JANUARY 2024

Well. So here we are, 2024. Kind of hard to believe. I sincerely hope we get the wonderful year that we all deserve!

Ark, thanks for keeping us going, even there are so few of us left. I do appreciate you.

My pleasure, ELLEN! I would hate to lose contact with you all, so no problem about keeping this forum going. And it really isn't hard to do.

I am baking 2 turkey thighs, making Stove Top stuffing, cooking some greenbeans to death, and a couple of potatoes. It's my EasyBake turkey dinner.


Happy New Year!

Ark, have you ever fixed blistered green beans? Get fresh beans, put 2 TBSP butter and 2 TBSP soy sauce in a skillet and then add the beans for just a few minutes until they look "blistered". I really like them that way, and it's EASY. They aren't limp and dead, and they don't squeak when you bite them.

HAPPY NEW YEAR....

We didn't make it to midnight. We never do. Have our little snack around 8 and go to bed. We have our New Year toast with Martinellis apple/grape sparkling juice and toast to a better year ahead

I spent the day undecorating the "big" tree & house, still have ornaments strewn about the dining room table. Trying to organize them this year instead of willy nilly put into boxes.

Good news...we did take the small trees upstairs all decorated and covered them with huge contractor bags. George helped and held them on his lap and rode his chair lift chair up the steps. Great idea from my son.

Opened the kruat to make the tradition pork & kraut and saw WHAT???? Tiny little hard pointy seeds. Not a good thing for 2 people who can have a diverticulitis attack. Who puts seeds in kraut??? Threw that away and luckily I had a Weis can of kraut (Weis is a local grocery store here in PA). The seeds were caraway seeds in the tiny print at the bottom of the can. That'll teach me to read the ingredients.

Yesterday I had a email from GDOLMARE's hubby Mike. He emails me once a year and we remember Ann. I miss her so much.

Praying for a blessed year for everyone.

Happy New Years a couple of days late. I was up for the New Year but only by accident. I awoke at 11:30 and then couldn't get back to sleep. Was tossing and turning at midnight when the fireworks started. We had a very light snowfall that blanketed the ground for the fireworks (very pretty) and it was gone in the morning when I went out to feed.

Unfortunately Elkhart had it's first fatality at about 12:15. A young man traveling at a high rate of speed crashed into another car with 4 passengers then hit a utility pole and 2 parked trucks in a car lot. The young man was thrown from his car. Only one of the 4 in the other car had injuries and they were minor. Very sad.

There was a year that SAPP kept the tree up on the enclosed porch and her and her mom would decorate it each month with a different theme. Valentines in February, clovers in March, rabbits and eggs for Easter in April, etc. They got really creative and it was fun.

Congratulations on getting your 100th ride in ARK.

Indy, I remember that tree on Chris' porch. It's sad that Sapp and Chris are no longer here, but there were some good memories from that farm. It was fun to be there at lunchtime when the farmers, local police and hungry anybodys were there.
Do you know who owns the farm now?

ELLEN:
 No, I haven't tried that recipe, but will give it a try!  Thanks
How far was Sapp's farm from your place?  

INDYAPP:
 How far do you live from her place?  

TRUDY:
 Good idea about how to get those trees upstairs!  That thing may have a whole new purpose!


Cold and cloudy.  And cold.   Saturday we may get snow, but no one can agree on how much.   Someone posted this from our local weather reporter out of Roanoke:




Time to rush to the store for milk and bread, I guess....

It was a tragic mess what happened to SAPPs farm when she passed. There was alot of ill will between HORSETUTOR and SAPPs sisters. I don't know all the details but her property that was on the north side of the road was reabsorbed into the family farm some how. HORSETUTOR had to sell or give away all the horses in like 30 days and sell her farm. He took his personal belongings and a John Deere tractor that Chris had bought them and moved to Tennessee to be with his family. Unfortunately he passed away shortly after moving there. It was ugly and if Candace would have been buried she would be turning over in her grave.

