WHATCHA DOING TODAY?

[Mt_Rider]

Spent lotsa energy trying to clear ONE path....up to goat house.....joined with the path out of our back door. (which is our emergency exit) All other paths are a MESS! We'd worked SO hard to shovel/sweep/clear all the paths on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday....then Thurs. nite we got another inch and a half to two inches again. Not melting. Shoveled, scraped, scoured with broom...X2. Then in the end, got sand/grit and threw shovelful after shovelful across the ice that was underneath that snow. NOW we can safely walk to the goats.

 

 

.....still have horse pen and duck yard to create safe access.....AGAIN.

 

 

Other than that, I had to climb up on a ladder to finally remove the ICE from our Internet receiver dish. The ice was arcing across all the wire connections... I smelled that "electrical hot" odor when I tried plugging in my router this afternoon.

 

I sniffed out where it smelled and unplugged router again. Then turned on fans and opened doors and windows to air the smell out. [hey, hey! The ceiling fan does not wobble as it used to.....but I kept a wary eye on it anyway! ] Anyway, sniffed around again and the smell was gone so....didn't think the house would be burning down. I'd had a chance to remove the ice after a day of sunshine. It worked tonite when DH plugged it in. He has a MUCH BETTER NOSE for these things. Me....I can barely breathe, let alone smell. But THAT smell I'm fairly good at. [tho the smell of permanent Magic Marker smells the same as "electrical hot" to me.] I can also smell HOT CAST IRON....as in: "dang, forgot the pan I put on stove to dry after washing....AGAIN."

 

 

We have up to THREE FOOT icicles hanging from two sides of our cabin roof. Gutters do not really work in CO. Too much solar melt during day, yet the day is actually cold and the nights are still SUB-ZERO FRIGID! This wide range of temps every 24 hrs gives us spectacular icicles.....and gutters full of ice-jams and overflowing....sagging.. Those ice spears can be deadly LITERALLY if they let loose on a sunny day and fall on someone. Thick enough to knock you out or impale you from those heights. So I try to keep them knocked down [then sweep shards off the walking areas] but I cannot come close to reaching them on the 2-story part of the cabin. I've got a hillside that gives me access to half of the other side. We try to stay out from under them.....(and ceiling fans...lol)

 

Note: During icicle removal, one does not blam into them with a broom or stick without duly taking aim so ice chunks fly AWAY FROM YOUR WINDOWS! .....so far, so good.....

 

These icicles are the reason our Internet dish is getting ice covered, btw.

 

 

MtRider ....this house is HIGH MAINTENANCE....even more than me!

Edited February 6, 2016 by Mt_Rider

[The WE2's]

Just doing wifey stuff :-) You know; laundry, dishes etc. It's cold, blistering wind and was blowing some bits of sleet/snow...so I haven't even opened the front door to check the mail! Did go out and dump some kibbles in Ugly's dish though. He's a independent cuss. Sometimes he's around and sometimes he's not, so we just wait until he's here :-) Did mix up another bottle of liquid dish detergent. I think I probably have enough to make one more bottle before I have to mix up the big batch :-) Also have enough laundry sauce to last a bit, so I'll just wait and maybe have a "soap making" day! Had a superbowl party with about a dozen of our friends, and it was wonderful. Such good food. All of us ladies enjoy cooking for all the fella's and sharing recipes etc. Last night was simply a table of finger foods and when we were stuffed, had fresh popcorn later in the evening. I know I'll be packing the pounds for it but I also know how to take it off :-) Guess I'd better go fix up Abby-girl's lunch and see if I can find some carrots and olives to nibble on :-(

[Mt_Rider]

Wow...harsh day for me. Slept poorly yesterday due to sinus HEADACHE during the night. Last nite was good sleep from 2-11:30am. Wish we could be on a more normal schedule. Don't htink I do well on this. Muscles have been quivering and shaking since I got up. Had to hurry to get Brunch and DH's lunch packed. Hurry when muscles and brain are in the "OFF" position is usually a disaster. But I packed away container of last nite's pasta-tomato-ham-cheese hotdish. Cooked scrambled eggs/onions/ham/cheese and put into tortillas for our Brunch. Then DH ran off to work. Blech....not feeling well in an MS-sort of way. This too shall pass.

 

MtRider

[dogmom4]

Mt Rider....

[Mt_Rider]

Thanks, dogmom. Thot I wasn't going to be able to do feeding tonite. So dead tired....blackout. But I did. By the time I came in, the pain of a stuck shoulder was intense and making me cranky and sore alllll over. Took some homeopathic drops and it's finally easing off. Could barely get out of my boots, snowsuit, etc. Better now.

 

Just talked to DD2.....and that makes life better tooooo!

 

MtRider ....taking it E__Z!

[Momo]

Unexpected snow day today. They predicted a light dusting and it's been snowing for 4 hours!

