Away We Go.....

...Boomer Has Left the Mountain...!!

Happy New Year Bloggerville

Where's the........

...SNOW...!!

The weather Gurus said there would be 1-2" on the ground this morning...

Maybe those wind gust that reached 60 mph had a little something to do with non sticking snow...

Could it be.....?

Will we get thru the winter with just flurries...?

The parental units and i are leaving tomorrow morning for Florida...
My brother is getting married on New Year's Eve...

It'll probably snow while we're gone...
And i'll miss it...

Oh Well.....

Life is Good

Breaking with Tradition....

...i could not face another turkey or ham...
or mashed potato..
or sweet potato..
or green bean..

So

This year we broke with tradition and had...

Corn Beef and Cabbage..
with braised Yukon gold taters..
carrots and onions...

Yummmmmm..

and the best part...
No
left over ham...!!

We may keep this menu and make it a new tradition....

Life is Good

What'da you do....?

...when it's 4:30AM on Christmas morning....
You haven't wrapped your wife's gift....
You can't find the wrapping paper or tissue paper....
You can't find a gift bag big enough....

You use what you have on hand...

Inside the grocery bag .... wrapped in newspaper....

Was my new laptop from CityBoy....!!!

Complete Surprise...!!

No more Sharing....!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mia goes back to the cute Vet today....
She ripped into Christmas like a pup yesterday...
She ate 2 doggie treats and her breakfast...
And tried to spit out her pills....

We're sure she feels better

Life is Good

Hey Guys....!!

....I don't think Santa's gonna fit....!!!

Merry Christmas Bloggerville...!!

Life is Good

Watching and Waiting.....

..that seems to be the theme for the cabin in the Twelve Acre Wood for the next few days...

The fur babies are watching for Santa..
And the humans are watching Mia...

Mia is in the early stages of congestive heart failure....
the good news is the "early" part...!

Our second Jack Russel developed emphysema and CHF at the age of 8...
(Mia will be 8 this coming year)
But....on the correct meds Adam (#2) lived to the ripe old age of 14...

So....Mia's prognoses is good..
She's now on heart meds and a fluid pill twice a day

She's on day two of her meds...
I think she's doing better....CityBoy doesn't...
He's a worrier...!!

Life is Good

Back Down the Mountain.....

...taking Miss Mia back for another visit with the cute Vet....
She's doing "OK".....but....her breathing is still rapid and shallow...
And we will feel better having her checked before the Holiday weekend hits us....

('Cause those ER Vet Clinics can be a little bit on the $$$$ side....)

I'm thinking of changing her name to.....Wheezy....

Life is Good

First Day of Winter....

...came rolling in with clouds....rain....and strong cold winds....

Yuck!!

Is the snow far behind....??

Stay warm and dry....

Life is Good

Clearing out the sinus.....

....pickled jalapenos...

that should do it...!!

CityBoy is at it again...

Mia and i are still recovering and sticking close to home...
I did go out with the female parental unit yesterday....
Hadn't been to Wal Mart in almost a week and i was showing signs of withdrawal...
Picked up the last of the Christmas gifts and got them in the mail....
Then came home and vegged for the rest of the afternoon..

Life is Good

New Day....

Thank you bloggerville for all the well wishes....

Miss Mia and i are both on the mend..
although the stairs are still a challenge for both of us...

Mia is breathing almost normal again...eating....drinking and as of this morning barking..!!
i'm having another spurt and decided to put up the small Xmas tree today....

but...

we're staying in.....little chilly up here today...
no snow.....just nice "cold" winds...

Life is Good

ps...Max makes a wonderful Nancy Nurse....

Inside day....

...Mia and i are spending the day in bed...

She has improved a little ...but... is still short of breath..
but she ate her doggie treat this morning...

Always a good sign...

I'm still sniffeling and trying to keep this mess out of my lungs...

Max has agreed to be our Nancy Nurse....

Life is Good

Just got back....

...from an emergency run to the Cute Vet....

The last few days i've noticed that our baby girl Mia...just hasn't been herself...
She had rapid shallow breathing....shivering....occassional hacky cough...
lack of energy.....this is not the behavior of a Jack Russell...

This morning the "mommy" intuition kicked in and the brain yelled in my ear...

"Somethings Wrong"

So down the mountain we went....

Mia has the beginnings of asthma and a possible enlarged heart...

She's now full of fluids....antibotics....and steroids...
she's resting on the sofa with Max and i'll be joining them soon...

My question is......where did all these germs come from....?

No ones been sick in this cabin for years....
Guess we were due...

Life is Good

Ugh...!!

Max and Mia are soaking up the sun puddles while they last....
the rains are suppose to start tonight...!!

They're keeping watch and keeping me company as i sit on the sofa and silently fight a winter cold....

Ugh....!!

Sinuses are swollen and hurt......throat fire comes and goes.....nose is beginning to drip....
I don't have time to be sick....!!

I think my friend ..... that has been home with pneumonia for two weeks.....sent me her germs inside the Christmas card i recieved yesterday....
Licking the envelope......germy tongue......Ouuuuuuuu.....!!

