Dot`sThoughts

Hal-low-een, Looks funny when you break the word up. It is now 8PM and I sit here wondering if there will be more trick-or-treaters on their way here? So far I have handed out candy to 53. I only origionally made up 50 bags, so had to rush and make up more. I just made up another 10 bags to be ready if more to arrive.
A few minutes ago one of my grandsons showed up t with his girlfriend. he wanted his grandmother to meet her. She seems nice. I was told that she was very bossy and overbearing. Tthey have been seeing each other a little over a year is what my grandson said. Time will tell if they stick together in the future or not. It`s always possible that she isn`t that bossy when they are alone as he is the type that wouldn`t argue in front of most others. So, maybe she just looks bossy because he agrees with what she says. OH WEll, it`s their life, so I will hope for the best.
Gee, it`s been 12 minutes since the last trick-or- treater stopped here, so maybe I can go out and loosen Sassy`s chain so she can again reach the porch. I went out and wound her chain around the post a few times to prevent her from scaring thje little kids when they came to my door. I used to bring her inside till the kids stopped arriving, but can`t chance it now that i am alone. She would be sure to make a fast dart out the door while I was handing out the candy with the door open so long. Sometimes they come in groupf of 5 or 6 and the door is open while I give each one the candy bags.
Walt loved handing out the candy and that left me to watch the dog and time to take pictures of some of the kids. I don`t get many pictures now as they keep arriving one group after another.
Wish I knew if there would be more kids or not. I will need to go unwind Sassy`s chain before I get too tired.
Thought I would try out the PolyEdit program that a good friend told me about. So, I`m writing it this way and see how it goes.
Wonder why they don`t change Halloween to a Fri or Sat night instead of on a school night? They changed other Hollidays to a Monday to make long weekends off for workers, so why not change this holliday to a week-end for the kids so they won`t have to get up the next morning for school.
10/31/2005
Used the clip board to move my post from the PolyEdit, to the clipboard and onto my blog. learned something new again. I always say that I am never too old to learn. Learning just helps to keep a mind more active.

How do you mend a broken Jack-o-lantern?
Just a simple question to start off this chilly day.
How does ones body get used to the changing times- like adding another hours sleep last night due to the changing back an hour on the clocks? Better than next spring when they set the clocks ahead an hour and we lose one hour of sleep.
I read an article telling that inorder to help our body adjust, it is important for us to keep everything on the sames chedule after gaining or losing the hour each Fall and Spring. Not sure what was meant by that. Does it mean just to eat at the same time according to the new clock time, or that we should eat an hour earlier to be eating at the same time before the clocks changed. Confusing right? You would think that since it was a medical program they would make it clearer so their could only be one way to interpret what they say.

Well, have you thought up an answer to the opening question?
Here is one answer:
With a pumpkin patch of course!








With a pumpkin patch!

Can you see the horses in the barn, the ducks in the pond, silo, wagon,truck, dog in doghouse chained up to a stake, windmill, grass growing up center of road going to the barn, furniture on porch, wood box beside porch, old tall pitcher pump still driping water, kids wagon, wheelbarrow filled with cement, mat in front of door, and there are flower boxes on each side of porch that doesn`t show so well, plus more. I just kept adding what ever came to mind as I went along. Had no plans, just worked along with what ever I thought might belong in the olden days farm properties. My first large painting came about only because I needed something challenging to occupy my mind at the time. Love Horses, my childhood dreams were to someday live on a Horse Ranch. More pictures to follow

This is my garage painting-- two doors together measure 8 feet wide x 8 feet high. Did with a 1/4 inch paint brush. You remember those tiny ones that come in a kids paint by number set. Colors done by mixing 4 basic paints together. Took 3 full weeks working from sunup to sundown and some done using the light over the doors. My way to keep my sanity when I first lost Walt. Horse head overhead was given to me by my younger sister and her husband. He passed away little over a year ago from a fall off a ladder while trying to hang a swing in the tree in their backyard for his grandchildren to use. One swell fellow.

Here are two of my great grandchildren .
One is 4 yrs old while her baby cousin is just 1 day old. Haley wanted to hold the new baby, so I put her on my lap and let the baby sit on her lap. So, while I was actually holding little Arianna Noelle, Haley thought she was. She didn`t want to get off my lap and just sat there holding the baby with me for a very long time. We had a time getting her off my lap when we were ready to leave. Then the baby`s grandmother ( my youngest daughter) showed up and I handed the baby over to her so we could get ready to leave. My granddaughter looked so tired. She told me that the baby wouldn`t sleep in her own bed at night so she had her on the bed with her all night. That explains why the baby slept while we were holding her. Hope they do better tonight as they are going home from the Hosp tomorrow. They leave the babies in the room with the mother around the clock. My granddaughter asked the nurse about the baby while she took her shower. The Nurse told her to just put the baby`s bed near the bathroom door and she would hear her if she cried. Granddaughter told me she waited till a friend showed up to watch the baby before she took her shower. In the old days they took the baby to the nursery at night so you could get rested up before going home. They keep babies with problems in the neo-natal nursery unit and leave all the others in the rooms with the mothers, so I can`t see why they even have a regular Nursery . Of course today they put all mothers and baby in private rooms, so no cheaper semi-private rooms today. I wonder if the Hosp bill still has a charge for the Nursery that you don`t even use? Private rooms protect the babies from being around so many, but they let anyone in to see them, so private rooms are probably just a way for the Hosp to charge more money. It`s almost 10:30 and i got up at 5:30 this morning, so I`m getting tired. Guess I`ll get off and rest sitting up with the bed seat on the bed and watch TV for a while before going off to slumberland. .

I dcided to correct the name of my new great Granddaughter.
Both her mom ( my youngest daughter) and her gram ( me) were overtired so when my daughter told me the baby`s name, I was too tired to think straight and so was she, so the wrong name got posted.
This cute little blonds name is:
"Arianna Noelle". at least that was the name my granddaughter told me she was naming it and I`m sure she stayed with that name. I will be going to the Hosp tonight to see both ny granddaughter and my newest great granddaughter. Hoping to take a few pictures while there. I was told she looks like her mommy did when she was a baby.
I`m sitting here still yawning from lack of sleep.
More later if I can stay awake that long.

Got a phone call from my youngest Daughter a little after 5 am this morning. Last night another daughter asked me when I thought Christina would have her baby. I told her could be 2 or 3 in the motning, but probably around 5 in the morning. Around 5 was right.
Hi everyone, Just wanted to tell everyone I have another Great granddaughter.
My yYoungest daughter called me a few minutes after 5am this morning to tell me Christina had a baby girl, 8 pound 4 1/4 ounces- 19 " long. Another Blond in the family.
Both baby and Mother are doing fine.
Think Brenda said Avian Noel, but I`ll find out for sure later. I must be getting old as this makes 8 Great grand children from our kids ( 3 Girls, 5 boys) and 4 + 1 step (4G + 1 B) from Walts- so 13 in all (7G, 6 B) .
This is my youngest daughters first grandchild.
Boy! Does that make me feel old.
Chilly out, 38 degrees F.
Now, maybe I can relax. One less thing to worry about. I am sitting here yawning. Couldn`t sleep well last night worrying. This granddaughter injured her back a few months back while at work. She was working in an adult handicap Home when she was injured. Dr had her out of work for about a month, but she went back to work last month. They transferred her to another Handicap Adult Home where they are better behaved.
Sitting here half asleep, so guess I`l get off and maybe write more later.

I just calmed down enough to go back and delete the duplicate post, so there is only one copt there now. No wonder it was taking so long to publish since it had to do the picture twice.
I tired from working so hard. It`s quite a job to make it alone. But, I still was able to use the right angle corners and the level while drilling and screwing the sides to the top and get those 2 shelfs in lever. Cut everything out in the shop, then brought in all the boards and put it together in my kitchen so it would be easier. I never could have gotten it in the house alone if had it already together. It measures 5 feet long x 3 feet high x 11 1/4 inches wide. Then I added trim along the front edges of the top and the 2 shelfs. On the other side of the room is a small picture window which , hopefully, lets in enough sunlight for the plants.
I`m off to check e-mails before signing off for tonight.

I`m back again. Started to say that the blue above the horse shelfs is actually a long picture- like the old days with the Red Blacksmith shop, a white horse and people, large tree in center and a black horse pulling a Surrey with the fringe on top is on the other end. A nice picture that my oldest daughter gave me a few years ago.
I got so excited waiting for the last one to Post that I hit publish a second time to get it started faster and now I have it there twice.
This granddaughter spent her first year living at out home with her Mom, so we are realy close. Her Mom just took her to the Hospital to have her baby girl. So, won`t be long before I become a great grandmother again. This is her first child and I am hoping things go ok. She injured her back earlier this year while working at one of the Handicap homes. I am hoping her back can take the pressure so she doesn`t have that pain added to the labor pains. I`ll be a wreck all night till she has the baby. Her Mom, (my youngest daughter) will call me as soon as she has it. I`m on pins and needles waiting!!!

