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Hey Pearl, get some Yak Trax to slip over your shoes. Amazon has them. I just got a pair for my favorite cousin's daughter, and my husband, too...just to get him to the car. Even with the walker, the ice can be slippery. Worth every penny of the $16 I paid for for them.
Freezing here...I got the fire started again early this morning, and it's been going all day. Took a couple of hot water wagon loads to get the animals done. Dogs are miserable, being in their kennels, but I'm walking them every two hrs. Have the heater on in the milkhouse for them. Will go another round on frozen water in an hr or so. Husband is heading off to PT. I'm going to the post office to pick up mail, and the amish grocery real quick before little granddaughter gets home. Mom's nurse called and we need to move her from her 2 bedroom to a 1 bedroom. We took the 2 bedroom at a 1 bedroom rate, because that's all there was. With the agreement we've move her when one was empty. We love the place she's at, and so does she, so we'll be planning a move soon.
Had them up north, should get some now, all this global warming!!
 
Got another pair of western boots. Same brand but they are more like fashion boots. They are cute and perfect for the drier part of the spring into the early fall. They are short boots. I also ordered a new pair of rainboots. Perfect for the really wet days.

Decluttered the puzzle tote. I got rid of a third of the puzzles. They were 100 piece kids puzzles that Juju has outgrown. I have a bunch of 500 piece ones and larger ones. No cartoon characters. Now I need to look at the game tote and finish the hall closet.

I feel a cold coming on again so I have been downing the gypsy cold tea with my honey lemon syrup. Not getting any worse. But motivation to refill the herbal medicine cabinet.
 
+1 on the Yax-Trax. We use them when winter hiking. One trail in particular, has a couple places water runs across constantly. In the winter I've saw ice over 1' think, and polished like glass. Yax Trax make it easy. Micro Spikes work well too, but I think the Yax Trax would be better for around the farm.

I've been sick at my stomach all weekend. Stayed home today from work, just couldn't get it together at 5 this morning. I started a new medicine in December with increasing doseage every month. This last increase has hit me hard. But it is working, My blood numbers are much better and I've cut my insulin back as well. And some weight loss with it. I'm gonna try and stick with it and figure out what will work, but not cost me a couple days per week.
 
It was late coming but the snow that was supposed to hit yesterday afternoon waited until about 7pm and only light flurries, by 3am there was only a couple of inches but something happened after that because there is about 10" of new snow in the driveway and the wind formed up some 18" drifts in areas. The school for our area cancelled for the day, rightfully so as the busses would have had problems picking up the kids on some of the back roads.
The girls are shoveling the snow behind our cars to avoid problems getting out of the driveway. I wonder if they will clear a path for their mom to get to the drivers door. We shall see. I backed my truck in last night, parking it closer to the street to limit the amount of snow buildup on the muddy area. I had bought a few bags of pine shavings to scatter on the mud to soak up some water and firm it up a bit but the wind before the storm was blowing it way and the mud was frozen so I couldn't mix it in. Hopefully when it warms up in a couple days I can scatter it in and mix it up. I sure do miss the free wood chips we used to be able to get from our local dump station. I never had a problem with mud when the wood chips were available.
 
+1 on the Yax-Trax. We use them when winter hiking. One trail in particular, has a couple places water runs across constantly. In the winter I've saw ice over 1' think, and polished like glass. Yax Trax make it easy. Micro Spikes work well too, but I think the Yax Trax would be better for around the farm.

I've been sick at my stomach all weekend. Stayed home today from work, just couldn't get it together at 5 this morning. I started a new medicine in December with increasing doseage every month. This last increase has hit me hard. But it is working, My blood numbers are much better and I've cut my insulin back as well. And some weight loss with it. I'm gonna try and stick with it and figure out what will work, but not cost me a couple days per week.
Maybe your body will adjust, sometimes it takes time with a new med!!
 
Thats what I'm hoping for. But I am hesitant to step up to the next level in 3 weeks. The last step has hit me hard. I'm thinking of backing off one level, or at least hold steady
Slow down the step up. If it is pills ask the doctor for smaller increases, if it is another form make minor adjustments in quantities.
Good luck.
 
My bridge pins came in the mail today, yea! They are cut from a fossil walrus jaw bone. The bone has mineral deposits which give them a mottled appearance and no 2 are the same color. Could have gone with black dots to match the OEM pins from Martin but chose the ones with abalone inlay. Hey, a little bling never hurts.

