Snow Scapes from Other Years

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Here are some collages from the last few years.

Winter scenes.

Yes, winter comes every year and always seems bad, but we've had winters this cold before and I'm sure we will again.  

Just makes us Northerners appreciate Spring all the more when it finally gets here!

OK, I'm going to go build a fire in the fireplace again and have some more hot cocoa!

Shirley

Keeping Warm

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Another fire in the fireplace tonight to keep warm.  The dogs like it too.  Monk was asleep already and Dexter sat right by the fire with me.

Tomorrow it is supposed to finally be better here in NE Ohio.  It's actually going to get up in the 20's during the day!  That will feel warm!!!

I really feel blessed that we haven't lost power and my boiler has kept plugging along!

Keep warm everyone.

Shirley

Winter!

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Yes, it's been horribly cold.  Actually too cold to snow all that much except for today.  It went way up to the low 20's and it's been snowing all day.  My snow plow guy has been here twice.

However tonight it's supposed to go below zero again.

Here's Dexter out in the snow.  Monk actually likes it but I didn't get a picture.  My hens wouldn't leave the coop so I closed their pop door and gave then some corn and greens.

My sister is here with me and I think I'll build another nice fire in the fireplace and make us some real hot chocolate from real Cocoa.  (and whipped cream on the top  : ))

Stay warm.

Shirley

Lazy Sunday

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Spent a quiet day at home.  I'm trying not to do too much which is hard because everywhere I look, things need done!!

My sister is coming tomorrow for a week so that will help me both physically and mentally!

Also tomorrow I'm meeting a new dog walker that will exercise Dexter until I can do a better job at it!

He is full of energy and I'm not!!

Shirley

Tales from the Hospital

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Just a quick update why I haven't been blogging the past few days.
I had to go to the ER by ambulance for the second time in a month for SEVERE abdominal pain etc.
I'm now admitted for the past couple days till they figure out what's wrong.
I'm never sick so this is rare for me and I certainly don't like it!
This post may look a little different because I'm trying to do it from my iPhone!
Not easy because it's hard to see.
What I know so far:  was maybe a bowel obstruction but that's cleared.  Gall bladder seems OK but they say that there's something wrong with the R kidney so now I'm waiting for a kidney Dr to see me.
In the meantime,  now allowed full liquids which I'm sort of afraid to eat. I have IVs and allowed up to walk.
That's about all I know.  So I wait along with my kids who have to pet sit at my house.
I'm trying to keep my mind positive.  All the nurses and doctors are so nice.
There was a beautiful sunrise out my window this morning.

UPDATE  1/17/14

I ended up being in the hospital till this evening.  Almost a full week!

They did all kinds of testing including an upper GI barium swallow and thought they saw an obstruction.  So yesterday I went to surgery for an exploratory laporoscopy.  My appendix was a little enlarged and maybe inflamed so they took that out but there was no obstruction.

This evening I came home with some pain and a lot of bloating from the gas they use during the procedure to separate the organs.  Well, at least I know all my other organs are fine.

I was discharged this evening.

In a few weeks I have to have an endoscopy and then a colonoscopy.  Oh thrill!!!

I hate all these things that seem to be going wrong at my age!

It sure is different being on the other end.  I liked being the nurse a lot better than the patient!!

Both my kids took care of my animals while I was in the hospital.  If they hadn't been around to do that, I don't know what I would've done!

Shirley

Mosaics

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I was looking through my gazillion photos and came across a lot of mosaics I have done in the past years. 

I think I will post a few every once in awhile.

Most don't need any explanations.

Shirley

Survived the Arctic Vortex!!!

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Like a lot of the country, this past Monday and Tuesday were colder than it's been in years.  Well below zero with wind chills to like 30 below!!

We didn't get the snow storm that was first predicted so that was a blessing.  I also did not lose power.  That was my biggest fear.

I don't know what I would've done.  I can only get so may animals in my car!!!

But I had the fireplace that I kept a fire in for two days because my furnace couldn't quite keep up with the temps and wind outside.

My thermostat as you see was set at 72 but the house was at 64.

Here's one of the trips out to give the chickens some warm treats.

I know that 64 in the house doesn't seem cold but it felt cold enough for me to keep my overalls and muck boots on for 2 days!!  I did that mostly because I kept having to go outside for the barn cats and the chickens and to let the dogs in and out.

Well everyone survived and it was up above 20 today which seemed warm!!  This weekend it's supposed to be in the 40's!!

Crazy weather.

Shirley

Egg In The Hole

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I made this a couple weeks ago and forgot to post it.

