DECEMBER 2021

   Merry December, 2021 !!

Here we are in December....again. This year has flown by. No snow here, so far.


Today we took Daisy and Areion to the vet school farrier for trims. For whatever reason, this time Areion decided she didn't want to get on the trailer. I think she and Daisy draw straws as to who is going to be a pain. Daisy walked right on. On the way home, both walked right on. Mares.

Oh brother, that's a good one ARK..............

You're right, I can't believe it's December already..........so much to do.

I don't know how I'll get finished.............

Whew! I think I have only one more gift yet to arrive. It isn't a very important one, and there is still plenty of time for it to get here.

Today was a nice day, so the tractor got some exercise on the leaves. One more good session should do it for this year.

I ordered a new Christmas tree for this year. It hasn't arrived yet, but UPS says it will be here Saturday. It needs to come soon so I can get it decorated. This month is going to fly by. But, I think I'm mostly ready. Just a few things to wrap.

We did have a bit of snow three weeks ago, but none since then. Sometimes the lake starts to freeze by mid-December, but I don't think it will happen that soon this year. Most likely sometime in January.
Travis has the snowmobiles tuned up and ready to go whenever it does snow. LOL

Happy December...

My trees are up and decorated...most of the Christmas cards are addressed and ready to mail.  The gifts I have to ship are almost ready to head to the PO.  Already shipped a couple.  If anyone is shipping, do it early as possible this year...an insider tip..I received my first Christmas card yesterday.

RICK:  It was nice to hear from you, glad to hear that you are still above ground, even if you seem to be spending a lot of time on the ground.  This getting older is hard work.

I'm off to visit the vampires and have blood work done this morning.  12 hour fasting.  UUGHHHHH drinking warm water instead of coffee this morning.  If I have enough energy after that I may stop at the PO and mail a couple more gifts.

Have fun getting ready for Christmas.

Yesterday was a day of comedy errors. Started out at work with me entering some information on the computer, only to find out I entered it in the wrong place. Then I couldn't figure out how to delete it. I ended up calling the service area for the program involved only to find out they are the only ones that can make those kinds of corrections. Then, when I went to lunch, I had a punch card that I had filled and could use for $5 off. Except that I couldn't because There was a minimum you had to spend to redeem the coupon and my bill didn't meet the minimum. I gave it to the older couple behind me, Merry Christmas. Because I couldn't use my coupon, I had to dig in my wallet for more $$ to pay my bill. And I set my wallet down on the counter and left it there. Fortunately I realized it as I was getting in my car and I went back in to get it. The older lady who was behind me was on her way out with it to try and catch me. After work I had an appt to pick up a walker that was sold on Marketplace so I had to get going right away. My brother calls me as I'm getting in the car and he has the little kiddos. The older one has a tooth ache and he has nothing to give her, could I stop at a pharmacy and pick something up. I explained I had to pick up the walker first because the lady I was getting it from had an appointment she had to get to so I couldn't be late. I'd get the walker than be over. Directions were pretty simple to get where I was going. Drive forever on one road, turn left fourth house on the left. Only problem was, my GPS never told me to turn left. I ended up over shooting where I was suppose to turn by about a mile and I had to call the lady and figure out where I was and how to get back to her. Fortunately she had plenty of time to get to her appointment. I stopped at the pharmacy, went to my brother's, dispensed meds, and set up the new walker to fit him. Decided on the way home, to stop and pick something up for dinner since it was late. Couldn't find my wallet. I know I had it when I paid for the walker. I tore my purse apart. I must have dropped it while putting the walker in the car. I get home and while in the garage, do a more thorough search of my purse, and car, no wallet. However, I did manage to flip the switch that keeps the dome light on and didn't realize it. Usually by the time I get out of the car and to the garage door and close the overhead, the dome light is off. It wasn't. Instead of standing and waiting decided I would run in the house, change shoes to feed and if the dome light was still on, I'd figure out why. It was still on. I found where the switch had been moved from auto to on. Switched it back. Dome light went off. Fed horses. Still upset that my wallet is missing. I'm going to have to call the lady and ask her to look around where I was parked and hopefully she would find it and return it too me. Came in the house from feeding and took off my coat. Brushed off hay from my pants and found my wallet in my back pocket. So like I said, a day of comedy errors. I'm so glad it is over. I hope today is better.

