Still Alive

Multiple naps keep me going.  Far Guy brings me warm rice bags for my feet and makes sure I am covered up….and reports I was snoring.

My sore thoat is finally gone…just have a stuffy head, temperature and a headache.

Far Guy is feeling a bit better.

 

Shared

It was bound to happen.  Far Guy shared his sore throat with me.  What a bummer.

He will have to take care of his own self for a few days.  He feels a “tad” bit better.

Good thing I made soup when I did.

I had many long naps yesterday until the throat or the bladder woke me up.  I missed my usual Bingo date with my Dad…he probably went by himself.

Snow November 6th and 7th

It snowed for two days.  We have a couple of inches at the snow stick.

The first day the snow was kinda pretty after that the novelty wore off.

I moved the snow shovel to the front door.  Seems like only yesterday that I moved it away from the front door.

We finished off a number of Far Guy’s woodcarvings.  They turned out real nice.  He likes to carve flowers and that butterfly was a first for him.  He did lots of painting!

Far Guy is still ill.  No better no worse.  He is up and about walking and doing small projects.  One of these days he should get better…he is real tired of being sick.  I think he is a bit stir crazy too as he hasn’t gone anyplace other than the clinic for a week.  He started a new carving project…he can carve at the dining room table.  I did our weekly shopping alone so he wouldn’t be exposed to more germs.

Wistful Wednesday: 1990

A Lucille between two Evelyns.   That was Far Guys old neighhborhood.   His parents Marvin and Evelyn, next door was Emil and Lucille and then Ray and Evelyn.

Emil and Lucille’s lawn was off limits…the boys… Far Guy and his friends used the alley…cause no one wanted Emil to call their mothers.  Emil was a crank, he didn’t like kids and he made no bones about it.

Far Guy says “poor old Emil …he hated boys and he was always watching Mark and I, it seems like everything we did wrong Emil was there to notice.  One time I was locked out of the house …I knew how to get into the house by going through the basement window, so naturally I was on my way through the window when Emil showed up shook his finger at me and said “I’ve got your number.”  Emil had a row of cabins in his yard next to our property line…so he was the eagle eyed neighbor. He must have been watching everything in the entire neighborhood.   One of my sister Jan’s friends was accused of stealing vegetables from Emil’s garden.” 

Lucille and Evelyn

The ladies at Marvin and Evelyn’s 50th Wedding Anniversary in 1990.

Emil died in 1977 the neighborhood relaxed after that.

Trail Cam: Wildlife

We had over 900 photos on the trail cam…I weeded most of them out but kept some interesting ones.

The Fox visits often…at night and during the day.

he hunts in the yard…here is a bird snack

At night

Oh deer!

A skunk

A big cat of some kind…with a curled tail…Cougar/Mountain Lion…your guess is as good as mine.

Carvings

I did some painting for Far Guy’s woodcarvings.  We have some other ones in progress.

This is a finished Desert Rose, the base is some hard as heck wood from California.   Getting the colors just right…how Far Guy saw them was a challenge.

before

I painted some of my bark houses that have been finished and floating around in my carving bag all summer and fall.

after

I finished the Christmas Cards…I will show photos closer to Christmas.  I am boxing up all the 2018 Woodcarved Ornaments and getting them ready to deliver and or mail.

Not sure what I will work on next. I have some unfinished projects hanging around here perhaps I will tackle them one at a time.

Far Guy is still struggling, his cough is worse today and he is visibly ill.  Sure hope he turns the corner soon.

A Nap

We will need a nap today.  We won’t know when to eat or sleep with the time change.

I will skip the hair net today.  This is an old photo from my vast collection of Forgotten Old Photos…an unknown couple taking an afternoon nap on what we used to call an Indian Blanket. ( A colorful blanket with designs on it.)  Not sure what other people would call it.

Today Far Guy will change all the batteries in the smoke alarms.  He stocked up on batteries last week…because he knows me well.  I insist that the batteries be changed with the time change spring and fall.  What if they don’t beep when the battery is low…what if we are gone when it beeps…that would be a false sense of security.  So he changes them so I don’t have to worry.  Like he says he can use the batteries elsewhere where it is not as important as saving our lives.

Far Guy is still struggling… now with a cough AND a sore throat to accompany his shortness of breath…he is on a different antibiotic after a trip to Urgent Care.

I made soup…homemade vegetable beef…with beef of course …rutabega, cabbage, carrots and potatoes….and fresh flat bread…boy was that yummy.

I dislike the time change…it makes me crankier than normal….I hate that it gets dark before supper.

Dewdrops

Dewdrops formed like huge tears on the Lupine last spring.

I planted seeds from my former brother in law years ago.

Some years the Lupines are sparse but enough seeds have been spread in the soil over the years that we always have a few blooms.

I thanked him over and over again for the seeds…and when they bloom I think of him. 

