103

That is the number of Christmas Ornaments that are complete. The paints are put away and the dining room table has been cleared off.  The ornaments are in three boxes awaiting Christmas bags or boxes of their own...

It has been rainy the past two days, yesterday morning I could not see how my day would progress as it was a "me day"  so I did some laundry, scrubbed the Furnace/Laundry room floor and continued on into the kitchen.  I took apart the vacuum cleaner and cleaned it up real good...my vacuum not Far Guys robot vacuum.  I worked on some bits and pieces for stage two of the ornaments.  The sun peaked out for a bit and Far Guy was able to buff up the last few of stage one...I put the last coat of sealer on them and at 9 PM last night I was finished with the 2019 Ornament Project.  Yeah us!! 

I even found time to transcribe my knit sock pattern in the afternoon and have a 20 minute nap.
The sock pattern is tucked into a page protector with extra sticky notes so I can easily keep track of which row I am on.  Yeah me!  Hopefully I didn't make any mistakes or typos!  ( I still have two pair of socks on needles)

Liatris  more than likely the Floristan White one.

Far Side

Me Day

I finally had a me day.  My "me day" may be different from yours.

Curious? 

I played "52 pickup and put away" at least once.  I deep cleaned the bathroom, washed towels and bath rugs.  Washed another load of clothing too.  I phoned a friend who has encountered many losses in the last month, she said I made her feel a bit better...I hope so.     I mowed lawn over at Katie's old place, then a small area over at my other baby brothers place of business and on the way home I mowed the back road.   I now have 71 Christmas Ornaments ready for stage two.  Stage two is being worked on.  I had a long nap (about 2 hours), and we cooked supper together...pork burgers without the bun, french fries in the air fryer and peaches. I spoke with my baby brother last evening, his daughter is recovering from surgery.  Oh yes Jen called and my other baby brother and sister in law stopped by.

It was really nice to stay home all day. I may not have had much time for "me" but I had the time to do things that were important to me.

Fish Hook River and the old Rail Road Trestle Bridge  August 8 2019.

Far Side

Huh?

I try not to say huh ALL the time.  I cannot hear my husband if he turns his face away from me and talks softly….you know like sweet nothings well that is what I hear ...nothing.

I have had one good ear and one bad ear for quite some time. A few people have commented that the TV is on a little loud.

I chalked it all up to the ageing process.  Just one more body part that fails you in your golden years.

Then I got a terrible shooting pain in my ear and a super dooper party pooper earache.  One of those earaches that if I was little I would cry and stand next to the dryer with my ear pressed up close just like my girls did when they were little….they would stand there for a really long time until their tears  dried on their faces….then I knew they had to see the Doctor.

I told Far Guy “I am going to the walk in clinic.”  He said “I’ll drive.”  Fine whatever.

Left ear is fine and has no ear wax.  Right ear has a hard as a rock ball of ear wax, the Doctor moved it aside enough to see my very inflamed and infected eardrum.  She could not wash the ball of wax out due to the infection.  She tried extracting it until the pain was overwhelming.  She said to put mineral oil in my ear for a couple of weeks and wash the ear out really good when I wash my hair, and take the antibiotics until they are gone.  She also said “You might hear a lot better when that chunk of wax moves on out…if it doesn’t move come back.”

FINE.  The first time we washed out my ear, I was standing with my head over the sink and Far Guy squirted sterile saline in my ear…and I immediately got dizzy and didn’t know which way was up or down.  Luckily I didn’t fall… as we zig zagged to the table where I flopped my head down…gravity helped.   It took several minutes until I got the saline to flow out of my ear and I knew which end was up.  Far Guy said “Thanks for not falling down.”  “Ya well thanks for holding the right end up.”

I still have that small ball huge boulder of ear wax in my ear. It has not moved…well except to make me hard of hearing sometimes…and I still have ear pain that wakes me up.

We are still doing the mineral oil along with peroxide flushes…without success.  I finish with the antibiotics today.

I asked the Doctor if it is strange to have ear wax in one ear and not the other…she said nope..there is no normal…one or both or neither can have ear wax.  I am shooting for neither.

I walked up and down the aisle in Wallyworld but decided all their products and gizmos were probably not much better than what we were already doing.

I suppose one of these days that wax ball will come loose of all the little ear hairs that are holding it in place and it will roll around striking my eardrum until it builds up enough momentum  to pop right out…

 

An old rake   September 2015

Christmas Update:  Presents purchased 1, Decorations 1 wreath is up outside.  Cards have been ordered, Christmas letter is in progress.  Trees decorated 0.  Baking…none yet.

