Remember my "Stupid is as Stupid...OK, I'm just plain stupid!" post??
Well, here's an update for you!
A month or two after I trimmed the bushes around my gas meter, I had received a post card in the mail from the utility company. It stated that they were going to be putting in a new meter that they can read remotely so they don't need to send out a "meter reader" anymore.
Go figure, just as I decide to be accommodating, now they won't be physically reading it any longer! And oh joy, I'm glad that that ugly meter is so visible now! ---NOT!!---
Story of my life :)
Friday, January 23, 2009
Odds and ends to catch you up!
Let's see, where to start!
In the fall, we decided to send my older daughter's horse out for a month of training. The cost for the month of board/feed/training at that facility cost $650.00. In order to get her (the horse) ready, she needed to have her teeth floated ($100.00), have a coggins drawn (a test to make sure she is negative for infectious equine anemia- $80.00). All things were in order, we were $830.00 invested, and off the horse went! After the 1st week, the horse came up "lame". She was gimping on her back leg. Interesting... She has never been lame a day in her life all the while she was here. So, she was on rest for the upcoming week. That week passed, and the trainer and I decided it was best to bring the horse home to "recover", and that we would bring her back for the rest of her training in a month. Took the mare home, and as soon as we let her out of the trailer she ran and frolicked in the field with the other horses. Barely a lameness to be noted. And from then after- no lameness at all. In the meantime, the trainer suggested we have a chiropractic exam and adjustment done on the horse. So, I call the vet., set up an appointment had him come out, did the adjustment - and paid him his $130.00. Horse still not lame.
Of course this is my down time. It is the time after the county fair, after breeding season, but before lambing season kicks into full swing. It is my time of year to just sit back and be "normal". I haven't posted since before Christmas- So I will catch you up a bit!
Christmas:
Christmas this year was a blur. It came and went so fast I can't believe it came at all! This year, I put up our Christmas decorations right after Halloween. I know, you think that sounds a little crazy- Well, let me explain! You see, we had Halloween decorations up and once I took down the orange and purple lights, the "boy" was sad to not have any lights to turn on. So I dug out the FAKE tree and up everything went! Then everyday all you heard was "Mommy! Turn Christmas on!" Granted, I am the type of person that yanks down the decorations the day after Christmas. This year I was a little slow. It took me till 2 days after Christmas to take them down! lol.
But, all in all, aside from all the usual hustle and bustle, Christmas was great! Of course the boy is another year older and he really got into ripping open his presents this time around. You just have to watch him to make sure he doesn't get overly excited and start ripping open everyone else's presents too!
Let's see... What else is new? We finally finished out the last 3 of our hogs for the season. They went off to the butcher shop last Monday. It will be another week before we have to pick up the packaged meat. Thank Heavens they are finally gone! What a pain to raise hogs in the winter it is! Their waterer constantly froze up, and I felt bad for them during the sub zero nights thinking they are cold. Not to mention the drain on our pocket book! The 3 pigs ate almost a $100.00 a week in feed. But,...Um... Just the thought of fresh bacon makes my mouth water! In our family, the bacon is always the first to get used up! Then the hams, and so on, and so on.
Oh! I forgot to mention, the first of this year's lambs are here! Yep! Two nice sized ram lambs were born from our seasoned ewe "Brownie". Because she only has 1 workable teat I decided to bring them in the house (again.) and feed them. For the first couple of days, two times a day, I would go outside and hand milk the ewe. What a treat that was. (Yes, that's sarcasm.) She would see me coming and would desperately try to be any where I wasn't! Once I caught her, I would tie her up to the stall wall and milk away. This was a heck of a lot of work for 1 cup of raw milk. 1 cup wasn't enough to feed 2 lambs so I would still have to make an additional cup of formula and mix the 2 together. I think my hand milking experience lasted roughly 3 days. Then I basically said "to hell with this" (I think the ewe did too!) and that was that!
Now we are just waiting for the rest of the ewes to pop. Thank heaven's all of the other "ladies" can take care of their own young. My days of being thrilled to have lambs in the house are long gone! lol. It was interesting though to see the boy instantly know what newborn lambs were. If I think about it, he was a year and a half old last time around, and hasn't seen newborn lambs since. His favorite thing to do this year is to feed the baby lambs. He will have an absolute melt down if I feed them their bottles without him. Now if only I can get him to clean up after them! lol. Maybe next year... lol!
Hum.. what other major happenings have occurred around here?
Our back porch roof collapsed. Now that was excitement! The boy was napping, and I was sitting in the kitchen surfing the net. All of a sudden I heard a loud "Crack"! I looked out my glass patio doors just in time to see the entire roof of the porch come slamming down. Snow, boards, and roof material were every where! I couldn't open my patio door because it was blocked with over 2 feet of snow. I didn't have any shoes to put on (because they were all outside on the porch!) So I ran out the front door in my sock feet to inspect the damage.
I was really concerned because our outside cats are always on that porch. They sleep stacked like cord wood on this little tiny cat bed. It is not uncommon to find at least 7 cats piled together on this little bed. As I was looking for cat casualties I noticed that one of the main porch beams came crashing down right smack on that little bed, flattening it like paper. Luckily, over time the cats started to reappear. Every one of those cats heard the crack and took off like lightening before the cave in.
