Turkeys in My Basement! ~Er, No, wait...

A frosty morning-
Taken a few days ago...

Good Morning All;
I woke this morning, chilled- it was still dark- Quiet too, as I'd slept in the living room...
The first thing to do is to let Punk out.
Soon as I'd opened the door, the rain hit me in the face; driven hard, and cold too.  Hearing the forecast, more of the same, (possibly mixed with the "S" word), for today and tomorrow. (This proves little help to warm me).
Ugh!

Speaking of "eek" ...was too!  ('Ugh' and 'eek' fall into the same windblown genre of word usage), Punk did me a favor a while back.
(At least I think it was a favor)...

I'd been down in the basement, cleaning out the sh/L-itterbox when Punk made a very strange sound.
Turning to see, she was literally 'pointing' out something... No, I do not take my unpredictable, (and somewhat "possessed"), camera down with me while I am doing that stinky task.  hehehe

Punk was staring at the wall above and between my water softener and my water heater...

 ... I looked.

There seemed to be quite a problem with some of the insulation...


Yeah. Crap. That's not right at all.
I am not sure if she saw anything move- But if she didn't, I don't think she would have pointed that way?

See the insulation in the next photo-


That's the way it's supposed to look!

Yes, wait a second, it gets WORSE...

I have some old pink insulation out in the pumphouse. Thepumphouse is 75 feet away from the house


But I took the picture in my basement!?! (Add 'eek' or 'ugh' as you wish)

Imagine how baffled I was; how very complicated this mess had just become...
As i was shooting a few pics, I realized, of a sudden, my own welcomed animals had become quiet, nonexistent.
(Completely disappeared would be the right description).
The Cowards!

Looking around at this mess I call a basement, I found Punk...

She must have thought she fit right in with the junk...   hehehe


"Busted!"
Almost camouflaged she was; save for those eyes.
(And, as always, that mischievous grin on her face).  hehehe

But ok- Where the dickens was The Sputnik?

I found him too-
On the opposite side of the basement...


  ... in the crawlspace!!!  (NOTE: 'ugh' and 'eek' definitely apply)  hehehe 
Perhaps he knows something that I don't know. (I really don't want to know).

I believe I will be having a bit of company this Friday!
I met Christy as she replied to an ad I had posted on Yahoo's Free Stuff, many moons ago. My back was really bad that year and I could not keep up with picking all my beans. Christy, among others had replied, and we have stayed in touch ever since!
Christy has 8 children- At the end of the month they will be adopting 2 more little girls!
She has offered to bring herself, and her crew of 8 children, (ages 11-17), on Friday to come and clean -and maybe even get the outside ready for Winter!
I am thrilled; honored, that they will come.
(Maybe she didn't expect me to accept her offer)! hehehe

A few weekends ago, friend Duane came up from Milwaukee, on his Harley; and with one of his young sons.
His son had wanted to buy the old Buick Roadmaster, "as is, where is"!
As soon as they hit Sheboygan it had begun to rain- (That should have told them what kind of day lay ahead for them). hehehe
Friend Lynn had also come out that day- and helped me as I tried to charge up the battery and put air in the drivers front tire.
By the time Duane and his son arrived, they were soaked to the skin; right through the riding gear.
The charger did nothing for the battery- Duane only had the Harley, but I had my Rendezvous- We hooked the 2 cars up and waited and waited- the battery would simply not take a charge!
I called Fleet Farm- Fortunately they were open for another 25 minutes- I sent Duane and his son off in the Rendezvous... They even made it there and out by the time the store closed!

An hour or so later, the Roadmaster roared to life- We cleared a place in the old shed for Duane to leave his bike overnight, as he wisely chose a ride home in the dry of the car.




Getting ready to leave for home.
I waited to hear from them, that they had made it home.
They did, safe and sound.
I am happy that the old girl went to a decent person too.

Casey was out about weeks ago and as she was fixing to leave, she happened to look back toward the woods-




What a beautiful leader they have this year!
A completely white, wild turkey! He is so pretty! I hope no one shoots it...

Now tell me WHY can't I have TURKEYS in my basement???

My love to all.  Have a 'wunnaful' warm Tuesday!

XOXO
Me

PS
Yes, I told Randy almost immediately when I saw the basement...
He has not shown up here, except for while he is 'on duty', since.
Methinks he's scared!!!    hehehe

Pain and else.

