Starry night on the prairie

Another night of little sleep. This is getting old quick. At least I got two hours in a row last night. That is more and better sleep than I had gotten the last couple of nights so maybe things are going to improve from here. I am feeling very sleep deprived right now.

Got on the hot line last night and handled four callers. Had another heart breaker case. At the end of it the texter was in a better space mentally than when they texted in. It felt good to get them there but oh my their situation is a hard one for them.

Went to Emporia before noon today. I picked up our tax returns. Jim has to sign a form before they can file the taxes so I will have to run the form into town tomorrow. I need to get our federal money back so I can pay the state. Easy come – easy go.

Stopped by the Salvation Army and dropped off eight boxes of stuff collected from the investment property. It feels good to have that out of the house and gone.

Went to my dental cleaning appointment. The girl that did my cleaning last time asked me when I got there if I would allow another student to do it this time. Each student has to handle a certain variety of cleanings and my teeth fit some special category that they don’t see often. I said yes and by the time it was over I wished I had said no.

This is the first time I felt like the student cleaning my teeth was not well suited for her new profession. She had a high, squeaky voice that grated on me. She had the personality of a stump. I was surprised she was a second year student as she kept hitting my teeth with her instruments. She had to take each x-ray twice as she didn’t position the thingy correctly. I was there for three hours and she didn’t get done. She did some extra things as she is using me as a class presentation case study. I have to go back March 30 for her to finish the cleaning and then back a third time for her to do something to finish up the case study.

When she was looking at her calendar to schedule my return visit I told her I could only do Tuesday afternoons. The first date she gave me was a Thursday afternoon. I repeated my limitations. The second date she gave me was a Tuesday morning. I repeated my limitations. The third date she gave me was a Thursday morning. I repeated my limitations. She finally found a Tuesday afternoon. Man! Some people can’t hear and listen at the same time.

It was a great lesson to me to next time say no to special requests. I came home grumpy and with a headache.

I called and ordered a dumpster to be delivered to the new investment property. They are bringing it tomorrow. We will have 30 days to get it filled and then I am to call them so they can come back and pick it up. We are having a work day with some of my kids helping us this coming Sunday afternoon. I bet we will get most of the stuff into the dumpster then. Jim has an old garage he wants to tear down and add to the dumpster if we have room left at the end of the day.

The roofing company called and let me know they are delivering shingles tomorrow. That means they will be starting the project either Friday or next Monday.

Thursday the furnace is going to be cleaned and inspected. Progress is slowly starting to happen. I was going to go in and work some more sorting through stuff this afternoon but decided not to go in. Not sure I would be very productive today.

I have ham and corn chowder cooking in the crock pot for dinner tonight. I’m glad dinner is already ready when we are ready to eat. I don’t feel like cooking tonight.

It is another beautiful day on the prairie today. Temperatures are in the mid 60’s with bright, blue skies. It is a touch windy again but this is KS and most days are a touch windy in KS.

The girls gave us 28 eggs today – a new record. I have 29 hens so all but one laid an egg today. What to do with all these eggs is the big question around here these days. When the kids come over Sunday I am going to fix potato salad and deviled eggs. That will use up at least two dozen eggs. Maybe I will make an angel food cake and use up even more.

It does feel good to have a project to organize and work my through. I have need a big project and this property is providing that. I sure would like to have it done and ready to be rented out no later than the first of May. We will see if we can hit that target or not.

Grateful our taxes will be filed tomorrow, grateful they can deliver a dumpster tomorrow, and grateful for the wonder of eggs – they still amaze me when I gather them each and everyday.

I had trouble finding much sleep last night. It was one of the worse nights I have had for a long time for sleeping. I even had trouble finding sleep this afternoon when I tried to take a nap. Wonder what is up with that?

Went to the investment property and worked for a couple of hours this afternoon. Have a huge pile of filled trash bags, a big stack of donations and recycling and found a couple items to keep. I have most of the stuff in the house sorted although I still have to go through some more things on the back porch. Progress.

I went through each room and made a list of things that we will need to do to each room. That helps me prioritize and sort in my mind what needs to happen next. Jim worked outside and found lots of recycling stuff as well as trash. He found a few treasures to save too. He took two car loads of stuff to the recycling center already and has more to take.

I called the plumber, electrician and furnace people. I have a confirmed appointment with the furnace guy but the other two will call me when they can come. I also called and found a dumpster and got details on ordering that. Jim decided after working this afternoon that we could get a dumpster sooner than he thought so tomorrow I will call and get one ordered to be delivered for later this week. We can keep it for 30 days at a set price. That should give us enough time to get the outside cleaned up.

Some people came this afternoon and took away some furniture that had been left in the house. They found a few other things they could use and took too.

Once everything is emptied out of the house I can start with some minor repairs to the walls and start prepping for painting. We need to wait until the electrician is done before I can paint though as not sure what is going to need to be done to fix the electrical systems. I’ll probably start in the kitchen and get the kitchen cabinets cleaned good and then I can start painting them.

I have a car load of stuff to take to the Salvation Army tomorrow. I still have more donations to load and take away but my car got full. Trusting others can benefit from the stuff we will give away.

I have some hamburger thawed for dinner tonight but not sure what to make with it yet. Jim likes to eat after the sun goes down so haven’t gotten to fixing dinner yet. It is so nice that it is getting dark so much later in the day now. In two weeks, with day lights savings time, it will really be late when the sun goes down. I like to eat no later than 7:00 so we will have to compromise soon and find a time that works for both of us.

We got 26 eggs today. I delivered two dozen eggs today to a regular customer and ate three for breakfast so only down one egg from what I ended up with yesterday. Maybe I need to fix something using eggs for dinner most nights to use some up.

Thinking about having a clean up the yard party next weekend and inviting friends and family over for the weekend. Work on filling our dumpster and I will feed you in return – sound like a plan? I think the clean-up will go much faster than Jim anticipated it will. If he had a couple of people with strong backs to help him lift and carry it will go very fast.

We have a connectivity issue between our computers and printer. Most days we have to reboot the printer and router before it will print. What causes that and how do we fix that? It is a pain to have to do that constantly. The guy I used to use fix my computer issues is no longer available to help me out and I don’t know who to call to come help us out. It is so frustrating when things don’t work the way they are supposed to and I can’t figure out how to fix them. Is it the printer? Internet connection? Our computers? Why can’t they play nice and get along?

It has been a beautiful day on the prairie. Temperatures were in the mid 50’s and we had bright blue skies all day. It was a touch windy but not too bad. Spring is definitely in the air. The sunset tonight is a plain Jane one as there is not a cloud in the sky. I saw smoke in the air today from prairie fires burning around the area. Burning season has begun.

Tomorrow I go to town to pick up my taxes and to get my teeth cleaned in the afternoon at the Vo-Tech. I forgot to call and get a haircut appointment so will have to make another trip to town to do that at a later date. I’m sure I will have another load of things to donate to take to town later in the week anyways.

Thursday Jim is teaching his first OSHER class this year. He has been putting in hours of work to get the class ready as this is the first time he is teaching this particular class. He enjoys doing the research to putting the classes together and loves to teach. This class is on the history of the Great Plains. He will have a second class going that starts in another couple of weeks but that class is one that he has taught the subject matter before.

Grateful that the great clean-up project has begun and is going fast, grateful for a friend that shared a contact so I could find a dumpster, and grateful for the beauty of the sunset on the prairie tonight.

I can’t believe February is over. Time seems to be flying by. Not sure where it goes to these days. I don’t get much done and the day seems to be over before I get started.

Feeling much better today. Last night after dinner I laid down for a bit and ended up sleeping four hours. Got up and was up until 5:00 this morning. Slept another two hours and got up. I’m tired this afternoon but decided not to take a nap. Maybe I can sleep “regular” hours tonight.

I got on the hot line at midnight last night. Handled three calls. One was a real heartbreaker. Some situations just are so unfair. Hard to find words to help them sometimes.

Baked peanut butter cookies and took to Ellexia this afternoon. I needed some fry boxes from McDonald’s so we stopped and got some since we were in town. I will have lots of things to take out of the investment property and fry boxes are the right size for me to handle. I have to go to Emporia Tuesday so will load up my car with the first load that will go to Goodwill or Salvation Army.

Monday I need to call an electrician to come out and do an inspection and fix some hanging wires. I also need to arrange for the furnace to be inspected and for a plumber to come check the pipes under the house. Also need to find a dumpster rental place so we can start getting the outside of the property cleaned up. Not sure who delivers dumpsters to Cottonwood Falls but will find one.

Tuesday I have to go to Emporia again so I can get my teeth cleaned at the Vo-Tech. I will pick up our taxes and am hoping to get a haircut if my hair dresser can work me in. So far we don’t need any groceries so won’t need to stop for that unless something comes up on my list between now and then. I also need to deliver the birthday girl her blanket. I want to bake some cookies to go with it so will do that sometime tomorrow too.

I may go into Cottonwood Falls yet today and start filling boxes of stuff that needs to go away. If I don’t go today I will do it tomorrow. I want to get started cleaning the kitchen and getting it ready to paint. Have to get rid of all the stuff in the house first though. My phone doesn’t work well at the house so have to make my phone calls tomorrow before I can go work on the house. The roofers are to show up some day this week. It will be nice to see progress on the house.

We are having fish for dinner. Jim gets breaded fish and I get grilled salmon. It will be another easy dinner to fix. That is all I do these days – easy stuff.

It feels so good to have the second vaccine in. I am anxiously counting down the days to freedom. Not sure much will change other than I can if I want go somewhere or have people over. Not sure I want to go anywhere if I can. I kinda like staying home.

Grateful to see Ellexia (and her dad) for a hot minute today, grateful for fry boxes from McDonald’s and grateful I am feeling back to normal today.

Feeling much better today. Not back 100% but getting closer. Fatigue is my main complaint followed by a sore arm. I have been hungry today and the nausea is gone. I have a mild headache but it is better. Feel like I could have taken four or five naps today. I took one short nap and may take another one after dinner so I can stay up for a bit afterwards tonight. My arm woke me up a couple times last night when it yelled at me.

We went to look at our new investment property. Met the next door neighbors while we were there. They are a nice, young couple. We have lots of clean-up and clearing out of stuff to do before we can start painting and cleaning. Anyone know of someone that needs a job for a week hauling off stuff? We also have lots of little trees to cut down, a grain bin to get rid of and an old garage to tear down and have go away. Should keep us busy for a bit.

Monday I need to call and get an appointment to get the furnace inspected, have a plumber come out and check out the pipes under the house, and have an electrician come check out the electrical system. Jim noticed several electrical things that need attention. I hope I budgeted enough funds to cover all this.

It reached the mid 60’s here today. A bit warmer than forecasted. The wind has been in a hurry all day so didn’t feel as warm as it was. It was very foggy this morning. Only going to be in the low 50’s for the next couple of days. It will be back up in the 60’s the middle of next week though. Spring has arrived.

I’m going to grill hamburgers for dinner tonight. It is warm enough to turn the grill on and that is my favorite thing to do with hamburger. That will make dinner nice and easy. I have some Fanestil baked beans for Jim to go with his hamburger. They have too much sugar in them for me to eat.

Tonight is the Full Snow Moon. It is cloudy so am doubtful I will be able to see the full moon rising tonight. Maybe the clouds will blow on out of here and open some space for the moon to shine brightly on the prairie tonight.

A friend let me know her brother is in the hospital with COVID. It is so hard to be so far away and not be able to be of support to her family back east. Trusting he will recover in time. Sad that with the vaccine now available that he had to get it now. I don’t know if he had gotten a vaccine or not.

The girls gave us 14 eggs this morning. I’m sure Jim will bring up a bunch when he goes down this afternoon. My refrigerator is getting full of eggs again.

No plans for tomorrow unless I go to the new house and start packing some stuff up to haul off. Trusting by tomorrow I will be back to normal and my energy will return. I am tired of being tired.

Grateful to be feeling better, grateful we got our first look at the new investment property, and grateful for the full moon tonight.

