19 December 09

On call again. The Lord Jesus has taken care of us.

Anna got a dizzy spell last night at work but is sleeping now.

Josh has been busy working. Part of the time he worked for a member of our church family doing farm work.

Ezra has been on call, too, because it is too cold to brush hog (there is a cab, but it is open).

Elon bought a new camera, a Canon Xsi, and has been taking many pictures with it.

LaSara crocheting. First she did a hat, now she is working on a scarf.

Vicky has been busy too. Her hip has been bothering her lately, but today it is better.

I found this on line:

Why Christmas?

There was once a man who didn't believe in God, and he didn't hesitate to let others know how he felt about religion and religious holidays, like Christmas.

His wife, however, did believe, and she raised their children to also have faith in God and Jesus, despite his disparaging comments.

One snowy Christmas Eve, his wife was taking their children to a Christmas Eve service in the farm community in which they lived. She asked him to come, but he refused.

"That story is nonsense!" he said. "Why would God lower Himself to come to Earth as a man? That's ridiculous!" So she and the children left, and he stayed home.

A while later, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blizzard. As the man looked out the window, all he saw was a blinding snowstorm. He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening.

Then he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the window. Then another thump. He looked out, but couldn't see more than a few feet. When the snow let up a little, he ventured outside to see what could have been beating on his window.

In the field near his house he saw a flock of wild geese. Apparently they had been flying south for the winter when they got caught in the snowstorm and couldn't go on. They were lost and stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter. They just flapped their wings and flew around the field in low circles, blindly and aimlessly. A couple of them had flown into his window, it seemed. The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them. The barn would be a great place for them to stay, he thought.

It's warm and safe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm. So he walked over to the barn and opened the doors wide, then watched and waited, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside.

But the geese just fluttered around aimlessly and didn't seem to notice the barn or realize what it could mean for them. The man tried to get their attention, but that just seemed to scare them and they moved further away. He went into the house and came with some bread, broke it up, and made a breadcrumb trail leading to the barn. They still didn't catch on.

Now he was getting frustrated. He got behind them and tried to shoo them toward the barn, but they only got more scared and scattered in every direction except toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where they would be warm and safe. "Why don't they follow me?!" he exclaimed. "Can't they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm?"

He thought for a moment and realized that they just wouldn't follow a human. "If only I were a goose, then I could save them," he said out loud. Then he had an idea. He went into barn, got one of his own geese, and carried it in his arms as he circled around behind the flock of wild geese. He then released it. His goose flew through the flock and straight into the barn--and one by one the other geese followed it to safety. He stood silently for a moment as the words he had spoken a few minutes earlier replayed in his mind: "If only I were a goose, then I could save them!"

Then he thought about what he had said to his wife earlier. "Why would God want to be like us? That's ridiculous!"

Suddenly it all made sense. That is what God had done. We were like the geese--blind, lost, perishing. God had His Son become like us so He could show us the way and save us. That was the meaning of Christmas, he realized.

As the winds and blinding snow died down, his soul became quiet and pondered this wonderful thought.

Suddenly he understood what Christmas was all about, why Christ had come. Years of doubt and disbelief vanished like the passing storm. He fell to his knees in the snow, and prayed his first prayer: "Thank You, God, for coming in human form to get me out of the storm!"

--Author unknown

18 November 09

A lot of happened since my last post.

First, on this day in the past Luke was born. Happy Birthday Luke.

I picked a tomato last week. Can you believe it? It sure did taste good.

Still getting a few green beans.

Waiting for the ground to dry so I can start mowing the green mulch and tilling the garden for its winter rest.

Mark and Kara made a surprise visit after going to see my ma. It was wonderful to see them.

Elon won a photography on Facebook. Way to go E!

Ezra has been busy brush hogging for Edward. One time out the front bearing went out and the wheel fell off. Another time saw a flat tire. Farming for sure.

Anna has been busy at work. Her experience continues to grow.

I had some interesting patients that I won't go in now.

Vicky has been busy in many ways.

Josh has had steady work in construction.

James and Jenny just got back this past weekend visiting with my ma.

Just a short summary. Have a good day.

21 October 09

We left for my mom's last Thursday. It took over 13 hours to get there. We were blessed, because we had no car trouble, no sickness (motion sickness that some have), good gas mileage, etc.

