our eBay page

Have a few items up, will have more this week! I'm pretty excited, working on a website as well.... But it will be a bit still before that goes up. lol.

http://myworld.ebay.com/acornave/

Any hints or tips are appreciated.

The Dr takes a dive....

hubby had another Dr. appointment. This time with a hemotologist/oncologist. From what we learned at the GP with his last appointment this will be the best place to find out what's really going on with his blood. The specialist would be able to tell us what's going on with his blood, and IF he turns out having cancer then they would be able to handle that as well.

Well, we went in, our appointment was at 3 and as far as we knew it was basically just to draw blood. After an hour of having this Dr tell us information we already knew (how blood is made in the body and that many things can make a person anemic including pregnancy and breast feeding... REALLY? hmmm.... honey, we need to do that preg test to see if you are pregnant... We could really use the $$$ that would make when we sell the book and liscence the movie about the pregnant man that's really a MAN!) he did a short, 4 minute long physical on the husband. AND THEN! Then he tells us that their in house lab closed 3 minutes ago so we have to go to the hospital lab to get his blood drawn so they can do the tests! Come on! couldn't you have done the blood FIRST?!?!?!?

The one question my husband had for him was this: Since he has been on antacids for YEARS, 2 prevacid or prilosec a day, every day for the last 3 -4 years, could that have an impact as to how much iron is absorbed? The body only absorbs iron in about 1 foot of our intestine right where it attaches to our stomach after all. No where else is iron absorbtion happening. This is when he launched into how iron is absorbed, and that it doesn't happen in the stomach and blah, blah, blah. The one good thing he did say was that in March of 2010, hubby was NOT anemic. Now, 1 year later (almost) in February 2011, he is SEVERELY anemic. This is not normal, nor is it usual. And as severely anemic as he is, this may or may not lead to iron infusion, or even a blood transfusion if they can't find the cause.

Good news... He did get his blood drawn at the hospital! And they told us that they would have the results within 4 hours since none of the labs were ones that needed to be sent out. So, as I type this both his regular GP and the hemotologist/oncologist should have the results and sometime in their copious amounts of spare time I am sure they are going to look at these results and have more of an idea of what is going on in hubby's body.

I'll keep you posted!!

Newest of the new for hubby...

According to what the Dr. has told us, it very well may have been a TIA. The problem is that most TIA's, even if he was in the hospital when it happened, leave no lasting discrepencies that they would see on an MRI or a CAT scan. If it were a stroke, then there would be something, but she didn't think it was a full blown stroke because there was no residual effects. His smile was even, he had grip in both hands that was sufficient, he could touch his nose with his eyes closed with both hands evenly.....

The bad news is that he is extremely iron anemic. He's now taking 325 mg of iron TWICE per day to see if the severe anemia lets up.

His BP is alway still very high, and hypertension can now be added to the list of my poor hubby's woes.

The blood test also had a lot of other information in it. According to the information they found, his blood cells are all abnormally sized. Because so many are small, they aren't carrying enough oxygen, so his body is making LARGER than normal sized red blood cells and many, many of them. His WHITE blood cells are of normal number so that may be good news, or it may not, she couldn't really say. AND to top it off, because he has all this other stuff going on his body is making cells that are called poikilocytes. "What's a poikilocyte?" you ask....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poikilocytosis

"A poikilocyte is an abnormally shaped cell...... Generally, poikilocytosis can refer to an increase in abnormal red blood cells of any shape where they make up 10% or more of the total population........ Rather than being seen as a sign of any one disease, poikilocytosis is a rather general condition. There may, however, be a predominance of one particular type of abnormally shaped red cells, some of which may indicate possible presence of a specific disease or disorder....... For example, poikilocytosis can be caused by a vitamin deficiency (e.g. Vitamin B12 or folic acid), in which case the treatment is to replenish the deficient vitamin. It can be caused by a digestive disease, such as celiac disease, in which case the solution may lie in treating the underlying celiac disease so that nutrients can be properly absorbed....."

According to the Dr, a poikilocyte can also be a sign of cancer. {sigh} Love it when they say "can be" and "maybe" and "not going to rule it out" and "not until we do more tests".

