My Final Post

 

It saddens me to no end to write this last post.  My illness has not abated, no matter what the Doctor’s try.  I have been on so many different medicines that I have lost count.  Right now I am on 10, and none of them are working.  I am headed back to the Doctor’s today.  Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers.

We have put a bid on a small mobile home, 2 beds, and 2 baths.  The offer was accepted, and we closed on it yesterday.  We are selling the truck and RV.  Together, we are asking $35,000.  Separately, we are asking $22,000 for the truck, and $16,000 for the RV.  I have had quite a few nibbles, and hope to sell them soon.

I know a lot of you are wondering about Rusty, and on that end there is very good news.  His cancer fell off about a week after the last time I posted,  and the Doctor tells us there is very little chance it will ever return.  He is his little wild self and still keeping us hoping.

I will certainly miss all of the people we have met along the way, and I know there will be a few of you that I will stay in touch with, but for right now I have to put my health first.

We loved the time we traveled and thank God we had the opportunity to do it.  I love you all, and please stay safe out there.  If you are ever in the Tell City, Indiana area, give us a call.

Rusty News

 

Not a whole lot has changed for me.  They did start me on a drug that I have to take before each meal and at bedtime.  It will take a good 2 weeks to see if this treatment will work for me.  My  family doctor and the specialist have conferred and concurred that this is probably what is wrong with me.  They haven’t completely decided  that it is not pancreatitis, but think it probably is a bad case of IBS.  He also put me on an anxiety medicine, so now I play the waiting game to see if it will work.

 

We took Rusty back to see the Vet. yesterday, and he didn’t like the progress the first shot of Cancer-killing medicine was making.  He had to actually knock Rusty out then put several shots in and around the area on his nose.  It already looks as if it is dying.  The Vet. expects it will just fall off, but if it hasn’t within a week we will have to take him back.  He also clipped his nails while he was out.  He fore-warned us that when he started to come to, he would do a lot of moaning and groaning, but I have never heard this kind of noise coming from a dog before.  It was like a very eerie keening.  We were only home for about an hour, and he was trying to crawl across the floor.  He was finally able to get to his feet, and I’ll be darned if he didn’t go right straight to his food and water bowl and start eating and drinking.

The doctor had told us he would probably sleep for 5 or 6 hours, but not our little bundle of energy.  None of this seems to be bothering his eating or drinking habits, and he is still ready for any walks we decide to give him.

This is just a note to keep you informed about  Rusty. We haven’t really been doing anything since I became ill, and we still are undecided about whether or not we will be doing more traveling.

Want to give a great big welcome to my 2 new followers.  The first is HoboJoe If you have a blog, please send me the address and I will post it here.  The second is Shirley.  She has a really great blog.  Check it out.

Stay safe.      

Leaves Are Falling, And So Are My Spirits

 

I don’t have a whole lot of news to report.  I did see the Specialist on the 26th, but he wants a chance to study my records from my hospital stays, and he wants a chance to more thoroughly read all of the Doctor’s notes.  His educated guess is that it may be IBS, a functional bowel syndrome, or non-ulcer dyspepsia. He has suggested trying a couple of different medications on me, but wishes to wait until he gets all information read.  He also made strong suggestions about stress and anxiety, which he feels brings these conditions on. I know since Donnie’s strokes I have had to do all the driving, and at times this has been very stressful.  Also taking care of someone you love ,and watching them die right before your eyes, has been my hardest challenge in my life.

We did get our remodeling finished, and I have a couple of pictures to share with you.  We also replaced our hide-a-bed couch for a double reclining couch, and we love it.  We also had our dinning chairs and stools recovered.  I had the seat part of all of these covered in a very heavy clear plastic.  We are old, and we dribble, so hope this takes care of being able to wipe them down with no damage to the material.  Some of you may think this is a bit fanatical, but it works for us.  The floor is so much easier for us to take care of.  We just run a swiffer over it every day to stay ahead of our Rusty’s fur. I also  bought a corner desk, which gives us a little more room.

I also would like to welcome my newest followers, and apologize for taking so long to do it.  The first are Carolyn, Pamela, and Ralph.  I couldn’t find sites for you, so please, if you have one, share it with me.  The next is Gail, and then Wendy.  I have not felt like reading blogs for a while, but as soon as possible I will check these two out.

I hate that my blog has turned into a health blog, but wanted to share with you that our hearts have been broken.  Our little Rusty has cancer on his face.  We have been taking him to the vet, and he is doing what he can, but Rusty will probably need surgery.  It is on his face, very close to his nostrils.  So far it hasn’t affected his eating or drinking.  He still is the craziest, wound-up dog he has always been.  I would love to hear from any of you that may have gone through any thing like this with your dog.

Hope all of you have a great fall, and we are still undecided about our future travel plans.  It will all depend on what my Doctors do about this illness.

Stay safe out there.  :)

Recuperating

 

I am sorry I haven’t written for a while, but I just got out of the hospital late Monday evening.  For over a month now I have had severe diarrhea and nausea.   I completely lost my appetite, and was unable to sleep.  I was first admitted on the 14th of Aug. and released on the  15th, with the diagnosis of diverticulitis, but just kept getting worse, so , was admitted back in on Tuesday.  I then was diagnosed with pancreatitis.   I was released again on Monday, but nothing has really changed.  I am still having severe diarrhea and nausea.  They are giving me meds. for those 2 symptoms, but I still can only eat very little and have lost about 9 lbs.  I had an upper-GI test before leaving the hospital, but they can’t do a colonoscopy till my body settles back down and is more normal.  After they do the colonoscopy, if nothing is found, the Doctor will then send me to a Gastro specialist.  My family Doctor is in hopes they will do  a scope on my pancreas to see if there is some kind of blockage.

