Sudokuaholics Anonymous 11

Be rich in admiration and free from envy, rejoice in the good of others, love with such generosity of heart that your love is still a dear possession in absence or unkindness: these are true gifts. (Robert Louis Stevenson)

Heidi, I know you did not laugh (and I bet he did not pay for the repairman) but I did. Pleased you are back with us.
We had a lovely day yesterday. A three hour train ride to a coastal village. Almost down near Suzy. It would have been better if Hubby had told me earlier in the morning what he was thinking of doing as it was a rush to get ready and then we watched the first train leave the station and had to wait an hour for the next train.

Heidi, sorry I laughed. If it had been my hubby I might have flattened him. Or tried anyway.

The sky is very noisy, but no rain yet. At least it warned me to get the clothes off the line.

Eaa is posting some amazing, and horrifying, photos of the fires in Tasmania. Fires near me shows so many diamonds on the map, you can hardly see it on the map.

I worry so much about the wildlife trapped in those fires! If they do manage to survive the fire itself, their food is gone.

I needed to change avatar, since we're having a nice, and hopefully extended, warm spell. The snow should all be melted in a couple days.... and by then, the highs are supposed to be in the low 60's!!!!

Just a quick hello! Darling hubby througjtfully shared his upper respiratory + infection. He's on the second round of antibiotic, and I'm on the first. Sneezing, hacking cough, runny nose, sinus pressure, huge headache, can't sleep, can't get warm. etc. Heading to bed & hoping for some sleep.

Sending healing energy, , prayers, positive thoughts, and {{{{{HUGS}}}}} for all!

Feel better soon Julie

I'm very concerned right now. My youngest rescue collie, Timmy, just had an epileptic setzure. I think it's the second one in 24 hours, tho' I didn't witness the first. . I lost a previous rescue collie, Lucky, who I believe to be closely related to Timmy, to epilepsy. Lucky had a few smallish seizures, and before we could determine the correct dosage of epilepsy meds to put him on, went into a 14 hour straight bout of gran mal seizures. It may have lasted longer, but that's when the Vet could get here, and he was brain dead long before. I have a bad feeling about this.

Today's high is supposed to hit 65˚F!!!! It's already 63˚F / 17˚C!!! The snow might FINALLY melt here!
This weather is even more insane than usual.

The first calf of the season (a heifer) was born yesterday.... before we got the cows into the calving pasture. So IH sorted the pair into a pasture by themselves.... NOT a good idea. Today we sorted the cows due to calve into the front (calving) pasture, and put the replacement heifers and the summer born calves into a back pasture. Well, the cow with the newborn tore down a fence to get back with the herd (cattle ARE herd animals and don't like being separated) leaving her calf back in the woods by itself, and leaving a hole in the fence where the heifers and weanlings escaped. So while IH and his helper Jason (whose back is as bad as mine) went in search of the missing calf, I rounded up all the escapees and penned them up again. Making it more interesting was the patches of knee deep MUD I had to wade through I'm resting the back for a bit before putting out hay for the heifers and weanlings. (There are 7 replacement heifers I'm keeping, and 13 weanlings we're getting ready to sell.) At least the cows and the newborn are now in a pasture that is temporarily free of mud, and has thick grass, since it's been unused for 4-5 months.
And there are still 2 foot deep snowdrifts scattered around!

Heidi, I do hope that your dog will be OK. It is not easy being a farmer with your weather. And IH is not making things easier for you. I hope that you did not hurt your back wading through that mud.
We had two storm cells go through last night. A lot of rain but it will be hot and sunny today and HUMID! Sharon would have been 48 today. How we miss her.

Happy Birthday, Sharon. Rest in peace.

Hugs June.

Happy Heavenly Birthday to Sharon! {{{HUGS}}} to you and all of the family, June!

Heidi, mystery solved now! I got your text about no internet and need for repairman, but did not recognize your phone number. You did not put your name, so I thought it was a 'wrong number' kind of call. So sorry I did not know it was you, and did not let everyone know you were OK. I do not have your number in my cell phone, therefore it did not tell me who you were. BAD TRICIA.