Spent today finishing up the Horse book case and placed some of my horses onto the shelfs. Then I had all those plants I brought in from outside. Was able to put some of them on the table in front of a window in the laundry room, but they all wouldn`t fit. My dinning room floor was loaded with plants, boy you could hatdly walk thru it. So, I decided to make the new shelfs a little wider so I could use the top for holding plants.
Then I didn`t want the moisture from the plants to bother the varnish. So, I cut some white waterproof wall board to fit the top to sit the plants on. Next I will need to take the old shelve case out to the shop out of the way. I decided not to put a back on it, unless I change my mind at a later date.
Have you seen those drills and screw drivers that are powered by batteries? I got out the large battery powered drill only to find the battery was dead.I always charge up the second one to have it ready, but when I checked the second battery pack, it too was dead. Guess they sat too long since I last charged them. But those battery powered ones worked real well. So, I managed to get it made. I have one battery in the charger now in hopes it will be ready the next time I need it.
When I got this all done and filled, I had one more thing I wanted to get done today. Sassy is still insisting on staying outside nights and it`s getting down into the 30 already. So, every winter I take a piece of old rug and cut it a little bigger than the dog house doorway. Then I nailed the top of the rug along over top of the opening letting the rug hang down like a door covering the opening. . Now the wind won`t blow in on her. When I made the dog house I made it large enough for her to be able to lay down off to one side away from the doorway. With the rug hanging over the doorway, it makes a wind block to keep the house a little warmer. You would have to laugh to watch her. She is so used to having the rug once it gets colder out, that she often lays inside and just pokes out part of her head - just far enough so she can see everything thats going on outside. Like a little kid playing Peek-A-Boo. But after winter is over and it starts warming up outside , I need to remember to remove the rug. If I don`t, she will tear it down herself. Thats why I needed to find another section of rug as the old one was getting a bit too small from all her tearing it down over the years.
Well, there is still three more large plants sitting on the floor waiting for me to find where to put them. Need to do that another day as my old body is telling me it`s time to rest till tomorrow.
The blue above the shelfs is a long
Gotta go, Daughter just called to say granddaughter is in hosp in labor.

just received an e-mail from a dear friend. In it she mentioned they had moved into a new home where they could see the lake across the street. She mentioned that the thunderstorms seemed much louder there but she thought she would get used to it.
It brought back memories of another bad storm while we were renting the Farm House from my Aunt.
Here is part of the letter I wrote to her explaining why i now have more respect for what can happen during a thunderstorm.
I never cared for thunderstorms either. Never bothered me until the time when the twins were little babies and we had the two oldest girls spending their days on a bed under mosquito netting to keep their burns clean. They got burned with a bottle holding mercuric acid and battery acid combined. it had been used on the farm for dehorning bulls. We cleaned out all the buildings, but this tiny bottle had fallen down behind a board out of view, but somehow the step daughter found it. When she spilled some on her arm, she threw it which smashed the bottle spraying the liquid all over her and the 2 1/2 yr old Daughter. The boys were just 2 months old when it happened.
Well, to get back to the thunderstorm, I was out hanging up diapers on a line when suddenly I couldn`t see. Then I heard the thunder. Was quite a while before I could see again and by then there was fire burning in two fields a short distance from the house. I screamed so my Mother heard me next door ( about 350 feet from where I was living). My Mother called the fire co. and my brother and I started using a shovel and a broom to keep the fire from getting any closer to the house property. I grew up near woods and almost every year we needed the fire co as seems someone was always starting a fire out in back of our home. They figured might be from someone tossing ciggs as they walked thru the woods. I got used to that, but when I lost my eyesight that time, I started taking thunderstorms more seriously. Where I live now, we also own the house next door and they say lightning never strikes the same place twice. Well, don`t believe it as it hit the roof of the house next door twice over the years- in the same place where it was repaired the first time. Last time was about 20 years ago.
My Dr asked me if I was still using the C-PAP machine all the time. Told him yes unless there is a thunderstorm. He asked why I didn`t use it then. Told him it won`t work if the power goes off. he said he never thought of that. I read on line where they are coming out with a machine that has a battery backup, but not sure when it will be out. Bet that being new will make it much more expensive , probably out of reach for the average family.
Ever wonder if lightning hit your home, since we know water is a good conductor, would the water in the plugged in machine try to draw it? They connect wires for telephones to inside water pipes for that reason. Mine is connected to the pipes that go down into my well. Been that way every since we first got the phone put into this house- back in about 1955. Wonder if they still ground the phones that way today. Ever wonder how safe our cell phones are? What are they grounded with since it goes thru the air? Mother always told us to never use the phone in a thunderstorm, never get into the tub or shower either and to never stand under a tree to get out of the rain. Wonder how many other mothers gave out the same rules-- know many of my friends parents did. I saw what happened when the lightning hit the tree on the farm. It bounced off the tree in both directions and did a dancing jig on the ground setting loads of small fires all over both the night pasture on one side of the tree and in the open field on the other side of the tree and fence. Then those little spots soon joined into two big fires to be put out. Oh Yes. it did split that tree down a ways, leaving both sections still connected to the base below the split. Eventually that tree was cut down.
This is just one of my fire experiences.
We had a great fire in our area back about 1963 that claimed many houses, some horses and other animals. At one time it jumped the road on the street corner above our street. That fire was burning so high that it jumped the high Northway a short distance from our street. That northway was high enough for vehicles to drive on the road under it under- so those flames were mighty high. I was working running our store thru it and helping to supply the fire fighters with coffee and doughnuts and whatever I had like that. Most of my kids were real small at that time, but the step children were teenagers and my step son was also helping to fight that fire. At that time our well water was low, but every few hours the step son would rush back and using out hose- he would wet down the house until the water stopped. Walt was working thru it and kept calling to see if we were alright. He asked if I wanted him to come home, but our expenses were so great we realy couldn`t afford to lose the days pay. So, I just kept telling him we were doing ok. My sister had been spending the summer helping watch the baby for me, but when the fire started down across the road from our area , she got scarred -- called my Dad and he came after her. Wish he had taken my kids home with them. Guess he didn`t think of that and figured if I wanted him to i would have said so. I was so busy I didn`t even think to ask. There was one section off the second road across the wooded area that was called bennetville where mostly poorer people lived. There was one large beautiful building in that ares. The fire burned out all the poorer looking homes and went right around that house. Funny the way it came just a short ways from that house, wind changed, it burned the back yard, then after passing the house the wind changed again-- never doing a speck of damage to that one house, but clearing out every other place as it went on. Took all day to get that fire under control and all the next day searching thru the woods for smoldering places that were still burning. I think of that fire whenever i see those huge fires burning in Cal. and other places. It sure was scarry to live thru. Luckily most of the able bodied people of our small town hurried out to help fight that fire. We were like in the old days where you knew most everyone. Not so today since the older generation has mostly passed on and our town has grown to about 4 times its size when we first moved here. Most of the large wooded areas have been cut down and homes built there, plus two of the wooded areas are now trailer parks. Plus today we are no longer named the same small Town name, but have been added to the larger town we connect to. Our address has been changed three times since we first moved here back in 1956. People are forever thinking we have moved again, but we stayed put, just our address kept changing.
Still raining, but might snow tonight into tomorrow. I think it`s too early to think of shoveling yet. But Mother nature might not agree with me. I can remember years when we thought we wouldn`t have snow for Christmas, now we worry about having it before thanksgiving. my, how the world keeps changing. Now states much further south are getting what used to be our winter weather.
Guess I`ll sign off and let Sassy out. She is laying as close to the side door as she can get. She doesn`t like the heat yet i guess.

Boy does it feel chilly today. Says almost 40 degreesF on my side porch, but the wind chill makes it feel much lower.
Took off thei morning as soon as the school bus left our corner. Bought a couple bage of potting soil. Came home and decided to wait till aroung noon when it would be a bit warmer to work outside. Needed a jacket, it was so cold. I managed to rake up enough leaves to make a wind barrier aroung my hollyhacks to hopefully keep them thru the winter.I once read that it wasn`t the cold of winter that kills them, but the cold wind. Have tried for years to grow them but was losing them every winter. Last year i banked aroung them with high piles of leaves and they made it thru ok. So, hoping for the same luck this winter. Most of the leaves are still on the trees, so was hard to get as many as i wanted . So only have about 3 feet of leaves so far. If we get the snow they keep threatening us with, i won`t be able to rake up any more. Hope what i did saves them in case i can`t rake on moreleaves.
Then I replanted about a dozen flowering plants and brought them inside. Most are still sitting in a cat litter box on the dinning room ( or should call it the horse room) floor until I can make room for them on one of the plant places. So all thats left now is inside work as far as the flowers go. Glad that task is done. I like keeping them alive thru the winter as it means less money spent next spring to fill the outside flower planters. Then I put the outside tool away in the garage for the winter. Tipped over the large plant standard and leaned it nea the house till next year.
A grandson stopped to visit and gave me a new picture of him and his older son. Nice picture. While he was here he said he would go up and paint the end section of my home for me. So, I will need to go after more paint. He can walk on the kitchen roof to reach it. Hate that I don`t trust my knees well enough to climb up the tall ladder onto the roof to do it myself. Can climb out the upstairs bedroom window to get onto the roof, but it`s quite a drop from the window down to the floor trying to climb back in. Walt used to put up the ladder for me as I can`t hold it well enough to stand it upward that far. I do what I can, but have to leave what I can`t to others.
Haven`t heard yet from my Grandson who lives in Port Richy, Florida. Don`t think the hurricane was supposed to reach up that far. Also wondering how my sisters condo in Miami made out. Good thing she hasn`t yet gone south for the winter. Pictures on Tv show lots of damage in Miami. Glad it wasn`t worse.
So cold that the furnace seems to be running almost steady. With the
higher prices for fuel, I keep hoping what I have lasts for a while more. I better go down and check to see how much i still have. Just another thing Walt used to do, so one more thing for me not to forget. Also still need to shut off the outside faucet so it won`t freeze in the winter. Seems i have twice as much to remember these days. Was going to run the dishwasher, but after doing two loads of washing I decided to wait till morning.
Well, I`m off to fill my face if I can find something that tempts me . Was too tired earlier, so just ate some watermellon and sat here on the computer to rest. Never could just sit and rest, always need to be doing something. Must come from being taught to help around home while growing up, or it is just because of raising 8 kids counting his and ours while running either the Bicycle shop or the grocery store at the same time. Was always washings to do and ironing too in those days. Wasn`t much time back then to just loaf around. Didn`t stop for lunch, so guess I should go find something for supper.
Don`t realy feel hungry, but have to eat to take the pills, so guess I have to eat. I usually eat much earlier than this. Well, I`m off to hunt the freezer and cupboards for something tasty.

