Sunday, March 1, 2009
The Suit, the snow Cat and a Cats help~
Snow
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Products Made in America
Swallow Lane Farm~
These folks have been around a long time. Even bought Jacob ewes from them awhile back. Not only do they raise their own sheep in WA, they also make their own yarn to make into blankets, Very nice blankets.
http://www.jacobsheep.com/fiberworks.htm
Fiber Mill~
I used these folks for a number of years while I was raising sheep, to clean and make my sheep's wool into Roving, that way I could just get on with the job of spinning. They also sell yarn from their own sheep.
http://www.stonehedgefibermill.com/
Looking for a beautiful woven Bedspread......
http://www.mhweavers.com/
Storage and baskets~
Need to store things,, check out these stylish baskets.
http://www.mountaintrailbaskets.com/
This one is from my old stompping grounds. Went to see their place when I lived in NH. Very nice quality. http://www.peterborobasket.com/
Seems like if one thing in the house dies...they all do. So during my search for a round laundry basket made in the usa.. I ran across this web site... in WA no less.
Dunbar Gardens~ Makes all kinds of usefull baskets.
http://www.dunbargardens.com/baskets.htm
Cookie sheets and baking pans
Made in the USA...
http://www.doughmakers.com/newmain.htm
American Made clothes....
http://www.unionlabel.com/
The Men of the house have a couple of American made Carhartt Jackets and pants...and all I can say is...they are well made and hold up very well!
Flash lights
Maglite
http://www.maglite.com/Mag_commitment.asp
Soap and Shampoo
Janson's soap and shampoos are made in the USA. I use both. Jasons makes the only shampoo my body doesn't react too.
http://www.jason-natural.com/products/satin_soap.php
http://www.drbronner.com/ Dr. Bronner's soap is made in USA.
These folks make a nice Lobster boat, along with other models.
http://www.mainewoodenboatbuilding.com
Tools~
Here is a good write up on how to buy good quality tools.
http://www.countrysidemag.com/issues/83/83-1/Countryside_Staff.html
Made in the USA
http://www.longneckertools.com/
Have one tool from these folks.. is made in the USA but not sure where they get their stock from.
https://www.kleinconnection.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/OnlineCatalog_10001_10001_-1
If you would like some furniture that is American made, every part made out of real wood, grown in the US, family made.. look no farther than..
http://www.borkholder.com/furn/main3.htm
I have 4 of their pieces of large furniture and can say with great confidence that the quality and workmanship is out standing. Have had them for 8 years now..if I remember correctly. Just bought the Pine as that is what we could afford.
Food gift baskets with everything made in Oregon.
http://www.madeinoregon.com/
Monday, February 16, 2009
Valentine Day ~ to the coast we went~
So we had a very nice picnic.. in the Van, while it was pouring rain out. But that is the Coastal NW for you.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
DH and I went for a short walk yesterday
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Addiction!
Ha!! Got you to look. VBG .... My DS found the red laser light cat toy he had given Heidi as one of her Yule gifts many years ago. He decided to dig said toy out, for Sadie and Mia.
Needless to say,, our cats are now Addicted.... to the "Red Dot"!! Many times a day, they lead us over by any means possible, to where the Red Dot lives, so they can get us to play. Yes, our cats are spoiled but in a good way.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
No added salt Split pea soup
This is another all day meal, taking 5 to 8 hours depending on wither your water is hard or soft.
I start with "PA Hudson River Valley Split Pea Soup Mix ".
I change what goes in this soup a little to suit my dietary needs.
Add these things to the basic mix~
1 -1/2 cups of finely copped Organically grown sweet carrots
3/4 cup of finely copped Celery
2 very fresh right off the plant Sage Leaves.
I don't use Bay leaves because I dislike the flavor. Also do not add salt or any Ham. Tastes just fine without the ham or added salt in the soup.
Clean peas, then place in thick walled stock pot or slow cooker.
Put the Veggies on top, then the herbs that come with this mix but putting 2 tablespoons of the herb mix off to the side. Then I put in my Sage leaves.
Very carefully pour in salt free water, making sure not to disturb the layers. Cook on low heat and you can stir after a couple of hours.
