Ok, We Picked......

 There were several suggestions.

My favorite came from Mom.

Rolex and Timex.

The Watch Dogs!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I literally laughed out loud.

But Kyle said NO.

Because they are mostly Kyle's

(at least he's the one who has to

take care of them...)

he picked Pebbles & BamBam.

But he agreed BamBam sounds a little silly.

So just calls him Bam.

(Although he had a good point...

we can the others BearBear

and BeauBeau....

so what's silly about BamBam?)

I don't know.

It just IS.

Anyhow.

Regardless of what we call them.
Pebbles is adorable.

They are both cute.

They have the same father but different mothers.

Bam has the long, skinny face of a Great Pyrenes.

Pebbles has the grey coat and shorter face

of an Anatolian Shepherd Dog.

They are a mix of both.

It's only been a day.

They are still really shy and not sure

what they are doing here...

but they'll catch on.

Today was a lovely day.

They were laid out flat, sound asleep.

Tomorrow will be a little cooler.

And then...........

the GIANT STORM every weatherman on earth

is talking about is going to hit.

Depending on who you listen to,

we are getting NO SNOW up to TEN INCHES OF SNOW.

Sheesh.

But...

they all agree it is going to be 

C O L D.

The high for Friday is currently predicted to be 8.

Yup, 8. (low -6)

Then Saturday the high is predicted to be 10. (-4 overnight)

Then it will start back up again.

Like 32 on Monday and 41 on Tuesday.

I have a friend bringing us a roll of hay tomorrow

and dropping it at the front gate so we can

make them a giant pile of hay to curl up in.

(There is a BARN, but none of the dogs will go in..)

The pigs LOVE it inside.

We will put a pile of new hay in there for them too.

The dogs will all curl up together in the hay.

Outside.

And the pigs will all curl up together in the hay.

Inside.

And everyone will be fine.

(The chickens are in their coop, Kyle replaced the

shavings today and it is nice and cozy in there too...)

So we are all good.

But aren't looking forward to this.

We'll see about church on Sunday.

It will likely depend on the snow.

The good news is it doesn't come with

high winds... so there's that.

Kyle and I are making a run (in the car)

to Menard's in Salina tomorrow.

We need to order a bunch of stuff,

but we have about $3,000 worth of rebate

credit and they won't let you use it online

or over the phone.

So we have to drive there and order it in

person and pay using the rebates.

Sheesh.

We'll go to Sam's Club too since it's across

the street.

(And Braums, because that's the RULE...)

Hahaha.

Ok.

Just finished teaching.

Going to go see Rod for a bit.

(I spent the day with Kyle at the farm.)

Introducing........

 We don't really know yet.

I was thinking

Oakley & Annie.

Kyle's suggestions are

Fred & Wilma

Pebbles & BamBam

Elroy & Judy (Jetsons)

We kind of eliminated Elroy & Judy.

If you have to explain it, it doesn't work.

We had decided on Fred & Wilma,

but we already had pigs named Fred & Wilma

in Florida and if we are going to keep the

girl (currently Penelope but Kyle doesn't like that)

we should keep the pigs Fred & Wilma.

Which makes the dogs Pebbles and BamBam.

But BamBam is silly, so we would likely

call him Bammer.

Anyway.

We'll figure out their names.

So far, they have only been called Pooches.

Collectively.

All that to say....

we got PUPPIES!!!!

The bigger is a 7 month old male.

The little is an 11 week old female.

They are Great Pyrenees & Anatoli mix.

Livestock guardian dogs.

Pebbles is on the left. 

Bammer is in the middle.

That's Winton on the right.

Bammer will likely be as big or bigger

when he's fully grown.

Rod and I drove down to Hutchinson

just outside of Wichita

and picked them up from a really nice man.

Put them in the back of the SUV with a big blanket

and drove 2.5 hours home again.

Pebbles is fairly shy and wasn't excited

to meet the pigs.

But they will get it all worked out.

Anyhow.

We now have PUPPIES!

(But they are outside, working dogs, not pets,

so the names aren't really all that important.)

Bear will meet them tomorrow.

Kyle just got here, we still need to run into

Hays and do the grocery shopping.

Bye y'all!

Walking!

 I'm teaching the Louisiana class today.

It's C O L D outside (but I have my little

space heater and I'm wearing my fleece lined

jeans and a sweat shirt.....)

I heard Rod using his walking pad a 

couple of times during the day.

(It's quiet, but there are a couple of beeps

when it is starting, stopping, or you are

making adjustments.... like a microwave

oven kind of beep...)

