Ya ... I'm still around ...

 I did something last night that I haven't done in a long time ... I watched the debate.  WOW, what a pathetic performance by biden and wallace ... I had to calm my dogs several times 'cause I was yelling at the TV ... biden and wallace ganged up on President Trump and he had to fight harder to get a word in edgewise ... there has to be someone out there that can control their bias and just moderate instead of bait the President.  The first one that comes to mind is Victor Davis Hansen ... he is on the side of America and would be great ... The other person I'd like to see moderate is Mark Levin ... there would be no question of him going after lies ... and there were plenty from biden, as a matter of fact, I didn't hear one TRUTH from biden ...

Yes, it's obvious who I will follow and stand up for ... The American, President Trump. 

If I had to write a list of all the lies the communist left have made about everything, I'd have to cut down 10 redwood trees over 400 feet tall, to have enough paper for that list, and that might not even be enough paper!!!  

I know it's been a long, long time since I've posted but things just don't happen with any kind of frequency around here.  I've been in constant pain from my shoulder due to the deterioration of the shoulder joint!  I've been to therapy twice, had an MRI, which I will NEVER consciously do again ... I always thought I had a bit of claustrophobia, but this experience confirmed that it's more than a "bit" ... If I ever need to have another MRI, I will need to be knocked out totally!!!  

I finally have a date for surgery to "dust and clean" out the joint - these are the doctors words - December 17.  I asked for a date after Thanksgiving because I have a craft fair a week before and can't afford to not go.  I have crafts coming out my ears that I need to sell ... LOL ... and I just love the interaction with the customers.  My shoulder has been in the way since June 2019, so I figure what's a few more months ... 

This post is getting a bit lengthy, but I will try, again, to post more often ... LOL ... if I could keep up and post at least once a month I'd be happy.  

Have a wonderful day, month and year, and I hope I can keep up ... 

Hey again ...

It's been a week and a day ... not bad if I can keep it up ... LOL ... ... ...

The weather is gloomy and we're expecting rain later today, and some snow over the weekend.  There are dirty little patches from the last round of snow but I don't really consider that snow anymore!  The only place I have snow (ice) is in the front of the house as it faces North East ... lots of ice melt on that! 

I got a nice new computer that won't play nice ... I had one of the earlier versions of Windows 10 but with the new computer came a later version and it just doesn't play the same ... frustrates me a lot!!  I lost my Windows Live email and am not sure which is the best to use now.  I have an email through my provider but their site is junk for email, but I need an email reader that will take my current address ... any ideas out there? ... I don't want to change my email address so it's been fun trying to find a reader ...

Gosh, I wish I had something exciting to report but this time of year is pretty boring out here in the woods ... see you next week, hopefully with something, if not exciting, at least interesting ... LOL ...

I'm not trustworthy ... LOL

All the times I've said I am ready to post on a regular basis I've fallen by the wayside almost immediately ... not on purpose but I just get wrapped up in something else and I forget about blogging.  If I put a note on my calendar to blog, I just say "Ya, ya, ya ... tomorrow"  and we all knows what happens then - I forget.  The last post I made was in September 2018 and I guarantee that lots of stuff has happened since then.

I'm again going to try to remember to post and not about everything in the same post ... one or two happenings per post - do you think I can do that on a steady basis, maybe once a week to start?  I hope so, so don't write me off yet ... LOL ...

I hope my followers are still around and that includes family ... and maybe if I can post interesting enough things I can get a few more ... I'm hoping for that ... so I'll see you next week ... I hope!

New start ...

I've had a lot of stuff happen in the last year, therefore I took a break from blogging.  I think I'm now ready to start again, possibly only on a limited basis, but I'm still around ... 😊 ... and will try to keep up.

I've recently adopted 2 little dogs who's owner had died.  As best I can figure they are a Maltese-Poodle mix (Rudy) and a Yorkie- Wire haired terrier mix (Rascal).  Both cute as the dickens but so different. Rudy is pretty happy go lucky but Rascal has to know where I am at all times.  I had a larger dog 2 years ago, SueAnn, but am learning to be a Dog Mom all over again and loving it!! 

