July 2024

Welcome to July!

I learned something yesterday. My watch, who watches my every move, told me that I am more afraid of harmless black snakes than I am of a half grown bear. Yesterday we caught a black snake trying to sneak up on one of our barn swallow nests. We caught it handily with the new net and hooked stick I recently bought and hauled it to where he has several other relatives living, far from our house. My heart rate hit 135 beats per minute... or miles per hour, or something. So said my watch.

We were cleaning the barn. Ivan, my horse, and Shadow, our collie, were in the little pasture between the barn and the house. I looked up and saw a bear coming across that pasture right towards them! In front of the barn! Shadow saw it and started towards it. Ivan saw it and ran back and forth along the fence in front of the barn (probably wishing he was in with us). The bear heard me shriek, turned and ran out the way it came in. Poor Shadow's rear legs won't allow him to run anymore, so the bear got away easily.

My heart rate hit 125 beats per minute. So the watch says I am more afraid of a little snake than a bear.

I kind of doubt that.

Whooooooaaaa! A bear?!? I've heard they have been increasing in numbers, and aren't as afraid of humans as they used to be. Thank goodness that one was still afraid of a shriek!
I saw a video the other day of a bear that got into a kitchen through a door that was left open. The person knew she was going to return carrying a large pot of hot water, so she left it open. The bear was happily eating everything he could get his paws on. They startled each other. She yelled and dropped the pot, and the bear made a break for it and scratched her on his way out. She dashed inside and closed the door.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, USA!!!

We celebrated by getting our Covid boosters yesterday and laid around like slugs all day today. Admittedly, not the nicest way to celebrate.


Hot and super muggy today. I came in from taking care of the barn and had to change out of wringing wet clothes.

For whoever might still be lurking out there, please pray for my neighbor, Karen. She is the one who was such a huge help to me after my hip surgery.
Sometime in the night, she apparently fell and hit her head. She has a serious concussion and several other bruises. She was taken to the hospital by ambulance to the local hospital, then moved on to the bigger hospital in Ft. Wayne where she will have surgery to move a bit of her skull to release pressure on the brain.
She needs all our prayers. Please!

Karen:

Karen had surgery and was put into an induced coma to give her brain time to heal. She is hanging in there, but not out of the woods yet.

ELLEN:
I was wondering how Karen was doing. Is she an older lady or one with the young children? I really hope she recovers, sounds like they are giving it their best talent.

Karen is Travis's mother.  She's about 67.  
I just got word that her eyes are open and she's nodding to answer questions.  To me, that's really good news.  Much more hopeful.

Later Sunday.  Travis came over and said they had removed the ventilator, she was able to talk, brush her teeth, and answer questions from the neurologist.  We're still praying, but it's looking better.

Monday evening: Karen is talking and knows everyone. The main concern now is her Coumadin levels since they had to stop that. She has a mechanical heart valve, and they don't want that to get clogged up. They hope to be able to restart that late this week.
She is likely to remain hospitalized for a while.

ELLEN: Oh dear. Praying for continued recovery for your friend Karen.

It is soooooo hot here in PA. Walking around outside causes instant sweating. I did a little painting on the kitchen porch yesterday morning before the heat ramped up at 9. Painting a little at a time. No rush. So far the entire front of the house is finished. Our freind Keith did that job. I'm too old to climb on the porch roof to paint. Thank God for friends who like to paint. The spring house is finished, the hayloft door is finished and a couple other small projects are on the list to be done. Looking good.

Stay safe in the heat. Drink plenty of water. So glad we don't have a garden this year but our neighbors do and they are supplying us with nice fresh veggies. Life in the country what a blessing...

Love & prayers...

Good neighbors truly are a blessing.

Whew!  The heat is relentless.   Today, at least, the humidity was a bit lower.   We were up before the birds so we could run to the post office to collect our new baby chicks.   Mailing live chicks seems like such a weird thing to do, but all the ones we ordered arrived alive and chirpy.  We installed them in the spare bedroom where we could lock our eager cats out.   The chicks are in a puppy cage under a  heat lamp for the next couple of weeks until they can control their body temps.  

So now we need to clean up the dome, repair the chicken house so that weasel can't get the new chicks, and paint the interior of their house to help get rid of any remaining chicken pests that might have survived the previous hens.  Somewhere in the pile of chicks are 2 roosters. They haven't volunteered which ones they are yet....

Ohhh, that's so much fun! Baby chicks are soooo cute. Later, their eggs will be a nice addition to the menu.

Karen continues to improve. It will probably be a relatively long recovery, but she's on the way.

ELLEN:
I am glad to hear Karen is getting better and better! I hope she is up and running soon.