Yesterday we got the new handles

all installed.

He's able to stand much straighter!

Although sometimes you just gotta look down

at the numbers and see how you are doing.

Hahaha.

He keeps a running total on the white board

in the hall, and then at the end of the day

we transfer his stats to the calendar.

He's doing GREAT!

Tomorrow he's going to catch a ride with another

member here in town since I can't go to church

and Kyle has a really bad cold and is going to stay home.

(Even if he didn't stay home, I wouldn't let Rod

ride with him because sneezing and broken ribs....

NO THANK YOU!)

New Light

 When Kyle got home yesterday,

he went into the coop and got

the new light all set up.

He got the new extension chord all situated.

That's the chicken's water tank.

It hold a LOT of water, in fact, he just filled

it, about 3/4 full, 3 days ago.

Last time he filled it was in September!

There is a tank heater in there so it doesn't freeze.

And he made SURE the hoses didn't freeze either.

Hahahahahahahaha.

Next he got the shop light all set up

on a timer so they have plenty of light

but also plenty of sleeping time.

Looks good!

Notice the sunlight coming in around

the top of the walls... plenty of ventilation.

Meanwhile, I cooked up some spaghetti

using our home canned spaghetti sauce.

I used one jar of meat sauce and 1 jar

of just sauce.

Dumped them in the pot together,

added about a half tsp of baking soda

to cut some of the bitterness,

and added a couple tablespoons of

italian seasoning and some parm cheese.

It turned out really good!

I poured the leftover into one of the jars

so we can make another meal out of it.

I think I'm happy with it!

I'll probably try a different recipe next

year when I do it... but with my little

electric pressure canners, its easy to just

do a small batch, see if we like it,

and if we do, then we can get busy.

Oh! And Rod baked a loaf of savory

onion/garlic bread. 

It went REALLY well with the spaghetti!

(I forgot to take a picture... sorry dear!)

It was delicious though!

New Walking Pad

 Kyle and I went into Hays this morning

to pick up a light for in the chicken

coop and the week's groceries.

(Yesterday we put plywood up over

the rest of the wire openings at

the top of the coop... it was still

pretty cold in there... there is open

air around all the top where the rafters

hit the wall, so plenty of ventilation

still... we'll take the wood off in

the summer, but for now it's DARK.)

Anyhow.

We bought some extension chords and

an led light to hang in there.

Should help.

And when we got home,

UPS had come by and delivered Rod's

new walking pad.

Kyle opened it up and got it all 

set up for him.

Like the reviews online mentioned,

the bar was too low...

but other than that, he really likes it!

Beau was super excited about the box.

Mr. Ingenuity, Kyle found some handles 

from an old lawnmower and brought

them in.

For now they are only zip tied on...

but he'll bring his drill and some screws

when he comes into town next time and

we'll make it a permanent modification.

We hung a calendar on the wall in front

of him so he can keep track of his

miles and time everyday.

Rod kicked up the speed from the initial

0.6  mph that it starts up, up to

1.4 mph which is pretty quick for

a guy who just broke his back.

I'm going to encourage him to stay at

that speed for a good long while and

build up his stamina and walk some miles.

I'm pretty happy with it!

THANK YOU MOM & DAD!

We used some of your gift to purchase it!

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

HOUSE UPDATE:

Yesterday I went out to the farm to help

Kyle figure out where to put the new

dog yard for Luna.

We tried a bunch of different spots and

I think we finally found the perfect one.

He headed down to the equipment yard

to get his excavator, and when he turned

it on, it threw a code that basically said

TURN ME OFF!

Checked his oil, it was fine.

Checked the hydraulic fluid, it was fine.

Opened the engine bay....

and there was a biggest rat!!!

Except it wasn't a rat.

It was a RABBIT!!!

In the engine bay of his excavator!

And, of course, it had chewed

some of his wires.

Grrrrrrrrr.

So we will need to fix that before we

can build the dog yard,

dig the trench for the electricity,

dig the hole for the septic...

and all the things.

Good thing he can do the work himself.

Just need to buy the wire harness.

Anyhow.

No dog yard.

So instead, he headed down to the house

and put up some zip tape and then

put up some siding.

He did all that in about 2 hours!

He said it is really nice to put up.

It's natural wood, so we will need to

decide what color we want to paint it.

But for now, it's looking good!

One Month Anniversary!

Yesterday was ONE MONTH.

And he was where he was supposed to be.

Sabrina, you can hardly see, but he's
wearing his NEW TIE! He loves it!
(Me too!)

You aren't supposed to take pictures

in the chapel, so this is a sneaky pic.

