End of Febuary already!

What is odd about this photo? Look closely!


I might of mentioned before my 'rebel chicken' who does her own thing apart from the other chickens. She doesn't sleep/stay in the coop either, her preference!!
So here is Bwocky the Bantie riding Dolly--caught on camera. I've seen her riding Dolly plenty of times, but finally have a decent photo to share! (I've even seen her on Anna once!) What a goofy chicken--but hey its free and interesting entertainment!! (Not sure if Dolly would agree to that or not.)
"Oh Bovine Taxi--get me outta the snow and keep my feet warm!"



According to the calendar, Spring is soon!! :) Now if the weather would cooperate, that would be nice!!

Jared got his 'care package' we sent last week. I sent him a couple of OP shorts and t-shirts, a Foxfire book, and some recorded shows he likes to watch. When I asked him if he liked my selection of clothes, his reply was: "They (the shorts) look like Kyle clothes!!" Oh well, I tried! I told him they were 'girl catchin' shorts--everyday but still nice-looking. I don't think he believed me....darn it! HA

He did extra CQ duty and made some extra bucks this weekend filling in for other dudes. This week they have training all week and said he'd call when he could. They are to train next week doing something else, then head off to Louisiana for some more training. He's not sure how long they'll be there. Hopefully he'll be able to fill us in soon.

Kyle is almost done with Speech Meets, then Golf starts. He is happy (thus far) with the newer (gently used) clubs he bought. I took the liberty of writing down all the golf meets so he could turn it into work for scheduling. Then I was informed that he's on JV (Junior Varsity), and won't be at all the meets on the schedule. Argh! "E" for effort on my part!

I made salve late this week, as I've had requests for more. I have a different batch of beeswax and had to put in more than I normally would, as it was too runny/soupy for my liking. But now it's all done, set up and ready to go!

Patrick has been searching for a different cheapo vehicle for Kyle. That or a transmission for his Explorer. A new/different automatic transmission put in the Explorer is an iffy idea; it seems there was a time period ('92-'95/'96?) that the Ford transmissions on those types of vehicles had some major issues. (Of course we find all of this out AFTER it croaked!) To rebuild it totally is about 4 times more than the Explorer is worth. Sigh. David (my younger brother) has good Ford mechanic contacts that could do it, but they are all in Texas! :(

We did get more snow Thursday (5+ inches), but it should melt off some this week. Kyle did put my truck in the ditch on the way home from work Thursday night. He got it out and nothing was worse for the wear (that I've noticed-ha!).

Gas and Diesel shot up 13 cents this past week, people are grumbling. I have a hunch it's only going to get higher. I did notice many more people using "credit" instead of debit, check or cash at work this past weekend. Not sure what to think of that....I wonder if it will be a trend. Time will tell!

Another busy and long week

Jared sent me this updated photo via his cell phone this week on his way to a class.


Sunday we grilled (homegrown of course) steaks since the weather was nice along with some Brussels Sprouts that were in the freezer. The snow is melting, but was making it icy and slick.
Kyle went golfing, came home, chowed down on steak, then went to work. He worked most everyday this whole week as they are short on help. (Plus he's buying more golf equipment, so all he sees is dollar-signs right now!! HA Teenagers and their "disposable income"!!)

Pat made a re-loader gun holder (for lack of a better term) for the tailgate of his truck. Now when he's at his Blackpowder shoots, he can re-load easily and not get the stock dirty as well!
He got some shows put onto discs and got them mailed off to Jared (who has a 4-day weekend coming up). I know Sons of Guns will be right up his ally. (Ex-Military guy has a Gun shop in Louisiana and modifies/fixes guns--something Jared is VERY interested in.) He hasn't even seen the commercials for it, so it will be a nice treat for him.

Monday (Valentines' Day) at work, a lady came in with flowers, I asked "Oh who are those for?" (Thinking it was for someone in the back office). She looked surprized and said "Oh, I think these are for you!" Yep, Patrick sent me an ivy plant with some pretty pink roses in it. I was surprized, he can be such a romantic. (Yes, a Mr. Fixit that's romantic!)


I have requests for salve, now I just have to find the time to make it. This schedule I ended up working a week straight. Plus with the warmer weather, we have been oober-busy, so I've been bushed by the time I get home. Bah!!

Almost all of the snow has melted with the nice temps this week. It's been a big relief for everyone and critters as well!
Patrick and I managed to get eye appointments made last week and both got (badly needed!) new glasses. His came in and he has his, I will wait until a day off during the week to go get mine.

We knew Jared had two jumps this past weekend, and finally Monday he texted us. He was VERY sore from a bad landing but OK. The jump on Saturday had went fine, but the Sunday jump did not go as planned.

I believe he said there were 60 jumpers in each plane, and there were 3 planes. All jumping at the same time.....that's alot of parachutes in the air at once!!
He said on the Saturday jump, before he hit the ground (was still up in the air) he heard one guy below him go "thump" into a tree. Then cussing, then "MEDIC!!" He said the guy smacked his leg pretty hard when he hit the tree--but didn't stick around to see how bad since the Medics were taking care of him.

Thankfully Jared missed the trees that time and managed to land on soft ground. He did say when he was getting ready to re-pack his parachute (after his landing) some guy landed on it. He told him "Hey get off my chute, dude!" The fellow replied with "Oh sorry dude!" (Yes, the term "dude" is used alot!)

