Pasture Disaster

After rain at the end of the week and road work the past few weeks, our road was a very sloppy, muddy mess.  I was afraid to drive the roads to go to church this morning.  Mom & Dad did not even try the roads to go to church.  Today, though, it warmed up to around 80 degrees and the roads dried out nicely.  This afternoon I took the little red 4-wheeler out for a ride in the pasture.  I wanted to enjoy the nice weather and maybe find my cow, Molly. 

When I got to the creek bottom to open the gate to the pasture, I noticed a dead cow lying by the junk pile all bloated with 4 legs out stiff.  I would have thought Dad would have mentioned it when we talked earlier in the day.  I continued up the hill into the CRP pasture and saw another cow lying flat.  As I approached her I saw that she was dead also.  I drove around her and looked her over but could not see any injury.  I looked a little further up the terrace and saw another one.  I drove up to her and she was lying with her legs pointing one way and her head facing the opposite way.  Something went wrong out here and Dad surely would have said something if he knew there were 3 dead cows in the pasture.  I turned around and flew through the pasture and hay field back to the house to get Dad.  He did not believe me when I told him.  We drove out to the pasture on the Ranger and we saw the three I found and began driving around the pasture looking at the rest of the herd.  We came upon another cow that was one of Dad’s.  Further searching found two more. 

6 dead cows in the one pasture.  Why? What happened? We do not know.  Dad wondered if it was poisoning from eating the hot bale of cane he fed night before last.  When he fed alfalfa last night everything looked ok.  Dad & I checked the other pastures but nothing was wrong there.  That bale of cane is the only thing he can think of that was different.  Dad does not know if the mineral the cattle have gotten lately is high magnesium but does not think so.  He is not allowed to buy anything for the cattle any more (per D & D).

Dad will have to call the rendering plant tomorrow to have them picked up.  I suggested he pull the tags off the cattle ears so he has a record of cattle lost.  We are not allowed (per Dana) to keep any kind of records.  I am supposed to not even keep records of Dad’s cattle for him and that she is the only one to keep the livestock records. 

This type of pasture disaster has never happened before during all the years of my parent’s farming and raising cattle.  I feel heart sick over the whole situation - the loss of the cattle & the tension that has existed around the farm over the past 9 months.  I pray it all gets better soon.

Rose

2015 Row By Row Experience - H2O

When I was in Wichita in July, Karen and I went to the quilt shops to pick up free row patterns for the 2015 Row by Row.  The program runs during the summer in Canada and the United States.  Participating quilt shops design a 9 x 36" row pattern and give them away to those that come into their shop and ask for it.  You can also purchase a fabric kit for the pattern if you want it.  The first person to bring in a finished quilt of 8 rows or more into a participating shop wins a prize of a fat quarter pack.  If that store's row is in the quilt, a second prize is awarded.  This prize varies by store.  When Karen came here, we went to Oberlin to get their block.  I fell in love with the barn and fishing pond of that "Fishin'"  block.  It was applique and embroidery.  I purchased their last year block that was of a covered wagon with fall features called "Home, home on the Range".  I thought I'd make these two blocks into a small wall hanging. 

In September I went to Karen's again with another block from the Oakley & Stockton quilt shops that she wanted.  Karen had several rows made and was in the process of a few more.  I decided to make these two rows just for fun.  As I did these I made a few more while Karen was in school during the day.  I ended up with 8 rows.  Karen kept telling me Oberlin shop had not had a winner yet and encouraged me to pet my quilt together and take it in so I could win the prize if I was the first one.  I could not imaging doing that but finally agreed to give it a try.  If nothing else I would have a finished quilt project this summer. 

When I got home I did all the embroidery on the Oberlin row then pieced the quilt top together.  I quilted it on Mom's long arm quilting machine then put on the binding.  Last Saturday I took it into Country Quilting & Keepsakes quilt shop in Oberlin.  I am that store winner.  As a prize I received a 25 piece fat quarter and as the extra prize for having their block in my quilt I was given another 21 fat quarters that made a complete set of fat quarters from a collection.  What a wonderful gift!! That is over $160 value.  Norma Carman, owner of the quilt shop, asked if they could display the quilt in the store for a while.  They are participating in a quilt shop hop with other shops in northwest Kansas.  She would like to keep it at least through that.  The Row by Row ends October 31 so I think I'll pick up my quilt after that.  I have had many nice comments on the Kansas Row By Row Facebook page and from those that have seen the quilt.  

Hanging in Country Quilting & Keepsakes in Oberlin, KS

 

46 Fat quarter prize

Quilting Treasures Blenders collection

Karen is sending me her Row by Row quilt to have it quilted then I'll send it back to her.  She said as of this weekend one Hutchinson store does not have a finished quilt turned it.  Maybe she can win a prize for her quilt also.  It has been fun working on this project with her.  Thanks, Karen, for all your encouragement.  Also thanks to all the quilt shops that participate in this program. It was fun.

 

Rose

 



Island Sunrise

No, I have not taken an island vacation.  I have been quilting again.  Remember one of the quilt tops I made in July? I have the Island Sunrise paper pieced wall hanging that Karen & I made quilted and bound.  It is finished.

 I am happy with the way it turned out.  Thanks, Karen for your help putting it together.