I know, he looks a little grumpy...
that's his "resting" face.
(Plus his turtle shell is UNCOMFORTABLE!)

But I was so happy to see him,

sitting on the stand,

serving the Ward,

like he loves to.

It was a good day.

He ended it by ordaining 3 young men,

2 are new teachers and 1 new deacon.

It was hard on his back,

but again he was happy to serve.

And then we came home for a nap

and I made us some hamburgers.

And now, I need to get class started.

Friday!!!!

 We had a nice, quiet day today.

It has been lightly snowing on and off all day.

Not a TON of snow...

but enough that the roads are a little slick.

And it's cold out there....

It never got out of the 30's.

It won't last, tomorrow is going to be 50.

And everyday for the next week will be

50-60... so it was just a fun little taste.

But we didn't run into Home Depot to get the

tool Kyle needs to do the siding.

Cuz... ugh. Slippery roads.

We'll probably go tomorrow.

However, somehow I managed to pull

a muscle in my low back, so now Rod and

I are BOTH hobbling around.

Makes me more empathetic to what he

is dealing with.

Except he gets better drugs than I do...

But mine will get better faster.

(I hope...)

Anyhow.

Just finished teaching.

My first week back after 3 weeks off...

Nearly fell asleep.

Hahaha.

Have a great weekend!

I'll update if anything exciting happens.

But it likely won't.

We're just old, retired, hobbling people

these days...

Busy Thursday & Clove Bud Extract

 It's been a busy, fun day!

(mostly)

It started with a good night's sleep.

And once I woke up a little 

before 9:00 (I know, right?)

Soni called and we had a great visit.

Once I actually got out of bed,

I needed to do something with the

chicken stock I made overnight.

Last  week Kyle and I went to Hays 

and I found a rotisserie chicken on

clearance for $2.00.

I don't normally buy those, but for

that price..... lol.

I stuck it in the fridge and forgot it!

Oops....

I cut it up, used the dark meat in

some chicken alfredo spaghetti,

put the white meat in the freezer

for another meal someday,

and then last night before I started

class, I put all the carcass, bones,

skin, etc into the pressure cooker.

Cooked it for 2 hours and then it

went to "keep warm" while I finished

up my 4-hour class.

Once I was all done, I was tired and

didn't feel like doing anything with

it, so I set the cooker for 12 hours

and went to bed.

So... once I was up, I washed up 6

new pint jars and filled them up with

the chicken stock. 

It smelled amazing!

Those went into the pressure canner.

After a 20 minute process and an hour

cool down, they are on the counter.

Don't they look pretty?

It's really dark and rich.

Meanwhile, I put the stuff for a batch of

clove bud water into my pressure cooker.

It needs to be under pressure for 10 minutes,

then an hour coming down, then unplug and

leave it be for overnight. (or 8-10 hours

since I started it in the morning...)

I don't have fancy bottles.

Well, I do... but they are in the storage building.

This is the list of all the things it is good for...

And the instructions.

The most important thing is to NOT open the lid.

So by doing it in the pressure cooker the lid just

stays sealed and there's no temptation.

Some extra information...

Kyle has been drinking it at night for a couple of months

(when I remember to make it...)

I'm planning to start taking it every day as well.

Anyhow........

somewhere in the middle of all that, I

whipped up some blueberry pancakes for

Rod for his breakfast.

(I had a butter croissant with honey...)

 And then, the Sister Sisters came

over to visit for a minute.

And then I ran down to our little grocery store

to pick up some ground beef.

They are running their annual 3-day sale

and I picked up 10 pounds for $2.99/lb!!!

Once I got home, I called Nancy and we

chatted while I measured the beef out into

one pound baggies for the freezer and she

worked on taking down her Christmas decorations.

Then I headed out to the freezer in the

garage and put the beef out there, along

with some other stuff I picked up.

(Butter, and more ice cream sandwiches

to put in the freeze dryer...)

Unfortunately, I left the door into the house

open, and when I let the dogs out of their

crates, Luna (the rottweiler) ran straight

through Beau's little doggie door into the house.

Tearing it up.

Again.

Sigh.

Rod and I got it all fixed again.

Phew.

Unfortunately, in the middle of all that,

I TOTALLY forgot about our Thursday

RS Pres meeting.

Nobody except the President logged on

for the zoom meeting.

I was on the phone with Nanc.

Glenda (secty) was watching her roofers.

(It's a cold, rainy day, a TERRIBLE day to

be a roofer!)

And Lyndsey, the other counselor is on

a cruise with her family in Jamaica.

