A Slip and Slide Stairwell No More!

 In getting ready for a surgery recently, I had lots of folks ask if there was anything I needed before I would be laid up for at least 10 days?  Im pretty good at pre planning lots of things from the cleaning to the food prep so that we have an easy time if I am to be out of commission for any time at all.

There was one thing that I needed that I couldn't get done, and Hubby was not seeing the need for what I was describing - his mind wasn't able to see my idear!

October 30, 2022

You see - We have this space at the bottom of the stairs to the front door, and in the winter this space gets a hole in it right at the bottom of the steps!  The snow plow pushes snow around it but somehow it ends up being a hole (might be a Ike thing also....?)!  The hole gets very icy - no matter what we do!

So the process is....slide into the hole - catch yourself on the wall - proceed up the stairs!  Simple right?

Not so much when you are 80!  Which some of the parents and one of the Grammas is!

This is the summer version of it and it works great - I can sweep the little patio and keep it clear of sand and gravel from coming in the house. But in the Winter everything gets a lot harder!  Keeping the hole from forming in the front step is one of them.

So when the opportunity came to grab a pallet that the school had no use for, I raised my hand and then asked for help to get it into my car!  The guys I asked were the woodshop teacher and one of the Special Ed teachers who is always willing to help.  They asked me why I needed said pallet and when I told them, they made me this.....

Bottom of the stair hole destroyer complete with sand strips for good traction!  No more sliding anywhere in this area!

We tried it this way first but the tractions strips and the holes in the sides work better the other way (like the first picture).

And thank goodness they did too, because last week started the Snowmageddon!

This is after just the first foot of snow fell, and you cant see my pallet step saver, but it is there and there is no hole in the bottom of the stairs.....

Snow still falling!  No bottom of stair hole though!

Second foot of snow and I have swept these stairs a few times already!

Here we are after the third foot of snow fell and I have got it shoveled from the stairs and the pallet step!  You cant see it but it is there and it has worked wonderfully to keep from having that hole at the bottom of the steps!

And yet another nearly foot of snow!  We have had 4' total in the last week and we are scheduled to get even more this week!  So thankful for no hole at the bottom of the steps!

Hubbys truck after the third round of snow fell and before the wind stopped and the main road was plowed.  We had to wait until the main roads got plowed as the road coming to our house had drifted shut for a long stretch where it comes around the lake - completely closed!

Finally it quit snowing and blowing, and the plow guy was able to come and plow us out a bit.  We got shoveled Hubbys truck out, the garbage box shoveled a path to, and almost got a path to the fuel barrel shoveled out, but the outside light kept going off, and it was getting dark so.....tomorrow we will tackle the rest of the fuel path and the path to the greenhouse.  We will hope that the reports of 16" more snow this week are wrong - but they haven't been so far!

I just have to make it to this!  Few more months!  

Maybe it will get me in shape for gardening by doing all this shoveling?

I can only hope!

May you be warm, dry, may all your snow be very light, and may you have friends who are able to see your vision!

Blessed be!

We Celebrate Thankfulness

Thanksgiving this year was different - even though last year we missed it because of a big storm that left icy roads and porches, this year we chose to stay home.  I had a surgery to fix my deviated septum and it is taking me longer than I thought (of course) to get back on my feet!  I have to nap after I do about an hour of anything, so trying to go anywhere that is very far away is sketchy! I am thankful to have this fixed and be able to heal and hopefully start on a better sleep and breathing track.

Day of surgery selfie - not looking too great but going in the right direction!

Reed and his girl Keyona went out for a bit to Nana's (my mom hosted brunch today) and they had a good visit. We have not seen them for about month, except kind of passing each other on the way to other things.  That is one of the hardest parts of this, the growing up and moving away of the kids,  especially as a loss mother, to not see my other son for so long at a time.  My only solace is that he really is still here on the planet with us and I can talk to him or text him whenever I need to.  Or there is always Facetime too if I am really "off the chain" panicking.  It happens. He is good about being understanding most of the time. I am thankful for that.

