What's that line about Old Dogs and New Tricks?

finished bed

We finally finished my raised bed today. It has turned off so hot this last few days, we had to take a few small hitches at the building process. Heat and heavy work do not mix for Pop nor myself. Small doses of either is plenty for both of us,and even then we need lots of breaks and plenty of cold drinks.

We did take one day off to go shopping, hoping to catch a few bargains.The Kroger Store has Senior Citizen's Day on Wednesdays, plus we have a Kroger card, so we figured we should do OK  doing our shopping there.We are both so fed up with hearing tales of the Wealthiest Chain Store Family and their greedy ways, we thought we'd try our luck at another grocery store. We mainly buy staples anyway, and not necessarily name brands,either. We stopped by the Tractor Store and picked up a new cylinder for Ole Rose. You know us. We need to have at least two tasks lined up each time we go out. You know! Two birds with one stone. Truth is,we really got four birds with this stone.Pop needed new clothes and we ate at the newly remodeled White Castle. It had been closed for awhile and we had been waiting patiently for it to reopen.

Nevertheless, I worked up more fried apples and tomatoes and corn relish, while Pop put the new cylinder on Ole Rose. We had worked on my raised bed for a few minutes earlier today, finishing up the walls. Now that the tractor was back together, he decided to put in a layer of the mulch,as a test for the new cylinder on the tractor. The cylinder was not near heavy enough to dump the bucket the entire way, but being the tightwad he is, he settled for the lesser cylinder, and swears it will do all we need it to do. After all,we do have another tractor with a bucket.

Now we just wait until Pop mows the fields and I'll bring in a layer of the clippings for my bed. I'll be adding compost and woods dirt along the way,and then some good top soil as the new garden season grows near. I even suggested planting some winter wheat in the bed. Pop hasn't said yet if we will do that, but it sounds like a good idea to me.

With all of the work that has gone into my new raised bed, and having it to turn out so nice, I think Pop is gradually coming around. He is talking about using the extra ties we have left to make a second bed closer to the bee hives. I'm all for the idea of building another raised bed. Maybe it is possible to teach an Old Dog new tricks. Pop may end up liking the raised bed idea better than he thought.

"A BARGAIN IS NOT A BARGAIN IF YOU DON'T NEED IT"

I don't know why I pick up certain things, but I do. Not so much lately, but over the years, I have brought home so many things that I would love to use, but it is a chore, trying to decide when and if  I will get to do so.

One example is the many bottles of creams, lotions, fragrances,etc. I purchase them, even if it's only for a few cents, only to bring them home, let them sit on my dresser or be hidden away in a box or shelf, never to be used or seen again. Many of these get old and smell weird, leaving them unusable, although I will try to use them some way even if it's simply as foot cream during the winter when my feet are covered with callouses from a season of  going barefoot. I haven't figured out the reason why I am drawn to these lotions and creams. I love to have nice smooth soft perfect skin, but that's only a dream. The type of life I live makes that impossible. When I do take my bath, it is usually so hurried, I have no time for soaking and pampering my body. There is always so much waiting to be done and I am the one, elected to do it,or so it seems. I feel my wants and wishes must wait,thus the lotions and creams, just sit there.


The same is true with a lot of reading materials. I see an article that peaks my interest and I will hold onto it with the intentions of reading it some day. The same with books. I see a book that interests me, and I order it. Usually from the used book department, so I don't feel quite so guilty for wasting money. If I get to it, alright, but if not, I've not wasted so much. The same with the creams and lotions. Most of them, I have picked up at a bargain somewhere. Yard sale, flea market, consignment store, departments store. I love sign making, so I really need to make a huge sign or several small signs, and post them all around my area.
                   "A BARGAIN IS NOT A BARGAIN IF YOU DON'T NEED IT."

Many of the things I bring home, fall in the same category as the above mentioned items. My art supplies,for example. I love working with my art supplies, more than anything else I do, but it seems so useless and unproductive, I push it aside unless it is so cold or bad outside, I can not possibly do anything out there.

I have come to realize that this is an addiction, and must be managed like any other addiction. An addiction lurks dormant in the back of your mind, constantly, waiting to catch you at a weak moment and persuade you to break over and do the one thing you strive so hard to avoid. Struggling with the dreaded desire to repeat the actions you so desperately want to change, is a constant battle. Eating the wrong foods,for me, falls under  this very same heading. I know it's wrong or not good for me, but,many times, the constant nagging inside of my head, wins over. It's times like these that my love for all of the crafts I enjoy,comes in handy. Keeping busy,doing the things I dearly love to do is key for me.

Dirt Bags!

OK! Go ahead! Say it! We're a bunch of Dirt Bags. I don't even try to keep pretty towels and wash cloths. Yes, I dream of having my house all cute and neat. You know the way the cabins look when you go on  vacation. A place for everything, and everything in it's place. Where everything is nice and neat and shiny and new. I even brought home a set of wash cloths from the Pottery Barn a few weekends ago, thinking  "Now,this is the theme for my cottage in my dreams. My Cozy Country Cottage on Black Bear-y Ridge."
I can just see it in my mind.

We spend a lot of time outside. Me,mostly in the dirt and Pop, mostly in the grease. Needless to say, we cannot keep pretty white or pastel linens. We come and go throughout the day, grab a wet cloth and wipe our face and/or hands,and there goes another cloth ruined with the grime.That's why I take a day on occasion and dye the whole lot. Some dark color. That helps a bit.

Mom and Dad lived in a house on St. Simon's Island for many years that  had a direct entry to one of the bathrooms from the outside. I guess it was to wash off the salt and sand from your body when returning from the beach which was only four blocks away. That's what we need here. A bathroom at the main entrance. Pop has a bathroom in his Pouting Room, but it is not handy at all. Maybe that would be another good project for us in the future. We could make a new entrance to Pop's bathroom from the outside and make it more user friendly. I'll put that on my "To Do" list.

While the cat's away, the mice will play.

Today is Pop's day to spend time with one and sometimes both of his daughters.They usually go out for breakfast, hit the Flea Market, then finish up at the local Walmart for their weekly shopping. While I am here by myself today, I decided to do a bit of tweaking to my raised bed project. Pop likes to supervise, and working with him is like working with Mom,God,bless her and rest her soul. She and I always butted heads when we worked on a project together. We always got the same results, but our methods for getting there were totally opposite.That's the way with Pop and I. He wants to rip out several of the ties which are already in place, to correct a minor imperfection. He doesn't want it to look tacky from the road. He made a good point saying that I would probably have so many flowers and veggies everywhere, the imperfections will not be noticed, but still he wants to make the changes. I decided to make a few small changes of my own while he was away. I like a bit of having it complete, but using the hand saw to cut the ties is the pits. I'll wait for him to return to use his chain saw.That's one of the few tools I have not mastered, and I have no desire to do so.