About 1 hour before the soup is ready, put the 2 Tablespoons of herb mix you set to the side earlier, into the soup.
Cook 5 to 8 hours until done.
Flavor is out standing and this Pea Soups does very well served in a Bread bowl. Wishing now, I too photos of that.
While the He-Men of the house was out working in the Woods, I started another batch of Chili this morning. This time I am measuring out the ingredients so I can post it here. Normally I don't measure a thing because I am so used to making this.
Should be able to post the Chili recipe soon.
Friday, February 6, 2009
A disease called Meniere's
(Looking back now that I know much more about Menieres, I was having symptoms well before I was 17 years old.)
....now in my mid 40's and still have it. In both ears/Bilateral, though it is much worse in my right ear. So I have been living with this disease for 28 years now.
Over the years the attacks would come and go but the attacks were livable. Twenty Doc's later and in my mid 20's I was diagnosed with Menieres, By the first specialist Doc that knew what he was doing.
Almost Funny how most Doc's before that one..thought I was on drugs..even though the blood test showed no drugs in my system..or I was some how making it up. I am not one to make things up..in fact.. I will only go to a Doc or the ER if I have no choice. Like breaking my spine and parts of my hips a couple of years ago....
In my 30's was having some trouble was tested again by a specialist that knew what Menieres is.. lets just say I am not going through that testing again.. I know what I have. But it was now confirmed twice by two different specialists that I did indeed have Menieres.
They put me on what was then a low salt Diet. Now they call it a Medium salt diet. Attacks continued off and on.
Last year.. the attack was so severe I landed in the ER. Given Meclizine and told to see my Normal Doc. She told me to go to 1000mg or less salt in my diet. Use the Meclizine as needed. As you all know...that means making all your food because store bought stuff just has too much salt...including organic frozen Veggies.
Can now only sleep on my left and while this attack as lessen, it hasn't really gone away, like it has in the past. Right ear is now deaf in the low to mid tones...what high tone that is left, sounds like Darth Vader underwater with a gender issue. Funny.....almost. Can tell you that last major attack, very violent...has shaken me more than I would like to admit. If it is this bad now.... I don't even want to think about the next time. I can't have the surgery or other options because I have Menieres in both ears. Only diet and Meclizine is making life livable....so far.
If you want to find out what it is like to live with Menieres..this is a great forum and below that are some links.
http://www.menieres.org/forum/index.php
http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/balance/meniere.asp
http://www.american-hearing.org/disorders/menieres/menieres.html
Here is a moving letter written by someone with Menieres
Before you Judge me ~~~~ For those that have menieres.
Origin: http://oto.wustl.edu/men/mn1.htm
Author now known... Thank you Tina McDonald! Your letter has helped many, many Meniere's suffers.
Life with Meniere's Disease : Before you judge me on one of my good days, you need to understand what one of my bad days is like.Tinnitus - imagine having a headache caused by a fire alarm ringing or a bee buzzing in your ear continually for a long period of time. You can't hear anything but that fire alarm or bee - It drowns everything else out.Vertigo - Now imagine yourself as really drunk or with the flu at the same time as the fire alarm is going off. Now imagine that with these two things, you'd be dumb enough to get on one of the super roller coasters that does loop-de-loops or the amusement park rides that spin in two different directions at the same time. I'm not that dumb, but unfortunately I have no choice in feeling these sensations.During one of these vertigo attacks that can last from several minutes to several hours if not days. I can't keep food or water down, I can't walk, and in order to get out of bed to go to the bathroom, I have to crawl like a baby on my hands and knees. The movement makes me so ill, if I'm able to crawl back to bed, I'm covered in sweat from exhaustion. Otherwise, I keep a pillow and a blanket at the bottom of a linen closet in the bathroom so that I can pass out lying across the bathroom floor. I end up sleeping for days after one of these attacks, only getting out of bed to go to the bathroom or to get something to drink, if I think I can keep it down. I have to call my family to see what day it is when I wake up. That is, if I can hear.You see, this disease while playing havoc with your balance and equilibrium, also reeks havoc with your hearing. It wouldn't be so bad if the hearing loss was constant and predictable. But no, one day I can hear conversation fairly OK, and the next I can be virtually deaf, then the next