Hubby's issue con't.

Just thought I would update everyone. We called the dr. and he has an appointment tomorrow to see if she (his regular dr. is out of town all week so he's seeing another dr. in the same clinic) can recheck his blood pressure, and to see if she can check on his possible TIA/mini-stroke. Because he has a family history of strokes (his maternal grandmother died from a stroke) she says that the history coupled with the high blood pressure that it's very possible that he did have a TIA/stroke. We will hopefully know more tomorrow.

Hallow's Eve, Lisa Theriot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFto5jSBfB4


On Hallow's Eve, on moonlit night
On Samhaine, when the veil is thin
Between the worlds of dark and light
Dare you let a stranger in?

Most folk beside their hearth will stay
The night when frost first chills the sod
When spirits walk, as some will say
An evil night to be abroad

But I was sat beside the fire
With shadows dancing on the floor
And as I watched the flames leap higher
A knock came on my cottage door.

"Who's there?" I called with trembling voice
That did my fearful state betray
I was resolved that, given choice
Behind my oaken door I'd stay

"Don't be afraid, I mean no ill"
A voice like honey filled my ears
And just as if it bent my will
I drew the bolt despite my fears.

There stood a man with raven hair
As tall and straight as Gallow's Oak
His face held beauty and despair
And with the same soft voice he spoke

"I walk this night with weary tread
My hours but a precious few
Among the unremembered dead
To seek the love I never knew

I prayed that Fate would help me find
A loving heart that would not fear
And guide my steps to someone kind--
In all the world, it led me here."

"Don't be a fool!" my reason quailed
For some there are that call me wise
And yet my foolish heart prevailed
My wisdom lost in dark, sad eyes.

When blackest night gave way at last
The grey cock crowed, and then the red
"The day has come, my time is past
I must away!" my lover said.

"Oh no!" I cried, "It cannot be!
My heart should burst from such a pain
If day must part my love and me
For mercy, will you come again?"

"I know not if there be such power
To life again my soul to bind
But here I pledge that hopeful hour
This earth to walk, my love to find."

And as the dawn broke high above
The coal-black cock crowed on the green
Without a sound my phantom love
Was gone as if he'd never been.

I live now as I always have
I tend the sick with healer's art
But cannot find the balm or salve
To close the wound upon my heart.

Though I may no more see his face
And may be damned if I believe
No mortal man will e'er replace
My love that came on Hallow's Eve.

On Hallow's Eve, on moonlit night
On Samhaine, when the veil is thin
Between the worlds of dark and light
I wait to let a stranger in.

words and music by Lisa Theriot
© 1997 Raven Boy Music

Just one more thing....

I come in from my nap, and hubby turns in his computer chair to look at me. He kind of gives me this "look" and to me it scares me... I don't know why, but it does. Maybe it's because the right side of his mouth is kind of fallen down looking, almost like a frown... but that's not right. his LEFT side is the one that usually falls a little... Both from the radical neck dissection he had when he fought cancer in 2001 and from the radiation itself. I ask him "What?" and he says nothing, just looks at me... then he opens his mouth and closes it... I panic just a little inside and again say "WHAT???" he puts up a finger and opens his mouth... rolls his eyes and closes his mouth again... I tell him... "well? Say something." I am starting to think he's pulling a prank, or trying to see if I'm paying attention. he then puts up another finger, sighs heavy and does that open/close mouth thing again... all the time rolling his eyes like it's ME who can't understand him. I am really starting to panic now, and I tell him to say his ABC's... and he can't. he can't say anything at all! damn it. I ask him to tellme his name... he can't do that either.

It all sounds like this takes a long time to work through, but it doesn't. it's just a few seconds really.

I ask him if he can say anything... anything at all... he replies "y, y, yes"... and it comes out clear finally, with no slurring.

Then, just as quickly as it comes... it's all gone and he can answer all the questions, his abc's, his name, where he lives and everything.

I suspect he's had a stroke, or a TIA... I asked him if I should call the dr..... he said no. Grrr... I want to slap him sometimes.

