I found this picture among Sarah Beth's collection. I thought it was cute

Hildie's neck looks better today, I am treating the ear infection with medication inside the ear. Terry has to hold her down for me, she doesn't like to be messed with much. She is taking antibiotics twice a day and the swelling has gone down so maybe we can get it right this time.

We will miss you Lois, 2 weeks sounds like a long time but I know you will have fun down there is Florida while it is in the 30's here. Just get a lot of pictures.

I put a roast in the crock pot this morning and made mashed potatoes and green beans for supper. Terry said I made enough mashed potatoes for a couple weeks! I guess I did but he don't mind eating leftovers. I don't make real mashed potatoes very often so when I do I make enough to last a while. The roast was great, melt in you mouth done. Love it!

Our Christmas tree is looking great. Sarah Beth did it all. She is showing an eye for the artistic I think. She wouldn't put just anything on it, said it would look messy. I'll have to take a picture of it soon and share it with you. I am just glad she is old enough to do it now. I never was very enthused about decorating for Christmas but I have my encourager now and I have to follow orders so it gets done, sooner then later this year.

The Vet gave Hildie a shot, I think it was an antibiotic and cortisone. He gave me some different antibiotic pills for her and told me to continue with the hot compress to open and drain it. Also, she has been diagnosed with an ear infection and I haven't treated that so I will need to do that too. He said it could possibly be from the ear infection. She should be improved in a week if I keep up her treatment. I will do my best.

I finally got my 15 packages mailed this morning and it cost $60.00. They sure like to see me coming at that post office. I ask one time and he said that there is no one else that comes in to the post office with as much stuff as I do. Either there is no one else in English that is selling on eBay or they are not using the USPS to do it. Some one told me once that only 10% of families in Crawford Co. own computers so that would narrow it down a bit I guess.

I decided I wanted a little change, something a little brighter and I think this looks nice.

Boy, was it windy last night! When we got up this morning we could see a bunch of tin had blown off the neighbors barn and was laying in the road. I was almost afraid to go out, I didn't want to have to dodge the tin flying through the air. It rained real hard later in the morning while I was packing boxes at the shop. It rained Terry out of the sawmill and blew the roof off of it. He will have to do some 'fixing' to get that set up again. He and David came to the shop at noon, since they couldn't work in the rain. They came and cleaned up the workshop and made a lot of extra room. It looks nice.

I had 15 packages ready to ship and couldn't get them mailed. The electricity was off to all the buildings in that part of town. The bank, Dollar Store, post office, library, restaurant and lots of others. I guess it was from the storm. I'll have to go back tomorrow and try again.

It looks like Hildie's abscess has come back, I thought I had that licked but I noticed today that it had busted open and was oozing again. I called the vet and she said that it might be a tooth problem. I thought that was what it was from the beginning because I know she didn't have a cut or wound there. I have to take her back tomorrow at 3:45.

The puppies are getting so big now. They are sitting up and playing with each other for a few minutes before crashing again. I need to get pictures again for the website. I'll do that in the next few days.

Thanks Yvonne for the information on the shipping boxes. I had heard about that service but have never checked it out. I will check on it and see if it works for me. Thanks again.

Well it is good to be home again after such a long trip. 4 hours for Rachel and Danielle, 2 and a half hours for most of us and just about an hour for Sharon! It was a fun day, it just didn't last long enough. We need to get a room next time so we can have 2 days to see it all.

We watched a nice Hallmark movie on TV tonight, I enjoyed the time to just sit on the couch together and do nothing. For some reason Blade was resting tonight and not demanding that someone throw his toy for him. Terry usually sits and watches the news every night and just before it comes on Blade will be going around the house searching for all his throw toys. He collects them in the living room and as soon as Terry sits down he grabs on in his mouth and will stand there looking at Terry wagging his tail, begging for Terry to throw it for him. Terry throws it a while, all the time trying to make sure it goes somewhere that the dog cannot find it but he is pretty smart, he usually finds it and drags it back, waiting for more. Sometime I would dearly love to know what goes on inside a dog's head.

Sarah Beth is asking to sleep on the couch again tonight or even under the Christmas tree! She has a perfectly good, warm bed room upstairs but I guess at 11 years old she still feels that is too far away from Mom. I let her sleep on the couch occasionally but I think I have to insist that she use her bedroom on a regular basis, I don't like the mess of the pillow, sheets and blanket always laying around the room. She is fine upstairs if I insist so it is upstairs again tonight.

It is back to the shop in the morning again, I have about 11 packages to wrap and ship and that will take me most of the day. I just turn up the heat, turn on the TV and get to work. I hope I have all the appropriate size boxes I need.

