Sudokuaholics Anonymous 11

''Everything's a circle. we're each responsible for our own actions. It will come back.''

Betty Laverdure ... Ojibway

Yea Theresa!!!! Well Done on the injections...we are really glad and now that you know it's not so bad, it will just get easier to do. June, so happy to know that the tea went well...and hope the wine made it a good sleep night too.
Nice sunny,mild day here to enjoy...the cold isn't finished with us, nor is the snow and wind...but days like this must be counted as sweet hugs from above to let us know that we'll get more as time moves forward. Love the topp Heidi...you've had a string of hits for us to enjoy...thanks.
May all who read have a blessed day/night and Theresa...a special thanks for that fantastic post about living every second...hope all take it to heart. Peace.

I lost a long post, and got booted, while trying to explain why we have to sort out 5 more calves today to take to the sale barn tomorrow. I'll try to re-create it a little later.

THAT was nasty. I've never known our calves to be so badly behaved. We gave up after 2 hours, and only got 4 sorted to sell tomorrow. Those will cover the replacement of the entire heating and cooling system in IH's office building. It might even help with some of the cost of the floor replacement and a new hot water heater.

Oh My, that sounds like some major remodeling needed in Gil's office. Best of luck getting it done. Sorry the calves were so ornery and uncooperative. Perhaps they know what a good thing they have living there at Surreal Farms.

Yeah.... During the last storm, the creek rose fast and high during the night and flooded Gil's office. Over 18 inches inside. The idiot neighbor girl watched the water rise and instead of calling us, she got on Facebook with her friends and gave then a blow by blow description of the disaster. If she had called us, we could have turned off the circuit breaker and saved the furnace and heat pump, and the hot water heater wouldn't have shorted and started a fire. And Gil could have saved some important papers. We've since had the county engineers out and they cleaned out the blocked culvert which caused the flooding,and designed a cattle barricade to keep calves from escaping through the culvert during dry weather, without catching debris during heavy rainfall. Oh yeah..... Gil had forgotten to insure his office.

Happy Birthday Brenda - hope you have a great day!!
Have your visitor arrived yet?

Brenda

Hi all,
On my computer so I can read and comment at the same time.. starting at the end and working my way backwards...

Happy Birthday Brenda!

Heidi, bummer!! Does that mean your basement flooded too? You must have used a bad word to get booted, though sometimes it's hard to work out what the bad word was because they hide so well inside other words.... I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I'd be as clueless as Gil as to what type of bird was flying over. I love thunder storms. Our dogs are outside dogs and if there is a thunder storm we have a room they are locked in for the duration so they don't jump on our bed if it happens at night.

Theresa, you go girl! I'd be as nervous as you were. Your seconds of the day post is brilliant! Though it does make me feel guilty about all the reading I have been doing. Nothing uplifting, just random free books I find online.

MizT, sorry to hear about your itchies! In Oz they don't have to do a biopsy before they remove, just a biopsy on whatever they took out. Much more sensible since most docs know what it is before they remove it anyway.

It's horrible to think you may be developing an allergy to something in the gardens you love so much!

Mamacita, sorry to hear about your hearing aid, and the need to delay decisions about your stone. No matter how bad things seem to get for you, you are always upbeat and your posts are a joy to read. I hope your double vision problem is fixed soon. That would be very frustrating!

Nola, you may have finished your old job by now!! Yay!! Congratulations!! I hope you are able to find a good balance with family life, semi-retirement and casual work. Hopefully you will only have to accept work from places you enjoy being!

June, that stone is huge! I hope the doc can find a way to break it down before Ken has another painful experience with it. And I hope he is home and safe if another one does hit.

Broni, I'm bummed I missed you on your trip down south. Oh well, maybe next time... It sounds like most of your trip was wonderful! Relaxing and peaceful and delicious!

Midge, if you have times of self pity you keep them to yourself. You are amazing and I hope you know it.

