Oh Joy

I got an email from my dear heart this afternoon.....he is coming home Monday! I am so excited. I haven't heard from him since sunday and now will get to call him this evening. It is going to be so wonderful hearing his voice. I can hardly wait for him to get home.
Sadly, I had to cancel the weekend plans. Casey was coming to meet us, but I have come down with something. My father in law has been sick with a cold or something this week, and it looks like I have it too. My throat is sore, sinus's starting to cause problems, cough is coming on, and so is temperature. After working so hard this week to get ready, I am so disappointed to have to cancel it. But I absolutely don't want to pass this on to the baby. Oh well, maybe when we finally get to do this, Kim will be home.

Feeder pictures

I finally got blogger to upload my pictures. The round cage is on the patio and the square one is on the front porch. Though both pictures show finches in the cages, the round one is usually dominated by the cactus wrens....quite a bit bigger than finches.
The only problem I have with them is the poop everywhere. But that is better than seeds and hulls all over the ground, along with poop.

Best Birdfeeders

A neighbor of my mothers' was cleaning out her house and garage. She had birdcages she was tossing. When mom told me about them, I said for her to go get them for me. Before I got up to her house to get them, I visited my friend, Judy, and saw that she was using birdcages as feeders. This is a picture of my cages. I will try to upload the results later, but Blogger isn't uploading right now. I tried twice and it took over half an hour to reject the upload.
What you do is take the extra stuff out, if any is in, then drill a couple of small holes in the tray for drainage. Snip a few cage wires here and there for access for the birds, fill the bottom tray with seed, and hang out somewhere. The round feeder is on my patio, the square one is on the front porch. It took about a week for anyone to get the idea, but since then they have hosted finches, cactus wrens, and a few birds that I don't know the names of. These feeders allow me to enjoy the birds, the cats to enjoy the birds while the birds remain unmolested, the seed stays put and isn't scattered everywhere, and the doves aren't a pain in the tush. I empty out the spent seed on the ground out in the yard for the doves. The small openings I cut keep out the marauding Scrub Jays and Mockingbirds. I am anxious to see if the cardinals find them. But mainly the finches are in hog heaven.

Yarn Mania

I have had an affair with yarn long before I had one with fabric. Though the fabric seems out of control, right now it's because I have been working on the yarn. My mom and grandma taught me to crochet at an early age. I can do anything in crochet. But I taught myself to knit and it is still a challenge to me.
Every couple of years I get a need to knit. What triggered this years mania was the current knitting rage. The yarns are lucious, the patterns are fun, and I am having a blast. I even intend to get around to socks. I never used double pointed needles before.
Top picture is a tote bag I just finished. It was in a new book I got named Chunky Knits. I use it to stash my latest knit project. The other picture is the cradle I got years ago for my granddaughters. This weekend we will be meeting another little one who may become our new granddaughter, so I got out the cradle and got it ready for her. Then, in cleaning up the guest room closet and organizing it, I came across a skein and half of a nice fluffy yarn. Being a yarn maniac, I sat down and cast on. It only took me a day of quick knitting to make the little soft blanket for the cradle. When our second grand, Hannah, was born, she was put in the cradle on her first day home.
The basket is one I crocheted. I don't recall where I got the pattern, but it is nice and sturdy and is holding a purse I am crocheting from the lastest Vogue Knitting magazine.
Also, having finished a few things, I started on another tote. I will post that pic when it is done. Going real quick on circular 10's, but I need to get a new set of sticks. The ones I am using are old and beat up. So badly so, that they cut my finger and I have to use a bandage on my index finger now. I have been knitting on it while I check my email and read blogs.
More later, but it takes half an hour to upload pics to this site.

