It's Time

Time is here this weekend. Time to run around the house and change your clocks.

Spring forward.

Fall back.

What a ridiculous notion.

Heavens forbid, if the coffee perks an hour late.
I haven't changed the batteries in this ol' cabin clock for years. Who watches the time on R & R time?
This beauty came back from Germany in 1969. It still keeps time but not while 'wee fingers' can reach the chains.
These just need to be tossed.
My Little Ben, or replica, has been around for ages too. Does that mean it's time for this ol gal to admit she's about to become near ancient? No sir'ree.. I have at least 40 more yrs. to go if I'm going out at Grandma B's age of a month shy of 102.
This craftsmans mantel clock was carved by my uncles Grandfather over 100 yrs. ago. It reminds me of my cookoo clock. Pretty cool, huh?

Anyone living in my hometown, WI, is very familiar with this handsome clock. I have not heard its 'mark the hour' for over 20 some yrs. though. It sits on top of the papermill office. New ownership says they are going to get it fixed. It will be a beautiful day of celebration.With good intent, I will be turning my clocks ahead Sat. night. You all who live in the time zones that do the same, DON'T FORGET TO SPRING FORWARD!!!

Have a wonderful and blessed weekend.

A Month's Labor/The Protestors

What a month. Each year, usually after Christmas, a new puzzle is started at the farm, my folks place. This year was no different except that

this extremely challenging puzzle called The Protestors ,was the most difficult puzzle to accomplish for a long, long time.

I am sure there are more aggravating ones in the puzzle world, but this was the worse one for us. There were at least a dozen family members and friends who picked up many a piece, only to lay it down again, unresolved as to where it should go.
The many lines and striations going every which direction, the colors all in greys, whites, blacks, browns...they got to the eyes of even those with the best vision. The pieces Mom is holding fit but are not meant to go together, as the lines do not run true.
1000, yes, one thousand of these darlings had us pulling our hair out. Many times, Mom was ready to slide the pieces back into the box. Somehow, the challenge kept chiding us onward.

This puzzle had no mercy, even though each piece at least met at its perfect edge. Finally, after a month of doting, fighting the right light, finding the right fit,We did it!!! Yes!!! The Protestors were beaten at their game. The family survived, and life goes on.
It's raining, I have to put my feet up, so I think I will start another puzzle...but it must come forewarned, once I see sunshine and green grass, a robin, I'm outa' here.

God Bless Ya'll in Your Puzzling World

DangItAllAnyWho...

Okeee Doekeee....now I gone and done it...

Apparently, as I stepped out of the pick-up today to get Bill's prescription, I stepped awkward or some danged thing and pinched a nerve in my back....again. I can put my fingers right on the nasty ouch. It runs just beside the metal in my spine...

I did manage to eliminate most of the 'ta do' list I made this morning, in spite of the pain.

I have been through this sooo many times, that I know what to do, what to take, what NOT to take, (like that smooth brandy with the Aleve) ...don't get me wrong....I'm not a drinker, more like a single-whiffer, but today?....anyway....

I managed to put on a comforting supper for Bill of SourKraut and Pork Steaks with baked potatoes and homemade applesauce.

I got the buffet emptied and ready for when Bill got home from work, so he could help me mend what was broken...good thing I lifted the fully loaded drawers out BEFORE I went to the drug store.

It was way after 6 before I ate supper and finally put my feet up again....

Was I ever in for a surprise....with the weight finally off my feet, legs elevated, OMG...the pain in my foot...

That's right, my foot, as if the back wasn't bad enough...

The burn and agony....I didn't take the time to notice it was swollen even though I was limping. I'm so tired of doctoring over the years with my joints that I don't run in anymore. I tend to the problem myself...I pulled out the Volteran, rubbed it down, wrapped it just like a year ago, cause it is the exact same thing I did then....I re-tore the tendon that runs lengthwise on the outside of my foot....and then under the center........no wonder I couldn't get my boot off.

Why didn't I feel it?....very little feeling there anymore since the back surgery in '03...I seldom know I hurt myself until I see it., this time, I finally sat down and noticed the swelling lil toes and leg....I was on it all afternoon, the Aleve was helping target the pain until I sat down...then the 'burn' started up my upper foot where there IS feeling....we will see how it looks and feels tomorrow...along with my back...........

