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!

Windy Day

The sun continues to move to the north in the eastern sky. Can't wait until it gets to its summer position!

The day dawned cloudy and by midday we were getting wind and I could see the dirt in the air.

Mom is flying home today, she leaves in about an hour. I hope she had a fun trip!

Windy Tuesday

It's been breezy out today, so I haven't ventured out much.

I got a dragonfly solar light in St. Johns Sunday and put it out to collect energy, when it didn't work I looked at the tag that came on it and I was supposed to turn it on! That made me wonder about the two lights I got last year that never worked, so I found them and inspected them closer and found the top twists off and there was a little piece of plastic keeping the battery from connecting! Took that out and covered the solar panel and they lit!

I've been playing with a bread recipe today. I wrote down the list of ingredients in the Oro Wheat Honey Wheat Berry Bread we like so well, looked online and started putting parts from different recipes together so it has most of the listed ingredients. It looks pretty and the slice I ate tasted good! Much better than the first loaf I made using a recipe I found online!

Lasagna Gardening

I borrowed Carleen's video on Lasagna Gardening yesterday and watched it this morning. Lots of good info on making a garden, I filled several pages in a notebook with drawings and notes from the video!

Meeting Ani

I got to meet Ani for the first time today. She's such a little sweetheart! She is about the size of the puppy Jessie and I saw on our picnic. I was afraid I was going to hurt her picking her up, she's so little. Here she is sitting already! Carleen said she learned that really fast. I had a good visit with Ani and her Mom today while John visited his family.

It was a beautiful day, warm, not much wind and felt like maybe spring is coming! Fruit trees are in bloom in SJ, I'll have to check here to see if we have anything blooming up here yet.

Snow!

I looked out this morning and it was snowing! It was cold and breezy all day, although the snow didn't last long and was soon melted.

Andy came over and the guys got a lot done today! They moved out all the stuff in the room, puttied the cracks in the floor, put up the light in the west end of the room and built the frame for the closet in the bathroom.

Jessie and I watched movies, made crafts and played. Here's a couple pictures of Jessie. She found gloves and a dust mask in the attic and decided to dress up like a doctor, she looked so cute in her shirt surgical hat!

And here's one of her just being Jessie.

Jessie went home today and it's so quiet here tonight, with just John and I.

Windy Day

Jessie and I were so glad we went on our picnic yesterday! It was a cold and windy day, way more windy than yesterday! We visited the library and checked out a craft book, then stopped and picked up a few more craft supplies, ate at McDonalds and went home and started creating. Jessie made the cutest purse and we made bears and had a good time.

Windy Picnic

Jessie and I went grocery shopping, then got lunch at McDonald's and took it out to the River Walk to eat our lunch and walk the trail. While we were eating a man with an adorable little dog stopped to visit. The dog was a cross between a Miniature Schnauzer and a Yorkie. It was about the same age as Carleen's Ani, so we figure they are about the same size. It was pretty windy and a bit cold, but we still enjoyed our walk and picnic. We counted about 7 other people that were walking the trail. I think some of them must have walked from the other end of the trail to our end and back.

Jessie throwing rocks into the river.

A beaver dam, I wonder if there is anyone living in it this year?

Flowers and More Progress

When Jessie and I went shopping the other day, I picked up these tulips. They are starting to open now and are so pretty! Jessie and I took tons of pictures of them today!

Andy came over and painted and cleaned up the logs on the ceiling. Looking good!

Bad Weather, Coloring Eggs, and Working on Studio Schumido

I ended up sleeping in the recliner last night, the neighbors dog woke me up about 1 am barking and every time I'd almost get back to sleep he'd start again. It was cloudy this morning and by 7:30 am we were getting some light hail. I checked the weather report and it said rain or snow today. Sure enough we got snow, Jessie and I went out shopping early to get eggs and dye and it was snowing pretty hard when we left. By the time we got home, it had let up and what we had was soon melted. Andy said there was about an inch at his house and an inch or two at the Midway on the way over here.

Jessie and I got our eggs colored . . .

and hunted for and hunted for. . .

Since the weather was bad, we had our picnic lunch in the house with eggs and sandwiches.

Andy got a lot done today, the walls have primer on them, he took out the old stairs and when John got home they got the last bit of finish particle board on the floor. Jessie helped out by putting the texture on a wall, it looks good! She discovered that you just can't keep the mud from getting all over, even on your nose!

Just Another Day

Warmer, but breezy today. Andy came over to work on "Studio Schmudio" today and brought Jessie with him. She's on spring break and is going to stay for a few days. Jessie and I got lunch at Sonic and we all ate outside, but it was a bit breezy and our stuff kept blowing away if we didn't hold it down! We girls watched movies while the guys worked and we helped them out a bit. This evening Jessie took the first shower in the new bath, she said it worked great and her Dad did a good job putting the shower in!

This Is Spring?

So, this is spring? It was only 12.6 this morning! We are still getting snow a lot and it's been cold! Not at all like spring.


This is the last day to upload layouts for the ADSR and I've still got several teams that haven't posted. I wonder how many will make it through! Susan and I made it, we've both posted our last challenge.

