Friday Foolishness - May 3, 2013

Here's a little poem to remind you to enjoy life.

 

 

Dust If You Must

by Anonymous

Dust if you must, but wouldn't it be better
To paint a picture, or write a letter,
Bake a cake, or plant a seed;
Ponder the difference between want and need?

Dust if you must, but there's not much time,
With rivers to swim, and mountains to climb;
Music to hear, and books to read;
Friends to cherish, and life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world's out there
With the sun in your eyes, and the wind in your hair;
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
This day will not come around again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
Old age will come and it's not kind.
And when you go (and go you must)
You, yourself, will make more dust.

Friday Foolishness - April 26, 2013

Are you ready for the weekend? Am hoping one or more of these puts a smile on your face.

This picture was downloaded from Life With Dogs on Facebook. Things like this are one of the reasons I have a Facebook account.

For some odd reason, poop has always made our family laugh. This image is from Dump A Day. 

For Ally Cat 'cause I know she loves her Winston.
Source: The Meta Picture.

Ironically enough, this image came from Evercats.

This last image is located on Ebaum's World.

Y'all have a great weekend!

Friday Foolishness - April 5, 2013

 For several years now Mom has made flannel bags filled with deer corn that's been sifted clean. They're all different sizes. Most of the ones I have measure 5" x 7". Some are made of three 5" x 7" sections to cover a larger area.You know the kind of thing I'm talking about. You put it in the microwave for a minute and when it comes out apply it to sore and aching muscles. She's bought me a fancy one filled with lavender, but I like the ones she makes better.


Isn't this one pretty? She uses all different fabric prints. Bright and flowery. Countrified. Checks and plaids. Outdoorsy. Mom's pretty creative.


She first learned about corn bags when she gave blood for her own surgery (cancer). The hospital where the surgery was conducted allowed patients to come in prior to the operation and, over a period of time, have the  blood withdrawn and stored. Cool, huh? That way you know you're getting clean blood because it's yours. The phlebotomist put one on her wrist to bring up the blood vessels so it wouldn't hurt so much when they drew blood. Mom's veins aren't the best. I'm told that chemo does that -- and all sorts of other fun stuff -- to your body.

OK. OK. I'll get to the point... right after I circle this here mountain.

I've used these corn bags for years. Big ones. Small ones. Huge ones (draft stoppers for doors). As foot and hand warmers. Tucked up under the covers at the foot of the bed for warmth on a cold winter night. Sore backs. Sore knees. Sore neck. Sore shoulder. To wrap in a blanket and put with the new puppy so it doesn't feel so alone. I suppose they'd make great 'toss bags' if  you wanted to set up a game of bean bag for the kids in your back yard. You get the idea. There's a size for everything you can imagine.

So after all these years I figured I'd 'bout used them in every way possible. WRONG!

Right now I live in a mobile home. I say right now because I'm at the top of a waiting list for a cabin that (crossing fingers) should become available this Spring/Summer. This is a pretty nice mobile home. It survived the 'not-hurricane' that hit the area last summer with nary a scratch. But it's still a mobile home.

We installed a wood stove this Fall because the heating bills were so outrageous. Although outrageous to you and outrageous to me are probably two different things. I've heated with wood for so many years that any time my utilities (electric AND gas) go over $150 in the Winter I get angry and start closing rooms off and dressing warmer. So it's finally warm here. Averaging 70-75 degrees most of the time.

But it's still a mobile home. It's unusual in the fact that the owner believes in preventive maintenance and has done extensive work to preserve its structural integrity. For example, not only do the pipes have insulation and heat tape on them -- the crawl space area is insulated.

But it's still a mobile home. The heating duct-work runs the length of the house. Cold air moves through the duct-work up to the floor vents. You can put a rug over them but in a house with animals (or children) how long do you expect that to last. Or now with Spring fast approaching and the wood pile running low, using the gas forced air as a back-up is a certainty. Still the wind outside when just right can cool off a house faster than you can say 'lickety-split'.

This Winter we discovered that one of Mom's corn bags was just the right size to cover the heating vent and block all that cold air. It's even big enough that the animals leave it alone. Another purpose for the now infamous Corn Bag. Thanks, Mom. I ♥ you.

Friday Foolishness

Here's a song and a story to get your weekend off to a good start.

Toes by Zac Brown Band

So I'm getting ready for bed last night. Showered. Teeth brushed. Hair combed. Alarm set. Got the dog his bedtime snack so he'd stop whining and go to sleep.
Spoiled rotten doggie. We love 'em that way, don't we? Here I go. lah-de-dah. Walking around. Checking to make sure that the doors are locked. The wood stove is banked and it's door is closed; must be drafting okay 'cause there's a nice flame at the back. Coffee pot ready to turn on. Animals have full water dishes. Work computer turned off. Burners on the gas stove are off; all three pilots are lit. 'tis an old stove - but it works better than those new fangled ones. Most of the time anyway.

[There was a day when I fell asleep on the couch for no particular reason. I laid down because I had a headache. both cats were asleep. the dog was asleep. All laying down on the floor. really odd that they were all in the same vicinity (and ain't hindsight 20-20.) Turns out the oven pilot had gone out somehow. If a friend hadn't stopped by we might just have blown sky-high. Not that we would have felt it.]

Anyway... like I was sayin'

I was getting ready for bed and kept feeling this weird lump between my legs with every step I took. Now, earlier in the day I had my weekly weigh-in...the dial went in the wrong direction, don't cha' know. But seriously - I knew I hadn't put on that much weight. My teal-green, fleece retro-70s pajama bottoms with the rainbow peace signs - that go so well with my long sleeve black Steelers thermal top - have a drawstring top with pom-poms on the ends of the string. When the drawstring isn't pulled tight and tied those pom-poms just so happens to fall in a strategic location. Think about it for a minute.  [make me go to the store and buy regular pajamas will ya? there: take that! :p ]

Now I know why guys walk funny sometimes. LOL

Y'all have a great weekend! And don't be getting jealous over my keen sense of fashion either.