I’m Doggin’

 

Under the watchful eye of the new residents, Logi and Asti continue to “cedar” the barn! I got to burn the pile of ends and pieces yesterday! I try to be useful but am not worth much♥️

My cousin Frankie Powell trains cow dogs. They have trials and he won a category with this dog. My Daddy was a dog man too. We always had what he called an ‘old time Shepard’.  The dog had a collie look but no long nose. More like an Austrian Shepard. Old Colonel was more yellow than black. Dad traded him for a work team of horses and a wagon! (Per Sister Patsy). Dad’s dogs would go get the cows and bring them to the barn lot. They would cut a cow or bull out of the head! They killed snakes by grabbing and slinging them. You better get out of the way‼️ 

Truck Days

My sister in law Barbara fell and broke her femur. She’s 83 I think. She lives with my niece. I was afraid of the outcome, but she is determined and strong. She’ll be back home soon.

Logan and Astrid sold his truck, a blue diesel Ram. He got that ride at 16 and he loved it. They have a camper and the old truck often had issues. They couldn’t go camping ⛺️ too far away. So this is a big rig that will pull a load. Logi brought it over to show me. A cold rain was falling or I’d had him drive me around in it. They worked on the barn yesterday afternoon.

 

New Path

Sigrid is on a new path. This week she was accepted to pharmacy school at UAMS. I’m beyond proud. Wish I could go with her and be her maid. I could fix her supper, wash her clothes, rub her sore feet!

Her friends from High School celebrated with her by eating out. They created a pill cake. 

 

Bloom

When I saw the little pixie flower, 'Bloom where you're planted' occurred to me. I discovered that Saint Francis de Sales, who served as the Bishop of Geneva from 1567-1622, is credited with the quote. Mary Engelbreit's artwork added to its later popularity. Image below is by Mary.

Yesterday, I cleaned on a fence row. I cut brush and briars and picked up dead limb. I have a big pile to burn. It was 71 degrees. Nice to be in the sunshine. I spied this hairy moss. It’s called haircap moss, and is a Polytrichum. The scientific name is derived from the Ancient Greek words polys, meaning "many", and thrix, meaning "hair". This name was used in ancient times to refer to plants with fine, hairlike parts, including mosses! Isn’t just beautiful 💚

Whiskey loves basking in the sun. Astrid joined him and took a selfie with her pal.

 

Creating Again

Laura and my Grand Girls took another class—ceramics. This is Laura’s project.  She called it a berry bowl.

Astrid painted the plate and Ingrid’s is the mug with the L on it.

Sigrid painted this cup for her friend Marvin. He likes coffee. Sigrid went to Chemistry Club. They play trivia and about 20 attended. She won! Wow, that’ll boost her ego. She received a gift card for coffee. 

Eggs

 Astrid painted pretty eggs for Easter. They are wooden. 

My sister had a flat tire going home and then a problem with the donut. She had to call AAA. I hope Fleta’s son will help her get it fixed. Always something.

Egypt

Laura shared the above picture. Her friend’s son sent it. He’s in Egypt. You can see a tiny beast. It’s a camel. 🐫 I am easily amazed.

Laura created the little totes for her girls for Easter plus a pretty towel. I’m thinking the one with pink is Ingrid’s. She loves pink.

Helen headed home at 7:30 AM. She is carrying eggs. The wind is strong. She may end up in Kansas like Dorothy.  

 

Sister’s Here

Ran across this older picture of Siggie holding a starfish at the beach. I think she’s brave just to hold it. Starfish aren’t fish.  They have no brain or blood. They can grow back lost arms. They eat mussels, clam, oysters; they’re mostly carnivores. They have little suction cup feet structures that capture their food. Their stomache comes out of them to nibble. They can’t live in fresh water.

There is a parable about a starfish. A child walks along a beach after a terrible storm  that washed up thousands of starfish. The child is throwing starfish back into the water, when someone states the child  cannot save them all, cannot really make a difference. The child replied—I made a difference to that one. Al Harpenau once gave me a starfish pin to remind me a teacher may not be able to a make a difference to all…but even to one will make a difference.

More early flowers bloom.   Helen is here with me. The news had me down and I welcome a change in my everyday existence.  It’s so nice to have a sister who is also a friend.

 

Cedar Lined

Astrid and Logan worked on the stable. Their stalls will be cedar lined. The door to the big storage will slide open. They added a walk gate and restretched the wire tight. Logan braced the posts by the gate. It smells heavenly.  That’s tar paper behind the wood. The little windows have shutters. Doesn’t it look great. Built by two kids. I get to pick up end pieces today. Helen is coming and will take some home to go around her tomatoes.

I hope the Lord blesses you today and you get to uplift someonebwho is feeling down or is hurting!

 

Latest Blanket

Finished another baby set. This one is acrylic soft yarn. I just make up most of my patterns. I don’t follow recipes when I cook either. I add something to the bowl or decide to omit an item. 🤭

Laura took this one for someone at her school. I’ve started another for soon it’ll be too hot to work on these.

 

Dead on my Feet

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Thursday I got a new pair of walking shoes. I may buy cheap clothing but I want good shoes. These are Brooks Glycerin shoes. I wanted a spring color. I have a big foot, size 9 1/2. Fleta wore a 71/2 or 8 growing up and Helen smaller than that. Mom bought me 8 1/2. We often wore those off brand keds. Mine would split behind my toes. They probably were not wide enough. As we age, most folks have to have bigger shoes. But age 50, nearly half of the fatty padding on the soles of your feet is lost causing you to need a shoe that's bigger than what you wore in your 20s. It’s partly because of weight gain that puts greater pressure on your feet, and because your ligaments and tendons have lost some of their elasticity. If you've given birth, your shoe size may increase. Hormones  released during pregnancy cause ligaments to relax. Menopause affects  foot health. Unless countered by medications or exercise, the loss of estrogen can lead to lower bone density, resulting in osteoporosis raising the risk of stress fractures. Stress fractures can worsen and cause the bones to shift out of place. Woe to the me!

Sunset last evening 

Last evening between Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune I walked to get my mail. It’s a half mile there and back. I like to walk during the news as it’s a horror story every night. I don’t turn my tv off or I’ll forget to turn it on. I mute the sound during the news if I don’t go get my mail. 

Larry passed five years ago on leap year February 29. I guess it would be today. It seems long ago but also like yesterday. Part of me died too. I’ll never be the same.