Sunday, September 28, 2008

 

Freezer Defroster Day/ Thinking of Mother

Freezer Defroster Day/ Thinking of Mother

Today I was thinking of my Mother. After spending yesterday re-arranging all the furniture in the front room ( or living room) my back and hands started telling me off. So, today I knew I needed to rest a bit. But I am one who never learned how to just sit and do nothing, so, freezer here I come was my next thought. It has been a few months since I last defrosted my freezer. To do that, I needed to be able to cram, yes cram everything from my 4 foot tall deep freezer into my narrower deep freezer in my side by side freezer/frig combo.. I finally ended up deciding what I would like for breakfast and dinner today, plus tomorrows meals because I couldn`t fit everything in. Leaving that much out into my refrigerator, I managed to -with some fancy packing- get the rest into the frig freezer. I will need to be very careful when i open that freezer or a lot of things might come pouring out onto the floor.

Now, this is where thoughts of my mother came up. Years ago no one had frost free refrigerators . So, every so often we had to turn them off and wait many many hours for them to defrost and it consisted of a lot of manual messy work. Years ago I saw this electric freezer defroster and I bought it for my Mother. Raising kids didn`t leave much spare change, so I didn`t spend money buying myself the defroster. My mother used this defroster for many years. Then came the year my father bought my mother a new refrigerator with a frost free freezer on the top over the refrigerator part. So, my mother never had a use for the defroster anymore and she gave it back to me to use. I lost my wonderful mom in 1995 and my wonderful dad in 1975. So, I have owned the defroster over 35 years now and it still works. Years ago we gave our huge upright freezer to a daughter because our family had gotten so small we no longer needed the large freezer. Then we bought a smaller 4 foot tall freezer which had plenty of room for us. But this freezer is not frost free, so I again started using the defroster to melt the ice and frost in this freezer. I never use the defroster without thinking it was one of the most useful gifts we ever gave my mother. I started working on the freezer a little after 5AM this morning and it was almost 8:30 before I was finished. Now, the freezer is washed and back on-- just waiting for it to run a while before re-stocking it with all that crammed food in the other freezer. One thing I always do is sort the meats and vegetables onto separate shelfs, being sure to check all dates so the older packages are left in front to be used first. Then on the third shelf I put all the quick meals and the garden vegetables that I froze. Under the third shelf is where I keep all the cold packs like the large and the smaller igloo cold packs so they are always cold and ready if I need them. Now that I don`t need them for all day family picnics, I still find them useful for keeping frozen meat and other frozen packages if I should get to the larger place about 35 -40 miles from my home. The smaller igloo chest and smaller igloo cold pack gets more use as it keeps the flavored water and the soda bottles cold all day at the family picnics and any short trips where we might be gone most of the day.

A few years ago I saw some racks with three high sides for use in the freezer and I bought two of them ( wish i had bought three). Find it much easier to see what is where when searching the freezer as I can pull the shelf out without having to bend way down to look. I have this problem that many seniors have-- don`t get down to the floor unless you have something to hang onto to get back up, especially when I can`t yell " Walt, I need help, I can`t get up". Today I usually keep a kitchen chair handy to lean on, of if near the sink, I reach up, grab the top of the closed in sink and use my arms to pull myself up, or I sometimes have to crawl across the floor till I get to something I can use to get up with. When outside working I keep my short handled pitch fork handy. It has a handle to hang on on the top of the handle, and when the prongs are shoved far into the hard ground, it works like a nice cane. I do my best not to get down that low, but if you trip and fall, you better have something handy or you will find yourself having to crawl along the ground all the way back to the porch steps and that is no fun.
Here is one time when I had wished Walt hadn`t waited in the car while i went into the drug store for a watch battery. Should have only taken me a few min utes. But I had to bend down to read the numbers on the batteries. I was down almost sitting on my heals and no matter how hard i kept trying, i just couldn`t get back up. I was sure feeling like a fool and even though i already foung the battery i wanted, I kept pretending i was still searching the batteries every time someone walked down that isle. I knew i couldn`t grab onto the shelfs as they might unhook lettinng everything on the shelf dump onto the floor. After what seemed like hours ( probably about 15 -20 minutes) the isle was empty and no one was in sight. Then i got on all fours ( hands and feet) and was able to push myself up enough to straighten my legs more and while pushing up with one hand I managed to get the other hand up near my knee and started pushing with that hand till I was able to also get my other hand up pushing against my other leg. Finally i was back standing again. By this time I was feeling exhausted.
When I finally reached the parking lot and started to get into the car, I remember Walt asking me what took me so long. He said he was about ready to come in after me. I told him, I wish he had and then told him what had happened. Those batteries used to be high up near the register. But they had been moved to the other side of the store hanging on the bottom rack near the floor. One thing that happened after that ordeal was that Walt never waited in the car again without asking me if I wanted him to go in with me. A couple times he even came in looking for me if I was in there very long. Usually I was just standing in a long line at the register when he came in.