I will need a little filler dirt, rocks, boards or something to fill the space along the ground where I leveled the bed, but that is a minor problem. I will be layering my mulch, old newspapers,grass clippings,etc, over the next few weeks, then bring in some good top soil to cap it off. It may settle a bit as time goes by, but I am aware of that and will be adding more layers as needed. Now if only I can persuade him to leave my tweaking as I have it,when he returns. After all, it's my raised bed and it pleases me. (Wish me luck with that one.)

Finally, My Dream Bed

Pop and I work on my raised bed every time it cools down a bit. In the early morning or late evening. We're moving right along. We should finish up the walls with one more good day's work. Then will come the filling. I plan to fill it half way with mulch from the huge pile in the driveway. A lot of the mulch will go around the bed to keep the grass down. Hopefully that will deplete the huge pile of mulch that has been an eye sore for a year or so. I do love mulch,and it was free, but it was never my intention to have it in such a huge pile right in the driveway, but it just so happened that when the local tree trimming company needed a place to dump all of the excess mulch, there had been so much rain, it was impossible for them to find good places off the road to dump.We volunteered to let them dump it on us, never dreaming there would be so much.In the long run, I am not sorry for agreeing to help them out. I have made good use of the extra mulch this past year.

I am so excited about my new raised bed. I have wanted one for years. I hope I have good luck with raising a few things in it. Pop is more into the more conventional type gardening, and he is convinced that my raised bed is not going to produce the results I think it will. Now, I MUST prove him wrong. 

Another great "Reason For Jumping Out Of Bed" idea

walls for my raised bed

A lot of really great ideas pop into my head about the time I normally get up in the morning anyway. I get so motivated, I literally jump out of bed without my usual aches and pains and moaning and grumbling procedure. When I'm thinking of or doing something I really love to do,I feel no pain.

My latest great idea is going to be a special project for me. I have been GIVEN about 35-40 aged railroad ties. Several months ago, I visited our new neighbor who has settled in here in the last few years,from Alaska. He has 3 raised garden beds and I have wanted a raised bed like his ever since.  Then, too, after watching Victory Garden for years, I have always wanted my own raised beds. I have attempted various versions over the last 35 years, only to find my creations are not exactly what I want.The upkeep of several small container beds is unreal. My beds are usually made from old tires, or buckets, or tubs, or something I've made from wood. My dream is to have at least one really nice raised bed. Just tall enough that I don't need to do a lot of bending and squatting.  I am getting older, you know, and as much as I hate to admit and accept it,I'm not nearly as flexible and agile as I once was.

I usually put all of my grass clipping in the chicken pen, so the chickens can make my compost for me. With this new bed I am planning, I can house a few chickens in one end of it (during the summer anyway)and continue to give them the clipping, at the same time I will be building up the soil in my raised bed.They can scratch and dig and turn my compost pile for me, right in the spot where I will be planting next Spring. Sounds a great idea (I only hope it works like I'm planning). I hope Gavin is reading this blog post. I think he will like this idea,too. He has such a limited space to work with at his home in Australia.

Well, I started this post a few days ago, and now I have most of the beams carried home from the friends home where they were just in their way. They were glad to be rid of them and I am so happy to have them.Now I have run into a slight delay in building my raised bed.

smashed finger


I ended up with a smashed finger in the tie moving process. Now I must wait for it to heal a bit before I continue. It wants to bleed each time I bend my knuckle and I know I'll need to bend every joint I have when I begin the building of my new raised bed.Canning tomatoes is no picnic either. I'll check in after a few days.Maybe I'll have made a little progress on the bed.

Mind Games

Of all things! I awoke this morning thinking about my morning glory.I have mentioned this before and folks say it is all in my mind.  Well! That is exactly what I am saying here. How you feel is a great deal mind related. I can be thinking of my aches and pains, and I find I have many more than I originally thought. And I continually find more aches and pains as I keep them on my mind. But! When I turn my mind to my most favorite activity, wallah! My aches and pains are gone.

I love playing with the soil. Constantly finding new ways to make it better. At least in the small amounts that I use in my flower beds and play gardens. I love working with my compost.

Evidently, one of the morning glories had established itself in one of my beds that contained some of my compost. The leaves were enormous. Now that is my constant goal. Seeing just how much I can improve my  compost in order to improve my flowers and vegetables. I love seeing the final results.

There are many things in my life that truly get me this excited, to the point where I want to jump right out of bed (if it's daylight out) and get to it.  There are many mornings that I awaken with a thought of a single task that I want to get into, and it gets my blood a pumping so fast I must get out of bed and get started.

This is not the best shot of one of my morning glories, but you can see the size of the leaves. The giant leaves are on a vine growing in a bin of compost.  The smaller leaves are growing in the ground.The compost produces the desired effect I work so hard to achieve with my flowers and my garden.

Simple Satisfaction

I love wood and I love painting so one of the things that brings me the most peace, pleasure, and satisfaction is sign painting. I love creating something that brings me peace when I look at it. These little signs do just that. I try to incorporate little quotes and a simple drawing of something that fits the theme.My imagination is not what it use to be. I think it's more from not being used than anything else.I feel the mind is like a wet sponge. As long as you keep using it, it stays nice and soft and pliable, but once you lay it aside and don't use it for awhile, it tends to dry out and become hardened and stiff. I truly believe that's the way our imagination works. You must use it on a regular basis in order to keep it working properly. 

Taking Time

I tell myself,I do not have the time to sit an write a new post to my blog.,but, oh, how I do miss blogging. It seems there is so much that needs doing, I simply cannot take the time to just sit and write.

It's a cool damp day outside, today, and a not-so-bad day to work in my yard or maybe my craft room, or my two sheds, but that's not what I want to do. Today is a lazy relaxing day. No grandchildren to watch, nothing to can or freeze. No doctor's appointments. Just a nice day to do what I want to do.

I have been trying to clean the freezer and canned foods pantry a bit lately, and you probably know by now, I hate waste,and I do love to experiment. I pulled out a box of brownie mix that had been in the freezer for awhile and decided to cook them,but since we don't need the extra calories, I decided to make them more nutritious by adding a half cup of pulverized all bran. I keep it for it's intended use, but it has been sitting around much to long and I felt I needed to move it along. Hopefully, the small amount that I have added, will not affect us too harshly.

Another thing I have been working with is all of the canned goods that don't get used up so quickly. We don't do a lot of cooking or entertaining anymore. Serving company can help you to move out a lot of canned goods or frozen goods. So.....I have been mixing and matching some of the fruits and vegetables from the cans and freezer, to make sorbets and green drinks. They have been the rage now for awhile. That saves me a lot of time in the kitchen. Pop will drink a meal in a glass anytime. Well, most of the time, I don't tell him what went into it, or he wouldn't touch it. If it looks anything like tomato juice, he will drink it, so that limits my choices of additives for his drinks, but for myself, I'll try anything once, maybe twice.(that's a family joke).

I have lots of jams and jellies that need to be moved, so I have been making barbecue sauce with some, and using others for sweeteners in various dishes. I must hold myself back from canning more. I chopped down many of my berry vines and strawberries, simply to keep myself from preserving them.Pop has diabetes and we both struggle to keep our weight down.