Good luck Yvonne, on your ebay. It looks like you are doing great. I don't know if this would work for you but our small town hardware saves boxes of all sizes and shapes and loves to share. You might check a hardware store for used boxes.

Well, it is about 30° warmer tonight then it was last night so it is not so hard to sit here and visit.
I am so sorry Lois, that you had such a bad first experience. I feel sure that when you figure out how to work things you will have a lot to say and that we will really enjoy visiting with you this way. Please don't give up yet, I can come back to your house soon if you need a refresher session.
I thought I would get to bed early tonight since I have to get up so early tomorrow but it didn't happen. I have been answering and sorting email, printing receipts and taking care of ebay business all evening. I am dreading Monday morning when I have to start packing and shipping all this stuff but I guess that just comes with it.
Sarah Beth is all excited about shopping in Brown County tomorrow and I am too. I am so glad when all us girls and Mom can spend time together. I am thankful that we get along. Terry forgot to give me any money for shopping before he went to bed and I don't know where he put his stash so I guess I will have to wake him about 6:30 in the morning with my hand out. :)

Well, it is cold out here in the kitchen tonight so I have to make this quick so I can get back in there by the fire. The thermometer say about 27° right now and it is hard to keep this 150 year old farmhouse warm.
We had a great day Thursday and Granny's house with all the family and all the food. Just wish more of the neices, nephews and grandkids could have been there but when they are so scattered it is hard to get together again. Maybe at Christmas.
Sarah Beth has been wanting to put up the Christmas tree since way before Thanksgiving but I have managed to hold her off until now. There is no stopping her now! It is amazing how much enthusiam, energy, drive and know how she can come up with when it is something she really wants to do. We have the tree put together and most of the lights on but we ran out of working strings of lights so will need to visit the Dollar Store again before we can continue. That is about to drive her nuts, the waiting part.
Everybody join me in welcoming Lois to our Blog Spot. She is still learning so be patient with her. I was at her house a couple hours today setting her up with here own email address and her own Blog. See my list of links to visit her blog.

The Kings Treasures

For today's entry go here: Trying something new

After I got the dishes washed this morning I wiped down some more cabinets, swept down some more spiderwebs and cleaned the baseboard under the sink. I had my bowl of corn chex with raisins and bananas then left for the shop. As soon as I get there I establish a Yahoo link with Sarah Beth so she can talk to me if she has a problem. It seems to be working but I am not getting the correct amount of school work that I would like, there always seems to be something that interferes. I need to work on a plan for that problem.
I came back and got Sarah Beth at 3 and we went to Paoli. I picked up a few groceries at Wal Mart. On the way back we heard a loud thumping somewhere around the right front tire. I slowed down and kept going and it went away but I know what it is. The wheel bearings are about to go out and now I am getting scared to drive it. That sounds like it will take some money to fix!
We had the puppies out for a while for a little socialization but they are still too young to be much fun. Along with the fun though, comes the squealing and messing so I guess I better be happy with what I have now.

I fixed pancakes for everybody this morning then Terry went off to split and haul wood. David helped him haul 4 small pickup loads and stack them on the porch. I took Sarah Beth to Jessica's house then me and Timmy went to Mom's. Of course she was working but Sarah and Lois were there. Dustin got a deer so he took Timmy with him to take the deer to the processing plant. Dad was at church so that left us three and a lot of work to do. We tried to start in the kitchen but we had to move upstairs and clean there a little so we would have some room the move things out of the kitchen to upstairs. We sorted, boxed and stacked all the canned goods and sorted and boxed all the empty canning jars. Got rid of a couple of boxes of old magazines, and some boxes of old lids. We emptied and carried down Sarah's old chifarobe and that left enough room upstairs so we could go back to the kitchen and back room and start carrying up a LOT of stuff. I bet I climbed them stairs more then 50 times! I'll feel that in the morning.
We cleaned off and wiped the top of both fridges, wiped the cabinet down and sorted one of her junk tables and called it a day. I was glad, all I had for lunch was a slice of peanut butter and jelly bread and a couple of chocolate chip cookies and I was bushed.
Fixed Terry chicken noodle soup out of a can and grilled cheese sandwiches for supper and a slice of pumpkin pie Lois gave me from Bertie.
It was good to be able to spend some time with the sisters again, Sharon, wish you were there.

