Thursday, July 30, 2009

Depressingly Depressed

Well, it's done. We are moving back to town.

It's not what I want. I am very unhappy about it. the county codes make it so that it will cost us over $18,000.00 over the next 6 months (with no time extensions) to stay here. And we don't have that kind of money.

$55.00 for the permit to live here.
$55.00 because this is a deer wintering grounds and we need a permit to stay here.
$500.00 permit to have the perc test holes tested, and to put in a septic.
$30.00 mobile home placement permit
$1.00 per square foot of the mobile TAX to go towards extracurricular activities in the county schools (we have 840 SF mobile home) I don't have children in school, and the kids I do know in school don't go to school in this county. (never mind the fact that I think that if you have kids then YOU should be the one to pay for them, not ME! It's not up to me to pay for your children.)
$10,000.00 to drill the well
$5,000.00 to place the septic
$7,000.00 to pay for 50% of the property so the person we have the personal loan with will let us do all these permits with the county.
$2,000.00 approx. to have the mobile rewired, (maybe more, I didn't talk to an electrician yet) because the county has told us that even though we aren't using electricity we are required that the mobile is completely wired for electricity by a liscenced electrictian. We can't legally live in it until that is done. The person who had the mobile before tore out the wiring as they didn't have electricity here. We would have to get it all redone. Their excuse was that someday there may be electricity out here and so we may want it then... huh? This I don't understand at all! lol.
$200.00 inspection fee for the electric work on the wiring.

And these are just the ones we currently know about. I haven't gone further in the inquiry of what needs to be done.

the mobile that is here is temporary only. We weren't planning on staying in the mobile, we wanted to do strawbale construction here. Since it's a fairly arid area, it's not all that hard to have strawbale because the weather doesn't break it down as much as in the valley. the R value of the strawbale construction is very decent for this area too. building codes require 2 x 6 construction instead of 2 x 4 because of the amount of snow in the winter, and the straw bale is rated as something like 2 x 8 or even 2 x 10 depending on what rigidity you use and how well you compact.

so we are moving back to town. A small town not far from Treehaven land. It's not what I want. It's not what I planned, and it's a terrible, terrible place. It's prison as far as I am concerned. I hate living in towns, it's suffocating, it's inhuman. I don't know how people can subject themselves to it willingly. Like rats in a maze I'll be back in a festering excuse for living.

instead of clean air, mountain breezes, the sounds of birds, and sights of deer and such, I get to have the sounds of cars, car exhaust, and the neighbors dog.

I have the consolation that if I have to live in prison, then I'll live in a guilded cage at least. lol.

The house is nice as city homes go. It's 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, the garage has been converted into a shop, and a fenced front yard (with a white picket fence). Although, it has carpeting in the kitchen... It's beyond me why anyone would carpet a kitchen for crying out loud. The messiest floor in the house is the kitchen, so I have a feeling that I'll be shampooing that a lot. It has a ton, and I mean a TON of storage, as well as a fireplace, and monitor heater for heating in the winter. There is a swamp cooler in the living room for helping to cool. Since the house is built of cinder block, it stays fairly cool in the summer, but having the swamp cooler i am sure will be a boon. Rent is very cheap for it, less than $600.00 per month, if this house were in Eugene, the rent would be $1,500.00 to $1,800.00 per month! In Portland it would be about $2,200.00 a month. The Square Footage on the house is about 1300 SF. Even the house we were renting in Eugene, which was a ranch style home built in the 1970's was $910.00 per month, and it was only 1050 SF, no perks. the landlord will be paying water and sewer on this house. We can run all the water we want he said, he encouraged it as a matter of fact as he wants the lawn to stay as green as possible. no problamo. I am not big on lawns, a waste of space in my mind, yank them and put in garden.. But it's a fact that a green lawn helps to keep the area around it cooler. So, i'll run that water 24/7 if he likes. lol. I'll pick up a hose and a sprinkler when we go into town on Monday (7/27/09).

The good news for hubby is that there is DSL connection available, and he can go back to working on computers for people. Maybe I'll get back into playing Everquest and I can bury my depression over living in town in the game again. The news that he'll have DSL at the house has him almost dancing a jig. I don't find going to the library to be much of a chore. Actually I enjoy it. I meet new people, and learn about area happenings. It's kind of fun. But he doesn't like that. you can sure tell which of us is more addicted to the net. lol.

The rental is on a month to month agreement. The loose plan right now is that we will move our stuff down out of storage in Eugene sometime in the next few months. Then, we'll weed through everything even more, get it to where it'll all fit in one van or moving vehicle, and during this time decide on where we are going to go and what we are going to do. And then make our move. This time at least we won't have to make any split minute decisions (we hope) and can plan out where we are going to move to. We'll find someplace out in the country, in an area that isn't controlled by people who seem to want to bleed every drop of money from you, and then start over. We already have a few leads in that direction.

I'll be putting a new website up, check it out in a few months. http://www.acornave.net That's what I'm calling this little rental house, Acorn Avenue. It's a dream hoping to grow into something big and mighty. lol.

I'm unhappy, sad, depressed, and we've fallen back about 3 rungs on the ladder towards our goals, but I am NOT giving up. I WILL reach the top of this ladder.

Ok, my rant is done. lol.

I'll write more later as this is a total book as you can see. :)

Hugs!

Movin' Movin' Movin'!

