Disappointment

My daughter, The Girl, was supposed to fly home with 'the kid' on standby yesterday. The flights to Minneapolis from Salt Lake City were full and they weren't able to get here. Evidently her suitcase made the flight. I'm disappointed I don't get to see them. I couldn't get ahold of anyone to find out if she was on the flight or not so I went to the airport anyway. She wasn't there. Disappointment.  I went to Home Depot and bought a Weeping Willow tree since that's my favorite tree. (It was the only Weeping Willow and looks really sad. I hope it lives.) Got home and checked my bank account and saw that they charged me double. Disappointment. Another trip to town to get that straightened out.

On the happier side, I got hired and will start my new job on June 2nd. The Girl is hoping to fly home for July 4th. And so far the deer haven't eaten my garden.

Bees

Yesterday was tragic. My daughter called to first tell me her fiance was OK. Then that brings on wide eyes and "WHAT HAPPENED?" It seem that Joe and his boss were each driving a semi loaded with bee hives filled with bees. They were on the interstate south of Minneapolis at a slow down for road construction. Joe was 2 cars ahead of his boss Darren. Darren felt a whump, looked in his mirror and saw bee boxes exploding, and then saw a white food service semi along side of him. The pictures on the news showed the white semi jack-knifed along side of him. There were 2 cars in back of Darren that the white semi ran over the top of before he hit the bee truck. The news pictures were dreadful. The two cars were so mangled it was hard to tell that they were two cars except for the colors. The abruptly released and startled bees were swarming in a black cloud over the wreck and caused great hindrance to rescue efforts. The firemen hosed the bees down with water and hosed both semis of bee hives down in an effort to keep them calm and cool. The loss of bees from both trucks must be horrible, but even worse was the loss of two lives of the drivers of the two cars. The cause of the wreck hasn't been determined, but there is a lot of speculation. I won't speculate here, but I do have to say it was NOT the fault of the bee trucks as I see a lot of comments on several of the news sites.

I stayed up very late last night looking for updates of the situation online since I don't have TV to watch the news. I was greatly saddened when I read that the second car driver who was airlifted out by helicopter had died. She was 24. The families of the two who died are in my prayers. I'm very grateful Joe and Darren are alright. We have yet to see how many bees were lost and the effect on the lost honey production and pollination.

Mustard or ketchup?

Two Wednesdays a month my daughter has meeting for the other 3 kids and herself at church- cub scouts, etc.- that Phineas just doesn't care to attend. So he comes over here to bring a chuckle to my day. Today I've been wiped out all day so all I've wanted to do is keep my nose in a book. When the weather gets over 72 degrees I melt. Well, Phineas & I stayed in front of the fan and watched Horton Hears a Who for the umpteenth time. He snuggles on my lap until I tell him to switch legs because that one is falling asleep. He thinks that's hilarious.

When the movie was over it was tubbie time. I got one of those soft scrubbie things on a stick for him since last time he said I scratched his back with my scratchie scrubbie thing (I don't like sharing those anyway.) I scrubbed him up and rinsed him and then he had fun making more bubbles all over himself again. Such a character. Then it was time to get dried off and in pj's and get a clean dressing on his foot. He had cut his foot going outside a while back, barefoot- 10 stitches. The stitches were out today! Got the foot dried and went to put bacitracin on the bandage to cover the wound and Phineas called it 'mustard'. I told him I was real glad I didn't have to put ketchup on it! And that brought on more giggles.

I am so fortunate to get the happy and pleasing side of Phineas when he's here. His poor mom gets the meltdowns and tantrums that come with his attachment disorder. I wish I could bottle his happy giggles and the cuddles so she could open it up and sample some on those tough days they share.

Next time he's here we both may do some painting together unless another kid beats him to the paintbrush!

SWAGGER WAGON

I borrowed this off a blog I follow. Has nothing to do with me anymore since my kids are grown, but I sure got a good chuckle out of it!

Playdate!!!

Playdate! Puppies and kids- what could be better?! Phineas & I played baseball. I pitched the pinecones and he hit them and then ran the bases the wrong way, or sometimes in a figure 8. The 3 puppies had a grand time running around too! Since that 5 year old had a ton more energy than I, I was only up to bat once. Great pitcher though, he pitched me a home run! So since this old nana was worn out, I sat under a tree on a chair and pitched pinecones from a stockpile we made so we wouldn't have to go searching each time. Talk about lazy! (But smart!) Phineas' family's 2 puppies came and met Molly for the first time and they all hit it off. Molly now has a boyfriend.

Roy the horse likes to be in the thick of things and had to watch us play ball. Then when Ferb and Phineas were playing on the haybales, she had to go oversee them there, too!