Brenda, your guests would be there now. I can't wait to hear how the surprise went! When they are gone you'll have to tell us all about it. I have a friend who has lost a lot of weight using her treadmill every day. I think the cardio benefits and other health effects are more important though. I don't have anywhere to put one so joined the gym instead.


Julie, I don't think I could keep up with your schedule. At least you are busy doing things you love (if we ignore the tax thing...)

Okay, I've gone back so far it's all old news now so I'll give up...

The gym is good as it stretches and strengthens my muscles, but not so good because it's easy to find reasons not to go. I started off 3 times a week but have gone down to 2 at the moment. Maybe after things settle down after Alie's tonsilectomy next week I'll be better...

Tahli's birthday was fun! It was a huge day for her and she was exhausted by 7pm. Very teary and didn't want to go home because she'd had so much fun. Today she has gone to the park with friends and when I spoke to Dana she was dancing to a Wiggles DVD. They'll be over on Tuesday and we'll have KFC for Dana's 21st. Her choice. The drum set, scooter and slide thingy are here so Tahli will get to play with them again. The drum set and scooter have been waiting here for months, over a year for the drum set. They were such good prices we couldn't resist.

If your on the other page there is a video of Tahli blowing out her candles, another of her going down her slide and a couple of photos.

Oh, and a video of her playing her drums.

Up early to watch the hockey game between Canada and Sweden .... Canada up 2 goals so far. Go Canada!!!!

We won .... 3 to 0. Woooo hoooo

Theresa!!!

Busy morning. I've been up since 8 am preparing one of my favorite dishes: Cardamom lamb on saffron rice. Gil is hosting a meeting during the lunch hour, and they take turns serving lunch to the group. Today is Gil's turn. Some of my favorite people in the county will be there, so I offered to make this dish I invented years ago. Everyone who tastes it flips out. I start with a whole leg of lamb, cut it up into small bite-sized pieces, saute them in olive oil, with LOTS of freshly crushed green cardamon seeds, and various other spices like garlic, sea salt and curry powder, and chopped green onions. Once the lamb is lightly browned, I start it simmering for 3 hours, until it's almost falling apart, then add several zucchinis, sliced very thin, and simmer for another half hour. Meanwhile, I prepare a large batch of saffron rice. I serve the lamb/zucchini mixture on a bed of saffron rice.

Heidi, would you need flood insurance to cover that kind of damage? Regular homeowners' insurance does not pay for that. When I bought renters' insurance here, I had to sign off that I did not want flood insurance. My apartment is about 10 feet above ground level. How sad that your neighbor did not let you know about the flood. I do hope the repairs to the culvert keep this from happening again. Does Gil need to keep all his papers up above floor level to keep them safe? How much damage was done by the fire? Gil forgets to buy insurance, so you sell your calves to pay for his mistake. Yep, about par for the course with him.





HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRENDA

Although these wishes are late, they are heart felt.

SUZY, I agree, the one trip and it is done for skin cancer method makes much more sense to me. I wish it was done that way here. Instead I pay two co-pays to get it done, arrange for transportation twice, make two trips. As you say, I have never had anything biopsied that did not come back as cancer. Oh, I take that back, once my former doc biopsied one spot, cause he did not know what it was, but he said he knew it was not cancer. It was not.

I saw the birthday videos, she quickly got the hang of the slide, the drums and the candle blowing. Very smart young lady.

Heidi, your lamb dish sounds really good. I hope the lunch meeting goes well. How many are you cooking for? Are they meeting at your house, or must you transport the meal to them?

I was cleaning/rearranging my freezer and I found a couple more lamb chops. I thought I had cooked them all, yeah. I will probably cook them this week, after I finish the 'planned overs' I have in fridge and freezer.

Well, my niece did not come this week, did not phone to let me know what is up. It may be her Dad is working from home, he is the one with the tiny (compared to Ken's) kidney stone and is taking strong pain meds until it passes. He does not need to drive while taking those. I am glad he has the option to work from home when needed. Becca was probably planning to ride into town with her Dad, he works a few blocks from me here, they live about 30 miles north, and she does not have a car.