We did get our remodeling done, but don’t really feel like posting any pictures.  I also noticed I have several new followers and want to acknowledge them the way I usually do, and I promise I will as soon as I can be on here long enough to hunt up address’s for their blogs and so forth. Welcome to all, and am sorry this post is just about illness instead of something else.

Thanks to everyone for their concerns, and would appreciate all prayers.  I promise to write more as soon as I feel up to the task.  I miss you all very much and look forward to catching up on all my blogging friends.   

Working

 

Just wanted to let you all know that I won’t be posting for a few weeks.  We have decided to do a little switching around while we have everything all torn up.  Will tell you all about it when we get it finished.  I won’t have time to read blogs either, but I will get caught up when all work is completed.  Have a great summer and I will talk to you in a few weeks. :)

Getting Started

 

My Doctor’s office called on Friday evening and moved my appointment up from the 12th to the 25th.  We were going to wait till after the 12th to get started on the flooring, but now have decided to go ahead with it.  We know it is going to be a long, drawn out process, but I think we are up for it.

My grand daughter, Chelsi came over on Friday evening & gave me a crash course in Wii.  I now know how to turn it on, turn it off, and how to load the games.  We also got it online, and we loaded some pictures to the photo part of the Wii.  We also bowled a few games, and I played golf with it yesterday.  Please don’t ask for a score, because it is very embarrassing, to say the least.  At least I do know how to play a couple of games and it doesn’t seem so intimidating now.

Chelsi crashed on the couch Friday night and I got a couple of pictures of her gracefully sleeping till noon.  How can they sleep so many hours?  Not long after she got up and had breakfast, she got a call from her Uncle Quinton to go fishing, so off she went.  She has loved to fish since she was old enough to hold a pole, and she catches a lot when she goes.  Thanks again, Chelsi for all your help.

My son, Jon also took our truck and detailed it for us.  He was really upset with us because there were so many bugs on the front of it.  He says they destroy paint and chrome.  Something about the acid in them.  He did a great job, and yes we will try to do better about knocking the bug guts off of it after each trip.  According to him, our windshield was a mess too.  It looks really good now, but I am not holding out much hope that it will stay that way. It is not one of our top priorities.  We do keep the maintenance up on the engine and transmission and so on, but keeping it spotless is almost impossible.

Here is Longdog2’s site.  She did get back to me with an address, and corrected her dashboard so it could be found. I would also like to welcome new follower Phyllis.  Her and her husband, Leonard are full-timers.  She is from New Jersey, and he is from Louisiana.  Check them out.  She writes a very interesting blog. Also welcome to Michael. He is trying to figure out the full-timing life style.  He is a very talented writer and you won’t be sorry you checked him out.

My best Buddy(Willie), and Herbie(my little brother and her husband), brought me a very large zucchini and a head of cabbage.  I love cooked cabbage so fixed it the next evening for part of our supper.  Thursday I tackled the zucchini, and made six small loaves of bread, and a chocolate cake that she gave me the recipe for.  It is all good, and we will be eating on the bread for a couple of weeks.  It freezes very well, so can be kept that way.  Thanks again guys!!

Rusty has been jumping this same poor, little rabbit ever since we moved to this spot.  All I can say is he must enjoy it, or he would find a different spot in the mornings.

 

I know that isn’t a very good picture, but the little sh-t won’t sit still long enough for a good picture.  I think he has figured out that Rusty can’t get him, and is just teasing Rusty.

We got lots of rain again on Wednesday or Thursday.  This is hard to understand.  The west is begging for rain, and we are getting it by the buckets full.

Later… :)

Nothing Going On

 

We left early Thursday morning for Colorado Springs, Colorado.  We made it as far as Junction City, Kansas on the first day.  That was around 600 miles, and almost too far for us.  We had to make several stops for Rusty, and for ourselves.  We stayed at the Motel6 there and were very satisfied with the room and our treatment.  They even gave us a senior discount.  Every little bit helps.

We made it to Colorado Springs late in the afternoon on the first, and Jay, my stepson,  had also just pulled in from Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

It was so good to see all of the kids.  Was I ever surprised when I got out of the truck and hugged my grand son, Jacob.  He is now taller than Grandma.  12 years old and already taller than me.

Sorry, I didn’t get one single picture this trip.  We just played games, ate a lot, and in general, just had a lot of family fun.

Colorado, and most of the western states, are under a burn ban, so, we didn’t even get to have very many fireworks.  Jacob loves them and we did have a few small ones that could be set off in the street, and were very safe.  We did see lots of them being shot up in the air, which was really dangerous.  Colorado Springs is such a beautiful city, I would hate to see part of it destroyed by fire.

We started back on the 4th and made it home yesterday about 6pm. 

I did do a bit of shopping while out there.  Seems like Jennifer, my stepdaughter,  and I can always do that together, and she always knows where the good buys are.  Now some of you are going to think this is very childish, but I bought a Wii.  I got a very good deal on it, and have wanted one for a long time. I got the Wii, 3 games, and the four paddles you need to play the games, all for around $200.00.  The kids all talked like this was a steal.  There is so much I don’t know about it yet, but Chelsi and Mariah are coming over today to help me figure it out.  I was told that once you get it set up you can leave it hooked up and just switch from Wii to TV, so this is what I will do. I also understand that I can rent movies, and go on line with it.  It also has a photo storage capability. Jacob set it all up on their TV, and made sure all was working well before we left.

