Random 5 Friday

1. Miss Cleo did not like being disturbed for a photo. I have the camera on silent mode. I can move around and do whatever in the room and no pet moves. I point a camera at any of them and get the stink-eye! I don't understand how they know. ha

2. It's still bitter cold here. I've left the water dripping for the past two nights and will probably do so the next few. Many around me have gone without power due to automobile wrecks.

3. There is about 7 inches of snow on the ground. Supposed to snow tonight with an additional 1 to 3 inches by morning.

4.  As cold as it is, the sun is as bright as if I were on an exotic island. It's simply beautiful. I actually laid on the floor in a sun puddle with Miss Cleo, Samson and Mister. I had a nice nap.

5.  FIFTY-FIVE days until Spring. I keep saying, "I think I can. I think I can."

I'm joining Nancy at A Rural Journal for Random 5 Friday.

Snow

It began to snow about 6:30 this morning. Hasn't let up since ...

 

The snow is too deep for me to get out in it so I took some shots from the windows.

The snowflakes have been beautiful. Big. Light. Fluffy. Lazy.

 

  

The poor birds are having a hard time getting to the food. I put some out that isn't snowbound.

Mister loves watching the birds feed. Sometimes, he tries to jump through the glass to get one.

Random 5 Friday

 I'm joining Nancy at A Rural Journal for Random 5 Friday ...

1. This is about all we've done for a while. That lump under the comforter is Samson. Miss Cleo and Mister like the heat he emits. I like it too on these cold nights. No electric blanket necessary.

2. I've had an aggravating time trying to post for a few weeks. So I haven't posted. My IE11 seems to be the problem. Google likes IE9 and IE10 but not IE11. I downloaded Firefox browser; had to do a few adjustments and finally it works. I don't like Google Chrome and don't want to use it if I don't have to.

3. I spoke too soon with Samson being in the clear for surgeries. About two weeks ago, I noticed the right side of his groin area swollen quite a bit. I got him an appointment to see the vet yesterday. Seems he has a palm-sized tumor that suddenly popped up. He has had four tumors removed in the last three years. This Thursday, he will have four (possibly five) more removed. I hate that he has to go through this. Poor baby. He's almost as scarred up as I am.

4. The SERVICE ENGINE SOON light illuminated on my Blazer dashboard. I stopped by the mechanic's shop on the way home. He checked it out for me. He says to have the spark plugs and wires changed at the next oil change. I hope that is the answer. I get very nervous at the thought of breaking down.

 Frozen windows ... ICE on INSIDE

5. Mother Nature is riding the roller coaster in West Virginia. We had bitter, bitter cold the first week of January. Down to -13 degrees. The second week was quite mild and even reached 64 degrees one day. This week has been up and down. Rain. Snow. Beautiful sunshine. Today it's snowing. It actually hailed little snowballs.

End of year checkup ...

December is the time of year that is both anticipated and dreaded. The anticipated part of the month is all the well-known, happy celebrations. The dreaded part: taking Samson to the vet for his yearly checkup. Usually, it's such an effort to get him there that I feel like I need a checkup too. This year was different. Getting him there was easy. As you can tell by the rapid wagging of his tail, he was anxious to see who was opening the door. The vet gets in the floor with him for the checkup because putting him on the table makes him VERY anxious and defensive. This visit was stressful in that he needed four shots, a stool sample and a blood-draw. His toenails were also clipped. He hates that more than the shots I believe. He's lost five pounds, which is great. He has a few small tumors but nothing that can't wait a while. He's had two surgeries for tumors in the past three years. I'd rather him not have anymore if at all possible for a while. Overall, he appears well and happy.

In anticipation of his high stress level, I gave him acepromazine. The vet tech told me to give it to him one hour before his appointment time. That one hour was not long enough. He was full of  vim and vigor for the entire evaluation. Unfortunately, on the way home, it took affect. The photo below is what he was like when I was trying to get him out of the car at about 5 PM to go into the house. It only got worse. I couldn't get him to comprehend what he needed to do. I couldn't pick him up. I felt helpless. I wanted to cry. I came into the house and got several blankets because it was bitter cold. I covered him very well so he wouldn't get cold. The acepromazine lowers body temperature and that worried me. I'd given him the pill at 2:30 PM. At 7 PM he was still out of it and sound asleep in the car. I went out every 30 mins to check on him. Finally, at about 9 PM I got a pocket full of jerky and headed to the car. I couldn't leave him there all night and I wanted to prepare myself for the night. I gently woke him and let him get a sniff of the jerky. My prayer was answered and it was working! Whoo-hoo! I helped him out of the Blazer. I broke very small pieces of the jerky off and tossed them, one by one, a few feet ahead of him. He'd make his way to the jerky, stop to eat it and plop down for a rest. That happened six times before we made it to the top of the ramp. Finally, after about 20 mins, we were in the house and he was on the couch under his blanket and snoring. I didn't feel comfortable not keeping an eye on him so I put the ottoman by him on the couch and I slept in the recliner. I checked on him several times throughout the night. It was the next evening before he began to stir. That pill definitely has a 24-hour effect. Unless he has another surgery, I will never again give him that sedative. ha