Hugs to each of you with extras. I need to shower and get ready to go shopping. I need a mop and pail. I use a swiffer wet pad thingy for washing floors between housekeeper visits. To clean that yellowed wax, I think we need a mop and pail. Did I mention that the temp today is already 65 degrees? These mornings are the ones I miss having direct access to outdoors from my apartment. I would have taken my morning coffee outside today! Here? Get dressed,(no robes allowed in public areas) fix hair, maybe put on a bit of makeup, then find the 'to go' cup and 'drive' down to the patio. Coffee has time to cool a bit to much before I get outside.

I'm transporting the meal to Gil's church. How many? Gil was vague. I got the impression that it's from 5 to 9 people.
I'll be leaving with the food in 15 minutes. The house sure smells good.

I'm thinking of this as throwing down a cooking challenge by making this meal. Having fun, as it were. I'd kinda like to start getting together with this group and having fun cooking. Two of them were part of my birthday party.

Well the games have closed so now I will se if I can get some sleep.

Four more calves are loaded and at the sale barn. That leaves five of the best to send to a feedlot in Iowa on a retained ownership program (they ship next month) and seven more to take to the sale barn. Five will probably go in 2 weeks, and we'll feed the two smallest with Gil's research calves. One in particular has been really sick and hasn't been gaining. She got a second round of antibiotics yesterday.

Heidi broke it!

Didn't mean to break it.

After taking those calves to the sale barn, I fell sound asleep. IH tried to wake me to get me to feed hay to the cows, and couldn't. So he fed 'em a few rolls. Except for a brief half hour up at 3 am, to feed the birds, I slept for 15 hours!!!

I need to get dressed now and do a cow check. I'll have to bundle up because the warm spell is over. While it isn't bitterly cold, it's at freezing right now. Hard to get used to again after yesterday's high of 65˚F and Saturday's high of 75˚F.

Got the manure scraped off the feeding pad, and more hay fed. Now off to a Lions Club meeting.

checking in before going to bed. I had errands to run today, and then was not worth much the rest of the day. there were pretty pansies for sale, of course I had to buy a couple dozen plants to add to the very few that survived the cold. Hope to get them planted tomorrow, or huumm, might wait till after this one day of winter coming our way. One night below 20 degrees, then warming again. Yep, might be a good idea to just bring them inside over Wednesday night, plant them on Thursday.

No word from dermatologist, but it has not been a week yet. Maybe tomorrow.

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

A disastrous game of social bowls today. Whenever we got a bowl near the jack the other team knocked it out! We lost something like 30-6.
Belinda's dogs had another (and LAST) litter of pups. One has not grown and is being hand fed as well as some from the Mum. Belinda had to go away for 4 days so she dropped the mother and the 8 pups here for me to look after. They are 4 1/2 weeks old. At the moment living in my bathroom. Plenty of paper on the floor and a low block near the door so the Mum can get away from them easily.

Just a quick Hello to let you know we have survived the past week and hope to get back to 'normal' (whatever that is) in the next few days.

{{{{{HUGS}}}}} and , prayers, positive thoughts, and healing vibes for each of you!

Thank you all for the birthday greetings, it was a very different day for me. Our visitors from Australia are here and to say the least things are hectic. We are not used to having small children around. Today I am having to catch up on chores as they have gone to London for the day. The weather is not quite as wet as it has been but we are still having a little rain most days.
Richard again took me to see Fairport Convention That's 2 years in a row we have seen them on my birthday, yet again it was very enjoyable.

Hi all,
Belated Birthday greetings Brenda....sorry this is late. Glad you enjoyed the Convention. By the way what was it about.

Looks like it is finally warming up, up north. It is very hard for us to imagine being so cold.The weather here is still quite warm but not too warm.