If anyone ever asked me what was my most embarrassing moment this one would have qualified. But another event would have tied with it in first place. We were in a grocery store shortly before my twins were born. I told Walt I was feeling light headed and felt I should wait in the car while he did the shopping. He insisted I go in with him. As we hit the second isle, I again told him I should go back to the car. His answer was " You`ll be alright" . His famous words. My reply was " I can`t even see you, now will you believe me". That was all I remembered till I came to with some strange man carrying me through the double set of door out of the store. I got so scarred I almost passed out again till I saw Walt walking behind us. Seems Walt got so scarred he kept trying to pick me up, but he
couldn`t pick me up and another shopper hopped in to help him. This stranger no more sat me in our car when two of the girls who worked in the store came running out with a cold glass of water for me. I can still remember one of the girls apologizing, saying they had tried to remove the label from the glass but it wouldn`t come off. I was so out of it that I never thought to get the name of the man or the girls names. I always wished I had been able to better thank them. I remember thinking that man must have been real strong to carry me. I must have weighed about 135 at the time. Today, that doesn`t sound so heavy, but to someone who normally weighed 98 when I married and never got over 104 before normally, 135 sounded awful. Hope I never again embarrass myself like this.

Sitting here resting, I just remembered that I forgot to fill an ice cube tray so I would be sure when the freezer was cold enough to replace the food in it. I never have a need for ice cubes as my refrigerator is one of those with the light, cold water, full sized ice cubes or crushed ice all in the freezer door. But since I do not own a freezer temperature gauge, I find making ice cubes the next best way of testing for coldness. I just filled an ice cube tray. Now to wait and see how long it takes for the water to freeze. Of course there is always the mopping up in front of the freezer from the melting ice even though I use a cat plastic litter box sitting in the bottom of the freezer to catch most of the thawed ice that keeps falling. Bet you never would have thought of buying a plastic littler box for this use. it helps an awful lot. I also spread out a large 30 gallon plastic garbage bag on the floor in front of the freezer to catch some of the water. Right now, both the litter box and the plastic bag are drying on the side porch. The defroster has cooled off and put away till I need it again in the future.
Thank you Mom for remembering who gave you that handy defroster and for giving it to me when you no longer needed it. I am a lucky daughter to have had such great parents. They both taught me so much.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

 

My new clothesline.




My new clothesline-

Spent a couple days wondering how I was going to put up a new clothes line through the pulley that is connected near the top of an old telephone pole about 75 + feet from my back porch.

Years ago the people who owned the two lots next to my home had a telephone pole on their property where the electric co. connected the electricity from the poles on our street to their house ( actually just a square shack with a flat roof and a dirt floor- where they raised 5 children). Today the Town wouldn`t allow anyone to live that way, they would have condemned the shack. One day they had a fire which burnt down that old shack and we could even hear the bullets keep going off inside from the hot fire. Her husband at that time was a big hunter. Four of the 5 children had already married and left home, so they just had the youngest with them then. They bought a small trailer to live in for a short time. After the husband died, the wife got the old trailer moved and decided to sell the property and Walt and I bought it. That is how the tall pole was already on the property.

My clothesline is a long one. It crosses the 60 feet of the two lots, plus another almost 20 feet to the pulley on my back porch. So, I had to buy 160 feet of nylon twisted rope to reach from my porch , across the next 2 lots, to the top of the telephone pole and back to the pulley hooked on my back porch. Having a pulley line allows me to hang things without going off my porch. I ended up with only about 3 feet extra. I almost bought just 150 which wouldn`t have been enough. I never realized how much the price of clothes line had gone up. But it wouldn`t have cost much if I had a normal length to cover.

