More Snow!

I can never remember having  this much snow....
Holy Cow!

It just kept on coming down.

It was great.

Verdell loved it.

Hoppy got cold pretty fast.

Wolfy with an ice beard! 

Full moon morning

Can you find Verdell?

Playing

More playing!

All the dogs seemed to enjoy the snow.

Even Porsha and Sha-Marie

 ran and played and didn't seem to mind the cold.

We were babysitting

 two dogs for my friend Cathe,

 and they too ran and played in the snow.

This is Jody.

This is Allie.

They were very nice guests. 

 We kept them from Dec. 10th, until Dec.30.

It was a long haul,

 but they were really no trouble. 

 They minded pretty well,

 except for one time. 

Allie got on the trail of something,

 and took off. 

 I almost didn't catch her.

  I thought she was going to crawl thru the barbed-wire fence

 and get on the highway. 

 Lord have mercy.

She is fat,

 but she was pretty fast

 and it was quite a little work out for me to try and catch her.

I don't know what she was after. 

 I don't' think she knew either.

It didn't take 

Jody and Allie

 long to find the

 "chicken dirt".

This is a pile of dirt

 that Justin dug out

 of the chicken pen for me.

After months and months of dumping 

Debbies Kountry Kitchen 

scraps on the ground in the chicken pen, 

 it was starting to smell like a compost. 

 Especially after all the snow. 

 The girls

 (my 7 hens)

 have been very spoiled 

to eating fresh food everyday.

  I had to stop bringing it to them for a while 

so the ground could dry out. 

 They reluctantly started eating the

 grain and crumbles we buy for them.

J dumped the chicken dirt out in the pasture,

 over by the old wagon,

 kinda down in a low spot.

  I knew it was going to be an issue as soon as he dumped the first wheelbarrow full. 

 As soon as she could,

 Bonnie 

started eating the dirt.

 It didn't take long

 before all the dogs that could get to the pile,

 got there

 and starting eating the damn dirt.

Crap.  

I worried and fretted that it would make them sick,

 and J said 

"it never made the chickens sick-."

What a thought.

True so true.

As far as I know, it has not made anyone sick.

They have all eaten a lot of dirt.

Porsha makes a bee-line for it every chance she gets.

Allie and Jody ate their fair share.

I think Allie and Jody enjoyed their stay.

Cathe picked them up

 around 4 o'clock,

 and I got really sick

 by about 6 o'clock.

I ended up being very sick with a virus for about 10 days.

I still feel kinda weak and poop out fast.

I went to the Dr. and she said it just hangs on, 

and knocks the soup out of you.

I have no soup left.

Man, I felt horrible.

These are close ups of  ice crystals on the chicken wire.

(I wish I would have used my flash....it was in the shade)

I thought is was 

pretty

cool.

pipe fence 

It was amazing to see the crystals.

The temperature was just right.

We had 2 different snow storms 

within about 2 weeks of each other. 

It snowed Christmas Eve

 and we had a very white Christmas.

The total snow for both storms was 25 inches +.

For us here in this desert, 

that is a lot of snow.

Snow is not all that uncommon,

but that amount is.

Having gone so long with NO precipitation at all,

it is much needed and well accepted.

Happy Snow Bones!

:-)

ma

Snow!

Baby, its cold outside...

Yes it is,

 and it is going to stay that way

 for a few days....

Early morning

23 degrees and dropping

Its getting colder.

We got a total of about 2 or 3 inches.

 It was a real wet snow too.

The snow has not melted completely away,

 which is a little un-usual for these parts.

It usually is all melted away by noon

 the day after it snows.

Not this time.

It

 has

 been 

very

very 

cold.

Icicles

Wolfy happy bone!

Hoppy

nice 

:-)

ma

It's 12:38 am

and

something

woke me up

 out of a
 deep
 deep
 sleep.

  I had been asleep about 3 1/2 or 4 hours.

 All I remember is
 I woke up,
 not really knowing at that instant
 why  I woke up
 and

I reached my right hand over to my left arm.
I don't remember feeling it on my arm,
but I kinda dragged my hand over my stomach
and then
I
felt
it.

I felt it move under my hand.

The next few moments are very fast.

I fly up out of bed and 

peel out of my night shirt.

It's pitch black but I knew I had to move fast

and at this point I don't even know what it is,

but I kinda have an idea......

I quickly grab my glasses and turn on the overhead, room light

and slip on my Birkenstocks.

I don't see anything

but I start to feel the bites.

One on my left fore arm 

and 

one 

on my stomach.

They are starting to really hurt and burn and sting.

I get a freaky bone

and

 wig out

 trying to make sure nothing is in my hair,

while at the same time looking at the floor to see if its there and

I am looking all thru my night shirt and by the way the bites feel, 

I am thinking it is something big.