I am thankful for people who step in and step up when we can step no more. Who help us carry our scary, huge, painful load with grace and who block us from view when we fall and cannot get up.  Then they help us get up and march some more, forward.  They walk slowly with us when our steps are heavy.  Sometimes they go ahead of us to see what is around the corner, so that we may be prepared for whatever it is.  They remind us that there ARE things to be thankful for. Those who step in for the children  - even those who aren't their own- when someone has to "do something".

For those who take us out of our comfort zones for a new way to create and expand without losing ourselves .I am thankful for the friends who are there for us without judgement, without advice, without thought - they are just there for us.

Thankful for those kids, and grown ups, who helped my kid when I could not, and when he did not want me to.  Together our pain was too big for either of us.  That one guy (or more than one guy) who drove the truck and let him rage and kept driving until it was time to stop and get out and run or skate or whatever he needed to do - and then drove the truck some more.  Until he could speak again in normal tones and without rage. 

I am not technically an educator. Technically I am a Secretary.  Everyone in a school building is an educator of some type though - no matter their "official role".

We celebrate children who aren't our own - sometimes the smallest positive steps are a reason to celebrate - earning a 'C' in a class that the student had been failing, small to us but huge for that child.  
We worry about them at night and all summer hoping they will go the right way or stay the path.  Sometimes the best we can hope to celebrate is that the child showed up on time and stayed at school awake all day.  We are thankful for that.

Really not as creepy as it seems! lol

I am thankful for the blog of a friend whose writing lets me know that I am not alone in my worry about the kids, and the everythings that mothers worry about all of the time, or until their friends talk them "off the ledge" so to speak. 

I am thankful for the company, comfort and care of the Hubby and the dogs (most of the time) while I recuperate and heal up.  Their energy keeping me going forward and going outside once in a while for a walk to keep me moving!

I am thankful that I am able to see  the things to be thankful for this year, even though some of those things are memories....

May you be Happy, Healthy, and Thankful Today and every day!

Blessed Be!

A New Washer Seal and A New Me - Almost!

It has been a bit since you last heard from me!  Just have been busy as all get out, mostly cleaning up after of Ike and the Men, but sometimes working hard at fun things too!  This time I had to do a little work on ME in order to keep doing the things I do!

Of course I had to get the washer fixed first!  It never fails here that anytime someone needs to have a surgery - the washer breaks!  Fortunately this time it was just the door seal and they had it in stock!  Got us fixed up in only about an hour!  Yes!  That seal was worn out - had holes in about five different places!

I have had a deviated septum for as long as I can remember (you can see the lump on top of my nose just slightly above) - caused mostly by my nose having been broken a time or two (or more)!  Once when I got punched in the face by a childhood "friend" who wasn't happy that I told on him for writing on my favorite corduroy pants in first or second grade!  Then there was the time in High School Basketball when I remember the elbow of a teammate MUCH taller than I coming down in the middle of my face during a rebounding drill!  Im 5'2" for gosh sakes and she was at least 6'5"!  There were others but those are the two most memorable when I'm sure I heard the "crunch" of broken nose!

One of the problems that a deviated septum causes is snoring and reduced quality and length of sleep!  Chronic sinus infections and ear infections and it leads to chronic fatigue and shortness of breath as well as other health factors.  I had been averaging about 4 hours and 20 minutes of sleep, and it was not quality sleep!  The sleep center didn't want to do a sleep study until the deviated septum was fixed and so....... 

Here I am with the "moustache bandage" that you get when your septum gets fixed, you have some splints in your nose, and no one wants to see the bloody gunk that comes with all that! 

(not my photo - 

Septum splints - this is what is up my nose right now!  They will come out on Day 5 after the surgery.  I can see and feel them but no one else really can see them.

A little bit swollen here under my eyes and over my nose.  I was a bit surprised that I was not magically breathing easy right after the surgery but, there is the swelling.... and it hurt a bit more than I had expected also.  Nothing extreme - just surprising!