I'm just grateful that nothing was damaged or hurt. And I'm grateful that it didn't take out the glass patio doors or even the window on the house! The roof collapse was two fold, yes- I loved the porch for the shade it provided, a space to house the boy's toys in the summer and a place to get out of the rain. But man did I think that porch was UGLY! I'm GLAD it fell down! At least now I can build something with more "curb appeal" (funny! It isn't anywhere NEAR the street!) and of course more structurally sound!
A week after the porch roof collapse, our furnace decided to quit working. I noticed that it was blowing cool air instead of warm air. I called the Mr. at work, and he came home to deal with it. Long story short, as it turned out- It was the "upper limit switch" again. We just had a heating / cooling company out last winter to replace that switch. That little visit cost us $350.00! OUCH! Luckily, this year- my Mr. was smarter... and figured out that it was the same switch, called up his heating / cooling friend (not the company that came out the year before) and asked if he would be kind enough to order the switch for us. He ordered it, my Mr. picked it up, paid for it, and put it in. The cost of the switch?? THREE DOLLARS. And now, the furnace runs beautiful yet again! And to think, I didn't even get a kiss with the raping I received from that company the year before! I'm sure in the wrong business!
Speaking of wasting money! Here's another one for you!
In the fall, we decided to send my older daughter's horse out for a month of training. The cost for the month of board/feed/training at that facility cost $650.00. In order to get her (the horse) ready, she needed to have her teeth floated ($100.00), have a coggins drawn (a test to make sure she is negative for infectious equine anemia- $80.00). All things were in order, we were $830.00 invested, and off the horse went! After the 1st week, the horse came up "lame". She was gimping on her back leg. Interesting... She has never been lame a day in her life all the while she was here. So, she was on rest for the upcoming week. That week passed, and the trainer and I decided it was best to bring the horse home to "recover", and that we would bring her back for the rest of her training in a month. Took the mare home, and as soon as we let her out of the trailer she ran and frolicked in the field with the other horses. Barely a lameness to be noted. And from then after- no lameness at all. In the meantime, the trainer suggested we have a chiropractic exam and adjustment done on the horse. So, I call the vet., set up an appointment had him come out, did the adjustment - and paid him his $130.00. Horse still not lame.
So a month goes by, and the horse goes back to the trainers for another two weeks. After the first few days I get a call from the trainer- horse is lame again. Pick horse up, bring horse home. That was our first experience in taking a horse to a trainer. Am I doubting the trainer? Not really. I know she means well and doesn't want to see the horse injured perm. Its just the "luck" of it all. We had invested $960.00 into this "training" and never got an ounce of "training" out of the deal.
Now, there the horse sits... We aren't sure what to do now. We really like the horse, and didn't want to send it a packing, but why have another useless horse around here? We'll see what this summer brings for her.
The craptastic part of it all, we are (were?) considering bringing our Clyde to this trainer to be broke out this upcoming year. Now he was going to spend 2 months ($650.00/month) there! I'm worried that he will suddenly turn up "lame" and have to come back home- money wasted. So I'm on the fence about all of this... What an experience... *sigh*
Other than that, it has been the same old same old. The house has been its usual money pit. Competing with the animals to see which could possibly cost us more money. I'm still staying home raising the boy and holding down the fort. Just waiting for more lambs. I'm hoping we will have around 10 this year. I'm eager for lamb in our freezer! We STILL have a meat goat to butcher and put in the freezer, and I just bought a goose from a friend. I started the other day to pluck it (in my kitchen- big mistake! feathers all over!!) The boy was concerned that he was "hurt" and I kindly told him that he was "Dead" What a good mother I am huh?? lol.
Can we say future therapy for him?? lol.
I better get back to "life"- the boy has been waiting impatiently for me to finish this- and of course destroying everything in his path! Don't mind the spelling/grammer errors! I am trying to type and watch the boy all at the same time :)
Friday, December 5, 2008
It's time to PAY IT FORWARD....
Yesterday started off as any other normal day around here... Wake up early, get the toddler some breakfast, make sure the teenager is getting ready for school, feed the dog, make sure everyone is dressed and out the door for our 40 minute drive to and from school and then back home again.
Later that morning, I was baking some Christmas cookies for our family and friends while Pierce was taking his morning nap when the dog started barking. The dog barking is nothing new during his nap time (which really makes me frustrated!) I must have the house quieter and he can hear more which in turn makes him bark more. I was so mad at the dog for waking up Pierce that I put his bark collar on him. He didn't bark after that - because he just "knows" what that collar does.. (evil grin)
The rest of the day went on as usual and Pierce helped me finish baking the cookies. It was so cute! He even knew what the rolling pin was for!
Later that afternoon we went to go drop off a plate of cookies at my parent's house and go pick up the teen. I couldn't carry Pierce because I had my hands full with the cookies- so I did my best to keep him out of the snow. When I rounded the corner of the back porch I noticed a large laundry basket of "stuff" and a large plastic bag of "stuff" sitting in front of my front door. My first thought was that my next door neighbor was doing some winter cleaning and dropped off some items she didn't need. But I noticed a card on top of the basket... I grabbed the card and kept going to the car.
On our way to Grandma's house I opened the card. It was a lovely Christmas card with a manger scene on the front. The inside had a nice stock printed message wishing us a Merry Christmas. But the card was blank. The envelope was not addressed to us, nor was the card written in what so ever. I was really scratching my head wondering where these things came from?
