Monday, December 22, 2014

Honey, we're home!

Okay y'all we're here and settled! 
 Today was our first day of business.  It was SO good to see friends whom we've missed all summer.  We had a thin portion of our breakfast crew, many of them are gone for the holiday.  Since part of our plumbing was freeze burst we were kinda glad for the slower pace...that and it always takes us a minute to get back into our kitchen and remember what we're supposed to be doing.

On the way south Mum & I had a very peaceful if somewhat slow journey (takes a lot of pull to get Behemoth up those hills with Tiny loaded to the gills).  Glenn on the other hand became an expert and freeway side trailer tire changes.  Fortunately we're in a prime location for finding salvage trailer wheel well covers & nothing catastrophic transpired.

We've successfully had our first servings of x3 Prime Rib.  YUM!  We were late getting there thanks to plumbing discoveries, so it was well done.   But still delish.  We've all been looking forward to our desert Saturday dinners.  We also went to Black rock for lunch the other day and their pickle fries...as a novelty I thought they were quite a treat but no one else cared for them, and they will NOT be going on our menu.

We've been busy getting ready to open.  I have several photos and before shots of the shed and parking area.  Tomorrow I will get after photos and share them.

Here is a few of Jack and his new buddy Cringle.



He has decided his new kennel is far better than being out in the cold.  YAY!  He seems quite pleased to be back here where he rules the roost and never gets left home alone.  Also he gets to wear his sweaters and thinks he's quite fashionable ;)

Live Long and Prosper Y'all.
Happy Holidays.
~m

Monday, December 15, 2014

A NEW PROMISE

So one of my favorite people doesn't get on facebook.  For her I will blog, it is a major motivator. So here we go.

Got gifted with an extra day...I'm hoping for lots of productivity, but based on pain levels tonight I'll accept getting enough of the the right stuff shoved into transport vehicles.  Oh and hospitable weather would be a bonus.

Phat Jack's is hitting the road this week.  Mum, Jack, Oscar, Kitties and me are convoying while Glenn turns and churns the miles with their house trailer and then Phat Jack's.  It will be an adventure.  Scotty has chosen to follow later when we've established our village...I'll admit I'm a bit jealous of his fast internet and mellow schedule while he attends his job and then drives the zoom beast at his own pace.

I'm gonna miss the brown kitties.  They're both so sweet, and so dumb.  But Scotty would be very lonely with only the fish for company.  So happy to be taking Spazz and Yahzi with me.  Oscar will love having company while I'm at work and I will be much less lonesome for my fur people.  Besides, they'll enjoy the smelavision.  I've stocked up on bird seed and am taking a hummingbird feeder.

 It is somewhat amazing how much effort it takes to prep and pack for a trip like this.  No matter how much I think ahead and how many lists I make inevitably there will be something I forgot.  But it won't be the end of the world.

I'd better go finish checking off my list and be ready to move out in the morning.  Things are gonna be crazy for a bit so no news is good news until we get settled in.

Happy Holidays, hope y'all find joy wherever you can.
Live Long and Prosper!
~m



Tuesday, June 3, 2014

More o the same

Life's been pretty boring lately.  Just how I like it.  Puttering in the yard, working as much as I can around the house, and laughing at the goats.

Last weekend Scotty & I went to Lowe's for potting soil & tomato cages.  While there we accidentally bought a fridge.  Can't wait to have crushed ice & water in the door!  We have loved our bottom freezer fridge, but efficiency has changed so much in the last 12 years and we found a new one that had all the requirements on both of our lists.  We got an awesome deal and they're delivering it on Thursday.  YAY!

The other night we finally got our concealed carry class done.   It's been 12+ years since I fired a revolver (and I've blocked all memory of that event thanks to the jerk who fired his gun 2' from us without giving anyone a chance to don ear protection).  I was pleasantly surprised at how comfy our 357 mag fires and am looking forward to spending lots of time throwing money down the range.

So that's the update, I'm off to tuck myself in for the night.  Lots to do tomorrow.
Y'all live long & prosper.
~m

Sunday, May 18, 2014

On Balance

So settling in with Lil Mama, Sweetpea, & Peabody has been fun.  Lil Mama LOVES attention.  She wants skritches attention and all the loves available.  Sweetpea is more shy and wants to be close but not be noticed.  Peabody takes cues from both Mammas and rotates between wanting her horns itched and showing off her aloofness.  Peabody had claimed ownership of the lawn chairs and loves jumping between them.