There is still lots to do, so I''ll close for now and put my nose back to the grindstone.

A Sign of the Times

I finally did get to squeeze in  little more "Me Time" this week. It seems I'm in the sign making mood lately. Most likely, because I took some painting supplies to some children just down the road. I felt their pain over being bored to tears, so I wanted to give them something to do,while their Mother worked. Their Mother and Grandmother work in a small General Store three miles from my home. Pop and I drop in there 2 or 3 times a week for breakfast. The prices are really reasonable, and there is always a gang of coffee drinkers and breakfast folks to talk to. And you know by now,that that's Pop's favorite thing to do. Talk,drink coffee, and socialize.The owner of the little store lets the Mom bring the kids with her to work since there is no way she could afford to pay a baby sitter for four kids on what she makes there. She does drive a school bus during the school season, but with school being out, the kids need to be supervised, so she brings them to work with her. They try to keep busy, but they still get really bored at times.I hate being bored myself, so I know how they must feel, away from their own home, with no supplies close at hand.

I love making signs, but I don't get into the mood to do so that often, since it is a quiet, sit down job, and most of the time, that is not something I can make myself do. Kinda like reading a book. One must sit and be still do do that, too. Crocheting or quilting, likewise, but in the Winter months, those tasks seem to come easier for me. No yard to mow, no veggies to can, no wood to cut,you get the picture.

I am so proud of the door sign shown above. On the lettering, I used a stencil, but the coffee cup and flowers, I did free hand, nothing to look at. I usually need a pattern to paint anything from. I even impressed myself. Now I'm off to hunt Bear,but you'll need to check out my next post to understand. Later!

Another Surprise!

                                 

As I have mentioned before, we have trained our Bluegill to come to the edge of the pond, nightly, where we feed them. Usually crackers, oatmeal, or cornbread. We hear they have store bought food just for the fish, but we have not been to town to check on it yet. Nevertheless, we feed them daily. It is such a thrill to watch them eat. We have gradually built up the number of fish in our pond, to around 100 plus Bluegill,maybe a half dozen Catfish, and a Bass or two. Low and behold, yesterday, we could see lots of tiny fish, and I do mean tiny, at the feeding site.It was unreal seeing them. We had no clue when or if we would have the privilege of doing so.The water is really clear at times, especially when the sun is hitting in the pond just right. The conditions were great yesterday, for us to see the new baby fish.We hear that Bass eat baby Bluegill, so they will be having a feast, if that is so. Much to our dismay. I hate to even think about that, but Mother Nature has her own way of keeping the necessary checks and balances in this big world, so who are we to judge.

A Pleasant Surprise!

This week we had the pleasure of a big surprise. The baby chicks have hatched. Since we forgot to record the date on which we had set the eggs, we were greatly surprised when we walked into the hen house and there sat the mother on the ground, covering several of her new chicks.Four to be exact, and they appeared to be a couple of days old. Evidently, with all of the hustle and bustle around here, Pop did not look that closely when he did the evening chores. He has so much company, sometimes he fails to check on them at all. Nevertheless, the Old Mother Hen and the babies had managed to jump down from the upper row of nests, where she had been setting,to the ground. Amazing how the babies can do that and survive. They all four appeared healthy, so we gathered them and the Mom up, and put them in an enclosed cage, hopefully,away from the snakes. A dreaded fate for some chicks.There were a few eggs still in the nest, so I checked them out. Only one of them had pipped.  I helped it out of it's shell and took it inside the house and dried it's feathers with the hair dryer, hoping to help it along. The Mom did not seem quite intent enough,to me, anyway, to nurture it along.She was too busy scratching for food, for her new family. The next morning,all five babies were still thriving. The Mom had scratched the remaining eggs aside, so we discarded them and left her to care for her new family of five babies. That's just enough to satisfy our desire to nurture something for now.

Bloom Where You're Planted

  I have never had a real planned daily agenda. Mom always tried to have a plan for each of her days, barring the unforeseen tasks that pop up unexpectedly for us all.My life is a crazy mixed up life. I do what I think needs attention the most, then I branch off to other less important things. Some times, doing things I really enjoy.

 This week, the corn was ready so that had to come first. I have cut off the cob and froze about 25 bags of corn. Two cups per bag.That was approximately 200 ears of corn. Pop did help a little after I made him feel guilty for not helping me more.He does have his own responsibilities toward keeping things running mechanically, but he has a lot of down time,too. Lots more than I do.

The grass mowing is always my job,simply because Pop is not neat enough with it to suit me. I do agree, I have way too many flower beds to keep up, but I compare it to Pop's smoking. He is forever asking me why I do not give them up. My reply is always the same, "Because I enjoy them too much".

I have been cleaning some of my flower beds lately, removing plants that have bloomed and gone to seed. I take the seeds and scatter them all around the new property.Hopefully, some of them will escape the Spring and Fall mowing of the fields.

We've had a few baby chicks to hatch off this week.Not that we needed more chickens, but we do love their presence, plus they satisfy the need to nurture something at all times.

The corn and cucumbers have been great this year, but our tomato crop is not doing as well. My guess is too much rain. We have had more rain this year than I can ever remember for this time of the year.Thank God for the Amish all around us. They have plenty of tomatoes.

I know there is a long list, somewhere, of all the things that I really need to get to, so I'm off to get to it. Maybe I can slip in another few minutes to paint another sign.I managed to squeeze in the one pictured above, while cooking my corn, before bagging and freezing it.

Gettin' Down To Business

This is our view each morning as we drink our morning coffee. It is like a stage where all of the wildlife put on their performances for us to see. I've not been able to get a really good shot of the activity. It all unfolds so quickly. I plan to set up an action cam of sorts one day, but for now, I have too many more important fish to fry. My son-in-law is deep into picture taking and will need to give me a few pointers, when and if he has that extra little bit of time to spare. It seems we are all in the same boat when it comes to having enough hours in a day to accomplish all that we'd like to do.

Nevertheless, the topic of this post says a lot in regards to the performances we have been watching for the last few weeks. It seems there has been a nest of 5 baby crows being raised in the trees just along our yard, and there has been a nest of 2 young chicken hawks being raised nearby. We have watched them coming and going for weeks now. It seems the two sets of birds have been playing together, testing their wings, and scavenging for food in the pasture fields. It all looks so innocent as they interact together. Today, things appeared to get a little more aggressive. I don't know if the hawks would actually attack and eat the crows, but I do know they eat a lot of young small wildlife, and domestic chickens, if they are running loose. We keep ours pinned up for that very reason. Only time will tell how the next few performances will unfold. Hopefully, we will get the opportunity to watch them a bit longer, before they go out into the big world and live out their lives, far away from our little stage.

