DECEMBER 2022

DONNA, that picture with AVA is darling. It does our hearts good to see you well and happy with your
new hip.

Boy, this Christmas is possibly going to have bad weather all over the country.

I just heard from Rex's owner that he died which is so sad. He got cancer and only lasted 4 weeks after
diagnosis.............Chemo was out of the question. The young man that owned him loved him a
lot and gave him the best care possible. Very sad.

Penny's Photography is on top of things this year and the post office surprised me too. I was a little late scheduling photos this year at Penny's. Didn't get the appointment scheduled until 12.14 for the kiddos. Expected delivery was for 2-3 weeks.. so sometime after Christmas. That was ok. The kiddos aren't so excited about the pictures themselves as much as going to get the pictures taken. The package was delivered this morning as I was coming in the house from feeding the horses. I don't know who was more startled, me coming around the corner of the house and almost running into the postman or the postman almost getting bowled over in the dark at 6:45 a.m. as he is dropping the package on the steps.

Isn't it nice when a company does better than expected.
A year ago, I ordered a lighted makeup mirror. The light stopped working so I contacted the company. After a bit of them checking to make sure of the original purchase, they are sending me a new one. I would have been satisfied to know how to replace the light.

We have ice on the lake today. The winds that are expected tomorrow will probably tear it up, but with the cold we are expecting it will soon be back.

Indy, is everything okay at your house?
The snow didn't amount to much, only a couple of inches. But the cold is definitely here. It's 10 below zero this morning with a wind chill of -37. The high for the day will be -1. Tomorrow will be only slightly better.

Snow hasn't amounted to much yet here. But cold, my is it cold. I kept the horses in last night. They wanted out this morning so I let them out. I had to come into work this morning but we'll be closing the office around 1:00. When I get home I'll see if they still want to be outside or if they want to come in. In the mean time they have plenty of hay, warm water and they can go into the woods for shelter. They'll be fine. We are suppose to get more snow starting this afternoon and going into the evening. I'm right on the edge of the lake effect snow belt so sometimes we get hit, sometimes not. Just have to wait and see. Suppose to stay very cold until Sunday. But the grocery stores have been hit hard. Pictures of empty shelves and I heard the Meijer gas station ran out of gas yesterday. They started shutting down businesses and government offices yesterday around noon.

Indy, I'm glad you are doing okay. Sorry you had to go to work this morning.
I was one of those who filled my gas tank yesterday. My refrigerator and freezer are pretty well stocked up. I won't starve.
I'm planning to go to relatives in Ohio tomorrow, but I haven't made a final decision yet. I'm too old to want to get stuck in a car.

Whew! The weather is unbelievable. We went down to the barn early (for us) to put on blankets. The weather was in the 30s overnight, then dropped fast, snowed horizontally with hard winds. At daybreak it was in the teens, now at 11:30 a.m. it is 6 degrees with howling winds. The horses were very happy to get their blankets, not one acted like they would rather not put one on. Even Cactus Jack stood and let us put on his blanket without restraint. Hay is inside the barn and so far our power is working so the heated water buckets are keeping the water warm. I hope the power stays on. We will do fine in the house, but those heated water buckets are really needed.

We need to make a store run, but will wait a few hours since there is probably ice on the roads.


Dorian GrayCat, our barn cat, needs to be inside. He comes in, stays a little while, freaks out and begs to go back outside. We've let him in and out a lot this morning. He forgets how cold it is outside when he comes inside. The chickens are locked in their house with food and water. When I fed them, I collected two eggs from them and left them next to the gate while I went down to the barn. They were cracked and frozen when I got back up to the gate.

You folks stay warm.

Merry Christmas Eve to all..............

I just watched a Christmas concert be Andre Bocelli concert from Italy...............it was great.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of you! Have a wonderful Christmas Day.

I was going to cousins' yesterday but the super cold weather with high winds made me chicken out. This morning the wind is dropping and I'm guessing they have had a chance to get the roads cleared off. So, I'll take off in a couple of hours and see how far I get.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE. HAVE A BLESSED AND SAVE HOLIDAY.
Always remember JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!!!!!

Love & prayers,
Trudy

Very Merry blessed Christmas to everyone..............I'm again thankful for our group. Stay healthy and happy.

Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone has had a very nice holiday.  Ours was pretty nice.  It got 'up to' 27 degrees this afternoon, it would have felt like a heat wave after the past few days, but the wind was still blowing pretty hard.  It's going to be better and better every day this week.

The horses are still wearing their blankets, but it may be nice enough to remove them tomorrow.  Everyone survived the terrible below zero windchills.  We had a time with Dorian GrayCat.  He wasn't feeling well last week, so off to the vet he went.  He had a respiratory infection and needs his teeth worked on.  So he had to stay indoors during the below zero temps.  He is not an inside cat.  He made that known.  All night.  Loudly.  We had him in a large puppy cage overnight that he definitely didn't appreciate.  

We were invited to Christmas dinner at our new neighbors' house this evening.  He made Beef Wellington.  Yum!  First time I ever ate it, it was great.  We had a nice time.  