Rose

Pedi

I went to Great Bend to spend a couple days with my friend, Roni, after she had hernia and two breast surgeries.  I was there to help her.  She needed to meet her mother in Hutchinson for a doctor appointment so I took her because she is not able to drive yet.  We met her mother, aunt and uncle for lunch, saw her mother's new apartment and went to the appointment.  Roni decided to pamper me.  I was to be pampering her!  She had me take her to the mall and we went into a nail salon for pedicures.  I have never had a pedi before.  I had no idea what to expect.  We picked out nail color and sat in massage chairs and put our feet in a mini whirlpool to soak.  We had about 20 minutes of this before technicians came to us.  Trim, clean, scrub, massage and color.  It was nice.  I especially liked the leg and foot massage because that is where I hurt the most all the time.  After we were finished, the tech placed thin flip flops on my feet and had me sit under an ultraviolet light what was to dry the polish faster.  It made our feet and nails look florescent.  It was a nice treat but not something I will do often.  Next time maybe a manicure.

 

 

Rose

Quilting Time Vacation

In July I went to Wichita to spend 3 weeks with my sister, Karen.  We had so many plans for sewing and quilting.  But first we babysat with her grandchildren for most of a week.  Emily & Ryan were working on getting a house ready to move into so we watched Flora.  She was 7 month old and just learning to crawl and stand up and move around things.  She was so fun and warmed up to me pretty well but there is nobody like Grandma.

After that we kept Dianne & Derick's two kiddos.  Braedan & Kinsley came on a Thursday, spent the night with us and stayed all day on Friday.  Braedan was so funny when we went to their house. When we arrived, he came on a run to us but ran right past Grandma Karen to me with a huge hug.  What a sweet boy.  The decided that since I was staying at Grandma's house for 3 weeks maybe he should stay with her 3 weeks also.  I love you but you are too busy for me for that long.  Kinsley, at 10 1/2 months old, is walking (running) everywhere already.  It was a fun time with the kids.

Finally we had time to sew.  I had fabric and pattern for a paper pieced project and Karen wanted to learn to do that technique.  We worked on it and got the quilt top completely put together. I now have the back ready and just need to get down to Mom's to quilt it.  I'd like to have it done by the time I take Mom and her sisters to Manhattan for their Sister's Week in October.  Better get busy, Rose.












  I was already working on a hand pieced applique of a camping scene and did get it finished while I was there. 

Then on to my third project, Larua's baby quilt.  I finally came up with a plan and Karen helped me to make it come to life much easier than it could have.  We went to school and cut out the alphabet letters from the fabric with the fusible web on the back with the cutter that they do letters for their bulletin boards.  We also cut out letters for the names on the backs of her grandbaby big girl bed quilts.  I fused the letters then machine appliqued them, & put the top together.  When I got home I machine quilted it on the long arm machine.  I am so excited to give it to her  The baby is due mid September.

It sounds like this was selfish time and all we did was projects for me.  Karen did not have as much sewing to do as I did but she had more 'getting ready' things.  After cutting out the letters, she assembled the quilt backs for Kinsley's & Flora's big girl bed quilts and appliqued their names on them.  We also got another quilt back ready to take to the farm to quilt.  That was for the 3 quilts she wanted to quilt on Mom's long arm machine when she went to the farm for the Summer Family Gathering.  We put a quilt on the big frames and pinned it so she could hand quilt it in a lap hoop.  After that quilt was removed from the frame, we put in Liz's graduation quilt to be hand quilted in the large frames.  That quilt is so big that it took up a huge part of the basement with barely room to get past it to go to the other end of the room.

We also changed a light fixture in the basement so that we had more light to work by.  I am scared of electrical projects but Karen is not.  I helped but actually she did all the hard parts.  I did the holding and handing of tools.  We also took a good look at the basement to figure out what she would like to do to make it more waterproof and repair any water damage.  Then she wants to removed the big room in the basement into a family room and kids play room that can be used for her large quilting frames also.  We had a lot of fun going out to eat and going to fabric shops collecting Row by Row patterns. 

I had a fun time at Karen's home and always feel comfortable and at home there.  I also was able to bring her home with me for another 2 weeks.  What a fun quilting vacation.


Rose 

Burglar

Two weeks ago my parents and I headed to Manhattan for a nephew’s wedding.  We left the farm Friday morning and ate lunch in Beloit.  We traveled on to Delphos for Dad to look at a couple of air conditioning units at the Catholic Church that is going to be torn down this fall.  The church is giving away items from the church that can be salvaged for a donation before the demolition.   After looking at them we traveled on to Manhattan to my aunt’s home where we planned to stay for the weekend. 

While we were out for dinner I missed a call from my niece, Dana, at the farm asking if I had received a call from the sheriff.  No, I hadn’t.  She told me that the Sheridan County Sheriff came to the farm looking for me because my car was involved in a burglary in Ottawa County today.  A photograph was taken of my license plate.  I went out to my car and checked the plate.  It was there and was correct.  I did not even know where Ottawa County was and pulled out a Kansas map.  Isn’t it in eastern Kansas by the town of Ottawa out by Kansas City?  Nope.  Delphos is just into Ottawa County south of Mitchell County.  I guessed if they wanted me bad enough they would get in touch as Dana did give them my cell phone number. 

