Tonight on The Merc...

A Primitive Canada Goose.

Little Wanda.

See you then!

:> )

"There is no substitute...

for hard work."
~Thomas Edison

You said it, Tommy!

Spent another day cutting, tugging, clipping and snipping. Then draggin' it all up the hill and out to the side of the road. Whew!! I wore right through my work gloves!

My sweet hubs built this stone bridge.

This lock was part of the Chenango Canal built in 1836. It was all built by hand and is amazing!!
It's so freakin' cool having this bit of American history on our homestead. ♥

Over time, cedar trees have found their way through the lock walls.
Man, nature is truly awesome!

After a long hard day, I kicked back and enjoyed the fruits of my labor.

It's worth every ache and pain I'll have tomorrow.
:> )

Spring and Love is in the Air...

My hubs and I have been doing some outdoor spring cleaning these past few days. Cutting back brush and clearing out the old lock.

In doing so, we came across these lovebird mallards. They were softly and lovingly quacking to each other. It was so sweet!! Ahhhh... to be young and in love.
(Give 'em time, that'll change.) **giggle**

Meet Stasia and Joe.

Here's Joe showing off his "Michael Phelps" moves. He even had the lil' goggles and skull cap on.
Stasia watched and giggled.

I "nominated" my hubs to clean up the remnants from Stan the Beaver's "Man Cave". He left behind a mess in the lock.
We're still trying to figure out where the heck he got the tire from!
(Beaver NASCAR?)

Remember... Enjoy nature.

:> )

A Clothesline Poem...

A clothesline was a news forecast
To neighbors passing by,
There were no secrets you could keep
When clothes were hung to dry.

It also was a friendly link
For neighbors always knew,
If company had stopped on by
To spend a night or two.



For then you'd see the "fancy sheets"
And towels upon the line;
You'd see the "company table cloths"
With intricate designs.

The line announced a baby's birth
From folks who lived inside -
As brand new infant clothes were hung,
So carefully with pride!



The ages of the children could
So readily be known
By watching how the sizes changed,
You'd know how much they'd grown!

It also told when illness struck,
As extra sheets were hung;
Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too,
Haphazardly were strung.

It also said, "Gone on vacation now"
When lines hung limp and bare.
It told, "We're back!" when full lines sagged,
With not an inch to spare!



But clotheslines now are of the past,
For dryers make work much less.
Now what goes on inside a home
Is anybody's guess!

I really miss that way of life.
It was a friendly sign.
When neighbors knew each other best
By what hung on the line.
~Unknown

:> )

"Among all His creatures in heaven or earth...

God hath not made any like unto the sun in the firmament, the beams whereof are beautiful and pleasant, and do give comfort in all places to all things."
~John Jewel

♥

She's the only one who doesn't mind that nasty blue carpeting in our den.
**giggle**

Enjoy the sunshine!
:> )

It's as simple as boiling an egg...

I never quite understood that because there really is an art to making a good hard boiled egg.

My mama is an excellent cook. But when I was young her hard boiled eggs she made for Easter were horrible. If you ever tell her I typed that, I will vehemently deny it. If she found out, she'd go all honey badger on me. **giggle**

I remember eating the white, rubbery part then handing her the greenish yellow Wham-O Super Ball-like yolk in the center. I did throw it at the wall once, hoping to see it bounce and ricochet around the room. But it never happened.

Then there were the cracked shell ones. These had the color from the Easter egg dye ooze in and cause a tie-dyed effect. But I was never into that look especially when it came to my food. It grossed me out. Actually, it still does.

So with Easter only 13 days away, here are a few tricks to making perfect hard boiled eggs.

1. Don't use fresh eggs. Unless you want to spend forty five minutes trying to peel one, only to end up with a lil', distorted nub of an egg.

2. Eggs should be room temperature. This keeps the shells from cracking. Unless you're looking for that groovy tie-dyed look I mentioned above.

3. Make sure the water in the pot covers the eggs completely.

4. Bring eggs to a rolling boil, then remove from heat and cover with lid.

5. Let stand for 15 minutes.
6. Then rinse with cold water. I let them sit in the cold water until they cool completely.

There you have it! Perfect hard boiled eggs every time.
If you have any other tricks you'd like to share, please do.

