One year anniversary

We moved into the house one year ago tonight. We had no flooring, nothing, but it was ours. It has been a fantastic year. We hope to actually finish everything during the second year.

It snowed more after I left for work yesterday! Ann took the following photos. It snowed at school also, but mostly flurries.  It is only October!!!!!

Ok, so it was just a light dusting, but it was snow. We have not even had a frost yet. I have not had to scrape my windows in the morning yet. But, we have snow!!!! It was flurrying when I went to bed last night.

I am just like a kid. I went to the local television web site and looked to see if these few flakes would cancel or delay school.

Some of the neighboring counties got enough to delay schools. I wonder what the Farmers’ Almanac has to say about the winter if it is here already.

While I am doing this instead of taking a shower and getting ready for work, I will put up one more photo. This is through the upstairs, office window. I thought it was pretty.

There is an on line blog group that is promoting a Blog Every Day November. I am going to try. I might not have a picture each day, but I will have something. Get ready!!!

My roommate Ava from college, freshman year, came to visit this weekend. We had not seen each other in about twenty years. We had a great time! It was as if no time at all had passed. Brando liked her too; or he just wanted her to move off the couch.

Today I drove out to Maggie Valley to see the colors. It was very sunny, so the colors seem a bit faded. I am hoping for a cloudy day next weekend to take better photos.

This is always one of my favorite views, merging onto 40 from 74.  This was taken though the front window, while I drove, so no complaints on the quality please.

This is the road to our house. We had some work done to it, so now you don’t lose an oil pan or worse when you drive on it.

This is Possum Manor in almost full color. It sure was a pretty day. Oh, yes we actually do have ADT; it is not just a sign. We are gone a lot on the weekends, and we felt we needed some kind of security. Someone could load up a moving truck and empty the house without anyone seeing them.

I received a new phone yesterday. I had been waiting to upgrade/switch/get a new toy for a while now, and I was really waiting for Verizon’s new Blackberry Storm. However, last week I received a promotion for a FREE Blackberry 8330, in pink. Well, I figured it was a good idea, because who knows how long it will be before the Storm is out, and who knows how many hundreds of dollars it will be anyway. So, I ordered it.

I know I am an intelligent woman. This is something I have never questioned.  However, I do not think I am smart enough to use this phone. First of all it does not come with a manual. You have to load the cd and then try to work through their information. I started playing with it at about 9PM, which was a mistake, because at 11PM I was still on the phone with tech support. My first challenge was finding out where the media card went. How silly of me, of course it went UNDER the battery, in a tiny slot that when you use a magnifying glass, or in my case a second pair of glasses, you would see the words “lock and unlock.”

It is almost 6AM now, and I sure did not get enough sleep. I will play with it tonight. I hope there is a setting for it to shut off when the sun goes down.

When I figure out how to use the phone I will call.

I took a little video this morning. After listening to it, I have to wonder when I got a southern accent.

I had to put something up here, as I was tired of coming and seeing Lindsey Lohan’s open mouth. I was waiting for the other camera to come from Possum Manor West to take some fall video. Now I am waiting for the sun to come up.

• It is cold here this morning, 36, with a frost warning for tonight. The leaves are beautiful, but not yet at full color.
• I love Halloween. It is also one of Ann’s favorite holidays.
• I canceled my MRI. I called the doctor and said I just could not do it. I am not a wimp, those who know me know that. I said to the nurse on the phone, “I am not a wimp; I have tattoos!” She laughed. They will be scheduling me a CT Scan instead. I never realized I was that claustrophobic.
• I have to go in and order my turkey.
• I threw a small bag of peanuts in the shell into the backyard as a treat for the birds and squirrels. The dogs think they are for them. There are peanut shells all over the house. They bring them in to eat them. Silly dogs.
• Maudie was really sick, and we did not know it. She was dirty, but we thought she just was having too much fun outside. Maudie is about 15 years old now, and has decided to live outside except to eat. She started to lose her hair, and Ann took her to the vet. He said she had a problem in her mouth, which he took care of; he also said the hair loss (which was even on the top of her back) was a psychological problem. Certainly it is. We do not have sane pets…no not us. Anyway, she is doing so well now. Because she is old I have been giving her wet food, something she has not had in a half dozen years. She looks so much better, and last night came in and slept next to me. That is a big deal, since Brando the Terrible was at the end of the bed.
• I am a gadget queen. I really wanted the IPhone, but do not have the right mobile phone company. To make a long story short, Verizon is soon have a Blackberry Storm, which is suppose to be like the IPhone and I have been patiently waiting for months. But, the other day I got a promotion from Verizon for a free….FREE..Blackberry Curve, which is my second choice for phone. So I have ordered a new Curve. I figure if the Storm comes out, and is a reasonable price (the Verizon person said she thought they would be about 400 dollars, so I would not be getting it anyway), I could get it at no loss. I am excited. It does much of what my phone now (Motorola Q) can do, just quicker and better. And it is pink……I love pink.
• It is now 7:30, and it is still not light outside. I am waiting to go sit in the hot tub.
• I took this photo one day, trying to get the sun rays.
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• I cannot figure out why even the photos are getting dots.  Anyway, I thought this spider web was interesting. We do not kill spiders here at Possum Manor. I think they have told their friends and family, because spiders have moved here by the truck loads.

