Great morning for hearty breakfast

Well - that white stuff is back again.  Seems to be here one day and gone the next but it just keeps on coming back.

 This was taken off our back porch facing northeast into Kentucky.  Usually you can see three different mountain ranges and into Ky on a clear day.  That white stuff is really coming down.  So - I made breakfast for Cathy and I.

Course we also had juice and coffee to wash it down and lots of Maple syrup to top it off.  It's a meal that'll stick to your ribs on a day like this.  The wind is blowing near constantly and gusting up to 25 mph that  puts the wind chill below zero again.  This summer I'm goin hunting up in Pennsylvania and gonna shoot that fat ole groundhog that keeps predicting 6 more weeks of winter.  Then I'm gonna eat him just to be sure he don't come back. 
    Cathy is experiencing residual back pain from the procedure the did on Monday.  She has four punctures on her back where they passed the needles into her backbone to fix the fractures.  I had never heard of kyphoplasty until her neurosurgeon described it to her.  It's amazing what they can do these days to alleviate pain. I can't even begin to imagine what people 15 - 20 years ago did to tolerate this kind of pain.  I guess they were heartier stock than usn's.  Anywho - she be gettin' better each day.  Later - - ya'll.

Honey-Do List check off

Well now - just finished another of Cathy's items on her Honey-Do list.  For awhile now she has wanted a plug-in mounted on her kitchen island so she won't have to move her KitchenAid Professional HD mixer to the other counter.  I have to admit it's a heavy beast and I'm always having to lift it for her when she wants to make something - so - I'll benefit from this project also......
 Had to start by pulling a 50 foot 12/2 wire to the electrical panel and up through the kitchen floor to get to the island.

 I'm sure there's some guy out there laughing and saying I bet he didn't pull another "pull wire" for future use.  But - I did.  I've forgotten that little issue in the past and wound up cutting a big hole in the wall to get another wire run from beneath the house into the electrical box.  I really hated to drill a hole in our hardwood floor but ain't no other way.  So - after some shifting around I got the wire up into the island and pulled it through the switch box.

Just to be safe - we decided to use the standard GFI plug-in.  We also have some of those safety plugs that you plug into the outlet after use to keep the grandkiddies from sticking things into them.  And VIOLA:::::

Cathy has her dedicated kitchen island outlet.  We were gonna put two of them in with an addit outlet on the other side but decided against it at the last minute.  Oh Well - now for the other 100 things still on the Honey-Do list.   

Amazing Weather

From frigid below zero on Monday

 

to over 60 degrees today - what a variance in temperatures.  But like they say in Chicago - "if ya don't like the weather - wait a couple of minutes."  Anywho - it was so nice a day that I decided to go hunting arrowheads down the mountain on the logging road.  Spent about 2 hours walking around scouring the washouts but didn't find anything to bring home.  However, I did find some neat rocks

 There's some interesting topography out in these mountains.  If you could shift the lime rock outcropping on the right  - back to the left, it would fit perfectly into the lime rock on the left.  Don't know how long ago these rocks separated and shifted apart but it's been 100's to 1,000's of years.  That's my walking stick leaning against the little sapling near the center of the picture.

This is a picture looking back toward where I was standing when I took the first picture.  Just over the edge of this ridge, straight ahead, is a waterfall about 7 - 10 feet wide, located about 30 feet down the the side of the mountain, and falls about 15-20 feet into a stream.  This stream feeds into Wolf River which is a main tributary into Dale Hollow Lake.  The Obey (pronounced obie not obay) River is the other main feed for Dale Hollow.
Those of you who follow this blog know that my wife, Cathy, has had some pretty severe issues with her back and legs over the past few years.  Back in December 2014, about 8 weeks after her back surgery, Cathy fell and hurt her back and hips.  Went through all the check up processes and it seemed to be the consensus that she had some deep tissue bruising and muscle strain in her back, which was where the surgery was performed.  Anyway - everyone said it was just gonna take time and patience but it would heal.  Cathy had been taking muscle relaxing and pain meds to help he cope.  She hates taking pain meds and only took them at night.  So - here we are in February and the pain seems to be getting worse instead of better.  Back to the Neurosurgeon for a second opinion.  This time he takes an MRI and low and behold they find two compression fractures in her upper back, just above the surgery site and a fractured tail bone.  Now ain't that something.  Sure wish we'd have found this earlier and avoided some of the pain.  So - now we go back on Monday (9 Feb) for a kyphoplasty procedure where they'll inject some sort of bone cement into the upper back fractures to permanently stabilize them.  Doc says that should relieve the back pain caused by the fractures but the tail bone fracture will just have to heal over time.  They can't do this procedure on it. This is a same day procedure so there won't be any hospital stay.  Any relief from the pain she has been experiencing will be a God send.  We've been back and forth to Cookeville hospital and the Neurosurgeon so many times lately that we're getting on first name basis with all the staffs.  That may not be a bad thing.  In the mean time - we'll keep on truck'n and smill'n - like everything was just peachy keen......

Extremely windy winter weather

Got up earlier than usual this AM to head to town for a stress test that my Doc had ordered for me.  Had to be in by 0715 and it's about a 30 min drive.  Couldn't have anything to ear or drink and that's the part that damned near killed cause I just can't get my day started right without my COFFEE!!   But - I made a large travel cup full and put it in a thermos for afterwards.  Anyway - I headed out the door and boy was it cold.  There was very little snow on the ground but we had had some flurries overnight. 