When we got back home, I carried the bounty into the house. Inside the laundry basket was all kinds of household items!:
1 mid size bottle of Tide Laundry soap,
1 bottle of Ajax laundry soap,
1 bottle of Joy brand dish soap,
1 bottle of Palmolive dish soap,
1 bottle of Ajax dish soap,
1 box of kitchen trash bags,
1 box of garbage bags,
1 box of sandwich bags,
1 box of Renolds Wrap Aluminum foil,
3 box's of "soap buddies" (bar soap covered in cloth for kids)
1 box of 500 Q tips
4 toothbrushes
1 tube of Crest Pro Health toothpaste
1 tube of Colgaite toothpaste
2 boxes of Kotex Light Day pads
1 box of Maxi Pads
1 bottle of Suave Shampoo
1 bottle of Suave Conditioner
1 bottle of Aussie Shampoo
1 bottle of Aussie Conditioner
1 8pk of AA batteries
1 Glade Flameless "wisp" scented candle (this thing is SO cool!)
3 boxes of Kleenex Brand Kleenex's
3 rolls of Bounty Paper towel
2 pks of Cottonelle bath tissue
And a Veggie Tales Christmas Movie DVD
And of course the laundry basket it all came in!
All night long I thought about where these items came from. I even called my neighbor (who notices everything :) and asked her if she saw a vehicle in my driveway. She said she saw a dark colored vehicle, either black / drk blue. But she saw my car in the driveway so she figured I had company and didn't give it another thought. That was the time the dog barked. So, the dog heard those packages being left on my doorstep, but I didn't. I sure do feel bad for yelling at the dog for doing his job! :(
I asked her if she knew where all of these things came from and she didn't know. She did mention how a lot of people like to "pay it forward" this time of year... She even talked about how we sold eggs all summer long to people and that who knows, it could have come from someone that direction. Then we thought perhaps the Jehovah's Witnesses. I met a couple of really nice older woman earlier in the year (*****TANGENT TIME: Speaking of people that go door to door promoting either products or beliefs... I *never* have been or would be rude to them. I know how hard it is to do sales, and outside sales is even harder! I always hear them out, and explain to them that is not for me- so note to all of you: Be Nice to them!*** end tangent) But I didn't think it was their religious groups because there wasn't any God information.
So... all in all, none of us have any clue where all these items came from. I have never been on the receiving end of a Charitable gift before. It really gives me mixed emotions. On the fore front, I am grateful to whomever did this for me and my family. But I really wish I knew who to Thank. But on the flip side, I wonder why this was done for us? My mother in law said that somewhere along the line we touched someone and that "someone" wanted to do something nice for us in return.
I had to really eat my big piece of humble pie over all of this. My natural instinct was to think that society sees us as a "charity" case, and I was embarrassed. But I served myself up a big slice when I realized that in less than 24 hours later, the movie has already been watched, the Glade is scenting my living room, the batteries have already been used for the TV remote control and the flashlight, the bar soap was used by the toddler for his bath time in the tub, and I had already replaced my old toothbrush with the new one, not to mention the load of laundry I have already done with the new detergent.
Our family is extremely grateful for this gift. And we Thank whomever had done this from the bottom of our heart. It is now our time to "Pay it forward" and we look forward to sending Christmas joy to another family.
God Bless you this Holiday Season
Later that morning, I was baking some Christmas cookies for our family and friends while Pierce was taking his morning nap when the dog started barking. The dog barking is nothing new during his nap time (which really makes me frustrated!) I must have the house quieter and he can hear more which in turn makes him bark more. I was so mad at the dog for waking up Pierce that I put his bark collar on him. He didn't bark after that - because he just "knows" what that collar does.. (evil grin)
The rest of the day went on as usual and Pierce helped me finish baking the cookies. It was so cute! He even knew what the rolling pin was for!
Later that afternoon we went to go drop off a plate of cookies at my parent's house and go pick up the teen. I couldn't carry Pierce because I had my hands full with the cookies- so I did my best to keep him out of the snow. When I rounded the corner of the back porch I noticed a large laundry basket of "stuff" and a large plastic bag of "stuff" sitting in front of my front door. My first thought was that my next door neighbor was doing some winter cleaning and dropped off some items she didn't need. But I noticed a card on top of the basket... I grabbed the card and kept going to the car.
On our way to Grandma's house I opened the card. It was a lovely Christmas card with a manger scene on the front. The inside had a nice stock printed message wishing us a Merry Christmas. But the card was blank. The envelope was not addressed to us, nor was the card written in what so ever. I was really scratching my head wondering where these things came from?