Now, I'm bushed.

I'm sitting in the living room with Rod.

He's having a little nap.

In a bit, I'll head to the kitchen and use

1 of those pounds of burger and make

a big ol' pot of chili.

And then, I don't have to teach tonight,

so I'll probably just read a book.

(Oh, and I need to do some laundry...

we need to change the sheets on the bed.)

Guess I'd better get on that.

Anyhow,

that's my Thursday!

OH!!!!!!

And today is the FOUR WEEK ANNIVERSARY!

Rod was up and walking around the house

without even using his stick!

We are now into the "messy middle".

He's done most of the amazing "firsts"

so now he just has to be patient and

be gentle with himself while he heals.

It's kind of good that its winter.

The time of year when there isn't that 

much to do anyway.

*Except work on the house and he's

not allowed to do that....

HVAC

 This morning Rod and I got up

"early" (for us) and headed to the farm.

We had an appointment with the

AC company that replaced our

WaKeeney unit last summer.

They don't normally service that

far north, but because we are

current customers they made an

exception.

He was a really nice man 

(turns out he is an owner...)

and he took a bunch of measurements,

gave us a bunch of options to 

consider and will email me a quote

once he has a chance to run the numbers.

We headed home after that.

Rod used his "stick" and that was a lot

of walking for him.

I bought some new rubber feet for his stick

and he swapped them out for the tennis

balls which worked in the house, but

are not very sturdy/stable.

Until he got those, I insisted he use the

walker when he's not on a solid surface.

Speaking of getting up early,

we had a GREAT night last night!

Rod took his night pills about 9:30

and didn't wake again until 5:20!!!

A first!!!

(The previous night he was up 4 times.)

I gave him his 5 am pills and we both

went back to bed until about 7:30.

(I had a really bad night the previous

night, took a "healthy" energy drink to

stay awake on the drive home from

Wichita and was still WIDE AWAKE

reading a book at 3 am... ugh.)

Yesterday Kyle and I did the Hays Day 

thing... Home Depot first to get a part

he needs for his water system.

And then WalMart to pick up the

weekly groceries.

I also picked up a sleep mask to wear

at night - Rod needs light at night

and I need it to be really dark.

I wore it for the first time, and except

for dreaming there was something on my

face / head all night, it worked well!

I felt much more rested when I woke

up this morning! 

YEA for the little things!

Rod stayed home and while we were

gone he made himself a grilled

cheese sandwich!

(All good, except he's not supposed

to bend, and the pan he uses is in

the drawer under the oven...)

I'll move it so it is easier for him

to get to.

We don't have anything else planned

for today. He is watching YouTube

University to learn more about the

difference between a regular traditional

propane water heater (what we have now)

and a propane powered tankless water heater.

I cleaned the kitchen and refilled all our

daily vitamins bottles.

I've saved all my thyroid pill bottles

and we each have 7, one for each day.

That way it's already divvied up

and when they are all empty, I just

fill them up again.

(Also easy to tell if somebody missed

their pills one day...)

We didn't have ANY of our pills with

us in Wichita. I got a refill of my

thyroid pills at WalMart, but we didn't

take any of our vitamins.

So its time to get back to it.

There are a few side effects from taking

the gabapenten he is on 3x daily.

One is damage to your liver.

So he's back on milk thistle to clean and

power up his liver.

He is also taking D3, K2, Magnesium

to help keep building those bones.

And both Moringa and Beetroot for

additional minerals we can't get from

the little tiny bit of food he is eating.

Last night for dinner we had steak fajita.

We bought a bag of already cooked

and frozen - Kyle tried it last week and

said it was really good!

There are 3 servings in the bag.

I cooked up 1 serving and we shared it

along with some tortilla chips and a 

small green salad.

It was yummy, but not nearly the amount

of food he used to eat.

Over all, he is doing REALLY well.

We are both so pleased with his progress

and daily prayers are now more 

thanksgiving than pleading for help.

It's a good transition.

Monday

 It's late and I'm tired...

but I wanted to do a quick update.

Rod and I got up and headed back

down to Wichita for a follow-up

appointment with the Trauma team.

They were very happy with his progress.

He continues to work with his little

blowing machine thingies....

(very technical terms...)

The one on the left you inhale and try to

raise the green thing as high as you can.

In the hospital he was lucky to get it past

the first line (500)

Now he is consistently hitting 2500

(where the green marker thing is...)

The one on the right you blow into 10

times, and make a little wheel flutter.

They were happy he was still doing it

and getting better.

They were also happy to see him using

a cane instead of a walker.