Our former brother in law lost his battle with multiple myeloma but gained his heavenly home late in the day on November 1st.  Private services were held with his immediate family; his children and their spouses, grandsons, his brothers and his mother.  His ashes will be spread next summer. He didn’t want a funeral.

Although he ceased being our brother in law about 20 years ago, we always considered him to be a relative.  As a single father he was instrumental in raising the children that he and my sister shared.  He was very proud of his children and grandsons.

I will miss his traveling adventures to far off lands…he always took photos of exotic flowers for me because he knew I enjoyed them. The last year since his diagnosis he ceased traveling except to Rochester and the Mayo Clinic.  His multiple myeloma was in remission but his doctors felt that he should have a stem cell transplant to be in permanent remission.  As with many procedures there are risks…the transplant opened the door for a very rare agressive form of cancer to overtake him…there were only 28 cases of this kind of cancer in all of the United States….and he was one.

2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Ready or Not

We finished the last of the outside Fall “stuff”…we are as ready as we can be for winter and I hear it may look a lot like winter soon.  We put away patio furniture, washed the last two windows, cleaned up the sauna, mulched leaves for the very last time, put away the lawn mower and the three wheeler for the winter, drained the water hose and put it away.

We took one day off to visit our former brother in law.  We had a good last visit with him.  He has multiple myeloma and has hospice care at his daughters home.  He told us he was tired and felt he would be leaving this world soon. Heaven will be his home.  Our hearts are breaking for our niece and nephew, their spouses and children….they are so young and both have recently become new parents.  Both little grandboys were there and they made their Grandpa smile…one is a year old and the other is just five weeks old and came all the way from Japan to meet his Grandpa.

Ready for winter or not…ready for another death or not…God is in charge and we best remember that.

Halloween Report

We had a dozen trick or treaters…we are related to all but three of them.

Supergirl, Darth Vader and a Storm Trooper

Supergirl, Doctor, Dinosaur, Logger and a Spider Girl

Skeleton, Princess, Monkey being held by a little girl

It is a tradition to sit on the steps and get your photo taken before you get treats.

The children all asked “Where is Chance?”  Or “Where is your dog?”  We explained that Chance was old and very sick and he died.  Teddy didn’t think that was good at all, but Ava and Brooke said that was sad because their dog Ivy died too.

We have left over candy... Far Guy picked out his favorite candy for the extra…Mounds and Almond Joy.

 

Wistful Wednesday: Chaucer 2002-2018

Chaucer was born sometime in 2002.  He had a best friend named Keats.   They were a rambunctious pair…they technically belonged to our Grandsons…Keats belonged to Adam and Chaucer to Noah.  The kittens spent some time with us here when the family moved from Mapleton to Hawley.  They were balls of energy and explorers…our house was not finished yet and they thought it was great fun to walk around in the heat ducts and race around like they were being chased by the devil himself.  Unfortunately Keats met an early death so Chaucer became an only cat.  Keats is buried on our property along side Keshia Grey another good kitty.

Chaucer our Grandcat

Chaucer loved us and would come running when he heard our voices…he liked to be scratched under his chin.

He was a guest blogger for me one time.  What does the cat say.

He was a good kitty.  A good friend to both of our Grandsons.  They learned all about pet ownership and repsonsibility with the kitty. Yesterday they learned all about the sad part of pet ownership. Chaucer had quit eating and drinking, at the Vets he was xrayed and they found a huge mass in his abdomen….so they said their goodbyes.

Nearly everytime we would visit I took a photo of Chaucer thinking it might be the last one…

Here he was getting some lovin from Far Guy.

Rest in peace Chaucer…we will miss you….you had a good family and a good life.

Fall stuff

I rescued the rain guages so they wouldn’t freeze and burst… but it hasn’t stopped raining since.  I have no idea how much it has rained…but it is a lot.

Today it may rain only a little.  I have a list, I have checked it twice.  The last things to do before winter arrives…

We still have two windows to wash the rest have been done.  Since they are upstairs windows that we hardly ever look out they are not high on the window washing list.

We defrosted the deep freeze.  That was an adventure…found some sweet corn we didn’t know we had.  We made a list of what is in there…no vegetable soup was found so later this week I will be making soup.  Our list is actually a map of the freezer…upper and lower left and right…as long as we keep the list current we should know what is in there at all times….maybe.

I am still working on Christmas Cards however I hope to finish them up this week.  My next project is to paint some of the flowers that Far Guy has woodcarved over the summer….after that I have some woodcarved bark houses to paint.

Far Guy is feeling a tad better, he had a Dr visit…he is still short of breath and has a cough…we are doing all the right things for now possibly another antibiotic can be started in a few days. We are in a wait and see mode.

We are ready for Trick or Treaters…the little bags of candy are ready to hand out!  I wonder how many ghosts and goblins we will have this year?

