Happy Birthday, Hubby!!

Here stands a good man.  I've known him forty-one years or longer, been married to him thirty-nine of those years.  I have only seriously thought about killing him maybe twice in all those years...not bad, I think.

Hubby and his get

He is a loving, teaching grandfather

and a loving understanding father.

Today we celebrate his birth.

Happy Birthday, Dad, Papa, and Honey!

Confirmation...Hubby Has A Heart!

Driving himself to the doctor this afternoon, hubby was transported by ambulance AGAIN to the hospital!  This time, they discovered he had a heart and installed some new plumbing.  He's fine, the surgery only took fifty-nine minutes beginning to end.  With his new pipe and a temporary pacemaker, he is already picking on the nurses.  He will be on double clot cleaner overnight and we will see what happens tomorrow.  Hubby wants to come home.  If wishes were horses, we would all ride!

Hey Day...

at work and hay day at home.  Christmas has reached the postal service!  I think every one in town and the surrounding counties had items to mail yesterday and that is good...job security.

I love email but there is something special about getting real mail, not bills, not flyers, but a real, honest-to-goodness handwritten note from someone.  Knowing that someone took the time to send it, makes all the difference in the world. 

Letter writing is a lost art in a time when the world is at our fingertips.  Remember the joy of mail and drop someone a note just to let them know you're thinking of them.

That was not a paid advertisement for the postal service!  I just remember the joy when that was the main way to communicate. 

On the unemployment front, my brother-in-law asked me today how it felt be married to a bum.  I said, no difference, he stills sleeps in the same recliner.

I have to brag on Hubby.  He has worked on duct work, pieces that needed repair and on a few other things under the house...too cold to be fencing.  I am presently sitting close to a vent that wasn't quite warming me yesterday, today my body is warm!  Thank you, my poor unemployed bum of a husband.  I haven't had to give him a honey-do list yet! 

I can't wait to see what he does next!!

A Farmer's Life

Some time, no matter how hard you try, work lasts until after dark.  You keep working and what you get done tonight will give you a head start on tomorrow.

The conditions are dry.  The cattle's pasture is thinning so we are  preparing to move them to greener pastures.  A job that began Saturday has continued into this night.  Tomorrow, if the Lord's willing and the creeks don't rise, we will be opening the gates to cattle paradise, lush, tender, delectable grazing.

Will Rogers said, Behind every successful farmer there is a wife who works in town.  We both work so we do our farm improvements when we find the opportunity.  Tonight we tried to finish but it was not meant to be.

Even with the tractor and mule lights,

we knew we would not finish this night.

You have to love farming.  It is not a easy task  Work is done, no matter the weather and animals need care every day, not just when you feel like it. The love of farming has to course through your veins or you will not succeed.

I tried to help as much as I could taking pictures but that wasn't enough.  I was the gofer...you know, go for this, go for that, hammer a few steeples, hold a wire.   I do that well although I did not find the wire cutters in the dark, that will have to wait for daylight.

So tomorrow we will continue after our paying jobs are done for the day.  Our love of farming, our sense of accomplishment, our love of the animals will over come the tiredness and we will finish.

Our Day Of Rest...

This was our morning sky.

Leaning on an auger makes it work better.

Recycling ice storm/tornado trees, strong and free.

These red heart cedars will stand for years.

Jake was not happy working in the sun.

Every one worked.

Some worked equipment,

some worked hand tools,

some worked their mouth

and the camera (that's me).

We took a few breaks,

although it wasn't hellishly hot,

we had no trouble sweating.

 Sunday is the Lord's Day,

but we had work to do

and this is our only day to get 'er done.

We did one round of wire.

The rest will wait.

The equipment is all inside the fence

so I know it will be finished soon.

The only way out is through the gap

we haven't opened yet.

Oh, happy cows! 

Their day of new green grass is coming.

Wordless Work

Ben Gay Is Hubby's Bane

I shall stop telling all these tales one of these days...maybe.

I know my husband loves me. 

He shows this by oiling the toilet ring, saran wrapping the commode under the ring, placing duct tape (sticky side up) in my underwear, sneaking into the bathroom and tying knots in my pants legs. Hubby uses the string poppers from July fireworks and ties them in the most wonderful places;  the commode ring he has left up, the kitchen cabinet doors, the phone!  When these are tied then pulled on there is an explosion, small but very affective and very humourous to the monster I married in 1972.

I have discovered a few ways to pay him back.  To quote him, "Paybacks are hell!"

Hubby can not stand the smell of Ben Gay.  I am lavish in my use of it, it helps my sore spots and adds joy to my life because hubby enjoys the smell.

One day, of many, he had been especially sneaky and conniving and ornery.  I decided it was time to put him in his place.  I slathered a dry wash rag with Ben Gay and placed it in his pillow case.

When he came to bed, he sniffed me, that wasn't where the smell was coming from...I was asleep, right!  He flops his pillow over and the smell doubles, he is looking for the origin of the smell.  I am quietly enjoying his suffering but was having a hard time not laughing.  Hubby was flopping around so much he could not feel me shaking with silent laughter in the bed beside him.

When he starts talking out loud about me, I act like he has awakened me and ever so innocently ask, what's wrong honey.  By this time the light is on, he is pulling back the covers and looking under the bed!  Still flopping that pillow as if what was not there before would be, the next time he looked.

I am weak, I felt sorry for him, I confessed!  I pulled the Ben Gay rag from the pillow case.

Once again I had proved you can't out trick a trickster...and I loved every minute of it.

Oh, honey, by the way, paybacks are hell.

The Fire King and Queen Hit Again

How do they get this all done while I am hiding at work?? Bev worked all day outside and as soon as Den got in he jumped on the Kubota and went to work too. Notice the disc on the back of the tractor. One garden spot is done and ready for potatoes. The other main garden is still a little too wet.

Beverly was having a small controlled burn

Just a few branches from the yard, not even the tip of the iceberg

Kubota King pushing the logs on

Today is Marcy's birthday. Andrew is hiding. Marcy is the one who takes the great pictures, packs my lunch, cares for my youngest grandson, grows the garden, cans the food...Marcy is the matriarch of the farm.

SkyWatch and Febreze

My hubby is an amazing yet trying man, if I haven't mentioned that. He does all the farm work he can from the seat of his tractor but rarely, rarely does he do house work.

So this question had me wondering...do we have any of that febreze stuff? I said what stinks. He said where is it. After giving him the location of one bottle he quickly locates the other bottle. Now this has my curiosity peaked. What is this man thinking?

I stepped into his tv room and he was spraying the dog, Maggie!!!! He said she stinks. I said brush her and the smell will go away. He continues to spray her and asked me if I had sprayed her. No, I did not think of it. Well, she acts like you sprayed her.

I leave them to their smell party. Then Den comes in and says, while standing in front of the vacuum, where is the vacuum cleaner. I said I don't know and he locates one, not the one in front of him, but the one in another room.

Then you're not going to believe this...he vacuums the whole tv room and may have vacuumed Maggie too, I did not stay to watch.

I am in shock!

Wonderful, sweet, hubby is cleaning the tv room!!! He even spot cleaned the couch!!!

I step into a hair free, clean smelling room, with Maggie out of site.

I think this guy is a keeper!