Mt_Rider

I have gone there daily for a decade or more. BUT this past few months she's not posting new. The last page was 11/10 and the ones before that was dated 10/26....10/13....10/12.... Something happened. MtRider Thanks for your lists, Jeepers.

Hmm...Monday? No, it's Tuesday.... Or rather it WAS Tuesday 3 hrs ago. Yeah, still awake. My schedule is completely turned upside down. Woke at noon-thirty cuz DH sent the dog in. I still didn't actually get out of bed until an hour later...hard to walk for quite a while. Better later. MtRider Try again.... And it's 4* BELOW ZERO outside. Inside will be warmer if I'm in bed!

Anyone know what's happened to Pam's Pride daily free ebooks? Hardly anything updated for quite a while now. MtRider

Well....that should make some light and airy waffles... Good you have time to experiment and learn b/4 hooey hits fan. MtRider

Cleaning/sorting Mom's house last summer, I inherited a bunch of stuff. Those handly rugs were a part of it....maybe eight of them. They are blocking WIND at our front door threshhold now. Dog has had one on the porch...she thinks her's is special ! Covered some plastic shelves sitting on porch all summer....keep from sun damage. They've been padding and other uses. Just handy. Felt quite a bit better today. Could usually walk w/o cane. Whew. Even managed to take dog and me in truck down to feed/lock up birds in duckhouse tonite. AND walk dog on road. It's generally a smooth gravel surface ...as opposed to the pasture. But after that, my legs were fairly played out. Needed some cane assist to bake acorn squash. I'm going to stick to butternut cuz I couldn't get that thing done. Charred some of the "fixings" I put in the seed cavity. Hmph. Ate it eventually...poured some maple syrup over it. COLD....we're getting the Jet Stream looping real low and Canada express is coming. Hope it warms up before my ride on Sat. MtRider

Drat! All day long I had to use both quad cane and stick cane to get around. And that was slow and laborious. Hey....horse riding is supposed to give me balance and knowing where my extremeties are! Hmph. I found my lined, nylon overpants so I'll be wearing them next week over the jeans. Littlesister...Hope it doesn't come to surgery. I have almost no grip for wide jars. Small hands anyway but there is no grip out at my fingertips. The grippy rubber things do help tho. If nothing else, I have one of these....the kitchen one. A second one is for garage use. But there is still some dexterity needed. MtRider

So last nite we got down to ZERO degrees before I was even in bed. When I saw that...and could feel the house cooling a lot, I left the thermostat up a bit. Put newspapers [folded vertically] in front leaky door and a rug at the bottom. Lot of cold coming in. When I FINALLY got to sleep [a real problem with that ...again...] I slept very sound. Do not remember shutting off alarm. Do not remember DH waking me .... I DO remember when he sent the dog in to wake me. Then I was late getting ready to ride horse. Ack! No time to straighten/calm the freshly washed and slept-on fuzzy stuff sticking outta my head. So I slapped on my cowboy hat and got out the door. Later, catching a look at it in the mirror....I reversed it cuz it was on backwards. Such was the day. It was really cold but the sun had warmed it to 45*. Even the slight breeze was chilly. Half of the trail ride is in deep forest - no warming sunshine. I was doing pretty good but chill was slowly sinking in. I should have put long johns or tights under my jeans....and/or ....ski pants over my jeans. By the time I tried to swing my R leg over the back of the saddle to dismount....nothing moved. Ach, leaned way forward and pulled on my pant leg to get the far foot over... They have a terrific mounting platform and I got R foot upon it. Left foot is the close one and I had to move that foot with my hand too. Told R -who was holding my horse...I think I froze to the saddle. Didn't even try to walk it out. This is a too cold for my muscles problem and DH helped me down the steps and to the car. Ow. I probably got the therapeutic affect but sheeeeesh! Need to guess the temperature better. Pretty worn out the rest of today. Might have caught a chill and restarted the "cold" I had last weekend. Or....I'll wake up fine tomorrow. { I vote for that one!} I'm taking our preventative stuff again. Won't have to get up until I wake up tomorrow. Sleep is the best healer and I aim to get some!! So far, temp is near 15* now...11pm. Not real warm in here but I'm dressed in multiple layers. for Momo and Little Sister. The anniversary of loss can be quite potent with emotion. As my grief counselor keeps telling me....let it come and wade thru it. {easier said than done for me!} Prayers for both of you. NICE greens, Miki! {....and I had 0* last nite....grumble, envy, grumble} Nah, I couldn't take your heat/humidity in summer!! Becca Anne....that sounds like such a fun day with friend and crafts. I need to find someone who likes that sort of thing. DH...erm, not so much! Jeepers...Hope your Jeep holds on til you can get it looked at. Better carry a taxi number with you....and a tow place. $$ Our car needs a new transmission but if we don't climb mountains, it doesn't seem to get into the gear where the computer says is the problem. DH is working a second home-care client to build up $$ to fix it. We could do it now but....it would wipe out savings for anything ELSE that might go wrong. So...we're waiting a bit longer. Talked to my mom tonite. She's finally got her desk into her apartment. Heavy thing but she's pleased wtih it and the new chairs for her island. Says she feels more like home now. AND.... She's going to the Bahamas for Christmas. With my brother and niece, of course. Good for her! Just a few days but she's never been much of anywhere except Iowa and Colorado. And Maui once when we all lived there. Bro and niece have gone to the islands a few times. I DO hope these late season hurricanes are finished for this year tho! Such erosion beach damage in FL. I think I might TRY to get to sleep earlier tonite. If not until I do.... MtRider