I did not laugh, I know how I would feel if I were without internet for 2 days and thought you would feel the same. Agree with Suzy, I would have waged war on any one who messed with my computer and turned off power. So glad you are back with us now.

We are having nice warm days, this is day three of temps getting warmer each day. I had windows opened yesterday and again today. Yesterday, Jan 30, I went shopping in a long sleeve tee, no jacket and did not get a bit cool even. almost needed AC in the car when it was in the sun. Sun had me wanting to dig in the dirt, so I stopped by the big box store, they had some sad looking pansies, had to pick and choose from the $2 each 6 packs to find any with blooms and buds. I bought 3 packs of bright school bus yellow, filled a medium and small container with those. Bought 2 of nice lavender Violas, the bit smaller than pansies, and used those to fill in bare spots in 3 different containers of mixed color Pansies, or pansies Kale, dusty miller mixed pots. then the one with most blooms, in mahogany and a dark magenta color, hard to describe, but very lovely. They were large healthy plants in a hanging pot. Over crowded in that so I took them out and put into a larger container. Lots of blooms now in the garden, and I got my 'dig in the dirt' fix.

June, what a nice day trip for you and hubby. Sorry it was a bit rushed getting ready, but it seems it was worth it.

I have been seeing the fire photos on the other site, they were horrific, and came so close to the homestead. It seems so many helped to save that place, such bravery and hard work. It was scary just seeing the photos.

Julie, there seems to be a lot of that sinus infection thing going around. I do hope both you and hubby get better soon. If you are not almost well when you finish your antibiotics, do contact doc for more, before it flares big time again, please? It is taking 2 rounds for several I know who have had that.

My sister Edna, and her grandson Lucas both have it, Tanya started with that, but developed walking pneumonia, myco plasma infection. She had been helping my sis care for the 2 year old grandson, Vincent, while his Mom is recovering from knee surgery. She got an infection in the knee, reason she was having so much pain, and unable to care for her family. Doc on Friday said it now is healing properly, but keep pain meds in her system. That means she still cannot manage family duties alone, I think Tanya will be going back out Monday after doing lunches here. She has missed lunch duty for almost 2 weeks.

Heidi, so sorry about y

Heidi, so sorry about your collie, Timmy. I hope you can get him on the correct medication to control the seizures. I know you will do what is best for him.

Thinking of you today, June, as yet another sad anniversary comes along. Hugs, dear.

OK, I need to finish my breakfast and get to cleaning my oven. Yesterday I have an uncontrollable yearning for a pizza, bought a small frozen one at grocery. Heated oven, un-packaged the pizza to put in oven, and in doing do, burned by finger nicely. that caused me to turn loose of the pizza, which landed jelly side down on the bottom of oven and oven door. Even though I got it up as quickly as possible, all the extra cheese I had added melted all over the oven. I scraped out all I could while oven was warm, back screaming at me the while, then just closed the door and walked away. this morning I have sprayed it with cleaner, hoping that will loosen some of it. need to try cleaning it now, but if back even squeaks at me, I will leave it till either Tanya or my house cleaner can get it. Guess I was not meant to have pizza??

Hugs to each of you, with extras.

True story or Fiction - It's a nice story...

Faith is not about everything turning out ok; it's about being ok no matter how things turn out.

Our house was directly across the street from the clinic entrance of johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore. We lived downstairs and rented the upstairs rooms to out-patients at the clinic.

One summer evening as i was fixing supper, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to see a truly awful looking man. 'Why, he's hardly taller than my 8-year-old,' i thought as i stared at the stooped, shriveled body. But the appalling thing was his face, lopsided from swelling, red and raw.

Yet his voice was pleasant as he said, 'good evening. I've come to see if you've a room for just one night. I came for a treatment this morning from the eastern shore, and there's no bus 'til morning.'

he told me he'd been hunting for a room since noon but with no success, no one seemed to have a room. 'I guess it's my face .... I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says with a few more treatments...'

for a moment i hesitated, but his next words convinced me: 'i could sleep in this rocking chair on the porch. My bus leaves early in the morning.'

I told him we would find him a bed, but to rest on the porch... I went inside and finished getting supper. When we were ready, I asked the old man if he would join us. 'No, thank you. I have plenty.' and he held up a brown paper bag.