When we got back home, I carried the bounty into the house. Inside the laundry basket was all kinds of household items!:
1 mid size bottle of Tide Laundry soap,
1 bottle of Ajax laundry soap,
1 bottle of Joy brand dish soap,
1 bottle of Palmolive dish soap,
1 bottle of Ajax dish soap,
1 box of kitchen trash bags,
1 box of garbage bags,
1 box of sandwich bags,
1 box of Renolds Wrap Aluminum foil,
3 box's of "soap buddies" (bar soap covered in cloth for kids)
1 box of 500 Q tips
4 toothbrushes
1 tube of Crest Pro Health toothpaste
1 tube of Colgaite toothpaste
2 boxes of Kotex Light Day pads
1 box of Maxi Pads
1 bottle of Suave Shampoo
1 bottle of Suave Conditioner
1 bottle of Aussie Shampoo
1 bottle of Aussie Conditioner
1 8pk of AA batteries
1 Glade Flameless "wisp" scented candle (this thing is SO cool!)
3 boxes of Kleenex Brand Kleenex's
3 rolls of Bounty Paper towel
2 pks of Cottonelle bath tissue
And a Veggie Tales Christmas Movie DVD
And of course the laundry basket it all came in!
All night long I thought about where these items came from. I even called my neighbor (who notices everything :) and asked her if she saw a vehicle in my driveway. She said she saw a dark colored vehicle, either black / drk blue. But she saw my car in the driveway so she figured I had company and didn't give it another thought. That was the time the dog barked. So, the dog heard those packages being left on my doorstep, but I didn't. I sure do feel bad for yelling at the dog for doing his job! :(
I asked her if she knew where all of these things came from and she didn't know. She did mention how a lot of people like to "pay it forward" this time of year... She even talked about how we sold eggs all summer long to people and that who knows, it could have come from someone that direction. Then we thought perhaps the Jehovah's Witnesses. I met a couple of really nice older woman earlier in the year (*****TANGENT TIME: Speaking of people that go door to door promoting either products or beliefs... I *never* have been or would be rude to them. I know how hard it is to do sales, and outside sales is even harder! I always hear them out, and explain to them that is not for me- so note to all of you: Be Nice to them!*** end tangent) But I didn't think it was their religious groups because there wasn't any God information.
So... all in all, none of us have any clue where all these items came from. I have never been on the receiving end of a Charitable gift before. It really gives me mixed emotions. On the fore front, I am grateful to whomever did this for me and my family. But I really wish I knew who to Thank. But on the flip side, I wonder why this was done for us? My mother in law said that somewhere along the line we touched someone and that "someone" wanted to do something nice for us in return.
I had to really eat my big piece of humble pie over all of this. My natural instinct was to think that society sees us as a "charity" case, and I was embarrassed. But I served myself up a big slice when I realized that in less than 24 hours later, the movie has already been watched, the Glade is scenting my living room, the batteries have already been used for the TV remote control and the flashlight, the bar soap was used by the toddler for his bath time in the tub, and I had already replaced my old toothbrush with the new one, not to mention the load of laundry I have already done with the new detergent.
Our family is extremely grateful for this gift. And we Thank whomever had done this from the bottom of our heart. It is now our time to "Pay it forward" and we look forward to sending Christmas joy to another family.
God Bless you this Holiday Season
Thursday, November 13, 2008
The Fish That Sunk Me
Hello faithful readers!
Things to this point have been kind of quiet- Hence, the lack of posts! But, no fear- I have a story for you!
"The fish that didn't get away"
One of the local lakes by us was drained this summer. There was an invasive weed problem that they are trying to get under control. Their thinking was to remove the fish (it was quite a productive fishing lake), drain the lake, let it freeze, refill it, restock it.
My husband and I have been watching this lake disappear all summer long. Even with the majority of the lake drained and with only a few remaining "pot holes" we still continued to fish it. The lake bottom is nothing but boot sucking mud. You can only get so close to the water before you sink to your knees in the thick oozing mud. So, we would stand on a misc piece of wood: log, or plywood left by other fisherman to try and get as close as we could to the water's edge and launch our bait 20+ feet to the water.
You wouldn't believe the fish that were still in there! We started out by catching blue gills hand over fist. Every cast produced a fish. We didn't keep any (too small to bother with) but it sure was a fun time! Then I switched baits and tried using a spoon bait. On my second cast I landed a (roughly) 30" Northern Pike! This particular lake didn't have a size restriction so that bad boy was fair game! What a leaper he was! It was an impressive fight! I kept reeling, and reeling....Until... (isn't it ALWAYS something???) it ran out of water and reached the edge of the mucky lake bottom. There it sat, beached, 20ft away from me... There wasn't anything I could do- The mud was to deep, thick, squishy, GROSS! I tried to drag it carefully on the line through the mud but it didn't drag, it only buried itself. Then, "tink!" The lure came flying out of its mouth and back at me. There sat my precious fish, right on the water's edge... There I helplessly sat and watched it. And then it made one good "flop" and back to freedom in the water it went. I could have cried!!!! I jumped up and down on my little 12" square piece of wood saying all kinds of choice words to my husband.
My impressive fish inspired him to try fishing for something bigger than we were used to catching. After around 15 minutes of nothing, we decided to take a chance and try the other end of the lake. No small feat because we had to walk as far away from the sucking mud as we could so we didn't get stuck.
On our journey, I of course walked too close and got stuck. I was soo stuck I had to take my knee high rubber boot off, balance carefully and try to pull the boot out. It wasn't working. My husband had to come dig it out for me!
Within 5 minutes of fishing at our final destination my husband landed an enormous large mouth bass! I was so happy for him!! It was great to watch until.... The same thing happened: reel in fish, fish ran out of "lake", stuck in mud, 20ft away. This time, I thought I was seasoned enough to help him- I tried to help him pull the line carefully and drag it through the mud back to us. No luck! This time the line broke! There sat his prize fish... only difference being now it had his prize lure hanging out of its mouth!
