I'm Baaaaack!

Wednesday,Zach and I went to the Drs. I have bronchitis,and The Boy had a touch of a bug. They put us both on antibiotics (his was a just in case measure so he doesn't also come down with bronchitis) and gave me an inhaler. The Dr wanted Zach to stay home until his fever was gone for 24 hours,so he didn't go back to school until Friday. We figured he could get his make up work to do over Feb vacation next week. His fever had spiked at 102,and varied until Thursday morning. Mine spiked at 100.5,but I maintained an annoying low grade (99.5-99.9) for most of the week.At any rate,he is much,much better,and I am getting better.Still have congestion,but it's not as bad as before. The big problem is just feeling wiped out...by the afternoon,all I want to do is nap.Yesterday I actually was up all day,no laying down in the afternoon,though I wanted to. I worked some on my family tree,and found some interesting things,which was fun. I am still taking it easy,because I don't want a repeat of the previous bout-feel good,then BAM! You over do  it and you are back to square one. We had to change our appointment in Boston for next month.

So...what have I been doing? Watching TV,getting  addicted to "Downton Abbey"...which,I am NOT happy to learn,will not have the third season until next year!!!  Whatever happened to TV shows having seasons from Sept-May,having reruns all summer,then picking up with the new season again in Sept? I miss the old days :(   At least I will have the new seasons of "Game of Thrones" and "The Borgias" to content myself with! Aside from TV,I played a lot of Solitaire on my Kindle Fire,I read some books,and napped. I did a bit of housework here and there as well. That has been sick time. Rick was a good caregiver,even if he wasn't feeling so hot himself,bless his heart. Brother B was down with the illness too,so our house sounded like a TB Clinic with all the gacking and hacking.

The Weird Winter has continued. The temps have been warm (40's and low 50's-balmy for us this time of year)and most of the snow (what little we had) was on it's way to being gone. Yesterday Rick called me to the kitchen window-we had a huge flock of Robins in our yard! Robins in February is not a common sight. We also had our first Downy woodpecker of the year. Once the Robins show up,it usually means that winter is over for the most part. Of course, last night we had a touch of snow,sleet,and freezing rain,but we wound up with only an inch or two or snow.I am hopeful that the rest of the winter is just as pleasant so we can get to the yard work early this year.

Have a lovely day! Time to have some pancakes,bacon,and eggs,courtesy of The Man of The Place!

Down And Out Yet Again

Apparently I had the preamble a week ago to what I have now: 100.1 fever,sore throat,congestion...just simple cold/flu. Blech. Talk to you all when I get better. Hope you all stay healthy,my friends!

Out And About Again

Saturday was my first day out in over a week. My Dear Friend Michelle and I went down to East Kingston for a Gardening Seminar,put on in part by the UNH Cooperative Extension Service. We got there early,so after scouting out where the building ( an old one room schoolhouse) was,we went to a little antique shop down the road to pass the time. Once we went back to the school,it didn't take long for the  gardening folk to start filtering in.There was not a lot of seating,which is why it was a pre sign up event.

  The first speaker discussed soil,temperature,etc.,the rather clinical stuff that tends to make my eyes glaze over. We then took a break for some food and drink (sponsored by the local Grange). The second speaker was a woman who discussed permaculture and "lasagna" gardening. Michelle and I both found her more interesting. There was also a bit of discussion about GMO's. After the speakers,they had seeds and starter trays for folks who wanted to learn more about seed starting. Since we are familiar with that,we decided to check out another antique store before heading back home. We had a great afternoon,with lots of laughter.One thing that I found a bit ironic was that we discussed how so many talented people pass away early because of their demons. Then that night came the news that Whitney Houston passed away.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day,and Rick and I decided to go out for dinner this year. We went to a place called the Governors Inn in Rochester. The Governors Inn is the old home of former NH Governor Spaulding-it's a gorgeous old house. We sat in the parlor area next to the fireplace and had a fabulous meal-Rick had Chicken Florentine (which happened to be gluten free!) and I had Filet Mignon. The meal was delicious and the company lovely!  :)

Rick is now getting used to this new meds,so he's starting to feel a bit better. The Depakote does not dull him as much as the Seroquil,so he is more aware of things around him,which in turn causes him a bit more stress,but he has been dealing with it well.

We heard from the med board,and Rick has two appts-one tomorrow in Gilford,NH for the physical part and one down in Boston next week for the mental part. Rick is on "temporary retirement"-anyone that has been diagnosed with PTSD is put on it to see if they will get better. Well, that is fine if the soldier actually gets intensive help right after they come out of combat,but pretty useless if the soldier not only has PTSD but TBI as well,and the soldier isn't even diagnosed with TBI until 2 years after he returns home,which is what Rick's circumstance is.These are issues that have to addressed ASAP,not a year or two down the road. The military can put you on temporary retirement for up to 5 years,and you have to keep going to these evaluations until they determine that 1)you can do your job in the military or 2)you have to be medically out.  He  is 100% disabled through the VA,so whatever the military decides really doesn't matter. He's still disabled and not reenlisting in the service. At any rate,I have a feeling that he will be officially retired after these appointments. At least, I hope so.

Time to make some crock pot chili. Have a fabulous day!!!

Ah,Shucks......

Last week, I was very pleased to learn that my blogging bud Kymber nominated me for a blogging award! Kymber and her love,Jambaloney, live at the their "bug out" house,aka Framboise Manor, and are in the process of fixing it up,as well as learning how to be more self sufficient. Both have big hearts and are very caring folk!