day I can hear again. The hearing loss can fluctuate, but is usually progressive, and many with the disease end up severely hard-of-hearing or deaf.Even on a daily basis, your mind is so confused by the signals its getting from your ears that your balance sucks. You run into things constantly because you can't balance well enough to avoid walking into things, or your mind is telling you the object is a couple of inches from where it really is. I don't know whether to laugh or cry when someone teases me about being such a klutz. I could make the Keystone Cops look graceful.I also have days that my coordination just doesn't seem to be together. I'm carrying something, and all of the sudden I drop it because my brain seems confused as to whether my hand is really attached to my body. I sometimes miss a step and fall because of the feeling that my legs are not quite part of me and I have to focus on them to realize they are there. Apparently this happens because the part of your brain that recognizes parts of your body as belonging to you is the parietal brain lobe and it sits right above your ear, so if the nerves around your ear are inflamed, it can press on this part of the brain, or send the wrong signals to it (I'm not quite sure which), and you can lose coordination.Ironically, the few high frequencies I don't seem to have a hearing loss in can sound extremely loud, unbearably so. When a baby cries, an alarm goes off, or a microphone gives off feedback, I'd be willing to climb up a wall to get away if I thought I could make it. This symptom is called recruitment.The disease also plays tricks on your vision. For some strange reason, the nerve that goes from your inner ear to your brain also controls some of your eye movement. Your eyes can twitch or bounce constantly, making focusing on objects, much less print, extremely difficult at times. Your eyes tend not to be able to "track" movement at the same speed, giving you double vision, and a bad headache.You can get confused easily and your memory and concentration aren't reliable. It's what some people with the disease refer to as "brain fog". Many of them originally were afraid that they may have a brain tumor or Alzheimer's because it can sometimes gets so bad. Finally they find either a doctor whose very knowledgeable regarding the symptoms, or they happen to ask someone else with the disease, and find that this too is a symptom of this blasted disease.Now try to imagine living with this disease never knowing when one of these periods of tinnitus, vertigo, hearing loss, double vision, lack of coordination, recruitment, disequilibrium, or "brain fog" is going to hit, or how bad it will be. At least with being drunk or riding an amusement park ride, you know what's causing it, and you can make the choice not to do it again. With this disease, there's very little warning if any for these attacks, you don't know what's causing it, and there's no cure - only devices, surgeries, and some medications that can somewhat help alleviate the symptoms. And some of the surgeries are so radical, you think they came from a horror movie about a mad doctor. My ENT surgeon won't even perform any more surgery on my left side, since I have the disease in both ears. He's concerned about what would happen if my right side became worse than what my left side is now.Understandably, anxiety and depression seem to go hand-in-hand with Meniere's for many sufferers. We often ask how much worse can this disease get? For some strange reason, doctors aren't very willing to give out worst case scenarios.Now decide if you think I'd be able to do the same things you do on as punctual and regular of a schedule. For me, there's no way. I'm being up front about my limitations. I try the best I can at living up to my full potential. Could if you were in my shoes? They think now that Van Gogh suffered from this disease, and he cut off his own ear trying to escape it.Yet on my not-so-bad days I may look like a totally healthy, able-bodied person. You ask me "why can't you bend down - pick it up - lift it - drive - get a job - walk without a cane" Its because I know these things can either bring on an attack - I couldn't do them on a regular schedule because of the symptoms - or if I did do them, I could put myself and others in jeopardy if I should have an attack. You have to realize that with my friendship, love, dedication, and loyalty comes the fact that I can't decide when I'm going to have a bad day, and the more stress I'm under, the more likely I will have a bad day.
So, please don't judge me unless you've been in my shoes."
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
This and That....again....
Of course you can see how thrilled DS was about Dyfra blocking the door. LOL
When I came back from my ride yesterday, this is where I found Mia waiting. She knows where I put the halters and I guess she figured that was the best place to lay down, to make sure I paid attention to her when I got back in. Smart kitten!