I looked at him, he looked at me... and I said: "I can get that for you?", "but, you OWE me"....
I took off my boots (why bother, they would have came off anyway!), emptied out my pockets, took off my sweatshirt... and off I went.
The mud was beyond words. I instantly sunk almost two feet into it. Because of sinking so deep I couldn't go anywhere, so I crawled on my hands and knees towards the water's edge to the fish. Praying that it wouldn't flop itself to freedom in the meantime. I was like a bulldozer shoving mud away from me just so I could move an inch closer. The mud stunk like nasty fish, it had bits of lake weeds and dead snails and clams in it.
Luckily, I reached the fish (which now too was black as night covered in mud!) I grabbed it and tossed it back to my husband. Then I started my journey back through the mud to safety.
When I made it to "dryer" land (still mud, just not sinking mud) My husband wanted to take his prize and quit fishing. I told him NO!!! I *technically* just started fishing in this spot, and I would like to keep trying! He just shook his head and started his journey back to the truck with his fish.
There I stood, my clothes covered in mud up to my chest, mud up to my elbows, I'm standing in the mud in my socks (remember- I took off my shoes) fishing away... I kept getting my reel clogged with the mud from on my hands.
I didn't catch anything... (go figure)
So I grabbed my boots, (it didn't pay to put them back on with me being so dirty) and walked back to the truck. The entire time I was worried that I would step on a shell or glass or a rock and cut my foot open then needing some kind of antibiotics. I made it back without further incident.
My husband was talking to some lake "looki-loos" when I arrived. I got a round of applause from them for my bravery! I was sooo embarrassed!!
Because I was so covered in mud, I couldn't ride IN the truck. I had to ride in the bed of the truck all the way home. My husband was so amused, he made a call and stopped by his parent's house so his dad could get a good laugh at me- and see the fish of course!
The fish was a 20" female large mouth bass that weighed over 4lbs. It was the largest fish (of that species) my husband had ever caught. And it was the largest fish (um... the ONLY fish) I have ever mud crawled for!
Things to this point have been kind of quiet- Hence, the lack of posts! But, no fear- I have a story for you!
"The fish that didn't get away"
One of the local lakes by us was drained this summer. There was an invasive weed problem that they are trying to get under control. Their thinking was to remove the fish (it was quite a productive fishing lake), drain the lake, let it freeze, refill it, restock it.
My husband and I have been watching this lake disappear all summer long. Even with the majority of the lake drained and with only a few remaining "pot holes" we still continued to fish it. The lake bottom is nothing but boot sucking mud. You can only get so close to the water before you sink to your knees in the thick oozing mud. So, we would stand on a misc piece of wood: log, or plywood left by other fisherman to try and get as close as we could to the water's edge and launch our bait 20+ feet to the water.
You wouldn't believe the fish that were still in there! We started out by catching blue gills hand over fist. Every cast produced a fish. We didn't keep any (too small to bother with) but it sure was a fun time! Then I switched baits and tried using a spoon bait. On my second cast I landed a (roughly) 30" Northern Pike! This particular lake didn't have a size restriction so that bad boy was fair game! What a leaper he was! It was an impressive fight! I kept reeling, and reeling....Until... (isn't it ALWAYS something???) it ran out of water and reached the edge of the mucky lake bottom. There it sat, beached, 20ft away from me... There wasn't anything I could do- The mud was to deep, thick, squishy, GROSS! I tried to drag it carefully on the line through the mud but it didn't drag, it only buried itself. Then, "tink!" The lure came flying out of its mouth and back at me. There sat my precious fish, right on the water's edge... There I helplessly sat and watched it. And then it made one good "flop" and back to freedom in the water it went. I could have cried!!!! I jumped up and down on my little 12" square piece of wood saying all kinds of choice words to my husband.
My impressive fish inspired him to try fishing for something bigger than we were used to catching. After around 15 minutes of nothing, we decided to take a chance and try the other end of the lake. No small feat because we had to walk as far away from the sucking mud as we could so we didn't get stuck.
On our journey, I of course walked too close and got stuck. I was soo stuck I had to take my knee high rubber boot off, balance carefully and try to pull the boot out. It wasn't working. My husband had to come dig it out for me!
Within 5 minutes of fishing at our final destination my husband landed an enormous large mouth bass! I was so happy for him!! It was great to watch until.... The same thing happened: reel in fish, fish ran out of "lake", stuck in mud, 20ft away. This time, I thought I was seasoned enough to help him- I tried to help him pull the line carefully and drag it through the mud back to us. No luck! This time the line broke! There sat his prize fish... only difference being now it had his prize lure hanging out of its mouth!
I looked at him, he looked at me... and I said: "I can get that for you?", "but, you OWE me"....
I took off my boots (why bother, they would have came off anyway!), emptied out my pockets, took off my sweatshirt... and off I went.
The mud was beyond words. I instantly sunk almost two feet into it. Because of sinking so deep I couldn't go anywhere, so I crawled on my hands and knees towards the water's edge to the fish. Praying that it wouldn't flop itself to freedom in the meantime. I was like a bulldozer shoving mud away from me just so I could move an inch closer. The mud stunk like nasty fish, it had bits of lake weeds and dead snails and clams in it.