It's really a fun and tasty way to fix your egg.

One piece of bread a day is fine on my low sodium diet.

I seasoned with pepper and herbs.

Shirley

Carrying On

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I'm feeling a little more human today.

Did I tell you that my daughter talked me into getting a Nutra Bullet.
I read about it and watched the video and I guess it can only help with my nutrition!
I've been making a drink in the morning and having it for breakfast or for lunch.
Since the doctor put me on a low sodium diet, these taste really good.
The first two days I made a green toxin cleansing blast which had spinach, banana, pineapple, apple and pear in it.  Yummy good.
Today I had the Vita-Berry Blast which was spinach, banana, blue berries and strawberries.

The finished color isn't too pretty when you mix green, blue and red but its really good.

 Do any of you use the Nutra Bullet??

I am on a low sodium diet because the actual reason I was admitted to the hospital last week was because my Potassium levels were dangerously low!  So since sodium depletes potassium, there you go!  Plus since one of my BP meds had to be stopped I have to watch my sodium intake.
All I can say, I must have been used to using quite a bit of salt because this is the hardest most yucky bland diet to be on.  However I'm learning a lot.
You can ask Google the amount of sodium in anything and it will tell you!!
Canned anything has a huge amount of sodium it it and the salt free canned vegetables are just awful.
Canned soup has a huge amount of sodium.
There goes those easy crockpot recipes!
I did learn that if you take a regular can of vegetables and rinse them well, it gets rid of about 40% of the sodium.
Bread has a lot of sodium  : ((  I love bread!
But
Ice cream and chocolate syrup are low  : ))
This diet alone will force me to eat better.  I plan on getting fresh organic vegetables and fruits.

I even tried grits yesterday!  I had never had them before and they have 0mg of sodium.
So it was worth the sodium in a Tbsp of butter and some brown sugar to make a tasty filling breakfast!

We'll see how this goes, I think I can do it!

(Yes, I can have my eggs!)

Shirley

Happy New Year . . . yeah . .

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or   HOW IN THE HELL DID IT GET TO BE 2014 ALREADY!!!!!!!
(warning . . this is a venting blog post!)

I have not had the best couple of months leading up to this new year.

My back is giving me fits and now my belly area is not happy!

I had my first ride in an ambulance (Christmas night!!!), that I was the patient and not the nurse accompanying a trauma patient!  However I was in a lot of pain and was never happier to see those nice paramedics!!

Hours in the ER, tests then a 2 day admission to the hospital, oh fun!

In the meantime, things were not going well at home, with my new untrained dog and all.

Well, hopefully the belly problem is getting better and I can go back to all the other wonderful things that age is bringing on!!

About a year ago I started to feel old!  Before that, I didn't like being in my 70's but I was fighting it all the way.  But then I just really started to feel old.  Feel old in my body and my mind.  Maybe it was when my back started giving me such problems and I couldn't do all the things I've done all along without pain.  That sadly includes riding my horses.  (And that's really depressing!)

All physical activity is harder and more painful.

I'm beginning to see why they say "aging is not for sissies!"

My wrinkles are getting more deep set.  I've come to the conclusion that there's no wonder cream out there to turn that around!  Age spots are on the increase and my feet are starting to look old!  

I hate wearing a bra!!!  So in the winter with all these clothes on, why should I?  So there!
My neck looks old and my skin is taking on that crepy look.  The one advantage to winter is turtleneck tops!!

My memory sucks too!  Both for remembering people's names and just for words in general!  Sometimes trying to get an intelligent sentence out is a real trial!

I bet there's a lot of you out there that can relate . . . . Right???

Hello??

And furthermore:

When did all my furniture get lower???  Even the toilet!

And the seats in the restaurants are doing the same thing too!!

I remember my mother always had trouble with the "low seats" in the restaurants but she was 4'10".

I think I'm still 5'5" at last measurement.

I'm starting to pay people to do what I used to do with no problems.  I have house cleaners to help me, a handyman to do a lot of things I used to do myself.  Shit, I'm even looking for a dog walker to get me through the winter for my new dog Dexter!  He is so full of energy.

OK, I'd better quit now or this will be a really depressing new years post!!
I really am thankful for so many things.
My family and friends and my animals.  My new adopted dog, Dexter makes me laugh everyday.
He doesn't know I'm old as dirt!!

Happy New Year.  I hope this is the best one yet for everyone, including me!!!

Shirley

Sorry about the rant but I do plan on writing more about this aging thing when the spirit moves me!!
I would appreciate any comments from people that understand!