The Weekend

Our weekend was extended by a day because DH's work made him take a day of his comp time because there wasn't enough work. Luckily he is back at work today, but it was a very hectic weekend for us. We just had a lot to get done and even with the extra day, not enough time.

Friday DH came home to pick up me and the girls after work then we went to his parents for dinner. We left early enough to go get fence posts enroute and put up a fence around their main vegetable, herb, and flower garden to keep the girls out of it. DH had set a couple rows of leeks for them (he will do most of the care but it enables them to harvest when they want them without having to call us a few days ahead to arrange for a dropoff) and we didn't want the girls running through it while they play in the fenced yard. We got that done then had a nice dinner and headed back out to do some more yard stuff. We pulled some plants out of their front bed that there were too many of and some weeds. Then DH trimmed several bushes and trees for them. We put what we could onto the trailer, but left a load behind. I hope to get the video of the girls playing with the branches up on their blog one of these days.

Saturday we planted the lilac seedlings we brought home from their place. Then DH took the car up to the neighbors and walked home. You see, we needed to lead Queenie and Hopi up to the summer pasture at his place and there was NO WAY I could walk that far twice. I led Queenie, who kindly let me lean on her shoulders to rest my hip some of the time. DH took Hopi, who is much better at being led thanks to my work and the time she went with a short stiff lead rope in her halter. She wasn't easy though. He had to drag her, quite literally, across the road. We were lucky to get a small break in the heavy weekend vacation traffic, but it wasn't big enough to dilly dally and try to teach her anything. So while she put her legs forward to try to stop, he dragged her across the road. After that things settled down and she was able to nibble some clover once she realized her mother was cool with it all. The train tracks were another problem, but it helped that she'd already seen Queenie cross.

So now our little herd of shetland ponies is reunited and they sure are happy about it! Idiot me didn't realize I was supposed to take Hopi's halter off when I released her (she is growing and it can quickly become too tight), so we had to go back up yesterday morning to do it.

We went in to visit a bit with the neighbor, who is enjoying having enough time for his garden and whitewashing now that he doesn't have cows to milk twice a day. We also needed to pay him for the hay we got from him all winter.

Then when we got home, I crashed for a while in exhaustion. Once I recovered a little, it was back to work with laundry and other chores. We dug up some of our own potatoes for the first time for dinner (we didn't have enough left). They were bigger than DH expected but not huge and VERY good. So we have now eaten the first of the harvest of our own garden.

Sunday we started as early as DH could get me out of bed (it was NOT early). It took me a while to get functional. Then he decided it was time to sand and refinish the coffee table, so we took that outside and got it started. While he scrubbed it down, I got out his farrier equipment and got it set up.

Then we fetched Quintas and spent several hours trimming her hooves. She was not particularly cooperative (we think she might have had a bad experience as a foal... it wouldn't be a surprise if she had considering how neglected and undernourished she was when DH got her). It took a long time, but he did a GREAT job on her. She had problems with some of the hoof having broken off, so it was not easy for him to clean up all those rough edges and get a decent result.

After that, I got another rest and he sanded the table. At some point, I made some homemade salad dressing with sour cream, fresh parsley and chives, and salt and pepper to have with dinner (pork tenderloin medallions, readymade potato wedges we seasoned, and salad) and prepared the salad.

While the sanding equipment was out, we got out of one of the panels of the folding wooden screen we retrieved from the trash place a while ago. It must have been a very gorgeous oriental screen once with inlaid stone. But when we got it, some of the stone had come off. So we removed all of it then but it has been standing in the workshop waiting for more attention since. So we got the one panel out and I was able to sand both sides. We need to get something to fill in the holes from the stones before we can paint it and we're still discussing decoration options. But I found an online pattern for a huge horse stencil and we're thinking of spray painting that on. I also have some other smaller stencil patterns in western motives that we could use. They are smaller than we want probably, so I may need to try to copy them up larger (copy machine can't do that, so I would have to do ti manually with the grid method).

I was really beat from everything we did, so I ended up lying outside on a blanket working on the book I am editing for Edith (she wrote it in Englihs, which is not her native language, but it is quite good and a joy to edit). DH worked on repairing the stucco on the house while I did that. I have pics of the house before and will have to take some after pictures to show what we've been up to with it. It has taken a LOT of hours already and many more to go before it looks decent again.

