December 2019

Where is everybody? Still Christmas shopping?
I have my shopping done and most of the wrapping. By tomorrow, I will be ready to bake cookies - maybe.

We've been busy. Sunday we had some discouraging news about our new builder. Seems he has relapsed into meth usage. He told us he had the flu, but apparently that wasn't the case. So once again we have hitched our hay barn building wagon to a dud....sigh....We paid him about 3/4s of the money agreed upon for the building and he has done about a quarter's worth of the work. It never occurred to us that he was a drug addict, he looked very robust and healthy and talked a good line. He did good work up until he didn't do any at all. I suspect Donnie and I will be building that barn ourselves. Since Donnie's knees aren't cooperative right now, we blocked off the side of the arena with the building materials and construction with the round pen panels. I have about 3/4s of the arena safe for the horses to use now. We hired this guy based on the neighbor's recommendation, who now is sorry he recommended him to us. It's a sad situation. Sad, too, that that there is so much of this around.

So we worked all day Sunday rearranging materials and making the arena safe for the horses. I will be able to ride in there now.

Monday I had lunch with my riding friend in Blacksburg. That was nice.

Ark, I'm really sorry to hear about your builder. Meth is terrible stuff. It can ruin lives in short order. A few years ago, the neighborhood watch group invited one of the drug officers from the sheriff's department to come and talk to us. He gave us a lot of good information, including how seriously addictive it is. It is even dangerous for the officers who have to deal with it on a daily basis. He had some malignant lesions on his head just from being in the meth houses, making arrests.
I know of two houses that had to be completely gutted down to the studs because of people making meth in them. It absorbs into the drywall and stays dangerous.

I am a happy camper this evening. All the packages are wrapped and under the tree, ready to be delivered. I don't think I've ever been done this soon before Christmas. Maybe I really will make some cookies.

ELLEN:
Congrats for getting the Christmas things done! I got the last package mailed off today and now only have Donnie's gifts to deal with. I am still waiting on Amazon to deliver his stuff.

I don't understand why anyone would try meth even once. It is known to be super addictive and destructive. Why do it to oneself?


GRAYMARE:
How is Terry doing with his shingles? Any relief yet?

T is still in hospita, doing more diagnostics.............I don't have internet in the hospital............

Hello everyone.  Just a little check to let you know we are still alive here in PA.  So much drama going on no time to sit down and type.

Sorry to hear about TL's shingles, our neighbor had them and it was awful.  Praying for him and you Graymare.

Also sorry about your builder Ark.  Drugs are ruining people's lives at record rates. 

Baby Gemma's mother who is in a rehab program tested positive for cocaine, wasn't her fault someone put it in her drink.  Yeah right...she had a C & Y visit with the baby and smacked her across the face.  Who hits a 2 year old across the face?  What a mess that situation is.  While Stacy was sick and in the hospital for 4 days she had to stay with the mothers family, they abused her and she is back to being the petrified child she was when Stacy first took her to his house.  

George's sister is in hospice, had to rush her to the ER and they admitted her, heart attack and many other things going on.  Praying she makes until after Christmas Day.

Other than all the daily drama, I am somehow ready for Christmas.  Trees have been up since Thanksgiving, presents wrapped and shipped, food has been purchased.  Lady Locks (110 of the little buggers), baked and filled. The 2 big Christmas parties over and done with.

Sorry if I have been a Debbie downer the last few months.

Hang in everyone 2020 is around the corner, praying it will be a calmer year for everyone.  Seems I say that every year around this time.  Wishful thinking.

Trudy, I hope CPS realizes that the maternal grandparents are not a safe place for Gemma. That's probably a big clue about why their daughter is a druggie.
When I think of Gemma, I think of two-year-old Nora, the youngest of the three I babysit with. Yesterday, she wasn't feeling well and had a major melt-down. An abusive person would have not treated her very well. After several attempts to distract her, I just ignored her. Her mother got home and for a moment the problem was solved. Mommy told me that she can get going and keep it up for half an hour. She just ignores her and waits it out. Fortunately, she is usually a very happy and funny little girl.
I hope Stacy stays well so that Gemma will be safe with him.