 

I am trying to do a bunch of housework jobs that I have been putting off. I am also cooking a nice aromatic pork roast. DH is glad!

[The WE2's]

Finishing up laundry. Just pittled around and didn't get it all done on Mon & Tues :-) It's sunny but still very chilly so it's a sweat pants and sweat shirt day for me around here. We don't turn the thermostat up, we put on more clothes...unless my nose gets too cold, then I'll bump it up for an hour or so, then lower it back down when the house can gain and hold the heat again. We do keep a little cube heater in the bathroom though. Those seats can get awefully chilly and who wants to step out of a nice warm shower into a cold room! :-) We'll be delivering Valentine flowers again this year and hopefully the weather will settle down for a couple of days. People absolutely don't realize what a pain it is when they order arrangements that have balloons...and weather only makes it worse if it's windy etc. :-( We have to clothespin the strings together and then put a large plastic bag over the whole arrangement...and then get it into the backseat of the car :-( Then it's reverse when we deliver them. MrWE2 has to carry them to the door, knock and when they answer he has to remove the plastic cover, unclip the strings on the balloons, and then "hopefully" get them into the front door and into their hands. Pulled a jar of my canned drumsticks off the shelf, put some dirty rice mixture into my rice steamer and put some peruvian beans into my small pressure cooker (these make excellent refried beans by the way...they're very soft when cooked) and ended up with two pints. We'll eat one tonight and the other jar I'll put in the frig for another meal. They're not pressure canned so into the frig they have to go :-) Took the trash bag to our back dumpster since tomorrow is pick up day. When MrWE2's working I usually do that chore for him :-)

[Annarchy]

Ugh!

 

Customer came over with a sickness. We got it. Doc put us on heavy antibiotics... 850 mg for 10 days.

 

Friend want me to cut duck wings, so they won't fly out of his yard. Gotta do research to see how short to do it. (Mt_Rider?)

 

Still feeling horrible.... Fever, hard to breathe and sore from coughing, everything hurts, no energy.... Geez, can't people stay home when they are sick? I didn't want or need this... too much to do....

[Jeepers]

(((((((Annarchy)))))))

Gees, you guys just got over the 'crud'. Some people think they are being cute to show how brave they are going out and about while they are sick. Idiots.

[The WE2's]

Agreeing with both of you's! People need to stay home when they're sick, especially if they're running a fever! MrWE2 came into contact with a "sharer" but we got on it quicker than a duck on a junebug, so he was only down one day. I went on "preventive care" immediately so I didn't catch whatever it was. We're figuring that he came into contact with it from someone I wasn't exposed to ...hence...somebody where he is working. Hotel rooms contain all kinds of wicked stuff...ugh :-( He's been doing a lot of work on a big hotel in our area. My sis was down with it also, but we hadn't been around her for over a month or so. At my uncle's funeral we would have both been exposed. Anyway...he was up and at it the next day but did have to use Zicam cough drops to curb the aweful cough, and the mucus relief for an expectorant.

[Mt_Rider]

Ugh!

 

Customer came over with a sickness. We got it. Doc put us on heavy antibiotics... 850 mg for 10 days.

 

Friend want me to cut duck wings, so they won't fly out of his yard. Gotta do research to see how short to do it. (Mt_Rider?)

 

Still feeling horrible.... Fever, hard to breathe and sore from coughing, everything hurts, no energy.... Geez, can't people stay home when they are sick? I didn't want or need this... too much to do....

 

 

Poor Annarchy+dh! My Grson1 is home with a fever that topped 103...then came down to 99. VERY sore throat but no white patches for strep. DD2 was coughing and beginning to ache. Something is 'going around' at the grkids school.

 

About ducks....which breed of domestic ducks, Annarchy? Cuz a lot of domestic breeds are TOO HEAVY to fly....or at least very far. They just don't get the lift. I've only seen mine do "hang gliding"....start from top of duckhouse hill and glide down to pond [on one side] or driveway [other side]. I've never clipped any of them....being in the wild wild West....we want them to get away from predators. They RARELY even do the hang-gliding.

 

I've had mostly the slim body egg-producers like Khaki Campbells/Indian Runners. They are the lightest and they've never been able to lift off and circle the pond like all the wild breeds can. Other breeds [blue Swedish, Pekin, etc,] are all heavier and certainly can't. We had the huge Muscovy ducks a long time ago. The females were supposed to be able to go sit in a tree when danger threatened [males way too heavy] but male or female were all eaten by ground-hugging predators. Mebbe we were supposed to teach them to fly?

 

[by "too heavy" I mean proportions. Of course eagles can fly and they are SOOOO huge! But domestic breeding develops birds for different purposes of humankind. Takes away most of their aerodynamics.]