Donnie got me a new laptop to replace the one I have had for several years.  It is about to explode from all the stuff I have on it.   The new one has lots more memory and several bells and whistles I will have to figure out.  

Stay warm, healthy and happy everyone!!

I'm back home from being with my cousins. They are all truly nice people and I'm lucky to have them as family.
The drive home was not exactly relaxing as I drove between light snows, but I didn't have any trouble.
It has been sooo cold for the last several days but seems to be letting up now. I'm certainly glad for that.

Indy, the hover soccer toys were a success. Amid all the big toys that the boys got, they eventually decided that kicking the soccer disks around was a fun thing to do. One of the boys is really big into soccer and is becoming a good player, so his endorsement is a positive.

Merry belated Christmas everyone. I'm glad to see everyone had a pleasant holiday. It's still very cold here, but the forecast is for it to warm up starting tomorrow. Yeah! I kept the horses in the barn overnight for two nights and they were not happy. They wanted outside! So outside they stayed with plenty of hay and heated water. Happy to be horses.

We survived the worst of the weather. It got up to 42 degrees today with actual sunshine! The wind wasn't bad either. Ivan and I got our 98th ride of 2022 done this afternoon. After taking off horsey blankets, everyone had a nice roll, then Ivan cheerfully hauled me around. It was nice after that horrible week of frigid cold and wind.

We spent a bit of time today going to several stores, returning things that didn't suit us, getting some animal feed and groceries. Whew! We exhausted ourselves before we got home to clean the barn. Got it done, though.

It got all the way up to 26° today. After what we had a few days ago, it felt like a heat wave.
By the time I got home yesterday the wind had dropped and the lake was frozen solid. It will stay that way until probably the end of February or early March. I saw a guy across the lake walking out to where he usually ice fishes. I'm not sure I'd be very comfortable walking on it yet.

Ark, you've got 4 days to get in 2 rides. That should be a cinch with the warmer weather coming in the next couple of days. Good for you to get all those rides done.

ELLEN, not sure your lake is going to stay frozen. We're suppose to really warm up and get rain in the next few days. If it moves your way your lake will probably turn to slush. I expect things to get sloppy around here in the near future.

ARK, good for you on your ride(s). It sounds like the weather may cooperate with you to get your last two rides in, now you just need to find the time. Good Luck.

Indy, you are probably right. The ice isn't thick yet so the warmer days might see it start to disintegrate. With today's sun shining on it, it is already starting to look dark which means thin.

Ivan and I got in ride number 99 today. It was 49 degrees, so was pretty nice. We only have one more ride to go and the next couple of days are going to be 60 degrees! Unfortunately, tomorrow we have to take Daisy and Areion to Virginia Tech for their trims in the afternoon and I also have a doctor's appointment in the morning. So I guess our 100th ride will be on Friday. It's supposed to rain on Saturday.

We've been lucky with the weather. While it was miserably and dangerously cold, we didn't get the snow at all. The scenes coming out of Buffalo, NY is really unbelievable.


Donnie and I finished up the Three Pines tv series. It was really a good series. Now we are looking at West Wing. Somehow we never watched it when it was on the air.

You go ARK.......you'll make it.  I love reading of your adventure................I'm glad weather is on your side.

Happy New Year, all! I've been enjoying catching up and living vicariously through you all.
 
Quiet and uneventful Thanksgiving and Christmas events for me here, in small at-home (other peoples!) dinners with friends. Very kind and peaceful and relaxing.
 
Well, I said "uneventful!" The big storm for us came with torrential rains and wild winds. We were warned to expect "widespread power outages," and come they did! Mine arrived at shortly after noon on Friday and was restored the next day, a little after 3 pm.  But many friends hereabouts were without until Sunday or Monday.
 
Now, y'think I might have been all set with that generator I spent so much money on two years ago -- the same one that I've been working to build a house over so it can run in rain or snow?? Wrong!!! Well, I couldn't go out to start it in the dark in all that rain and wind, could I? And even if I did get it all hooked up and running, the wind would knock over any props I'd have to use to keep the unfinished doors open, wouldn't it? Besides, I hadn't yet replaced my rusted-out five-gallon metal gas can, and the two gallons I had wouldn't last long enough to bother with, would it?? And the power might come back at any minute, right??
 
Ha, ha! I ended up driving miles to buy a new can, and more to find a place with gas, where the car lines were long. When I had a mini panic attack and couldn't remember how to activate the pump, I had to ask for help from the man filling his seven cans on the other side from me. I was mortified, imagining all the eyes in all those waiting cars cursing me for slowing them all up, inept old hunchbacked crone that I've become.... (The next time that happens, I decided, I'm going to say, "My husband always sends me on these errands, and he knows I can't handle this stuff. Next time, HE comes!" Of course, there is no husband.... and now I'm thinking that imaginary one could be useful in future. "That husband of mine said he'd get the leaves raked before snow, but, wouldn't you know it, he hasn't!" ....)
 
The power came back on about an hour after I got home -- and before I'd caught my breath and turned to the generator...
 
So last week I announced that, speaking from the accumulated wisdom of advanced age, I'd finally discovered the secret to happiness, and it was....ELECTRICITY! 
 