The material a bridge pin is made from greatly affects the sound of a guitar. They directly affect vibration of the strings. Most guitars come with plastic pins but there are lots of other choices, from ebony to metal and various kinds of bone. I could have gotten them made from fossil mammoth ivory (legal in all but 7 states). This was why I went to Gruhn Guitars in Nashville last November, to play several guitars with different type pins from comparison. Helped me make up my mind. (fyi – cheap bone pins can be had for $8 a set but there is no way to know what kind of bone. I’ve heard cheap pins that sounded worse than plastic. I would only use cattle jaw bone pins or harder (about $40 a set). Fossil mammoth ivory pins cost about $110 a set, walrus about $80 a set)

20230130_Walrusa.jpg
 
May have been the takeout and it hit your mom worse! Hope she feels better soon!!
It was. Had to take Mom to the ER bc she couldn't keep anything down. Her bp spiked and so did her blood sugar, despite not being able to keep food or even water down. She puked up all her meds. She was so dehydrated they had trouble getting blood. Had to stick her about 6x to get an IV in. Tried in both arms and eventually in the hand. Had trouble getting blood to test her sugar too and had to stick her more than once. It made her bp go up even more. They eventually gave her iv meds for nausea & to lower her bp. They were all nice and apologizing for having so much trouble. Ended up having to go with a smaller gauge needle.

Diagnosis was food poisoning. I'm going to have to figure out the best way to go talk to a manager up there about it to let them know so they can make sure it doesn't happen again.

My stomach is still sour but at least I haven't been throwing up.

Didn't get home til after 1am and couldn't get to sleep until after 5am. Mom woke me up around 9am wanting me to go get her prescriptions. So, I went to drop off the slip and wait. The guy I was supposed to get our baker's rack back from was a jerk and refused and is now saying he doesn't want to see any of us (including my brother who he hasn't even talked to in several months). I hope I won't have to go over with the police to get it. He's mad that I even asked for it.

The new air fryer arrived. It's also a mini oven that can cook pizza and stuff. It has a pre-heat setting (my brother just told me). I got it set up.
 
It was. Had to take Mom to the ER bc she couldn't keep anything down. Her bp spiked and so did her blood sugar, despite not being able to keep food or even water down. She puked up all her meds. She was so dehydrated they had trouble getting blood. Had to stick her about 6x to get an IV in. Tried in both arms and eventually in the hand. Had trouble getting blood to test her sugar too and had to stick her more than once. It made her bp go up even more. They eventually gave her iv meds for nausea & to lower her bp. They were all nice and apologizing for having so much trouble. Ended up having to go with a smaller gauge needle.

Diagnosis was food poisoning. I'm going to have to figure out the best way to go talk to a manager up there about it to let them know so they can make sure it doesn't happen again.

My stomach is still sour but at least I haven't been throwing up.

Didn't get home til after 1am and couldn't get to sleep until after 5am. Mom woke me up around 9am wanting me to go get her prescriptions. So, I went to drop off the slip and wait. The guy I was supposed to get our baker's rack back from was a jerk and refused and is now saying he doesn't want to see any of us (including my brother who he hasn't even talked to in several months). I hope I won't have to go over with the police to get it. He's mad that I even asked for it.

The new air fryer arrived. It's also a mini oven that can cook pizza and stuff. It has a pre-heat setting (my brother just told me). I got it set up.
Glad your mom got to the ER, hope she's feeling better!!
 
Glad your mom got to the ER, hope she's feeling better!!
I hope she's on the mend but something very weird just happened and I'm concerned. She just paged me on the phone's intercom and had slightly slurred speech talking gibberish. She was asking me about what took the silver off the buns. but she had trouble getting the words out. Then she said that I called her and said something about something taking silver off the buns. I decided to go see her in person. My brother had gotten up to go to the bathroom while she was talking gibberish to me. She has good movement with both arms and was able to pick up something after I asked about it, but as I was leaving she said "I still don't know what took the silver off the buns". And I told her that there are no buns with silver and that doesn't even make sense. Normally she would laugh about something like that but it has me worried. Now I don't think I can get back to sleep. It could have been a weird dream she was having. She insisted that the phone rang, she answered, and it was my voice saying something about taking the silver off the buns. She's on two new meds prescribed by the hospital. One is for nausea and the other is an antibiotic. I know one is cipro something but I can't remember the name of the other one. Now my arrhythmia is acting up. I'm going to call the doctor as soon as they open in the morning and ask them about it. Really hoping it was just a weird dream and that she was still in some sort of dream state.