Just received this report :
Issued at: 10:14 PM EDT 10/22/05, expires at: 6:00 AM EDT 10/23/05 Snow advisory in effect until 10 am edt Sunday above 2000 feet. The NWS in albany has issued a snow advisory for elevations above 2000 feet, which is in effect until 10 am edt Sunday. Storm total accumulations of 4 to 8 inches are likely in the advisory area. Law enforcement personnel reported 4 inches of snow on route 28 in warren county where it crosses into hamilton county. An observer also reported 3 inches at bakers mills in warren county. A snow advisory means that periods of snow will cause primarily travel difficulties. Be prepared for snow covered roads and limited visibilities, and use caution while driving.
Winter isn`t supposed to be here until Dec. 21st.
Last year we had snow before the leaves fell so we couldn`t rake them up till spring came. Hope this doesn`t happen again this year. One son lives a few miles from RT 28 and he drives about 40 miles each way going back and forth to work every day. Hope he doesn`t also have snow tonight or to drive in tomorrow.
I am in no rush to see the snow starting to fall.

Weatherman said rain before noon and clearing afterwards. Boy was he ever wrong. Since it hadn`t rained this morning, at 1pm I felt it was safe to go work in the shop. Finished the second coat of varnish on all the boards. Then came back inside and around 3pm it started to rain. Didn`t last for very long, but enough so I couldn`t do any more work outside today.
Supposed to rain for the rest of the week. Hope we get a few dry hours so I can go to the store for potting soil to take care of the flower plants before they die from the cold. No room to bring them all in till repotting them.
Went down below freezing last two nights and Sassy is still refusing to come inside at night. She`s getting much to heavy for me to drag her inside anymore. Well, could if had too, but she is so strong and she braces her feet when she doesn`t want to move. Have showed her in the past that i will win if I want to. But that doesn`t stop her from bracing her feet. She is usually a very smart dog, so I`m sure she will come in when she feels it is necessary. At least I am hoping so. I feel a little scarred in the mornings till I find out she is ok. I sure would feel lost without her. I know staying out will give her a thicker fur for warmth this winter. I never saw a dog that shed all year before. But I met a lady at the farm produce place who told me she also has a Border Collie and hers sheds years around also. So, guess it`s common for that breed of dog. I usually leave her inside during the winter, unless she asks to go outside. She is real good when I have to leave for a few hours. She is so well behaved that I can leave meat on the counter and she won`t touch it. We once had a puppy that chewed up socks and slippers and it took me a while to train it. But, Sassy was so easy to train.
I still remember the day I got her. She used to belong to my husbands Niece and her husband. We visited them at their trailer one day- 14 years ago. They lived at least 30 miles from us. Well, they had a large Angora cat and this 3 month old puppy was forever trying to chew on it`s ears. When the owners did nothing, I took one fingerand lightly tapped the puppy on the nose saying "No, stop that". After a few times the puppy obeyed me, that surprised the owners. Then when they were showing me around their trailer, this tiny puppy followed me everywhere. Later when we were leaving, the puppy followed us to the car. I picked up the puppy and placed it onto the porch out of the driveway and we got in the car. Just as I was starting to close the door, here she came and sneaked behind my seat and up onto the back seat. I got out, reached in and took the puppy out and carried her back to the porch. Again she beat me into the car. The Nieces husband told me to take her home she was now my pup. I told him I couldn`t take their dog. He said she chose you, so your her owner now.Our
Niece agreed saying she never followed them around that way. They insisted and thats how Sassy came to live with us. Oh, I never named her, I just kept the name "Sassy" that they had already given her. I never knew she would get quite so large. She now weighs 51 pounds. She is on the Lean food with hopes she loses some, or at the most, doesn`t gain any more.
She took me for a flying ride thru the air when we first got her. Three months old, I was taking her outside to hook her up. We have to tie up our dogs where I live. As i walked out the door onto the porch a neighbor went by walking his dog. Thats all i had time to see before Sassy took off on a flying run carrying me off the porch, thru the air and i landed between our two cars in our driveway. I had to dig both hands into the ground to hold her.
I never gave her a chance after that as i was always ready fior her.
Then when she was 6 months old someone opened the back door and out she scooted and calling her did no good. Youngest son and another nephew took off after her. There is a waterhole across the road from the end of our road. State made it when digging dirt to build up the northway. They hit underground springs which made a good sized pond. Big enough that it got named by the town. It`s much smaller today as the new owners of that property started filling it in.
Well, to get back to the dog, a while later the nephew came back on a run and asked me for something to tie onto sassy to bring her home. He said" Aunt Dot, hurry, Ronnie took a fast dive into the air and caught her but he`s having a hard time hanging on to her" She only got loose once since that time and she kept running almost to me and then darting away from me. This went on for about 10 minutes before i gave up and sat on the porch holding the bone i was using to get her to come. After a few minutes she realized i wasn`t playing her game and she came to me for the bone. Today i use a heavy chain to hold her as she was breaking the regular dog chains by the time she was about 5 months old. She is one heck of a good watchdog. One time my youngest son came home on a friends cycle- wearing his friends leather jacket and sneakers instead of the normal work shoes, plus the helmet. Sassy didn`t recognize him and wouldn`t allow him to come onto the porch. I yelled out telling him to remove the helmet and all was ok. I still pick on him about that.
Well, now you know about my only pet, my companion Sassy who keeps me from staying in bed all day. LOL. Had other dogs before her that i loved. Wasn`t going to have another one to lose, but here she is.

Weather man said our first deep freeze will be tonight-- expected to go down into the 20`s F, ( think thats about -5 below 0- C). Wonder why we need two means of measuring outside Temperatures. All depends on where in the World we live. Maybe they just want to keep us guessing.
I transplanted the flourishing pepper plants to a smaller container and put them on the back porch and covered them with plastic hopeing they don`t freeze overnight . I also dug up some of the front flowers that can keep growing inside in the winter. Ran out of soil to transplant them, so hid them also under the plastic. Keeping my fingers crossed, On second thought, they are too bent to cross, so would cross my toes, but then they wouldn`t fit in my shoes. Guess will just wish for the best and see how it goes.
My stand-up garden is no more. Have all the large Earth Boxes dumped, ( boy! were they heavy with all that mud left from dumping the water) , got them washed and packed away in the garage till next spring. Before dumping the soil, had to tip them a ways to run off all the water still in the under section of the boxes. By the time I finished it was hurry into the house to get out of those wet clothes. No, didn`t dump any of the water on myself. But each time I washed another earth box and all the support dividers, I would drop the end of the hose thru the top of the base frame. Well, this one time , while iIwas reaching for the next box to spray it clean, suddenly the hose popped up out of the frame, sprayed at the house and richocheyed back at me. Tricky little hose. LOL Too chilly out to get wet like that.
While I was working one of my daughters drove by, stopped. and yelled to me saying " What are you doing out there working so hard". Told her going to freeze tonight, so garden time is over. I used the wheelbarrow to carry the dirt from each box and dumped some of it into flower beds along front of the house and the rest went on the edge of the property line where it was a bit lower. Didn`t want the water to freeze in the bottom of the box and possibly crack it.
Glad that chore is done, but sure will miss those fresh garden veggies. Rhubarb and onions are starting to go to seed now.
Got done just in time to start wondering what to fix for supper. Seems like I just ate lunch. Where oh where did all those hours go? Brought in a lot of small peppers waiting for me to take care of. Probably add them with the others in the freezer to use this winter.
Almost had eating apples this year, so guess I will spray more often next year. A nephew told me I needed to spray at least 4 times during the season and I only did it twice. Just wish they were ok in time for Walt as he loved apples. Used to buy them every week for him. He was always asking me if I would like him to peal one for me. I did often add a little water to the dish and cook an apple in the Microwave, then sliced it , but it in one of those small pie shells, sprinkle with cinnamon and spects of butter that melted fast, and top it with whipped topping. Tasted a little like an apple pie that way. Better than making a large pie with noone here to help me eat it.
Well, this isn`t fixing supper, so guess I`ll get moving and possible come bach here later.

I wonder how many people quit having gardens because they could no longer get up and down from the ground to do the gardening? Did ok in my sixtys, but seemed the 70`s did me in. When I turned 70, my legs started feeling like they were rubber and just refused to pick me up from the floor, so regular gardening was out.
I just wasn`t ready to give up those fresh veggies from the garden. One day I saw an add for those Earth Boxes. They have a separation in them so you fill the above section with good soil and plant your plants in the soil. Then you use you water hose and fill the under section with water. OH Yes, you also have to spread some fertalizer down the center of the soil. Then, since I didn`t want to have them sitting on my porch, I knew I had to come up with something to sit the boxes on. Found some old 2x4`s and made a good sturdy frame, then I had some thick boards my bro had left over when he remodeled the farm house. He was tossing them so I picked up some of them to bring home. First thing I did was to make ramps for riding the lawm tractor in and out of the shop on, Walt used to use just the two boards and hope the wheels stayed on the boards.
Much easier driving it in and out in the ramps as they stayed in place on the edge of the doorway. Much safer too.
Well, to get back to the frame. I used some of these thick boards to make the top platform on the frame, leaving about an inch between them for any rain water to run off. When I finished making it and painted it with some left over paint we still had down cellar, then I showed it to Walt. Later that evening I overheard him telling a friend that he thought I could build my own house if I got a mind I wanted one. Can`t get a bigger pat on the back than that. Of course, he would also be a bit predjudist, being my loving hubby. He would sure be surprised to see all the things I have made in the past three years. Who knows maybe he can see them.

