December 2016

CB, hope all will be fine..............glad Harry is OK........... 

CB, I'm glad the surgery went well and hope that everything else will soon be okay too.

The only news from this area is COLD and getting COLDER.

CB:
I am very glad to hear that Harry's surgery has gone well. I hope you are feeling better, too.


TRUDY:
Your cookies sound delicious! I promised my insurance company I wouldn't gain weight over the holidays in exchange for reducing my rates next year. No cookies until after the New Year......sniff, sniff.... Not a very nice commitment during the most delicious time of the year. Stupid, stupid me.

Here is the photo of your neighbor's 15 feet tall reindeer:




Did he make those? Cute idea!


I had a nice, if freezing, lesson on Ivan today. He was good. I think my brain was frozen, I kept screwing up the pattern all by myself. I think he wanted to sit down and discuss my lack of focus today. I was probably thinking about cookies....

Our temps are dropping overnight and we have windchill warnings for how bad it is going to be tomorrow, windchills down in the single digits. It isn't going to be fun to take care of the barn tomorrow morning. On the bright side, it will warm back up on Sunday into the 50s.

I had to take my barncat, Wizard, to the vet this morning. He has always been a low maintenance cat, but is making up for it in his old age. He is around 14-15 years old. A few weeks ago he had an abscess and had to go to the vet. He got over that, but yesterday I found him with his front leg curled under him. It looked broken or crushed or something bad. The vet said it was nerve damage that looks to be trying to heal up, no broken bones. He got kicked or stepped on by a horse. He put more weight on it today, and has to live in a cage in my spare bedroom for awhile. At least he will be out of the terrible cold coming tomorrow. He's such a sweet old cat. I really thought he was going to have to be put down, but he gets to live awhile longer.

This evening was the preschool Christmas program.  Little Miss Scarlett was in it again this year.  Those 3, 4, and 5 year olds are just as cute as they can be.  The teachers do a great job of keeping them on track, and the kids do a good job of paying attention to them.  I don't know if the kids were told not to wave at parents if they saw them, but almost all of them did.  
This was a good way to officially start Christmas.

Any news, CB?

Jessi said he was gething discharged tomorrow. Guess he's doing well.

We eat her turning colder here for a few days, not ready. Never got camper underpenned. But it wI'll warm back up, do only chilly in 20, 21, 25 for 3 nights.
The horse, dogs, and I are doing well.

Where is Rose?

Glad things are well, CB.............

All of you in snow country bundle up...........

I see that ARK beat me on the pic with donkey eating the snowman's nose. I came on with intentions of sharing that pic...LOL!!

NOTHING new going on here now ... just getting older, fatter, and more ornierer with each passing day.

Wishing all a joyous and safe holiday filled with good cheer shared with loved ones.

Please pray our country survives ... I'm truly so scared it won't.

Love to all ... Rick

A neighbor couple invited some of us to their house for dinner last evening. If she's cooking, you KNOW the food will be good. A new neighbor couple were supposed to come too, but both of them are sick, so we didn't get to know them as we had hoped. We ate and visited, and enjoyed a really nice evening, before walking home in a light snow - on top of the big snow we had last weekend.
I am so happy to have such good neighbors.

Ok then...cold front us coming thru, went from hi 7ps to 596 in ten minutes and will get down to 20....go to tx it's warmer there they said.

Ellen, my neighbors r nice here, found notes in my mailbox saying if I need anything to let them know. They signed their names, but I don't kniw who is who yet....lol.
As long as my camper doesn't flip in this wind, I think I'll be alright..

Seventies to fifties

Chrome was magnificent today.........Victor rode him like a dream.
It was a privilege to see it.................well, on TV, I wasn't there.

Walmart was an asylum today, even early..............

Time for winding down.......baking is DONE!!!

God bless, prayers for ALL.

We went from 9 ° yesterday morning to 59° today. Today was much better weather. We took Ivan to Blacksburg to where Lori works at a riding/boarding stable. I rode him in their big indoor arena and then their larger outdoor arena. He was nervous, but didn't spook or anything wicked. It was fun.



RICK
I understand your feelings. Sadly. It's been a nightmare month that only promises to get worse. God better help us, we are too stupid to help ourselves.

Brrrr ey cold, wind chill....yikes.

I say give everyone a chance...like we have in the past with others.....time will tell, but a chance for everyone.

Dogs did not stay out long tonight.....

Rocky got a light sheet blanket, altho he's so fat shouldn't get cold.