We went this morning and made a run to the mobile for stuff. This load is mostly canned goods. I'm not feeling too well today, kind of that drugged out feeling without having taken any drugs. I have a general "woozieness" that I just can't shake. I thought it may be too much sugar, so I have now eaten a bunch of protien to try and counter it. We'll see if it helps some. If not then I'll end up going in and laying down for a bit.

I have to empty these boxes and totes that we brought back from the mobile before we go back over, I need them to pack more stuff in.

It looks like there is about 4 more loads or so over there, then a few trips to the dump (you always find so much more trash when you are moving than at any other time you live somewhere!).

Tonights dinner is going to be beef roast, with mashed taters and veggie of some sort. I know I am long on greenbeans and corn, but it all depends on what I have here at the house verses what is still at the mobile. :) I am sure that you all know how that goes. Man I wish there was a pizza place here in town! lol.

Off to go and unload a tote or two!
Ta.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Moving On

Well, if hubby's check is in the mail tomorrow for his disability then we go and take possession of the rental house.

While I don't like the idea of moving back into a rental, I do have to be practical and admit that it's what I would look for in a house. lol. I have always wanted a nice 1960ish house with a white picket fence and roses out front and huge kitchen, with a fireplace or woodstove in it. Well, It's got all of that! ROFL. It has HUGE bedrooms, and TONS of storage. It's like I ordered the house just for me. So who knows, maybe it'll all work out for the best anyway.

The power is already going into my name tomorrow, and the water is already on. The landlord is paying for the water, I think I mentioned that already. Trash doesn't pick up there in town, everyone just makes weekly or so runs to the local dump. come on, the entire town is something like 400 people. lol. I think they snuck in a few cows in that count just to get their $$$ from county and state up. Three convienence stores, 1 gas station, 1 car repair shop, 1 forest service office, 1 water service office, 1 second hand store, and 1 cafe. There you have it. And not a stop light in the town. OH, they do have an elementary school too. rofl.

My sort of neighbor, she's three blocks away and in the middle of town while we are on the outskirts, has llamas in her backyard. I like that idea, maybe I can do some kind of swap for some llama fiber! Hers are black, and such a nice color of black too. None of that brown/black you see so often in fiber animals.

I won't be able to keep rabbits and chickens like I wanted, but I'll just have to trade for meat and eggs I guess. With all the storage in the house I'll have places to put all the food storage I currently have, plus a lot more. There are three full size closets in the house, and I'll put shelves in at least one if not two of them, and that will give me even more storage space.

We are taking a load of stuff with us tomorrow to leave at the house, and we are also taking along a bag with clean clothes and all our shower stuff. hubby has already called dibs on the first shower. lol. It doesn't matter to me, I can shower here or there. I figure that if he gets in the shower there I may not be able to get him to come back here to sleep. hehe.

Almost everything we have we can put in boxes and take over in our car. The bed, our small fridge and a table will have to be taken over in a friends truck. The only reason the fridge needs to go in the truck is because it's best if you don't tip them on their side, and it's too tall for my car. the table could be broken down and go in the car too, but it's a hassle to take apart so the guys can just toss it in the truck. We'll also pack their truck with boxes in the same trip, why waste space right?

We are keeping one of the water storage containers, it's always best to keep extra water! The other we are selling, we'll keep the generator too. The large propane canisters are being sold, we'll keep the two smaller ones, they will work well on a BBQ or for the turkey fryer, which I am keeping! So much to decide on and do. And to top it all off it's been like 4 bazillion degrees!

Ok, so not quite that hot, but it was over 95 degrees today... Dry heat my bouncy patootie! Once it gets that hot it's all hot, sticky heat because I sweat so much. Blah. We ever win the lottery and I'm moving to Alaska. NORTHERN Alaska. I have heard there is this great place in Siberia, Uerkoosk.... It get to something like -20 in the summer... I think I'll move there. no plants grow, so the people live on horse meat alone.... Hummm... Maybe I'll be able to grow something else to eat, after all I'd be filthy rich from winning the lotto right?

OK, I'm fried.

later Gaters!

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Dr. Visit and presents from Newbs

Had a Dr. appointment yesterday, and got good news pretty much all around! I lost 8 lbs! I grew 3 inches, I was 5 feet tall and I measured 5'3" yesterday. And my blood sugars were NORMAL! I mean, really, really normal. So normal that I am no longer having to take glucophage. I have an appointment next month and at that time I am going to have the 2 hour sugar blood draw h1c something, and if it comes back normal I won't have to be on the glucophage again at all. whoot! The only downer for the day was that she had no fix for the mosquito bites I have been getting.

Last night Newbs brought me home a surprise... It was GROSS! He came home, and after drinking a bunch of water (it was over 90 degrees F here yesterday) he came in and laid on the bed. I didn't pay any attention to him since we were watching a movie and had our headphones on. Anyway, at a break in the movie I look over to find he had vomited, yes PUKED, on the foot of my bed! ICK! EWWW! What was even worse was what he urked up. It was 2 yes TWO squirrels he had killed and eatten whole. oh my goodness! I can't even describe how ucky it was. Fascinating in that he ate them whole, but still kind of on the ugh side of life. I guess 8 month old dogs are like 2 year old kids. If they can catch it, it goes in their mouth and you find it in their diaper later. Needless to say, until we move Nubie is now confined to the house and immediate area. lol.

Ok, after my rant from yesterday I will now have to say some of the good things that will be developing once we move. I'll be putting together the cookbook! Whoot! I hope to have it ready for publication in November. It will be all tried and true recipes that come from yours truely. 20 years in the developement, it will finally come to pass. whew. I also will be launching the Acorn Avenue line of dog treats. Yet, still there is other things I'll be working on too.

