November 2022

Lovely picture of the fawns. The neighbor who came to my rescue with his bobcat started raising deer last year. He had his first season of fawns this year. He has 4 fawns, 4 does and a buck, I think. Evidently raising deer for contained hunts is big money. They genetically breed the deer for big antlers. Who'd of thunk it? With all the wild deer out there the idea of contained hunting for big antlers is mind blowing to me.

One of the does got out a few weeks ago and came over to my place. I couldn't get close to it, but it didn't really run away either. Doesn't seem very sporting to me to hunt a relatively tame deer just for the antlers. I'm not against hunting because the hunter comes back with empty hands more often than not, so if he's able to shoot one, good for him as long has he is using the meat. But this contained hunting just does not seem right to me on many levels. On the other hand, if the deer were raised for meat like cattle are and sent to slaughter I have no problem with that. Go figure.

One year, Indiana had 17,000 deer/car accidents. Not sure why you would raise more of them.

I agree ELLEN.

Snow. Thursday it was 72°. Today it's 33°
I guess it's time to get out the Christmas tree. Maybe I'll wait until it stops snowing.

I had a busy week end. All horse friends. Talked a blue streak, laughed til we practically wet our
pants, and solved world problems. Ha, leave it to a bunch of old ladies.............

Then shoer this morning............

I'm whooped.................

God bless. Everyone have a good evening.

I just got a call from my friend that fell on a curb and hit her head creating brain surgery. She
speaks very clearly and knows all that happened. She is still in rehab but has covid. She stated
"I'm so pissed". Too funny. She has trouble with her eyes at times so that's still a problem but
says they seem better each day. She is gaining in PT and OT.

GOOD NEWS.............

Wow! That must have been a bad fall. I'm glad to hear that she is improving and recovering. It could have been a lot worse.

GRAYMARE:
Poor friend! But if she is 'pissed', it probably means she is getting better. And covid on top of it, some people really get slammed sometimes. I hope she feels better every day.


ELLEN:
My sisters got snow in N.KY. We didn't get any, but they did in the higher mountains. It is definitely colder though and going to be cold all week.

INDYAPP:
I don't see much reason to raise deer either, but some folks like to fish in a barrel I guess. Not very sporting.


I rode Ivan for a few minutes this evening. He was very good, even in the cold, windy, after sunset ride. He has been so darn snuggly in recent times. Areion is fairly stand- offish compared to Ivan, probably because I spend so much more time with Ivan.

I bought a turkey from Krogers for 39 cents a pound. I baked it yesterday, deboned it, and froze half of it for Thanksgiving. The cats and dog were thrilled with their little pieces of it! We'll be eating a lot of turkey this week.

Ellen, looks like you're having more snow. I hope not, just saw the weather map.

I've had a slow day so far..........I gabbed on the phone awhile, had some soup. ARK,
are you trying to make us look bad? I'm no where near preparing for Thanksgiving and you're done.
I was salivating thinking your turkey is table ready.

Our morning was 33 this morning but it's 72 now and will be warming up in the nights but day
temps will begin 70's this week.

No big news here..........horses and Nell E Bell are great.

It is just now starting to snow a little bit. Only enough to dampen the flat surfaces... so far. They are predicting less than an inch.

GRAYMARE:
I didn't plan on getting a turkey this year, but couldn't pass up 39 cents a pound. I didn't have room in my freezer for it, so went ahead and baked it. It fits nicely deboned in my storage containers. This evening we had our first Thanksgiving meal! We'll be having a few of them... Now I have to do something with that big pumpkin I bought for Halloween. It never was carved and should be good to cook.


ELLEN:
No snow here, but lots of rain again. We got over an inch today. The horses were only out long enough for us to clean up the barn for them, then spent the day inside it. It's a cold rain, never got over 37 degrees. Thankfully it will end this evening and be dry for the next week.

Yesterday I made a grocery pickup run just before the snow started. It has snowed very lightly since then. At the moment there is about 2 inches on the ground. It isn't going to melt anytime soon. This will be a good day to make rolls to freeze for next week.

I'm no where close to being ready to prepare Thanksgiving dinner. Wednesday is the day all the flyers come in the mail for the grocery stores. Prices for turkey is all over the place. Two stores had frozen turkey for .49 unless it was Butterball and Butterball was either .99 or $1.29. Fresh turkey seems to be running about $1.99. So I've at least looked at the flyers.

I was off work yesterday and was able to cut up one of the the trees that came down in the woods on the fence. Fortunately it's the biggest, messiest one. I ran out of gas both in the chainsaw and in energy. I'll have to get the other two trees another day. After working with the tree I hooked up the landscaping rake to the tractor and drug the horse pen to clean up all the poop. Good thing I did as it started snowing and we ended up with about 6 inches of snow by this morning. Winter appears to have arrived.

I finished up my day by going to the medicare website to figure out next year's Part D insurance for Bill. Premiums have really increased this year. Most people's COLA increases are probably going to cover insurance. After comparing everything and deciding on what will be best for the coming year, Bill decides he wants to look into an Advantage plan this year. At this point it was 9:30 and I said not tonight. I'll tackle that project this weekend. Now that I'm familiar with the website I can do it for my brother too. The worst part is plugging in all the meds. I have a feeling I'm whining to the choir though.

Indy, you must have gotten more of the lake effect snow than we did.  We have a 2 inch covering of snow now even though it has snowed lightly all day.
I don't envy you having to clean up a tree in the cold and snow.  Can you find somebody who will do the work in exchange for the wood?