I only bought 3 boxes the first year. Tomato and string beans shown in the first picture above were my first year with just 3 boxes.
Then added on two more the next year. If you look real close you will see a succhini in the second picture- this was from last year. As you can see, everything grows real tall in these boxes.
One thing I forgot to mention about the frame was that the first two years I had to use a step ladder to reach the top of the plants to pick the tomatos and climbing beans. I cut off 6 inches after the first year, another 8 inches the second year, and about 4 more inches the third year to get the top of the plants low enough to reach without a lot of climbing. Can`t cut off any more as am just a short distance below where the support boards go around the legs. Now the boxes are about the height of my waiste or maybe a speck lower.
Then this summer a Daughter wanted to try her luck with the boxes, so when I ordered two for her, I added on one more for myself. So this year I had 6 boxes filled with good fresh veggies to eat. If you use potting soil in the boxes you have no weeds to pull, just need to keep the water section filled. Little work, but lots of good eating. Boxes cost some, but when you can continue to use them year after year, you get your moneys worth out of them.
My gardens have grown great every year, except this year had tomato rot on some tomatoes from too much rain water. It had rained every day for two weeks straight then. Had long seedless cucumbers, a few beets already eaten and a few more to pull up yet, have eaten lots of string beans and frozen lots, frozen succhinni to make bread this winter, have lots of peppers in the freezer and still about 20 more smaller ones still growing on the plants, grew enough potatoes for a couple meals in one of the compost bins, had two types of lettuce ( a daughter had some and liked it much better than the boughten lettuce), my carrots didn`t grow so well in the boxes. Gave away some cucumbers , lettuce and succhini. Hope I can continue to have these gardens for years to come. I call them my "walk around gardens" as I walk around the whole outside of the frame to reach and pick everything.
Wonder how many use compost bins today. Years ago Walt made me a three section one which I am still using today. I save many things- such as veggie rinds, banana peels ( some I toss on the rosebushes), Potato peels, and lots lots more, even coffee grounds when have them. Seems like I am heading for the compost bin every couple days with something. Today I went out and turned it from the end bin into the middle bin. You need to turn it every so often to help break it up so it can become good soil faster. The past two years I have had some mighty long fat worms helping me break it up. Any fisherman would love them they are such big fat and long worms. Told the younger son to stay away from my worms. He came by one day when I was turning it and saw the worms and said he`d sure love them for fishing. Of course he was just picking on me.
I own one of those short pitchforks with the handle on the top. If I need to pick up something off the ground, I take the pitchfork, push it into the ground and then it becomes my cane to hang onto. Stays put much better than a real cane would. Sure comes in handy.
Did I tell you I saw a vine growing in the emptyest bin and left it too see what it was. Ended up with a small musk mellon to eat from it.
Love my garden veggies!!

Here it is already 3 pm and I wasted most of the day. Just finished putting the first coat of varnish on the front side of the boards and the 2nd coat on the trim, so the trim will be finished once it gets dry enough to sand it lightly.
Thought it was going to rain today, but since the sun is still shining, decided it would be ok to get a little more of the varnishing done. Need one more dry day to be able to finish it. Then comes the fun of putting the boards together.
One of the twins stopped to visit with me this morning and he stayed long enough to have lunch with me. Then off to work at the School.
Yesterday I sprayed the double garage doors hoping to save the painting thru another winter. Three years ago I painted a farm scene mural that covers both Garage doors ( 8'x8' in all).
Did it with one of those 1/4 inch brushes that came in a kids paint by no. kits. Took me three weeks to finish it. Every year I spray on a protective coating just as cold weather starts with the hopes it protects the painting for another year. Have you ever used a tiny 1/4 " brush to paint something that large? I never had before. But after I lost Walt I needed something to keep my mind busy. This picture has many small things on it that required the tiny brush. Once I started I just kept going with that small brush. Only had 4 colors of paint hanging around, so with those 4 colors I was able to mix them to make many different colors and shades. That was also something I had never done before. Had mixed a few, but never for this many colors. At the time I didn`t know how long it would be before I received my next check, so didn`t dare waste any money buying new paint.
Wow, Guess a cloud must have covered the sun as it suddenly got dark in here. Middle of the afternoon and need a light on already. More proof that winter is on it`s way.
I have a welcome sign on my side porch with a horse hanging from it that I received from a neighbor last Christmas. The welcome sign was done with unfinished wood, so I decided to protect it with the same spray I used on the garage. Also sprayed over the hanging horse, plus sprayed the huge horses head that is on a backboard on the porch post. It is black painted wrought iron and I don`t want it to ever rust. Received it from a Brother-in-law who died a year ago from a fall off a ladder. Shown in picture above. With the old ring on it like you tied horses up to in the old days. just one of many items in my Horse collection.
Oh No, it just started raining. Hope the shop doesn`t collect moisture enough to disturb the varnished boards. It`s closed up, but has no heat in it. Doesn`t look like it will rain for long-- looks like a sun shower and the sun is shining enough to turn the light back off. What crazy weather we do have.
One thing I never learned to do is one thing at a time. Seems like I always have too many things to keep up with. I am watching, or should say listening to the Soaps on TV ( taped while was out in the shop) while posting here, often eat while on the net. Thats one thing I would never have thought to do when Walt was here to eat with me. I had intended to rest a bit and then go out and dump out more of the earth Boxes where the string beans were growing. But will have to wait till a day with no rain as it takes me a while to dump the dirt into the wheelbarrow. I spread the dirt into the flower beds to make them grow better. Also have used it over the past few years to level any low spots in my yard.
Have you ever used your shovel to raise up a spot of grass high enough to throw more dirt under the grass so the ground will be more level without losing any of the nice growing lawn? Then just lightly press the top grass and dirt layer back overtop of the new added dirt. A great way to get rid of a dip in the ground , smooth it level and not need to reseed it. Also if you have a barer spot somewhere in your lawn, you can dig up grass ( keeping the soil intack) from another place and plant that grass into the bare spot. Any time I dig the grass back from my flower beds, I usually find a spot to replant the grass. Today I have one of the nicest growing lawns on our street, but took me years to get it this way. As you probably guessed, I just got tired of looking at that dull black for so long.
Stopped raining already, so just a sun shower like I thought.
Well, guess i`ll go check on the e-mails that I heard come in a while ago.
Hope everyone is having a great day!!
Gee, I first started this post over an hour ago and left it in Draft. Decided to post it before checking the e-mail.

Sun was shining after lunch time, so I went out and did the second coat coat of varnish onto the boards for the Horse case. So, now one side has the two coats and the trim is completely varnished with the second coat.
No more finished and it started pouring out. So, I decided to run for the house. Figured wouldn`t get any wetter , so went to pick up the mail.
Hadn`t eaten lunch before going out to the shop, so fixed some Lunch.
Now at 4:10 rain has stopped and sun is again shining, but there are some ark clouds in the sky. Brobably rain again before it`s done. Will have to wait another day to start the 1st. coat ov varnish on the top side. I usually do 1st coat on both sides before doing the other side, but figured it would go faster this way.
Ever seen those new dishes that have the covers you put into the freezer for a few hours and it keeps the food in the dish cold? Haven`t tried them yet. A brother got two sets and gave a set of 4 to me. I took over one dish and cover to my daughters to let her try it out. If she likes how they work she will want to buy a set.
Spent all summer trying to get the flowers looking good, and now that it is time for freezing any day now, they are all blooming and looking great. Why not while it had all summer to look so great? Cosmos were so loaded with flowers, then we had the winds up to 50 MPH and bent the tall plants over. There lays all those blossoms covering the ground in the flower beds. A bro once started to stand one up, but he didn`t grab the whole plant and he split the plant. So, can`t support it back up now.
I still have the pepper plants covered and protected from frost with hopes the peppers keep growing bigger. Plants are still loaded.
I look around and see housework that I ought to be doing, and still here I sit.
Have you ever let newspapers pile up for days and then read all of them at the same time? Thats what I did this morning. I caught up with 4 days newspapers that were piled on the table waiting to be read. So much advertisements poked into those 4 newspapers that those circulars filled a grocery bag. Think half of what I pay for garbage is for those advertisement circulars . Too bad they don`t give you a choice whether you want those ads delivered to you or not. They poke them all thru the paper so before you can read it, you need to shake out all those ads. Then when they are removed the actually newspaper is very small.
Just noticed that the deadline for adding minutes to my cell phone is tomorrow, so guess i should get off here and call them to add more minutes. Cost me $25 just to get them to change the Georgia code and have my local code put in, so I don`t wish to need to do it again.
So, I`m off to get it done.