We made it through the checkup of 2013 and will not give it another thought until the postman delivers the reminder card for December 2014.

Random 5 Friday

I'm joining Nancy at A Rural Journal for Random 5 Friday.

 

1. A few weeks ago, I met up with some family members for dinner at Bob Evans. My cousin (back row, center), her husband and her granddaughter (in front) was passing through and made an overnight stop to visit. The ones in the red vest, mauve pullover and black cardigan and I (in the wheelchair) grew up within a few hundred yards of each other in Plum Hollow. We were more like sisters than cousins. The visit brought lots of good memories to surface. I wish children could grow up like we did back then.

 

2. The pump went out on my septic tank. After 3 weeks and thus far $1,084, I have a temporary fix. When the pump went out, it caused electrical problems. The pump was replaced and the electrical problem has been temporarily fixed. At least I can wash clothes and take way-too-long showers and 40-gallon baths now. The latter two are on the very short list of luxuries I enjoy. I abuse them whenever I can.

 

3.  I'm getting pretty good at spinning fiber. It's quite enjoyable, relaxing and productive.

 

4. My favorite thing when it snows is watching my dog. He licks it for a bit then digs in with his teeth and eats it as he does food. I've never seen a dog enjoy snow as he does. He won't go outside if it's raining though. Forget it. Not happening.

 

5.  I think I'd like to have one of those single-serving Keurig coffee makers. I have a perfectly good Cuisinart 12-cup coffee maker that I've had for years and it will probably last a few more. I just can't decide what to do.

Marshall University Plane Crash

Forty-three years ago. November 14, 1970. A dark, foggy, cold, rainy night in Wayne County, West Virginia. Seventy-five souls perished in the worst single air tragedy in NCAA sports history.  Almost the entire Marshall University football team, coaches, flight crew, and many fans lost their lives that night when the plane carrying them home from a 17-14 loss to East Carolina University crashed into a hillside.

Our community was and forever will be heartbroken at the event that is forever seared into our memories. I was seven years old at the time. I recall watching the news with my parents. I had no idea what was happening but I knew it was bad.



This is a photo of the Memorial Student Center Fountain that stands in memory of those victims. Every year, on November 14, a memorial service is held at this fountain. There are speakers, many who are children of those parents who perished, and the laying of a ceremonial wreath. The water to the fountain is turned off from the end of the ceremony until Spring the next year.

 

The fountain is more than 13 feet high and weighs 6,500 pounds. There are 75 points encircling the top of the fountain. One for each life that was lost. There is also a bronze plaque inscribed:

"They shall live on in the hearts of their families and friends forever, and this memorial records their loss to the university and to the community."

There also is a memorial that overlooks the area where the plane crashed into the hillside: 

Here is a youtube clip from the movie "We Are Marshall" starring Matthew McConaughey that was made in 2006. It's a scene of a pre-game speech the first season after the crash. I did not make this youtube video.

If you are in Huntington, West Virginia for any length of time, you will also shout:

We are ...

MARSHALL!!

It's snowing ...

I awoke this morning to a blanket of about 1.5 inches of heavy, wet snow. This was my view when I opened the back door:

 

As you can see, I was not prepared for snow. I've not put away a few pots of dead flowers and soil. It's supposed to be in the 60s by weekend so I'll do it then. I also have not dug out my snow shovel nor have I purchased pet-safe de-icer.

 

I had an appointment at 9:30 in the City this morning. I left in plenty of time. Here are a few photos of the drive:

 

 

The sun was doing it's best to give some warmth but the clouds were doing their best to prevent it. Unfortunately, the clouds won. They skies closed and it's been cold and damp all day. I returned home about noon and crawled into bed with Samson, Miss Cleo and Mister. We all slept for about two hours. ha I didn't sleep that long last night for some reason.

 

Hope your day is sunny, dry and happy.