Later in the evening: I was channel surfing and happened upon an FEI jumping event from Toronto. It was really nice to see that 64 year old Margie Goldstein-Engles is still riding BIG horses over BIG fences. Tonight the horse is over 18 hands. She is 5'1". Looks like a child on a big horse. She sure doesn't ride like a child.

I've always loved Margie Goldstein-Engle.

Unfortunately I've never been able to find anybody who wants my wood. It's pine and from what I understand it burns too fast, and leaves a creasote (sp) residue that becomes a fire hazard in chimneys.

More snow this morning. ugh..

Good grief! It's a blizzard out there now. Neighbors and I are off to dinner, but only a mile away. If this is November I just can't wait to see what January brings.

I do not envy you your snow.   It is cold and very windy here, that is quite sufficient.

 I rode Ivan this evening,  I need 13 more rides this year to make my 100 rides for 2022.  It was 40 degrees with the wind howling, the windchill was 27.  It was not a long ride.  When I got off, I realized I had forgotten to tell Donnie to snap a photo for my ride.... so he took one right where we stood....

Thank you, Ark.  

I love that picture.  It's good and funny.


Sunday morning: 12°! This is January weather. I don't want to think about what January will bring.

Belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLEN..............and many more.

Happy Birthday, ELLEN!  
 
Indy!  My current Medicare supplemental health insurance (it's with Anthem) is so incredibly costly that I also considered a switch to an Advantage plan. But I definitely decided strongly against that after watching two YouTube videos issued by an outfit called Medicare School. (In checking out the names of those videos, I discover that that outfit offers a jillion videos on the subject, plus individuated guidance, all for free. They maintain that, while they're paid by insurance companies, their agents are paid a flat salary, and so favor no one insurance provider over another.) The videos I saw (I think!) were called "The Top Disadvantages of Medicare Advantage Plans in 2023," and "2023 Advantage Plan Checklist. Is it Right for You? It's Not for Me!"  Speaker is Marvin Musik and he impressed me as fast, clear, thoroughly knowledgeable, straightforward, and very skilled at reducing the maddeningly complex to the manageable and understandable.  I had already read that the proliferation of Advantage plans represented insurance companies' increasing efforts to privatize health insurance. My decision ended up being reinforced by a very smart and kindly volunteer with Maine's Agency on Aging who spent what I think was a total of four hours in two sessions on the phone, most of it having to do with my (separate) drug plan, which I did change. If you know all this, please forgive me! I just found that resource so readily available and helpful that I wanted to pass it along.
 
Cold, cold here!  With a little wind today. We got barely an inch of slushy snow, now gone, last week.  Work on my generator cover has stopped -- awaiting the next warm spell. (Spring??)
 
I love that perspective on you and Ivan, ARK! Wonderful!
Also the clapping cat! 

Beech, that's good information to have. I have Anthem too, but the premium is very low. Co-pays are more. I had a different company that had a much higher premium, but they didn't have a drug plan. I've had more co-pays this year but I think/hope that will be much less next year with no major medical events. Hips don't come cheap, but they are so worth it. At the moment, my meds are very inexpensive.

Happy belated Birthday ELLEN. I hope you had a great one!

I've discovered researching the Medicare options can take you down a worm hole. The time it takes is amazing. I too have found the volunteers at Council on Aging are a great resource.

Saturday night we got SNOW!! I must have a good foot total now. I'm hoping we're going to get it early and then have an early spring. That would be nice. I'm just thankful I don't live in New York. I can't imagine 4 foot of the stuff. The horses on the other hand don't seem to care.

Today is the first day in over a week to reach temperatures above freezing. We had gotten about 2 inches of snow that stayed on the ground. Some of that is actually melting today. It's so good to see a clear blue sky replace the perma-gloom.

Happy Belated birthday Ellen..

ARK:  Loved that photo gallery...

It's been a crazy November here in PA.  70 degrees on the 7th and 3 inches of snow on the 16th.  Good old PA weather.  Sunday it was 20 something degrees and wild winds that knocked out the power for hours.  Thanking God for the Generac, she fired right up and kept us warm and fed.  Invited our neighbor to come up but she started their wood stove so they were OK.  Her husband Joe is 91 and not in good health.

We have Humana for our supplement.  So far it has been good.  Because George is a Veteran his  supplement is free and mine is $18 a month.  99% of my meds are free and we get a OTC quarterly amount to spend as we need OTC items.

On Monday a bunch of us girlfriends surprised Lynn with a birthday party.  She turned 80 on Monday.  She was so surprised, we had a blast.  Good food and great fellowship.  Lynn is a old horse girl too.



Not doing much for Thanksgiving.  I bought a chicken...not a fan of turkey after having my horses boarded around a turkey farm in my younger days...not really a fan of chicken either...the adult kids are having their own dinners and we don't want to travel so we will just hang out here on the farm.

Friday, I plan (hahahaha) on putting up the good old Christmas tree...and getting my Christmas cards ready to mail.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving everyone.

That picture shows a group of gals who have been friends for a long long time and truly enjoy each other.

Even though I make bread all the time, I don't make butter rolls very often.  Drat.  I had to make three batches to get one to turn out right.  The first two are edible for me, but only the third one will travel.  Now, for the mini-brownies.  Tomorrow morning I'll make the cream pies.  They are the easiest of all.
I hope all of you have a wonderful day eating too much and enjoying family.

The brownies are done, baked in the little gem pans. It's a pain in the patoot to put silicone liners in each little cup so they don't stick, and then pour in the mix. Then, when they are baked getting them out of the cups is another challenge. After two years of experimenting, I have finally come up with a method that works. The brownies are nice and crisp on the outside and chewy inside.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!