August 2018

Rose, did you see Chase Elliot's first win? It was a great finish. He proved he can race with the big boys.

Great news Ellen...............I'm sure she had a great time!

TRUDY, good grief your neighborhood has had a bout this year!
So glad George's stair chair works well. Ace will get used to it.

Ran today later in the day.............POURING.

No news here...............a few of our gang going to Ruidoso tomorrow.
No racing tomorrow so I'm not going.

Everyone have a good evening. God bless.

TRUDY:
Pumpkin bread sounds good!  Thanks!

GRAYMARE:
 Glad you are getting some rain!!     I hope the entire state is also.


I rode Ivan today at Pandapas Pond Park.  The horse hadn't been ridden in almost 3 weeks, so I was expecting a fire breathing dragon.  Nope.   He was wonderful!   We rode a slow 5 or 6 miles with a friend and Ivan didn't fight to go fast, didn't spook at anything, and didn't react to the killer horseflies that kept bugging us.  My little pony has grown up....  He even stepped closer to help me get on him easier!  What a horse!

Our weather is giving us a break...much needed one for a few days. Still smoky but not as bad. But the temps
will rise again over 100 weds and thurs...then a bit cooler..90s....which will be appreciated.
Went yard saling. Hopefull we found a home for one of the rescued pups...a friends daughter....who is as old as my oldest. But her dog is getting older...and not doing very good. Sometimes its sad to bring a new dog in...but it may help the older one to be more active....if it doesnt work she will bring her back. Im going to register teddy as my service dog. Hes really good letting me know when my sugars is higher than they should be. He can smell it on my breath and snorts and paws his nose. Hes with me wherever i go. Hes been right everytime.

PUMPKIN BREAD

1 CUP OIL
4 EGGS
3 CUPS SUGAR
1 CUP PUMPKIN
BLEND TOGETHER
ADD
2 t BAKING POWDER (MIX IN 2/3 CUP OF COLD WATER)

3 CUPS FLOUR
1 T CINNAMON
1 t NUTMEG
PINCH OF SALT

MIX WELL
GREASE AND FLOUR PANS
BAKE 350 FOR 60 MINUTES
MAKES 2 LARGE LOAVES (3 CUPS EACH BREAD PAN) OR 3 SMALLER LOAVES (2 CUPS EACH BREAD PAN)

This is my Auntie Edna's recipe from when I was a kid.  Not calorie or sugar free but oh so very good.  In fact, I'm going to make some to take to my Barnabas meeting on Thursday.  You can add raisins or nuts if you choose.  You could probably make it with Splenda instead of sugar.

I had another eye doctor appointment yesterday.  It went well.  My eyes are doing fine.  I'm now getting glasses that I can wear all the time instead of this on and off all day nightmare. after wearing glasses for 60 years this on and off stuff drives me nuts.  I'm down to 2 eye drops now.  Just the Restatis and Systane for my dry eyes.  WHEW no more spread sheet of eye drops.  YIPPEEEEE

Today is National Purple Heart Day.  We are having our annual picnic and of course it is going to rain. Oh well, we are getting used to doing things in the rain this summer.

CB: Ace does the same thing for George when his sugar goes crazy. Those dogs are AMAZING!!!

96 today no rain in sight but still lots of smoke and lots of sneezing from me...im not sure if its the smoke or pollen
8th and 9th will be cadiologist appointments
We had a mom dad and their older teen daughter camp next to us and she is going to dog sit for us. Ive been taking the dogs and running back to truck to make sure ac is still on...but its spose to be 106 next 3 days...would be better here as long as power stays on. Save my poor feet too. They have a husky and a australian sheperd...so she is use to bigger dogs. Going straight out for appt and straight back...both days. I dont want to get out of ac anymore than i have to. There will be cooler days ahead. I surely hope.
Whole park is having a potluck sunday night. That should be fun.
Not much else here. I bought a 3 gallon shop vac that cleans doghair like a dynamo!
And i got heavy tubes in my bike so i can ride more. Dang goatheads punture regular tubes so fast. We ride right before dark for 30 minutes....then walk the dogs nice long walk when pavement cools down. Life is just toooo excitin....im tellin ya!

Hey, where is everyone? Dull rainy afternoon here. Pleasant soft rain.

How did it go with the cardio for Harry, CB?

No news here. We are going to a picnic Sunday afternoon. In the rain, perhaps.

God bless, prayers for ALL.

