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Behind, but Catching Up!

Posted on April 4, 2022April 20, 2022 by ihaveanotion — 2 Comments

I am behind in almost all aspects!!!

I don’t know what happened to the days when I could sit for hours in the morning, working or playing on the computer. Now once I step away from the screen I rarely ever get back to it.

Butts in the Pasture and Barn

There are only two behinds in the pasture. Sir Loin took a very short ride recently and will soon be in the freezer. We have picked out the replacement cow and he should be here in the next couple of weeks. His name is ‘Stew’.

Sir Loin leaving in the trailer — Bye-bye Sir Loin

This week we have added 3 new butts to the barn too. Three little piggies this year. Two boys and 1 girl. Yesterday I went in and hand-fed them some treats. We want them to be friendlier than the pigs from last year.

We have worked our butts off. Just about any day that has temperatures warm enough to be outdoors we have been. The pasture fence needed some repairs. We spread the work out from January to March. The cows will stay contained.

Yardwork too

A chore in arrears was from October of last year, an oak tree died close to our house power line. The power company topped the tree, so if the dead tree fell would not take out the power line. Between October and March, it was either too cold or too wet to deal with the treetop. A nice day in early March found us picking up the winter deadfall, and we decided to attack the tree. We cleaned most of it up in one morning.

Dead tree bing topped — Dead Tree is being topped by the power company.

Guests and Accommodations

Looking ahead and to keep from getting behind, again. During March I worked on the other guest rooms. We have a full house arriving for Easter weekend. Kids, grandkids, a nephew, and a great-niece!!! 2 of the extra bedrooms still needed some furniture and decor. Done.

Very little on the creative front… Last year I offered to teach a hand applique class. I am a substitute instructor. I have not done hand appliqued in years. So I had to update my skills, and create samples and materials. Working on the handout now. The samples and examples are ready. I will cover 4 methods for the applique preparation and the all-important ‘stitch’.

I try… to keep up… but I often have nothing to share or I am not in a place to share… But I love having a reader or two, so thanks for sticking around! Beth

Am I out of Patients or Patience?

Posted on February 14, 2022February 14, 2022 by ihaveanotion — 2 Comments

I am finally out of Patients and Patience! Just when I thought the highway was going to smooth out! I have been meaning or wanting to sit and write a post! They are not quite as easy as writing a letter, which is how I think of the blog post… a letter to a friend.

Was a mess. So where did all my time go? There was patient care, my chores, his chores, and the patient care! There was also Christmas to fit in. Fortunately, we have a pop-up Christmas tree. Half an hour and it is standing on a table, lit and decorated and it takes about the same amount of time to put it away! We chose a low-key Christmas this year. I mean, what else do we really need?

The Patients

One of the patients was the DH, (Dear, Darn, Darling, or other descriptive words that fits the moment) Husband had a Total Knee Replacement on November 30. This was his second, so not a totally new experience for us. The first was in 2015, and much has changed in just 5 years. This time it was only 1 night in the hospital and then home! Everything went fine and he has been cleared by his doctor to resume normal activities.

Another Patient — Patton is playing in the yard

The other patient is Patton. He decided to have his own medical issue too. I think I mentioned it before, he has developed Epilepsy. He is doing well and has adjusted to the medications. He was started on Phenobarbital, a fairly inexpensive drug, but very hard on the organs. Because he is only 2, we not only want him to be well but with us for a long while. We transitioned him to another anti-seizure medication. Patton had another seizure this week. The confusion he feels after a seizure makes my heart break. I can see him trying to figure out what he did to deserve the punishment, and for about 24 hours after he is so needy. Unfortunately, he is 90 pounds of energy, so cuddling him is nearly impossible.

Weather Patience

No patience for Spring — These Violas bloomed in December, around the 29th.

Once we were able to get out, the weather joined the game. Severe warnings for both winter and summer seasons in December and January. December gave us really warm weather that brought us tornado warnings as well as devastating tornados to Kentucky. These were particularly troublesome because the storms were coming in the dark. The tornado in Bowling Green was the closest to us and the watch area almost included our area. Since then we have had several dustings of snow, freezing rain, or sleet, and just plain cold temperatures. One of our trips home from physical therapy was quite a slippery snowy ride. The high of 76 at the beginning of December, gave us a hint of spring and the summer-time storms. And a couple of weeks ago, a winter storm that might have brought enough ice to shut things down, but turned out to be significantly less here.

New Weather Warning — The weather service has come up with a new weather warning… Snow Squall

Speaking of getting out. Two of the ‘Cowboys’ have left. That happened in early December. With the DH out of commission, I was the helping wrangler… These 2 cows did NOT want to leave!!! Poor Sir Loin, he has been so lonely the last few weeks. We are hoping his new friends will arrive today. And they did!!!