What if this was a stroke? his blood pressure is high after all, it was 134/116 when he was at the dr office week before last... and it was 150/102 when I took it the 1st. He takes clonadine, but i guess that doesn't mean much if he's now having "mini-strokes".

Timely (or untimely) Eruptions.

There was an article released yesterday at dailygalaxy.com (hubby found it when he went to do his daily digg.com look.) about yellowstone being close to erupting.

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2011/01/is-yellowstone-the-worlds-largest-supervolcano-ready-to-explode.html

I know there's been articles/talks/news stories for years about the possibility of an immenent erruption of Yellowstone. I just want to talk about it a little bit and toss around some ideas.

Since 2004, the supervolcano (which is what Yellowstone is) has a caldera that has risen 2.8 inches per year. So for the last 6 years it's risen more than 15 inches in height. Usually these rises in the ground happen right before an eruption, and show the most significant growth right before they blow their top.

I was around for the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helen's and heard all the stories (only partially understood, I was 9 years old after all) about the "bulge" growing. I didn't comprehend fully what this would mean to the immediate future of that mountain, but it was definitely blown home on May 18th, 1980.

"The simmering volcano has produced major eruptions—each a thousand times more powerful than Mount St. Helens's 1980 eruption—three times in the past 2.1 million years...." Because I remember the eruption of Mt. St. Helen's so vividly even after 30 years, this is a sobering statement for me. I lived in Sheridan, Oregon at the time of the eruption and we had ash EVERYWHERE. School was closed, and we couldn't drive or dust the cars because the powdery stuff would get sucked into the air system in the car and destroy the engine. My sister got her rump spanked after dad told her not to write on the car with her finger in the dust yet she still did it. To the day they sold that red truck it forever had hearts and flowers in the side of the paint where the ash had scratched the finish.... lol. Good thing it was dad's work truck.

"“There is no evidence of an imminent volcanic eruption or hydrothermal explosion. That’s the bottom line,” says seismologist Robert B. Smith, lead author of the study and professor of geophysics at the University of Utah. “A lot of calderas [giant volcanic craters] worldwide go up and down over decades without erupting.”

The journal Science however reported that the caldera floor of the massive volcano has risen 3 inches, per year, for the past three years. This is a rate of growth three times more rapid than ever observed, since records were first kept back in 1923.

“Our best evidence is that the crustal magma chamber is filling with molten rock,” Smith says. “But we have no idea how long this process goes on before there either is an eruption or the inflow of molten rock stops and the caldera deflates again,” he adds."

There is no way of knowing if the supervolcano we know as Yellowstone IS or ISN'T going to erupt tomorrow. It's waited this long to do it, which means that it could wait another 600K years to do it again. Or it could blow next week.

The question that has me a bit on the questing side is if it blows... and if it blows in a "largish" eruption... what would be the consequences?

Ash? Certainly. Where would the ash fall? To the East one would presume. Just the force of the eruption however Could still force some of that ash to fall to the west, which is of more immediate concern to me and mine since myself and most of my side of the family live in Oregon. However, I also have loved ones in Tennessee and states in the East. What will they have to face?

Lava? What is the geographic terrain around Yellowstone? And where would that terrain funnel the lava to? Will have to look at Google earth for this.

Blowout? with most volcanoes there are usually rocks and debris thrown from the initial eruption. What would this debris be? how large of chunks? Which direction would they be blown?

Social/Economic consequences? Would it cause the collapse of society as we know it? Would our economy collapse leaving all of us with absolutely no $$$ to try to rebuild? Would it devistate mankind in America and ultimately the world from a year with no summer due to ash in the air, kill crops, animals, and people?

Just some thoughts on the subject today. Anyone with any input I would love to hear from. This is one of those teotwawki situations where we may or may not be able to be prepared for it, so we should at least be aware of it.

Mmmm. Mmmmm. Good!

New recipe! and OH so easy!