The youngest little girl is now on wheels. She discovered today that she can make a little ride-on scooter move. She was a very happy camper. The other girls were riding their bikes and running around, and she was stuck in her stroller. We put her on the little scooter, Scarlett pushed her down the driveway and back and she was grinning all over. Then she discovered her feet, and that rocking her body could make it move.
It was a cute afternoon.

He has to wear a monitor for 30 days...omgosh
will we ever get to travel....then sees doc again on sept 22..he has a leaky aortic valve....geesh ....so here we are house leased and stuck here in idaho anyway. He sees cardio at va tomorrow to help determine if his heart problems is related to agent orange from nam. What a real pia. But we are stuck here and may as well find out.
101 today..106 next 2 days...lordie have mercy.
Albertsons grocery store opened a new store near the bsu campus and by the hospital....they give free samples...yum....some muffins that taste like shoo fly pie...and hatch pepper corn bread...regular bread...cakes...saugage with hatch peppers...chicken salad with hatchies...mac and cheese with hatch peppers...wine tasting...cheese..cakes...muffins...3 different guacamoles...had to try all 3...liked the one with of course hatch peppers...lol
Came home and collapsed took short nap.
Doggies and sitter did great! Thankfully. She will watch them tomorrow too.

CB:
Wow, that's a long time to wear a monitor.  At least it gives time for something to show up.  I've had to wear a heart monitor a couple of times and both times it was only for 24 hours.  Of course, nothing happened in those 24 hours so it was a waste of time.  At least now days you don't have to haul around a big tape recorder like they used to.  
 Try to stay cool!!!

TRUDY:
 Thanks for the recipe!  I will get some pumpkin and give it a try.

ELLEN:
 Those little girls must be so cute.   My great niece, Rachel, is 7 years old.  She just won a third place ribbon for a quilted unicorn pillow she made (with my sister's help, of course) at the county fair.  She competed with kids as old as 15, so did pretty good!   My sister, Vicki, got a blue ribbon for her elephant quilt.  It's nice she does so much with her granddaughter.


Today is International Cat Day!  Hope it has been a happy one!  

 Donnie and his sidekick, Dorian GrayCat.

CB, I have one cousin who has serious heart problems because of agent orange, and another one now has serious tremors in his hands because of agent orange. Nasty stuff, for sure.

Nice picture of Dr. Donnie and Dorian Gray Cat.

A friend stopped by on her way home from Illinois this afternoon. We gabbed and gabbed, and then went out for supper.

Ellen i hope they have talked to a va rep becuz we just found out there are disabilty benefits that has been allotted for so many vets just recently....harry is checking into it now...with help from the local VA representative.

106 today...ouch!

Thanks, CB. One of them has been on VA disability for a few years now. I don't know about the other one.

Have them talk to a rep now cuz things have changed and they dont take disability out of check tax free its now separate...but they need to file a claim i believe...but NOW that disability...if veteran passes away..the spiuse should continue to receive that money. Before that didnt happen. Lots of new stuff going on we just found out about.

106 today too....hot humid already at 7 am....

Rats! We are at war with them at our chicken/peacock enclosure. They have chewed their way into the henhouse and we think are biting the chickens. Donnie has been trapping and now shooting them. We are reluctant to poison them, but may lock up our outdoor cat and poison the rats anyway. I am down to 3 hens and 3 roosters. Three hens have died over the past few months and may be from being bitten. One hen is still alive, but was almost paralyzed for awhile. She is getting better. I don't like rats. Sneaky.


Today I have started this year's apple dehydration project. Last year I did about 40 quarts of dehydrated apple slices. They are about gone, so it is nice the apple tree is providing more. My house smells great! I put cinnamon on the slices and dry them for 24 hours. They are crispy like potato chips, but taste like tart apple/cinnamon. Yum! I just got a pressure canner/cooker and may try canning apple sauce and apple chunks. The canner sort of scares me... ... I remember my grandmother talking about blowing up a pressure cooker full of greenbeans once. She had green beans on her ceiling.

Anyone have any pressure cooker/canner advice?

Ark, is it a newer electronic pressure cooker? If so, they are a LOT safer than the old stove top ones that our mothers and grandmothers had. There are tons of videos on youtube about how to use them.

