Window Clings

 At $0.47 each, I'm a little

tiny bit obsessed.

Good thing they only

have 4 to choose from...

Grin.

I slipped over to Gibsons Pharmacy

this morning and grabbed

one more.

It's hard to see in the camera

because there's stuff in the yard

behind it,

but it says "Snowman COLD"

and there's a gingerbread house,

a gingerbread man, a train

and some random ornaments.

Then I pulled the Merry Christmas,

Happy Holidays and Santa in his sleigh

off the front door cuz you can't see

it behind the big door.

I hung a cute little ornament on the door instead.

This is our backdoor.

And, of course, I have our snowmen on

the window above the sink.

Our kitchen is SO FESTIVE!

I'll probably leave the snowmen and

gingerbread guy up for the winter

since it brings some fun color into the house.

It's fun!

And they were so inexpensive!

If I had windows in the new house,

I would probably put them up there too.... lol.

Building Update

 I taught over the weekend.

So today was the first day I got to

head back out to the farm.

I have a hard time getting into the

house because we are using a little

step-stool thing and it's not really

tall enough to get in the door.

This is an old picture, but that's the

little stubby stool we are using.

Anyhow.

I'm not as flexible or agile as I used to be.

So today, I went out to walk around inside

and check out how Kyle has it all laid out

and make "final" decisions.

(We moved the washer/dryer out of the

bathroom and into the office closet...)

And then, after he watched me struggle

to get in and out using that silly step stool thing.....

We made some STEPS!

(Should have done THAT a few weeks ago!)

They are just temporary,

but they work and are a HUGE improvement!

And then Kyle got busy and started

on Wall #1.

(And Kyle brought the little step stool inside...)

It worked GREAT for getting him up

where he needed to be to plumb the wall.

This is the "pantry wall" in the new prep room.

The wall between the prep and the

mud room.

It was SOOOO exciting!!!!!

I had to leave at 3 to get ready to teach.

And, of course, he kept on working.

Houston, we have a prep room!!!!

I can't tell you how exciting this is!

The wall you are looking at will have

a counter inside the room with open

shelving under it, to store all my

various pressure canners, pressure

cookers, steam canners, etc etc etc.

Then on the side closest to us, it will

be kitchen. That wall has the fridge,

(right next to the door into the prep room)

counter, and stove.

Tomorrow is Hays Day, so I'm not sure any

building will happen, but I imagine by

the end of the week we will have lots more walls.

(There really aren't very many...)

In case you haven't seen it lately.

Top left is the prep room....

Ok.

Just finished teaching.

Need to go take care of Rod and Beau.

And get some sleep.....

NITE!

Saturday Schizophrenia

I don't know.

Google says that's how you spell that.

But it still doesn't look right.

Anyhow.

That's Kansas for ya!

This morning, when we woke up,

it was SNOWING.

Ok, not SNOWING, but there was

snow falling (lightly) on the ground.

And it was, like 25.

This is my weather app at 3:55.

(I'm teaching class, so missed out on

this FABULOUS weather!)

Tomorrow's high?

36.

Yeah, whatever.

The weather should be lovely next week though.

53, 62, 52, 50, then plummets again.

But that's enough days to get LOTS done.

Can you believe it?

We have green skin.

And holes for the windows.

And plywood on the roof!!!!

(And a man!)

He said he would have ALL the plywood

on before the day was over today.

He got a late start, because some friends

from church came by to buy the other

new freezer from us.

AND drop off a new dog.

Yeah, I know.

It's a Great Pyrenees.

They are BIG dogs that kind of look 

like polar bears.

This is a stock photo from the internet,

but I wouldn't be surprised if he looks like this...

They are bred as livestock guardian dogs.

His name is Winston and he is living

IN the pig yard with the pigs.

He will be their guardian in case anything

(besides us) decides they want to eat them.

He had to come live at our farm,

because the owners farm only has

barbed wire fences.

Which are GREAT for livestock.

But dogs just go "what fence?"

Hahahahaha.

And these dogs are meant to wander

and BARK. Notifying all predators far

and near to steer clear because the BIG DOG

is on guard over here.

Which is fine, unless you live just on the

edge of town, so he wanders INTO town on

a FAR TOO regular basis.

The police bring him home often.

And this week a neighbor threatened to shoot him.

So......

he's living at our place until

a) they fix their fence situation

b) they give up and he's our's.