Sign Language ~
I found this site because I basically can't hear any thing out of my right side. And I don't hear normally with my good side in crowds or any kind of back ground noise. Thought it would be a good idea to learn some sign langauge but I have a hard time learning from drawing of hands in a book. This site is 100% better than that....easy to boot!
Easy signs for "I have a question", "Thank you", "excuse or pardon me".... am learning some things out of their General
section.
So if you know of anyone hearing impaired or having a hard time hearing in crowds...this is something wonderful to learn.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Now I know why handmade rolls and buns are treats~
The Cats~
*
Nari ended up with a one way ticket to the large shed, as her Territorial aggression and pray drive got the best of her one to many times. IE drawing blood in the other cats. We tried all the tried and true methods to get her to tone it down,,just did not work. Vet said, some cats just get like that and they are better off without other cats around. Now she is an outside only cat and loving it!
She has the largest airline approved animal carrier in the large shed, which has her post, bed, outdoor heating pad, food, water, litterbox and she is shut in at night so nothing can harm her. But during the day,, she loves to hunt mice and birds. The change in her is wonderful.. she is now happy, friendly and just over all doing better being able to hunt any time she wants. Another plus is she can't harm the other indoor cats any more.
A photo capture of Mia I took earlier today. She has some strange eyes.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
More snow and seed packages ~
And of course my Veggie seed packages came in, for this up and coming growing season. Is hard to wait for spring to arrive!! Feel like a child at Christmas time!
Trying some new varieties of Veggies this time around.
I do however, need to find some place to buy well made but cheap, long 2 tube grow light fixtures. Some of these seeds need to be started early indoors and with our lack of sun, they will need the grow lights.
So if anyone knows of such lights for sale, please let me know.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
This Weekend ~
After that lovely... almost month long winter storm with all that snow damage done to the trees, it is time to clean up the aftermath. DH with our small chain saw.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Good Books~
I tend to save my favorite books to read again.
Anne McCaffery writes a good books and her "Freedom" series and "Pern" series are excellent reads. The words flow easily and her writing is clear and you can just about see her worlds in your head.
I really enjoy the books Anne McCaffery has written on her own. The books she has a co-author with, I have not liked nearly as much.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Sad day
Also found a home for all my d'Uccle chickens, they will be picked up this monday.
*
I will however be keeping my horses, have had them a very long time and have a lot of training and heart strings attached to them. They are set up with food, wormers, vaccines are done for a years time, so they are good to go. We will also be keeping our cats.
Is not easy.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Fetch!
So you most likely think a kitten or cat would never play fetch? Well, here is Mia to show you that it can be done. She will fetch as long as you are willing to throw her toys.
One video is just normal Fetch with her Mouse head. And the other video is the other favorite fetch technique, fetch with some air! She also loves to fetch paper airplanes.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
How the new Well house came to be~
We have around 3" of crusty ice around the place, and the streets are quite the skating rink. People who live with this every winter would just laugh at how pathetic the drivers are.... 4WD Subarus, with chains, doing 10 MPH on clear dry pavement. Piles of broken chains, frozen to the free way. Other wonder drivers with their chains thrashing the wheel wells of their cars......... We're supposed to get another weather front through the area tomorrow, and the weather is predicted to crawl just above freezing for that event. Lovely. Can you say "Freezing Rain"? I knew you could.
The last two week's projects were to prepare for this blast of cold (which hit on this last weekend). I started out Saturday (6 Dec) by walking out to my pump house to turn on the thermostatically controlled light bulb, and add some bleach to the well at roughly 10 AM. No big deal, pull off the cover, swap out the old bulb for a new one, pull a bolt from the well housing, and pour some bleach through a funnel into the hole. An hour, tops.
Except, when I grabbed the roof of the pump house enclosure, it fell apart in my hands. Particle board. Exposed to rain. Tissue paper. No roof. Not really any walls to mention, either, as the box that had been placed over the well sat on bare earth, and the moisture had dissolved the lower edges of the side walls as well. (This is what happens, when the parties working on stuff have no direct stake in the matter… shoddy workmanship.)
