OUCH!

Well, Keith has once again "been there/done that"--and didn't like it much! His official stand on hernia surgery is that it just ain't no fun!

This one was done in the VA hospital, which was a little different. 'Same Day Surgery', they called it. Well, he didn't get done until 3:30 in the PM, then took a long time to come out from 'under'--and THEN they decided that due to the morphine and his sleep apnea, they should keep him overnite! Usually, a decision like that is no big deal, but this is a Government facility, remember? At 3:30 on Friday afternoon, the gift shop closed, at 4 the cafeteria closed, by 6 everyone in 'SDS' had gone home and he was on a ward with maybe 3 other overnighters and a nurse. By 8 AM, the ward was empty except for him and a nurse, who kept trying to get a doctor to come and release him. Finally, about 9:30, he was released...only the doctor had disappeared and forgotten to phone down to the one, lonely pharmacist for pain meds.... *sigh* The place was a tomb! I've never seen such an empty hospital! Oh, sure--somewhere in the complex there is a long-term section....

Anyhow, he's home and we 'borrowed' pain meds and he's recovering...

Meanwhile, the dogs had themselves a vacation! 3 days of hanging out with the grandkids! When they got home, they all passed out in separate corners and slept like little dead dogs until bedtime. And then slept some more! LOL!

We have a new family member! Her name is Jorie, and her new Mom and Dad just got home from Korea with her on Thursday! She's 8 months old and has 2 teeth! :)
And the picture of her new Mom is priceless! I've never seen such a happy face on anyone!

And Illinois' Winter drags on... Up and down, wet and not-so-wet... Cold and snowing, cold and raining, cold and gray and windy... I'm hoping we find somewhere a bit sunnier to spend next Winter! For now, I think I'll leave my colored lights plugged in on the porch!

Holiday Greetings

Only a few days left until the "Holiday" madness is over for another year! Don't get me wrong--I love giving gifts! But the fun of Christmas shopping is gone. Shoulder to shoulder with coughing, sneezing, grouchy shoppers while the PC "holiday" songs blare over the public address systems? Yuck. Give me an internet connection, Willy, John Denver, Elvis, etc. in the CD player and THAT works for me, now. UPS is my friend!

Meanwhile, Keith has finished up his second pipeline class and gets a couple of weeks to recoop before hernia surgery! He plans to put a chimney in the garage so he can heat with his wood stove--which means he'll get to tromp around cutting wood for it! Hmmm.... If I put a tv out there, and stoke the fire, he can lay around out there on his couch and complain, instead of being in the RV!!!! I like it!!!!

It's going to take an adjustment period for the dogs and me to get used to having Keith underfoot again! He's been gone 6 days a week since the end of May and it is certainly strange to have him back! Poor thing is back to eating at home, instead of trying out a different restaurant every night, and I'm back to having to COOK! :( But at least I won't be getting those nightly phone calls, telling me he had lobster, or alligator, or a fabulous steak for supper--while I was having a tv dinner, out here 15 miles from the nearest, ho-hum restaurant!

But hey! Day after tomorrow is our 40th Anniversary! We ARE going out to eat--I don't care how far we have to go!

Okay, I'm done rambling....

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you--regardless of what Holiday you celebrate!

P.S.

I just remembered a story I wanted to share.

When the new Stuper Walmart opened, they were selling black cloth shopping bags with "Walmart" printed on them in bright green, for a buck each. So, I bought 3 to go with my 2 Save-A-Lot bags and do my little "Going Green" effort. Besides, the plastic store bags are beginning to rule my life!

So, I went to the grocery store a week or so ago, laid the bags down on the belt before I started unloading my cart. The teen-aged checker looked at them and looked puzzled and said, "Do we sell those here?" (black bag/green lettering on both sides) Then she wanted to know what they were for! I told her to put my purchases into them. (duh) THEN she started bagging into the plastic bags and then putting them in my bags!!! I just paid up and came home... :-( Poor, clueless child!

I've got some ugly Holiday fabric stashed away with my quilt fabrics. I think I'll stitch up a few more bags and try again... See if I can find a checker with a clue...

First snow?

The weather gurus think we'll get our first snow starting tonite. We'll see..... Since I've already seen pix of snow in Midland, TX, it would seem to be about time for us!

