Pot Bellied Stove / Water Cooler
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Woo hoo, Cisco's lump on his rump is not cancer! I was so worried about that. Dad's email to me...
"They did a biopsy and tested the cells. It's a lipoma which means a fatty tumor that is benign. May or may not get bigger. They normally don't do anything with these unless they get big enough to interfere with movement. Sort of like Simon's thing on his shoulder. He may or may not get more of them. Having a lipoma does NOT indicate that he is more prone to develop cancer later on. He should be brought in for a biopsy if he does develop another one though just in case it's not just a lipoma."0 -
Good Morning. Great news that Cisco's condition isn't more serious. Hopefully, it will "dissolve" on it's own and not recur. That's a sinking feeling when we see or feel lumps, whether they are on our pets or on us.
This is short, I'm feeding early, in the dark, so I can shower and get ready for the CT scan. I'll be leaving at 7:50 am. John wanted to stay in bed again, so I'll leave him, but I'll be home about 11 am, much earlier than when I left him last week. Ha, he may still be in bed when I get back.
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Good morning all.
Still drizzly and drab around here. At least the wind has died down finally. It's trash day this morning, and when leaving for work I noticed a lot of trash cans on the curb in the neighborhood have blown over. I think people overfilled their recycle bins with Christmas stuff and the wind just blew them over. They will wake up to a mess to clean up.
Dad's walking buddy is going to make another run to the dump at the end of the week, so yesterday Dad gathered more stuff for him to haul off for us. Dad's in major purge mode right now! His buddy was planning to go yesterday, but he said no way he's going out to the dump when its muddy out there. Don't blame him.
We got a call from my Aunt yesterday. She lives back East in North Carolina. Her son, my cousin, has fallen into a coma. He's been battling a brain tumor over the last couple of years. He's on life support now, and she tells us she will be taking him off of it as soon as his two brothers fly in. Such a sad thing. He's only 40 years old and will be leaving behind two children. The men in his family have been ravaged by cancer over the years. My Uncle, his Dad, succumbed to cancer in 2010, as lots of his Uncles on his Dad's side also have lost the battle to cancer over the years. I never got a chance to get to know him. I knew his two older brothers well as our families got together every year or two when we were kids.
Sheryl, sinking feeling describes it right. That's how I was feeling all weekend not knowing for sure what was going on with him. Good luck with the CT scan today!
Have a great day everyone!0 -
Driving up our street on the way home tonight I drove past two sad looking creatures trudging through the wind and rain. Yep, Dad and Cisco. Cisco's rain coat does a good job keeping his body fairly f
dry, but his head, rear end, legs and tail were soaked. I had me a soggy dog when they got back! It's supposed to clear up tomorrow, but the say next Sunday and Monday we will be hit hard with rain again. They are calling it an "Atmospheric River." Yet...they still say we are in a drought. They just won't give it up on that front.
Dad and I went out to Sizzler for dinner tonight. He had steak, salad and a baked potato and I had chicken, salad and a baked potato. It was really good.
Sheesh. Someone stole all four tires on a neighbor's car night before last. Unbelievable.
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Hi all, I just posted a recipe over in recipe thread.
I had to respond to your post Mygnsac, because all four of my tires were stolen off my car back in 1988. Yep, all four in the middle of the night. It was very strange going out to my car in the morning for work. It was shocking to see it, hopefully they will get locking lugnuts from now on.0 -
Good Morning, Oh My, not for that poor neighbor...what a shocker to wake up to. I see they left their jacks, I wonder if there are finger prints on them. Anything to help find those thieves.
I woke up to an email from another cousin telling us that my aunt has passed away. This is a different aunt than in my previous comments from Christmas (Mom's side of the family). This is my Dad's older sister and was the last surviving sibling. The email mentioned that she is now in heaven with her husband, son and all her brothers and sisters. She was 98, we come from a line of long life. Susan's email mentioned that Ruby's ashes would be scattered along with Bob's up in the Big Bear Lake area, where they had their Honeymoon. That's sweet.
I have completed 4 full days of logging food. It's coming back to me and getting easier. The best part is my mindset, "Do I really want to put that in my mouth? I'm going to have to log it if I do!". That caused me to put down the chocolate truffles yesterday, (I ate 2 of them the day before). Anyway, I think this is good for me right now, not only do I need to lose weight in general, but I really want to see if it helps my breathing. This belly fat can not be good, pressing on my organs and maybe hindering that stupid diaphragm even further.
I went without any coffee yesterday. I couldn't eat or drink before the CT scan, and when I came home, I just drank water, extra water to flush out all the iodine contrast used for the scan. I am enjoying my mug this morning, but will probably stop at 2 or 3 mugs. Then I heat water and add a drop of cinnamon oil or just cold water for most of the day.
The scan was routine as usual and went smoothly. I was so pleased with myself that I could lay there without coughing. I was a bit worried, as I usually cough a lot when I transition from vertical to horizontal and visa versa. I will get the report on Monday when I see Dr. Smith. I also filled out paperwork to ask that the scan be shared with the pulmonary doctor.
We're having very cold temps this week, extremely cold nights, and Brush Prairie states 17 degrees this morning, but forecast to a high of 34. Then, back down to 18 for tonight. I will not be going out to feed until the sun comes up. Yesterday morning was harder, trying to do all my chores in the dark. I like to see clearly where I'm walking out there.
On my way to the scan, I saw a frozen fountain, I put photos over on the photo post. Very pretty.