Strangely, I put a P.Buckley Moss picture up for this month at the top of the page. She died today or yesterday. I always liked her artwork, especially her cats and horses. One piece of artwork I saw years ago was of an 'invisible' horse made of tree branches against a sky. I'd love to have a print of that. Farewell to P. Buckley Moss.....


It was 93 degrees here today. I am not made for this kind of weather, especially lasting as long as it has. At almost dark I did get in a little ride on Ivan for about 15 minutes. He asked who I was....

The chicks are doing great, all are still alive.

Ark, that is a very nice picture at the top. You always find the good ones.

I'm glad to hear that the chicks are doing well.
 
We had some big storms over the past few days. My dock is floating. Well, it would float if it didn't have a whole bunch of buckets of water sitting on it. I put some there; my neighbors' son put some more. I tied the jet ski to the lift so it wouldn't go for a ride without me. It's going to be at least a week before the water gets down to a more normal level.
The high water keeps people from having fast rides on boats or jet skis because the waves roll up over the docks and cause some damage. Most of the vacationers were here the last two weeks, before and after the 4th.

ELLEN:
How is Karen doing? Hope she is recovering well.
I bet the lake has been busy lately.

We've finally gotten some rain which was sorely needed. We've been in a drought situation. Even the grass in front of our front door was trying to die. It is feeling much better now.

Today I tripped over a wrinkle in a rug and landed hard on the tile floor next to it. My poor knee is swelled up and not feeling too good. Of course I did this minutes before we needed to put the horses up for the night. I rode the lawn tractor down to the barn and hobbled around with a cane while feeding the herd. Donnie did all the hauling of water and hay and cleaned up. I don't think I have broken the knee, the same one I broke 5 years ago dismounting from Areion incorrectly. sigh..... I am a danger to myself.

The chicks are growing like weeds, all are still alive. They are so cute.

Aww, Ark. I'm so sorry about your knee. I hope it's just sore and nothing worse.

Karen is improving. She is still having some problems with speech. She'll be moved to a rehab facility soon. I doubt we'll ever know exactly what happened when she fell. I know the grandkids (girls) miss her. When she's here they come over to the lake to play in the water almost every day. They've only been here a couple of times since Karen's accident.

In contrast to your drought, we've had way more than enough rain. The water levels have been way up and docks have sprouted water buckets to keep them down. Just the last couple of days, the level has started to drop. Yesterday I took the first jet ski ride in two weeks because of not wanting to create waves that cause things to float away.

I'm glad to hear the chicks are doing well. How soon do they start laying eggs? It would be nice to have a source of eggs; the price has gone way up here.

ELLEN
I am glad to hear Karen is improving. Accidents happen fast. (Ask me how I know!)

The chicks should start laying at about 5 months of age, I think. They aren't even a month old yet, so it will be awhile. They are so cute! The cuteness won't last much longer, though. They'll be turning into teenage chicks before we know it. Donnie already has a favorite, a little black with white mottling Cochin. She is cute! She seems braver than the rest of her cohorts. When we clean the cage, she's up front helping.


My knee feels marginally better today. I don't think I broke anything, but it is still swelled up. We have a variety of medical braces between us from various accidents or issues over the years. Donnie found a brace he used for awhile that really seems to help.

What a beautiful morning.  Low 70s, low humidity, a bit of breeze.  Perfect.

I just got home from Shipshewana where I shopped at E & S.  Their prices on most items are much better than grocery stores.  They always have good bread flour because those Amish women want to make good bread.  It really does make a difference in the quality of the bread.
There were quite a few buggies out and about and some bicycles.  One bicycle was a sort of tandem.  The man rode up front.  Then there was a second seat more like a recumbent bike that also had peddles.  There was a space for groceries too.  As I drove home, I saw them a few miles down the road.  
At the farms along the road, there were quite a few weanlings that will go to work in a couple of years.

Now, off to mow and then a jet ski ride.    

Ark, I hope you knee continues to improve and get back to normal.

Hello girls...It has been an extra busy time here in PA.  We have been building a memorial to the fallen soldiers.  It has been a long time coming and is almost finished.  I'll send Ark a photo.  All we need are the urns and some flowers to complete things.  The key item is a soldiers cross that was made with a chainsaw outta of a tree.

ARK:  Sorry to hear that you fell and hurt your knee.  Thank God nothing was broken. Prayers for a quick healing.  

ELLEN: Good he hear that Karen is improving.  This getting older is tricky.  

The prices of food is so crazy.  I don't know how people can afford to shop.  $19.99 a pound for a steak at the grocery store.  Thanking God for neighbors who raise beef & chickens and neighbors who have wonderful gardens and love to share with us gardenless people.  Our neighbor Richard called and said "I have 16 cucumbers ready, how many would you like?"  Certainly not 16..LOL

Hang in there everyone.  That's all we can do..
Love & prayers...

