I can be so stupid!

It started out like any other day. 

 I did a bunch of 'stuff' after chores and then decided to take Charlie for a nice little walk down to the creek to see what the warmer temps did to spots in the creek bottom.

I took along a Lego build in a plastic container. I had some ideas that jumped into my head but hadn't figured out what I was going to do yet.

I'd just built a Mythical Creature called Qilin that is a so beautiful in its colors that I felt I needed to have it and display it. It is from a Lego kids' animated series called Monkey Kid. I did look up the series and made it through one 30 minute show. I wanted to see what it was about. Very easy. Good vs. Bad. Good always wins in the end.

Hmmm. I would like to say...why doesn't that happen in real life?

Only in Fantasy?

Anyway, I digress. I took my Mythical Creature [I like its name Qilin, I won't change that] down  to our icy creek. 

In my head the brilliant colors vs the ice would be beautiful.
It was.

I love my Lego creatures. I like dragons and mythical creatures, always have. 

I also had a Wizard and a Tetradactyl in my tote. The wizard will enter into the Princess Sara stories somehow, I just haven't thought of it yet.

I came up with this. The magic here is that the Tetradactyl has a wire attached to it which I stuck in the tree so it looks as if it is flying.

I would hesitate with that beast flying towards me, but the wizard must have it under control. I believe he is going to ride it!

Charlie and I did our rounds of the creek and stopped by the ice wall before heading up over the hill to the ridge and back home. I gave Charlie a lot of dog time to sniff and explore.

A happy dog is a dog whose owner takes time for them to enjoy themselves also.

The ice wall over the past week it has expanded quite a bit with the melting during the day from above and the freezing at night and cooler temps on a shaded hill over the cold stream.

That was the end of our morning walk, we crossed the field on the ridge and went home.

I had things to do like fold laundry, change the sheets, do some book work, and make some calls. I fixed a 'well' balanced lunch of eggs, bacon, strawberries, and oranges. 

Charlie was enjoying the warm weather on our south facing porch when I decided to make a 'walk' out of getting the mail on the ridge. 

I put on my light weight coveralls and grabbed my little backpack. I put my cell phone in a sleeve at the backpack and immediately thought. 

That is a stupid place to put it. 

OHHH, I'll be so careful!

Famous last words.

I picked up my mail and a book I ordered. 

More about this book after I do some work in it. I can see that it will be helpful to me.

Soooo. As I stuck the package into my backpack, once again I thought, that is a very stupid place to put that phone. Surely though, I can be careful, it is just a walk down the gravel road.

I walked about 50 feet from the mailbox and spotted an empty can of beer on the edge of the woods. An idea popped into my head and I decided to push my way through the brambles and pick it up.

I grabbed it and walked along the opposite edge of the road and set my idea up. 

[I use these two characters in a series of toy photos. They collect metals they find.]

Balancing the little guy was quite a feat. However after a few trials and errors, I got what I wanted. These guys are always in a grubby type setting and the dirty snow was absolutely perfect.

We walked on.

Charlie chased a 'possum which ran over to a pile of wood where it flopped to the ground. Charlie poked it with his nose and the 'possum never moved. I went to grab my cellphone to take a photo.

Um.

It was gone. IT. WAS. GONE!!!!

So I retraced all of my steps over and over and over again. For a 1/2 mile walk, I managed to do 2.5 miles to the search. No matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find it. The phone was still recording my steps so it was somewhere nearby. 

I went home and charged up my old phone and then Googled *Find my phone* Google showed me where it was located on a map. I went up and looked. 

NOPE.

Then I went back home and clicked on *ring the phone* or some such thing. I jumped in the car and drove to the general area and turned the car off.

I could hear my phone! I have a chicken ring which is loud and obnoxious. It lead me right to my phone which was exactly where I missed it in the briars just past where I picked up the beer can.

What lesson did I learn? Put the phone in a secure place! 

What an idiot.

Silence ~ But I can do better!

I live with a person who has several health issues and dementia. Some days are quiet and pretty darned boring. Those are really the better days. Then there are the days that something gets his ire up and well it can get rather tense.

The other day I was watering the large heated stock tank. The outdoor hydrant is above the house on a hillside. I use about 200 feet of construction strength black hose to run water to the stock tank which is plugged in on the porch of the house. I separate the hoses and drain them in the winter. Gravity is such a great helper. Once in the past 5 years I've had one hose ice up on me. 

I separate the hoses by the LP tank. You can see how the slope works in my favor.

The tank fills with very little work most of the time. The two mules that need special feeding requirements are kept separate from the younger mules. Fred the pony mule is 35. Mica is the grey mule. She is has heaves when it is dry and dusty and is a hard keeper. Mica is also blind in one eye. I still ride Mica and put kids on her even though she is our tallest mule. She has a very kind disposition and is very gentle.

So I finished watering, picked feet, and gave everyone except Fred a nice hug and some ear rubs. Fred is anti social and doesn't like being caught.

I wrapped things up and headed to the house. Rich had been watching from the porch door. When I got inside he proceeded to give me a very stern lecture on 'how to drain the hoses properly'. I had the angle wrong somehow and I left footprints and divots in the snow which made the hose freeze up.

He even showed me how to hold the hose properly along with how to walk. It went on and on and on. 

I internally rolled my eyes and then in a moment of stupidity blurted out. "I've been doing this for over 5 years and I've only frozen up the hose one other time during the other Polar Vortex a couple of years ago. It will be 40 today. The hoses will be just fine."

His retort was quick and sudden and a bit nasty. He turned and crossed his arms in a huff.

I realized instantly that I his time frames were confused. In his mind he'd just helped me with it not too long ago. 

He was also stressed out because the program he'd been binge watching had ended. And he was frustrated because somewhere in his mind that he was no longer out there doing simple things like draining the hose.

His punishment was the Silent Treatment. He tossed the remote and and sat on the couch. He stared at the wall arms crossed and breathing in big sighs. After about a half hour, he got up and went to take a nap.

I understand mental health issues a bit. I am a lay person who lives with it. I married a person with it. I don't have any regrets. But there are days when even I can't deal with it and I take my Angel Hat and toss it aside.

However, I grew up in a household where Mom was the Expert at Silent Treatment. She could've taught a Master's Class in Silence and exasperated looks.
I knew I shouldn't engage in it, but I did.

I plugged my earphones into my smarty phone and dialed in Pandora. Mom was the expert and I learned from her. My Mom had some mental health issues too, so I'd learned from the expert. My poor dad, I don't think he ever could understand Mom.

Silence feels like a superpower. It is a very powerful weapon. Sooner or later hubby would need help with the TV or he would want supper. I rolled these things over in my mind and decided that I'd break his silence as soon as he got up from his nap.
After all, I should be the better person in this as I am caring for him.

There is no arguing with Dementia. I discovered that with his mom. Let them rant, let them tell you what is what and simply move on. Hard to do when you literally live in close proximity.

After his nap, he wasn't having anything to do with breaking Silence. He stood with the remote and kept clicking through programs and sighing loudly. I let him.

I started to bake chocolate chip cookies. Our cottage/house is very tiny. Pretty quick, he entered the kitchen and stood.

"Whatchya doing?"

Me: Baking cookies.

Him: Didjya fall on your head? [His joke at any attempt by me at baking.]

Me: Must have.

Him: Let me have some.

Me: Okay. Can I help you find a program?

Him: Yes please.

The Silent Treatment broken and things back on an even keel.