Anyway.....i'm blaming this on her....
Thanks Jamie....!!

Ziacam....here i come.....

Life is Good

Spurt #6....

...is brought to you by Misskitty..

Yesterday......with delicately placed claws...
she reminded me that i had promised her a Christmasy CatMat...

Sooooo...
After removing her nails from my left thigh...
we went to search of Christmas scraps...

She picked red with stars and yellow with little tiny Christmas trees for the front....

and a winter melody for the back....
We used a quick quilt as you go method...
"cause she wanted her new CatMat...

NOW...!!

I think she's happy....!!

Life is Good

Spurt #5

My front door is one very large sheet of glass...
and being so.....i've been leery of hanging a wreath every year....
since we live in a "high" wind area..
..hello..
..i live on the side of a mountain...!

Yesterday...while CityBoy was Xmas shopping a Lowe's Hardware...
what did i find in the knob department....
a kitchen/bathroom/closet hook....
and just what i was looking for....

CityBoy used the drill i gave him our first Christmas in the cabin and..

Viola..!!

There it is ...Spurt #5....my wreath hook...!!

Look...look.... glass front door and Christmas wreath....
No more...will that metal wreath frame be banging on the door in the middle of the night....
'causing me to get up and take it down....only to put it back up in the morning....

Plus.....i can use it all year....
Not bad for $7.00..

Life is Good

Parental Units have the Spirit.....

The stockings are hung on the front porch with care.....

Wait..!!

There are six stockings and only two of them....

They must be counting the cats....
Three inside and one outside side....

2+3+1 = 6

Yep....the stocking count is right....

Life is Good

Spurt #4.....

....Christmas Cards....

Signed...labeled...and mailed....!!

Life is Good

In the words of Jeff Foxworthy......

(if your a Foxworthy fan.....you know what i'm talking about)

....Christmas Presents....

Yep!

CityBoy came home from work yesterday and proceeded to make his Christmas Gifts....

Bread & Butter pickles in jelly jars...
Add a green bow and he's all set...

he did all the work .....i sat on the sofa and supervised....

My kind'a shopping....!!

Life is Good

Not Sure......

....which way the day is gonna go...
It's cloudy....cold....frosty....but the sun is trying to peek thru...
Sounds and looks like a quilting day to me...

This morning when i stumbled into the kitchen..
CityBoy had left the computer on with a note attached...

Seems someone in Moscow...using a mobile unit...was trying to use his Facebook account...
but...didn't have his correct password...

Do we know anyone in Moscow...??
Don't think soooooo.....but....i'll check.....

Could we "please" confirm or change passwords....

Hummmm.....

Since i'm the "Password Master" he had left this for me to take care of....

Wellllll.......let our little Moscow buddy try to get in now....!!

I've learned a few things from the password experts in Raleigh...
Confusion is the name of the game...

Now did i remember to write it down...??!!

Life is Good


ps.....maybe it was "Peggy"
pss....with my coupons...!!

Spurt #3...

....involved something i've been trying to do for YEARS....!!

I finally took the time and input the address list for our Christmas cards...

I also printed them...

But

As you can see the labels have not made it onto the envelopes yet....
maybe Spurt #4...

Life is Good

Another Spurt.....

The Pilgrims are down and put away for another year...

The...."Christmas Zebra..Wonky Star..Made by Elves" quilt...
is up and waving....

Life is Good

Bah HumBug......

Well...maybe not...!!

A small spurt of Christmas Spirit hit me on Sunday afternoon....

Soooo

Out came my Coca Cola Polar Bear cookie jar...

Life is Good

Jumbled Days.....

Would you call this frosty air....?

And these clouds look a little frisky this morning....!

Yep...!

I'm still here...but...the last two days have been a bit jumbled ....
i took a mini-vacation from Blogger....
It was frustrating me to no end....
Took forever for the pictures to load...
Plus....i was a little low in the thoughts department....

Anyway....back to the jumbled days...

We did the Saturday errands on Friday...cause...CityBoy had to work on Saturday...
Love those...."Buy One...Get One Free" deals and if i have coupons...

Whoa Mama....!!

Then yesterday.....i had planned to stay in the PJ's as long as possible.....finish reading a great mystery.....just sort'a veg....

Ring.....Ring....

Your mother needs help putting up her Christmas lights.....

Bah Humbug......where did all this Christmas Spirit come from....
It's too early...!!

Well.......the lights are up and the stockings are hung....
Not at my house.....at the Parental Unit Lodge....!

Guess i better get with the program....

The Good News....

The letter came.....the letter announcing cable, internet and phone bundles coming soon....
the letter with free hook-up and all kind's of good deals....

Hey.....phone company you don't need to send it twice.....CityBoy and i plan on seeing and signing with you tomorrow.....

Life is Good

Roll'n.....Roll'n......Roll'n.....

....those tree trucks just keep-on....
I always wonder where those trees are going...

Hey.....now that i have time on my hands...
i'm thinking of setting up an Etsy Shop..
with some of my reversible table runners....cat mats....place mats....etc...
not anything big or costly...