Jennifer, bless her heart, burned about 50 movies for us over the last year.  She knows that sometimes we are in spots where we can’t get TV. or just plain get sick of what is on, and need something to watch.  This settled it for me, we are going to spend at least 1 month on the coast of Texas, way out of reach of any cable or Wi-Fi.  It looks like an interesting park, and I have wanted to go there for a while now.  We will probably check it out in January or February, in the new year.

Not much else going on.  We do intend to get started on the floors the first of next week, and I want to check out a new double recliner for the RV, and maybe get the chairs recovered.  This time I will have a heavy plastic put on the seats for protection.  Our stools have it, and it doesn’t look bad at all.

Want to welcome my two new followers, Karel Van der Merwe, and Longdog 2.  I couldn’t find a site for either of you, so, if you have one please contact me with the info, and I will be glad to post it here. Hope you enjoy the ride along with us.

Later… :)

Winter Family Reunion

 

Let me start out by saying this has been a dream of Donnie’s older sister, Wilma for the past few years, and since she was diagnosed with breast cancer this past year, she decided it was this summer or maybe never.  So many of their family, cousins,  Aunts and Uncles, have passed and so she wanted to do it before any more left this world.  All of her kids but one were able to come. Crystal, her oldest daughter and her family just couldn’t get away, but the rest were here with all their family.  Donnie’s 2 kids couldn’t make it, and Nathan, Lois and Wayne’s son couldn’t make it.  Several of their cousins did come and their only surviving Aunt is now in the Nursing home and couldn’t come.  We had a ball with everyone that did show up, and the food and drink was abundant. 

Dennis, Donnie’s younger brother, grilled 18 chickens, his son Darin made pulled pork BBQ, and they also grilled brats and hot dogs.  We had creek fries, German potato salad, baked beans, some delicious salads that Melanie, Lois’s daughter, made.  One was a pasta salad with cherry tomatoes, and fresh parmesan cheese.  Eric, Wilma’s son, made green beans in a Dutch oven over coals, and he also made a delicious apple crunch the same way.  There was home made cookies, banana pudding, I took a fresh fruit platter, and so much other stuff.   Too many foods to list them all.  I am sure no one went away hungry.

In this collage starting top left is Eric having a water gun  fight with some of his nieces and nephews, next is Wayne ,in front of house.   The shutters on the house were hand made by my husband when he remodeled the whole place .  Next is Donnie’s two cousins, Earl and Carl, talking to Valerie and Wilma.  Another picture of Wilma and daughter, Valerie.  Next is Denny’s  wife, Beulah talking to Carl, a shot of the guys bringing the picnic tables up from the lake, and the last is Denny cooking all that chicken.

 

One of Denny and Beulah’s grandsons broke his leg jumping out of a boat.  You can see him in middle top picture, Wayne acting silly with a patriotic hat on, next are Don’s two sisters, Wilma and Lois, and bottom right is Don’s cousin Earl and wife Bertie.  They are also very good friends of ours.  We do a lot of scooting around with them when possible.

 

This is just everyone enjoying all the great food.

This is Don and his siblings.  Lois, Dennis, Don, and Wilma.  Top right is some of the young cousins and bottom is Don’s family with 3 cousins.

A good time was had by all, and for once the weather was almost perfect.  Low 80’s with a slight breeze.  I got a small sunburn, but nothing I am alarmed about.

Want to welcome my newest follower, Levonne.  She too is a very talented writer and photographer.  Check her out.  You will be glad you did.

I have been having so many computer problems.  A week or so ago my Hotmail quit working, and from looking on my own, and some help from Rick, I found out that thousands of users are having the same problems.  Still having lots of trouble leaving comments and getting into my dashboard.  May all be connected, not really sure.  I have also had some people tell me it is something Explorer 9 screwed up.  Who knows, I just know it is frustrating has hell.

Thanks for all of your encouragement and suggestions on our flooring decision. This will be a slow process , just simply because we don’t have to be in a hurry, but I will let you know how it is progressing.

Lest you think there is nothing to see here, when we get back from Colorado, I also intend to show a little bit of what Perry County has to offer.

 

Flooring Problem

The floor guy finally showed up yesterday, and almost immediately started giving us reasons why we might not be able to have vinyl laid.  His main reason for not doing it was the fact that our flooring, under the carpet, would soak up the glue used to glue vinyl down.  I said that is funny, because Donnie put vinyl tile in our bathroom, toilet room, right after we got the RV and it worked just fine.  Then he started telling us it would be a real job just getting our old carpet out.  Duh!!  Isn’t that their job???  Anyway, I finally just said, “If you don’t want to do it, Just say so”.  He swore he wanted to, but just didn’t want to stick us with a job that may not wear right.  Ok, so now Donnie and I have decided we can do it ourselves.  After all, we used our own lumber from our land and built a 1600 square foot house, so I think we can handle doing this.  Donnie is a Carpenter, and I make a damned good Carpenter’s helper.  We think all that needs to be done is after we get the carpet up, and the floor good and clean, we will paint it with some kind of sealer, and the clue will work just fine.  Nuff said…. :)

Last Saturday we went out and had breakfast with Herb and Willie.  We saw one of  our old friends at the restaurant  and talked for quite a while.  It’s always good to catch up with old friends.  Later in the day we went to Herb and Willie’s to play Pegs and Jokers.  Willie had all kinds of candy sitting around.  Two of my favorites are circus peanuts and spice drops, and she had both of them on the table.  I ate candy till I almost got sick.  We had a great time, and I did survive.