Her farm was sold to a family that wasn't able to make a go of it and has been resold. The new owners, to my understanding, run a boarding/lesson barn but from what I've seen on FB it looks sketchy. I do know that the roof on the covered arena (It's one of those tarp covered buildings) was damaged in a bad storm a few years ago and they were doing a Go Fund Me asking for help to get it replaced. I don't go over that way any more, it makes me sad. The last time I drove by was a couple of years ago and it was pretty run down.

After Chris passed away, the sisters sold the big farm house and 3 acres. They still own the rest of the land and lease it to neighboring farmers. The big farm house and the 3 acres looked like a junk yard a couple of years ago when I went by. I'm sure it hasn't improved since then. I've heard a rumor that the sisters are currently looking to sell the land for industrial development.

I don't live that far from there, but Bristol is such a little town, on the far side of Elkhart from me that I have no reason to go that way. Maybe 20 minutes drive on the bypass is all.

Ark, I live about 40 miles from Bristol.  I went to Sapp's several times.  
I've been past that area a few times in the last few years. I keep expecting to see houses or factories on that farm land. Like you, I haven't driven past the farmhouse because it was such a sad ending. Greed is a terrible thing.
I knew that the sisters hated John. All I know about that is that Sapp loved him and he made her happy.

I LOVE that sign!  It is soooo true.  

We have that very same weather forecast here in PA. It's so crazy...the stores are packed, people buying all the bread, milk & eggs. The TV stations are at the grocery stores making videos of the frenzy. And buying snow shovels...WHAT???? Where are the snow shovel these people bought last year???
GET A GRIP...this is PA and we have SNOW.

I'll keep you up to date on the BIG snowstorm...It started out as 2" then grew to 4" or maybe 6" and now is up to 12" maybe but who knows???? The road crews are on high alert.

ARK: I do use the lift chair for taking heavy things up and down the steps. It really comes in handy on laundry day and on Sam's Club shopping day for large items like TP and paper towels.

Have a blessed weekend...

SO FAR.... This snow hasn't amounted to much. We got maybe half an inch that has already melted off the roads and other hard surfaces. Perma-gloom has set in for the winter. I don't expect to see sun for a long time.

That is so sad about Candace and John and their farm.


We didn't get any snow, although some flurries. We did get a covering of ice and lots of rain, which melted off the ice. We got by pretty lucky. I slithered and slid down the hill in the morning to feed the horses their hay, but left the barn cleaning until after 2 pm when the ice was gone. With all the freezing rain, the horses were happy to eat in the barn.


I am glad we didn't get the snow they got further north of us.

We did get a little snow. About 5 inches. North and east of us some places received up to 11 inches. I wanted to make a snow angel but gave it a second thought and decided not to. I probably would still be laying there in the snow. HAHAHA Another storm is headed this way with rain and snow.


Our new safe arrived in the middle of the snow storm...we had the guys put it in the garage. Then on Sunday our young farmer helped get it into the enclosed patio and yesterday another neighbor helped us get it into the dining room. Thank God for great neighbors. Now comes the fun trick to try to open the safe. Called another younger neighbor to help with the 6 pages of instructions. OMG...it was a stand on your head, twirl around 6 times, and do a cartwheel before the stupid safe would open. What ever happened to turn a freaking key and the door opens????? one hour later we finally managed to get it opened. What a nightmare. No one is ever breaking into that safe...I'll be lucky to get it opened myself.

Have a blessed week.

We are getting some snow now, but not much.  There might be an inch on the ground.  What I am dreading is the zero temperatures coming this weekend.

Trudy, that safe sounds like a lot of fun.  Not.  I guess if anything goes missing from it, the guy who helped you figure it out would be the first suspect.   Don't put the instructions inside the safe.

Buckle up all ye who are east of Indiana. We're getting it now with more to come. Snow. Freezing rain. Super cold.
I will play the role of a chicken and stay in the house. I have all the groceries I will need for a couple of weeks.

I think this might be a good time to clean my freezer. All the food can go out on the deck to stay frozen while I do the cleaning.

Stay warm, everybody.

TRUDY:
I would forget the combination. Breaking into a safe would probably not be easy. Good luck with it!! And stay warm!!


