July 2015 !!

Graymare, prayers for Ken are on the move.  I know they do help.  My neighbor is doing MUCH better now, almost back to normal.  I hope they'll be able to get his Bugs to him soon.  That will be good therapy for him.

The lack of sun in the winter can really have an adverse affect on some people.  One suggestion might be to get an Ott Light.  They give off a very natural looking sunlight effect, in addition to being a very good light as a craft light, or reading light.  I have one that I use all the time when I'm sewing or knitting something I need to see.

Good tools are usually an easy sell.  So Craig's List, or even an ad in the local newspaper might get them sold quickly for a fair price.

Pam, I know you are having a good time with the kids.  Horses are great therapy for young and old alike, with all kinds of needs.

Ark, will we ever see you again now that you have your beautiful new TV?  

Nope.  Still not swimming.  Yesterday was a decent day and I thought maybe I'd finally get in a swim today.  But, no.  It is too cool and raining AGAIN. The water level had started to drop, but we got a lot more rain two days ago, and it came right back up.
On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons while it rained, my cousins helped me clean out the garage and reorganize it. Well, I guess I should say that one of them is almost hyperactive and couldn't sit still and pushed the rest of us into getting the job done. Another one of them is really great at organizing. I felt guilty that they had to help me do it, but soooo very grateful that they were willing.
We borrowed the neighbors' boat and went for a long cruise yesterday afternoon, and then I took a quick little trip down the lake and back on the jet ski just to keep the battery charged.
The cousin who came a week ago last Friday, left this morning.  The two who have the camper will be here until tomorrow, although the camper is staying for another couple of weeks.  They'll go back and forth between grandson's baseball games, teaching carving classes, and here.

We did spend more time watching tv yesterday than we have in a year . We still don't have our satellite dish receiver hooked up, but can get stuff off of the WiFi! We watched two videos and several things from YouTube. The colors and details on the tv screen are amazing. We signed up for Amazon Prime, which has tons of freebie videos and tv shows on it. We didn't get to bed until after midnight....

GRAYMARE
I hope your friend recovers quickly. His pets will help him. When I was so sick a few years ago, getting back out to see my horses made me work harder to recover. I suspect they didn't miss me as much as I missed them.

GM, how is your friend doing? hope its good news?

It has been great having my 6 foot baby grandson here, he certainly has been a lot of help, but I swear his legs r hollow, this kid can eat more than we do together! my girls ate well, but none of the 3 would have held a candle to this guy!
He is off tomorrow to continue his trip with Jessi. it will be quiet...too quiet....

We got a load of my brothers stuff up today and his one car and his motorhome...hubby and I will have to work on the motorhome, it needs some cleaning and tiles put down on the floor. its older, but livable. he will be up here in a few weeks living in it.

Well, going to hit the hay early...it was hot and very humid today.....tires one out quickly..whewwwww

Hi all. Thanks for the prayers. Things are going well for Ken. He is out of ICU and in a step down neuro unit, eating, talking, etc. Not sure yet of the
discharge plan but things sure sound good right now. Bugs & Amber are still up in camp.

Wow, CB, isn't it amazing how fast grands grow up? Glad he could help you & Harry and I'm sure he will love that memory as an adult.
Sounds like you will have some time to get ready for winter fixing your brother's motor home. Hope it all goes well.

No other news. We came home to irrigate so played with Eli. He is a really easy colt. He is growing and growing.

Everyone have fun. God bless.

While irrigating the fields, not much to do so played with Eli. He's only 15 mos so nowhere near ready to ride or anything.....just piddling' around the barn. He's seriously easy.

Good morning everyone. So nice to see some of the missing Foops posting again. I do lurk a lot and so enjoy reading what everyone has been up to. Especially the horsey stuff, I miss having my boys around.

ARK: We never had a garden when we had the horses, just no time for playing in the dirt after barn chores or horse shows. The garden takes up so much time and energy. Have fun making applesauce, it is very easy. Our Granny Smith tree is not looking good. Too much rain and run off water is killing it we think.