Arriving late we have a few moments with Grandma before she and all of us went to sleep. The girls--Vicky, Anna, and LaSara--had the guest suite that Mark and Kara had stayed in some years past. It was very nice--two beds, bath, closet, microwave, and refer. The boys stayed at Grandmas. Josh, Ezra, and Elon slept in Anita's room, and I slept on the couch.

On Friday Grandma and Anita took us to IHOP for breakfast. We accidentally ran into Betty Link, a long time family friend. Grandma wore out after 30 minutes or so. Anna helped her into the bathroom, and Betty and I got her to the car. She did admit to pain and feeling cold, which is rare considering that she is very warm natured. Betty got a blanket and I got the car keys, so we could warm her up. When we got back to the apartment, Grandma went to sleep for about 8 hours, while we tried to do some shopping.

Saturday Grandma was feeling better as the antibiotic was kicking in. We drove around GR, Cedar Springs, and Yankee Springs areas, where I showed the family most of the places I had lived and/or gone to school. LaSara had something bite her--bee, fly?--that made her hand swell up when we went to Payne Lake. That evening we ate again at the apartment dining room where Aby (?), the chef, makes and serves supper.

Sunday, Grandma was feeling better yet. We took the late morning and afternoon going to Lake Michigan. I couldn't remember much, so it took a while to find some place. After praying about it--O God find us a good place to stop, we saw a place called Rosy Mound. It was very nice. We took Lake Michigan Drive home, and I got to show them some other places where I had gone to church in my teens and where my Grandma Lindquist lived when Ron--my cousin--and I were put to bed, because we were naughty.

Monday we left Grandmas. It was really a great time--reminiscing, looking at some old pictures, just being together.

She was doing better--much better--than she was Friday.

On Monday Anita was going to call hospice to come and start Grandma's care. Carol--my cousin--had made arrangements already; they just needed the call to start.

So we'll keep in touch.

Rain and more rain

Yesterday, Wednesday, it was pleasant, dry, and wonderful, but our resident weathermen were warning of lots and lots of rain. Well, as of this writing, it has rained over 3 inches and still raining hard.

Vicky has her stiff neck and inner ear inflammation again, so she is sleeping. May God help her.

Josh is off today; caint pour concrete in this rain.

I had a meeting today at work. It was raining when I left, but it only got heavier as I drove to work; same thing as I drove home. Water is out of the ditches again.

Anna worked last night and is now sleeping.

Ezra has been brush hogging for Edward, except today of course. I'm afraid he would be hogging nothing but water today. I went to pick him up last evening, but while I was on the west side of the barn, he was on the east side of the barn. We didn't know it for about 30 minutes. Edward finally figured it out.

Ezra, Elon, and LaSara are tending to their chickens. They probably won't be running around the field for awhile--the chickens that is.

The green beans are loaded! Only bad thing is a frost or freeze is due this weekend. I'll have to ask our weathermen about it.

My ma is still sick, but I don't know to what extent, so we plan to journey there and find out.

Have a good day.

29 Sept 09

The past few phone calls from my mom have me worried. Some one has called hospice, some one is bringing a hospital bed, there are going to be nurses, some one came and gave her a shower. She is 90. Because we don't know what is going on we plan to visit her.

The green beans are coming along real well. Hope to get some soon--if the weather holds out.

Elon's squash is soooo good.

I cleaned and vacuumed the shed out. Must have been 10 Recluse spiders. Vicky helped, too. I wore gloves, since I figured if I came across a Recluse, I would have a little protection. Burned grandpa's old chair; it was pretty yucky. I'm not sure the cat would even use it.

John, the mailman, said to me, "Len, I'm sorry to tell you this, but your tire is nearly flat." Sure was, too. Added air and went to Alison's; it was a rock hole. The roads had recently been regraveled.

Not much else happening. I took out a facebook, because the children said Merle needs friends. People whom I haven't seen or heard of for years found me; it is pretty interesting.

God bless.

Hi There

At church today Nathan spoke on the Gospel of John. We are slowing reading through the Bible, one book a week, and then one of the men teaches on that book. It seems like a lot of reading for one week, but it can be done. He gave a good summary of every chapter. Dennis has Deuteronomy next week.

Paul had two brats last week. He wanted to eat a third, but Sue wouldn't let him. He asked for prayer about this--lol.

The trap caught another felon--the third 'possum. Josh dispatched him. We'll have a few more tomatoes now.