To get back to my problem- how do I get the new line through the high pole pulley? It was too dangerous having a son standing on the top rung ( where no one should ever stand) of an extension ladder that was just balancing onto a round pole. I still remember how scared I was when I watched my youngest son up there straightening the pulpy and running the other rope through the pulley while my husband was on the ground below. I remember running out to help hold that wiggling ladder. I never wanted to see that happening again.
I finally decided to try binding the ends of the old rotten rope with the end of the new rope- overlapping then for about 2 inches. I used my picture wire to bind the two ropes tight together. Then I started silently praying that God would help me hold both rope ends while I slowly walked towards the telephone pole. Luck was with me. I managed to hold both the old rope and the new rope tight enough to keep the rope from falling off the high pulley. The wire held strong and the old rope didn`t break again where it was so worn, so I was able to keep walking back towards the house - slowly letter the new rope loosen while pulling the old rope the opposite direction till the original end of the new rope was in one hand and near the other end of the new rope was in my other hand. If I thought the hard work was over, I had another think coming. I still had to hold both ends of the new rope tight to keep it on the pulley and at the same time I needed to string the rope through the pulley on the porch. I wised up and tied the bottom rope end onto a porch post, then I wound more picture wire around the end of the frayed rope end and pushed the end of this wire up and around the pulley and with the wire, I was able to get the new rope through the pulley. Then there is the metal contraption that is used when you need to tighten up the clothes line. You need to pull the end forward enough to open the other end where the ball bearings are in order to make the opening large enough to push the other rope end through it. Again I added another piece of wire around this rope end and pushed the wire through and with the wire was able to pull the rope through the ball bearing end of the tightener. This done , all that was left was to untie the other rope end and tie it to the other end of the rope tightener. Was wishing I had at least three hands while doing all this, but tying the ends to the porch post was like having a third hand. Again, I surprised myself that I now have a good working clothesline and my worst fears never happened. I never let either end of the ropes get loose enough to fall off the high pulley. Thanks you God , was my first thought once I was finished.
If I ever need to replace the rope again, I hope I remember how I did it this time.
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My under kitchen work to save heat this winter.

Did very little today. Just finished 2 loads of washing when one of my twins showed up and gave me a ride to lows where we picked up hot air pipe wrapping. Then my son crawled under the Kitchen and kitchen addition and wrapped all my heating pipes that went under there. He also used up all the extra insulations I still had from when I did my attic and the boys did my shop. He insulated all under the kitchen addition floor for me. A lot of work and took a few hours to do. All I did to help was keep pushing more insulation in to him. I might not need to use the electric heater in the addition this year. The original house has a full cellar, but just a 3 foot to 4 foot crawl space under the added on kitchen and the later added on kitchen addition. I have wanted this all done for years, but would never ask any of my kids to do it for me and was afraid I would`t be able to work the stapler over my head, or wrap the long pipes real tight with the bad shoulder. Thanks to my son Walt, it might cost me less to heat this winter and with the high price of fuel oil and electricity so high, ever little bit helps.

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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

 

Must be Sassy`s Day!!

Tuesday, September 16th, 2008

Could call today "Dog Day". I decided to give Sassy a bath. First I brushed off as much loose hair as I could. She is a Border Collie and she sheds bad year around. You can fill a grocery bag and you will still need to clean up her hair if she just walks through the house.

Well, to get back to bathing her. I don`t have one of the long hose spray adapters to fit the faucet or the shower head. One son told me if i got the shower head extender spray, he would hook it up for me. I should do that. So I cut the top section off a gallon plastic bottle- leaving the handle intact on it. This becomes the water holder for wetting her hair before soaping her up and for rinsing off the soap after. She stays in the tub as long as I keep one hand under her head or i stay in front of her. Once her bath is over I use3 large old towels for trying to wipe her a little dry. Then comes the fun, as she starts shaking and everything in the bathroom soon needs cleaning. She hates the hair dryer. I think it is actually the noise from the dryer that she dislikes. Once I get her dry enough so she can`t continue shaking water everywhere, she will go into the laundry room to lay down. I scrubbed her collar and hung it out on the clothesline to dry in the sun.
Yes, the sun did shine, no rain, but a bit cooler. Only in the 60`s F today. That is why I made her stay inside till she was dry.
Now the real work begins. Scrubbing the tub mat and the tub, then scouring the shower walls, then the cupboards and everything else sitting near the floor. Once that is done, it is time to mop the whole floor. Boy, her shaking doesn`t leave much dry. The ceiling and top half of the walls are all that doesn`t need washing off after giving her a bath.
I also end up looking like I had stood under the shower, except for the back of my clothes stay dry. Sure could use some longer arms to make cleaning the other side of the tub and the wall behind the tub. LOL. Sure do not need to exercise today as she has already given me a work out.

Then, no sense cleaning her unless I also clean her dog house. After sweeping it out, I got the old sponge mop and tried to clean up the floor and once that was done, i also got my industrial air spray and sprayed out any left over odor. Next, I had to remove the old dirty piece of heavy rug that covers the doghouse doorway, cut a new rug piece and nailed it on so she stays warmer on the cooler nights, plus the rain and wind can`t blow into her doghouse.
I still left the board opened over the window opening as it isn`t quite cold enough to shut all fresh air out. Will need to shut it up soon to keep her warmer this winter.