Want to welcome my newest follower, John, Life in a Volkswagen bus.  John is a very wonderful writer.  He is in Taos, New Mexico right now, house-sitting for a friend of his.  Check him out.  He has just started his blog and needs our support..

We went out to Mark and Shannon’s on Sunday for a very good meal.  She made a meal for all the Fathers in her life.  Her Dad, Donnie, Mitchel, Mark, and Mark’s step dad, Tex.  She grilled pork steaks, made a wonderful potato casserole, corn, beans, and I took a couple of fruit pies.  She also cut a watermelon up and made a fancy bowl out of it, then stuffed it with all kinds of fruits. It was great seeing everyone, and we had a great time.

Our Winter reunion is Saturday, so I have been making Judy’s pretzels to take, and I am also making a big fruit platter with Carmel dip.  My gang here in Indiana love Judy’s pretzel recipe, so have to make them when we all get together.  I also need to make some ahead to take with us to Colorado.

I may not post again for a while, unless we do something that is of interest.  I am sure everyone is getting sick of hearing about all of our family gatherings.

Thanks to Rod, I did find a Motel 6 that will let us have Rusty in the room with us, when we stop for the night in Kansas.  I had asked him a few months ago about pet-friendly motels, and he got right back to me with the info.
You all stay safe and cool… :)

Sad News For Our Family

 

My nephew, Tony and his wife, Erin lost their unborn child this week.  This is so sad for our whole family, but especially hard for my baby sister, Jeannie.  This would have been her 4th grand child.  Tony and Erin and their daughter, Leah, will be leaving for England soon, for her 3 year stint for internship.  Our hearts and prayers go out to these two great kids.

Yesterday morning Donnie and I went to a friends bar/restaurant for breakfast.  My girl friend, Marilyn’s son, Jim Bob, bought this place a couple of years back and completely remodeled it.  It is really nice now, and they have very good food.  Best breakfast we have had since we got back home.  I didn’t get to see Marilyn yesterday, but I did get to see Jim Bob and his father, Bob.  We will definitely go back for another meal. We weren’t there very long when our friend Earl came in with another one of Donnie’s cousins, Carl, so we all had breakfast together.  Good to see both of them.  Earl just had to have another stint put in his heart last week, but is doing fine right now.

Donnie’s older sister, Wilma flew in from California on Thursday night.  We stopped out at the old home place for a little while yesterday just to see her.  We knew she would be tired from her trip, so we didn’t stay very long.  She got to meet Rusty, and of course, I was afraid he would knock her down with all of his exuberance.  I sure wish he would settle down, but I seem to worry about it a lot more than everyone else does.  They are busy getting everything ready for next Saturday when most of the Winter family will be there.  It should be a lot of fun, and I know there will be lots of food and drink, and conversation. We are looking forward to seeing everyone.

We watched “True Grit” the other day, and I agree with The old Geezer, the John Wayne version is still my favorite.  We do like Jeff Bridges, but it was a case of comparing the two actors all the way through the movie.

We did a little geocaching yesterday.  I picked out 5 cemeteries that have geocaches in them, and we went hunting.  Sorry to say we only found 2 out of the 5, which is highly unusual for us.  We just about always find the majority of them, but it wasn’t meant to be yesterday.  I did take some pictures of some of the spots that I thought were particularly pretty that I will share with you.

 

This is one of the prettiest churches in our area.  St.Mark’s is where Donnie attended church, and the brick building behind the church is the school he attended for grade school.  Also our Angie is buried here.  We lost her to breast cancer two years ago.  She and Uncle Boone died on the same day, but two years apart.

The next stop was at the old sight of St. Joe’s church.  It has been gone for quite a while, but there has been a grotto built on the sight where the church once stood.  This is where we found our last geocache.

This is Lasher Cemetery.  As soon as we got under that very large white oak tree, my GPS went crazy, so no luck here, but we did walk around and read some of the stones.  We found the veteran that the geocache mentioned, but didn’t help us find it.

All of the old cemeteries are a favorite place to go.  You can find a lot of history in these places, so we will keep searching them when possible.

Just wanted to show you the proof that we really are gardening while sitting here.  Poor Herby!   The woods behind their house allowed the deer enough cover so they could sneak up and eat all  the tomatoes off of his vines.  They didn’t bother the plants, just ate all of his tomatoes off… :(

Later…

Hiking Along The Mighty Ohio River

 

Sunset Park is a small Park on the other side of the flood wall from Tell City.  It is just a nice little park with picnic tables and a small playground for the kids.  This is where the hiking trail starts and runs along side of the Ohio River for a mile or so.  Tell City has finally gotten better at making places for people to walk and stay fit.  There is also a few benches and a small parking area at both ends of the trail.  We really liked it, and there is some History of the city depicted in murals painted by local artists.

This picture shows some of the murals, and the park along the river. Also bottom right is the new Medical Clinic.

The mural in the right top, shows on the left side, the different floods that Tell City has endured.  The flood wall has pretty much kept the river away from Tell City in recent years.

It was really hot when we were down there walking, and Rusty was panting really hard, so we didn’t stay for a long time, but I am sure we will be going back.