Not feeling bad – not feeling good after the vaccine yesterday. Feels like I am coming down with something. Pretty low energy, mild headache and a achy arm but nothing much else. I have had trouble getting and staying warm today but otherwise tolerating the vaccine. We will see what the next 24 hours bring.

I haven’t gotten much of anything done today. I didn’t sleep much last night so was up for a couple of hours this morning and then went back to bed. Slept off and on for a couple of hours. Feel like I could go back to bed and attempt to get more sleep. Sleep is so hard to find sometimes.

I had booked off my hot line shift last night and was glad I had done so as I didn’t have the emotional energy to deal with it last night. I checked once today and they were busy enough I could have logged on but decided not to. I am drained enough today without adding that to it.

We haven’t made it by the new investment property yet. As far as I know it was to be empty today sometime. We might go by tomorrow if I have more energy.

Jim laid some gravel in the chicken yard so when it rains we won’t get our boots so muddy. I gave the girls some sprouted wheat berries today – they love them. The girls gave us 23 eggs today. Back to having seven dozen eggs in the refrigerator. Yikes. What to do with eggs becomes the question of the day around here.

Finished the birthday blanket and ordered yarn for my next project. I like the colors in the one I just finished. I have some yarn left over so added a few colors and will make a similar one next time so I can use up the left over yarn. Webs is running four to five days behind on shipping so it will be a week or more before the yarn arrives.

Am fixing Jim burritos for dinner – I will have a plain hamburger patty. Not really feeling like eating much today so may not be able to get a hamburger down. I had some grapes for lunch – they were all that sounded good.

I had to call the internet company today again. The guy I spoke to earlier this week forgot to call me back to tell me what he was going to do. He is shipping a new power cord. We will see if that fixes the problem.

My accountant’s office called and they will have my taxes ready to pick up Monday. I have to go to Emporia to get my teeth cleaned at the Vo-Tech on Tuesday afternoon so I told them I would pick them up then. So nice to have the taxes done and out of the way.

Jim got a call from Newman Hospital checking to see if he wanted to get the vaccine. They are looking for people 65 and older for a clinic next week. Sounds like Emporia is almost done vaccinating those 65 and older and is getting ready to open it up to the next group. That is good news for those waiting their turn. If you are 65 or older and haven’t found a vaccine yet, call Newman Hospital and see if you can get in to their clinic next week.

My new cholesterol medication came in today. I don’t need it for two weeks but good to know it is here and ready for me when I do. It is a new type of injection so trusting I can figure out how to use it. It took me three months to figure out the last one. Sure trusting this one won’t leave a chemical welt burn on my thighs at the injection site like the last one did.

Got up early so we could get chores done and head to town. We arrived a few minutes before the vaccine clinic was open. Got our second COVID vaccines. The process was smooth and easy. They said they were giving 700 vaccines today. Both of us have sore arms this afternoon and I have a mild headache but so far other than that feeling good. It feels like we got our Get Out of Jail Free Card today – well in 30 days we will be freer to roam. It will be so nice to have other vaccinated friends over for dinner starting in a month or so.

Came home via Cottonwood Falls so we could dump the recycling. We managed to fill the back of my car with totes of recycling material.

Came home, fixed breakfast and I went back to bed. I didn’t sleep much last night and needed more sleep. I sure wish I could sleep as well at night as I do during the day.

My accountant called and woke me up. We will get a bit more federal back then we owe the states so came out almost even. I call that a win. He is going to finish them up and mail them to me next week. It is good to have that task done. I was worried about what the results might be as this was the first year Jim and I filed jointly.

Our new investment property will be empty tomorrow. If we are feeling good we will run by and take a good look at it. Have a feeling we will have some hauling off of things to do. We will get to it next week and get it cleaned up and start painting. It will be fun to have a big project to work on.

I handled five calls last night on theft line – I think they were all suicidal thoughts. One of them was heartbreaking. Sometimes we just don’t have enough to offer them as solutions. I have to remind myself my task is to help them get safely through the night and not to offer long-term solutions. Depression is a beast to live with and is a heavy burden on its victims.

I booked off my shift for tonight in case I don’t feel well but will get on and help out if I’m doing OK. They are so busy late at night I always feel a bit guilty when I sign off. Last night there were 89 people waiting to chat with someone. They keep getting pushed down the line when a high risk texter comes on. Jim keeps telling me I can’t help them all.

The girls gave me 14 eggs this morning and Jim just brought up 11 more. I need to find more regular egg customers. I deliver on Monday’s. Eggs are $3 a dozen or two dozen for $5. Hit me up if you want fresh eggs.

I got a ham at the grocery store yesterday that I am going to fix for dinner tonight. Ham is Jim’s favorite meat. I like it although I could not eat it again and be OK. It is easy to fix. I’ll throw a baked potato for Jim and a baked sweet potato for me in the oven along with the ham and dinner will be easy. We like using the ham leftovers in casseroles and soups.

No plans but recovery for the weekend. Jim is out working on the chicken coop and hauling gravel to fill the holes the girls like to dig around the fence. We have some coop yard improvements we need to make this spring. Good thing he is handy and likes doing that kinda thing.

Prairie fire season has begun. Tallgrass Prairie Preserve has been burning today. We can see the smoke to the west of our house. I love driving at night during burning season and seeing the prairie burn at night. Jim has never witness a prairie burn up close so am hoping we will be home when they burn my property this year. Spring is coming around the corner.

Grateful it was our turn to get our second vaccine, grateful for easy to fix dinners, and grateful for lots of empty space this weekend.

It has been a some what productive day on the prairie today. We went into Emporia this afternoon. I had my thyroid levels checked – they were high at over 4.0. They had been running way too low. Hard to hit the target with it sometimes.

After the blood draw we went to Bluestem for chicken feed, cottonseed hulls and dog food. I like to line the nesting boxes with cottonseed hulls as it keeps the eggs cleaner. The girls ate lots of food during the cold snap. We got 200 pounds – should last us for a couple of weeks.

Then we went to Walmart and picked up some groceries. It always surprises me how fast they add up. I didn’t think we got much and we spent over $150.

Stopped at Fanestil’s for some bacon and turkey and then came home. I was worn out from shopping.

We picked out our shingle color for the new investment property and called the roofing company. They are going to come next week and do the roof. Yay! That was fast and easy. It will be good to have the new roof on the property before we attempt to rent it out. We. must have gotten in before the spring roofing surge hits.

Took a short nap after we got everything put away. I didn’t sleep well again last night. Darn it anyways. Didn’t sleep very long this afternoon but felt better when I woke up.

Cleaned the two upstairs bathrooms this morning. Changed the sheets on our bed and then washed the bathroom rugs. Trying to get things in shape in case I don’t feel well for a day or two after I get my vaccine tomorrow.

Jim got all the chicken feed sorted and put into smaller containers. He said he didn’t have to take a hike today as he got his exercise hauling feed. He got the two cars unloaded from the stuff he brought up from Stillwater. He also got the compost dumped. We need to load up the car with recycling stuff and take it to Cottonwood and then I think we are caught up on things that we needed to get done today.

It always feels good to get all those little things taken care of. They seem to patiently wait for us. None of them take a lot of time to do – it just seems to be hard to stop and take time to take care of them.

I got on the hot line last night and handled four calls. I didn’t feel I was as patient as I should have been so signed off after a bit. Sometimes when I am tired I want to jump to problem solving and not allow them time to process and come up with their own solutions. I have a shift tonight. I booked off my shift for tomorrow night in case I don’t feel good. If I don’t have a reaction to the vaccine I can always log on and work the line.

I called the internet company again today. We are still having a problem getting thrown offline constantly. The guy is to mail me a new power cord to the router. We will see if that fixes the problem. If not, they will have to come replace the router. Sure will be glad when the new internet company comes out this way.

We have to be in Emporia by 9:00 in the morning for our vaccines. Nothing else is on our calendar until next Monday. Trusting we will have a quiet, relaxing weekend at home on the prairie. We don’t have anything on our urgent to-do list that has to be done.

Jim starts teaching one of two of his Osher classes next week. He says he is almost ready for the class. He has been doing lots of reading, note taking and outline making to get ready to teach it. Not sure how many hours he puts in to put the class together but it is a lot of hours. He enjoys teaching them and it gives him something to do.

I have an appointment to get my teeth cleaned one day next week. The student that is doing it this time will graduate in May so I will have to get hooked up with a different student for my fall cleaning. I need to call and get an appointment to get my hair cut next week. Maybe I can fit both of those into one trip to town.

Hoping next Monday we can start cleaning and painting on the new property. It will be good to get inside the house and really see what we purchased. Trusting that project will come in under budget – you never know until you get a good look and even then surprises can happen.

The temperature was a more seasonal temperature of 50 today. Still feels good after the bitter cold we had a week ago.

I have two rows to go and then I can cast off on the birthday blanket I am making. I need to sit down tonight and get that done. I have in mind what my next project will be. I need to go yarn shopping and get it ordered so I can get another one started.

Grateful the to-do- list is almost cleared out, grateful the roof will get done next week, and grateful we get our second vaccine tomorrow.

72 degrees on the prairie today. Wow. What a difference a week makes. It has been a touch windy but still needed to take my sweater off while cleaning out the chicken coop. Bring on spring. The girls are enjoying rearranging their fresh linens this afternoon. The eggs will be cleaner for a bit and the smell is fresher. Good day in the chicken coop today.

Yesterday late morning I didn’t have one egg in the house. Jim took all the cartons of eggs to Stillwater to give to friends. Today I have two dozen in the refrigerator and 8 more on the counter. Easy come – easy go around here with eggs.

I took a nap this afternoon while Jim took a hike. I didn’t sleep well last night and woke up feeling tired this morning. I feel much better now that I took a nap. Sure wish I could sleep as well at night as I do in the afternoons.

We are grilling steaks for dinner tonight. Need to celebrate this beautiful day by turning the grill on. I put potatoes in the oven to go with the steak so dinner will be easy as can be tonight.

It is only gong to be 48 for the high tomorrow. Even that will feel good after the bitter cold we had last week. We have a chance for some rain later in the week. Feeling more and more like spring has sprung around here.

I only have two more rows to knit and then I can cast off the blanket I am making and weave the ends in and it will be done. I will need to order more yarn if I decide to make another one. I like having an ongoing project – especially when I don’t have a deadline to get it done.

Since I took a nap I’ll probably get on the hot line tonight later. I looked last night and they had 89 people waiting to chat but I was too tired to help out. We are so short of volunteers late at night that it is taking up to an hour for people to get to chat with someone. By the time we get to them many have given up. They have a way of filtering the calls to ensure the high risk callers jump to the front of the line but sometimes it can miss a high risk texter.

Tomorrow we have to go to Emporia. I need to have a blood draw done and we need to restock chicken feed and pick up a few groceries. Thursday morning we get our second vaccine and have left the rest of the weekend open in case we need to have some recovery time.

Monday we hope to start the cleaning and painting on our new investment property. We need to go over later today and pick out a roof color and let the roofing company know what we want so they can get the material ordered. I normally just tell them to use whatever but Jim wants to choose it.

I am more and more encourage with the freedom the vaccine will bring us. I keep reading reports of how effective they are and what that will release us to do. What a relief it will be to be as fully protected as they provide. I so look forward to having friends over again that have also been vaccinated.

I got the Costco shopping trip supplies put away and things back in order in the house. I sure didn’t get done what I had planned to do yesterday but Jim got safely home and that was more important. Got a bunch of laundry done today and a bit of cleaning done. Things feel more manageable around here again.

Sophia only has four pills left to take. She has healed nicely and hasn’t run off once. Wondering if it will be safe to not put her electronic collar back on her. I’m grateful to the Vet and the great job he did cleaning up her neck.

Need to go sit outside and enjoy this beautiful day. I have about an hour before I need to fix dinner.

Grateful to be able to go outside without a sweater or coat on today – first time this year, grateful the girls have fresh linens, and grateful we had steaks in the freezer to eat for dinner tonight.

What a day. Not sure much of it went as planned but all is well at the end of the day.

Jim left for Stillwater around 9:30 this morning. He went down to get another load of books and photography files and cabinets. I messed around the house this morning and did chores and a few other things and then headed to Cottonwood a little after 11:00 to deliver eggs. When I finished that I drove to Wichita to go to Costco.

