September 2014

So true Rick, so true my mind is sharp but my body is falling apart, I walk like the huntchback of Notra Dame ever since my neck fusion I have started walking bent over the rest of my spine is messed up and did not show until my neck was fixed and I am trying to get the insurance co. To let me go see a specialist only time will tell

SNOOP asks: "What do you get when you throw a hand grenade into a French kitchen?"
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

and the answer is...."linoleum blown apart."

GRRRRROOOOOOAAAAAANNNNNNN!!!!!!!

RICK:
Double groan

SUNNY:
Keep on keeping on! It seems like a lot, but considering you got the neck taken care of, surely they will let you get your back done, too. You will get it all done!

TALLYPAM:
Good to see you here! It is great that you and Caspar are so active! I am hoping Areion will be my dressage lesson horse. It is fun taking lessons, although can be fairly stressful, for me anyway. Areion is almost ready for me to start riding more regularly. We need pix of you and Caspar! The nice thing about dressage is that it never ends, there is always something to learn. Even Olympic riders take lessons....which certainly justifies me doing it .


Annie is now in KY with our sister, Vicki, and quite happy about it. I miss having her company here, and she makes very good iced tea. I guess I will be making my own now. Annie is on the schedule to be a resident of a group home in Northern KY. She is so excited about this. Not so much me. I would rather have her here or at Vicki's, but I was out voted. I guess every little bird deserves to fly sometime.

The trip back from WV where we met Vicki was fairly harrowing. We were in the middle
of those huge thunderstorms while in Charleston. It rained so hard,
it effectively 'whited out' the interstate. We could barely see the
car in front of us. Traffic came to a dead stop and everyone was
getting into the furthest left lane. We thought there was a wreck.
Turns out that there was a waterfall coming off the mountain next to
the interstate and it flooded the road. Everyone had to creep through
about a foot of rushing water. People were very polite and careful
about it, that part was nice to see. There was one flooded out car
that went through the deeper side, he probably provided enough
incentive for everyone to be careful. We finally got past the worst
of the storm, then had to hurry along as it was following us until
almost Beckley. It was not a fun drive.

We are taking Kazi and Daisy to Tech on Thursday afternoon, so Lori
is coming here on Wednesday after lunch. We missed last week's lesson
due to thunderstorms. I don't know when we will ever get our second cutting of hay done. The weather is just not cooperative. Now it is chilly and rainy.

BIG storms here in AZ…..our house down in the valley is muddy & soaked, no flooding.
There was really serious flooding within 5 mi of our house…..holy cow, damage in the hundreds of thousands.  Dear God, so many families in trauma and horror.  Up here in the mountains rain continues
but no flooding.

Our storm today made history as we had more rain in 24 hrs down in the greater Phoenix area than any other time in history.

Prayers for those that lost everything……God bless.

Whew! Busy day today. After breakfast, we started out by riding the trolley around town to see where we might want to go later. The driver gave us lots of tips and ideas. Then, we all got in Cousin's car and drove out to the bobsled complex where we rode in a bus up to the top of the run, and then walked down - a mile. I'll be very lucky to not be sore tomorrow.
Next, was a drive to White Face ski center where we rode the gondola ski lift almost to the top of White Face Mountain. For us flat landers, it's just a little spooky, but it was so worth the trip. I got some great photos - I hope. Then back to town for dinner at a nice restaurant where we could sit outdoors.
Our hotel is in the middle of town so we can walk to most of the good restaurants and shopping. It was just a little chilly out there, so I came back to the hotel while the rest, who were smarter than me and wore long sleeves, went on for a bit of shopping.
I think tomorrow might see us on a boat tour of Lake Placid. After the trek down the bobsled run, I'm thinking that an easier day might be in order.

GRAYMARE:
 Wow.  Those folks probably thought they'd never see flooding in the desert.  I hope there were no injuries.  How much rain fell?  

ELLEN:
 What fun!  Post pix, please!  I am in dire need of a vacation....even a vicarious one will help.  I've never been to that area.


Except for the cat, I was alone all day in the house.  No carpenter, no visitors, Donnie at work.  Not even a phone call!  This hasn't happened since Annie arrived last May.  It was sort of a mini-mini vacation.    Tomorrow, the carpenter will be back and Lori is coming over for lessons.  Back to 'normal'.

Ark, I've been taking quite a few pictures. Maybe tomorrow I'll have a little time to get an online album going. At the moment, I'm trying not to annoy the already sore muscles from walking down the bobsled run. They are protesting that much activity after sitting in the car for most of three days.

OH ARK....

It's been another good day.  The weather was overcast for much of the day, but no rain.  We visited one of the nice lodge/hotels in the area.  Then a boatride on a pontoon on Lake Placid, ogling all the rich people' vacation homes.  Finally an early dinner at a restaurant right on Mirror Lake.  Our table was right over the water.  We watched kayakers, canoers, scullers and swimmers out on the lake while we ate.
I am now too full to want to do anything but "set and stare" for a little bit.

