If it ain't one thing it's another ...

I feel like I'm loosing the battle of the dollar.  I just paid my vehicle registration on my Jeep - only $86 ... it is for 2 years but next month I have $86 to pay on my GMC, also for 2 years.  Then in July '15 I will have to lay out $118.75 for my truck camper.  It's nice that they're all for two years, but I'd really like for the GMC truck to be during in between years from the Jeep ...

I also have, for the next 2 months a vet payment of $175 for the surgery on my "baby" SueAnn. 

I have one bit of good news for me ... I received confirmation that my property taxes have been deferred until I sell the house, or die (do NOT plan that for a long time).  This will save me $150 a month in Nov, Feb and May. 

Enough of the money stuff .. it just gets more and more depressing ...

I've been getting 'going into winter' chores done a little at a time, but I was told that we are suppose to have SNOW on Saturday, so I need to really get the butt in gear.  I still have to drain an roll up all the hoses and shut off the water to the outdoor spigot.  I need to figure out where to park my truck for the season, and, oh yes, suspend the insurance.

Note to self for tomorrow - "Suspend Insurance"

A good friend just (Saturday) unloaded a truck bed full of bags of cans and bottles!  It's messy and dirty to return cans, but boy can we get a nice bunch of dollars for our effort - I like that part.  It pays for cat food, cat litter and a few other things our Snap card doesn't cover.  Nice help!

I've sent emails to some of our elected officials challenging them to come live in my house for a month on what I make from SS and Snap.  I know there are people worse off than me, an I pray for them, but each month that comes, I feel like I'm sinking.  I know, get over myself and deal with it ... yup, somehow that's just what I'll do.

The weather really feels like late Fall; a lot of rain lately with the promise of snow.  I hope we have a really, really snowy winter.  We haven't had a good snow pack in the mountains for quite a lot of years and need it.  It's also fun to play in when you feel like you could sink to your waist ... LOL.  I'm also one of those people who likes to shovel ... every one says I'm nuts, but I don't care.  It's refreshing and exercise is good for me!

Gee, I didn't mean for this post to sound so down, but hopefully I now have it out of my system.

Have a great rest of October and Happy Halloween ... God Bless

More stuff, not all of it nice ...

We had good weather out at Deer Camp.  We filled 3 out of 4 tags.  Ron did not get his deer.  The guys are now out at Elk Camp - it ends fri the 24th, so we'll see if any Elk are brought home.

There are several groups of campers that come to our campground every year and we are like one big family out there.  There are jokes played and they can go back and forth between camps during the whole time.  Lots of laughs.  I left camp 5 days before the end of the season - a week is just about what I can take camping ... they say I'm getting old ... What????  Old ... who me?  67 is not old!!!

There were a total of 200+ croppy caught!  After Elk is over we're going to have a really BIG fish fry!!!  Love those croppy!!

The weather has dropped since then and we've had several nights of rain lately.  We still need rain ... and lots of it ... then we need a good hard freeze to prepare us for snow.  Every where I look for weather says that the Pacific Northwest will have above average temperatures this winter.  Just not a good thing!  If the weather goes no lower than 26 deg we could still get a load of snow.  I pray for SNOW!!  Several friends plow during the winter to make a bit of extra money.  I love winter as long as I can stay WARM ... LOL

It seems that I gather orphans.  I have a girlfriend from Boston staying with me since her husband passed away and now very good friends from So. Cal are looking to come up and stay until they can get back on their feet.  I've already scoped out where they can park the camper and get hooked up here.  M will find a job while she's going to (online) school to learn Medical Transcription.  I'm sooo pulling for her.  Her husband (B) is medically retired but is willing to help out with things that need to get done around the property.  Looking forward to seeing them again.  Things are definitely in the works, they would like to be here in 2-3 months.  I can keep the ground clear of snow until they arrive ... I know I'm nuts, but I really like to shovel snow ... really!

I got bad news today ... SueAnn, my 13 yr old dog had a growth removed last week; the biopsy on the lump was cancerous.  There was a small part of the lump left, but in the location the lump was, I can see how a bit could be missed.  For now I will watch her.  She is the love of my life and I will take care of her until she can't any more.  It is just heartbreaking for me ... I'll let this topic drop for now ...

Fall chores are slowly getting done, the hoses being put away, the camper being winterized too.  The garden (LOL, LOL, LOL) needs to be cleaned up.  I have to find a place to put my compost pile before I start cleaning the garden ... but I need a container of some sort ... or build one out of pallets ... no matter what, I needed it last week ... LOL - this too will get done ... or not.  Then a big messy inside winter job - cleaning the wood stove (that should have been done a couple of weeks ago) and the wood box on the front porch ... and loading it up.  By the time I'm done with those chores, I don't need the stove ... LOL.  I've been picking up pine cones to use as fire starters - they work really well.  I should have enough wood for the winter months ... surely hope so!  Next year we will have to get wood for 4-5 cords for next winter.  I do use a lot of wood - I hate being cold!!!  Besides, the stove is so old that it's hard to set the damper, so it usually ends up being warmer in here than I really like, but I crack windows to help.