Oh yes, one more thing. I got a phone call from Scott, the woodstove guy, and he said that the 54 x 54 hearth pad that I chose has to be manufactured, everyone is sold out, that will be at least 2 weeks. However, he found a 48 x 54 pad, in my color, and since it's the extra length that we need and the 48 inch width would work just fine, do I want it? I said "yes, if it has the angled corners like the other one". I don't want sharp corners sticking out even further to catch our toes and trip someone coming in the front door. Those extra 6 inches will really stick out as someone walks in the house. He said he'd call on that and if it's angled corners, he will get it for me, if not, he'd call back and we'd discuss where to go from here. I never heard back from him, so I think it's a go. I also trust it will be cheaper, but forgot to ask to confirm. I want it anyway.
So, I expect a call today to figure out an installation date. I will be so glad when this project is done, John is driving me crazy with all the questions, over and over again.
Speaking of Scott, that reminded me of my friend who I told you about last month, who had a stroke, his name is Scott also. Anyway, he is doing better. Working hard at rehab and gaining some strength and speech. Still a long way to go, but so encouraging.
I guess that's it for now, I've rambled long enough. Ooo, the furnace just kicked on again...it is COLD!!!!!
Oh so funny, as I proof read this before posting, I see MFP advertisement below and it's for a free log splitter if I buy a 100,000 btu, 3.4 cu ft box woodstove from Canada. Ha0 -
Ha, sun came up and it's even colder. Weather station says 16 degrees, feels like 8. I got the birds taken care of, but will wait a little longer before trekking out to the pasture for the llamas.
Blue Apron never arrived yesterday, I got an email that states the roads are impassable and meals will be delivered tomorrow. "Taking full assurance that food will be fresh and protected".0 -
Just refreshed the weather station site again and it now says 15 degrees, feels like 9. At this rate, we'll be in the single digits most of the day. Brrrrrrrr1
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anewstart22 wrote: »Hi all, I just posted a recipe over in recipe thread.
I had to respond to your post Mygnsac, because all four of my tires were stolen off my car back in 1988. Yep, all four in the middle of the night. It was very strange going out to my car in the morning for work. It was shocking to see it, hopefully they will get locking lugnuts from now on.
On the NextDoor website that's what all the neighbors are advising her to do. It's sad it's come to that! I parked my car on the street in front of my house from 1998 - 2011 and never a problem (except that one time mischievous teens went around and throwing eggs at cars and hit my front hood!).0 -
Good morning everyone.
The rain has left and the cold weather returned. Also seems to be the case. Colder with clear skies. Still, no where near as cold as your weather Sheryl! Usually we will have one, maybe two days each that where the temp gets down in the upper 20s, but that's about it. So far we haven't had one of those. 30s-40 lows and 50s-low 60s highs.
Sheryl, my condolences on the passing of your Dad's sister. She sure lived a long life! Longevity like that in my family is practically nill. The oldest that I know of was my maternal great grandmother who lived until 94 years old. Hoping the alternate hearth pad works out for you! Great job with the conscience eating and walking away from the truffles. No easy feat!
I'm going to keep it short today and get back to work. Have a great day everyone!
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Good Morning. We got up to 34 yesterday and with no wind, it wasn't bad. I've been out in the backyard already and it's still calm, so not that biting cold, but the temp reads 12, so I'm glad I bundle up. Thick ice on the water pans, but I got that all taken care of so the birds have water. I still won't try to do anything with the pool, they can bathe in the pans and take a swim next month. We are forecast to have snow and ice for the weekend, so I plan to go up to Battle Ground today to get a few essentials. Since I didn't go grocery shopping after the CT scan Wednesday, there are a few things I want to get before we are "sealed" up in the house for the weekend.
I got a call from the neurologist office, but they asked if I had already gotten the other referral tests scheduled, I said no, so they told me to call back after I do, because the doctor will want the results of those tests to refer to. I got another call later and scheduled the diaphragm x-ray for next Tuesday. Once I get the barium swallow test scheduled, I'll call the neuro office back and schedule that appointment. Maybe I can get all this done all within this month and keep the January 30th appointment with the pulmonary doctor. When he said he wanted to see me after these other 3 appointments were done and then made the return for later this month, I laughed and said I'll put in on my calendar in pencil because I'll probably have to reschedule.
I also, finally, got a call last night from the woodstove guy and they will install on Monday, January 16th. I told him that I have a doctor's appointment at 4 pm and he said they should be done before that. He had me on their schedule for 9am to 2 pm. It will certainly be a full week, 2 weeks. Next Monday, I see Dr. Smith, oncologist. Then Tuesday, the diaphragm x-ray at 10:30 and that should give me plenty of time to get to Bible Study at 1 pm. Maybe even get another errand done in between. I had made an appointment to get the Scion serviced, but cancelled it. That can definitely wait, the doctors' appointment are priority.
I told my Mom about Auntie Ruby and she commented that she's that last one of that generation. I said, yes, on Dad's side, she's the last spouse. She still has all three of her brothers, so she's not as alone as she thinks she is. She said that Grandpa used to comment on all the friends and family passing away and now she understands what he meant. Yes, it's something we can't get away from. He also used to tell me "don't get old, it's no fun", but how can we put a halt to that?
John is up and asking lots of questions, so I better go.
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Clear skies, very sunny, beautiful morning and it's up to a whopping 13 degrees.
Now, I'm officially an OLD person, dwelling on the weather, I used to laugh at my Dad and John's parents for constantly talking about the weather and here I am, doing the same thing.0 -
I'm a weather dweller too Sheryl, but my Mom always told me I was born old. Ha!
Speaking of which, it was 29 degrees when I left for work this morning. That's very cold for us! Puddles on the roads from this week's rain were all frozen over. I'm not one who cares to layer clothes, but I certainly did so today. Even broke out my glove/mittens. I love those things. Just unbutton the "mitten" and it becomes a glove with the finger tips cut off, so they can be used when typing.