CB: Here are a couple boarding places around Bloom. It would be great to see you & Harry if you get up here for the fair. I'd call early and make reservations. Scotch Valley Boarding Kennel 570-384-3576 1269 Scotch Valley Road, Conyngham (12 miles east of Bloom). It opened in 2008 and has great reviews. Pet Dome Kennels N. Franklin St. Bloom 570-784-3440. My Shar-Pei Kennel 31 Penny Lane Bloom 570-389-1380.

I would tell you to just bring them here, but Ace is a dog HATER. He is so unlike Lucky in his attitude toward other dogs. He is extremely aggressive and turns into Cujo around strange dogs. He LOVES cats. Very weird. The only child syndrome, everything is mine and I like it that way.

GRAYMARE: That Eli is such a beautiful colt. Nothing seems to excite him, he has to be a joy to work with.

I'm off to get a new sweeper today, just can't lug that old Kirby up and down the steps any longer. She is going upstairs and staying there. Thinking about a Shark or Dyson.

Have a great Monday everyone.
Love & prayers for all..

TRUDY......Shark. Cheaper and equally good.............friend got one
($ 199) and I want one for Christmas. I think it weighs 8 lbs..........
I was amazed when I saw hers. She has 2 German Shepherds. Right now, it's not time for a new one as I got a Hoover a few yrs ago. It works well, however, now we have Rex with the thick wonder coat. I'm hoping my current one blows up this fall. LOL

Trudy, I sure understand not wanting to haul the Kirby up and down the stairs. They are great vacuums, but heavy. I have one that is about 18 years old, has cleaned up all kinds of messes, and never misses a beat. Love it, but I only have one floor.
A friend needed a new vacuum, so her husband did all kinds of research and HE decided that a Dyson would just perfect. The suction is good, but the attachment hose that pulls up out of the handle is a royal pain. The retraction spring is so strong it takes both hands and all your strength to pull it out, and you have to hold it and keep pulling on it the whole time. It even made HIM swear while he was doing the stairs in their house. The one they have is 4 or 5 years old, so maybe they have improved that by now.

Let us know what you chose TRUDY..........

We are all dying to vacuum now! LMAO

Morning Folks,

Trudy, I am on my third Electrolux in fifty years. I love them, easy to move around and do a great job. Very pricey though. I have a shark hand vacuum though and it is great for small things although the power brush attachment does not work anymore.

Another day of nice weather, think we are going to get the tail end of Claudette today though. Should be lots of rain and high winds. Later today so horses will get a good deal of outside time before that. It is not a hurricane but a tropical storm. we will see what we get, certainly need the rain.

I sure didn't have a great nights sleep last night. It was so hot and I coughed and coughed, wheezed and wheezed and was keeping myself awake. Think it was after three before I finally did fall asleep and alarm goes off at six. Short night

All have a good day. Ill be ready for a nap after lunch. Dogs go for their haircuts today and that will be better for them. Poodles have such thick hair.

Later folks.

Donna

Since we are reviewing vacuums, maybe we could switch to leaf blowers. Does anybody have a cordless one? If so, which one and how well does it work? I want to get one, but don't want to spend a fortune for it.

Ellen, we have a couple here and I love them! when we moved in there were leaf piles so high I didn't know what or how I would ever get rid of them! then one day we were gone from early in the morning to way late at night and when we woke up the next morning I realized the leaves were gone and all 14 goats were out! they cleaned up most every leaf on the place! I love both type of my leaf blowers, nannies and billies alike! they had huge round bale of hay, but I guess those leaves were like candy to them.

Sorry, I couldn't resist! get a goat or 2 and rent them out to the neighbors, never have to blow them again!

Quiet here without therin....miss him.

Hubby is out mowing the half acre where brothers camper will be....and I'm doing laundry catch up and bed linens from therins room....and dishes. hubby blanched green beans last night to freeze as the one neighbor keeps us supplied in taters, beans, cucumbers and squash......we do have nice neighbors here...anyway I swear he used every pot and strainer and bowl I have in the kitchen!