The rules for the acceptance of this award are as follows:

1) Copy and paste the award on your blog

2)Link back to the blogger who gave you the award

3)Pick 5 favorite blogs with less than 200 followers and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they received the award.

4)Hope the 5 blogs will keep spreading the love and pass it to 5 more blogs

After much deliberation,I have decided on the following 5 blogs:

1)One of my fellow Laura Ingalls Wilder admirers,who happens to also be named Laura! Her blog,A Simple Happy Life is about her life over in Michigan.She also loves old photographs from antique stores!

2) I follow Prairie Harmony,which is a nice blog about life in the Midwest. It's a fairly new blog,with just a handful of followers,so I hope my readers will check her out and give her some follower love!

3)We now go international....Sue,my New Zealand blogging friend,has a great sense of humor which spills over at her blog, Living The Good Life. Farm animals,crafts,remodeling,daily life...all told with her great wit.

4) I couldn't find how many followers this particular blog has,but I had to nominate Mike,The Garden Rockstar,because I enjoy his blog,My Earth Garden, so much.His posts range from gardening to canning to his experiment with trying to see how hard it is  spending only what one would get on food stamps for a month. I think many others would enjoy his blog.

5)And last, but certainly not least,my "neighbor" over in Maine,Pamela.Her blog,The Cheeky Seagull is a very pretty blog,with great craft ideas.

Please check out these great blogs! Have a great day!

Bear With Me

My dear readers,please bear with me. My headbone is still very foggy and I really don't have the wherewithal to attempt to chat about what I want to...my thought process is pretty much null and void and I would not give it the justice I want to. More coherent ramblings are coming soon,I hope.

Zach has gone to school for the first time since Monday.He has a horrible cough,and we told him if he felt like he had to come home to call us.

I thought I would show you the dishcloth I made this week.It took me several attempts,and it still looks a bit rough,but I don't think it's too shabby.I changed up the colors at bit. The blue is suppose to be white and the white trim is suppose to be green.I discovered that  loved creating flowers! This proves I haven't been completely useless this week!! :)

Hope all is well with you,and if not,I hope they get better soon!!!!

Yay For Farmington!!!!!

This morning Patriots Nation is in mourning over the loss to the NY Giants.Better luck next year,boys.

There are days I find it hard to put words down on this blog,because,let's face it,there are days when nothing noteworthy happens or when nothing inspires me. There are only so many times I can tell folks that we cleaned house,fed the chickens, and the weather was great. Not very exciting to write,nor exciting to read.So is the dilemma of a blogger.

This past week was Garden Club,and we had a guest speaker from Dover,who helps run their community garden. Apparently,Farmington has a piece of land that is no longer in use that they are willing to let folks use as a community garden. The land has fencing around it,which will be good for keeping out animals. It will be cleaned up in the spring. One of the selectman in the town was at the meeting,and we all had a great discussion of whether is should be a communal garden,or should folks be able to rent/buy their own plot? Many questions were asked of the Dover lady,and it was very interesting.They have a communal plot,where everyone works it and shares in it. The last thought for the Farmington folks was maybe having a communal area,and an area for folks to have their own plots,depending on how big the response is. I think the fact that Farmington is willing to do this is fabulous,and kudos to the Farmington Democrats for bringing this up to the town for consideration.There are lots of folks who live in town with no land that could benefit from this endeavor,as well as low income families who could help themselves grow some fresh food.(Here in Middleton,there are no apartments,only single family homes that are owned or rented.The townsfolk do not want apartments,and any new homes must have a minimum of two acres,so a community garden is not necessary) Our next meeting should be very interesting as well. We have a lady who sells raw milk coming to discuss the raw milk issue. I think we have all heard the controversy over the selling of raw milk. Personally,I can see both sides of the argument:one hand,it's not processed,so who knows if someone could get sick,but on the other,if someone is willing to buy raw milk,and they are aware of risks (if any),then shouldn't they be allowed to do so? I really don't know enough about this subject either way,so the discussion should be very enlightening.

Saturday Rick and Zach went to the Boy Scout Klondike. The Klondike is a yearly winter event in which the boys drag a sled to various stations,and they have to complete each station (first aid,shelter building,etc). The boys received a 2nd and 3rd place in a couple stations,and won 3rd place overall. Both Rick and Zach came home quite pink faced and tired from being in the wind and cold for eight hours,but they both had a great time.

Yesterday was  Green and Red (a yearly celebration of the birthday of Boy Scouts) but I wound up staying home.I woke with my head foggy,and I just thought that maybe I didn't sleep well and once I had my coffee and got moving it would clear up.( I think we have all been there before) Well, I was sitting here at the computer,and all at once, I had a massive head rush.I thought I was going to pass out! After that,my stomach started getting funky. Oh no! I thought maybe if I ate a bit of something that would help,but I couldn't finish my cereal. OK,maybe I can just work through it. I made my gluten free cocktail hot dogs for the  Red and Green,and then took my shower. Maybe after that I would feel better.

Well,that was a bad call,because as soon as I stepped out of the shower,I proceeded to get sick. Twice. Lovely. So for the first time in all of Zach's scouting years (which started in first grade) I missed the yearly celebration,which also has the boys getting advancements. Sigh. I watched "Game of Thrones" (my new obsession) and took a nap,getting up in time for the Super Bowl. Looking back,I would've preferred sleeping through it!

Have a Fabulous Day on this Fabulous Planet!!!