So busy and no time! Whoot! lol.

Ta!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Hubby's response to Bea (Evil Prospers, response)

Ms. Bea and anyone else who just doesn't understand,

I think you missed some key points the post.

We live out in the middle of nowhere. Our nearest neighbor is 1/3 of a mile away, the next nearest is nearly a mile away. The closest “town” (1 store, a bar and a post office) is over 5 miles away. Between us and town are cow fields, sagebrush, and light forest. When I wrote about a community I was referring to the dozen or so folks who live in a roughly 10 mile diameter zone.

As for someone suffering from any stink we may produce; Guess who wins in a stink contest on a hot day? Would it be two humans using a regularly serviced (at our expense) potable toilet, or several hundred head of cattle in a small field? Nothing we have stinks worse then a well manured cow field. Mind you, I don't complain about the cows, it's just what cows do. Oh and did I mention, we are out in the middle of nowhere?

We picked just such a remote location in order to remove ourselves from intrusion into our lives. We don't expect, nor wish to have any county services. Response time to our location for any fire, ambulance, or law enforcement, is measured in hours not minuets. It's popular to be part of a life flight co-op for any true medical emergencies. It's a good idea when you are out in the middle of nowhere.

We regularly haul our trash to the dump and pay the dump fee, or in the winter we can use the burn barrel for most of it. You can do that when your not in a town or city, like when you are out in the middle of nowhere.

No we don't have running watter, we have 600 gallons of storage for water. We pay one of our neighbors to deliver water. I pump out of the storage as needed. we use a gravity fed solar heated shower, our drinking water is from our Burke filter, the same thing the British army uses in the field. I heat watter in our propane turkey fryer when needed for dishes or whatever. I was planning on connecting up a 12 volt DC water pump at some point, kind of on hold for now. Our region is high desert and I have attracted a lot of wild life to my little plot of land just by making water available for birds and other local critters. My little bit of improvement to the middle of nowhere.

I would love to put in solar electric, but I keep having to divert my solar panel fund to little things like keeping a car to use, doctors, and food. You know; silly, frivolous stuff. For power right now we use a generator and battery combo. I normally run the generator nine hours, sometimes twelve if the battery is extremely low. None of my neighbors can hear it, one of those advantages of being out in the middle of nowhere.

The point of the post was to express my rage and sadness that laws, that are perfectly logical for anyone in a town or city, are being applied in a near punitive way, to rural people who can't benefit from their application.

Unless you wish to debate that knowingly causing hardship, loss, and suffering is evil, then I beg you to understand that laws, throughout history, have caused more evil then all the weapons ever made by man's hand. Let's just pick a law .. how about the one used by Pharaoh to enslave Jews. We could also pick the one used in the Inquisition. Too old for you, Federal Attorney General Gonzalez told then president, G. W. Bush, that it is legal to water board prisoners. The law once said blacks had to sit in the back of a bus. Every one of these laws, and thousands of others, caused hardship, loss and suffering. They were evil laws.
I put to you Ms. Bea, that you cannot both support our right to live as we wish, and condemn us to “some standard” when that “standard” is of no benefit to anyone, and is in fact a small bit of evil.

Busy being boring.

Whew. What a busy day it's been. mostly connecting at the library and trying to find what I can do at the property for well and septic. I have some leads on a few grants, but it's still kind of tenuous.

After the library we went over to a friends house and had dinner... Mmmm. Steak! lol.

How boring are we? lol.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Response to Evil Prospers

After posting the post about "evil prospers" to the blog, I forwarded it also to 2 of the email lists I am on through Yahoo Groups!. One of these list is my own Always_ready, the other belongs to a friend of mine and is called 4on4. A lovely woman, Bea, sent me this response. Her email address is: beeble736@yahoo.com just in case someone wants varification on the post.

My favorite highlights are #1, where she assumes that we live like unwashed neaderthals, and #2, where she assumes that we want any county services.

Bea has been on the list with me for years, and has seen the posts where we live off grid and that we do not want to install electricity and that we do have water on the property.

*****

I read this, and I really don't understand what you are saying. You are not up to code. That means, whether you like it or not, you are in violation of county laws. I am truly amazed that you are allowed to occupy a house without indoor plumbing. I assume you have running water? You would not be allowed to live in any sort of structure in the county where I live without both. Neither would you be allowed to have electric or any type of gas service. Codes are designed to make sure people are living in safe, hygenic environs. I would really hate to live down wind from you in hot weather.

Hopefully you do not expect the county to provide you with any services since you do not feel compelled to comply with their requirements.

Sorry, but people who live off the grid and then complain about compliance matters make me crazy. I support your right to live as yu please, but there as to be some sort of standard maintained for public safety.

Bea in GA

Thursday, July 9, 2009

County Woes

As you can see there was a lot that happened here on the mountain a few days ago. We have now found out that several people were told they had to vacate byt July 31st. Some of the rest of us were told we had to start the "process". This process will be a total of about $16,000.00 and will need to be completed within about 6 months. Some of the people that are up here are making much less than hubby and I are currently making.