Now, I need a new 'paint job' on those toenails....pitiful excuse for a lady.....LOL

God Bless You One and All

What to Do, What to Do?

I am soooo bored with my blog lately......what to do, what to do...for one thing, no matter what I do, I cannot change my background....so til then......I have a buffet to get to the bottom of so I can fix it....the back edge of it has lifted, probably from this dry humble abode I live in....any way....it needs some TLC....I have the rest of the taxes to pay...shopping to do.......Bill's bibs to exchange, the poor boy has some pounds to shed....but so do I...money to give to the electric co, phone co., insurance co's for the truck and the house, cabin and land...groceries to get.....groceries to create into something palatable....dishes to do...I could get back to the table I started restoring 12 yrs. ago....I feel the need to go Southwestern throughout my house....Bill says I can't touch the antique beds....we will see...we will see...I could take some pictures...but, then again, I have tons of pictures that need refiling and saving...always was going to try some scrapbooking...Mel's been after me for yrs.....in any event, I have lots to do if I'm gonna quit procrastinating and get on with my dulldrum life.....or as my TX friend says, 'Get on with your big bad self.' ....all talk, no action....is this called 'cabin fever?'

What to do, What to do?

Leftover Paint

Whenever there is a little paint left from painting a wall, ceiling, barn, etc., I had, since my childhood, been taught to 'waste not, want not.'

This was taught by my parents. So.....

This first effort at cleaning out a paintbrush, was taught by Dad. He painted this buck for my son years ago, on a dry fungus called an Artists Conk found on dead stumps and trees.
The rest of these efforts, were done by myself, attempting to naturalize my sons room when he was a teenager. There used to be trim at the base of the painting that is rail height, which was made of dried and sealed leaves, which have long fallen off and finally removed. His curtain rod was and still is, his bamboo fishing pole that caught many a trout in his youth. He still loves that room today.

Buck and does...
Camp with one of his old bows still hanging near...

He must have jumped this one setting up camp...
About half of one wall...

There is also the full moon, Big Dipper and a cluster of stars under a wall full of arrows, shells and other ammo that he has hanging on his gun rack.

So....

That's how I empty my paint brushes from laborious projects...

I should get busy. These were done sooo long ago, that these old walls should really be torn down and done over...hmmm...maybe My new studio room?

God Bless Your Day

Shadow Dancing and The Round Table

While making a fresh pot of morning coffee, my view out the window was this early sunrise shadow of one of my wagon wheels on the side of the barn. Immediately, I thought about my brother and a bunch of his friends who meet at the local gas stations coffee table to 'chew the fat,' several mornings a week. They all call it 'The Round Table'. I'm sure he does not tell all they 'chew' about, but some of the conversation is about solving the worlds problems, fixing some broken down tractor, jokes, of course, the going price of pulp, lumber and hardwood logs, what kind of chicken is best for meat and eggs, and whether or not we will have another drought year.

Some of these guys are truckers, some farmers, loggers, industrial workers, some independent small business operators, some just plain interested in what's going down at The Round Table. I guess you would compare these fellas to the gals at the beauty shop or girls night out. Either way, the visiting gets done, the problems solved, some of them anyway, the jokes memorized for the day, the broken equipment fixed , whether or not to sell the logs just yet, and Rhode Island Reds or Plymouth Rocks and whether or not they should start rain dancing.

So goes at my house and at The Round Table...

What do your shadows remind you of???

BlessYa'll

Whistling Swans

From following me this past half year, many of you know the love I harbor for the swans, more so, since the death of my sister a year ago.

So here I was Monday, on a road trip to another family funeral, Mom and I were fortunate to see a pond full of Whistling Swans. Though we were much too far away to get close photos, we certainly enjoyed the view.

They are so graceful and beautiful with their straight necks, black beaks and 4 1/2 to 5 foot wing spans. The Whistlings were traveling with a flock of Canadian Geese, I suppose, also on their way to their far north nesting grounds.

They sure were a refreshing chance to slow our trip, getting out to walk around a bit and love what we were seeing. They continued to feed, butts up in the air., and preening themselves, not bothered much by our presence.

One regret was not being able to get closer. There were at least 40 pair of the swans and just as many of the geese. I also regret not getting a full shot of the pond to share. Next time.
Enjoy your Day and God Bless