Anticipation

This is one of the first things I noticed when I awoke this morning and looked outside my kitchen window while making our morning coffee.I have been waiting patiently,well, maybe not so patiently, for this flower to bloom. I have doctored it all Spring with Miracle Grow and/or horse manure tea, hoping it would be heavenly when it finally bloomed. It was indeed, worth the wait.It grew so tall, I had to put a stake beside the plant for support. Between the dogs playing in the yard, and the occasional high winds we had this year, I was not sure it would survive long enough to bloom. And then I put so much fertilizer on it, I feared it might be all stems and no flowers. I know some plants do that when they get too much nitrogen.

The rains have finally subsided, so now I can get back to my yard. That's where I spend most of my time when the weather is not so hot, but I am afraid those cool mornings and evenings are coming to a halt now since Summer is here. The heat will be unbearable if it's a typical Summer.All the flowers will stop blooming and the grass will no longer be that beautiful, lush, green carpet which I love to mow.Life goes on! 

As Different as Night and Day

My two Grand Children are as different as night and day.

This is my Grand Son,John, and he is definitely not a climber, but he was so proud of himself the day of Pop's Surprise 75th Birthday Cookout. He wanted everyone there to see him climb the tree.

Isn't it strange how some kids hit the ground looking for adventure, and usually the dangerous kind. Not John. He has never been one to try anything that might get him hurt. He is not the typical adventure seeking type child.

Now his sister who is three years older, is another story,indeed. She's not so much into seeking out danger, but she definitely loves to try new things. Leah, our Grand Daughter, who is twelve, takes after Pop in that way. She would follow him over a cliff, and try anything he would try at her age. That doesn't leave out much. She loves to take on new challenges and usually ends up mastering them all.

This picture was taken a couple of years ago, and Leah has progressed from the Honda to the Artic Cat and now to a John Deere Gator.She has yet to try the lawn mower or farm tractors or regular vehicles, but I suspect that will come any day now. She wants to do it all and NOW.  John is content to stay in the house and do computer games. We try to discourage a lot of that, but he is bored to tears with other things. Hopefully, he will either grow out of a lot of it, or become another Mark Zuckerburg. One can only hope.

Busy As A Bee

I do have Honey Bees now,and they are not the only ones that are busy around my yard.The weather has warmed up a bit, but even though Mother's Day has come and gone, there is still a chance for another frost.We haven't broken our garden yet since we had a few days of rain, and too, with the cool days we've been having, we felt there was no need to rush things.Nothing grows very good until the ground warms up and then there are the cutworms.They are really bad when it's this cool.Pop says we can put a paper collar around the tender stems of the things we set out, and then there is the nail trick. You can place a nail down in the ground,about an inch or so,just up against the stem of the plant.That sounds like a lot of extra work to me, especially since the later garden catches up and many times, overtakes the early plants. Many plants simply do not do good when the air and ground is too cold, however, there are many vegetables that prefer the cooler temps.Onions and radishes are about the extent of the cool weather crops that we grow.

my new raised bed in progress

We've recently got acquainted with,Dan, a new comer to our area.He has been in the Army for 20 years and just recently retired. His parents, and I assume he,too,were living in Alaska.Now they have all relocated. His parents to West Virginia and Dan to Kentucky.Dan is a young man,say fortyish, and he has gone 'hog wild" with his newly purchased piece of land. He has 60 acres to play on and he does just that. Anything that interests him, he has around him.I guess with him being a single man and having a decent retirement from his service to our country, he can afford to play all he wants.He has animals of every kind. He has a new orchard. He has honey bees. He has every piece of woodworking tools known to man. He raises strawberries.I could go on and on, but one thing he has caught my eye, and I just had to have one. I have had raised beds in the past, but nothing like his raised beds. He has three. All made from railroad ties.They are waist high.An arm span across, and approximately 30 feet long each.Now that's my kind of gardening. Pop has never cottoned to that kind of garden,so I didn't pursue it to heavily. It got the best of me though, and I came home from our visit and began to assemble one for myself. I don't like to spend money needlessly on anything if I have something already at hand, that will serve the same purpose. I scavenged through all of the left over lumber piles around the property and found enough supplies to make a decent raised bed. I have worked on it for a few days now, and I think I finally have a raised bed to suit my needs. This year, I will be filling it with grass clippings,home made compost,dirt, worms and all of my garden refuse.Hopefully, by next year, I will have it in great shape.

Teach a Man(Woman) to Fish.........

Blue Gill

Largemouth Bass

How does that go? Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.

I never really cared to fish in my lifetime, and never knew it was something that you needed to be taught. I thought you just put the worm on the hook and wait till one bites, then you reel him in. I found out last night that it's a little more complicated than that. I didn't mind worming my own hook, although Pop thought I needed to let him do it for me,and I guess I shouldn't have been so independent and let him do it. Men do better when you act helpless. It makes them feel needed,but I never was much at pretending to be a wimpy needy woman.

We set up our chairs on the bank of the pond, and proceeded to load our hooks and cast out our lines. That casting was a bit tricky. I think I finally got the hang of it, although I need a bit more practice before I say I know what I'm doing. That little trigger button on the reel, you know. It takes a few tries to get the hang of pressing and releasing it at just the right moment. We took two small cane poles with us, but thank goodness Pop had the ones with the reels in his truck, too. If we'd had to use those cane poles, we might still be out there trying to catch a few fish. We ended up with about a dozen small blue gill and one small bass. It's much more fun catching them and knowing you'll be throwing them back in the water at our home, then it would have been trying to scale and clean those tiny things. I hate the cleaning process. That is another job I never cared to learn. It seems, around here anyway, once you learn a job, it's yours for life. I say, "No Thanks! I don't need another job."

It'll be iffy as to whether the fish survive. Sometimes they die from the trauma of being hooked, but many times, they go on to live normal lives, although it may be a short life. Especially, once the grand kids learn there are fish in our pond. Pop says they will multiply fairly quickly, but I haven't done any research on the gestation period for fish yet. I'll be putting that on my "Need To Do" list.

The picture of the blue gill is from the Outdoor Alabama site.

The picture of the bass is from http://fish.dnr.cornell.edu/nyfish/Centrarchidae/largemouth_bass.html.

Green Eggs and Ham Anyone?

 

 

The weather is fairing up and the chickens are beginning to lay a little better. Being housed up all winter,slows things up a bit in the egg department, but warm weather brings them alive once more.Pop has debated many times as to whether we need to sell the whole flock or not. During the winter months, the cost of feeding the hens outweighs the benefits we get from keeping them year round. He and I could get by on one dozen eggs a week, most weeks,but then we would miss them so.We have always had chickens around. I think more for nostalgia than anything else, but there comes a time when even nostalgia must fall by the wayside,especially with the economy being in such a mess.If we could let them roam freely,full time, it might be different, but when you raise a garden, you need to keep that in mind. With the cost of fencing being as it is,too, that is almost out of the question.It would take a huge fenced in area to keep the chickens in grass. They tend to kill a plot of grass quickly.I guess we could fence in the garden, but then my flowers would fall prey to the chickens.It seems it's a catch twenty two no matter which way we decide to go.I love my flowers and my garden, but we love the chickens,too. For years, I had to tolerate Pop's prize beagle hounds tearing up my flowers,and now it's the chickens. Many times,over the years, I've considered throwing in the towel on my flowers,but I keep trying to find a happy medium where we can all live together and be content.You'd think after 35 years, I'd have found it,by now.I guess there's one way to look at it. 