When i had finished the dishes, I went out on the porch to talk with him a few minutes. It didn't take a long time to see that this old man had an oversized heart crowded into that tiny body. He told me he fished for a living to support his daughter, her 5 children, and her husband, who was hopelessly crippled from a back injury.

He didn't tell it by way of complaint; in fact, every other sentence was preface with a thanks to god for a blessing. He was grateful that no pain accompanied his disease, which was apparently a form of skin cancer. He thanked god for giving him the strength to keep going... At bedtime, we put a camp cot in the children's room for him. When i got up in the morning, the bed linens were neatly folded and the little man was out on the porch.

He refused breakfast, but just before he left for his bus, haltingly, as if asking a great favor, he said, 'Could I please come back and stay the next time I have a treatment? I won't put you out a bit. I can sleep fine in a chair.' he paused a moment and then added, 'your children made me feel at home. Grownups are bothered by my face, but children don't seem to mind.'

I told him he was welcome to come again.

And, on his next trip, he arrived a little after 7 in the morning. As a gift, he brought a big fish and a quart of the largest oysters I had ever seen! He said he had shucked them that morning before he left so that they'd be nice and fresh. I knew his bus left at 4:00 a.m. and i wondered what time he had to get up in order to do this for us.

In the years he came to stay overnight with us, there was never a time that he did not bring us fish or oysters or vegetables from his garden. Other times we received packages in the mail, always by special delivery; fish and oysters packed in a box of fresh young spinach or kale, every leaf carefully washed. Knowing that he must walk 3 miles to mail these, and knowing how little money he had made the gifts doubly precious.

When I received these little remembrances, I often thought of a comment our next-door neighbor made after he left that first morning. 'Did you keep that awful looking man last night? I turned him away! You can lose roomers by putting up such people!'

Maybe we did lose roomers once or twice. But, oh!, if only they could have known him, perhaps their illnesses would have been easier to bear. I know our family always will be grateful to have known him; from him we learned what it was to accept the bad without complaint and the good with gratitude to god.

Recently while visiting a friend, who has a greenhouse, as she showed me her flowers, we came to the most beautiful one of all, a golden chrysanthemum, bursting with blooms. But to my great surprise, it was growing in an old dented, rusty bucket. I thought to myself, 'if this were my plant, I’d put it in the loveliest container I had!'

My friend changed my mind. 'I ran short of flower pots,' she explained, 'and knowing how beautiful this one would be, I thought it wouldn't mind starting out in this old pail. It's just for a little while, till I can put it out in the garden.'

She must have wondered why i laughed so delightedly, but i was imagining just such a scene in heaven.

'Here’s an especially beautiful one,' god might have said when he came to the soul of the sweet old fisherman. 'He won't mind starting in this small body.'

All this happened long ago - and now, in god's garden, how tall this lovely soul must stand. The lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the lord looks at the heart.' (1 Samuel 16:7b)

Friends are very special. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear and they share a word of praise.

'I believe in the sun even if it isn't shining. I believe in love even if I am alone. I believe in god even when he is silent.'

That was truly beautiful, DOrA.

Thinking of all of you and sending the usual good wishes. Hoping for a better night's sleep tonight with less coughing/hacking and more sleep. Stay well, Everyone!

DorA, those are the kinds of stories I hope are true, even when I doubt them.

Feel better Julie.

Heidi, hoping your back is okay after your mud adventure.

Just tagged 3 new bull calves! What a great start to the calving season!!!!! My back was NOT happy about it, tho I DID get the job done.

We just started Timmy on epilepsy medication. We'll adjust it as needed instead of waiting to see a pattern to the seizures. Neither I bnor the Vet want to see a repeat of the nightmare we went thru' with Lucky.

Wednesday we're selling all of the remaining calves we just weaned.... except, of course, the 7 replacement heifers. I'm SO happy about that. It'll be one less group to care for.