Today we are getting lots of rain, but no storms so far.  It is much, much, much cooler also.  At 11:00am it is only 66*.  I bought Donnie the new “True Grit” movie yesterday, so I think that is what we will be doing this afternoon.

Chelsi and I did go out to the relay on Sat., but because of the B-Day party we had to go to, we didn’t stay.  It was raining and the girls were just getting their booth put together.  It doesn’t start till 2:00pm now, and is over early on Sunday morning.  The girls told me today they did manage to do $3,800.00, but they really had to work hard for what they made for the Cancer Foundation.  They said that every year less and less people get involved.  This is just my opinion, and I know we all have one, but I think more and more people are figuring out that more money is going to the people running these foundations, than to the research that everyone hopes its going to. Just sayin…..

We did go to Mason’s Birthday party and we all had a great time.  That kid got so many pool toys.  It will take him all summer to play with them.  And, of course they will all stay at Grandma’s house, cause she has the pool.  We had a really good meal of fried chicken, potato salad,  and a very large selection of fresh fruits.  Fruits were my favorite part.  And, he had a very pretty Mickey Mouse cake, in fact 2 cakes, but I only took a picture of one of them.

  

A good time was had by all, and especially Rusty.  He loves going out to Shannon and Mark’s house.  They have 3 little dogs and he just runs and plays till he is all tuckered out.  Good for him I think.

The only other news I have is about our floors.  They are supposed to start working on them in a week or so.  I sure hope so, because we are leaving for Colorado on the 30th of this month, and I would like to get it done before we leave.  I have the vinyl picked out that they will lay, so the guy laying it is the only hold up.

Stay safe and cool…. :)

Huffman Mill Bridge

 

First thing I want to do today is congratulate my beautiful grand daughter, Chelsi.  She made the honor role again for the last semester.  I am not only proud of her, but also her parents for helping her, and responding to her aid when they discovered she had a problem.  She was diagnosed with ADS a few years back.  Jon and Angie immediately took her to good Doctors, hired Tutors for her, and I must say the school system also helped them out.  Instead of sticking her in a special class, as they usually do, they put her in extra reading and comprehension classes to boost her ability to learn and understand.  It has made such a difference in her grades and her overall look at her future.  She has always wanted to be a Chef, and still does.  To say I am proud of them is putting it very mildly.

Want to welcome my newest follower, Wizard Oron.  I could find no site for you, but please share it with me if you have one.  I will be glad to post it here.  Hope you enjoy ridding along with us as we get back on the road.

We had a great time with Herb and Willie on Thursday evening.  We played games at their house until around 5, when their daughter, Charlotte picked up the grand dog.  Shortly after we hopped in the truck and drove out to Leopold, Indiana to get our chicken livers.  Again I forgot to take any pictures.  Marcy’s is where we go, and it is a nice little Bar/Restaurant, and they do serve the best chicken livers, and plenty of them. Not as many as they once put on a plate, but still enough for at least 2 meals.

Friday we put Rusty in the truck and rode out to visit Huffman Mill Bridge. The Huffman Mill Covered Bridge crosses the Anderson River on County Road 1490 North connecting the counties of Spencer and Perry.  This single span Burr Arch Truss structure has a length of 136 feet, or 156 feet including the 10-foot overhang at each end, with a portal clearance 15 feet 6 inches wide by 11 feet 6 inches high.  built by William T. Washer in 1864 for the sum of $5,700.00, this bridge was named for its close proximity to the nearby Mill that had been built by George Huffman.  Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998 the Huffman Mill Covered Bridge was for many years secluded beneath heavy foliage as it carried local traffic across the Anderson River between Spencer and Perry Counties until 2004 when a new road bypassed the old structure; though now much easier to view, I’m always a bit sad when these grand bridges are no longer able to perform their designed task.

The Huffman Mill Covered Bridge is listed in the 1989 “World Guide to Covered Bridges,” published by The National Society for the Preservation of covered Bridges, Inc., as 14-62-05.  It is so sad that at one time in Indiana there were over 600 covered bridges, and now only 90, with 2 others being repaired. 

I took lots of pictures and will share them with you.

Most of the pictures are self explanatory, but let me help you with a couple of them.  The water is Anderson River, a small river most of the time, but in spring floods it is always way out of it’s banks.  The first collage is of Donnie and Rusty hiking over the bridge.  That gives you some kind of idea how long it is.  The next collage is of a small little town, Bristow.  The feed mill is very old, but I couldn’t find any info on it. In the same collage is my favorite green house.  This is where we always got our bedding plants, both vegies and flowers.  The last collage is of one of the weeds that grows all over Southern Indiana and Kentucky.  They are lilies, and I think they are beautiful, but most people treat them as a weed.

It is much cooler here today, but the humidity  is unbearable.  We are planning to take a hike with Rusty later, on another new trail here in Tell City.  I will write more about it, the Relay, and Mason’s Birthday on another day.

I really would love your opinions on this.  I have been thinking about adding AdSense to my blog, but would like to know what all of you think about that.  I have broad shoulders, so please don’t spare my feelings.  I can handle the Con as well as Pro.   Thank you, all of your opinions mean a lot to me.

Stay cool…

Relay For Life

 

The Relay For Life is held here in Perry County on this up-coming week end.  I will be going out early on Sat. Morning to walk with the girls.  Chelsi will go with me and walk too.  There are always a bunch of booths that she likes to visit, so should be a fun time for us.