No man lives long enough to conquer all of life's challenges.

My First Attempt at Making a Purse

I was feeling kinda restless tonight,and couldn't make myself sit still long enough to watch a Western movie with Pop,so I went down to my sewing room with the intentions of starting another little quilt.That didn't seem to interest me either. Then I stumbled across a piece of fabric that cried out Purse to me.  I decided to give it a try. It's not totally finished yet,and I will continue to tweak it a bit more, but I am pleased with it,up to this point. I made a lining for it to match the trim and I will attempt to make a bow a sorts for the face.Bows are really in, right now on purses. At least, that my plan at this moment.

 I don't have a clue as to what made me think of making a Purse.Possibly the fact that I bought one today for $20.00.It appears to be a factory made purse, but the quilted look and the colors caught my eye, so I decided to treat myself to it.Something I don't do that often is buy anything new.

I'm not real pleased with the new purse's wide opening. I hope to come up with a plan to fix that on my home made purse, and if it works out, I'll try it on my store bought purse. I have a plan.Now to see if it works.I think I could really get into making these purses.That would be another great way to use up some of my small fabric pieces.

A Family Tradition

Mom tried to make quilts for the new babies in the family,so I may have to follow in her footsteps and continue the tradition. Mom had a new Great Granddaughter,Brooklyn Paige, born just a few days before she passed away, but she did get to hold her for a few minutes,a day or two before she died.I am pretty sure she would have tried to make her a quilt, although her eyesight was just about gone.She would have managed some how to get the job done.

If she is looking down from her new home, I am sure she would be so proud that I took the time to make a quilt for Brooklyn. I decided to make one for Brayden,too. Brayden is one of Mom's Great Grandchildren who spent a great deal of time with Mom since he was born and he was by her side  every single day, when she was dying. He is four. He would crawl up in the bed and snuggle up close to Mom. She loved that child as if he were her own. He could bring a smile to her face any time he entered the room, even though she did not have strength for anything else.He was such a blessing to Mom during her last few months of life.I know she would have wanted him to have a quilt,too.

Mom is at Peace....

We took Mom to her final resting place,by Dad's side, on March 15, 2013. She passed away on the 12th which was my Grandfather's birthday. Hopefully, before long, I will be able to get back in the normal swing of things, although right now it seems things may never be back to normal again.Mom was a big part of my life, and it will be awhile before I get over missing her.There was hardly a day go by, during the last twelve years, that I did not call or visit her. My sister, Rita, and I were by her side the last two months of her life.Watching her slowly drift away was the hardest thing I have ever done in my lifetime. I was in and out while helping with Dad,during his last few weeks, but I was still working back then, and could not be there as much as I would have liked, but with Mom, I am now retired, so I was able to stay with her, around the clock, when it was necessary.With only two of us sisters working with Mom, it got very rough at times, but when you love someone as we did our Mother, the rest of your life can wait.Thank God we have understanding husbands and children. They understood that we had to do what we were doing, and they supported us in every way they could. 

How Many is Too Many?

 

 

 

I feel at times, I have a real problem.I cannot stand to have just one of anything. In this case it is bath towels. This is only a  few of my bath towels,however, I don't usually buy them new. Many times I will pick up nice bright colored towels at various Consignment stores or Goodwill stores,if I find them cheap enough. I know how expensive they are when purchased new, so I try to refrain from caving, when I see a new color that I'd love to add to my collection.. I haven't done any shopping in these types of places, lately though.I have had so much else on my mind, shopping just doesn't take precedence in my life, at this point in time.

The Good Old Days!

Yes, those were the good old days, when you could pull out the old hammer and saw and whip up something your child, or in this case, grandchild, would love and play with for hours on in.My grandson has all the modern conveniences,and at times, I am convinced that he has way too many.They are a good example of folks who like to keep up with the Jones's.They have IPads or IPods, whatever they are called, they have cell phones, they have mp3 players, they have a Wee. They have hand held computers with all sorts of games to play on them.I'm not real sure if those are the correct names,because I'm not into all of that computer stuff,but they are.That's why I was so shocked when the grandson requested me make him an army gun.I made it to his specifications.It had to have a handle of sorts on the under neath side. I'm not into guns neither, so I had no idea where the handle should be on an army gun.Not sure if it was an American gun or a German gun,but he is only 6 and probably could have given me the specs on it, with no problem. His Dad is into War memorabilia, and John absorbs it all like a sponge.He has war games on every type of computer they own.Personally, I feel all the war business he is learning, is what makes him very destructive with things around him.We hold our breath when he's near our big screen TV.Most usually when he is here, he has his gun and sword that I made for him, and he's roaming around the yard, talking to his imaginary army buddies,discussing what tactics they will implement for their next maneuver.He has the jargon down pat.

(Written 2 years ago-my grandson,John is now 8)

Wives can be so thoughtful and creative.

While reading over Ms. Lottie's blog,it brought back memories of a couple of creative birthday's I had for Pop.
That was years ago, and before I got into blogging and picture taking, so I have no pictures of either. Once I had a huge pig roast. We had people and food galore.We started roasting the pig around 5 o'clock one evening.Pop's friends for the neighborhood and his job, began coming in about that time. Of course we would have to cook the pig all night, so that group of friends stayed through the cooking process.They was nothing ready to eat at that time, so you can imagine what they were doing while visiting,and I don't mean playing horse shoes. By the time morning came, a few of us were still awake,sitting with and attending to the pig,while the rest of the group were asleep(some were simply passed out) on any and everything that resembled a bed.As daylight unfolded, that portion of the party goers began to awaken and head for their perspective homes. The meal preparations for later in the day, were beginning anyway.Later in the day, others(the non drinking folks) would start coming in for the meal. We had a Bluegrass band lined up to play, since Pop loves Bluegrass music. We had met many musicians,in time who were willing to play(and eat) for our little party.We did have a little container for donations for the band,but they were all close friends, so they didn't mind playing for their food.My memory of much of the festivities has faded over the years, but we would love to tackle another Pig Roast in the near future, before we get to old to pull it off.

School Lunches

(another of my posts found under my Drafts)

Frieda has posted lately about one of her favorite desserts as a child in elementary school.Peanut Butter Bars.We had a similar dessert, which was my favorite in grade school,also,but without the oatmeal. I,like Frieda, had to take my lunch, except when I was old enough to work in the cafeteria, then I got free lunches.That was before they started the free lunch program for low income families. I would work for maybe an hour or two, helping the lunch ladies, then eat my lunch for free, with my class,when they came through the lunch line. Years later, I went on to work for the school system,with the same county in which I grew up. I retired from that job in 2005,after  27+ years of service.