Almost forgot. There was a black bear cub out by the dumpster this afternoon. Apparently, there is a bear cow with two or three cubs who frequents this particular dumpster. Yesterday morning, she had dumped over a 55 gallon drum that had cooking oil in it. Of course, that made a mess in the parking lot. The cub was there this afternoon, and being altogether too friendly for his own good. We heard rumors that the DNR (or whatever it's called here in New York) were probably going to come and try to move the family to another location - which would be good for bears and people.

Is there a beach where you can swim ELLEN?  I know it's very beautiful there.  Glad you're having fun and good weather.

Oooooooo, chilly this morning at 36…………clear air and now the sun is up…..it will be 60 by 10A.

AZ is clearing up and cleaning up after our huge storms…..within 10 mi of my house 220 houses were totally flooded.  When I get home I will post notice "free furniture" on the bulletin board at church and put our old furniture out in front at the driveway. People can come take what's there.  Our church is also having a huge clothes/food drive.  I also can help that way.

I won't waste my time mud cleaning horses until the mud is gone.  They are happy to be clodding around out there.  Boy, Eli is storm trained now.  I get home tomorrow, shoer for trims on Sat., off to horse camp on Sunday…….riding Dusty, friend's horse.  Back Wed. night; the rest are staying through
Sunday.  Our horse program starts next week so I'll be back at "busy busy"……………the kids are all signed up and SO excited.  I get excited, too, as it like school starting in the fall from back in the day.  

Everyone have a good day……..God bless.

Graymare, there is a public beach, but the water is much too cold for me to want to immerse my tender body in it. There aren't many swimmers up here. The few who do swim have wetsuits on.
We are having a very good time. For right now, the others are all going shopping and I'm going to go to a carving class. The guy who is the head of this whole thing is going to try to teach me. Butch will start teaching his classes tomorrow, through Monday.

All good things must come to an end. We leave here tomorrow morning to head for home. It's been a really nice vacation, and I even started learning to carve wood.
Everybody have a great weekend.

RICK
Cute photo! Yep, they would be banging on the door if they could!


ELLEN
Did you carve anything in your class! Your vacation sounded like lots of fun! I look forward to the photos......soon?
Are you home yet? I love vacations, but also love the first night home after one. Nothing like sleeping in your own bed.

GRAYMARE
Are folks recovering from the flooding? Any more rain? Is Eli learning to swim?


It was another cloudy, rainy day here. The cold front has passed and now it is fairly chilly. Donnie hopes to get our hay done next week, but it is pretty iffy that the weather will cooperate. Our grass in the hay fields is not as tall as it should be for a second cutting this time of year, but looks pretty thick. We had a drought for a couple of months and now it won't stop raining long enough to cut the almost recovered hay. We will be buying a fair amount of hay soon.

My last remaining goat, Lightning, is getting so frail. I discovered today that he likes bread with his apples. He lays down and has a difficult time getting back up. I help him up several times a day. As long as he keeps trying, and eating, I will leave him alone.... but soon enough it will be time to put him down. He is 17 1/2 years old and still the prettiest goat I ever had....

The carpenter will be gone until next Friday. Then he and Donnie will spend a couple of days working on the insulation in the roof and putting in a few air ducts for the new heat pump. Some day this will all be finished.....

Hi all, Looks as if everyone has been busy, busy, busy. Labor Day has come and gone and so has the summer it appears. Highs have been in the 60s and 70s this past week with lows in the 40s and 50s. I'm not ready for fall!

I'm starting to feel over whelmed with my to do list that isn't getting done. So what did I do yesterday? Instead of working on "stuff" I went to an auction down the street. I can see how people get carried away with buying stuff at auctions. I ended up buying two metal shelving units, a work table, and a cupboard that I will use in the garage along with three rolls of black roofing stuff that is used under the shingles all for $14. Then I bought a small Bob Cat and a log splitter. I shocked the auctioneer when I started bidding on the Bob Cat just as he was about to close the sale to someone else. One because he had called for last bids a couple of times before I bid and then because I was a woman bidding on a Bob Cat. The expression on his face was priceless. The other guy wasn't willing to bid anymore so I got it at what I feel is a really good price. I had did my research on the size and model before I went to the auction so I had a price limit set in my mind before I even started to bid. I did the same with the log splitter. I had four guys come up to me and told me what a deal I got on the Bob Cat. That made me feel good. The auctioneer had memorized my number after I bought the roofing paper stuff, mainly because I was the only woman bidding on the tools. All the other women were at the household goods area. LOL.