I am also trying to craft as much as possible, knit, paint, sew, etc., as I am doing a large Craft Fair in November.  My girlfriend and I were vendors there last year and enjoyed it sooo much, that we definitely wanted to do it again this year.  We sold quite a bit and definitely made our money back plus a lot more.  A couple of months ago we pulled out everything we had made that wasn't sold and realized that we really needed to get busy for this year!  I've painted rocks, tin buckets and signs.  I'm also knitting more dish cloths as they sold very well. This year I'm adding a free scrubby for every 2 dish cloths sold and hopefully they go over well so I can make bunches more and sell them next year as a stand alone item, maybe in 3's for whatever I decide on.

I raise chickens for fun and eggs, but a, or some critters have decimated my flock so that I only have 2 left out of 7.  One of the survivors had been loose for 4 days and did not want to be caught, but I think hunger and thirst finally got her to go into the pen and as I was out there, I got the gate closed before she could escape again ... Phew!!  Have you ever tried catching a chicken that didn't want to be caught ... not a game or exercise program I would recommend ... LOL ... for a few days I was very sore from trying to chase her down.  The two ladies are now confined to the pen which is a 6 x 12' old dog kennel attached to a coop.  I feel so bad about this as all 7 were free range in my back yard, but if I turn them loose now they will both disappear.  They are very scared of the dogs as they are probably the same size as our night critter, that the girls go into the coop. They went through a terrible trauma as 5 of their kind were slaughtered in 4 days ... I feel for them.

I need to finish a couple of crafts today, and hopefully I can figure out how to get the pictures from my phone to this blog ... anyone know an easy way?? ... LOL ...

See you all later ... 😘😘😘

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)))

Baby, It's cold outside!!!

I am ready for a bit of above 30 temps.  When I got up this morning (at 6 am) it was 9 deg outside the window!  We are on a heatwave today, it is now 17 ... today's high of 30 will be the low in a couple of days ...

I must not have any blood as I've been cold to one degree or another in the past 2 weeks.  The shower helps, but it doesn't take long for me to feel chilled again.  I HAVE to go outside at least twice a day to feed and water my chickens.  I have 3 bowls for water; the one inside the coop, the one out in the pen and the last one for when they're outside the coop.  OK you say ... they are all FROZEN solid.  I bring the one inside the coop in to thaw, so they will have something to drink.

A few days ago we had 6" of snow, which was nice since we are way below normal, but it rained the next day and most of it is gone ... there are some frozen patches here and there, but not worth much.

My friend S and I have been crafting a lot for the 2 craft fairs we did this year.  One of them we will do again in 2017 and hopefully a new fair to us will call and say "You're in!"  Won't know until summer, but I'm still going to craft all year 'cause it's the big one here in my town!!  We need a lot more products and repeats of what's been sold and what seems to draw attention.  I have a list of items that I'd like to do, but we'll see when it comes right down to it.  I can only knit, sew or paint for so long until I need to get up and do something else for a while ... and in the summer it will be hard to do some of it, but I can knit outside and while camping, so those projects won't fall behind.  The painting and sewing (and beading) aren't so easy to take anywhere ... there is also too much dirt and dust ...

I just changed my furnace filter ... should have been done a few months ago ... My house wouldn't warm up, so I looked at it through the slats in the vent OMG ... changed now.

If I don't get back on here before Christmas, I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Joyful New Year.  Hugs all around ...

WOW - Didn't realize it's been THIS long ...

I read other blogs, but then forget about my own ... that age thing again ... LOL  The summer was pretty normal, a week or two of our hot weather (Oregon style)  in the mid to upper 90's.  We only got together for camping 5 times instead of the usual 6-7.  Time conflicts for one member of the group, but the times we did go out, we has a GREAT time as usual.

My friend & I signed up for a craft fair on the second weekend of Oct.  This was the second time we joined the craft fair, but I doubt we will do this one again - just not run or managed well.  We now have one on Dec. 3, and are super looking forward to it even though we've never joined this one before, but have heard really good things about it.  I then received a call yesterday inviting us to join another on Dec. 10 ... one week after our Senior Center Craft Fair ... not sure we have enough products to do another one so close ... I will return the call and say "No, sorry, not this year"  If that group decides to have another Craft Fair next year we may consider it because my friend & I have decided that we need to craft all year long.