The beans are growing well. There may be buds coming, but I'm not sure yet.

The road was so muddy that other day that my Escort looks like I've been muddin in the field.

Elon's squash is far enough along that perhaps we'll have some by this week.

Some of us are fighting colds.

I've been fairly busy at work. There was a man is bad health, with bad lungs--3 packs a day smoker for 60 years, with Alzheimer's, weight loss, and a ruptured appendix. He was on the vent for a whole week. We didn't think he would live through surgery, then we thought we would never get him off the vent, but he did all that and left for a nursing home for a couple of months to get his strength back.

I'm not planning on getting the flu shot--any type. I just don't trust the government or the CDC. I think it is a lot of hype and lots of money to be made by promoting scare tactics.

We still need to pray for Rifga Bary, the apostate Muslim. The full story can be found on Atlas Shrugs. You might have to scroll down to find the latest news about her. She is a believer in Jesus who was threatened by honor killing and had to run from home.

We had a cook out today. I'm wasn't sure if our usual spot was good or not, since I hadn't mowed from before Anna's graduation, but it was just fine. Josh cut down a few weeds, and we were ready.

Wednesday evening for church, we are planning to go to the camp, eat supper, worship, and pray. Hope you show up.

Another Winner From Elon

I got tired of my needing to buy ink for the inkjets--very expensively tired of it. I researched and prayed about it and finally bought a Brother HL-4070CDW Color Laser Printer with Wireless Interface and Duplexing--whew--from Amazon. I'll try it out and see what happens. We would like to have it--I would like to think I need it, but that is not a "need"--to print pictures for children's class, calendars, work, etc.

I still like the TinySpell spelling software. It will check the spelling on about anything.

I've not been happy with a number of desktop calendars, but I have been using Rainlendar2 for awhile. It is small, easy to use, and has good reminders for my always weak memory.

Codecs packs for the computer have always been a chore. If the computer doesn't have the right codec, it cannot play the song, see the video, etc. For the past month I have been using the codec pack from Shark007 Codecs. The pack you choose needs to specific to your OS.

Remembering passwords and filling them in on webpages has always been a chore. I don't like RoboForm; Keepass has been my standard for years, but for the past months I have been using LastPass. I like it because, among other reasons, it can fill in passwords for Yahoo and MSN.

The beans are growing well, so are Elon's squash. I'll write more later; it is time to eat.

22 August 09

I finished the PALS course and passed. PALS is Pediatric Advanced Life Support.

After class I went to ICU and helped Heidi with two patients. One came in with a blood sugar of 1145 (normal is 80-100) and all of her labs were really off. The other was a patient from surgery on the vent. He was so malnourished it is questionable how well he will heal.

Anna was only to work until 7PM Friday, but everyone had so much work that no one left until 9:30PM.

Josh bought an old 22 to dispatch the raiding animals from our garden. I bought a trap, so maybe we can get the critters. They have destroyed a number of Elon's melons and tomatoes and my tomatoes, too. Josh cleaned and oiled everything, and we went out to see if it would shot. Sure enough it did; pretty well, too, for only $86.

There are some of the gourds down at the creek that are probably nearly 30 feet off the ground. We can't tell for sure until later fall.

I still have a few beets in the ground. Our fall green bean crop is up about 4 inches. They sure come up fast this time of the year, since the ground is warm.

It is nice and cool today only in the 70's.

10 August 09

Last Friday I was supposed to work, but the ICU was closed, so I was put on-call. The census at the hospital has been down for much of the year, which hurts the bottom line for everyone. They gave no raises this year because of it. I really don't blame them; I have seen the financial reports.

James and Jenny have their 2nd anniversary on the 11th--if my memory is still working.

Elon picked a 30 pound watermelon the other day; it is really good. The best melons so far IMHO are Blacktail Mountain, Ali Baba, Tam Dew, and White Wonder.

The corn is pretty much done except for the field corn and popcorn.

Elon and Ezra are getting their fall garden ready. I'll be putting in my Blue Lake Bush beans soon. Next year, Lord willing, in my fall garden, I want to try broccoli and squash. Elon is ready to transplant his squash soon.

There are some planted gourds down by the creek that appear--we'll measure this fall--to be 45 feet from where they were planted; that would make each plant about 90 feet across. One is over ten feet up a maple tree and another is at least twenty-five feet up a cedar tree.