What'a think...??

Those of you that already have shops....
is it worth the time... effort and money...??

Undecided...

It's another "flip the coin" decision...

Life is Good

Almost Wordless Wednesday....

....Just a little snow on the roof...

Life is Good

Man's Best Friend.....

Can you see the thoughts running thru Mia's brain....

Come-on PaPa.....
drop it...!!

I'm real good at catch and fetch...

Come-on....
Just a flick of the wrist...

Come-on....
I'll clean up anything that hits the floor....

What you don't see is Max playing back-up...behind Mia...
that turkey didn't have a chance....

Life is Good

Yuck....!!

Didn't even make it out the door this AM....!!
Suppose to be like this allllll day and then turn into snow sometime tonight...!!

No flipping of the coin today......today's a quilting day....
(with a couple of loads of laundry thrown in)

I think Mia's looking for a dry spot..to wet on...!!

Yep......wind is blowing rain all the way to the front door....

Life is Good

The Bad .....The Good......

The Bad..

Cold.....strong winds....overcast.....rain.....turning into snow...

Ugh..!!

I could have a bad case of the blahs...if i let myself...
Trying to decide which way to go......blah or get up and do something....
Maybe I should flip a coin....

The Good...

The Pioneer Woman's Turkey Tetrazzini recipe...

Yummmmmmmy....

and really uses up that left over turkey..
I left out the white wine....didn't have any and didn't want to run to the store and buy any..

But...

the Tetrazzini turned out great without it...
I think the block of cream cheese is the secret...

Had to send half of the left overs home with the parental units....'cause.....i knew i would eat every little morsel that was still in the house....

Do i know myself of what...?

Had a plate full for breakfast with four sugar cookies and coffee..

Breakfast of Champs....!!

Well......i'm off to flip that coin...

Life is Good

Tree Update.....

These pictures were taken this AM.....just as the sun was coming up..

The workers are loading the "big" trucks...
Shipping Christmas trees to a tree lot near you...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I told you....if we found out about the emergency crews on Monday night i'd let you know...

Boy....was i wrong...!!

They had a tree worker fall off a trailer load of trees and die...
The management believes he either had a heart attack or the load shifted and he fell 10 feet to the ground - breaking his neck...
He was 61 year old....this was his 33rd season working trees...he leaves a wife and 8 children..plus his crew...
There has been NO laughter or singing from the fields all week..

The experts say....that logging is the most dangerous job in the world....
Could tree farming be considered logging on a smaller scale...?

Rest in Peace..

Random Thoughts for Black Friday.....

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone...
Couldn't stop the memories of the entire family gathering at Granny's house for the turkey meal....sometimes there would be 20-30 of us and we would eat in shifts...

Now we're so scattered there was just the five of us....

After dinner and football....after the parental units had ventured back up the hill....
Mom called to announce that my brother is getting married....
I really thought he would remain a bachelor for life....but....after 13 years with the same woman....
they decided it was time....Hummmmmm....

Talked to the female child......she had stayed home 'cause she was on-call for the hospital...she was making her midnight run list and waiting for the boys to get home with her turkey dinner....

The Male Child will soon be moving to Boone and starting his last two years at ASU....

MissKitty is sure i'll screw-up and forget what she wants for Christmas...
(can you buy World Peace...?......is it a new cat toy or a video game...?)

Mia doesn't want to be bothered.....buy her anything.....as long as she can eat it or tear it apart...

Max has been reading all the sale adds and now has crossed eyes and a headache...

Well.....Anyway....

If your shopping today.....enjoy it.....you won't see me there....!!
I love Cyber-space shopping...!!
The big Brown truck beings it right to my door....!!

Life is Good

Happy Thanksgiving.....

....Burp!!....

Life is Good

Mac Daddy.....

It's that time...!!

Time to drag out the Mac Daddy of all my crock pots...
(i have four)

The Turkey Roaster....!!

I've written it before.....and i'll write it again....

"I Love This Thing"

Cooks a 12 lb turkey in about 3 and a half hours....
Frees up the oven for all those side dishes...
Comes apart for easy cleaning....

What's not to like or love....??

The local Wally Worlds usually have them on sale around this time...
(not a Black Friday Item)

But.....you might want to invest in one....
just in case you should ever need a crock pot big enough to feed a hoard.....

Life is Good

Update.....

...still harvesting trees across the road...

Last night there was some sort'a emergency over at the loading area...
it involved two rescue units and about 8 trucks...
It was too dark to see much and too dark for pictures....(sorry)...
Everyone seemed to be OK ...... cause neither one of the units left with lights flashing and sirens screaming...
If we find out what happened....i'll let you know....

Until then...we're off to the Wal*Mart for the last minute shopping....

Life is Good

Sneak Peak....

The 5 year old sweetheart's quilt is done....!!

I'm giving you just a peak ... 'cause she hasn't seen it yet....

Now i just have to finish the "Buggy" quilts for her brothers....
they won't take as long ... cause...i'm using the quilt as you go method and the same quilt pattern..

I'm off to cut.....cut.....cut...!!

Life is Good