Busy Lately

I haven't updated here lately because of a lot of things going on in my world. First, my carcass has been parked in front of this computer, checking email regularly for messages from dear hubby in Siberia. He left the 14th and we have already talked on the phone 3 times. Luckily he gave me his phone card number so we don't have to pay the high phone charges. I am here now because he is on the job site and no communication available. Life is good though, as he may be flying home saturday. Blows me away that he would get on the plane saturday in Russia and land in Texas on saturday. Unless he has another monster layover in Houston. He sat there for 6 hours on the way out.
Second thing was the little storm that threatened Houston and Galveston. I worried about my sister and bro in law in Katy and have group list friends all over the area. Happily, everyone came through okay. Sis only had some branches blown off their trees, but barely any dampness on the ground. My brother came through okay too but didn't have electricity.
Then my oldest son came for the weekend. We had a great visit. But I found out that a communication breakdown had happened. I thought I had until the weekend of Oct 8th to prepare for his girlfriend and daughter to visit. Wrong! It is this coming weekend! I have less than a week to prepare my house for a 9 month old! Today I did some work on the kitchen, such as moving cleaning supplies from under the sink to the pantry, and got the guest room ready. Tomorrow I have to work on the living room and dining room. That room will be the challenge because I have so much going on in here. I am hoping to get to the patio cleanup by thursday when the heat wave is supposed to break.
Yeah, we have had a horrendous heat wave the past week. It has consistantly hit 105-106 degrees this weekend and today. Oops, it is after midnight, so it is already tuesday. A cool front is supposed to be here thursday, bringing a chance of rain with it. This is wonderful news! I won't go outside unless I have to when it gets in the 100's. The patio has got to be cleaned up before company comes. We have piled stuff everywhere and the debris has blown in all summer, making piles of compost fodder in every nook and cranny.
So...with all this to do, what do I do? I knit a blanky. I got out the little wood cradle for the little one to play with and decided it needed a blanky. While I was clearing out some stuff from the closet, I came across some bulky, fluffy yarn. So I grabbed my size 17 Turbo's and got to work. I finished it this evening too! So, that stash is used up and the little cradle has a blanky. Now I need to come up with a little pillow for a mattress and buy a little doll for it. I hope Brooklyn likes it.
Okay, just took my night meds. Now I will shut down and go read till my eyes cross. Good Night

Watching Rita

Since I have friends and family in the hurricane path, I have been watching things closely. Last night when I went to bed, she was only a catagory 2, just a couple of mph away from being a 3. Blew me away when I got up this monring and she was a Cat 4!
Emails have been flying between sis and I all morning. She works near downtown. On her route to work, she passes a National Guard Armory....about 4 miles from her house. This morning they were on duty, suited up and active. They had about 15-20 busses at the ready. Moments ago, sis emailed that the procession of busses just drove by her office on their way to the surge area. It warms my heart to know that Texas knows how to handle a disaster. If anyone is left behind to deal with the distruction.....it will only be by their choice.
My bro in law has been in Mobile Alabama this past week or so, working on repairs. He is a certified welder and deep sea diver. They were cut loose to go home to Houston to prepare, so he should be coming home this evening.
If things get too dicey, they will load up and head to my house. I just hope I get some rain out of all this. It is so dry here, and has been for so long, that even my allergy med doesn't do me any good. The sneezing, itchy eyes, snot, and nose blowing is getting old. I need rain to clean out the pollens!

Picture of Kim

So I had a case of head-up-a** disease today. I burned a cd of Kim's pictures, took them to his dad, and when he looked at them full sized....I realize one of the pictures was of Kim in front of Albert House. D'oh! So...that is him standing on the steps. Maybe I will start looking at pictures at a bigger size than I have.
Dad was easy to instruct on how to use the cd....so he is teachable, no matter what he says. When Kim sends some more pictures, I will burn them onto the cd, then walk dad through making a folder on his computer to download the pictures to.
Now, maybe that will be my last post for today. I don't post for a week, then I go at it like a maniac. Well....that is life in ADD-land, I suppose.

oops and smiles

I forgot to mention that the guy on the steps of the Alberta House....is NOT Kim. I will have to find out from him who it is.
So I leave you with smiles from me and Jack.

Alberta House

This is pictures of Alberta House, where Kim is staying in Nizhnezartovsk, Russia. It was built by Canadians, thus the name. I tried to put pictures from him in my webshots album, but it got cranky after I got them put up and tried to upload them. I will try again soon.
I have been trying to get my kitchen under control. I took out some dishes I didn't need. I don't need glasses with tiny bases that will tip over, don't need a dozen juice glasses, nor 13 soup mugs. I am also tossing out teas I will never use. I am going one cupboard at a time, trying to get real with myself. Really dread the baking pans. Maybe I can decorate some up to use in the yard.
I should have watered the plants in the front. It has been so hot and dry that I haven't wanted to go outside. The poor babies are suffering out there while I laze about under the a/c.

Kim in Siberia

Yep, you read it right. My one and only is in Siberia. My butt has been parked at this durn computer since he landed friday. We have emailed back and forth and generally acted like a couple of newlyweds instead of 29 year seasoned veterans.
Tonight I finally figured out.....or remembered...how to call internationally. I couldn't figure out why I couldn't get the call through, so laid down and read a book. This cleared my frustrated head so that it dawned on me when I got back to it. Even looked up Matt's old number in Germany to confirm what I was doing wrong. When I heard his voice, it was like coming home. I am sure he felt the same way. We are both so pitiful. He goes halfway around the world and we end up acting like we are being separated for months. Oh, and the picture....that is the view from his room. Inspiring, eh? He says those stacks to the right are from the steam plant. Apparently the whole town is steam heated. Kim says pipes run everywhere. I guess he should be glad that he isn't there in January.
We are both hoping they get the job done quickly and he can get the heck out of Russia and back home to Texas, where that homesick homeboy belongs.