Terry's truck was still at the mechanic's this morning so I had to take him to the shop to meet David again. That's way to early for Sarah Beth to be getting up so I told her we were going and she went back to sleep. About 11:30 I tried to get ahold of her on the computer and the phone but she wasn't responding so I got worried and came home to check on her. She had been asleep when I was calling but was up when I got home. Glad to know everything was ok.
I took Tabby and the puppies back to the shop with me after I had a bowl of cereal for lunch, I needed to get some photos for my
puppy web site. They are still a little young to take good pictures but I have people wanting to see them as soon as possible.
I managed to get a few more things on Ebay but not near what I should. It will be next week again before I get to add more.
Sarah and Dustin stopped by, he wanted to see the shop. I didn't realize he had never been there before. Sarah chatted a while and mentioned that we are going to clean Mom's house for her tomorrow, getting ready for Thanksgiving. Lois stopped in to see the old pump organ and play it a little and of course we ended up with an extra little boy for the night.
I won't get to be at Mom's to help clean until about noon. I have to take Sarah Beth to Jessica's house, it is her birthday tomorrow. I bet they will leave something for me to do. Sarah wants to bake pies too. I'm glad she likes to cook but I try to stay as far away from the kitchen as possible.

Now isn't that a pretty picture. Someone sent me an email with this picture in it and I thought it was so pretty.
Terry's truck is at the mechanic's so I had to take him to the shop this morning so he could meet with David there. Sarah Beth was still in bed so we left her there. I told her I was going and she was okay with that. She managed for longer today then she did yesterday. It was 4 hours today and yesterday she only managed 2 hours before she called and wanted me to come home. It was so late today that I didn't bother going back, just took the afternoon off. That meant that I had to use that time wisely and clean some more in the kitchen. I cleaned and straightened the plastic bag/dish rag drawer, straightened and wiped out the plastic container cabinet, cleaned the coffee pot, swept the spiderwebs from around the ceiling and wiped the baseboard. You don't realize how dirty the outside of the cabinets can get unless you have white ones.
I talked to Mom today and she said Thanksgiving would be at her house. I am glad to hear that. It always seems more homey and traditional to have everybody at Grandma's house. It may be small but we all get along nicely. That means I don't have to hurry so hard on getting my house clean too, I was glad to hear that.
We had left over chili for supper tonight. I like mine like they eat it in Texas, over Fritos with cheese on top. Tonight I mixed in some leftover macaroni and cheese, that was good too.
It is going to be another real cold night tonight. Terry is worried about the water pipes to the washing machine. They are kinda exposed and are likely to freeze again like they have before.

We got to the shop this morning about 11:30. I wanted to finish cleaning the stove this morning in the daylight and it worked much better. At least I could see where the dirt was. Sarah Beth wanted to help so I put her to work under the sink. That was one spot I was not looking forward to but she was game, although she did have to hold her nose a few times. I really looks good now.
I packed boxes for shipping this morning and managed to get on item on Ebay before it was time to leave for piano lessons. Terry wanted me to help him unload the organ and get it situated then I had to run home and get Sarah's piano book. While I was here I noticed that I had left the breaker on to the water pump this morning and it had been running for 3 hours! The toilet tank had overfilled and was and had been dripping on to the bathroom floor for who knows how long. The carpet was wet in my bed room right beside the bathroom so it had been for a while.
After piano lessons we stopped to get drinking water and chat with Grandpa for a few minutes. The water had been over the bridge but was back down now. I drove him to the end of the driveway to get his mail and he wanted to walk back.
We had Sloppy Joes, shell macaroni with white cheese and pork and beans for supper then I tackled the biggest and worst junk drawer that I have been avoiding. I managed to live through it and even got it done and put away. Now that feels good! I still have to wipe some more cabinets, inside and out and clean out the chimney cabinet and I will be close to done with the kitchen. Yea! Just in time to start over and go around again!

It rained all night last night and was raining when we got up so Terry didn't go to the sawmill. We decided to go to Jasper and talk to a loan company about buying the shop. Well, they don't loan on new purchases, just a remortgage so that didn't work out. We went to WalMart for groceries then McDonald's for lunch. We stopped at the Salvation Army on the way home and they were closing early because of the threat of severe weather. We stopped at the St. Vincent store too and maybe we shouldn't have because we came out of there $300.00 poorer! They had an old Victorian, real ornate pump organ in there marked $500.00. While Terry was standing there the guy came over and marked it down to $400.00. So Terry had the idea to make him an offer and they accepted. It will look really good in our shop. We are getting some nice old antique furniture in there and it is looking more like an antique shop instead off a junk store. That is the way we like it. Terry said he isn't really wanting to sell it so he will put $500.00 on it and just let it sit there a while and look pretty.