The main thing I needed from Costco was Chicken Tenderloins and they didn’t have any. I managed to get a cart full of other stuff. Costco was out of powdered sugar too. Walmart was out when I was there last. Is there a powdered sugar shortage these days?

I was almost home when Jim called. He had run into car trouble and needed me to bring him a key to his other car that was in Stillwater. I came home, unloaded the car, did afternoon chores and then I drove to Stillwater.

He got his car towed to a repair shop. They are going to fix it and then drive the car to his house in Stillwater. He will go down sometime next week and get it and bring another load.

I was only in Stillwater about an hour and we headed back to the prairie. Jim put two file cabinets in the back of my car and boxes of stuff in his car. Jim drove his other car and I drove my car back. Made for a lot of driving today – I spent over nine hours driving. I am tired tonight. We got home at 10:00 tonight. Thankfully I had picked up some roasted chicken at Costco so I heated some of that up and fixed a veggie and called it dinner.

Jim took 11 dozen eggs with him to pass out to friends in Stillwater. I delivered 3 dozen eggs in Cottonwood this morning. When I left the house this morning I had zero eggs in the kitchen. I already have 8 and will gather two dozen tomorrow. It was good to get the stash cleaned out.

I got on the hot line late last night and handled seven calls. They were the normal run of mill calls. I didn’t have to get the supervisor involved in any of them. Had several suicidal texters but they all seemed to calm down after they vented. Sometimes all people need is a listening ear with no judgement. I think I am too tired to get on the hot line tonight.

The Health Department called and changed the time of our vaccine from 5:05 to 9:15 on Thursday. That means we will have to get up early and get to town. It will be good to get that out of the way.

Either tomorrow or Wednesday I need to go to town to get chicken feed and a few groceries. I want to make sure everyone around here has what they need in case we have side effects from the second vaccine and don’t want to get out.

It is to be really nice again tomorrow and we plan to clean out the chicken coop and give the girls some fresh linens. It is always good to get that job done. They sure like being outside when days are as nice as it was today. We reached the mid to upper 60’s today. A week ago it was -17. Gotta love KS and the ever changing weather. It is to get a bit colder after tomorrow but nothing like last week.

I am tired tonight. I got two sleeps last night but one was for three hours and the other was only for one hour. Trusting I will sleep good tonight. We don’t have to get up early tomorrow so maybe I can sleep in and catch up a bit. Didn’t have time for a nap today.

Grateful for safe driving conditions today, grateful the egg stash got cleared out, and grateful for the beautiful weather we had today.

A windy day on the prairie today. The wind has been in a big hurry most of the day. It is working hard to bring in some warm weather. Lots of melting happened today and the rest will be gone tomorrow when it reaches the mid to upper 50’s. This afternoon the sun has come out and there is a hint of spring in the air.

The house has felt very quiet today after all the fun we had yesterday with the grandkids. I haven’t spent near as much time in the kitchen today as I did yesterday either. I was tired so I took a nap this afternoon. While I slept, Jim took a hike.

I only have 20 more rows on the blanket I am knitting. Yay! I may get it finished yet today. I knitted on it this morning while I watched church on my iPad. I will have end to weave in after I get it all knitted so I still have about two – three hours of work to go on it.

As soon as we got home last night from taking the kids into town I took my bath and went to bed. It was the quickest I was able to fall asleep in a long time. I slept for four hours, was up for three and then slept two more hours. It was a good night’s sleep for me.

Jim has decided to go to Stillwater tomorrow to get another load. He has a film project he wants to work on and needs some things from Stillwater to get started on it. I may go to Wichita tomorrow and make a Costco run. I have a list of things I need and the weather is to be good. We will see what happens tomorrow.

The girls gave us 25 eggs today. Jim said he would take 10 dozen with him to Stillwater and give them to people he knows there. It will be good to get the refrigerator cleaned out of eggs for a day. I will get rid of three dozen to my regular customers tomorrow. When you put two dozen eggs a day in the refrigerator it doesn’t take long for it to fill up.

Tuesday we need to clean out the chicken coop and give the girls some fresh linens. I look forward to being able to open their windows and airing the coop out for a bit. It has been locked up tight for a bit and is very stinky. We will also need to do a feed run one day this week and refill their food supply. Those girls do like to eat.

A week from Monday we will get to start on our new investment property. I see lots of painting and cleaning in my future for a bit. Sure hoping we won’t find too many surprises and that project can be accomplished in a month’s time. I would like to get it rented by April 1. Not sure if that is realistic or not until we get in there and get to take a really good look at it. We have decided our first choice will be to find a renter. If we can’t find someone then we will furnish it and will turn it into an Airbnb. We would make more with the Airbnb but it takes more work as we would have to clean it between clients, mow the yard, etc. We will see what happens.

One day this week I need to go to town and have my blood drawn for a thyroid check. Maybe I can do that Tuesday or Wednesday when we have to go to town for feed and groceries. I don’t have to be fasting for it so that makes it easier to just pop in and get it done. Thursday late afternoon we get our second COVID vaccine. Will get stocked up on groceries so if we have side effects afterwards we will have what we need and won’t have to go to town next weekend.

It will be so good to have that second vaccine done and be on our way to being fully protected. Having the grandkids out made me anxious to start having friends over again and slowly starting to rejoin the rest of the world.

I decided this year for Lent I am going to do 40 acts of intentional kindness. Not sure what all that might look like yet. I did my first one yesterday in taking a meal to some friends that are experiencing a sickness in their family circle. I will give it some more thought and keep my eyes and ears open to others in need. It will be fun to see what I notice and how I respond.

Grateful for the warmer temperatures headed our way, grateful the blanket is almost done, and grateful we can share eggs with friends.

What a fun day I am having today. Both grandkids came out for the afternoon. I have been busy keeping them fed but we are having so much fun. They decided not to spend the night so will take them back into town late afternoon.

I fixed them bacon, eggs and pancakes for their lunch when they first got here. Then they had s’mores about an hour after that. I fixed a pan of Peanut Butter Rice Krispie treats to go home with them. Thinking they will last now without more food required – at least for another 30 minutes. Man – kids do eat – often and lots.

I have a crock pot of chili cooking for our dinner tonight. Neither grandkid seem very interested in eating chili so will have to go to Plan B for them if they are still here. I am taking half the chili to some friends. It is hard to make a small batch of chili and I get tired of leftovers so found someone wiling to take some it.

Got on the hot line last night for two hours. Handled four calls. They were fairly easy calls and two of the four felt good to me. Sometimes I can tell I have helped someone – other times I am not so sure.

It got in the low 40’s today. Lots of melting happening today. The kids were outside playing for a bit. They jumped off the retaining wall into a tall snow bank. They had a snowball fight for a bit. It was good for them to get outside and get some fresh air. They helped Jim do the chicken chores this afternoon. We got 26 eggs today from the girls – including another fairy egg.

Got some knitting done last night. I have one more repeat to do and then I can cast off and get the rest of the ends tucked in. It will be good to have this project done. Maybe two more nights of knitting on it and it should be done. I’ll have to go yarn shopping and decide on my next project.

I have to go to town one day next week and have a blood draw so they can check my thyroid levels again. When we are in town we are going to have to stop and get more chicken feed. The girls packed the food away when they were locked up in their coop during the bitter cold weather.

The propane guy came to fill my tank today. I guess how much propane I will need each year and put it on a contract. He let me know I exceeded my contract amount with the fill today. I used a lot of propane the last two weeks. This tank may last me until summer but it will be close to needing filled again by mid summer. Come on warm weather – my propane bill needs a break. The last couple of years I have carried a credit to the next year as the winter has been so mild. February this year has used up that credit and then some.

I didn’t get a nap today – too busy taking care of grandkids. I may go to bed very early tonight. I stayed up late last night doing the hot line and then woke up at 6:00 and couldn’t go back to sleep for two hours. Slept one more hour and called it good. Someday I will solve my sleep issue. Sure wished I knew why sleep is so hard to find most of the time.

Tomorrow can be a quiet, rest day. May be ready for that by then. The kids have been so good but I’m not used to them being around. Sure makes me sad to think about all the time I have missed with them this past year. Grateful I can start being around them again.

Grateful the kiddos came out to play today, grateful for the warmer weather today, and grateful the propane tank is full.

Not sure it felt like Friday today. Not sure what day of the week if felt like but I am out of step with time and the calendar today. We didn’t take the trash down Tuesday so maybe that threw me out of whack. Ellexia came out on Wednesday which is most unusual too.

We got up to 34 today on the prairie. Above freezing after two weeks below. At last. It didn’t feel that warm as there was a brisk wind but we are trending in the right direction. It is to be 59 on Tuesday – short pants weather.

I handled six or seven calls on the hot line last night. None of them needed a supervisor’s involvement. Run of the mill things – suicidal thoughts, relationship issues, cutters, anxiety, boss issues, etc. All seemed to have calmed down by the end of the call. I took a short nap today so may get on the hot line later tonight and help out. We have been very busy late at night. They are going to start accepting applications for new volunteers next week so if anyone is interested in joining me as a volunteer let me know and I can get you more information. The training is fairly good and their approach works most of the time. It is rewarding work, although sometimes it can be draining.

I’m trying to think what I did today and am coming up blank. The days seem to pass whether I stay busy or not.

Grilled hamburgers for dinner on the George Foreman grill. Simple and easy dinner. I am going to fix chili for dinner tomorrow night. That will be another easy meal.

Sophia continues to recover and seems to be doing good. I checked her wound site today and it looks really good. I wrap her two antibiotic pills in a piece of ham and she eats them right up. I’m going to have to buy Jim some more ham next time I go to town as Sophia is going through his stash of ham.

The girls gave us 24 eggs today. I have 12 dozen eggs in the refrigerator that need a home. Hit me up if you need eggs. I deliver on Monday’s. I wish the food pantry would accept home grown eggs for distribution but they are not allowed to do so. When it warms up the first part of the week we are going to clean out the coop. It is stinky!

I hope to finish the blanket I have been knitting on. I need to have it done in two weeks so I can give it to a birthday girl. I’m on the 11th repeat and only need to do 12 so am almost done. Maybe I can get a good knitting session in tonight.

No plans for the weekend. We had left it open so we could recover from the vaccine shot we were supposed to have gotten today. They got delayed until next Thursday. I need to go to Costco and am thinking about running down to Wichita tomorrow to get that taken care of. I may wait till earlier in the week when they aren’t so busy. We’ll see what I decide to do tomorrow.

My hand mixer bit the dust last week so I ordered a new one. It came in today. It is bright red. The white one that was the same model was $20 more. Go figure.

One more week and we will be able to get into our new rental property and start the repairs and cleaning process. I need a big project and am thinking this one will fit that need. Not sure what we will have to do until we can get inside it and really take a good look at it. I know it needs lots of cleaning and painting but beyond that am not sure what we will find. Jim has some woodwork trim to repair on it that we noticed. He is good at that type of thing.

Grateful we came through the winter weather without any property damage, grateful for the warmer weather headed our way, and grateful my computer tells me what day of the week it is.

We went to town to pick up Sophia around 5:30 last night. She looked good and has acted fine since she has been home. She had two deep puncture wounds from the spikes on the containment collar and a staph infection around the site. The Vet got her cleaned up and put her on antibiotics for seven days. I wrap her two pills up in a piece of ham and she eats them easily. She doesn’t have to go back in unless the wounds don’t heal. Roxy was glad to see Sophia when she got home.

We took Ellexia home after we picked up Sophia. We had such a good time with her. I’m glad she came out for the day.

Got notified last night via email that our second vaccine shot has been delayed until next Thursday. The shipment of vaccines are slowed down due to the winter weather and loss of electricity throughout the Midwest. What is one more week – right? Disappointing but I understand it is something they couldn’t control.

I took seven calls on the hotline last night. One was a suicide call that I had to notify my supervisor about as the caller was high risk. The caller seemed to have calmed down by the end of it. The others were a random assortment of issues. I only handled one call at a time last night. Some nights I can do two at a time but didn’t feel up to that last night. We were busy and they had over 100 people waiting to chat when I logged off. I put in three hours and was wiped out and couldn’t take another call. I have another shift tonight.

