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Visiting Horses, Dog Baths and Other Stuff

Category: Family | Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 12:22 am

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Wow this has been an interesting day. First of all, we have snow, on top of ice, on top of mud. My daughter (22) came to visit and do her laundry. She is on a very tight budget so she only comes to visit on her laundry day (to save gas)which is usually Thursday or Sunday. I was fixing lunch and my Boxers (my current fur kids) were outside and started barking.

I looked out the window and there was a horse, with his winter blanket on, walking up the drive. The neck and head part of the blanket had come undone and was dragging on the ground. My daughter (who just happens to love horses) went out and he came right to her so she started leading him, by the blanket, back to his house (two houses down). She took quite a while so Hubby drove down to see of she needed any help. The lady that lives there finally opened the door. She thought my daughter was her son's girlfriend and didn't want to answer. So the horse is back home and the lady asked my daughter if she would walk to another neighbor's house and ask him to come and help her. Halfway there the lady yelled never mind that she could handle it by herself. So daughter and hubby come home and we eat lunch.

Hubby left for work and Daughter finished her laundry and was going home. She had parked out in the culdesac(we live out in the country, on dirt roads) because our driveway is downhill and she didn't know if she would be able to back out with the snow and ice. Turns out she can't move her vehicle at all. I tried to get my car out to take her home and I got stuck. So she and I start shoveling snow. Well we had no luck and after trying for half an hour a neighbor from down the street shows up in his truck. Turns out this is the neighbor that the horse owner was sending daughter to earlier. Anyway, he got stuck! He finally was able to get unstuck and turn around. He had a chain and hooked on to her bumper and tried to pull her out of the hole we had created. Then my new neighbor across the street came out to help. We pushed on the front while she drove and the guy in the truck pulled her out. Gotta love good neighbors! Finally, mission accomplished. She called to say she made it home ok.

When we moved here, Bouncer my pit bull, had allergies so bad that I took him back to AZ when I went and let my friend keep him. So I was without a big dog. I loved him so much but he was so miserable.

Anyway, in May I got a female Boxer puppy. Her name is Dixie and she is a maniac! The people we got her from thought we needed another one so they gave us one of her brothers. Sad long story, but he died very suddenly one night. So they gave us another one. He was the runt of the litter and only weighed 6 lbs compared to his sisters 10 lbs at the time. He was so small I named him Skeeter. He reminded me of a mosquito.

Well, Skeeter is huge now, way bigger than his sister. When my daughter left I decided to give the dogs a bath. Up till a few nights ago they were outside dogs. I had started letting them sleep in a kennel in the house due to the cold. I enjoyed having them in here so much, I decided to keep them in except to go out to potty. They loved the bath. They both love water. I think I ended up as wet as them though. Finally got them nice and dry and they romped and played and now they are taking a nap. I feel like I used to when my kids were little. Breathing a sigh of relief, creeping around quietly so I don't wake them.

I know everyone doesn't like dogs like I do (but if you have fur kids, you understand). And that's ok. They just don't know what they are missing. I have granddogs too. They are all pits.

I am now done in for! The snow is beautiful but it doesn't take much for me to have my fill. That was one thing I liked about the AZ weather. It got cold but rarely did it snow.



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Starting Over

Category: Life Changes | Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 10:44 pm

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First off, I haven't been posting because I have been in a funk of sorts for quite some time and didn't want to put any negative moods off on anyone else. Having said that, I am back and plan on staying.

Life has certainly changed during the last two years. I am now at a point that seems kind of like starting over. It has drawbacks at our age, however, it can be a great opportunity to create a new life, break old habits and start new ones.

I have done a lot of reflecting back, looking forward, been at times at what seemed like a stand-still and now feel like I can start moving forward. Life is not what we have or don't have but what we do with what we do have. When I am feeling unmotivated I usually come to gardenstew and read, even tho I haven't posted in a long time, I read here often. It is inspiring and helps remind me that some of the best things we can experience are not even tangible. It's the love of life, appreciation of nature, sharing with fiends and just an attitude of gratitude in general.

Now for the gardening aspect of my future. I have 1 acre. I have a group of trees about 40 feet from the home. I started last fall trimming some of the lower branches so I can walk under them. I also have a very low spot amongst the trees that is not a pond but hoping I can create one there. It holds water quite well as the soil here is mostly clay.

Which brings me to my gardening problems. I found out last summer that things don't grow well in clay (at least the vegetables if tried) So I have a lot of research and soil conditioning to do. I plan on starting in one area at a time and am going to make some raised beds this spring. I also have to start a compost pile. More research... as I have never been able to get one to heat up.