Anna was on-call yesterday from the hospital for the same reason I was.

Vicky was digging up potatoes and run the potato fork into her foot. It is healing well. I heard her say, "O daddy come quick." I knew something was bad. She said, "I don't want to look at it; you do it." Being the nurse, I took the shoe off and the sock. Sure enough there was a 4 mm hole near the fourth toe of her left foot and blood all over the place. It didn't go all the way through. A minute of pressure stopped the bleeding, then I cleaned it, applied iodine, let that dry, then triple antibiotic ointment and a bandaid. After that I had her elevate her foot and put some ice on it for 10 minutes. I have changed the dressing twice a day. There is no redness or drainage; it is healing well--thank God.

I know tincture of iodine is frowned upon by everybody, but it is effective against MRSA, so I use it a few times as needed but for no longed than three days. Everything heals up well.

I continue to work on the ICU study guide for work, etc. It is slow going due to the time for research. Research really is time consuming.

Yesterday Jens was dedicated publicly to the Lord and asked for prayer for his parents to raise him wisely and for Jens himself. Paul lead out.

I gave a prelude to the message--I'll post it elsewhere--Nathan gave the message.

We went to the Eldo park Saturday evening to hear the Meyer Bluegrass Band. The weather really wasn't too bad. Paul told a joke: "Do you know why they bury banjo players down 10 feet? It is because they are so deep". I told him after the concert: "Paul, since they only bury banjo players 10 feet down; why do they bury guitar players only 3 feet deep"? He didn't know. "It is because they are so shallow". So now they can banter a little. Mary is really getting good on the mandolin.

Nibbo is a new search engine based on Google that I've tried a few times. What do you think?

Wordnik is a dictionary site I'm trying out. They have pronunciation and examples used in current writing. I searched for "Elon" to see how they would pronounce it; they had the word but have a message to the side which said, "You are the first person to look up this word." There was no pronunciation, but an offer to notify them to include it when they update the database.

Well, that's it for now.

17 July 09

I was called from work to be "on call", so we will see if I work today or not. In some ways that is good, because I am accumulating too much PTO. If it goes too high, then I just lose the hours.

I hoed one part of my garden--the west part around the tomatoes, peppers, corn, and onions. I need to hoe now around the beets and potatoes. I just leave the potatoes in the ground and dig them up when we need them, but there is no use in have the area covered with grass.

When I mowed the other day, I completely missed a section. Maybe that happens when a person gets older.

I'm also study for PALS--Pediatric Advanced Life Support. I've never, in 34 years of nursing, had to code a child, and even though we have someone under 16 in out ICU very rarely--like 3 or 4 times a year, the hospital insurance carrier mandated that the nurses needed PALS. OK so I'll take it on August 20-21. I'll probably forget what I learn, so will just have to use the Broselow Pediatric Tape which we have on our code cart.

Cheers

12 July 09 Garden

Here are some snapshots of the garden on 12Jul09.

Elon's 10 to 11 foot corn.


Milo down by the creek. The soil is like compost, and things really grow well.


I like paths, so here are two of the paths around the place.





Anna's herb garden.


A snapshot of Elon's and Ezra's garden. It doesn't show everything.


A plat for the fall bean crop to be planted about 15 August.


Sweet corn; it's getting there!


Tomatoes are coming along.


Elon planted a variety of sunflowers on one of the fence rows. Yes, that is a rogue corn plant.

Interesting Tornado Video

We had a good day yesterday--Elon's birthday. We had brats, potato salad, root beer float, and ice cream sundays. You might want to read about past birthday celebrations on Jenny's blog.

Mark called yesterday; it sure was good to hear his voice.

The garden is looking good. The corn--first planting--is filling out; the second planting is about 4 inches high.

Some good software I'm using lately is Great News--a RSS reader. It gathers all my favorites into one place.

Tiny Spell is a little utility that helps me check my spelling on anything I type. If I type something misspelled, it will pop up a little window--the same size as the word--and I can click it to show me how to spell it correctly. I can choose the word and all is changed.

Often I need to remove all formatting from the clipboard. It is so irritating so paste something only to find spacing wrong, fonts changed, etc. I use a little utility called Pure Text.

Back to work tomorrow. ICU has been busy lately with 3-4 patients; usually we only have 1-2 patients. Anna has general orientation. Josh has been working steadily. Mark is still looking for work.

