Beau UPDATE!

 So.....

we took the little man to the vet.

He did a chiropractic thumper thing

all up and down his spine and hip joints.

The first time there was a tender spot

that caused Beau to jump and cry out.

The second time the same spot got

zero reaction. So the Dr was pleased

and thought it may have popped it back

into place or at least helped realign.

We put him on the floor and his walking

was still not great, but much improved.

He was still dragging his right hind leg

and kind of knuckling over (walking on 

the top instead of the bottom...)

But better than before.

Then he gave him a subcutaneous

(under the skin) shot of an antibiotic.

And then an intra muscular (in the muscle)

shot of an anti-inflammatory.

That one Hurt.

And Beau let him KNOW.

He was NOT happy to have that one 

jabbed in the middle of his back.

But we got it done.

He is home again and sleeping it off.

But he DID drink a bunch of water and

eat a little sausage treat.

And go outside to go to the bathroom.

First time in nearly 24 hours.

So that's good.

(AND made it up the 2 stairs on his own!)

Meanwhile, while we were gone,

we got several deliveries!!!

The new Santa suit arrived!

REALLY nice quality especially for $75!

(He is ringing the bells Mom sent!

Thank you Mom! They are awesome!)

The suit even came with glasses!

(He didn't wear them though...)

Also a new ceramic tree!

I have to give up my old one.

It was OLD.

Made by the mother of a kid that used

to hang out at the shop nearly 40 years ago.

It lost most of the lights and was

just really old.

So it was one of the things that didn't

make the cut.

I was SUPER happy to have a replacement!

Thank you Rozann!!!!

Also, I found this little nativity in my

tote full of Christmas stuff.

Where it came from?????

I have no idea.

The move was kind of a blur.

But its cute.

I usually put up my Native American

nativity, but decided this was was

pretty cute so we will use this one this year.

(If you sent it, thanks!!!)

Kyle got the door and roof on his little

pump house!

So now just need to wire up the pump

and get water RUNNING!

What a relief that will be!

Poor man.

Ok.

I was up until 2:30 last night with Beau.

I actually fell asleep TWICE while I

was teaching tonight.

(Realized I was teaching, but TOTALLY

the wrong stuff.... lol. 

Hope they didn't notice!)

So I'm heading to bed.

NITE!

Happy Thanksgiving

 We had a nice day yesterday.

The guys worked on Kyle's 

water shed.

It's just big enough for his pump

and a space heater.

It's looking good.

They had a whole herd of supervisors.

The cattle across the road were fascinated

by the entire process.

Rod headed home and we made

some Thanksgiving dinner.

Complete with our traditional

fruit salad!

(It's not a holiday dinner without it!)

Kyle came over and brought Beau with him.

He wasn't sure, but though maybe Beau

fell down the stairs or off the couch.

Or maybe they were just roughhousing 

too much.

Beau seemed a little sore...

But they all walked down to the pig barn

and back again.

As the evening wore on, Beau was getting

worse. Eventually he wasn't able to

move his back end.

He was originally walking, so there's

nothing broken, but I'm pretty sure

there's some swelling and it might have

pinched a nerve or something.

He was in some significant pain.

Kyle eventually headed home.

We managed to lift him into his chair.

He didn't look comfortable,

but at least he slept a little.

He tried to get down, so I put him in a little

flat bed and he went back to sleep,

so I finally headed to bed about 2:30.

His ears say he's NOT happy.

Today he is resting in his big bed.

He's gotten up and walked into the kitchen

for a drink of water a few times.

Putting a little weight on his back legs,

but still not great.

I have a call into the vet, but he was

out of the office and promised to call me

when he got back this afternoon.

I'm hoping he'll be able to give him some

anti-inflammatory meds and maybe

something to help with the pain.

Meanwhile, Rod and I got

our beautiful tree all decorated!

It smells AMAZING!

Now Rod is taking a nap.

Kyle is working on his pump house.

Beau is also napping.

And I'm going to go whip up a

batch of biscuits to go with

the jar of stewed rabbit meat

the Sister Sisters brought over.

(We sent ALL the leftovers home

with Kyle last night since he has

room in his fridge!)

