Saturday .......

   Hard to believe it's just a few weeks away from another new year. As they say, the older you get the faster the time flies by. If the political idiots of the world play there cards right they might just be able to destroy the world this month. Chemical weapons! It's all insane. Never mind.....not worth the time spent to think about it.
  T is working OT today. Was off yesterday. We messed with the horses some and just messed around the house. He went to the feed store so I wouldn't have to. I did my treadmill and just finished it for today. 2.1 miles in one hour.... I'm now resting my bones...lol

 5# apples

 finished ! 

 pumpkin finished!

  I get no respect! That's her tongue sticking out! 

  

    It's going to be a diamond day. Gonna take a nap now before it gets too late.   Oh, the pictures are my pies from Thanksgiving day.

Wednesday

  I think it's finally going to turn fall/winter. It's 38* right now and of course still dark outside. T is back to work this a.m.. the last couple of days were really nice. We had some ran night before last. I've been anxious to see if the roofing stuff worked. I know of one place that it did not. Insert very sad face here. Our bedroom still has a leak. Granted it did rain hard when the storm came through but it was supposed to work! Dang it! We got about 2" of rain though. Always need it for the grass. Maybe another layer like T thought in the first place but dang that stuff was $600.
  I had another birthday since I posted. Getting old ....
  Better get on the treadmill - will be daylight soon.
  Had a whole page written but lost it when I was going to add a picture. Oh well

It's all good.

Beautiful Thursday!

  It was so nice outside today. Shoot, has been nice for quite a spell. T has been off the last two days. We've spent some time taking the Escort back to the shop, broke down in the Jag at the auto parts store. T walked over to the shop and took back the Escort, we went home and got the pickup, took the Escort back to the shop and dropped it off. Drove home and T had already called for a wrecker. Dang it ! Raining and pouring......Oh well, hahaha you can't take it with you. Just thought I might buy Christmas presents this year but guess it's not in the cards... that's really okay, no one would know how to act if I gave presents.
  Went to Lee and Brenda's for lunch with Mike and Linda on Tuesday. Hope I didn't already write about it. We had quesadillas. Turkey I think. Sure were good. Had just the right amount of kick to them. A little pico de gallo (sp?) and sour cream on the side. Yummy! My spell check didn't know how to spell it . I was correct. lol
 We had a short visit and then Mike and Linda brought me back home and dropped me off. At the north end of S ,where the eagles always fly, eagles were sitting in the trees just hanging out. About 8-10 of them. How neat that was! I love seeing them no matter what they are doing. Not everyone gets to see them and not everyone that sees them actually appreciates it. Nice day all in all.
  I'm so loving this weather. Gonna be nice for days. They have said on the news that our winter is predicted to be colder and wetter during Dec Jan and Feb - glad it may wait another week or two.
  Not much else going on around here. It's been a diamond day and will be a nice evening. A little tv and/or working on family trees.
  Have a diamond day!

Last day of vacation....

...was Sunday. Tim offered to go for a drive. I took him up on that offer and we decided to make a round trip to Eureka and back. Hadn't done that all year. We used to do it quite often on the bike. Sunday we took the car. Was nice and sunny and about 55*! Pretty nice for mid fall. We dropped a couple of things off at Lee's and headed to Eureka. I was surprised that some of the shops were open. Back in the day you could walk the streets alone and window shop on a Sunday. Guess they had their Black Friday crap too. We kept going instead of stopping. didn't even bother going to the Crescent this time. That place has changed too from what I understand. It was still a wonderful drive . Our next stop was Ann's for a short visit. They were both sick with a virus that drs say can spread like wildfire! Didn't know that at that time. I sure hope we didn't catch it. We served ourselves some drinks so chances are pretty good that we didn't. Although it seems that Tim has caught a cold. Yuck. Poor guy is sneezing a lot.
  Back in the car to continue the short road trip. Only about 100 miles. We skipped Roaring River and stopped by my sister's place for a short visit. Hadn't been there in a month or so. The place is looking good. She was able to have mom Pat for Turkey day. She did well. No trouble taking her back to the home. I'm sure was a very long day for her. For sis too. I did dog nails while I was there. They are such good dogs to work with. All of them.
  Made it home after a stop at Pizza Hut. A salad and personal pan for me and rotini for him. Good stuff. T fed the horses and closed up the chickens etc. I still felt pretty good for a change. Yay for me. Chronic pain for 30 years is still hard to deal with sometimes.
  Have worked a little on my family story. Only 20 some pages so far.

  Here's one of the last photos of James O. 

I'm guessing since the other picture of him was around 1906 and was taken before he went to Oklahoma this was taken between 1906 and 1920. Aunt Jo always said that James O took off to Oklahoma to be with "that woman". Or "a woman" . The story on that end says he was living with his son Charles. How many other stories were left out or misunderstood? The more you hear, the stranger the family is. I guess not really strange. Just more of the same - dysfunctional all through the years . Just not "talking about it" like so many other families. lol 

 Funny, these guys look like brothers or even the same person but this James Samuel Rethford. Our other elusive ancestor. On momma's side. The one that also "ran off" with another woman. He probably did though. lol He deserted Ira's dad as a young boy and I believe started another family over in Wright county. Which is where they started out in Mo....

  Maybe it was just the times... or maybe they shared things like PTSD. They were both in their mid twenties when the war started.  James Samuel ran off just after 1860 while James O was in the 46th Mo Calvary during the war. In his case it was brothers against brother and father! Maybe as he got older he just wanted to be alone. We'll never know. 

  

  See how easily I get distracted? lol 

 It's that time of year! I'll be warm if it's the last thing I do hahahaha.... That wind is sooo cold. 

 Jeanne is still having trouble. Still giving her antibiotics and pain killer. I feel so sorry for her. She is still showing some improvement. Wish it was more. 