Well, back again. Took off for the wood place for more lumber to build a better shelved open book case to hold some of the horses in my collection. I threw together a fast one from scraps last year and finally got caught up enough with repairs to be able to start the new case. Brought home the wood, did the cutting, sanding and one side has the varnish on it. This time I am using the combination with varnish and polly coating combined. Figure might not have enough good days left to do 2 coats varnish plus the over coat of poly, since can only do one side of the boards at a time plus the hours needed between each coat. . This way it will take only 2 or 3 days if the weather holds, instead of twice as long. It will be about 5 feet long, x 3 feet high, x 1 foot deep. The old one was just half as deep. So new one will hold more Horses when finished. I own a large Horse collection, pictures, clocks, lamps, musicals, horses in leather, glass, coal, candle wax, ceramic, metal and just about anything, plus other Horse items, goblets, mugs, steins, cups, ashtrays, Budweiser horse and wagon, other horses with wagons, Horse puzzles ( one is shaped like a real horse, cutout legs, mane etc., done with over 800 pieces which I glued together and hung on the wall), Horse jewelry, keychains, Book ends, Horse planters, picture frames, switch plates, all size horse statues, blankets, pillows, afghans, 2 wall hanging type afghans, slippers, saddle pocketbook, small rug I use to cover my organ bench and too much more to list it all. Bought some, but most were gifts from Husband, kids, grandkids, and even some from a couple sisters and a brother. Bigest amount was from my youngest sister and her husband. She lost her Husband little over a year ago, but when she gave me my birthday present last month she told me she still has another gift that Steve (her husband) bought but it was a christmas one, so I will still be receiving gifts from her that her husband had picked up. He will never be forgotten with all the items in my Horse Collection that he found to give me. A few years ago, in the worst of winter I suddenly heard some pounding outside. I looked out and what I saw was Steve up on our tall ladder nailing over the double garage doors--a large Black metal horses head on a white board background. Scared me as the ladder was standing on snow and ice. I ran out to hold the ladder till he was done. Then the next year they gave me one of those horse heads with the ring on it that resembles those they used to tie horses to in the olden days. I put it onto a white background with a black border going around the 8 sided board. Then I screwed the backboard onto one of the porch roof support posts. Then they gve me a Turkey cutting board that has a silver horses head on one top end and the silver tail off the other top end. Plus they gave me a horses head that is a workable stapler-7"long x about 4" high x almost 3" wide. All done in white, even the Halter is designed on it.
One of my daughters bought me a clock when she was visiting in Florida. When she went to get on the plane to come home, she set off the machine when she started to go thru. She had forgotten about the clock in her suitcase which was a real saw blade with a horses head in thje center and gold rope design joining all the numbers. One year I received a large ashtray with two horseheads in the center. About three years later the youngest daughter gave me a 5 piece set of deep saucers with the same horses on them. They came from our local place, while the ashtray ws found way out near Lake Ontariio. Funny, how what was bought on the east coast of NY matched what was bought clear across the state on the west side. Like a matching set. Then a sister just gave me the new Saratoga raceway tall stein which was sold this year as a colletores piece.
Have many clydesdale ones. Did you know that they weigh between 2,000 & 2,300 pounds, stand about 6 - 61/2 feet at the shoulder, Cost about &10,000 each and eat 25 quarts of feet and fifty pounds of hay every day.
Well, that is probably a lot more than you are interested in knowing, but I was always a horse lover. Had to stop riding over 15 years ago when I broke off the tailbone . That allows the discs to slip if I don`t watch what I do, but I make out pretty good, just can`t go riding horses or motorcycles anymore.
Enough about my collection, beginning to look like it might rain again tonight. Hop the stain has time to set good before the dampness- should be as it said takes about 6 hours and that will be up at 8pm and it is 5:30 now. Not supposed to rain till during the night. The shop is locked up, but has no heat in it. Hoping for another nice day tomorrow so can varnish the other side of the boards I`ll probably bring it inside to put it togather .

Here it is another day. Another day another dollar. Used to say that years back before I retired. Now it is another year, hopefully another raise.
I remember one year when instead of getting more money in my SS check, I actually got less money after the yearly raise. They raised the cost of Medicare more than the amt. of the raise-- so I actually ended up with a lower check all that year. Walts check had the raise, but lowering mine offset his raise. I remember how I always read the SS book to read that in the event you lost your mate, you got just -think it was 2/3rds or might have been 1/2 of his check minus the decreases if either or both of you went on early-before age 65. I used to wonder how I would ever manage on just 2/3rds of what he was getting. So I started to save as much of my own check for security reasons. Then what my Dad always told me back in the early 70`s rang like a constant bell in my head. He told me Walt and I needed to have at least 25,000$ in the bank before retiring. Boy, he sure wouldn`t think that amt would last long if he saw prices today. But, we started saving. Then the Ciba Geiga plant closed down and we ended up using every cent of our savings to pay bills till Walt was old enough to start drawing SS. Noone wants to hire a person who only has a couple years left before they can draw Social Security. So, we were broke by the time he was elligable and he went on early. Then When I was old enough I started drawing. His checks paid the bills, mine was used for any big things we needed over the years- such as the new freezer and heating furnace, etc. On months when we didn`t need all my check, I started a savings . Back then the Bank paid good interest, but the past few years interest has gone down drastically. Walt also had his Pensions from the plant for 37 years he worked there. That plant was first called Imperial and made wallpaper, then it was bought out by Hercules and started making car paint etc. Next Ciba Geigy bought out Hercules and Walt continued to make car paint. He always felt that was what caused his Emphasema as many of the other workers had the same thing shortly after retiring, or in Walts case shortly after the plant closed and headed South. Those two pensions ( he lacked about 3 months to be elligible from Imperial) kept our heads above water. Today, I was surprised to see that things had changed and I ended up droping my check and receiving the same amount as Walts SS Check, plus he had reduced his pension checks so if anything happened to him I would continue to receive both Pensions in the same amt. I will always be glad I listened to my Dad and started my saving account. But, I have noticed one thing. While the gov. says you need to save for your own future, it doesn`t tell you that they consider any saving you might have gone without to keep will determine how much if any help you deserve from the gov.. Have a bro that lives almost as well as I do even though he gets less SS.. He gets his meds paid for, heap for his fuel, food stamps, his medicare paid for, and I forget what else. When he started to complain about what little he had to live on, I told him to add in everything he gets free that the rest of us are paying for, and he ends up just as well of. Plus he lives free in our Familys home- Mothers savings has always paid the Taxes and House ins, plus a bro gave him his car and he pays for the Ins on it. So, in all he probably is better off than the rest of us if everything was added up that we pay and he gets free. . I`m a bit better off than one sister as she pays rent and I own my own home. Plus I am still renting the second home to a daughter and the low price we charge her pays my taxes on both places ( Gov, Tax savings help on my own home, but not on the other one). So, the Pres. is pushing saving for retirement, it doesn`t tell us that if we do go without many things just to save, they will then tell us we saved- so now we don`t deserve any help from them. One visicious cycle, Don`t save and we give you Heap for your fuel and lights, food, help repairing your home such as roof, doors, windows, etc., help paying your medicare payment leaving more in your SS check, help paying for your meds, etc.. If you are smart enough to save, then we will tell you you don`t deserve any help.
How is that supposed to encourage the next generation to save?

Well, guess I better get moving if I plan on heading to our Lumber place for wood to redo one bookcase style case that hold some of my horse collection. I threw together a fast one last winter to get them into one place, but it was done with some scrap wood and not as good looking as it might be. So, would like to make a better one and not much time left before winter makes it too cold to work in the Shop.

At first i started to say it was Saturday, but it`s 2:45 AM, so that makes it Sunday morning.
Went to a nephews Wedding today. Lovely wedding. But sure had the Minister and all the guests laughing when he asked the bride: Do you.... promise to love honor and obey -. Well that word obey did it all as the bride was agreeing until that magic word "obey" was said and we all watched her shaking her head " No". She didn`t just shake no once, but kept on shaking it no. The minister had to laugh and he said "This is the first time in my over 30 yrs of performing Marriages that I ever had this happen". Then he looked at the groom and said- looks like you`ll have to obey her. We all laughed at that. Must admit , it was the first time I ever saw it and I`ve been to many many weddings. Even funnier when you know she isn`t the bossy power play type.
It sure felt lonesome there watching most of my family out dancing while I sat thinking of Walt and wishing he were there to dance with me. He did love dancing. Then to make matters worse, Most of my family was sitting at one table, but one brother, a sister-in-law ( wife of the Brother who passed away) and I were seated with some of my sisters friends at another table. Normally that wouldn`t have bothered me. But Not having Walt and also not sitting at the same table with my 3 sisters, 2 of their husbands and our oldest brother and his wife just made me feel more lonesome than ever. One of the sisters had a Double Wedding with Walt amnd I, so watching them dancing made me think even more of Walt. We often celebrated our Anniversarys together. We had our 50th a few months before I lost Walt. Our Kids threw us a large Anniversary party that year-- just 3 years ago.
All this got me a bit upset so I couldn`t get to sleep. I tried watching Tv, but that wasn`t helping, so gave up and here I sit trying to calm down from it all. I was getting so upset that i feared i would brake down, so thats when I decided tohead home. Many of the Guests had already left, so had the sister-in-law that was at our table, so noone even noticed why I was leaving, except possibly the sister who Married with us. So, when my other brother and I left, my oldest bro and wife had left a short time earlier. That left my 3 sisters and 2 of their Hubbies still there. The 3rd sister was the mother of the Groom and she also lost her hubby little over a year ago, so I`m sure it was also hard for her. Well, it is 10 after 3AM now, so think I`ll go lay down for a while. Probably won`t fall asleep, but at least I might rest. Had the C-PAP mask on before for over 3 hours while trying to unwind and sleep. Here i go9 again. Hope have better luck this time. Wonder why it is that our bodies don`t let us sleep even though we feel exausted? I`m off.....

What a day. Rain again, is it ever going to stop? Tonight I attended my nephews Wedding Rehearsal Supper. Food was delicious, as was the company. There were between 30 and 40 attending including the Minister and his wife. Tomorrow is the wedding. Our side of the table got served first, and since the minister sat over half way down on the side opposite where I was sitting, he was one of the last to be served. He told us not to wait for him, but to go ahead and eat.
That reminded me of the time Walt took me out for supper on one of my Birthdays. We gave the waitress both out orders at the same time. After the long wait, she brought in Walts order and said mine was coming shortly. I told Walt to go ahead and start eating while his food was still warm. He finished eating his food and my meal still hadn`t arrived.
Walt headed for the kitchen to see what the hold up was. They apologized
to me and asked again what my order was. I told Walt I
didn`t feel like eating alone and I wasn`t real hungry and lets go home.
Wonder if they ended up cooking my order, and if so, did anyone eat it or did they just toss it. I really don`t care as I didn`t intend on waiting another half hour for them to cook it and then having Walt sit another half hour while I ate it. Walt was willing, but I wasn`t willing to put him thru it. Well, we never went back to that restaurant again.
Just went to Mr Haneys blog and listened to his audio recording. Think that was his first audio post and he did a good job with it.
Wish it would stop raining, been raining for too many days in a row. Expecting rain again tomorrow.
Ron came up, checked out the kitchen roof and tarred it where he thought th leak was from. Now, i wait for another harder rain with the winds blowing to see it if still leaks. it never leaks with the regular rain, but just did the day the wind was blowing so hard. I am hoping to get thru the winter and having a new roof added on next spring. I plan on having
the kitchen roof highered to the same height as the rest of the house. Figure that would give the roof a better slant so the snow would slide off better. Then, I will start praying that the Town doesn`t raise my taxes a lot higher. Have to check and see if i need a permit to raise the roof.
Too late in the season to do it now as it`s already cold enough that the furnace keeps running. With the price of fuel oil, I hope what i have lasts a long time. Then if I raise the roof up to meet the roof on the rest of the house, I will lose the window in that end of the upstairs bedroom- so would need to move the window out into the end of the addition to allow light to come in. Hope it doesn`t make the bedroom on that end be so dark it would need lights burning even in the daytime. Seems whenever you change one thing you end up with another puzzle to solve. I don`t have to decide right now as can`t do anything till winter is over and warmer weather is back agin. So have a few months to figure out what I want to do.

