SNOW Again

SNOW, are you getting tired of that word? I sure am! We got a skiff of snow last night AGAIN. My poor pear blossoms are covered in snow this morning and since the low last night was 19, they will probably be gone as soon as the sun hits them, unless the snow insulated them. At least we don't have the wind this morning. John said one of the guys at work had recorded gusts of 80 mph! I believe it, it was screaming here. The wind tore the tarp cover from our parking shed yesterday and stuff is blown all over the yard. John is out gathering it all up. We need bungies on everything that's outside to anchor it to the ground. At least the house and garage are still standing, it could have been much worse!

This afternoon we went to Show Low so John could pick up his "flipper" It's like a false tooth that he will wear to keep the spacing the same until they put in the implant. It was spitting snow at us for a while, not much and snowed off and on most of the afternoon. It was a cold and wintery day. While we were there we checked several stores looking for a desk. We want one to go in the barn this summer. Neither one of us like the modern looking ones and we ended up picking up this old, old, teacher looking desk that we liked and the best part is it was only $40! The top is trashed and so we are going to replace it with new wood, but the rest will look good after some cleanup and a bit of repair work.

WIND!

Wow, the wind was horrible all night long! I could hear things blowing around outside and gave up trying to sleep in our bedroom, it's on the windward side of the house and it was so noisy! This morning found our chairs all over the back yard, I was afraid the cushions would be missing, but I found them and almost got blown away rescuing them! I watched the canopy on the Allis parking tear loose from one side and went down to try and weight it down so it would stop blowing around, but soon gave up after it whipped me in the face a few times. The wind is just too strong!

I wonder how much of our stuff is in New Mexico now? The wind advisory goes through today and tonight. The photo shows the dirt in the air this morning.

Wind Warnings

The weather service has issued high wind warnings for our area for today and tonight. So far as of 9:30 am, I am only seeing a slight breeze. It would be nice if they have it all wrong, but it's that time of year. My pear blossoms are looking good this morning, I hope they aren't all blown away by tomorrow!

Well, they weren't wrong, by late afternoon the wind arrived and I sure wish it would go away!

My Pear Tree is in Bloom!

I've been watching the blossoms on my pear tree develop and today when I looked out the window, some of them were blooming! So pretty, I hope the weather man is wrong about the snow predicted for Wednesday and Thursday!

Went to the doc today, my blood pressure is way high now, so the new meds aren't controlling it, bummer! He gave me some that are twice the dosage to try and another one to go with. I hate taking pills!

Toad Stools

The little yellow cylinders in my carrots turned into toad stools today! I wonder if they were in the dirt or the seeds? None of the other seeds planted have had any in them.

Picnic at the Falls

What a fun day! We met Andy, Susan, Michael, Josh and Michael's girlfriend at the Midway station, and went on a picnic to the 20' falls. The kids had a blast playing in the water. They started out hopping across the stream on rocks and ended up wading in the freezing water. Jessie said it made her feet hurt it was so cold. Michael was like a big horn sheep, hopping from rock to rock, he has amazing balance and even carried Jessie across the stream!

A Visit From Jessie

Jessie had fun helping Pa in the shop today. He taught her how to use the drill press safely and she drilled holes in a piece of wood and turned it into a cute sculpture by adding bits and pieces of junk to it.

John finished the camper and loaded it on the pickup to see if it works, it did, then he set it up outside the shed so we could load pictures in it. We got all his pictures loaded in, with lots of good help from Jessie!

Traveling

We spent the day away from home mostly traveling. John had an appointment with the dentist, then we went shopping, Wal Mart is a MESS, they are remodeling and stuff is all over the place and so hard to find!

Then we took pizza to Andy's and John helped him weld a gate on a fence. We brought Jessie home with us and stopped at Carleen's so Jessie could meet Ani. It was love at first sight and the two had a great time playing.

It was cold and windy today and we saw a few white flakes flying around.

Snow?

I looked out the window this morning and what did I see? It wasn't popcorn popping on the apricot tree, it was snow! The rain that was falling when I went to bed turned to snow sometime during the night.