They had a required night jump, (Saturday night/early Sunday morning) they jumped at midnight--but had PT at 7 am Saturday morning, then got ready for the jump--yes alllll day long!
He said there was some moonlight to see, but quickly realized on his way down, the wind was not his friend this time. It knocked him off-kilter, as he tried to compensate/adjust, some (control) strap broke on his parachute...so he had to ad-lib and make do. But he did manage to land on his feet AND avoid any trees!

But instead of doing the normal (taught/instinct) roll--when his feet hit the ground, in that instant, the wind caught his parachute and yanked him backwards straight onto his head and then started dragging him. (I believe he said it broke a strap on his helmet, I do know he hit pretty hard.) He had to scramble to un-do his chute and get it under control before it took off on him, with him still attached!

They finally got their group rounded up and accounted for (remember this is all in the dark) and a guy from another group got lost and ended up with theirs. So then they had to find the other group (who was all out looking for their "lost" guy) so he could get back with them so all could continue on.

Then they had a 6 mile march to pack themselves out--in full gear--its still dark. When they got to their destination, the gate was locked. So they all had to re-route and hike another 5 miles to another gate. Jared said they got back about 9 am.
(This is the "short" version--and I left out his "colorful" words used in describing everything to me.) HA

Friday he did a double guard duty--he filled in for one guy who wanted some time off.
He is looking at getting a vehicle--but said the streets there are confusing. So that ought to be interesting! He's been biking or catching a ride to classes or where he needs to go. It would be nice for him to have wheels of his own, tho. (Four, not two! HA)

Flowers + warmer weather!

Here's a Miniature Rose plant Pat and I picked out for a "Me/You" Valentines Day gift!! ;)
Its a Victorian Scroll Rose (I knew some would ask!) :) And it has 10 total buds on it. I will plant it outside when it warms up. There were only three with this color variation, and I grabbed the one with the most new growth on the plant itself.

























Another long week. It was terribly cold earlier this week with another Arctic front, but it has gone away and temps are slowly coming up with some nice needed sunshine!! Things are melting and its either icy in the mornings, or muddy in the afternoons and evenings.

Friday I cleaned out two of the nesting boxes that had broken/frozen eggs in them, making them a mess. Henny Penny's aren't too happy with me for messing up their 'house'. HA Even the rooster had to get in on the griping--think he just decided to gripe to keep his girls happy by agreeing with them!

Got up early this morning to take Kyle in for speech team meet. I go out and start warming up the truck at 4:15 (A.M.)--he informs me "We aren't leaving until 5:45---the 4:45 time is NEXT week!" Ugh kid--I could of slept in another hour?!? ;)

Jared is on a "jump" weekend. They have to do certain Airborne jumps in various situations. They were talking about going to Canada, but the instructor might of came to them instead. I got a text a bit ago: "Survived Jump #6, tomorrow is Jump #7!" Translation: All went OK, no broken bones! (Several broke their legs/ankles in training.)
He got his Xbox going and is happy--an easy way to pass boring time for him when he's not working or studying or cleaning or........ ;)

Pat got his new Muzzleloader gun (rifle??) this week. He's a happy camper and of course can't wait to go out and shoot it. It's pretty, I need to take a picture of it. Its a "side by side"--has two barrels side by side. Interesting (to me) for a muzzleloader.

Slow and Cold Time

The sun coming up on a foggy morning last week.




I've been slow at blogging--Aunt Elenora passed last Thursday (Jan 27th). The funeral was scheduled for Tuesday, but due to the bitter wind and snow, was post-poned to this Friday. It is hard to get my mind wrapped around how fast (it seemed to me) she got sick. I am just relieved she is no longer in pain. She was such a sweetheart!
Here she is in the foreground at Jareds' graduation party last May:


We are dug out from the last storm--we didn't get much snow (thank goodness!) but the wind was brutal. I can handle the snow, but everything suffers in frigid temps. Not just humans, but the animals, vehicles and homes (usually water pipes!).

Monday morning before the storm hit we ran and picked up more hay from my regular hay guy, 25 miles west of here. I also got some more small squares of alfalfa for the bovines. I put two bales in my truck for weight. Works pretty good! (One is so heavy I could barely lift it into the bed of the truck!)
I wasn't out of hay yet, but its much easier to have it there ready to go than to drive thru snowdrifts out back (or attempt to!). The other hay guy (the one that is only a couple of miles east of me) stopped into the store and told me he had more hay I could buy; the other fellow who had dibs on them didn't need them. The cows loved the last bale, and if I get into a pinch they can bring it on the tractor. Yippee!

Patrick somehow twisted his back as well last week, so has been out of commission. It's better, but I don't want him pushing it, otherwise he'll be flat out and not be able to move around much.

Kyle is looking at buying a new set of golf clubs. He is excited to play golf this year and can't wait for the weather to warm up. (I am tired of finding golf balls out in my pasture, or under the trailers out there!) He is to pick them up, but I don't think he looks for them very hard sometimes! ;-)
Tuesday he and a few others are taking the ASVAB (I think that's the right lettering--Military testing)--he keeps telling me he wants to join the Marines. I'm a mean mom and tell him: Army or Air Force......and of course he wants to be Infantry. Sigh. Maybe his testing will point him into something he'd actually enjoy doing!?!? Time will tell.......

Jared sent us a photo via his phone of a bunch of guns in a gun rack with this note: "I fixed all of these today!" It seems he got to 'play' and fix some of the 'out of commission' guns. He was a happy camper.
He bought a small "George Foreman" grill and has discovered Spam. (ha) He called and wondered why WE didn't eat Spam.....uh, 'cause we normally eat Ham! ;-) They are doing PT and other testing this week and in March will go to Louisiana for more training. Details to come as I get them!