With that "Atmospheric River" heading our way over the weekend, they predict Sacramento will get up to 5" of rain (some other places 10-12"). Supposed to start on Sunday. I think we'd better pump some water out of that pool tomorrow in preparation. The last really big rain we had we had to go out there and do that while it was raining. Not fun. They say this storm will affect most of California, and may bring some flooding and landslides in some areas. If it's as bad as they say it will be, the commute to work on Monday will really bad. I guess time will tell. I just hope all the trees hold up on and around our property. The ground is already super-saturated from the last rains.
When Dad got back from walking Cisco at 5:30 am he told me, meh, it's not that bad out. Cisco's cold little ears said different. He immediately snuggled up with me trying to get me to warm him up!
When I got home from work yesterday I went through the house and collected some more stuff to add to the pile that my Dad's walking buddy will be hauling to the dump. He's going sometime today and we have a hefty pile of stuff for him. I can't tell you how much I appreciate him doing this for us. He's got this huge 4-wheel truck with lots of room in it. I probably could have dug up some more stuff, but I didn't want to push it. I think this weekend I may go through the nightmare of a closet in or space bedroom and start sorting stuff for Goodwill or the dump. I think I'm going to get rid of most of the Christmas decorations (I'll keep the sentimental pieces) since we don't put up a tree or decorate much anymore (other than hanging the wreathes). Dad's been trying to get me to do that for years now, but I've been holding out. He is also going to be gather up Mom's collection of dolls and take them to Goodwill. We will keep the one doll that meant the most to her though. It's this little china doll that had belonged to her Grandmother. Dad and I won't part with that one.
We got a call last night from our elderly neighbor who lives across the street from us. Some of our mail had been delivered to her house. She was going to walk it over, but I went and got it. She has terrible COPD and can barely breathe anymore. I hadn't seen her up close in a long time (she rarely comes out of her house anymore) and was shocked at her appearance. Frail, thin and gasping for breath. I felt so bad for her. She said that they almost put her in hospice last spring, but she managed to escape that. Now they are setting her up to attend some type of pulmonary therapy. I sure hope it brings her some relief. Poor lady. Her husband passed on a couple years ago, but luckily one of her daughters moved in, so she's not there alone. She and her husband were such a help when Mom was sick. They let us us their removable ramps on our front porch. Sure helped when we had to transport Mom to the doctors or hospital.
I think tonight I may convince Dad to go out for Italian food with me. Spaghetti Aglio E Olio sounds really good right now! I haven't had that since last summer.
Sheryl, on those jacks that were on that car that had the wheels stolen, those weren't the thieve's jacks. Those were the owner's. They put the car up on them because they were getting new tires to put on the car and they were just getting the car prepped for that.
My goodness Sheryl. All those appointments! You sure are going to have a busy month. Good idea about putting off the car maintenance for now. I need to make an appointment to have the biennial maintenance done. It's due next month. Glad you mentioned it. Reminds me to go online and make an appointment. At least it won't be too much longer before they install the new wood stove, and on a Federal holiday no less!
Well, back to work. It was a short work week, but sure felt long to me. I'm ready for the weekend.
Have a lovely day everyone.
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Good Morning. Ah, born old, interesting concept. I was the baby and still am, so nice to have a big sister who paved the way. I'm sure it was infuriating for Norma though. I always got to do things earlier because Norma was already doing it. (like make-up, shaving legs, etc.) Even voting, I remember Norma saying, well, you can't take that away from me, it's the law. And then, California changed the law from 21 to 18 and we both voted for the first time in the same election. Ha. I thought it was hilarious, Norma was fuming mad.
My Blue Apron meals were delayed this week due to the weather. They come from Sacramento and I'm sure they come straight up Interstate 5. Last Wednesday, I-5 was actually closed down around Ashland. The Siskiyou Mountains are gorgeous, but sure are treacherous in the winter.
I made it to Battle Ground yesterday and got to the bank, post office and Fred Meyer. Fred Meyer is a "one-stop" shopping place, so besides getting groceries, I went to the outdoor garden section and bought a new thermometer. Curious to see how close we actually are to what I read on the Brush Prairie section of the Weather Channel web site. They had an indoor/outdoor wireless set up marked down from $20.00 to $9.00. Also, some priced much higher up to $70.00, but I go for the bargains. I don't need the humidity and barometric pressure. I have a reader in the house and the sensor is outside. The internet states Brush Prairie is 22 and my thermometer reads 23, so it's pretty close. For years, we had a big round thermometer that I had hanging on the birds' enclosure (chain link) and we could easily read it from the window. But, from about 9 am - 1 pm, the sun would shine directly on it and therefore, not be accurate, reading up to 120 degrees on some days. This will be better, the sensor is protected from the sun and we can easily pick up the reader and look at it. It also has a memory and will show highs and lows, if I can figure out how to access that info, it's a little computer and I've decided computers hate us all.
That reminds me, when I was at Carol's last week, they got an "Alexa" for Christmas and we were having fun playing with it. Carol's a gadget nut and loves all the electronic doo dads. It's eerie to speak out and things start happening. And, a female voice speaks back to you from the beyond. Do do do do, (Twightlight Zone tune) That was me, not Alexa.
Doing fairly well on logging, I'm surprising myself at how easily I fell right back into the habit. I "play" with it like I did at NM, treating it like a puzzle and working my calories to fit what I have left. On my way home yesterday, I stopped at our favorite Mexican restaurant and got take-out and what I ate wasn't in the database. I decided it was not worth trying to dissect my meal and enter it, since I don't plan to get it again, so I played "close is good enough" and logged what I found that I thought is similar. So, I am doing it a bit loosey goosey, but will do better. The Blue Apron meals now come with a Nutritional Facts sheet, so I can much more easily enter all that into the database. That's something new, they just started putting that slip of paper in about 2 months ago. All the recipes are named and numbered, so I can list them and find them again easily if I choose to make that recipe again.