Then we had dinner. While he was taking the potatoes out of the oven, DH's back suddenly went really bad, probably caused by having fought with Quintas in the morning. So he spent the rest of the evening in misery trying to relax. I did manage to fold some laundry, but other than that, we were donebeing productive.

Monday he had fun getting me out of bed again becase I was hurting really bad. I also had to take more pain killers than usual. But then we started running lots of errands. We got the halter off Hopi, went to the pet store for dog food, two grocery stores, and several other places. By the time we got home, both my brain and my body had shut down from the pain. So I spent most of the rest of the day resting. DH went to a local blacksmith to get a hoof jack made similar to the one he borrowed from a friend.

In the evening, we worked together to pull and trim rhubarb for his mother. He packed his lunch and played with the girls (while I continued to rest) then we went to bed.

Today he brought me a pain killer at 5am before he left for work. Then I stayed in bed 5 more hours until a friend dropped by to see how I was and got me out of bed. I was on my way up anyway. So I talked to her for a while then got the girls out and got myself dressed.

I have two main projects today beyond recovering: bathing Shawnee (she smells like a dog, which isn't normal for our girls) and doing the dishes. I already got a zinc tub out and filled it part way with water in the sun for bathing her. I want the water to warm up. I also put the hose where the sun will be on it so at least some of my rinse water is warm. And the towels are out on the picnic table to warm up too. I need to do that soon but it has been a little cloudy and the water is not as warm as I hoped yet, but the chill is off it. I also did some rinsing and sorting of the dishes, so they won't be too bad to wash.

Now I am going to rest soem more before I get to work. Hope everyone else is ahving a good week.

My 30-to-5 Rule, Herbs, and Other Babble

I think I've worked out a way that I can manage to be productive and still take care of my physical condition. That's what I call my 30-to-5 rule. Basically it means I need about three minutes of rest for every five minutes that I do something. I realize this is probably the opposite of what most people need, but it seems to be working for me. Of course, sometimes I need more than 30 minutes of rest, but at least it is the basic idea of how to cope.

We have really dry weather right now. It's sunny and there is a slight breeze and the air is really dry. So it is just perfect weather for drying herbs. We already dried and put away two large batches of the peppermint that I mostly use for tea. We found a really good and easy way of doing it. We use one of those lingerie bags for delicates in the laundry. That way don't have to worry about how long the stems are and try to tie them into bundles. Instead I just cut them at whatever length they are, shove them in a bag, and then rotate the bag a lot. Right now my bag is filled with the other kind of mint that we have. I am not sure what kind it is. But it looks more like mom's tea mint than the peppermint does. The one I am identifying as peppermint has a very definite reddish tint to both the leaves and the stems. This one has very green leaves and green stems, except the corners of its square stem appeared to have a reddish thread in them.

We have two other herbs drying right now. Those are done by that tie the stems into a bunch method. Unfortunately, I don't know what they are called in English. Instead I will give you their scientific names. The one is called Artemisia dracunculus. The other is Levisticum officinale. The latter we use a lot because it helps make old potatoes taste better.

We are using a lot of mint at the moment. Most days I am making tea on fresh mint. We were reading in DH's herb book about the values of lavender, so today we added a sprig of lavender to my tea as well. It was quite good in my opinion. I also added a sprig of mint to the bottle of cold water DH keeps in the fridge. Makes it just a little bit fresher.

In other news, my back is still improving. Or at least it was. As soon as I wrote that, Shawnee had a little accident on the floor. Her first in ages. I got her outside to finish then cleaned up. But when she came back in, she is so upset and sorry about the accident that she was glued to my feet. I turned around to go get myself a glass of water and tripped over her. I think I need my ice pack again.

I had planned to write more, but hurt too much now to do so.

Overdue Update

Sorry for the extended delay updating this blog. Because it's been so long, I am not going to tell you about the rest of my visit from the Germans. Nor am I going to tell you about DH's military reunion weekend after. You're also going to have to live without the news of my weekend spent lying on my stomach after a gardening-induced backache (two weekends ago). Even though it was really fun, I'm not going to give you a big blurb on the trip to the race track with our friends down the road that have trotting horses. Only Edith would care about 20 chapters of her book that I edited. You also don't need to hear about ride this past Thursday that resulted in the current backache. No, I didn't fall off and no she didn't jump all over the place. It probably just aggravated the backache from the previous week. The weekend spent lying on the floor with my feet up on the sofa is also not very exciting. How much do you really need to know about Monday's trip to the chiropractor?