We also have problems with water standing, not only because of the clay but also due to the lay of the land. Needless to say we need to do some work to get the water to flow out of the yard and hopefully into my "pond".(Did I mention that my back yard is a skating rink when it freezes! One good solid fall can lay you up for a couple of weeks.)

So even tho it is going to be a lot of work, I am more than ready to begin as soon as weather permits. It took me quite a while to get through the grief of leaving my last home behind. However, I am over it! The time I spent wishing I had it back was time wasted for moving forward. A beautiful garden is something to behold but working and building it is so rewarding. It is always a work in progress but I still can't wait to see some results.

I plan on taking pictures and tracking my progress as things begin to take shape and change. Since I left most of my treasures (garden junk) behind I get to start collecting again!

My first endeavor is going to grow potatoes in straw. I will have to build a trough so the drainage will be sufficient but it looks like a fun project.
Well, it is nice to be back and look forward to being involved again.


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Back In the Real World

Category: Life Changes | Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2009 3:35 pm

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Hello, hello, hello!
Well it has been quite a while since I have had the internet. There was a time when I didn't think I could live without it. I proved myself wrong, I am still alive. Things did not quite go like expected when we came to Oklahoma. As I told you all, we came here to take care of Hubby's Dear OLD dad. It took two trips with a huge Uhaul to get all of our possessions moved (1000 miles) Half of our things were here in Ok and we made a trip back to AZ to get the rest.

We came back to OK and were met with total hostility, told to get out and we had 1 day to get the animals (dogs,and Birds) off his property or else.(goes without saying...the man it nuts) After moving and driving 1000 miles we then had to find a place, unload the uhaul, moved my dog kennels and aviaries and then moved the rest of our things we had stored in his barn. Keep in mind that he is unable to even use his barn for anything.

So we moved for 3 days in the non stop drizzle rain. I can't even begin to tell you how unreal this whole thing was. We couldn't go back to AZ as he had quit his job, we sold our house for almost nothing. So what can you do but pick yourself up and start over.

One thing I can say when the recession hit, it really didn't have an impact on us. We had already rid ourselves of job and home.

Skipping ahead to present...Finally found a place we can hopefully afford (hopefully since we are buying it) I 'm all excited, I have one whole acre of grass, trees and unlimited possibilities. However, when I started checking into getting the internet I was on a wild goose chase. Satellite was too expensive and after talking to them I don't think I would like it anyway, no dsl available here where we are, need a tower installed if we want radio/broadband,the little deal from the cell phone co that you plug in to the use port for internet didn't work and also has a limit of how much you can use it a month, so all that is left is dial up.

Turns out NOKIA has a cell phone, that when has a free program from the internet loaded on it, turns into a wi fi emitting device that will handle 4 computers at a time. Cost for the phone and unlimited internet use is $30 a month. Not bad.
It is a little slow but I will not complain, it does work. Since it works off of the cell phone signal, you can use it anywhere you get a signal.

Well, so much for all the drama but now I can get back to things that make life worth living, like gardening. The soil here is something else, solid clay. I will have to work around it but have some ideas for raised beds for next year.

Anyway, this is part of the story of my life for the past year and a half. Have missed being here and have a lot of reading to catch up on.

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Life as an Oklahoman

Category: Life Changes | Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 1:20 am

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Well, I have relocated to Oklahoma. It is so beautiful here I can't believe it. We were on the road for like 32 hours getting here. It was impossible to stop at a motel because of the animals we brought with us. so we did stop and sleep about 2 hours after being on the road for six hours. We worked 20 hours straight the day before we left getting things loaded and packed away what we couldn't take. If my cousin and her BF had not been there helping us we would probably still be packing. Anyway it was the longest, most dreadful trip I have ever taken. My son and d-inlaw came too, but we were each driving a vehicle so no one was riding with anyone. Hard to stay awake after the 20 hours working the day before, 1 1/2 hours of sleep then working another 6 hours before hitting the road. It is a miracle we all got here without an accident. We did stop often tho to walk the dogs and make sure everyone had water. I had to leave the birds home with my cousin but brought my chickens. Everyone thought I was nuts because I brought my chickens. But all of the animals fared the trip better than I did.

I do not have internet where I am living but my mother in law does so when I come to visit her, I will visit you. Hopefully I will have pictures. We have been here one week and already have a garden put in, lots of flowers planted and been fishing 4 times. Life is good so far and I fully expect it to stay that way.