Peek-A-Punk!

Hi All;
I wrote this more than a few days ago;- just wanting to {somehow}keep in touch and all.
Same old same old going on up here- I am getting more and more depressed- and finding pain that I didn't  know I even had possessed- from way deep within.
...and just when you think things can't get any worse... yeah right.
That I can't stand me 1/2 the time is putting it mildly-  Way mild-
Still, from the bottom of my heart I do hope all is well with everyone else.

Good Morning All.
Sweet Polly- I got your note a few days back, and have been pretty awful these days - - -
I hope you are hanging in there. I will try to call you at some point
Mr. Lester, I saw your note on my top page- Hope you don't mind me giggling at your temps too.

I am sure everyone will *not* be surprised when I say my computer is out of whack, (What is whack?
   It  has taken me an hour to even get to this page--- If anyone has sent me anything I will be back this afternoon... So if anyone left anything I hope to be able to reply better by then.
Have 2 appointments today- one is at 9:30, the next at 2:30 I recall.
Will have to come home (if I make it that long hehehe), and wrestle with this machine later.
More and more (and then even rain) more rain and thunderboomers too. (Me no likey)

I have been having one heck of a time just to sit- let alone type with these damned fingers of mine- Wonder how long it will take me to take a fooking shower? Hmmm...
That said I had best get in there and find out!

My love to all;

XOXO
Me

Ketch~upping... Pre- Snowstorm Francesca-

Monday Morning. Now...

Sure has been a long time since I have blogged about anything even remotely "Flintville" hehehe
Didja miss me?


The Channel 11 picture  to the right was actually taken about 2 or 3 weeks ago already-




Do you remember Casey having that horrible allergic reaction to the meds they gave her in Minnesota last January?

???????

"Anaphylaxis" I think they'd called it...

I even had a little allergy of my own
I've been feeling pretty rough too, even without my fractures, and the rest of it.

Now, toss in a little something that I'm allergic to too; and I've got Casey beat!




By a longshot!

Pretty damned gross, eh?

Nice temps earlier in the month and this beautiful weather gave me a chance to even 'wander' a bit outside -
Picture this: Me out there, with the camera around my neck- and of course, those two canes.  Quite a funny juggling act- (And I can't even juggle).  hehehe

Not to mention that Punk kept bringing me her Frisbee- time and time again. oh- Oh! OH!
She was thrilled for those few days of respite from the cold! As was I. hehehe

There is even a wee bit of green showing up...
 ... It always amazes me- especially after a long Winter-

A little snow left- and a little bit of "life" too.

More life here! These will be this years and next winters chives!
(Hey, "I" see green, even if you don't)!  hehehe

I have a silly question for anyone that might know-
(God knows I surely don't).

Why does gravel always appear to be tinted 'blue-ish' after Winter?

I also found a few 'candies' laying around in the grass-

It's all those brown M & M's that I refuse to eat.
  ~Punk seems to ♥ them though!!   hehehe

She even had to sniff all over to find more...

... and very begrudgingly came back to me after I'd called her-

Then, from somewhere the snowplow had left it, she magically found her Frisbee!



I threw it more than a few times !
(In the meantime she ran a mile or so)!

But then... "O0pS"

And that was it for that Frisbee-
Odd, but once it's near to her poo-poo piles, I seem to lose interest in it. hehehe

Darn fine thing Casey had just brought her a new one-

   hehehe

We had to walk almost to J & J's driveway to find snowbanks for her to play on-

-and in.

!!!hehehe!!!  ...."BUSTED!"

 ~ She HAD been "hiding" on me...

Then off she went, to look for a few lost/forgotten squash...
No luck with that-
(What I didn't freeze, the deer got a long time ago).

But plenty of snow left there for an ice cream headache -

Would Sputty come outside with us?   He did- finally.
See, it's ONLY on HIS terms.

Once out, then he does not want to come back in.
When he does this, I let him sit.
Or hunt- or go poo in the fields- (or whatever it is that cats do outside)-

Like sitting in the sun I suppose...

OR...

.........

    He checks all around the house-  ..............Then sits in the blue gravel


If he refuses, still, to come in with us, he has to wait until Punk gets fed her supper- (She always has to go potty and poo first).