Once all this was done, I had to give in and sit and rest for a while. This evening, I did manage to dig up the four Agapanthus flower plants from the flower beds along the front of the house. I planted 4, but dug up more as they had already started producing new plants. The directions said to separate them in the spring, so I decided to leave them intact with their mother plant till next spring. This way it needs less plant dishes. Didn`t know where I might find enough room for more large planters, so for now I just planted all of then into one larger container. Still a few more plants in the flower box on the side porch to re-pot and bring in, plus a lot of Aloe plants still on the back porch to take care of. There must now be at least 30 -40 plants in those three larger Aloe plant pots. No way I can separate and re-pot that many. So, most will stay in the three planters. Have already re-planted a few larger ones that are ready to bring in when I find a place for them. Might be another frost Friday night, so can`t wait much longer. I have a heavy plastic cover at nights over the 2 earth boxes holding the yellow string beans and the pepper plants with hopes the beans manage to get larger, and the small peppers might get larger before the plants die.

Sassy kept my side door working all day like it was on a swivel. In and out, in and out, but finally about 10:30 she decided she wanted to stay in tonight and is now asleep in the laundry room. This will be her first night in the house in over a week. Maybe she couldn`t stand her own dog odor and so she stayed out in the fresh air. LOL. I should post the newest picture of my new great granddaughter. Her expression would fit well here.
I fell so tired, think I will save this and post it tomorrow.

Monday, September 15, 2008

 

Brilliant Weblog Award image



This is for all who were listed in my post on Sept 15 th for receiving the Brillant weblog Award. Hope it posts ok this time.

 

written last Friday-Sept 12, 08

Friday, September 12, 2008
What a busy day. Woke up at 12:30. still not back asleep at 4:30 AM , so I gave up and got up and started working in the laundry room. First I removed the large air conditioner from the window onto the table where it stays all winter. Getting a little chilly at nights now - had a freeze last night. Then I washed the windows, plus the 2 storms and screen- both inside and out. Saw a neighbor leaving for work at 5am while I was standing outside on my ladder washing the outside of the windows. Glad my daughter ot her husband couldn`t see me on the other end of the house, or they would be telling me how they feel about me being outside at that hour, and up on the ladder. It was light out, so i could see very well. Then I made a new casing for the window and hung the new curtain.
Then I had a bad draft from the back door and the screen last winter. So, I cut some small slats for the doors and added some weatherstripping onto the thin slats. Should be lots warmer in there this winter. Then when that was done I removed the screen and put in the storm glass in the storm door. Washed the screen and put it away. Then I mopped the laundry room floor and did a load of washing. The clothes are in the dryer now. As soon as the dryer is finished I will be done for today.
Only got 1 1/2 hours sleep last night. Hope all this work helps me get more sleep tonight.
Will need to bring in all the plants off the side and back porch soon so needed to get the laundry room ready as most of them either sit on the table in front of that window, or hang over the table in front of the window. That window faces the south where the sun shines in the best in the winter. Knew I couldn`t bring them in until I had the work finished in that room. I knew I couldn`t put it off any longer or I might lose all my flowering plants. Glad that much is finally done.
Glad I started early as it started raining this evening.

Next I should start getting the dogs house ready for winter. I need to sweep it out, close up the window opening and remove the dirty rug that hangs in the doorway and cut and hang a new rug piece. I find the heavy rug closes the opening and helps keep the cold out. Two summers ago I cut a small window section high in one side of her dog house to let fresh air circulate to make it cooler in the summer. I added a board to cover the opening in winter with one nail on one side that allows the board to swing open, and using a screw on the other side to hold it shut tight for winter. So, all I have to do is remove the screw to open the window board, and re-add the screw to hold it shut in winter. I also add straw in the winter to keep her warm. One winter she stayed out all winter, last year she stayed inside all winter. For the past couple weeks she has insisted on staying in her coop all night. She is her own boss when it comes to telling me if she wants to come inside or prefers staying outside. I just hope she will start staying in nights when it gets colder. IO worry to much about her when she stays out in the cold as she is about 12 1/2 years old now and starting to look older and slowing down some.

Well, guess I better get off the comp as the buzzer is going off on the dryer and I want to get things taken care of so I can just sit and rest till I go to bed.

Update- Did get everything taken care of before heading off to bed. But awoke at 4:AM and never got back to sleep, so got up and transplanted more flowering plants. So, most of the outdoor plants are already inside. Warmed up again so can`t close up the dog`s window area yet..

 

Brilliant weblog Premio 2008 AWARD

I am having problems posting the picture of the Brilliante Weblog Premio 2008 award.
Tried adding it to my photos with no luck and copy/paste doesn`t work. I have decided to do the awaed post just the same. maybe later i can find a way to show the award image. Sorry everyone. You can see the award by going to the following blog.

http://newgranny.blogspot.com/

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written by Hillgrandmom on her blog when she awarded me this award.
Dot at Dot's Thoughts. She is one energetic senior! She maintains her blog as well as gardens, does carpentry, cooks and copes with life's difficulties cheerfully.