From what Christine, the code enforcement officer, told me is that she was out her responding to another complaint in the area, and she just decided to do a sweep of the area. This is horrible.

to my way of thinking the county just needs to leave us all alone. We aren't out here hurting anyone. We aren't putting in toxic waste dumps, our dogs (for the most part) don't wander, we aren't letting our toilets just pour out on the ground and so on and so forth. If the few dogs that DO wander, they are totally harmless and have been up here for several years. It's kind of like those of us here on the hill have all adopted them. they are extremely friendly and usually come by just to play or get a snack and a pat. It's completely ridiculous that they feel that they have to do this.

If we can't get some loans, grants, donations and start this process, then sometime in the next 6 months we'll have to move. I love this land. Thor is buried here, and my heart is buried here too. I love this land. It's MY land. It's MY HUSBAND'S land. We were planning on living here forever.

I wonder what is in store next? What next horrible thing is going to happen?

What happens if we do nothing? Will they arrest us? Fine us? take our land away from us? What?

I am very sad right now. I am flummoxed as to what to do next.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Evil Prospers

Evil is any action that knowingly causes hardship, loss, or suffering to another.

On July 7th 2009 Kristine Cornett, a Klamath County code enforcement officer, accompanied by a county deputy, brought evil to an entire community of low income people.

For years the folks living in this community have barely scraped out an existence. In this community there is no connection to power, most have to truck in their water, and many use out-houses or rented portable toilets. Most in this community are on fixed incomes, disability or social security, one is dieing.

This is a rural community, no one location can even see any other, it is miles from anything resembling a town. None of us have traditional homes. Some live in camping trailers, some in small sheds, a few luckier ones have older mobile homes. None are living in accordance with county code, and from there the evil flows.

For some reason, Ms. Cornett, one of only two code inspectors in the entire county, found it necessary to persecute this entire community. Granted, she is acting fully within the bounds of the law, but laws do not keep an act from being evil. Some of the folks have been told they have no right to live on their land any longer and must leave before the end of the month, all the others were told that unless large sums of money were paid to the county in the form of permits, improvements, and inspections, they also would have to vacate their land. This would be called extortion if it wasn't backed up by the force of the government. I personally still call it extortion.

Perhaps the county has decided to try and balance it's budget on the backs of the poor, or maybe Ms. Cornett thinks she is just doing her job, perhaps someone got tired of all us poor folk. I don't know the reason we were targeted, but the end result is the same, an entire community has been subjected to hardship, loss, and will suffer. In other words, evil has been done to us.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

daily Doin's

So much is going on lately! Whew. I'll be glad when winter comes back so I can slow down some.

Working in my kitchen and living room, trying to get it so that it's a home, and not just a place to be when I'm not out doing anything else. I have so much done, yet so much to do... And I'm not looking forward to when I get the rest of our stuff here from storage! Then i'll have MORE stuff to find a place for. lol. Thankfully, there is still some stuff in storage I don't plan on us keeping.

Went to town yesterday for hubby's appointment, did some laundry and hit the store real quick. I had to pick up some more embroidery floss for this project I am working on. I am embriodering the squares for a quilt for my nephew for Christmas. I have one more square to do then I'll have all 12 done. I'll have to make some more squares to finish the quilt sine these are 9 inch squares. They are a preprinted kit I bought at bi-mart, and according to the pattern that came with the squares, the quilt is only 30 x 40 inches. That may work for a baby or a toddler... but my nephew is 5 and I want something he can (and will) use on his twin size bed. So I'll have to do the math to make this into a twin size. I am thinking I'll get some plain blue flannel and cut some more squares and embroider the names of what's on the squares on them. So one will say cow, and one will say horse and so on and so forth. That will help to make up some more squares to make it bigger. I'll leave some plain too. Each square is embriodered monochromatic, so that made it go a lot faster. And it's kind of cute. I have pink sheep, a grey horse, yellow ducks, red rooster and so on. The last block I have to do still is the most complicated, it's a scarecrow in a corn field. I am going to embroider this block in orange. It just kind of fits I think. lol.

I have two pretty sunbonnet sue panels embroidered also. These are bigger, about 16 inches square. I am going to turn these into pillows, complete with ruffles. These will go to one of the neices for Christmas. this leaves me with two more nieces to cover for Christmas. I have several embroidery patterns saved here on the laptop. I'll just have to decide which I want to do. So many different ideas! lol. I want to do them all!

I have several other projects to get done as well. Hand/arm warmers for hubby, and for my sister too. And I am crocheting a lovely new headcovering for myself. It's a headband style, and I am using a new thread! It's a lovely crochet thread by Aunt Lydia's. It's a #10 crochet thread and it's 100% bamboo! It was $2.97 for the ball of it at Wal-mart, and it is soooo soft to use. When I laid hands on it in the store I had to have it. So I have been working it like crazy. I want to be able to wear it when I go in to my next dr. appointment. Or maybe when I go visit friends this weekend. If I have it done in time I'll wear it this weekend when we go to the river with friends. That will be fun.

I am also crocheting a ruana. It's done in a new red heart yarn called "peruvian print" it's a pretty ombre print done in their 100% acrylic line of yarn. I really like this yarn for stuff like this, as it wears well, doesn't shrink or warp while you wash or wear it, and it gets softer each time you wash and dry it. And, the colors don't run or bleed. That's important in my book. lol.

ok, I gotta run! It's bed time, and I am beat.

ta!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

plans for going out.