CB
 That's very funny .  The downside to that kind of leaf removal system is that they also remove every flower, bush, and small tree that is in your yard, too!  The grass is safe from them, though .

ELLEN
 I wonder what it costs to rent a leafblower compared to buying one and storing it most of the time?  I never rake leaves, I just mow them into oblivion.

DONNA
 If I could mow dust and dirt into oblivion, I would probably never vacuum either.    Our vacuum cleaner is built into the wall with outlets around the house.  We just drag the hose around and plug it into an outlet. It's a long hose, though.  The nice thing about it is that the rooms on the far side of the house don't have the noisy vacuum cleaner's sound up close.  

Yesterday started up strangely.  I awoke to find a tick attached to my ear lobe. It was a dog tick I probably picked up from holding one of the outside cats.  It looked like a tick shaped earring.  Luckily, it was barely attached and came off easily.

Then I went down to the barn and found that half of it had flooded in the heavy rain the night before.  The ponies' stall that I had just completely re-bedded the day before, was fetlock deep in soaked, soggy sawdust.  The run-in area where Daisy and Areion live had deep puddles in the low spots.  Kazi and Ivan's side was okay.  The drainage ditch had filled and clogged in front of the ponies during the deluge and flooded that side of the barn.  We got at least three inches of rain overnight.  So I spent hours cleaning up the mess, then Donnie came home and fixed the drainage.    We got done and the horses settled just in time for the next thunderstorm.   My riding lesson got rained out.

CB, I like your kind of leaf clean up, but around here storage might be a problem.

In the fall, I do have a lot of leaves to move, but for the major part of them, I now hire the weed eater guy to come with his big backpack blower. He can do in about 45 minutes what it takes me days to do. I do need a blower for the sidewalks and deck; and I do move some leaves to the street to burn.

Ark and CB, I can sure sympathize with all the rain. We got a lot more rain yesterday and the water level is up another couple of inches, now about 20 inches above normal. My dock isn't floating - yet- but the jet ski is. My neighbors' dock is almost floating since theirs is set in a little bit lower to the water than mine. Thankfully, this afternoon we have temperatures in the mid 70s and a nice dry wind blowing in. I better enjoy it now, because I hear that we are to get hot and humid by the weekend. Although, it's been such a cool rainy summer so far, the heat will be welcome - to warm up the water for swimming.

It sounds like it's safe to say that most all of us are tired of the rain.

I got an update from the trainer on Sophie the Wonder Pony. The first question she asked me is if Sophie had ever been worked with by the Amish? It seems that Sophie has two speeds in cart fast trot and even faster trot. Trainer asked if she trots that fast under saddle and fortunately no she does not. She has the nicest dinky-dink trot you could ask for under saddle. No bounce, and would but the peanut roller quarter horse to shame. But evidently many of the Amish train for the fast trot only. The only other issue Sophie has is standing still. That is no surprise. She has difficulties with that under saddle too. Other than that she is coming along great.

I'm sure you've all hear Craigslist horror stories. There was one in the paper just the other night where someone met a potential buyer in a public place and still got robbed. Well, I had a Great response to a Craigslist ad I placed. I needed a mechanic to work on my old Farmall tractor and couldn't find one using the traditional referral system so I put an ad out on Craigslist to see what kind of response I might get. I got one. But one was all I needed. Turns out this guy is the parts man for Bates Corp which is the nations largest parts place for IH tractor parts. Located right here in Indiana. This guy came to my place, diagnosed my problem, took the part off that needed fixed and will bring it back along with the correct gear oil either tonight or tomorrow and put it all back together. On top of that he's going to change the gear oil in another section of the tractor that needs to be done. This man is going on my Christmas card list. Already started to discuss what it will take for him to work on the brakes and clutch. Going to have to keep this guy happy just like the vet and farrier.