Take care all, and I will get some pictures that will make at least some of you envious. The landscape here is like paradise compared to the desert in AZ. I feel so blessed just being here.

Till later,
DF

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Life and Living

Category: Life Changes | Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 4:25 pm

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I had just popped in to catch up a bit and realized just how much I have missed all of you and this lovely community. There is always something here to cheer up even the weariest days of life.

I have been struggling just to maintain some form of normalcy in my life. I suppose if I admitted it, I would have to say depression had taken up residency in my life. It's odd how sometimes, or most times, we don't recognize it until we feel better. Anyway, having recognized the problem, I can and am doing something about it.

It's not that my life is so bad. I believe it was due to health problems and some of the medications I am on. Then the new Dr. I am seeing tells me that I won't get better living where I am. I live right next to the train tracks. Sometimes the train parks in front of my house and leaves engines running for days. Turns out the diesel fumes are very bad for me,
among other things in the immediate area.

Last visit he asked me if I had moved yet. It's just not so easy to pack up and move! My house is old, but it is paid for. I love my yard and we have built a little paradise in a small area to escape and relax in.

My Hubby's father's health has taken a sudden turn for the worse. We went and visited him for two weeks. After being out of my house for two weeks, I started feeling much better. I was home for 2 days before I was sick again.

Our plan is to move to Oklahoma to help take care of DH father. Here's where things get tricky. I need to sell my house to have money to move on. We will be staying with FIL as long as he needs us. I have a few dogs and a lot of birds, along with some really cute chickens.

It is just a little overwhelming to try to imagine things will come together with the right timing, but I have faith they will.

At any rate, life is going to be changing...hmmm.
I know it will be for the better of all of us. I like change and I love the area we are going to. I can grow a garden in soil that is not contaminated with lead as it is here. The water here is also not good. It has toxic levels of a few things. I don't know how they can even sell it. We don't drink it but we do bathe in it.

The only draw back is leaving family here that I will miss. I will be leaving my two precious grandsons. I know I will still get to see them but I will have withdrawls from holding and cuddling them. They give the best lovin's of anything I have ever came into contact with. I will also be leaving my mom and dad as well as my four children. But I may be gaining my health back and that is worth every thing to me.

I plan to sell most of my birds, but can't part with my dogs. My baby, Bouncer, is 10 mo old and weighs over 80 pounds now. My FIL doesn't want dogs at his place but my SIL said I can keep them at her house a couple miles away.

I haven't advertised my house, but have one prospect. He is coming by this week to let me know if he wants it. If I sell it I can pay off my car and leave it for my daughter. I will be completely out of debt. Yippie! I hate owing on things.

It was so wonderful when we were there. I went outside at night and instead of trains (every 15 min day and night) I could hear an owl and some coyotes.

Things will be changing for sure. One of the lovely things about online communities, you can take them with you and it is one thing that you don't have to leave behind.

I am so looking forward to this change, even tho it is stressful getting everything done to get there. I am going to have one huge yard sale. The things I want to move are my big pile of barnwood, my rocks, and some of my plants. My hubby thinks I could leave my rocks and wood here. It's funny how us garden junk people put value on certain things. But I didn't see very many rocks there!

I met my husband in Oklahoma and lived there for 13 years so I know what it is like. I will have to come up with a good bug repellent that doesn't aggravate my sensitivities to chemicals.

I'm not sure when all of this will take place, but it will be soon. Now that I have vented all of my concerns, I feel much better and need to start packing and sorting. I have a lot of stuff.

Once I am there, I am sure I will have a lot of nice pic's. I will be able to take a walk and see trees and streams and different birds and such. It will be a huge change from walking in the desert where almost nothing grows.

Life is good and getting better!

I really have missed being part of this "stew" and hope I can get things done so I will have time to come and visit!

Have a great day everyone! I am going to pack!!


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Grandma...Again!!

Category: Family | Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 4:26 pm

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Hi all, long time since I have been on. Lot's of things happening but here is one of the good ones!

My second grandson was born on Dec 20th. I was fortunate to be able to witness his birth and he is one little sweetie. Although he had a few problems at birth, mom and baby are doing great now. He has quite the hairdo....







The next one was taken on Christmas Eve


Last edited: Wed Dec 26, 2007 5:04 pm

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I am a GRANDMA!!