Luckily, I reached the fish (which now too was black as night covered in mud!) I grabbed it and tossed it back to my husband. Then I started my journey back through the mud to safety.
When I made it to "dryer" land (still mud, just not sinking mud) My husband wanted to take his prize and quit fishing. I told him NO!!! I *technically* just started fishing in this spot, and I would like to keep trying! He just shook his head and started his journey back to the truck with his fish.
There I stood, my clothes covered in mud up to my chest, mud up to my elbows, I'm standing in the mud in my socks (remember- I took off my shoes) fishing away... I kept getting my reel clogged with the mud from on my hands.
I didn't catch anything... (go figure)
So I grabbed my boots, (it didn't pay to put them back on with me being so dirty) and walked back to the truck. The entire time I was worried that I would step on a shell or glass or a rock and cut my foot open then needing some kind of antibiotics. I made it back without further incident.
My husband was talking to some lake "looki-loos" when I arrived. I got a round of applause from them for my bravery! I was sooo embarrassed!!
Because I was so covered in mud, I couldn't ride IN the truck. I had to ride in the bed of the truck all the way home. My husband was so amused, he made a call and stopped by his parent's house so his dad could get a good laugh at me- and see the fish of course!
The fish was a 20" female large mouth bass that weighed over 4lbs. It was the largest fish (of that species) my husband had ever caught. And it was the largest fish (um... the ONLY fish) I have ever mud crawled for!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Yo Momma is NO Picasso!
Aright everyone! Enough Doom & Gloom for a few days!
Here is my latest creation...
Here is my latest creation...
I have been working on repainting my toddler's room. You will soon start to learn that I repaint the rooms in my house A LOT. I swear each room has been painted at least twice in the seven years that I have lived here.
Here's a little more on my OCD paint addiction. Did I mention I don't use your traditional painting tools??? Most people use power painters, paint sticks, large brushes or rollers. Um,... Gosh, now I'm really going to sound strange.... I have painted entire rooms of my house; living room, kitchen, hallways, master bedrooms, laundry room, 3 bedrooms...(and don't forget-TWICE!!), with a two inch foam brush. Yep, one of those dinky little .25 cent jobbers from Walmart. Black foam, wood handle... Mainly used for cutting in around windows and molding. If you don't know what I'm talking about- You clearly need to do some repainting around your own home! lol.
BUT- The good news is that I have graduated from that 2" foam brush to a 2" bristle brush!
Why do I use such a ridiculously small brush to paint such large areas you ask??? I honestly don't know the answer. The only thing I can come up (are the tiny voices in my head telling me to use that brush!- Na, I don't hear voices... I'm not nuts you know! *snark*) is that with all of the molding in each room it was easier to use the little brushes instead of the big rollers- because I didn't have to clean up as much when I got paint where I shouldn't have gotten paint. So I think instead of constantly switching brushes, it just kind of stuck with me. And I find with the very textured walls, it was easier to stipple the paint into the grooves.
All in all, you have NO IDEA how long it takes me to paint a room. But, clearly after so much wall space and practice, I can really motor along with my little brush! Heck!! I bet I'm even better than the Karate Kid ("Daniel son, show me paint the fence!") LOL!
The one thing I absolutely hate about painting is the clean up. I cannot STAND washing brushes- Hence: cheap brushes = instant trash = no clean up! Yeah!!!
The first time I had painted this room I had painted it a color called "Indian Moccasin" That of course was during "L.I.P" (life before Pierce) lol. It was an alright color to look at for awhile, but over time the more I stared at it, the more it became peach colored in my eyes! Especially after you put a BOY in the room.
Here's a little more on my OCD paint addiction. Did I mention I don't use your traditional painting tools??? Most people use power painters, paint sticks, large brushes or rollers. Um,... Gosh, now I'm really going to sound strange.... I have painted entire rooms of my house; living room, kitchen, hallways, master bedrooms, laundry room, 3 bedrooms...(and don't forget-TWICE!!), with a two inch foam brush. Yep, one of those dinky little .25 cent jobbers from Walmart. Black foam, wood handle... Mainly used for cutting in around windows and molding. If you don't know what I'm talking about- You clearly need to do some repainting around your own home! lol.
BUT- The good news is that I have graduated from that 2" foam brush to a 2" bristle brush!
Why do I use such a ridiculously small brush to paint such large areas you ask??? I honestly don't know the answer. The only thing I can come up (are the tiny voices in my head telling me to use that brush!- Na, I don't hear voices... I'm not nuts you know! *snark*) is that with all of the molding in each room it was easier to use the little brushes instead of the big rollers- because I didn't have to clean up as much when I got paint where I shouldn't have gotten paint. So I think instead of constantly switching brushes, it just kind of stuck with me. And I find with the very textured walls, it was easier to stipple the paint into the grooves.
All in all, you have NO IDEA how long it takes me to paint a room. But, clearly after so much wall space and practice, I can really motor along with my little brush! Heck!! I bet I'm even better than the Karate Kid ("Daniel son, show me paint the fence!") LOL!
The one thing I absolutely hate about painting is the clean up. I cannot STAND washing brushes- Hence: cheap brushes = instant trash = no clean up! Yeah!!!