Joy of Joys my hubby got the car to run again! What a great man I have! he totally rocks when it comes to anything electrical like this. So, on the agenda for today is a run to the post office, and tomorrow will be a run to the library where we can upload all these newest blogs, and I can get my email! Whoot! We also have several pictures to put up. Need to see about finding a Chilton's car manual for our car. That would have really helped in this particular situation. hubby also said that he wants to change out the thermostat with our next paycheck, as that is something that goes wrong a lot so having a new one in it would be a good thing.

Hubby is now saying that he doesn't want another puppy right now. this of course would mean that my dream of ever having a Shiba Inu in the house is once again put on hold. Will it be yet ANOTHER 12 years before I finally get one. That would make me... 49 years old. Great, old enough that I wouldn't want another puppy at all. I am so angry I could spit. But I guess in the grand scheme of things this is minor. I suppose I should be happy I have a home and property and my life and food to eat and air to breathe... It's not like I want a diamond ring or a cruise to the Carribean. It's a PUPPY for crying out loud. Other people have kids, I have dogs. If he wanted a new computer I would move the moon to get it for him. But he says that a computer doesn't eat or piddle on the floor. This isn't the end of this discussion. :D lol. I am sure there is a GOOD reason he's saying no, but I don't know what it is at this point.

On the upside, with the car running again we can go into town and do laundry now. whoot. I don't mind doing it by hand, but it's a lot of work, and a lot of water. It took 45 gallons to do what we did the other day, and that was the equivalent of 2 loads of laundry if we had done it in a regular washing machine. When you haul in ALL your water yourself or have it hauled in, then every single gallon counts. And 45 gallons is ALOT of water in use around here. 5 gallons or less to shower, 4 gallons to do a weeks worth of dishes, 5 gallons a day for the 5 of us to drink and eat and such.... As you can see all of these take considerably less water to complete. Even the porta potty only uses 2 1/2 gallons of water in it and that lasts almost a week before we have to dump it into the BIG porta john outside. And that doesn't use any water at all on our part. So I'll continue to go somewhere to do laundry when I can. It's $1.50 per load to wash and $1.50 to dry per load. Usually we end up spending about $12.00 or so on laundry, and we can check our email and such at the same time. We go do laundry about once every 2 weeks.

Well, I'm off to get into some more trouble somewhere and then we are heading for the post office. :)

Stay happy!

hubby fixing car and I'm making food

Well, it may not be the fuel pump on the car. If we hook a battery up directly to the fuel pump it comes on just like it''s supposed to. So it looks like it's the fuel shut off switch. The problem is that we can't find it. Apparently it's a fuse or something. So hubby is now out there trying to bypass it. Blah. Glad he knows electricity. lol.

Our neighbor brought down two Shiba-Inu pups to play with... Actually, he took them to town since a woman was thinking of buying one for her daughter for her birthday. They still have about 2 weeks left before they can leave mom. These were two boys. one was a fawn color with a white strip on his nose and little black dots over his eyes. This one was a little timid, but still a bit outgoing. The other was a Sesame with a little white on his chest and a black mark on top of his muzzle and some black on his ears. the sesame was VERY outgoing. He chased poor Pan around the yard, and wanted to lick me all over everytime I picked him up. I am so very excited. I had asked for a female and I just can hardly wait. Although, this little sesame almost made me change my mind. lol. I have been waiting for a shiba to come into my life for over 10 years! I was looking for a shiba when we ended up with Pan. He was 8 months old when we got him, and he's now 12 years old. So now you know how long I have waited. hehehe.

My sister of course thinks I'm nuts taking on a baby when I have a 4 year old in the house (Nubis is 7 months old, and that is about 2 - 4 years old in human years or so.)... But I say... The more the merrier. I know Thor would have been gaa-gaa over a new baby in the house.

Hubby is still out working on the car. It looks like he may not have it completed until tomorrow, but I'm ok with that. knowing that we have everything that is needed to make it run again and that he knows what to do is very satisfying. He's deep in the "leave me alone and let me work" mode. I can deal with that. It's nice to see something he can work on and it's not outside his skill range.

Dinner night before last was POSH! It was a toss together thing that totally was worth it.

3 cups cooked macaroni noodles
1 can drained peas and carrots
1 can drained whole kernal corn
1/4 lb of cheese cut up into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup light balsalmic vinegrette dressing (organics brand is what I had)
2 tablespoons of mayonaisse
dash pepper
dash lemon pepper

Mix it all up in a bowl and serve. :) Whoot!

Lunch today was a variation on this.

3 cups cooked macaroni noodles
1 can drained mixed veggies (corn, green beans, celery, potatoes, lima beans)
1 can ham chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 lb of cheese cut up into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup light balsalmic vinegrette dressing (organics brand is what I had)
2 tablespoons of mayonaisse
dash pepper
dash lemon pepper

Tada! It was pretty good. It was all the dressing I had left, and I wanted to use it up. So it's gone now, and we got several meals of each (we had dinner from the other night for breakfast yesterday). I'll have to find something else for next meal cycle so hubby doesn't get bored with it. I also realized I have to make some bread sometime in the next few days. We're almost out.

Too bad I can't get hubby to go for taking BOTH those little boy Shiba's... Romulus and Remus... ROFL....

Anyway, I am off to get my current furkids some dinner. Freya and Nubis just came back from a run and they are probably starving.

Ta!

New, dead car

Happy, happy, joy, joy... My new car died. This sucks. We THINK it's the fuel pump, but at this moment we aren't sure if it is or not. I am so sad right now... And hubby is practically foaming at the mouth. He thinks God is trying to tell us something, but I have no clue what it is. Any ideas? lol. Would some conduit of the Almighty please email me and let me know... A Psychic would be welcome if they had some insight too.