Anyone experienced something like this before or know if its a sign of something bad? From what I understand, high blood sugar can cause hallucinations-- but I don't know where her meter is.

Edit: my brother loaned us one of his meters but she can't get blood to come out from his lancet and I can't find her other one. My head feels like garbage, I'm having chest pains and arrhythmia-- probably anxiety from worrying about her. She's in the bathroom now and I'm going to try to get her to do a sugar reading when she gets out.

2nd edit: she finally got it working. blood sugar was 380. She just took some insulin and I'm going to be awake the rest of the night waiting for her to call if she needs something.
 
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My bridge pins came in the mail today, yea! They are cut from a fossil walrus jaw bone. The bone has mineral deposits which give them a mottled appearance and no 2 are the same color. Could have gone with black dots to match the OEM pins from Martin but chose the ones with abalone inlay. Hey, a little bling never hurts.

The material a bridge pin is made from greatly affects the sound of a guitar. They directly affect vibration of the strings. Most guitars come with plastic pins but there are lots of other choices, from ebony to metal and various kinds of bone. I could have gotten them made from fossil mammoth ivory (legal in all but 7 states). This was why I went to Gruhn Guitars in Nashville last November, to play several guitars with different type pins from comparison. Helped me make up my mind. (fyi – cheap bone pins can be had for $8 a set but there is no way to know what kind of bone. I’ve heard cheap pins that sounded worse than plastic. I would only use cattle jaw bone pins or harder (about $40 a set). Fossil mammoth ivory pins cost about $110 a set, walrus about $80 a set)

View attachment 103350


Nice.
 
I hope she's on the mend but something very weird just happened and I'm concerned. She just paged me on the phone's intercom and had slightly slurred speech talking gibberish. She was asking me about what took the silver off the buns. but she had trouble getting the words out. Then she said that I called her and said something about something taking silver off the buns. I decided to go see her in person. My brother had gotten up to go to the bathroom while she was talking gibberish to me. She has good movement with both arms and was able to pick up something after I asked about it, but as I was leaving she said "I still don't know what took the silver off the buns". And I told her that there are no buns with silver and that doesn't even make sense. Normally she would laugh about something like that but it has me worried. Now I don't think I can get back to sleep. It could have been a weird dream she was having. She insisted that the phone rang, she answered, and it was my voice saying something about taking the silver off the buns. She's on two new meds prescribed by the hospital. One is for nausea and the other is an antibiotic. I know one is cipro something but I can't remember the name of the other one. Now my arrhythmia is acting up. I'm going to call the doctor as soon as they open in the morning and ask them about it. Really hoping it was just a weird dream and that she was still in some sort of dream state.

Anyone experienced something like this before or know if its a sign of something bad? From what I understand, high blood sugar can cause hallucinations-- but I don't know where her meter is.

Edit: my brother loaned us one of his meters but she can't get blood to come out from his lancet and I can't find her other one. My head feels like garbage, I'm having chest pains and arrhythmia-- probably anxiety from worrying about her. She's in the bathroom now and I'm going to try to get her to do a sugar reading when she gets out.

2nd edit: she finally got it working. blood sugar was 380. She just took some insulin and I'm going to be awake the rest of the night waiting for her to call if she needs something.
Wow, scary, 380 blood sugar most likely the culprit!! Let us know something soon!!
 
Husband had all kinds of trouble with his high blood pressure meds.

I was too for a bit, no matter where we went with it it just didn't seem to work, it wasn't horribly off just enough to watch and track. So we went a few months with not much change and I decided that because my one script was about gone I would stop taking it until next visit.

Oddly enough with some subtle food changes and not taking it at all my BP dropped back to normal range and has held there. Doc asked me what I was doing and I said I quit taking it, the look was priceless, lol.

I have an appointment in a week so we will see.
 
I was too for a bit, no matter where we went with it it just didn't seem to work, it wasn't horribly off just enough to watch and track. So we went a few months with not much change and I decided that because my one script was about gone I would stop taking it until next visit.

Oddly enough with some subtle food changes and not taking it at all my BP dropped back to normal range and has held there. Doc asked me what I was doing and I said I quit taking it, the look was priceless, lol.

I have an appointment in a week so we will see.
I've known several people who were on several different BP meds. A couple to lower, a couple to keep it from going too low!!🤔 Not cool, they are dizzy most of the time. A couple I clean for ditched all their BP meds, started eating a lot more veggies, and walking. No more high blood pressure!!
 