Instead I'm just going to tell you about today and not worry about all that other stuff.

Despite the continued backache, I am managing to be somewhat productive. Regular icing seems to be helping. So if I've done most of the dishes and spent a short visit with Queenie and Hopi in the pasture. The girls are managing to behave and Shawnee has not become a cliché again, like she did yesterday by chewing on my slipper.

Our garden is definitely coming along. The potatoes are growing like mad. DH planted six rows of peas. The rhubarb is overdue for its third cutting. I have to see about doing that tomorrow so we can take it to his parents after my chiropractor appointment. The giant pumpkins and regular zucchini have been moved out to the garden. The weird yellow squash thingy has come up despite our expectations to the contrary (I overwatered the dirt). The regular American aren't pumpkins are also about ready to be set outside. Today I found another empty meat tray, so I was able to start the thyme seeds that I just bought. For mom, who actually cares about this stuff and might be able to give me more information about them, it is Thymus vulgaris. The thyme I used to have died from the winter. We are hoping that we can start creating a ground cover in our flower bed with herbs. So anyone can recommend species that we appreciate it. So far, we are trying with the mint that we have and then this thyme.

We're having calzone for dinner tonight. I hope will be a right because we are using store-bought dough. It's shortening up the process a lot because I'm not up to more now. It will have fresh tomatoes, fresh oregano, ham strips, and grated cheese. Probably also other spices. Maybe a jar of mushrooms, if I feel like it.

Other than that I mostly just playing my silly horse game.

Technical Support IDIOTS

We switched ISPs (Internet Service Providers) a few weeks ago. It is supposed to be both faster and cheaper but I have not been completely satisfied with its reliability.

So this morning when the Internet connection went down completely while I was using the computer, I restarted the router (turning off, waiting 10 secs, turning on). Then I restarted the network on the Linux server. Still no connection and I can see that the skype phone is also unable to make a connection.

So I decided to call technical support to find out what was going on. First I go through several levels of push this or that menus. Then I wait for 10 mins. In the mean time, I am stillw atching for my Internet to be back online.

I finally get a person. He tells me there is nothing wrong. I ask him for an IP address to ping. He tells me nothing is wrong. Then I realize the Skype phone still hasn't connected, so tell him it can't just be a name server problem because of that.

So the idiot decides I have to remove my hub and reconnect directly to the computer. I tell him I can't really do that because of my health. But he says unless I do that, he won't do anything. So I crawl down on the floor in total agony to swap the wires around (note here that I was up more than half the night because I hurt so much... read all of "All the Pretty Horses" [which was very good, thanks Edith!] then finally cried myself to sleep, waking up every time my leg kicked in my sleep because it hurt so much).

It works. AARGH!

So I ask him how I'm supposed to connect multiple devices when I'm not supposed to use a hub or switch (he was sure I was using a router, so I crawled down again to find where it is identified as a switch). He says I can use them but that I will always have to remove them for technical help.

He proceeds to tell me that we hadn't lost a connection at all. He can see it there. We've been connected for 92 hours without a break.

92 hours? I ask him. That's odd. I turned the equipment on at 9 this morning. We turned it off at 9 last night. So it was broken for 12 hours (he told me that equipment turned off registered as a break, as an explanation for why it would be broken 92 hours ago). So while I am trying to explain to him how there must be a problem in their registration system because my equipment was not just TURNED OFF but WITHOUT POWER (the router is connected to a strip that we turn off at night), HE HUNG UP ON ME!

I was MAD. So I called in, picked a different level in the menu, and got a nice guy to whom I explained that I wanted to lodge a complaint against the guy I talked to before if he could see in the system who it was. The guy was very nice and made sure that my equipment was now working. I told him yes, but I didn't want to get a treatment like that again. If my equipment was turned off for 12 hours, I can't have been connected for 92. He could have given me another explanation, but hanging up on me was not acceptable. I wasn't even YELLING!

So once I got off the phone, I crawled back down under the computer and swapped the wires through the switch.