Within 15 minutes I received a call from an unfamiliar number.  I answered and it was the Ottawa County sheriff.  He asked me if I had been in Delphos today.  I told him we had been there and that I pulled down the alley beside the church, that Dad had gotten out and looked at the a/c units beside the church building, that Mom and I waited in the car and when he was done looking we drove to the street and I put Manhattan into the GPS app on my cell phone and we left town.  He asked what I did at the garage. What garage? We were just in the alley straight across from the a/c units by the church.  Oh, I think there might have been a garage on the other side of the alley but I had not paid any attention as we were watching Dad to see if he motioned for help.  Well, the sheriff department received a call from a woman saying we had been in her garage but she did not think anything was taken.  She took a photo of the license tag on the vehicle as proof.  He asked me about a young man wearing a red cap.  Dad had on a beige cap and neither Mom nor I were wearing caps.  We were the only people in the car.  The woman said she had seen the old man by the church.  I had a red and white mug with a red lid that I was drinking from is the only thing I knew of that would be red.  The sheriff had my driver’s license number but also wanted Mom and Dad’s driver’s license numbers so I gave them to him.  He said he would write this up as an incident report but did not expect anything else to come of this. 

I guess I now look like a young man and I wear a red cap.  She definitely did not get an accurate description of the vehicle driver, did she?  Good thing she got a picture of the car tag or she would not have gotten them correct either.  I wonder if she has a history of being an active caller to the sheriff.  .  I never noticed anyone else in the alley doing this so you can tell how much attention I was paying to anything other than what Dad was doing.   

Believe it or not, I seem to be a burglar – a bad burglar for sure.

Rose

 

Butcher Day

Dad called me last night saying we had a problem.  A steer broke his leg and needed butchered.  Luckily it was not one of our steers.  People in the area know Dad butchers and processes his own meat.  When a critter has a broken leg and cannot walk into the locker plant on its own they will not take it.  Therefore, call Jerry Juenemann

This farmer was working cattle to castrate them and one did not take too kindly to the idea of getting his male parts cut off.  He tried to jump the head gate and got his leg caught and fought too hard before they could get him out and he broke his leg.  We went over to look at the critter last night and as we were leaving was told that part of the deal was to take the Rocky Mountain Oysters that they had cut that day.  He had a tub half full.  We loaded them in the van and came home to clean them up. 

Dad had called Derrick's hired man about it because he helped with the last steer we got and loved having the meat.  He had asked just last week if Dad knew of any animals that needed butchering.  Dad called Jeff and he and his wife came out and helped us clean the nuts.  We ended up with 5 gallon Ziploc bags full. 

Today Dad & Jeff went to the farmer's place and killed and bleedout the steer before bring him home.  Once here, I went out to help (watch and run errands) as they skinned and gutted it.  Dad's walk-in cooler was in Colby so he and Mom went to town to get it and I stayed home and kept spraying the hangingcarcass with cold well water to help get a lot of the body temperature out and to keep it cool.  Later, Dad & I got it cut into sections and hung (laid on cloth covered pallets) in the walk-in.  He is now chilling out in there for a few days before we are ready to process him.  I think we are splitting him 4 ways-1/4 for each of Dad, Jeff, me, and the farmer's hired man. 

Mom wants to can beef chunks and have hamburger ground for this summer's family gathering the end of July.  I want to can both some beef chunks and browned hamburger as well as put some burger in the freezer. 

Yesterday Mom and I both bought pork loins to can because they were only $1.79 per pound.  I had planned to can today but butchering came first. 


When Dad & I quit at 4:30 today my phone showed 97 degrees.  No wonder we both were so hot and sweaty.  We cooled ourselves off with the well water trying not to get heat exhaustion.  I was so hot and my house a/c unit had quit earlier in the day but I did get it running again when I got in.  I was even too hot for a cool shower.  I just stripped and lay in front of the fan on the bed for a couple hours. 

Tomorrow we need to get the hooves, hide, tail and innards out of my back yard.  We were too hot to load them up to haul to the pasture.  I have them covered with a tarp but hope wild critters (coyotes) do not come up to the house to eat tonight.   I hope that will be a first thing in the morning project while it is cool. 

I actually do not have a problem with cleaning or frying bull fries.  I like to see how all the guts are stuffed inside the animal.  It does not bother me to help butcher, skin, gut, and cut or process a cow, bull or steer.  Once the cow was pregnant and I was able to see the fully formed baby calf that was inside.  That was really cool for me.  I think it will be cooler over the weekend and we can process the meat or at least cut up the steer and freeze large chunks of it until we are ready to work it.  Dana needs the cooler back for a big event the following weekend and Dad has a doctor appointment in Wichita mid week next week.

Hard, hot day but will be so worth having the meat.
Rose

Random Thoughts

Just want to share a few random thoughts about random things.

     1.       Doctor appointment today:

Today was a 3 month follow up appointment after removing me from one of the high powered blood pressure medication.  My blood pressure was a little higher than before but I had not taken any of my morning medications yet.  I also have lost 7 pounds since my last appointment. The doctor was happy with that and asked what I was doing different.  Nothing.  Well, he thinks I should be doing something different but the only thing I can think of is being off the Tekturna medication.