But for now, they still own him and

they are providing his food.

(He's a big boy with a big appetite...)

I have no pictures yet.

I'm teaching.

And the guys are working on the house.

Kyle's legs while working on the roof.

Rod cleaning up the mess from the snow

and mud and .... well everything.

Standing in our bedroom, looking down

through the bathroom and office

to the mudroom door.

(Prep room on the left...)

Looking from the mudroom door

down to the big sliding glass doors in

the living room. (Kyle covered the hole with

wood because that was a LOT of wind coming in...)

Office, bathrooms, bedroom on the left.

Prep room, kitchen, living room on the right.

It's not as big as it looks.

But camera phones are what we have to work with.

Anyhow!

I'm off to bring the girl dogs into the garage

and feed them.

Beau has been sleeping on his little bed

next to me most of the day.

He is "walking" more. Still pretty loose

in the backend, but he's trying.

He only has enough tramadol to take him

through tomorrow and then we will

need to get him a refill.

I expect this will be a long process...

I'm going to see if our local vet can do more

chiropractic stuff and also renew his pills.

If not, it will be another trip to Hays.

But for now?

8 hours of insurance is 6 hours too many.

I'm going to get OUT of this chair (ugh)

and go do something else for awhile.

NITE ALL!

Happy Weekend!

It's Beginning To Feel a LITTLE Like Christmas.....

 Yesterday Rod and I drove downtown.

Yes, it's like 4 blocks away.

Hahahahaha.

First we went to Gibson's Pharmacy.

They had a great little sale going on.

I got 2 sets of window clings.

They were on sale.

$0.47 each.

I put the Santa ones on the front door.

I might put the snowflake ones

on my kitchen window!

Cuter than looking at the neighbor's garage...

We also got a box of Christmas cards.

I know.

I buy a box every year.

And toss them every spring.

But this year, I'm retired.

I'm inside.

I already own stamps.

So....... don't hold your breath, but

you MAY get a card.

There were 40 in the box for $10.99.

And we paid $5.50.

So that was a good deal.

I also got a snowman and star cookie cutter

for $0.99.

I probably won't make them into cookies,

but they might be fun to hang on the tree...

Oh, and they gave me a 2026 calendar

with Norman Rockwell pictures.

I'll probably hang that one in the kitchen.

Then we walked to NexTech, our internet

providers to see why we hadn't gotten a bill

yet for the new property.

Turns out there was a promotion we qualified

for, so we don't get our first bill until

FEBRUARY 2026!

YEA for free stuff!

And then to the post office to mail a small

gift to Scott & Janis, and Tim & Angie.

And then to the grocery store to pick up

some fresh jalapeno poppers and some

soda. I had a headache that just would NOT

go away... so had to resort to caffeine.

It finally got better.

And then after I taught, and headed to the

kitchen to make dinner, I got an

ocular migraine.

Oh yeah, I guess I should be drinking more

than 1 cup of dandelion tea in the morning

and a cup of soda in the evening.

Dehydration is a THING folks!!!

All those places are in one block.

There were lots of people out, and

Christmas music being piped from 

City Hall across the street.

It was very festive!

Luna enjoying her frozen water.

She carried it around the yard for awhile.

She's a little goofy.

Beau's slightly wonky tailbone.

Just tipped to the left a bit.

He's on Tramadol today.

Finally slept for a minute on Rod's lap.

Was up all night, panting REALLY loudly.

Rod said he finally fell asleep and was

snoozing when he got up this morning.

And now, after his morning pills,

he is resting on his little, flat bed.

Today I have the rest of the bags of frozen

onions sitting on the kitchen counter to thaw.

Once they are ready, I'll put them in pint jars

and put them in the pressure cooker.

I opened a jar last night and tossed them in

with the chili I made for dinner.

(I didn't eat any though, by the time it was

ready, I didn't feel well... migraines mess

with my stomach.)

But they SMELLED amazing!

So, into the pressure canner they go!

I also brought in some of the spaghetti

squash I processed and froze.

We are having a pork roast I'll pressure

cook later today, with the spag squash,

and the jalapeno poppers.

(We'll eat the chili for lunch...)

And, of course, I have our weekly 

Relief Society Presidency meeting today at 1.

And then a meeting with my Activity Chair

after that to let her know any feedback I got.

(And update her on Beau...)

So that's the plan for today.

HOPE YOU ARE FEELING BETTER MOM!!!!!