 

I've never seen any of ours get near to lift-off from the pond either. When frightened, they do a sort of RUN across the surface of the water with feet and wings windmilling to beat the band! Mouth going too! So......unless the enclosure has a tall hillock for launching...doubt there is a need.

 

 

MtRider :duck 1:

Edited February 10, 2016 by Mt_Rider

[Annarchy]

Thanks for the duck info, Mt_Rider. They have a 6 foot brick wall around their yard and don't want the ducks flying away. I am pretty sure they are domestic. 2 white and one blackish.

 

Thank you all for the well wishes. Still trying to recover, major headache all day, waves of dizziness. At least, I am breathing better, but my chest is still sore from coughing too much.

[The WE2's]

Put together a red velvet cake for "our" Valentine sweet and then put some leftovers in my pressure cooker and got not only tonight's roast beef stew but enough to freeze for two more meals. Then took a ride in Miss B with MrWE2 to jump start his truck ... he left the lights on and walked home from work. Glad it's only 13 blocks or so, but still COLD to be out in it :-( He did have our emergency tote in the back seat but it wasn't that far so he footed it. Did I scold him? Only for not using the hotel's telephone to call me (he let his cell phone battery go down) so I could come get him started instead of him walking!

[Mt_Rider]

Glad y'all are both home safe....since MO is having winter these past few days.

 

MtRider

[The WE2's]

Only delivered flowers for half a day, and then they called and said they just didn't have enough orders and were sending delivery drivers home. Said this year it seemed like people were buying smaller arrangements, mostly for their children and just picking them up themselves. When we first started we delivered from 8am to 5pm for two days for Valentine's Day, and the same for Mother's Day and Easter. So...we found something to keep us busy (as usual) First we pulled my "bucket list" (stuff I wanted to buy and put in small square buckets) and made a trip to %Tree, WM and Aldi's. Found handwarmers (2 in a pack) at Menards for 89 centrs so bought several to add to the ones we already had. Also added some more Peroxide, Alcohol, Calamine lotion, Milk of Magnesia, Nitrile gloves, large hand towels, plastic forks & spoons, 65 cent TP (4 packs) to add to our collection, Maple syrup, honey, garden gloves, cotton work gloves, a pair of garden nippers, and some catfish nuggest that were on sale at Sav-A-Lot so we had catfish for supper. Then pittled around at the Homestead house. We'll probably go over there again tomorrow and do some more work. The weather is supposed to be a bit nicer tomorrow and Abby-girl will enjoy a romp in her big yard Enjoyed an evening with several friends last night and danced and danced and danced! It was a fundraiser and they had a very good band (as usual) that plays there regular. We're a bit disappointed in our Abby-girl though. This past month or so she's started getting into things while we're gone. Nothing major but highly unusual for her. She turned 4 in December, and has never gotten into anything. Dragging things off our end tables and chewing them up (coasters etc.) Can't figure this out, but very disappointed. We're now draping tableclothes over our end tables and blocking off our bedroom. Then she got into my crochet bucket and chewed up a ball of yarn :-( So we're now ignoring her when we first come in the door, and if she's gotten into anything we accuse her...and she hides in her crate. If she's been a good girl, then we acknowledge her AFTER she goes outside to do her duties. Just can't figure this out :-( The hotel owner was thrilled with the work MrWE2 had done on the historic hotel. Said the room he had done hadn;t looked that good since he'd owned it. Hopefully there will be a couple more weeks of work and then he'll be on to other promised work projects.

[The WE2's]

Surprise-surprise! We got about an inch of snow this morning! It got warm enough to melt alot of it off, but there's still enough hanging around for Abby-girl to get her feet wet/muddy when she goes outside :-( Just about to finish up my last canner full. Had some sirloin chuck's that I chopped up and canned up 16 quarts of vegetable beef soup, and 5 quarts of northern beans (to fill the 3rd canner). It's so nice to have homemade soup or beans at our fingertips instead of buying those little cans at the store :-)

[The WE2's]

Still cold outside. MrWE2 went to start Miss B (somebody interested in buying it) and she wouldn't stay running! Cranks just fine, then after a few seconds just shuts down. Fuel pump full of moisture? Don't know...he'll have to take a looky when it's warmer, so we've taken it off the market. Got my canning jar lids all removed, washed and hanging to dry, the jars washed with warm soapy water, dried and labeled and in their storage box. Now am waiting for some rice to get done 'cause I'ma gonna make some rice pudding..."my way"! LOL Abby-girl's snuggled and taking her morning nappy-poo. She does this when I'm cleaning, cooking or something that she's not interested in

Edited February 16, 2016 by The WE2's

[Jeepers]

How stinkin' cute!

[Mt_Rider]

Koa LOVES watching "The Cooking Channel". Whenever either of us is in the kitchen, Koa is right there!