It has been hard to rest and keep from bonking myself in the nose, much less keeping Ike and Brix from bonking me!  

I have to rinse out my nostrils about 5 times a day with this system!  Did you know that if you squirt water up one nostril it is supposed to come out the other nostril?  Its not supposed to go into your ears or try to come out your tear ducts???  That's one of the fun anatomy items I learned this week!  Mine are working now that the surgery is done!

We have had some lovely dinners from family taking care of us - potpie comfort from Nana and Taco night from Sister!  Delicious and makes my life easier! I am not supposed to lift anything heavier than 10 pounds for the next 10 days!  That is one of the hardest parts - a gallon of water weighs 7.5 pounds to give you an example of what I can and cannot lift.

It was a complete going under surgery including intubation, and my jaw, throat and teeth are sore as well as my nose from having the tube down my throat!  Makes chewing and biting a little bit difficult.

Mom and Dad had dinner with us this time since we weren't sick!  It was good to have a visit over delicious comfort food!

Day three after surgery!  Bleeding has stopped and the swelling has gone down a bit.  Splints are still in but not as much gunk coming out.  Still hurts a bit but I can feel that the breathing is easier already!

I have already slept better the past two nights and I am looking forward to seeing the improvements in my breathing and sinus function!

Take care of yourself - don't put off the self care!

Blessed and easy breathing be!

Naughty Ike Eats Iron

I came home to an empty house the other day, and although its not unusual for Hubby to not be home, it IS unusual for him to take both dogs with him!  Brix is getting older and can't get into the car himself anymore.  Car rides make him sore and he is laid up for days because of it.

And then I found this.....

What you are seeing here is a brand new cord, a chewed up washcloth, and an herbal guidebook - somewhat chewed.  I wondered what the heck the cord was from?

And then there was this!!!!!

If you look in the middle of the blankets, you will see an iron - yes an iron for fabric!  Chewed into pieces!  Literally chunks of it all over the floor!  That is where the cord came from as well.  It is a specialty iron - sharp on the front and rounded in the back - for applique and for making sharp corners in blocks.  You can also see on the floor in front of the blankets the box that I stored the iron in all the time!  Taking it out and using it, then putting it carefully back in its storage box until the next time.

I do that, you see, because 4 years ago - and the reason I have two irons - one a specialty one, is that we had an earthquake, and my iron was destroyed.  I asked for one for Christmas and I got two - Im that lucky!  One a daily driver, and this special applique and corner/edge iron.

 

There is also this..... all the contents out of my sewing box, including the box lining, and whole box of pins, and a couple of pens!

And this....

You can see the upside down sewing box, and an entire full sized quilt batting - Shredded!!

Not one bit of it useable.  I had to use a magnet to get all the pins up and it took two garbage bags to clean up all the other stuff from everywhere!

In order for him to get ANY of this stuff, he had to open the sewing room door (thank you paddle handle doorknob).  He had to get the iron (in the box) out from under the sewing cabinet, open the box (aka tear it up) and then chew the iron to bits!

So now we have this!  Not only does he have to get the door open, he has to get through the baby gate that is nailed into the door frame!  Ike still thinks he can't jump that high.  He can open a box and eat an iron but imagines himself unable to jump!?!  Unbelievable!  What kind of dog eats an iron???  Naughty Ike does that's who!

What?  Me?  I didn't do anything!  Brix knows better and he doesn't like it!  Brix does not like Naughty Ike's Adventures and the stress that it brings to the house!  Why can't we all just get along and not eat moms stuff?

May you be blessed with better dog adventures, and if you're not, may the dog only eat the stuff that belongs to the guy who brought him home!!

Blessed be and chewed up free!

Naughty Ike rides alone (Mostly)!

It has been a heck of a month here in the Burg!  We went from blazing sun early in the summer - 90 degrees every day - almost a drought even- to pouring rain nearly every day for 47+ days in a row!  It was about to make everyone in the Valley crazy from the rain - including the dogs!

