Finally the weekend

This week was the pits.

I am so.glad.it.is.over.

I am "self-employed" but what that really means is that I have many "bosses" and not just one. Since it's my policy to refuse to make this blog about work, I will leave it at that. On the upside the colleague that had the stroke has made miraculous progress.

The Coop hound is still struggling with his hips/knee. I am giving him glucosamine but he's just not coming out of it like he has in the past. He refuses to stop the incessant jumping when someone comes, that doesn't help. I haven't let him out to run, keeping him confined to the fenced in area. Elke isn't impressed with that plan because since Cooper can't run, neither can she.

I spent some time watching YouTube videos on sock knitting. I like the idea of knitting them on circulars because I'm not a fan of DP needles. I'm just not that coordinated. I have had this sock yarn for almost 2 years and I'm bound and determined to make socks. More on that later...

Tomorrow is our Granddaughters Birthday party. She will be 12 already! I found her some cute girly fun stuff, we only have 2 girl grands and one is older and not around much so it makes it fun to find stuff for her.

Card night was a bust too - we were one hand short of being skunked.
I sure hope this next week is better.

Our family just grew by 1

Elke is back at the Sprucehaven. Unfortunately it's because our good friend, Dale, passed away. He had just overcome the major medical issues he was having earlier in the year that brought Elke to stay with us. He unexpectedly died in a car accident. His son had taken Elke in initially but he knew his Dad wanted her to come back here if anything happened to him and....here she will be. She's a joy to have, Cooper is completely in love with her - as are we.

As you can see, she has made herself right at home.

And Cooper gave her an official welcome.

The 22nd was Rowan's 5th Birthday and we'll celebrate with him on Saturday. He is just growing like a weed! 

He had the number pancake as they always do. It's an awesome tradition Angie started with the boys. I wonder if she'll continue when they hit double digits :)

P.S. We won! We switched it up (again) and Frank and I were partners. It was not well received but worked for us.

All is well

This time of the year is just nuts busy. We made it through Christmas and it was wonderful. We missed Dale and Crystal but we enjoyed having Ang, Mike, the kiddo's, and Mike's family here to celebrate with us.

We did an "ugly sweater" theme this year - that was fun. We had too much food (as per usual) and ate leftovers for the week. 

Milo was setup with his own sparring gear. He humored me with a pose - I can still get away with that :)

New Years was spent quietly. We all decided that between Thanksgiving and Christmas we were all ready to just stay home and relax. Hubby and I had dinner and a movie - The Dark Tower, it was an interesting movie and we liked it fine.

Mostly we have tried to stay WARM! Good grief, it has been over 20 degrees below the donut most nights since Christmas. We've discovered some air leaks downstairs so our desk area is cold. We will tackle getting some insulating done this weekend. For the time being I covered some stuff that was leaking cold air with whatever I could find. 

Cooper is having knee troubles still, I purchased a knee brace for him but it's like trying to put a bra on a pig. After an hour or so that was ENOUGH of that. We will try another day. I give him larger doses of joint supplements. He would probably not have this issue if he didn't think he was part kangaroo.

P.S. They have won the last couple weeks - boo hiss

This and That, mostly rambling.

Today was an abstract day. I'm kind of freaking out about how fast the Holidays are creeping up on me, I am so unprepared.

I'm already tired of shoveling off the new patio. Why did we decide to have such a big patio again? I realize I could just shovel off some of it but my O.C.D. just isn't letting that happen. I will really enjoy it again in the spring :)

Had the eye appointment and they had a fancy scan to check for glaucoma and other eye issues, I got the clean bill of health there. Ended up having to order trifocals again. They assured me that if they aren't right they will keep working on them until they are. After the last pair of those I am skeptical but trying to be positive. They should be in in about 2 weeks they said.

I'm working on a doggie sweater for Coop, so far so good. I like the look of it, hopefully he'll like it and it will keep him a bit warmer. My buttonholes aren't the best in the west but they should hold on to the buttons. First time I've made them.

Tomorrow's Friday already, Can't believe it!

First Snow

The news has been talking all week about the Winter storm we were to have starting Thursday through 7 am today. Well, we got a bit of snow and a lot of wind and cold but, luckily, it was not as bad as expected. We hunkered down and rode it out. The wind is still blowing and it's still cold but we've retained power through it (so far) and kept warm and well fed.

The past couple of days everyone (myself included) ran around picking up necessities, gassing up the car, getting out the shovels, etc., so that we were all set. Minnesotan's have the drill down!

This is what things looked like on the Sprucehaven this morning.

Even Coop is under impressed with it all. He isn't a fan of wind OR cold.

Yesterday I took Milo his new red scarf I knitted for him, he seemed to like it. It was around his neck, around his waist, tied to a stick as a flag, and tried on the kitty. It seemed to pass all the tests.

Tonight is Card Night so last night I tried a new cookie recipe for us - I pretty much used the recipe as a guide only. It called for milk, which I haven't seen in a recipe before and I used orange juice instead since it was for cranberry cookies (it called for craisins, which I did use). They turned out pretty good and it's nice to try something new.

Making progress

“Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”
― George Bernard Shaw

This week, and next, is all about getting the firewood all taken care of. Last year we didn't get it all done and had to work from a big old pile and split as weather permitted. Uffda!

I found this mushroom in the back yard. I don't know much about mushrooms but I thought it was interesting and pretty. It was big too, probably 6-8 inches wide.

Mike, Ang, and the little boys stopped out for awhile yesterday so we took a break and visited and watched the boys ride bikes. Milo has improved a lot with that. He still has stopping issues and tips over but he keeps trying. Rowan was on the trike since we didn't have one really his size here. 

Crystal is in the "hills" and has sent pictures and texts. Looks like the girls were having fun.