Knitted Jacket

The first of this week, I finished knitting a jacket for myself. It is made from a pattern in Tahki Yarns Fall/Winter 04 collection. Instead of the expensive Tahki yarn, I used 5 balls of Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick. It is nice and cozy in Lambswool and Acrylic....which means I can throw it in the washer and dryer. I picked the nice Wheat color so it will go with anything and used size 17 Addi Turbo circular needles. I must get more Turbo's....they are wonderful to use. So smooth and quiet!
Now I have started on a shrug found in a knitting magazine...couldn't tell you which one right now. Hancocks had a coupon for 20% off balls of yarn up to 6 balls. I was able to get the knitting ribbon for the shrug at a good price. This ribbon is fun to knit with.
Maybe with someone home eventually, I can get a pic of me wearing the jacket.
Come on Winter!!!

Happy Birthday Matt

Wedding...Brides Family....sept 3, 2005....Midland/Odessa, Tx
Aaron (grandpa), Jared(bro), Martha(grandma), Kirby(dad),Penny(mom), Bride Jana, Groom Keith, Kim(uncle), Cyndye (aunt), Matt(cousin), Kathy(aunt), Kathy's daughter, who I can't recall her name. Chris, our oldest son,took the picture, so isn't in it.
Today is Matt's 22nd birthday. Kim called him this morning and invited him down for grilled steak, strawberries and cake (his favorite), an oil change, and parts put on his car door. Tomorrow I will take him to lunch after I see Kim off at the airport. He begins his long flights to Russia in the morning. Technically....he is going to Siberia. We don't know how long he will be gone, but his return flight is for Oct. 14th. The jobs are lined up to the end of october. We'll see.
I will have more time to update after he leaves.

DURN IT DURN IT DURN IT

I spent half an hour on a post and lost it. Now I have to start over. Well folks, it won't be as chatty as the one I just lost in cyberspace! And now I have to wait on McAfee update to be able to upload any pictures.
We were visited last week by a nice White tailed buck in our yard. Kim says he was about 8pts. I wish my fancy-schmancy Sony Cybershot took as good of pictures as my old Mavica, but it has too many fancy toys to be useful. So, I have to be content with no closeups.

Also, we hadn't had any quail in a few years. This other picture is of a Bobwhite in the backyard. I counted 8 of the little critters crossing my drive the other morning. Maybe they are on their way back in.

That is critter-cam for now. I'll be back with flower-cam later.

Great Pumpkin update

I did some research on Mr. Pumpkin (thanks Mom), and found out he is a regular Rufus Hummingbird. They spend most of their summer season on the Washington/Oregon coastal area. So he really is pretty far from home for so soon in the summer. I got a really good picture of his back this morning. You can really tell he is orangey all over....which distinguishes him from one of the other types that is similar. The second picture is a nice shot of him from the front, along with a female Black-chinned.
For some really great hummer pics and id, check out www.hummingbirds.net

The Visit of the Great Pumpkin

I was visited today by a neon orange hummingbird. My neighbor was here when I looked out the window and saw pumpkin orange at the feeder. So we spent the next hour with both our cameras in hummer faces. They were a little peeved at first, but very soon ignored us for the most part. I will post pictures that she took as soon as she sends them to me. She says she got some that show his colors real well backlit. We were told he is a Colorado Rufus and not supposed to be here. I am in Southwest Central Texas...north of Del Rio, which is on the Mexican border. This little pumpkin is really lost! He was quite aggressive at the feeder, but the girls soon put him in his place. I am thrilled to be host to this rare little guy.

Finally Back

I have been sadly remiss in keeping up with my blog the past two weeks. I present a beautiful zinnia from my garden as apology. As an update....my liver enzymes came down, but are not perfect, so I had a ct scan done. I was over the moon when the results came back. Absolutely nothing unusual going on with my insides! Some of you know what a huge relief that is for me.
I am adjusting to being off most of my medications. Some of them I have taken for about 3 years. I am going to try do repair my body with more natural ingredients. In reading about the meds I was on, I found that a lot of my problems lately are due to the meds my doctors have had me on.
I also joined the health club here. They have a set of workout stations that I hope to hit regularly. Of course, I will have them set on minimal weight for a while and concentrate on repetitions. I have to be careful because I can easily hurt myself....which backfires on me the third day.
I have been feeling better and stronger each day. The past few days I have been trying to clean house. This house is a pigsty from my being sick for over a month. My goal this week is to get the bathrooms a good scouring. I have kept them clean....but a scrubbing is necessary every so often.
It finally rained yesterday! I only got about 3 tenths of an inch, but that is the first in a month. I knew the day before that if I watered everything real well, it would coax the rain....and it did.
Chris stoppeed by this weekend to borrow one of Kim's handguns. He was meeting a bunch of friends in San Antonio for a retreat. Nearly all the guys were into guns, so they all went to a shooting range and played with their toys. He had such a blast and can hardly stand to wait to do it again next year.
I promise to try to keep up better on this thing. Catch ya later!