The first time I had painted this room I had painted it a color called "Indian Moccasin" That of course was during "L.I.P" (life before Pierce) lol. It was an alright color to look at for awhile, but over time the more I stared at it, the more it became peach colored in my eyes! Especially after you put a BOY in the room.
This time around I decided to paint it a really dark colonial blue/grey. It is an awesome color! Just love it!
Then I decided to get more creative... This is something I had never attempted before. Sure, I took quite a few art classes in High School, but I flunked out of painting and drawing class!
I hand painted some whimsical fish on the wall. With a wall color that dark it just screamed "water" to me. Below are some of the fish I have done. I first drew them on the wall by hand in pencil, and then mixed up some fun colors to bring them to life! Pierce knows that the first fish on top is referred to as "Daddy's fish", then below that one is "Pierce's" fish, then comes "Mamma's fish" and lastly is "sister's fish". So they all have this feminine touch- But Hey!, He's only TWO- and doesn't seem to really care :)
Next came his name train!
I am not finished yet, but I figured I would give you a sneak peak! My idea behind this was to have a different sea animal haul each letter and be tethered to the letter in front of it. I am thinking of putting a giant snail in between the letters "P" & "I", another fish between the letters "I" & "E", of course you see the sea horse in between the "E" and "R", I am thinking about putting a lobster in between the letters "R" & "C".. then you see the fish between letters "C" & "E". In case you were wondering what those round pink dots are by the letters- They are snails in the making! And of course those red "things" that look like flowers- are my not very artistic star fish (some still need their yellow spots added).
This wall has been kind of a labor of love. And no, I'm not painting it with a two inch brush! lol. I'm using teeny tiny art brushes for this! lol. It's amazing what kind of colors you can make from a few tubes of cheap primary colored craft paint.
As you can tell, I'm definitely not the next Pablo Picasso! Some of my lines aren't the straightest, some of my shadowing doesn't make sense, and my sea horse could have been centered better (I will prob. add a school of little fish behind him so it doesn't look so out of whack). But it has been fun- and the boy just loves his train, and that's all that really matters! ...Ugh.... Until he turns 5, and then wants something that will be WAY out of my league to paint!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Is "Pee Knuckle" really a word?
"The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out...
The worms play pee knuckle on your snout...
They eat you up and spit you out..."
Last week I had to strap on my "manhood" again and do something I would have rather not. It has taken me well over a week to write this, because only now has the heartache subsided enough to write about it.
2 years ago a misplaced adult male cat wandered onto our farm. I found him one dark night eating the cat food out of the dish on my back porch. He was a beautiful cat! Long dark striped fur, white belly up to his chin, and 4 white paws, and huge- He must have weighed over 12lbs. As with every new cat that just shows up, I went outside to see if he was friendly. If I can pet them I cop a quick feel (sick- yes, I know) to see if he is carrying a man purse. I prefer to have males around than females. Less kittens that way!
Anyway, ever since that day he never left my porch. I named him "Socks". Yes, I know- How original. He was so friendly. Heck he even tolerated standard toddler abuse. Toddler abuse gives new meaning to "heavy petting"! Nice kitty- *mash, mash*. Because he was so friendly I had always wondered where he came from. His fur was in great shape, he was in good weight... He had to be someones house cat. (??)
Socks loved being by us. If we sat outside, he was always at our side. He would always outstretch a paw to get your attention. It was not uncommon to see him in our house sleeping on the back of the couch!
Life went on, and Socks seemed to always be part of it. Except for one time earlier this spring when he suddenly disappeared. I was so worried because he never had left before. Weeks went by and still no Socks. I searched the roadside ditches almost daily, each time coming up empty. I watched the food dish waiting for him to return... no sign of him. I pretty much wrote him off as dead. My husband (who doesn't like cats much to begin with) told me to quit worrying, he came from somewhere and perhaps he just went back home.
Just when I had given up all hope, he returned! He was the same old happy to see you Socks. I told him how much he had me worried (yep- I'm the crazy cat lady) and how happy I was that he had returned. I always wondered where his adventure had taken him...
Again, life went on...
About 4 weeks ago Socks started getting a cold. Not uncommon around here with the cats. It seems that they get some kind of "cold" once a year. I find it usually when the major seasons start to change, and the nights are more damp and cold from dew. I just kept my eye on him waiting for it to run its course- like I have seen it do in other cats. Socks started to get more and more congested. I could hear him in the grass coughing. I get so frustrated because unlike other forms of livestock, cats are really tricky to treat. Either my medications don't break down into small enough doses for cats, or it is poisonous to them and could kill them instead of cure them.
He continued to get worse and worse. I was really starting to worry. So I jumped on the Internet to see if there was ANYTHING I could do for him. I ended up giving him an injection of Penicillin. And I waited another day... No improvement. So I gave him another dose. And I waited... He was still so sick. By this time his robust body shrunk down to nothing but fur and bones. His fur lacked its usual luster, and he was still so congested.