Sure seems like we've had a lot of deaths recently. George Proctor, husband of one of my classmates, Janice Hall, who was in school with me, Marie Hamblin, who used to be one of my visiting teaching ladies and Arlene.

First Day of Spring

Spring typically starts between the 19th thru 23rd of March, and tends to change on a yearly basis. The first official day of Spring is known as the Spring Equinox, or the Vernal Equinox. This is when the sun is directly above the equator, and this explains why it falls differently each year. Since the sun rises from the East and sets to the West, it fails to do this consistently, especially when leap year gets involved. My calendar says today is the Vernal Equinox, so spring starts today! I don't see it, but it's here!!

Here's my tomato plants, they're almost ready to transplant!


Mom and Carleen are off on an adventure today. Carleen is picking up her new little Ani Jo Hani and Mom is going to be flying to North Carolina to visit a friend. Hope she has smooth flying weather!

Back to Work

John exchanged days with a coworker, he worked John's night shifts and John is working his day shifts this weekend, so he had to go back to work today.

I actually made it to exercise this morning all by myself! I haven't been doing too well this past couple weeks, being sick really took a lot out of me and I haven't felt up to going. After exercise I ran up to Basha's and picked up an umbrella. Yea, they still had the color I wanted. I didn't get one when I first saw them because I figured I could get one cheaper in Show Low. Wrong! Most stores didn't have them yet and those that I found were expensive, $150 and up!

More cold weather today, it snowed a bit again, nothing stuck, but it was COLD! Poor Santana and Misty, looks like they are freezing!

Shopping and a Dentist Visit

John had an appointment to get a redo root canal on his tooth today so we went over early to do some shopping for the attic. We picked up the flooring and stuff to make doors on a closet for the water heater.

He ended up not getting a root canal, the tooth is so badly decayed that it needs to be removed, so this doc sent us to another one to do that. Doesn't anyone do it all anymore? We got an appointment for that in April, they'll pull out the tooth and put in an implant. This is the dentist's office, pretty fancy!


The weeping willows in Show Low are starting to get their spring color. I don't know why, but the willows over there get their color change earlier and more vividly than here.

St. Patrick's Day

John reminded me while we were exercising that today is St. Patrick's Day and I wasn't wearing green! He was nice enough not to pinch me, which was a good thing because he wasn't wearing green either!

Andy came over again today and the guys made lots of progress on the Studio Schumdio. (John's new name for it, LOL) They mostly finished up putting mud on the walls and next time they will start texturing. I can see the end in sight now!

It was WARM today!! Hurrah, maybe spring IS coming. We sat outside in the sun for a break again today and I was actually hot. I can see buds on the elm tree!

Progress Is Being Made!

Andy came over today and the guys worked on our attic room. They made great progress, the shower is installed now and the sink is hooked up. They turned on the water heater and we have hot water!! They had to clean out some construction debris that was in the pipes, but that was soon out and the water was flowing. With all the bath appliances in, the area with the unfinished walls was mostly cleaned out and we soon had everything else out and were ready to start putting on mud. Andy got quite a bit done, and the guys think that tomorrow they can get it ready for texture. It was kind of warm outside today in the sun, so we all sat out and had a break this afternoon. It felt good to be warmed by the sun.

Saying Goodbye

We got more snow last night. Just a heavy dusting here, Andy said they had about and inch and a half at his house. I'm so tired of the cold weather and dreary skies! I'm ready for spring!

I attended the funeral of a very sweet lady today, Arlene Ray. She passed away on Wednesday, March 10th after a 2 1/2 year battle with pancreatic cancer. In her talk Arlene's daughter told us that Arlene married the LOVE of her life, CB Ray, on Tuesday, March 9th. She said Arlene was a BEAUTIFUL bride & was truly "On Top of the World"!! I'm so glad her final day was such a happy one!

While I was at the funeral with Carleen and Mom, the guys were working on the Attic Studio. They got the shower walls installed and the sink drain in and water tested everything. We all went out for lunch together and saw this cute motorcycle. The driver was a woman in leathers, she reminded me of Amelia Erhart in looks and clothing! I imagine her traveling the world, living a life of adventure.

You Won't Believe What We Got More of Today!

Cold day again. We had a dusting of snow on the ground this morning, that hung around all day.

I've been seeing this cute commercial on TV lately, it's an ad for some car, can't remember which one, but the sock monkey reminded me of the toy ones that used to be around. I never had one, but I've always thought they were so cute!

Sick Day

I'm still not feeling very well and have spent most of the day sleeping. John called to check up on me and reminded me that I hadn't watched cartoons yet, part of Dr. Jessie's sick treatment! So I went and watched cartoons until I fell asleep.

Progress!

Andy came over again today to work on the attic room. He got a lot done, the toilet and sink are in, baseboard is glued on and he routed the thermostat for the heater. On top of all that, he cleaned up a bunch of the tools and stuff laying around. I helped him on the sink, he needed more hands than he had, so I held the sink drain while he worked on getting everything attached below.