This week it's IBUPROFEN, which I'm taking for what I'm hoping is just swelling from arthritis in left hip and right arm. Same thing happened a couple of months ago and X-rays said it was not a broken hip. Hoping the same remains true.  Now sleeping downstairs in my clothes in my recliner, and, once up, slowed to a cane-assisted curse-filled creep ...

Beech, you have had quite an adventure. This growing old thing ain't easy.
I've thought about getting a generator that runs on natural gas so that it automatically kicks on when the power goes out. My neighbor has one. When there is a break in the power, I can hear it start up and all his lights stay on.

Today was the ablation day. Neighbor Karen drove and we got there right on time at 9:30. 2 hours for prep and waiting. The show got on the road a bit after noon, the procedure was successfully done. Then came the waiting. 4 hours of lying nearly flat to make sure the itty bitty incisions didn't bleed. FINALLY, two itty bitty stitches removed. Wait another half hour. Dressed and out the door. We finally got home uneventfully. SOOOOO glad to be here.
After a week to take it a little easy, I'll be ready to get moving again. I am so grateful that procedures like this exist now and can help lengthen a happy, active life.

Oh, my... BEECH...That husband of yours deserves a piece of your mind!  And I am impressed with your resourcefulness.  I would be in big trouble trying to figure out the generator and its housing issues.   The secret of happiness is indeed ELECTRICITY!     I am glad your power wasn't off any longer than it was.    Good for your for surviving the storm and its aftermath!! Now take care of yourself and that limp.

You and Donnie would make a matching set.  His poor right foot or ankle has a bonechip or something that is causing a terrible pain.  And his left knee, the remaining original one, is swelled up and also killing him.  This evening he is creeping around with a cane.  We went to WalMart this morning to see if we could get him better shoes, he wears out shoes faster than anyone I know.  When we walked in the door, I told him that I smelled gas.  He said it was probably one of their forklift machines or something.  About 15 minutes later they evacuated the building because of a gas leak.  The first ones out the door were all the WalMart employees, who dashed to the far side of the parking lot.  We hurried up to the front, immediately used one of the self checking out registers to pay for the shoes and left the building quickly.  There were fire trucks and cops outside.  The building never blew up, so I guess they fixed the problem.

Ivan and I got in our last ride of the year in our arena and barnlot this afternoon.  It was a more tense ride than I expected to have, Ivan was upset over the big brushfire the neighbors were burning in the next door field.   There are two things Ivan is freaky about:  bonfires and blimps.  Luckily, we don't see many blimps.  Our ride only lasted 15 minutes, but I didn't get thrown off in a spook,  I got to finally wear my new PonyUp  100 sweatshirt,  and we finished out the year successfully.  All is well with the world.  The challenge really encouraged me to ride and Ivan has generally been in an exceptional mood all year.  Unless there is a bonfire or a blimp...

ELLEN:
Yikes! I didn't realize you were having an ablation procedure. Can they tell if it was successful yet? I sincerely hope it is and you can get off your aFib meds. Take it easy and heal up!! My cardiologist keeps saying I should have that done, but I am not on board with the idea yet. I am glad to hear how your procedure went.

Ark, yes. It was a success. They "kill" the cells that can't keep time, so it shows up very quickly when it's right. In my case my heart is like a good drum set with a drummer that couldn't keep time. He was fired today.
My only discomfort is that I am still awake at 2 AM after a long day.
Congratulations on completing the 100 rides! Well done.

ELLEN:  Happy to hear your ablation went well and you will be feeling better.
ARK:  Congrats on your ride. You finished the year successfully.
BEECH:  What a terrible experience for you.  Us horse girls can always figure out a way to work bad situations out.

We had our own awful Christmas Eve nightmare during that huge storm.  NO WATER but only in the upstairs bathroom.  WHAT????  Couldn't figure that one out.  Our furnace is oil fired hot water, so we were pretty nervous.  Had to have a visit from the plumber on Christmas Eve morning and punch a hole in the wall.  Frozen pipes to the upstairs.  We spent the day manning a heat gun and hair dryer to unfreeze the pipes.  George had to miss the Candlelight Service at church so he would keep watch on the pipes.  When I got home after church, we started to see a small drip in the sink.  PRAYERS were answered, WE HAD WATER...Sunday I had the best shower I have ever had in my life.  All is well with the water issue.

Yesterday we had a fun experience with the temporary new mailman.  He THREW 2 packages of paper towels into the driveway.  WHAT the heck?  George just happened to be going out the door heading to the garage and saw him throw the packages.  I hear yelling and dashed outside, just in time to see him driving away quickly.  George called the Post Office and reported the guy.  Who throws boxes into a driveway???  One of the boxes broke open.  Amazon was contacted and they filed a report at the Post Office too.  They are sending a new box.    He also had another box with him that he refused to deliver.  What a JERK....the Post Office said they would send it out with someone else.  We lived here 32 years and never had a issue with our mail delivery.

Have nice last day of 2022.  We will be celebrating at our usual
9 PM celebration before we go to bed.  What a bunch of party animals we are.  LOL  Looking forward to 2023.