Tonight Scott & I spent some time on the front porch finishing seeding and fine tuning the watering. We have a list of repairs to the house & we're trying to discern which of them we can take on ourselves.

After that we followed Lil Mama's calls to the back yard.  I shared the bowl of fresh fruit that was left over from last weekend with Mama, along with a couple carrots.  She loves carrots.  She also loves my recliner chair, particularly skritching herself on it.

Short post, but full of energy.

LL&P
~m

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Birthday Decadence

It has been a grand day.
My only goal was to be luxuriously lazy & mostly that's exactly what I did.

Slept in, went out to lunch:  a huge pile of steamed crab to devour, a cold glass of fresh raspberry mint iced tea, and delicious apple crisp ala mode for desert


An impromptu pedicure & the cute tech even picked my color for me (purple sparkly of course).

Finished making over grandma's vanity bench. I never saw her vanity & I don't have a vanity, but will keep that thing with me for the rest of my life!  It takes me back to Sunday dinner at Grandma's when the family was almost small enough to all fit at the dinner table.  Devin & I sat hip to hip on that bench and ate our dinner at the desk.  Got to visit with my Mommy while I finished it.  Scotty thinks the trim belongs on a sombrero...but I like it, & it matches.  Too bad it lives in his office ;)
Before

After

Had a great visit with Lisa Henry when I went to borrow her kennel to transport goats.  Got to chatter about my canyon, goats, and  a few other things that we needed to catch up on.

So good, and it's not over (since I'm having a whole birthday week).
Scotty got Hank (that's what I've named the dodge that hauls my Behemoth) registered so I can camp this weekend without fear of being pulled over.
Tomorrow I get to spend the day with my Mum tending Marlee Michelle (Lyndie's cute baby).
Then pick up our new foster goats.  I should learn not to joke anymore...

Am I old now?  I certainly don't feel that way.  Today has been delightful & I so many dear folk have posted on my facebook page wishing me happy birthday...all of whom I love.  I don't think I could ever add up all the people I love.  There are so many of them and they're all so very different.

Live Long  Prosper Y'all!
~m

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Never make a plan.

So Friday went nothing like I planned...I ended up tossing and turning Thursday night, all night.  Once I got up and tried to get going Friday it was obvious that I would not be getting much done.  Had to postpone lunch with Chris again (it's a very good thing we love each other enough to put up with all the bs life throws at us both) and barely got half of my projects done.  But since I couldn't leave the house, I did get my strawberries, turnips, and garlic chives planted.  Yay.

This morning I really didn't want to get out of bed...half lazy and half dread after yesterday.  So I took it slow.  Read for a while, then went to Lowe's first since the walking would be a mild stretch to get me started.  I was able to get the lumber we needed to build Spazzy's new window shelf.  Ducky broke her other one & we can't find a stud in the wall to hang it back up.  Ducky is not a tiny kitten, and the wall is apparently held up by magic.  Anyhow I stumbled upon a unique bookshelf in a clearance category the other day while internet shopping (no wonder it's on clearance it would be a terrible book shelf, but is promising as a kitty shelf, after all they stick better than books) and Scotty has engineered a cat shelf/post based on the idea....perhaps if it works well we'll patent the idea & retire as millionaires....lol.  I also picked up planter pots and soil to start catnip seeds in.  Is it obvious who's in charge at our house?  When I went to the nursery to pick up my potting soil I parked my truck next to a whole cart full of 1 gallon pots of bearded iris. They are my favorite.  Marked down to cost because they had already bloomed....shucks.  So 10 of them came home with me...shucks.  Perhaps I'll go back tomorrow for 10 more...if I can find someone to help me plant them.

Tulip Tree was on the way home, & it's that week.  Knowing I won't be able to help after Wed I decided to stop in and work till my back said I was done.  As I expected there was a crew of florists there bustling away.  I dove in to help green vases and before I knew it we had greened many cases of them...even a boring job is better when you don't have to do it by yourself.  I took a break to grab soup, unload iris' and grab some hot & sour soup from one of my favorite local places Ming's Garden.  I got back to TT with birch oil to share (I have dubbed myself the birch oil missionaries...I know there's only one of me and it's not a religion, but that's my title OK?!?...& a few more hours of go in me.  My back was definitely finicky & I can't work as fast as I want to, but I have so missed it  I hope persistence pays off & I get back to where I can do that more often.

So let's lay out this week, just for fun & THIS IS NOT A PLAN.