Anna Passed

Anna took her RN boards (NCLEX) last Friday in Springfield, MO. She had to wait two business days before she could know her results. Sure is better than what I had--there were only two times you could take boards, either in July or February (if I remember right), then you had to wait for weeks until August to find out if you passed or not.

Anna had to work today and wanted me to check. I could check anytime after 8AM for $7.95. So I paid, and saw that she passed.

I called her at work and told her, "Anna Gane RN; you passed; P..A..S..S." She has to wait for the official notification from the Missouri State Board of Nursing to call herself a RN, which will take about 4 weeks.

Anna's Car

Anna bought this from Dwayne. We have as a family bought--I believe--10 cars from him

Garden

I took a few pictures of the garden.

Nice Day

Nice and cool that is. Temp was 55 this morning.

I was sleepy and slept for 8 hours instead of my usual 6. Eight hours are better for your health; wish I could do this more.

We picked strawberries this morning and gave the rejects to Ruster. He ate them; can you imagine? I plan to give some to Jefferson this evening. We need to care for our neighbors.

Everything in the garden look good. The extra potatoes I planted--the first ones got flooded out--are coming up.

I wondered where Sparky and Choco went yesterday, but I found out they went to Ona, Fl looking for some handouts. I guess they got in trouble. This is where you can read the goings on.

James is quite the writer. Wish I could do that.

Voice mail is working better now. It would answer after 3 and sometimes 4 rings, but after I chatted online with a CenturyTel rep, it will be 9 rings now.

Here's a good article on the summary of REASONS for a young earth; these are based on science. Seems that evolutionists like to gloss over them.

Family

Jenny and James, Luke, and Mark all came in for Anna's graduation. James and Jenny drove in and stayed 4 days, I think. Luke and Mark came on the train. They got off in Kansas City, and I picked them up, bought them breakfast--they even ate it, and brought them home. We all had a good time.

Anna's Graduation

Well, Anna finally graduated from nursing school. She went full time for 4 years for a two year degree. With scholarships and grants all the expenses were paid. What a blessing!

All of our living children were there except Kara. She wanted to come but her evil boss wouldn't give her time off to come.

Anna had a 4.0 average. I graduated so I must have passed. I didn't have any honors when I graduated in 1980.

Now comes boards. A one time horribly hard test. It tests everything: theory, basic sciences, nursing, everything at one time. Most of the questions are based on a clinical example and sometimes all the answers are correct, but only one is MOST correct. It is taken on a computer now days, but when I did it, it was paper and pencil with these strict chaperones staring at you. Mine lasted for two days; hers lasts a few stressful hours. Sometimes the computer will shut off at 75 questions; this may mean you have passed or maybe have done so badly you could not pass. Stress time for sure.

She starts work on 17 June, I think, on Med/Surg at Nevada Regional Med Center. After orientation, she will work the night shift-7P to 7A. She hopes, don't most of us, that this lasts only a short time.

Anonymous Rooster

Choco said this is a picture of Anonymous Rooster. I don't think he is telling the truth.

9 May 2009

I worked Thursday and Friday, most of Friday anyway. The patients left. One was a frequent flier who is a paraplegic with bilateral amputations to the hip, numerous pressures sores, trache, pneumonia, etc who was shipped to another hospital with a pulmonologist because her pneumonia was not getting better not worse. She was on Flagyl, Avelox, Gentamycin, and Primax. The other graduated to the Med/Surg floor. I'm thankful for any time I get--with the times being tough as they are.

We are losing Dr Mike Crim, one of my favorites. He is moving the the Kansas City area to be nearer relatives. We need some docs; anybody know any that can come this way?

Anna was called to OB last evening for an induced pregnancy. She is only 13, T-H-I-R-T-T-E-E-N, days from graduation, then boards, then RN. Nearly 4 years full time for a 2 year degree. They tell me at work that she has a job, but she has not been called yet. Jobs are tight right now. The economy being what it is many have come back into nursing.

I'm told Luke and Mark are coming for graduation. Super! I get to see them again. Kara can't come because someone took vacation and she HAS to work--the boss says.

Elon has a lot of approver choice photos on Weather Underground; he is thebige when you search for images. They are REALLY good.

We have corn(the boys have corn) coming up. My peas are spotty, but most everything is coming up. I need to start my tomatoes today; Elon has already started his. The boys melons and gourds are starting to come, too. Elon planted a lot of sunflowers; Anna planted some special morning glories; some tulip trees and bush dogwoods. Lord willing, we will have a good garden.