I hope everyone has a great day.

Indy, that sounds like "Alexander's Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day".  That's a kids' book.  At least all the problems had a good ending.  I hope today is better for you.


Two days later: I put up a new Christmas tree. Compared to the old one, this one sort of resembles a Charlie Brown tree. It went up quickly and easily, but it isn't as nice and thick as I was hoping. I might get some garland and fill in the middle. BUT, it's up and Christmas is coming.

Oh, I forgot to add the part about on my way over to meet the lady I had to stop for gas. I stopped at a station I had never been to before. I wasn't paying very close attention, the first nozzle on the pump was yellow and at my normal station the yellow nozzle is diesel fuel. So I grabbed the second nozzle and started putting gas in. The second nozzle was premium, the first nozzle was regular, but the yellow was part of the station's color scheme. I did NOT fill my tank. LOL.

Saturday was beautiful and it rained Sunday.

Charlie Brown Christmas trees aren't all bad ELLEN. I think your on the right track to add a little garland and maybe some small stuffed animals.

Indy, today I'm going to add a lot of extra lights and all the ornaments. That should improve things a little bit.

Hullo, FOOPS all!
Way behind and catching up here. Delinquent as I am at posting, I love keeping track of what you all are up to -- and am glad to see Rick resurfacing. Thought I should, too.
Manygates, I thought of you and Ace when a friend lost her dancing 5-year-old Golden to cancer recently. A beloved dog's absence, I know, is a huge presence for a very long time
Indyapp: I love your stories! And BOY can I relate to time lost looking for lost items!! The CAR KEYS I KNEW I had when I went out to the barn: they weren't in the coat pocket; they weren't in the coat lining where the pocket has a big hole; they weren't in the car ignition; they weren't under the car; they weren't buried in leaves between house and barn; they weren't in the recliner; they weren't on the stand in the bathroom; they weren't on the floor where the coats hang...
Where they were was in the pocket of the sweater I'd forgotten I'd worn to the barn. Sigh....
Ellen: A very late Happy Birthday!
Graymare: you continue to amaze me with the matter-of-fact aplomb with which you meet the toughest of challenges. Ages ago I said I wanted to be like you when I grew up. Ain't gonna happen, I'm afraid, I'm now so far beyond reform! But you still inspire. Cheers and love to you and TL as he recovers.
ARK, we are rolling on the same rails! Almost every Saturday night for the last several months I've been watching a Midsomer Murder episode. Old-fashioned and refreshingly rational-- even counting all the head-bashings and stabbings and poisonings and hangings and the like that nudge the plots along. Meant to tell you, too, that I forwarded Donnie's piece about small farm equipment to my brother, and he was intrigued, only regretting that, at 93, he can't do what he used to.
Me, too!
Merry Christmas to all!

I really should change my photo! It's been two, maybe even three, years since I sold that scooter. Next pic will feature a cane...

Hi Beech! I'm glad to see you here again. When people don't show up here for too long, we worry.

Whew!!  I am exhausted from INDYAPP's terrible awful really crummy day!  I hate days like that.  And days where I drop everything at least twice.    

I hope you are rested up INDYAPP!!

BEECH:
 Hiya!!  We love Midsomer Murders!  We are on season 10 now, we watch one a day.  I really like Barnaby, such a cool character.   My sister, Vicki, watches it also, she is the one who told me about the series.    Well I am impressed with your brother who at 93 would even contemplate making haybales!  I will tell Donnie he has at least 20 more years of doing it ahead of him....   Donnie really would like one of those contraptions that squeezes the liquid out of the hay as it is being cut.... don't ask me the name....But our tractor is too small to run such a machine.  It cuts down the drying time considerably.