New Friends Arriving — Sir Loin will have to use some patience to bring these guys into the routine.

The Welocoming Committee — Sir Loin will have to use some patience to bring these guys into the routine.

No patience for mechanical issues either

In January, my car started to ha some electronic issues. The whole center big screen, fancy gadget started to malfunction. When it does not come on, there is no controlling the heat, (or defrost), no radio, no GPS, and several other not quite as essential functions. So far it has not failed to come to life shortly after starting… but it is annoying and required an enormous amount of patience on my part… It has now been to the shop and a new ‘radio’ has been ordered. That is what they call that big fancy all in one screen, the radio! The part should be in next week… so a trip to Bowling Green again. I just have to be a little more patient for the part to come in.

So now you are mostly caught up… I will try to be better reporting in!!! If, you are still here… do you experience things that just take over? Tell me in a comment, what is the first thing you knock off your “to-do list” to accommodate the added demands?

More to come… Beth

Speedbumps in November

Posted on December 23, 2021December 23, 2021 by ihaveanotion

Speed Bumps and detours in the technology department have slowed things down and created a log jam. Don’t you just hate the kind that we don’t see coming or have no control over? That happened in the midst of writing a mid-November post! WordPress and the site host had a security incursion. Access was at risk. I am happy that they were “Jonny on the Spot”. But telling us would have been better than telling the media first!!! The speedbump was locking everyone out and requiring resetting passwords, but they didn’t tell us that. Not in the press release or email, until well after the fact. I know others that had a worse time of it than I did, but I really did want to post before the Thanksgiving Holiday… Just so I wouldn’t find myself in just this place. Too much to do and not enough time to get it all done.

asphalt speed bump — photo courtesy: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Speed_bump_(asphalt).jpg

Speedbumps on the Road

At the end of the early November post, I mentioned a workshop. The planning began two years ago. A friend, Linda, and I booked a workshop/retreat in Wisconsin. We were unable to get into the 2020 workshop, so we booked the one in 2021. Since 2020 was canceled it was a good thing we had to book so far out. The travel was about 800 miles each way, but we planned to do it over 2 days and try to visit some quilt shops along the way. We were only able to visit one on the way up for 2 reasons. 1 it was a Sunday and 2 we had a little tire pressure detour that took way too long to resolve. On Monday we really wanted to visit a quilt shop, but there were some “over the top” COVID requirements and we had to leave enough time to fulfill them. We did, and both tested negative for COVID for the second time in 3 days.

Workshop

The workshop was with Susan Carlson on her method of collage quilting. Because of the restrictions, we were masked and social distancing; so I don’t think we got as much out of this as we might have if we were free to mingle and communicate without the COVID restrictions. A detour for attendance required proof of vaccination and two negative COVID tests, which required additional planning.

slogan to get vaccinated. Please — If you haven’t please consider it, so we can be done with this and get back to real life!

Overall, I did enjoy the workshop, but not as much as I would have if things were different. I will rethink, in-person workshops, if we have an instructor that has this much fear. As life going forward looks to me, COVID will be a very big hiccup in life and all we can do is do our part for friends, family, and our community. Get vaccinated, maintain sanitation, and wear a mask when out and about in public with strangers.

The Creations

My idea was to use a pattern from Ms. Carlson, the sun. I hit a speedbump getting started. Ms. Carlson suggested switching to the subject I really wanted to do. Iggy Piggy! Just before lunch, I had the line drawing fleshed out and began collaging a pig in fabric. I started with the snout and next on to the feet. Iggy was pretty much done before lunch Thursday. There was still a day and a half left, so I quickly put all the pig fabric away and got the sun back out along with all the sunny fabrics. I made a good start on the sun. Iggy stayed on the wall as I retired for the evening, overnight classmates added a detail. Ms. Carlson has a slide show of all the efforts and progress of everyone over the 5 days on her website, SusanCarlson.com (scroll down the page a bit).

The Detours of Life

So, why has it taken this long to post again? LIFE! the month of December has been one big speedbump. In our house, there has been 1 total knee replacement, (not me). A major change in who does what, (all me). A stormy tornado-filled weekend, (we are fine, but others in Kentucky are not). A K-9 health emergency, (Patton is an epileptic, an added complication). Some holiday baking, (all me). Some quilting, (me again and nearly late for the new arrival). A stopover houseguest twice, (a small diversion). Never mind the small little shifts that pile up… when you are not looking!

Patton had a speed bump. 2 Epileptic seizures in a week.

In the end, I hope that you have all made it through 2021 on a reasonably smooth road with fewer speedbumps I have had! That that you have the Merriest Holidays, enjoy your family time and experience a Joyous, Prosperous & Healthy New Year!!!

More Later! Beth