Brix is allowed on the couch - he is old and has been allowed all along - Ike is not - he chews the plants and the pillows and makes a general mess as well as kicking Brix off the couch and not making room for people!

Brix and Ike are great companions and they get along great - as long as they can get outside and get some exercise daily - especially Ike!  If he don't run - he don't sleep and he is extra naughty when we have to go to work during the day.  Ike is the epitome of "I can do bad all by myself!"  They are a full on comedy team together though!

And then there is this.....what is left of a 15 year old Poinsetta and an 8 year old Greek Myrtle!

Hubby thinks he was only trying to bury a chew bone - so Brix couldn't steal it and since he couldn't be outside! I think he just wanted to dig in drier soil and play with some sticks that weren't water logged!

Almost got them cleaned up and put back together!  They seem to be recovering all right - we shall see as the time goes.

And..... I had round two of Covid at the end of August as well!  This round was worse for me than the first go round and I was pretty laid up for about a week!

Ike is not a fan of reading quietly!  

He does like to snuggle while we sleep though!

I finally put on the "Dog Show" movie - not kidding - it was like when I put on Barney (Rye) or Bob the Builder (Reed) when the boys were little and I was sick and no one could watch them.  TV babysitter!  Ike loves dog movies!  He watched the whole thing and then took a nap!  Thank Goodness!  Dog Show is his favorite so far.  Yes - I am a terrible dog mom!

This is a hole - one of many - that he dug in the yard!  Then he and Brix would take turns laying in them in the heat - presumably to cool off in the soil?

When I hollered at him for digging yet another hole, he pretended he couldn't understand what I was saying - "Huh?"  "Who Me?"

And then.... trying to make up for it by literally sitting on my lap and "helping" me weed!

"Mom!!!! Brix won't let me lay with him on the Nest!!!"  The "Nest" is a floor couch made of a futon mattress and some couch cushions that we made up when Reed shattered his elbow and couldnt "roll out" of a bed.  The kids and dogs all use it - and sometimes I do too depending on how much a wrench my back doing yard work!  Brix sometimes loses patience with Ike - Ike has no idea of his own size and when he is snuggling with people or other pets - he is so heavy that it hurts and you can't get him off of you!  Hubby had to help me the other day when he climbed up on the couch with me and I couldn't get him off of me!

Sometimes he kicks in his sleep too - and his paws hitting you are like getting punched in the face by Muhammed Ali!  No butterfly and I'd rather have a bee! 

Then he gives you a little kiss to make up for it!

And tries to "help" with whatever you are doing!  Look at the size of his head!  He is 8 months old now and weighs about 110 pounds we estimate - because we cant lift him to weigh him properly!

This is how he helps with the dirt from digging potatoes!  He's holding down the tarp that covers my winter soil storage area!  Goooood helper!!  He did help dig the potatoes, and we got about a 5 gallon bucket from our five "hills" of potatoes - I did have to chase him down because he would dig them and run off with them if I didn't get them first!

One hill of "Gold Rush" potatoes - minus the ones with Ike bites in them!

Pepper harvest and part of the potato harvest.

Helping again!

Helping harvest apples now!  We had a good apple harvest here on the farm!  Stay tuned for that post next week!

Brix knows how best to help - lay in the sun and stay out of the way of Ike and any wheeled item or shovel and flying debris!  Keeping in mind that he was a bit naughty when he was younger, and actually ate half an apple tree that I was trying to plant!  Read about it here.  He is much more mellow now and he does try to guide Ike in the ways of the dog, but Ike pretty much give him the "middle finger tongue" also!

Sometimes they are naughty together and wander (or run hells bells) to the neighbors to see what they are doing- luckily the neighbors are mostly nice people who like dogs, and it has even let us meet one of our neighbors who we have a lot in common with so it turned out to be a good thing- just like having the boys is!  

May the sun shine on you more than a bit and your dogs be more joy than naughty!

Blessed Be!