RICK:
 You put your recipe in the wrong spot.  I'll try to figure out how to get it here. !  Looks like a good recipe.

GRAYMARE:
 Is TL back home yet?  How are you doing?  

ELLEN:
 Once again you are way ahead of me.  I still haven't gotten a single decoration up.  Today we unloaded a truckload of sawdust for stall bedding, trying to beat the rain coming.  We beat the rain....by about 6 hours.     Apparently the rainclouds mostly evaporated just before they reached us.  We go enough rain to settle the dust.  But the sawdust is dry!  Anyway, after that activity,  hauling out the Christmas tree didn't sound fun.   I want a Charlie Brown tree.

TRUDY:
 Got your vampire visit over?  Those are always fun.   I used to be afraid of needles... one gets used to about anything after a million jabs from it.  


 I did have some good news this weekend.  My new heart monitor implant reported two incidents in 3 weeks, neither were aFib.    They now think I have supra ventricular tachicardia....on rare occasions.  I only have to take a little low dose pill unless the monitor comes up with something worse to report.  
 

Yesterday, my former wonderful barnsitter came by to visit with her 4 year old daughter.  I have sure missed that young lady since she grew up!  She wanted her daughter to meet a 'real' horse.  Well, my full sized real horses are not used to mini-people, so I had Trinket on hand to entertain her.  Trinket thinks she is a real horse and the kid didn't know the difference. Trinket was such a sweetie, even though we can count the number of times she has had a kid on her back with one hand.

EECH:  It was good to see you posting again.  Sympathy to your friend who recently suffered the loss of her beloved dog.  We still feel the loss of Ace and I know the empty feeling will go on for a long while.  Our neighbor brings Ace's friend Lilly down to visit and gives us some doggie time.  

INDYAPP:  What a horrific day you had.  I hate those days.  I lose everything.  I'm always double checking my stupid purse for my credit cards after shopping.  My issue is I need to slow down and just put things in their place and not rush.  I'm retired...no need to dash about like a wild woman.

GRAYMARE:  Many prayers for you & TL.ELLEN:  You have such wonderful adventures with family & friends.

ARK:  Yup the vampires did a good job and all my tests came back with good results.  Praise The Lord.   Happy to hear that your heart issues are under control.  What a cute picture of Trinket and the little girl.

Funny story about forgetting stuff.  At church I went to get my coat and I always put my coat in the SAME place so I know where it is...welllll someone had moved it, so the coat I put on wasn't my leather coat...hmmmmm...this isn't my coat...maybe this one is...nope....not mine either.  OH NO someone must have stolen my coat...good thing my car keys are in my purse.....wait a minute....I didn't wear my leather coat did I? ...nope....there it is....no one stole it.  LOL LOL  I laughed all the way to my car...

When I was in the process of remodeling this place, the contractor needed something from Lowes and I was going to go get it. I couldn't find my usual set of car keys. Looked all over, but needed to get going, so I grabbed the second set and headed for the car. By the time I got there (10 feet) I had a set of keys in each pocket. How that first set got there, I have NO idea. LOL

I'm home from the hospital and worn out................this being patient is hard work............
inch by inch..............2 steps forward 4 back sometimes............

God has a plan and we're in it so far................

Very tired. Keep the prayers going.

Graymare, I do pray for both of you. Just sitting and waiting is absolutely exhausting. Take care of YOU while you take care of TL.

Oh boy,ARK. Hope all is well with your relattives in KY..............hugs & prayers.

GRAYMARE:
Thank you. My relatives live in N.KY and while they had bad weather, they didn't have a tornado go through. Thankfully. Vicki was ready to sleep in the basement, but didn't have to do it.

Hope you are doing good. I think of you and TL a lot....


Windy here and rain coming in a few minutes. I think I'll go chase the horses back to the barn....although they are covered in mud and could use a good rinse.