While my computer is still a bit weird ...don't know if it's what we did or ...??? Anyone know how I might turn spell check back on? I'm rotten at recognizing spelling. I think I learned to read "whole word". Anyway, good news, I seem to be over last weekend's cold?...or "flu"? But spent energy going "in town" for grief counselor appt. I still tire easily but there are so many valid reasons for my fatigue, who knows when I'll get back to "my normal". This too, shall pass...eventually. Next problem [besides the dratted stuck-open window] is getting ready for winter. We've had the pond freeze and thaw multiple times. It's usually solid by now so ducks/geese have had extra pond time this year. New birds. Don't know they'll be stuck in duck house/yard all winter pretty soon here. Ducks continue to lay their bitty first eggs but we buy more too. Forgot how hard you have to smack the shell of a duck egg! But tasty with bright yolk!!! Anyway, it's giving us a false sense of lovely Fall....instead of Winter Cometh! WHERE did Oct go? I'm still in September! MtRider

And Miki.....no, I haven't seen that product. Mom used to make a sort of thing like that ...but we used the polimer crystals what swell up when soaked and use evaporation. That works in our arid climate but not where you have humidity as well. I've been using the Chilly Towels from Frogg Toggs. Also works on evaporation with a "hydrophillic" [water-loving] material. AND an ice pack sandwiched between 2 gel packs. This, however, might be a good idea on really hot days and in our car with not nearly enough A/C to keep me safe sometimes. MtRider Thanks...gonna look that up. PS....it's SO hard to get spouses to follow doctors orders. Hope yours will note how much better he feels and remain compliant!

Hello everyone. My computer has still been acting up so I seem to get here more sporatically. AND my spell check seeems to be turned off and I've NO idea how to get it back on. This is not good. I NEED spell check! Hmph. I also seem to be weathering thru a cold...or something. Yesterday I felt pretty bad but nothing dire. In addition to the (hopefully) dwindling fatigue problem. Sniffles and weary and cold/hot and .... After getting up at noon today....[ getting to sleep problems again] I didn't feel "sick". Later today, the instense weary and "sick" was back. So.....I hope I have it "on the run"???? I do keep sitting on the porch to get some sun...esp eyes. So...that's all.....and MtRider