Sunday, 26 April 2009

We went fishing Saturday at North Hutton Pond. Anna went along to study. It was a good day. I didn't catch anything or even get a bite, but the boys did. The best was Josh's Crappie. It was good to be outside.

I tilled my garden and the boys. Later I planted the peas. They should have been in a month ago, now it is time to plant corn. O well, maybe something will grow. The potatoes are coming up; I'm really surprised, because we have so much rain and cold weather that I thought they had all rotten. Lo and behold, they are coming!

Elon noticed that his carrots are coming up. He also planted a lot of sunflowers that are coming. We both have lettuce, beets, etc.

Nathan went through Lamentations.

Janet had a good thought:

She had to mow her large yard and a neighbor's, too. The day was hot; she was thirsty. She was determined to finish--one more row, just one more row. Her thirst grew and grew, but she was determined. Finally, the only thing she could think of was finding something to drink. It was the verse from Psalm 42:1--"As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God." She finished by saying, "...then I thought do I love God this much--the only all compassing thought for him?

We went to the first El Dorado Springs Gospel and Bluegrass sing. We got there late and only part of two groups.

Anna's Cap

Anna graduates May 22. Is this her cap?

Names

Most people put a lot of thought into naming their children; we did also, plus prayer.

Here is my take on this anyway.

Jenny Renee = Jenny from Jean a cognate of John (God is gracious), Renee=born again

Micah Ryan = Micah was an Old Testament prophet who stood true even though in prison; short form of Micaiah, meaning "who is like God?". Ryan = "little king." It is also my middle name

Anna Rebekah = Anna from Hebrew Hannah (gracious, full of grace); Rebekah=captivating

Luke Ryan = Luke=Lucas, Lucius, which is from the root lux (light), so be a light for Jesus. Ryan in memory of his brother who died.

Kara Marie = Kara=grace and joy to us and all; Marie=wished for child; also my mom's middle name

Mark Daniel = Mark means manly; also named after one of my best friends, Mark Nieman; Daniel=God is my judge, a prophet of the Old Testament who stood for truth regardless of the cost.

Joshua David = Jehovah is help, God is salvation; he was a man of great faith and action. David=beloved; a king in Israel. So a great man of faith and leadership.

Ezra Josiah = help; that is, my help is from God. This is a true statement, for I almost died a few weeks before he was born. Without God's help, I would have died. Josiah=The Lord saves and the Lord supports, the Lord heals; he was a great king in Israel, a man of true obedience and faith.

Elon Joseph = I always wanted to name a boy "Oak", but that name is sorta too different. He was also a judge in Israel, so we hoped a for boy of oak-like strength of character and faith. Joseph=He will enlarge, so that God would make his great. Joseph was a great man of character.

LaSara Rose = LaSara is a combination of Laura (a wreath made from laurel and given as a victors wreath) and Sara (Princess). Rose=rose, the flower. Kara suggested it when we were thinking about girl names--we started running out of names.

We've been busy

My work has been on and off. Some days we have 5 patients in ICU; others, like yesterday--Sunday--I left early. At any rate, I have a job, so I'm thankful.

Jenny and James are planning on being here for Anna's graduation in May. Luke may come, too. He is teaching English in Ecuador.

Anna had last week off for her spring break, not much of a break, however, she had a teaching project to do, a pharmacology test to take, and to study for her tests that she has this week.

Josh was called off work due to weather. His car is in the shop; it wouldn't start, and the mechanic thinks it is some type of sensor.

The children are just about done with school for the year.

We went to Mansfield, MO for our annual seed outing. We eat at a nice roadside park and then go to Baker Street Seeds--www.rareseeds.com. Our garden--finally--has our potatoes, brassicas, beets, lettuces are planted. We still have to do the onions and peas--it is probably too late for the peas, but we will try.

The chickens are really laying a lot of eggs. I sell them at work and wherever for &1.50 dozen of brown eggs. I give the money to the boys. Elon as posted a number of his pictures on wonderundergroun's wonderphotos; one of them won a approver's choice.

Except for Vicky, we are looking forward to thunderstorms. Our weather station isn't online yet, but we hope to have the bugs worked out shortly--the temperature sensor has to be in a dry, dark, open place; we have to build something. If the sun isn't shinning, it is very accurate.