The thermometer said it was 30 degrees this morning, luckily, my peach blossoms look okay, not sure about the lilacs, some of them look pretty dead. It snowed lightly on and off all morning and has been cloudy all day. Andy said they got 2 inches of snow last night and it was snowing again this afternoon when John talked to him.

The Little Colorado is Running High!

On his way home from work this morning, John noticed the Little Colorado was running pretty high, so he took me back out to see. Wow, is it ever high! After he went to bed, I went back and walked to the bridge, parts of the trail were muddy where the river overflowed its banks in the last few days, so I didn't see the water at its highest level and it was still impressive!

It's washed away the banks at spots and some of the signs are in danger of being washed away if it gets any higher!

The spot where Jessie and I had our picnic a short time ago is now under water! We were sitting by the little tree!

By the time I got to the bridge, the wind was blowing pretty hard and it was cold, so I turned around and went back to the car and home!

We had a good rainstorm this afternoon, our grass is getting pretty high from all the moisture we've been getting! It was still raining this evening when I went to bed.

It Lives!

It's alive! The horses that live across the street from us have eaten almost all the bark off an old, old elm tree in the pasture. I thought for sure it wouldn't come out this year, but leaves are showing up. Maybe elms can live without bark, there is about a 6 foot high strip all around the tree that is missing the bark.

April Showers

We've had cloudy skies the last few days and today we're getting some rain.

My tomato plants have grown up past the light and are poking up through the shelf above! Guess I'm going to have to move them up a shelf where there is more room to grow!

My carrots have some weird yellow things growing in the soil, wonder what they are?

Quiet Sunday

Sunrise this morning was a cool one, loved the clouds!

Classic Cars and a Funeral

Today was the Chrome in the Dome, I almost forgot about it, glad I remembered in time! There were more cars this year than the last time I went, I heard there were over 100 vehicles! I saw some cool cars and several that I'd love to have!

My favorite was there, this cool old car that's been there every year.

This afternoon I attended the funeral of Carla Nelson. It was a nice funeral, I enjoyed learning about Carla's life, she must have been a fun wife, mother and grandmother! I didn't know her well, but she was always nice to me, and when John and I went up to ask if we could look around where Grandma grew up, she took us on a tour of the property and showed us everything and in the case of the barn, showed us where it used to be back when Grandma would have milked the cow in it. She also gave me some of the old things that were in the yard that were there when Grandma was living there. Later when Delbert Nelson took us on a tour of Nelson family sites and we showed up at her house, she invited us in and told us the history of the house.

Cloudy Day

Cloudy today. I wonder if a storm is brewing?

The first bud on my tulip is blooming, isn't it beautiful!

Heavy Moving

Andy came over today and helped John move the entertainment center to the attic. They winched it up a ladder, it was kind of scary a few times, but with John and I holding ropes to stabilize it and keep it from tipping sideways, it made it safely to the top.

They also got the sofa, table and chairs carried down from the upper level.

Mel and Ruth stopped by after his doc appointment and we all went out to lunch together, yumm!

Annual Visit to the Falls

We thought we'd missed seeing the falls this year, but while visiting with Mel this morning, John found out the falls are running right now! I thought the roads would be impassable, but they were dry and it was easy to get there. There were some shocking changes to the area since we were last there, there has been a fire and loggers have cut down a lot of the trees. But the area right around the falls is the same and water was roaring over them once again.

The Mystery is Solved

We found out today what's been going on at the site of the old Maverick station. The gas pumps were leaking gas out for who knows how many years, polluting the ground underneath the station. All the drilling done in the last couple years has been to put something down at the level of the pollution to try and neutralize it. It didn't work, and so they had to tear down the building and they have now put up a high fence around the site and are digging up and taking out the polluted soil and putting something in the ground that's supposed to fix it, then they will have to put new soil in or fix the old and put it back. We were wondering at the store next door who was going to have to pay for all this and we all agreed we, the taxpayers, will probably be the ones footing the bill! We could smell gas in the air today as they were digging, I'd be worried about a spark igniting the gas in the soil and blowing everyone up if I were working there! I wonder what's in the white containers? We saw them unloading them the other day, maybe the chemicals or whatever they are putting in the ground?

