Ding Dong Doggy

Charlie loves loves loves his toy that he got from Rich's daughter! It is the first toy he has not destroyed in 7 years. It has lasted more than 3 days which is a record!

He loves it so much, he lays it down on the carpet next to his master and rolls on it. What a goof! We laugh so hard when he does this. Oh yeah, the oxygen tubing? You should have heard my hubby get excited when Charlie got caught in the tubing and dragged it away. 

Ouch. Says Rich. That hurts my ear!

But really, can you get angry at this funny pooch? I think not.

I think I'm getting close to go back to the Princess Sara stories. I have so many things I want to do and enjoy the process of a story. I often go off in tangents to other places. But still, the story should be about Princess Sara and her quest to save the world.

Don't we all need heroes or heroines these days?

The Twin Sister warriors converse 
with the Jungle Dragon.
They hear about Princess Sara's
Quest
and decide to join her and
offer their assistance against 
the rock monsters.

No worries if you don't get what's going on either. Sometimes I don't even know.

But it is getting close to spring and that is when I believe things will start happening again with Princess Sara.

In every fantasy tale there is always a quest isn't there? 

I have to check in soon with the Princess and see what she has been up to!

With so much weighing heavily on my mind, I do need these beautiful distractions. This weekend will be busy both Ariel and Dennis will be coming on different days to spend the weekend.

I wonder if the kids will be impressed by the desk in my spare 'toy' room.

I took the whole day and washed walls, dusted, and organized the spare room. It was in desperate need of picking things up. Good that the kids both decided to visit so I could get this job [I've been putting off] done. 

There is a Futon Bed in this room for surprise visits. It folds up to make a nice little couch when not in use. But it isn't for the faint hearted to sleep on as it lays right on the floor.

However in years past it has made an awesome bed for company and kids.

on a mission....

Oh goodness. Have you ever decided to do one thing and then find out that you need to do several things to DO that one thing?

I wanted to put my mountain bike downstairs for the winter. Or at least for these subzero days. So the first thing I had to do was make sure I had a good spot. At first I just pushed a few things around in the little basement. Then it got serious.

I got out the shopvac along with a broom after rearranging things. I moved the fall and spring stuff to the bottom of the pile and moved the Christmas stuff to the top. I rearranged the gear hanging on the hooks. I made a mental note as to which items were no longer needed.

I vacuumed, I swept, and I went at it with a purpose.

Hubby stopped me as I came back upstairs and said, "I'm hungry. When's lunch?" I gave him the death stare and said, "I don't stop until the bike is downstairs."

He huffed and he puffed but...

knew better than to try and stop me.

When a woman is on a mission, no man can stand in her way! Or...he shouldn't!

In order to carry the bike safely down, I needed to take everything off the stairs that I'd dropped there because it was more convenient than putting it away. 

Now I took the time to put everything in its place and clean the shelves that I put it on. I took inventory of the items on the shelves and put the older canned goods in front and the newer ones in back.

I stacked put the distilled water on the bottom shelf in the order it should be used and faced the labels of other goods so a glance would be all I needed to grab something.

I eventually came back up to get the bike.

Hubby: "I'm hungry." 

Me. Another look. "Then you make lunch."

Big sigh. I explained that if I didn't get it done then, I'd put it off.

I wheeled the bike to the door and took it down. The storage area now looked nice and clean except for the cobwebs in between the rafters. I reached for the shopvac and stopped. I guess those webs could wait for my next burst of energy.

That was the start of my day. I was in that sort of mood to organize, clean up, and rearrange.

I even got the chair out its usual place and set it in the living room.

It is waiting for me too....

No one starved. Lunch was made.

Charlie begged...

...and life goes on.

Mobility and working out

 What can simple exercises do for you? 

My simple exercises at home don't need more than a chair, a wall, a floor, and sometimes even a couch. I can sit on the kitchen chair and do leg raises. If I want, it can be one leg at a time or both. I can use the chairs or go free standing to do squats. 

The hardest part of exercising is sticking to it. It sure is easier to just go for a nice long walk.

Right now I am doing chair sit ups, one legged balance exercises, and a variety of other exercises to keep up with my Mobility and balance. I'm having fun trying to do a work out at home. Other times I just say: Heck with it all and go for a hike.

I'm not at the gym this winter because of the weather and the colds, flu, and Covid that is traveling around our community. I can't bring home any illnesses to the other half. 

I could just hang out and nap most of winter away.

