Lou's Snowman

Lou's Snowman after adding  "Snowman in a Bag"

Lou's Snowman

February 20th - Wednesday - Cold and Windy - High today 19 degrees

Yesterday with the addition of snow, Lou went out to scrape the driveway and the sidewalks and I was sad that I couldn't go out and help him, so after he finished all of the necessary work, he built me a snowman in front of the kitchen window.  After he came in and I noticed what he had done for me, I remember the "Snowman in a Bag" kits that Al made for the grandkids one year for Christmas, so today after we got back from the dentist I went to the garage and found it and decorated the snowman from the kit.  If you notice, there is a carrot nose, a red heart, a real corn cob pipe, and coal for the buttons and eyes, a wool scarf and we had a felt hat that belonged to my dad, but I couldn't find it, so I left the big wood chip that Lou had used.  He certainly add cheer to our front yard.

Today was Lou's visit to the dentist and he is now minus one tooth, so our dinner is homemade soup and Lou has spent the afternoon enjoying one of his Johnstone western books.  No square dancing for him tonight.  Had phone calls from several other members and they aren't going out in the cold this evening either.

I saw Dr. Joe today, however, he was not able to get my hips back place, I am hoping that some physical therapy is going to give me some relief in this area along with my shoulder, spring is on its way and I want to be able to move a little freer .

We have been enjoying reviewing slides from travels and family from years ago along with working on genealogy all seem to go together.  Certainly the time flies while doing both of these things.

More Snow

February 19th - Tuesday and More Snow **

We have been enjoying the quieter days with not having a tight schedule, watching some movies, having some extra time to research some airplanes on the computer and just talking.  Today it has started snowing and that has brought the birds out to the feeders that Lou keeps filled up.  Unfortunately, when I got up to look at the birds, I saw a bird that I wasn't expecting, there was a Red Tailed Hawk feasting on one of our little birds.  I guess they get hungry also, but they didn't have to snatch it right under our window.  Usually the Red Tailed Hawks hunt in the fields, and we love to watch them circle in the sky.

Lou's daughter, Sandra stopped on Friday night and had dinner with us, she had been in Harrisburg to pick up her new car.  She purchased a new BMW and it is a beauty.  Her father had to drive it and was greatly impressed with it.  We certainly wish her well with her new car, she has waited a long time for this.  It was nice to have her with us for dinner.

Brion and Janet spent the long weekend with Spencer in Nashville and from what we have heard from Janet they had a safe flight down and back and had a great time while they were away.  Spencer is now a Captain in the Army and stationed in Kentucky.

Lou and I have been taking a walk each day and enjoying the fresh air and there are signs of God's promise of spring everywhere we want to look.  Have you noticed how much longer the days are getting?  We are seeing buds getting larger on the trees and the bulbs in the ground are coming closer to the surface and some are up.  We are seeing turkey and deer each day, all add to our pleasure to getting up each and every day.

I started something different on Sunday, I went to Ancestry.com to do some research on my father's side of the family and I found it fascinating and I think it is going to be very time consuming and addictive.  When I did the Gerow side of the family, I did it the hard way and this is really as easy way, and will go much quicker.  So am going to try and discipline myself on the time I spend doing this.

Tomorrow is the day set aside for Lou to have a tooth extracted, and I have an appointment to have the stitches removed on Friday, so will be a busy rest of the week.

Surgery is Over - Time for a Walk

Surgery is over and all went well and I am supposed to exercise my fingers to keep the swelling down, so thought I would go for a walk in the bright sunshine and enjoy the fresh air, after being in the hospital for a day.

The surgeon was happy to report to me the damage was not as extensive as the MRI had reported; therefore he did not need to put in a screw, still have the same incisions as I would have had otherwise, but won't require as long to heal.  When I went back today for a dressing change today, he told me I could lose the sling and exercise my fingers, but not raise my arm up, it can hang down and dangle in circles until I go back in a week to have the stitches removed.  All very good news.

I had very good care in the new Short Stay Unit at Soldiers and Sailors Hospital in Wellsboro.  All of the years I worked for Dr. Thomas and Dr. Nespola this was the second time I had been a patient there and I am very proud of our small town hospital and the staff.  They made me feel very much at home and I certainly could not have received better care.  When I reached home, I also had very good care.  Lou couldn't do enough for me, how fortunate I am to have such a caring and loving person for a husband.