After I gathered eggs this morning I went to Emporia and got our groceries for the week. Since we aren’t going to town for our vaccine tomorrow I decided to make a trip today and get it done. I didn’t think I needed much but managed to spend over $100. Not sure what I bought that added up that high but it seems to happen almost every time I go.

I noticed the Walmart in Emporia is now doing COVID vaccines. You have to make an appointment in advance on-line. When I got home I looked it up and all their appointments for this week are already taken. Not sure when they release more dates to book but if you are looking for a vaccine you might check their website regularly and see if you can get a booking.

We mailed our reservations for a cabin at the Y Camp this summer. Jim took the letter to the post office in Cottonwood Falls this afternoon. It is due to the Y Camp at the end of February. He has been having trouble getting payments to Stillwater on time lately as the mail service is so slow these days. Trusting it will get there on time.

The pharmacy that is handling my new cholesterol medication called today and gave me instructions on how to use the medication. Not sure I followed what he said but will figure it out when it gets here. The new insurance company was much quicker to approve it than the old one was. They are shipping it late next week. Hoping this new one won’t give me welts on my thighs at the injection site.

The sun has been out most of the day. It reached the mid 20’s today but felt much warmer. The snow seems to be melting in places already. Looking forward to next week and temperatures back up in the mid 50’s and above. I am done with winter cold.

I laid down to take a nap this afternoon and had just fallen asleep when my phone rang. I usually can answer it on my watch but for some reason the call didn’t come through my watch. By the time I got up and found my phone the call was gone. I think someone was calling to tell me my vaccine appointment had been changed but they didn’t leave a message. I couldn’t get back to sleep and now I am grumpy and have a headache. And this too shall pass……

We are having fish for dinner tonight. That will make for an easy dinner as I will put Jim’s in the oven along with some tator tots for him and some sweet potato fries for me. I will grill myself a piece of salmon.

Feeling out of sorts this afternoon. Think I am too tired to sleep right now. After I get done writing I will get up and move around and see if I can move this heavy, icky feeling out of my body. Sometimes that helps. I wouldn’t recommend calling and talking to me right now or I might bite your head off. I was fine earlier today and not sure why I am so grumpy now.

Tony, Jim’s indoor cat got into my yarn again and messed up another skein of yarn. Jim will have a project to do to straighten it out for me. Tony is living on thin ice right now. He might join my cats and become an outside cat if he doesn’t start behaving.

As soon as the weather warms up we need to clean out the chicken coop again. The girls were stuck inside 24/7 for a bit and the coop is getting really stinky. We let them out yesterday and again today. They have spent most of the day outside today – I don’t blame them. It is to be in the mid 50’s by Tuesday so hoping we can get it cleaned out then.

Grateful Sophia is home and doing well, grateful for the time we had with Ellexia yesterday, and grateful the sun is shining today.

Last night I brought Sophia into the house to change the battery on her containment collar. After I unsnapped it I had to pull it away from her as it was stuck to her. I initially just thought it was frozen to her but then the smell hit me. Evidently she had gotten some water on the spikes and they froze and made a very sore spot on her neck. It was a rather large sore. I attempted to cut some of the hair away to get a good look at it and realized rather quickly that she was going to need professional care for her wound.

I called our vet office and they had me bring her in so they could start antibiotics last night and withhold food and water from her over night so they could sedate her to clean the wound. We quickly got her loaded into the car (well not so quickly – it was hard to convince a 125 pound dog to get in the car. Jim finally had to lift her up.). We dropped her off at the vet clinic at 5:20. I haven’t heard from them yet today. The vet said they had their surgery over booked already but they would work her in when they could. They thought I would get to bring her home today but it will depend on how deep the wound is and when they can do the surgery.

I have used this containment system for over three years and have never had a problem before. When I am outside a lot and the dogs are under foot I run my hand around their collar to make sure all is well. With this cold weather I haven’t been around them as much and hadn’t been doing that. Sophia’s coat is so thick right now it is hard to see a problem. I feel so bad that I let it go so long before I noticed it. She has been acting normal – lounging around in the cold and eating well. Hoping it isn’t as bad as it smelled or looked.

Ellexia didn’t have school again today and around 11:30 text me to see if she could come spend the day. Tim and Tagen were at home and she wanted a day away from home. It has been so fun having her here. When we got home from picking her up she was starving so we made blueberry pancakes, bacon and eggs. Ellexia made the scrambled eggs for me. She cracked the eggs and stirred them while they were cooking so I could fry the bacon and make the pancakes. She was a big help.

An hour after breakfast she needed a snack. Two hours later was ready for lunch. I forgot how much kids can eat and how often they eat. I wasn’t expecting to have her here so I didn’t have as much kid friendly food on hand but we found stuff she would eat.

I baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies for her to take home with her. I doubled the recipe but didn’t double the butter and shortening amounts. The cookies look a bit stiff but she said they tasted OK. Sometimes I have brain farts and do stupid things like that. Glad they are still going to be eaten.

I got the laundry caught up as we haven’t done any for a couple of days trying to help conserve the power grid. It warmed up and was over 20 today. Felt like a taste of spring and a blast of warm air after so many days at or below zero. The snow is even melting a bit this afternoon. It is to continue to warm up over the next week and will hit 50 in six or seven days. Spring is coming!

I sold two dozen eggs today and put two more dozen in the refrigerator. The girls keep giving me 20 plus eggs a day. Had only one frozen one this morning. Got another fairy egg this morning. They always make me smile when I see them.

My mood has finally lifted and all is well again. I learned more about myself and am grateful for the lessons – after they are done. It is painful to go through the process though. I’m able to communicate better now than I used to be once I get to the point of finding words. Progress.

I’m hoping the vet office will call in a bit and we can go get Sophia and take Ellexia home in the same trip. If they did surgery late in the day Sophia may have to spend another night.

No plans for tomorrow. Friday late afternoon we get our second vaccine injection. I am planning on going to town a bit early and picking up some groceries so we have what we need for the weekend in case one or both of us have a reaction and aren’t feeling like getting out and about. From what I have heard that is what we need to plan on happening. Good news is most people feel better within 48 – 72 hours so it will be short lived. So looking forward to being on the other side of this and being a bit freer to mix with others that have been vaccinated.

The welts on my legs from the cholesterol injections are a bit better today. I remembered to put some Tea Tree Oil on them and that helped a lot more than the Cortisone cream was. I don’t like the smell of the Tea Tree Oil but I like the itch relief.

I have lost another couple of pounds this last week or so. I am five pounds from being back to my goal weight. This is the first time I have ever been able to get back on the wagon after gaining weight and be able to take it back off again. Hopefully I learned from this experience and will be able to maintain the loss and keep it off this time. We will see what happens.

The sun has been shining all day today. It has felt so refreshing to have the sun shine and have it warm up a bit. We haven’t had to turn many lights on today and have enjoyed the natural light. I have so enjoyed hearing Ellexia talk to Jim and listen to her laughter. It has been way too long since the kiddos came to play.

Grateful for our time with Ellexia today, grateful for a caring and compassionate vet, and grateful for the lessons I continue to learn about myself.

Trash day although we didn’t have much trash and decided it wouldn’t smell if left in the garage another week. It will give the trash pick-up guys one less stop for them tomorrow. I worry about them on days like this.

My weather station reported we got to -17 last night with a wind chill of -39. There have been rolling blackouts as the power grid cannot keep up. Luckily we have been spared of a power outage. This is a good time to have solar panels and use propane instead of natural gas. I have had the fireplace on in the living room to help give the furnace a break. We have stayed nice and warm even with the furnace set at 65.

We are having left overs again for dinner so I don’t have to use the oven. We have lots still in there that need used up. I skipped dinner last night and Jim had leftovers. Looks like the energy grid will be OK after tonight so maybe tomorrow night I can use the oven and fix something fresh again. Nice to have the backup of leftovers to eat when you aren’t supposed to use the stove or oven.

Ellexia was going to call me to come get her and spend the day with me as her school was cancelled. Her dad wasn’t feeling good this morning so he stayed home so she didn’t come out. It was silly to drive to town in below zero temperatures if it wasn’t absolutely necessary but I sure wished she had been able to come out. She hasn’t spent a day with me for over a year now.

The water faucet we use to get water for the chickens is frozen. That has never happened before. Lots of people around are reporting frozen water pipes that have never had frozen pipes before. We have had over 10 days of single digit temperatures. Thankfully by the weekend we will be back above freezing and warm up a bit. Hopefully the faucet will thaw without breaking.

I didn’t sleep much again last night. That makes about four nights and days that I haven’t gotten much sleep. I am overdue to crash. Sure wish I could solve my great mystery surrounding sleep. It sure is hard to find somedays.

I’m feeling better today. I still haven’t come up with a solution for my problem but at least I better understand what the problem is. Now I need to learn to live with it. That is easier to do once the problem has been defined and I was able to do that today.

Ever since I started doing energy work when I get upset I go quiet. I do not have words in the moment to describe what I am feeling. I have to allow my emotions to be felt deeply within and then I can start to put words to what happened. It is frustrating for those around me to not have me share what is happening at the moment. Words are not helpful to me and I need space to process what happened before I can find words. Once I allow the energy and emotions to pass through me I can find words and then I can easily release the situation. Sometimes it takes me 24 – 48 hours to find words. Anyone else relate?

I was reminded once again how differently different people process and think. My habits of thought are so old I don’t even see them for what they are as they feel so comfortable for me. I often forget others process and think differently than I do. Every time I go through another time of deep emotion I learn something new about myself. Maybe that is the light at the end of the tunnel.

The sun came out this afternoon and it has warmed to 12 degrees. That is a 29 degree increase from what it was this morning. It feels so good to see the sun shining this afternoon. It makes me feel warmer even though that is a relative term these days.

Looking forward to Friday and getting our second vaccine. Not looking forward to the 48 hours following the vaccine if we have a reaction to it. Sounds like most people have at least mild symptoms afterwards and I tend to have a hard time with things like that.

I have two huge welts on my legs for the two injections I gave myself with the cholesterol medication. My new insurance requires a different brand of injections. I got notified that my doctor approved the new type so I should be receiving the new injections next week from the pharmacy. I hope the change will help eliminate the welts at the injection site.

Grateful we haven’t lost our power – yet, grateful the temperature is starting to warm up a bit, and grateful I can see the light at the end of the tunnel I have been in.

I better get my blog written early today as the power company let us know that we will be experiencing some rolling black outs over the next 24 – 48 hours. The power companies cannot keep up with the demand. I got the propane fireplace pilot light lit and have it running so we will stay warm if the power goes out. Trusting the water pipes won’t freeze. At the request of the power company we turned the thermostat down to 67 today. I usually keep the house at 71. Doing our best to help out the power company.

I didn’t sleep much at all last night so took a nap early afternoon. I had something on my mind that I couldn’t let go of last night. It is still bothering me and I can’t seem to find a solution. Doing my best to move my body and get out of my own way today but so far no luck. It will work itself out sooner or later.

We are going to have left overs tonight – hopefully when it is time to eat dinner the power will be on and we can eat warm leftovers instead of cold. We will see what happens.

I gathered eggs this morning and gave the girls another pan of sprouted wheat berries. They jumped on the pan of greens this morning. I think they approve. I got 20 eggs when I gathered them and Jim brought 3 more up this afternoon. Three of the eggs were frozen and cracked. I am thawing them and will give them to the dogs later.

The pharmacy I get my cholesterol injections from called me today. The new prescription insurance covers a different brand so the pharmacy is requesting a script from my doctor. I am to call them back if I don’t have the new injections within three weeks. I trust the new brand will not cause the welts I get at the injection site. I can still tell where I have given myself the first two and now the third one is a welt bigger than a quarter in size. They itch badly at times.

I delivered eggs in Cottonwood this morning. There was a snow drift at the head of my driveway that was over knee high. My Forester went right through it – no problem. I am grateful I have a different car as my Prius would not have made it through. The highway was clear although the north south highway between Strong City and Cottonwood Falls was snow packed. The side roads were slick but I managed not to slide off the road. It was good to get back home safely. There was little traffic on the highway or in town today. Smart people stayed home today.