We had leftover chili for supper then sat around waiting for the tornado to show up. The TV said that people in Crawford Co. should take cover. They mentioned Taswell, Eckerty, English and Mifflin. It didn't look very bad out there, nothing like I would think would mean a tornado but we had the cellar door open just in case. I had the puppies in a laundry basket and my laptop ready to go but as usual, nothing happened. Thank God for that!

I did get a little cleaning done today. I figured out what to use to get the grease off the cabinets. Good ole old fashioned scouring powder. It works great. I cleaned the cabinets above the stove and took all the spices from the back of the stove. I decided they should go in the cabinet so I would have a lot less things to have to wipe off in the future. Now I need something pretty to put on the shelf. I started to clean the stove but decided that needed to be done in the daylight. I can see the dirt a lot better with natural light.

Where does this motivation come from? Well, to start with it came from being so sick and tired of the dirt! It just got so bad that I felt like I was living in a barn and had to do something about it. Then as I saw how nice it looked clean I was motivated to continue. That and the fact that we might be having company for Thanksgiving.

When we were in the cellar tonight, I looked up and noticed that 2 of the floor joists in Sarah Beth's old bedroom are broken and the floor is sagging about 4 to 6 inches. I knew the floor was really spongy when you walked on it but I had no idea it was so bad. That idea of a dressing room in there may just have to be on hold for a while until I find somebody with a sawmill that can saw me out some more floor joists. :)

I don't like it when they talk about us having sever weather but looks like they are expecting some tomorrow afternoon for this area.
I went to the shop this morning and cleaned for 2 hours. Sarah Beth stayed home and that is about all she could take of being here alone so I came home for lunch. Terry and David showed up while I was here with two pickup loads of split wood to put on the porch. Terry had to do some major cleaning on the front porch before he could even stack the wood. Well, it looks nice out there now, the stacked wood and the cleaner porch.
I had to go back to the shop and Sarah Beth didn't want to go with me so I cleaned for another 2 hours then Terry called wanting to know what was for supper. I didn't get any work on Ebay done but the office sure looks nice now.
Terry and Sarah Beth were picking up leaves and hauling them off with the 4 wheeler when I got home. I fixed chili for supper and Terry about foundered himself on it. It must have been good. I put a little brown sugar in it this time, he said it tasted more like what he has been used to. Does anybody else put sugar in their chili?
Monday is a bad night for TV so I managed to get some more cleaning done. I cleaned out some more of my lower cabinets, rearranged, and got rid of a bunch of stuff and am ending up with so much room to spare. That doesn't seem to last long though, we always seem to find something to fill up the empty space. I cleaned off my bottom shelf of the worktable and put a lot of that stuff in my newly emptied spaces so now that space is pretty much empty. It sure is easier keep clean when there isn't a lot of stuff setting around.
I still have a lot more to do in the kitchen and I haven't touched the laundry room or my bedroom and bathroom. I will hopefully get to that before Thanksgiving.
Since Sarah Beth moved her bedroom upstairs, I have her old bedroom that I want to make into a dressing room for me and Terry. She still has a LOT of stuff in there though, that I will have to figure out what to do with.
Well, that is enough for tonight, I could ramble on forever but we'll save something for tomorrow night.

The girls requested taco for lunch after church so we stopped at Jay C's for supplies. I fried hamburger, added taco seasoning and chopped the lettuce, onion and tomato. They pigged out and loved it! Jessica had to go home after lunch but she sure didn't want to. We had to drag her out, kicking and screaming! Not really but she would have liked to. Chelsea stayed until evening church. She wanted another taco for snack in the afternoon so I got all the ingredients out and she had some more. When I came back in the kitchen she had put all the stuff back in the refrigerator and cleaned the table! What a nice girl. Now if I could just get Sarah Beth to do it....

Now that is a mess of puppies!

I managed to clean out 5 more drawers in my kitchen and ended up with 3 empty drawers! Some of this stuff I think has been there since we remolded the kitchen. I have to decide now what is best to go in my 3 empty drawers. I am thinking I put the wax paper, foil and plastic wrap in two of them then I can put larger things in the chimney cabinet and maybe clear off some of the clutter on the bottom shelf of my work table.

We haven't gotten the water problem fixed yet, the pump was kicking on every 5 minutes today so I had to shut it off again. Right now I can flip the breaker every time I need water but that is going to get old. Terry is afraid he is going to have to crawl under the house and look for a leak somewhere.

I will have to go back to work tomorrow. The office has been wrecked since I have been gone. It will need a couple hours of TLC before I can sit down and get to business. I told Sarah Beth I was leaving at 9 in the morning and if she wasn't up and ready I was going by myself. She said, "Just write me a note so I'll know where you are when I get up". I'll write her a note for sure, I'll leave her a list of things I want done while I am gone too. Starting with School of course.