With the wind chill I'm finding places camper needs b to be sealed tighter for sure.

Keep warm y'all

Peace be unto all in this most frightening of times........

ooooooo 33 out there this morning............I love listening..........horse munching is music.  I asked Rex if he thought it was cold.....he asked "what?".  I'm obviously back in for coffee............laughing at my leg lamp.  Anybody watching A Christmas Story this year?  We desperately need good holiday humor.  

We love our fra gilly leg lamp.  Crazy funny.

I just got a nice treat. A pair of bald eagles were swooping down over the unfrozen part of the lake, hunting. The little coots and a little flock of black ducks were in a panic to dive and avoid being breakfast. One of the eagles is sitting on a peninsula of ice, just sitting there. The coots have disappeared.
I knew that others have seen the pair of eagles from time to time over the last couple of years, but I hadn't seen them, so I am excited to see them.
The lake is still not frozen completely because there has been too much wind to let it freeze.

There are few things cuter than a birthday party for a 3 year old. She had an "Elena" cake. Elena is the latest Disney character and Lilah loves her. She actually got two each Elena and Isabel dolls - which is a good thing since that will eliminate arguments over who gets to play with them. Big sister was having a really hard time staying out of the immediate action. She wanted to unwrap things too.

History made, a Puli won best in show in akc show...and reserve was a bichon.

Cold again...brrrr....had to break ice on horse tub, I have no idea where the heated tub got put....know we brought it.

My water was frozen from last night until about 4 today just in time for temperature to start falling again....someone please shut the door.....

It's cold here too. 22 this morning and get colder most of the week. It's winter...It's OK, I got out my ski pants, scarf, ski gloves, snow boots and big Steeler stadium jacket to walk Ace in, he loves the cold weather so off we go 3 times a day.

The MOPH Christmas party went well, a few people canceled because of the bad weather on Saturday. Snow and freezing rain but 27 people made it. The food was great. We had a Gold Star Mother speak about her son and his service and a Missionary Nurse from Viet Nam gave a little talk also. Two very inspiring women.

The people have spoken, we have a new President like him or not. He gets a chance like everyone else who has gotten elected did. Time will tell...

Working on filling the Lady Locks today and I am FINISHED with Christmas prep. Shopping is done, gifts are wrapped and mailed. Next big event candlelight service at church on Saturday night. Hoping no little kid sets their hair on fire. It happens every year. People do not watch their kids with the candles.

George and I decided not to buy each other gifts this year. Instead we got a special order from Omaha Steaks for him and I got a Keurig coffee maker. Who knew you needed a college degree to figure the darn thing out? Made my first cup of coffee. Woohoooo It's a little stronger than I usually make my coffee but I'll figure that out too.

Have a great week everyone.

It is 11° BELOW zero this morning. The night finished the job of freezing the lake. We probably won't see open water until sometime in March. Over the next couple of weeks, the temperatures are expected to moderate a little bit, but certainly won't be classified as 'warm'.

Had my water dripping good and still froze, noon here 30 outside, 26 with windchill....my water just came on, giving thanks to the sunshine gods, lol.

Warmup on the way, I took rocky blanket off this morning, glad he had it tho, every time I checked he was warm to the touch.

CB, back when I was first on my own, I lived in an 8X45 mobile home. The first couple of winters were just awful! Either the water was frozen, or the drains were frozen, or both, or my car had water in a gas line that froze. It was miserable to try to keep everything going. I'm glad your water came back on and that everything is warming up a little.
How is Harry doing? Will he be coming home soon?

He's doing good I hear. Havnt been allowed to see him....pfffft....coming home, who the heck knows.

My bathroom drain was frozen too....all is working now, the dogs have been in the yard enjoying sunshine, and I turned the heater off for awhile....warm again feels good.

Dec 20th & I still have some cards to do...........  I'm only sending family cards this year as my list just got way too long.  Don't be offended if you don't receive a card, your meaning in my life is important.

Gosh, pray for peace.  Peace on earth, goodwill to men...........ask the prince of peace for help.

God bless, everyone have a good day.

See?  Here, the sun is coming up, birds are singing and making plans, horses are munching, Rex at our feet, TL watching news, family is healthy.  Me, making some breakfast.  Yes.  Peace.

The sun is shining and the temperature is up to 28°!  Big improvement. The part of the lake that froze night before last hasn't had any snow on it, so it is smooth and shiny. Probably only about an inch thick now, but it will thicken up over the next few weeks.