The owner of the house I am buying let me know the water is frozen at that property. He said he would do repairs if needed once this cold snap lets up. I take ownership February 26 so hoping he will get water running by then. We shall see.

I am cranky today. I don’t like when I can’t figure something out. I know what the problem is but I can’t seem to come up with a solution that feels right. Lack of sleep last night isn’t helping. Pushing through won’t work for me. I have to sit it down, walk away and come back clear headed. Sometimes that is easier said than done though.

Grateful for a warm house today, grateful for a safe trip to town to deliver eggs, and grateful for my Forester and how it drives on snow packed roads.

Another scary cold day on the prairie. Temperatures hovering at 0 or below with a wind chill of -10 – -15. It is to get colder tonight and tomorrow night. My furnace runs most of the time trying to keep us warm.

The girls gave us 23 eggs on this cold day. There coop is staying warm enough for them. I have had chickens get frost bite before but so far these girls seem to be staying warm enough to avoid that. They will be very happy to get to go back outside though later this week when the temperatures warm up a bit.

I made snickerdoodle cookies today as well as a lemon cake. I still need to make the frosting for the cake. Not fixing a fancy dinner so decided to fix Jim a dessert instead. I have some hamburger thawing but not sure what I am going to make with it. I may make a Shepherd’s Pie.

I didn’t sleep very well last night. I got up in the middle of the night and got on the hot line for an hour or so. Handled four calls. They were routine stuff and no likely suicidal texters.

I haven’t stuck my head outside for two days now. Jim has taken care of chores for me. I really do not like getting cold as it takes me a long time to get warm again. Thinking I will delay delivery of eggs scheduled for tomorrow for a day or two as it is too cold to get out when it isn’t absolutely necessary.

I have welts on both legs where I gave myself my shots Friday night. The welts itch and are raised a bit. I can still see where the welts were from the last two shots too. My legs are going to look like a battleground if this keeps up. My body does not like drugs put into it.

Found out a friend’s mother is in the hospital and tested positive for COVID. Damn! She is in her 90’s and at high risk for not doing well. Sending lots of light and love her way.

Feeling a bit restless today. Funny that I wouldn’t go out even if I could but when this weather is like this and I can’t go out I want to. Not sure where I want to go but I want to run away today. I will sit with this uncomfortable feeling and see what it is trying to teach me.

Grateful for a warm house today, grateful for the cinnamon smell of Snickerdoodle cookies, and grateful for my chickens and the eggs they continue to provide me.

I have had a Benadryl hangover all day. I only took one tablet 30 minutes before I did my shots last night. Had trouble sleeping last night. I felt like I wanted to crawl out of my skin. Finally took another hot bath around 5:00 this morning and was able to sleep for two hours after that. It was a long night.

I took a nap this afternoon. I got a phone call which woke me up. I’m feeling a bit nauseated now which I have done the other two times I took the shots. It will pass by tomorrow and I will be fine then. The injection sites are a bit raised and itchy today but not too bad yet.

I was on the hot line for a bit last night. Had a fun call for a change with a mature woman who was trying to decide what to do with a on-again off-again lover. I really enjoyed our convo. It was a nice change from the teen age cutters and all the suicidal people I have been handling lately. I was interrupted towards the end of the call by the supervisor reminding me to risk access the caller. Only problem is I had done that at the very beginning of the call. When I told her that she said “Oh, I must have missed that”. She never did apologize. Needless to say, she isn’t my favorite supervisor to work with.

I have ham and corn chowder cooking in the crock pot for dinner tonight. It sure smells good. I hope I am feeling better later and can eat some. Right now I don’t think I can. I may be back to chicken noodle soup for dinner. I haven’t had any lunch yet but not feeling like eating anything right now.

I haven’t managed to get much done again today. Jim did the chicken chores for me this morning. Wind chill was -11 when he walked down there to gather eggs. They gave us 20 eggs today. Jim hasn’t gone down yet to give them water and fill the feed and check for more eggs. I had one frozen, cracked egg this morning. I have it sitting on the counter thawing so I can feed it to the dogs.

Jim found another bag of Snickerdoodles in the freezer so I didn’t need to bake cookies today. Hopefully tomorrow I will be feeling better tomorrow and will bake some them.

The forecast is now calling for -13 Tuesday night. Dang that is cold! The good news it is too warm up Thursday and get above freezing temperatures and keeps going higher from there. I so look forward to the higher temperatures and spring coming. We are almost halfway through February and Spring will be here soon.

The new surge protecter did not fix our printer issue. We still have to manually reconnect it often as well as reconnect our computers. It is so frustrating. Not sure what to do to fix it. The internet company says it is a power issue in the house. They didn’t come check the router which is what I think the problem is. I will call them again next week and see if they will consider loaning me a new router to see if that fixes the problem.

I have ten repeats done on the blanket I am making and it isn’t long enough yet so will add probably two more. Getting close to the end though. I have a recipient in mind and will need to have it finished by March. I should make that date with no problems. This time I have plenty of yarn.

Monday I need to call and order the next round of shots. I changed insurance companies so hoping the new insurance will continue to cover them.

No plans for Valentine’s Day tomorrow. We haven’t started eating out yet so I will cook something for dinner. I may bake Jim a lemon cake as that is one of his favorites. Not sure what I will fix for dinner.

Monday I deliver eggs unless the roads are not safe. Tuesday is trash day and Friday we get our second vaccines. It will be a normal week of staying home and not doing much around here.

Grateful Jim did the chicken chores this morning, grateful for a fun texter on the hot line, and grateful for another quiet week ahead.

Not sure where the day went to today. Haven’t done much but make a batch of cookies and take a nap. It has been so cold I didn’t even do chores – Jim took care of them today. We got 25 eggs today which is amazing as cold as it is.

I worked on the hot line for a bit last night. Took two calls early to help reduce their queue and then, as they were caught up, got off and signed back on later for my shift. Only handled two callers when I signed on the second time. We had to do a rescue for one of them. The supervisor didn’t share much with me so not sure what happened. I signed off after the call as I was drained.

This morning when I signed on so I could review the convo I noticed that after I had closed it the person had texted in they were OK. We hadn’t heard anything from them for 15 minutes when the super told me to close it out. It was a relief to know the texter was OK. Their text must have come in at the same time I hit the close button. Once I hit close convo I can’t reopen it to text. Trust the person is alive and well today.

The super must have seen the comment come in as the rescue was not completed. I wish she had shared that with me last night. I might have slept better.

The hardest part of doing this volunteer job is the never knowing the “rest of the story”. You never know if what they are telling you is true, you never know the other side of the story and you never know what happens to them once you disconnect. Trust becomes a big part of this job – trust that their best and higher interest is what happens. Somedays it is easier to let go of them than others.

I made butter cookies last night using my new cookie press. Jim said they are good. I struggled getting the lid off the thing a couple times. Good thing Jim was around as he had to help me open it up twice. They are fun to make and other than getting the lid off the press worked well.

It never got out of the single digits today and most of the day felt like it was below zero with the wind chill . Snow is to start falling in the morning and snow most of the day tomorrow. The temperatures are going to continue to drop through Tuesday next week and then we will finally start warming back up a bit. It is dangerously cold out there.

Jim put some plastic up over the door to the garage that the dogs use to try to keep some of the cold out. The cats have been coming in at night but the dogs run around like nothing is different. The dogs have been napping under the heat lamps in the garage occasionally. They love cold weather.

The blanket I am knitting on is coming along. I am on the 9th repeat at this point. I will finish it and do one more and then decide if it is long enough. I have enough yarn to do more and I prefer the blanket be too long than too short. I have been watching Home Fires, a PBS series on Amazon Prime while I knit. It makes the knitting go by quickly as I get absorbed in the story line of the series.

I stopped writing for a bit and we delivered the cookies to the grandkids. The forecast for tomorrow is calling for snow and I wanted to get the cookies to them before the roads got bad. The traffic was heavy tonight (at least by Chase County standards) on the highway. Thinking lots of people were trying to get home or errands run before the really bad winter weather arrives tomorrow. I took each of my kids some eggs too. Not sure if they needed them but I needed to get some eggs out of the refrigerator.

No plans for the weekend. I need to bake Jim a batch of Snickerdoodles tomorrow but other than that the only thing I have to do is stay warm and dry. The high tomorrow is going to be 9 and the low is 0. Sunday the high will be 1 with a low of -4. Yuck! February has been a moth of winter weather so far. By next weekend we should finally get above zero again. Bring on Spring.

I’ll probably get on the hot line tonight since I took a nap today. I need to find something to do today so I feel a bit productive. I keep managing to not get much done these days.

Fixed brats for dinner tonight. I picked some up when I got groceries earlier this week and needed to use them up. They fix up quick and easy in the George Forman grill. May make soup of some kind tomorrow since it is to be so cold. Soup will taste good on a cold day like tomorrow is to be.

Just made myself a note to remind myself to give myself my cholesterol shots before I go to bed tonight. I usually do them during the day but since I need to take Benadryl with them decided to do them at bed time as Benadryl can knock me out.

Looking forward to getting our second vaccines next Friday. Not looking forward to the reaction for the first two or three days afterwards but it will be worth it to be protected. By the time our wedding anniversary rolls around March 19 we should be good to go.

Grateful to find out the texter was OK, grateful the cookies got delivered today, and grateful we will be able to stay home where it is nice and warm for the next couple of days.

Another quiet, very cold day on the prairie. The temperatures have barely been above the single digits again today with a brisk wind that has made it feel even colder. The walk down to the chickens and back up this morning was brutal. I’m grateful that it isn’t any longer than it is. I had tears in my eyes from the cold on the walk back up to the house.

I took the first pan of wheat sprouts to the girls this morning. They didn’t know what it was and seemed afraid of a pile of greens. Jim said it was gone this afternoon when he went down so they must have gotten brave and tried them and liked them. I started another pan of them. I keep two pans going and am able to give them a green treat every three to four days. I brought up 19 eggs this morning and Jim brought one more up this afternoon.

I had trouble finding sleep last night so took long nap this afternoon. I have a hot line shift this afternoon and needed more sleep. I took seven calls last night. I had a few weird ones that were not into problem solving. I have to trust venting does some good for them. We will see what happens tonight.

Today is the third anniversary of my Bright Lines Eating journey. Except for eating chicken noodle soup, crackers, Manuka honey and toast when I had C-Diff this summer I have gone three years now without eating foods that include flour of any sort or sugar of any sort, including artificial sweeteners. I have gotten to the point where desserts and foods that contain flour or sugar do not even look good to me. I try to eat one ingredient foods as much as possible. I avoid processed foods most of the time. Bacon is the one exception I make – gotta have bacon! Since I have had C-Diff I have also learned I need to avoid grains and dairy. White potatoes I eat only very occasionally as they bother my gut too. I still am not back to eating raw vegetables or high fiber veggies. I can eat beans again although for a bit I couldn’t.

This journey has gotten easier as I have progressed down the road on it. Eating out used to be a challenge but I have learned safe things to order. I am no longer weighing my food as I did when I first started. I have pretty much learned what a protein size should be for me and eat accordingly. At this point I am maintaining my weight, and not trying to reduce it dramatically. I still avoid snacking most days. I allow myself a snack on my hungry days occasionally but it is rare that I eat one.

It has taken me a long time to accept this version of myself in the mirror. I didn’t see the weight loss for a long time. I still felt overweight. I felt like a fraud of sorts when I would shop and buy small sized clothes. That has gotten better but am still not sure I see myself as others see me. I am down 60 pounds from my heaviest weight. It is funny how an image of oneself can get stuck in your head and it can take a long time for that to change. I went from a size 18 pants to a size 2. I wore XL tops and now wear Small or even XS sometimes.

I had gained almost 30 pounds back last year but have managed to take over 20 of it off again. I think I had gotten too thin at one point so am happy with where I am now. I realize I will always have to watch what I eat as I have a tendency to gain weight quickly if I take my eye off of it. I am grateful I found this way of eating as it works for me.

