Thursday, January 25, 2018

I BET YOU THOUGHT I STOPPED BLOGGING.....NOT!!! (5TH ATTEMPT TO LOAD POST)



Hi, blogger friends!  Yes, it’s been a while…..  I hope everyone had an amazing New Year!!

Let me tell you what we’ve been up too, since my last post.
We’ve been dealing with some mighty strange weather, like y’all have.  The temperatures have varied over the weeks to negative numbers all the way up to the high 50’s.  At one point we were actually colder than Alaska.  

Here’s what’s been happening on the homestead……..

Bulldog Man and I had found, over the summer, an amazing 40-year old handmade baby cradle; we couldn’t pass it up…..we purchased it at an amazing price, and took it home with intentions of stripping it, and making it look new.  I was asked by a dear friend if Bulldog Man and I were expecting a baby!  At our ages….it can’t happen :-)…however, were expecting a new grand baby (in January of this year).  Our son, Steven was expecting his first child, and our family couldn’t wait for it to happen.

We sanded down the cradle, cleaned it thoroughly, stained the cradle an amazing color, and let it dry completely.  Then we polyurethaned the cradle and ran into a problem.  The polyurethane started to leave white blotches all over the cradle.  We waited days for it to dry to see if the white blotches would disappear.  Some blotches disappeared, while new ones popped up.  This just didn’t make any sense to us and we didn’t have time to waste.  We were delayed refinishing the cradle due to the water issue and construction at our house. So onward we went, sanding down the cradle again thoroughly.  


This time instead of staining the cradle, we decided to paint it the same color scheme as the baby crib our son had purchased.  The cradle came out gorgeous; we’re still wondering what caused the blotches with the polyurethane.  


We delivered the cradle to our son and his wife on the 23rd of December; they loved it and couldn’t believe how well it matched the paint on the crib!!!

After visiting with our son and daughter in-law, we stayed at my sister’s house in Texas, until we returned home on Christmas Eve.
On January 8, 2018 our 6th grand baby was born.  

Let me introduce you to Cora Faye, 7 pounds 7 ounces



*****
Due to the cold weather, squirrels in our neck of the woods were hunkering down in warm places. Unbeknownst to us, a squirrel decided to build a nest under the hood of our truck.  He/She ripped insulation off of the fire wall under the hood of the truck, and took the material off of the air filter to build a nest; on top of the intake manifold of the truck.  When we went to change the oil, a nest (well structured I might say) was found and pulled off of the intake manifold of the truck. 

After researching the internet, I’ve learned that by placing moth balls under the hood of your vehicle, it will deter squirrels from building nests.  So I attempted my version of storing moth balls under the hood of our truck, and other vehicles.

I pulled out some old material, cuts squares, placed moth balls in the center of the squares and pulled the ends together with sown heavy duty string.  Then I cut two slits in the material on the sides and placed a zip tie through.  This way I could mount the pocket on a heavy wire under the hood of each vehicle (I made sure the wires wouldn’t start fire or have issues). This has worked well, and has deterred the squirrels (the smell isn’t real nice). 



Now we’re dealing with the squirrel playing games with us inside our detached garage.  Eventually the little bastards will be caught!!!!

*****(The Type Print On This Post Keeps Acting Up, Excuse The All Caps*****

For the past 4 weeks, I’ve been recuperating from walking pneumonia and dealing with a broken foot. 

You heard right! 

I caught an upper respiratory infection after visiting my sister which turned into pneumonia.  And weeks before, I was locking our driveway gate when the inevitable happened.  The driveway is gravel, and it’s not level so, when I ran to catch one side of the gate, my foot went down onto an unlevel section of the gravel on the driveway and rolled.

I ended up breaking a metatarsal bone, and pulling tendons.  Talk about painful, and a burning feeling….OMG!!!!  I immediately went to my primary physician who looked at it, and sent me to the hospital for x-rays because she thought it was broken.  The radiologist diagnosed me as having no issues!!!!  I demanded a referral to my foot doctor.  Y’all know how that works…..it takes time to get a referral. So in the mean time, I’m walking on this foot, and in pain.

Finally, I have an appointment with the foot doctor (a specialist).  She looked at the x-rays, advised she believes I have a fractured foot, and pulled ligaments, and ordered an MRI to determine a plan of action.  While waiting on the MRI appointment (several weeks), I’ve been put in a $300 boot to immobilize the foot. 

Geez……I paid (the insurance company did) $300 for one boot…..they could have at least given me a pair of boots J at that price!!!  Right??  Now I’m in a waiting mode and need to just take it slow with my foot, to make sure I don’t do further damage.  The MRI facility called last night and scheduled me for an appointment on January 29th. 

*****

A recipe worth keeping--BAKED DONUTS!!!  We love donuts however, fried donuts don’t agree well with the body.  So I found this recipe on the King Arthur Flour site.  They’re baked donuts three ways, and Bulldog Man gives them 4 paws up as a rating!!!  Here’s the site and recipe:  https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/baked-doughnuts-three-ways-recipe

 

 

 

*****

Y’all know we have a massive amount of wildlife on our property.  I thought I would share with you a video of my husband cutting Tank’s hair….check out the doe watching it all happen and eating with no fear.

 

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16 comments

  1. Well, I'll say this for you Sandy. You might have been off the net for awhile but you sure had a lot of news as a result. Some of it good, like the new clan member, and some of it bad, like the foot problem. I figured the weather was giving you folks a hard time like it has been here. Glad to see you back up on the air.