Yesterday morning, there was ice on about 85% of the lake. Some of it melted later in the day. Last night, the rest of it froze. The predictions are for some slightly less cold days, so this ice may not stay. If it melts, it will be back. With no snow on it, it is shiny and smooth.

We r in alaska...north pole. 33 below...snow...daylight for about 3 hours...11 to 12 dawn light...lil lighter but dont see the sun...3 to 4 dusk...by 4 its dark as night again....
And did i mention its cold! Lol...it is cold.

GM hope TL is home soon and on the mend.
ark...sorry about your builder guy...i dont know either why someone wants to ruin their lives....shame a real shame.

Trudy...sorry about lil gemma...poor kid. Hope she can get better emotionally..with love.

Ellen you are patient and organized! Harper has been in time out already...lol....she gets wound up!

We are enjoying her anyway....and nice to visit...

Teddy was a trooper on his first flight. He is my service dog for my diabetes. The pet relief area at seattle airport reeked so badly he drug me away! Omgosh it stunk. I carry peepads with me and he used one in the family bathroom just fine...thankfully. Hes a good boy.

If i dont get back or my post doesnt disappear like it did yesterday....ill be back before xmas....but just in case...safe travels and Merry Christmas Everyone.

I stayed with the girls tonight while Mommy and Daddy went to the company Christmas party. This was the first time that Nora decided to see if I meant what I said. It was waaaay past her bedtime and she was determined to keep going and to keep Scarlett going with her. She knew if she stopped moving she'd be asleep. Finally, after telling her several times to quiet down on the sofa with her sisters with no results, I picked her up and carried her up to her room and put her in crib. She was MAD, and proceeded to scream and cry. I just left her there and went downstairs to watch the baby monitor. She yelled and threw all her blankets and pillow out of the bed. It took about 10 minutes for her to finally give up. At minute 11, she was out like a light. So was Scarlett. Lilah had been asleep amid all the noise for nearly 2 hours.
The point is, you don't have to abuse to gain compliance.
Mommy and Daddy had a nice time with their friends. They only go out like that a couple of times a year. They deserve it.

It is colder than a snowman here in North Pole Alaska....in fact i havnt seen any snowmen anywhere as the snow is hard and crunchy...lol. Minus 40 for few hours....been mainly staying minus 28 to minus 37 for temps...night temps only get a few degrees colder than daytime temps cuz you dont see the sun much...i saw it once just on the horizon...it doesnt get any higher.
Alaska is different! I liked it when we lived here for 4 years...but was much younger then...in my early 20s...22 thru 26.
Seeing and spending time with the grands has been great...Harper is like the energizer bunny I swear!
Hope everyone one of our foops and foopettes have a very Mooey Christmas!

The weather here has decided that it is nearly spring. It was over 50° yesterday and today, and will continue that way for several more days. No snow for Christmas this year.
I think I'm ready to go to relatives' tomorrow. Two batches of rolls, a tray of pecan bits, and a quarter Honey Baked Ham. Such a shame we won't have enough to eat. Everybody else will be making lots more food too.

I pray that all of our foops have a very blessed and Merry Christmas.

Hugs all around! Merry Christmas to one and all.
ARK, so sorry about your latest builder guy, so hate drugs and it seems only to keep on with more and more addicts. So very sorry about your loss of Spookette, our furry friend are part of our family.

GM, wow, so very sorry that the stress of chemo hit Terry with shingles. Prayers he gets over the worst part the soonest and that the chemo is 100% effective so he can have complete relief. Prayers for you both! Gentle hugs!

CB, I know it was only love of family that got you to the coldest place possible. Stay safe and warm!