I received this award from a wonderful friend that many of you know:
Hillgrandmom-blog


http://newgranny.blogspot.com/

if you have never read her blog, go, check it out, I am sure you will find it interesting. Thank you Hillgrandmom for the brilliant blog award and the nice words you said about me. I don`t feel very brilliant, but it was nice reading it.
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Now for the award and rules for the award giving and the names of some I am sending it to. There are many others whose blogs i enjoy reading- some have already received the award from others, some haven`t been writing in their blogs recently, and some special ones are no longer with us, So, here are a few others who I don`t think have received this award before:
-- Award and rules:


(Award can be seen at the above blog and hopefully you will have better luck copying it to your blog if you pas on the award)

The purpose of the prize is to promote as many blogs as possible in the blogosphere. The rules are:
1. Put the logo on your blog;

2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you;

3. Nominate 7 (minimum 5) other blogs;

4. Add links to them on your blog;

5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blogs.
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Here are some blogs that I hope you will enjoy reading:

1. Sally - shows such great love for her family, I love the cute sayings from her little granddaughter Hunter. Sally is going through a lot of sad times right now. Maybe more visiters will help bring smiles.
ttp://www.whispering-hope.blogspot.com/

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2. Under the Ocean

Cecilia has such interesting subjects with good definitions of her topics. Very educated sounding for someone her age. Also a young lady with a loving family life.

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3. it's a 'burg thing

Itisi knows how to find humor even when things get rough. Good reading.
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4. Nan's Small Piece Of The World

Nan- A proud Mom who has shared her thoughts, and her love for her baby and that great baby`s Dad with us . Together they make each other so happy and know how to work for what they want out of live. Nan handles hardships with hope and courage. A great Mom.
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5. Kat - who is now back posting on her blog, in case you used to read her blog in the past. To know which way her blog thoughts will be, just pop over to her blog and start reading.

http://myitcentre.blogspot.com

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6.
http://www.seftontaxis.wordpress.com/

Gaz- (Gary Ledwidge- liverpool, England)

Gary used to tell some great stories about his Taxi work. Now, he has started a new blog, so not sure yet what his topics will be.
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If your blog isn`t mentioned it is either because I have yet to see your blog, or someone already beat me to awarding you, or that I Might have lost the way back to your blog. Many have just stopped posting in their blogs, so I felt they wouldn`t see the award if I sent it to them. If you would like receiving this award, consider you received it and let me know when you post it on your blog. Thanks all for being such wonderful friends. Dot

Monday, September 08, 2008

 

For Hillgrandmom from Dot

Just a short note for Hillgrandmom- I am unable to enter your blog to see the award you gave me. Thank you for thinking of me. Do I need a special invite to open and read your blog?
Just wanted to let you know why I haven`t been to your blog. I have tried many times, but it will not allow me in.
Hugs, Dot
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If anyone reading this is able to read and post on her blog, please let her know why I haven`t been there to receive the award she told me about. Thanks loads, Dot

Sunday, September 07, 2008

 

9/6/08, Dreams

September 6, 2008

Sitting here listening to the TV, they talked about what your dreams might mean. They said that fear of falling or of water was usually due to something you saw on TV. I seem to differ with them. I never had a fear of falling or of water until after I fell down a well on an Uncles farm when I was young. Before this happened I used to swim across the Barge Canal, climb up the rocks on the other side, standing on one rock that was almost flat, we would dive off down into the water below. I never felt any fear while doing this and I had done it many times. But, after falling down the well, I never was able to dive under water, the fear of drowning would come back as soon as water started to cover my face. I still have that fear today. There was one time when my youngest son was about 3 yrs old when he ran out on the pier and jumped off into the deep water. I was hanging onto the side boards of the pier when it happened, and without time for thinking, I immediately let go of the boards and swam down under the water , found my son and swam back to shore with him. It took both the life guard and myself over an hour to talk him back into the low water near shore. The life guard had this football without the cover on it and he kept tossing it to my son who would toss it back to him. He kept tossing it a little further each time till my son was starting to go a little ways into the water to retrieve it. Finally he tossed it into the water where it was almost up to my little sons waist. Then he told me son if he got the ball out of the water he would let him keep the football and take it home with him. So, he got the ball and when he got older he became a great swimmer. He did do one stupid thing when swimming in the school pool. He did a flip backwards as he jumped off the diving board and he didn`t land out far enough and hit his head on the pool and cut his head open and required stitches. He had done this dive before, but according to the teacher, this time he was joking with another student and not concentrating on what he was doing. I was glad we were able to get him back in the water so he didn`t grow up with the fear like I did. There was no way for me to have gotten back into the water swimming as my accident happened in the winter with snow on the ground-- so no swimming again till the following summer and by then the fear and dreams had been happening for months. My relatives owned the property that extend all the way through the woods to the canal so we had our own private beach for swimming. Today that property is still in the family.