But I need feed for the critters. Those 75 lb. bags take some technique to heft up and into a feed barrel. Thankfully, I've been taught a great way to do it without harming myself [thank you coaches!]

Last Friday, I moved washing machine and dryer to clean under and around them. I also took apart the vent and gave it a good once over. Hubby asked if I needed help and I did ask him to hand me a few things after I'd climbed over the washer and was in behind the dryer.

I didn't want to pull everything totally out, but made enough room so I could get in behind the washer without disconnecting the water.
I took a milk crate and tied twine to it. I used the milk crate to get up and over the dryer. Then I pulled the crate over with the twine when I was done and used it to get back out. Clever me! Rich's comment?

"I married a monkey."

Maybe this is unusual for a person of my vintage and maybe not.

The month of January is almost over and I am trying to see what I have as far as hiking and walking for distance. Right now I am using the free app which adds everything up for me. I don't count steps, they are deceiving. Ok. Let me qualify that statement. Steps are great and necessary to help us keep track of moving which is essential to keeping our abilities to MOVE.

My steps include inclines of 150 to 300 feet. If I hike for a mile or less, it can be in very steep terrain, so each step could be much harder than a person walking on a sidewalk or on a flat easy surface. 

Does that make sense?

So far in January? What are the miles I've actually accounted for?

25 miles on the Map My Walk app -- and I didn't account for walking to the mailbox through the woods or the times I went out and checked fences. I'll see what January 31st brings.

I'm hoping to actually GET off the farm this weekend and go to Duck Egg or perhaps KVR and tromp around for some different scenery.

The Fog is still here. I'm beginning to think that Stephen King made up this weather for this week.

How is it going with you?

Thanksgiving Day....

Here is what I dreamt it would look like!

I decided to do my first ever Turkey for Thanksgiving supper. 

I chose the Jennie-O breast that looked like even an idiot like myself... who can make Rubber Chicken.....

could successfully cook in the oven. 

Step 1: Take it out of the outer bag
Step 2: Slit the inner bag
Step 3: Put in in the oven and bake for two hours until it is done.

Stove top stuffing. Easy peasy!
Cornbread! Yup, I made it too!

Veggies from the garden....

and our feast was complete. 

 Meanwhile my woodland critters gathered for their little get together:

The neighbors to the east of us are hunting the meadow relentlessly for a very large buck. I hope the monster buck makes it through this season. I'd like to find his sheds.

[This shot was taken two days ago on our land by our trail camera. The fence can be seen behind the buck that separates our land from the neighbors]

I'm still stuck indoors. Grounded because the guys in the meadow are hunting and hubby doesn't want me anywhere in our woods. 

I carried on a Thanksgiving tradition of my own. 

Purging, vacuuming and cleaning the little basement. It is a job I won't do unless I am forced indoors. 

Success! I cleaned out 3 large totes! Hubby would have a fit, but I cleaned out all of the old hunting clothes that were merely blood stained rags and light overcoats of blaze orange.

They were full of holes from 40 years of hunting. Many of the jackets had rips all over them and were passed down from the days his father hunted. 
I save the good jacket but bundled up all the old stuff.

My motto is that if it hasn't been used in years? Well ... it is gone! None of these items have been used in over 7 years. 

Let's just say that I filled the back of the Subaru Outback with old items that even wouldn't make good hand-me-downs.

I vacuumed up and swept and purged and cleaned.

The past few mornings and evenings have been amazing as far as color. The shots below were taken from my porch or through the windows. 

Last night as I finished doing dishes, hubby's daughter called and they had a nice chat. It is good to see my husband smile.

Whew. So far I've survived deer hunting season and Thanksgiving. 

Next up....

Cleaning and Building

 What better way to fight off the hunter's blues than to engage in something totally different. You all know that my husband fights depression and has had it for all the years we've been together.

Physically he cannot hunt any more. It used to be the 9 days of the year that he'd go off into the woods and sit quietly by himself. He'd come back tired or cold, but always in good spirits. Often he'd tell me in great detail of all the things he saw while in his place of wonder.

2013 Photo:

I pulled out the Holiday Main Street Set set and started to sort items. After breakfast, while I was doing the chores, ....some one....
starting sorting pieces on his own.

He loves to find the Minifigures right away and try to put them together. His hands shake a lot, so sometimes he gets it and sometimes I return to find a Minifig with no head or wig laid out on the table.

He laughs, he smiles, he grins, and even participates in the silliness.