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    1. Harry,
      Just a little bit to report being that I'm really not suppose to be on my foot :-) The weather has been so strange with extreme cold, to back up in the 50's and 60's. We're praying there's no wild fires around us. One part of our property runs along an old highway. There's always a scare of people running off the road and starting fires with their cars or throwing out a cigarette. The fields around here are real dry, expecting 50 percent chance of rain tonight.
      Hope the weather isn't giving you troubles out your way. The wildlife seem to be coming out of their beds some what confused with the weather. I hear the coyotes yelping, and just minutes ago a farmer shooting his gun. I can only imagine their out on the farmers field harassing the cattle.


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  2. I'm having trouble commenting, too. I wrote a long comment and . . . poof! . . . it disappeared when I hit Publish!

    You did so much work on that cradle, but I hope you feel it was worth it as it (ultimately) turned out so well. And Cora's parents were so pleased and touched by it.

    Cora is just the sweetest looking little bundle. It must be so hard for you not to have had any cuddling time with her yet.

    Good grief, your pneumonia and now a broken foot??! After all you've been through lately, what's next? (Nothing, I hope!)

    We have a lot of deer in our area, too, and considering how heavily they're hunted, I'm always surprised that they seem to have hardly any fear of us humans. Isn't it great to live in an area where you can enjoy so many of the wild critters?

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    1. Mama Pea,

      I had a long post with all kinds of pictures. The post crashed numerous times, I gave up. This was my final attempt with a partial post. Doesn't that make you made when you've worked hard on a post, and bam....it's gone before you can get it saved.

      Refinishing the cradle was totally worth it! Were so happy the kids loved it. I have to agree with you, Cora is a sweet bundle. We haven't even met our little grand baby yet. We're hoping soon!!! Don't want our Daughter In Law or Cora getting sick from me. I must be totally healthy before holding that precious bundle of joy :-)
      Mama Pea, I wouldn't trade where we live now to reside back in town. I so love all the wild life here. Granted, we have to be careful going out on the property because were in the environment of the wildlife. And people ask me if I'm afraid to live out here.....heck NO!!!! You just have to always be aware of your surroundings and respect the wild critters space.

      How's Papa Pea Doing???

      Sending hugs and love your way.
      Sandy

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  3. You better get back to blogging because for you it's safer then homesteading! :-)
    Glad you're back.

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    1. Mike,
      ~HA~!!!!!
      You would think so at this time!!!
      Actually, homesteading is pretty safe. I just need to be careful on the gravel driveway when running to catch the damn gate.

      Heading into town tomorrow to look at a few log splitter's. I'm hoping we can find a nice gas one at a good price.

      Are you preparing your soil for planting a garden? I'm going to place a brief seed order after responding to all the comments this evening.
      Take care, catch you soon :-)

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  4. Holy Cow!! Full of adventure! Sorry to hear about your foot..Congrats on the new one.....wish you many blessings!

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    1. M.E.,

      I should say y'all are full of adventure after reading your post on the feral pit bull, and the wild pig.

      My foot is painful but I'm still upset I didn't get a pair of boots for the cost of $300.00.... LOL.
      Thank you for the congratulations.
      Hugs,
      Sandy

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  5. Sandy, oh no! How frustrating to be hurt, especially after a good trip and precious new grandbaby! The cradle was a real find and you two did such an excellent job on it - what a treasure. Do take care of yourself! And P.S. thanks for the baked doughnut recipe. I've been wanting to try them since my own doughnut blog post.

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    1. Just realized I'd have to buy doughtnut pans!

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    2. Leigh,
      Yes, it happened and I'm trying real hard to not get disappointed about my foot enabling me. Soon we hope to see our new grand baby. The cradle was a real amazing find! You'll enjoy this recipe. Wal-Mart has donut pans. I'm sure if you just used a spoon and dropped the dough in a muffin tin you'll have a doughnut without a hole :-)
      Hugs,
      Sandy

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  6. Back last spring, I tripped over the dog and landed in what had to have been an incredible looking pratt fall as I tried to then not land on the dog. I knew as soon as I'd landed that I'd done SOMETHING not minor to the arm. An hour of elevation and ice made no difference in the pain, so I drove myself to urgent care.

    Who insisted that it was a sprained elbow.

    I've sprained LOTS of joints before, this wasn't a sprain. But they'd taken xrays, so they ought to know, right?

    Turns out that not only are hairline fractures very hard to diagnose anyways, but hairline fractures of the radial head (the elbow end of the one of the long bones in the lower arm) are notoriously hard to spot on xrays. A week and a half after the fall a specialist confirmed I'd broken it. At least my treatment didn't cost as much as yours has. Good luck with the foot, thats gotta suck!

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    1. Ruth,

      Isn't it funny how we know we've done something serious to ourselves when injured however, a radiologist when reading x-rays can't provide an injury diagnoses. Makes me wonder why they go to school.

      I take it your elbow healed properly?
      Thank you, I'll need to luck :-)

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    2. All healed! I don't QUITE have full extension of the elbow back (but the difference between the normal and the injured elbows is only slight), but otherwise I have full range of motion and am back to normal strength.

      Hey, at least the foot won't stop you from being able to hold the baby! I couldn't use that arm for ANYTHING weight bearing till 9 weeks after the injury!

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  7. There you are! I figured you all were busy, but holey moley! I hope your pneumonia is gone - that is nasty stuff. And a broken foot? Geez. I can't believe it's taking this long to schedule and MRI. I am really not a fan of the medical industry. Congratulations on the new babe - she is a doll~! And SO glad you are back up and blogging. We've missed you. xoxoxoxo

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    1. Susan,
      It's nice to be back, I will however, be posting and responding slowly to everyone. My cough is hanging on, and I'm still using the boot (probably for another month or two). We're getting little projects done. We did finally get to see our new Grand Daughter, then came home and hubby contracted the flu.

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