Then, even after all that waiting, that cat still follows her around, and ONLY comes in when she does.
(This, no matter how high/low the temperature is/not).

OK OK-
Then, It's FINALLY time for supper... hehehe

I took this shot a LONG time ago-
Still one of my favorites though.

Sput has taken to moving the heat register cover so that it doesn't blow on me when I am sewing. He adjusts it so it blows on him in his box!!!! Grrr...
And that, my friends, is the definition of "cattitude".


I have been having horrid days/weeks with my back.
The last 2 shots I received did nothing to help.
The h/a last night and this morning added nothing either.

While searching around the net, I found THIS picture- It is the same as MY own brace; which needs replacing.
But I'll be damned if I'm shelling out $780.00 for it! 




I found one on eBay though. hehehe


Tonight though. -When I do go to sleep. I shall sleep in the utmost of comfort!

Thank you Casey-So very, very much!

Not only for this beautiful pillow, but for EVERYTHING you have done, and continue to do for me.


Tonight, she drove ALL the way out here just to feed Punkin her supper.

She knew I hadn't slept a wink last night, & so I wouldn't have to wake up...
(I did anyway).  And it was a darned good thing I did.  Casey had to help me out of my own darn bed! 
Oh well. There are always worse things.

Hope all is well in your little corner of the world.
Been trying to keep up with everyone's news and all- I have found that to be a most impossible thing to do!
I shall keep trying though...
My love to all!

XOXO
Me

PS:
Tomorrow (maybe)...
The entry about Snowstorm Francesca.  Here's the link-
Tomorrow the pictures.   hehehe

sorry about that...

Good Night Everyone;
As I'd written to my Sweet Becca last night...

I spent yesterday at the hospital... (I could barely move from all the pain- and had swollen up like a water balloon).   Casey brought me in-

They gave me 3 different kinds of things in my IV to try to counteract the damned boo~boo my doctor had made last Thursday.-
Truth be told I could not even concentrate well enough to read-
I told Becca I would come back again tomorrow (today). I promised.
And told her that if I didn't, she had my permission to drive up here and steal my new set of wheels...

... My guess is that she is probably heading north already!

I also received a very very cool letter from Doug. I had taken more than a few minutes to write a response when my desktop decided to crash...
I lost the whole damned letter!!!

I also have a friend from Y!-360 days- She has written to me and I owe her a letter...
I also owe Polly (my ex-next-door-neighbor) a letter AND a thank you card too- She'd sent me some yummy chocolate mints for Valentines Day.
Mmmmmmmm!

But for me~ my back and 'more' ~it only gets worse -and worse etc.  Apparently with my "computersaurus'" too, (but my laptop is my savior again).

Yesterday my back.  One would think that with all those shots they gave me, that I would have dropped off to 'LaLa Land ' very quickly after Casey drove me home.
Yeah right. I was up until after 4AM.

I was woken at 9AM by a very obnoxiously hungry dog, with a very cold wet nose... 
... And I woke too, with a terrible migraine.
My back being as bad as it is I didn't make it to the toidy before I barfed. Darn good thing the garbage in the kitchen had just been brought out the night before.
(Special thanks to Casey for that- and oh, for so very much more too).

I will now try to move my head and my back (and other various parts should they might choose to follow)... 
I shall (hopefully) get a few Zzzz's  in the lazy-boy. This now, so Punk won't have to wake me up late tomorrow just so I can feed her that darn breakfast 4 hours late.

Nighty-Night for now.
I promise to make no promises about tomorrow.    hehehe

Sweet dreams!
My love to all.

XOXO
Me

Onward to "Happy~Happy" now

I was going to attach a top picture, but the only option I use for it is "from my computer". 

The click then tells me "This webpage not available". 

Not to be outdone by a mere machine, I will just have to try later...

Merry 2 days after Christmas to everyone! And please bear with me for a while...

That I have no idea what the heck I am doing is putting it gently. Mostly I stare at this machine and wonder what to do next...

I have uploaded a few pics to Flickr and will share them with you-

Santa Claus brought me a new computer, so I am not sure I'll even be able to blog. 

Even the light~up keyboard has me puzzled at times. 

No worries, I shall try to blog anyway...  hehehe

First our Punkmeister...

"Sandy Paws" brought her a new Frisbee!

 ~ ~ ~Which she promptly got stuck to her face!!!  hehehe

She also received some new tennis balls, and 2 new tug toys. 