I started dragging in the Rubbermaid boxes of Christmas geegaws today. Set out a bunch of snowmen dust-catchers, the cute little Avon Nativity kids, and my Hallmark mini snow globes. I had to go to eBay and find the 2002 one of that set to bid on--there's 5 in the series and I have 4. :( Can't have THAT! As for a tree--I am undecided. I have a 4', skinny, fake tree that I've used for several years, but since we're on our 'home ground' this year, I'd like to buy a small, live, potted tree. We'll see....

Keith finished his pipeline dozer school and got his certificate on the 24th of Nov. Yesterday they called and asked him if he was interested in taking it again, since they had some no-shows for the Dec. class. Let's see, free motel, per diem that doesn't count against unemployment, and a gas allowance, plus another 3 weeks of improving his new skills..... So, I'm a Union widow this month, again. Just me and the 3 stooges, who bark hysterically whenever a car or truck goes by...just in case it's 'Dad' coming home.

As for the proposed pink cowgirl shirt--I couldn't find fabric that inspired me, and my pattern isn't nearly small enough, so I scrapped that plan and bought a really cute, barely used shirt on eBay, instead. Almost all my shopping is done, including Keith's gift for our 40th Anniversary!
I think I'll decorate and start another pair of knitted socks... :) And bake something! Maybe a black walnut rum cake. Have to be careful about that 'baking business', tho, since there's just me here to hear the 'call of the baked goods' most of the time!

But first, I have to get those 4 big boxes out of here! They're kind of in-the-way around the RV!


Wait! I nearly forgot! I have to help process our winter meat supply this week, sometime. Our son and family went to church, then directly to our grandson's first piano recital, then home. As they pulled into the drive, he spotted a herd of does beside the machinery shed, slipped into the house and grabbed his gun and bagged and tagged his first deer of the season. Then ended up dragging it for 1/4 mile, in the pouring down rain, back to the shed to hang. Didn't do his Sunday duds a bit of good, but there'll be fresh, corn-fed venison on the table this winter! (Last weekend, he and his dad cut, split and stacked a lot of wood for the furnace, so he's feeling very "manly" these days!)

Today I put out a string of solar-powered lights. Wasn't until it got dark and I could barely see them that I realized just where I'm living this winter! Not a lot of 'solar' in IL in the Winter! Wind-powered--now THAT would make them glow! LOL! It seems to blow here all the time!

Now it's nearly time to snuggle under my down throw and watch Jeopardy... until one of the stooges thinks he or she needs to go outdoors.

DECEMBER?

Big Thanksgiving "Fry" is now History. Yum! 9 adults and 4 kids picked one of those birds clean! Lots of food and a whole lot to be thankful for, as always. We ran heaters all morning and finally got the temp up to about 62 in the garage--hardly balmy, but better than outside!

The night before, our son delivered our old fireplace insert stove and set it in front of the garage.... Better late than never! :) As of last nite, the stove has been relocated to what will become it's permanent place in the garage. Now it's time to polish it up, restoring it to it's former glory (it served us well for several years, when we were still raising our kids!), while Keith installs a chimney--and then begins cutting wood, of course! Guess I'll have to put up a Christmas tree in garage.... LOL!

Meanwhile, Keith is now a certified pipeline dozer operator--waiting for a dozer seat of his own! Plenty of jobs down in MS, AL, and LA, but there's a big one coming down into IL in a few months that could keep us here in the Midwest for a while... I'd kinda like to go to AZ for the rest of the Winter, but he's having "too much fun" being broke and close to the kids and grandkids....

Yesterday was gray, gloomy and in the 20s. Today is gray, gloomy and in the 50s. Just your typical winter, here in 'corn country'. Supposed to rain soon... I got part of the Christmas lites strung on the porch--if I wait for a sunny day, it could be January! Our front yard Christmas tree has grown too tall to light without a bucket truck, so I'm threatening to put all those lights on the front of the garage! Involves a ladder, which I'm not allowed to use, so I don't know if I'll pull that one off....

