Back pain

Great plans for this weekend, all the things he was going to get done. LaVern ran the vacumn this morning since the sun was shining brightly. I have heard it said that making the bed and vacumning are the two worse things that you can do for your back. I may have to agree as LaVern sat down to put different shoes on and then when he tried to get up he could barely walk. He is still hobbling around this afternoon his back hurts so bad. He took Ibuprophen, used the heating pad (he thinks its muscular) and I put some mineral ice on his back. No relief yet. He has laid on the floor with his legs up (like our chiropractor told us to do). That gave him some relief until he got back up again. Back pain is just the pits as nothing really helps and it gets depressing after awhile as you can't do anything and nothing relieves the pain. What a way to start the New Year!!

54 years later and he can still rock and roll

A special tribute for his mother on her 85th birthday. He usually had on a red checkered western shirt in all the old reel movie pictures we watched but we couldn't find a photo of him in that shirt. That would have been great because all these years later........a red checkered western shirt!! "Back then" the accordian was the "cool" instrument to play and several of his friends all took lessons and played. His mother loved it and sang some of the Christmas tunes that he played. Priceless moments to be cherished.

Whew! Holidays are exhausting!

It seems like the holiday routine is: sleep, get up, eat, play games, eat, sleep (nap) play games, eat (by now we are stuffed) games, sleep. Exhausting! We just finished eating (late) as we went to the candlelight service first. Lots of visiting, laughing.....a happy confluence of family. Hope you all are enjoying your Christmas. We are ours.

LaVern and Carolyn (in a few years)

My next house!

Living simply in a small house! This is actually the design that LaVern and I would have used if we had to build. Ours was alittle bigger but I think 500 sq ft is plenty now! This house is made entirely out of repurposed materials. I need to take a picture of a pole shed one of our Amish neighbors just built as it is just what we would build, only with windows. I shouldn't be up early in the morning looking at these things! (LV tells me it causes more work for him! lol)

Merry Christmas

A child was born................and they named him Jesus.

My recent Amish adventure

Bobcat Under a Bucket

On an adventure we went

One cloudy December day.

My neighbor said "I caught one"

And what were we to say.

We had no idea

What we even could do.

It was a bobcat he trapped,

Mad and mean clear through.

The children gathered 'round

As they came to watch the show.

Five girls and two boys

All standing in a row.

"Put a bucket over that bobcat",

I heard one of the men hail.

Then he reached up under that bucket

And touched the cat's tail.

Growling bobcat under a bucket

Two front feet in a trap.

Someone released those booties

And we all jumped back.

The scared bobcat raced off

Into the nearby woods.

Not once did he look back

He'll be gone for good.

The lesson of this story

And let it be one that is told.

A bucket over a bobcat

Is quite a sight to behold!

Shaking my head

This used purse recently sold at an auction in Dallas for $203,000!!! I know a town where that would have bought 8 single family houses! Or kept 4 families going for a year or better until they could find work. Shakin my head because I just don't understand. (It's not even a "cool" looking bag)

Unplug the Christmas machine

Scale down your activities and you will have more time and peace of mind to enjoy the ones that remain. Don't allow the season to take you on a wild spending spree and keep you exhausted from overcommitted schedules. Instead, look upon it as a time to remember what is important in your life. Keep it simple. Enjoy the moments, those little ones you often overlook. Our world is developing materially at an incredibally fast pace, increasing our need for similar progress in our sense of inner values (HHDL). Look inside yourself this holiday season. Let us all cultivate love, compassion and kindness for one another.

3 Little kittens who lost their mittens

New "farm" kittens. They seem to want in for some reason when they should be in the barn! Stopped at an Amish farm while out driving a group to work and a little kitten ran up to me from the barn. Don't you want a kitten? "Not this trip", I replied. The next evening here he came with a box and 3 kittens. "THREE", I said. The father proceeded to tell me that the children thought mine would get lonely by itself and if I took two then the one left at home would be lonely so they decided I should have all three!! lol They are fun to watch and all are about the same color. Farm kittens. Yea, right.

Cracks in my table

I really LOVE the cracks in my table that LaVern made for me. This morning I found another use for them. For those of you who have ever purchased fabric at a store that has the nice big counter with the groove down it and they line up the material and follow the groove with the scissors so a nice straight line is cut. Well, the same holds true for a table with a space between the boards. I lined up the Christmas paper on the bottom edge and followed the crack. Straightest Christmas paper I have ever cut! I'm thinking a really sharp razor blade might work nifty also but wouldn't know where to begin to find one.