1 cup soy sauce
1 cup water
1/3 cup brown sugar
6 - 8 cloves (or more) crushed garlic
1 tbsp dried ginger





Boil it all together for a few minutes and VIOLA! some of the yummiest teriyaki sauce I've ever had. If you like it thick, then mix about 1 tbsp or so of flour with 1 tbsp or so of water in a smallish bowl. Add this as you whisk the sauce in the pan. If it's not thick enough use more flour/water if you want it thinner then add less flour/water.

I use it to make my teriyaki chicken & noodles or just over plain rice. Pretty good!

just 1 of 250 or so.

I used to live in a largish city. While I was there, I was anomally, something out of the ordinary and kind of strange. Why?, you ask.... Because I do handcrafts. Not the trendy, kind of "cool to see at Saturday market handcrafts, but the "my grandma used to do that" handcrafts. I sew, crochet, embroider, paint glass, and bead. I sew clothing, quilts, and gifts.

Then we moved. We didn't move to another large city where everyone is more concerned with the morning commute than they are with latest quilt trend. We moved to a small rural town where it snows from September through May.

I went from being 1 in a million to 1 in 250 or so. Every woman in the town I now live in does one of these wonderful ancient handcrafts. Some sew, some crochet, some knit, some cross-stitch... However every one of them does at least ONE of these crafts.

and it's NOT just the women! Then men usually do some craft as well. One of the men in town makes the nicest woodturned stuff you have ever seen.

What's worse I guess is that, after 17 years of marriage, my husband kind of is unimpressed by what I make. lol. I suppose "unimpressed" is the wrong word, however, I am unsure of what to call it. When I would crank out something before it was "WOW! That is so awesome" and he would practically dance in excitement. Now it's a "nice!".

I have ceased to be unimpressive. I'm one of the herd, just another in a large group of multi-talented and awe-inspiring people when it comes to handcrafts.

The projects I do, I enjoy 100%. For instance, I made this just yesterday. took about 5 hours from start to finish. I made the pattern, cut the fabric, created the transfer pattern (including drawing the cow) , embroidered the cow and sewed the item. Thank goodness for Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers movie. I popped it in while I did my embroidery, and just had to finish the three flowers on the shoulder during the credits of the movie.

Maybe it's time for me to pick up a new hobby? Something REALLY impressive... Ice sculpture? Maybe cutting those bears out of logs with a chainsaw? Juggling ducklings?

Any suggestions?

Memories...

There are a few memories from before I moved away from home that fill me with great warmth and a surprising amount of emotion. A few. One of the great ones is my first use of a serger ever. My beloved Grandmother had a friend by the name of Libby, a nice, self-assured, and self-possessed woman that told it like it should be, and yet was someone that you really wanted to just spend a lot of time with. I remember I must have been around 13 or 14 and Libby had taken me to her house for the day to watch her two children while she was away. We played, and napped, and in general just kind of flunked around. It may have been the whole day, or it may have been just a few hours, the time slipped by and time makes it all fuzzy.

Libby had this basement that had a sewing room off of it. I liked to sew, I had sewn on a regular machine a few times so this room intrigued me. She had a "thing" in there. lol. I thought I knew what it was, however I had never used one or even seen one in real life before. So when she got back I asked her about it. She had to take the kids somewhere that night so she was rushed. However, Libby, being Libby, she took the time to tell me about it... Then... Wonder of wonders.. She pulled some fabric out of a cubby and we went to work. I remember THAT like it was yesterday. I don't even remember what we used as a pattern. The two pieces of fabric were crazy! One was white with lime green pictographic people all over it, the other was a solid lime green. It seemed like in 3 minutes flat we had a sweatshirt all for me! We made the body in the pictographic people, and the trim as all in the lime green. It was simple, like a t-tunic pattern or a scrubs pattern. But I'll tell ya.... I had that shirt until after I moved away from home! I may not have fit anymore, but it represented a memory I loved and will cherish for the rest of my life.

This very busy and self-possessed woman had taken time from her life to show a wayward girl a very simple thing that to me... Was magic. For this, I will never forget Libby, Even when time and distance seperate us, I can still think back on that day and remember it as a bright spot in my long list of memories.

Today I sit in front of my own serger, and contemplate what I am going to make on it for my first project. Is there any question? While the fabric will be olive green solid and striped fleece, it'll still be a sweatshirt for my first project on MY new serger.