Today, we'll hunker down inside and stay toasty by the woodstove and John will watch some sports on tv. I see that he'll have a choice between basketball and football. Forecast is snow about noon and then turning to freezing rain late and ice tonight and tomorrow. I'm glad we have plenty of firewood and nowhere we have to go. Monday, it should be just rain and in the 40's, so I trust the roads will be cleared of ice by the time I have to go to the doctor.
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Good afternoon all, Wow, lots of posts since my last post. Dan and I talk about the weather and temperatures every day too. It has been in the low 40's to low 50's at night (depending on how overcast it is) and in the 60's during the day. Today it was pretty sunny for a while and actually got into the low 70's for a short while. We had a very nice New Year. We ended up staying at our friend's house until 11:00pm. We had very good in depth personal conversations. Dan shared about his anxiety and several others (men included) shared about stress and anxiety. It was a really good evening. On Monday I made a white bean soup with the left over ham bone. We didn't even eat it that night - I wanted the flavors to meld first. I froze half of it and we had the rest on Wednesday which was perfect because it was a chilly rainy night. It was delicious! I would definitely do that again. We had a new branch manager start this week. He worked for us for many years, first as an installer then as an estimator. He left about 4 years ago and is back now as our manager. So far, so good. He is easy to work with and seems to want what's best for his employees. I am under a different manager but we all have to work together to some degree.
I've been taking it easy today - I straightened up a bit, read a bit and now I've been catching up on everyone's posts here. Dan has decided he likes going to Trader Joe's on Saturday instead of Sunday so we will be going in about an hour. That's fine with me. I'm making some of my left over lasagna with a nice salad for dinner tonight so that will be relatively quick and easy.
I'm excited - I have a friend who has been in Italy for 4 years and is back in the states until the end of the month. A few gals are going to get together with her for dinner this Wednesday. I really look forward to seeing her and hearing all about Italy.
Sheryl, It sure is cold where you are! So brave of you to ask for accountability. I'm not quite there yet although I need to be. I've gained a few pounds the last couple of months. I am so proud of you for logging every day so far! Your book sounds interesting. I was given a doTerra booklet by my friend but I'm sure it is by no means extensive. I wrote down the name of your book for future reference. So nice that the birds are already in the pens now at night. Boy, they sure are smart! So nice to hear that your mom has been more positive. I bet Norma was happy to hear it also. Sorry to hear about your aunt although 98 is a good LONG life. Understandable that your blue apron was delayed. Good that it was still fresh. I guess as cold as it has been outside it is almost like being in a freezer!
Debora, liked the "long post" warning at the beginning of your post. It was good reading. You sure are busy as usual. The holidays only gave you more to do instead of being relaxing! I have to ask - what are peppernuts? Also, you said you guys tried the new instapot. Is that like a pressure cooker? How did it work out? What soup did you make? It sure is great soup weather. I am going to make chicken soup in the next week or so. The white chili sounds good too. I've often thought about making that but never get around to it. Mine would be spicy too!
Marcie, nice that you get a few more holidays off than most. We don't get another paid holiday until May! Yikes! We always talk about it being colder when it is clear. I call it C & C (clear & cold). There is no overcast to hold the temps. How did you enjoy the Togo's? We used to have one near by but it closed and is a Jersey Mike's now. I really liked Togo's pastrami sandwiches. So glad to hear that Cisco's lump was a fatty tissue lump. What a scare. Your pot of pintos sounds really tasty. I'll have to do that one of these days soon too. Sorry to hear about your cousin. I can't imagine what it was like for your neighbor to come out and see his car with no tires. The brain would probably take a minute to absorb what it sees (what's missing in this picture!). Did your trees survive the latest rain? It can be scary when the ground around here gets so saturated. That's why our 2 malaleuca trees on the slope fell over a couple of years ago when the ground was saturated and the winds were intense. The rain has been so much nicer this year. Slow and steady to enable good saturation. It is crazy that they keep telling us that we are still in a drought. I guess they don't want people to get wasteful again which I can understand.
Anew, Thanks for the yummy sounding recipe and for popping in.
Well, I hear Dan getting ready to go to Trader Joe's so I'd better go and change. Have a wonderful week everyone!0 -
Good Morning, dropped in yesterday, but John needed me before I could comment on anything. I was up by 5 am, and wouldn't you know it, he got up at 5:15. No morning solitude for me.
Had snow on Saturday and a dusting yesterday, but now, should be rain and thawing. I'll call the doctor's office a little before 10 and ask if they can tell me how the roads are. My appointment is scheduled for 11 am. I think I will be fine driving in, but I'll see if John freaks out again. I doubt that he'll go with me, but he may worry to much if I go alone, we'll see.
Jack and Gayla came over Saturday afternoon, had a really nice visit. I am so thankful for our new deck, I have no fear of anyone getting injured now. Gayla is doing quite well, considering. The cortisone shot has helped and she is using a cane, which also helps. This first week of tax season has been mostly setting up the office, not too busy yet. Got all caught up on corporate frustrations and the new manager and updated on co-workers. It seems pretty routine again this year. I miss seeing the people, but certainly don't miss working in the office. I don't comply very well with corporate rules, they seem so unreasonable to me.
I have been chatting with Dena through the little messages on this site. She clicks "like" on my logging and I commented on her exercise. She's doing well logging and sounds like she does quite a bit of exercise. Of course, having kids really gets you moving. She mentioned skating with her daughter. I guess I do get moving when I go out to feed. It doesn't feel like much but when I write it down, hauling hay and water buckets, it does add up. I just wish I could get back to the workout dvd's. When I try to do that, I end up gasping for air.
This accountability thing has really helped. When I waffle about logging, I remember that others see that date "completed" and it spurs me on.
I heard from Sue and she is doing great. Both knees are functioning very well and she was also able to get her "carpal tunnel released" in her right hand. I'm not sure what all that entails, but relief is relief and I'm happy for her.