The four lines one is not to cross of Bright Line Eating is to weigh and measure your food, eat no flour or sugar, eat only three times a day, and plan your food for each day. I still follow the no flour and no sugar and eat only three times a day. I never did write out what I was going to eat each day and no longer weigh and measure my food. It works for me so I guess that is what is important. Everyone has to find what they can live with and how to make it work for them.

No plans for the weekend except to stay inside and stay warm. We have a wind advisory for tomorrow which is going to make this brutal cold feel even colder. I trust my chickens will stay warm enough. I may need to put a heater in their coop if not.

I finally remember to call the internet company. We keep having to reset out computers connection to the internet and to reconnect the printer every time we want to print something. The guy I spoke with suggested I try a different surge protector. So far – so good. I hope the fix was as simple as that. It was getting very frustrating. We have limited options for internet service out here in the country. There is a new company working their way towards us but not here yet. I will switch to a faster speed internet when available.

Jason texted me this morning to ask me to babysit their four year old today. I didn’t see the text until late this morning and by then they had figured out a plan. I was sorry I didn’t get the chance to have him come out to play. Maybe next time I can help out.

A week from tomorrow we will get our second vaccine. I am so ready for that to happen and then to count down the four weeks afterwards when we will be reasonably protected and a bit freer. It has been a long year since we were able to move around freely.

We are having leftovers again tonight so dinner will be easy. I’ll have to think of something fresh to fix tomorrow night as this has been the second night of leftovers this week. Good to get the refrigerator cleaned out though. I hate to waste food.

Grateful to have discovered the Bright Line way of eating, grateful we may have fixed our internet problem, and grateful we are able to stay home and not have to get out in this bitter cold.

The closing on the new investment property was quick and easy. They didn’t receive my wired funds until late last night but were able to turn things around and proceed with the closing. The seller will remain on the property for another two weeks so we won’t get started with the remodel until he leaves. Too cold to work right now anyways.

I stopped at the water department in Cottonwood Falls to get the water changed over to my name on the 26th. I had to go to the office to fill out an application. The copy machine blew a fuse or something and was dead so I need to mail a copy of my driver’s license to them tomorrow. I had to pay a $50 deposit to start services. Neither the gas nor electric company requires a deposit.

I still need to call to arrange for the furnace and electrical system to be checked out and then I think I have all the immediate needs taken care of. I’m sure my list will grow once we get inside and really check things out. Hopefully the weather will warm up a bit and it will get nice to be outside again.

We went into Emporia after the closing and dropped our tax package off at the accountant’s office. That felt good to have that handed off. My accountant won’t get started on it until after March 1 but at least it is in his hands and off my desk.

We stopped at Walgreen’s to pick up a prescription for Jim and then went to Walmart for groceries. Got what we needed and then some and then headed home. It was good to get back home.

I took a nap after we got home. Going to town wears me out quickly these days. I had finally gotten some good sleep last night but I have a Crisis Hot Line Shift tonight and need to stay up late.

I fixed Jim scalloped potatoes with ham for dinner before I laid down for my nap. He put them in the oven at 4:30 and when I got up at 6:00 dinner was all but ready. That was easy.

The pan of sprouted wheat berries is ready to be fed to the girls. It looks so pretty and green sitting on my kitchen counter. I started another pan two days ago. It will be turning green in two more days. I’ll keep starting a pan every four days and the girls will get a pan full of freshly sprouted wheat berries to eat every four days. They gave me 25 eggs today. They don’t seem to mind having to stay inside and stay warm and dry. I now have nine dozen eggs in my refrigerator. Anyone need eggs?

Nothing on the calendar for tomorrow. Friday I have to give myself the two cholesterol shots. This time I am going to do them at bedtime since I have to take Benadryl with them and the Benadryl makes me feel drugged and sleepy. Next week I need to call and order another set of shots. Trusting there will be no issues since I switched insurance companies. It took a month last time to get the insurance approved to get the shots. The retail cost for the is over $1,500 a shot.

We don’t have anything going on this weekend or next week until we have to go to town on the 19th to get our second vaccine injection. We will hopefully be able to wait for our next grocery trip until the 19th so we only have to go to town once next week. We will see if it works that way.

Got a bit of cleaning done yesterday and did some more this morning. The house is feeling a bit better to me. I still need to do some more cleaning but it is good to have some of the house clean. Not sure what I do with my days but I seem to forget that I need to clean a room or two a day. If I can remember to clean a room a day the house stays clean and it isn’t such a big deal. When I get behind this house feels overwhelmingly big to clean.

We only have two weeks to decide what we are going to do about going to CO this summer. Still so many unknowns and not sure when to go and for how long. I’m just not feeling like going anywhere yet. CO was safe last year and I’m sure it will be this year. We don’t know how many of the kids will want to come out and stay with us. I do not want to rent a big house again and not have it used. Wish we didn’t have to decide this far in advance but that is how their rental system works. If we wait until later the chances of getting what we want is slim.

I’m still struggling with getting out. I told Jim on the way to town today that I have forgotten how to be around people and find it draining and exhausting. I was impatient in the store today with the customers that were brain dead and not aware of others around them. My travel lust seems to have gone away. It may return at some point but the very thought of traveling right now turns me off. I would much rather stay home on the prairie. I do look forward to being able to have the kids over for dinner or for the weekend and to have the grandkids come out for the day. It will be fun to have friends over for dinner too but beyond that I am not ready to rejoin the “normal” world. Wonder when I will be?

Grateful for an easy closing today, grateful the trip to town is done and errands taken care of, and grateful for a long nap today.

Not a good night to find sleep. I got a couple hours here and there and finally gave up. I had something on my mind I needed to get taken care of. Once I did that I was able to get another hour of sleep. I took a short nap this afternoon. I was sleeping good until a phone call came in. Maybe tonight will be the night that I can sleep again.

Yesterday I had called my on-line bank to break a CD to pay for the new investment property. The lady had told me the funds would be in my account within 15 minutes. They never showed up. I got a confirmation from the bank informing me they had received the instructions for the account upon maturity of the CD which is in May.

I called the bank early this morning and found out somewhere along the line the lady had hit the wrong button and the promised transaction had not happened. The second lady I spoke with took care of it and stayed on the line until the funds were in my account. I was then able to order the wire transfer that should happen yet today and open a new CD minus the funds for the investment property. Good to have that all taken care of.

I arranged for house insurance for the property effective tomorrow. The rate is a bit higher than I expected but I accepted her quote. I will take some time later and shop for something cheaper. I only need it insured for the value I have invested plus enough to clean the lot up if something were to happen.

I need to call to get an inspection of the furnace and electrical system for the new property. Chase County doesn’t have any building codes so no inspections are ever done when properties are modeled. I want to make sure we don’t have any issues with electricity or the furnace.

I also need to call two more utility companies and get service established. I hate talking on the phone but it needs to get done. Hopefully that process will go smoothly. I went on-line to do the electricity and can’t get into my account. I will need to meet the password. I hate passwords and that whole process. Not sure what went wrong as I wrote down what I had entered.

We will have to go into Cottonwood Falls tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 for the closing. I think I have all the paperwork ready and the money to pay for it should have arrived by then. I am used to having my business partner handle these things for me. This one has felt a bit more complicated since we aren’t using a real estate agent to handle the details. It seems to have gotten all sorted out though.

I got a phone call this morning to schedule my second vaccine. Jim had gotten an email yesterday for his. They were able to get me an appointment at the same time as his – 5:05 PM on Friday, February 19. It will be good to get that second shot over with. Michelle had her second shot yesterday and is feeling really crappy today with a very sore arm, fever and severe headache. Trust both Jim and I can skate through our second shot without too many side effects.

The girls gave me 19 eggs this morning. There were two broken eggs in the nesting boxes. Not sure if the eggs froze and broke open or if the girls broke them open. I have been giving the dogs a couple eggs a day as I keep finding eggs with cracks in them from freezing a bit in the coop. The dogs enjoy the raw eggs and they are good for them. I have plenty of eggs that I can spare a couple eggs a day right now. I think I have 7 dozen in the refrigerator right now and another dozen in the basket on the counter.

We are having leftovers for dinner tonight so dinner will be easy. We have an assortment of food in the refrigerator that needs eaten up so it will be a bit of this and a bit of that. I need to make more room in the refrigerator for eggs.

This cold weather is crazy cold. We haven’t had a cold snap that lasted this long for many years. No relief in site for at least the next ten days. Spring will feel so good when it finally comes this year. We probably have four inches of snow on the ground. Things are frozen pretty solid now. I had a bit of trouble getting the door to the chicken coop open this morning as there was ice on the handle. The new water heater pan is helping keep the coop warmer than the other heated watering container. The chickens look like they are surviving OK in the cold. They are a bit crowded but that helps keep them warmer.

I have some house cleaning I need to do this afternoon. It has been a bit since I cleaned some of the rooms. I need to take advantage of the fact that there is no dust blowing in right now. Maybe things will stay clean for a bit longer.

Grateful for a warm house today, grateful I got the bank problem sorted out, and grateful for leftovers that will make for an easy dinner.

Damn it is cold outside. I was surprised the girls gave me 24 eggs this morning and Jim brought one more up when he fed them this afternoon. Not bad for a very cold day. It isn’t going to warm up for the next ten days or so. This will be our longest stretch of cold weather all winter. At least it is February and somewhere in my brain remembers it won’t last long. We got about another inch of snow today and the temperature may have gotten up to 10 but not much above that. We are to go down to 11 below zero next Sunday. The forecast is showing snow possible for the next ten days. I am ready for Spring already.

I went to Cottonwood Falls at noon to deliver eggs and to drop off the title paperwork to the seller of the house I am buying. The roads were better than I expected. My Forester handled like a champ on the snow. It is nice to have a car I trust that I can drive on snowy roads. The Prius didn’t do so well on snow.

I called the title company today to find out what our next steps are in closing. The lady I needed to talk to was on the phone and I chatted with the dingy secretary. She talked in circles and really didn’t know what she was talking about. I was trying to tell her that both the seller and buyer were ignorant and didn’t know how the process worked and needed to know what we needed to do next. I think she was just as ignorant. I didn’t get very far with her.

Anyways the seller called and got to talk to the person in charge and we are closing this Wednesday. Wow! Things happen fast sometimes. I quickly called my bank and arranged for the funds to be transferred so I could have the money on hand to close with. They told me to wait 30 minutes and then I was to call back to give them wiring information. Their phone system got overloaded and I haven’t been able to get back through. I will call either later tonight or first thing tomorrow morning. They told me it only takes an hour to transfer money so I have enough time to get that done before closing.

The seller will continue to stay on the property for 10 days after we close. Trust that isn’t an error in judgement on my part.

I called my insurance agent and got the ball rolling on getting the house insured. I only have two questions I need to ask the seller and the insurance agent was going to take care of the rest. I never know how to answer some of the questions. Those type of details don’t matter to me.

We are transferring utilities after the seller vacates so will wait another week or so to arrange all of that. I’ll make some calls tomorrow to find out if I need to do deposits, etc. and if so will get that taken care of. No big deal if the utilities get shut off for a day or two since we won’t be living in the house.

I picked up the bid from the roofing company. It was three times higher than I expected it to be but we found out the house has three layers of roofing, including a layer of wood shingles. Evidently someone put a layer of asphalt shingles on top of wood shingles. Jim says that is a no no for roofs. They will rip it all off and put up a new base coat, whatever that means. Jim seemed to think it was a reasonable bid given what they are going to have to do. This stuff is like a foreign language to me. The same guys did two of my other investment properties roofs two years ago and did a good job so I trust them. I signed the contract and put it in the mail today. They will add me to their list of jobs to do whenever they can get to it.

Once the seller moves out we will start cleaning, painting and figuring out what repairs will need to be made. Jim and I will do some of the work and we will have to find contractors to do other parts of it. I would like to have it ready to rent by April 1 but not sure we can move that fast. We will see what happens.

The seller is hoping to have both the inside and outside of the property cleared out of the stuff that is on the property within 10 days. With this icky weather I’m not sure how successful he will be able to be. We may be making lots of trips to the dump and needing to borrow or rent a truck for a long weeks worth of hauling work. May need to hire some extra strong people to help us out.