CB:  There are so many health issues that are caused from Agent Orange.  Heart disease, Parkinson's, diabetes, prostrate cancer, PTSD, ALS and the list is now endless.  Get a good service office to fight cause it is a fight, there are benefits out the wazoo now.  The VA won't tell you anything unless you ask about it.  It has been getting better the last couple of years.  I think in order for the widow to receive benefits they guys have to be 100% disabled.  Their rating schedule is nuts too.  I think George is like 170% but is actually rated at 100%.  There is no way to figure out how they think.  Each illness gets a certain percentage.

ELLEN:  The VA calls those hand tremors Parkinson's syndrome.  Not quite full blown Parkinson's.  A little fancy talk I suppose.

ARK:  What a great horse Ivan has turned into.  He has come a long way from the skittish young colt that arrived at your farm.  That's awful about the darn rats.  EWWWWW I hate rats.

It was a torrential downpour for a couple hours before the Purple Heart picnic, but we had it anyway.  Of course, some people didn't show up and we had to cut it short, everyone wanted to get home before the next storm came thru.  We have a great time and the food was wonderful.. We have it catered instead of us ladies making stuff, so much easier.  Terry makes everything homemade even the buns.  She is a blessing.

The weather here is still raining and going to rain all next week.  GEESSHHHH enough already.

The non stop rain killed our apple tree. Mark said it drowned. Who knew tress could drown? The deer are going to be bummed this fall. It ruined most of the potatoes too, turned them into mush.

The insurance roof inspector was here yesterday, the roof is FINE.  YIPPEEEEE we were thinking we were going to have to put on a new roof.  All we have to do is get some brave guy up there to screw down the nail in the spots were we have nail pop ups.  Dodge a bullet there.

Carol's mom passed away a bit after 2:00AM this morning very quiety in her sleep.  She was transferred to Hospice Care early Thursday afternoon.  The lady was 96 yo.  We are all OK with this.

A quick trip to Pittsburgh, Pa for a short burial service is in the planning stage.

………………

ARK … I love the Dalmation horses and the Appaloosa pup-dog photo.  Somebody sure made a once in a lifetime photo when that was made.

Trudy … document your roof repairs and let your insurance carrier know.  That may very well save you some grief later on. A few photos before / after wont hurt either.

CB … what's smoke situation looking like??  I have cousin wanting to go on a trip out through Idaho / Montana area.


Ellen ... I well remember helping my Mom clean beans off the ceiling when her pressure cooker blew a fuse.  She would calmly remove blown piece and screw in a new one and go back to cooking.  Those were the days!!


My love to all...

Rick...sorry about mil. Rip.
Sometimes we cant see the foothills let alone the mountains....so smoky. Some days not as bad.

Trudy....we are waiting to hear what his rating will be...started this claim becuz of needing hearing aids....

Went yardsaling and to flea market in the park...going home now to take a nap....yawn. Not as hot today...89 at 1 pm....yesterday 104 at noon.
.108 at 5
.


.

.

Rick, it sounds as if your mother-in-law had a good long life.

My mother had a pressure cooker too. She was about half scared to use it. She did use it, but not too often. I was pretty much banished from the kitchen while she was cooking with it. These new electronic ones are fantastic. I probably wouldn't have bought one for myself, but I sure do use the one my cousin got me for Christmas a couple of years ago.
The new ones are the big trend right now. There are hundreds of recipes for them online. Even the TV cooks are beginning to show their recipes for them.

Yes, Trudy. Take pictures! Lots of them. At my last house, it had to have a new roof - just old. I took pictures before, during, and after. My insurance company accepted the pictures as proof that the roof was done without having to send out an agent. It helped on the premium rate.
When I was redoing this place, I took a ridiculous number of pictures. It has helped several times. I know where all the plumbing and wiring is. The photos have date stamps and it helped get warranty work done on the compressor on my AC.
When they were doing the sewer work last year, I had pictures to show where the water and gas lines were located.

RICK:
 I am so sorry about your MIL,  Please pass along our condolences to Carol....


ELLEN:
 I think you just put this pressure cooker on the stove top.  I haven't taken it out of the box yet, that is how nervous I am about it .  I did dehydrate 3 quarts of dried apples this weekend, but so far I haven't done anything with the pressure cooker.   It is supposed to be a safe one, or at least safer than they used to be.  

TRUDY:
 Wow, I am sorry about your apple tree.  I had no idea they could drown either.  We haven't had near the rain you have had.  We did get about a half inch today, along with some spectacular lightning and hail.  Afterward, we had a double rainbow.  We need the rain here, our hayfields aren't nearly as grown as they should be.