After all it is for a very good cause.  I hope you all will get out and participate in your area’s walk.

Want to welcome my dear friend Judie to the land of bloggers.  She is our friend from Alabama.  They are trying to decide if they are going full-time or if they will remain part-time travelers.  Please check her site out.  She and Dick are two of the nicest people we have ever met.

I also want to thank John and Bridget for turning me on to homemade laundry soap.  If I had known how easy this is to make, and how much money I would be saving every month, I would have done this years ago.  It costs roughly 1 cent per load, and it does a really good job on the clothes, and I love the fresh scent of it.  Thanks again you two!!

We also have another Birthday party this week end.  It is also on Saturday.  It is for my Great grandson, Mason.  He turns 4 this year, and is a typical little boy.  Wild as a striped-assed ape, and just as cute. Here he is last Saturday, threatening to spray GG with his water gun.

I also want to thank Laurie for the info she sent me about my ins.  I called and talked to them about my charges, but they told me the raises are because everything you have  to fix from an accident, keeps going sky high.  He says paint, parts, labor is all going up, so how do you argue with that?  He also said our RV and our truck will hold their value longer because of what they are, and how they are made.  Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, but we all need ins., so must pay it. Again thanks, Laurie.

We are going over to Herb and Willie’s house tomorrow to play games again.  They have their grand daughter, Sidney and their grand dog, Boomer till 5:00pm.  After they are picked up we are heading out to Leopold, In. for a chicken liver supper.  We love those darn things, but don’t make a habit out of eating them.  They are so full of fat, but just got to have some once in a while.  There is a nice little restaurant there called Marcy’s.  We usually go out there at least once while we are home.

Gotta run and finish my laundry. Will catch you all later.. :)

Traveling Plans Made

 

We have pretty much decided to stay here until the fall.  That will allow me to get everything settled with my Cardiologist and my Optometrist.  We will be taking 2 or 3 trips this summer, but only in the truck.  Early July we will be going to Colorado for a week or so.  Probably in August we want to go down and see my sister Dottie and her husband, Mark.  We are trying to talk Herb and Willie into going with us to Paducah. The last time we were all together, we really had a ball. I would also like to take a week end trip to Indy.  Haven’t seen my family there since we lost Uncle Boone.  My cousin called the other day and wanted to know when I was coming back up to do some garage sales with her.

Want to welcome my two newest followers: Jessica and April.  Jessica, and her husband, Harry live in New York and hope to start full-timing in 2013.  Check out their site if you get a chance.  I could not find a site for April, but if you have one, please contact me, and I will add it here.

Had to go pay insurance the other day on the truck, for six months, and the RV for a year.  $1200.00 for the two.  Will someone please explain to me why they keep charging more for insurance, but the value of your RV and truck keep going down?  Why does your insurance payments not reflect this?

We went out to eat with Herb and Willie on Wednesday morning.  Thanks again guys for a great breakfast.  After we finished eating we went to Leitchfield, Kentucky where they hold a big yard sale, with approx. 40 people set up, and there is also 1 large inside flea market and 2 smaller ones.  Donnie and I didn’t find anything, but Willie found a new piece of Carnival glass for her collection, and Herby found a car to add to his Jeff Gordon collection.

We right now are experiencing some very strong storms.  No tornado warnings, but straight-line winds again.  I knew something would be brewing because we have had some unseasonably warm weather.  Almost 100 here yesterday.  I sure hope this makes it cooler.  Our air runs nonstop in this type of weather.

Want to share a couple of pictures of our tomato crop.  We are so proud of them, and can’t wait to eat our first home-grown tomato.

I don’t know if you can see them or not, but there are little blooms all over  the two plants.

I did receive some good news on the medical front this week.  I have been going in weekly for a blood test to make sure my blood is at the right consistency, but now I only have to go in every two weeks.  Also, my meds seem to be working better, with only occasional skipping of beats.

This week my beautiful grand daughter, Chelsi had a 16th birthday, but we didn’t celebrate till yesterday.  She had several of her girlfriends out for a pool party and of course family and friends came too.  There were probably about 30 of us.

In the picture is a shot of the pool, Mason with his garb on, Aunt Shannon repairing one of the girls suits, Taco the dog in her finest, Chelsi in her Hawaiian garb, Chelsi’s mom, Angie, Chelsi in first suit, she had 3 different ones on .  The picture in the bottom right is Tony and his daughter, Leah. They are here for a visit from Calafornia. They will be going to England with Tony’s wife, and Leah’s mom in just a few months for 3 years.  This little girl is only 20 months old and not only does she talk, she also knows sign language.  I am very proud of these kids.

 

The picture on her cake is one I took when she was only a year old.  It says “Help, Mom is having a bad day, dial 1-800 Grandma”.  It was always one of her mom’s favorite pictures.  They also spelled her name wrong, but it was a pretty cake, and tasted even better than it looked.  Chelsi in second suit.  I never did get a picture of her in her third.  she received 2 new ones as gifts. The picture, center bottom is another nephew, TJ.  He and his wife Susan, and two daughter, Kayley and  Hannah were also there.

This is a bunch of pictures of everyone getting ready to sing Happy Birthday to her.  Notice in the bottom right the little girl with a finger up to her mouth.  This is Chelsi’s BFF, and you can guess what is coming next…. :)

Food fight between Best Friends Forever!!!  At top right is my silly SIL, after a few beers…. :)

It was a very fun day.  Lots of food and drink. 

