasted! But...I have seen a flock of robins!!!

This morning Ed and I went to Elletsville to a flea market. I bought a cookbook! Aren't you surprised? It was one of The Best Of Country Cooking Yearbooks, 2002. Love those books! I thought it was worth 3.00.

We went to Martinsville and bought some shelled corn from one of his farmer friends. We had to turn on the auger at the grain bins to fill our sacks. It was sooooo cold and windy, I nearly froze into a popsicle!! Didn't think I'd ever thaw out! Sometimes those horrible hot flashes come in handy!

Ed then took a five gallon bucket of the corn and filled his deer feeder when we got home. Tonight at dusk as we were doing our evening feeding, there were 4 deer down there eating. The feeder is battery operated and has a timer on it and it automatically comes on and spreads out a thin layer of corn on the ground. It has something like a small fan with fins and the corn comes out and the thingy spins around and the corn is slung out in about a 6 foot circle. And the deer come and eat nearly every kernal. We see them nearly every night. Ed counted 8 of them one night.

The chickens are laying again. Ed put a light in their house that comes on at 4:00 AM. This gives them several more hours of light, so they start laying again. If we had done this in October or so they would have kept on laying. The three pullets are just starting to lay eggs now. Two of them lay brown eggs and one of them is a green egg. Yesterday we got 7 eggs, and today we got six! (We have 10 hens) Eggs anyone??? We can't eat them all! Ed takes them to work and gives them away, sometimes!

I liked what another Blogger wrote (Thanks Yvonne) on her post. I don't usually dig this deep into myself, but thought I'd try it too.

What makes me tick? Here are a few things about me:

1. I love spaghetti!
2. I am a people pleaser.(Not sure if that is a good thing, though).
3. I'm very empathetic. A sad picture or something of that nature haunts me for long time.
4. I love to cook and try new recipes.
5. It is easy to bring me to tears. (This bugs me a lot!) Just watching a beautiful horse playing will choke me up).
6. I have been a people watcher ever since I was a little girl. People are such fascinating creatures!
7. I'm a methodical shopper.I love to check out this or that product against all the others on the shelf. (Drives Ed crazy)!
8. I love to bake.
9. I am very analytical. I want to know the how of something, and the why of it.
10. I love archealogy. The why's of what happened 'back then'.
11. I hate driving ANYWHERE new, with out detailed directions. The names of the three preceding streets, and landmarks, please.
12. I don't have a scrap of perfectionism in my body! I usually just do what it takes for the moment. (probably not a good thing, either).
13. I hate over easy eggs!
14. I love to iron. Such a sense of satisfaction to see a piece hanging on a hanger all pressed and smooth!
15. Even though I dislike a particular task, I do it well, when I do it.
16. I love it when one of the horses gently touches my face with their muzzle. Checking me out, a caress?
17. I get very frustrated trying to explain myself. I don't articulate my feelings very well.
18. I love organization, everything in its place, but I'm not a very organized person.
19. I am impatient.
20. I love to grow things, anything!
21. I married late, but Ed was so worth waiting for! Love him to pieces!
22. I was terribly, painfully, shy as a child.
23. I have learned to enjoy my solitude. My own company.

New Years Day. A time for starting over? Beginning again? Getting a fresh start?
We had our family Christmas on New Years Day since we couldn't get everyone together on Christmas. We had a large crowd of family and you know what? Here is a photo of the patriarchs of this group. They started it all. It was fun, food and laughter. The newest generation were still teething! It was so nice to see everyone. Since we are so scattered, around this country, from Florida to Alaska and states in between, it was wonderful to have everyone together for one day.
The food was delicious, hot and plenty of it. The desserts were sweet, good, and full of calories! But hey, Christmas only comes once a year, OK? Had a wonderful day!!!!