I have saved many of the recipes we used before the schools went to their new programs. Now all of the baked goods are produced at a Central Baking Center. There are one or two schools which are centrally located in the county,that have all of the state of the art equipment, and they have a crew that comes in nights to do all of the baking for the entire county.Twenty plus schools.Then a truck loads the baked goods and delivers them to the schools by serving time, whether it be breakfast or lunch.Each school turns in a list of all of the baked goods they will need for the following month.The lists are all combined and the ladies know what they are scheduled to bake that night.Then they are separated and labeled per each schools requests.It is an amazing program, but since the lunch ladies at each school no longer did the baking, the recipes became obsolete at each school. Since I worked there so many years ago, I had access to some of the recipes, and,too, many of the same recipes have shown up in local cook books all over the country.School lunches get a lot of flack from many kids and their folks, but personally, I have always enjoyed the school meals. I guess if the truth be known, some folks are just plain spoiled and have never ever been truly hungry.

One of the programs our schools use is dealing with commodity foods. The schools are given many food items, furnished by the government.The schools have always had lots of support that way. The school then lines up big Name brand companies,like Tony's Pizza for example, and have them to utilize the government product that we supply from our school program, whatever it might be, and make it into their final product. Thus our kids get Tony's Pizza, at a lower price to our school. Many of the food items coming through our schools today have been processed by big companies in a similar manner. The spaghetti sauce, the chili base,
the sloppy joe, the barbeque, and many others come prepackaged in five pound packages. The lunch ladies only need to assemble the remaining ingredients to make the final dish.I have always been amazed at our county's School Lunch Program.We had one of the best programs going in that area. We had a great Director. She retired a year after I did, and she is now working in Washington,D.C., working with the school lunch programs nationwide.

Brendie, maybe she will get to visit New Zealand, one day, and give you all hope for your lunch programs there. You never know.

Dr. Oz Would be so Proud of Me.

our 2011 sweet potatoes

I like to watch Dr. Oz when I can, and he is teaching me many helpful things on improving our nutrition and diet. Not that I hadn't heard most of it before,but it just reinforces all that I have read and studied over the last 30 years. I love to read anything pertaining to improving your health through nutrition. There are so many myths circulating about different foods,nutrients,supplements,etc.,you don't know who or what to  believe. I tend to believe a lot of what Dr. Oz advocates. I like the fact that he tells what he believes no matter what the medical profession says about a product or procedure. It is my opinion that the medical world sees only the dollar amount they can get out of you,and no amount of persuasion will change my mind on that.

P.S.
I have been looking over my blog this last few days, since spending so much of my time lately,caring for my Mom in her home,blogging has had to take the back burner.Mom has Alzheimer's and requires around the clock care.I found several blog posts in draft, so I decided, whether that starting several new posts, I would look the draft copies over and, hopefully, send them along.

Mom's Therapy

As you might have read in my previous bog posts, my Mom has Alzheimer's.She will be 87 on January 30,2013.  The greatest change has come over her in the past few months. Some days she has minutes of being her usual self, but in a twinkling of an eye, she is totally lost as to whom we(her children) are, or where she is.Rita and I are constantly trying to think of ways to occupy her mind, since speaking of family only makes her worse. We simply must avoid any mention of other family members in our conversations. It's hard to do, since so much of our lives have evolved around our family in years past,but now that most of her children have abandoned her, we try not to mention any of their names.Most days,she does not even think she has children, much less know their names, but on occasion she is coherent, and speaks of them.
She made an attempt at several different types of crafts,but most seem to get her discouraged because she cannot master them.This day, she tried her hand at painting.since coloring pictures was too complicated. She got frustrated because she could not see well enough to stay in the lines.I tried to find the type of markers that only colored inside the lines, but found I had bought the wrong type.  I'll try again to find the set I had in mind.Free style painting seemed to appeal to her somewhat, although I think she only tried it to please us.She painted 2 pages before tiring of that.

When I am staying over with Mom, I always  try to bring something to do,myself.I find great pleasure in making these trays which I use a lot in my craft room back at my home.They are pretty and they hold lots of supplies,plus they are shallow, thus letting me see what is inside, without a lot of digging through boxes.I get to use up bits and pieces of my pretty fabric. I even made one to hold Mom's cards and letters.She loves bright colors, so I think she likes it.Cards and letters are on her mind a lot these days. She worries constantly(on good days) that we are not keeping up with sending folks Thank You cards for all of the nice things they do for her.Her church family has been wonderful,after they heard of Mom's rapid decline.They take turns visiting her and cheering her up. Most times, if she does know them, which is not often,she forgets an hour later that they were even there.We have plans of taking pictures of her visitors, just to convince her they were truly there. She is convinced we are fabricating stories of visitors dropping by.

Seeing Mom decline in this manner is hard, but we do get to hear lots of her stories of her youth on good days, but even those stories, she is convinced, were made up and not true when she hears them retold. We have heard 90 per cent of these stories our entire lives, so we feel they are as truthful as anyone can be,when remembering occurrences from their childhood.She has even filled in a few more minor details in some of her stories, that even I had not heard, and I have heard those stories many times.Whether they are totally factual or not,there is no one left to corroborate them. Most everyone from those days of Mom's youth, have passed on.I hope to pass some of her stories along in some of my upcoming posts,but now I must spend many of my days, attending to her needs.The stories will have to wait a little longer.

Oh,how time flies

This is a picture I had never seen of my older sister,Mary,of Nails in My Pocket.She tried blogging, but it just wasn't her "cup of tea"."Different strokes for different folks" as they say. I love blogging. I am using this post to see if I can post pictures once more. It would be such a shame, not to be able to do so, especially since Pop went all out and got me an amazing camera with lots of extras, for Christmas. I haven't had time to learn to use it yet, but hopefully, I will soon.In the meantime, enjoy this picture today. Mary was 17 when she graduated from High School. I'm not sure of her age her, but she was really young. She and her husband,Gayle,who is now deceased, married in 1966.He was 19 and she was 18. He passed away around the age of 48 with a heart attack.The have two children. She remains unmarried and spends her life,now that she is retired, caring for a small farm,her pet livestock menagerie, and helping any member of our family who does not have a good foothold on life.She has always been strong. I guess being the firstborn, you get that way early on.Daddy depended on her heavily, since there were no boys in the family for the first few years of Mom and Dad's marriage, then when the first boy did come along in 1951, he was so spoiled by everyone,he didn't toughen up right away.

It appears I can post pictures once again, if things don't change again,so look forward to lots of experimentation.

Sometimes,life gets in the way.