And as I sit here and ponder that memory, is it any wonder that I named the serger Libby?

HAPPY TURKEY DAY EVERYONE!!!!!!!

-15!?

lol. It was COLD last night. No new snow, however the snow that is already down is nice and crusty. For the most part this doesn't hinder the animals in the neighborhood. I looked outback this morning and saw where a rabbit had come through last night and broken through the crust as he hopped along.




We also have a resident covey of quail that seem to have made a little path along the edge of the house in the back yard. They were out in the front yard yesterday. I keep telling myself that I'm going to get pictures of them someday, I guess their tracks will have to do!


I wasn't sure these would turn quite as well as they did. The first picture was taken through a window and a screen! It's bunny tracks around an evergreen in the back yard. The second picture is more bunny tracks all over around the back yard and around the aspen tree. This third one is of the quail tracks taken right outside the sliding glass door out of our garage. Both of the last two pics were taken through the closed sliding door as a matter of fact.




It did get cold last night, I told the husband that if this keeps up we'll have to throw another dog on the bed!!!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!!

It's snowing... and COLD! Tonight, it's supposed to get down to "really cold", and tomorrow night it's supposed to get down to "unbeleivably cold", and Wednesday night it'll be "you've gotta be kidding me cold". In the mean time it's been snowing, and then snowing, and then... well... Snowing! I keep hearing reports of the Interstate both North and South of us being shut down. I know the pass to the North of us on the highway has been closed. I know that both passes to the East and West have been hazardous to drive, and I see the snow plows going buy both morning and night. This could end up being a very interesting Winter.

We shut off all the outside water and wrapped the faucets a few weeks ago. In the window where the swamp cooler is, a huge monster of a machine that can't be dismounted to close the window, we weather proofed it. First we wrapped the front in plastic (good ol' cheap shower curtain!) then I made an insulated cover out of some batted material and velcro. that's over the swamp cooler itself. The one thing we still have to do is I have another chunk of plastic that is going to go over the entire window as a further barrier to air. I've just been busy doing other things and haven't gotten around to getting it finished. Before the cold air hits tomorrow That last layer of plastic will be up.

Last year we didn't put a layer of plastic between the cover and the cooler and it still leaked a lot of air. Even with the batted cover and the plastic over the whole window. Already you can feel a difference just in putting the plastic between the cooler and the cover. I didn't think it would make that much of a difference but it sure has.

This beautiful tree is in our front yard. I took this picture yesterday, when we had about 4 inches of snow on the ground, we are around 6 inches on the ground now. (hubby says 5 inches tonight and 3 inches yesterday, however, he always estimates conservatively. lol.) Pretty huh?

Apple yummy!

Time for another recipe. :D It's REALLY good hubby ate a whole panful (well, minus the scoop I had)!!!

2 large apples, cored and cut. I used my wedge thingy.. I don't know what it's called, but you push it through the apple and it cores and cuts it into wedges at the same time. Peel the wedges, and toss the core. slice these wedges so you end up with little chunks about 1 inch square and 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.
1 cube of butter (1/2 cup) room temp
2/3 cup brown sugar, brown sugar subsitute would work also however you may want to cut the amount down since the fake stuff is sweeter.
2/3 cup oatmeal
1 tsp apple pie spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon, what can I say? I like cinnamon!

Put the apple pieces in a pie plate. In a seperate bowl mix together all the remaining ingredients either using your hand or an electric beater until everything is well mixed and all the chunks are the about the size of peas. Pour this over your apples, being sure all the apple pieces are covered and the topping is spread evenly to the sides of the pan. Cook in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until the butter is melted.

Mmmmmmmmmm. Super simple and it was pretty good. What wasn't eaten that night was put into the fridge and then nuked the next morning for breakfast. It tasted kind of like apple-y oatmeal stuff. lol. It was pretty good and this recipe is for sure going to be a late addition to the cook book!