Guess what? IT WORKS! There is nothing wrong with my equipment.

If I get much more of this, I am going back to TDC even if they do mess up the bills for a year and never send half of them and try to bill me for late payment.

Frustration Turned to Relief

I'm sorry that I still have a manage to finish the entire story of the visit from the Germans. It is going to have to wait a little bit longer because I have a more important update from today.

I was supposed to have an appointment with my new caseworker this morning. At 9:30 this morning. Getting up for it was, of course, a struggle. DH told me his alarm clock would ring at 4:15 and he'd be getting up. I woke up at 7:20 and he was still in bed. I guess we were lucky that I woke up, because otherwise we would've run out of time. I woke him up and headed to the bathroom. I came back to do my stretches before taking a shower and of course fell asleep. He woke me up a little while later and I got moving.

He took care of the girls and made breakfast for both of us. I took a shower because usually showers help me wake up. I was still half asleep when I got out of the shower. But I managed eat breakfast and drink some of my tea.

Just about when it was time to start getting moving and hit the road, the phone rang. DH answered because we expected to be his friend who was supposed to come later and help him work on concrete. Instead it was my previous caseworker that we only ever talked to once. Apparently my new caseworker was sick and he was calling to cancel the meeting.

Before I managed to get too upset about that, he came up with some good news. He'd taken a look at my file before calling and was going to take responsibility for my case. Instead of rescheduling the meeting, he said that he would just take care of it with me on the phone. So I didn't have to drag myself in there with all my pain. Was such a relief that someone was acknowledging my pain. Then he said that he was going to just my function description to say that I had no possibility of returning to the workforce and send it in for pension evaluation. He says he's going to put a lot of weight on the fact that my doctor says my condition is stationary. I asked him about the problem with the one idiot that evaluated my problems to be psychological and that they could be repaired with a few years of therapy. He said that it shouldn't matter whether my problems were psychological or physical because in any case, I was unable to work. So instead of us continue to speculate what might need to be done he sent it in for evaluation and they can decide if the need be to see a rheumatologist again.

He also said I should be getting a copy of the paperwork tomorrow or the day after. So DH and I are so relieved. It is ridiculous, that is taken this long for someone to see it.

So after I got off the phone with him, DH calls his friend to tell him to come sooner. Then DH got ready to go pick up more cement in town. I took the girls and went to bed.

Shawnee stayed with me for about an hour, but she didn't settle down well. When she woke me up running off at the end of that hour, I put her in her crate. Then I went back to sleep with Molly. DH checked on me a few times, but I didn't get up until after noon.

Now he and his friend are hard at work on the concrete. I made them coffee and got some bread and stuff ready for them for lunch a little bit ago. I've also done most of the dishes.

However, I am still really really tired. It isn't that surprising, because with all the pain that I'm in my body gets really worn out. I also haven't been sleeping well for days because of hurting so much. The nerves about the meeting definitely weren't helping for the past few days. I am hoping things will settle down now, and especially that my case will soon be resolved.

Having me get onto the disability pension would be such a relief for both of us. I would have a lot more freedom than I have now, for example, I could go on vacation. It would also give us some idea of our financial situation and things could finally stabilize that way. It's a lot easier to make decisions when you know what you're going to be earning tomorrow.

Wanted: Gumption

We're taking a drive tomorrow. We found a weed whacker cheap online that sounds pretty good so we are going to go see about getting that. The guy might also have a good lawnmower, so we are taking the trailer. It also sounds like there's a chance he'll take DH's parents old lawnmower in exchange.

It's a bit of a drive, so we will try to turn into a fun excursion. We have no idea what the weather's going to be, but we're taking a picnic lunch. I'm going to make ham and cheese sandwiches on homemade bread. Love tomatoes, if DH finds any worth buying today.

So, what I need right now is gumption. I feel like I ought to make some kind of cupcake or muffin to go with the sandwiches. But I woke up with a really bad headache and I'm aching all over and really all I want is to go sleep.

Help!

I Hate My Hands

My hands are really hurting from having used crutches this week. They just can't take the strain.

Until you have pain in your hands, you don't really realize how much rely on them. As well as being painful, they are also weak and not as able to lift things. I had trouble falling asleep last night because of how much they hurt.