There just doesn't seem to be a lot of news on my end as the days are just running together ...

I had intestinal problems for about 4-5 months from March on, and I never really found out what the problem was as all my tests came back either negative (good) or that I'm very, very healthy (Extra Good!!).  I like that kind of news, but would really have liked to know what was causing the problem ... But it's great to know at my age that I'm very healthy!!

I lost my beautiful Hound 3 days after her 15th birthday (9/11)... it still hurts.  I still think I need to walk the dog, or that she can come to the PO to pick up the mail ... It's a very empty feeling when a split second later it again hits you that shes not here anymore.  I probably will get another dog, but not until after the new year.

I'm heading to my 'paint' table to finish some more items for the Craft Fair ... I need a kick in the butt so that I don't neglect my posting ... another sticky note?  A reminder on the calendar?  I'm not sure what will remind me BIG TIME ... Any ideas???

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Time flies ...

Time sure flies when you're having fun ... NOT!  I've hit the "bored beyond comprehension" state.  I'm beginning to hate the computer!  I upgraded to Windows 10 and changed my browser to Chrome.  Boy do I miss Windows XP!!  It was easy to use, and things were called what they were ...  I needed to clear all the cookies I'd been accumulating for a while and couldn't find anything that said "cookies" ... anywhere!  I had to do a search to find out it was under a tab called "content settings"  - what a moronic name ... there are many, many more things I'm really beginning to hate!!  I'll go into them as they pop up on me, besides when they do, I really need to vent, so stay tuned ... I know they're coming ... LOL!

I also think cabin fever has set in ... we've had a bit of snow the last couple of days, not enough to get excited about.  The snow rarely lasts more than a day ... little skiff that is more annoying than useful.  It has been cold and windy though.  It's hard to sometimes even go out to feed the chickens and let them out.  They also take a while to come out of the coop.  They eat and if they can find some sunshine they run for it or if it's overcast they scoot back into the coop - I have a heat lamp in there ...

The roller coaster ride that is the election is one of the most frightening things I've seen ever since I sort-of started paying attentions to elections ... I'm a Ted Cruz supporter.  Trump scares the hell out of me and Rubio is wishy washy.  He does something and then denies it ... sorry Marco, you are not much better than Trump.  Trump is out for himself ... if he didn't think he could get something out of being President he wouldn't be running ...

There was a surprise in my mail box today ... the March/April 2016 issue of Grit magazine!  I'm going to go through it as soon as I crawl into my bed in my warm fuzzies (pj's)  I usually watch TV while playing games on my tablet, but tonight after all the votes are counted, Grit will be gone through with a fine tuned comb.  I even read the ads ... LOL  I also go to some of the web sites just to see what they're all about.

Sure wish I had more open, sunlit ground on my property, but it's covered with trees ... not a bad thing, but I'd like to rearrange the trees a bit ... that way I can have a flat garden area and a greenhouse that both get sun!  The only place for a greenhouse is in the front of the house ... and that spot is used for the snow piles in winter ... I want a permanent greenhouse ... I've been trying to get seeds to grow for many years, but I've resigned myself to getting seedlings for whatever I want to grow ... I just don't have that darn green thumb for seeds.  I try to start them indoors, but my house is really dark and the way the house is laid out I don't have good window placement for seeds ...

I had a nice vacation last year to see my daughter, son-in-law and grandson.  We met in Seattle - the grandson is in the Navy and son-in-law had a big meeting with Microsoft, so my daughter went and talked me into going ... I loved every minute of it.  And my bestest friend and her daughter met us for an afternoon of lunch and some shopping.  Bestest friend and daughter live on Widbey Island, so it was a bit of a trip, but we all agreed it was worth it.  I need another trip away from the house!!!