Sunday, I'm hoping to get in a few hours at TT, then work on the watering system for the front yard.
Monday, hoping again for a few hours at TT, then laundry & more cleaning/packing in the Behemoth. 
Tuesday, a few more hours at TT and then Scotty has us signed up for classes at the gun range. 
Wednesday is load and go day. Me n' Hank are gonna haul Behemoth to Cache Valley and hopefully by the end of the day I'm parked at Cheeseburger Estate with my good bud LaVern for a neighbor.

Can't wait to meet their kid (literally) Macie.
LOL, I love these guys. 
Thursday Mum & I are gonna prep pulled pork and make coleslaw to feed the pullers at the Health Days Horse Pulls 
https://www.facebook.com/events/303482709809437/?ref=br_tf
Our Phat Jack's trailer will be on it's way to Chicago to cater for a Time Life Photo Tour, so we're back under cooking under a canopy for this event.  Hopefully it's one of those unusual Health Days when it doesn't rain.  Otherwise our cotton candy will be short lived and our chefs staff (Me, Mum, & Scotty) will be slightly soggy.
Friday Mum has to come to Salt Lake for her annual appointment with the tumor doc.  So I'm gonna spend the day with with Jack-jack baking cookies.
Saturday is the pulls so we'll be on site serving up noms and enjoying the family time.

But since I've learned, I HAVE NO PLAN. Only goals.  Goals are okay right?

The big fish tank just started bubbling (means water's evaporated) I'm off to the garage to haul a few buckets of water before tucking in.

LL&P my darlings.  Wish me luck.
~m


Friday, May 2, 2014

I Dunno

Can't decide what was the best part of today. 
Sleeping in?
Cheesy poofs for lunch with perfectly mixed arnold palmers, & getting to enjoy said cheesy poofs with Mum & Glenn?
Driving Jayne around town with the radio turned up & not having to change the channel to find good tunes? Jayne and I are beginning to bond finally.
Flower shopping at TI with Mum & seeing Lucy & Toni?
Finding all the smudge supplies I needed at the trading post & enjoying a good balancing moment if somewhat interrupted by curious kitties?  The brown ones are not used to smudge and kept trying to help.
Getting my strawberries, canopy, purple telescoping water wand, and pocket hose at last?  Scotty says they pretty much emptied the Fed Ex truck on our porch, LOL.
Having french toast for dinner (nope, I'm not on a diet, and nope I'm not a responsible adult)? There was browned butter left over in the bottom of the pan that I had to pour over my toast.

Yep it was a terrible day. NOT!
Tomorrow I have to go go back to TI, I get to have lunch with Chris (we rescheduled last minute), & work on building a kitty shelf & re-upholstering a bench that belonged to my Grandma.  Should be busy but productive.

Next week is gonna be crazy with Health Days and Mother's Day, then I'm hoping to spend some time in my canyon (where I camp hosted) with some of my favorite people for my birthday.  So if I don't post for a while it's because I'm busy relaxing & havin' a great time.

Y'all live long & prosper!
~m

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Comfortably Numbed

Let's see, Monday I finally got to the store and bought Scotty new pants.  He really needed them.  Then because the pants store just happened to be right next to Smash Burger I decided to try & remedy my bad burger vibe from Saturday.  I had a beehive burger & a PB&J shake with smash fries.  All were infinitely delish.
Tuesday was not a good day for me.  I had my 2nd appointment with the pain specialist.  It shouldn't have been bad, but I have some seriously powerful negative memories of pain clinics and injections, all of which ended in me being blamed for them not being able to successfully treat the pain.  I had a full on anxiety attack, but only after the injection portion of the appointment was over.  Turns out I can take pain a lot better than I can overcome my own fears.  But then it was over & Scotty took me to Joe's.  The world is a much happier place when there's fried crawfish and plum sauce.

Today I got to go to work with Scotty so I could work on setting up a couple computers we got from surplus for Mom & Leisa.  The internet at the college is much faster than at our house.  Thank goodness I have Scotty as a resource to make miracles happen.  When we get done with this project we should all be upgraded to Win7 and have decent machines customized just how we want them....I hope.


Tomorrow we have a lunch date with Christopher Dominguez...otherwise fondly known as The Brat.  I'm really looking forward to seeing him again and getting to visit.  It has been such a long time, too long.