The picture that I took on my walk is from the Catlin Hollow Road towards my brother's house.  The biggest red building is his tool shed and the small building is the Sugar Shanty that Daddy, Jerry and Al built from an old barn of William Irwin that was located next to the Catlin Hollow Cemetery in 1981.  Daddy, Jerry and Al made Maple syrup in the Shanty the old fashioned way. Gathering the sap with Jerry's Belgium work horses pulling a homemade red box wagon with a stainless steel gathering tank  to the sugar bush where the trees had been tapped with spiles with buckets hanging from the spiles.  I remember slipping and sliding in snow carrying the buckets of sap from the trees to the gathering tanks, trying not to spill the sap.  Especially after a really cold night and a warm sunny day, sometimes the buckets would be running over with sap.

Next stop would be the Sugar Shanty, to use a hose to transfer the sap to the boiling pan to start the long process to boil that sap down to the proper consistency for the finished product.  It kept one man busy just keeping a steady wood fire under the boiling pan.   Sometimes it would be so steamy in there you couldn't see across the shanty.  Daddy would always want to have a dozen eggs so he could have hard boiled eggs in syrup.  The stories that would fly through the air while we waited for "syrup" were to be remembered for years to come.  Great Memories for our families.  Gone are the horses, gone are Daddy and Al, but the memories are plentiful with our families and Krista keeps reminding me of these memories, as she is the youngest in our families and she grew up here and these things are all so important to her.  She is very rooted in Catlin Hollow and has the great privilege of living in the Homestead and I am next door and Jerry is two doors down and he takes care of all of the Goodwin property in grand shape.  Our parents would be very proud of what they left to him.

and the Results are...............

Deer from the first position of the camera

These are the turkeys from the second position of the camera

Looks like the squirrel is doing a dance

Wouldn't it be nice to see these during season?

Do you notice the date, temperature and time below each picture?

The camera is pointed towards Catlin Hollow Road

The camera is positioned on a pine tree on the dug road to Jerry's field

You can see Catlin Hollow Road to the left

I guess even skunks like corn

These are a few of the results from the camera that Brion, Janet, Preston and Sue gave us for Christmas.  My brother took it down to his house and mounted it near his corn crib to get some pictures for Lou, as we were not having very good luck in our area.  I don't know where the guys have decided to put it now.  We  know something different has walked across our barn yard, so maybe Lou will put it back in our barn lot now that I have taken some of the pictures off of it.

Joanne, (my sister-in-law) and I were talking today and as she said we don't know what wanders around our homes at night while we are sleeping; however, these turkeys come each day in the morning and the afternoon, depending on the weather.

Happy Valentine's Day

February 14th - Happy Valentine's Day

Had to have a special cookie for this day.

Plant City Strawberries

February 13th - Wednesday - Cooler

Aren't they pretty?  Brion and Janet stopped by and brought us Plant City, FL strawberries.  What a wonderful surprise and a delicious treat.  If we were in Florida as usual we would be eating them three times as day.

I prepared them for shortcake and have enough to have it for dessert for three evenings, want to make them last for as long as we can.  What we get in the grocery store here are usually from California and we think the Florida ones have more flavor.

Today, I have an appointment to get my hair cut and I also see Dr. Joe for my hips.  Lou and I have everything pretty much done in preparation for my surgery tomorrow morning.  Lou went to his breakfast meeting with his retired co-workers from Schweitzers yesterday and when he got home he ran the sweeper and shampooed the carpets for me and I did all of the hard wood floors.

I have had many phone calls yesterday and today with well wishes and prayers for a fast recovery, all of which I have appreciated.  It may be some time before I do another post, depending on how long before I can use my right hand.

Not What it Used to Be

February 11th - Monday - High today was 38 degrees

Our snow is melting along with the ice that was on our sidewalks.  Thankfully, we didn't get the snow that was forecasted for our area.  Our granddaughter's friend from Boston came here for the weekend, and I am sure he was glad to be here and not at home, now the problem to get back home and back to college.

Sunday was our Coffee Hour after church that I had been talking about and I took my camera with me so I could take a picture of the serving table and then I forgot all about doing it until Lenore and I were picking things up ready to come home.