ELLEN, So sad to lose your neighbor during the holidays and to have Pirkko leaving the neighborhood. And please keep all your ice and snow to yourself (that goes for you too TRUDY)

TRUDY, my, you have been super busy! Prayers for Gemma that she can stay safe and loved with Stacy now. Child abuse and/or neglect are huge criminal offenses in my eyes!

My little 4 foot prelit tree is looking quite pretty with its twinkling multi-colored leds. Gifts are loaded in the suv and I'll head out to Robin's in the morning,

Merry Christmas to one and all!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

It's Christmas night. Presents are done, dinner is done, tree is looking a little lonely, but still pretty. We were going to go to see a movie this afternoon, but decided to stay home. It was a nice day, sunny and pretty all afternoon.

The barn got cleaned, despite the day, and all creatures seemed happy and healthy. I did the barn while Donnie worked on the horse trailer and truck so we can take Ivan to Pandapas Pond tomorrow. (Yay!!) I ran Ivan and Areion around the arena for a few minutes to see how they were moving. Ivan did great, he remembers all the cues. Areion hasn't worked in over a year and seemed surprised and anxious. She zoomed around when I only asked for a little trot. I guess we will be doing ground work soon. Daisy was doing some heavy snacking in her stall and missed all the action.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday, and am especially thinking of those home alone or traveling or fighting an illness.

It has been a Merry Christmas. Three days with cousins, very nice gifts, and eventless travel. It doesn't get any better than that.
The weather is not very typical of winter right now. Yesterday was 64°. Today is colder, but still not bitterly cold. The lake ice did melt, which I expected. Looking at the extended forecast, I don't know whether it will refreeze or not. Travis will not be happy.

Very nice Christmas with the Alaska kids. Good christmas...good food...good game nights...great granddaughter time. Uneventful flights both ways. I have to say seattle airpirts doggie relief area smelled worse than any kennel or puppy mill i had the pleasure if shutting down over the years. Omg i gagged....Teddy wouldnt even go into the room. Once you are insude security there is no place fir them to go. Luckily i carry pee pads so poor teddy could go. We stepped into a family bathroom and i put the pad down under the sink...he went ...i rolled it up and aced in the trash. Lucky he will do that...or he would have been in misery. People were letting their dogs pee on trash containers and walking on. That oet relief area was bad.
Teddy traveled very well and loved the girls.
Only moose i saw was one hit by a truck...neither fared well...but driver only had injuries.
Saw northern lights the first night...very light green.
Saw reindeer. Saw snow crystals...trees covered in thick snow...so pretty. Hard to get use to the dim daylight only for a few hours...wanted to sleep by 4 in afternoon when it got dark!
Back home after flying all night....we both went to bed. I made soup...we are back in bed watching tv. My own bed feels so dang good.
Hope everyone had a nice Christmas!

CB:
Welcome home!  Glad you had a fun trip!  I don't think I could deal with the lack of daylight for very long.  I guess the residents get used to it.  But the COLD!!  Yikes!   Poor moose, and driver.  I'd love to see a live moose.  I'm glad you got home ahead of any bad storms.

GRAYMARE:
 How is Terry doing?  I hope he is feeling better and is out of the hospital.  Poor guy.  Shingles on top of everything else....  

ELLEN:
 I am glad you had a good family visit!!  Travis wouldn't appreciate our weather,  it was 65 degrees and sunny here for the third day in a row.  It's been great!  Looking at what the rest of the country is facing west and north of us in the next few days, we are so lucky.   It's going to rain tomorrow and Monday, but no snow or ice.  

ROSE:
 Have you been riding any?  How are things in SC?  Did you and Robin have a nice Christmas?

INDYAPP:
 How ya doing up there?  Is snow headed your way?  Have you ridden Tiberius lately?

NANCY LEE:
 How is it in the Great Frozen North?  Frozen?  I hope that big storm isn't headed your way.

SVET:
 How's mom?  I hope she is getting the  medical attention she needs...   And how is Mark doing?

TRUDY:
 Have you and George settled down after all the Christmas activities?  How is Ace?  You folks are the busiest people!  