Well, I am now semi-retired. Working at the clinic today, and will pick up some casual shifts when I need some money. What a luxury is that.
So lucky.

Greg and I have started some yard work. The trailer and ute are full of green waste to take to the tip.
We had a little family get together on my last day which was so nice.
The whole family are spending the week-end in Hervey Bay as it gives me a chance to see the grandies. For years now, I have worked every week-end so visits were always short for me.

Good on YOU Theresa.Hope you are soon feeling much better after the insulin.
June..busy busy as usual aren't you!Hope Ken is doing well.
Suzy..Alie will feel great not having tonsillitis anymore.Wish I had FB sometimes, just to see the pix of Tahli.
Midge...thinking of you!
Heidi..how many calves do you have now?

Take care everyone.

Nola, Fairport Convention are a folk group who have been around for over 40 years.

Cool but nice day. No new calves, but I got the check picked up for the older calves I took to the sale barn, and the new furnace and heat pump are being installed in IH's office building as I type.

Have fun with the family, Brenda. I bet Emily was glad she stayed home!

Glad you survived, Julie.

Sorry the bowls game was a disaster, June. I always look at it like if nobody was hurt, everybody got fresh air and exercise, and there was some fun involved, it wasn't a total loss.
Enjoy the puppy breath. It's my favorite smell. Well, maybe after cardamom.

I have to own up to having a nanny nap. I am absolutely shattered. It doesn't help that Richard and I have had to move out of our bedroom to let the 'visitors' have our room, as it is the only room large enough for the family. My daughter has moved into the smallest bedroom so we have her double room, even though her bed is comfortable it isn't my bed :-)

Congrats on the semi-retirement/ free time, Nola.

The calves have paused at 9 so far. 3 boys, 6 girls. I don't know why they're running behind schedule this year.

I've never heard of Fairport Convention, Brenda. But I love folk music. Glad you do, too.

Naps are GOOD, Brenda. Nothing to be ashamed of. Unless you sleep more than once around the clock.

Nola, I am glad you asked about Fairport Convention as I was also wondering what it was. Now we know, thanks to your question and Brenda's answer I learned something today.

Brenda, having young children around when you are not accustomed to them can be very taxing on your energy reserves. Add in poor sleep cause you are not in your bed, and I can see just why you needed a nap. Hope it refreshed you and the rest of the visit goes smoothly. How long will your visitors be with you?

Nola, enjoy those longer visits with the grandies. I remember my working days, and my family thought it terrible I had to work every other weekend. I do not think they would have tolerated me working every one, you were surely dedicated. I do remember all the holiday meals that were held till I could get there. Sometimes I got to leave the hospital early and we ate at a reasonable 'fashionably late' lunch hour, but there were times I showed up at 4 pm! On those occasions, I would find my plate in the warming oven. They did wait for me before serving coffee and desert though.

I got outside for a bit this afternoon again, before winter weather returns once again. Weather guessers mentioned the S word once again, if the cold coming down arrives while it is still raining. 'but do not worry about accumulation, the ground and infrastructure are too warm.' I certainly hope so!! I will bring in the pansies and wait till Friday to plant them, as we have 2 nights of severe cold forecast now. This topsy turvy weather. I am seeing buds opening on some trees and flowering shrubs. Hope they do not get nipped in the bud.

Still no word from the dermatologist. She said first of the week, and tomorrow it is officially the MIDDLE of the week. I just want to get this over and done with. I am thinking I shall have two that will need more treatment. Anyone else want to make a guess? Nurse practitioner said she thought at least one, but I am not familiar with her track record on such matters.

Bedtime once again, my meds are working and I am comfortable. I really hate to waste those comfy times just sleeping, but if I stay up much longer I will be face down on the keyboard. Hugs to each of you, with extras, till tomorrow.

The weather guessers are using the 4 letter ''s'' word for tonight, here. I'm off to do a late cow check. I decided to hold off until the meds kicked in. They're starting to work right now. WooHoo!