It did look very nice and everything we made was very well received and the "goodies" disappeared quickly and just a little left over and we shared that with folks that couldn't make it to the service on Sunday.  One thing that was disappointing to me was the Sweetheart candies that I always liked as a child.  I purchases several boxes, as I thought the kids would enjoy them, well let me just tell you, the message on them are sure different from the messages that were on them when I was a kid.  Now they are all "text messages" what a disappointment for us older folks!!  I don't text, so I couldn't read many of the messages.  I guess I just am not with the program.

In the Midst of the Snow Storm

February 8th - Friday - Snowing with a promise for much more!

It has been a busy few days here so will bring everyone up to date on the happenings around here.

Lou had his appointment with Dr. Hogrefe in Corning for his cataract evaluation and he is scheduled for his right eye on the 28th of February and that will be done in Horseheads, NY at the Guthrie Clinic.  This is the same doctor and clinic that we took his sister to and we feel very comfortable going there.  We liked the doctor very much.  He will do his dominant eye (the left eye) in March after right eye has healed.  That way if he is not seeing as well as he wishes him to, he will tweak the strength the lens a bit in the left eye.  I thought that was a wonderful idea.

We have talked to Camping World and our King Dome has finally arrived back to them and our windshield has arrived also; however, we are going to wait until April to make that trip and allow two days to have the new windshield installed.  I contacted our insurance company this morning and that works for them, so all appointments have been secured, this has been ongoing since last November.

I had my appointment at Soldiers and Sailors Hospital yesterday for my Pre-Admission-Testing for my shoulder surgery and found out it is going to be more extensive that I had thought, which was a bit of a downer, but I will be so glad to have it done and be rid of this constant pain and the thoughts of being able to sleep all night seem wonderful.  Then I can concentrate on getting my hips in place.  Now I know what my patients meant about the golden years being a bit tarnished.

Lou has found that when there is a storm coming his hip causes him a great deal of pain also and this morning he awoke with a tooth ache, so he is off to the dentist in the midst of the beginning of the storm, but I thought it was better to have the tooth looked at before the weekend.

My brother stopped this morning with our outside camera, as he told us he has turkeys that come to his corn crib each day and he thought he could get us some good pictures, so we checked them out and he had it aimed a bit too high, but he sure has turkeys and he was surprised to have had a deer visit him this morning, so we are anxious to see what does come now.

Now about the beautiful geraniums that arrived by Fed Ex this morning.  We ordered them to have in the RV, aren't they beautiful?  Especially in the winter.  I like to have flowers to decorate the RV with inside and sometimes I put some outside, and these will be perfect and on a snowy day like today, they sure perked up the house.

Keeping them Fed

February 4th - Monday - Cold and Snowy  16 degrees

We woke up this morning to more snow, a light dusting, but enough to require the driveway and sidewalks to be shoveled off, which I did while Lou fixed our breakfast.  This is a job that I enjoy as long as I don't have to lift the snow and with our blacktop drive and a little snow I don't have to, I call it walking the snow off.  There was a brisk breeze with blue skies and it was a joy to be able to enjoy the fresh air for a half hour.

There hasn't been a lot of excitement here, as I have been busy cleaning house getting everything in order and sorting through magazines that have piled up, although I have to admit by staying  home this winter, we have stayed on top of our magazines and have enjoyed reading them as they arrive.

Saturday morning Lou went to his house, as two of his daughters, Sandra and Ande came to the house to do some genealogy work and he enjoyed looking through pictures and remembering times past.  He stopped at his sister's house and had a chat with her, we usually do that on Sunday, but I had requested him to get a picture of her new amaryllis, she had told me that it had been beautiful and also some orchids that she was growing.  Her amaryllis was on its way out, but surely can tell it had been beautiful.

We have been keeping our bird feeders full and certainly have been enjoying our birds this winter.  Although we have not seen any cardinals after it started getting really cold.  We had so many all summer and fall and usually as soon as the snow comes we have more than usual, but not this year. The little red polls have been such fun to watch and my favorite the red breasted nuthatch.

The nuthatch is on the suet

Lou filled all of the feeders up just before dark tonight, so they are ready for the birds in the morning.