(Just had a nice visit with Soni on the phone,

so now I'm also adding another biscuit experiment

sometime during the day as well... she's an expert.)

I CAN DO THIS.

(Since I now have 18 packages of ground pork in

my freezer, gotta master the sausage gravy

and biscuits thing, even if I'm not technically

a "southerner" anymore...)

More Vets (UPDATED)

 I thought Beau was getting better....

He did that weird chicken leg thing

where he puts his legs out behind him.

But that seems to have tweeked something.

Because he's back to weak in the hind end,

trembling and panting. (pain indicators)

Our local vet is at HIS dr today in

Garden City, so we have an appointment

this afternoon at 3:30 in Hays at a vet

that was 2nd recommendation from a friend

who works for the (obviously) first recommendation.

But they couldn't get him in today.

Unfortunately, I have to teach tonight,

so Rod will take him over.

Kyle is grading the dirt around the house.

It's finally dry enough that it's not muddy,

but not SO dry that it's concrete.

So that's his plan for today.

Rod and I (mostly Rod) just put some

Christmas lights on our front porch.

I might put more onions in the

pressure canner.

Guess I should open a can first and

make sure they are good.....

It's chilly out there again today.

It was lovely yesterday and will be again

tomorrow, but today is a chilly one.

(High is 39... I think its 38 now...)

BUT!

We got the FRIDGE FIXED yesterday!!!

I was SOOO happy to have a fridge again!

I guess I should go out and get the

stuff from the garage fridge and move

it back in its rightful spot.

And then I'll make some lunch

(with canned onions in it... whatever "it" is...)

and then we will move forward from there.

I had a quick zoom meeting with my

Activity Chair.

She wasn't getting any response from her

committee members and was really concerned

about the ward Christmas party.

Which is valid, since it's NEXT SATURDAY!

I think we got it all ironed out and she

feels much better about everything.

It doesn't need to be elaborate.

Or fancy.

It's a party.

With food.

The previous RS Pres bought 4 hams last year

right after Easter when they were VERY cheap.

So we are serving ham, funeral potatoes,

vegetables, salad, and rolls.

We will put a basket of rolls and some butter

on each table so people can nibble while

they wait for dinner to start.

We just bought all new black tablecloths.

They will be pretty (anything you put on them

will really pop...) and won't age as quickly.

We are buying small poinsettias to put

on the tables and around the room.

The Primary is putting on a "play".

Kind of a nativity, but put on in 1830's?

Who knows.

Anyhow.

And then Rod will be Santa and meet

with the children for photos and a treat

out in the foyer.

That gives the kids something to occupy

them, and also takes them OUT of the gym

so those who aren't big fans of little kids 

running around can visit and enjoy the desert.

Anyhow.

Neither of us went last year, so we don't really

know how it is "usually" done.

But this is how its done this year.

Hahahaha.

Ok,

off to move cold food.

***********************************

UPDATE!

Based on the x-rays, looks like his

tailbone got pushed to the side a little,

which is causing the pain.

So the vet gave us some pain pills

as well as more anti-inflammatory.

The same one, but a smaller dose to be

given twice a day instead of just once.

But the kicker is he has to have food in his tummy.

And he doesn't want to eat.

He's a TERRIBLE eater at the best of times.

He ate dinner last night, but has refused

everything except crappy sliced american cheese

today.

So.... he got THREE slices of cheese.

Two had pills hiding in them.

And then he was done.

He won't even eat cheese anymore.

That was an hour ago.

He's still panting heavily.

Hopefully it will kick in and he will feel

better and maybe take a nap.....

Poor baby.

First Snow

 We got our first snow of the year

over night on Sunday/Monday.

It wasn't much.

Just a nice dusting.

Kyle got more than we did, out at the farm.

This is the road he built that runs from his

house, to the pig barn, and then down into

the garden valley and up to our house.

This is the little road from our house, down 

through the trees to the garden.

This is my favorite spot on the farm.

In the summer, it's shady and so lovely!

(But a bit slippery when it's wet!)

We got a pretty, soft, white carpet in the house.

If you look up,, you can see he has some of

the plywood up, but we had to switch focus

from our house to his water!

Water.

It's kind of important.

He went for 5 days without running water.

He was thrilled last night when he

could finally turn on the tap and water

flowed out!

It's the little things.

(Like flushing a toilet without getting

a bucket of water....)

