L O N G T I M E ... !!!

I don't know what happens that there is sooo much time between posts, maybe there just isn't enough exciting things happening around here ... I don't know ...

At the end of April we had our annual Mount Mazama Mountain Men camp out.  It is always fun watching every one in Mountain Men clothing and the shooting competitions with the old Black Powder rifles and pistols .. In a way it is like the Mountain Men Rondevous of old ... games, shooting, vendors and just plain old camaraderie.

On June 21st we had another 5 day camp out scheduled and had a wonderful time ... except that my Truck camper refrigerator decided to start going belly up!  I'm not sure what the problem is, as it works on house power - both freezer and fridge works great, gets down to right temps and stays cool ... the freezer works on propane, but the fridge itself will not cool.  I had it looked at at our local RV place and all they could find was the thermocouple was burned out.  They replaced that and we tried again.  Nope didn't work any better at all.  It's a 1990 fridge and we all think it has just grown tired, but is still sputtering along once in a while.  In July we had another trip and I tried again, but the weather was absolutely hot and unbearable.  We don't usually get weeks in the 90's, but this time we did.  And the fridge wanted to stay at 60+ degrees so I used tons of ice in my old coolers, but we still had to make a trip to town for more ice ...

Two weeks after that, another trip, yes we are camping enthusiasts, and I had bought a Coleman Extreme 5 to help keep groceries and drinks cold ... it ended up with hot weather the first 2 days and then cooled down to comfortable level - Yeah!!!!  My new cooler held ice for 6 days - not much left at the end, but there was still ice!!!  No I don't work for Coleman, but I've always loved their products.

Deer season is coming up on the 30th of Sept, so we are off again.  I was going to see if I could get a new fridge before this trip, but with the cost being sooo high, I thought I'd wait until Spring to see if products go on sale and then worry about it.  I can't see spending upwards of $1,000 for the fridge for one more trip this year.  We will all go out to get our camp sites around the 21st of Sept.  The camp hosts have a special Pot Luck for all the hunters that can make it on the 23rd, so I have to think of something to bring ... I will only be there for 7 days at the most so I will miss opening day, but I only go for the camping - I'm not a hunter, but will visit during the next 2 weeks.  Our site is only about 10 miles from home, so it's not hard to drive out there.  I'm still looking forward to the camping part!!

I've been preparing for 2 craft fairs in November and still have lots to get done, and yes, a lot to get started on too!!  I love crafting and my girlfriend and I have come up with some items for the men.  There never seems to be manly gifts offered at craft fairs, so we're hoping we can catch the "Men's gift Market" with some good items and some fun ones too.  After the Fairs we take a month and a half off, and then get right back into crafting for the following year ... we love it!

I've marked my calendar so I will post more often and not have to write a book to keep you updated ... let's see if that works ... LOL

Bless you all ...

Getting old isn't for sissies!!!

Four days ago I crawled up on my roof to clear part of it ... the part over the dining area ... the ceiling was sagging and I hit Panic Mode!  Now in order for me to get up on the roof, I have a regular 6' ladder, I had to crawl up to the 4th tread, brush the snow off the wood shed ... crawl up there and make my way through 2 feet of snow to the edge of the carport.  The carport has about 14-16" of corrugated metal overhand until the first support beam - it bends when you crawl up - I got up there fine.

Now I have to work my way through another 2 feet of snow to the edge of the house.  There is about 10-12 inches of overhang that I could stand on before hitting the saggy part - scary part! - I started to remove snow, and remove snow and remove more snow ... being afraid of stepping on that "sag" I'm stretching out in front of me with my shovel getting maybe 4-5 inches of snow at a time until I hit the roof surface.  I have a plastic shovel and a rubber roof, so even if the corners of the shovel are a little bit rounded ... like a dime rounded ... I have to be careful to not dig and put a hole in the rubber ... Well, I worked my way around the roof edge to get to the part where I knew there was a wall under me and continued to shovel layers of snow and ice at the edge over the edge ... a friend came to help, but I was 85% done, but he really did help with that last center part of snow over the "sag" - he could reach farther than I could and we finished sooner.  I had to crawl on all fours across the roof by the edge as rubber boots and rubber roof makes for a treacherous crossing on only 2 feet, but I made it!  Then a hop over to the carport roof and a slide down the wood shed roof.  I had to turn and go off the edge to the ladder backwards ... my girlfriend guided my feet to the top rung and I made my way down the latter - I don't think I've ever been so grateful for terra firma as I was then.  I will NEVER get back up on the roof.

A couple of days after my "adventure" I started hurting in my leg ... I had thoroughly aggravated my sciatic nerve!  I'm still not doing well, but I will get through this again.

The last time I did a job on the sciatic was the week after Thanksgiving ... I was pissed of about something I can't even remember and grabbed a 50 lb bag of chicken feed and tossed it around getting it into the house, stepped wrong and that evening couldn't move without pain ... I think I may just have learned that I'm not 30 anymore, or even 40 or 50 ... I'm just so use to having to do things for and by myself that I don't stop and think.  

I'm using ice to get the sciatic nerve to stop twitching and twisting ... It does work and Icy Hot helps too.  I'm too stubborn to be kept down, but if I'm not careful it just might happen ... some day ... soon ...

Learn a lesson from me ... don't be that stubborn old lady or old man ...
Hugs

Weather Service ...

The weather Service said we'd get 8 - 12" overnight ... Hmmm, I think I have 18" new snow on top of 6-8" from the previous storm a few days ago ... makes about 2 feet and some 3 foot drifts.  I've been shoveling since about 8:30 this morning and came in at noon ... Phew!!  Thank goodness I have my wood stove and the wood box (on enclosed porch) is full ... the vent for the exhaust of the furnace is covered with snow ... I need to get up there to clear vents ... no ladder tall enough ...

My cat, Joey, is use to going out right after breakfast ... I opened the door and he was ready to run down the steps except they had disappeared ... LOL   He was a bit put out, turned around, went to the window to look out at this "stuff" that was preventing him from his normal routine ... After the front stoop and a trail to the carport was cleared, he was happy to go out for about 10 minutes.

Not sure I'll be able to do any more shoveling ... my back is giving me a few fits now and again.

Just thought I'd keep you posted ... not sure how to load a picture from my cell phone ... Happy New Year to everyone!!!  (((HUGS)))