There are quite a few dozens of eggs in the fridge so tomorrow I'll dehydrate some more raw eggs.  I also have celery that needs to be dried too.  That'll keep me busy for a couple of days ... then what?

I'm running out of things to 'talk' about besides being more pissy, so I'll let you all go for now.  Hope things are working out well for everyone.

Ta ta

I'm still running on absent ...

I just can't get it together to post regularly ... I'm learning how Windows 10 works and it's not the easiest thing I've ever done!  There are things I want to do, things I had in Windows 7 but don't exist in W10.  I need to have reminders pop up on my screen, and make a sound, from my calendar ... I can't find instructions for it.  Now I'll agree that "I" might be the problem in either not being able to find instructions or not understanding them ... and it's not easy finding the right place to post a question or getting an answer that "I" understand ... I'm a total end user on the computer.

I have MS Edge and it doesn't seem to be compatible with my Apache Open Office program.  I need a free, simple word processing program that will work with W10. 

Ahhh, always computer issues here ...

I spent Nov dehydrating different things and trying them out.  Rehydrating and eating them.  Some are good, others not so much.  I dehydrated some canned fruit, but I think fresh would be better.  I'll try the next go round.  I dried potato flakes, but with the amount of work, I wonder if it's worth it.  If I have an abundance of potatoes, I'll probably do it, but not to save money and time.  My canned beets dried nicely and rehydrated nicely, but they lost a lot of flavor, maybe I used too much water to rehydrate ... who knows?  I also used HOT tap water where maybe I should have used boiling water and less of it.  I'll try again with canned and also fresh when I can find them.

Susan just bought me "The Ultimate Dehydrator Cookbook" by Tammy Gangloff - I LOVE IT!!  It tells you exactly how to dry, what temp and how long until done.  My Presto 6300 Dehydrator is permanently set at around 140 deg and has to be unplugged to stop.  I ordered the Presto 6301 earlier this week - it has 6 trays, timer and temp regulators.  I bought the 6300 for about $35 to see if dehydrating was something I wanted to pursue ... YES, YES, and YES!!  The 6301 will be here somewhere between Jan 5-11 ... I can hardly wait!!

We have had very low temps here for the last week or two ... like 0F overnight and right now it's 12:20 pm and 10F ... I've had a cold too, and going out in this hurts my breathing.  I have to watch the chickens heat lamp and give them fresh HOT water to thaw their waterer!  They must be good with the heat lamp as they're still laying ... go figure.  The girls are good, but even the inside water is freezing ... I just keep putting HOT water on it. 

I think in the last 2 weeks we've had a good 3-4 feet of snow with the temp staying mainly below freezing.  I have to shovel it away from the door, front and back, watch for ice and spread salt crystals so we don't end up on our butts!!

First day of the new year and it is just like any other day, except I now have a 365 blank page book to write in.  I'd better make it good ... LOL.  Oops it's a 366 blank page book - Leap Year!

Well, I'll try to keep up better ... LOL!!!

Boy oh boy have I been absent ...

It seems to go in spurts - nothing to say for a long time, even though things do happen, it just doesn't seem blog worthy.  I wish I could hit a consistent pace ... like once a week, or twice maybe, but sometimes I don't think you want to hear on a daily basis that I'm dehydrating onions ... I've been doing that almost daily for 1 1/2 weeks.  I dehydrate because I can't eat them fast enough, so dried they last forever and nothing goes to waste.

I've also been experimenting with other things like zucchini, pineapple and bananas.  Now I need to experiment with re-hydrating them.  Most of what I've read says to use HOT water for hours or even a day or two.  I'll find out.  I guess it also depends where you live and the humidity in the area at the time.  I love the dried pineapple - the process concentrates the flavor and even though they are a bit chewy, they are GOOD!!

I have some banana chips I did in July 2014, and they are still crisp and flavorful.  I've also dehydrated celery ... it comes out wonderful too!  My dehydrator is a Dehydro by Presto.  It has one temperature and the on/off switch is unplugging the machine.  The temp is set at 140 deg, but it seems to work fine even though some of the instructions say 115 to 155 degrees.  I just watch the time and check the food after every 90 minutes.  I may eventually move up to a bigger and better machine, but I have to save my nickles and dimes for that! 

