Still Kicking

It has been really "trying" here after the fire and being so sick. I seem to get tired much too easily and there is just So Much that needs to be done, but I just run out of steam. Then all kind of life things keep popping up in the way.

My dear friend in Tenn. had sent this lovely gift for my pups for Christmas. It was just so cute that I had saved it-believing it to be much too cute -but thinking my pickie pups would have nothing to do with it, as I have a hard time just finding food they will eat. Not like my daughter's hound who will gobble up anything in town. lol

The first testor is Indy and he liked it so much that he is gobbling up the crumbs right under his nose working his way to the "pie".  Hum???

Testor #2 , Daisy who is very "testy" - she gives it her paw of approval with lots of delicious licks.

And testor #3, Mocha who is the Parlor Princess and lives on the bed says it is "tongue licking" good. She looks as shocked as I am that here is something that she likes??

Testors 4 and 5 are hiding so they will come out later in the day to get their sample. I am still very surprised and very grateful to my buddy for thinking of my beloved furbabies. There is no better gift than seeing something you love made happy and having great friends who pull that off for you is a Blessing...When God picks our friends for us - they always turn out to be the BEST.



The temperatures are mild here today , but it has been raining and it is a muddy mess. I laid some hay down outdoors in one of the chicken runs that was muddy.  It is on a hilly slope so they will scratch it all down the hill into a pile so it is a challenge keeping them nice. I would have liked to use that in compost but it is under a walnut tree and you cannot use walnut in compost -darn it.


My house is still upside down. I am still working in the kitchen. It is a tiny kitchen just crammed so it is very difficult to tackle it. Plus climbing up and down the step ladder is painful and with my poor balance and bad eyesight -a little scarey. I get very overwhelmed- and I hate that.

My sewing buddy , Lynne took my sewing machine home with her and fixed it, where it would not work at a sewing group recently. I was so disappointed in it-but turned out it was my lack of maintence that had caused the problem in the first place. She Even Found A Pin down in the machine !!!!!!!!!! How in the world did I manage to pull that off??????????????????  See what I mean about having wonderful friends !

Then Saturday I was working hard outdoors to get all my chores accomplished before the rain was to arrive and my last project was to change the oil in the car. So, I got all my tools together and all the supplies and moved the car where I could get under the front of her to reach the oil plug. I really hate this job because I am closterphobic and not really made to be a mechanic. But I do want my little car to last as long as she possibly can. I pulled on my ratchet but it did not want to budge? It was Way Tigher than normal and it took quiet a bit of persuading to get it to start to turn-and Turn-and Turn-and Turn! Yea- it was not suppose to do that! 

So, as usual I had got myself into a pickle. My neighbor was helping Crystal with a project so I went and asked his opinion. He checked it out and could do nothing with it and said that the oil plug had stripped out???????????????????? I Really wanted to just cry. Another neighbor stopped but he could not help and then Crystal tried a couple of things but her hands are in such bad shape from her carpal tunnel that she could not do anything either???? ( I certainly wish that Workman's Comp would get her hands fixed, but it has been a nightmare. She had even been put off from work because of restrictions the doctor had put on her until her hands are to be fixed. So she filed for unemployment the other day and then received a claim denied because no wages were found - AFTER working for the post office for 17 years ??????No wages???? I don't think she worked for free for 17 years?????

But when people started talking that I would need a new oil pan and a new oil plug and that would cost over a hunred dollars?????

So, I gave up and called my oldest son, Cory and asked for his help. He told me to bring it over so  he could work on it. Crystal followed me and low and behold in just a few moments Cory had got that dude out and Crystal went and got a new oil plug which Cory had to fight with a little bit to get back in because of the threads. But he got it in ! He is one of those men who can do anything! He is amazing and I admire him so very much. I wish I had just a wee bit of his talents! and I do mean Talents.So I had to give him a quick hug and take off because it was getting very late and poor light and my macular degeneration is getting worse so driving near dark is a challenge for me.

But that is the way my life seems to run-one challenge after another and I get so side-tracked ? This was suppose to be my month to rest and regroup for new projects for Christmas 2018? No rest this January?????????