We're all in good health.

Today, 24 March 2009, we had 1.91 inches of rain according to our rain gauge. We hope to be having it online soon. We want to make sure it works correctly.

Josh and I were at True Value hardware--the Eldo store is closing--when the national weather radio went off about severe weather. We didn't get the whole message, so after paying for our things we went to the car, and Josh called our weathermen at home to find out what is going on. They told us that it would be nothing except for severe wind and rain, no tornadoes.

We went from there to Edward's to get our milk. His dog usually comes out to say hi to us, because I usually have a little dog food with me, but he wanted to stay in his doghouse because of the rain.

The streams were not very full over at Edwards but as we got closer to home, the water was deeper and flowing more swiftly.

Anna had her inner ear attack with its accompanying vertigo; she couldn't take meclizine because she had a test this afternoon and didn't want to be sleepy--what a bummer.

Check out Elon's site for some interesting happenings.

Monday March 3

Well I have a day off. I was hoping to sleep in until 4:30 maybe even 5 AM; nope, woke up at 2:30 and laid there for an hour. I figured that was stupid, and my restlessness was getting worse. I got up, took a shower, heated up the water for some coffee, and checked my email.

Since it was only 12 F here this morning, Josh was called off--working outside is too cold. He had the day off, so we went to Stockton to get his driver's license renewed; I stayed in the car while he went inside. Soon he was out...but, uh, his left eye was not strong enough to make 20/40, and he couldn't get his driver's license. He has an appointment at WalMart the 18th.

Anna finished up a Power Point presentation on Pulmonary Edema, ARDS, and Pulmonary Embolus. It looks real good. Not too much longer until she GRADUATES.

Talked to Luke today; it was great to hear his voice. He's going to try and make it back for Anna's graduation.

At the supper table we were talking about Jenny's tuna burgers. So I am looking forward to James and Jenny coming for one more reason.

At work yesterday, one of the patient's granddaughters wanted to know if I would buy a puppy from her. Actually I thought about it, but then Vicky doesn't want another dog around. I'd have a zoo, if I'm not careful.

Aubrey, 15, is going to be speaking to the city's ministers. He is concerned that they have left Bible teaching. He is the son of Nathan Nissley. We're going to give him support and hear his presentation.

Sunday

Well, I'm at work Friday, Josh is off still (no work), and the boys check everything and figure it's a good to go fishing. They load up and take off for Shell. Things go slow for a while, then Elon's pole goes low to the ground. Wow, he's got a big one! After a long fight, the bigin comes in to shore. Here's her picture. Josh is holding Mrs Grass Carp weighing in at 16 pounds and 30 inches long. Elon's line was 8 pound test. Way to go Elon!



Anna has been working on her laptop while sitting on a foot stool. Over to one side is her hundred pound nursing book. This has gone on for years. Enough of this stuff, so off to Walmart to buy a desk. It's not much but serves its purpose well. Here she is working away, so she says.



Vicky's sick. True flu: muscle aches and pains, fever, cough, throat crud, etc. She's slowly getting better. She got it the worse this year. No fun being sick.

Pete, the tailless cat, is having a hard time with his fur. Seems the new fur itches; he bites his skin to make it stop itching. Medicine time for Pete's sores. I wish fur would grow faster.

Here's a song I played for the sermon. Hope it is meaningful to you.

Sparky has friends

St Kitts

This woman is planning to go to St Kitts with one of her best friends



This is one of her best friends. He is the best helper she ever had in the kitchen. He is always ready to help.




Then there is this woman is also believes that he is the greatest dog in Missouri. She loves his snout and the free aroma of his breath.



Look at the anger she has when anyone criticizes her little, black buddy.

I don't understand about Choco

It was warm enough last week for the maples to start flowering and the ladybugs start to come out. Note how the ladybug has mirror images of her spots on her wings.

Well Jean, this is for James and you. Choco was real excited about your coming and wanted me to post these pictures. I not sure I understand why. Choco said something about shedding tears of joy about your coming.






I know this isn't much of a picture, Jean, but Felix wanted this posted.


I know this isn't much of a fish but hey, it is a keeper and tasted good.

Elon Has Been Creative

Here are some pictures of Elon's Gourd Egg Basket.




He used one of his gourds and honeysuckle vine.

I'm lookin at yu Jean

Anna's Male Friends

Here they are Jean.