Told him he was looking at about 6 months

before his ribs would really be healed.

Every time you take a deep breath,

you kind of re-crack those ribs since

they are expanding - so it takes a LONG

time for them to fully heal.

But that's better than the 18 months

the spine doc said it would take for his

vertebrae to be totally healed.

In the meantime, he is supposed to keep

on walking daily. The best exercise

for him!

We are anxiously awaiting the delivery

of the new walking pad.

(January 12..... sheesh.)

And they worked with me with his

medicine schedules.

He can up his Tylenol.

He can lower his Gabapentin.

(or not... depends on his pain levels...)

I feel better knowing some of the

parameters and things to watch for.

Also suggested TWO Gas-X pills 

at every meal to help with the 

bubbles in his belly.

And... no need to see them again!

So, all-in-all a good visit.

After which, we ran over to the WalMart

and I bought some new rubber tips for

his cane. (They are too big, so will require

some finesse, but the guys are good at that.)

And... who knew... there's a Braums 

(our favorite burger joint) 

right across the street from WalMart!

If I had known that while we were living

at the hospital, I would have gotten

him a daily milkshake!!!

(Probably better I didn't know... lol.)

We grabbed a burger and shake to go

and hit the highway in order to be home

in time for me to start my class.

Back in the saddle.

And now?

I'm beat.

I'm going to go watch a little TV 

and then head off to bed.

HAPPY MONDAY!

Saturday Catch Up...

Yesterday was Sondra's birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Soni!

We had a great visit on the phone

and then Kyle came by and we

headed into Hays.

(Made a dump run first, but they

were closed... grrr.)

Anyhow.

Into Hays to Bomgaars to get a

bag of spent coffee grounds.

He puts them in the pig barn

to keep the smell down.

Then to Walmart for a bunch of

really random things like a biscuit

cutter for me and egg rings for Kyle.

A boot scraper for Kyle I had intended

to give him for Christmas.

A replacement TV remote,

and, most important, a new cushion

for Rod to sit on.

He's getting pretty uncomfortable

sitting in the recliner all day.

Home for a bowl of tomato soup

and watch a little

TV and then off to bed.

 Woke up this morning to a cold

morning, about 20 degrees and

a good layer of frost.

Rod slept until about 6:15 this

morning, which is always good.

But then once he got into his chair

he wasn't very comfortable.

I think his tailbone is sore from all

the sitting. We tried multiple 

combinations of pillow and pads

and other pillows....

eventually he had me put him back

to bed and lay him on his right side

with a wedge pillow behind him and

a pillow between his knees.

He was ok for about 20 minutes 

while I ran downtown for a second.

Got him back up and into his chair

and finally gave up and gave him

some extra pain meds.

And then I headed up to the farm.

It ended up being an absolutely 

GLORIOUS day!

65, sunny and only a tiny breeze.

The goal today was to get the

sliding glass door installed.

The door is a left hand slider (they all are)

so first we had to lay it down and

remove the sliding door part so we can

flip it upside down and make the door open

from the right hand instead.

(Kyle watched a video and said it was easy...)

We got it loaded onto the skidsteer because

even without the 2nd piece of glass,

it was HEAVY.

I was a little nervous but we had lots

of cardboard padding and it did ok.

Kyle got it all lined up and then

I got in the drivers seat and drove

it up to the hole so he could man-handle

it into its spot.

We were both a little worried, but then

all of a sudden it just kind of popped in.

(Prayer helps!)

He got all the top nails in and then I drove

the skid back over to the shop

(I figure if I drive it more often I will

be less nervous when he needs me to drive...)

He finished getting it all secured.

Needed to ladder to do the top sides...

Back over to the shop to get the door

part, it was just as easy to carry it,

and then he changed all the hardware

and we popped it right in.

Ta Da!

We have a sliding glass door!!!

Look how it opens everything up!

I love it!

It won't always let in that much light,

since we are putting a deck with a roof

there, so it will be a little more shaded,

but still. Light is light!

Then back home to get Rod.

It was such a perfect day, we suited him

all up and took him for a short walk.

We went down to the corner and back again.

TWICE.

That was plenty of exercise for today.

We'll do more everyday (weather permitting...)

I also ordered an inexpensive treadmill/walking

pad for those days when he can't get out.

But it won't get here until about the 14th.

And now... we are eating a breakfast

burrito for a LATE lunch and he'll

probably take a nap.

I might too!

Then I'm going to give him a haircut

and he's going to take a shower

so we can go to church tomorrow.

Happy Saturday!!!!