I love looking at all the designs for poultry. The biggest issues are usually plenty of room and predators. I've never known why that weak stuff called "chicken wire" could ever be used. It would keep chickens in but it's way too weak to protect the chickens. BeccaAnne....what predators do you have to worry about in your location? Coons, coyote, dogs, cats, ermine/weasle family of blood suckers, possum, rat, bear? Mt lion? Bobcat [we lost 3 ducks to that critter this year!], hawks and others from the air, snakes, ....and the tunnel varmints too. Also might consider what bug, rodent, bird would help themselves to the chicken food. It's less of a loss but contamination?? If you start with that and then work towards easy handling of the birds and easy cleaning/egg access.....I think you'll come up with something safe, healthy, easy care. MtRider

Euphrasyne...... Glow In The Dark yarn????? Wow. What type of projects will come to mind from that! I don't knit/crochet much but...other projects. Praying for Mr. Miki Annarchy...lotta pumpkin. I haven't canned for years now. Not enough room to even be safe. DH had to help me finish the last time. But I should get going on dehydrating. ....whenever my MS Fatigue Issue decides to leave.... BeccaAnne....yeah, I was going to suggest dumping all those wonderful leaves into the future garden spot. Never have enough compost and mulch! Emerald Cat.... Quote: I'm hoping that my BP disorder isn't starting a swing toward depression. It wouldn't be abnormal this time of year. When that happens, it saps all of my energy and I just have too much to do right now. End Quote Yeah, I hate the seasonal swings. I used to get SAD....Seasonal Affective Disorder. But DH told me to take off the sunglasses [I wore allll the time outside ] and let sunlight naturally get to my eyes. Something about a gland....??? Well, it works. Don't know if it applies to anything else. I've been getting out to our deck daily if the sun shines. I haven't gotten much further since I've been back from 2nd Iowa trip this year. But I want that sunshine....but not if it's snowing. Hope you can find whatever helps your issue!!! Glad your mom can stock up in her living situation! Mine is trying to but doesn't get to stores as often now. Super Hero Socks....... Who knew? What a cutie. Ya better get over to Indy so you can have more time with that one, Jeepers! Good report on sales, Midnight. Yeah, the prices we all look for are still there. But takes a lot more work to find them. Then with gas price, that has to be factored in too. Better if the stores are relatively close together. LittleSister.....Lady, I wish I had a tenth of your energy. But I'll bet it's so very nice to sit back and see BIG progress! I hope my day for that satisfaction is coming........ MtRider

Whew....I was having trouble with my laptop. Like somebody poured molassas in the "gears". Even email was presenting strangely...and SLOW! This morning DH and I ran some programs and cleared stuff out. ...then I couldn't get on MrsS. Then....doing the same thing later tonite...it worked. Today we celebrate! For the first time in 5 months, we have a completely working bathroom sink. One of the big plasic washer-nuts from underneath broke. Bought another but ya cannot get it in place w/o taking everything apart. Decided to call "the experts" responsible for more complicated jobs here. But property managers B and J got C0vid and B took weeks to get over it. Then they repaired the driveway which was in severe need! DH and I had tried to repair sink ourselves but it kept taking more expertise than we thot we had. Just shut off cold and used hot for everything...for months. Eventually, DH bought the whole faucet assembly for the top....faucet/hot-cold handles. A few days ago, we tried to get the skinny metal pipes from the shut-off valve to the new sink assembly attached. *groan* I found out that with our tools and the addition of all of my dad's tools....we have about 100 wrenches. BUT....those original pipes now did not fit the distance between the shut-off valve and the faucet "screw-onto things". Faucet assembly was elevated 3/4" up from the sink surface. And not connecting on the hot side at all. Again we decided to let B&J handle it. Then I was clearing the area and spied a FLEXIBLE plumbing pipe taking water from the toilet tank to that shut-off valve. That and the kitchen one had been replaced by B within our 25 yrs here. Ah HA!!! All we need to finish is FLEXIBLE plumbing. DH went to the hardware store nearby and brought home two flex pipes yesterday. Couldn't figure out why one cost more than the other. { HINT...that's a red flag...sheeesh! } So this afternoon he worked on the project and couldn't get the pipe tightened. That's when I was down in basement looking in ALL our tool boxes. Found huge, burgler-conking wrenches...and itty-bitty wrenches. All the in-between wrenches too. So with smaller hands, I finally got underneath the sink [ with my head literally in the small bucket that was catching drips ] and got the hot water faucet connected to the HOT WATER. The last folks had this bathroom plumbing backwards. No wonder I can't tell right from left! So first time in decades, the hot faucet goes with hot water and cold faucet with cold water. THEN DH figured out WHY the price difference on the flexible water hoses. 2 different sizes and only one was correct. The size of the nut connecting to ....Well, the first one was correct and the second was not the right size. So back to the hardware store to exchange it. {DH is NOT into details....uh uh. Nope! Not! } I fit under the sink better. Dumped the small bucket of water and turned it upside down to rest my head on. [ the slow leak is thru the shut-off valve which we are NOT fixing! ] So I got the bottom nut tightened down to the shut-off valve...which then began to send the slow leak up the flex hose. I began attaching the other end way up to the faucet assemble. Larger nut and threads. Very tight quarters up there. And the drip water rose up that new flex hose and was dripping in my face again. Better my hands than DH's tho. But he finished off tightening in both locations. And we're done. Right handle pours cold and Left handle pours hot. Who KNEW? Owners will reimburse us for the parts. Mebbe the plumbing work too? Dunno. Have to wash my hair now....kinda got wet with drip water. AND I can FINALLY put away all the bathroom stuff that's been sitting anywhere I could stuff it....back under the sink and other places in that miniscule bathroom. We're short and we could not lay legs down straight from under sink. Room is not wide enough and B is a very long guy! He'll be so pleased he doesn't have to fit under there. LOL MtRider So glad laptop is working again!

