One Dog's Anxiety Cure ~ No Pills

We had thunderstorms last night.  My daughter donned her pup with his thundershirt.  At first he did shake, but calmed down and even went to sleep during the worst of the storm.

It worked!  This is Jesse in the morning.  When we bought it, they offered to embroider his name for free.  His thundershirt is personalized.

By no means is this meant to advertise this product.  We are simply sharing our dog's experience.  

Prior to the thundershirt, he would shake, pant heavily, his veins would stick out from stress, and he'd hide in places like the bathroom.   He would experience this during any storm, loud noises, fireworks, guns firing, orwhen the stone company blasted stone down the road.

Thank goodness he doesn't have to take pills, and we found a healthy alternative. 

Playing with Soot and Other Family Funnies

Hubby had just cleaned out the corn/pellet burner.  

"Honey, you better go wash that off before you get it on something," I said.

He stands up, swipes both his cheeks with his soot covered hands underneath both eyes, and says, "Now do I look like a real football player?"

(Giggles)  

School was out for conferences and my 10 year-old daughter was frustrated.  She wanted to write very badly, but she needed a computer.  The other kids were pretty much taking over it.

"Mom! I want to write, but they are hogging the computer!" she squealed.

I was writing in my room, at my desk.  A few minutes later, she comes in, plops on my bed, puts on her reading glasses and begins to read "How to Write Fiction."

"Mom! This stuff is great!" she said fifteen minutes later.  "You gotta listen to this..." and she read to me out loud from the book. 

(Giggles and head shaking)

And one more,

"Mom!? What's the bus gonna think think when they pull in and see a toilet out there by the door?"

"Why do you think I put it there?," laughed hubby snickering

"Can we cover it up with something?" our 16 year-old begged.

"Uh....no," I said, "It's going to frost tonight and the blanket will just get wet."

The next morning, after the bus had left, I looked outside to see if the barn cats had been fed.  Next the the cat feed box, sat the toilet - covered with an old moving blanket.  Ha ha ha! 

The Dentist Office. . .

Be careful what you say and do in public.  You may be creating good writing material for someone's upcoming, best selling novel.

The dentist office is a great place to collect writing material.  Most days anyway.

During my visit to the dentist, where my youngest had an appointment, writing material was in overflow.

One woman was sitting in the back corner, with her head leaned back, sleeping and snoring.  Could you imagine yourself snoring at the dentist?

One woman, a young mother, sat quietly, with her head lowered.  I wonder what she was thinking?

One woman, who sat two seats from me, gave me enough material to last a chapter or two.  She sat with a laptop open, papers in one hand, and a cell phone in the other.  However, halfway through her very long phone conversation (and loud I might add), she ended up putting the laptop away.  This woman talked the entire time she sat there, until the office staff called her back for her child.  Literally, this woman talked about people, talked about work, and more.  She crossed her legs, leaned back, and acted like she had the room to herself.  She was annoying too.  

After "Annoying Talks A Lot" left the waiting room, another woman entered.  She sat on the other side of me, with a table in between us.  She too, was fidgeting with her phone, texting possibly or playing games.  That was after she made a phone call.  But this woman crossed her legs and bounced her foot constantly, as if she had jumping beans in her shoe.

Then I was called to collect my daughter.  The fun was over.

 (My lovely ladies paying me a visit where my desk is inside)

 
This morning I was up very early.  The only bathroom is in my bedroom, so it's "Grand Central Station" for the week.

I best get my chores done early, so I can get back to writing.  No waiting rooms today, but I have more writing material - conversations while standing in line to vote yesterday.
 

    

You Want an Outhouse?! ~ Morning Sunrise

 "What?" exclaimed the kids!  "Why would you want an outhouse?!

For about the last four years, I've been telling the family it would be nice to have an outhouse.  

Well, we found out we have a leak under the house, under the kitchen bathroom.  This is part of the old farm house, and who ever put in the new parts (before we moved in), did a terrible job, according to Hubby.  


I also found out there is only about 1 1/2 feet or less, deep of a "crawl space" and we cannot go under the house.  I guess back in the 30's or 40's they didn't think that someday those pipes may not hold, and someone would need to crawl under there.

We had to cut a hole in the bathroom floor.

First the toilet was removed.  The seal was good.  The guys moved it out to the side porch.  In the photo above, the toilet is next to the wall, and on the other side of hubby is the stand up shower (that small).  Then the wood laminate flooring was removed.

Once the toilet was removed, they cut a hole in the floor (in the photo it's just below the flashlight).  The sink is 1/2 the size of most bathroom sinks, and is directly across from the toilet.  Due to space issues, hubby's legs are out the bathroom door - ha ha!

Then they cut the hole bigger.  I was in my room, shaking my head, thinking of what this will require - cash, parts, and new flooring.  Maybe a new toilet.  We already have to replace the shower, and dry wall, but lack the funds for that.  

While parts are purchased and re-installed, we closed the bathroom door for the night.  There is no fan, window, nor heater in this bathroom.  The people prior to us, simply tried to update the original bathroom the house had.  They installed the cheapest stand-up shower they could, and the smallest vanity they could.  We have had several under-the-sink leaks over the last 4 years too.
  
