Spring ~ It's slow to get here!

 What a late spring this year.  Now we're mowing, but the trees are so slow to get their leaves, and some of my trees are now in flower.  The lilacs aren't blooming because we had frost so late and it nipped the buds so badly.  They look terrible.

So pretty, now it just needs to warm up.

Last night we had light frost, so I still haven't put out any annuals yet.  The only thing growing is the rhubarb.

It's huge!  I need to pick some of those big ones and get rid of them, and start pulling the good stock. Will be making some Rhubarb Cobbler - and then some strawberry-rhubarb jelly.  Don't know when I'm going to squeeze it in, we'll be having a lot of company for granddaughters graduation.  Daughter Steph, hubby  and her 4 dogs are coming for graduation.  Odda will be happy ~ she's kind of lonely.  Health wise, she is doing fine.  Still on her meds.  Looks like we have a couple weeks left and then I'm going to take her in for a recheck to make sure that the meds did their job.

Here is a picture of one of my bushes that didn't do well through the winter. 

I have two bushes looking like this - looks bad, and that brown never turns green again, and when you cut it out, it looks terrible.  Easier to just replace them.  Then there also was another bush that is bad too, but guess I didn't get a picture of that one.  I'm not sure if too much snow caused this or if somehow the reflection from the heat of the house caused it.  Like a sunburn.  

Had company last weekend and also will be getting more fishing relatives coming next week.  So have been busy, and will be busy.  That and just trying to get some things done have kept me away from computer projects.  Hope you all have a great Memorial weekend.  Remember our military!

Goodbye Hooch

 This has been a terrible week for us as our wonderful Hooch  dog didn't survive his battle with the tick born disease Anaplasmosis.  The disease went to his neurological system and on Monday his system started to shut down and we had to have him put to sleep on Tuesday after it continued to get worse.  Poor thing he was hurting so bad and went into continuous seizures.  Couldn't let him suffer like that.  Now he's in heaven with Steve's parents playing frisbee with Grandpa Carl and no doubt Grandma is fixin him eggs every morning, like she used to do. 

Odda is doing okey.  The medicine seems to be working for her.  We're not done with it yet, but will keep on checking her closely.  I'm sure she misses her buddy, and when Connie and Gene came over the other night with Chance, she had fun running and playing.  She doesn't fetch like Hooch did, but maybe Chance will teach her how!

2008

Hooch

2000 - 2011

Thank you everyone for your kind words,

Christmast Present Now Up

 Sunday Steve got out the present we got from daughter Leah and Steven.  We love it.  It is now installed on our new garage.

Pigs, because we raise Duroc  hogs, selling breeding stock, show pigs and butchers to a lot of people.

Steve was a little boy in Nebraska when his dad started raising hogs, and their family moved to Minnesota in 1953 and there has been hogs on this farm since.  They had milk cows when they first came here alongwith milk cows; and  have had sheep and beef throughout the years too, but for many years just hogs.  So he is real tickled the kids got that for us.  The windmill is a picture of our windmill that Leah took.

I thought I was going to also show a view of the whole front.  We have two doors, and the sign is between.  But I see that I failed to get that picutre.   Opps!

Hooch and Odda this afternoon after getting home from the groomers!   Nice to have clean dogs after a long winter.

We're having a beautiful day here today.  I need to get outside and get something done.   Hope our week stays nice.  Prayers going out to all the people that are and will be affected by flooding in Louisiana.  Hope that the levies don't fail.  Have a great week!

Amish Quilts

Saturday I drove up north to an annual Amish Community Auction.  My first time to one of their sales, but I plan to go again next year.  They also have an auction on Labor Day weekend, but we'll be in Omaha for a family wedding, so unable to attend that one.  There was all kinds of wagons full of stuff outside, and inside a huge tent was the furniture, quilts, baskets, rugs, veggies, canned goods, flowers, and lots of other stuff.  The auction started at 9:30 am, and went until dark.  I can't believe they got done with everything, as I left about 3 pm. 
I bought some jellies.  They sold them off one jar at a time, and I got  some chokecherry, blueberry, strawberry, wild plum-raspberry, orange-rhubarband some applebutter.  Steve opened the chokecherry first, and loves it.  Says it is just like the chokecherry his mom used to make.  So he is pleased with what I got.  I also got a basket.  It is supposed to be used for groceries, but I'm going to put my magazines in it.  It is out in the garage yet, because of the wood stain smell.  They must have been made recently, because the smell is so strong.  Here are some pictures of some of the quilts that sold when I was there.  There were so many more to be sold.  I think they were going very resonable.  The system they had was good.  The quilts were all numbered, and after you got the last bid, they took the quilt back to the rack and the ladies put it in a plastic bag, with your bidder number on it.  Then after you paid for your quilt, and showed them the receipt, they gave you the quilt.  This way, the bidder didn't have to hold the quilt throughout the sale, with a chance of it getting dirty.