I have meals piling up in the fridge. I'm not complaining, but since I'll be out 3 days this week for appointments, I won't feel like cooking and will probably bring lunch/dinner home with me. (Subway or deli). I'll probably skip a Blue Apron delivery until I get caught up. I put some of the meats in the freezer and the veggies usually last in the fridge.
I guess that's it for now.0 -
Good Morning. Yesterday went fairly well. Roads were clear of ice and snow, just wet, so no problem driving. The CT scan report showed bones, organs and lymph nodes "unchanged" and/or "unremarkable", with several "normal" thrown in. But, there is "nodular density" in the left breast that did not show in the last scan. So, more tests. Dr. Smith said that a CT scan does not show breast tissue very well, so I'll get a mammogram and a PET scan again and see if those are more definitive.
Today, I go in for the diaphragm test at 10:30 and will most likely run errands and kill some time until 1 pm Bible study. I can't see coming all the way home and then going out again. But, you never know, I'll see how John is when he gets up.
I brought home NW Tillamook Cheeseburgers from Shari's yesterday. So yummy, but when I logged it, wow. It was in the database, so someone else in the NW put in a lot of the Shari's menu. I was under the impression that this restaurant is only in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, so I was surprised to see it in the database. I got John his regular french fries and I got my favorite, onion rings...BUT, Double WOW, the onion rings are more calories than the burger. (burger = 659 and onions rings = 755) and the sodium sent me off the charts. I will have to make different choices for myself next time. I'll check the calories/sodium on the NW Steak Salad that I like so much. Anyway, even though I got so many calories, I also got double points on my rewards. So I'll get more money off next time we go in. Always looking for a bargain.
One of our old ducks is really crippled up, she has a harder and harder time getting around. I noticed that yesterday morning, she could not climb into the little pool and wanted so much to clean herself up. I put a shallower pan out, a dish pan, but it wasn't big enough for her to get into. At least she could reach the water with her bill and splash herself all over. Coming home, I stopped at Fred Meyer to buy a cat litter tray, but found a much bigger, still fairly shallow, storage container that was cheaper than their litter trays. I am anxious to put it out this morning with warm water and see if she enjoys it as much as I hope she will. If I can keep the geese from getting in there first.
I hear Cookie crowing, I guess I'll head out and open up the enclosure and feed. The wild Mallards have been visiting again. So, I'll put out extra cracked corn. They are so beautiful.
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The whole flock headed in the opposite direction of the new water pan, and the crippled duck tried to follow them. She went back into the enclosure and I lost track of her, she may be hiding under the deck of the big pool. No one has found the new fresh water yet.0
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Hi everyone, back after lots of challenges. Feeling peaceful & free in many ways. Hope to catch up with all of you this winter.0
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Good Morning, Oh, Greasysgal, it is so good to see you. I think of you often and remember that you asked about Kel when NM closed. She's doing very well. Still in MN and with a new job that makes her so happy. Still with Ben, who makes her extremely happy. And, very much into yoga, again very happy with that. I'm glad to hear that you are feeling peace, that's great after many challenges.
Yesterday went well as far as traveling the roads and getting to meetings go. Got to the diaphragm test and they did confirm that the left side of my diaphragm is paralyzed. Still not sure if anything can be done, but after more tests, I'll be back to the pulmonologist at the end of the month. I like that all my doctors confer with each other, so maybe when they put their minds together, they'll come up with something. Bible study was nice, a few more people. They had changed the time on the request of several people who have yet to show up, so, we're moving it back to an earlier time to get the regulars back who couldn't make it in the afternoon. It will now be at 11:30 am, I think that will be a good time for me too. I enjoy the fellowship, even if I don't talk a lot, it's nice to be around people.
Came home and was going to fix a late lunch, but John said he wasn't hungry, so waited until dinner time. By then, it started to snow, and wow, what snow we got. Big, beautiful, heavy, wet flakes that built up many inches in just a couple hours. It's snowing lightly now and it looks like we've accumulated about 4-5 inches as I look out the window, I'll know better when I go out to feed. The news is saying parts of Portland got a foot of snow. Very unusual. But, it sure is beautiful and better yet, I don't have to go anywhere today. I wonder if the birds will venture too far out of the backyard today. Again, as I look out the window, I wonder if I'll even be able to open the gates to the enclosure to let them out. I can hardly see the gates.
I am scheduled for doctor appointments tomorrow, so I'll see how warm it gets and how much melts away.
I put the trash can out at the street for pick-up and I can hardly see it. I'm sure the garbage truck will be delayed today, if he shows up at all. I also figure that the Blue Apron meals will be delayed again, but that's OK too, I have plenty to eat here.
I guess that's my big news for today, our winter wonderland. I suspect we'll have our chores of feeding animals and bringing in firewood and that's it, all the work for today. No more!!
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Hi everyone.
Friday, Dad and I went out to Strings Italian restaurant for dinner. We both had the spaghetti with pomodoro sauce and one meat ball. Pretty good. Dad was getting a bit irritated with the wait staff. They kept interrupting us throughout the meal (at least six times) asking if everything was okay. Of course they always show up when our mouths are full, or we are talking. I usually don't mind when they do that, but it got to be a bit much.
I stayed home sick the last two days, but feeling somewhat better today, so came in to work. Spent most of the day just trying to get caught up. Yesterday I was watching random videos on YouTube and came across videos from VetRanch. They rescue animals (mostly dogs and cats) that are slated for euthanasia, fix em up, and get them adopted. You'd think I was cutting onions while watching those videos. My eyes kept tearing up! The awful things people do to these domesticated animals is just beyond reprehensible.