Typing manually is definitely out of the question. Fortunately I can rely on Dragon, so I can still post my blog. Another good thing is that my hip is enough better that I hopefully will not be needing crutches today, at least not in the house.

Simple things, like drinking tea, are painful. I use a mug so that I'm able to put my fingers in the handle, so I can't drop it.

Pouring tea is more difficult because of the weight of the pot. Making my pot of tea is outright dangerous. Somehow this morning I managed to spill boiling water from the electric kettle on to my hand that was holding the handle. I guess my wrist was shaking in its weakness. Of course I had to put it down right away and run cold water on my hand. Now that I've also put aloe on it is not really painful anymore.

Fortunately we are having leftover soup tonight for dinner. I don't have to do anything with it until DH is home. I can ask him to put the pot on the stove for me. We also have bread to go with it. Rolls that I made out of leftover pizza dough this weekend.

Gorgeous Weather

I managed to get up earlier today that I had been all week. I think it helped that DH brought me painkiller before he left for work. I am doing a good bit better. I am even managing to get around without crutches today.

I had planned to take it pretty easy today and mostly just play my game and do dishes. The gorgeous weather got the better of me though so I ended up doing little bit outside. The girls have been in and out of the fence all day because they love the sun.

DH planted potatoes yesterday, I think he said he set 53 of them. With the way the weather is, he will probably plant more today. He is worried that they'll come up too fast and be hit by frost, so he is covering them with a tarp after planting.

I decided to work on my herbs little bit. I promised my mother-in-law that I would try to make some plants for her. It's probably too early, but I did try a few pieces. We keep a collapsing stool hanging out in the carport so I took that so I could sit down. DH has contained most of the herbs in large pipes that has also raised their level a bit above ground.

The oregano is the only one that isn't contained yet. I can see this just starting to come up and I cleared away the old mint and other things from last year there were covering the area. I should be able to split off a small piece for her without problem.

The estragon is just starting out the bottoms. I cleared away all last year's dead stems and seeds. I try to loosen seeds up and shake them over the area in hopes that someone would come. It also should not be problem to get some of those for my mother-in-law.

There's no signs of life in the thyme and it's not looking very good. I cut that hard back and we'll just have to hope it comes.

The sage is not looking good either. I cut back the parts that really felt dead and I'll just have to see if something comes. I will also watch for to go on sale somewhere because I am afraid I will have to replace it.

There is definitely life in the curry. I cut away the deadest parts. I cut a few of the stems that had life in them and stuck them deep in the ground. If I am lucky, those will turn into plants. I left the rest uncut, so I can try again later.

My rosemary is definitely thriving. Only a little bit looked dead and I cut that away. Like with the curry, I cut a few pieces and try to set them in the ground. Let's cross our fingers that some grow.

The one chive is definitely coming in well. The other looks like it might be starting. It had gone to seed last year, so I cut away those stems.

That work was more than enough for my hip. Everything I cut away, I immediately put into a big basket, so it easier to throw out into the compost. I left my stool out because I hope to go out while DH is working the garden after he gets home.

When I came in, I decided to turn off the furnace and heat pump. I now have windows open in a few different rooms and the door open when the girls were in the fence. I also watered the plants. We really need the fresh air, so it just feels great to have it aired out.

We're just having porridge for dinner so I don't make anything in preparation. We're going to have what translates to one or porridge, which is barley based. Last night DH took a bag of my homemade applesauce out of the freezer that we will have with it. It is normally eaten with applesauce and syrup. We probably should have made this when my parents were here, because I bet my dad love it. He likes applesauce and he likes syrup so I bet he'd love the chance to eat them together. The porridge itself would be classified as a carrier product.

Things Were Going So Well

It was overall a very productive weekend. We started Saturday with some general cleaning up and ended up rearranging the furniture again. I now have the chaise longue as my spot to lie down. It is actually very comfortable, although it does need a new cover. It is currently covered in old comforter covers, but I plan to sew a nicer cover out of a piece of fabric. We primarily decided to move it because he wanted to get it away from the outside wall, but I am finding it quite advantageous to sit at a higher height, because it's much easier on my hip.

With all the cleaning and moving around, I overdid it again. I ended up spending a few hours in bed with a book. I was supposed to make pizza for dinner, but hurt too much, so we just had spring rolls that we'd bought ready-made. Before we went to bed, we managed to get cut out a piece of leather for that special project I mentioned before. Now it is waiting for me to be ready to tool it.