Category: Family | Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2007 9:18 pm

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Well, I haven't been on much, been busy. Trying to get things ready so Hubby and I can take a short trip to see his family. My youngest son and is wife, however have been busier. After 36 hours of trying to induce her labor with no success, A c-section brought us the most blessed baby boy. His name is Mason Evan. He weighed in at 9lbs, 2oz and only 19 inches long. He is a little chunk to hold. These photos were taken within minutes of his birth. I can't wait to watch him grow and become his own little person. I never knew being a grandma would feel this awesome! I am truly blessed. Thank you God. Anyway, here he is.....







Last edited: Sat Sep 29, 2007 9:20 pm

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Dog Days of Summer

Category: My animals | Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 12:34 am

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First of all, this may be quite boring to you if you don't love puppies!

I have been having so much fun with my new boy, Bouncer. He has so much personality and is quite smart (I could be just a little prejudice). He is learning his commands very quickly. In fact, I just talk to him like I would my child. But then don't we all? Anyway he knows sit, lie down, crawl on his belly, wait and no. He is so eager to please he doens't usually have to be told twice. He did help himself to Hubby's chips today. Hubby got up to answer the phone and Bouncer promptly got in his chair, very carefully got himself one chip and got down. Not a good habit but it was so cute. He also takes Hubby's socks off for him every night. Today I was out checking on all my dogs and spraying some water around to cool things off a bit. Bouncer loves the water and played in it for quite some time. He will let it spray him right in the face. He like to bite at it and roll in the spray of the hose. His brother, Toby, wasn't sure what to do. He does not share Bouncer's sense of adventure at all. It is kind of sad because Toby seems to know this is not his real home even tho my son only had him for 3 days before he went on vacation and left him with me. Bouncer on the other hand, knows this is his home and actually acts like a child with company.(He is kind of stingy with his toys lol, but we are teaching him to share) I love watching them develope thier individual personalities.Anyway here is my little buddy playing in the water.




Last edited: Sun Aug 12, 2007 12:41 am

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Rain, Rain and more Rain

Category: Arizona Weather | Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 4:39 pm

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The monsoons have arrived! It has been raining every afternoon and sometimes through the night. I have been busy puting out mosquito granules in any water I can't dump out. Those little gems work so well. Things are really taking off...including the weeds, which isn't so bad. My birds love purslane and there is a lot of it. I hate the puncture vine though and there is a lot of it too. Trying to pick it all before the stickers get here but it is impossible. If there was a market for it. I would be rich!

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Puppies + Energy = Chaos (and truly wireless mouse)

Category: My animals | Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 3:48 pm

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Hi all, it may be winter by the time I get this one finished! Among the latest of Bouncer's escapades was making my wireless mouse.....well, truly and absolutely wireless. I never leave him unattended(this was a mini emergency) in the house as he is a puppy and puppies chew. I have covered and hidden electrical wires, don't need a hot dog. Anyway, I am having to learn to get around without my mouse and use this little thing on the laptop. I don't like it ....

On with the story...When I got Bouncer, my son picked him up for me and we met on the road(Bouncer lived 2 hours away at that time and my son lives. in the same area. This is son #2,(We have 3 boys and 1 girl)and he is in the Army. Although we have had dogs when they were rowing up, this son has never had his very own dog. He has been wanting a pit for a long time and he fell in love with Bouncer's brother, and the rest is history. Well, he and his wife were going on vacation later that week so son # one lives near me and we told him we would keep "Toby" for them while they were gone. He keeps him but brings him over each afternoon and I keep him till bedtime. Last night they disappeared a few minutes and returned to the living room with a tube of body wash I knew was on the backside of the tub. Well, they had a five minute heyday in the bathroom. Water everywhere! (Good thing toilet was clean) Puppy tracks in bathtub, on the floor, anything that could be reached was in the kitchen. I'm quite sure they took a dip in the mini pool lol. Be so happy when son gets home a takes his. They are doing pretty well on learning commands but it is much harder to be consistent while working with one as the other is so distracting but we are trying. I am quite sure I got the best one of the two lol. Here are some pictures of the two when they chewed holes in my hose and built themselves a small lake (ka mud hole). I have to find a mouse this is so hard to do without it. I feel like someone chewed my wiring..brain to hand is having problems connecting. Ok swiped myself a mouse...

Toby



Bouncer





Boy I am not used to puppies so I have to be really careful and alert. I sure don't want them to come to harm by any means. There are so many hazards in a house not yet puppy-proofed. That will be my goal today, puppy-proof the house. I already did the yard.

Last edited: Sun Aug 05, 2007 4:01 pm

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