It was cold, and the roads were slippery,

so we stayed in yesterday.

But we weren't idle.

I saw a post on one of my canning pages on

facebook that someone pressure canned the

onions that were going soft in her storage.

Aha!!!!

I did a trial batch of 5 jars and they 

looked good, so I did 4 more.

(Now I'm out of jars.... getting more today.)

I'm going to open one today and make sure

they are tasty. They pressure canned for

70 minutes and turned a lovely caramel brown,

and the lady said they were delicious.

So... fingers crossed!

I still have probably 10+ more bags in my

freezer and they 

1. stink

2. take up a LOT of space.

If I can them, that would be great!

(I also want to freeze dry some, but might

wait and do that next year with the next

harvest... I think I still have some in my

freeze dried storage.)

And freeze drying them makes the oil 

in the pump stink, so then you need to change

it, and I still have 15 more batches I could run

before it would need to be changed.

And I don't HAVE 15 runs right now.

Anyhow.

I hope these are delicious.

Each jar was about 1 onion.

They were still partially frozen when I put

them in the jars, so they really cooked down.

Next run I will let them thaw all the way

so I can get the jar a little fuller.

But really, what's in there is probably

what I would use in a recipe anyway.

Today?

We have a phone consult with our Medicare

rep at 10:30 to make sure we still have

the right MediGap coverage for us.

Then the guy is coming to 

FIX OUR FRIDGE a little after lunch.

Kyle and I are running into town to do

our Tuesday Hays Day.

So I can actually buy some groceries.

Not that we need much, our pantry is

getting to be well stocked.

But it would be nice to have some milk

and eggs that I don't need to go out

to the garage to get.

Last week, because of the rising price of

beef, people have switched to chicken

and pork. (And turkey, it WAS Thanksgiving

after all...)

But consequently, nobody bought beef.

And they have some EXCELLENT clearance

prices. I hate to buy WalMart beef.

But we are running low on the quarter

we bought in January.

We got some good stew meat, I used

some for the beef stroganoff last week

and sent some home with Kyle to make

his own. That's one of our favorite

winter dinners.

And I got a nice chuck roast.

So today I'll check if there is anything else

on clearance I can't pass up on.

But I really need to call the butcher and

order another quarter.

OH!

And I made a big pot of chicken noodle

soup the other day, opening a can of

my own chicken!

I grew the chicken.

I butchered the chicken.

I pressure canned the chicken.

And I made soup out of the chicken!

(Goodness, I sound just like 

Chicken Little! HAHAHAHA!)

Anyhow, it was yummy!

So I'll probably can more.

And I might get a turkey while they

are still cheap and can up some of 

that as well...

We'll see.

I don't have a lot of pantry space.

That might have to wait until the

new house.

Have a great Tuesday!

And FEEL BETTER MOM!!!!

75th Anniversary!

 It has been 75 years the little town of

WaKeeney, Christmas City of the High Plains

has been doing a tree lighting in

the center of town.

Two guys (and a bunch of volunteers)

made a thousand decorations to hang

all around the town square and 

surrounding blocks.

They are still being used today.

(Our friend, Dave, said he has been to 

EVERY ONE. Including the one where

he was the ONLY spectator and the police

chief just pulled up, flipped the switch and

hopped back in his car. It was a BLIZZARD.)

There were lots of folks there to watch

Santa and Mrs. Claus light the tree!

(Even though it was C O L D !!)

I felt, and looked like, Nanook of the North!

(Or a transplanted Floridian...)

Lots of the vendors along main street

open their doors for crafts and free hot chocolate.

Lots of takers for both of those!

They pipe in Christmas music for the event

on giant speakers and then they use

the town PA system to pipe music all season.

Santa showed up in a SUPER COOL

vintage WaKeeney Chief of Police car.

The current Chief was his driver and escort.

As the town counted down, they lit each set of 

blue "sky" lights leading to the tree

and then the tree itself...

It was fun!

Santa's reindeer were there.

The crowd dwindled pretty quickly.

Santa moved to our little "North Pole" on Main

so he could greet the kids, so most went there,

and lots (like us) strolled down the street to visit

the various shops.

(They were having a town-wide 15% off sale!)

We didn't go inside any of the stores.

They were crowded.

And we were hungry.

So we hopped in our car and drove a couple

blocks to Subway for a sandwich.

It was a fun evening!

And this morning.......