Murder Mystery Dinner

We attended a Murder Mystery Dinner.  Three actors/actresses made up the troupe from the cities.
Far Guy felt good enough to attend….we had purchased the tickets a long time ago.

Many people that attended wore 1930’s style clothing…we didn’t get that memo but probably wouldn’t have dressed up anyway…but some people were all decked out!

Other than the three main actors they picked people out of the audience to play the parts of suspects, they also gave them folders with scripts.   Far Guy played Mr Greenspan…a wealthy banker.  At one point someone came and got him to give him special instructions….he whispered to me “Don’t get excited with my antics.”

We were given bribe money and suggested questions to ask suspects with name tags throughout the room.   We also had pencil and paper to record motive and opportunity and crime scene photos.

Four course dinner…some kind of fancy salad with a very vinegary dressing, Cream of Tomato Bisque Soup (it was a little chunky for me) I ate the mostly liquid part and then got up to ask a suspect a question and when I came back my soup had been finished…I blamed Far Guy but he said nope he didn’t touch my soup.  The Third Course was a pasta dish with some kind of cream sauce…you could have steak, shrimp or philly cheese to accompany it.  Far Guy said he got three shrimp…I had steak and had to hunt for it.  Dessert was various cakes…I had chocolate with a cherry sauce…it was really good.

There was much comic relief as the plot unfolded.  Far Guy as Mr Greenspan was poisoned at one point…he slumped backwards in the chair…the Doctor came over and touched his nose and pronounced him cold and dead.  They carted him off wearing his glasses and hat and he returned the same old Far Guy.

We as a group…two other friends went with us…deduced that the murderer was a woman…lipstick and a wine glass at the crime scene…so we guessed the most likely suspect would be the Doctor…which was wrong.  But it was fun anyways…Far Guy got an award for “The Best Death Scene”
It was a fun evening.

Jeanne’s Book

I met a blogger a long time ago…she has a wicked sense of humor.  She has finally realized her dream of having a book published.  It is called The Demon Always Wins.

I bought the book from Amazon. It is a paranormal romance novel.

Finished the book a few days ago.  It was entertaining.  Not my usual kind of read but I enjoyed it none the less.

As soon as the book arrived I made a book cover for it…it is difficult to make a book cover when your eyes are closed.

Why a book cover?…those of you who know me well should have guessed by now.

Here is a link to Jeanne’s website

My review:  It was a entertaining, sexy, wildly descriptive good read.  I give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

Way to go Jeanne!  I am thrilled that you are published and look forward to the other books in this series.

Rain

It is dreary and rainy.  Has been for the past few days. 

Far Guy is still struggling with a bad cough and shortness of breath.  He is not any better but not any worse.  Hopefully I am taking good enough care of him that we can avoid the hospital.

I have been keeping busy with many projects.  One day I spent just doing odds and ends that had piled up…delivered a birthday gift, returned jars, returned egg cartons, mailed a package and washed the lawn mower in preparation for winter.

Finally said “enough is enough” and splurged on a new printer ($34).  Far Guy has been sending me emails saying “print this please” because our older printer kept forgetting his computer…it was a pain in the butt and he wasted time trying to fix it everytime he wanted to print something.

I repaired some solar lights…didyaknow you can replace the batteries in some solar lights…BUT you need rechargable SOLAR batteries.

I am still working on Christmas Cards.

 

Even the tree rats are wet.

Took my Dad to Bingo, good thing I took him along as he bingoed twice! 

Other Baby Brother

My other baby brother who lives next door is older today.

I recall very clearly the day he was born.   I was nine years old. My baby brother ( who was six years old) and I wanted a brother and we got one! ( We even named him…imagine my Mother’s surprise when the neighbor ladies went to the hospital to see the new baby who had such a perfect name…we told everyone what his name was…except our Mother and Father.)  He was the best baby ever…and as he grew older he spent a lot of time with me.  He listened to me without question …and I endured his “why” stage that seemed to last forever… he could talk to anyone about anything and still has that gift of gab that has served him well in his business.

My Dad and my other baby brother…he wanted to move dirt just like Dad…and he still does.

 

He also likes to fish and enjoys evenings out on the lake. 

I am blessed to have him live next door…he moves our snow and helps me gas up the lawnmowers etc…and if I should need some help he is just a phone call away.

Happy Birthday Jody!  58 years seem to have gone by just like that.  I think Mom wanted to name you Drew or Allan…but you sure didn’t look like a Drew or an Allan.

14

Chance woulda been 14 today.  As it is he has been gone a month now and we still miss him everyday.  He loved the extra jerky treats and french fries that he usually got on his birthday…and maybe even a piece of chicken, or spaghetti squash or baked carrots…all his favorite foods.

No birthday photos this year and no picture with the witch hat on Halloween…he hated that hat.

Last summer I had a photo made into a canvas.  When I got it I showed it to Chance…he was not impressed.  We didn’t know where to hang it so it ended up on the fireplace mantle.