2.       Essential Oils:

I have finished the Life Long Vitality pack and now have begun taking the GX Assist, a GI Cleansing formula, and am almost done with that.  Once finished I will take another round of the PB Assist, a probiotic blend.  I hope that this will get my gut back in order.  I do not know if this has had anything to do with the weight loss or not.  I have not started the Slim N Sassy and will not for a while yet.  I do like drinking the Wild Orange in my water and love the Lime in my Diet Pepsi.  The thought was to cut back on the pop but that has not really happened.  I just plain enjoy the fizzy and flavor of pop.  I am still using the Lavender oil & White Fir oil at bedtime and am sleeping through the night most nights.  Over all I am sleeping much better.  One day I got the clicking in my ear that I have had off and on ever since I had Bell’s Palsy.  I used a mix of Lavender, Peppermint, and Tea Tree Oils in front of and behind the ear as well as down the neck.  Within 30 minutes my ear and whole side of my face hurt terribly.  I put the oils on again two more times every 30 minutes and before going to bed the clicking completely quit and the pain eased up.  Usually the clicking lasts several days to a couple weeks.  I was happy about that.

3.       Wrecked Knee:

Monday I went out on the Ranger with Mom & Dad because a couple cows and a calf were in the wheat field instead of the pasture.  I walked high-stepping some in the wheat field trying not to damage it in any way to get the cows out.  I rolled under the electric fence and continued following them through the neighbor’s stubble field.  The cows saw me following well behind them and took off on a dead run.  When Mom & Dad caught up with me with the Ranger, I got on and Dad went chasing them across into a newly plowed field that he plans to plant cane in.  With the heavy rains we had Saturday night there was a wash-out and he hit the brakes hard.  I went flying.  My knee hit the dash hard.  I was hanging on to the top roll bar and the side rail and that is all that kept me from going over the hood.  I could just see that hanging on is not good enough and usually do wear the seat belt when we ‘rodeo’ but did not this time.  So many things run through my head all at once-I’m going over, landing head first on the ground and the Ranger running over the top of me.  Thankfully, hitting my knee helped stop my forward motion as well as the Ranger getting stopped before hitting the ditch too hard.  I did not notice my knee again until I knelt down on the floor yesterday afternoon and fell completely to the floor. The knee was swollen and very tender.  I now notice the pain more that I did right after it happened.  I’ll be fine in a week or two.  Next time I will put on my seat belt even if there are three of us on the Ranger. 

4.        Rain & tornado:

We have had some nice rain over the past couple weeks.  Saturday night we had about an inch of rain in 30 minutes with high winds and 4 tornados on the ground at one time between our farm and Selden.  We did not have any damage.  The tornado tracked from somewhere near Monument Rocks to near the Nebraska State Line as far as I know.  It is raining so nicely again tonight. I noticed that my rain gutter is about to fall off the house at a joint above my living room window.  It is very bowed down.  I do not know what is causing that unless the drip I have had there has caused all the water to run to that spot at once with the heavy rain over the weekend and weakened it.  Once it is dry again I will go out to investigate and fix the problem.  I have had the furnace turned off for about a month now but I turned it on again tonight.  I just can’t seem to get warm.  It is hard to believe that it is May 13 and have the need for the furnace again.

5.       Garden:

Two weeks ago I planted 3 tomato plants and 5 pepper plants in barrels in front of the house.  I put big buckets over the top of the plants on Saturday before the heavy storms came in fear of hail.  We have had so much wind it is terrible.  Sunday & Monday nights we had frost advisories so I left the buckets on to try to protect my little plants.  I also bought some flowers to put on a couple pots but brought them into the house to protect them.  I still have not planted them because of the wind.  I took the buckets off the plants yesterday afternoon and this afternoon I noticed that the peppers look like something has eaten off all the lower leaves.  The tomatoes look like they are mostly laying down instead of standing up.  I hope they pull out of their slump and grow.  I guess if they do not, then I was not supposed to have a garden this year either.  I love to can but not to garden in the ground.  Planting in tubs works better for me.  I have also been pulling grass out of one of the flower beds in the back of my house.  All my flower beds are looking pretty good.  I hope that continues.

Well, that should be enough rambling for one evening. 

Rose

More Kitchen Cleaning

Today I have been cleaning in the kitchen again.  Today I cleaned off the side cabinet top with the bookcase on it.  I wish I could say that the kitchen is as clean as it was but it is not quit there but it is not too bad.  A little more work and the counters can be totally cleaned again and I need to cover some more magazine boxes and the table will be cleaned off again.  The floor needs to be swept and scrubbed again.  I'm doing better that I ever had in the past. 

Here is a picture of the cabinet and shelf.

     Looks good, doesn't it? 

 

Rose

Essential Oil update

I am a bit of a sceptic about the value of essential oils but am willing to give it a try.  My goal here is to document what I do and the effects I see from it.  I have been taking the Live Long Vitality Supplements for around 3 weeks now.  I also took the PB Assist +.  I have also been using Lavender and White Fur oil on my feet at bedtime.  Sometimes I drink the Wild Orange oil in water.  I have also tried the Peppermint oil in water. 

