FEBRUARY 2022

Indy, here are the recipe and pictures. The video is there if you'd like to see how she does it.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/katie-lee/melting-potatoes-5513135
It's very easy and VERY good.

Well... that's easy.

Yes, it is. I have to admit, I didn't add all the seasoning because I wasn't sure if my guests would like it or not. I should have added it. They tasted good but could have used a bit more 'punch'. I suppose if a person likes potatoes with the skin on, they wouldn't have to be peeled. Just cleaned and sliced. (I'm always looking for an easier way to do things. LOL)

Knock knock knock. Anybody home? Is this thing working?

It's working!  

Your potato dish looks good.  I think I'll try it.    


It was 64 degrees on Friday.  It snowed Saturday into Sunday morning.  Bah, humbug!    It's about melted off this afternoon, though.    My delusion of becoming a snowbird in Florida has been tugging at me all day.  I am really ready for spring.

Kumquat is doing very well!  After two miserable weeks, she is back to her zooming-around-the-room self.... thank goodness.   She has been sleeping with me again, so she must have forgiven me for what I put her through.  She seems to be able to eat pretty well, just can't chew off pieces of anything.  I have to chop up pieces of meat into bite sized amounts for her.  I can do that.  Hopefully her pain during healing will mean she lives many more years.  




I rode Ivan a few days ago. He was so good! I decided I had better wait until Donnie trimmed Ivan's feet before riding after seeing him trip. Donnie did his front feet, but hasn't finished the backs....so I missed that 64 degree day to ride. He'll finish up tomorrow.

Hope you all enjoy the Superbowl! If I watch it at all, it's just to see the commercials, I am not a football fan. My sister, Vicki, was going to have a family Superbowl watching party, but half of them have come down with Covid after watching the last Bengals' game at her daughter's house. Her husband is feeling poorly now. They all had shots, except for the youngest grandchild, but many didn't have a booster. So far, none are seriously ill. I hope Vicki doesn't get it....

HAPPY VALENTINE DAY!

I'm so happy to see that Kumquat is doing better.

It is still cold here, teens and twenties. BUT, starting tomorrow it will get better. It's been a cold hard winter this year, but we were due after several mild winters.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY AND GALENTINES DAY EVERYONE. I received a galantine day bouquet from my friends.
It meant so much..............

Everyone have a great day...........

You'll think this is funny............I thought galantine was a typo on the card from my friends..............

I had no idea there was any such thing as galentine day. I had to look it up. LOL

Happy Valentines Day All!

ARK, glad to see Kumquat is feeling better. If the Little Princess needs to have bite sized pieces, then bite size pieces she shall have! Right?!

I have three doors to my house and not one of the doors locks work properly anymore. Yesterday I decided to tackle the doors and replace the locks starting with the two ground floor locks doors. I want both of the locks to be the same so I only have to keep track of one key. I decide to start with the door that the latch doesn't catch properly versus the one with the deadbolt stuck in the locked position.
Step 1. I bought a set of 2 doorknobs and dead bolts that are all keyed the same.
Step 2. I get the dead bolt put on and working only to discover that the hole the lock goes into in the door frame isn't deep enough for the lock to extend fully. I get that carved out with my handy stanley knife.
Step 3. I get the doorknob attached and I'm adjusting the strike plate so the latch sets nicely into the hole. (Lesson learned from Step 2) I'm standing outside (in the cold) and pull the door towards me only to have the knob itself come off in my hand. The round part is still attached to the door as it should be. Crap, now I'm stuck outside because the thingy that you put the key in has fallen inside the knob so I can't just stick the knob back on. Thankfully Bill is on the other side of the door and is able to open it. I get the knob put back together (it took forever) only to find out it won't stay together no matter what I do.
Step 4. Check the other doorknob and see if it stays together wen I pull on the knob. It does.
Step 5. Two hours after starting, give up for the night.
Step 6. Will be to start over with Step 1.
Until then I use the door to the basement to get in and out of the house.

Sometimes, DIY is do it over and over and over until you get it right.

Oh INDY..............so sorry for your frustration with the door locks. We've all been there with a project.
Relax, give it some time, and start over. Try try try til you get it and you're the winner.

Go get some hugs from your horses.................

I have learned to laugh at myself and to expect projects to not go exactly as planned. I usually get things done, sometimes I just take the scenic tour is all. My second attempt at replacing the locks went much better. Both deadbolts and both doorknobs are now installed and working properly. I even changed the outside lightbulb by the door. It decided to go out too.

I think I will wait to attempt the third door as I think it will probably involve replacing the door itself. I think I'll wait until it is warmer just to be on the safe side.

I hope everyone had a Happy Valentines day.

Well done, Indy. It is so satisfying to get something like that done and working.

Hope everyone had a nice Valentine's, or Galentine's, Day!   I never heard of that either, but if it involves chocolate, I am all in!  