Think the Wind is Going to Blow Today?

That's what people ask when the wind is howling and we're getting blown away, and today is getting close to that. The flags are flying pretty straight, so I figure we've officially got wind. It's just a breeze until it gets so strong you have to lean into the wind to get around and that describes today for sure. I haven't seen anyone blown against a fence yet, so I guess it's just a light wind.

What Happened Here?

Wow, you miss a few days of going to town and a building disappears! John noticed the other night going to work that they were tearing down the Maverick building. He forgot to tell me about it until he called me late last night. This morning on the way home he said the building is all gone and just a few big dumpsters are left. I wonder why they tore it down, it was a nice building! Ever since they closed it, we have noticed that several times a year, guys have come and drilled holes in the ground all around the building, and we've wondered why. If the soil is polluted, looks like once would be enough to tell them that and where is new pollution going to come from? I wonder if that had something to do with the building being removed?

Spring is Bursting Out!

My forsythia bush is blooming! And my lilac bush has flower buds on it, hopefully it won't freeze them before they can bloom!

Tip Toe Through The Tulips

I braved the wind and wandered around out in the yard for a bit today checking out plants, looking for signs of spring. I spotted this tulip plant that I was going to move last year after it bloomed. LOL, it's getting ready to bloom in the same spot again this year!

Finishing Up

John finished putting the tile down and I kept the cuttings and papers cleaned up and got the bath stuff we got yesterday put away. We got the tile all done and even put a row on the upper level where they show outside the door. I think we're going to stop working on the attic and concentrate on finishing up the inventory camper and start getting ready for the barn. It's not that long until move in day! The attic is in shape that someone can stay in it now, the furniture just needs to be moved back in. We also put up the blinds we got, we couldn't put curtains because of the stove pipe being so close to the window. They are too long, so I need to alter them.


Here's a picture of one of my tulip flowers. I think it looks pretty cool even now when the flower is almost done for.

John starts night shifts tonight, so he went to bed after lunch. I've been researching thyroid on the net today and discovered that many of the symptoms I'm having are hypothyroidism symptoms. Also searched to find out what CKD is, Chronic Kidney Disease, and found my levels indicate I'm in the moderate kidney damage category. Wow, I'm falling apart!

Showlow Trip

How many guys does it take to change a transformer? I don't know, but it looks like it's a lot!

We returned to the dentist today to get the stitches in John's gum taken out. The nurse that took out the stitches said he is healing fast and looking good. They told him it would take about a year to heal and get all the work done for the implant. I thought they'd just pull the tooth and stick the implant in the same day. While we were in Show Low we picked up some carpet runner for the stairs to the upper attic and curtains for the window plus a few other things.

As we drove past this ranch, I thought of the birth we witnessed last spring and wondered if one of these guys was "our" Norman.

I got the results of my blood work today. Cholesterol still bad, I was hoping the exercise would help lower it. Bummer. My thyroid levels are also high, guess I'll find out the damages when I see the doc.

It was cold today, the light breeze felt like it was coming from Alaska!

Computer Woes, Stairs and a Heavenly Salad

I spent the day copying computer files to an external and working on trying to get my computer working again. Norton told me I had some file system errors and to reboot and it would fix them. After several reboots and no fix, I found where I could tell it to fix it, but it said it couldn't do that, but I could choose to have it fix on boot. Finally it worked. I downloaded Disk Keeper to see if a defrag would help, we'll see. I've been neglecting my blog, too busy with the computer so I'm trying to catch it up now.

John worked on the stairs today and got them almost all finished, they just need a board to cover the hole between steps. We're going to get log rails to finish them off and put carpet on them.

Strawberries are starting to show up on sale and we got a couple boxes at Wal Mart. I made our favorite salad for lunch today, yumm! Thanks to Mom for the recipe! She served it at a family dinner last summer and we were immediately hooked!