Ach, Euphrasyne! I know that shock. I even know that when things haven't been right for years...[in my case, dementia had stolen my dad prematurely ] when the time actually come.... It. Is. A. Shock! When my mom called to tell me what we'd expected for months, I lost legs and SAT down abruptly. Don't understand how it's such a shock but it is! Spending time with baby is a good way to begin assimilating the news. Being distracted and falling down stairs....is not a good way. I understand the mental fog but please be attentive ....oww! MtRider ...prayers for you and family.

Enjoy... https://yewtu.be/watch?v=lg5wznn3IBE&t=7&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email MtRider ...totally useless and funny

The meat market is close to that but it's new...close to highway. Might be run by Amish but I didn't see any indication. But riding with my friend, we ALWAYS stop at the Lamoni Amish store.....driving up to Iowa and coming back to MO again. It is a grand store. Haven't eaten there yet tho. Bet their malts are good! [always have to use restrooms about that time tho!] I buy stuff like horehound candy [had slight sore throat] and such. Lots of things I'd love to buy. Their [glass] canned goods wouldn't be allowed on the plane coming home. MtRider

After being "in town" yesterday, and succumbed to a nap sitting up in my chair.... I got to bed a 2am. [ drat, thot I had that beat] Woke up 11am this morning. Needed 2 canes again. Eventually I improved tho. By evening, I drove truck down to put geese/ducks in duckhouse. They came right in. Then walked dog on road quite a ways. Legs working fine. DH got home as dog and I arrived back at the truck. So today was half really low functioning and half ...not bad! Strength after massive MS Fatigue is coming along. Slowly. Scheduled two horse rides...Sat and the next Friday....cuz they won't be open that Saturday. Need to hurry or I'll be in bed late again... MtRider

I just rode I-80 from about Des Moines to the Mississippi River. Half the state of Iowa. Twice...there and back. My goodness! The gas stops are full service...not just a restroom around back that you need a key for. All sorts of the 'goodies' they always carried. But full counters with cafeteria hot meals, fresh fruit, deserts. Places you can sit on bar stools to eat. ALL the variations of beverages especially coffees/teas/etc. There are still Tshirts and key rings with the states of U.S. Doo dads. I did buy my mom a coloring book...Christian theme. For Christmas! ...best meal traveling: Lomoni, Iowa. New meat market with a meat sandwich and sides addition right there at the meat counter. Very good! Likely locally sourced. MtRider ....I really don't get out much so it was all new to me.