My friend, Susan, and I were vendors in a craft show on Oct 10.  It was a so-so show.  I sold enough to cover my expense for the table, but Susan did not.  I think there were 15 vendors and I doubt many of them enjoyed the fair.  There weren't many people coming through, and those that did were elderly.  I'm elderly so no offense meant, but the items Susan and I had were for all ages and the holidays.  There were a couple of families, but nooo, not the best show I've ever done ... We will do it again next year - it could just have been a fluke this time.  It was only the 2nd Annual fair, so we'll give it another chance.  We will also express our ideas to the group putting on the fair about other things they need to do to attract attention and draw people in.  She asked for our opinion and for help, so we're not stepping on toes ... LOL  Susan and I have both organized craft fairs, so we do have some ideas ...

The weather is turning and getting colder, rain in the forecast, but the snow is a whole week off.  By the time we hit Sun 11-8, I'm sure the snow will disappear from the forecast.  We need SNOW desperately as the last 5 years have been very dry, but I'm beginning to despair of ever seeing 3-4-5 foot snowfalls again.

The two new chickens I got in March or April haven't laid one darn egg!  No they are not males, but if they're laying in the yard, I haven't found anything even though I walk the yard 1-2 times a week.  The older girls need to go in the stew pot, but I'm not ready for that yet.  Next spring when the new 'crop' of chicks come out I'll probably butcher them for the freezer - at this age they're only good for soup & stock, but they will be enjoyed none-the-less.

I'm still around ... really!

I always seem to be busy in one way or the other ... but when I look back, I can't see one darn thing that was accomplished!  I'm retired so there's always time to get things done, except it just never seems to get done no matter what.

My procrastinating has got to STOP!!  I don't know how to schedule things that needs to get done so they get done ... I schedule my grocery shopping trips on things I'm running out of, like milk or coffee, but that doesn't help setting up a schedule.  When I do need to shop I gather several places that I need to go, but nothing gets scheduled ...

I have to see the doctor regularly to refill my prescriptions so that scheduling is on the calendar and I have no problem keeping the appointments.  I have Arthritis and terrible pain in hands and basic joints so I HAVE to have the pain meds.  Now why can't cleaning house be like that?  I like a clean house, but it so often looks like I picked up the house and shook it vigorously.  Then I complain about it for a month until I get sick of looking at it and things start to get done, but somehow I run out of steam ... I really run out of pain-free time and it takes several days for me to get the umph to continue.

I sure hope some one can come up with a schedule I can keep ... some way, some how! 


The first weekend of May I went camping with my friends to a Black Powder Shoot.  People in costumes from the mountain man era competing for prizes in a variety of activities representing that time.  A lot of fun!!  There are also raffles for different items and I won one this year!!!  A hand carved fish with lure on line in its mouth in a mountain stream with rocks and weeds.  It is about 10-11" long, 8-9" tall and 5-6" front to back.  ALL hand carved and painted.  It is a wonderful piece of art that the carver donates to a drawing every year.  I gave it to one of my best friends for his birthday ... he's more into fishing than I am, but I can see it anytime I visit him and his wife.  Looks wonderful sitting on top of a gun cabinet!

Another camping trip for my birthday was fun but pretty uneventful ... We just got back last Sunday from another birthday trip.  We spent almost 5 days in the woods.  I spent time reading and knitting; not too much fishing since it was lousy.  The weather was warm to hot during the day, but it did cool down at night so I could sleep.

See, I need to get on a schedule so I post more often ... April 5, 2015 is waayyy too long between posts.

Have a great day! 

Easter Sunday

Have a Happy Easter Bunny Day ... and more seriously, have a Wonderful Easter Sunday.  I wish I could be in Texas with my family to celebrate this High Holy Day.  I miss them, but they are all in my heart.

I know it's been a long time since I posted, but since my last post in January, nothing in the world has changed ... it is still burning, the Christians and Jews are still being persecuted, the terrorists are still killing anyone who is not Muslim ... I have strong opinions on the above mentioned items, but for today I will Pray for Everyone!  It can't hurt ...