Our grandson discovered that the jar full of coins was empty and, since he knows that's our Christmas shopping money, went in search of hidden gifts. The joke is on him... his were in the plain brown box that was next to him on the couch! This year's shopping was 100% online--what fun! No crowds, no running through the rain, no fender-benders.... I got some great bargains on some cool stuff! Love the Discovery Channel Store! I'm signed up with BigCrumbs.com, which gets me some 'cash back' when I shop the stores that list with them, including eBay! And for the more cerebral giftees on my list--I found a store called ThinkGeek.com! :)

Meanwhile, Keith has been doing his version of sneaking around to get me the 'perfect' gift for our 40th anniversary on the 24th! Of course, I am the financial goddess here, and so I know he made a down-payment at a jewelry store! :)

No pics this week.... been busy with the little ones. I had to take our grandson to the dentist one day--for a root canal! At aged 10! Poor child was born with bad teeth. Today we're off to his first piano recital.... :) How quickly they grow up!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Well, the winds of change are blowing. The leaves are nearly all on the ground, and there's SNOW in the forecast for tomorrow! Right now it's 63 degrees and misting rain....

Big Turkey Day plans are in motion. Everyone is gathering at our house (er, garage, since the RV only holds 5 or 6 people!) We've got 2 turkeys and a turkey breast ready to thaw and inject and fry in peanut oil. Meanwhile, I've done a great job of parceling out the dishes. :) Aside from clearing the garage and making it festive enough, shooting up the birds, I have 2 pumpkin pies, a persimmon pudding, and bread to bake! :) If I had more kids, I'd have less to cook! LOL!

Keith finishes pipeline school today and will know if he passed and we can start hunting a job. As usual, he's sure he can't be good enough... We really messed up, tho. We overlooked the fact that he had a room in the Drury Inn for 2 weeks and we could have taken the kids up to swim and stuff on the weekend. :(

I just scored a cool Christmas gift for our grandson! Back before we were robbed, we had 2 SLR cameras, with lenses and filters and all the goodies. Gone now. So, Connor has discovered film cameras and we didn't have the Minolta that Keith bought in 1968 in Thailand to pass on to him--I ran a lot of film through that camera.... sigh. BUT I went on eBay and found and won a similar one, bag and all, for $23.00!!! It came today, I've loaded it and shot some images. Everything is working fine--I just have to get a roll processed before I break into a 'happy dance'!

Meanwhile, I wish you all a happy holiday with friends and/or family.....

Re-done bowls

If you're interested, here are the re-beaded versions of the 2 bowls:

November already!

Today is my daughter's birthday! 37? My Mom turned 80 on Sunday! Who ARE these old people? I can't be old enough to fit into that picture!!! I do have to admit that the bathroom mirror has an aging crone hanging out in it, every time I look, but I'm going to replace that mirror with a better one....

I bagged up about 20# (more or less) of coins today, to take to the bank tomorrow and get turned into 'lighter' money! I didn't count it--but it should net me a few bucks.... I've found that this is a good way to save up for something totally frivolous.

We finally have WATER on our hill! Oh, the pump was bringing up a trickle--enough to get by on. But Keith slaved away for 2 days, pulling the pipe out, replacing the cone on the bottom and driving it back in. He did all this by hand, by himself, because he didn't want to go borrow a tractor and loader to make the job easier! What a doofus! Sure is nice to be able to take a shower AND wash my hair at the same time!!! :) My goal is to catch a warm enough day to scrub the 5th wheel, which is something we haven't been able to do since LAST summer!

I finished my 4th beaded gourd bowl last nite and put away the beads, for now. I actually picked a bunch of beads out of one and redid it, to make it better. I may actually have one that's good enough for next Spring's Art Show. Now I have to get busy and finish the quilting on the quilt I started 2 years ago. It's for my newest great-niece--who should arrive from Korea sometime in the next 3 months!

The new love seat has replaced the hide-a-bed couch in our living room, and the dogs are having a terrible time! The back of the love seat doesn't make a good bed for them to lay on to watch out the window, poor things! Sure is nice to have that big, heavy thing out of here and replaced by a piece I can actually move! There was the awfullest pile of dog hair behind that couch!!! Ugh.

Time to fetch in the laundry, before it gets dew on it and freezes! (Hooking my dryer up to 220 is on Keith's list of things to do this week...)

HAPPY NOVEMBER!

Saturday....

51 degrees and cloudy with drizzle. Ahhhhh.... Nearly Winter in the Midwest!