Our rainbow:



Note the tiny cardinal sitting on the lower rainbow!

Holy jamole, TRUDY, I just saw on the news the flooding in PA. Hoping you're OK.

Towns are evacuated
....flooded. Cars and rvs washed away....hwys closed....its a mess. Benton pa has never flooded like this in all my years....i grew up at benton rt 3....18 miles from town. Crazee stuff going on. Fires...floods...droughts....

Yup more torrential rain and flash floods. Benton really was hit hard.  Columbia County was hit pretty hard.  Bloomsburg too, they are waiting for the flood this morning to hit by the fairgrounds.  It poured last night.  Water rescues all around.

So far the roof painting that Rick did is holding well.  Someday when it stops raining (HAHAHAHA) we will be able to get up there and screw down the spots that need screwed down. The roof inspector took a bunch of photos when he was climbing around up there.  Thank God I wasn't home, he was up there like a money climbing all over the roof without any safety equipment of any kind.  I would have been having a heart attack.  He was happy with the condition of the roof, said it is a lifetime roof.  Whose lifetime I wonder?

I canceled my dentist appointment yesterday and just stayed home, no sense getting out there on the flooded roads  It was just a check up on the spot where I had the surgery 6 months ago.  Not a big deal.

Tomorrow I FINALLY get my hair cut.  WOOHOO I am so excited, Ruth had her last eye surgery last week and she is back to work.  I know she is happy to have her eye fixed and get back to work.  What a nightmare for her.

I was watching the NBHA Youth World finals.  Over 190 horses in the finals.  WOW.  The last little girl was riding a horse who had set a world record time last year, they were going on and on about how great the horse was.  At the first barrel the tiny girl (she was about 9) launched herself off the horse, flew thru the air and landed right on her face.  OMG  Then the horse ran the pattern without her.  Too much horse for such a tiny girl to be riding.  People never learn, winning isn't everything.  Safety first.  

CB:  Keep fighting with the VA.  It has gotten a lot easier in the last 2 years.  The Vets are getting better treatment and the disability ratings aren't taking 20 years any longer.  The people who caused all the issues are finally getting fired instead of getting bonuses for declining claims.  It's no longer the 3D format.  Delay, Deny and Die.  That's what the Vets called it.  Sad how they were treated.

RICK:  Sympathy for losing Carol's Mom.  How was your trip to Pittsburgh?  My old stomping ground.  Haven't been home in years.  Don't miss it at all.

Ark, the double rainbow is fantastic. I love it when I get lucky enough to see one of those. The little cardinal sitting on the bottom one makes it a really special photo.

Trudy, I'm so sorry your area is being inundated with water. I hope the weather pattern will change so things can dry out.
Obviously, the little girl only needed to worry about hanging on. And yes, people still get all fired up about winning and forget everything else.
One of my little cousins, not quite 6, is totally enamored of barrel racing. She went to a small rodeo about a year ago and was struck with the bug. For her 5th birthday, she got all the western clothes. For Christmas she got a barn with all the little horses and accessories. I think they were going to see about some riding lessons for her. The first weekend in November, they are coming up to my part of the world for a rodeo where there should be some half-way decent stock. Needless to say, I'll go with them. This particular little girl is smart, bold and not afraid of much of anything. She has the right attributes to ride barrels. Western pleasure would be a total bore for her. LOL

I went down to stay with Pirkko this morning while husband went for a couple of appointments. We had a nice visit and watched two episodes of Murder, She Wrote. She is improving slowly; still a long ways to go.

Yup another water nightmare here in PA.  Nothing bad at our place but other places are having horrendous water issues. On top of the water issues, a huge crane fell over on route 15 and closed the main road for 5 miles in each direction.  And the Little League World Series starts today in Williamsport.  What a mess.

Yesterday was a banner day for me.  Got my glasses back...YIPPEEEEE no more on and off all day long, NO more reading glasses mad search, had my hair cut.  YIPPEEEE no more barrettes holding the hair outta my face.  Now I look like someone I recognize when I look in the mirror.

ELLEN:  That is very cool about your little cousin.  Barrel racing is such fun, we always had fun times at the shows.  It does take a fearless rider.  I tried Western Pleasure and you are right it was boring...for me and my horse.

ARK:  Loved the rainbow photos.  God sends us such beautiful sights to enjoy.