This morning started out with my wishing I could just lay there for a while longer. But, who would care for Sassy if I didn`t get a move on.
So, I dragged out of bed, fed Sassy, then decided to fix some breakfast-- a lazy day feeling with still another , another, another rainy day. I`m beginning to wonder if there is any other kind. So, just fixed a bowl of cornflakes with a sliced bananna added and a small glass of apple juice. Doc says my potassium is low, so hoping banannas ups it. Potassium low, cholesteral high, and sugar count high. Couldn`t take any of the statins as they made my legs so weak I was hanging onto the walls to walk every morning. So, he said there were two other kinds of meds, but that one tiny pill would give me too many problems. The other one was a huge pill and I would need to take 6 of those every day. So, 6 was the magic #, just hope they work to lower my high cholesteral. Been on them for a week so far. Then he said to cut down on sweets. Told him I wasn`t much of a sweet eater, so it must be the fruits he wanted me to add into my diet. All natural fruit sugar must be the new culprit- banannas, pears, necturines, strawberries, blueberries, apples, - but only eat one or two in a day- if that much.
Rain, Rain go away, come again another day. Has rained for past 4 days so far and expected to continue up till Sunday. Haven`t reached Son yet to have kitchen roof checked. Had the tiny leak the first day when the wind was blowing and it was pouring hard. But never seems to drip with the lighter rains. So. Might be blowing in somewhere. Will need to check for that. Maybe if it doesn`t rain on Sunday, I just might get the leak fixed--if we can figure out where it is coming in.

Then off to check my e-mails. One granddaughter is a High School teacher in Virginia. Got a message from her saying that she uses some of the puzzles I send her as extra credit for the students who figure them out. Now I wish I still had those puzzles one of the Friends in the Senior site used to post. Problem is the site owner has swept them all off the site. Once had some of them written down while was working them out, but no idea where they are today, or if might have tossed them after solving them.
All this rain reminded me why I stopped enjoying swimming like I used to when was young. I lived where there was just a large forest between our home and the canal. We grew up swimming across that canal. There was one stone near the top of the bank on the other side that was flat. Funny how they built that canal wall using lots of stones and there was only one flat enough for us to stand on and dive off. Had so much fun swimming across that canal, climbing up to that flat rock ( about a foot from the top of the high wall) , then diving off and swimming back to our side of the canal. Family owned the wooded ares that ended at the canal. They had built two short stone walls on our side to allow a stream to flow thru. The two sections were about 5 feet apart. We used to run along the first section and jump over the opening and land on the second section. I remember the first time one of my younger sisters decided to copy us and she was a speck short going over the opening. One of the other kids grabbed her hand. That kept her from falling, but she did skin one leg a bit. Mother told us we should have been watching her better. We had already told her she was too small and not to jump it. But, she was always one to do whatever she was told she couldn`t do -trying to proove she could do anything we could.
Well, all this swimming fun came to an end a few years later due to a visit to the country where an Aunt and Uncle had a farm. My 2 yr younger brother had spent the week there and Mom and Dad were driving out to bring him home. They took the rest of us kids with them. That night my cousins calf never followed the cows back to the barn. So my Uncle and my Dad went looking for it and My 4 yr older Bro, my 2 yr younger Bro, my cousin and I all went looking with them. Dad and my Uncle picked up some long small limbs to guide the calf the right direction. Cousin kept repeating " Don`t you dare hit my calf"- over and over. After hearing it for a good 15 minutes, my father had enough. So, to get rid of my cousin, he told all of us kids to head back to the farmhouse and him and Uncle Sanford would find the calf themself. Well we all left except for our cousin who refused to leave and the Uncle let him stay. On our way across the snow covered field, with the youngest Bro leading, then came me, then my older bro behind me as we trudged thru the snow. My Uncle shouted " you kids stay away from that old well. I meant to put new boards over it, as the old boards are in bad shape. Then the youngest Bro yelled back " Don`t worry uncle Sanford, we are a long way from the well". Magic words!! They were the last I heard as I felt the ground giving out under me. The old pipe was still left going from the boards down into the deep water in the well. The large piston pump had been removed for the winter. As I was falling, I saw that pipe and started shimming up it as it fell. Water was over my head as I climb up the pipe. I managed to get the tips of one hand onto the wells edge, but try as I did, couldn`t seem to swing the other hand up and was feeling my finger tips starting to slip. Just at that moment my father was there grabbing that one hand and pulling me up. When I was standing on ground, I looked down to see my older taller bro standing on his tiptoes, mouth shut tight under the water and stretching up as far as he could and the water was right under the edge of his nose. They hurried us up and across the road to the farmhouse. Scarry, freezing- a night neither of us will ever forget. They got some of my cousins clothes for me to wear, I must have looked funny with the pant legs rolled way up and the shirt sleaves also rolled way up. You see, my cousin was also 4 yrs older and lots bigger than I was. But, Oh, my poor bro. That pipe I was shimming up struck him in the nose and broke it. The nearest Dr was almost an hours dive from there. Dad and Mom took off with him and the rest of us kids stayed at the Aunt and Uncles home. I was still shivering and shaking hours laterwhen the parents came back after us to take us home. Boy! Was that water ever cold!! All thru it the younger bro who said we were a long ways from the well was safely on ground and I could hear him screaming to our dad as we went into the well. Actually never was sure if the pipe broke my brothers nose, or if the broken plank might have come up and hit him just before he fell in. Thank God neither of us was seriously hurt. But, it did leave me with a fear of the water- never got over that water being over my head. Thank God my Dad was close by when it happened or the end might have been different.
Then over 30 years later Hubby and I took the kids to a lake for a Picnic with the step daughter and her husband and a friend of our Daughter along. I was in the water hanging onto a step of the ladder that goes up to the dock from the water. Couple of kids were on top talking to me. Suddenly our youngest son came running out onto the dock, never stopped when he reached the kids and off he went under water. He was about 3 at the time. I forgot my fear of the water and all my old diving skills came back as I dived under the water, found our son and brought him back to shore. Funny what you can do when you have too. I didn`t have any time to think, just knew my son was in danger and I had to go after him. Took us a couple hours getting him to even put his toes back into the water. The life guard got a football that had the cover removed and kept tossing it back and forth to my son, tossing it a bit further each time till the son was in the waters edge to catch it. Then he tossed it out where the water was about 2 feet deep and told him he could keep the football to take home if he got it out of the water. Today that son is a marvelous swimmer, thanks to that young lad who was the life guard. Maybe if it had been summer when I went down the well, I might have kept swimming in the canal, but it was winter and months passed before I could go swimming again and by then the fear was too deeply seated in my mind. I tried a few times in my daughters pool, but the fear comes back as soon as water starts going over my head. Guess at my age I will never get past that feeling.

After hearing about a friend hurting his finger while removing floorboards, I got thinking about when I had my right hand operated on for ruptured tendons and my left arm frozen at the shoulder so I couldn`t move it from my side. Only the lower part of the arm moved up and down, but not outward away from my side.
Ruptured tendon happened from using tools so much. I not only helped around the house doing repairs, and taught the Cub Scouts for 15 years including how to safely use tools- both hand and electric, but I also worked in my husbands Bicycle Shop. There were times when you needed to hold a wrench in each hand, turning them in opposite directions to remove the wheel. This was the worst on the palms of my hands .
Well, I came home from the hospital with right hand wrapped like a boxing glove and went to therapy at the Hospital where they brought in those big heavy hot packs and just dropped it over my shoulder. I can still remember how heavy it weighed and how much pain it caused. But the heat was necessary to help prepare the broken loose shoulder for the exercises they put me thru. I was told that the shoulder had left jagged edges jutting in many places where the arm went into the shoulder socket which also had bones jutting out all around it. It was like when a board breaks with some places jutting out on one board and leaving the missing holes in the other half where the jutted bones once belonged. I needed to keep working the arm up and down till the jutted pieces were worn off-- like sanding the board till it was smooth again. Once my hand incision part was healed they also started exercises on it to get it to open again, They would work on the right hand, then right into doing the left shoulder. After a few days, I was sent home and told what exercises to do. I had a hole put over the bedroom doorway for a section of rope to go thru. At each end of the rope was a short section of a dowel. I needed to hold onto one dowel- letting the rope go thru my right hand between the 2 and 3rd finger so I could hold tighter onto it. Could only use the fingers- not touch the palm . I had to hold the other dowel in the left hand. Then I had to try pulling the left arm upwards by pulling the rope over the doorway with the hand that was operated on. Something I would never wish to go thru again. Took weeks of hard work to finally get the arm to go upward, but there just was noway to pull it to go backward so I lost part of the movement where you can normally reach behind your back. My left hand cannot reach as far backward or even up over the shoulder like it used to. Some days I felt like stopping as the pain was unbearable, but then I knew I couldn`t stop if I wanted a right hand that opened and closed correctly or a left arm that was useable again.
The Doc who operated told me to go back home and work with some more tools and then come back and see him in an other year. He said that op is usually done on carpenters and mechanics. My Dad had one hand operated on from repairing cars. Only his hand didn`t turn out as well as my right hand did. They didn`t have theraphy back then. Then years later I had the left hand operated on, only the other Doc had died from a heart attack on a hunting trip a couple years before.
Have you ever used a knife to separate two pieces of meat that had been in the freezer? I used to use a table knife. But this day my husband had left a steakknife on the counter. I picked it up and prepared to separate two frozen pork chops. Have arthritis in my hands so hard to hold small things tightly. The steakknife turned around in my right hand, slipped and off it went into one side of the pinky and out the other side. I might have done even more damage when Ipulled that steakknife back out of my finger. Yelled in to my Hubby that he needed to run me to the Hosp.. He came out, I was holding the finger under cold water and using pressure to try to stop the bleeding. Hubby looked at it and said it`s not that bad, all you need to do is put a tight bandage around it. He didn`t know I had already pushed the flesh back inside as it came out with the knife.
Well, I turned my hand over so he could see the other side of the finger-- He said "Get your Coat and lets get going". Got to the Hosp and was left sitting there for about 3 hours with my hand wrapped in a large bath towel to soak up the blood and keeping pressure on it. There was this little girl that kept talking to us and I couldn`t let her see how bad it looked. I was watching them taking others ahead of me. Finally the little girls dad told her to come back and sit with them and leave those nice folks alone. As soon as she left, I unwrapped the hand and the minute the nurse looked up to call the next name. I held the hand up for her to see. Boy, that got her attention. She jumped up and came running out of her office and told me to come with her. When the emergency room Doc started to look at it, i told him I didn`t need to waste his time as i needed a surgeon. he said- Sounds like you know what you did. Told him yes- can`t move it, so cut the tendons- can`t feel it, so cut both nerves, and it`s been bleeding badly, so cut the blood vessels. He took one peak and left to find a Surgeon. Well, two operations later and all my hand was closing up, only could open the pointer finger. Doc said If I didn`t have the little finger removed i was gouing to loose my whole hand. Told him I had to thing about it and left his office. Got home and called a specialist from a neighboring city that my oldest brother knew. After wearing metal braces with screw down section that forced the fingers open a little each week , I got all my fingers back working except that the little finger will always be at about a 45 degree angle. But I still have the finger thanks to finding a good Doctor. Wish I had him at the first op, but there was no time to hunt around , so had to use whoever was handy that night. Had the ruptured tendon also repaired during the second finger op as they were cutting the hand open anyways to try to lengthen the tendon hoping the finger might open further. Today i have a left hand that pushes everything out of your hand when I close it very tightly as that extended tendon pops up in the palm of my hand. But, as long as i can still accomplish things, I am still better off than many.