I'm going to let this post sink in ... I need to get back to my knitting ... LOL.

Blessed Be ya'll !

Silence ...

I've been silent on sooo many things since I last posted ...

I've gone camping several times and have had a blast!  Now our group is preparing for Deer Camp starting on Sept. 30.  Opening day is Oct 4, but due to many people having discovered our campground, we need to get there almost a week early.  It is a small campground run by the BLM and it has the friendliest Hosts I've ever run across. 

The Michael Brown case is a joke.  MY belief is that a punk got what he deserved.  I don't care what color he is!!

Two beheaded journalists, and the Obamination has no respect ...

9/11 is on Thursday of this week ... I wonder how prepared the govt is to prevent anything from happening ... I bet, not much!  I don't want anything to happen, but if it did, I really don't think the govt would wake up ... nor care ...

I've been following too many news stories lately, but I am scared of my govt and what it won't do to save America and her people.  The world doesn't trust the admin and are laughing at us ...

Hopefully I can get back into my crafts; knitting, beading and sewing and stop this incessant "watching the news".  In one way I wish I could be a bit more oblivious to world events, but I can't let myself ignore the facts ... I am scared!

Next time I'll be in a better frame of mind and promise to have more fun!
Blessed Be

Saturday morning ...

I got up a bit late (9:30), even for me, but my back hurt like heck and I didn't want to do anything.  But once I'm awake I can't get comfortable so I rolled out slowly.  I had a note on my calendar to MOW ... ugh!  But it had to be done.  I'm trying to revive an almost dead patch of grass, but it's going to take some work ...

I retrieved the mower from my car port ... needed gas ... went to find the little gas can - no where to be found!  I stopped by Dale's house and found my old one.  While I was rummaging through my shed, I noticed a thousand ants crawling around ... Oh, sh*t!! ... through the house to the back porch to get some ant killer ... set 3 of them around and will hope for the best.  Got gas and a quart of oil, filled the mower with gas but didn't quite need oil yet ...

The yard isn't that big but the whole thing took about 2 hours ... I can normally mow in about 20-30 minutes ... gas can, ants, oil ... 3 ring circus and there is only one of me ... LOL!

The sky is a bit cloudy so it wasn't too hot to mow, but I probably would have done it even if it was 80 and cloudless!  I really needed to get it done.

Stopped at the PO and my birthday money was there ... happy dance ... and the two screens for my dehydrator was there too.  Now I just need the dehydrator itself - hopefully it will be there on Monday or Tuesday.

I should also go wash the Jeep, but my back needs a rest for a while.  We'll see if it gets done today or not.  I like washing the Jeep in cloudy weather so there aren't a ton of streaks ... It will get an oil change tomorrow ...

My chickens are on strike so I only see eggs once in a great while.  I have two that lay the green eggs and one of them have found a great nest under my steps to the house!  I found one of my big spoons will just reach into the nest to get it - then I have to be careful not to lose it out of the spoon ... haven't yet, but I can see it coming.  It's taken 1 1/2 weeks to get 4 eggs ... these weather changes don't help!

I need to go gather up all the stuff that has to go back in the camper - its all sitting on my front porch wood box and I'm running out of room.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

I think I can breathe now ...

It's not that I've been holding my breath, but there sure have been a lot of times where I wanted to.  My friend Ron, has had quite a few problems with his '72 Bronco ... it's still a Ford ... LOL.  New parts needed, parts not in stock, wrong parts, broken new parts - I think that covers it for now, and hope he can get it put back together without any more issues ... fingers crossed and prayers said.  I've been running back and forth to town with him (he's paid for gas) to get parts, exchange parts, to pick up out of stock parts.

 ... and yesterday we went to the local "Stand Down".  That's when the military hands out new and used military issue socks, thermals, shirts, jackets, back packs and pretty much what you can think of.  The doors open at 8, but in order to now having to wait all day you want to get there early ... We were there by 6:30 am ... I had to get up at 5, but missed it by about 30 min, so only had 30 min to get ready.  That's not easy when you're still asleep ... LOL.  So we had 1 1/2 hr to wait in the morning cold and in the shade no less.  You get a number and they call that so you can register.  The you get to walk around all the booths set up for Lion Club vision, VA homeless help, The Klamath Tribes, the Library and a ton more services offered here in the Klamath Basin.  The give out can coolers, pens & pencils, pens & pencils, books to read and books of benefits, did mentions that there was a lot of pens & pencils ... after you had your registration form signed by all these groups, you get in line to pick out the surplus items that you'd like.  After that ... you can go home.  You do get help from the Boy Scouts and active duty personnel - thank goodness because neither Ron nor I could carry the bundles we had accumulated ...