I have green chicken in the crock pot cooking for dinner tonight. It smells like it is done. I’ll fix some veggies for me, potatoes and a salad for Jim and dinner will be ready. Nice and easy dinner.

I had been looking for a project and guess I just picked one up. It will be fun to paint and clean and get the house ready to be lived in. I sure trust it will turn into a good investment. One never knows when you buy a property what problems you may also be buying. Some are obvious, like the roof needing replaced, but some are hidden and are surprises.

Grateful for the eggs the girls gave me on this cold day, grateful for a project that will keep me busy for the next month or two, and grateful for Jim expertise on remodeling.

I hear there is a football game today. Wonder who is playing? Can you tell we are not sports fans in this house?

We got about two inches of snow today. It is foggy and lightly snowing now. Bitterly cold and is not going to get above freezing for the next ten days. We are finally getting a blast of winter. Not a fan! It will help me appreciate spring even more when it moves out of here.

The girls gave me 21 eggs on this cold, wintery day. When I opened the door to gather eggs none of them jumped outside. I gave them some sunflower seeds inside this morning and they were quite content to stay inside and eat them. Sometimes chickens are smarter than I give them credit for.

We got the Newsletters last night around 8:30 and had them done this morning by 10:00. She came to pick them up and brought me another two bunches to do. We got those done and she came back and picked them up. That project is done. It did feel good to have something productive to do.

I’m fixing fish sticks for Jim and a pice of grilled salmon for me for dinner. Part of it is in the oven and I’ll throw my salmon in a pan when Jim’s fish sticks are almost done. Dinner will be easy to fix tonight.

I didn’t make it into Cottonwood Falls to deliver the paper work to the seller of the investment property I am buying. He didn’t make it out here either. I have to go to town tomorrow to deliver eggs so will drop it by then. The roofing bid is at the new house and I am anxious to see what the bid is.

Other than delivering eggs tomorrow I have nothing else on the calendar. It has been so nice to stay home for the last three days and not leave the house. I don’t think we have much of anything on the calendar all week. It is too cold to get out much so glad our schedule is clear.

When I went out to the garage a bit ago to get something out of the freezer both dogs and cats were laying under the heat lamps. Earlier the dogs were out playing in the snow. They like cold weather. I’m glad they come in to warm up occasionally. May need to close the garage door tonight so they stay a bit warmer, although with their thick coats they will be OK with just the heat lamps. Tony, Jim’s big orange indoor/outdoor cat has chosen not to venture outside at all today.

My furnace has had a bit of trouble keeping the house warm today. I hope it isn’t a sign that it has a problem and is going to complete quit working. Not a good time for that to happen. I’ll keep an eye on it and call them tomorrow if it is still having trouble. Ice is covering the vent on the fireplace and it keeps blowing out so we don’t have that as a backup option.

I may bake some cookies after dinner. I’m in the mood to bake something. I took sugar cookies to the grandkids earlier this week so they probably don’t need any yet. I’ll throw them in the freezer if I bake and then I will be ahead for a batch or two.

Grateful for three quiet days at home, grateful for the beauty of the snow since I don’t have to get out and go somewhere, and grateful for a warm house.

The Newsletter project is complete. She brought it to us last night around 8:00. I stuffed the envelopes inside and Jim started putting the three stickers on each newsletter. I finished them up this afternoon. She only brought 1,800 of them – I was expecting 5,000 so it was a small job.

I have a crock pot of chili cooking for dinner tonight. Sure wish I could invite some friends or family over to share it with us. It is hard to make a small batch of chili.

I got on the hot line for about an hour last night. Only took four calls. It was a weird night and after a few calls I logged off. Just wasn’t feeling it last night.

I may go take a nap when I get done writing. I am tired and won’t make it very long tonight unless I take a nap. I slept fairly well last night so not sure why I feel tired now except I have a bad napping habit.

The chickens gave us 26 eggs yesterday. We have gotten 21 so far today. When I went down this morning to let them out it was just starting to snow. We got some beautiful, big flake snow for about 20 minutes. Got enough to barely cover the ground and then it stopped. It is to get below zero during the night later next week. Not my favorite type of weather.

This is another stay tucked in at home type of day. Neither one of us have much that needs to be done so we are relaxing and not getting much done. It is my favorite type of day. Tomorrow will be more of the same. I’ll have to get out Monday to deliver eggs. I don’t think we have anything on our calendar next week. Jim needs to take the Honda in to get it inspected so he can title it in KS. We’ll see if he gets it done.

I need to spend some time checking the tax package. I think most of the forms have come in but am not sure. It will be good to get that package in the hands of the accountant and off my desk. My goal is to have it at the accountants by the end of next week but I need to make sure I have all the tax forms in.

Grateful for the beautiful snow that fell today, grateful the snow stopped before it piled up much, and grateful for naps that restore my energy.

A quiet day at home – just the two of us at last. We have both enjoyed the day very much. Jim took a long hike this afternoon and cleaned out the garage and I took a long nap. Perfect way to spend a beautiful day.

I didn’t sleep well last night. I kept waking up and then having trouble going back to sleep. Wish I could sleep as well at night as I do during nap time.

The girls gave me 24 eggs today – a new record for them. Back to having four dozen in the refrigerator and almost another dozen in the egg basket on the counter. I think they like these bit warmer days. They might slow down next week as it is to get very cold again and hang around for a week or so. Hopefully this will be our last blast from Mr. Winter this year..

The title company got the paperwork to me this afternoon. I will have to call them Monday and make sure they are going to handle the closing of the property too. Everything looks good to go so far. We may be able to close the end of next week if the seller can be ready by then.

The Newsletter that I am going to work on will be delivered later this evening. The lady finally got hold of me today to let me know she had just gotten it back from the printer. That will give me a project for a day or two. I’m not sure what her deadline is and how many I will get to complete. I like doing that kind of thing and am pretty fast at it. Trust my sore shoulder will hold out and let me get my part done. Maybe it will be good for the shoulder to put it to work and not baby it like I have been.

I worked on the hot line last night and handled 8 calls in two hours. Had to get the supervisor involved in one suicide and one prank call. Was able to talk the suicide down and they were in a much better place at the end of the call. Had a few cutters, relationship breakups, suicidal thoughts and teen body issue calls. Regular type of night on the hot line. The two hours always goes by quickly though, especially when I handle two calls at once.

Since I took a long nap tonight I may get back on the hot line unless I work on the newsletter. We will see what my mood is and how things go.

We are having leftover beef soup tonight for dinner so that will be easy. Jim is so good about eating leftovers.

I ordered 25 pounds of hard white wheat berries and have a pan of them sprouting to feed to the chickens. If they grow as I want them to, I will start a new pan each day and be able to give the girls some fresh greens daily. It should take about a week to get them to be three or four inches high. I used to buy a head of lettuce to give them everyday but when lettuce prices went to over $1 a head I gave up that treat for them. Hopefully this will work and they can have a fresh greens treat daily and it won’t cost too much.

I got my Crisis Text Line hoodie today. They send everyone that volunteers for 200 hours one. It fits nicely and is warm. I will enjoy wearing it. When I handle 90 more calls I will get a backpack as my next reward. They set goals for us to level up and it is based on how many callers we handle. I am a level 6 and after 250 callers I move to a level 7 and get the back pack. 90 to go to meet that goal. My goal is to get to level 9 and receive a $500 gift card from Best Buy. That would be a sweet reward. I haven’t looked to see how many calls that will take though. They increase the number of calls each time you level up.

It is amazing how much we have both appreciated staying home today. We had a busy week for us with lots of trips to town and it was so nice to stay home all day. Neither one of us plan to leave the place all weekend. We will recharge and refill.

Grateful for a new egg record today, grateful the paperwork is proceeding quickly towards closing on a new property, and grateful for my new hoodie.

A full day at home at last. It has been a very windy day on the prairie today. The wind woke me up last night several times. We have had gusts of over 40 MPH today. Hang on to your hats folks.

Tony, Jim’s other cat has lead me to where Katy’s crate used to be today. How do you explain to another cat that Katy is gone and won’t be back? We have tried to give Tony some extra scratches and attention today. He is mourning too.

Jim went to town this afternoon for his physical. He liked the doctor and felt he did a good job with his physical. No changes to his medications so that is good.

A friend stopped by and picked up four dozen eggs. I am down to two dozen in the refrigerator this afternoon. Yay! I like to get them cleaned out at least once a week so they stay fresh. I sent two fairy eggs home with my friend to show her girls. They are fun to look at and open. Rarely do they have a yolk in them and if they do it is very tiny.

I cleaned the office today – kinda. Jim brought a bunch of stuff back from Stillwater Tuesday and hasn’t gotten it put away yet. It was hard to find the floor to clean but I got under our desks cleaned and what I could find of the bookcases dusted. Found lots of dust, cat hair and dirt. Tony, Jim’s big orange cat, sheds badly and I keep forgetting I need to clean more often as a result.

Thanks for all the messages and heart felt responses sent to us yesterday and today. Losing a pet is never easy and it seems most can relate. They do wind their way into our hearts and leave a hole when they leave us.

I have one of the newly butchered chickens in the crock pot cooking for dinner tonight. It was a small chicken and didn’t take long to cook. We taste tested it early and it is yummy. I turned the crock pot down to low so the rest of it will stay warm until dinner time. What a difference in taste from the store bought chickens. I am a believer in farm raised local meat! I purchased 10 chickens and am wishing I had ordered 20. I’ll watch their website and get more next time they have some. They are a lot more expensive than grocery store chicken but so worth it.

Nothing on either of our calendar’s for the next three days. Three blissful, quiet days ahead of us on the prairie. We are both emotionally exhausted from this busy week we have had and will use the next three days to recharge and rest. It is to be cold and possibly snow so it will be a good weekend to stay tucked inside and not do much.

I took a nap while Jim went to town for his physical. I have a shift on the hot line tonight and needed to be ready for it. I worked two hours on the hot line last night and took 8 calls. One of them was frustrating as they were not wanting to problem solve and I never did figure out what they had hoped to achieve by texting in. I even asked the supervisor to review the call to see if I missed something. I was tired last night and couldn’t stay on any longer even though they were busy. Maybe tonight I can stay on for more than two hours – we will see how hard the calls are.

In two weeks from tomorrow we go back and get our second vaccine. Four weeks after that we should be fully protected. I see the light at the end of the tunnel for us. I truly hope the availability of the vaccine continues to increase and more people can get their shots and get protected.

It is 5:00 and still very light outside. I appreciate the bit longer days each day. Spring is getting closer and closer. Last night the stars were incredible. I love a winter’s night sky. The sunset tonight will be a plain Jane one which is one of my favorites. There will be a soft pink rim around the entire horizon as there is not a cloud in sight. Sometimes I need to remember to just sit and take time to enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature.

Jim and I were talking yesterday at how simple our lifestyle has become. Most days we stay home and don’t go anywhere. That feels comfortable for us now and neither one of us are wanting to change it. It will be interesting to see how much travel we start to do again – if any. Travel has lost its appeal to me right now. We would like to go visit our kids but other than that I really don’t want to get out. I like the quiet routine we have now.

Grateful for a quiet day at home, grateful for the high quality chicken cooking in the crock pot, and grateful for the beautiful sunset tonight.

We celebrated the life of Katy, Jim’s almost 19 year old cat today. She had a stroke last weekend and hadn’t been able to get up since. We have been giving her water via an eye dropper and she had been licking a bit of food off of Jim’s finger. Her skin was going to start breaking down soon and things weren’t going to get better for her. It was a hard decision to take her in but am grateful for the love and compassion the vet and assistant showed Katy and us.

Jim dug a grave for her when we got home from taking her in. She is in a sunny spot by the retaining wall which was her favorite spot to hang out in the back yard. We will miss her yelling at us when she wanted fed. I won’t miss doing a load of her bedding daily or the crate in the living room she slept in under the heat of a lamp. She provided Jim with much love and was a steady companion for him for almost 19 years. We will miss her.

I had to go back to town this afternoon. I had lots of errands to run and needed to pick Ellexia up from school. After stopping to get her food I got her home and then came back out to the prairie. It was a busy day and I am exhausted.