It's Saturday night at the lakes. ALL the golf carts are out cruising. In the last hour, there have been about 40 of them going past my house, some of them playing loud music. Tomorrow night will be very quiet - thank goodness.
It seems that more and more people are very inconsiderate and think it's perfectly okay to talk loudly and play loud music until 3 or 4 AM. Since sound carries over water so well, they disturb everybody at this end of the lake. So, those of us who live here are always glad when the weekend is over

One of my neighbors has a little garden. She brought me a big cucumber. I put it in the refrigerator, got it nice and cold. That WAS the best cucumber I've had in a very long time. Crisp and juicy. Today, she brought me another one and some cherry tomatoes. I love my neighbors.

Neighbor Karen is getting better. They want to release her from rehab on Wednesday, but her husband doesn't think she is ready yet. She is still having memory problems. I told him I would be happy to help out however I can when she does come home. She did so much for me it is the very least I can do.
I know that she loves bread, so I'm going to make some rolls that I know she likes.

Another neighbor noticed that I had a couple of limbs rubbing on the garage roof. Without saying anything, he got up there and cut them off. I'll make him some cookies.

.

Good Day All,

I haven't been on here for a long time (again) and just thought I would drop in as it is almost the end of July. I read through the posts and didn't see anything where you were notified about Briggy's passing. Not everyone on here would know her but Ark and Ellen would. They would know her from our GREAT AMMI reunion in Kansas, MO. She hasn't been well for quite a while and battling the HL (Paul) at home was terrible. He had strokes a few yeas ago and she has been his main caregiver. Think they had a male nurse there in the daytime the last while. Anyway she was admitted to the Hosp with kidney problems and was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney disease. She wanted to be home so her daughter came back home to look after things and she passed away, I think it was the 10/11 of July. To say we were shocked and so very saddened is an understatement. You both know what a great woman she was, funny, caring and talented quilter, great friend. Since I saw no post about her I thought I should let you all know.

Can't believe that the summer is flying past so fast. I was away for a week (the week of the 7th.) went to Hfx. to my sons and next day travelled to Antigonish to visit my Granddaughter (Allison) for a few days, back on the 11th to Hfx., my Nephews pre wedding party was on Friday night and the wedding on Saturday, home on Sunday. It was great to get away for the week, wedding was great. I'm the only living member of the family besides my Son and my Brother's three sons. The youngest was the one getting married. They consider me the Matriarch and treat me so well. Not a big wedding but it was so great to be with my family, I'm close to these three boys and their families. Allison is due to have her baby on the 3rd of Sept. so her time is getting close. Hopefully I can get to see this new boy sometime this fall.

The weather has been great, hot and nice for the most part, but we need rain the worst way. I had my well cleaned out a couple of weeks age and the level was down to about two feet. It has never gone dry, even in the worst, driest summers. A month ago it was over six feet! I know Im ok.

Hope all of you are well and enjoying the heat of the summer. Haying should be pretty well over. Glad I don't have that to deal with anymore but miss the horses.

Take care.

Donna

DONNA:
I was very sad to hear about Briggy (Diana). I shared a hotel room and airplane ride with her to the Kansas City foopfest, so yes, I did know her. I also went to her house in Eastern Virginia and attended a tea party that also included Linda from England. It was a lot of fun. She was a very talented lady and fun to be with. I am so sorry to hear of her passing..... Thanks for letting us know. R.I.P Briggy....


TRUDY:
The memorial is very nice! I am sure the veterans love it! You kind of scared me when you sent the email listed "Memorial". I was afraid it was an obituary of someone. The statue is good news!


ELLEN:
It's too bad people don't mind bothering the peace of others who are at the lake. It's kind of like littering that messes up pretty scenery for everyone else as the litterer passes by.
We enjoy the summers here more than the school year for the universities nearby. Summers have fewer people, less traffic, the best weather of the year and it's more peaceful.


I over did my knee on Saturday, thinking it was all better. Back to wearing a brace. And THEN, our dishwasher died last night. I have a load of dishes to unload and handwash. My least favorite thing. I would rather clean the barn. We are getting a new dishwasher since the repair of an older dishwasher isn't worth it.

We ran into our old carpenter at WalMart over the weekend. He had changed phones, so we lost track of him for several years. Buck did a great job on our house and we hope to get him to renovate our kitchen and bathrooms this fall. Hope springs eternal! He says he may be available in the fall, so we are busy figuring out what we want in the kitchen.

ARK, you know we haven't heard from Linda for a very long time. We tried everything, from calling her phone number to sending message after message. Have you ever had any news from her? She certainly doesn't know about Briggy.

Donna