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• We did not have flowers during normal flower season.  It is only in the last few weeks that we have gotten some really beautiful ones.
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Ok, so after that 3.5 seconds I lasted in the MRI, it was decided that I would take a Valium or two one night before the next attempt. This was to see if I could get to a level where I would not care I was spending thirty minutes in a mask once worn by that guy in the book The Man in the Iron Mask. Oh add to that, in a small plastic tube. The doctor said each one was equal to two drinks. Those of you who know me, know that I cannot drink. Two drinks sends me to bed for the rest of the night. Well, I thought that would give me rubber legs and the ability to have anything pierced without pain.

Something like this….

….NOT! (She must have taken something different!)

I took one 5 milligram at 7:15. We got into the hot tub just waiting for the festivities to begin………..nothing…….nothing…….8:10 I took the second one and waited……nothing…..nothing….I will admit I was a bit fuzzy around the edges, but in no way near the place that would allow me to participate in premature burial. So at 9:30 I was relaxed and went to bed. I am now worried that I am going to be very alert next Wednesday when they attempt to insert me. So, tonight I am going to take both 5 milligram pills at once. Maybe that is the trick. Wish me luck.

This is going to be a really photo heavy blog entry, so if you are on dial up (only thing available at Possum Manor West) bring the page up and go take a nap.

First the news is that one of the wonderful Meryls (Silkies) is gone. Just gone. No break in. No feathers. Just gone. She had to have squeezed out somewhere, but we are not sure where. The Silkies do not fly, so we are sure she made something a good appetizer. She was not big enough for a meal. Second the news is that Brando killed one of the Rebas (Rhode Island Reds). It was odd. She got through a hole in the fence, made by Brando we are sure. It was a hold too small for him to get through, but big enough for a chicken. So, she came through and he got her. We think it was probably play, but she was killed none the less. We are reinforcing the fence now, as he head butts it when the chickens are near. I felt so badly about it, but at least he did not break in and get them. I don’t know what we would do if he was just a cold blooded killer.

The weekend began around 6PM when the dogs and I arrived at Possum Manor West. Ann was waiting for us, to see Xena half way out the window. This is a big deal for Xena. Some of you remember how timid she was. When she rode in the car, she would only lay on the floor. Now she loves the wind in her ears….until another car goes by, and then she jumps back to the floor.

This is the only Silkie left. I am sure if chickens have the capability of missing another chicken….she misses her sister. She now hangs with the baby Barr Rocks, who are now even bigger than her. I didn’t have the heart to ask her to wipe her mouth for the photo.

These are the babies. They get bigger and more beautiful each week.

The Aracanas are the most beautiful of the chickens. Oddly, they have no tails.

This is one of the remaining Rebas with an Aracana. These chickens are really, really beautiful.

We put a piece of metal roofing as a shelter outside. They sit under it all the time.

I cut up greens, potato, apple, and tomato for their breakfast. The tomato gets eaten first, then the apple.

Brando was resting after his first kill.

Then Xena did a really stupid thing. For some reason she decided to walk out on the inside of the basement rail. When she got there, she was afraid to come back. I tried to coax her, but she would only go as far as that support beam in front of her. She turned around and went to the back, under the bush. Then I saw her contemplate jumping, and I knew I had to do something. There are stairs down to the basement, but where she was was a whole flight down. So, I got the ladder and tried to put her over the rail. Nope. Then I tried to carry her down the ladder. Nope. She was clinging to me, crying and shaking. (Perfect name for her: Xena Worrier Princess!) So I stayed there and held her against the rail, and Carrie got the screw driver and took two of the slats out. We then backed her out. While Carries was reattaching the slats, RD tried to go through them.

This is a great photo of Carrie.