We had a pizza and play party for the kids at church today. They had one of those blow up bouncy thingys for them and Momma Rosa's pizza for lunch. It was from 11 to 2 and they really had fun. We thought we would play some games with them but we could hardly get them out of the bouncy thingy long enough to eat! It was a beautiful day for it.
Friday Jessica called and ask if she could stay for the weekend then Saturday morning Chelsea called and ask if she could spend the night. So I have 3 pre-teen girls in my house for the week end. It is much better now that Sarah Beth has moved her bedroom upstairs, they can talk and play without disturbing us. It isn't really as bad as it sounds. They pretty much entertain themselves. Just finding enough food around here to keep them happy can be a challenge. We bought a pound of hamburger tonight and I fixed cheese burgers and a package of flavored rice.
It is raining outside right now, I can hear it. That is sure going to wet down those piles of leaves in the yard. Now the wind can't blow them away.
Terry got the water fixed this morning. He had to make a run to the hardware store and by a new switch and pressure gauge. It is working now (thank you Lord!) but we haven't gotten the pressure adjusted right yet. It runs down way too low before it will kick on again. He said he can fix that though.

Here is a picture of the sign I made last week. They only had to pay $35.00 for that. I think I need to up my prices. That would be a $75.00 in certain places. You can't really tell perspective here but each board is 6 inches wide.

Jessica took this picture tonight with my camera. It was a really pretty sunset.
Wow, I think it will take me two weeks to clean this house! One week is not enough. I don't think Terry will let me off another week so I'll just have to work extra hard before and after work I guess.
Today I cleaned out my refrigerator, threw out a bunch of old and unrecognizable stuff and wiped it down inside and out. I even pulled out the crisper drawers and cleaned underneath. Wiped down the outside and the top (yuck) of the fridge. I cleaned the inside and outside of a couple of cabinets, again, throwing away a lot of old stuff. Since I cook with gas it leaves a greasy film all over everything and I haven't found the right stuff yet that will take that off easy. Any advice anyone? It was all over my white cabinets and PineSol makes it smell like it is clean in here but it still takes a lot of elbow grease to remove that stuff. I cleaned out one of my junk drawers and organized it and straightened and cleaned out my pots and pans cabinet.
I didn't have all day to work because I had to run out to the shop and sand and varnish a sign that some one is picking up this weekend.
I still need to deep clean my stove, wipe clean some more cabinets and straighten up another junk drawer. Well, that is not all I have to do but that is as far ahead as I want to think right now.
Tonight I had to do cockle burr duty on Ginger. She had been out in the field and came back in pretty bad shape. I put a towel on the washer, put her up there and went to work. For such a hyper dog most all the time, she sure was still for this. I guess it was so uncomfortable and she new I was going to 'fix' it so she was a good dog. Blade just sat there looking up watching me like he was waiting for his turn. When I was done with Ginger and put her down he went to check her out then came back and sat down again, just waiting. I thought he was just wanting attention so I put him up there and sure enough, he had them too. He was a happy puppy when I got done with him. I must be awful not to have any thumbs sometimes.
We are having pump problems right now and don't have running water. Thats a bummer! I've had to do all this cleaning with water from the shop or what I had saved in milk jugs. Makes it kinda hard on baths too. I hope Terry can get that fixed tomorrow.

I found this poem handwritten in an old note book found in a box of stuff from some auction we attended. I thought it was so neat. It is long but I just wanted it written down somewhere so I'll know where it is.

The Calf-Path

One day through the primeval wood

A calf walked home, as good calves should;

But made a trail all bent askew,

A crooked trail as all calves do.

Since then three hundred years have fled,

And I infer the calf is dead.

But still he left behind his trail,

And thereby hangs my moral tale:

The trail was taken up next day

By a lone dog that passed that way;

And then a wise bellwether sheep

Pursued the trail o'er hill and glade

Through those old woods a path was made.

And many men wound in and out

And dodged and turned and bent about

And uttered words of righteous wrath

Because 'twas such a crooked path;

But still they followed--do not laugh

The first migrations of that calf,

And through this winding wood-way stalked

Because he wobbled when he walked.

This forest path became a lane

That bent and turned and turned again;
This crooked lane became a road,

Where many a horse with his load

Toiled on beneath the burning sun,

And traveled some three miles in one.

And thus a century and a half

They trod the footsteps of that calf.
The years passed on in swiftness fleet,

The road became a village street;

And thus, before men were aware,

A city's crowded thoroughfare.