I have to teach this evening.

And then tomorrow is the BIG

75th ANNIVERSARY of

WaKeeney's annual Christmas Tree Lighting.

It's going to be HORRIBLE weather.

But we will bundle up and do the

Christmas fair at the fairgrounds.

And the head to downtown for the lighting.

SAUSAGE!!!

 We had a FUN DAY today!!!!

It started with a visit to our friend,

Dave's house.

He called me last week and let me

know that Malay's (our grocery store)

was running a special on pork butt this week.

$0.99 per pound!

That's a GREAT price!

So we each went down and bought a 

package that included 2 bone-in butts.

Mine was 20 pounds.

His was 17.

And then he invited us to come over this

morning and learn how to grind them

and then package them.

He cut them up, while showing us the

best way to de-bone them.

And then we ran it all through his 

BIG, OLD meat grinder.

(I SHOULD have taken pictures, but

he's old, and old school, and just wants

to get to it....)

It was given to him by his parents when

he and Mary were first married.

(1965)

It's a BEAST.

He showed me how to wrap it in butcher

paper, called a butcher or a pharmacy wrap.

He ground, Rod measured out the 1 pound

blobs, and I wrapped them in paper.

We got 17, one-pound packages.

Plus a nice little hunk of lean pork

to make some stir fry with.

Then, we dashed home with ours and

put it in our freezer.

(Since his chest freezer is full of all the

potatoes they boiled, cubed and then froze...)

By the time we got back,

like 5 minutes later,

he had already ground all of his

and was starting to clean the machine.

So I wrapped his 16 packages for his

freezer and then we headed home.

Grabbed some paperwork and headed

into Hays to stop at the church and do an

inventory on all the janitorial type supplies.

(He is in charge of that stuff... like soap,

and toilet paper, and cleaning supplies...)

Then we headed to the grocery store next

door and purchased some more gift cards

for the ward's "Giving Tree".

We aren't having great participation this year.

Money is tight.

Next we headed to Home Depot.

And when we walked in, there was somebody

paying at our favorite cashier's booth.

They had a LARGE pile of stuff like

insulation and pipe wrap and plywood.

He looked kind of familiar.

OH!

It was KYLE!

Hahahahahahaha.

I literally didn't recognize him for a moment.

Didn't expect to see him there.....

So Rod went off to find the stuff he

needed to buy and I helped Kyle load

all his stuff into the back of his truck.

And then we went back in to pick out 

an artificial tree for Christmas.

THEY WERE HIDIOUS!

(And expensive...)

They were all plastic, and looked it.

And most were $200 - $400.

Ridiculous.

So we went outside to look at the

live trees.

I'm used to getting a live tree every year.

And by the time they arrive in Florida,

they are basically dead.

(And usually run $70+)

We all remember the pictures of Kyle

carrying them OVER his HEAD.

These ones were probably cut THIS WEEK

in Colorado.

They are fresh, the needles are still soft

and moist, and the tree weighed a 

gazillion pounds!!! (And only $54!)

We also picked out 2 small trees in pots.

Kyle will put one on either side of his TV.

(Up on the stand so the dogs don't eat them...)

And then this spring he can plant them!

Then we all went to Wendy's for lunch.

And then home.

Rod dropped me off and headed up to

the farm to drop off the stuff he bought

and pick up 2 cinder blocks so we can

put the tree up on them...

By the time he got home, I was teaching.

But during breaks, we brought it in and

checked out the size.

Then he took it back out and cut

the bottom off.

And then for the next break we got

it in the stand and filled with water.

Tomorrow morning he is going up to the

farm to help Kyle wire up his well pump

while Kyle builds the pump house.

We've GOT to get that man some water!

(He wrapped his pipes with a bunch of 

insulating stuff last night

and figured that would fix it.

It was FROZEN SOLID this morning...)

Once they are done, they will come

into town for Thanksgiving dinner.

We bought a little frozen turkey breast.

Dinner prep will be done in about 30 

minutes, so in the time it takes them to

call me, and then drive to the house,

dinner should be ready.

(We can't have any leftovers....

NO FRIDGE STILL!)