Stella Blue met our three dogs for the first time this weekend. By Sunday, they were all running and playing together in the backyard, that is when they were not killing chickens or getting stuck behind railings.

Usti loves his new sister, and she really loves him too.

I went for an open MRI today. I lasted 3.5 seconds in that damn tube.

It is a long story, but the eye doctor saw these folds on the back of my eye. So he sent me to a specialist, who did all kinds of test, scared the crap out of me, and then figured, as it is with many people, just my eyes. He said since the folds were on both eyes , it was unlikely there was anything growing in my head, pressing on my eyes. BUT….let’s do an MRI just to be sure.

I had had an MRI on my knee a few years ago, where I was in only up to my chest. I thought I would not make it through that one too. So, when I had to schedule this, I said let’s find an open one. Open hell. They are not open.

After you lay on the sliding table, the MRI lady puts a pillow under your knees. Then she locks a helmet over your head. I just read the helmet holds the antenna that transmits the signals. Anyway, that helmet was enough to make me break out into a cold sweat.

At this point I was rethinking this MRI business. Then she put a squeeze bulb in my hand and called it the alarm. ALARM??? I am going to need an alarm? She says if I squeeze it, she will pull me out immediately. Now comes the ear plugs. As I put them in she tells me she will be talking to me the whole time. I ask her how? I will have ear plugs in. She says she will be on a microphone within the “tube” and I will be able to hear her. She says….ok, let’s go. She pushes me in and tells me to close my eyes. I open my eyes. My face is inches from the top of the tube. I say, ” Get me out.” She gets me out.

She tells me people do this every day. I say good for them. I collect my belongings, hang my head, and walk to my car.

Now what. My eye specialist is a half mile down the road, so I go. I walk in, admit my failure at the MRI. When I announce that I made it only 3.5 seconds, the staff laughs. Just then a fax comes in from the MRI people to tattle on me. The doctor comes out, very sympathetic. He asks me if he gave me a Valium would I be able to do it. I ask if a Valium would make me think I was not in a tube. He has a plan. He will give me a prescription for Valium. I am to take one while at home one night. When it kicks in I am to cover my eyes and pretend that I am in a tube. If I cannot stand it, I am to pop another and try it again. When I get to the dose that makes me forget I am in a plastic tube, narrower than a coffin, I plan to take that many at my next MRI trial. I must show up an hour before I take the pills, so that I can legally sign the papers. I must have someone with me to pour my sorry ass in the car to get home. If that does not work, he will order a CT Scan instead.

Wish me luck.

Lots of odds and ends today. I have not been very good about posting photos, but I vow to correct that. I think the leaves changing will get me out with the camera.

First however: Hi Maria (Ann’s bud at work) and family!

Second: Donna, get that knee moving!

I went out to Possum Manor West yesterday, not having been there for many weeks with no gas and such. The chickens are huge!!!! Even the babies are finally getting big and actually look like chickens. I have no idea what stunted their growth, but they did not grow for almost the first month. Guess we should stop buying them cigarettes.

Carrie’s new puppy, Stella Blue, was spayed last week, which is why I did not want to bring the dogs for the weekend. She is restricted in her play, and not happy about about it, but she and Usti love each other so much. Usti use to get so sad when the other dogs would leave on Sunday, but now he has a friend..full time.

She looks like Brando a bit, but a sweeter, softer Brando.

This is one of the Silkies, named Meryl. They are both little and sweet, but I saw one fight for the rights of a piece of tomato, so they will hold their own amongst the huge ones. They look a bit like fuzzy ducks.

Here is two of the Rhode Island Reds, named Reba. Remember, I name each breed the same name. There is no way I would remember who was who. They are beautiful birds.

These are the two babies. They are Rock Barr…or something like that. The photo is bit blurry, but it was taken through plastic chicken wire.

This is what the babies looked like six weeks ago. We lost two of them, but the last two seem very hearty…..I hope.

This is one of the Billie Jeans. They are really beautiful, and brave. One of them tried to chase me, and they will always come near, just in case you brought them some food.

This is Nooska, Carrie’s cat. He sneaks into the chicken area many times during the day. He even got into the area with the smaller ones. He does not hurt them; he just watches and wants to play. They are not happy with the arrangement, so we are trying to figure out how to keep him out of the at least the area with the little ones. He is one smart cat. If figure if he was going to hurt one of them, he would have already. The big chickens are as big as he is, so I think they could defend themselves.

This is a great photo of Usti. He has piercing eyes and is so full of energy that it would be good if we could figure out a way to harness it.