Toaster the cat was just a little miffed. The puppies ran over the top of him and didn't even notice my grey fur-ball. When were were all in the house together Toaster sat on the back of my chair hissing and was totally ignored. He didn't even get to arch his back. So that miffed cat had to go sleep in a corner and ignore the rest of us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other 3 g-kids came over after school. I hear they ran down the ditch 'tween their place and mine all holding hands- it's about a mile from their door to mine. They ran back home again when their mom came to pick up Phineas and the pups, but there were two dissenters about the holding hands part! And I had to put Molly in the house, she was very upset the kids were leaving. 

 

 

 

(A time out in the infield while the spectators were asked to leave the field.)

 

 

And now I'm tired after my playdate with the puppies. My puppy is already stretched out by my feet sleeping.

(Picture is of that rare 2-headed cross-breed dog called Bob-Perry taking a cat nap.)

Rain

We've had a goodly amount of rain the past week or so. Yesterday was dry enough to pack up the pop-up tent camper I had opened and airing. But about as soon as I got that done, the sprinkles started again. With the ground soft, its a good time to get post holes dug for the cross fencing I'm doing. I just have 2 horses and don't want them to have the whole 80 acres to graze. It would not be healthy for them or for the land. So I need several smaller pastures to rotate. I may complain about the rainy weather, but we really need the rain because the ground has been too dry. When my clay hardens all I can put in are steel posts, the holes are just about impossible to dig. So thank-you Heavenly Father for the blessing of rain!

I'm going to catch up on my crocheting! I just finished a clown and am now working on a brown teddy bear. I sewed a scripture bag for g-son Ferb, not shown, but I also sewed another bag for carrying scriptures or toys. The little gray doll was made up as I went.

SocialWrkr24/7 : Eyes Opened Wider: Book Review: Addition by Adoption

SocialWrkr24/7 : Eyes Opened Wider: Book Review: Addition by Adoption

Mother's Day revisited

Just read my daughter's blog and have to relay the poems her son Ferb came home with. He had a can of dirt decorated with floral fabric that he handed her with 2 poems:

I planted some seeds in hopes they'd grow.
Something went wrong. I just didn't know.
Instead of some flowers, it's a cupful of dirt.
I love you! I hope your feelings aren't hurt!

I'm your little flower, Mom.
Please help me grow and bloom:
Take the weeds but leave the roots
And give me lots of room.
Mom, you are my gardener,
My sunshine and my rain.
Too much will make me wither.
With enough I'll bloom again.
I'm your little flower, Mom.
I'm different from the rest:
Don't pick me, Mom, just help me grow
To be my very best.
 
That's one of the fun things about being a young mother- the neat presents the kids make for you.

I picked up the phone to give my daughter a call to see if she was feeling any better today. Yesterday on Mother's Day she got sick and today is still that way. She says one good thing about being sick is that she's just about finished her book. Well, when I picked up the house phone I realized there was a message waiting I hadn't listened to. It was from my missionary daughter in Florida.

Bea said, "Hola, mama, Happy Mother's Day! I'll call you on your cell phone, I'll be home in 5 months, don't keep this message forever, that's what the card is for!" She knows me pretty well. I deleted the message, but I should have listened to it a few more times! She sent me a card on which she recorded a Mother's Day message in Spanish first, then in English. After her message a canned message played saying, 'I bet you're the only mother on the block who got a card like this, this is what is called a keepsake! Whenever people come over you'll show it to your friends and say, 'My Child gave me This.'  That card is for sure a keeper! So I can listen to it whenever I want to hear Bea's voice and relive a great Mother's Day!

I can't forget all my other kids though- I got cards, calls, emails, text messages, and  Facebook messages. They all remembered me!

I'm adopted!

Shame on people who abandon animals in the country. But thank you for my new dog, Molly. She's a joy! I figure she's about 6 months old. She loves kids, leaves the cat alone, and is subservient to the old dog I already have. And she's housebroke. I leave her loose in the yard when I go to town and she stays there waiting on the porch when I get home. She needs obedience training which I can and will do. When I'm outside Molly stays close by me. She loves to go for walks in the pasture and doesn't bother or even bark at the horses.

I've called or spoken to neighbors around here and no one recognizes her, so I'm pretty sure she was abandoned. Now that I've fed her and named her and she sleeps on the floor next to my bed, I'll be heartbroken if someone claims her. Beside what would I ever do with a 44# bag of Dog Food?! The Pom can't eat that much in a lifetime!

Go with the horse, or go with a nap?

I took Royal out the other day with the cart and we drove all around. She has such a nice road trot, she extends so pretty! It was exhilarating! then I was going to do the same thing the next day, but after doing errands in town, I came home and took a very long nap instead. My body is still having troubles adjusting from sleeping day to sleeping nights. So I took her out today for a ride looking for my cat, Toaster, who didn't come home this morning. He's been liking to go out these warmer nights and is always waiting to come in in the morning.