Tonight I'm trying out a new pain treatment for muscle spasms (my back didn't appreciate sitting at a desk to mess with the pc's).  It's a lidocain patch applied topically.  Scotty & I had a bit of a learning curve figuring out how to apply them.  I'm hoping they work cuz I now have A LOT of them.

I'm off to think happy thoughts and a liberal application of kitty snugs.

LL&P
~m


Sunday, April 27, 2014

Treats & Trek

As predicted, after 2 days at the flower shop my back was indeed beyond sore.  Surprisingly it wasn't the parts of my back that have hurt the most recently.  While tired and a bit grumpy my uper back and neck are not my primary complaint.  My lower back and sciatica are killin' me.  Yesterday we had to run house errands, between Scotty's injured foot & my nerve twinges we looked like delegates from the ministry of funny walks.

Yesterday I had a fun phone visit with Tracy Covel one of my chosen family from the summers I spent in Ogden canyon as a campground host.  He's getting things lined up to head back to South Fork Campground for the summer.  With any luck I should get to spend some time up there & float my river a few times.

Since we had to go out yesterday Scotty & I decided to treat ourselves with a good hamburger.  Unfortunately Culvers left me quite disappointed. Despite the cashier asking & writing down what I did and didn't want on my burger it came standard with tomatoes and mustard (I am not a fan of either).  The burger itself was dry & either they put on extra onions or they were really strong cuz they completely overwhelmed any seasoning or flavor the rest of the ingredients might have had.  Their chili cheese fries were made with mediocre chili, greasy undercooked fries, and cheese that was very disappointing for a chain that prides themselves for their "wisconsin cheddar".  The cheese curds were good.  I was somewhat excited to try their "lemon ice" & really enjoyed it up until I discovered that the bottom half of my serving was contaminated with strong peanut butter flavor.....lemon raspberry & peanut butter are not a great combo.  All in all the entire adventure was a major disappointment.  Really shoulda gone to Smash Burger like we first talked about.

Today I am being as kitty as I can.  spent much of my morning reading in bed, then moved to the couch to discover a Star Trek movie marathon was happening.  It's not every day that a dose of Shatner seems wonderful, but today it does.

Live long & prosper my darlings!
~m

Friday, April 25, 2014

Perhaps a bitr too much.

So today and yesterday I got to spend some time at the Tulip Tree.  It's great fun to be back there and see how fabulously busy they are now.  Today Adda did her usual awesome job of supervising one and all & still made one of her fantastic fruit baskets and a killer rose planter.  I brought in a pizza lunch for us all, it was fun to have lunch buddies again, I've missed that social moment.  I got to make 3 fun corsages for Jenni & Paul's twins and one of their friends.  Unfortunately right about then things got extra crazy at the shop & I did not get pics :(  so just imagine 3 totally awesome wrist corsages with plenty of flair & bling.

I wound up manning the shop by myself for a couple hours this evening.  Though rusty I do remember how & it was even kinda fun, my back at the end of this day is rather adamantly reminding me why I had to give up on an everyday floral job.  Doesn't help that I can't soothe the grumpy muscles with a soak in my hot tub.  Perhaps my next BIG project will be draining the stale water (though mostly unused & kept clean it hasn't been changed since before Scotty lost his hand).

Last week I met with a new doctor.  She specializes in treating pain and the underlying causes of pain.  It was interesting to meet with her and talk about what options I have for treating my "just arthritis" and "residual nerve damage".  I love my neurosurgeon but there are a few places where his bedside manners are lacking.  Anyhow, I'm scheduled to go in next week for some sort of in office procedure that will hopefully numb the nerves causing me the most discomfort.  She thinks this may help to get me back where I can work with my hands more and sit for longer amounts of time.  Hopefully that gets me back to where I can strengthen up my lower back muscles and do more without hurting.  I both dread and look forward to this, my biggest worry  is that it won't work....we've already talked about other options, but it's not easy to stay optimistic.  Here's hoping.

Here's a puzzler for ya, what do you do when you sprain your only ankle and your foot swells up? You can't bear weight on that foot, so you can't use your prosthetic leg to ambulate.   Yep you guessed it the answer is: NOTHING.  Twice now since I got home this has happened.  Poor Scotty doesn't even know exactly what he's doing to pull the muscles.  So we treat the symptoms as much as he can stand the coddling and then he's stuck at home.  Either he has to commute in his power chair (it has a 16 mile range, according to google maps that means he can go a LOT of places) to get to work, stores, etc. or he's stuck at home.  Hopefully soon we get a chair lift installed on Jayne (my truck) and then he can take his power chair wherever he wants.  I'm looking forward to that cuz it means we can mount the same lift on Behemoth and GO CAMPING!!!!.  It's still a bit mystifying  to me that despite spending most of the last year living in Behemoth I still crave camping.  My time in the desert was powerfully energizing for my spirit.  In a later post I'll share my story from the "great rain storm".  I really wish I'd kept up this blog while down there, alas I was too caught up enjoying the moments.  It's hard to regret that.