Daily Grind

Went into the big city, got our monthly shopping done. Wheew... That is a lot of work, and a lot of money! this month is going to be very, very tight because of buying the car. I hope we can make it but we have less than $200.00 for the month. This will have to buy gas, and propane until we get our next check the end of July. This fixed income thing is for the birds. I'll be enacting my Etsy account soon, I have several items to put up for sale there finally. mostly washclothes and some bandage kits. I will be adding aprons and some embroidered kitchen towels soon too. Blah..

The new car didn't like coming up our hill, had to shift into first gear, but other than that she ran really well yesterday. I'm excited about that. tomorrow we are going to run into the smaller, local town and do the gas/propane fillup.

Tuesday I have a dr. appointment in another smaller local town (it's about 1 hour away or so) and we'll take the laundry with us. While I am in the dr. office, hubby will download his podcasts, and upload pictures to our picture account, as well as work on laundry. Then when I am done at the dr, I'll do email and upload these blogs.

I have several things growing right now. I have a local lilac out back now, it's white and I can't wait to see it in bloom. I have some rosa rugosa cuttings in a pot trying to root them, but they aren't doing well, I don't know what I did wrong, as I have done this a lot... Perhaps it's our soil as I just used our dirt and not potting soil. Or maybe I used too much rotting enzyme. I don't know, but if I loose them I'll just try again. These are yellow, and I have since located pink, purple and red. I want all the colors! lol. I have 3 heritage tomato seedlings I am planting 2 of them in my topsy turvey's today. the 3rd will go in a regular pot and on the kitchen table. I also have some multiplying onions growing, and some mint. Not much, I know, but every little bit is a good thing in my opinion.

I know the onions are REALLY exciting, as they are growing over 1/2" a day!

After the Dr. on Tuesday I have to stop at a friends and pick up some more eggs. As of today I am down to 11 eggs in the house! No deviled eggs or hollandaise until I resupply. lol. I do have some dehydrated eggs, but I hate the idea of having to break into those unless I absolutely have to. they are very versatile, and they keep practically forever.

So much to do, and so little time, money and inclination to do it right now. I am still so depressed that just facing the day is very hard. It's been a week since Thor passed, and the grief is no less now than it was then. It's like I had an arm or foot cut off.

ok, I'm getting morose, need to find something to do.

Off to plant tomatoes.

New Car

We have a car! 1983 Chevy Cavelier Wagon. Sky Blue... not the prettiest thing on the planet, but it was cheap, and it drives well. To have wheels again is a good thing. So long as it lasts until we can get a 4 wheel drive we will be doing well.

We'll go tomorrow into the big city and get our shopping done and all that. We'll see how it stands up to the work then. Whoot!

Thor's Eulogy

Thor is gone. After 12 years he's out of our life and gone over the rainbow bridge. He stopped eatting and his control over he back legs just got worse and worse. We had to put him to sleep today. his vet said that if he's loosing more control over his back legs, and he has started refusing food that he's given up. He's also starting to act more and more disoriented. Just kind of sitting and looking at this or that and spontaineously wagging for no reason. He seems content and as far as we can tell he's in no pain.

Tomorrow is the first day of summer. I find it ironic that he went before the hottest part of the year, he never could stand the heat.

We buried him here behind the house, overlooking the gully and it's where he liked to lay. He can see the whole of the property from there. We plan on getting a marker to put up, and hubby planted a tree on his grave. his collar now hangs in our living room and his bun-bun (his stuffed rabbit he's had for at least 8 years) is on the shelf so no other dog can tear her up.

We had a small memorial for him for just the two of us. Hubby and I love our dogs as our children and it's so sad that he's gone. I know that dogs don't live as long as humans and while I KNOW in my head that Thor was a dog, in my heart he was my son.

I found Thor in 1997 in Sheridan Oregon. I had gone up to visit my parents for my father's birthday. Not only did I get to tell dad "Happy birthday" but I got to move my pregnant sister in with them while she filed for divorce from her husband, and I got a dog. Thor's mother was a Shar-pei/chow mix who was about 40 - 50 lbs in size. She had wrinkles like the shar-pei, but was quite a bit bigger. They had no clue who or what daddy was, just that he had jumped the fence. There were two boys left still that no none had claimed. one was all black with a white star on his chest with smooth fur. The other was black with a white ring around his neck, white paws and a white tip on his tail. This second pup also had ALOT of long hair. I liked the look of the little black boy with the white chest. I have never really like the "tipped" look of dogs who get that white tip on their tail, it just looks like they brushed a wall with their tail. But this little dog was very stand offish, wouldn't come to me and just gave me the evil eye as he went to stand behind mom and bark at me. The one with the white ring around his neck kind of came up to me and let me pick him up. his nose was RUNNY and I do mean runny. My sister looked at me and said "you know that's the one you like, just take him." So Snotty Dog came into the truck with me. We then went over to my Aunt's house, her grand daughter was there, all of 3 or so years old at the time. She saw the pup and started singing "B I N G O, and Bingo was his nam-o"... So "Snotty Dog" became "Bingo". Back to mom and dad's Bingo and I went, plans were to spend the night there then head the 2 hour drive back home, pup in tow. I called my hubby from there and let him know I got us a dog. he flipped. I paniced. lol. I told him on the phone "You can name him and we'll give him a week, if you can't bond with him we'll find him a new home". Famous last words were then spoken by my hubby "ok, I can deal with that". Poor man... He didn't know what he'd put himself in for.

