Well now - ain't this the pits!!

Must be another one of those "Storms of the century" like everyone was talking about a couple of years ago. You can see the main blog photo and compare it with this one:

The main pic was taken on the 20th, just after our first snowfall of this winter.  Then yesterday it started snowing in the morning and is continuing even now.  There's about 13" on the ground now.

I took this photo yesterday evening and it has been snowing all night.

The pines in the top photo show the snowfall as of yesterday morning and the bottom pic was taken this morning.  I'm a little worried about the shed roof.  Even though I reinforced the original hand made trusses - i'm not sure they'll handle this  much weight.  Guess we'll see.  Can't even move the truck because it just pushes the snow into a pile in front and bogs down.  We'll be here for a couple of days till this stuff starts to melt - should be starting on Monday when the temps go up. 

It's always something!!!

Woke up the other morning and this critter was looking at me from my front yard.  The morning before that it was a herd of cows.  Oh, well!  At least I don't have to shoot anything - yet.  This little pony belongs to my neighbors grandson.  They can't seem to keep him fenced in.  He won't do any damage but I do worry about him being on the road and getting hit.  We had had a real heavy frost and he was sauntering around looking for more of that green stuff.

Woke up this morning to this.  Don't know where that white stuff came from.  It's been in the high 50's and low 60's for the past week.  Now all of a sudden Old Man Winter pokes his head out of the hole and it's below zero and high in the mid 30's.  Like I said, it's always something.  We were supposed to go to Cookeville, which is an hour drive, so I could get some dental work done.  I walked out to the end of the driveway and there were no tracks on the main road and that was around 8AM.  That means that the roads are unsafe and everyone is staying in.  We have a treacherous switchback below the house and once you start down that hill you can't stop on a road like this but you can slide off the side of the mountain.  Nyet.  Not today.  We'll hunker down and wait for the snow to melt but it looks like it'll be a couple of days.  They're predicting .1 inch of ice tonight and that just might take down our power lines.  Regardless - we'll just wait it out.

WOW - AIN'T HEERED FROM YA IN A COON'S AGE

That's probably what this blog has been saying about me.  Well - I'm gett'n my crap together and intend to make an entry.  It'll probably be rather lengthy to start with just to get me caught up from August 2015.  Don't worry - I'll try to keep it interesting.  Back at ya in a bit-----

It's only fitting to start with the most beautiful and meaningful photo I've taken recently.  This was taken off our back porch looking East into Kentucky just after an August shower.  So - to kinda catch things up since Kristy's visit early July, we had a visit from our other and oldest child, Lisa and our grandson Channing, from West Virginia.

  That saddle isn't usually there, I just got it out for Channing to play on as he's gonna be a cowboy someday.  We spent a lot of time out on the boat and, in general, just lounged around.

Our summer quieted down after Lisa and Channing left and we turned to all the things we usually do during our summers - canning, out on the lake, lounging around, out on the lake, entertaining our friends, out on the lake.  You get the picture.  Anyway - Cathy had had her right shoulder replaced in April 2015 and has recovered quite well.  Now her left hip is bothering her.  Went to her orthopedic surgeon for a look see and he said he was surprised it took her this long to start feeling the pain.  He reminded her that in 2012 he had told her that both her hips were in bad shape because of arthritis and osteoporosis and he replaced the worst one, the right hip.  So now we're trying to see how long it will be before this one has to be replaced.  Cathy has been dealing with the discomfort of this degenerative disease since the 1990's but it really started becoming painful and disabling in 2004.  She had to finally quit working in 2010 because even use of her hands and lower back were causing pain.  She had applied for a disability in Sep 2010 and was immediately turned down.  We appealed the denial but got shot down again - so we got a lawyer.  He has been working with this case for several years and Cathy finally got a hearing with the Administrative Judge that decides the cases for Social Security.  When she and her lawyer left the hearing, they were both disappointed that the judge was going to get an outside opinion before he made his final decision.  Well, low and behold, I checked the mail this morning (Sunday - cause I didn't check on Saturday) and we have a letter from the Judge finding in Cathy's favor.  Talk about a surprise.  Cathy and I had both given up on ever hearing anything further on her case.  You see - miracles do happen - even when judges are involved.

In October Cathy and I headed to Florida to attend the 1st birthday party for Kai, our other grandson.  This is Stephen and Lisa's son.

 That's Lisa with Kai in their Kitchen.  He's getting a bite to eat and I think she's feeding him some of Grandma's canned green beans.  

He's a chip off the old block.  Cathy had always teased Stephen about giving her some little slanty-eyed grand children and now she has one.  He's a cutie and everyone just loves him, including his Grandma and Grandpa Elston.

That' Stephen in the backward hat helping Kai open his birthday presents.  You'd think an Elston kid would not need help opening gifts but Kai is more interested in the colorful paper and boxes


So - onto the blog saga.  We went to my sister Diane's for Thanksgiving.  She lives in Illinois with her son Robert.  It's about a 7 hour drive from here.

We had a relaxing and very enjoyable Thanksgiving. 

That's Robert in the middle.  He definitely is not a little guy but he is one of the most mature, mild mannered young men that it's been my privilege to know.  Diane - ya done good!!  She and Cathy have always been close, ever since Cathy and I went home for a visit in 1967 before we got married.

Ain't they cute!!?!!
Unfortunately the holidays did not pass without a dark cloud.  Cathy and I had hardly been home from Illinois a week when we got a call from Diane telling us that our sister, PJ had died.  PJ had been having some long standing medial issues.  Anyway - Cathy and I headed back to Illinois to help with arrangements.  Needless to say it dampened our spirits considerably.  But life goes on, yes...