From the chair I was sitting in, looking over the platform they brought everything up to sell, we see a pile of rugs to be sold, and how the quilts are hanging.  There were 286 quilts there!!!!  So much work and time put into them.  The tent was yellow and white, so it the light filtering in made the colors somewhat dull.

This is one of the quilt tops 100" x 112"  that sold.  It went for $180.00.   

Another quilt top 53" x 53" that went for $65.00.  

This 90" x 108" finished quilt went for $165.00.  All the bright colors framed by black are so pretty.

This Texas LoneStar quilt was finished and measured 97" x 107".  It sold for $280.00.

There were some table toppers and wall hangings that were just the tops that went for 10.00.  I could hardly believe that.  Some very good buys. 

There was furniture, and here is a picture of a hickory bedroom set.  It is beautiful!

I left before the sale ended, but the next one I go to, I'll stay til the end.  Think I'll start saving some money too.  I would have liked to have bought some outdoor furniture.  So after having been to my first Amish Auction, I'll be ready to go again! 

Sunday for Mother's Day, hubby took me and our daughter Leah and Steven out for brunch.  The other two girls missed out because they don't live here.   Wish we were all closer.  My sister and hubby went to southern MN to be with our middle daughter Stephani and Cullen.  They had a horse show on Sunday, but it got rained out.   It is rainy here today, but now later in the day it's quit.  I'd like a few days for sunshine.  Need to get out into the yard to work on flower garden and get ready to mow for the first time.

I went to the chiropractor again today.  He adjusted me last week, and again today.  I needed adjustment on my neck, mid back and tailbone area.  Now feel great again!!!!!!!!   I can turn my head again without the grind of sand (arthritis), and stand without hurting!

Have a great week!

Hope you all have a great week. 

 

Happy Mother's Day to All Women!

Wishing you all a Happy Day today on Mother's Day!  Even if you're not a mother to children, I bet you've been a great Auntie, or mother to wonderful pets, or husbands or boy friends (they can be pretty big babies)!  Some way or some how, we've all mothered!  I truely believe that.     Our day started out cloudy, and oldest daughter and hubby and Steve and I went out for brunch this morning.  The food was great and we all filled our tummies!  The ride home was nice ~ Steve drove like a Grandpa!  45 mph on a busy highway, and he quickly figured out that he was going too slow when cars came up fast and had to slow down.  We all laughed!  Gosh, we're now the old folks!   Our conversation at the table was also about how everything is changing!  We're still stuck on our first phones we got after the "bag phone" went bye-bye!  Things are changing so fast around us every day!  We don't text; have ipods, iphones or droids; and we haven't rented a movie from a vending machine!  We don't have a lap top at our house either.  We figured we're doing pretty good to have high speed internet and cable TV when we live 15 miles out in the country!I've forgotten how to use our VCR player (it probably doesn't even work any more), and I have to learn each time how to do the DVD player!  Electronics are passing us by!!!!!!!!!!!!

On another update note:  Odda (our Bernese Mt Dog) is improving from her Lime and Anaplasmosis Disease.  Still sleeps a lot, but she does run and play now.  Took Hooch into the vet last week, and he too has Anaplasmosis.  He is on the same meds as Odda, so I now mix canned dog food  with their dry food.  I push their pills into the wet food to hide, and it has worked real well.  Hooch  is very sore in his hind joints and spine, and real shakey.  At first Steve and I thought it was from him getting older, but decided after Odda had two tick related illnesses, that we should have Hooch checked also.  Darn Ticks, what are they good for?   Hooch is 10 years old, and lots of Jack Russels live to be 17-18 years old.  His shakeness seems to be a little better.  He is a great dog; funny, because as soon as he feels a "little" better, he is up running around.  Today for awhile was real normal, with the dogs chasing each other.