Later….

Social Butterflies

 

That is what we felt like this week end.  We went to Herb and Willie’s on Saturday evening and played dominoes for the evening.  We only stopped long enough to eat a bite, and then we were right back at it.  I think all of our butts were numb by the time we got through.  We had a blast though, and we are supposed to go to Leitchfield, Kentucky with them tomorrow.  There is a big yard sale type thing down there every Wednesday morning, and there are a couple of small flea markets to look around in too.

Sunday we spent the day and evening at my daughter Shannon’s house.  All the grandkids and my son and his family were all there.  We had a great cook-out and then played games until late in the evening.  My grand daughter's birthday is tomorrow, but her Mom and Dad are throwing her a sweet sixteen party on the following Saturday at her Aunt Shannon’s house.  She wants to be able to swim with her friends, and Aunt Shannon has a pool.  It is up to me to get all the girls there for the party.  This will be lots of fun, but kids really wear me out lately.  Especially the ones that are old enough to talk back.

I saw another friend at Wal-Mart this morning.  Marilyn has been a friend for 50 years.  She has moved to Kentucky, but was in Tell City doing some shopping.  She has had some health issues for the last few days.  She got ready for bed a few nights ago, sat down on the bed, and for no reason fell to the floor and hit her head.  She didn’t say, but I am assuming she blacked out.  She went to the hospital and they kept her for a couple of days.  They ran all kinds of tests, but still can’t tell her what caused it.  I am praying it is nothing too serious.

Yesterday we were invited out to the Winter home place.  Donnie’s sister in California owns the home place, but, Lois his younger sister lives there right now.  Her and her husband have been separated for over 20 years.  One lives on top of the hill and the other lives down in the valley, past our old place.  It seems to work for them, so more power to them.  Anyway, they had a cook-out for her Husband’s family, and Donnie’s family.  I finally remembered to take my camera yesterday.  I have been forgetting it pretty often.  Got a few pictures of all the kids swimming, and a few of the boys fishing.  They caught several big bass, but I didn’t get a picture of that.  I also got a picture of Rusty enjoying his freedom.  When we take him to the country with us we let him off his leash, and he just runs and runs.  There is also a picture of a fire pit where one of the guys made an up-side-down , pineapple cake.  It was delish.  The house and barns in the background are of Donnie’s  home place where he and all his siblings grew up.

Don’t forget that you can click on the pictures to make them larger.

That’s it for our busy week end.  Hope everyone remembers the reason for this holiday, and said a prayer for our fallen troops as well as the ones still in harms way.

Later…. :)

Blog Spot

 

Can someone tell me what the heck is going on with Blogger?  I have now lost my followers and my recent comments…  I have had trouble with it for over a week now.  Did every thing everyone suggested, but still acting up.  HELP…….

Family Stuff

 

Make sure you say a prayer for all the families in Missouri, Oklahoma, and all other States that have been so devastated with these Spring storms.  We had a scare last night in our neck of the woods, but it ended up being some straight-line winds and lots of rain.  Bloomington and Bedford, Indiana did get some serious damage, but no loss of life.  We are still getting rain today.  Our patio was destroyed.  The plants were all carried out in the yard.  One table I had on the patio was missing, and we didn’t find it till this afternoon on the other side of the park.  Our outside carpet was clear across the yard.  Right now it is pouring again.  My weather radio didn’t shut off, it was just one warning after another till 10:00pm last night.  I for one will be glad when all of this Spring weather is behind us.  I spent part of the evening at my son, Jon’s house.  He has a basement to get into.  The beautiful yellow lily my grandson and his wife got me for Mother’s day was also destroyed.

Here is the site for one of my followers trailer camper.  He has a very interesting site.  Pheba  has also joined us for the ride.  I couldn’t find a site for you.  If you have one, please let me know and I will add it here.  Another follower is ain’t for city gals. This amazing person revamps little RV’s and makes beautiful little homes out of them.  Check it out.  It is really interesting.

Like everyone else, I have been having trouble leaving comments.  I got a couple of tips about how to get around this, and so far it has worked.  Thanks for your tips.  You know who you are!! :)

I won’t bore you with my health situation anymore, but it is very puzzling to me that one day I feel fine and have all kinds of energy, and the next I have to drag this old body around all day.

I did manage to get the fridge defrosted and yesterday we cleaned the whole trailer and caught up all the laundry.  It feels good to have everything all done at once. We also got the windows washed one day last week.

Tuesday evening, Don and I, Herb and Willie, and Joe and Boots all went out to eat at Ponderosa.  We all ate from the buffet and had loads of fun talking and getting caught up with all the family stuff.  We later went back to Joe and Boot’s house to introduce them to Pegs and Jokers.  We had such a great time and now we are planning to do this  once a week.

I ran down to the Goodwill store a little while ago and bought a whole bag of toys for Rusty to destroy.  I got six toys for $1.82.  It won’t take him long to tear them up, but at least my Frugal side won’t hurt as bad, and it looked like they had a pretty big bunch of them.

We took Rusty to the vet’s office this morning and got some Frontline and heart pills for him.  He weighs a whopping 18 pounds now, and the Vet said he doesn’t think he will get much larger.  He thinks he will top out at well under 25 pounds.  He eats pretty good and seems to be healthy.  He is still really wild acting when someone comes to the RV, but were told that is just the puppy in him.