Rice Price

Ack. Rice is getting expensive. Still relative cheap as far as food goes, but expensive as far as rice goes. I bought 50 lbs at Cash & Carry for $19.96. While that doesn't seem like much for 50 lbs of food, 50 lbs of rice USED to be less than $10.00. Is this a reflection on prices overall with the bad economy, or is it a reflection of the demand of rice as more people get an eye for prepareness/survivalism (or whatever they decide to call it that day)?

Either way, no matter what the answer, I now have another 8 mylar bags of rice happily portioned out and in my pantry. This will last me about 4 to 6 months with our regular food rotation.

If you use mylar bags for your food storage, be sure to seal as close to the edge as you can so you can reuse them. They are durable, and a bit on the expensive, however worth it, side of food preservation. Even more expensive than say... rice.

Trick or Treats

Well, another halloween has come and gone.. and I'm bummed! In the entire night I got only 2 trick & treaters. Granted I live on the very edge of town... However, some of the people just a little away from me got more than 40! I didn't even get one picture because hubby forgot to grab the camera in the mad rush for the door. lol. Maybe next year.


I had a thought... How many modern children know that "trick or treat" is really a question they are posing to the person they just rang the bell for? As in, "will you give me a treat, or do I have to pull a trick?". Hmmmm.. may have to ask a few of them.... If I ever SEE a trick or treater again!

Car's all fixed!

Well, the ignition is anyway. :D It now starts with no hesitation, and the key no longer spins freely. Of course, it took me a few tries to figure out how to get the key out as the ignition now has a key lock on it. You must spin the key to off, then hold down the button, finish turning the key off while pushing in and then you can take the key out. Whew. Who said anything about child proof? Adult proof even! I was even able to get a new battery in at the same time. Next adventure? Driving it the 65 miles to town so I can get an alignment done and get new tires... Did I mention the snow?

New Backwoods Home magazine Came today

and this was in their irreverent joke page: (if you don't subscribe, I suggest you do!)

The Los Angeles Police Depeartment (LAPD), the FBI, and the CIA want to see who is best at catching perps. So a rabbit is released into the forest, and each of them has to catch it.

The CIA goes in. They place animal informants through the forest. They question all plant and mineral witnessess. After months of extensive investigation,t hey conclude that rabbits do not exist.

The FBI goes in. After two weeks with no leads, they burn the forest, killing everything in it, including the rabbit.

The LAPD goes in. They come out two hours later, dragging a bruised mountain lion behind them. The mountain lion's yelling "Okay! Okay! I'm a rabbit! I'm a rabbit!"




(admit it... you just spit your drink on the monitor didn't you?)

Broken Car and Menfolk

Ok, so my car is broken. the ignition rack is completely fried. At least it's a cheap part. :) (about $25.00) The expensive part is that the entire steering wheel and such has to be removed to fix it. The part I think is comical is the menfolk in my life. Everyone of them I know loves me, and wouldn't want me to be harmed in anyway.... perhaps this scenario can be related to by practically every woman on the planet though.

Me: "the key thing is broken. I put the key in and instead of trying to start the car, it just spins freely and won't kick in the starter. I need to get a new one and until I do I can't start the car"

Them: first they get in the car and try to start it "Your ignition rack/switch is broken and you need to get a new one." Then they look at me to be sure I agree with their excellent assessment of the situation.

EVERY one of the men in my life has done this. ROFL. like they don't trust me that it's broken and spins freely. Hello... I think I can tell that it's not acting like it should and therefore needs replaced or fixed. lol. I'm pretty sure that they have the hope that one of them will touch the key and the car will magically shake itself and say "Sorry, was just foolin'!!" However, I'm also pretty sure that it it's not going to happen like that.

Needless to say, the car is home now (I was out and about when it happened!) and so I can now concentrate on getting the parts, and then see if I can wheedle someone to come and pull the steering wheel and putting them in for me. hehehe... Cookies maybe?

My knights in shining armor. I love every one of them.

Eeep. First Video!!

Save me! I'm a video freak! lol. Here it is! #1 in what I hope to be more videos. While the picture quality is good, and the sound is decent, it seems a little out of synch to me. I may have to try a seperate mic or something. Any input?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MacWgR-IlBI

Be gentle with me! lol.