I started out only taking 1 pill twice a day of the supplements and one PB Assist+ once a day and after about a week I doubled it to the recommended amounts.  The first thing I noticed was that I only pooped 2-3 times a day and it was more solid than liquid.  This is a great improvement.  But...I bloated severely and had a lot of fluid retention.  I could not wear the jeans I have been wearing and had to get out the jeans that are 2 sized larger than usual. At first the scale did not show any weight gain but then showed a 5-6 pound gain.  Several days later the scale showed my weight back down plus 1-2 pounds less that at the start. Dana had me use the peppermint on my tummy twice a day.  I only did this a couple times but the bloating improved.  I have run out of the PB Assist+, which is a probiotic.  The first thing I noticed is that the poop was 3-5 times a day and more liquid but not as bad as before starting any of this.  I am going to finish the Live Long Vitality Supplement and take the GX Assist first then follow that with another round of PB Assist+.  My understanding is the GX will work to get rid of the bad bacteria and the PB is to replace the good bacteria. 

Now let's talk about the oils.  I do not really like the scent of the Lavender but understand it is to help with calming and sleep.  The White Fir is to help with the muscle and joint discomfort.  My hopes it that it will help calm the aches from the fibromyalgia.  I do not know if it has helped that but I was in a mild flare-up when I started using it.  But I did notice that I sleep longer at a time.  Instead of waking up every 3-4 hours, going to the bathroom and getting a drink to then go back to sleep, I sleep 6-8 hours straight.  Boy, do I need to go to the bathroom when I wake up!  I have even slept 10 hours at one time a couple of nights.  If it is the Lavender or if it is from less discomfort from using the White Fir, I am not sure, but I will keep using these at bedtime.

I like the Wild Orange oil mixed with my drinking oil.  I like the flavor and can refill my glass once or twice and still have some of the flavor remaining in the glass and water.  I tried the peppermint oil in water once and liked it but it was really strong.  My mouth actually felt fresh and cool but felt a but of a burning sensation for about 30 minutes.  Either I need to put it in more water at a time or suck it up and enjoy the sting. 

I want to try the Lemon Oil in water.  I read so many benefits of drinking lemon water.  I also would like to try the Deep Blue to assist with the Fibro pain. 

That should be enough to try for now.  I'll keep you updated on how it is going.

Rose

Essential Oil Experiment

I have been curious about the benefits of essential oils.  I have been doing some reading and found out that my niece is a doTerra essential oil dealer. I just did not know where to begin.  A week ago she took me to the spa to have my hand scanned to see what was all out of whack in my body.  There were 36 of 76 out of line-22 PB Assist, 8 White Fir, 5 (I can't remember and can't find my sheet), 1 Cleary Sage.  That is better than I thought and none of them were for obesity.  Most of it was for gut issues and some for muscle and connective tissue issues.  That makes sense since I have had diarrhea several times a day for several years (supposedly side effects to some of my medications) and I have fibromyalgia.  Today I got my order from Dana.  I got the Lifelong Vitality (that must have been my 5 number), PB Assist, Peppermint Oil, White Fir Oil, Wild Orange Oil for a total bill of $224.01. 

I began by taking the pills tonight with my evening meal.  I am supposed to take 2 pills twice a day but to start with 1 pill twice a day with meals of the Lifelong Vitality and 1 pill three times a day with meals but will start with 1 pill twice a day with meals. These are to help with the gut issues and organ cleansing.  I am to use two drops of the White Fir on each foot at bedtime for the muscle and connective tissue (fibro) issues.  I got the Wild Orange to put in my water that is to help with fluid retention, depression, and lymphatic system. I read a year or two ago about adding Wild Orange and Lemon EO to water to help drink more water and quit drinking soda pop.  I got the Peppermint Oil because it is supposed to help keep spiders, insects and mice out of your home when you mix it with water and spray around doors and windows.  After all the trouble we have had here the past six months with mice I wanted to give it a try.  I have not had mice for 2 months now and am so grateful but will try this in hopes to keep them out. 

Now I must admit I am a bit of a sceptic about this but am willing to give it a try.  My goal is to try it and journal about my experiences here.  You can quit reading now if you do not want to know some personal bodily issues.  I mentioned diarrhea.  It was so bad that every time I used the restroom I had more liquid poo than urine.  Doctors have told me it is side effects from medications.  After changing doctors I am now off several of the meds.  It has helped some. I actually have gas sometimes without worrying I am making a mess. 