After all the years of drought I never thought I would say it, but enough with the rain! Or, at least spread it out a little more. Ha! It's been pretty much non-stop rain since last Friday night. So far, we've had to let water out of the pool four times. Dad doesn't want to let out too much at one time. He says, sure enough he does that, the rain will stop and then he'll have to replace the water he let out.
I'm sure glad we hired those two neighborhood boys to rake up the rest of our leaves in the front yard a couple weeks ago. Since it was raining yesterday, the gardeners didn't show. They took off the week of Christmas, the week of New Years and now yesterday. Hopefully next Tuesday it will be dry and they can get the yards in order.
When we got up this morning, the clouds looked like they were clearing, and we could actually see some stars up there. But, of course, as soon as I hit the road to drive to work it started raining again. The creeks and rivers around there are sure full right now. Luckily, no severe flooding though.
It took me 90 minutes to drive to work this morning! I never did find out what the hold up was, but I never got over 5 mph the whole way in. All the news stations were saying was that traffic was slow on the freeway. Never said why. I wound up being 20 minutes late to work.
I didn't make a pot-of-something this weekend. Dad is still eating those pintos I made the previous weekend. I did bake some pumpkin muffins. They turned out really good. The recipe called for white whole wheat flour, but I didn't have any, so just used regular whole wheat flour. Makes for a less-cake-like muffin, but still good. Added pecans, raisins and a few chocolate chips to them.
We were talking with our neighbor across the street the other day and she said she just cringes when a package is delivered to her house when she's at work. They leave them in front of her front door, which is really visible from the street. She's always concerned someone will steal them. Since Dad is usually home, our front door is within a gate, and we have an alcove to the right of the door where packages are typically left (not visible from the street), Dad offered to let her have her packages delivered to us from now on. She was really appreciative of that.
Greasygal, it's great to hear from you, and that you are at peace!
Sheryl, wow, that's a lot of snow. It must be such a pretty sight. I'm sorry that your diaphragm is paralyzed! Hopefully they can come up with something for you.
Well, I guess I rambled on enough for now. Have a great night everyone.0 -
Well, long again but not quite as long.
Once again I've gone a whole week and it doesn't feel like it should have been that long. Tuesday I got back into my projects I had put off for Christmas and then wondered why I put them off. But I got the farm books as ready as I could. It is nice that we haven't started Good News Club yet so I had a whole Tuesday at home until we went to Thomas' basket ball game. He got to play almost all the JV game - did foul out toward the end and they lost badly. We went and ate during the girls game and watched the boys game. It was a close game so Thomas only played a bit at the end but it was a good game to watch.
Wednesday was at home too until time for church in the evening. The kindergartner I go to class with didn't come so I got to go to the adult group. Thursday we had our women's meeting. I always enjoy the speaker, good refreshments and the visiting. We did get a spattering of snow in the morning but it didn't keep anyone at home. I picked up a 4-H and headed to town for the evening - very cold but roads were fine. While the 4-Her was at her first meeting, I ate with Julie and then I went to 4-H Council meeting. Fortunately it didn't last too late so got home by 9.
Friday some of my Flylady friends were getting together at Panera's so Ralph dropped me off there and went to a bookstore. I went up to get some tea and found out my Panera card had a free bagel on it for me so enjoyed that. From there we went and did our usual errands. We ate at Burger King, got groceries and got home about 2. Put things away, finished straightening the house and worked toward Sunday since we were going to be gone a lot Saturday.
Saturday we decided to pack a lunch for noon. My sister came along and we went to watch Jeremiah play volleyball. I did not know so many people paid mucho money to do it and he was the only boy I saw. No rules against till he's 14 and he wouldn't be doing it if his dad wasn't the coach and his pay covers Jeremiah's cost. Good games. We watch him play 3 games and then left. While there Ralph ended up meeting someone who's mother had grown up in this area, visited with a farmer from not too far away and had gotten Maggie to fall asleep and visited with a family who took their picture and emailed it to me cause it was so cute. We went to Walmart and I got a couple of things I'd forgotten Friday since I left my shopping list at home and then we went to Thomas' ball game. This time he fouled out early in the JV game and got to play a bit more in the varsity game which ended in overtime with a close loss. It was a cold day still and the gym was cold. Ralph found out they keep it at 60 so he's not sure he'll go to more games cause he does not handle getting cold.
Sunday we ended up with just Lori's and my sister here. Cooked a tenderloin in salsa, shredded it and had it over rice. They liked it. Thomas had Bible study so Lori was going to come back to church in the evening to get him so the three girls decided to stay here partly cause Maggie went to sleep and the other two just wanted too. We watch Pollyanna and they built with the wonder blocks. We had our CE business meeting in the evening which isn't an exciting one but made Lori think about maybe coming out more.
Monday night was 4-H so I worked on the calendar, got the Family notebooks ready, and also worked on the farm books. Couldn't do some things cause I could find the 2015 book so finally decided I just tell our tax person. Well, when I got to the meeting I learned that she had our 2015 book and I had totally forgotten so she checked the 2016 book and I brought them both back home to finish a few little things up. Since that didn't take very long, I had set up to meet a friend for "coffee" - actually we both got pop and had a good time visiting. I got home about noon and ate and then did the usual - gearing up to being gone. Ralph started putting in his own eye drops so he didn't have to come in for me to do it. And after several days over very cold weather - highs of 20-25, it warmed up and was up in the 50s. Yesterday was strange in that it started at 50, went up to 57. It was 35 when I went to bed and 43 when I got up. Now it's going down again and we have a chance of freezing rain starting Friday. I hope not. We had a cousin pass away Sunday morning (battled cancer) so we're doing visitation around church tonight. Ralph is getting the kids we bring to church and I'll be able to go earlier. Then afterwards I'll head for Derek's house. I packed this afternoon and it looks like I'll be gone for weeks instead of 4-days but I'm taking some food I'll make myself finish up that Ralph won't and some things to bring out if the kids need something new to do plus clothes for Sunday and some projects to do if there's time since they will go to bed before me. Ralph has frozen dinners to keep him going along with his bread and cheese, applesauce and cranberry relish so he won't starve.