My dear life-long friend who I stayed with and rode to Iowa with and returned with...... We had a LOT of prepping conversations!!! This topic was one of them. She was heavily leaning towards the freeze-dryer, mostly cuz of meat. Different types of jerky with a dehy. But not most meats. By the time I left, she was leaning towards getting a much larger dehydrator with controls to be able to dehy a lot of herbs that she's been studying/cultivating/foraging for a while now. And she's about worn her old dehy out! She was doing apples and veggies by the bushel while I was there. And they have a generator. As for us....freeze dryer prices are not even close to possible. I've used our dehydrator since the mid 80's. It's a good box one with the dial for low [herbs] medium and high. I need to use it more.....when I've got the energy. First thing I did when Covld hit China was to dehydrate loads of onions, bananas, and stuff we use. The most I'd think about would be a newer dehydrator, JIC ....and we don't have a generator so.... That's all I've got for opinion. MtRider .......

Whew.....some days are still pretty harsh. Fatigue vs Adrenaline. Trying to stabilize the adrenaline by not using it. I have no idea how long that will take. Some days I can barely sit up without feeling like passing out. Some days are better.... I rode finally this Saturday. Missed 4 wks due to Iowa trip and then Ranch folks were on vacation - probably taking L's son to college. I was wondering if I would make a whole hour ride...with how weak I've been. The ride was great. Didn't struggle. Weather perfect fall temps and sunny. I was kinda stuck in the saddle when I tried to swing R leg out of stirrup and over the horse to dismount. They have a great mounting/dismounting ramp so it's easy....but DH came up to help a bit. Walked around for a bit to loosen up the legs and then I was fine. However the Fresh Air Affect dropped me a few hours later. Ride was 1-2 but I HAD to go to bed for nap at 4:30pm. Woke at 7pm....hoping that I hadn't messed up my newly attained sleep schedule. I slept from midnight to 10:30 this morning. Well, alrighty then! Rest and sleep cures this ... eventually. I still have hardly even been outside on the porch other than riding. Just haven't got it back yet. Today we rained lightly several times. Then it came down WHITE.....First Snow. Nothing stuck. But we also need moisture by now. My Missouri friend/dh had a wildfire evac suddenly ....in their tiny town. A VERY nearby field of picked corn caught fire with strong wind. They're preppers and had their BOBs (which we took on our trip to IA) ....2 new puppies .....two lovely cats (who I got to love on during my visit).....meds, stuff..... all into their two vehicles. Smoke all over. They helped cage up 7 cats and one small dog for their neighbor [who's dh was fighting the fire]. BUT they got the fire controlled before they actually had to leave their driveways. She called me cuz that was her first Fire Evac experience....tho she's had other types. None are any fun but bearable if you're prepared. ....and with the SUPER UPHEAVAL our family has been in for the past year and half....good grief! I don't even know where my Fire Evac LIST would be right now. Have had a nicely wet summer but yes, now we're dry too. I do have a LOT of stuff in the back of my truck. Camping and extra from Mom's that hasn't been moved into house yet. Throw in the Most Important Stuff Bag [paperwork, I.D. etc] plus a few of the bags-by-topic near the door [ In Town, Horse Riding, Medical] And BOB #1, 2 and 3.... Coats, footwear by the door. Dog harness, etc. by the door. Undies, shirts, jeans, shorts if there was time. Some extra already within the previous items. .................................... ....................................... Oh blast! I JUST realized that our primary Bug Out Location IS MY PARENT'S HOUSE! Since we have a buyer [two, actually] ...it really isn't OUR house anymore. Haven't closed YET but still..... aauuuuuuuwwwwwwwwwwhhhhh! is there no end to this LOSS topic once it starts? No Christmas there this year.....or Thanksgiving but that's less painful for me than Christmas. OW! I'm tired of loss and grieving...... but .... I don't get a choice. Stuff like this keeps hitting me unexpectedly at odd times. MtRider