And NONE of them squeak! (YAY)! 

Oh! She LOVES to play! For her sake, I wish my back was better again, and I could be a better friend to her.

Casey and Greg stayed overnight on Christmas Eve. 

I woke about 3 on Christmas morning. First, I was unable to go back to sleep, then I was afraid to- (in case I miss something you know)! 

Casey came down with pain, about 6- Greg followed shortly thereafter. 

We decided not to stare at the tree any longer, and made tracks to open the presents that Santa had brought! 

Casey and Greg showing off their matching new coffee cups!

Casey showing off her new "Kindle" ! 

With 500 books too!

Greg said he HAD to play Santa on this one... Seems as though he thinks with all the books that Casey reads, he will be able now to save tons of room in their apartment for other things - besides all those books!!!

Greg got a homemade apron, along with some cooking utensils. These all, for our new outdoor grill, (which we don't have yet).  It will be one of the first things on my wish list when we get our duplex though... 

Mmmmm.... (I can't wait)!

Jennifer sent pictures of the boys, and as soon as I figure out where the scanner is depositing scanned pics I will share those with you too.

And oh my! Little Wyatt looks just like me when I was one, minus my curls! I threaten to tear up every time I look at that picture! My man, Isaiah, is just as handsome as ever, looking very much like his mom!

Great DNA here!  (When Greg was doing the 'face matching' on the iPhoto, it brought up all my girls as myself, AND Wyatt and Gabriel too!

I called off my 24th annual Christmas brunch this year, having no ability to stand in the kitchen long enough to get food made, and everyone fed. 

I received word 4 days ago that I have 3 new fractures in my spine. (No damn wonder I have been in so very much pain of late)!?!

I am not sure what will happen, given that my back is inoperable. But I will put up, and (try to) shut up, as long as I can still move around a bit.

OK. that "shut up" thing is not going to work... hehehe  So here's a thought. If you don't want to listen to me b*tch about my back, then you should not be on my pages.

They are thinking on doing some shots again to my back, just to make things easier for me, for a while. We will set up an appointment after the 1st to figure that out. After that, there is that "tens?" option, which I will have to check into to refresh my memory- Is that the thing that one wears for electrical currents? 

Buying that duplex is quickly becoming a necessity.

We had a wonderful, quiet, day- We went back to bed, to nap, and were all surprised that we slept soundly for as long as we did. Waking early~afternoon, we made "breakfast", pigged out a bit, and were almost ready to call it a night when Randy showed up. (His belly, honestly, showing kudos to his own mama's good cooking. - And I thought gluttony was a sin)!? hehehe

Greg transferred all my pictures onto this computer. That there are over 50,000 surprised no one but him. This new program, iPhoto, will take a bit for me to figure out, but it is the first thing I went to also. hehehe

I did this one...

Not sure how I did it; but I think it's cool, and am proud of myself for it!

After a long day, Casey and Greg made their way home- Our presents were put away, and it was high time for me to get to sleep.

Just like Punk-

Miss Kelli stopped by yesterday bearing gifts- (I feel like such a chintz sometimes)- She brought some grand lemony candles and sprinkles and even some drains stuff in lemon. With that kind of inspiration, I have already mopped my floors this morning, using my lemon pine sol. I am also on my 3rd load of wash. 

For now it is high time for me to get cleaned up too.

Our "Merry Merry" was grand- Onward to "Happy Happy" now!

I hope everyone had a 'wunnaful' magical Christmas, no matter how you celebrated. 

How did you celebrate, by the way?

My love to all!

XOXO

Me

PS

I have to thank everyone that did send me a card! 
We did finally get to the post office, late as usual... 
If you sent me a card you will have one shortly. I promise. 

PPS
On a related note...

Did you know that if you are disabled and cannot get to your mailbox that the postman has to deliver your mail to your door every day? I had the doctor write up an order for me as soon as I had learned that- 

This came about after finally calling the US Postal Service to complain about having to have my mailbox plowed out 3 times last week, and only getting my mail one day...

I asked her how cleaned out my yard has to be for him to come in (after having had my box plowed out 3 times, not cheap, and he still would not deliver)- 

She told me it did not matter-  that he HAS TO walk it to my door- 

Then she recited their "rain, snow, sleet" motto to me.

Music to my ears! 