Thank God - nothing like the New England area is getting.  As I headed up over the mountain I noticed the road was fairly slick but passable.  Then I heard on the radio that our local temp was 20 degrees but with a wind chill of -15 to -20 degrees.  YUP - I said minus 15 to minus 20 degrees.  I noticed that the wind was really kicking up and gusting fairly hard but I had no idea it was that cold.  As I hit the main road I saw that the county had salted the roads and the iced surface was just wet but still slick.  Got behind a truck and my windshield got all messed up from the road grime so - not thinking (((SINCE I HADN'T HAD MY COFFEE))))  I switched on the windshield wipers and WOW - what a mess.  Instant iced over windshield with zero (( 0 )) visibility.  No problem - I just hit the windshield washer, which is supposed to have de-icer in it but ooooohhhhhh nnnnoooooo.  Not today it didn't.  Or at least there wasn't enough de-icer to keep it from freezing over the already frozen over windshield.  Now I have zero zero visibility, with some emergency navigation skill out the driver side window - at least enough to get over to the side of the road.  I really don't like to drive these mountain roads, especially since I was on the downhill run, without being able to see the road.  So - I pulled over - turned on the defrost vent for the dash and cranked it up full blast.  Whew!  Problem solved.  Now I could use the windshield washer and wipers to clear the windshield and head on down the road.  What an experience and me headed for a STRESS TEST.  Got it covered.  Anyway - I got through it alright.  Doc says I achieved over 97% for my heart rate and my age and that for an old fart - my heart was exceptionally strong.  But then - he wasn't with me when I was coming down the mountain this morning either!!!  Heh Heh Heh!!!   Stay warm ya'll and for my Florida friends ( that's you Barb) stay cool.   Later......

Memory Lane

"I woke up this mornin' with the sundown shinin' in
I found my mind in a brown paper bag, but then....
I tripped on a cloud and fell-a eight miles high
I tore my mind on a jagged sky
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in"

If ya wanna hear the song and watch the video click on I just dropped in - in the lyrics above.

And now - I'll have my coffee and relax a bit

 For some reason that song has been stuck in my head for the past few days.  Kinda like my present condition.  Since Saturday, I've been in the very low doldrums or sickly  -   to landlubbers.  I had chest constrictions like I was congested, shortness of breath, blah feeling, no appetite, sinus congestion, sore throat - just generally feeling like crap.  Went to the doc and he kinda freaked out - started asking me questions about traveling pain to my arms, back, jaw etc.  I know he was piqued that I hadn't come in sooner and he was checking me for heart attack.  Well, after xrays and EKG and further testing, he determined I have something going on.  WHEW- glad I wasn't just imagining all this.  Anyway some kind of infection, bronchial etc.  Antibiotics cures all and that's where I'm at now

     So - back to the song.  I first heard that (Just Dropped In) in 1967 when I was waiting for a bus at the Greyhound bus station in Washington, D.C. for a trip up to Rhode Island to visit my Honey and now wife - Cathy.

                                       Cathy & I in 1969 at my home in Kinmundy, Illinois

 I remember saying to myself Boy is that guy on drugs or what?  When I finally did listen to the lyrics Sung by Kenny Rogers and First Edition - I was still thinking they were on drugs or had been.  Funny how a song can take you back to a time in your life and trip the memory button.  Just thot I'd share that this bright, sunny morning.  TaTa

Aaaaaaahhhhhhh - Finally - a Warming Trend

Woke up this morning to this wonderful stuff.  It was actually warmer this morning (22 deg) than it has been for the past few days.  As you can see, the sun is shining so it won't last til noon and will all melt away. 

Makes for some pretty pictures.  Really good contrast between the whites and blacks.

We only got about a half inch of snow.  Other areas got as much as 2 inches.  Yesterday the temp got up to the high 30's and it rained almost all day.  Then last night it got really serious and started sleeting then turned to snow.  Fortunately we didn't experience a repeat of a couple of years ago when the ice accumulated on limbs and high lines and broke trees and power poles.  It's just a nice winter day here in the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee.

Catch'n Up

The weather has really warmed up lately.  In fact I was putting polyurethane on the doors for Cathy already.  Didn't think I'd be doing that until spring.  It's great to get out of the house and walk the mountain without having to keep looking up at the sky for rain clouds.  I can deal with the rain and I can tolerate the cold but I just can't deal with wet and cold at the same time.  Anyway - this evening Cathy came up with the idea of making some gingersnap cookies.   Umm Ummm.  I just love them.

So we baked up 4 dozen of them delectables, as you can see from the picture - I already ate 4 of em.  They were still warm and by morning they'll be gingerSNAPS instead of just cookies. 
It has really been quiet around here lately.  I spent lots of time on the computer doing research into the old family tree on the internet.  More and more records are being digitized everyday and are available on the internet.  Just as I finished making an entry on the family tree - the computer shut down.  According to the computer guy, the fratzit went kaputz and fried the smizzelnicker which cost me $170.  I think he had to send to Germany to get the parts or maybe I just didn't understand the terminology.  Anyway - it's back up, for now.  Later Ya'll!!