Ask him if he does it? He will emphatically deny everything. It is childish and beneath his Warrior Mind.

Yet, he delights in adding to the his own narrative to the story unfolding in front of us.

"That shop keeper lady, she looks grumpy. Why is she so grumpy?"

I don't think she is grumpy, she is smiling but her glasses may make her look grumpy?

"No, she doesn't have any customers. That is why she is Grumpy."

Oh...of course!

"What if that train thing had a run away? The conductor guy isn't looking!"
Hubby reaches over and gives it a little push. The trolley runs into some Lego people. 

"Uh OH!"

No Lego minifigs were hurt in this dramatic scene....

I went upstairs to put something away and ended up working in the spare rooms to unclutter my self made messes. I sorted out old clothes I hadn't worn in ages, got rid of an old tattered blanket[s]. Disposed of junk I was saving to make junk dioramas. Who needs extra bottle caps when I am always getting them? Sorted the action figures, some Legos, arranged the Teddy Bears, dusted,...

and filled a huge contractor bag full of stuff I needed to get rid of. There is so much more to do both upstairs and in the tiny basement. 

The basement project will start after Thanksgiving when I start sorting things out for the Christmas Chair.

Meanwhile, on the table it seems that Santa is anxious to get started on his own projects. Looks like he hired the Construction worker to help build a tree.

I'm not sure why he is using a wrench though.

Hubby really had a joyful day and we topped it off with Homemade Lasagna.

Dis... organized?

I went downstairs to get the clippers so I could clip the mule's manes. I'm late doing it this year. As usual.

I picked up a strange blue colored hammer when I grabbed the clippers off the shelf. Hmmm, must have been left behind by the electrician from a few weeks ago.

I put the clipper boxes on the porch so I could get right to the clipping job. When I took the hammer to the kitchen to take a photo and send it to the electrician, I noticed the floor was pretty dirty. I walked around the house and picked up all the rugs to get shaken.

Then I started randomly picking things up in one spot and putting things in another. When I turned around I noticed that the little table the tv was on needed dusting. And behind that? The window sill could use a bit of attention.

I opened the windows wide to let in fresh morning air and then got out the window cleaner. Oh wait, I wanted to vacuum. When I walked past the bathroom, I picked up the trash and cleaned the little bin, then took the trash out and ...

somehow in a most unorganized yet busy manner got the house vacuumed, mopped, windows washed, sills cleaned and discovered that I still had not addressed the mysterious hammer. Plus the clippers were still on the porch next to a pile of rugs that needed cleaning.

I finally did get a shot of the hammer and send it off to the electrician, but not before I had the two Lasko fans pulled apart and washed.

Oh and the mules?

Here is Sunshine, my red headed darling...before clipping.

and after...

I didn't get shots of the others as I did them, but they sure look more like mules than some strange equine now.

And then a couple hours later we had rain! Beautiful wonderful amazing rain.

We may have gotten 1/2" all total. Hopefully the pastures will green up a bit.

Looks like I'll be out doing some wild fungi foraging and searching this afternoon in the sweltering heat!

I am a clean freak....

Nah....don't 

believe 

that!

I brought mud and leaves into the house Friday after hiking with Olive at the KVR. Can you believe it? I didn't take out my camera once! NOT once! We just did the girl thing, we talked and hiked. -- I know my son would NOT believe this at all -- but it is true.

Besides, it was a trail I'd just recently done. Charlie, Olive, and I got our feet properly muddy and enjoyed the fresh air. She left Aiden at home with her hubby and enjoyed a walk without her little one.

So Saturday arrived and I decided that it was going to be a 'business' day. That means I move all the things around in the house in the East Wing [it's a joke guys, my house is tiny!] and scrub the floors after sweeping and vacuuming.  I moved to the West Wing and did the same thing. Sweep, vacuum, and scrub on my hands and knees.

I was done by noon. See, my house is so tiny I can scrub floors and be done in an hour or two. I don't have big shelves, I have old crates that I stack up or take down. I can move them easily. Our living room has a love seat to sit on. That is it.

Generally I do a really great cleansing of the house when I am really irritated. I wasn't irritated other than with myself. When I'd gotten Charlie a new bright yellow squeak toy, it turned brown from him mopping the floor with it and doggy saliva. 