I brought Bingo home, 9 lbs butterball that he was... and hubby was sold... Not immediately... "He's not going to sleep with us" I got told. the poor pup climbed under our bed and howled the first night... That lasted all of 20 minutes until my husband was climbing under the bed, pulling him out then depositing him on the bed between us. So much for him not sleeping with us.

Either that first day or the next I got "THE SPEECH". The speech has been brought up many times through the years. Sometimes to the embarrassment of my husband. But you have to do that once in a while to keep them in line you know... The speech goes something like this... "This is YOUR DOG! This means that you will walk him, you will feed him, you will clean up after him, you'll play with him, you'll train him... This is NOT MY DOG!" The next day Thor slept in Dad's lap. 3 days later Hubby was walking him at the park. A week later it was dad feeding him... and a day after that Dad was sitting the floor brushing him... After a month, Thor had established exactly who's dog he was and it wasn't mom.

Over the years I can even say he ate more of dad's stuff than mine. Although he really didn't like it whenever I worked outside the home. he would pout the entire day that I was gone. When I wasn't working outside the home he would follow me from room to room as I did housework throughout the day, or lay under my feet when I was sitting or on the computer. My constant companion no matter what the other dogs or cats were doing. He just loved us both I guess, and he showed it.

Thor was 3 months old or so when he decided he was a cat. He walked about 5 steps across the back of the couch (if the cat could do it, so could he right?) and promptly fell down between the back of the couch and the wall... Imagine his surpise at that one. he wasn't hurt, and it didn't stop him from trying again... This time it was the back of the recliner and the couch. It wasn't until we got another dog, Pan, that he decided that maybe he wasn't a cat after all. Pan and Thor remained bosom companions for the rest of Thor's life. Someday, I'll post Pan's story here.

At 7 months old Thor was neutered, probably the most remarkable thing about that was Zeus. When we went to pick up thor, there was another Shar-pei mix in the kennel next to his. Black, white ring around neck, 4 white paws, white chest and white end on his tail. Zeus was about the same age, but looked more Shar-pei in the face, with the nice square muzzle and more wrinkles. He was also leggier. It was kind of nice ot know that Thor wasn't the only one like him in the world.

Over the years Thor has lived in Eugene, Springfield, Tigard, And here in the wilderness of Oregon. He was content whether we lived in 1000 Sf of space, or 200. He never complained, he was only sick one time in his life, and he loved to go in the car. He loved to sleep in the bed next to dad like a real people. He had his own pillow, and loved in the winter to be under the covers and spooned. He loved cats, would beg to be with kids, thought his bunny was a real baby to be toted around, used as a pillow, cleaned and loved on. Many times I would walk into a room only to find him cuddled up with bunny by his belly sleeping, or him using her as a pillow as you would your litter mate in a puppy pile.

He had a rare wit, loved to sneek up and pinch you during play, and to hide dad's socks as he was getting ready to go to work as well as lay on his luggage when he was packing for a business trip. He loved to wrestle, and had an infectious grin that just told you that you had to smile too.

When he went in for his first Dr. visit as a pup, we were told that he had looked at the sun sometime in his very young life, and he had lost some vision. So he spent his life looking at the world through a fog bank. I don't think he ever really saw anything at all with clarity, but he loved to watch TV. he would come and beg me to turn on the TV. He loved anything with lions on it. lion documentaries, and such he would wag so hard when he would hear them roar. I bought the lion king for him... lol. imagine the picture of a 100 lb dog laying in front of the TV while I did housework, wagging at "you could be a big pig too!".

He liked tickles. he would lay on his back with all four feet in the air a lot when he was younger and before he developed arthritis. I loved to sneek up on him and tickle his tum. I would say "tickle, tickle, tickle" while I did it, and he would kick and squirm and fling his head. A huge grin on his face..

I invite anyone who would like, to send whatever comments they like for thor. I am putting together his memory book and all comments will go into it. you can put them here or send them to me privately at emily.yelton@gmail.com. I would especially like to hear from you if you knew Thor personally.

He will be sorely missed in our home, but never from our lives and hearts.


Thor Dog-Dog Yelton
12/2/1996 - 6/20/2009

Parents shouldn't outlive their children

Thor's Stroke

oh God. Life sucks. It's a sorrowful time around here...

Thor this morning didn't want to get up when I went to get him awake to go out. He had loosed his bowels in the night for both urine and feces and just looked at me and wagged. Hubby had to help him to stand and lift him down the steps to go outside. thor was able to stand and pass urine, but to have his bowel movemend he laid down on his tummy. His back legs just won't support him.

I think he's had a stroke or heart attack. I was able to get him to eat, and he can drink ok, and does it often. We've manipulated his legs, checked his back and hips for displacement or pain and there is none. He's just lost all motor control. Today is Friday, and if he isn't showing improvement we'll have to take him to the vet... If we can get a ride. He's 12 and 1/2 years old so I don't think there is anything a vet can do for him. I know a lot of dogs do improve from both a stroke and a heart attack so it's very possible he'll recover with no side effects.

In the mean time I'll let him lay quietly in the kitchen, we'll administer aspirin and manipulate his rear legs. hubby has continued all day long to help him up and carry him in and out to go to the bathroom, and he is able to hold his waste.

Family visit!