Wistful Wednesday : Green/Blue Water

Back in the late 1990’s we would take off every summer and go camping out west…Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Oregon.  I love sleeping in a tent…Far Guy not so much.  One time in Wyoming we had frost on the inside of the tent…cozy.

The beautiful green/blue water of mountain streams in northern Idaho and Montana are something to see.  Very different from Minnesota rivers, the glacial melt suspends particles that reflect light differently into the green/blue spectrum.

This day we parked the car and hiked over a bridge to get to the river.
This was the summer of 1996 or 1997.

Far Guy had more hair back then.
I was thinner back then.

I think this was near Libby Montana but I could be wrong.  I marked the back of the photo Idaho or Montana.

When one goes on a trip they should keep a list of where they took photos.  In  this digital age I often take a photo of water towers or the town sign so at a later date I will have a clue.  

Wistful Wednesday: 1957

The summer of 1957 I was almost six years old…I was a Fall baby…September… one of those Virgos that likes everything in place and everything in it’s place…a perfectionist.

Just so you know most of the perfectionist part is slightly worn out.  I no longer scrub the kitchen floor everyday…or double check that all the hangers are facing the right direction along with the clothing hanging facing right.  Mostly my money is helter skelter in my billfold…it doesn’t all face the correct way.  I still have a need to clean the kitchen after a meal…some people can stack dishes for the next day…not me.  I also have a sick compulsion to face all my can goods exactly so in the pantry.

It is hard to be perfect.  I no longer strive for perfection. Perfection is exhausting.

Most days I like dogs better than people, I think that was probably true for most of my life. 

Here I am in North Dakota in the summer of 1957.  Hair all done up in pin curls and straight as a stick bangs cut kinda short.  I am wearing shorts and a blouse that my Mother probably sewed for me.  The puppy was all wrapped up in some kind of rag/blanket that had seen better days.  It was not a puppy that belonged to me or my family.  Every summer when we went with my Dad where he was working our dog/dogs had to be given away or “dealt with.”  That was very hard for me.

Those years 1955-1958 in Minnesota were horrible farming years, Army Worms and drought took their toll.   We were lucky my Dad had a job, but it was still difficult for me to leave home and the farm for the whole summer.

Wistful Wednesday: 1957

March 1957, My Mother, me, I was six years old, and my brother, he was three. My Mother obviously gave us some kind of treat, and we were delighted! She used to sew our clothing, I remember that checked shirt I was wearing, it was one of my favorites. It had a fancy trim on the front, and buttoned down the back. I recognize some things in the photograph, the enamel dish washing pans, the hot water bottle, the dish rack thingy. There is an old covered aluminum cake plate on the counter, and a tin of Mixo. Perhaps someone can enlighten me on the Mixo, was it a shortening?

Do we look like troublemakers? I was the leader, my brother was the follower. I had a VERY hard time following the old saying "Children should be seen and not heard." It was one of those things I just did not agree with, and still don't:)

Wistful Wednesday: Me!

I have decided to call my Old Photograph Wednesday..Wistful Wednesday starting now! Thank you to Roxane for the idea for it's new name! Wednesdays will continue to be the day I pop in with an old photo. Miss Kate I liked your idea of Black and White Wednesday..however I wanted to leave the option for showing some colorful old photos also.



This photo was taken by my Mother in 1952. I was about 10 months old. It was taken on the farm I grew up on, the pasture is in the background. Note the old hay wagon with the high sides, and the steel wheels. I loved kittens and enjoyed chasing them around, they were barn cats and caught mice and dumb birds. My Mother never ever allowed cats or dogs into the house when I was growing up. I always thought it was a stupid rule, but followed it most of the time ..sneaking them into the house only when she wasn't looking.

My parents were a united front on this rule..with my Father saying "If you have a cat in the house it will crap all over, cats belong in the barn, that's where the cats job is." Then I would be treated to the very old story of how when you have a cat and a baby in the house..the cat might lay right on the baby, and steal the baby's breath away. How many of you were treated to that pleasant thought growing up? Far Guys Mom had a cat in the house when he was a baby..it did get in his crib..and it was thrown out of the house. Well maybe not thrown out, sent to a farm more than likely.

The neighbor kids had a very liberal Mother and they had a cat in their house. No babies just a cat. I loved that cat too. This was before commercial cat litter was available. They had a cat box behind the couch filled with sand. Sand is a unavailable resource in Minnesota in the wintertime, so they thought ahead and would keep buckets of sand in their cellar for use throughout the winter.

Far Guy and I are pretty much dog people, our girls always wanted a cat, we always told them when they got their own house they could do whatever they wanted. However one Autumn night that changed. More on that tomorrow:)