Keith got into the 3 week Pipeline class at the Union training grounds in November. Rumor is that they have to stay in a motel in Terre Haute to collect their travel money and per diem. He is not thrilled about THAT. I figure a person can stand anything for 3 weeks! LOL! Maybe he'll get a job somewhere warm this winter!

Meanwhile, I'm off to the nursing home, armed with decorated cupcakes and a new sweater, to 'celebrate' my mom's 79th birthday, with her and her 78 year old brother--and whatever other relatives show up. 'Celebrate' doesn't seem like quite the right word for someone who's stuck in a nursing home, with no short-term memory, but that's all I could think of....

Wasting time with beads and gourds...

I am so artistic! Shame I can't find a market for my 'stuff'! :) These are 2 of the 6" gourd bowls that I've lined with tiny glass beads. Ya can't USE them because the beads are pressed into a beeswax/pine tar coating. But they look purty on the wall! :)

We had a friend of Keith's as a "boarder" here on our Hill for a couple of weeks--until he, too, got laid off from a nearby job. We had tucked his 36' fifth wheel in behind ours, Keith brought home our truck camper, and we STILL had room to slide another unit in! Our dogs were tickled silly to have an extra dog around, and an extra "dog person" to play with. They had a hissy when he pulled out today!

Still no word on whether Keith (and hopefully his buddy) will get into the November pipe laying class being offered by the Union. It sure would be nice! And would almost assure them of work by giving them special skills. Meanwhile, we are still waiting on Indiana to get the Unemployment Insurance straightened out....

Back to my latest bowl creation....

Finally Fall!

Brrrrrrr! THIS is more like it! :) Sunshine and sweater weather!

It's getting a bit crowded here on the Hill! A buddy of Keith's brought in his 36' 5th wheel while he's working a job nearby and Keith got his big truck/camper brought back from it's summer spot in Indiana, so parking is at a premium here! I suppose we could put another RV up here, if we needed to.... :)

Meanwhile, Keith has had 2 weeks of running someone else's combine--but he's still ready to go every morning! It's a whole different ballgame when you don't have to pay for repairs and fuel!

And life goes on.....

Nomads? Not so much!

So, at this rate, I may have to turn in my "nomad badge"! I have been sitting on this hill since MARCH!

Keith got worked himself right out of a job in Indiana, so he's back under foot and there's no more nice paychecks coming in. :( We did sell the tractor, tho--so we're good for a while. He spent all week running a friend's combine, so he's a tired but happy camper! Got his 'farming' fix. The Union says there's nothing coming up, so I've been haunting the Jobs boards--with no luck, so far! I applied at the new (yuck) Super Walmart, but they haven't called....

Fall may be here, but this business of having to run the AC in October is just bizarre! We didn't do that when we lived in Florida!!! Raking leaves loses it's charm when you're in shorts and tshirt, dripping sweat! 90 degrees, for crying out loud!

Busy "Grandma" week this week. I had 3 year-old Dawn 2 days and Connor spent the night last nite. He's taken up the drum, and brought it along to be sure he got his daily practicing done! I made him set it up outdoors.... LOL!

And there ya have it, for now!

HAPPY COLUMBUS DAY!

Mobile Home

DING DONG, THE TRAILER'S GONE!!! Which trailer? That 70' mobile home left here 2 years ago, by our 'renter'. He had squeezed it crosswise on top of our hill (which has a usable area that was about 100' wide!) He never paid the person he was buying it from, and left the State! After that, thieves came in and stole things out of the trailer, and since no one could see our garage and storage trailer which were basically hidden behind the huge mobile home, they cleaned out all the stuff we had that could be sold or scrapped!

When we tried to move back here with the 5th wheel, there was nowhere to park it! The sheriff told us to do whatever we wanted with it because the real owner was going to be incarcerated for quite a few years. So, Keith dragged the monstrosity off our hill, down the driveway, around the curve, just off the road--out of site but still on our property. Once in a while, someone would stop by and ask about it but no one would take it away. :( Meanwhile, occasionally windows got broken, more stuff was stolen out of it, etc...

But, Saturday, people showed up with a tractor and dragged it off! Waaaaaahoooo! Certainly improved our property value! LOL! I haven't a clue who they were or where they took it, but it's GONE!