And soon the central street was this

Of a renowned metropolis;

And men two centuries and a half

Trod in the footsteps of that calf.

Each day a hundred thousand rout

Followed this zigzag calf about

And o'er his crooked journey went

The traffic of a continent.

A hundred thousand men were led

By one calf near three centuries dead.

They followed still his crooked way,

And lost one hundred years a day;

For thus such reverence is lent

To well-established precedent.

For men are prone to go it blind,

Along the calf-paths of the mind;

And work away from sun to sun,

To do what other men have done.

They follow in the beaten track,

And out and in, and forth and back,

And still their devious course pursue,

To keep the path that others do.

They keep the path a sacred groove,

Along which all their lives they move.

But how the wise old wood gods laugh,

Who saw that first primeval calf!

-by SAM WALTER Foss, 1895

Well, this vacation is just about over and I didn't get a lot done but I am pleased with what I did get done. Today I cleaned off the computer table, dusted all the CD and DVD cases, wiped the dust off the computer and printer and borrowed through a mountain of loose papers. I vacumed all the cobweb from under the shelves and cleaned out the junk drawer. What took the longest was cleaning my keyboard. I took off all the keys, wiped them down and vacumed and wiped all the mess under the keys. That was a bad place to be, it was scary down there! It looks nice now though.
Last night I fixed soup beans and ham, fried taters and cornbread for supper. Terry likes it so well I can serve leftovers for two days in a row. That's great for me. You know me, I am famous for avoiding cooking as much as possible. I never was a fan of soup beans. I can eat them when they are fresh but I usually leave the leftovers for Terry. Me and Sarah Beth just had fried taters for supper.
Sarah Beth just decided to make a cake. Go for it Girl!

I really loved this song when I was little. I found it in a box

of old newspaper clippings and wanted to get it written

down before I lost the paper or it disintegrated on me.

Grandfather's Clock

My grandfather's clock was too large for the shelf,
So it stood ninety years on the floor;
It was taller by half than the old man himself,
Though it weighed not a pennyweight more.
It was bought on the morn of the day he was born,
And was always his treasure and pride;
But it stopped short--never to go again--
When the old man died.

Chorus,

Ninety years without slumbering,
Tick, tick, tick tick,
His life's seconds numbering,
Tick, tick, tick, tick,
It stopped short--never to go again--
When the old man died.

In watching it's pendulum swinging to and fro,
Many hours had he spent while a boy;
And in childhood and manhood the clock seemed to know
That it was the boy's pride and joy,
For it struck twenty-four when he entered the door
With a blooming and beautiful bride,
But it stopped short--never to go again--
When the old man died.

My grandfather said that of those he could hire,
Not a servant so faithful he found.
For it wasted no time and had one desire,
At the close of each day to be wound,
It was kept in it's place, not a frown upon it's face,
And it's hands never hung by it's side;
But it stopped short--never to go again--
When the old man died.

It rang an alarm in the dead of the night,
An alarm that for years had been dumb,
And we knew that his spirit was pluming for flight,

That his hour for departure had come.
Still the clock kept time, with a soft and muffled chime.
As we silently stood by his side.
But it stopped short--never to go again--
When the old man died.

How's that for purty? All I got done today was the back end of my kitchen cleaned. I tore out the dog pen and cleaned it thourghly. I move the long cherry table out from by the windows sp I could move the dog pen over some. That table was not needed there anyway, it was just another thing to pile stuff on. I moped the floor but only got the back half of the kitchen. I had to sweep the walls and ceilings there too. I made quite a few spiders mad! I cleaned off my shelves and wiped the dust off them and rearranged my dishes. I was wondering if I needed to put some cup hooks under that bottom shelf and hang my pansy tea cups under there, any ideas?

Sarah Beth had piano lessons today so I had to go get her at Mom's where she was playing with Timmy and go on down to Marengo. We stopped at the recycle center to see if she had saved me any packing supplies. She had a few little boxes I could have. Every little bit helps.
After piano lessons we stopped at the shop to feed the cat and I had to work on a cedar sign order that has to be ready by this week end. I had to find a board that was about 10 feet long and cut it down to sign size with the skill saw then I had to plane the boards. Terry usually helps with that but he wasn't around so I had to fall back on my abilities that I know I have but don't like to show around Terry. I would just rather he did it for me. HA, that sounds like lazy to me!
I brought the board home so I could design it on my computer here. They wanted a pine tree on the left and a bass fish on the right with their name in the middle. Got that done tonight so I will have to go to the shop again tomorrow to route it out. Well, there goes my house cleaning.