The Gramma rose missed the memo about the change of seasons. This is an old rose that originally came from my Paternal Grandmother years ago. I don't argue with it though, it's always a welcome sight whenever it blooms.

Picture of the week:

P.S. We won!

This and That

I can't believe it's Saturday again, already! And it's almost over. Time flies!

This past week the guy that hays our fields was busy getting his hay baled up before the rain, he made it and it rained right afterwards. It's always great to see it cut because we can see the wildlife much better. The crows were all over it too, we suspect they were grasshopper hunting. I hope they eat every last grasshopper!

The little boys were out this week because Milo found a slingshot and he wanted Grampa to shoot with him (He has one too). He took them out to see if they could see any striped gophers. This was before the guy baled up the hay. But, they didn't see any. The had fun shooting cans with their "wrist rockets" though. Even Rowan got to give it a try. He hit the can first try!

Cooper has been under the weather so on Friday it was a trip to the Vet. He had giardia cysts that he had gotten from who knows where. It's not a good thing though so it's 3 kinds of medication for the week and a retest after a week to be sure it's all gone. We suspect it was from him drinking out of the rain barrel no matter how many times we got after him. The Vet agreed that was probably the culprit since he hasn't been in any ponds or rivers. I hope he get's better soon.

The CSA box today included corn, beets, jalapeno and green peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, zucchini, lettuces, and flat beans. Tomorrow we'll have the sweet corn while we celebrate little Franks birthday. He's 13 now. I asked him if he felt different being a teenager but he said no.

Beets all cooked and diced and ready for the freezer. I also made some Eggplant Parmesan for the first time. We really liked it. The recipe I used was super simple and I only made a couple of changes. I used some italian panko instead of regular and I used more cheese. I also added fresh basil.

Recipe here

It was a pretty busy day but we made time to watch a few episodes of Alone.

P.S. We won! (Skunked them, actually) 😁

This and That

We tackled a job that we've been talking about for awhile now - Cleaning out the water softener brine tank. Not an overly difficult job but an event nonetheless. It was time, what a mess!

We were under a tornado watch late this afternoon, luckily nothing materialized. It did leave us with a beautiful sunset and thunderheads though. I was even able to capture at least part of it's beauty on camera.

Cooper and I spent quite awhile outside just enjoying the view. I saw a wolf crossing the field at the far end but didn't get a picture, it happened too quick. They don't usually waste alot of time getting out of the open. 

I don't know what he was looking for but he wasn't turning around so this is what you get, the back of his head, I tried getting his attention but he wasn't having it. There was probably a mortal enemy in there (aka chipmunk).

The moon was out at the same time so had to take a picture of it too, almost full. According to the calendar the full moon is Friday night but it sure looked full tonight too.

It was a great evening to be on the Sprucehaven Farm :)

Random blooms

I've been keeping an eye on this Robin's nest from last summer. I'm curious to see if it will be re-used this season. Are Robin's thrifty and into recycling like us?

The apple tree that we've struggled with since it was planted has blooms - There's hope!

Another go-round with a bleeding heart. I've had little success getting more than a couple years out of one. This one is so pretty, red instead of the normal pink, so I have my fingers crossed!

Frank had his sleep study this week. We haven't gotten the "official" report but, unofficially, he doesn't have sleep apnea. That's good news, he has enough to deal with as it is.

Photo of the week: Cooper was instructed to "Watch Mom" while Dad went in to the hospital overnight. He got some R & R :)

P.S. They won (we lost on the tie-breaker)

A bittersweet goodbye

Dale was finally released from the hospital today and they let him come home, he was eager to have Elke home with him so we took her over to him. He looks a bit pale yet but he's determined to get up and about as soon as he can. He was so happy to see his girl and we were happy for him but I miss her already. Cooper was talking to us when we came home without her. He misses her too.

Crystal and Dale are here for the weekend from Mitchell, they rented a cabin so they could bring Tucker along since we didn't think 3 dogs in the house was going to work out very well. Cooper and him tend to get on each other's (and everyone else's) nerves pretty quickly. But they spend part of the day with us and then had Ang and family over to the cabin with all the kids for a cookout and games. They stopped by here for a couple hours this evening and will stop over tomorrow before heading back home.

Picture of the week:

P.S. They won

End of a long week

So glad this week is over. It wasn't necessarily bad, just overwhelming at times.

Dale is showing signs of progress according to the grape vine. He is still having issues with kidneys but I guess that's to be expected.

Angie and the boys were planning on visiting today but Rowan has a bit of a fever and is throwing up. He had shots yesterday so, hopefully, that's the reason. Either way she decided it wouldn't be a good day. We don't have big plans, Frank has been tired alot this week, he's sleeping again now. I suppose I'll do laundry and assorting cleaning, maybe even more de-cluttering.

Coop is on the lookout. He likes to make sure he's on top of things in case there's call for him to have a conniption fit.

We've had a lot of wind but warmer temps so the snow banks are disappearing to reveal some much needed cleanup - have to add that to the list...


P.S. We won!

Summer's "Last Hurrah"

It's Labor Day weekend so I made sure I stocked up yesterday so we don't have to deal with the craziness in town this weekend. Actually, the craziness was starting on Wednesday but that's beside the point.  We have no big plans, just stay home and stay cool.

We took the golf cart out and about on the property looking things over and, of course, Cooper had to hog the cart ride along.

It's still really muggy today, sounds like that is to continue through the weekend. We are looking forward to next week when it's supposed to be in the 60's. Hubby struggles with this weather more than we do with his condition so it will be a welcome reprieve. Besides that we need some rain, it's supposed to do that too when the cool front moves in. The leaves are turning and dropping already but I'm not sure it's on schedule or if it's due to the crazy weather.