So that was an excuse to get the horse out. We rode the fence-line and the road-line, down a nearby dirt road and along the highway and past some neighbors who were in their yard. We visited for a while, but it was obvious that Royal didn't want to have anything to do with just standing in the rain. She wanted to go home! So on our way we went until we got to the horrid horse-eating yellow trash bags left in a pile by the side of the road by the volunteers who pick up the ditches. Horses must see yellow because I had another horse who was good everywhere, but when something yellow went by he was terrified! Roy was controllable, but we had to make our roundabout way around the trash bags! And then we stopped and got the mail on the way in the driveway. I don't like my horses thinking that once in the drive they're done, so we did a large detour around the field. Then once back at the hitching post what do I hear, but a drenched cat meow coming from under the porch. Toaster came and helped me untack and brush Royal down and  then was right behind the dog coming into the house.

So I had a nice ride in the rain and all my critters are where they're supposed to be. The dog by my feet and the cat curled up on top of the printer. Life is good!

Trail ride!

What a wonderful sunshiny day it is!  Rode my horse for an hour around and about. A very rude person with a horrid sounding horn had to get alongside us and honk. My horse had been well trained and she didn't react. I'm sure a younger green horse would have had problems, but my horse has been around and has always brought me back safely whether riding or driving. I can't imagine trying to harm a person by doing that. My g-daughter rides that trail and her horse is young, I do hope she never meets that rude person.

My neighbor is disking my hay field getting it ready for a new crop- I'll get my hay off another field this year. But there are a lot of pseudo-seagulls around right now. We usually see them in parking lots and on the roof of  the mall, but not out here by the lake and fields. I hope they eat the wood and deer ticks! The big tractor was coming right at us as we were going by, but Royal showed no fear. I plan on having her around for a long, long time! I have a POA gelding my daughter is training for me for the g-kids, but I hope to have him driving too. My horses are my 4-legged therapists and friends. I can't imagine life without them.

While I was gone for the ride I put Monty the dog in the outside kennel. She is so small she squeezed out by the hinges of the gate. I'm going to have to find a better way of containing her. She's like the pigs- if it doesn't hold water, it won't hold them!

Off to supper now- I ground some wheat and made a loaf of bread with dried cranberries. My oven is broken so I used my bread machine. It isn't cooking my bread all the way through so while it was warm it did a minute in the microwave. Could of had 2 minutes. It does make good toast with honey on it! The cranberries were the best! Ummm toast for supper!

Phineas stayed the night with me last night so his family could go early this morning to buy 4-H pigs. He makes life so interesting. What goes on inside that little 5 year old head? We were stacking lumber behind the shed this morning trying to get the yard cleaned up. I used the wheelbarrow and he used the little red wagon. It wasn't too long until he was lining small stones up along my walk-way. After lunch we were back at it. Me doing the hauling and Phineas doing the stone organizing. Soon he piped up with, "Nana, I'm over here too much."

"Too much? Don't you have fun here? Don't you like coming here?"

Phineas looked at me and said, "Why would you say that?"

He's back home now with his 3 siblings and their 4 pigs chosen for their cuteness. I'm looking forward to the County Fair end of July!

Today I had the responsibility of getting g-son #2 to pre-school. Did that OK and was waiting outside for it to get over when I got a call from his teacher. It was out at 11am, not 11:30am I was just outside the door when she called so I wasn't more than 5 minutes late, but I felt bad about that. I encroached on the teacher's lunch time.

We got home, ate lunch, and went for a walk around the pasture checking fence. Had to replace 7 staples. I asked g-son #2 to remember 7 and he repeated the number the whole way around the fence! And then if I was more than 4 feet ahead of him he kept saying, "Slow down Nana, I'm too young to get lost!"

When the big kids' school was out their dad brought them over and they played on the hay bales- big round ones- and the boys fought over the little red wagon. G-daughter #1 got the old horse Keila out and saddled her up and went for a nice ride while I was digging post holes for the new hitching post. I'll have to buy 1 more post and then I can finish it off tomorrow. Cooked and ate supper and now to get the kids through the shower and find places for them to sleep. Its a school night so I may have a struggle getting them settled for bed. Nana's world is full of fun for the g-kids.

I noticed my cinch strap is missing for the saddle I have for the g-kids. Have to get one so 2 of us can ride at a time. Keila the 21 year old horse didn't even raise a sweat while g-daughter #1 was riding her, but Royal, Keila's daughter, raised a nice one running up and down the fence line all worried about her mum. It was good for her!

I can see I'm going to have to fence another small pasture for the girls as the one they're in needs some rest to grow a little grass. So it looks like I have my exercise cut out for me for the next few days!