I had to quit working full time because of severe stress, anxiety and panic attacks as well as uncontrolled blood pressure and blood sugar and fibromyalgia with chronic fatigue syndrome.  In the 9 years since I quit the blood pressure and blood sugar are both much better controlled.  Those are the medications I have been able to decrease.   Anxiety and depression are better most of the time.  When I get too much going on at once or I get over stimulated I have anxiety and panic issues.  I can't sleep, I dream of whatever activity I've been involved with over and over that just won't quit, I get really crabby at people and feel mad at the world.  There is so much more but I won't explain that more at this time.  When I get stressed or overdo in activity I have much more pain and fatigue from the fibro.  When I feel good I seem to do all I can and then I have over done and hurt and feel wiped out and all I can do is rest (if I am not too restless).  I feel so drained and fatigued that I feel I can hardly lift my arms and all my muscles feel like they are made of cement.  My brain does not always click.  When someone talks to me I just can't seem to put what they are telling me all together in my brain to understand.  I feel like there is a glass wall in front of me blocking the information from reaching me.  I hate the muscle aches.  I ache all the time, just more at some times.  My lower legs, ankles and feel ache all the time and my legs hurt to lay on my side with one leg on top of the other.  The knees hurt where they touch.  The aches are here, there and everywhere but not always in the same place.  There are times that shower water hurts as it hits my body, my legs feel like I have a severe sunburn, my feet feel like I have hot needles poking me and then the knife stabs and severe cramps hit.  I just want to cry and begin to feel so negative as much as I try to stay positive. At these times I try to hide in my house and not associate with others so I don't hurt them by my grumpiness.  All this only helps contribute to the depression but Zoloft helps tremendously. 

My hopes are that the essential oils may help deal with some of these issues if nothing else but to help lift my mood.  I'll keep you posted on what I think of them.

Rose

My View

Looking out my front door
Across the corral and through the pasture
Cattle crowning the top of the hill
Spread out to eat their hay and cane.
How much better can it get?
I love living in the country
On the family farm!

Craft classes at the Oberlin City Library

The Oberlin City Library has been offering craft classes that have been so much fun to attend.  The first one I went to was Crochet Rag Rugs.  I know how to crochet very basic and this fit the bill.  You tear old sheets or clothing or fabric into strips, tie them together, then crochet with a basic single crochet.  I used a flat king size sheet that had stripes running from top to bottom in a few repeats on a white background.  I tore the sheet from side to side.  This created color splotches throughout and looks like confetti when it is crocheted.  This rug is made from just one sheet.  It is a little slick on the wood floor so I put it on the carpet in the living room in front of the TV. 










The second class I took was Pine Needle Baskets.  I got pine needles from branches Ron had trimmed around their house in Wichita.  I pulled needles from the branches and soaked them in water for a week.  Using these green pine needles and hemp twine I made this little ring/earring basket.  It sits on the shelf in the bathroom.  Now I do not have earrings scattered all over the counter.

Then I attended a class to upcycle magazine boxes.  The library had a lot o magazine boxes that they no longer use.  We took them and using craft paper, scrapbooking paper, and wallpaper to cover them.  There are so many uses for them besides keeping magazines. The green one I made holds crochet edge baby receiving blankets.  The red one is just sitting and looking pretty right now while the blue one has bottles of lotion, shower gel, scrubs, etc. sitting on my bedroom vanity table.  I also covered a couple cracker boxes with the blue paper into pretty baskets for little bottles.  It sure makes my table look more organized. 


I have learned a new skill, used a known skill in a different way and just had some good crafty fun.  I have enjoyed these classes so very much.  I look forward to more classes.  Next week I will take a calligraphy class and a crochet class.  They also have a Stampin' Up Card making class the last Friday of every month.  I have made friends with some sweet ladies that have a lot of the same interests as I do.  After the classes most of us go out for lunch together. It has been fun.  Jeannie has resigned as director of the Oberlin City Library but I (selfishly) hope that this type of activities will continue.  I wish we could do something like this at the Selden Library but I do not know people in our community to know what talent is there.  It seems hard enough to just get activities for the summer reading program.  Maybe I'll think on this for a while.

Rose

Tempting Spring

The last couple days have been tempting spring.  It was in the mid 70's and no real wind.  BEAUTIFUL!! I love it.  I opened the windows and my house warmed up.  Yesterday I worked some in the garage and went through a trash can that has been full of things from my garage at the house in Colby.  8 years and it has been sitting outside under the eves of the garage.  It contained some paint and stain as well as my camping lantern and several propane bottles.  I threw the paint away since it was dried up, laid the stain on the work bench and put the bottles in a bucket to have Dad look at them to see if they are ruined or not.

This afternoon I decided to try the recipicating saw I got at Harbor Freight last summer.  I needed to cut a landscape timber to finish out the border around the flower garden around the house. I did it-all-by-myself.  The saw worked really good and I had no trouble with it.  I think I can do more projects that I have in mind by using this saw.  I'm getting excited to do some fun projects.   I may need to trim the one board depending on what I end up doing with the downspout drain.  The rabbits have been eating the plastic on the drain so I may need to do something different there.


Now that the border is finished, I need to put mulch around the bush on the corner of the house.  My 4-wheeler is out of gas and the gas hose on the tank is broken.  The little trailer that I can pull with the 4-wheeler is in the barn full of wood Dad has cut to use for shelves.  The mulch has been dumped in the big garden area across the drive.  I decided to put together my dumping garden wagon I got at Christmas in Wichita at Northern Tool.  I decided I'd try to put the wagon together myself instead if waiting for Dad to help me.  I need to learn to do more projects myself. 