One of the cows who gave birth today will be sold as soon as we wean this calf of hers. Gil and I had gone out to tag calves, and he hadn't brought along enough tags. So we tagged the older (dry) calves first, then grabbed the last one. I told him that I'd hold onto the calf while he went back to the house for another tag. As soon as he set off... at a slow walk... the cow decided she didn't want me near her calf after all, and charged. I smacked her with the leg catch I was holding. We continued the charge and smacking, while she got more and more aggressive. I was really worrying that I'd have to let go of the calf (and probably not be able to catch him again) when I spotted Gil returning from the far side of the pasture. Hot on his heals was Sandy, who'd escaped again. Like a golden brown bullet, she streaked to me and went after the cow!!! She kept that cow about 30 feet from me until Gil returned with the tag, and I applied it. Then we got out of there fast. Despite all of Sandy's idiosyncrasies, she's a WONDERFUL dog!

Just a quick hello as I head off to bed. Sending lots of , {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, prayers, positive thoughts, and healing energy!

Heidi, I am glad that Sandy came to your rescue. good Dog. I know your policy, you will not keep a cow that is dangerous to be around, and do not blame you for marking for early sale. How many of the weaned calves are you taking to the sale? You might have said earlier but I do not remember. I do hope that Timmy responds to the medication and you can keep seizures under control. Good Luck.

D or A, that is a lovely story, whether true or not. Thanks for sharing with us.

Julie, I do hope you had a better night's sleep. Get well soon.



Another spring like day here today. Started cloudy, and there is a forecast of rain perhaps by lunchtime, but ATM it is sunny and bright and warm.

When I was outside just enjoying the warm weather yesterday, I did a check of the containers to see if any needed watering. It has been very windy and they dry out quickly in the wind. I thought I saw a tiny green shoot just breaking the soil in one container, gently brushed a bit of soil away and yes, the first shoot of the Daffodils I planted last month! the others should follow quickly with the continuing warm temps. We do have a few days of more normal 50's for a high, before returning to 60s and 70s by the weekend, plenty warm to encourage the rest to appear. I know my nephew found one in bloom at his house on the weekend, she photographed it to show to Jody, who cannot yet get out to the garden. Jody is improving, only needing part time help now, not full time yesterday. I have not heard how well that worked for them.

I should make coffee now, since I have decided to stay up now that my first meds of the day have started working. Sunday and Monday were not good days back pain wise for me. Tanya came to my rescue both Sunday and Monday. I told you about the pizza spill in the oven, I think. I was able to clean it from the door, found a product that softened the crusty baked on cheese. I just could not get to the bottom of the oven to clean it out. Tanya came Sunday prepared to wage war, with oven cleaner, gloves, scrubbies, the works. she found a wet loose collection of cheese, Since I had soaked it in a grease cutting product. All she had to do was scoop it up and then clean a coupl;e of spots where it had spattered deeper into the oven, done in 15 minuets. Monday she came after doing lunches, and washed up the rest of dishes I just could not finish. Then she cooked salmon for lunch, with steamed broccoli and a lovely salad, I have fish and broccoli planned overs for today and tomorrow, no cooking, yeah! AND she took home a huge basket of dirty clothes, yeah, the laundry fairy has returned .

Hugs to each of you, with extras, till later.

Today's high hit 70˚F / 21˚C!!!! That's unheard of for early February!!!!
HAPPY Everybody!
Punxatawney Phil predicted an early Spring. Considering he's been wrong 55% of the time, I won't hold my breath.

The calves have already been sold for top dollar to a great buyer. I'm delivering the 10 he bought first thing tomorrow morning.

Rain has arrived. We also have a tornado watch south of us, ATM we are not included. One of those 'watch the weather days'.

I managed to cut back one more of the lantana bushes today. Leaves only 2, but both of those are rather large, one waist high, one shoulder high. any time I work with these I get clingy pieces of crisp leaves clinging to clothing and in my hair.

Today I find 4 little green tips in the container where daffodils are planted. the second container shows no signs of life yet. Did I plant that one deeper, or somehow got all the bulbs that were starting to sprout into the one container? Will not be long now, I expect to see more showing tips as these early ones get taller and taller.

Back down for a nap, and to keep extra warm until meds decide to work. Storm came, body reacted, bummer. It will get better, it always has.

The rain and thunderstorms are supposed to start in about 2 hours. We are under tornado watch until late tonight. Yep, crazy weather.