I haven't been so good keeping up on this blogging thing. I've had my youngest grandson, 'Phineas' (grandchildren will have their names changed to protect them) with me for a couple of days and will have him for another day or two. We're having fun even though the weather isn't cooperating for going outside. I had planned on building a hitching post for the horses and planting some strawberries in my new garden.

I have a neighbor who is leasing some of my land in return for putting up my hay, keeping my driveway plowed out in the winter, and plowing my garden. Its a good deal for both of us since I don't have a vehicle to plow with or even haul a trailer to haul my hay. So he plowed and disked a garden spot for me that I have to rake and finish preparing for a garden. The strawberry plants are sitting in a cardboard box that is now totally drenched from the rain and needs attention. The rain also let me know that I have a leaky window in my house. I need to insulate under my home to lose less heat next winter so my gas bill won't be so high. I have more fencing to do. I just lost my job- no longer needed.

So my daughter brought Phineas over the other day and I crawled out of bed to tend to him. We fixed the  north pasture fence line that someone had taken clean off the corner post. Got it stretched and tight. Phineas found large rocks he could carry and put them in the fence line out of the pasture and plowed field. He wants a little hammer to be able to help me! That was a good start to getting me out of my slump. Now he's over here for 3 days, I'm finding I have more energy to do the things that need to be done. Like fill out job applications. I did follow-through calls for 2 jobs yesterday to find out they've been filled. There are a couple more jobs in the area to apply for. After that I may have to seriously think about relocating to an area where nurses are needed and get paid a little better. I would really not like to leave this area where my grandchildren- or most of them- live.

Last Saturday while I was being a lump in the house a friend drove in with his horse trailer and picked up my 2 horses to take to our horse club's annual Coggins Clinic and monthly trail ride. I went over to fill out the paperwork and write the check to the vet and ended up using a borrowed saddle and bridle and going on the trail ride with everyone else. I guess that made me realize that there is more to life than whats just in my backyard- I had FUN! And I wasn't sore the next day either. So now I really need to get the hitching post up and get my horse out on some trails in my own backyard! Maybe my oldest grandaughter can meet me and we can do a little riding together. I really do like my own backyard and have fun living here.

So the depression nearly snuck up on me, but I'm sidestepping it for now. Having a job and income does make life much easier when it comes to paying the bills and keeping the banker at bay, but for now I'll be ok. I'm looking for the next door to open and know there will be a new adventure out there for me to experience!

1 acre!

From 80 acres to 1 acre! I'm happy to see my daughter's 1 acre in Utah. She has room for her 2 horses, 1dog, and 1 son. I thought I'd have a vacation from snow coming to Utah, but I brought it with me. The flakes are drifting softly down. I'm in the house cuddling with my newest grandson who was 3 months premature and is now home. He's a keeper and his mother is such a good mother. His father is such a good father too! I'm impressed with this little family. Pictures will follow shortly!

Gotta keep up!

Gee whiz! The winter is leaving us and I realize its been a while since I wrote in my bog. The yard outside is muddy but slowly drying up. The sun is finally out today. Its been pretty foggy the past week. When the frost is  out of the ground I'll be putting in a hitching post so it'll be easier to hitch my horse up. Can't wait.

I've got a lot of crocheting done recently- a teddy bear and an afghan for the newest grandson. Next I'm going to crochet horses for the 2 youngest grandsons that match in marking of their own horses. Shh! don't tell them!

Waiting for the school bus

Today I needed to pick the grandkids up for the schoolbus stop. There was a substitute driver who was following the kid's directions rather than his map and he was half an hour late. While I was sitting in the car waiting a friend drove by and stopped and we had a nice visit. Once I got the kids we had to rush off to the High School where the little wrestlers got to run into the gym ahead of the High School wrestlers. There were so many little wrestlers running around I had a hard time picking out my 2 grandsons. Its been a while since I've been to a meet and I sure enjoyed it.

My #2 son was a wrestler. My camera at the time could only take 63 seconds of video so I told him he had to pin his opponent in less than 63 seconds. He usually did!

It was a good day today.

There didn't seem to be too much fallen snow until I looked back at my tracks- my snowshoe tracks.
My little dog had to hop from one track to the next to come with me on my walk. Then I went 'shopping' at my shed to see what sort of fabric I could find hibernating. I brought in a grab bag of colorful fabric and my button tin. I was really hoping to find yarn to match what I'm currently using for a little sweater for one of my grandsons. We'll see what I can dig up next time.

A glance at my cutter (horse sleigh) made me sad. It was full of snow as the tarp had blown off. I think I'll wait until spring and take my little mare out for a drive in the cart.

Snowy day

This is my first blog. I'll jot a few of my thoughts and insert some pictures that interest me.

Today the snow is drifting down from the sky dusting the horse's backs with white. They don't seem to mind. They just stand in the pasture digging for grass while a large round bale of hay waits for them when they get lazy.