Meanwhile, Keith is at the VA today, getting stress tested and other stuff--he'd rather be working! It's supposed to rain tomorrow and the next day, so I have today to clean up the litter he left in his wake yesterday before he shows up again. He's barely home long enough to drop off his dirty clothes, get clean ones and scatter stuff all around!

I've started my beaded gourd bowl, so gotta get the house done and get back to it!

HAPPY FALL, Y'ALL!

Ahhhh....Fall!

I love cold weather! It was 46 last nite--about 40 on Friday nite! I had to light my fireplace. :)
Keith came home with a nasty cold that he caught from the checker at Walmart.... I keep telling him that's an 'evil' place, but he keeps going in there! He has other choices! I, on the other hand, am forced to make a weekly trip to the wonderful world of Wally... It's the only game in town! And in a few weeks, they'll be opening the MegaWally!

The guys finally got rid of the terrible noise that my Subaru was making...brake pads were worn clear down and the rotors were all rusted up. So I'm back on the road! Don't have to dread driving into town any more. Waaahooo!

I'm still putting little beads into wax lined bowls. :) I'm about ready to tackle a gourd bowl! And, I've already picked up, rubbed through and frozen all the persimmon pulp my little freezer will handle. (My back wasn't really thrilled with the picking up part, either!) There are gallons and gallons on the ground and still on the trees, but someone else will have to get them this year!

We're back to surfing the Internet for a winter spot that comes with a JOB. Keith's still working but it's just a matter of weeks.... A nice construction job near Yuma would be good..... :)

Is it Fall, yet?

Has this summer gone on forever, or what? Just think--wouldn't we have enjoyed it in, say, Arizona???? YUCK.

So, not much has changed. Keith is still living in the truck camper in the little campground near his job, working 6 days a week. I'm lounging around here at 'Redneck Hill'--keeping an eye on "things". He drags in here Saturday evening and out again 24 hours later. Me? I just chase after 3 dogs and putts around the yard--until I sprained my ankle a couple of weeks ago. Spent the last couple of weeks sticking little seed beads into little wax-coated clay bowls. I'm working my way up to doing a gourd bowl. Heckuva way to spend most of our 39th year of marriage, huh?

The old Goldwing has a new home. Keith got the 'hots' for a little pickup truck for a work car--seeing as how I'd drowned ours. The towtruck guy just happened to have one--with the transmission in the back...and really wanted a motorcycle. Long story short--the little truck is running up and down the roads, hauling work clothes, lunch buckets, iced drinks and various empty containers and the tow truck guy has to periodically clean the bugs off his teeth! Sad to see our old, faithful Goldwing running around without us, but not as sad as watching it sit under a layer of dust, slowly rusting away in the barn...

Did I mention that we sold the old combine? Waaaahooo! The new owner in PA finally has a truck coming for it Tuesday--he paid for it weeks ago!!! Now if someone would break down and buy the tractor we brought back from Florida a few years ago.... After all, the 'new' little truck needs new shoes and the Subaru needs new brakes. Always something....

Tomorrow, we're off to Seelyville with the baby tractor in tow, to redo a gravel driveway for some friends...followed by what is bound to be a well-grilled dinner! HAPPY LABOR DAY!

Mobile again!

Waaaahooo! After 2 weeks of being stranded on Redneck Hill with nothing to drive but the Big Yellow Bird, I have wheels that have an engine behind them! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! I seem to have found a 'real deal' on cars.com: A 2000 Subaru (I've wanted one forever!) Forester with 71,000 miles on it--for cheap! :) And as a plus, I have claimed half the garage!!! Life is much better. Now to sell one of those pieces of equipment that are parked on a lot out along the highway to PAY FOR IT! There's always a catch....

Meanwhile, Keith is still living in the truck camper and working, working, working. And obsessing about Ranger transmissions... He traded our beloved, unused Goldwing for a little pickup--with the transmission in pieces in the bed. Now he has a transmission rebuild guide, a workbench (in his half of the garage) covered with oily pieces-parts (except for the 2 pieces that weren't there) and a project for the one day a week that he's home. But he has plenty of time in the evenings to read up on all the ins and outs.

A lady called from Louisville, wanting to adopt our Molly B as soon as she gets moved into her new house--we'll see..... She sounds really nice and has 2 girls who really want a dog.