Each new day seems to bring to the forefront, things that need immediate attention, so blogging must take the back seat.Summer has come and gone and the chore list still seems endless.We have sewed the grass on the newly cleared ground. We have hired some of the local Amish to help us pick up the rock and sticks, left over from the bulldozer work that has been done. We put in a good six hour day getting it all picked up, but it was worth it, even though it was hard work. I had a good meal prepared before the help arrived,all but the cornbread and a cake. So I was able to help with the picking up of the rocks and sticks.Rhonda, my oldest step daughter came to do what she could, but since she does not do good walking in the fields too well, she finished up the bread and the cake, leaving me free to help the workers.Rhonda had Cerebral Palsy as a child and has had trouble with her walking ever since.
The grass has grown and the field looks great.The pond we dug still holds some water,but we've not had enough rain to fill it completely, if indeed it holds at all, this time. There is enough water in it for now, to satisfy the wildlife. That was our main reason for digging the pond. We both love to watch the deer,etc.The grandchildren love spending time roaming the newly developed property,with several paths in and around the woods that Pop has cleared for us all to use.The entire project is shaping up nicely, but we still have a lot more to do. We are in no rush to get it done though. It is simply a nice project to get us all out in the fresh air whenever the weather is fitting.It's a good source of exercise for us all.

We worked on an area this past week that is now our pet cemetery.We did some clearing of the undergrowth, and hope to get it in shape shortly.We have two of our favorite dogs buried there and most likely will have others as time goes by. I plan to plant some flowers there,put grave markers, and possibly a huge rock for a seat. It is in a spot close enough to the house that I can see it from my kitchen window, so I want it to be pretty.We still have some cedar laps lying in the field, which is an eye sore now, but we are gradually getting them cleaned up and sold.When they are cleared away, the view will be much nicer, but Rome wasn't built in a day. We will get there someday, with the Lord's help.He has helped us to achieve a lot this past 35 years, so I'm sure he will continue to bless us.

Helping with Mom

Mom is declining very quickly. My sister,Rita and I,and Vicki, on occasion, have been doing the best we know how to give her the care she needs.Stacey got her feelings hurt and once again,dropped out of Mom's care and life,totally,as she did when Dad was dying.Stacey had been doing an excellent job of caring for Mom and should have recognized that Mom was in a bad way, and should not have let Mom's words get to her.Nevertheless,Rita and I are taking turns, staying 3 and 4 days a week with Mom, around the clock.Vicki drops by when she can. Mom fell a couple of months ago, and has gone down hill since then. She has fallen a few more times,but the last few times have been indoors. The original fall was in the yard. We doctored her the best we could, feeling that she had no broken bones, but since she kept complaining of her hips hurting so bad, we decided to take her in for some x-rays. No broken bones were found. She has been down so much with the hurting in her hips, she has lost 90% use of her legs.She does walk a few steps occasionally with our help and the aid of a walker, but those attempts are minimal.Her appetite has dwindled to almost zilch. We could hardly get her to take a spoonful of anything to get her medicine swallowed.Several months ago, we had her evaluated by a neurologist, and he said she had dementia and early Alzheimer's.We have been giving her the generic form of Aricept for several months now, but the hallucinations,seeing things and people who are not there,hearing the phone ringing when it is not,hearing voices calling her name.All of these things seem to be getting worse, so we chose to take her off the two medicines, the generic Aricept and the generic Zoloft.which we felt we causing much of the problem. Her primary care doctor said it was worth a try, so he prescribed another medicine that should help to some degree.The straw that broke the camel's back was an episode that occurred at my house during our family's Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve night. After putting her to bed, like I have always done, I left the door ajar, so as to peek in on her occasionally.When I went to check on her, the door was locked and she had barricaded herself in the bedroom by piling the wheelchair and anything else she could find,in front of the door. With the help of my son-in-law, I managed to get inside. She was crouched up in a desk chair with an arm full of quilts over herself,clutching 2 bottles of hand lotion. When I questioned her as to what she was doing, she was convinced there was a wild party going on,with lots of drinking,me included, and I do not drink. She claimed I was taking pictures of her in all sorts of compromising positions and putting them on the Internet.She would not be convinced that none of this was happening. She was sure there were lots of strange men out there trying to get in to harm her. She wanted me to call the police so they could take her to a safe place.When asked about the hand cream,she replied that her needed something for protection, and that was all she could find.When asked how she had the strength to pile all of those things in front of the door,when she is not able to get to the bathroom alone,and she replied that when your life is threatened, you can do a lot more than you think you can.I sat with her and tried to calm her down enough to get through the night,which I finally did after about an hour, but she would not be convinced that I had not done the things she had accused me of.She calmed down enough to finish the night out,here with me, but the following morning was Christmas day, and we had planned to drive her to Rita's home that morning. With all of the confusion, I decided to take her straight back to her home. Since she has gotten down and so bad, we had moved her back into her big house. She has not liked that at all, but with us having to care for her around the clock,we felt it was necessary to make that move.She still struggles with that.She asks daily, if she will ever get to go back to her home,meaning the garage apartment we built for her after Dad's death. She was very uncomfortable in the main house by herself. In the garage apartment,she felt much safer.Not so many windows and doors at her back at every turn.She has lived in the garage apartment for 11 years now, so I am sure she misses that home. For one person, it worked just fine, but for several,it was too cramped.No room for all of the equipment she was using to function on a day to day basis.I am sure that is a contributing part of her confusion,being forced from her home, even though, when I explained to her that we really needed to move back into the big house for various reasons,she did say she did not want to be the one to hold us back from proceeding with the plan.She said she was ready to move.Without a doubt, I am sure she would not remember having said that, if asked now.

The doctor gave us a new medication for Mom. It is called Mirtazapine. Her appetite is greatly improved, and the horrible side effects,presumably from the previous medicines, are lessening to some degree. We are trying our best to build her up a bit. With a horrible head and chest cold,as well as the limited use of her legs,and a next to none appetite, she has fallen back greatly. We are trying to build her up as much as possible, but she has gotten so low and lost so much weight, we feel our trying is in vain. We try to encourage her to think positive, but she is convinced she is dying. She has given up,for the most part, and sleeps most of the time.She had a long bout with pain this past month or so after falling the first time. We were giving her ibuprofen and tramadol for pain every four hours for several weeks.Then she described the pain as being in her hip and going down her leg,with some twitching in her leg,making it sound like sciatica to us.We decided it was due to her sitting and sleeping in that recliner that she uses for a bed,against our wishes,but her being so stubborn and headstrong, we let her sleep there.Now that we have decided it is a sciatica problem, we have been working with various seating and sleeping set ups,thus relieving that pain. Now her pain meds have dropped off to a minimum and long periods with no pain meds.She still has lots of trouble remembering many things.She does not remember ever seeing many of the things she once used,much less how to use them,but memories of her youth and various other portions of her life are very vivid in her memory.She gets confused as to who we are.Her own children. She cries a lot for her children never caring enough to come and visit, even though she lay dying.She says she thought your children would come when she was nearing death,but yet no one comes.I,of all people, understand that Mom has always had a bad habit of speaking before she thinks about how her words will be perceived by others, and many times the words she speaks,do hurt the feelings of the one she might be speaking to, but after 65 years of knowing how Mom is, I know by now that she will never change. It does no good to correct her or scold her for the way she speaks to others. It only makes things worse by trying.She always ends up in tears when confronted about the words she used that offended some one, but as we all know,a spoken word can never be recalled.