I am starting to cry,

for

 many,

 many

 reasons.

This makes it even harder to see.

I convince myself that my night shirt is safe,

which took

 some over and over and over looking

 to be sure

 nothing was hiding in a seam or fold.

I put it back on.

 I am getting cold.

Now I really start to cry,

the reasons just keep adding up in my mind.

I leave the room to go out to the front porch to get a flashlight.

I have a small one right by my bed, but I wanted the 

Big One.

I go back into my room and with the flashlight I look 

under the bed and don't see anything.

The bites are really starting to hurt.

I look thru the covers

and start getting freaky again,

just thinking about trying to get back in this bed,

and I still, at this point,

don't-for sure- know what it is,

but

 by the way my tongue is going numb,

my lips tingling,

my mouth feeling like I just ate sand,

I knew what it was.

I remembered all the times 

I 

shook that jar and tortured

that

damn 

scorpion.

Well - there you go-

What comes around-goes around.

Pay backs are hell.

You have to sleep in the bed you make.

Scorpion Karma.

I could go on,

but 

why....

I am starting to feel bad and just want this to end.

I slowly pick up my pillow

and

there it is

and 

it is

a 

Big One.

One big ass scorpion.

UNDER MY PILLOW.

Knowing my enemy well,

 and armed with a 

mag lite,

I kill it.

Dead Dead Dead

you nasty thing

I didn't take its picture,

I didn't want to.

I'm sure you can visualize.

Pieces of scorpion body parts and goo

smashed on the bed and pillow.

Scorpions are hard to kill.

If you have never done it,

come on over

 and give it a try.

Its harder than you think.

 I am just exhausted.

The bites

really 

hurt.

I'm really cold.

I am very traumatized.

I'm very tired.

No way, am I getting back in that bed.

I flat damn hate scorpions.

Where am I going to lay down at and feel safe and be able to relax?

I am so tired and starting to feel funny.

Not ha ha funny.

Poison funny.

Living in this desert set the stage 

for me to be bitten 

by all kinds of things.

Creepy things.

When I was about 10 years old,

I was  walking along a cement cinderblock fence

 with a friend  

and we came across a wasps nest

 and were both bitten

 ALL OVER

 our bodies.

I had a bunch of stings on me.

It was horrible.

 It HURT.

I didn't get sick or have any lasting scars,

but

I do remember laying on the couch

 and crying

 while mom put some kinda

 baking soda paste

 on the stings.

Fleas,

 ticks,

 bees,

scorpions,

centipedes,

 ants,

 wasps, 

hornets,

 general biting bugs,

wild birds,

 dogs,

 cats,

 monkeys,(yes we really had monkeys)

 horses,

donkeys,

 goats,

 pigs,

 rabbits,

 chickens, 

quail,

lizards,

 and snakes.

I have pretty much been bitten by all these creatures except the centipede, snake, lizard, quail, and believe it or not, a hornet.

Scorpions and ants have stung me more than anything.

None have been too bad.

The scorpion this time, got me good and are hurting pretty good by now.

All I could do was sit in the bathroom where I knew nothing could crawl on me, or fall on me.

I tried to get over the sick feeling I had.

It just urks me out.

  I put some cream on the bites.

I started trying to figure out where to sleep now.

There are 2 other beds,

one in the spare room

and J is in his room in his bed.

Both are very sleep ready, but both have heater/AC vents over them, just like my bed.

I decided I could go sleep on the couch,

 because the legs on the couch are made in such a way,

 that no scorpion could crawl up on the couch.

All I had to do was make sure my blanket didn't touch the floor.

One could crawl up the blanket and on to me.

There is no heater/AC vent over the couch either.

I had my suspicions

 that the scorpion

 may have fallen out of the vent

(from the attic)

 above my bed.

They have done it before.

We moved in this house when I was 6 years old.

We have always had scorpions and centipedes.

I named this house

"Centipedeville"

many years ago,

 after my little

chihuahua, Rocky

 woke me up to tell me

 about the centipede in the bed with us.

I was not bitten,

but I flew out of bed and threw the covers and centipede across the room.

I never did find that damn centipede.

I went and slept in my car that night.

Great Memory Bone     :-)

This time,

I finally did fall back to sleep on the couch.

The next day, J went around the house and took off the heater/AC vents and put a screen over them and then put them back up.

 He is such a good egg!

Thanks J.

Now, if a scorpion falls out of the vent, it will have to be smaller than 1/4 inch big.

I have seen them that small.

When W was only 6 or 7,

  I put him in his little twin bed,

and when I went to sit on the side of the bed

to kiss him good-nite,

a HUGE MAMA

 scorpion

 was on the side of the bed 

and I sat down

on her 

and her 10 or so babies that ride on her tail.

She stung me on the back on my leg and behind my knee.