Another rainy day. but did stop early. First I was going to feed the dog, but am still adding drops into her ears. Found only one way to do the drops, either hold her head tight between my knees so she can`t move while I do it, but getting tired of fighting her that hard. So a couple days ago I decided not to feed her till she let me do the drops. As soon as she saw the food dish, she headed onto the porch till she saw the drop tube, and off she went back into her coop. So, into the house I went, food, drops and all. It was 1 pm before she gave in. After three days of this, you`d think she`d get it thru her head , she wasn`t eating till the drops were in. After the ear infection, now Vet says she has an allergy-- so more drops to stop her itching her ears and buy a special god food with lamb and rice. What will she have next.
Yesterday I noticed that the minutes on my cell phone will be running out next Tuesday. Since I am attending a Wedding rehersal party on Friday and a Wedding on Saturday, figured I better go today while the rain has stopped. Says heavy rain for tomorrow and Thurs, Friday and Sat. So, today was the best day to head off to Cumberland farm for more minutes. Sassy, my dog watched me drive off , so maybe thats why she let me put in the drops when I got back home. Might have feared I`d leave again and she wouldn`t get her food.
Got home, , couldn`t stand looking at that streaky rained on window, so headed out with the long handled window washer and the cleaner. Cleaned the window, decided to use the hose to rinse it off better. Dropped the hose, water hit side of house and sprayed back at me. In the 50`s today, so a bit too chilly to get wet outside. Well, finally got the window finished.
Then wanted to check the pepper plants under the plastic cover I had put like a tarp over it. I use the earth boxes, so it doesn`t need extra water and thats why I placed the plastic over top of the plants. You probably might already know what happened next. Yes, I tipped the plstic to run off water from top of plastic and some ran backwards towards my legs and feet, as if I wasn`t already wet enough.
Then started to print off some e-mails with patterns etc. on them. Thats when my comp told me the black ink was getting low.Well, I started printing and hoped the ink lasted till I got done. printed off over 10 pages and it`s still printing. Wonder how much more I can print without adding the new ink? Well, then I got out the punch to punch the 3 notebook holes into the papers for the notebook.That old punch decided to fll apart and I was only about 2/3 rds done. Still fighting it to put the top section back on. Figured I needed to get away from it for a while-- it was starting to irritate me.
Wish the youngest son would show up as he fixed it once in the past.
Well, it`s almost 6:30 and I haven`t even decided what to fix for my supper. Seems like since I`ve been alone, I eat at any old time.
Guess i go see what looks good. Still have a piece of apple pie in the frig that my D gave me to bring home after eating supper at her house. She had a birthday supper for her son who turned 24 yesterday. So, got to see his 2 sons- my great grand sons. Well, stomach says feed me, so i`m off.

Here it is, the first day of another new week. Raining again, so can`t accomplish anything outside. But since I wanted to start putting Halloween decorations in the windows, I did run outside long enough to wash a couple windows. Then I hooked up the longer hose and rinsed off the outside windows. I have one window that ended up a bit streaky so will redo it after the rain stops. Will that be today, tomorrow, or when-- only God knows the answer to that.
After doing a load of washing and then running the dish washer, I sat for a while, felt chilly, so decided it was time to remove the door screen and put in the storm windows. One screen slides inside the storm door, but I found i still had to remove it to reach the storm. For some reason the storm had fallen further inside the door than it should have. I was able to pry the edge of it up using a screwdriver. First couple times I dropped it back inside. But eventually I did get it raised, washed and Halloween decorations taped onto the glass. I have decided to leave the screen out until after Halloween to make it easier to remove the decorations.
I remember how hard it was for Walt and I together to put the storm glass in to the back door. Now, here I am fighting to get it in alone. I swear that door opening either gets smaller every year or the glass sections grows larger. There is always this one corner that refuses to slide in. Today I used a short wide screwdriver under the edges of both the side and bottom corner until I was able to slide it in place. Each time I worry that I will break the glass before it slides in. So far, so good. If I remember when spring comes and I remove the glass, think I`ll do a speck of shimming off that overtight corner. Then I wouldn`t need to fight so hard in future years.
Oh, sounds like the dishwasher has shut off, but the dryer is still running. Why do we say that the dryer is running, the frig/ freezer is running , the temperature is climbing or falling, and doesn`t it sound stupid to say the fire is burning. What else can a fire do, can it still be a fire if it`s not burning?
Guess it`s time to stop playing here on the comp as the dish washer won`t empty itself and the Dryer won`t remove the clothes, fold them up or put them away. Ever wonder if sometime in the future every house will have robots to do all this work? If that happened, would people get even more obese from having more time to just lay around? Time to get busy, things won`t get done by themself.
Oh, just one more thing-- did you ever wish your watering hose was just a few feet longer? I needed about 2 feet more to reach the farthest window. I found that my extra washer hose from the old washer would screw onto the end of the hose and it did reach that window. Smile, there`s a good days work still waiting to be done.

Here it is another dismal looking day. At least the rain has stopped for a little while, but looks like it may start again. Where is that sun? I know it`s up there someplace or it would be dark as night time still.
Still have pepper plants that are loaded with small and medium size peppers and hoping the plants live till the peppers are bigger.
Wonder what today will bring? Do you ever get up in the morning with that question on your mind?
Still putting the drops in my dogs ears, but now am getting smarter. Yesterday, every time she saw the tube in my hand she headed off the porch and into her dog coop to hide. So, I carried out her food dish along with the tube. Every time she ran off the porch, I brought both the food dish and the drops back into the house. After doing this for a couple hours she finally realized she wasn`t eating till after she let me put the drops into her ears.
Well, this morning started like yesterday morning, with one exception-- I only carried it out twice before she stayed and let me put the drops into both ears. I was afraid I might have this hard time every day till the drops were finished. But, guess she has finally realized who is the Boss, me or her. Tomorrow should be much easier now that she knows I am serious.
Dr put her on a special diet as he said she is alergic to something and it might be the protein in her food. So, now she eats a diet of lamb and rice dog food-- the one for idle dogs so she won`t keep gaining weight. She is 9 years old and weighs 56 pounds. The most un-idle part 0f her is her mouth. She barks at every strange -both wild and neighbors cat or squirrel that comes near our property, plus whenever a stranger goes down our road. A good watchdog. She is a Border Collie. think I might have mentioned that before in other posts. She has a red rash on her skin and since she was treated for alergies back in Jan., vet figures it isn`t a seasonal allergy and might be her food. Could be the lean I started buying last winter when tjhe vet said she was getting way too heavy.
As I said, she is a good watch dog. One time the youngest son showed up riding on the back of a friends motorcycle and when he came to the door Sassy ( my dog) wouldn`t let him come into my home. He had on the helmet, black jacket and sneakers and she didn`t recognize him- being his friends helmet and coat I suppose she smelled the owners odor instead of my sons. Son used to wear work boots back then also. What realy got me was that his friend was a stranger and as soon as I opened the door, she allowed this stranger to enter, but not my son. But I would still trust my life to her protection. May she live as long as I do. She`s my only companion living here with me since I lost my Husband after over 50 years. She has become my reason for getting up in the morning as I know I need to get up to feed her early.
Won`t be long before she will start wanting to come in the house at nights. So far, she prefers the cool air outside. She sheds year around. Every time she walks thru the house, out comes either the broom or the vaccuum cleaner to pick up the hair she sheds. Met another woman who owns a border Collie at the Suttens Animal Food place and she says she is constantly sweeping the same way. Thats the first person i have meet with a border Collie, so was relieved to know other such dogs shed all year long. Oh Well, Sassy is worth keeping even with the extra work she causes.
Just noticed that I lost a day as listed yesterdays post with the wrong Oct date. Thats ok. Better days are comming, I just don`t know when?