(They called, coming around noon

on Tuesday next week...)

Speaking of dinner.

Last night after a day in Hays,

we came home and I made a BIG pot

of beef stroganoff, with salad and

Hawaiian rolls and cookies for desert

for the missionaries.

Who didn't show up.

So we had a nice dinner and watched

Hallmark Christmas movies.

(And put the rest in the fridge and freezer

for meals later...)

Ok.

Dinner is ready.

Better run.

I'll take a picture of the tree when

it is all decorated tomorrow.

NITE!

Happy Birthday to MEEEE! (lol)

It was a nice day!

Started EEEEARLY!

We were up at 4:30 (and didn't go to bed

until 1:30 last night...) so we could get

Jim to the Hays airport in time for his

6:30 flight back to Florida.

We SOOOO appreciated all his help!

(And we loved playing games with him!)

It's EARLY, we are still very sleepy.

It was FUN!

And then, back home to take a NAP!

Then Rod jumped up to run fill the

diesel gas cans and take them to the farm

and fill the tank on the telehandler.

It needed to be full when they came to get it.

(It was also COVERED in mud.... ooops.)

And then his truck broke.

Again.

Might have something to do with the

TONS of mud caked up under it!

(The {mechanical terms I don't understand}

broke off the {other mechanical stuff...} and

it wouldn't shift out of drive.)

So he and Kyle laid down in the mud and

investigated and then zip tied some

probably very important parts together

so he could limp back to the house.

Put all his super muddy stuff in the washer

and his body in the shower,

and then took the car into Hays to get the 

very important part.

Meanwhile, I washed and vacuumed all 

the floors and rugs (again) and did the

dishes from last night's dinner.

Had a LOVELY telephone chat with Soni.

And got a BEAUTIFUL pot from Nancy.

(Can't wait to make something in it! Its

GORGEOUS and SUPER HEAVY...)

Rod had some friends of our's custom make

me a sign to celebrate WaKeeney's

75th anniversary of the tree lighting this year!

I LOVE IT!

Mom and Dad sent me a card with a fun

cranberry tart recipe I'm excited to try!

(And a note that a gift is headed this way...)

Rozann sent a fun birthday greeting with

the same note as Mom.

It was a fun day!

OH!

And the repair buy (really nice and SUPER TALL)

showed up and said our fridge is stuck in

defrost mode.

So he had to order a part. 

He will be back next week to fix it.

It's under warranty, so it won't cost 

us anything, but we are without a fridge.

AND he said to keep it propped open.

Yeah, that's convenient.

I'll probably put a box of baking soda in

it and shut the doors.

I have a TINY kitchen.

Having the fridge and freezer doors 

hanging open into the room isn't helping.

And the missionaries are coming for 

dinner tomorrow night.

Sheesh.

Anyhow.

Good news, bad news.

But it will all work out.

Tomorrow is Hays Day.

I'll have to be judicious in what I purchase.

Since the garage fridge is the old fridge

that came with the house and all the

condiment shelves in the door are broken.

So all my condiments are in the main part

of the fridge, which doesn't leave much room

for the FOOD.

Anyhow.

It was a nice birthday.

Thank you everybody for the birthday wishes

and gifts and hugs.

LOVE YOU ALL!

(And now I'm heading to the living room

for some dinner and a Hallmark movie 

and then bed.)

(We had "breakfast" at noon...)

(We each had a hunk of peppermint

rice krispie squares.)

So, yeah.

Dinner.

Sunday Update

Today was Jim's final day

on our house build.

They spent the day building

and installing the

eaves on the north and

south side of the house.

It was quite a bit of work.

Although it didn't rain,

there was still plenty of water

and mud to go around.

They are coming in the morning

to pick up the telehandler.

I don't think they will be super happy.

I'm sure we will have to pay a

cleaning fee....

but, we sure appreciated having it!

He got stuck.

Had to eventually put the forks 

down into the ground and then

use the boom mashed into the

ground and walked himself out.

He's such a talented equipment operator!

Most people would have called for

a tow truck or something.

He said its what comes of working

by yourself and having to 

figure it out.

 

Saturday Update....

