One month.

We'll be having a cook-out here on Memorial day, and at that time it will be one month since we had the house tidied up (tidy for us anyway) for First Communion. I have managed to keep the piles from taking over and even get a few more piles cleaned up. It helps that Scott is coming home more regularly with the change in job. I have back up and accountability more often than just the week-ends. Still, I'm awfully impressed with myself.

I have been trying to sit down and get some pictures edited on regular basis, but I still can only do so many things in a day.

I'm ready for summer vacation so that I don't have to get kids ready in the morning and so I can be free of homework! Plus the gas savings will be nice!

Who know I might actually get to climb on a beastie and ride. For now the Beasts are pretty happy out in the grass, especially since the fence to the big pasture got fixed.

It's officially Winter....

When I have to blanket the horse and dig out the water tank heaters.

Where did my summer go?

So... It has been a long month at my house... Little more than a month ago we had Cub Scout Day Camp. It was fun, but it was a long hot week. Everyday we came home and passed out so we could get up early the next day to be at camp on time. (The heat was brutal.)

On Thursday while my Mother In Law, Kaye, was getting fishing poles ready to come to camp on Friday for Family day, she had a seizure. She went to neighbor's, who called the ambulance, that brought her to the hospital in town and they sent her to the OSF hospital in Peoria. After tests they scheduled her for Brain Surgery on that Monday. The Dr removed a grade 3 astrocytoma. I spent the week driving to and from the hospital; I refer to it as Hospital Camp week. After surgery Kaye was not speaking except to answer questions with yes and no, and her short term memory was pretty faulty. (She could not remember to call a nurse to get help to the bathroom, and she could not remember she was hooked to an iv, and oxygen.)

At the end of the week she was released to a care facility, so she could get speech therapy and be watched for seizures. (She should be going home in about a week) The next week the kids and I spent every day at Vacation Bible School and the Care center visiting Kaye. Plus doing My neighbor's chores (she went to Alaska on a cruise). Long week.

Then the computer refused to boot up on Sunday night. I was mad, then panicked, then sick to my stomach. It went to the computer guy on Monday morning. He called Monday evening to let me know he thought windows was corrupt and my C drive was toast. I had to wait all day on Tuesday to hear back. Yes C drive gone, but L drive ok. (L-drive all uploaded photos. not processed but all originals) What was not backed up from my C-drive was all my downloaded actions, fonts, bookmarks, photos for inspiration, knitting patterns..... Lots of stuff. It's frustrating to have that stuff gone, but.... I have my original photo files and I was not sure I would have those. (bought an EHD when the compy came back and have plans to get a second one within the month.)

The day the computer went to the shop my 91 year old maternal Grandfather went to the hospital with pneumonia. After 10 days in the hospital, a few extra test revealing fluid around the heart, and a mass on his lung(which will not be biopsied or treated) an Atrial flutter that scared us all thinking it was a heart attack; the pneumonia is better and he has gone home. But he is 91, and it's just a matter of time. I have been blessed to have had a wonderful Grandfather like him in my life at all, much less in my life as long as I have. He has been ready to go since Grandma died last March; and I'm not selfish enough to want him to stay on my account.


When I get all crazy and stressed out I pop open a photo and process something new.....

I can't find the Photoshop disk. I have no Photoshop.



A week ago Saturday a very good friend had her baby. I went to the hospital to shoot a few photos of him. (He ended up getting transfered to Peoria; he was too sleepy and the nurses and Dr where worried about him) I can't do anything but print the photos and I had a devil of a time figuring out how to do that! I always print from PhotoShop!



I'm about to loose my mind. I was still using PS7 I never had the $ to upgrade.... and I miss it. I miss it something fierce. I'm about to snap.



So if you got this far..... Thanks for letting me unload.

And put my family in your prayers.

Time Flies

when you are having fun.

It flies pretty fast the rest of the time too. Suddenly it is spring again and it promises to be filled with kitty babies. On Monday we walked out the door to find Bling, one of the babies from last year, in the yard with a tiny tiger striped baby, and a very confused look on her face. In a rush we moved her out to the tack shed, where she would be dry and warm. Told her she had a beautiful baby and took off for school.

Bling has spent the week in the tack shed with Tigger, enduring the loneliness of not being at the door for lovin' every single time we open it. She can barely hold still when we visit she wants to be loved on so desperately. Tigger learning to be a velcro kitty while nursing, since Bling moves around so much trying to get us to love on every inch of her.

On the flip side Cuddles is lonely as everyone else is off nesting with babies or nesting in preparation for babies. She is the only one not pregnant, and she spends her time at the doors and windows meowing for company. If I would not get in trouble I'd let her in. One cat in the house is really enough, but it's always tempting to bring someone else inside too.

Tigger is all ready 5 days old and I have only taken one picture of the little critter. I may have to head outside with my camera!

It's that time of year again...

The time of year when the water tanks get heaters, the horses get hay and the people get Hot Chocolate and SnowCream!


I use fresh eggs, but you can use a substitute like Egg Beaters. We have thrown in Cocoa powder and Cinnamon, for a change.

I find the best thing for blending the snow with the egg and milk mixture is an old fashioned potato masher.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
• 2 eggs, beaten (or egg substitute)
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 gallon snow

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, combine evaporated milk, eggs, vanilla and sugar until smooth. Gradually stir in snow until mixture reaches desired consistency. Eat at once.

This recipe contains raw eggs. Pregnant women, young children, the elderly should not consume raw eggs.

tragedy is a part of life

Sometimes there is nothing you can do to prevent a tragedy. We lost 3 of our bottle baby kittens to illness. Zig, the smallest, went first. Then we thought Cuddles was going to go, she lingered in limbo for awhile; she eventually pulled though. But as she pulled through both Socks and Buffy went down for the count. There was nothing we could really do for them.

Right after that the 4 new kittens from Momma Kitty (Dolly) got sick, too. They were just too little to fight it off.

One of our early spring kittens, Jack, developed some problems and had to be put down, also. And right after one of my hens got sick, and died, apparently of congestive heart failure.

We have had more kitty funerals this summer than my poor heart can stand.

To top it off just as I was thinking everyone's health was looking up, and we were finished losing kitties, Max, the Cockatiel, died too. I swear he waited until I just could not take anymore tragedy and then committed suicide. Max is still in a baggie in the freezer. I just have not been able to face digging one more hole and burying one more animal.

Congratulations! Its a Boy!

.. and a Girl and Boy and a Girl and a Girl and a Girl. Momma went out hunting over a week ago and never returned. The morning after she left Scott found two babies out of their spot in the hay behind the mower. Hungry, crying for food, and missing momma. I went to get some food and a bottle while Scott and the boys lured everyone else out of hiding.

They are all named Clockwise starting in the left upper corner, we have Buffy, Dirty Girl, BlingBling, Cuddles, Socks and Zig


Zig is the smallest baby.
Dirty Girl is a Clico like her momma, grey and beige They make it know when they are hungry.


And they are good eaters, we weighed everyoen on the 4th of july and on Wednesday this week, four of the babies gained 2.5 ozs and Socks gained 2 and Cuddles gained 3.5Bling is a very meow-y kitten, she has a hight pitched squeak, and she lets you know when she is hungry.

They are exhausting, just like new babies. and I know why god made Momma cats with multiple nipples. No one likes to wait to be fed. On the other hand no one wants to be first to potty either. But that is a whole "nuther" post.