What a day. Rained since last night and no stopping in sight.
Such a chilly rainy day, not the kind I`m very fond of. Seems like I know every joint still has feelings. Oh!Well! at least I know I haven`t lost any of them. They are still around and having a time telling me off. Mother nature sure never seems to favor people with arthritis, does she. And the weather man says it will continue to rain all next week.
And to make matters even worse, I have a leak in my kitchen roof again. My sons just finished the roof on the rest of the house. When we closed up the grocery store we removed the front section and added it to the house.All was well for many years. We added it back around 1972 and all went well till a few years ago. At that time we replaced the shingles. Then last year my youngest son added tin going under the house sheeting boards and under the tiles to stop a leak where the roof connects to the rest of the house. That cured that leak. Last winter another son added some tar where a nail hole seemed to be leaking. Well, now it`s found another place to torture me with. I was hoping to get thru this winter before any more problems . Then next summer I intended to have the roof removed and a new roof put on that would connect higher with the origional house roof. I figure thats the best way to solve the problems. Walt used to tell me to just remove the kitchen addition and there would be no more leaks to worry about. HaaHaa. Can`t do that, and of course Walt never realy wanted it removed. Have to call my youngest son who does roofing, but know he can`t repair it till it stops raining and if the weather man is right, that won`t be before next weekend.
I can remember the day we added the kitchen. We had a smaller kitchen back then. First we started a bike Shop and did the repairs in the cellar. Then we built the large double garage size building for the bike shop. After about 5 years, Hubby decided he wanted a grocery store, so we changed the bike shop into a Grocery store only we needed more room, so we added an addition to the front of the Shop. This lasted about 7 or 8 years and it became hard for me to raise kids and run the store. People started knocking on my back door as early as 6:30. Seemed they got here no more than Walt left for His Job at the Mill. Ever try to wait on people in a store and still be in the House getting kids ready for school? Some days it seemed like I should be three people, especially after the baby arrived. When the little one got big enough to stand in his crib. he scared the life out of me. He was asleep when I rushed out to wait on a customer who came before 9 am when the store was supposed to open. When I hurried back inside Ronnie was leaning over the crib bars and I ran and caught him just as he started to fall. Thats when I said enough.
So, Walt closed the store and since the family was getting bigger we decided we could use a larger kitchen. I was still running the Cub Scout Pack at the time I did that for 15 years and ran it alone for most of those years. But, thats another story, so back to the house. I was in the middle of a meeting with 14 kids in 4 different books-- Wolf, Bear. Lion and Webelows when Walt started tearing off the walls from the Store addition. Then he removed the end wall of the house where he intended to add the addition. So, When my Den Chief showed up for the meeting, his Father ended up staying and the three of them started nailing on the addition to the house. Didn`t accomplish much that meeting with all the pounding going on.
Then we built a porch off the new kitchen. A few years later we closed in the porch adding 2 windows and a door. A couple years later we wanted still more room in the kitchen so we added the closed in porch to the kitchen addition. Thats when the problems started. The new roof over what used to be the porch wasn`t sloped enough so some snow stayed on top every winter. A few years ago it started leaking where the two kitchen sections roofs come together . Now its over further in the roof. Or it could be blowing in where the roof edges overlap on the outside. Hard to tell as it could be leaking anywhere and running along the flat roof under the peaked roof and then coming in. My computer sits on that end of the kitchen, so I am forever having to pull it out away from that area. It never leaks with normal rains, only when the rain continues all day with hard downpours. Guess the taring didn`t cure the problem. Too late in the season to replace the roof this year, but will need to do something to stop the leaks till next summer. It`s such a tiny leak with just a steady droplet falling in that one spot. Sounds like a faucet dripping. Sure hope they are wrong and the rain stops long enough to dry out and repair it without waiting all week.
Need to call my roofer and see what he can do for me. So, since I have Dial up, I need to close and get off the net to call him.
Wish me luck, I just might need it.

Wed, Oct. 5th, 05-4:37pm
Just thinking about all the things we stop giving to those we love because it wasn`t good for them. Like for instance my Uncle Nate who died from Lung cancer. My Dad even took him off to Chicago, Ill. because they had a better cancer Hosp there yrs ago, but they gave the same result-- only a few months to live. I was just a kid at the time and I remember many times when I would stand beside his bed trying to think up things to say that might bring a smile to his face. My Mother passed away 10 yrs ago, but I remember many things she told me. One thing was that she thought it was wrong not to let my Uncle ( my Fathers bro) have the cigars that he enjoyed so much. She said that since it was too late now, why not let him enjoy his last days doing whatever made him happy.
When I think of this, I feel that we often try to protect others for our self more than for them. So, smoking his cigars might have caused him to have a few less days left to spend with us, but were they realy thinking some miracle might happen and he might get well if he didn`t smoke anymore? Or did they simply feel others wouldn`t consider them good Family members if they let him continue enjoying his cigars during those final days.
Then I got thinking of Walt saying one day that he wished he had a beer. He wasn`t a big drinker -- seldom except maybe at a Wedding or Our Anniversary or new years. But I remembered the Dr telling us that he could have no alcohol with the pills he was on. So, I told him he needed to decide which he wanted most- the drink, or the pills. I told him he would need to be off his pills for at least three days for them to be out of his system enough to prevent a reaction. Guess he decided he needed the pills much more than the beer as he never stopped the pills or ever again mentioned beer. If I had known he had only a short time left, I might have gone and got him that beer. But I knew he had only 19% use of his lungs for over 3 years, and guess I was living in a dream world hoping that 19% would just go on forever. I did Nursing work in the Hosp ( before Marriage) so I knew I was playing with fire and time could end at any time. But, I guess you keep pushing anything unpleasant off to the back of your mind when it`s something you don`t wish to face. After, I called his lung Dr to ask about his last check-up which was just 4 days earlier. I remembered the Dr telling him at his last apt that he was doing a speck better. Where was my head that day. You can`t work in a Hosp and not know that most get a little better at the end. Thats when I probably should have gotten him that beer. Such fake hope we all draw from that.
Well the Dr said to me. If you are wondering if there was anything more you could have done, I can tell you- nothing more , for if there had been more I would have already done it. Then I remembered the time that Walt said they can replace lungs, so why not mine. I could only tell him he needed to ask his dr that question. Whether he ever did or not, I will never know as he never mentioned it again.
Then there was a couple of my mothers sisters. One went into a coma and my Mother asked me if I thought people in a coma could hear what was being said around them. I told her yes. Then she said that their other family members should not have talked about this Aunt as if she were already gone. Then I almost wished I hadn`t told her yes as it was upsetting her even more. Another of Mother`s sister with cancer also drifted off into a coma just before my husband and I arrived that morning. I kept talking to her and told her to hang on as her daughter was coming soon. I watched her start breathing so hard that after about 10 minutes I could take it no longer. So, I told her that it was ok, that Thelma ( my cousin) would understand and not want her to fight so hard. Then she relaxed her hard breathing and I knew it wouldn`t be more than a few hours. So, I do believe she heard me. As for the first Aunt who had been in a coma for almost two days when this happened. I went down every morning to be with her till the others got home from work to get there. This one morning, while I was talking to her, I told her that I would give anything to see one of her beautiful smiles again. Suddenly tears started rolling down her cheeks. That hit me so that I held her hand and told her " Thats ok Aunt Mary, God and I can both see you smiling on the inside. She relaxed and the tears stopped.
Then there was another time when one of Walt`s nephews was in a car accident and was left in a coma. The Dr said he wouldn`t make it. I told his Mother we were not giving up yet. That we needed to just keep talking to him with hopes he might hear us. After spending a few days in a coma, he suddenly opened his eyes and just layed there staring at us.I could tell he didn`t know where he was or who we were. So, I just told his Mother to keep talking to him. Then the Dr said he had a mind left of a 2 yr old and would never get any better. I still refused to believe it. I had his Mom bring in a deck of cards. She asked what I wanted them for, told her to teach him his numbers, which we did. Then we started with teaching him letters. Then even the Dr was surprised with how fast he was advancing. I figured we just had to get his mind remembering what he had learned in the past. He was discharged and I continued every day for three more weeks going to their home to help his mother teach him. Well, about a yr later he had his old job back- repairing cars. As soon as he started everything came back about cars. But to this day, he has never remembered anything that happened at the hosp. One day he told me Thank you. I asked him for what. He said his Mom told him how I was at the hosp all day every day, first just talking to him while he was in the coma, and then how I helped teach him. Told him I was just glad it helped.
There was another time while I was working at the hosp years ago. There was this patient who was one wonderful , very intelligent lady who was a teacher in a state college. She was our Patient till she got worse and needed a Private Nurse. She had been a Patient for months and I sorta got attached to her. So, I used to come on duty a few minutes early just to stop and speak to her. She would always call my name when she saw me coming from the elevator. This one day, she didn`t call me, so I decided to go in and check on her. When the private nurse saw me. she motioned me out and she told me " she won`t know you, she went into a coma last night shortly after you left at 11pm and she didn`t even know her family. I asked if it would be ok with her if I just popped in and spoke to her anyways, and she agreed. I no more took her hand and asked her how she was doing today when she suddenly said "Dorothy, is that you". Boy did her nurse come running to her bed. I shook my head no to let her know she hadn`t come out of the coma. The Nurse said she was going to tell her family, but I asked her please don`t tell them. Told her it would be heartbreaking for them to hear their Mother called someone elses name when she never spoke to them. She understood and said she was glad I told her no. So, Noone will ever convince me that people can`t hear whats being said around them when they are in a coma.
Wonder what times others have had that prooves what I believe and how many others believe as I do.