Maybe

I have the Bill Pay situation under control now...maybe.  I had to open a new account at a local bank as none of our other accounts would work.  I have entered all the information and hopefully bills will be paid.  The Credit Union still has not subtracted money from our account for the bills I paid using their system.  Someday I suppose they will figure it out.   I wonder how long it will take? 

 Finally after 8 plus weeks I can  say I might have accomplished this project...who knew it would be such a big pain in the butt.

Echinacea and an old bridge

It rained all day on Monday, turning our grass green again.  We had a number of errands to run.  The humidity makes it hard for Far Guy to breathe.  He is exhausted.  

Far Side

Mints

I just finished a batch of homemade mints for a gathering this weekend.  They are drying out a bit on the counter before I pack them away in the fridge.

I made spearmint flavored leaves and amaretto flavored sunflowers.  Yes I know it takes a bit of imagination to make a sunflower out of the yellow ones….oh well they taste good anyway.

The recipe is simple enough 1 brick of Philly Cream Cheese and a bag of powdered sugar. Mix well and divide mixture in half or thirds for whatever coloring or flavors you wish to mix.  My big mixer came in real handy. After mixing chill your batches, I threw mine in the freezer because I wanted the mixture to cool fast so I could finish this project!

We have many different molds…and they have been used over and over…I think the first time we made mints was back in 1994 before my oldest daughters wedding…Arvilla and I used the molds while my Mom mixed up the batches. 

I sprinkle a bit of sugar into the mold, then roll a ball of mint and dip it in sugar and press it into the mold, level off the back of the mold and then lift gently on the outer edge of the mold and release the mint and then dip it in sugar….repeat…until all your mixture is used up…allow mints to dry a bit before packing away.  They freeze well and can be made ahead of time.

The leaf and sunflower I used are in front.

Flavorings can be purchased in a bake shop/candy store, food coloring is just the normal one from the grocery store.

Changes

Changes can be stressful.  Especially when changes are happening inside the house.  No not a renovation or anything fancy.  Just a new furnace, high efficiency LP that is supposed to be 14 X 29 inches.  I don’t know how tall it is..it is only the footprint that concerns me.

The utility room in this house was a huge mistake to begin with.  Not enough space was allotted in the original plan.  I thought I would have room for a regular washer and dryer..think again they ended up in the kitchen. It didn’t make much difference it was a few years until we finished the kitchen anyway.  Later we bought a Maytag Stacker and it does fit in the utility room but space is limited, what with a water heater, a pressure tank for the well, a sewage lift pump all necessities of course and they all take up space and are mostly immovable.

I hope that the “fixes” we have planned gain some space.  Time will tell.  We are both cranky when it comes to discussing this renovation, which involves some re-plumbing etc.  The 14 year old pressure tank that rarely lasts 10 years will be replaced with a smaller sleeker one.

I made a footprint of this new furnace out of paper and shoved it all over the wall where it should go. I wonder what it will look like in each space I pick, will it work?   It is smaller than the air exchanger that it replaces. 

The old outside wood stove was sold and hauled away yesterday.  One less thing for the kids to worry about.

It was a good outdoor furnace..it kept us and our water warm for 14 years.

It is the end of an era for us, no more wood hauling, cutting, stacking or splitting:)

Patience

Have you ever wondered how it was to ride in a wagon on a buckboard seat? I admired a buckboard seat in an Antique Shop one day, decided that I needed it, when I went back to make the purchase it was gone. Snooze and you lose. It remained on my list of needs for a really long time, I never found another one. Then one day I admired the one that my Uncle Otto had on his back porch. He said that he had seen one in pieces at an Antique Shop way up north, the next time he went up there he would check it out for us. He bought it and sold it to us, Far Guy used the hardware and all the rotten boards for a pattern and made me my very own buckboard. We mounted it on a stand, and I stained it red my favorite color. It is upstairs, it is not very comfortable, those pioneer woman must have had buns of steel.

For years Far Guy and I wanted wooden wagon wheels, oh my, they were expensive. In an Antique Shop in Baker, Montana we found a half of a wagon wheel, so we were happy and it has a place out in the yard. One day we were visiting our daughter in Nebraska, every time we visited her, we admired the neighbors wooden wagon wheel. It was a fine specimen, well wouldn't you know it, they wanted to get rid of it and just GAVE it to us.

Good things come to those who wait. Patience... I once told a Pastor that I prayed for patience. He said " If you pray for patience, the good Lord may give you something to be patient about." I don't pray for patience anymore.

Far Guy had some patience, his old medication must have given him some. He has completed the first phase of the medication switch, the fog that filled his head is lifting and his patience has left with the fog. Today we embark on phase two of the different medication schedule. Yesterday as he spoke with the Nurse Practitioner on the phone, he used a lot of "sign" language while speaking. He didn't lose any words, I tried my best to follow the conversation so I could fill in words for him as needed, when he talks to his friends on the phone I just don't give a rats ass what words he has lost. Does anyone out there realize how difficult it is to fill in words for someone on the phone when you can only hear half of the conversation? Most of the time the Nurse just asks to speak with me, not yesterday, luckily she emailed us the revised medication schedule. Far Guys patience has left, but he has sign language now and he isn't afraid to use it. I thought about praying for patience again only briefly. Far Guy and I will go toe to toe, it is good to have him back.. I think? Was he really this impatient back in 2007 before he got the Trigeminal Neuralgia? He must have been, funny how you forget. His humor is returning also, that is a good thing..it is one of the things that I love most about him. The pain has NOT improved, this next phase may or may not help with the pain. WE have to be patient and see...I will be patient..Far Guy says "That's easy for you to say, you don't have the freaking pain." That's true..I don't have the pain..and he has NO patience whatsoever..and I AM NOT praying for him to get any either:)