(But I do wonder why that doesn't apply to the mailbox out there)?

Sometimes it helps to complain a bit!

Now all I have to do is get all my papers sent to the postmaster in GB. 

Very very cool

Varmints. Infusions. And Cheerios

    Punk- Bothered by the wind last week-


Good Morning All
Please vote today? Even if you think it won't matter, do it anyway. It's way too important not to. Personally I am happy that it is finally sinking into peoples heads that their votes can change the world in which we live. Your vote DOES count, no matter what you believe right now.
Undecided? Take the image of Casey to the polls with you, and vote according to your conscience. Know that a Republican vote has the potential to kill many people that wear her shoes, and fight her fight against a chronic, debilitating disease.

Lots going on today for us- Casey has another infusion, and I have a bit more shopping to do while I am in town- Happy I do not have to vote today. Those lines- around here anyway, promise to be long...


With November comes the advent of snow- Wish it were not so, but there is always the possibility of it- and lots of it. Of course no one knows how each season will differ from the last, but many are getting ready. I have seen many plows attached to trucks already, and many sights like this at area shops-


I still have to get mine out.

Casey brought me in yesterday for my darn head. My head feels better, but I still feel nasty- Could not fall back to sleep, worried that I would not wake in time to bring her in for that infusion. hehehe Talk about a vicious cycle.

These guys seem to cycle too-



A little mole thinking he might have liked some of that peanut butter.

These varmints are not in the house-
Thanks to an ever vigilant Sputnik, and Punk too. (Well, she tries). hehehe

In Spring and In Fall I always catch a bunch out in the attached garage. And every now and then, Sput does get one on the inside.
And it all has to do with the weather-


As does this... from last weeks windstorm.




The weathermen have told us that the mb's pressure from that storm was comparable to a Category 3 hurricane. Happy I am that I do not live down south, my headache had begun with that drop in pressure...

Punk would go outside, and within seconds was completely bothered by the fact that she could smell something, and not be able to figure out which way it was coming from. She would walk across the yard with her head swinging back and forth- Casey said she looked like she was at a tennis match! hehehe

Punk would gather up her toys, in whatever room she was, and just wait.




And wait...


Yes. Sponge-Bob now has a tail. Had to sew him up twice already. hehehe
So finally I just combined the two toys- Punk watches my every stitch...


Sputty?



He could care less ~as long as he gets fed.



After all that wind, Punk now chooses my old jacket to grab and go lie on.




She has also taken to lying under my little table... Cute




Sputty- Cleaning up after dinner. hehehe



Casey had moved her infusion from Tues to Thurs last week because of that wind.




Nick taking Casey's blood pressure- 105/58





I brought along some Cheerios for her to munch on.
She was still hungry so I ran to Tony Roma's to get her a sandwich!




I think she liked it! (I got the Claussen)! Mmmmm


I'd better close if I am to get in the shower before I leave- Perhaps even to turn the heat on before I do that...  It's about 30° outside as I type, and about 64° inside.

My love to all.

XOXO
Me

a hands-on type of love...

     Punk- Happy in the car!




Good Evening all
I can't believe that I haven't updated!
Know that I still have pictures to upload to Flickr from Minnesota-
So that means I am not even caught up with our Minnesota trip, let alone what's been going on since we got back home!
(Perhaps you will see more than one or two updates soon).

In my last blog, I had left off with Punk getting a little love in the hotel room.

But of course there is MORE to that story! hehehe

Know that the only thing I did to them was make the pics smaller- (For faster uploading).

They remain in chronological order.




This of course is CaseyFace- waiting for one of her doctors...
(Cute, ain't she)? hehehe

After her tests we had gone back to the hotel-
Order a bite to eat- and remind Punk that she is loved.

This generally means a hands on type of love...
"Hands on" means a bit of wrestling to a dog.  hehehe




Miss Punk ♥LOVES♥ her Sponge-Bob almost as much as she loves her Casey!


"Gimme it. It's MINE!!!"


"ALL MINE!!!"



Darn it!  Don't even TRY to hide it on me!




"I will hunt you down like the DAWG I am!"



But wait...




What was THAT?






Ummmm    ...

No really!  Stop laughing Casey!  -What was THAT?!?

Somebody ought to be able to tell us what happened? Pretty please? 
Love to all.

XOXO
Me