:> )

"I had rather be on my farm...

than be emperor of the world."
~George Washington

"Give fools their gold, and knaves their power; let fortune's bubbles rise and fall; who sows a field, or trains a flower, or plants a tree, is more than all."
~John Greenleaf Whittier

"Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you're a thousand miles from the corn field."
~Dwight David Eisenhower

Have you thanked a farmer lately?
Please support your local farmers.
♥

"A sense of humor...

is needed armor. Joy in one's heart and some laughter on one's lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life."
~Hugh Sidey

"When humor goes, there goes civilization."
~Erma Bombeck

"Humor is mankind's greatest blessing."
~Mark Twain

"If you could choose one characteristic that would get you through life, choose a sense of humor."
~Jennifer Jones

"There is hope for the future because God has a sense of humor and we are funny to God."
~Bill Cosby

Smile.
It's good for the soul.
:> )

Someone's feeling better...

As you can tell by her chin, she is loving the plain, unsweetened yogurt she's been getting. With the massive dose of antibiotic she's been on, I'm worried it's going to kill all the good bacteria in her belly too. It should also help with yeast. So she's gets a daily yogurt treat. :> )
She also has some hearing loss which concerns me. The antibiotic ear drop she was on stated one of the side affects is hearing loss (temporary and sometimes permanent) in geriatric dogs. Sigh. I stopped them and contacted our vet. He agreed.

Thank goodness she hasn't shown any neurological signs so I can only guess it all stemmed from the inner ear infection. But we still don't know what has elevated her liver enzymes. Everything I've read about liver disease, she shows no signs of it.
Our next step is to have a sonogram done to see if there is a tumor on her liver.

She's feeling good enough to razz her younger sister by chasing her and stealing her toys. That's definitely a good sign.
♥

Have a terrific weekend everyone!!

What to do... What to do...

I love our den. I love my American flag walls. I love my Americana decor.

But I cringe at the sight of that blue carpeting that's in there! It's old, worn and it has to go. But what to do? What to do???

Since I don't have a money tree, a counterfeit printing press, or a long lost, old, extremely wealthy great uncle with one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel, my options are limited.

I am not a wall to wall carpeting kind of gal. So I thought about continuing the laminate wood flooring like in our kitchen. But the expense of having someone install it is not doable right now especially with this horrible economy.

Sure, my hubs and I could try to install it ourselves. But my measuring skills are something to be desired. I can't figure out 1/8 of an inch or 1/16 of an inch to save my life.

"It's the fourth little line after the longer line after the number 18." That's how I measure with a tape measure. Then there's the whole
power tools + accident prone me = ER visit issue.

I've been looking online and must admit I am impressed with floating vinyl plank flooring that's out there now. Man, vinyl flooring has come a long way!

Our den isn't that large so how hard could it be to lay this stuff down? Then add a nice area rug...
This is something I'm going to look into.



I love the look of this one!



George thinks I should go for it. He's tired of the nasty blue carpeting too.



UPDATE: We did it!!


George is very pleased.



:> )

"Gratitude...

unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend."
~Melody Beattie

( Just a friendly reminder )

:> )

Remember when I mentioned...

I was looking for a Windsor fan back style dining room set for my kitchen??

YaY!! Look what I found!

I found it where else?? But on Craigslist. It's an old, vintage Duckloe set.

It's a 60" round table and has four leaves that open up to 100" long. Heck, I could feed the Duggars on that. Well, that might be pushing it.
;> )
It also has two more side chairs.

Man, my sweet hubs went through a lot of trouble to get this for me. He ended up having to travel to Connecticut this past Saturday to pick it up. (It started out in Long Island, NY) Heck, I'm surprised he didn't want a divorce after this one! **giggle** I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful man who puts up with my craziness and Craigslist deals.

There's the "GROCERY" sign I was working on. Finally got er done. I'm amazed I climbed the ladder and hung it up without breaking a hip.
:> )

Look who's scootin' by my butcher block.
♥

The vet did return my call this afternoon. Darla's thyroid is normal which means something else is causing her elevated liver enzymes. I'll continue this round of antibiotic and have have her blood work checked in a month.

All I can do is pray she heals and thank the good Lord above for every day I have with her.
♥

Darla Update...