'A soul without a mate is like a vase without flowers.' Unknown

Our tornado watch still in effect, but the warned area is shrinking, and the risk factor going lower and lower. Now they say the risk is flash flooding, but might wait till this storm, named Kayla, is passed us for the greatest risk of flooding. This is the same storm system that is bringing blizzard conditions in the Midwest. We have had some very strong, very large storm systems, stretching north to south border to border of the USA this winter. Wild weird weather. Today temps were low 70s m ost of the day, mid 60s for lows, by next week highs will barely make it up to the 40s, OUCH.

I now am wide awake, fell asleep in my chair once my pain levels became tolerable. I managed 2 hours nap, so I am up for a while tonight. I do need to get back to sleep before the wee hours, have Ann coming to clean a bit earlier than usual, so she can at least do the floors and dusting. No laundry tomorrow, the sheets can wait once beds re changed. I can get to those later.

Night, friends, hope everyone is well or headed toward recovery. Hugs to each of you with extras.

Hi, Everyone! Heading to bed earlier again, in the hopes of recapturing lost sleep.

Sending positive thoughts, , healing energy, {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, and prayers for all.

Good Morning World...When you awaken and find my post I do hope all will be well with you and yours.
I have been very busy recently, thus not posting, but reading as able. Heidi, glad you and the vet have started treating Timmy, having watched my Jazz deal with the seizures, I do understand you doing your best to help him quickly. Happy also that you have been able to sell the calves so quickly, even with your bad experience with the cow. Sandy proved her self in protecting you...love that.
I mentioned in an earlier post that my doctor has decided to treat me in a different manner...one focusing more on comfort and reduced pain rather than the traditional way of trying to fix each situation ... I'm now not only having pain management on a higher scale, but palliative care and counseling, visiting nurses and home care...at least that which I qualify for...since it is done based on need and income. I have really been going through lots of S.o B issues in addition to back pain so this should help. Since I intend to live until I die rather than simply sit back and exist, I think this is the way to go...I have no intention of kicking the bucket passively...I want to continue this gift as best I can so have been working towards that goal... should be interesting and I do hope more older folks will learn not to be afraid to learn to enjoy their time on earth as fully as possible. Good thing medicine is starting to catch up to helping us live and die with dignity and more comfort, rather than just having us live longer, often in pain and confusion. Okay...nuff of that.
Want to wish all a great day, week, month...oh you know ...lots of feel good times and fast recovery periods as needed. D&A...loved your recent post..please keep em coming as you have.
Take care everyone, I care. Peace.

Mama, I hope you get the most out of every day you are given, and so glad you can do it with less pain. Huge hugs to you, dear friend.

Getting ready to go to doc, rheumatologist this time, and since it is the furthest away of my docs, it is a longer bus ride. Had to work around Ann's schedule, trying to get her here today for at least an hour, to get the floors and dusting at least today. She had tried to change with her client that is after me, but that would not work, I wold not be home in time, so she is coming without her lunch, and will get that after I leave at 1:30. I do appreciate her doing that for me.

We had a LOT of rain, enough I even heard it hit my windows a few times. Wind and rain do not usually come from that direction, so it is rare I hear the rain.

Hugs to each of you, with extras.

That is definitely the way to go, Mamacita!!!

Back from delivering the 10 calves. They weighed more than we expected, so my truck ended up pulling a heavier load than it was rated for. It was NOT happy, but did the job.

Last night we had the storm that didn't show up. We were supposed to have high winds, massive thunderstorms, and enough rain to cause flooding. NO thunderstorms. Only a few minutes of moderate wind. And maybe an inch of rain.

I need to go do a cow check after lunch.

Mama - your post above, instantly, reminded me of this quote. (I don't know who to credit for it though.)

'Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate and wine in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO HOO what a ride!'

DOrA..... That's the ONLY way to really live ones life!!!

DorA and Heidi....Whoopee.....I'm going to try to ride this life line as described in that quote too ...believe me...Lol. Tricia, thanks for your vote too... I know we all will do our best, my visit today with the palliative care doctor sealed the deal...she is wonderful.... we hit it off so well that we only needed the cheese and wine to feel a real comfort zone of communicating...that's a good place to get to on a first time visit!

It sounds like you've found a fantastic doctor, Mama!!!