Debbie's shirt

What a pleasant  surprise this morning after a little rest- this shirt that I had thought I had sewn the neckband on backwards was on right  & all I had to do was adjust it on the hanger! LOL What a treat. I have also learned that it is Very difficult to photograph a XXL & up size shirts . The pictures just do not do them justice .

DH had to get up early this morning to take our youngest son to the hospital where they inserted needles into his spine& it always leaves him in so much pain-not counting the pain of the injections.

I had been outdoors almost 3 hours doing all of my morning chores & also now working with the wood stove. I had filled it full & that took most of our woodpile, except for some that our young friend , James had cut up for us. So, I knew I needed to start learning these things to be able to take care of myself. He had left his little truck on the pasture side of the fence so I went for my morning walk & came back to it. It was sitting in a hollow . I walked all around it & then walked over to the 3 different ways to get out of the hollow. Two of them scared the hogwash out of me & the last one was the one that I decided to go for , as I had to decide on ONE.

I slide in the seat & turned the key & she kinda grunted at me -as if telling me that it was too cold this morning & she just was "not in the mood" to fool with me. So, I sat there for a few minutes pondering ????????????
As I calmed myself it came to me that DH used to say IF he would just turn the key a few times that would send the juice to the fuel pump & give it a chance to spritz some fuel to the motor-so that was what I did & I got a longer grunt. I knew I should not keep cranking & run down the battery, so I sat for another minute& then remembered when I had my Nissan truck that I had to gently pat the gas ONE time. Any more & it would be flooded . SO, I did that & she finally rumbled to life. I had to sit there a few minutes because if you attempt to drive her - she will always die & you have to repeat the whole process.

So we were finally ready for our trip UP the hill & around the trees -back down into the hollow. There is one place along the hollow that scares me because it is washed out & I have to be very careful to straddle it . My last 100 feet of the journey is down into another hollow where the wood pile was located. I was too scared to go on the path that DH takes because it makes the truck tip over . I stayed in the hollow & was lucky that the wood was on both sides of the hollow . I only had to move a couple of pieces so I could get through & turn around -then I started loading the pieces that I could lift. I learned FAST that I could not lift the big logs & believe me my shoulders are letting me know about the ones that I did pick. So, I rolled the big ones around to were I could find the smaller ones . I decided any that were over 12 inches diameter I could not work with. Finally I had a truck load & I made the return trip home. My next obstacle was turning the truck around & BACKING through the gate & into position in the little shed where the stove resides. I am not a good "backer"-never have been & after not driving for 4 years I was very rusty. I went slow & PRACTICED backing using the truck mirrors.(something I have never been able to do). I would go slow & then stop & study the situation & take stock of my progress. FINALLY I had reached my destination - WITHOUT having a disaster. I was tickled.

I now know why DH always has such rough hands  when working with wood. It seemed to soak the moisture out of my hands & I even had gloves on. I bet it took me about an hour to unload the truck & take the wood in the shed & stack it for tonight. .

I came back out & it Hit me that I needed to clean out the vents on the stove  . There are 6 of them - & you take a rod & run it through them from outdoors through the stove into the fire box. .We have a new metal brush to do that with - but neither of us can push it through - so we have a homemade rod with a handle & a small pulley on the end of it that we push though - IF WE ARE LUCKY. It is HARD work. I had been heaving & begging a& pleading with it for a while when DH pulled up in the yard. I was down to my last hole & not making much progress with it, maybe because I was not POOPED!!
With his help we got it accomplished & I was tired & cold & hungry . This heat issue is going to give me trouble - I need a battle plan. Maybe I can "dream - up" a solution.

So, I feel like I have accomplished a LOT today when you include the breakfast & clean up & another load of laundry accomplished & hanging out on the clothes line.
I have got to get ready for our sewing guild meeting after while . Lynne picks me up & I  appreciate her so very much. I am glad that she does not mind driving - I am such a lucky bird to have a friend like that. :-)
Love to all
linda