Isn't it nice to find somebody who really knows how to do a job and is honorable too. You're right. You keep those people happy.

Couldn't agree more! my pet sitter and her Sis are two special helpful wonderful caring people.....they will be on my xmas list and I will be available to help them whenever, however I can.

Wow...sunshine today and for next 5 days....woohoo!

Going into town this afternoon...big day out at grocery and feed store....yay...my life sure is exciting today...

Ack, spoke tooooooooooooooooo soon! our county is the only one under severe thunderstorm warning in the whole state! oh wait the one next to us is in the warning now too....makes me feel a bit better, lol

Every time I walk from a/c to outside my glasses steam up so badly, I literally can't see................humid you say.....nah...its beyond humidddddddddddddIhumidddddddddddd

Hate that, CB. Humidity is the worst, and it's coming my way this weekend.

Zippity do dah....sunshiny today....my o my what a wunnerful day....yay!

Going to the community yard saleee and to get some fencing, and the local flyer came yesterday, good buys on chicken and hamburgler....gotz to pick some up while we r out.

Then its back home to work work work...boy we surely r a work in progress.....so many projects to get busy on....would like to get some of them done before THE KNEE SURGERY....some will have to be put on back burner for awhile.....

Rick, r u survivin the road?

Later taters

After much consideration and talking to my kids, I got the Shark. Son Kevin the computer hacker, has 2 of them and he loves them, he already did all the research, plus he is the one who actually vacuums at his house so I took him at his word. So far I am amazed at the stuff it was vacuumed off my carpets. I started wondering what the heck my Kirby was sweeping, then I realized I don't see what is in the Kirby bag unlike the shark, so I was unfairly comparing them. I do like the fact that it is so quiet, I don't have to wear my ear muffs when I use it & it is so easy to maneuver around the furniture, very light weight. Of course, since it is bag less, it takes more cleaning time with all the dog & cat hair I am sweeping up. The jury is still out, but I'll let you guys know after I use it a few more times.

Wow, now! we got some heavy rain last evening. the little town we watched fireworks at had 2 bridges washed out and trees ...big trees down, one just missed the nursing home and house next door. wow....

Sunny and humid.....

Dogs tangled with ANOTHE, EEK I THINK THATS THE WHOLE FAMILY NOW! skunk....
That's 6 of them...and the dogs have killed them...hold ur nose!

Trudy, congrats on ur shark.

Well, off to change to get some mowing done...inbetween rainstorms

Boy, am I tired of rain. It rained most of the night - again. The water level will come up some more over the next two or three days. Everything has to be tied down. Now, we get higher heat and humidity, so it will be like a steam bath for the next three days. goody.

I'm "surviving" the truck, but get really irate/ scared when I see so many folk on their devices TEXTING. Had 26XX mile week and my sit-upon is kinda sore from bouncing.

SNOOP here: Rick had a delivery in NJ. that was real close to the Del/NJ toll bridge. His pickup/reload for return was on northwestern side of Phila. He finally got back on I-95 and started looking for Exit 7 but missed it and was able to turn around at Exit 10 and went back to Exit 7. WRONG!! .... after several close consultations wit road atlas, he came to conclusion he was in te WRONG STATE. He was in Delaware and needed to be in Pa!! OK...there is an Exit(s) 7, 8, 10 in Wilmington Del. area as well as same numbers in Phila.!! Poor guy ... about had a mental meltdown till trying to figure out WHERE he was!! Really funny....lol!! Right Exits numbers, but WRONG state!!

Love to all...

Rick & Snoop

Whew, at least you got home safely RICK......and get some REST!!!

TRUDY........hope you love the Shark.........they seem to be the "in"
vacuum cleaner of choice right now.

CB, oh NO, not again!!!

Humid here in AZ by our standards.....I can take heat but also HATE humidity. It does save $ on skin lotions tho.

INDY, wonderful news on Sophie. It sounds like she is really doing well and that her trainer is spot on with her.

ELLEN, hope your weather improves, also, for the week end.

Everyone have a good evening.