I did it, twice.  I read the instructions and looked at the pictures for more detail.  I'd put something together then when I was ready for the next step, I'd have turn something around or upside down or backwards.  I started out sitting on the porch step to work on this.  The first thing that happened was I dropped a screw and washer and it was lost in the dead grass that is covering the sidewalk.  I was lucky that I did find it.  This happened several times.  The unit was pulled one way, slid another way, turned on end, turned over, fall on me.  Before I was done I was kneeling on the sidewalk, sitting on the grass in the yard, laying over the porch.  I was covered with dead grass and dirt and my hands looked like I had worked in the shop.  I need to work harder to not swear when something happens.  I need more patience and less frustration.  It is like working with my father but I do not swear as much or as bad as he does.  I will have to repent tonight in my prayers.  I had Dad look it over to make sure I had it done right before tightening the lock nuts.  I did it right.   This builds my confidence in my handyman abilities.  Overall, the project went together well.  Now I do not know where to store it since my garage is full.  I really do not want to leave it outside in the sun, wind, rain, snow and ice. 

Now that the wagon is put together, I am too tired to pick up mulch and put it in the flower bed.  It is a good thing that the next few days are also supposed to be nice. 

Are we having an early spring or are we being teased before another big blast of winter?

Rose 

Kitchen is clean

I know this is not a big deal to most of you but it is a really BIG deal to me.  I have had so much trouble with mice and my cabinets were a mess.  I took everything out of all the cabinets, scrubbed them, washed everything that was inside and put it all back in organized.  All my cabinets are clean and organized.  All my counter tops are clear and the kitchen table is clean.  I pulled out the stove and cleaned behind it and plugged all holes in the kitchen that I could find.  I swept and scrubbed the floor also.  It looks so nice.  I have not had any mice for 3 weeks and the kitchen is still clean.  I am actually proud of myself. 

Today I began organizing recipes.  I put each of my favorite recipes that I actually cook with on my Evernote app.  I can access it through the desktop, laptop, and the cell phone.  I will have them with me all the time.  I have cleaned out a lot of the paper recipes that have been torn out of magazines that I have never made and doubt I will ever make.  I still have a lot of papers but most of them are organized into file folders by category.  I have all those along with the cookbooks in the side cupboard that Allen built in the kitchen.  It is all contained in one area and can not be seen normally. 

Over the weekend, my brother, Kevin, helped Dad to put a heat/ac register in my kitchen.  I have not had a vent in the kitchen since we put in the new furnace and central air conditioner 5 years ago.  They put it in front of the dishwasher and it looks good.  I am excited to have the air (especially a/c in the summer) in the kitchen. The wood stove has always kept the kitchen plenty warm but it is still hot in there in the summer.  Not any more.  Kevin told me he swept the kitchen floor for me to clean up the mess they made during the project.  Thank you.  Then he tells me there is a lot of mouse poop under the dishwasher but he could not find a shop vac to clean it up.  I do not have a shop vac so one of these days I will need to get the one out of the shop and do some more cleaning. 

Here are some pics of the before and after in my "new" kitchen.  I just could not show you the very gross inside the lower cabinets.  The mouse tracks and holes were just too disgusting and embarrassing to share.

                                              Before                                                         After

            

     

     

 Three-four weeks after getting the kitchen from this before to this after, I am pleased to announce that it still looks this good!!

Rose

Kitchen counters

As a way to get my house decluttered and cleaned I have started following this Facebook group and trying to work along. I have tried to follow Flylady.com but have not stuck with it very well. If you know me, you know that my kitchen counters and table are always cluttered.  I do not do a lot in the kitchen.  I hope that when I get this done that I will keep up with it and maybe even cook a little more.  This first week focus is the kitchen counters.  I will post a few pictures as I complete tasks.  This is my accountability.

 

Kitchen East Counter (Before) This looks normal for my kitchen.

 

Kitchen East Counter (After) Have you ever seen this counter top this clean?

West side of kitchen (Before) My kitchen is such a mess.

West Kitchen Counter (After) This is good for me.

 What do you think?  Sure I still have the table and floors to work on but next week when we do the cabinets, I am ahead of the game on the west side of the kitchen. 

2015 Goals

I am setting up 2015 goals which is based on projects I did not get done during 2014 and the regular household and spiritual goals for each year. 

 --Unfinished Quilting & Sewing Projects--
1.  Quilt Off-Set Blocks quilt
2.  Quilt Storm at Sea quilt
3.  Quilt Garden quilt
4.  Quilt Garden quilt wall hanging
5.  Finish Hand Quilting Embroidered Baskets wall hanging
6. Quilt Embroidered Flowers Quilt

 --New Quilting and Sewing Projects--
1.  Island Sunset Paper Pieced Quilt
2.  Camping Appliqué wall hanging
3.  Harvest Moon wall hanging


  --Household--
1.  Clean and organize storage in basement
2.  Clean and organize bedroom & closet 
3.  Clean and organize laundry room
4.  Clean and organize mud room
5.  Clean and organize kitchen cabinets 
6.  Clean and organize sewing room/office
7.  Clean bathtub
8.  Install shower surround
8.  Seal bathroom window
9.  Vacuum or wash curtains
10.  Wash windows inside and outside


  --Spiritual--
1.  Read scriptures daily (Note: I have not missed a day in 2 years now)
2.  Pray daily
3.  Attend church services and meetings weekly
4.  Attend temple 2 times (if not more) 
5.  Journal in a jar topics
6.  Work of family history
7.  Family search indexing
8.  Read monthly Ensign magazine

--Physical--
1. Exercise 2 days a week
2. Drink more water
3. Drink less pop
4. Cut sugar intake
5. Lose 15 pounds
6. Cut down medications

Once again I do not expect to accomplish every goal but do want to work on each one.  I want to be a better person, do more, waste less time. 