DONNA:
 Are you back from visiting your son?  Is it snowy in Nova Scotia?  

RICK:
  You need a dog!  Did Carol get you a dog for Christmas?  It seems to me you are throwing a lot of hints on FaceBook about dogs!  I hope Santa is listening! Maybe for your birthday?

BEECH:
 We haven't heard from you in a while....hint, hint....

DOTTIE:
 Did they get those fires put out in CA?  I have been avoiding the  news a lot lately and have missed any updates.    I hope they are out and all are safe.  How are you doing?


Donnie and I had a nice Christmas.  We stayed home.  The next day, Thursday,  we took Ivan to Pandapas Pond Park for a ride with my riding friend.  Ivan was incredibly mellow, walked on a loose rein, never offered to do anything I didn't want.  It was so warm and pretty, a great day for a ride in the woods.  Since Donnie's surgery on his knee is coming at the end of January, and one never knows what the weather is going to do until then,  getting in a good ride was much appreciated.  I am not sure how many more I will get for awhile.



On Ivan at Pandapas Pond on Thursday.

We went to see "Jumanji" after we got home and put the horses to bed on Thursday.  What fun!  I can watch "The Rock" in about anything and enjoy it!  

Our original carpenter showed back up with a cousin on Friday.  Donnie and the pair of them worked on the hay building drainage and pressure treated wood along the ground.  Today Donnie used the tractor to push gravel over the drain tiles.  It is looking a bit more like something is being built.

So that's the news from here!

CB, I'm so glad you had a good trip and visit with the kids. A neighbor couple went on a Norwegian cruise, just to see the northern lights. Their pictures give me a small idea of what you saw. I remember seeing them just one time when I was a little kid. It isn't often they can be seen from this far south.

Ark, what a nice way to spend the day - on a mellow horse in the woods. Ivan is more and more becoming the horse you've always wanted.

I'm having two neighbor couples in for supper tonight. I'm mostly ready, just a couple more things to do. Shrimp cocktail, chicken-broccoli casserole, baked apples, rolls, and some little pecan tarts and cherry tarts for dessert.

Had xmas with other kuds and grands and great grand today and then played farkle and pigged out on some goood snacks.
Jaemi and her partner broke up and niw she is moving out so we have to revert the house back to one instead of a duplex..all that work..for nothing. Kids can bring heartache that we oldsters do not need. Now house will be put on the market as soon as hubby is up to doing the work after his knee surgery on the 7th.

DOTTIE:
 Did they get those fires put out in CA?  I have been avoiding the  news a lot lately and have missed any updates.    I hope they are out and all are safe.  How are you doing?

Since we've been having lots and lots of rain for weeks now, the answer is yes........the rain always puts the fires out.  Unfortunately for Australia, the rainy season is three months away.  I'm fine, and I lurk regularly.  Glad everyone is pretty much staying out of trouble........hopefully T. will be much better very soon.

Glad fires are over for now..........holy cow, The Wallow fires was bad enough for me.
That really made life and death real for me............

CB, I hope you get your house sold and you can move on next year......time for you
to have some peace in your life.

ARK, Glad you got a good ride in before bad weather in your area.......nice picture for sure.

ELLEN, how was your party?

T is doing fair in rehab.......it sure takes time.............and, of course, I want him well right this minute.

Everyone, happy 2020 and health to you all. God bless and protect you all.............

Our little neighborhood party went very well. The pecan bits were a little over baked, but still edible. The casserole could have used a bit more curry, but I wasn't sure if they all like the curry flavor. We had a nice couple of hours, although we certainly missed Ron and Pirkko, who have been here every year that I've had the party.
It was a very warm day - yesterday. Not true today. It's cold and getting colder tonight. Maybe some snow tonight and in the morning.
I'll stay home for tomorrow night. I'll probably watch the ball drop about the same time my eyelids will do the same thing.

Prayers that TL will heal fast and get home SOON.