Here it is brand new. He adores squeak toys
but generally destroys them in a few minutes.
10 seconds

Anyway, I got the floors spic and span and then moved on to moving the old trunk. It takes up space but makes a good folding table when I am not using it for toys or decorations. I made quick work of folding the laundry. IN my opinion, laundry should fold itself and put itself away. This is one job I would forever put off and just have a revolving laundry basket. Take the clean stuff out of the basket and wear it, then put it in the wash....and repeat.

While making homemade chicken soup in the crockpot, I decided to mess around with the Lego people.

How could I create a neat backdrop for photography?

Hmmm. So I decided to use a bit of AI Art and create a forest scene with mushrooms.

Then I put Acorn Dude on a book and covered it with a scrap of black felt.

It sort of worked. A few more efforts got me this:

That was fun. But I'd have to think about how to create more scenes. 

So I decided to put everything away. Ooops.

Mistake. I stopped by the little A frame stick house I'd built two years ago. I'd meant to toss it, but it is kind of cute.

What happened if a Lego person wandered off his Lego land place and ended up somewhere he shouldn't? Lego land is such a nice happy place, right?

But what lurks outside of Lego land?

A fast thinking Elf thought of this. 

Cookie? Sit BuBu, SIT!

What to do when you meet an Alien?

Why simple! Serve cookies and coffee!

The photos didn't turn out great, but it was a nice distraction from the cold weather and all the chores I'd done.

I even washed his little toy. It is yellow again.

Clean and purge. Uh oh..

So Blogger.com is angry with me? I don't get it. I can't post a photo and I've done everything possible. Message: Sorry! An unexpected error occurred while processing your selection.  Please try again later.

👀👅💣💥 however I can post emoji's ... ahem...

So what to do on a COLD and rainy day???

🌦🌧⛆

Time to purge and clean things in the house again.

I have to clear out the tiny living room so the flooring guys can rank the carpeting and put in the nice pretty flooring. I like to think far ahead and get things ready instead of waiting for the last minute.

We have to move the hutch and this huge a$$ed Trunk that Rich had packed plum or is it Plumb?... full of aged memorabilia. His High School Purple sweater from when he was 16, it was one his mom was going to attach his sport 'letters' to. No way it would fit him now.

Then there were those horrid looking teddy bears that look like something Hollywood would use in a horror movie.😱 [ no photo so use your imagination! these bears should be photographed in a scary place...hmmmmmmm...my tiny brain just got an idea]

Every baseball he ever used in high school when he was pitching. I think they were game balls or something. I set the balls out on the table. 

Geeze, I nearly said I 'set' his balls on the table.

Anyway. He was able to tell me the significance of each baseball. Then we moved to a box of photos of his family from a gazillion years ago. His father's baby photo! 
So I went through each photo and ID'd the people on the back. These are folks I have never seen and who were great grandmas, uncles, aunts, and homes from long ago. It was fun for him to tell me who the people were. 
I may pass these to his daughter eventually. 
Not the [base] balls though.

I got permission to toss the purple sweater and some magazines from over 30 years ago. He wanted to keep them and I asked 'what for'. I kept the ones that featured my photos and articles but tossed the rest. 

Old videos. Old family video tapes that were poor quality back then and re-recorded so many times that they were blurry and snowy. I imagine age has not improved them.

I'd like to get rid of the trunk as it takes up floor space that we really could use much better. Alas. He is very attached to it. The table we sit at is likewise too large to fit in our eating area, but it was a hand me down from his Grandmother. So it stays. 

After cleaning the trunk, I moved my books and other pieces of stuff upstairs. Then I sat upstairs and went through my junk. I have 3 of those reusable cloth shopping bags full of items I am tossing. I have another box packed and ready to send of to the younger grand kids with some toys.

I have one more box of Carousel Horse music boxes. I think I will see if any of my CrossFit friends have little girls that would like them. 

The strangest item I could not let go of was a rock. It was a rock I picked up in 1996. There is a long story behind that piece of rock. It stays. I will return it one day from where I took it. 

Tools

My husband is notorioius for not organizing his tools. He just drops them on a piece of plywood on top of a couple of saw horses.
Yesterday I need one tool as my project was to take apart the old picnic table that had rusted through.

After not being able to find what I needed, I started to unload the plywood and place it on the shed floor so I could see what we did have and didn't have.

I found screw drivers that I have thought I lost while fencing. Obviously they went back into the messy pile to be buried under debri.

When I asked hubby where he may have a 7/16 socket wrench ... he simply lay on the bed and said it was on the 'tool bench'. I said show me...he said, 'It is there.'