Our time changed Saturday night, which would normally cost us an hour sleep. However, DH understood that I wasn't in very good shape, so he let me sleep until 10 o'clock the new time, which would be nine o'clock in the old time. The extended sleep really helped and I woke up feeling much better.

While I took a quick shower, DH stripped the bed. After I had breakfast and relaxed for a little while, he got out my sewing machine. Although I had to take a number of breaks, I managed to repair a blanket and a pair of pants. After another extended break, I was able to prepare the pizza dough. I used cool water so that it could rise more slowly.

A little while later, DH came in and asked if I wanted a ride. I said yes, so he headed out to get my horse. I got dressed a ride and went out to meet him. We help each other groom her, then he got her saddle and saddled her up for me. With his help, I mounted and headed out for a ride.

I rode the bike path along the road until I could cross the road and head up the asphalt road into the woods. They had recently dug ditches and painted a number of marks on the road, so Ria was a bit nervous. She behaved fine, but I could feel that she was insecure. When we crossed the railroad tracks, she must not been paying enough attention and somehow managed to get a hoof down in the track. It was quite a jolt for my back, but she managed to get it out again without a problem. After that things settled down and we had a really nice ride.

I guess I should've known things were going too well and been prepared for something to happen, but I was too busy enjoying the weather and the nice ride. We were riding along the road on the bike path to come home. Suddenly Ria jumped and freaked out at something. I managed to stay on, but something wrong in my right hip and I was in agony. Suddenly a man on a bicycle was right beside us. Then I understood why Ria had reacted like that. The idiot snuck up on us and do anything to let us know he was coming. Ria could not have seen him until he was right up at her or maybe even touched her. Once things were over, I found myself wishing she'd kicked him or I had the sense to kick him in the face with my spurs. In.

I was in so much pain I couldn't sit up straight. I held onto the cantle of my saddle with one hand and fished my cell phone out of my pocket with the other. DH's cell phone is the first number in my phone book, so I tried to call him on that number. He didn't answer, so I hung up. While I was trying to find our home number further down in the book I heard him yell. I yelled back that he should come over and help me. I was only about 10 m from our driveway, but on the other side of the road. I was terrified I would fall off because of the pain, leaving Ria out of control at the busy road. He hurried over and took a rein to lead her.

While he led us the rest of the way home and got us over the road, I told him what had happened. He wished I'd yelled at the guy. But of course I hadn't thought of that either. He got too far away for it to make sense to try to catch up with him then.

DH helped me off and took care of all Ria's needs. While I was riding, he had cut up all the remaining vegetables for pizza. At that point I could mostly stand on my right leg, so I came in and got the pizza ready but he took care of the horses.

The pizza turned out really good.

At some point during the evening my brain kicked into gear and it occurred to me that I might be able to solve my local wireless network problems by updating the firmware of the wireless base station. It turned out, there was actually a new firmware update available and it had been available since the middle of 2006. I downloaded and installed it. According to the record of changes, it sounds like there may be a fix similar to the problem I was having.

I had trouble falling asleep and ended up reading for a while. Once I finally did fall asleep, I don't how long I slept before DH woke me up because I had to take a painkiller because I was whining so much in my sleep. After I took the pill I did end up sleeping pretty well until this morning. He woke me up to say goodbye when he left for work. At that point I was no longer able to sleep on the right side.

When I got up, I found I could barely put weight on my right leg because of the pain. So today is going to be a very nonfunctional nonproductive day (as can be seen by the fact that it is 2 PM already and I have done nothing useful). It is a good thing we have pizza left for dinner. Just getting around in the house is agony and I'm having to use my crutches inside. Molly is been a great help and Shawnee is being a great comfort. At the moment, Molly is lying on the sofa behind my head and Shawnee is lying on my feet, warming them for me.

Busy Baker bex

Our weather is nasty today, so DH said I didn't have to feed Daisy. Yesterday he put a big bale of hay down into the woods down in the end of the pasture. They have plenty of shelter down there and with the wind and rain, he doubts she'd want to come up and eat anyway.

