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Sunday, June 4, 2023

Living large

Made this homemade pizza tonight on lavash bread. Fast, easy, and yummy. My kind of cooking. Couldn't even tell the cheese was fat free.


I've been looking for a thin crust pizza in individual sizes without luck. Now I know half of this is plenty, I can just cut the bread down and make as much as needed. 

Sunday, May 14, 2023

Oh dear

Just read a news story where a deck collapsed under 15 people at 4 a.m. last night. All I can think is if you have that many people on your deck at 4 in the morning, your neighbors hate you.

It's another windy and rainy day here. We were desperate for rain, so can't complain. Second batch of chicks will be hatching this week. Yay!

Last night I finished painting my son's kitchen. So nice to have it done, but the up and down a ladder is hard on my old joints. It was obvious the stove had never been cleaned before he moved in and it was a sticky mess when pulled out. He sent a picture later that night after using some heavy duty degreaser. Much better.

Planning a quiet day at home to rest up.

Friday, April 28, 2023

Thoughts and things

The siren test happens around noon on Fridays here. It's sounding right now. My first reaction is always "The Germans are coming!" because I've watched a lot of WWII movies. Probably should change that to the Russians.

Chicks began hatching yesterday, day 20 in the incubator. Seven out and more working on it today. Usually they start earlier than that so I thought it was going to be a small hatch rate. I still think I'll hatch out a second batch because food prices aren't likely to improve. 

Poor Gru, my wild turkey, all puffed up and gobbling, but no ladies to admire him in his spring finery.

It's still cold for the end of April, about a month behind. The lilac leaf buds are just starting. 

Friday, April 21, 2023

Making do

I struggle to keep some houseplants alive. Part of the problem is chronic low humidity. Even right next to a humidifier, it's a fight to reach 40% in the winter. While I would love a dedicated plant cabinet, watching them thrive here at all is wonderful.




Monday, April 17, 2023

Painting again

It's been months since I started helping my son paint his apartment. You know those shows where some idiot goes exploring in abandoned mental hospitals? That's what his walls looked like; grubby, stained, dented and abused from years of people not caring.

Every time our schedules meshed, the weather beat us back down. Until last night! The little bit of snow and rain didn't stop me and we got the living room painted. Clean walls with bright color! That gave me a good feeling of accomplishment.

Thursday, April 13, 2023

Winter, winter, winter...summer!

The last two days were in the 80s! How insane to go from lots of snowdrifts to summer heat overnight. I've been moving the wood pile under cover so it can dry out even if we get rain this weekend. Also, contacted my firewood guy so he will be ready when the ground isn't so mushy. Moving stuff is a bigger event as I get older, back and hip pain.

The incubator is loaded with eggs and I've been seeing baby calves in the pastures. Fun times.

Thursday, April 6, 2023

Elbow update

 Most of the pain is gone. Yay! Suspect it was something tendon related, not arthritis.

Summary: two days of serious pain and restricted mobility. Two days of moderate pain. Yesterday was strong aching but mobility almost normal. Today just a dull ache.

Still avoiding heavy lifting with that arm for a few more days to be sure it doesn't regress.

More good news: Time for warmer weather! Yesterday's freezing rain was cracking and falling off the trees this morning. Crazy loud and the chickens wouldn't go outside.

Sunday, April 2, 2023

Quick! Before it freezes again

Today is a bit warmer, not what they predicted, but at least enough to mush up the ice a little. I decided to raise the chicken pen gate out of the pool of water that shouldn't be there. Easier than hacking through the ice or wasting money on animal-friendly ice melt for the rest of winter.

Next batch of bad weather expected Tuesday and Wednesday. Oh, boy.

Side note: My fingernails are oddly brittle lately. Elbow still hurts.

Friday, March 31, 2023

Winter still dragging on

Power flickers off and on, thunderstorm during the night. Blizzard sliding across the state, heading this way. We are not amused! On the subject of spring storms, I watched live coverage of the tornados today; so frightening for all those in the paths.

Added to this fun, newest arthritis target is my right elbow. Very painful. Of course, I am right-handed and brushing my teeth using my left hand is an adventure all by itself.

Sunday, March 26, 2023

Winter project

This is a project I've had in planning for awhile. Got the materials lined up, but just didn't have the oomph to begin. Finally, after over thirty years with a wallpaper backsplash, I started scraping it off. 



Halfway done! The other side needs more patching, but will look so much better when I get it done as well.

Thursday, March 23, 2023

Blogging

 Still plenty of snow around. This is at my parents' farm.



So, I was looking for the date when I had some work done on the house. Not having any luck, I start skimming through my blog and found it in 2011. Now that I've looked through some of those past years I realize how valuable it is to have memories written and photographed. Frankly, my memory is not great. I already knew I have trouble with remembering when something happened; now I see I forget lots of details as well. One post I mention watching a movie...I have zero recollection of ever having seen it; if asked I would have denied it. A little scary.

With that said, my plan is to bump up the frequency of posts. Not so much to burden any visitors with the minutia of my life, but so I have reminders of what happened.

Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Random

Just sitting here, I suddenly remembered a new boy coming to class in the fourth grade. Teacher says something like 'welcome, Nick' and the boy replies 'I prefer to be called Nicholas'. Funnily that must have been the most notable thing he did because I don't know how long he was at my school and have no other memories of him.

It is interesting what actually sticks around in our memories.

Friday, February 24, 2023

Gah

This was my Mount Everest. I shoveled past all the other drifts, but needed to get through this one to reach the chickens.


My face is frozen and my back hurts, but I reached the chickens!


The wind patterns were so strange. In over thirty years, I've never had drifts like these in the back yard. Especially with so little on the driveway. I have a smallish electric snowblower, but it can't handle wind-packed snow or uneven terrain. 

About thirty starlings and some sparrows in the coops.

Have you ever been so pooped there was no energy left to feel accomplishment?

Thursday, February 16, 2023

All caught up


This is the last unfinished needlepoint project finally finished. Funny side story: when I was adding the details I realized I had lost all the brown threads and ended up using embroidery floss instead. Then, after I hung it up...I found the missing browns in the bottom of my yarn bowl. I do have tendency to forget where I've put things.

Annoyingly, I've developed a stress fracture in my foot that is making life difficult.