Well butternuts! My truck is dead. No more, can't drive and done. blah. At least my sister and her husband are here and are able to drive me to my few appointments I have today. Then they are leaving today. Rats! It sucks a lot. now I'll have to see if I can find a cheap car or truck. It could be that we just purchase a cheap car for now then save up over the next few months and then buy another 4 wheel drive. Living out here in the boonies you really do need a 4 wheel drive. ESPECIALLY during the winter.

Yesterday, hubby took the 2 oldest neices and the nephew on a hike. they brought back TONS of wildflowers, and he snapped quite a few pics of them climbing on rocks and such. My youngest neice stayed here with us and took a short nap and played. She just wouldn't have been able to keep up on the hike.

When Sis showed up yesterday she had brought dinner.. Enchiladas! Homemade of course. They were pretty snazzy tasting and I like how she did them. instead of rolling up each individual enchilada, she layered it like lasagna. So you schloop (technical term there... schooping is like skooping, but it's accompanied by a noise that sounds like "Schlooop" as the food comes out of the pan. think of when you suck in a long spaghetti noodle or soup. This term is usually reserved for lasagna, pies, and other juicy stuff.) it from the pan instead of just skooping out one or two enchiladas.

lunch today is made up of some cheese sammies, and tomato soup.... not any ol' tomato soup mind you... This tomato soup was made by my brother in law with love and skill. (and probably some cussing I am sure, it couldn't have been easy to cut up that many tomatoes and other ingredients!) And it was YUMMY! I have 2 jars of the juice he made using the same recipe, just add some flour to thicken it up into soup he said. I am going to use one of those jars here in a day or so for some stew. I'll add some meat and veggies to it and the like and then add some homemade bread and we'll eat on that for a day or two.

Anyway. Dinner was mac and cheese with hot dogs in it. It was my recipe. Macaroni cooked until done in the regular method,and drained. Then add some cubed velveeta, cubed cheddar, a sprinkle of sea salt and a sprinkle of pepper, add a little evaporated milk and about 1 or 2 teaspoons of butter. heat it all until the cheeses are melted and add in some sliced all beef franks. this fed all 8 of us.

Breakfast this morning was cereal. our neighbor on monday brought me the cheese I requested when he ran to the big city, and as a surprise he also brought a HUGE chocolate cake and a gallon of milk for the kids to have. It was so wonderful of him. Anyway, we still have milk and will have to use it up soon, so we all had cereal. nothing fancy mind you. Corn flakes and sugar and milk. Tada. Breakfast. lol. Then my brother in law took me to run my few errands, and then they left. My house seems so empty and quiet now that they are gone. It's almost depressing. The dogs are all crashed like trauma patients too. They loved having the kids here. Thor followed the kids around wagging, Frey followed my nephew especially. She bonded with him when we were up there almost 3 years ago for Thanksgiving and she apparently hasn't forgotten him. Lol. they ran around like mad puppies she and he. Nubis could have cared less about the kids. he was completely engrosed with Max. Max taught Nubis that balls are MUCH more fun when you get your people to throw them for you instead of just chewing them to bits. So when they left Sis left one of the tennis balls here for Nubis, and he's currently using it as a pillow. Thor and my youngest neice (age 2 and 1/2) hit it off pretty well and he just laid there on the floor while she rubbed his back. he would just wag and smile at her... And when she went to get up and walk away, he would look up at her and wag, so she would go back to rubbing his back. lol. I think he kept her entertained for at least 2 hours with that trick. Patient old dog.

ok, I am off to get into some kind of trouble, not sure what kind, but I know I'll find some...

Ta!

Surprise Visit

Had a great surprise last night! My sister called me at 9:30 pm and asked if we want company tomorrow (today) !! I, of course, said yes! Whoot. So my beloved sister and her husband came to visit, bringing along their four children and their dog Max. Max is only about a week older than Nubie. They arrived today and it's a madhouse. Thankfully Max hit it off 100% with Nubis and they are frantically playing like mad dogs. It's absolutely great to have family here. There aren't many women here and so anytime I can interact with another one of my species it's great. Most of the enhabitants of the area are of that alien species known as male. Also known as, "those who frustrate those of us actually from this planet". lol.

We'll settle in today, and then tomorrow will be full of exciting and fun things for the kids to do and us to do.
Gotta jog, I don't get much time with them, but I just wanted to let you know that I was still around. hehe.

Unemployment again...

I received the unemployement decision back today, and they have denied me benefits. In looking it over they have some of the facts incorrect, but I don't know how to go about letting them know they have the facts wrong. Such as they assumed that hubby's PTSD was from his time in the Navy when he served in the Gulf War. This is incorrect. why do people make the incorrect assumption that during wartime is the only time you get ptsd? Hubby's PTSD is a culmination of his cancer, his stressful job, his time in the Navy and his other illnesses including depression, anxiety, and quite a few others that I don't even know the name of. (I'm not a Phychiatrist! lol)

I guess I get to re-appeal, but I don't think it'll mean much.

On with life. lol.

We had the chance to get a 5 year old dairy goat for $50.00. It isn't too bad of a deal, it's top dollar for a dairy goat, but if she's a good milker then she would have been worth it. However, because of the water situation, we had to turn her down. Darn it. I guess a milk goat drinks about 10 to 15 gallons a day. And we just can't do that until we have a better water system in place. We'll stick with bunnies and they will be our #1 livestock still. they drink only about a pint of water a day. That is a lot more do-able for now. When we get an alternate water source then we'll look back into getting goats again. always set backs in my life lately it seems.