I'm very relieved not to have to feed because I slept horribly again last night. It's all the pain that keeps waking me up and all the painkillers that certainly aren't helping either. They help with the pain, but they make my system work weird. I was up for a little while, right after DH left for work, but then I slept again. I got up a little after nine. I'm amazed the girls let me sleep that long. I think Shawnee is growing up enough that she starting to be able to hold it longer.

I've had yeast in the refrigerator all week waiting for me to have the energy to bake. I just put three loaves of bread in the oven. I figure that if I was going to go through all that work I might as well do it properly and make plenty. I used the yeast is normally the right amount for four loves. Our bread form is very large so that got a little bit more than half the dough. The rest are split in half and made into two smaller loaves that I just put flat on the pan. DH prefers bread baked in the form, but his parents prefer the bread baked on the pan. His mother says that she thinks the stuff on the pan holds longer. My theory is that that's because the entire loaf gets coated with egg as opposed to only the top like when you do it in a loaf pan.

DH really enjoys having homemade bread on the weekends. His parents usually buy bread from the bakery, but it's very expensive. Last time I gave them a loaf they praised it very highly so I think that she liked mine better than the bakery bread. I like being able to help them and is great to have something to be proud of.

I probably won't get blogged as much over the weekend. I hope everyone has a great weekend, wherever they are.

Painkillers, Painkillers, and More Painkillers

I accidentally overdid it again yesterday. First there is feeding Daisy, which is painful and exhausting. Then we had to go to the store after DH got home from work. At the store, we ran into someone we haven't seen for several years. She is the wife of, soon-to-be ex-wife of, one of DH's old riding buddies. It turns out that the guy had a six-year-old kid on the side and spend more time with the new kid than the four he had already. So we had to stand around and talk to her for a while. To make things worse, the guy used to DH as a cover story every time he was with the girlfriend and the kid. So we gave her our phone number and were hoping to hear from her again soon. I never liked the guy, but I think she's a really nice woman.

Shawnee has been smelling like dog for a while and last night it was just too much. DH would have done it but he has so many other things he had to do and he was tired and stressed out so I gave Shawnee bath. Even though I consider my shower bench while I give her a bath, the bending down to her level is agony for my hip. I tried to finish making dinner, but I could barely stand up afterwards. DH ended up doing the last of the dinner preparation, setting the table and clearing up.

Even though I had taken several painkillers before bedtime, I had a horrible time sleeping because of the pain. I kept waking up every time I moved and needed to move a lot because I couldn't stand staying in one position. Around midnight I had to get up and take another painkiller. DH brought me another one at five o'clock in the morning. I was up around eight with the dogs but went back to bed. When I finally got up at 10 I had to take another painkiller.

Now I have said Daisy, again, but I'm struggling to keep from taking another painkiller already. I need to do the dishes and dinner prep today. My left foot is half dead.

Did I mention that my current painkillers are kind of pretty? The one side is a pale green color that matches well to the paint in the kitchen the other side is white. They're a little bit annoying though, because they have a powdery finish not a easy-to-swallow one. I like the yellow ones better, but I haven't had those for a while. The drugstore just substitutes what ever is cheaper. They are the same medication.

I hope I get through today.

No Horse, No Ride

I got all ready to go for a ride. I was dressed plenty warm and had all my tack out. I relied on crutches to get over to the horse fence. I got out Ria's rope halter and lead. DH had trouble getting her for me when I rode Sunday, but I hadn't had problems in the past. I did my usual of just talking to every horse I came to, but Ria kept walking away. I'm not up to the walking, so I couldn't chase her. I think she's just playing hard to get, but it may be there something she doesn't like about the new tack. Or maybe I just rode her too hard on Sunday.

I tried leaning against the pipes around the water cup, but she didn't come. Actually she just kept heading further down to the woods. I hurt too much to wait anymore so I had to come in. I used crutches to get back to the house. Then I collected up all the tack and put it away.

I promptly took a painkiller and went to bed. Fortunately I have some borrowed books read, and I was able to nap a little. Then Shawnee started to whine and I had to get up again.

Considering how much pain I am in my hip and in my hands from using crutches, I guess it's a good thing I didn't get a ride. I'm still frustrated and a little sad about it. It hurts when your horse doesn't want to talk to you.

Oh well.

The Skype phone we just bought on a Danish auction site has arrived. So now I get to see if my brain still works.