A couple I clean for ditched all their BP meds, started eating a lot more veggies, and walking. No more high blood pressure!!

I added lots more fresh stuff by eating more salads, but I think the biggest influence is that we added ONIONS.......... and lots of them both raw in the salad and cooking Vidalias with our meals.
 
Now if I could find a cure for sleeplessness, it's making me crazy.
I get my 4 hours a night, mostly. Yell anytime, I'll tell you stories that will stun a Norwegian Blue :p. Lucky for me, I was already crazy :(
 
@zannej hopefully it was just an issue with the blood sugar. I don't wish to alarm you but the last year with my mom she would occasionally talk about the cat that ran across the room and went behind the fridge. She didn't have a cat, we never had a cat, she hated cats. There was no cat. My guess is she was dreaming of the cat, even during the day with short "cat" naps. But, 10 years prior when my dad was on the way out the nurses told us as the body begins the slow process of shutting down they will see things we don't see, they will have memories of times long past, and they will experience other situations that don't make sense to the rest of us. It doesn't mean the end is imminent, but it is something "we" need to accept and we should try not to make a big deal out of it to avoid upsetting them. The last day in the hospital with dad he was pulling at a string on the blanket that wasn't there, I reached out and grabbed his hand to stop him. I still regret doing that because he was fine playing with that string but when I stopped him he seemed annoyed. That still bothers me, just that little thing I did still bothers me.
This past year my moms cousin passed away but for weeks she was having long conversations with my mom. My mom had passed away 9 year prior but her cousin was wide awake and talking as if my mom was in the room with her. Obviously no one else in the room was seeing or hearing my mom but the conversation was real and the one half of the conversation they heard made sense based on life situations LONG ago.
I know this is scary and frustrating for you, but try not to worry, accept what you can't control, and just do what you can to provide for her without panicking. HOPEFULLY for you it is something that will be corrected with a couple minor adjustments of meds or diet. But, there comes a time for all of us to know the best thing is not always what we want it to be. I wish you both the best, I worded this as gently as I could, hopefully it came across that way.
 
6:45 in the morning. I have Cat Care at OAR, Lori gets to go with her girlfriend for the Farrier visit. A bad "cat launch", Lori needs band aids. She will live :) but why are all the bandaids the wrong size?
I thought I had ALL the wrong size band aids at my house!! 🤪
 
My bacon vacation (aka ice storm) has been extended through Thursday morning! No worries everyone, I have plenty of bacon to make it through the global warming event!! All cats and Bear fed, Buddy eats at daybreak. Will lug water out to him also! Coffee right now, everyone is sleeping including Hubby!!😊 It's so nice and quiet, just whispers from the wood stove!! So a lot more napping and eating today😃, get some of my "to do" list done! Make some calls and check on some of my elderly ladies.
 
Good morning! Have a nice "vacation" @Pearl !
@zannej , I hope your mom is doing better and you get some rest!

I will walk first.
Walmart for monthly stock.
Spring DH from hospital today, I hope. I will have to learn to do the IV antibiotics at home. The lung infection is a hard one to beat down, this time.
 
Good Morning all!
Been absolutely insane in our world lately! Our oldest started his new job at Pizza Hut this month, according to the manager whom I spoke with yesterday, he is proving to be a valuable asset to their operation and she is working him as many as hours as she can (makes me proud as years ago, that same Pizza Hut was my place of employment through high school, college and even after I started my career). We are starting to put the screws on him to pick a path in life. He is over halfway through his junior year and is reluctant to pick a path. Youngest son has been busy every night of the week. Between robotics, drama and church and the youth center on Fridays, we see him for about an hour a night. My wife has been working hard on finishing her early childhood education degree and at the point where she is doing her practicums with the different age groups, this semester she is with infants and toddlers, which is good, as it scratches her baby itch, but doesn't mean sleepless nights for us anymore!

Closed on an adjacent piece of property. It is roughly an acre on the corner next to our property. Has an old house and a couple of buildings on it, but they are in such a sorry state, they will have to come down. We started working on this deal last summer and finally were able to get things finished up last week. We are going to have quite the chore of cleaning and clearing the lot this year. I'm trying to decide if I want to buy a dump trailer or just try and use my car hauler and the occasional dumpster rental for this project. I'll be adding a new winch to my car hauler, as there are a couple of abandoned cars on the property that I'll need to haul 45 miles to dispose of. We are planning on putting my shop on this lot and then straddle the property line with a garage. The garage is going to have an apartment over it. We are going to use the apartment as a place for us to stay while we are building the new house, and then it will be fore my parents and other guests when we get moved into the house.