For now......6 of us will be sharing one bathroom.  Hubby is back to work today, so this project may take a while.  Let the fight for the bathroom begin....

 On a good note, here is this morning's sunrise.  It's not great photo, as I was on the porch in my jammies and it was freezing out.  Not to mention the on-going traffic wondering what I was doing. I'm glad they have something to talk about today. Ha ha ha! 

Bean Baking Day ~ Hubby Gets A Flat

Today is a bean baking day.  I have two crock pots going - one with 2 lbs. of black beans, and one with 2 lbs. of kidney beans.  These will be frozen and used for meals to cut the cost (and unhealthy ingredients) in canned beans. 

Last night was a short night for sleep for three of us - hubby, me and my son. 

He called at 12:40am, and said he had a flat tire on the highway, just outside of his work.  He works about 1 hour from home.  

My son and I drove up, bringing a jack and tire.  However, the jack was not strong enough for his Explorer.  Luckily, Meijer was open at that hour, and we had to buy a new jack.  Once the tire was on, they needed to put air in it (something he didn't think to ask me to do before we left home).  Luckily, he has an air compressor in his vehicle. 

We made it home about 3:00am, and I woke up with major allergy/sinus issues.  I could not see from one eye, and used my lavender eye pillow that I keep in my freezer.  When that didn't work, I had to resort to eye drops for allergies.

I think there will be three of us taking a nap today.   Hubby took a personal day, as he would have only had 3 hours of sleep to go to work today.  

All the kids are home today - school conference days.  

A Writer's Muse ~ Winter Work

The girls fight over who gets my "bling" rings when I'm done writing in November.....I'm off to paint my fingernails. 

Then it's off to the store to restock my "snackages" - dark hot cocoa, deluxe mixed nuts, specialty teas, and of course bubble gum.

Snackages - a word mother use to describe their hidden stash of snacks they don't want to share with their kids, husband or pets, to keep their sanity while taking care of the family and herself.

Year round, our work duties change, and our routines change.  The kids and I started the day (and hubby too) with splitting the last of the wood we had in the barn, and stacking it on the front porch.

Yesterday, my wonderful, younger brother, brought me a load of wood.  He not only did that, but he took care of the brush and mess where he got the wood (he had to take all of it).  He not only did that, but loaded into his nice truck. 

We helped unload, and I gifted him some farm fresh eggs.  I wish I could have given more, but the cool air is slowing down the chickens already.  I hope that my home sprouted beans will keep the eggs coming in this winter.

And that's not all.  He put up with my younger two girls, who love to pick on him and he pick on them.

Our truck is still broke down, so we are very thankful for his help.  Hubby has been working overtime again, and sometimes getting home at midnight, and going back at 6:30am the next day.  Yesterday he worked 2nd shift and is back to work all day long today, possibly until midnight.  It makes it tough on getting repairs and work accomplished. 

I don't have farmgirls close by, that have the knowledge, or the time, to put up goat stalls, fix vehicles, nor fix a possible water leak under the house.  The water pump has been kicking on and off when it should not be. 

Hubby did replace all the parts in the toilet tank, but the pump continues to kick on.  We have no crawl space to get under the old part of the farm house.  We will have to dig out a hole, use a very good flash light, and see if we can spot any leaky pipes.  Not what we wanted to deal with.  We can't afford a bug infestation down there (due to water sitting) and we can't afford to burn up our pump either.

So, when my son gets up, we will see what we can do on our own today.

Then, it's back to writing.  With all the work yesterday, I did not write at all.

I may need to drive out for wood pellets too.  We are down to one bag, and burning on #1, it will last about 32 hours or so.  This year they are $3.99/bag.  Stores like Meijer and Wal-mart here are selling them from $4.50 to $5.00/bag.  Ever year the price goes up, but it's still less expensive than our electric heat.

Yesterday was a good day for drying laundry outside also.  The sun was out, and wind was just enough to dry everything.  And the smell?  Intoxicating.  I love the smell of my laundry after it's dried outside.  It's invigorating and soothing, both at the same time.  

  

Christmas Count Down

I love Christmas time.  I love to make ornaments.  I love to bake and cook.  I love that I have time to read this time of year.  I borrowed this book from the library (interloan).  I love this book.  It not only has lots of recipes, but tips on each page for frugal gift ideas, or jazzing up a home baked gift, or fun homemade holiday decor.  

 As a child, my sisters and I would cut pieces of paper, write numbers on each one, and punch them with a hole punch.  We'd then tie the numbers with yarn and tape the countdown to our headboard on our beds.  We'd look forward to ripping off those papers each day, as Christmas got closer.  Of course as a child, we'd relish the day for opening gifts.  Today, I embrace the real reason for Christmas, but still have the opportunity to watch the kids with anticipation.

I saw this fun activity in the book, and thought it would be fun for adults to make for themselves, for adult friends, or kids.

So, who will you make one for?