Another dream I had happened almost a year after we were married. I almost walked out and ended my marriage, but I had this dream. There was this woman who apparently was supposed to be my husbands mother. She had passed away when my husband was only 15 years old and he never owned a picture of her. So, I had no idea what she even looked like, but still I knew this woman to be his mother. She kept telling me not to give up, that things would get better. About the time I started having this dream I discovered I was going to have a baby. That only made me think even more about leaving. But this dream continued every night. It was often a little different, but the message from this woman remained the same- don`t give up, things will get better. This dream continued for the whole 9 months and once the baby was born I never had that dream again. About this time my husbands only sister, who had lived a long ways from us, moved about 20 miles from us and we went to visit her. While there, I asked her if she had any pictures of their mother. She only had the one picture taken shortly before their mother died. His sister had made the long trip by wagon so her mother could see her new grandchildren ( twins, a girl and a boy). Her mother`s picture was small, so his sister gave me a magnifier to see their mother`s face better. I felt like I was losing my stomach when I noticed it was the exact woman from my dreams. I will never be able to understand this, but it left me with the feeling that, even though we had never met, I just felt this closeness to her. I was left with the feeling that I would have loved his mother if I had ever been able to meet her in person. Also, I will always be grateful to her for talking me into staying those 9 months. I would never have had the over 50 years with the man of my dreams if it hadn`t been for her helping me through dreams.

Then there was this other dream. I awoke one morning about quarter to 3AM. I had been dreaming that my oldest brother was taken by ambulance to the hospital near where he lived in another state. From the dream I knew it was serious. I knew I couldn`t phone my mother at that time in the morning, but I was never able to go back to sleep. I ended up pacing the floor waiting for the time to hurry up and go by. Finally at 8:30, I knew my father would have left for work and my mother would have sent my youngest sister off to school. If I had called her earlier I was afraid I would upset her if she had heard nothing from New Jersey. I talked a few minutes and then I asked her what she had heard from Fred lately. Then she told me that my sister-in-law had called them to tell them Fred was taken to the Hospital early that morning. His appendix had burst while at home and he was very sick. That was when I told my mother about my scary dream and told her I awoke at quarter to 3. She then told me that they had picked up Fred shortly before 3AM. That not only shook me up, but also my mother- to think my dream was true and it happened the same time as I dreamed it happened.

Then we lost my youngest brother 15 years ago. That morning my mother phoned me to tell me his wife had called her and said the ambulance was there and they were taking him to the hospital and my mother asked me if I would meet another brother there so he wouldn`t be alone. I told my mother I would be there by the time he got there since he had further to drive than I did. I no more than hung up the phone when I got this feeling that there was no need to go to the Hospital because Ken had already passed away. I immediately phoned my mother back to tell her about my feeling. This wasn`t the first time I felt someone had died and we learned it was true, so my mother yelled out to my brother to wait. He was in the process of backing his car out of the driveway. Then I called my youngest brother`s home and learned that the ambulance was still in front of their house and they were still trying to revive my brother, but he was gone.

Every since these dreams, I have taken every dream more seriously. I remembered when the kids used to pick on me when ever the phone rang . They would ask me who it was before I answered it and the funny thing was I usually knew. I will never understand the meaning of dreams given by professionals, but I do usually know what mine stand for. I read once that dreams have something to do with something you either saw or talked about in the past few days before the dream happened. But, that never explained my dreams for me.
To this day, I hate it when I get these feelings that something is wrong with someone, because I know it is probably true. Some tell me it is a gift, but it isn`t the kind of gift to bring a smile, it is usually something to be dreaded.
Now, I am living with the fear of losing my pet dog, but this time it is because she is getting old and her black and white hair on her face is turning gray. So, at least this time it has nothing to do with dreams, it is something just looking at her shows. She is over 12 years old and I read on the net that a Border Collie usually has about a 14 year life span. I know sometimes they live longer than what is considered average and I am hoping so this time. She is what makes me get up in the morning. I can`t loaf in bed when my wonderful protector is waiting to be fed. I have always felt so safe here the past 6 years that I have lived alone. She will bark and wake me at the slightest sound outside. She has a different bark sound for a person than for an animal that might be around the house. Also her re-turn bark to a neighbors dogs barks- it isn`t shrill like when it is a person- even when they are just walking down the road in front of my home she lets me know. I have learned that Border Collies are very intelligent dogs. If I lost her, I wouldn`t just lose my wonderful loyal pet, but might also lose my strong feeling of security that she has given over the years.
I have one daughter that sometimes has these same strange to understand or explain feelings. it is not something I would have passed on on purpose because too many of the times it has to do with sadness. Sometimes it feels more like a curse than a blessing. They usually say there is an explanation for everything, but I have yet to understand it. Hasn`t happened lately and it is a relief to be feeling more confident and more at ease.