Later… :)

Hanging In There

 

Want to welcome my newest follower, Michael.  I didn’t see a site for you.  If you have one please let me know and I will put it up.  Thanks for following along, and hope to hear from you often. 

There is not a whole lot of news.  I had to go back and see the Doctor on Friday and have another test.  My EKG was fine, but I am still having some skipped heart beats.  He wants me to remain on this dosage for another week, and if this doesn’t solve the skipping problem, he will put me on an additional heart med.  The test on my neck didn’t really show anything, just some slight build-up in my right side, but the tech said it was nothing that would require surgery or meds.  A bit of good news for a change.  I am supposed to let my daughter know next Tuesday, she is also my nurse, if I think I need additional meds or if it is ok.  If it is ok, I don’t go back till July 6th.  The blood test for Coumadin will continue for a while though.

Since we know we will be here all summer, we are trying to make our home a little more homey.  I bought a couple of green plants, and Donnie planted a couple of tomatoes in pots today.  Some of you asked for pictures, so I will add this one collage.  Keep in mind that this is a mobile home park, not an RV Park, and from what we have heard around town, she usually only rents spaces for permanent, leased spots, but I talked to her in person, and explained what was going on, and she agreed to let us have a spot. We do feel fortunate, and are very happy just to have a spot.

The pictures above show Donnie planting his baby tomatoes, our patio, a couple of plants I bought, and our surrounding area.  Bottom right, way in the back is the graveyard where Donnie’s parents are buried.  The tomatoes, BTW, are Brandywine, a very old heirloom, Amish variety.  We grew a lot of them at our house in the country.

We also bought a new mattress for our bed.  A pillow-top.  I hope we don’t regret this.  We both have back trouble sometimes and usually sleep on a firm mattress, but have wanted to try one of these for a while, so we shall see. Bless my little brother’s heart.  He and my best Buddy pulled up when we got home with it, and Herbie helped Donnie get the old one out, and the new one in.  We took the old one to my daughter’s house for one of her spare rooms.

We also finally got in contact with the man that is going to lay our new floor.  He is going to find out from his distributor if laminate will work in here, or if we need vinyl.  I really don’t care which, I just want something easy to keep clean and neat.

One other thing I want to see about while we are here, is getting our dinning room chairs recovered, or getting new ones.  There really isn’t anything wrong with the structure part of the chairs, but the material on them has really started to wear.  I had some of my chairs, out in the country redone, and the people that did it are still in business so that is where I will go to get it done.

We also got Donnie’s TV all hooked-up and my internet is lightening speed now.  All of this doesn’t come cheap, but worth it to us.

We ran into my oldest brother, Joe and his wife, Boots today while we were looking for some new dog toys.  They have a little Maltese, so know all about the dog toys.  We have agreed to go to their house on Tuesday evening for dinner and games.  It should be fun.  They love Mexican Train also.

Forgot to mention that the Doctor also told me about something to get for my sinuses.  It is called a Neti Pot.  REALLY??? He says they really work, and he thinks it will help me with my allergies.  He really doesn’t want me on any kind of sinus meds. right now.  I found one of them, but haven’t tried it yet.  I will let you know if it works.

Isn’t that the weirdest thing?  I just crack-up every time I  look at it, but if it works :))))

We did go to Red Lobster for lunch on Friday.  I had a coupon, and I love their shrimp salad and soup lunch.  I had the best potato soup with my salad, and Donnie had chicken.  It was all good, but their garlic biscuits are the best.

I am getting all kinds of birds at my feeders again.  I think this always makes you feel warm and at home.

Later… Stay safe..

More Tests

 

Want to welcome my newest follower, trailercamper.  I will get caught up on his site as soon as I can.  It looks very interesting.  Check it out!!

Not much going on here.  I have been going in every Monday for a blood test, and so far my Coumadin dosage is correct.  Not so lucky with my heart meds.  My Doctor raised my dosage from 80mg to 120mgs, twice a day.  I sure hope this works.  I have to go back in Friday for yet another EKG, and then into the hospital for a Carotid Duplex scan.  Sometimes I am seeing the Doctor twice a week, but I know he is only trying to help me. :)

A big congrats goes out to my nephew, Tony in California.  He has just graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Digital entertainment and game design.  He and his wife, Dr. Erin Marchand, and their daughter, Leah, and unborn child will be headed for either Japan or England for her internship through the service.  We are all praying for England… :)

We have been walking again, and here in Tell City they have a fitness walk that we have been taking.  It is a mile long and at the end is the Dog Park, so if Rusty isn’t already worn out, we can turn him loose in the Park and let him romp to his hearts content…  I took a couple of pictures to share with you.

The honey suckle is in full bloom and so are the wild roses.  It all smelled so good on our walk.

The trail is built along Windy Creek, but it has had to be dredged so much that it really isn’t pretty anymore.  It used to create a lot of flooding in different neighborhoods in town, that’s why all the dredging took place.  The dog park is bottom left.

A man is coming today to hook Donnie’s TV up to a digital box, so he can receive all the stations that I am getting.  He is also going to setup my router for me.  We tried, but I don’t think that Comcast is recognizing it or something.

We also have a man looking at the RV today to see if he thinks we can get laminate flooring in here, or if we will need to go with vinyl.  I really don’t care which, I just want something easier to take care of.  Wish us luck.

It is so good to see that Gypsy is back on the road, and I sure hope Judy is doing better by today.  Both of these girls are so brave to do all that they do alone.  I am not sure I would be that strong. 

You all take care and I will catch you later….. :)