It's hard having to hear her longing for her children to be around her at this time, but Rita and I try to comfort her, the best we can.She worries about never seeing her siblings and their families again. They live so far away in Louisiana.She worries about never getting to go to church again. Her life has evolved around her church,where ever she has lived, since she was a teenager,when she first accepted Christ as her Saviour.Rita and I both pray for peace for Mom daily.Mom even prayed aloud,herself, one day recently,something Mom has never done.She has always had a lengthy prayer list at the end of each day. Many times, she has told me about falling to sleep before she had completed her prayer list.Mom has always had trouble practicing what she preached, but who of us is so perfect,we can judge her on her short comings?I'm sure she did the best she could with the tools she had.She has once had the mind of a college professor, due to her own self educating,but now she has forgotten most of what she once knew.I only hope am am half as strong a person as my Mother has been. She has endured a lot of pain in her life time. The most pleasure she has gotten from life was having her nine children, and even that has jumped up to bite her.Only God knows why,during our lifetime,we must endure so many twists and turns,heart ache and pain, before it ends? Mom has read the Bible through numerous times and I am sure,even she,does not understand why she must suffer the way she is, here at the end of her life.

P.S. She had a great experience today. Her beloved friend, Joe Stampley, sent her a copy of his latest CD. That cheered her up tremendously. They have kept in touch for years. Mom is one of his greatest fans and when she was able, she would attend many of his concerts,whenever they were near her home.

I see they've made some changes.

I have been away for awhile, caring for Mom, who has Alzheimer's, and now I see Blogger has made some changes. I can no longer upload my pictures from my usual source, and until I learn what I need to do, I guess I will have no pictures.I only have 3 days a week at my home and that is usually spent catching up on the laundry,the dishes,sweeping,mopping,vacuuming. You know the usual stuff.

I did accomplish a few things today though which helped me to feel a bit more relaxed and less stressed out.Pop spent his day doing what he always does. Visiting with the locals,helping some, then just visiting others.He spent the early part of his day with his daughter.They eat breakfast out together most Wednesdays.When the Flea Market is up and running, they visit that.Then they visit Walmart and do a little shopping. I have those few hours to myself to do whatever I want, around the house.Today I chose to go to town and fill out the application for my health insurance. I turn 65 in February and will be going on Medicare, so I must make some changes to my insurance. I will need to change doctors for my new plan. The one I have been using is not in the network.Each plan has a list of doctors you must use in order for your fees to be covered.I don't understand a lot of it, but hopefully, my agent is giving me proper guidance in choosing the plan that's best for me.

I drove 22 miles to meet with him and sign the necessary forms. Once we were finished there, I browsed the Bath and Body Works,since I had not had a chance to order any soap from my friend,Terry,of Urania's Inspirations.Sorry,Terry.I've not forgotten you. I'll be back.I picked up some real bargains,but I am afraid I might be allergic to some of their scents. They have a return and/or exchange policy,but I doubt I use it. They have another big sale in June. I may simply wait and try a few new fragrances then.My nose is so sensitive to some scents.

Then,I did a little grocery shopping and bought myself one of those new fancy Orgreenic Skillets.It better last since it cost me $30.I greased it good and put it in the oven on 300 degrees for 1 hour,like they said. It recommends doing that every 6 months.I hate using those skillets with the Teflon coating. No matter how much you pay for them,it still comes off eventually, in your food, and it causes cancer.This skillet is Eco-friendly. Contains no harmful PFOA.(The EPA has requested the total elimination of PFOA use in manufacturing by 2015.) It contains a space age structural coating composed with ceramic which is Mother Nature's own natural minerals.The ceramic non-stick coating  is bonded to aluminum which allows for even heat and avoid hot spots.If this skillet is what they say it is, I should never need to buy another,ever. We'll just have to see how that pans out.

I did a few loads of laundry and dishes.Took a 30 minute nap. Joined Pop for a cup of coffee, out behind the garage, where he has been adding a shed for his new tractor.He wanted me to see his handy work.I don't like him climbing when no one is out there with him,but some days he does it anyway. Some days the neighbors drop by to critique his work.He hates when they do that,but,nevertheless,building the new shed has kept Pop busy while I'm away,caring for Mom.

I fixed steak and potatoes with a side dish of mixed greens for supper.We're not much on green salads that often, and we do need the roughage.We both love greens.

Pop took me out last night, since we don't get to spend that much quality time together nowadays, and I was really exhausted anyway.The food was good,and we ate plenty,although the entire service started out to be a real catastrophe.Pop was craving a baked potato since he must limit potatoes, with his sugar problem.They were out of baked potatoes.He ordered home fries, but they were taking so long, he went to the food bar and dished us up a huge plate of mashed potatoes and gravy,daring them to say anything about it. I was supposed to have gotten potatoes with my liver and gravy,which I did not. We got no bread for either of us until we were nearly finished with our meal.Then they brought Pop's Texas toast he had requested up front,when we ordered. I got no bread at all,and my cole slaw tasted a bit off. Pop would love to have blown his top, but I begged him to be nice,so he restrained himself. He can get quite ugly when he gets poor service.I,personally, eat what I'm served, and never complain.We visited with a good friend while we waited,so the time went by quickly while our meal was coming together.I doubt we eat there again for quite a while, if we ever do.

P.S. I got a really nice camera for Christmas. I sure hate to think I got it for naught if I cannot post pictures any longer. That was my main reason for wanting the camera.Drat!!! I'll do some research and hopefully, learn what I need to do before my next post.

 

Regifting My Collectibles

 My collectibles have become overwhelming. Although I do love them, even I, know enough is enough. My attachment to them is a hard thing to shake, but I do enjoy, working with my gift bags, where I am using a combination of my crafts and my collectibles. The picture is of my latest project. The box  that I have used for my sleigh was simply a wooden box given to me by a friend.I never knew what it's purpose was. Possibly to hold paper files.I'm sure it was made by her son-in-law, since I know he is into wood crafts. This little wooden box has always stuck me as a good starting point for a sleigh. So,here it is. I cut out and assembled the runner parts and the brackets to fit them to the under side of the box.I painted them black to look more like metal.Then I filled all of the pits on the box,sanded it, and repainted it. Then I ran a strand of gold beads all around the edges.The collectibles inside the sleigh are several of the tree ornaments I have received over the years, while I was still working, from various times the staff all drew names.The little rein deer was in a bunch of crafts that I purchased from a friend who was going out of the craft business. I had a similar deer, but mine is a cut out that can be assembled and then disassembled when not in use.I am keeping it for a pattern later.I used some gold cord and put together a harness ,of sorts, for the reindeer.I know nothing about harnesses, so forgive me if it doesn't look much like a harness.I will be offering this grouping at the up coming auction to raise money for my sister-in-law's funeral expenses. Hopefully with the Christmas holidays just around the corner, someone will purchase it to add to their own holiday decorations. I am very pleased with this project.I am almost tempted to keep it for myself, but I'm sure,that would defeat my whole purpose of putting it together.