Derek won a trip to the International Builder's Convention in Florida. He left Monday. Then the company decided they would fly the wives out for Thursday through Sunday so that's why I'm going in. The kids are 8, 5, 5, 3, & 20 months. The two oldest will be in school and the third in preschool in the morning and she has rides arranged for them so I won't have to load up the boys a lot which is nice. Not sure if we'll come out here to church (30 minutes away or go to their church) or stay home if the weather is bad. But it should be fun and hopefully go smoothly.
Found out Ava (one with cerebral palsy) is going to have surgery on her one leg to cut the tendon so her leg will go straight. They'll case it. I'm not sure how she'll get around cause I don't think she would understand crutches. I'm praying it helps. They have a wedge in her shoe now and she does walk better with her brace on but she still has the limp when they are off.
Sheryl, guess I'm not friends with Jannie on Facebook. Thanks for letting me know I'm not losing my mind. Always good to hear when Norma has a good New Year's day with your mom. So sorry to hear about your aunt. It's hard. Hope you can get strong enough to go back home.
Marcie, you're like Julie - three three day weekends fairly close together and then you'll have to have 6 day weeks for quite awhile. You and your dad find some good places to eat. Nice of you to let the neighborhood kids earn a little money and get your leaves taken care of. So glad Cisco's lump was nothing. Bummer on the traffic but not much you can do about it. How nice to have a friend willing to take things to the dump - an encouragement to get things together and out of the house. Sorry to hear about your cousin. Oh my on the tires getting stolen. Can't imagine what they thought when they saw that in the morning. Maybe it crossed their minds to do cause it was on the jacks.
Sheryl, oh my, sorry to hear about the aunt on the other side. It's a part of life but.... Great job on your food logging. I took a break at Christmas and need to start again cause evening the scale is staying where I want it, I know I'm not eating as well - although I'll have plenty of fruits and veggies at Derek's with the stuff I've taken to use before it goes bad. I'll roast the broccoli and peppers. I know the kid won't eat any but I'll feast. Lots of appointments for you to go too. I really hope it helps them figure out something for you. Not long before the woodstove will really happen now. Hopefully, John will be okay with it happening on that day.
Oh funny about you and Norma and voting. Yep, the younger always seem to get to do things earlier than the older one does. I gave Paige her drink in a regular cup rather than one with a closed lid and straw and asked if she'd like it on Sunday. The change just makes me see how they are growing up. Maggie is staying words. I'm sure I heard her say grandpa at least two times. I just heard about someone getting Alexia last week - not sure how I'd like that.
Isabella, guess we all talk about the weather. Guess it effects all we do. Always something to talk about the way the weather changes around here. Yum on the white bean soup and wow on Dan being willing to open up about his anxiety. Great evening. I'm sure you had a great time with your friends.
Sheryl, nice that your new deck is safe and welcoming. Glad Gayla is going okay, considering. It is shocking sometimes to log something and find out the calories, etc. But you learned from it and it was nice you didn't have to guess. If the old duck has more problems, I hope John doesn't notice. We finally are seeing geese around here. They were a lot later. What a beautiful snow you got - just a mess for getting around.
Greasy gal, great to have you pop in and hear that things are going well.
Well, again things for hanging in there. Need to get supper going so we can head out. I already loaded things in the car.
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Good Morning, I will not be going in this morning for the mammogram. This snow storm has put a halt to everything. Before I even had a chance to call yesterday, the Breast Center called me to cancel. All the diagnostic portion of the hospital was closed. She said the scheduling staff didn't make it in and I need to call again to reschedule. She was cancelling appointments, but could not schedule a new time. I decided to call yesterday at 1:20 pm in regards to my appointment today at 1:30 pm for the swallow test. I know that ordinarily, they request 24 hours notice for a cancellation. I got a recording at that number that diagnostic imaging is closed, different department from the Breast Center, but the same hospital. It asked if I want to leave a message, press '1', ha, when I pressed '1', I got another recording that the mailbox is full, can't leave a message. I'm sure the roads are clear, but I don't want to even try to get the car out of the driveway. It dawned on me last night, in bed, that I could use the tractor to clear the driveway, but that's a lot of work too, so I will probably reschedule. I shoveled a bit of the back walk yesterday, good exercise, but wore me out. Very interesting that I did fairly well while doing it, but when I came in and was resting, I couldn't catch my breath. Weird.
I took a bunch of pictures, I'll get them in the computer and take a look and share.
The news is stating that thousands are still out of power due to downed trees and power lines. This is mostly in Portland and also north of us. We did not lose power at any time. Beautiful photos on tv of snow/ice covered trees, but then you see smashed cars under them. Poor people. Our tree branches were hanging VERY LOW, weighted down with the snow. The animals did very well. There was no ice yesterday and felt quite warm at 33 degrees. The snow was the perfect kind for playing in, fluffy and good "modeling" kind, lots of snowmen around. No more snow in the forecast, but it's so cold now that it won't be melting either. News said that the last time we had this much snow was 2004, also at 12 inches. Record was back in 1945 with 40+ inches. I think that record will stand. Again, this is from Portland, we don't have that much here, I measured 6 inches yesterday at the back door.
Well, I'll go check out my photos and be back later.0 -
Good morning.
I think the heavy rains are done. It was dry yesterday afternoon, but a light rain started up again around 10 pm and this morning we have a very light rain. Tomorrow we are supposed to be dry. I'm ready to see the sun again!