So now I'm off to watch some TV, I really did miss my reality tv fix while I was in the desert...well I didn't miss it at the time (there were jack rabbits, and cactus and happy places to watch and amazing energy to absorb), but I sure am enjoying it now that I'm back.  Pretty much guaranteed my next 24-48 hours will be spent in the fetal or otherwise recumbent position.  That's okay, the time away from home was worth it, and hopefully this new doc can improve my quality of life.  If not, I will still find as many shiny things as I can, ain't worth being grumpy & I try to focus there.

Live Long & Prosper!
~m

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Buisy being a kitty.

Kitty says you don't need to go anywhere, just stay right here, I'll hold you down.
Yahzi is very happy to have me home.  Also he likes the new rug I got.
Ducky LOVED the toys I brought home from the desert.
Spazzy missed me.
Yahzi's safe place.
So no updates, I haven't done anything much other than hang out with my fur people.  I've been trying to catch up on house chores and yard work.

This year I'm trying for a few containers of berries and lettuces.  Hopefully they thrive & we have nummy fresh home grown food this summer.  Perhaps I'll even put in a tomato for Scotty.

Yesterday Mom, Glenn, & I went to the US Foods open house out at the expo center.  3 hours of eating tasty things one bite at a time as we wandered the room.  It was fun, but exhausting.  We found a few new products for Phat Jack's.  Glenn's headed out in a few weeks to cater for a Time Life photography tour.  Chicago to LA along rout 66.  It will be very interesting to see how things go.  Mom, Jack-jack & I are sitting out on this adventure.  We're both in house purging mode & hoping to bring order to our universe.

Today I spent a few hours at Tulip Tree, it's so good to be back home.  Tomorrow I get to go in and finish the corsages I'm making.  I'll post pics.

Live Long & Prosper!
~m

Monday, March 17, 2014

Gonna try this again...

It has been very long since my last post.  I have had many adventures.  Most of them full of details that aren't mine to share, or out in the desert beyond civilization.  It has not all been good, nor all bad.  I have had many moments of joy & made a few new friends who if I am lucky I will get to keep.  If not, I have loved all the interactions we've shared & I adore the time we were given.

So let's sketch out the basics:

Last spring the department I worked for proved to have the drama Lynn warned me of.  It was personally devastating but in hindsight I did what was right for me in the end.  Note to self, listen to Lynn even when she's being subtle, she is most often RIGHT.

I spent the spring and summer being the "order manager" (yes I gave myself that title) for Phat Jack'shttps://www.facebook.com/PhatJacks?ref=br_rs.  It was stressful (especially while Glenn was in the hospital) but we all banded together and broke in the trailer.

My adventure as order manager came to a rather abrupt end during the Lincoln County Fair.  After 24 hours of no contact from Scotty & much worrying, I dropped everything. I threw myself into Mum's car & made the drive home to Utah in record time.  Mom, & the Keeleys took good care of Oscar & the Behemoth while also rocking the county fair & selling a whole lotta cotton candy.  Me & Scotty learned a lot too, about burns and upper extremity prosthesis.

Then we all followed thru on what had been a huge joke...starting years ago when I made Thom pull over to take a picture of a hot dog cart for sale at Tyson Wells in Quartzsite.  I won't go into the whole story, I've told it too many times to count.  End result is early november Scotty & I loaded Glenn's house trailer & the four of us headed to Brenda, AZ.  They spent a few weeks setting up shop while Scott & I bob tailed home & reloaded Behemoth for our manual  trip.

We had Christmas at Phat Jack's, followed by a short visit at Oxbow with some of our chosen family for the new year.  Then Scotty flew home in the beast & I settled in to work for as  long as I was needed.  I had a few adventures (one particular incident with a rock in a wash sticks out) but all has been mended.  I met many new awesome people, and gained an appreciation for prime rib.

Then I drove home, too fast....and slept in an IHOP parking lot cuz I'm too stubborn.  I am paying for this.


Them's the highlights.

Live long & Prosper!
~m