Monday, September 01, 2008

 

August 31st- My sister`s Birthday

Sent: Monday, September 01, 2008 1:37 PM
Subject: Sister Carol`s Birthday- August 31st, 08

First an update on the fire detector. No more beeping, so think I have corrected that. Then today the carbon monoxide detector (in the kitchen near my gas stove) started beeping and I replaced the battery in it, and finally had to plug it into another plug in and no more beeping so far. While I was at it yesterday I also replaced the batteries in the smoke detector in the dining room and the one in the cellar. Hope that cures all the beeping for a while, but there is also one more smoke detector upstairs ( near where the fireplace pipeing goes thru the attic and on through the roof) and another carbon monoxide one in the bathroom over the cellar furnace register- this is the closest register over the heating furnace. We could have died back in 1994 when we had carbon monoxide poisioning and Walt was so bad he went into a coma for days before we knew what was making us so terribly sick. We had thought we had the Flu. Thanks to God, he lived and we both got better, but I never took chances after that. We might have been wiser at the time , but I had just lost my younger brother and we were attending his Funeral and still trying not to get close to anyone. But, there is no odor to carbon monoxide and that is why they add an odor to the gas used for cooking kitchen stove gas. We never even smelled any smoke from the furnace becomming clogged up. We had no smoke detectors or carbon monoxide detectors at that time, but you can be sure i bought some as soon as i was well enough to drive to the stores. Have since replaced them with newer ones.

Now back to todays topic- What Happened on my younger sister`s birthday:


Yesterday started out like any nice day. I drove up to see my youngest sister as it was her birthday. We were expecting our oldest sister to be arriving about an hour after I got their. She lives about 6 hours drive from us and was coming out for our birthdays. When time kept going by and she hadn`t arrived we were beginning to wonder what was holding her up. She had called my sister about 2 hours before saying she would be their in about an hour. Finally she did call us back to tell us she was in a car accident, but wasn`t hurt and to meet her at our other sisters place. So, my youngest sister and I both headed off to our other sisters which was about a half hours drive from where we were then. My sister later told us she decided to have the people drop her off there as it was closer. The people wouldn`t even allow her to give them any money for the gas used in driving the 50-60 miles. No One was hurt, but her car was destroyed, neither door on the drivers side will open and the drivers side front wheel was bent, or maybe the axle or frame was bent causing the wheel to turn in wrong. Thanks goodness she wasn`t hurt and neither were the people in the other vehicle. I better explain who the helpful strangers were.
There was another car with 2 people and 2 of their grandkids in it who witnessed the accident. After they checked to be sure no one was hurt in either car, they offered to let my sister leave her vehicle on their property and they offered to bring my sister the about 60 miles further to our other sisters home. What a wonderful thing for someone to do for a stranger they had never seen before. Just goes to show there are still wonderful people who will go out of their way to help even a stranger. I got to meet them when they dropped my sister off and they were very nice people. I heard they own and run a Religious Book Store- looks like they are one who doesn`t just believe, they practice what they believe.
I felt sorry for my sister- there I was with my brand new car and here she was with no car. She was the one who was always driving the 6 hours to come out and see the rest of the family, so she did need her car to be able to see all of us. The rest of us all live within a half hours drive apart.
So, my sister`s Birthday was celebrated at my other younger sister and her husbands place with a chicken BBQ -outside cook out- with all the family present. Even our brother pushed his wheel chair over from across the road to join us for supper. Was nice having the family all together again, just sad why it happened. My older sister told us that she had intended on taking the youngest sister and I out for lunch to celebrate our birthdays. It was on my sister`s birthday and a few days before mine. The other younger sister told me she was sorry she didn`t have my Birthday card yet, but she hadn`t expected on seeing me early. She provided the chicken cook out meal which meant even more to me than a card.
They even made a cake and wrote both my sisters name and mine on it and sang Happy Birthday to us. Except for feeling sorry for our sister losing her car, the rest of the day was nice with one other exception. One of my nieces daughters called her mom to say her little dog had been hit by a car, but lucky to end up with just scraped up legs. At least we hope that is all. They might know more today as the dog owners live in another state. My sister said her Birthday was a jinx since our older sister was making the trip that day for her birthday. Of course I told her I don`t believe in jinxes.

I am still listening to the updates on the Hurricane Gustav. Always scarry and thankful we live up nearer the eastern coast -both inland and a lot further up north- where we might have lots of snow and lose power from bad storms, but still safer here than in the Gulf States, or even Florida and other coastal states and the awful powerful storms they often get. As a friend said to me earlier this afternoon, as much as she hates our cold winters with all the snow, she prefers living here to living in the fear in the gulf states with the damaging scarry storms they get. I wholeheartedly agree with her.
May God Bless and protect all who live in the Hurricane`s path. These storms cause so much destruction and lives are often lost. Such a sad time for everyone, especially those who live in it`s path and all their loved ones.