It sure is windy tonight! Maybe when we get up in the morning all the leaves will be gone out of my yard. They usually are if we wait long enough. Sometimes we have to wait until about January but it will happen.

It is getting cooler in here so I better go move the puppies back under the light.

Bashed, Battered, Bee Bitten and Stomped
By Janis Graybill


Oh, look at my hands, they are sandpaper rough,
Stained brown from the pears that I've
Quartered and peeled, boiled and sealed,
In jars that are half gallon size,

The beauty of those jars, all the work it belies!
What went into those I'll describe.
I went out under the tree, and there I did see
All the bees in the county arrive to drill holes
In the pears and leave caves big as bears.
Not only that, they were battered and stomped.

When they fell from the tree they squashed don't you see
So half of each pair is a loss.
They've been battered and bumped, bashed and thumped
And yes, even chewed by the dogs.
By the middle of the day I'm tempted to say,
"The rest of them go to the hogs"!

But after a rest I return with a zest
To the pears that are bashed, battered bee bitten and stomped.
Stomped, you say? Well they got in the way
When the kids were riding the horses.

I stand here amazed as I lovingly gaze
At those jars that are half gallon size.
They are full to the brim with slices so trim
From those pears that were
bashed, battered, bee bitten and stomped.
No judge at the fair would notice them there,
But to me they deserve 1st prize!

I haven't gotten a lot of house cleaning done but I have completed some projects that I have been wanting to get done and haven't had the time. I cleaned the living room yesterday, dusted everything like all the TV boxes and the video tapes, the piano and all the bookcases.
I even vacumed the walls and the ceiling! Now I am trying to clean out all the corners in the kitchen. Usually when I clean I just get the middle so the corners can get pretty bad. I took another load of ebay stuff to the shop. I think I have it all out of my kitchen now, and out of the back room. Now I have more room for my stuff. I still need to clean off the computer table and shelf. Then it will be just wiping down the cabinets, baseboards, moping the floor and getting all the spiderwebs. I really need to clean up the dog's pen too. It is a never ending job!
Sarah Beth went to spend the night at Timmy's house so it is pretty quiet around here. I need to get busy while I have the house to myself.

I get rid of one kid and then get another. That Sarah Beth sure doesnt seem to spend many nights alone in her room. I am sure that is quit alright with her, she was wanting to wimp out on me about sleeping upstairs but when she has somebody with her it isn't so bad. Eventually they will all go home then it will be me again, laying with her until she falls asleep.
I thought I would share another exerpt from my journal. It may not mean anything to anybody but me but I so remember the excitement I had about quiting that job!


March 1,1986
Today was my last Saturday to work at Wards! The last of many Saturdays. I always hated to see them coming but I guess that will be different now. I keep doing things and thinking, "Now this is the last time I'll do this here." It feels pretty good! I am starting to pack now, doing little things here and there that need to be done before Igo. The girls and I went to K-Mart tonight to buy a few things to take up. I got some suntan lotion real cheap but I guess it will be a while before I get to use it.

Don't you just hate it when you pour the milk on your cereal and it hits a slice of bananna and splashes out all over the place? I just hate it when that happens!

That crazy dog is barking outside again tonight! If he doesn't knock it off I'll have to do something, and it wont be pretty!
I didn't go to the shop today, I let Terry do that. I stayed home with the girls so they could go outside and play. We had a girl come home from church with us so I had 3 here today. I didn't see much of them because they were outside most of the day. It was a beautiful day to be out in but I had to clean the kitchen, do laundry, fold clothes and sweep floors. You know, all the fun stuff you usually do when it is a beautiful day outside. The girls had a BB gun, target, a small bow and arrows and a large bale of hay so that kept them busy until time to go back to church.
One girl went back home with her mom but we still have Jessica here until tomorrow afternoon.
I printed out a bunch of invoices tonight so that is what I will be doing at the shop tomorrow, packing boxes for shipping. I have to ship about 15 things tomorrow, we've had a good couple of weeks.
I told Terry I wanted to take this week off from working on Ebay and stay home and do some deep cleaning on my house. He sold a pile of pine logs that he sawed into 8x8's. They call it a log cabin but it just looks like a pile to me. They payed half down and that was a decent amount so I think I've earned a week off. When it comes right down to it I will probably rather go back and work on Ebay then clean my house. Fortitude, ambition, motivation and some encouragement, thats what I need. YOU GO GIRL! thank you.