Thanks, Little Sister. It has been highly unusual for the past year and a half. I can't even guess when I might feel like I'm back to MY "normal". The past 3 days have been slightly better than previous to that. But...I still barely get out to the porch to sit in sunshine for a while. I haven't been down the stairs in more than a week. I still worry about losing the muscle strength....but can't do much about that til the MS FATIGUE backs off a bit more. I'd be afraid I wouldn't make it back up the stairs. So I read on laptop, play concentration games, research a bit. Still passing some time watching NCIS-LA. A bit gross with shooting and bodies but I avert my eyes. NOT into "gruesome". Fortunately for both of us, DH cooks. He's making some shortcake for the strawberries. I'm losing the weight I gained on the reunion trip. It's a custom to have ice cream at the old Dairy Sweet of our childhood. [that's my story and I'm sticking with it! ] Shortcake and strawberries might be an exception..... MtRider

Saw a bit more ease today. Still spent the day laying down but I was less miserable. Honestly, I have no idea what to expect this time. I've never had to push as hard as the past year [and a half] .....and I've never taken the steroids before this past Feb/Aug/Oct. Guess I'm in an experiment? My sleep schedule is MUCH better. Getting to bed by midnight or earlier. Getting up whenever I wake up...11am.......or 9:30am today cuz the phone rang. I feel like going to bed now....not even 9PM yet. Good thing i don't have to be anywhere at any point now. Possum ...or any varmint.... Raccoons are so cute but kill poultry and spread rabies. Would rather shoo them away and just let it be. Unfortunately, the dumb things insist on non-allowable behaviors and.... Ya do what ya gotta do. Gotta protect your own. I think I'm giving up and going to bed early. Can't see thru haze in my eyes. Just tired. MtRider

...... Me. Today. I've had increasing fatigue and tremors as the 6 day round of steroids tapered off. I was expecting some but WHAMO.... I wasn't expecting that. I got a lot of sleep last nite.... midnight to 11am. Ate breakfast. Read some on the laptop. Then went back to bed....to read, I thot. Nope. I slept again from 1pm to 5:30pm. Rats! Not only that...my walking is very unsteady. I was at the stove after eating a bit of mac& cheese. Suddenly my legs buckled as I was talking to DH at the doorway. Yes, I'm thankful daily for all my gymnastic and mostly the many years of martial arts training. I simply "lost cohesion" - by which I mean all muscles relaxed/went limp. It's not called a "Meltdown" for nothing. Gently "melted" straight down to the floor. Big wave of DIZZY so I got my head down too! Eventually crawled to the living room chair and managed to crawl up on it. Here I am....but still feeling dizzy and weak. It's nothing serious. Nothing new. It's MS Fatigue. I'd hoped for a bit more residual from the steroids... Nope. Likely I'm only going to solve this with a lot of sleep....and rest. Drat! I'd been able to keep upthe muscles strength I'd developed while clearing mom's house. Don't want to lose that but....at this point, I might not have any choice. I didn't even get the horse ride today cuz the ranch was closed for this week. 3rd wk w/o riding.....that's not helping either. But I truly may not have been able to complete the ride. Well.....not like I haven't been thru this before. I did everything I could to avoid this but..... ...not anything more I can think to do. This is the time for the MS Fall Fatigue Thing too....so that may be part of it. Just have to wait it out. MtRider .....

Welcome EmeraldCat! I'm not getting much done since returning from the midwest. Another round of steroids for MS helped but when the daily pill amount tapers down, my hand tremors and HOT-COLD returns. I woke up in a cold sweat this morning...and was trying to return for more sleep. I'm getting fairly good sleep at reasonable hours right now. Hope to keep that up. So....I just have to wait out this period. Not like I didn't know it would happen when I chose to go back for this reunion. Was it worth it.....yes. It was. A bright spot in the sadness and weariness of the past year and half. MtRider

Thanks! It was a lot of travel by plane and then by car ...then home via plane again. I've been trying to keep my sleep schedule better. Slept very well on trip....without Unisom. But....we'll see if I can keep that in place. Care to place any bets, Jeepers? Know you have same problem. Hmph. I'm on another round of steroids....for the anticipated exacerbation of MS. It helps and I've had to take 3 rounds of it so far this year. Blech. Don't like pharma meds but....it does help. MtRider ...so does resting and sleeping so.....