 

 

I'm hoping I'm not going to get Full-On sick today. Last nite I felt a bit of burning in nose...like the sniffles coming on. This morning I had the scratchy eyes and just kinda "off". So I got up and gulped down the 'C's and 'Immuneplex' boosters that we use to cut off whatever is even THINKING of plaguing us. DH and I don't really get 'microbe' type sick .....mebbe once in 3-4 yrs some bug will get us. And he's around sick people a lot. This system works for us.

 

So....had a bit of breakfast, took the immune stuff, and went back to bed. Last nite I was asleep "early" by 1:30 am ...and woke at 8:30am with the threat of illness. So going back to sleep...wow, I slept till 1pm. DH got up and did chores and he went back for a nap too. He doesn't want to catch anything either. Later I tried eating a grilled ham/cheese sandwich but only ate half...and Koa got the last 2 bites of that. Made me feel nauseous. Okaaay.....not into greasy food today then.

 

Windy. The sun comes out and then goes under the clouds. Not as nice as it has been. Gonna have to start pellet stove pretty soon.

 

MtRider

Edited February 15, 2016 by Mt_Rider
must be sick...sentences scrambled

[The WE2's]

Finished using the dremel on Abby-girl's toenails. She was really good tonight while we did them for some reason. We did change the position I hold her so MrWE2 can hold her feet and sand off the nails. With her foot behind her she seems to be sort of "disabled" and it was a lot easier. We did the front as usual but will do them the same way we did the back feet, next time :-) Of course she gets her treats after each foot! It's a job we all are reluctant to do :-( The vet only clips them and charges $5 a foot. It only took ONCE for the clip to get too close and bleed and we were done (even though the vet showed us how to do it) from that point on. Now it's the dremel tool for us. The fried potatoes and northern beans and cornbread were wonderful! We just put the 'taters in the bottom of our bowl and then pour the beans on top of them. Then...MrWE2 crumbles his cornbread into his beans and I "sop" mine :-) Then we both enjoyed the rice pudding I conjured up...yummy!

[Mt_Rider]

MS has my nervous system on OVERLOAD today....while I was trying to fix Brunch&Lunch, I felt like my brain was and hands trembling. Aaaugh. However, the whatever 'bug' is on the run. I'm feeling nearly normal after being "off" yesterday. Thankful for C's and herbal immune stimulants.

 

Still not a ball of fire today but I'll be doing nite feeding.

 

MtRider

[The WE2's]

For those of you who can get youtube, and have the server that will allow you to watch for a LONG time...you just might enjoy the multi-episode series that I've been watching. It's pretty chilling when you line it up with what's going on in our world today. The Great Depression Episode 1 (and then there's at least 5 that I can see.)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O5E2CPorEg

Edited February 16, 2016 by The WE2's

[The WE2's]

Got the bath linens etc., in the washer and about to put them into the dryer...then laundry's done til next week! Fixed up another batch of my laundry "sauce" and it's upside down waiting until about 4pm, and then I'll turn it rightwide up and off to the laundry room it will go to settle. Still have to mix up a batch of kitchen dish liquid though but that won't take long. I still have enough of the "mother" to fix another bottle full. Also mixed up a pitcher full of our "morning smoothie". I start with some vegetable juice (this batch was the banana-strawberry) and then I add the wheatgrass, two granola bars of whatever's handy, several peeled oranges, some frozen fruits (from packages...this time banana, strawberry & blueberry) then some ground flax, some celery seeds and can't remember what else I may have dumped in :-) Anyway...I put it all in the Vita-Mix and we end up with a pretty tastey and healthy morning drink to go with our breakfast. Outside we have a heavy mist going on so not sure what that's going to do if the temps drop before it stops. Got some hamburger thawing for supper. I'm thinking we'll have speghetti. Haven't fixed that for quite awhile and this is the kind of weather we enjoy it.

Edited February 16, 2016 by The WE2's

[The WE2's]

Laid out a package of my vacuum sealed/frozen meatballs and planning to do some noodles alfredo to go with them...and a veggie of some sort. I've pretty much been taking my time today. Ran the vacuum and then got my broom after the kitchen & bathroom The weather outside is absolutely beautiful, but the melting snow has made the back yard a total disaster :-( It's so much worse because it's small and Abby-girl "pushes off" when she's trying to romp, and at 85# she makes some big dents in the mud. Looks like the weather is to be spring-like for the next few days so maybe it will dry some things out IF we don't get any more rain. I think they are calling for some in next few days though.

[Annarchy]

Spent the day on the road. Traffic was not too congested and construction stopped traffic only once.

 

Got here and MIL had the Pope's visit on TV.

 

Today, we have a Chamber of Commerce, Woman's Department, Membership Coffee. She made finger sandwiches and I made little ham rolls spread with green chili and cream cheese.

 

Time to get ready, I have been designated the driver for a few of the Ladies.