We didn't go anywhere, but Donnie snuck out before I woke up and got us heart shaped biscuits from Hardee's....   He's so cute.  I made him homemade beef-a-roni for dinner.  We are so romantic.... He does like that, though, and hadn't had it in a long time.    It was a hit.


INDYAPP:
 I am exhausted just reading about your door project!  Congrats on getting it done!     I thought you were going to say that you got it all done and one door didn't use the same key as the other.    
 A book called "The Door into Summer", by Robert Heinlein,  had a house that had eleven doors to the outside.  The main character's cat,  Petronius the Arbiter, thought one was surely the door into summer and would make his owner go to each door to prove it was still cold outside.  I love that book.  We named our first peacock after the cat.  

 Poor Donnie has a new project,  the water line connecting the house to the county water system has a leak...as in a half gallon a minute.  The county says it is our problem, so Donnie will be digging another water line.  This is the second water line he has dug this winter, the other one down to the barn... Fun, fun.

 Yep, Kumquat can have whatever she wants!  I have been enjoying having her acting normally again.  She was zooming around the house and playing with Feather today, and she rarely acts like she can stand Feather.  She was in a good mood.    

 The weather is going to get into the 50s several times in the next week!

This is an older video, but it is about the cutest thing I've seen in a while. A little girl tells the story of Jonah. It's nearly 8 minutes long, but I couldn't stop watching it.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=little+girl+and+Jonah+store&docid=608004229315778745&mid=76628EB01DC08D91708876628EB01DC08D917088&view=detail&FORM=VIRE

ELLEN:
I will watch that video! Sounds cute.
Well if you thought Wordle was bad, there is a new one that stretches the brain cells even further. Here is an article on it:

https://www.upworthy.com/quordle-is-the-awesome-and-awful-new-wordle?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

It's like Wordle on steroids. It has practice sessions so you don't have to jump in over your head too fast. So far I have only done it once and missed completing it by one try. Oh, well.

www.quordle.com


It's cold out. I have to give blood in a couple of hours, so am warming up and catching up here before jumping into the tub. I just cleaned up the barn, I am sure the blood people will appreciate me washing that off.... We got a lot of rain overnight and the temps dropped from 60 down into the 30s this morning. I liked the 60s better.

That little girl was really cute as well as how she told/read the story.

Nothing new here yet but a surprise is coming next week...............care to guess?

Everyone have a good evening.

(hand waving wildly in air)  I KNOW.  I KNOW!!!  

New puppy??

ONE reason I've not posted: Wrestling with #$&*!! carpal tunnel pain in both wrists here,. Makes it almost impossible to type. Or tie a shoelace or button a shirt or pull up socks or hook a bra! That last thing I put on over my head this morning, a first, having gotten all mixed up, upside-down and inside out, by all previous alternative methods. Swears and more swears! Approved for surgery by neurologist in Aug 2020 but kept putting it off because I had no idea it could become so painful and disabling so fast -- or how hard it would be to thread my way to help, which I started last fall. Neurologist didn't return phone call. Primary care physician moved away with no substitute yet available. Recommended surgeon away on sabbatical. Finally saw a new p-c doc on Monday and a different orthopaedic surgeon on Thursday, whose technique is not, as reported on the phone, the same as his colleague's, but, he assured me, just fine, and I was impressed him and so will use him. But couldn't line up an appointment before leaving because they have to consult for approval with both my new p.c. doc and my pulmonologist first. YouTube videos show operation takes only about five minutes and is done with a local anesthetic, which I assumed was SOP. But the last official (nurse? secretary? accountant??) I spoke with at the orthopaedic center gave me a stern and unflinching stare as she insisted: "Oh, no! You'll need general anesthesia." Eh? Doc said nothing about that, though he did agree that the operation took only five minutes, and he complimented me on my research. Another trip out yesterday (Friday) for routine blood tests. Now I've just realized that Monday's a holiday. Sigh...

In between, I've been wrestling with buying a smartphone. Gotten along up to now without one, had a litte flip cell that cost only about $120 per year and served perfectly well for emergencies. Now Central Control has declared it and its 3G wavelength obsolete, and so I've been researching and researching and researching. Big conflicts in my head: the simplest cell phones now cost as much as many low-end smartphones, so why not get the more that comes with the smartphone? Because I don't want or need that "more??" And because I'm a flaming tightwad? Well, I finally ended the pain of being stuck in that dilemma by ordering a Moto G Power 2021 from Amazon today for $189.89. Verizon is the server that works best hereabouts, so I bought with that, among other considerations, in mind. Any observations, anybody?

Got badly scammed on the computer on Feb 3 -- but I'll save that for another post.

I'm enjoying everybody else's posts... Any hints, GM??

OH gads BEECH, it's good to see you. So sorry about your carpal tunnel.............git-r-done and overwith.
Now with medicine the way it's gotten, it takes about three months to organize anything unless it's emergency.