While searching [I never found the proper socket] I did find some other items of interest.

Broken things. Things of no use. They were also stacked on the 'table'. I sorted through some things and tossed them on the floor. I realized that I needed to find the tool I was looking for and not get sidetracked by the messy table.

I did find a 7/16 little hand wrench thingy... it worked. Along with a sledge hammer and a pry bar, I spent a few glorious sweaty hours dismantling the old picnic table.
I had to get creative as some of the bolts wouldn't unscrew, they were frozen in rust.

In the end I completed the task.

At one point Rich called out the kitchen window asking if I'd found the tools I needed. I motioned for him to come out and help.
He disappeared from the window but came back to the kitchen window and called out...

"You didn't mess up my tool bench did you?"
Ahhhh, I love how he thinks sometimes.

Mean old me. I pretended I didn't hear him and used the sledgehammer and the pry bar on a particularly difficult section. I then used bolt cutters to get the job done.

No cursing, no swearing, and no blood was spilled in the dismantling of the old picnic table. But one more job that had been on his list for over a year was now done.

I may get sidetracked the next rainy day and actually organize that horrid mess of a table. As of now, he has no interest in using it.
Getting him to leave the house is a monumental effort one I fight with every day.

However I should say he has fed the donkeys for two mornings in a row. I consider that an improvement.

Next up, the broken glider.
If I could only operate a chainsaw safely. All bolts on that are frozen/rusted solid.

Oh...what happened to those bits and pieces of 'saved' broken stuff? They went into my bucket of things toss away. I am cleaning up junk...one small bit at a time.

I have a full schedule for this week. But still plan on finding time for a couple of projects.

I imagine if I clean up the 'tool' table, it may come as a nasty shock to my husband.
I think I'll do it anyway. I'm still looking for that socket wrench.....

Colonoscopies and Refrigerators...how fun.

No one likes to talk about that procedure. It is simply, well ... not dinner conversation at all. Whoever invented the prep was an evil sadistic person. However, it must be done to get a good clean out.

I had one 10 years ago because of some issues I'd had and it was time for the next one ... 10 years later.

My first one went quite well and except for the prep there was no pain or anxiety.

However this one? The prep went well. 

After all, who doesn't love Gatorade mixed with Miralax? It wasn't as bad as GoLYTELY. In the 'end' I was passing Gatorade lemon/lime colored stuff which was clear of debris. [Isn't that a nice term?]

I saw the doctor after the nurse tried to get in an IV. I winced as she dug around and then had to pick another spot.

I thought, "No, this will all be just fine. Really. The first time was so easy, this should be the same."

I heard someone down the hall hollering "Ouch ouch ouch OWWWWWW!" I didn't pay it much thought until much later.

Into the room we went. Mild sedative and the doctor started. Soon I was whispering out "Owww!" "Hey that hurts!"

The RN at my head said, "It's okay."

I replied, "IT is NOT okay! Ouch!"

I watched the scope fly through my innards and when the doctor hit a curve it felt like an internal baseball bat hit me. "JEEESUSSS, what the Fu--?"

Finally the doctor said quietly, "Almost at the end."

It felt like I was rammed.

Then I watched the scope exiting out.

I gritted my teeth. If I hadn't been sedated, I would have ripped out the painful IV and started swinging. 

My end result by the doctor was, "It is great, everything looks good!"

I asked her point blank in the recovery room. "Then why did it hurt like hell?"

Her answer, "You have a lot of twists and turns in your colon."

"Well that was more painful than it should have been."

She patted my leg and left the room. I threw nasty think darts at her back even though I was starving and slightly floaty. I swore she'd never ever touch me again. In 10 yrs if I was due up again, I'd drill the doctor about their procedure.

The cartoon? Yeah, I agree with that one this time. 

Crapping Gatorade poo and getting beat up inside was not a good day for me.

Tuesday was: go to Mom in Law's to help her out with cleaning her fridge. I did the grocery shopping and came home. I still felt ... pardon the pun. Crappy. My lower intestines hurt still, perhaps from the wild rush of the scope through my bum or perhaps I was bruised inside. It hurt. Or it was the gas she blew me up with lingering and causing discomfort.

I called Mom in Law and told her I needed one more day of rest before tackling the HazMat Tainted and Dreaded Fridge Job.

I will go today to the apartment with dire trepidation.

I've grown strange science experiments before in my own fridge, but nothing quite compares to this....

One must face adversities in life.
Be strong.
Be very strong.