His worst day came on the day we started constructing our pig shelter. He was laying flat out in the grass by the gate to the steers pasture, and every time we opened the gate- He was so weak he wouldn't get out of the way for the gate. I didn't want the gate to hit him so I picked him up and moved him out of the way. He had lost so much weight. I bet he was down to 6lbs or less. He was so weak he could hardly move out of his flat position. When I looked into his eyes I knew just how bad things had become. His third eyelid was halfway across his eyes- A sign I have seen before on a cat before it dies. He smelled so bad. He didn't smell like urine or feces, it was more like a pungent sour smell. When I laid him down on the grass my daughter was kneeling beside me. She too noticed his "smell". I lifted up his tail to see if he was soiled and to see if that was where the smell was coming from.
What we saw was horrifying. We saw millions of white small (smaller than white rice) maggots around his anus area. Because of the long fur on his tail, we never saw them before. The only thing I could think of was that he was so sick, he wasn't pottying right and perhaps getting it all over his back end- Thus attracting flies. My daughter thought it was gross, and went off to do other things. My husband was "too busy" to muster up any advice other than to kill him because who knows what he has and he can make everything else sick.
I ran to the house to grab some rubber gloves, some paper towel, and some warm water to wash his bum. I had also mixed up some sheep milk replacer to try to give him with an oral syringe to get some fluids into him. I sat down on the grass next to him and opened his mouth to give him some fluids. He barely could swallow. After a few cc's worth of fluid I looked at him closer. Those worms were crawling around in his nasal cavity and all around inside his mouth. I started to cry to myself because I knew I had been too late and there was nothing that I could do for him. There Socks and I were, all alone sitting in the grass. Neither daughter nor husband could bother to take time out of their precious day to lend a hand.
So I talked to him and stroked his head. He looked up at me with his glassed over eyes and started to pur. I told him what a grand cat he was and how much he was loved. I told him how sorry I was, and how I should have fixed him.
Then I quietly stood up.
Through my tears I walked back to the house, went to my bedroom and got my gun. Through my tears I loaded it. Through my tears I pulled the trigger. Through my tears I buried him in the special part of my yard reserved just for grand souls like his.
"Stupid is as Stupid"... OK, some days I'm just plain Stupid!
The other day I received a letter from our local utility company. I opened it while I was walking back to the house from the mailbox. It stated that I had some form of "brush" by my meter and my meter reader could not read it. It also asked if I would remove said "brush".
OMGosh!!!! I was so embarrassed! Talk about eating Crow! Because of the direction my house is situated on our property- When you pull in my driveway, you don't see the "front" of my house- you see the end side of it. The front of our house faces our pasture, and the far end of our house is considered the "back yard". So the back of my house is a very desolate area that hardly ever gets visited. Hence, why I didn't know about this meter. I couldn't believe how worked up I got when clearly they were in the right and I was in the wrong! Now I started to feel bad. I couldn't even SEE the meter, I couldn't imagine having to try and crawl in there to actually read it!
Now I was in a pickle... That huge "bush" you see is a Hydrangea bush. It blooms beautiful huge white pom-pom flowers in the late spring. It has become a tradition to pull off the flowers and have an early summer "snowball" fight. The kids and I have a blast running all over the yard trying to hit each other with them. So I didn't want to cut it down.
So I gave it a "trim"- OK, more like a total hack job!
As I continued to read the letter I stopped at my meter to look at it closer. Granted, I see it everyday- It's on the front of my house right next to the sidewalk up to the door. What a gosh awful place to put such an ugly monstrosity I must add! And because it is SO ugly I decided to grow pretty petunias in front of it this year.
So I stopped, looked at the letter, looked at the meter... And all I kept thinking was what kind of MORON couldn't read THIS meter? Sure, because of the decorative fencing I have up to keep the toddler out of my flower bed, you MAY have to bend forward a bit- But it is still clearly visible!
The more I looked at the meter, the more disgruntled I became. I was SO mad that I went inside the house and grabbed my camera. I took a few pictures of it insisting that I was going to write them a "lovely" letter back with photos - telling them politely to go get bent.
Here are my meter photos:
See? Nothing that I felt warranted a letter from them- Grr!!! Was I mad!
All day long I was stewing... By the time my husband came home, I was REALLY frustrated about it. I didn't want to get rid of my flowers, I tried so hard to hide that ugly area without covering that dumb meter- And yet they were complaining about it! Grrr!!!
So my husband took my letter and read it...
And says...
"They are not talking about THIS meter, they are talking about the GAS meter"
My response: "We *have* another meter?"
He rolled his eyes as he led me to the backside of the house and showed me where the meter in question is located. And this is what I saw:
OMGosh!!!! I was so embarrassed! Talk about eating Crow! Because of the direction my house is situated on our property- When you pull in my driveway, you don't see the "front" of my house- you see the end side of it. The front of our house faces our pasture, and the far end of our house is considered the "back yard". So the back of my house is a very desolate area that hardly ever gets visited. Hence, why I didn't know about this meter. I couldn't believe how worked up I got when clearly they were in the right and I was in the wrong! Now I started to feel bad. I couldn't even SEE the meter, I couldn't imagine having to try and crawl in there to actually read it!
Now I was in a pickle... That huge "bush" you see is a Hydrangea bush. It blooms beautiful huge white pom-pom flowers in the late spring. It has become a tradition to pull off the flowers and have an early summer "snowball" fight. The kids and I have a blast running all over the yard trying to hit each other with them. So I didn't want to cut it down.
So I gave it a "trim"- OK, more like a total hack job!
Oh look!! I *do* have a meter! Guess I won't be hearing from them again...
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