Well, we went to the auction anyway. There were deer hunters in the woods so Terry thought it best to do that job another day so he came back and we went to Alton to an auction. We bought an old primitive jelly cupboard for the shop and a few other little things but not much. It wasn't a very big auction.
When we got back we unloaded at the shop then went to French Lick to pick up Sarah Beth at Jessica's house. Jessica decided she wanted to spend the weekend with us so we have 2 girls now for a few days. We had to go into Paoli for gas and it was down to $2.25 a gallon! That is nice, now I can fill my car again with a 20 dollar bill. We picked up a couple of Pizzas at Pizza Hut for supper which was alright for me, I didn't want to cook anyway.
It is nice that Sarah Beth moved her bedroom upstairs because that gets all that sleepover stuff out of my hair. I usually don't even know we have company until they get hungry and show up for food.
I had to work on Hildie's problem some more tonight. I have to soak it with warm water until it opens up again and kinda push out the yucky stuff and help it drain. I was kinda worried tonight, I couldn't seem to get it to open up. It finally did after about 30 minutes and I got some of the swelling down again. Maybe we'll lick this thing yet ( no pun intended).
I gotta go kiss all the new puppies then off to bed with me.

I had to take Hildie back to the vet again yesterday. It was probably my fault, I was not consistant with her medication or her treatment so it started to swell againg and get bad. He said he could cut it open again or I could just try hot packs and soaking it open so it could drain and be sure and start her back on her antibiotics. We soaked it again last night and I got it to drain alot but this morning it is being more difficult. If it's not better by Monday I guess we'll have to go back.
Sarah Beth spent the night with Jessica again last night. The only thing I worry about when they get together is that they like to stay up all night talking and I mean ALL night! I guess that is typical behavior for pre-teen girls but it is sure hard on the sleep bank.
Terry wanted to go to an auction this morning but Dexter called and got him out of bed at 7:30 this morning and wanted to go run a patch of timber. I guess the auction was not ment to be. When he left he said he was going to 'make a million' on that patch of timber! HA, that's a laugh. Nice positive attitude though.
I will soak Hildie's wound again then head for the shop to meet Terry and see what the rest of the day holds.

We have 5 little bundles of joy. Sarah Beth says there are 4 boys and one girl, I havent' checked yet to make sure. She started about 7 this morning and was done by 2. We named the little girl Destiny and the blackest little boy is Zoro. Haven't decided on names for the others yet. Finally Tabby can fit through the doggy door again! Will get better pictures as they get older.

Well, its 10 in the morning and we have 2 puppies so far but not without a lot of drama and a call to the vet. They said just give her some more time. In other words, "Calm down you crazy lady and let the dog do her job!"

Tabby is definitely in labor but I am predicting she wont give birth until sometime tomorrow. I may be wrong but we'll see. She looks very uncomfortable. I will probably but up a while watching her though.
I was digging in my closet upstairs and came across all my old journals. They start in January 1986. WOW, that was 20 years ago! I thought as I was reading through them I might transcribe some to the relevant parts here. I'll put it at the end of the posts so that you don't have to read it if you don't want to. It's all old news anyway.

Sunday, Jan. 12th 1986
Well this Month is about half over now. That leaves about 10 weeks now until I get to move back with Mom and Dad. I am counting the days. I didn't go to church today because I had to work at Ward's from 12-5. I am also counting the days until I won't have to go to that place any more! Just the thought that I don't have much longer to go makes it a bit easier. Sharon an Lois didn't go to church either. Lois didn't want to be sniffling in church and it wasn't hard to talk Sharon into staying home. I think they wanted to miss the communion part. Especially the way they do it at that church. The girls weren't here when I got home from work, they had gone over to Sam and Ivettes to help them move some furniture. They got home shortly after though. Rachel called and talked about 45 minutes.

The Kings Treasures
Tabby gave us a small scare this morning, she must be nesting and was looking for a nest. She crawled under the back steps and couldn't get out. I don't know how she got under there but when I found her she was trying to get out and couldn't get her big belly back between the steps. I had to get a pry bar and pry up the step a little so she would have room to get back out. I brought her with me to the shop today so we can keep an eye on her. There is a hole under one of the catalpa trees in our yard and one year she got under there and started digging and threw dirt in the opening and almost closed the opening. I had to dig her out of that one and plug that hole.

We woke up to rain this morning and that means Terry can't do much at the sawmill so he will probably be with us at the shop. That's always nice to have him out there with us, doesn't happen very often but it probably will more now that it is winter. And it really looks like winter too, after that rain last night. It took a lot of the pretty leaves with it.

Tabby was digging at her bedding this morning. That is usually the first sign that she is getting ready to pop. It is usually 24 to 36 hours later that she shows the real signs. But then mayby her blanket just wasn't wrinkled enough either. We'll just watch and see. I was perdicting for this weekend anyway.