About cell phones................... They have gotten so advanced I wouldn't know what to choose either. I dread
getting a new phone. I liked the old method of calling someone's home and someone answering and saying
"hello". Now it's "please leave a message and I'll get back to you"

Yes, I got a puppy, an Australian Shepherd, will be 10 weeks on Monday. I will pick her up next Friday
after she has her first shots on Monday. I've named her Nell E Belle. Oh boy, she's cute and
cuddly. She's blue merle with a lot of white and blue eyes. She has an overbite so is only pet quality.............like that
makes a difference. She will be a great companion for me and a great playmate for my daughter out in the barn.
I hope she doesn't get teased in doggie school about having buck teeth. I'm just lucky to have all mine.

Everyone have a great evening...............

Good to see you, Beech.
I'm sorry about your hands, and I hope you can get them fixed quickly.

About the phone... A little over a year ago, my old smart phone was getting tired and wasn't holding a charge. I went to Amazon and looked at phones for a couple of months or more. I finally settled on the Samsung 20 fe. It wasn't what I would call cheap, but considerably less than buying one from Best Buy or Verizon. It was unlocked, so all I had to do was take it to the Verizon store where they put in a SIM card.
I do like my smart phone and use it more than I thought I would. However, I do not live on it like some of the younger people do. There are times it can easily take the place of my computer for many things. When I want to type anything, I still use the computer because I can sure type faster than I can hunt and peck on the phone.
About 6 years ago, I got a new thermostat that I could control from the phone. I thought I was just buying a silly luxury item. The new thermostat was so much better that it saved me about $60 a month the first January after I got it. I like being able to turn the heat up or down away from home. If I'm going to be gone for a couple of days or more, I turn the heat down. When I'm on the way home, I turn it back up about 30 minutes from home and the house is warm when I get here.
My cousin uses Tracphone as her provider. With that she gets a new phone for considerably less, and the cost of the service is cheaper too. The unused minutes roll over to the next month. She finally gave up her house phone and still has plenty of minutes building up to the point where she will probably never use them all.
I haven't owned a landline for nearly 15 years and haven't missed it at all. With current technology, if you call 911 they can pinpoint the location instantly.

Keep us up to date on how you are doing.

I guessed a puppy too. Can't wait for you to post pictures of her next week.

Oh, BEECH!
I am so sorry about your carpal tunnel! Figuring out medical stuff is so frustrating for me and I can see your struggles, too. Just getting an appointment is a major accomplishment. I hope they fix you up soon.

My sister, Vicki, who had that surgery for carpal tunnel while awake, is able to talk on her phone and have it send it as a text message. That might save your wrists a bit, and give you another reason to get a smart phone. I suspect my phone has it, too, but I don't use it. We are in somewhat of a dead zone for phone coverage here. Only Verizon can reach us, so we have to have a phone that uses their network. I suspect you will like a smart phone once you have it. I loved my flip phone, but it sort of finally died a lingering death.

So my latest addiction? An Apple watch. I absolutely love that thing! My cardiologist suggested I get one last year, so now I can keep track of heart rates, oxygen level and EKG if I want. But that's not why I love it. It has the weather on it and can tell the forecast for whatever city I want. I can do about a gazillion things with it, including tell the time... When I ride Ivan, it tells me how far I went. If I fall off, it will call 911 and Donnie for me.. I feel like Dick Tracy with his wrist communicator when I use it to call Donnie at the house while I am at the barn. So I am definitely addicted to it. It even has a built in flashlight that has a voice command to turn it on. It's basically a computer on my wrist...and my constant companion.

GRAYMARE:
A new puppy!! I love blue merle coloring and blue eyes. Congrats!! I didn't quite understand what you meant about your daughter playing in the barn. I am sure Nell E. Belle will be a ton of fun! Cute name, by the way. Makes me think of Roy Roger's friend's jeep.... (What was his name?) The jeep's name was Nelly Belle.

ELLEN:
I bet your lake is frozen over. Is Travis having fun this winter? We got rid of our landline after I got a cellphone a few years ago. They stopped maintaining the landlines and you could barely hear a conversation due to the noise on the line. Their solution was to put us on a cellphone and charge us the same as a landline. So we got rid of the system when we were able. The only thing I miss about the land line is the connection when there is a storm and the cell towers are out. After they put us on their cell phone system, that advantage was gone.


I brushed all the horses today, turning them back from dirty paints to almost decent grays. This evening they are back to dirty paints.

Yep. The lake is still frozen over. It rained hard several days ago and almost all the snowed melted, so the water level came up and brought the ice up with it. The ice is thick, but sometimes when the water goes back down it leaves gaps between the underside of the ice and the top of the water. That makes for a rather unsafe situation for snowmobiling.
We got some snow a couple of nights ago, enough for Travis to make a land run.
Today and two more are going to be really warm, just before another cold wave hits again. This has been the coldest winter we've had for a few years. Those bugs that burrow into the ground in the fall will be more frozen than usual and a lot of them will be killed off. Thank goodness.

Yes ARK, Nell E. Belle is named after Pat Butram and his Jeep Nellybell......................