 I had to teach Saturday,

so didn't get out to the property.

But progress was made!

My boys are not only great

workers, but also great

photographers!

So although "all" they did

was put the braces on the trusses,

I still received great pictures.

Isn't that a cool picture of the rafters?

Here's another one.

It's good and sturdy!

That's Kyle, the monkey, working.

Notice the bright yellow scaffolding

they are using.

It has wheels.

so instead of locking the wheels

and climbing off and moving it,

they just pulled themselves along

using the rafters and rolled the scaffold

under them.

Unless it got away from them and

zoomed across the floor.

Or hit a little rock and stopped dead.

It was an adventure.....

But through it all, they were smiling and

laughing and having a great Brother time.

After dinner we introduced another

family member to the game!!

And he added a diabolical twist.

When you roll, you can EITHER flip

your tabs up.

OR you can flip an opponent's 

tabs DOWN!!!!

I finally had to call a stop to it,

because it was turning into a marathon.

And we were all tired!!!!

Jim won that final game!

We enjoyed a fun dinner at our local

watering hole

The Brazen Bull.

Good burgers and excellent

fried okra and corn nuggets to start.

It was yummy.

Today Rod went to church.

I'm teaching.

Hopefully the guys got ...

something I forgot what it was...

built.

And then are working on getting

FIFTY-TWO sheets of plywood

onto the roof and at least tacked down.

The telehandler is definitely leaving tomorrow.

But more importantly, so is Jim!

We are going to miss him!!!

Ok, lunch break is over,

gotta get back to teaching.

Happy Sunday!

Progress???

 I feel TERRIBLE.

The guys are out there working.

At least it was SUNNY and in the

sixties today!

SOOOO much better than yesterday.

But I'm sitting here in my office,

teaching my Louisiana class.

I don't know how they have done today,

because they are BUSY and don't

have time to stop and send me pictures.

But they will be coming into town for

a night out at a local eatery.

In the meantime, here's a quick 

photo dump of the misery from yesterday.

It was a "little" wet.

And since there is a HILL to the west of the house,

all the water ran DOWN the hill and into our job site.

The plan is to build a SWALE to stop that situation,

but we haven't finalized its location.

So, yeah.

MUD FEST!

And we have the weirdest mud.

It's slippery and sticky all at the same time.

It builds up on the bottom of your boots,

but also it's a LOT like Bambi learning to skate.

We are BUFFALOES.

We don't let a little rain and mud stop us!

The show MUST go on!

So they did.

Putting the FINAL end piece on!!!

(Look at how low the machine is sunk in the mud.... UGH!)

Even the INSIDE of the house is full of water.

And mud.....

I am SO PROUD of these men.

Anybody else might have just shrugged their shoulders

and said... oh well. We'll work on it another day.

But they muscled through.

Wet.

COLD.

Wet.

Tired.

SORE!

And yet.... they prevailed!

I'm just so proud and GRATEFUL!

For all of them.

But especially Jim - I so appreciate him

flying in for a week and spending it,

not only working, but working like THIS.

Ugh.

They are all such amazing men

and I LOVE THEM more than they can know.

Ok.

Enough gushing.

The sun is sinking in the west.

I need to bring the dogs in and get ready

for everybody to go out to eat.

I suspect they will want a nice hot shower

and clean clothes first.

We WERE going to have Thanksgiving tomorrow,

but since the fridge in the house died,

and the repairmen aren't coming until TUESDAY,

and they "might be able to fix it, or we might

need to take it back to the shop to work on..."

I don't have any room in the fridge for MORE food.

So we will have a yummy "steak dianne" made in

the crockpot and served over yummy mashed

potatoes instead.

I already have all that food...

Oh yeah.

The missionaries are coming for dinner on Tuesday.

This should be fun.

Hahahaha.

(It's not that we don't HAVE food, it's just

outside. In the garage. But there is PLENTY of it...)

I just didn't have room to get a turkey and store/thaw

it while we wait for Sunday to arrive.

Or room for all the fruit for the traditional

fruit salad.

Life is an ADVENTURE.

That's for sure!

Ok, I'll update when I get some pictures.