Friday, Leah and I went to Fargo to shop for graduation party supplies, but we went early, and went to an area in town that advertized 60 sales in one close area for Saturday, but many were open on Friday.  That was great fun.  Still a lot of people going, but not as many as was there on Saturday.  I got a youth bed for Renee for $25 dollars, from another Grandma, so it hadn't been used much.  I also got a car seat just like the one the kids have, so now they won't need to bring theirs with them when they fly.   They will be here again in July.  Leah found some glassware that she'll be using for her table center pieces, a cute clock and some other stuff.  We had the SUV full, especially after getting our groceries and stuff at Sam's club.  We were wishing we'd brought the truck, but I wouldn't have liked rummage saleing with that big thing and the traffic in that neighborhood!   It sure is fun to spend a day like that with your daughter - thanks Leah!    I'll have to do that the next time I go to Steph's and Jessica's.  They like to go to rummage sales and thrift stores too. It's always fun to get a bargin!

Hope you all a having a good day!

Sick Odda!

Took Odda to the vet today.  She tested positive for Lime disease and Anaplasmosis.  She is now on doxycycline medicine and a pain med, and after the doxy is done, she'll be on Amoxicillin.  I also bought some canned dog food, as she hasn't eaten and has lost 7 lbs.  Poor dog ~ I feel so bad for her.  I needed to have her eat some dog food so we could get the pills into her, and it's easier to hide the pills in with wet dog food.  If she figures that out, I'll have to get the pills into her by putting them way on the back of her tongue, holding her head up and getting her to swallow.  The doctor said she should be feeling better soon and if she isn't getting around better in a couple of days, to get back to them.   She ate the canned dog food good after we got home.  Tomorrow I'll mix the wet food with her dry food, so she won't hate it so bad when the canned food is all gone!  Her temp was 104.5 F, so she was very feverish.  Anything over 102  is high. To get her into the SUV was something.  I had to lift her into the car and out again.   She is a heavy dog when all dead weight.  You can tell she hurts as it takes awhile to get up from laying down and sitting down.
The vet suggest that since this area is so bad for tick borne diseases, that along with the monthly use of Frontline, we should also use a tick/flea collar and daily or each time they go outside to also spray or wipe repellant daily around their neck, head and top of head area where Frontline doesn't get too.  So now we'll be doing that for both dogs, and we'll be watching Hooch closely too, to make sure we catch it quick if he starts to show any symptoms.  They are:  lameness; fever; swollen, very painful joints; loss of appetite; can have kidney failure; vomiting and diarrhea.
Friend Connie and Gene have gone through this with Chance last fall.  He has recovered nicely, so I think that Odda will too.

So that's the update on Odda ~ I'll keep you posted to how she is doing.

Home again!

Got home late yesterday afternoon.  Still tired, but need to post some pictures for you.  I tried when I was at Jessica's, but they recently purchased a new computer, and it wasn't working for me at all!  They don't do their emails on it anymore (use their phones), so they don't have Microsoft Outlook, and that really made it rough.  Couldn't even send pictures out after downloading them.  Well, I could, but they ended up really big, and I couldn't downsize them easily, like before.  So rather than screw up things, I decided to wait until I got home!

My sister and hubby had sent a gift card for Easter, so it was spent on a new little outdoor castle slide.  Renee loves it, and it is easily moved inside to play on too.  Just the right size for her. 

"ALL MINE!"

Easter Morning, Renee picked up the Bunny tracks the Easter Bunny left, so she could find her Easter Basket.  The Bunny came in the front door, leaving tracks from there to her bedroom, and then back to where he hid the basket!  When she got up her eyes got big, and she followed and picked up all the foot prints right up to the basket.  It was so cute!

Then she carried her Easter Basket with her everywhere she went. 

She finally figured it out to put the basket on the landing first.  It took a couple of times with her trying to climb up holding the basket handle and everything just getting in the way!  It's amazine how these little ones figure things out so quickly.

More pictures tomorrow.  Now home to nice cool weather.  It was too hot there for me!  Flying yesterday over some nasty weather.  The plane ride was pretty bumpy.

Came home to a sick dog.  Odda hasn't eaten for 3 days.  Real lethargic, so called the vet and taking her in tomorrow.  I fed her today with some drippings over the dog food, which she usually gobbles down, and she didn't, so she just isn't feeling good.  They're going to test her for limes disease.  I think she also may have some female problem thing going on too.  Will let you know about the vet visit too.  This weekend is our annual pig sale for show pigs, so busy getting my clerking stuff ready.

It was nice to go visit Renee and Jessica and Floyd, but it is nice also to get back home and back into a routine!  We'll see them again in July when they come home for a week.

Have a great day!