 

August 30th, 08, Never a Dull Moment

Subject: Never a Dull Moment.


August 30th, 2008
Never a dull moment-

Started for the mailbox to mail some bills this morning. As I started to walk down the front porch steps I noticed a spider had made a web that completely reached from one railing across the width of the steps and connecting to the railing on the other side of the steps. I broke down the web from one side (all three strings) and went to put the mail in my mail box in front of my house. I never bothered to kill the spider.
Big mistake! A couple hours later my mailman had picked up my out going mail and left me some new mail. So I decided to go get my mail. When I reached the front porch steps, there was that spider again and he had already spun his web from one railing to the other all over again. Persistent spider I must say. I again broke down the web strands so I could go down the steps. This darn spider kept swinging trying to reach the other side. I finally gave up and killed it. Killed a couple spiders in my bathroom this past week. Seems like the spiders always show up after we have had weeks of rain. Hadn`t seen a spider in my house all summer. I also broke a spider web off one of my plant dishes that sits on the new steps I had made by the side porch. Did this just two days ago. Glad we do not have dangerous spiders where I live.

Been a lot less crickets here so far this year. Only killed one in my house plus the one that I found dead on the laundry room floor where Sassy sleeps nights, so Sassy must have killed that one. Never do know how they get inside. Usually there are so many crickets that their noise bothers my ears, so am sure they must also bother Sassy`s ears since they are much more sensitive to high tones. If only those crickets would get tired of brushing their legs together which makes the shrill noise. Is a relief this year not having as many around to make that awful noise. I sure haven`t missed them.

Sassy has kept me busy the past two days. I had to replace the batteries in two of my fire detectors. One of them kept beeping with the new battery, so I tried another new battery with the same results. That beeping was driving Sassy crazy. First she went and hid in the tub behind the shower curtain and I had to pull her out and spent the next 20 minutes cleaning dog hair out of the tub and scouring the tub clean. My own fault for forgetting to shut the bathroom door. I knew better as she had hid there on other occasions when she heard thunder or the neighbors had set off firecrackers.
I thought I had finally fixed the fire detector and last evening it again started beeping. This time the bathroom door was shut, but I had forgotten to shut the bedroom door tight so she started to go in there. Glad I was heading for the laundry room to take the clothes out of the dryer. I caught her just in time and pulled her out and shut that door tight. She would have jumped over my bed and hid behind it like she did once before. Here is a dog that never used to act scared of anything, who suddenly is being scarred by any real loud bang noise. A few years ago I found a burnt fire cracker near her dog coop and I wonder if it might have hit her when she was outside that night.
She hasn`t stayed out side nights much this summer. It was so hot that she preferred being inside with the air conditioners running. Now, for the last three nights she has stayed outside in her coop. The nights have cooled down now so it is hotter in the house than outside at night. Still having warm days and when it is hot out, she still prefers being inside when the air conditioners are running. Tonight she can`t seem to make up her mind. She has already made two trips in and back out and right now she is outside in her coop.

I haven`t yet taken any pictures of my new car. But my oldest daughter took a few pictures the day she ran me down to pick it up. I heard she has already posted the pictures on one of the sites she belongs to. So, some other family members, plus some friends have probably already seen what my car looks like, plus when I was showing her the car she suddenly snapped a picture of me standing beside my new car. I haven`t seen what these pictures look like. Guess i will need to go into the site to see them. She is so excited over me getting the car. She told me she has been bragging about the car to everyone. Another daughter told her husband she wants her next car to be like mine. It makes me smile to see how excited my kids are because their mother finally bought a new car. My youngest son also liked the car. The rest still haven`t seen it yet.

Tomorrow is my youngest sister`s Birthday. I should have picked the string beans today, but by the time I had picked up two garbage bags over half filled of apples off the ground, I was feeling tired. Still loads more apples on the ground to clean up, plus an awful lot still on the tree. Have to take care of them all so there won`t be any left to rotten on the ground and cause more bad apples next year. Also still have the other porch floors to re-stain before winter. Glad the side porch floor is done as it needed it the worst. I used redwood stain color on the side porch and it now looks good.

Almost forgot about seeing the beautiful little Hummingbird just before I came in for the night. I was outside talking with my son-in-law and this beautiful green Hummingbird swooped down, hovering just over one of the flower in one of my daughters hanging baskets. Just as I was telling my son-in-law, away it flew over my head, over my shop/garage building (the two building are connected as we added the shop building to one outside wall of the garage) and on out of sight. Might have gone to the nectar bottle hanging near the tree by my back porch. I love seeing the many different types of birds that come to my feeders every year and think the green Humming birds are one of the prettiest.
Mother Nature is always showing us something beautiful if we are taking the time to look around. A day might seem so quiet and empty till we start looking around us. There is almost always something to see.

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