Ark, I'm glad to hear that Vicki is okay. We've had some significant wind here, but nothing dangerous.
When I got up this morning, the temperature was 56°, and has dropped like a rock to 35°. According to the predictions, the wind should let up around 5:00 this evening. Earlier this morning, the electricity went off and I thought it would be off for a long time; maybe a tree or something. But, it came back on after a minute or two. Thank goodness.

Glad to hear of FOOPS untouched by the tornados. Any others who need to be heard from? How is CB?

ARK - I'm glad that your heart report was good. Though a little worry still remains, getting out from under the big one is probably in itself good for the heart.
A Midsomer Murder every day??!! Mercy! I have to watch them with subtitles to make up for British accents and idioms, but I've recently had to acknowledge that, even with that help, I lose track of who's who very early on, so that, by the time that dear Barnaby unravels it all in the end, I'm in befuddlement, with only pieces of ideas as to who did what and why. That could be my age and deafness. But I guess that doesn't matter, because I keep going back for more. I think that's because the show always comes across as a comforting place where civility mostly reigns (not counting the eccentrics and the murderers), and justice and rationality , delivered through Barnaby's extraordinary insights, always triumph. Clearly, an antidote to today's political turmoil. (Maybe I SHOULD watch it every day??!)
In the episode I watched last night, Barnaby came perilously close to succumbing to the wiles of a sex bomb. She ended up getting beheaded ,thus preserving his virtue, but it looked close...
Trinket photo terrific!

Thanks to RICK for that recipe. My mouth is watering, RICK.

GM Still thinking of you and TL and want to echo wise ELLEN's advice to take care of yourself as well as TL.

TRUDY and ELLEN - Funny stories about coats and keys. I'll bet we all have a lot more. I know I generate at least one a day. "WherEVER is that fork I JUST HAD IN MY RIGHT HAND.......

Got a haircut yesterday from the friend I've written about before, in the big old country house that I get to on a long, wooded, dirt road. When I arrived, she asked if I'd like to join her and another friend in the kitchen, first, for a cup of tea. Two -plus hours later, we got to the haircut. We were ages 74, 84, and 93. Talked and laughed up a storm. Some of the talk had to do with swearing, because I said I was letting myself do a lot more of it now that I was old. ... And I told them how, years ago, my brother came home from work once, and started inspecting their newly-built house. "Say, Katharine," he said to his wife, "this window is damaged!" Before Katharine could respond, their three-year-old daughter piped up:"We don't say that word around here."

One of my favorite "forgets" is when I think of something I want to look up on the computer or phone. I pick up the phone or turn on the computer, get distracted by something else on the screen and completely forget what I was looking for in the first place. Most of the time, I can retrace my mental steps and get to it. I guess if I don't remember at all what I wanted, it wasn't important.

BEECH ... ya might wanna make/bake one up as a taste test project ... Pecan Cheesecake Pie.  Id really suggest making it with the fake sugars for health reasons ... you really cant tell the difference in taste.  Im gonna make another one as a thank you to the lady who helped get my sorry carcass up off road from my last fall.  Ill probably wait till closer to Christmas day t do so.  Impossible for my taste buds to have too many pecans but thats just me.  Have fun !!

Love to my Foop Friends !! ... Rick

(Dont know about others here, but I REALLY miss HT and his antics here this time of year.)

RICK:
I just bought pecans and cream cheese to try your recipe. Probably will do it a bit closer to Christmas....


ELLEN:
I recently bought a cover for a new cellphone that Donnie is getting me for Christmas. So where did I put it? I have no idea. Sometimes if I go back and walk into the room I was going into before I forgot why I was going in there, I will actually remember why I was going in there. Sometimes.


BEECH:
I have the captions on for Midsomer Murders, too. I still miss some of their references, especially of people famous to them. I have also decided I can't tell old guys with gray hair and British accents apart! The show has more older folks on it than we have here. My favorite Barnaby stories are the Halloween shows when he actually gets startled about something. The man is just so darn cool.... One thing I do like about the show is the creativity of how they murder people. We are boring here with just shooting people all the time.... I mean guillotines?