January 6 -8

January 8,2013
I have been doing very little with this cold, but push had come to shove; I had to do some shopping.  I was completely out of AP flour and very low on some other staples like beans.  We  also had to return a past due book.....DH's fault,one of his. I made him stay in the truck since his cold is still so bad.  I picked him out just one more book.

I picked up a bottle of multi-vitamins...and, believe it or not, DH actually agreed to taking them.  I may have to rethink the flu shots.  I don't think he has the flu  though, just a cold.

It was very bright and sunshiny but windy and cold in the 40's.  They are predicating rain overnight but saying it will  hit south of I-44.  We are north of that....still keeping our fingers crossed.

You can see the Cardinals feathers being blown about,


I am getting worried about letting Sugar out to run free for a short time.  Twice now she has headed for the road out  front and she doesn't stop or come to me when I call her.  The great outdoors is so much more fun!
I have discovered that our  old  dog pen which is about 15 x 30 holds her.  So now I can leave her outside in the fresh air as long as she wants.  She was worried  when I walked off but when I went back to get her she ran to the back corner of the pen.....she didn't want out. We left her for about an hour.

DH was planning to get calves up to sell but I told him to wait until he is feeling better; there is no urgency and I know he  doesn't really feel up to  it.

Late in the day I cooked  a large pot of pinto beans....we had a dish for our evening meal and will have  it for the rest of the week.  They were the palest beans I have ever cooked....very strange.

Something else I noticed....normally when we hit Wal Mart after a long absence,the bill  will be around $100; this time is was over $200.  There were no major items on there either.  Shocking.

I made homemade donuts day before yesterday.



I bought a very small deep fat fryer and have used it a  couple of times.  It makes  a big difference in how the end products turns out.  No matter how carefully I monitored the thermometer using a pan of oil on the stove, it would always get too hot and then too cold.

The other thing I got accomplished is I ordered the majority of garden seeds from a company I haven't used before, Swallowtail, but some friends have .  Time will tell how pleased I am.  I forgot to get vinca seeds so I will be looking for them soon.  They are a favorite and very easy from seed. 
This is the year I am purging all the seed inventory and starting fresh.

Shopping Trip to the Mall

Yesterday was just a beautiful sunshiny day.  It was cold, but no wind and the sun shone all day long which has been rare lately.

It was my planned trip to the Mall with my 93 year-old MIL to pick out a bedspread for our bedroom for my Christmas present.  I was dreading it....first I hate shopping and I hate people spending money on me.

We headed into Macy's first because she has a credit card there and lots of coupons for deep discounts.  I don't have a Macy's card... We looked  at everything and I saw only one that jumped out at me.  It was in deep jewel tones...I thought it was way too pricey even on sale so I  moved away from it....even though she kept saying what pretty colors it was.  Then the saleswoman hit us.  I asked for help in selecting one and after a few questions, guess where she took us?  Of course right back to that expensive one (I smell commission in here  somewhere). I just told them both that I thought it was way too expensive. My MIL said that was what a gift was all about and she wanted me to have the one I wanted.....even insisted so I finally caved and just said Thank You.  She said she loves buying things for us and she can afford to.  I hope she is right.

I tried to get a good picture of it but the colors didn't turn out as well because of the west sun shining through the blinds but it will give you an idea of it.  My garishly yellow walls even seem toned down by the new bedding.  I will change them but won't have to be in a rush.


The reverse side is the stripe like the bedskirt.  The wonderful thing is we slept under it and it doesn't slip off the bed like previous ones  have and it is very light yet warm.  I am happy.

We stopped by the store and I bought some baking supplies and we picked up lunch from the deli and went home.  After lunch, I was defragmenting her hard drive and we were visiting in the family room.  She got up to do something in the kitchen and when she came back somehow she trip coming around the recliner and fell hard and hit her back on the edge of the lamp table. I couldn't catch her in time.  It just made me sick.  She had to lay there for a bit and then couldn't get up without turning away from the chair and crawling back to the seat....still didn't have the strength to get up so this old farm gal who has hefted 50-lb bags for feed for 40 years clasped her under her arms and joined my hands in front of her chest and lifted her up enough to get her into the chair.  It  was just about the limit I could lift.  She has been talking about getting one of those call button  thingies to wear and  I told her now is the time.  It just made me so sad that our wonderful day had to end that way.  I checked with her last night and she was doing OK.  She will be so sore this morning.

I told DH that you don't realize how frail (not in size!) that she is until you see her fall and realize she can't get up.  It was a shock.  She is a like me in that it doesn't take much for her to get off balance and fall.  Mine is just a dizziness thing that I have most days so that I watch where I get myself but hers is just a sort of lightness on her feet like she isn't really attached to the ground.  I know I have gone on and on here and you may skip this one but I wanted it documented for my kids and me to remember.

Now if this Christmas present wasn't enough for both of us and it was, she called later and said to be here Friday because DH's present was coming.....bless her heart I think she is getting satellite TV for her TV addicted son.  We had it once and were both too stingy to keep paying for it for it.  It makes me feel slightly ashamed.

I have always know I was blessed in the in-law department and now you know too.