All the babies just scattered every which way!

I grabbed W out of the bed and ran into the other room with him

and made sure there were no baby scorpions on 

MY BABY!

oh, my , lord.

What a night.

Try to get a kid to go to sleep after that.

Not too easy.

We lived way out in the boonies in an old ranch house.

When the wind blew out of the west,

 the cabinets in the kitchen would blow open.

It was an old, old homestead house,

 built out of orange and fruit crates.

They used what ever they had.

We did,

 over time,

 fix it up

 and it was a cool place to live,

 with no one around for miles.

Lots of scorpions there too.

Going thru this has made me tougher 

and

 has made my hate of scorpions

 even greater.

I will prevail.

I'll get 'em,

and then

they 

will

get 

me 

back.

What a bone!

Morning Moon

Little Jiggsy

ma

Happy Birthday Mom!

Mom turned 84 years old on the 24th of October!
woo hoo

As you can plainly see,

she HATES to have her picture taken.

I had to do it.

Her HD biker shades are a new, favorite accessory.

They are a gift from her neighbor across the street (aka the hall).

Never mind that Mom wears RX glasses, and has a good pair in her drawer.

"Ms. Hollywood."

She has been insistent since Dads big party, that she did not want a party like that. 

"Its just too much"

Mom doesn't want to make a fuss, especially a fuss over her.

Of course, we could not let her 84th birthday go un-noticed.

I spread the word to all the fam that we could all just go by and spend some

 one on one time with her and Dad, and not try to do a "group" thingy.

Its too much stimulation for her if 50 + people try to talk to her.

It worked out great and she had a steady stream of visitors for days.

It wore her out any way, but she loved it.

W & C flew in to be with her, and we all had a blast.

Chico - my love.

Chico has more frequent flyer miles

than anyone in the family.

For real.

T stayed at home and we all missed her very, very much.

We had cake and ice cream at the October Group party in the activity room.

Dad

We spent 3 full days with Mom and Dad.

It was great and Chico remembered where their room was.

He loves to run down the hall.

All the old people want to touch him.

It depends on his mood, if they get to, or not.

Verdell was so happy to see W & C.

We took Mom fresh flowers and ate Red Velvet Cake.

The cake was so good!

 She enjoys the fresh flowers, and dries the ones she can.

She has an empty kleenex box full of her dried potpourri made fresh in the nursing home from previous flower gifts.

She has a "knack" for that.

Housekeeping threw away almost all of her 'dried flowers' once,

thinking they are just dead, dried up flowers.

No, not here.

They are a work in progress.

Mom is still creative.

This is a tile mosaic Mom made in the 60's and it is still behind the stove.

Overall, Moms birthday went very well.

 I know she enjoyed her time with W & C.

W and J and I went to the High School football game on Friday nite.

Mom has been wanting to go because her Great-Grandson is the star Quarterback.

  He is a Senior this year. 

 When it came right down to her going,

 she didn't,

 she is always too tired,

 and it is just so stressful to travel

 and get out of her comfort zone. 

I think just knowing she could go is a good feeling for her. 

 She is the one who decides to go or not.

She decided not to go "this time".

We won the football game and we had a good time.

 W got to see several of his cousins and other members of the "fam".

Its always nice to chew on a few family bones.

One of Tyler's touchdowns!

The Cardinals are undefeated and are District Champions.

1st undefeated season since 1958.

Thats the year I was born!

Holy cow.

The play-offs will start soon.

I know it will be exciting!

W and I worked at the townhouse, hauling off trash to the junk-yard. 

 It was very dusty, and we couldn't get the dust out of the truck.

  We made 2 loads and it helped me alot. 

 The little house is almost ready to rent. 

We found that someone had turned the water on at the meter,

 and you could tell it had run for quite a while under the house. The plumbing is not finished and there are open water lines.

 It is still a mystery bone. It could have caused a lot of damage.

It soaked the wall in the utility room!

W took me out to eat and then we went out to see M and the Big Guy.

We visited for a while and it was really nice.

We played with a real lazer and looked thru the telescope.

We saw Jupiter's moons.

We always have fun! 

Flower growing by the curb in Lovington.

All too soon it was time for W & C to go home.

It was so nice having the new airport open.

It is only about 20 minutes from the house instead of driving an hour and 10 minutes to Midland.

I couldn't leave until I watched them fly away.

Thats them just lifting off the runway.

The holidays are coming, and W &T&C will not be coming home this year.

J and I will probably spend our time with M& D, and I have encouraged

J to go see his Mom and family in Las Cruces.

I always look forward to the next time

 W&T&C

and I

 get to see eachother.

 I hope it will be soon.

I am so blessed to have a son

 that takes his time and money to come all this way to see us.

Thanks babe.

Once again,

 I have all the love,

all the bones

 and alot of great toys.

ma