We decorated like we always do but with fewer presents.  This year we spent our Christmas at home alone.  We enjoyed each other and the peace and quiet here on the mountain.  The unseasonably warm weather kinda put the Christmas mood at bay.  We're used to seeing some pretty cold weather, if not snow around this time of year but not yet.  It's had been in the 60's for crying out loud.  But warm weather or no, Christmas came and went and now it's freezing out there.  Today it was 8 degrees when I got up and it only got up to 31 during the day.  Like they say - ya gotta be careful what you wish for - ya may just get it...

About four months ago our friends from North Carolina were in Tennessee.  Bob wanted me to make him a leather wallet and he ordered the kit from Tandy Leather while he was here.  I've been tooling leather since 1965 but it's something I keep as a hobby rather than try to make money at it, then it would be more like work.  I only work with the leather when I'm in the mood otherwise you can very quickly ruin an expensive piece of leather.  Since Bob had been both a Senior Chief (E-8) and a Warrant Officer while he was in the Navy, I decided to put the Senior Chief anchor and WO shield on his wallet by way of personalizing it for him.

This is what I came up with.  The leather was originally a very light tan color which is tanned especially for tooling.  After I finished tooling the design into the leather - I used an antiquing dye to darken the leather and help the design standout.  I still have to finish out the inside pockets and lace it up before it's done - but you get the idea.  I also finished another leather project that I'd been wanting to do for a long long time.  It's a miniature saddle that you buy as a kit in pieces and put it together almost like a real saddle.

I left this saddle in it's natural tan color and detailed it after my own personal saddle.  Now I've got to make a saddle tree for it to sit on and I'll put it in the living room to become another dust collector that Cathy loves soooo much.  Ain't I thoughtful    :  )

Well that's about enough for now.  I've kept you long enough and it's getting close to my bed time.  Til next time - hopefully not 6 months either. 

Man-O-Man It's almost August

So much has happened since my last post in May. Cathy started her in-home physical therapy and has shown remarkable progress.  Her therapist, Craig, seems to be amazed that we are so dedicated to getting her back to normal by doing the exercises religiously, even when he isn't here.  Of course there's pain but there always is when you're reconditioning repaired tissue.  At any rate, she's up and around so much better than before surgery and is really trucking on.  I wouldn't be surprised if she starts washing her own hair in a week or so.

As usual, with this season of the year, canning is high on the list.  However, firstly I went out and picked a few gallon of blackberries for the freezer and took a gallon to Cathy's orthopedic doctor's receptionists.  They seemed quite pleased to get them and, being country girls, they knew what to do with them as well.  Next we put away a bushel of North Carolina peaches and expect to get some more for canning.  We eat of lot of peaches in the winter, especially with our granola yogurt breakfasts.  Then we got about a quarter bushel of rattlesnake beans from our neighbors, Joe and Jan, and canned them. Joe also brought down about a half bushel of corn and a Cushaw squash. that big thing  I'm holding.  It weighed 16 and a half pounds.  Basically they treat them like a water melon or garden squash.  You can eat it raw, including the seeds, bake or fry it, make it into bread or you can use it just like a pumpkin and make a pie.  Ain't never had one but we're gonna try it.

You probably noticed another bushel and half or sweet corn in the swing as well.  It has all been canned.   Now were working on canning the tomatoes for salsa, sauce and whole tomatoes.  Of course Joe brought lots of cucumbers, which were immediately turned into pickles, miraculously overnight.  We've gotten a half bushel of green beans to can, along with more tomatoes and beets.  It's interesting that beets are kinda hard to find around here.  Guess no one really likes them but we sure do, whether they're just cooked or pickled.  Thus far we've canned about 30-40 quarts of produce, which will save a lot of money in the winter.  This way we wont have to go to Walmart and get $50 worth of vegetables for $80.  We'll have our own and we'll know who raised them and where and what they have in them.....
Kristy and the grand kids made their annual trek up from Florida and spent almost 2 weeks before heading back.  Hunter, Kristy's youngest and only boy, was really demonstrating what the terrible two's is like.  Kristy says she can't take her eye off him for a second and, NOW, I understand what she means.  He's always exploring and I guess that's what boys do until it gets them into trouble.  I took him for a walk up the mountain road and that walk, combined with his morning activities, resulted in an early nap.

He sleeps like I do - impervious to all around him.  Of course, you can't come to visit grandpa without going arrowhead hunting and this time was no exception.  I took Kristy and Lilly down to the old logging road after a heavy rain.  This was the logging road that the bulldozer left a few weeks back that we were hunting on.

Much to Kristy's chagrin, Lilly found her first arrowhead and it was really nice.  Kristy has hunted every time she comes up but has yet to find a whole one.  Not to be outdone -

I found a point that I was able to classify as Agate Basin from 10,500-8,000 years ago.  I wasn't able to fully identify Lilly's point because there are so many in this area that look similar, however, her material was a red or deep rust color which I have not seen from this area.  And what would a visit to Gpa's be without a few trips out on Dale Hollow Lake.

At this point we're just leaving the marina transiting though the no-wake zone but Hunter is all about the buttons and switches.

Even after we reached our swimming hole, he was still trying to get it started.  Gotta admit, he persistent.  Our friend Bob and his grandson joined us in Bob's pontoon and tied up alongside for an afternoon of cool adventure.

Things have kinda settled down for now but in a couple of weeks, actually next week the 30th, our oldest daughter, Lisa and her son, Channing will be visiting for 10 days.  We haven't seen them since 2009 - so Channing will have grown a lot since then.
Cathy wanted some roses for the front of the house so we picked up some Knock-out roses when we were in Lowes a few weeks ago.

Surprisingly, they're thriving and they really look good right next to the Azalea's.  Wonder which will overtake the other first - my money is on the Azalea's.  Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.  Maybe when things return to a normal pace, I'll finally be able to blog regularly.

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.