Once we got back home I have to get rid of some old things so I had room for the new stuff.  For some reason I ended up with a Parka, trench coat, and 3 other jackets - where the dicksons I'm putting them is still a mystery.

My other friends, Dale & Candy went camping with the Moose Lodge's Camping Club this weekend.  They are only about 6 or 7 miles from home - we stay close because the gas price is getting worse and worse, up to anywhere from $3.79 to $4.10 in our area.

I'm trying to recuperate from all the running to and from town, the waiting and the carrying of stuff yesterday, and the screwed up computer.  The place that sold me the new computer and not even half ass reloaded things really SCREWED things up bad.  I will not go back to them - EVER!!!  I think that I'll let my Son-in-law's company fix it long distance from now on.  I couldn't get my old computer fixed because it was close or over 9 yrs old.  After I bought a new revamped computer was when a shit load of problems started ... they did not load my firewall or anti-virus programs so guess what happened within 2 days ... yup, major mess.  I went and picked up my old tower because it still has all my information on it and I really don't trust those guys after all the problems I've had.

I've been on several camping trips so far and they are always nice.  I've slowed down on my knitting because I haven't had time to enjoy it and am just too tired at night to work on any of my projects ... I'm now going to get back into it again - I really, really enjoy it and it helps slow down my brain - as if it goes too fast anyways ... LOL!!

Enough for now, but I did want to tell a bit of what's been going on.  I didn't want every one to think I fell off the edge ...

The weather was sooo nice and warm last week but today and for the next few days it is suppose to be cool.  We had frost / freeze warnings the last 2 nights ... run out and cover all the new shoots that have come up.  I'm not getting the sprouting that I was expecting, but maybe I just need to hold my horses and wait a while longer ... LOL.  I'm hoping it warms up again so the little shoots can grow and the ones still not showing will appear.

Hope every one has a nice day, week, month ... life!!

A lot of nothing ... LOL

It's been too long, but there really hasn't been anything worth mentioning ... I will start mentioning stuff so you don't think I've abandoned you ... LOL.

Today, Mar.7, 2014 at 11:00 am, it is about 35 degrees out with scattered clouds and the grass is starting to green up ... what happened to winter??  There were a few days with snow - maybe 12" or so, but then it just hung around getting smaller and dirtier as the days went by.  We haven't seen a decent snowstorm in years ... yes years!  I do not believe in global warming, but I do believe in climate change.  The earth has cycles.  Warmer for years (10-15) and then cooler for a period of time ... I just take each day as it comes - there's no reason to make so much noise or spend so many millions on a natural event.  The Earth moves, it is a living thing and a lot of people are making "much about nothing."

I took my dog, SueAnn, in for a routine check and even though she's 12 1/2 yrs old, she's healthy and active.  She can't run and catch the ball for as long as she use to, but then neither can I ... as a matter of fact, she does better than I do ... LOL

I spoke with my contractor the other day and he suggested we might be able to dig the trench now instead of waiting until the end of April ... we had picked that date because we were expecting snow, but that looks like it's not happening.  We will get together and pick a day as soon as John is finished putting rock on the roads in our district.  T.H.E.N  I will get the grant money sooner and can get back to normal ... no, things won't even be close to normal until we have a new government, but you all know what I mean.

I've started really taking a good look at what I eat and when ... not the healthiest routine here, but I'm working on it.  I've been eating oatmeal most mornings, but still have my cravings for the bagel and cream cheese ... and I have some in the kitchen, ummm!  I've been studying up on Coconut Oil and have learned from different sources that it is GOOD for me.  This morning I had my oatmeal and added some (1 1/2 tsp) coconut oil and cinnamon to it ... um ... no, not with the oatmeal I have in the house.  I usually give oatmeal to the chickens so I buy the cheapest I can find.  Now I will have to get a decent brand of oatmeal.  The 'Old Fashioned' just does not go down well ... I like my oatmeal where I don't have to CHEW it ... next trip to the store I will get Quaker Oatmeal - I know I like that!!!

Talk about knitting ... there are 2 major projects on the needles, one is a Cowl for me out of the Caron Simply Soft in Orchid and the other is a short sleeved sweater in Vanna's Choice in Oatmeal.  There is also a 'kitty blanket' on some needles, and I'm trying really, really hard NOT to start a blanket ... we'll see how long that lasts.  I love blankets and throws to wrap up in, at least in winter.  I want to knit a shawl for around the shoulders for both winter and summer use.  The summers can get cool in the evenings at 4500-5000' altitude, so better safe than sorry.  My comfort zone over the years has gotten warmer and warmer - I use to like about 66-68 about 20 yrs ago, but now have moved up to 72-75, or warmer depending ... Yup, I'm getting older!  Hate to admit that, but with creaking bones and arthritis there's no denying it.

I need to get off my butt and go wash the bathroom ceiling - not a fun job at all!!
Have a great day, week, month ... oh hell, have a great LIFE ... LOL