ELLEN:
Glad the dinner party went well! Food sounded yummy.... Have you heard anything about how Pirkko is doing? BTW: what is the origin of her name? I hope she is settling in well at her new home.

DOTTIE:
Whew! Those fires are so scary. I am glad they are out and hope mud slides aren't occurring because of the rain. California sure has its share of problems. At least you aren't dealing with winter weather like you did in Idaho!!

TRUDY:
How is George's sister doing? Did she make it to Christmas?

CB:
Where do you want to live? Let us know how Harry's knee surgery goes. Is he having a full replacement? That's what Donnie is going to have at the end of January.

GRAYMARE:
I am glad Terry is out of the hospital, but I am sure you and he will both be happier when he is back home. Is the rehab place far from your home? How are those shingles going?

Our hay building guys showed up again yesterday. Donnie had them busy all day on it and they got all the ground level work done and started on the beams between the poles. They may start the siding today....if they show up. That's never a guarantee. It's looking less like Stonehenge and more like a building in progress now. It was 65 degrees again yesterday, so wonderful. It won't be that warm today, but still isn't bad.

Everyone have a safe and fun New Year's Eve!! We are doing our usual thing, staying home and probably falling asleep before the ball drops in NYC. We are such party people....

Ark, Pirkko was born in Finland.  She and her sister were sent to live in Sweden for part of WWII, where it was safer for them.  When she was a teenager, her father decided they should come to America.  I believe they started in Canada, then a friend told her father about a job in Chicago.  
Her father decided that her sister would be a teacher, and Pirkko would be a nurse.  She was a very good nurse. But, like too many people, she denied the stroke symptoms for too long and they couldn't do much for her.  Her right side is mostly useless.  She can stand and walk with help for short distances.  
When she had the stroke, it took a little while for her to realize that she was talking a mixture of Finnish, Swedish, and English and nobody could understand her.  So, she decided she needed to speak English.  Thankfully, her mind and speech are just fine.
She told me they will come back here sometime in January, probably just to check the house and make sure it's okay and to take back some additional things they want.  One of our good neighbors is going in and checking everything, running the water, etc. to make sure all is well.

We had snow overnight and into the morning, and the high today will be about 30°.  The wind is too strong for the lake to refreeze now.

Hello All...

I did a little reading to get a little caught up, but I'm so far behind. It looks as if I am not the only one who has had a rough time. It's December 31 at 9:15 p.m. and the fireworks have started. I sure hope 2020 is better than 2019.

In the last 60 days my brother fell and hit his head on a table. We thought he had a stroke. He did not. Come to find out he had a raging infection due to abcesses he had in his feet. (He is a chain smoking, over weight, alcoholic, diabetic. In other words a ticking time bomb.) He has had nueropothy in his feet for a number of years. I didn't know people could have abcesses under the skin. Horses have abcesses in their hooves that have to work their way out, I didn't know this happened to people. Very long story short, he has gone through unintentional detox and that was very ugly to watch. He had to have a toe amputated. Was released to a rehab center while still detoxing, for rehabbing healing of the wounds from the ruptured abcesses. One of the wounds became grossly infected. Readmitted to hospital. Ended up having to have a below the knee amputation. He is now back at a different rehab center.

While all of that was going on my 94 year old uncle passed away and my brother's father-in-law had a serious heart attack. December has not been kind to my family. I really hope 2020 is better.

INDYAPP:
 Wow.  December really wasn't nice to your family.  I am so sorry about your uncle, brother and his father-in-law.....   2020 has to be better for your family, and hopefully, everyone else's family, too.  




ELLEN:
 Pirkko has an interesting background!  I hope she recovers more than anyone expects.  She sounds like a strong woman.


Only an hour and a half left in this year and decade.  Happy New Year, may we all live well and happy in the next decade!  

Happy New Year foops and foopettes....yehaw!

Hope everyine has a great year in 2020....good health...lits if laughter....and friends and family.

Put our house on the market today. Everyone think buyers will come! We can sure use one!

Hugs!