Snow gone but coming back

11/24/07 Saturday
It was pretty painful to sit up and get out of bed this morning. Residuals from cooking chili yesterday I suppose. But the arthritis in my finger joints was making itself known last night in an unmistakable way. So perhaps it is all the weather rolling through that is aggravating this. When I think about it I’m sure it is a combination of work and weather causing this increase in pain. The finger joints are swollen and hurting this morning also. I took one of the pills I avoid as much as I can. There is always much to do so I don’t want to be slowed down.

All the snow is gone now. It pretty much melted away yesterday. The puppies stay a muddy mess so are relegated to the kitchen living room area when we bring them in, at least till the dry off. The white parts of their fur has become that West Texas shade of red from the dirt. They need a bath but I don’t think it will happen anytime soon. Maybe when it warms up and dries out I’ll fill up their pool and get out the hose. There is another storm front coming through today. It promises to bring another batch of snow but the temperatures will hover just at the freezing point, going below at night. I am really curious to see how the rye does with this. There is still fifty pounds of seed left that I will have to use after I see what if anything comes up. There were some patches of rye growing from the first areas I planted. I suspect that will be the most effected by the freeze. I’ll let you know.

We have made quite a dent in our firewood keeping the house warm these last few days. Maybe weeks, that’s the kind of thing that gets real hazy because of my memory issues. I just know we have used a lot of wood because the pile is way down. There is plenty more wood. The pile by the trailer is mostly the mystery wood I got permission to cut down the road. When I was visiting Don and Cynthia the asked what kind it was. “It’s not Elm is it?” Cynthia asked. I didn’t know but they have an elm tree in their back yard so I went out to look at the leaves. Yep, it’s elm. Cynthia told me that elm smells nasty when burned. I haven’t smelled anything bad in the house but that is good news because if you can smell the wood burning it means the woodstove is leaking fumes into the house. I did notice a less than pleasant smell outside so now understand where it came from. Elm isn’t the best burning wood. It burns quick and leaves lots of ash but it burns and makes heat so works for me. I just have to feed the fire and clean out the stove more often. We are grateful Amy for this woodstove you got us. Thanks again.
I'm sure Bud (in the pick up) thought I was crazy out there in my sweatpants, slippers, and no shirt taking this picture. I'm sure that by now they are sure I'm a few pints shy of a gallon


Right now we are preparing to go into Midland where we will return the wallet and slippers along with a pair of jeans that still have the tags on them Steve and Janie gave us. Nope, I just looked in the bag and there is a receipt so they are jeans we bought that were the wrong size. That probably means I bought them cause I can never remember what size I wear and usually have Cherie write it on a piece of paper when I go to the store. Cherie is almost done putting her face on so I best get dressed and ready to go. Heaven forbid she is ready before me. That just doesn’t happen. Uhmm…well…Ok it happens but not if I can help it. Got ta go.