Got our seed order in from True Leaf last week. Going with most of the old standbys but we are going to try a different beefsteak tomato. It is a hybrid, but the last 3 heirloom varieties I've tried have really left me wanting, granted, I have gotten to the point where I would rather eat Cherokee Purples or Black Krims over the red tomatoes. Put in an order with Meyer's for 20 meat birds. I am going to split them into two tractors and run them on the side lot of the shop. It's not technically allowed, as their is a permit required for fowl in city limits, but my body shop is on the edge of town, there is one house across the street (which is out of city limits), a pasture that butts up to the south of the shop and the owners run cows and sheep in there all the time, so I am just going to do it. What is the saying? It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission?! The way I look at it, for the six or so weeks those birds will be in tractors on the side of the shop, few if anyone is going to notice. That's just one of the many reasons I am more than ready to sell my shop and head for the homestead in the hinterlands with no rules or codes to abide by.
 
Good morning! Have a nice "vacation" @Pearl !
@zannej , I hope your mom is doing better and you get some rest!

I will walk first.
Walmart for monthly stock.
Spring DH from hospital today, I hope. I will have to learn to do the IV antibiotics at home. The lung infection is a hard one to beat down, this time.
Glad your DH is getting out of the joint!! Hopefully he makes a fast recovery!!
 
Good Morning all!
Been absolutely insane in our world lately! Our oldest started his new job at Pizza Hut this month, according to the manager whom I spoke with yesterday, he is proving to be a valuable asset to their operation and she is working him as many as hours as she can (makes me proud as years ago, that same Pizza Hut was my place of employment through high school, college and even after I started my career). We are starting to put the screws on him to pick a path in life. He is over halfway through his junior year and is reluctant to pick a path. Youngest son has been busy every night of the week. Between robotics, drama and church and the youth center on Fridays, we see him for about an hour a night. My wife has been working hard on finishing her early childhood education degree and at the point where she is doing her practicums with the different age groups, this semester she is with infants and toddlers, which is good, as it scratches her baby itch, but doesn't mean sleepless nights for us anymore!

Closed on an adjacent piece of property. It is roughly an acre on the corner next to our property. Has an old house and a couple of buildings on it, but they are in such a sorry state, they will have to come down. We started working on this deal last summer and finally were able to get things finished up last week. We are going to have quite the chore of cleaning and clearing the lot this year. I'm trying to decide if I want to buy a dump trailer or just try and use my car hauler and the occasional dumpster rental for this project. I'll be adding a new winch to my car hauler, as there are a couple of abandoned cars on the property that I'll need to haul 45 miles to dispose of. We are planning on putting my shop on this lot and then straddle the property line with a garage. The garage is going to have an apartment over it. We are going to use the apartment as a place for us to stay while we are building the new house, and then it will be fore my parents and other guests when we get moved into the house.

Got our seed order in from True Leaf last week. Going with most of the old standbys but we are going to try a different beefsteak tomato. It is a hybrid, but the last 3 heirloom varieties I've tried have really left me wanting, granted, I have gotten to the point where I would rather eat Cherokee Purples or Black Krims over the red tomatoes. Put in an order with Meyer's for 20 meat birds. I am going to split them into two tractors and run them on the side lot of the shop. It's not technically allowed, as their is a permit required for fowl in city limits, but my body shop is on the edge of town, there is one house across the street (which is out of city limits), a pasture that butts up to the south of the shop and the owners run cows and sheep in there all the time, so I am just going to do it. What is the saying? It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission?! The way I look at it, for the six or so weeks those birds will be in tractors on the side of the shop, few if anyone is going to notice. That's just one of the many reasons I am more than ready to sell my shop and head for the homestead in the hinterlands with no rules or codes to abide by.
WOW!! Congratulations on the closing, how exciting!! Sounds like things are going in the right direction for you and your family!! I think we will all be looking forward to updates on your progress with the property!!
 
We have an appointment with our lawyer this morning. Nothing serious. Just a signing party for some beneficiary changes, but we will get out of the house. It is a balmy 14 degrees, but the sun is shining. Roads should be O.K. so I will go to the grocery store and pick up some stables.

Don't worry, Pearl. I already did the dishes.
 

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