Had to tip the whole thing over, and examine what was left, and what I could do about it before the predicted rains and snow arrived that evening. Fortunately, I discovered the well had in fact been built with a proper cinderblock casing, that goes down into the ground at least four courses.
I found this out by bailing out the opening with a coffee can, laying on my belly….. Someone had crashed into the well housing at some undetermined point in the past, and broken the cinderblock. That allowed the mice to move in, and the gophers. They had been using the well housing as their ‘Fortress of Solitude’, for a very long time. The entire interior of the well casing was filled with finely tilled earth…. This is where the term ‘tilth’ comes from. (I think that translates to rat droppings mixed with dirt. Smelly stuff.) More than 50 lbs of this ‘tilth’ were removed by hand. Tilth may be good for plants…… it’s really filth, by another name.
Once I had the hole excavated and a packed 6” thick gravel floor in place, I could make a wild guess as to what materials were needed to construct a new well housing, and make the mad dash to town to buy supplies and set to work. Of course, this took well over 2 hours to arrive at this point………
I decided I had to patch the cinderblock, then build a structure on that cinderblock so it would not rot in the future. That meant I needed concrete, pressure treated lumber, pressure treated plywood, roofing materials, some cinderblocks, all the various screws and nails, etc……..
Home Depot, here we come. Round trip 10 miles into town, shopping and returning took two more hours…. The light is starting to go, and the rains are still coming……… Next thing you know, I have the van parked with the headlights shining into the hole, and I have the Echo parked at right angles to that, with it’s lights shining in there, too.
5 hours later, I have a watertight, weather proof ½ half box (think right triangle, with the sloped face being the ‘roof’, with shingles. The holes are all sealed, and the next day I got to add 2” thick Styrofoam sheathing for insulation.
The bleach I added to the well? I got a little over zealous with that…….. took almost a week before you could not taste the bleach any more. But no more tilth. R
Glow in the dark minis and ~~
Took this photo early in the morning. You can see the horses have finally packed the snow down in areas making it easier for them to walk.
The new mini horse blankets finally arrived. Due to the bad weather and snow up in the hill roads, UPS could not deliver these for over a week. Poor minis were shivering in this weather, even in their old horse clothes. These new bright blankets make all the difference in the world. Bright colors are great to let hunters know these wee creatures are not deer.
Looking out to the round pen. Still have a bit of snow as you can see.
Please say I'm not the only one~~~
So far, this is what I hope to grow in my garden this spring. Am trying some long storing onions and carrots this year, along with some new varities.
Blushed Butter Cos Lettuce
Canoe Peas Cheddar Cauliflower - Dakota Peas - Giambo Squash - Green Slam Cucumbers - Honey Bear Squash - Kentucky Wonder Bean - Lil' Loupe Melon - Merida Carrots - Onion Plants-Copra - Onion Plants-Mars - Plant-Beaverlodge 6808 Slicer Tomato - Ships last half of April Plant-Golden Star Pepper - Ships last half of April Plant-Legend Tomato - Ships last half of April Plant-Northstar Pepper - Ships last half of April Plant-Sweet Million Tomato - Ships last half of April Renegade Bean - Roma II Bean - Small Sugar Pumpkin- Spaulding Spinach - Sugar Dots Corn - Waltham Butternut Squash - Yukon Gold Potatoes- Atomic Red carrot - Chinese Red Noodle Bean - Delicata winter squash - Kabocha winter squash
Friday, January 2, 2009
Nari........... must......... have.....
How to keep a cat out of trouble for hours upon hours? Throw a little bird seed just out side the door and you have "Bird TV" just for cats!
Is there no end?!!
Sigh ~~~~
The roads in the low lands are a solid sheet of ice. DH had to go to work today as we can't afford him taking any more time off.
That last snow storm, I was told by the neighbors, (since they were able to check, when I could not), was 4' deep...not counting the snow drifts! Last time there has been snow like this in this area, was 19 years ago.
No wonder the horses, donkey and alpaca's were not happy and refused to go any where that the snow wasn't packed down.
Of course this kind of weather has made me want to garden, so I have bought the Veggie seeds for the spring already. VBG