2015 will be a great year.  I am looking forward to it.

Rose

2014 Household and Spiritual Goal Review

The year is finished and I want to review my progress on the goals I set at the first of the year.  I had set daily routines and have followed them some but not completely.  I do it for a while but then something comes up and I get busy with other things and let it all go.  Below are the goals I set and are ready for review.

Goals:
  --Household--
1.  Clean and organize storage in basement
2.  Clean and organize bedroom & closet  (Bedroom Done)
3.  Clean and organize laundry room (Done)
4.  Clean and organize mud room
5.  Clean and organize kitchen cabinets  (Done)
6.  Clean and organize sewing room/office
7.  Clean and caulk bathtub  (Note 10-14-14: Shower surround is cracking and the entire thing needs replaced)
8.  Seal bathroom window
9.  Vacuum or wash curtains (Done)
10.  Wash windows inside and outside
11.  Install rain gutter down spouts (Done)

 --Spiritual--
1.  Read scriptures daily (Note: I have not missed a day in 2 years now)
2.  Pray daily
3.  Old Testament Seminary Study
4.  Attend church services and meetings weekly
5.  Attend temple 2 times (if not more)  (Done-attended 3 times)
6.  Journal in a jar topics
7.  Work of family history
8.  Family search indexing

Review:
--Household--  Done
1.  Clean and organize bedroom & closet  (Bedroom Done)
2.  Clean and organize laundry room (Done)
3.  Clean and organize kitchen cabinets  (Done)
4.  Vacuum or wash curtains (Done)
5.  Install rain gutter down spouts (Done)
These projects I did work on but did not get done.
1.  Clean and organize storage in basement
2.  Clean and organize mud room
3.  Clean and organize sewing room/office
 4.  Clean and caulk bathtub  (Note 10-14-14: Shower surround is cracking and the entire thing needs replaced)
 5.  Seal bathroom window
6.  Wash windows inside and outside

 --Spiritual--Done
1.  Read scriptures daily (Note: I have not missed a day in 2 years now)
2.  Attend church services and meetings weekly
3.  Attend temple 2 times (if not more)  (Done-attended 3 times)

I needed to work on these a little more.
1.  Pray daily
2. Old Testament Seminary Study
3.  Journal in a jar topics
4.  Work of family history
5.  Family search indexing
I do pray every day but my prayers are a lot of little prayer snippets and not as much as formal, on my knees prayer.  I got side tracked early so quit working on the OT Seminary study.  I did pick a few topics and write about them but not as much as I would have liked to.  I feel so overwhelmed every time I get out family history to work on it.  I did sign up for Ancestry.com and have Root Magic program but have not gotten past the anxiety.  I did not even try to do any Family Search indexing. 

I never expected to get everything done but to at least have a listing and guideline for the year.  I feel good about all I did accomplish.

I will now need to set new goals for 2015. 

Rose

White Out

Last evening we had a little snow and a lot of wind.  Results: White-Out.  Mom & Dad took my Cadillac to church because a pack rat ate through wires on their van.  It started snowing while they were in church. As they were ready to come home Mom called me to let me know it was bad out and they were on their way home.  Surprisingly Dad actually had the cell phone with him and very grateful he did.  15 minutes later I got another call from Mom saying they were in trouble.  I thought they were probably in the last mile, could see my yard light and was giving me a hard time.  I was wrong! They ran into a white-out blowing across the road and could not see anything.  It felt that they were going off the road on the north and as Dad over corrected and  ended up in the south ditch.  He could not drive forward nor backwards. 

Dad thought it was too bad for anyone to come get them so he said they could just stay in the car till it quit during the night.  I threw a fit and he agreed to at least call Derrick to see what he thought.  In no time I saw Derrick on the Ranger going to the shop and he instantly came flying through the ditch and down the road in his 4 wheel drive pickup.  He picked them up and got them home in short order.  Dad said he had to push snow away with the door to get out and there were drifts on the Wachendorfer hill but Derrick was able to bust through.  Dan and Delores called Mom & Dad to check on them.  They had gone off the road twice on their way home and got concerned about my parents.  Thank you for checking on them. 

The snow was to quit around midnight but the wind was not to let up till later in the morning.  The forecast was for -4 degrees.  At this time I decided it was a wise choice to stay home from church this morning.  Nobody should be out on the road in these sub zero temperatures and even colder wind chills.  At 6:30 Sharla texted me that she was not going to church either because of the roads. 

Thank you, Derrick, for being home and able to help Mom & Dad (G-ma & G-pa).  I do not think I could have gotten my Dodge Journey through to get them.  Calling Judy and Steve would have been the next option to get them to safety. 

Today, in the sunlight, Judy took this picture of my car in the ditch.  It was not me that put it there!  So grateful Mom & Dad are safe, home and warm.

I have always said that if I have to put a car in the ditch and have it towed out I'd rather it be the Cad instead of the Dodge.  Once the road crews clear the road, we will get the car pulled out and back home.  Winter in Kansas.

Rose