Saturday was a good day. She showed very little neurological signs. She even paraded her blankie around the living room. Something she loves to do, but hadn't done in awhile. Heck, I immediately welled up when I saw that and thanked the Lord above. ♥

I'm beginning to think the ear infection is the culprit of her bizarre seizure-like behavior she's had. I know how loopy it can make a human. Hopefully this new antibiotic she's on is finally kicking in. I keep praying. I wonder if that tick bite was too much for her immune system and sent everything into a frenzy? Who knows?

I do have concerns about her thyroid though. She is still very foggy and loses interest. She's sleeping a lot. But an infection can do that too.
Another sign of hypothyroidism in a dog is they lose fur on their tail. Darla's sweet lil' nubby tail is lookin' a little neked lately. :> ) I too have a bad thyroid, but never lost any fur off of mine. **giggle**

The vet should have her tests results back today and I'll have more answers.

She spent most of her day yesterday on the couch, basking in the glorious sunshine we had.

I didn't blame her one bit.

I want to thank all of you for your prayers, comments and personal emails you send regarding my precious Darla.
♥ You have no idea how much they mean to me!! ♥

Lastly,I am finally able to let you in a little secret I've been keeping. But since I need to take some photos, it will have to wait a little longer. **giggle** Sorry!

I'll keep you posted.

Happy Monday all!
Have a terrific week and remember to enjoy nature.
:> )

Prayers for My Darla...

Some of you know my best friend of almost 12 years has not been well for the past month. She started with a seizure-like episode lasting 20 seconds. I noticed an engorged tick on her. Extremely bizarre since it's winter here in Central NY. (My guess is it came in on some fire wood) Hubs removed the infected tick and I brought her in to see the vet.
He did blood work and a Lyme test. Lyme test was negative but her liver enzyme was slightly higher than normal. He put her on an antibiotic for the tick bite and wanted blood work done again in 3 weeks to re-check everything. (She's had four of those seizure-like episodes)

I brought her in the other day for blood work. I also asked him to check her ears because she was scratching at her left one. My mild mannered Darla snapped at him when he tried to clean it. Yikes! I was shocked! He said it looked inflamed, gave her an injection and sent us home with another antibiotic.

Yesterday, she started acting really disoriented. Unsteady, lethargic and showing odd neurological signs. I called the vet. Her liver enzymes were elevated again and higher than the last time. She is eating and drinking as normal but doesn't want me to leave her side.
He is unsure of what's wrong but wants to wait to see how her thyroid panels come back. But that won't be until Monday. Sigh. So we wait...

I am beside myself with worry. For those of you who pray, I ask that you please keep Darla in your prayers. For those of you who send positive thoughts, please send them Darla's way too. She needs them all. ♥

She is the most happy, loving, loyal four legged best friend I've ever had in all my years of living.

I know I can't have her forever. But oh how I wish I could.
♥

This Is Going To Be Hard To Believe...

But I am really trying to declutter, simplify and get back to basics. Yeah I know crazy, right? Especially after my last post about not being able to get rid of anything. ((giggle))
But trust me, it's true.

Rumor has it, I've been known to hang pretty much anything on the walls. That includes my husband if he's standing around long enough.
But since I redid my kitchen, I decided it was time to take things down and simplify.

Here's the proof.
Every time I took something off the walls, I tossed the nail in this old rusty scoop.

Wholly schnikes! That's a lot of nails. For every nail removed, a nail hole was left behind.
I wonder if I connect all holes they would form the "Great Bear?" (hee-hee)

Even after taking a ton of stuff down, my hubs couldn't contain himself and laughed hysterically when I told him I thought I had a lot less on walls now.
Men! What do they know anyway? They don't understand a woman needs to hang her antique pitchfork on the wall.
:> )

After all this talk about decluttering, I'm in the process of working on a new sign for my kitchen. *snicker*

Remember my post about shutters a week or so ago? Well I fell in love with the "GROCERY" sign in this kitchen.

So I contacted Amie at Scrappin' Along and she whipped up a stencil for me.

Although now that I see it in this photo, I may have to narrow the pine board a bit. Bring on the power tools!! Woo-hoo!!

Shhh.... But don't tell my hubs. You know how accident prone I am and he tends to worry about me.

I'll keep you posted.
(As long as I still have all my fingers to type.)
;> )