It's snowing outside and the temp sits at 32 ... nothing is sticking of course, but it is COLD.  Thankfully there is only a slight, slight breeze, but it is still cold air moving around.  Brrrrr!!

I'm starting my list of items that will be needed for our Black Powder Shoot camping trip.  It is hard to foresee what kind of clothes to bring this time of year.  It could be sunny, but still cold or it could be raining or snowing ... LOL   Food will mostly be the basics ... milk, bread, etc., etc.  and WARM food, he, he, he.

I sure hope it warms up by then ... we will be leaving home on April 29 and back home on May 3.  This might be our last year to have the Shoot where it's been for many, many years.  The company that bought the property is extremely worried about fires and people drinking where there are guns.  There has never been an issue before with the drinking and guns ... we really are adults even if we dress up in period costume ... I sure hope the Mt. Mazama Mountain Men can find a place that is just as nice or better.  There will be observers from the company to see if we are good boys and girls ...  

I'm also doing some knitting, beading and crocheting for a Craft Faire in October.  I know it sounds like a long way off, but when every thing is hand made it takes time.  My friend and I have knit/crochet 2 Yoda Baby Buntings ... beaded little Angel earrings and wrist Rosaries.  I have patterns for Ornament covers; I'd like to have between 6-10 done in different designs and colors.  My friend will make soap and I have wash/dish clothes that we will sell together.  I am very excited, and should be busier than I am right now.  There is time, but it has a habit of moving very, very quickly.  I WILL GET IT ALL DONE!!!! LOL

I leave you for now with Prayers for Easter.  God Bless.

I'm still around ...

Things have been very blah and so so since my last post.  The weather has been real cold with a day or two of 'nice'.  No snow to speak of which makes me sad.  I've been following the things going on in the world, but I really have nothing to say since I think the govt is as crooked as a winding mountain road!  The attacks in Paris makes me worry about when it will come to the US ...

My animals are healthy and a lot of fun to watch - crazy chickens.  Of course the dog and cat are equally fun, but the chicks are the best!  The cat, Joey, will hang on the living room screen when he wants in, and will keep it up until you open the door.  PIA, but at least I know what he wants.  If I don't pay attention to his antics they will get worse and worse when he wants out - he'll terrorize the other cats or knock things down just to be let out.

My Social Security was increased by 1.7% this year ... that gives me $16 more a month.  I promise I won't spend it all in one place ... LOL  It's wonderful to get a raise, but when every thing else, car ins., cable, phone bill goes up more than the raise ... I want to say  "what good is it", but it is an increase even if it doesn't cover the bills.  I DO appreciate it, but to call it great is a really bad joke.  I now make $5.79 an hour using the formula of annual pay divided by 2080 (the number of hours we normally work during a year) and I just can't make it stretch ...

Tim, my grandson, enlisted in the Navy at the end of last year - I'm sooo proud!!  I'm also a bit scared.

The two granddaughters are doing fine, I just can't believe how grown they've become; K will be 27 at the beginning of March and A will be 25 at the end of March ... WOW, makes me feel OLD!!

I've been knitting quite a bit this last 6 months or so, now I just need to finish those projects ... LOL.  I have to finish binding off a cowl for myself, but the yarn is hard to work with - homegrown (not me) alpaca with quite a bit of fuzz and size 5 needles. I can only do so many stitches at a time since the yarn splits really bad.  I will get it done this week sometime which means I will start something new.  Never mind that I already have a half dozen other projects to finish.  I love my knitting!!

Even though it's only January, I'm starting to think gardening and what I'll plant this year.  I need to plant a ton more of each veggie and learn how to can for long term storage ... I got tons of bell peppers last year, but instead of puting it by, I ate them almost faster than they ripened!   I hope I can get this down before harvest this year ... I also need better soil; that would help too!!  LOL

I think I've run out of nonsense to talk about, but this is pretty much how it is on a daily basis here on my little patch of earth.  I have to post more often - 3 months is NOT acceptable to me!!

Bless you all, and Happy New Year!

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!!