So, I think I'll go get my Subaru out of the garage and go put some gas in it and see what happens after that....

Temporary stupidity... or The day I should have gone back to bed,

First comes the excuse. I'd been up half the nite with a tension headache, finally treated it with a hefty dose of muscle relaxers and a bit later, the headache was gone... I got this bright idea to run into the convenience mart for donuts and stuff. The nite before, it had rained A LOT, and I went around a curve and there was a little 'high water' sign--and water over the road. Now, anyone raised in the Midwest knows the rule "Never drive through standing water".... but, water always gets over the road there when it rains. So, I just kept going. (Here's the part where I mention that I had opted to take the car instead of the truck.) By the time I realized that the water was deeper than I had ever seen it, I was 2/3 of the way through. And then the car just shut down with an ominous thump. Dead. More details, including the wading out and hitching a ride home and telling the husband and calling the tow truck guy and going back to watch the car being fished out... (I FORGOT that I now have a camera phone--it was a great picture, if I'd remembered to take it!) I knew when the guys pulled out the dripping water filter, that this was NOT going to end well! I was right. Engine is totally locked up, fried, kaput, 'dead in the water'.... Insurance? On a 1994 car? The junk yard is paying $100 each for dead cars...

And now, Keith is back in Indiana--with my pickup, of course--prepared to go work in the mud tomorrow, and I'm sitting out here in the boondocks with only a HUGE yellow RV hauler in my driveway for transportation. Right beside it sits the 'the little red corpse'.

So, after we'd left the car sitting at the garage with it's hood up, drying in the sun in preparation for a fruitless round of automotive CPR, we went back to our 'country estate', had breakfast, made a few plans and then headed out to the truck to make a run to the auto parts store. I remembered that the black water tank was needing dumped, and there was a breeze (our RV buddies will appreciate this one...), so I went around back, pulled the handle to empty the tank--and black water exploded out of a brand new break in the drain hose, pouring stinky sludge out under our home. :( Ah, the joys of Rv living! And all this before 10 AM!!!

Meanwhile, Internet service out here in the woods is becoming almost non-existent! Cramping my style bigtime! Verizon tells me that if I owned the fancier air card, I could get a signal booster for it... It's been moved down a notch on my 'want list'.

So there you have it. A day in the life... Now if I can keep a connection long enough to post this....

4 dogs????

As if we didn't have enough canines running this circus, someone dropped off a puppy at our door the other nite! She's an adorable puppy, but boy was she hungry! I'm trying to get her into a rescue before we have to move our house to Indiana. No way we're going to keep her!!!

Meanwhile, Keith is still living in a campground in Indiana, working 6 days a week and then driving back here to spend a nite. We keep thinking there will be a couple of rainy days so we can move, but, unlike last year when he was lucky to get 5 days of work in a row--this year is DRY! So, the dogs and I are living alone out here in the Boondocks, with the local 'rabble' firing up their 4 wheelers after dark and running around the countryside, tending their 'patches', I guess...!

That's the latest... Not exciting!

The Arizona Saga...

I guess I won't be needing to order that online Spanish course any time soon. The rejection letter came today. "The Board wishes to continue it's search...blah, blah, blah" Obviously we weren't nearly as pleasing in person!

So, on to Plan B. Next week we will probably be moving back to Jamestown, where we were last Fall. Keith is there working on an off-ramp or overpass or some darned thing! We liked that campground and its location--45 minutes from our daughter's front door! :) And only a couple of hours from our grandkids and an hour and a half from the nursing home where Mom is.

Sure would have liked managing that place in Arizona, tho.....

Dinah

The People Go to Arizona Without The Dogs...

Here are a few shots of the Slaughter Museum. I'll try to get a page of photos up soon, for those who care.

We've been there, seen the place and love it! We've met the guy in charge, met the current managers and don't have a clue whether the job is ours, yet. We are supposed to know one way or the other in a couple of weeks...

I won't bore you with the details, but if you're ever anywhere near Tombstone, or Tucson even, and are at all interested in Wild West history, you should make the drive down to Douglas and over 15 miles of dirt road to this Museum and Ranch in the San Bernadino Valley.

So now we're home again, waiting for a call from the Union so Keith can go work, and waiting to hear about whether we'll be managers of such a cool place!

Dinah