ELLEN:
No snow here. Today it is 47 degrees (Friday), but the wind is howling. The temps are going to start dropping, more rain is coming, and it's going to be around 5 degrees windchill several times next week. I am not looking forward to it. I haven't gotten the first ride in of the year yet. I guess the horses will be wearing their blankies next week. I am not a fan of winter. Try not to freeze!

31 here in the morning. No rain. Rain on Sunday. We will see.

No other news...............Health to all............

Boring time of the year.................cleaning more files...............

Wind, wind and more wind and nosediving temps starting today and lasting thru the entire next week. Down to 18 and below. BRRRRRRRR this has been such a nice winter with only one big snow fall of 5 inches. Lots of inside the house time coming this week.

TADAAAAAA I did manage to get the new safe open after only a couple of tries. Now it wants me to set the date and time. WHAT???? It's a safe...there are 10 long paragraphs in the instructions on how to operate this safe. Why are things so complicated nowadays? I'm beginning to think I am a old lady and sounding like my Gram.

Have a blessed rest of the weekend.

Another day, another wreck onto our property. Last night it was two young guys, probably speeding, in a nice little truck. Somehow they managed to cross the road on the uphill and drop off into the ditch about 50 feet from our kitchen door. They came within a whisker of hitting our woodshed that is between the house and the road, but a tree stopped them. They said they were dodging something, but never said what. This happened after 11 pm and it took until 1 a.m. for the wrecker to pull the truck out of the drop off. They demolished an underground phone line box. Since the road was dry and it was on a straight stretch, it was definitely their fault. I do wish the county would put up a guard rail on this section of road. We get several wrecks a year affecting our property one way or another. Since our road became a shortcut after a 4 lane was finished about 3 miles from here, the traffic and the idiotic wrecks just get worse every year.

TRUDY:
No snow here so far this year, other than flurries, but we are definitely going to be cold this coming week. I guess it is winter after all. Have fun with the safe! It needs to tell time?

Today's society seems to think that complicated is good.  Simple is bad.  I started seeing that when I was still teaching 24 years ago.  That was one of the reasons I decided to retire at the earliest possible age.  Just because there is technology doesn't mean it should always be used.  
I'm glad you were able to get into your safe.  

It's COLD and getting colder.  There is snow on the ground, but not much.  Travis was grinning happily as he used the Polaris with the snow blade to clear my driveway.  Even though there was hardly any snow on the road, he couldn't resist "testing" one of the snowmobiles.  

Ark, we were posting at the same time last night so I didn't see your message about the wreck. Maybe you could put in a couple of those concrete posts to keep cars from crashing onto your property. About 3 feet tall and 12 inches wide. Something big enough to stop a car or truck.

It was -9° when I got up this morning.
I just got a phone call from my neighbor. She and her husband, a dog, and a pig are in Bradenton, Florida with their motorhome for three months. (The pig is loved by everybody.) She was giggling when she called. They needed a few things from the grocery so she went to Walmart, only to find it completely jam packed with people. All the aisles were 5 and 6 deep. Lines for checkout were very long. She was trying to figure out why the store was so busy on a Monday morning. She asked a lady near her why the store was so busy. The lady told her that they were stocking up; the weather forecast for the weekend was the reason. This coming weekend, it is supposed to get all the way down to 47°!!!!

Neighbor and I shared a good giggle about that one.

It was -9° when I got up this morning.
I just got a phone call from my neighbor.  She and her husband, a dog, and a pig are in Bradenton, Florida with their motorhome for three months.  (The pig is loved by everybody.)  She was giggling when she called.  They needed a few things from the grocery so she went to Walmart, only to find it completely jam packed with people.  All the aisles were 5 and 6 deep.  Lines for checkout were very long.  She was trying to figure out why the store was so busy on a Monday morning.  She asked a lady near her why the store was so busy.  The lady told her that they were stocking up; the weather forecast for the weekend was the reason.  This coming weekend, it is supposed to get all the way down to 47°!!!!  

Neighbor and I shared a good giggle about that one.

(Oops. Posted twice. Can't find the delete button.)

LOL, good one ELLEN.........................