Still running to catch up

Well I guess it's about time again.  Cathy and I decided to try a new bread recipe and it turned out darn good.

I was impressed with the tight, yet non doughy, texture.  I guess it came from the way it was made and not so much the ingredients.  Anyway - hot bread, fresh out of the oven with butter and Um Um!
I recently found some wild roses growing along the roadside in front of out house and was out taking pictures of them when I got to looking around and found a whole bush of them growing on the hillside, just inside our fence line.

They don't look like much from a distance but close up -

They be kinda purdy - I think.  I picked a bunch and took them in to Cathy.  She put them in a wine glass on the kitchen table.  Cute.  These roses only get about the size of a quarter and have rather short, thin stems.





This pic is for you, Barb.  I to had problems with ants getting into my hummingbird feeders.  So - in the spring, I started spraying the area that fastens onto the porch post with ant killer.  Have to make sure you get all around the base of the 2" x 2" that the feeder is on.  Be sure not to spray any more than just where it fastens onto the porch post.  You create a ant barrier between the post and the 2 x 2.   It works.  The hummers will sit on the 2 x 2 but only about 8 - 10" from the feeder.  No ants but lots of hummers.

Did It Again!!!

It's been 20 days since I last posted on our blog.  But - I been busy.  I know - I know, you've heard that before but it has been rather busy here these past few days.

 Lest we forget - the 10th was Mother's Day so I got Cathy a dozen yellow roses.  I usually get the peach colored roses but this year I thought I'd do something different and therefore special.  Cathy was in a baking mood this past week and heated up the kitchen, much to my delight.  She baked two loaves of bread and two apple pies.  Ummmm!

Nope - I didn't take pics of the bread.  I'll do that the next time.
  I've been helping my buddy Bob clean up around his new home here in Tennessee, mostly weed eating and getting some firewood split, just in case.  The previous owner left some Beech wood blocks in the driveway so I took them over to my neighbor's (Joe) and we split them on his hydraulic splitter.  While Beech is the best firewood in this area, it is very dense and tough as nails.  It's very slow burning, gives off a lot of heat and leaves very little ash.  Needless to say you don't find a lot of it anymore.  Then I started working on Cathy's kitchen cabinets.  They've taken a beating over the past few years.

As I'm sure you can tell, the cabinet door on the left has been refinished.  Trouble is, with the weather lately being on again off again rain/cold, I haven't been able to finish more than one at a time.  Usually I would just pull them all off and sand them in the front yard but not lately.  In fact, just today I finally finished the top drawer and right cabinet door but that was because I got them stained yesterday.  I polyurethaned them in the back room in the house.  This polyurethane is water based  and had very little smell like you would normally get with a petroleum based product.  Easy soap/water clean up too, made by Rust-oleum.
We've had critters on the move again in our area:

This dude was out hunting for a mate and headed for the pond just below our house.  From the looks of it, he just came out of a mud bank up the mountain.  Apparently these female snappers aren't too discerning ladies or this guy would be sporting a cleaner look and maybe some better smelling aftershave.  Speaking of mating - It must have been in the air_-_-_-_-_

 Tom was out strutting his stuff on the hillside just below the house.  At least he dressed for the occasion and probably smells a whole lot better than the other critter did.

If you look very carefully in the lower right hand side of this pic, you'll see the hen he was courting.  Hum - she just don't look all that much to me but then who knows turkeys.
Cathy has started her physical therapy for the shoulder replacement and the exercises leave her pretty sore in the evening.  I remember those days from my knee surgery.  Anyway - the health care group decided she should avail herself of the back therapy they offer - so she did.  Actually it was probably the best thing we've done lately.  It will help strengthen her back muscles and probably help restore her stability on her feet.  I'm hoping we can start walking like we used to a few years back.  We used to walk about 2 miles 3 times a week and if you're familiar with this part of Tennessee, it ain't level country.  We'd start going down hill for about an eighth of a mile, then about one and a half miles of semi-hilly log road, then another eighth mile up hill and the remainder sloping down to the house.  I gotta tell ya - the grand-kids found it to be quite a hike and they're in a lot better shape than we are.

 I gotta get my licks in on the weather - about two weeks ago we started to actually look like we were into spring but oooooooohhhhhh nnnnnnnoooooo - Mother Nature throws us a curve.  It's been raining off and on and the temps have dropped as low as the 40's.  Today it was 54 when I got up at 0600 and by 3pm it was up to 68.  Right now at 8:35pm it's 53.  Good sleeping weather but you just can't make any plans - like maybe going out on the boat on the lake for the day.  Actually I've noticed that our humming bird population is really small so far.  Maybe they know more about the weather than we do.  They're probably way down south waiting for the warm weather to start.  I've only seen about 3 hummers so far.  Guess I've rambled on enough for now. Later - - -

Wow - How time flies.

1st order of business is to replace that winter pic to something more pleasing.  Yup - Spring has actually sprung here on the mountain.  A little late, but it here.  Nights are still a little cool and we've had a couple temps last week that dropped into the high 30's at night/early morn.  Of late we're getting high 40's and low 50's at wake up time, day break.  Been a lot of meals and happenings since our last post.  So - it's update time.  Friends of our, Bob and Kathleen, whom we have known for over 40 years throughout our Navy days, recently purchased a house about 15 miles from where we live.  They were living in Dallas, Texas for a number of years then relocated to North Carolina when Kathleen's job transferred.  They've been visiting us for a few years and really liked the area and decided to settle here when Kathleen retires.  It's only about 6 hours to drive from their current home in NC so they take short vacations here every once-in-awhile.  It'll be great having them here cause they're just like family.
     On April 17, Cathy had shoulder replacement surgery.  This osteoarthritis really sucks.  So far this disease has caused her to have a hip and knee replaced, then lower back surgery and now her right shoulder.  I gotta hand it to her, she's a trooper and keeps marching along.  At times she gets really  frustrated about what she can't do but keeps striving for progress in mobility.  I don't think I'd have the patience that she does but, together, we'll make it through and hopefully, God willing, Cathy will gain some of the earlier capabilities so we can start taking our walks again and enjoying our retirement more.  It just seems like every time we  seem to be getting one problem fixed, another crops up.  Osteoarthritis is like that tho - it's been working on her joints for years and now we're starting to see affects of bone deterioration.  We both found this last surgery to be unusual and interesting.  The surgeon did what he called a "reverse shoulder replacement."  He explained that because of the arthritis and her rotator cuff condition, he put the ball for the joint in the scapula where the socket would normally have been located, and put the socked on the arm.  The parts are the same, just put in the reverse.  Apparently they've been doing this type of replacement surgery in England for a number of years and we finally adopted it cause it works in the worst cases.  We're both really thankful for the procedure because the alternative was not acceptable.  Right now Cathy is doing some shoulder/arm exercises the surgeon showed her to do until the healing process is far enough along, then she'll begin full physical therapy to get back the strength and range of motion.
     I'm still plodding along just a little more girlie-man work to do with Cathy unable to use her right arm.  Still piddling with her honey-do list and right now I'm installing new interior doors that are solid pine, 6 panel doors.  They look soooo much better than the older luan hollow core doors.

  My friend Bob and I are gonna put in the attic stair that I bought so I can have better access to the attic and while I'm up there, I'll be installing can/pot or recessed lights in Cathy's kitchen.  Right now it's like working in a cave over there.  Once that's done - I have to install two exterior outlets on the front and back porch so I don't have to have 200 foot extension cords when I need electric power outside.  Then I'll be working on the back deck, replacing the deck boards and adding stairs to the deck, which do not exist now.  Like I said, still plodding along.   That's about it for now.