I had ordered some new towels on Amazon last weekend and they arrived yesterday. The ones I've been using are so old they are about to disintegrate! They are now officially garage towels. I washed the new towels and they are really nice. The bath towel is huge though. I didn't realize they would be that big. Dad also got a delivery yesterday. He orders the MyPillow pillow. Came with two pillows and they each needed to be put in the dryer for 15 minutes to initially fluff them up, so I did that for him. They seem like nice pillows. He told me this morning that he really liked them.
Lately I've been getting back into making smoothies. I had one for dinner last night. I blended spinach with blueberries, strawberries, half a banana, milk, and a few pecans. Yummy.
The commute this morning was a bit better than yesterday. 40 mph the whole way in today!
Sheryl, I love looking at snow...from a distance! I remember when we briefly lived in Indiana in 1980-1981. Shoveling and driving in that stuff (and I had just got my first license) was no fun at all! Look forward to seeing your pics.
Debora, I'm not much a football fan, but I bet it's fun when you actually attend the games your Grandson is in. I've never attended a football game. Just on TV and it annoys me. Ha! Have fun at the Builder's Convention! Sounds like fun.
Back to work.0 -
Good Afternoon, I called the diagnostic imaging at 10:30 am to reschedule my 1:30 pm appointment and got a recording again, the office is closed due to inclement weather. I was able to leave a message this time.
I was out feeding the llamas at 9:30 and the snow is still pristine, nice and fluffy, perfect for kids to play in. I'll bet that the kids are thrilled that schools are closed today. I'd also bet that their parents are having headaches. The sun is shining so bright and the snow makes it look even brighter, absolutely gorgeous.
The snow is coming off the trees in huge clumps. Keeping John on his toes, going from window to window watching it all. He says that he's never seen anything like it. I'm tired of telling him that it's not really new, it happens every winter, so, I'll keep my mouth shut.
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Good Morning. Yay, Marcie, The headline on the news when I turned it on this morning was that you are out of your drought. Is that true? Do you feel the relief?
I love new towels, feels so good. And, I like my MyPillow also. I got a 2 for 1 deal and since I wasn't sure which firmness I would want, I was able to try two different ones. I like the softer one best. John likes a very small pillow, so I bought a My First Pillow, a baby's pillow, for him and he loves it. It's about a third of the size of a standard pillow.
I got a call from scheduling from the hospital and got my appointments all set for later this month. I trust this weather will be gone by then.
Not too much to say this morning. I'm sure I'll be inside all day, so I may check back later.0 -
Good morning all.
Yesterday it just lightly drizzled all day long, but...as soon as I drove my car out of the parking garage at work when I went home, the sky opened up and just poured rain during my commute home. As soon as I got home, it went back to being just a light drizzle. Figures!
Dad and I went out for dinner last night. We had Chinese food. It was okay, but I probably won't return to that particular restaurant. I found the food overly greasy, and if you can believe it, very bland. Usually Chinese food is loaded too much with salt. The won ton soup was good though. But...after we were done with it I asked the waitress to put the rest in a to-go container. At the end of the meal she hadn't brought that container to us, so I reminded her. When I got home and opened the container, it was not my left-over soup. Mine still had tons of pork and won tons in it. What she gave me was broth with one little piece of pork floating in it. Obviously she had dumped my leftover soup. Kind of irked me a bit. What's the saying these days..."First world problems."
This morning we have clear skies and sunshine. Yay! I'm definitely going to go for a walk some time today and bask in the sun. It's gotten colder though. But, that was expected. It always gets colder when we have clear skies.
Looking forward to the long weekend. In addition to Monday being Martin Luther King's birthday, it is also Dad's birthday. We've been going out to eat a lot lately, but I'll see if he would like to go out somewhere for his birthday lunch (or dinner). Sometime this weekend I'm going to go around to all of his breakfast joints (there are four in the rotation right now...two greasy-spoon joints, one fancy-dancy place that specializes in pastries and breakfast sandwiches (and their raspberry turnovers are sooooo good!), and Noah's bagels where he likes to get their breakfast bagel sandwich) and maybe pick up some gift cards for him. It appears Noah's is really popular with the police officers who are on breaks. Dad says there are always a ton of them there in the early morning hours.
Sheryl, I loved your pictures. Just looks like a beautiful winter wonderland. I was surprised by the snow build up inside the birds' enclosure. I may have to buy myself some of those MyPillows too. The smaller size that John likes sounds like something I might like too. I like having small pillows when I want to prop my head up. This weekend I'll give one of Dad's pillows a trial run to see if I like it. Yeah, I bet the kids are just heart broken about the snow days...NOT!
Sheryl, yeah, I head about the reports that the drought is over. However, I'll believe it when I hear that water rates go back down, restrictions on watering lawns are lifted, and the "temporary" laws to ding the public are lifted. It just seems that once the government gets their claws in you, they just don't let go. We'll see.
Have a wonderful day everyone!!!0 -
Came home tonight to find a big bag of oranges a neighbor gave to Dad. The guy said his orange tree is just about doubled over with ripe oranges right now. I kept a few and then juiced the rest. So good. I would have strained out the pulp, but Dad likes it pulpy. I usually don't drink more than 4-6 ounces of juice at a time. Gotta watch the sugar intake.
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A quick good morning. John is up already. I sure could use a glass of that delicious orange juice, I like it pulpy. Gotta go.0
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Good morning!
No work today, and yet I still woke up at 5 am. I usually sleep in a bit on the weekends, but my body nixed that this morning. I guess I'll get an early start on the laundry.
Dad's up and out already. He gone out for breakfast somewhere. During the work week he usually goes for breakfast around 6 am, but this morning he didn't leave until 7 am.
Later this morning I have a ton of errands to run. I was a homebody last weekend, so I'm out of everything and need to restock.
I think I'll go make myself an English muffin, egg, cheese and turkey breakfast sandwich in my McSandwich maker and have that with a small glass of the fresh OJ.
Have a great day everyone.
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