Health Update

First off....I think I finally have the settings where anyone can post a comment. I didn't know it wasn't set up right until my sister let me know she was unable to fire off a smart-ass remark. Can't have that,eh?
Okay....now to try to explain what happened to me the past week. On tuesday, June 28th, I thought I had come down with a virus. I was thrilled when Kim was able to come home a few days later to take care of me. I can't recall, but thursday or friday, I went in to see Dr. Di. She gave me some antibiotics to make sure I didn't have an infection anywhere and instructions to come back if not better in a couple of days. Sunday morning, I was so weak that i could barely stand, so Kim called Di at home and she had him take me into the ER. Dr. Johnson was on call, and ran a fluid IV, painkiller, and did bloodwork. Di came in to check on me just before I was sent home a couple of hours later. I had perked up a little bit that evening, but was still very pale and puney. Tuesday morning, Kim took me in to see Di about the blood test results. No sign of infection or virus, but liver enzymes were high. So, given no choice but to go into the hospital and have tests run.
While in the hospital, they took lots of blood, did a sonogram on nearly every organ I have, and numerous xrays. Also, by then I had taken on a yellow cast to my skin. I never thought to look at my eyes to see if they were yellow. But by the next afternoon, I felt well enough to go home. I took it easy for a couple of days, then by saturday morning, I woke up feeling normal for the first time in almost two weeks. I go back Monday morning for the results of the blood tests that they had to send off.
Bottom line, so far, is that I may have drug induced hepatitis. I was taken off the Lipitor I have taken for 5 or 6 years, and Celebrex, which I have taken for about 3 years. I will find out monday just exactly what it is, but for now the idea is that it will resolve itself in time, like Mono.
I guess from the IV fluids, I came home weighting about 5 lbs heavier than when I went into the hospital. Today I have gotten not only that fluid off, but lost a few more lbs. I have been on Lipitor because, no matter how much weight I dropped, nor how proper I ate, my cholesterol would not come down. It is going to be a real battle to eat right for me while Kim is home wanting to eat all the bad foods. He should go on a low cholesterol, low trigliceride diet also, but he refuses.
Meanwhile, the heat continues down here. I have had storms roaming all over the place the past few days and everyone has gotten rain but me. Not one drop! I have got to get outside this morning and water plants before they all die.
Have a good one!

Happy 4th

Things don't seem to be going to well here. Kim and Diana convinced me to go the the ER yesterday because I wasn't getting any better. They started fluids and gave me a painkiller. My test results were disheartening. I am showing no sign of a virus. My liver enzymes are high. I have to go back to see Diana tomorrow to recheck my liver and possibly even do a sonogram on it. I am trying not to think of the possibilities of all this.

Gloom, Despair,and Agony

Last night was horrible. What I have is the flu apparently. My temp went up to 102.5 and I was shaking so bad from the chills that I could hardly walk. I took two tylenol, my sleep med, my muscle relaxer, and was so grateful when they all kicked in. I slept with the cordless phone by my pillow in case things got bad.
Doing a little better this morning, but did anyone get the license of the truck that ran over me repeatedly? Temp climbed up to 100 earlier, so took two aspirin. The pain is worse than a Fibro flare-up. I may have to go back to bed. I am drinking orange juice like it is going out of style.
Kim is on his way home and should be here early evening. I am so glad I won't be alone if I have another bad night.
Today's pic is of my Bat-faced Cuphea. I bought a little pot of it a couple of years ago and it has loved it's new home. It tends to spread out about 4 feet. But it also rewards you with little bat faced flowers that hummers love. The full picture of it was in 2003, when it was just a baby. I will have to get a new picture of it so you can see just how big it grows. Thing is, it dies back every winter, then almost doubles in size when it comes back up in spring.

Another Bad day

I thought I would be better this morning, but spent the day hurting all over and running a fever. Today had the added fun of sore throat and pain in my chest and back when I cough. All I can figure is that I am sore from the violent sneezing yesterday.
Tried to take a nap this afternoon, but the power went out just as I was falling asleep. It is 98 degrees outside, so the power off for about an hour was not comfortable.
I went into town early this morning before I started going downhill. I had a big wad of mail in my tiny mailbox...three days worth. It always amazes me how much they can stuff into a tiny box.
Today's picture is of a beautiful Perilla plant in the same container with blue evolvus. They are both growing like crazy.
A friend sent me this little quote....I know a few people it sounds like:
"Some people are like Slinkies.....not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs"
Hoping I feel better tomorrow because I will be driving to a town over 2 hours away to pick up Kim on his way home from Colorado. Sure hope I can make the trip so his boss doesn't have to drive about 5 hours out of his way to drop him off at home.