I have never used a Bob Cat, but as I told a couple of people there, can't be too difficult. I figured it out enough to drive it home. I did discover that it will Buck if you don't coordinate the pedals and the levers smoothly which was a little scary. I'll figure it out eventually.

Today I spent finally getting the tree that fell on my gate/fence cut up and removed and putting up new fence to replace the old fence and gate. So I did get one "to do" marked off my list this weekend.

This is turning into a novel and I still have a couple of chores I want to get done tonight. I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend.

Congratulations

on the Bobcat and other good deals

INDYAPP!!

I always thought a Bobcat would be a very handy machine around a farm. My neighbor has an ancient one that he does lots of things with. We need pix of you driving yours!

(Hey, that worked with the lettering!)

I genuinely salute ANYBODY who can run a skidsteer machine. I can master the steering with hands OR feet....but canNOT master the loader function using feet. I believe (May be wrong, here) that the "Bobcat" brand is a foot pedal steer. I'm operated New Holland machines and just personally do NOT like them. It's just ME I know. Congrats, Indy and please be careful.

I'm beginning to feel the "coolness" in the air from fall temps.

Love to all, Rick

Home again, home again, jiggety jog. I just got home about an hour ago and have everything put away. We had a wonderful trip and an uneventful trip home. I'll get some pictures sorted out and get an online album set up later this afternoon.
We are already working on plans for going back next year. The carvers all want my cousin to come back to teach more classes and are willing to PAY to get his classes. They love what and how he teaches.
Yes, I did carve a little bit. The head guy has a little sort of Christmas tree Santa that he uses as a beginning teaching item. I got most of it done, but will have to have Butch help me finish it since I didn't have time to do all of it. I had never ever carved anything before, and it was fun. A couple of the guys were rather surprised that what I did looked as good as it did since I am a total rookie.
The head guy also told Butch that my other cousin and I could come back as honorary carvers, which would get us two free meals each day.

Indy, I am envious! I would love to try maneuvering a BobCat. It looks like so much fun. When I was redoing this place, I had a guy coming to build my seawall. He could handle that little machine like it was simply a stronger extension of his fingers and arms. He even said he could sense through the controls how much pressure was going to be needed to pick up or move something. Of course, he said he'd been running them since he was 7 years old and he was around 40 then.

The last load of laundry that I did before I left the washer decided to leave some water on the floor, so I just called the repair guy to come take a look at it. I'm hoping that I don't have to replace it just yet.

Now, I'm off to the grocery store since I left the refrigerator rather bare when I left.

A NEW goal for Donnie and is Golden Girl (Daisy)...

Been cooler here also, not complaining tho! sat with the gd,s today. and we were over at jessis sat for shrimp dinner and birhday cake for hubby, had nice time.
Speaking of birthdays, happy belated birthday donna, hope it was a fun day!

Not doing much going thru some boxes and playing with the pups. jessi is moving to their bigger house soon on 2 acres, randi and her hubby r buying a smaller place in idaho, and jaemi and her partner r renting a place and moving this month also.....strange to have all 3 girls moving same time.....hmmmmmm its in the air I guess.

Ellen ur vacation sounds like fun and
Indyapp,ur new toy sounds like it will come in handy
Ark, ill bet u will be glad to get ur house all put back together

Everyone have some great weather ahead...no more. floods. Gm....wow, saw pics....wowzer baby!

Later taters.......stay safe

Ol. man, where r u hiding at

RICK,  Mexico is SO much fun………….they LOVE dogs there.  Really neat dog.

INDY……oh boy, let the fun begin.  Woo Hoo.  You can move things, plow, grade, stand in the bucket and trim trees, drive around and wave at the neighbors, and decorate your house for Christmas……

CB, gads, everyone has the moving bug in your family.  With your new grand baby on the way are you still going to move?

ELLEN, waiting for your pics……

Home here waiting on another big rain tomorrow.  Gosh, people are just barely trying to re group after the last big atrocity.  Pray this one is just plain rain and not hurricane residual.

Elli gets his shots again Friday so he will be ready for gelding about Nov………waiting for fly/mosquito season to end.  He's worn his foal fly mask out, so got a new one yesterday.  He's so funny.

God bless.  Prayers for ALL……..

Gm, yes and yes .....we r a day drive away from new g,baby.....11 hours.....we will visit often.....but we havnt sold this yet....so no problemm at this time. u know moving is stressful with packing and driving, but it is fun meeting people and exploring. we lived in idaho. from 83 til 012 moving awway five years in there...to pa to care for my parents and to mo twice...it keeps calling our names....lol

Here are the pictures.  There are way too many of them, so feel free to zip right on through them.  https://picasaweb.google.com/ellenclark2/LakePlacid2014#

I heard from a friend that the link didn't work. If it doesn't, let me know and I'll try something else.

ELLEN, I ended up in your Google account? It had all kinds of personal info available. I did NOT look at any of it.