All the rest are fat and sassy. We still have hay and enough to last til the end of Jan so will have to get more some time between now and then....not too bad all things considered. 

  I put up a couple of quarts of turkey for later. Sandwiches and turkey and noodles. That's what I made for dinner. A medium pot of turkey and noodles. Was real good. Also baked two loaves of white bread yesterday. Today I'll bake a loaf of rye for Tim. 

 White bread from last year

Rye from last year. 

  Haven't taken pictures of yesterday's bread haha. I could make banana bread but think I will opt for banana pudding instead.  A small one for two. Tim is putting on weight since he quit smoking. I haven't shrunk his pants no matter what he says. haha

  Better get to the laundry...

  Gonna be a diamond day! Hope yours is too! 

   

Thanksgiving Day

    Each day this month people on fb have been posting what they are thankful for. There aren't enough days to list all the things I have been blessed with and are thankful for. The good Lord knows what I'm thankful for as he has supplied it all ...right down to my family and loved ones.
    I cooked our turkey yesterday and started the pies early this a.m.. on to the rolls now. Making crescents instead of my usual sweet rolls. I'll let you know how they come out. There will be pictures later as I always download those to the pc not the laptop...
  Got the dough rising now. T is out feeding and putting hay out for the horses. It's 58* and about 10:30 a.m....how great is that?! Got a good old fashioned western on the tube and relaxing.
  T got most of the roof done the last two days. Yay! All but a little section of the garage (it doesn't leak) I believe is what he said. I'll check the next time I go out haha..I never dreamed we'd get it done this late in the year due to the temp...what a relief.
  Early this a.m. (3) an apartment building caught on fire. Five people were killed. How horrible for that community and all the families involved. And awful for the emergency workers too - bad enough they have to work a holiday without facing that. Sixteen other people are now without a home. How sad life is sometimes.
  It is still a diamond day for me. We have everything we need and then some and I'm not hurting too bad. Hope the same for the rest of our families. The Spfd bunch is getting together but most of us down this way are spending the day quietly and peacefully. Well, almost peacefully. Sis may will have her hands full.
  Haven't heard from big brother today. I sent him a text a couple of days ago and haven't heard back. May call him later. I called sis earlier today but didn't hear back from her either. Maybe it's me. hahahahaha  We're done with dinner and supper. Sure was tasty, if I do say so myself.
  I checked the roof out front and out back. Sure is white! Ought to reflect that sun next summer and make the house easier to cool!
  Jeanne is looking good. At least her body condition is real good. She is having less pain with the bute paste and hope the antibiotics are working on the infection. No swelling at all. Walking somewhat easier too. Improvement is good.
  Enough rambling for the day. You all take care not to eat too much!

End of the day

   normally I don't even have the computer on this time of night. Tonight......well, we're on vacation and didn't get up until 6 this a.m....I went and picked up the little ones about noon and great-papa had Buck ready to ride when we got here. So, after a grilled cheese sandwich and a few chips we headed out for "pony rides" . I think they really like it. Sometimes it is hard to tell with ones that little. It might be better to use one of the shorter horses. Maybe Dick instead.
  Then we read books and played with toys etc. ate a couple more times and they were asleep by 6:15. Poor little things I forgot to give them a nap! I bet they are up by 5 a.m.! They are used to getting up really early. Lee gets up at 4 most mornings and I've heard they get up at the same time! They are really pretty good kids all in all. They forget sometimes what the rules are here but it's a long time in between visits. They've done really well with the kittens. They are figuring out how to play with them and how to treat them. That's very important in this house. lol
  I'm glad things are settling in for my sister in her new house. I can't imagine trying to re-train the dogs on how to come in quietly one at a time so you can clean their feet! I know she's not really doing that but it is funny to think about.
  Haven't talked to my brother in a few weeks but I'm sure he's doing okay. Working too hard in the cold and dreary north. Probably knee deep in snow already.
  I guess we'll be having dinner for two on Turkey day. Lee  is working ( I think I mentioned that before) so they will not be having a dinner and she's staying home to cook a late dinner for them. T said he'd rather stay home. I'm good with that. I do miss family dinners but can't be helped when the family is either gone or too far away from each other. Oh, I'm wondering if my sister is planning on taking mom Pat to her house for Thanksgiving day dinner. That would be a nice treat for her. Pat..not my sister. haha
  It's way-back time:    "and we caught one this big!"

First pony: Sugar

:

"The clown"- abt 1983

 First ride : Trogdon's horse - 1976 or 7

 
   Life is good and it's ended as a diamond day. It was a bad stone day for a couple of hours there but I got over it.
 

Good morning!

   Tim is off to work and two of the kittens are helping me write. Good grief! Why do I put myself through this?              'cause I love kitties.
  We had a good weekend while T was off. Got a few outside things done before the cold and rain came. It's 23* right now and a just a bit chilly when letting the dogs out or in. Guess fall is really here.
  T and I have decided that thrush isn't the problem. She just has an awful abscess. Could be caused by many different things including not enough foot care, shoes left on too long (can't be that), going barefoot (could be that)and on and on....either way as long as she continues to hang in there with us we'll keep trying to see her through her troubles.
  T says this will be his last year at camp. Not sure why but have my suspicions. Anyway he plans on going Wed through Sunday of this week. Time will tell.
  Haven't heard from sis in awhile. Guess no news is good news. Did chat with Jaybird for a few minutes yesterday morning.. he'd been having some sleep issues. Dadgummit, who doesn't these days?
  Got my mile in on the treadmill. Been doing a mile and 1/2 but today was a mile day to go along with the diamond day. Think I'll go back to bed now. Take a quick nap.
  Diamond days to everyone!