Here's the recipe in case you're interested in trying it out.

Green leaf lettuce

Celery

Grated Carrots

Craisins

Strawberries

Slivered Almonds

Kraft Light Raspberry Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

I get the salad packages with the lettuce and carrots and other veggies already in it, makes it so easy! I sometimes add raisins to it too. I tried a different brand of dressing and the salad wasn't as good, so I always use the Kraft. The addition of chicken on top makes it into a meal by itself.

Just Another Manic Monday

John worked on the attic stairs today and I worked on copying files on the computer. I'm burning to DVD as well as an external. Then I'll do some checking to see if I can find out why the computer is acting up.

Here's my little mini greenhouse. I've got tomatoes up and have planted bell peppers and some of the carrot seeds I harvested from my garden last fall. The lights and heat tape for the seeds help keep the inside pretty toasty.

Easter and Happy Birthday Josh

Breezy day. It hasn't been a good Easter for picnics this year! Carleen and I talked about missing our Easter picnics at the ranch and wanting to go there again, but it will have to be a May or June picnic!

John installed the doors on the bathroom closet and I cleaned up the little piles of tools and supplies and swept and mopped the floor. I got an empty external and started copying my files again. I was afraid to risk losing more folders on the one I've been using.

We went to Andy's for Josh's birthday party. Can't believe he's already 13 years old! Had a good visit with them, then went to St. Johns to visit Mom and get a trip report. She had a good time on her trip and we enjoyed seeing her photos. Then we went to Julie and Carl's house for their party. Had a good visit with Wayne and Chuck while John visited with his Mom and sisters.

Compostable Chip Bag?

John and I worked in the attic this morning, he painted a few spots that got missed and I cleaned.

My computer is acting up and I've been trying to get files copied off to an external drive. I'm having a hard time, first the computer didn't want to boot up, then I got almost all the stuff copied to the external and left a minute and when I came back the computer was booting! Yikes, when it got booted up it said it had shut down due to a fatal error or something like that and when I looked on the external for the folders I'd spent all day copying, they weren't there! Some things I copied and deleted from the computer, so I'm hoping they aren't among the missing, the folder that disappeared was my digital kits, which I hadn't been deleting. It's getting so frustrating!

The last time I bought Sun Chips I noticed the ad on the package that said it is 100% compostable so I decided to try it for myself and see. I put the bag out today, and put a brick on top of it to keep it in place, I'll see how long it takes for it to disappear!

Floor Day

Andy and Jessie came over today. Jessie has a day off school and so she got to come with Andy. We got most of the flooring down! Yea! We ended up with one box of the wrong color tiles, luckily, they had made the glue on the back a different color, so Andy noticed it before any of the tiles got put on the floor. We need to take that box back and exchange it and then we can finish up around the edges. Jessie kept the guys supplied with tiles and picked up the paper backings and I swept the floor in front of them and swept the papers into a pile for Jessie. The floor is looking good! Can't wait to finish up and put the furniture back in the room.

We got snow again last night! Will spring never get here??

April Fools Day

Mother Nature fooled us today, we had a snowstorm this morning! I had to run up to the docs office for a blood test at 7 and it was coming down pretty hard.

We left for Show Low about 10:30 and went through a few flurries, not sure if it was just blowing snow or if it was still coming down.

After a short shopping trip to return the stair risers that were the wrong size and get another set of shutters for our bathroom closet doors and a stop at WalMart for a few groceries, we went to the dentist's office. It took over two hours for the dentist to get John's tooth out! The tooth part was rotted and came out easy, but the roots were embedded deep and didn't want to come out. The dentist got worn out and had to take a break and John said he was hurting and ready for one too. Finally, the last bits were out and we headed for home. He's pretty sore from all the yanking and pulling and the Novocaine is starting to wear off.

Andy and Susan were at WalMart shopping for Josh's birthday and invited us over to his party on Sunday. He's going to be 13, wow, where has the time gone!