A local rancher delivered ten butchered chickens I had ordered late fall. I am anxious to try one and see if I can tell the difference. The local rancher is trying to become self-sufficient by raising a variety of animals on his land and selling direct to customers. I am friends with him on Facebook and will do my best to support his venture. I hope he is successful. I love getting my food directly from the rancher and knowing it has been raised humanly and not given medications it didn’t need.

I sold four dozen eggs today. I have someone coming tomorrow for four dozen. Yes! That will help decrease the supply that I had built up. I am getting about 20 eggs a day right now and they add up quickly.

Tomorrow Jim has a physical in the afternoon. I am hoping I get to stay home all day. I am shocked every time I go to town how exhausted I get being in town.

I got on the hot line last night for two hours. No suicidal people for a change. Had a couple cutters, depressed people and breakups. Easier night for a change. I have a shift tonight. May need to take a short nap so I can stay awake and alert to handle it. I had trouble falling asleep last night and didn’t get a lot of sleep. The hot line is hard for me when I am tired.

I have some hamburger thawed for dinner and need to decide what to make with it. Jim may get tacos and I will have a hamburger. Not in the mood to do much else tonight. I fixed split pea soup with ham in the instant pot for dinner last night. It is one of Jim’s favorites – I can eat it but not my favorite by any means.

No plans for the weekend. I am hoping for a quiet, don’t leave the prairie, type of weekend. I have some housecleaning that needs done and some knitting to do. I have gotten used to not having anything on my calendar. When I have a week like this one when I go to town daily it is too much. I don’t cope as well with lots of things on my calendar any more. Thinking when the COVID thing is over I am going to choose not to re=enter “normal” life again. I like my quiet days at home way too much.

Grateful for the life and love Katy provided us and celebrate her life today, grateful for the compassionate care the vet and assistant provided us today, and grateful for farm fresh butchered chickens in my freezer.

It has been a beautiful winter day on the prairie. Temperature reached over 50 today with bright blue skies and a light wind. Not bad for the first week of February. The chickens enjoyed being outside most of the day.

I got on the hot line again last night for two hours. Handled five callers – three suicidal. I think I talked all of them down to a calm enough state that they lived another day but one never knows the rest of the story. There are a lot of hurting people out there right now – be kind to one another. You will never know if your kindness will save a life.

I am so disappointed in some of the residents in Lyon County and their anger at the Lyon County Health Department. The Health Department is trying different ways to be fair to all so people can get registered to get vaccines. They switched to a phone system today and it crashed their phone lines as so many people were trying to call. The comments on their Facebook page were brutal. They are doing the best they can to be fair and it takes away their time and energy to have to respond to the negative comments. Patience, people, patience.

Katy is still alive. Jim had made an appointment with his vet in Stillwater but then decided this morning not to take her. We have an appointment to take her into Emporia tomorrow morning at 11:30. I’ll see what Jim decides to do. Katy doesn’t seem to be in pain but she is only taking a bit of water via eye dropper several times a day and has not moved from where she has been since Sunday. It doesn’t seem fair to her to allow her to live this way. It is so hard to put her down though.

Jim left for Stillwater this morning at 9:30. I haven’t heard that he has headed north yet so he won’t be home until late tonight. He had an eye doctor appointment and then was going to load up the Honda with a bookcase and boxes of books and bring it home tonight. He will have a long day today.

Tomorrow afternoon we have to go into Emporia and pick up Ellexia from school. Michelle has a meeting and Tim has to work. The school is not offering the after school care program this year due to COVID and the unknowing part of if the kids go to class or not. It will be fun to get to see Ellexia for a bit tomorrow afternoon.

The people I ordered some butchered chickens from are going to bring the chickens to me sometime either tomorrow or Friday. It will be good to have ranch raised fresh chickens in the freezer to eat. I ordered ten of them so that should last us for a couple of months.

I haven’t heard from the lady that wanted me to do the Newsletter. Maybe she found someone else to do the job and forgot to tell me. We will see if I hear from her yet this week or not. OK with me if they don’t need me – I just wish she would tell me what the deal is.

When I get done writing I want to bake a batch of Valentine sugar cookies for the grandkids. I can deliver them tomorrow since I have to go to town anyways. I love baking cookies and am glad they like eating them.

When I gathered eggs this morning I found a fairy egg in the lip of the watering container. I would love to have a video as to how that egg got there. Not sure if the hen dropped it from above or how it got in there. If anyone from Emporia needs eggs let me know and I will be happy to deliver tomorrow when I come to town. I have 10 extra dozen on hand right now.

Tomorrow will be busy with two trips to town. We don’t have anything else on the calendar for the rest of the week though. I’m looking forward to Friday and a quiet day at home. I have grown to really like those days the best.

Today is trash day – the highlight of the week. I gathered it all up and drove the trash can down to the curb and picked up the mail. Good to know that my week is grounded and it is Tuesday. Gotta love the “normal” few routines I still have left in my life.

Grateful Jim had a safe trip to Stillwater this morning, grateful my freezer will soon be full of freshly butchered chickens, and grateful for fairy eggs – even those I find in the watering container.

It has been a busy but productive day on the prairie today. Jim aired my tire up and then followed me into Cottonwood Falls so I could drop my car off and get the tire fixed. We delivered eggs to my two Cottonwood Falls customers and then went to Emporia.

I dropped off the contract to purchase the new investment property at the Title Company. They said they would start working on it later this week.

Went to Bluestem and got chicken feed and oats. I used egg money to pay for the feed this time. I told Jim the chickens are now self-sufficient and supporting themselves. Not sure he bought that idea.

We went to Walmart to get a heat lamp bulb and some groceries. While there Michelle texted and needed a ride home to get a set of car keys as she had locked her keys in the car. It was nice to get to visit with her for a few minutes.

We came back home after stopping in Cottonwood Falls to pick up my car. Jim unload the five bags of feed and put them into the smaller containers. I put the groceries away. It feels like we accomplished a lot today.

I also called the roofing company to get a bid on replacing the roof on the new property we are buying. They are to get in touch with me later this week or early next week to schedule the bid.

I got on the hot line last night intending to only stay on for an hour. 2 1/2 hours later I finally got to a stopping point and got off. I handled five suicidal callers and had to get the supervisor involved in one suicide and one domestic violence call. I was handling both of those at the same time. What a night! I had trouble falling asleep after all of that and didn’t get to sleep until almost 6:00 this morning. After I get done writing I am going to take a nap.

After the two high risk calls the supervisor and I had a nice exchange of messages. She mentioned she loves to see my name on her team as she trusts me to get her involved when needed and appreciates how I handled the texters. She is the first supervisor to mention that she recognizes my name when I get on. There are over 6,000 volunteer counselors and probably 50 supervisors so I understand why they wouldn’t remember me. I am getting to the point of recognizing most of the supervisors names now and have preferences as to which one I work with. I don’t get a choice though and they change during my shift to keep their workloads even.

I hated to sign off last night as they had over 100 people waiting to chat with a counselor and less than 40 counselors working but after the two high risk texters at the same time I was emotionally fried and couldn’t take another call. It was after 2:00 and I was getting tired.

Jim is going to Stillwater tomorrow morning. He has an eye doctor appointment at 2:00. He is planning on coming back after his appointment. He will switch vehicles and bring back another load of his treasures. I’ll fix something in the crock pot for dinner tomorrow night so I can feed him whenever he gets back home.

I have almost six repeats done on the blanket I am making. I have at least four more repeats and probably six more repeats to do so I am almost halfway done. It seems to be taking me a long time to get it done but I don’t have a deadline this time so no worries.

I have some hamburger thawing for dinner tonight. Not sure what I am going to do with it but I’ll figure something out when it is time. We may just have plain hamburgers – both of us enjoy that.

Katy is still alive but hasn’t moved since Sunday. We give her water using an eye dropper. She doesn’t appear to be in any pain. Jim may take her to Stillwater with him tomorrow and take her to her familiar vet. We will see what happens tomorrow. Hard decision to make.

It feels like we packed a weeks worth of adventures into one day. Funny since we stay home alone most of the time going to town is big for us now. It did feel good to get a lot of stuff taken care of.

Grateful my to-do list got taken care of today, grateful the egg money was enough to buy the feed, and grateful I was able to talk some suicidal people into a calmer state.

We are buying another investment property. The people that were looking at it didn’t have the funds to get it so we are going to go forward with buying it. We will close as soon as the title company can get the paperwork together. It should be before March 1 and maybe as soon as February 14. We will have lots of clean up work to do on the house and in the yard and lots of painting and some repairs to do. That will give me a project for a bit.

Not sure if we are going to rent it or turn it into an Airbnb. Renting would be easier and less cleaning but we could make more money if we did the Airbnb thing. We will see if we can find a renter and go from there. People are always looking for properties to rent in Cottonwood Falls so am thinking it will be fairly easy to find renters. It is a two-bedroom, one-bath house with a nice sized living room and dining room. It has a huge yard and a nice outbuilding.

Katy is still alive so far today. We have an eye dropper that we use to give her water occasionally. She hasn’t eaten anything or moved much for over 24 hours now. She is a tough old cat.

The chickens gave us 21 eggs this morning and we haven’t checked yet this afternoon. It may be a record setting egg day on the chicken ranch today. I have lots of extra eggs if anyone needs any. I deliver on Mondays so let me know if you want me to bring you some tomorrow.

It has been very windy today on the prairie. The temperatures are in the mid 30’s and the wind has been gusting up to 30 MPH. Good day to stay inside and stay warm. I have some soup in the crockpot for dinner tonight. I used the leftover pot roast and veggies and added some stuff to it. I hope it will taste OK. I accidentally added Soy Sauce instead of Worcestershire sauce. Oops. May have left over frozen pizza instead.

I didn’t get on the hot line last night. I was too emotionally tired to get on. I put in over 12 hours last week which is their limit and decided not to wear myself completely out. If I burn out I won’t want to continue volunteering.

I still haven’t heard about the newsletter stuffing project for the Symphony. I guess I will hear something sooner or later. I don’t have any plans so it doesn’t make much difference when it gets here to work on.

I ordered some new jeans and they came in yesterday. I was happy to find I could get into them as they are a size smaller than what I am wearing now. They are a bit long but better too long than too short. I like the way they fit so will keep them. I may order another couple of pair – I’ll see how they wash up and make sure I really like them before I order more.

We need to go take the contract to our seller and when we come home I will probably take a short nap. I am becoming a creature of habit and taking a nap every afternoon has become routine for me. Guess I don’t have anything better to do so why not. Jim is laying down now and I will have to wake him up soon so we can go to Cottonwood Falls and deliver the contract.

I have a tire that needs to be repaired so will take my car into Cottonwood Falls tomorrow morning to get that fixed. It was low last week and we aired it up. It is back down again so obviously their is a leak in it. I may need to use Jim’s car to deliver eggs in. Good thing I know how to drive a stick shift.

Jim’s article was in the KS Reflector this morning. I put a copy of it on my Facebook page. It takes a few minutes of reading it to realize it is a satire piece.

I took a long nap when we came back from signing the contract with our seller in Cottonwood Falls. I slept for almost three hours. Feeling rested now – trust I will be able to sleep sometime tonight.

Since I took such a long nap I will get on the Hot Line later tonight if they are busy. It will give me something to do until I get tired enough to get more sleep.

February will be here tomorrow. I always think winter is over when February gets here – or at least if it isn’t over I know it won’t last much longer. What a mild winter we have had. Spring is coming soon and I am so ready for it. A fresh start and green grass sounds like just what the doctor ordered to make us all feel better.

Grateful for the opportunity to purchase another investment property, grateful I fit in the smaller sized jeans, and grateful January is coming to a close.

I had a hard night on the hot line last night. I hopped on to help out for an hour and ended up being on it for almost four hours. One of the calls took over two hours to finish up. It is one that I will always wonder what the rest of the story is. It was a rough night for several of the texters.

It took me several hours to unwind and be able to sleep when I was done. I didn’t get to sleep until after 5:00 this morning and was up and going before 8:30. I took a long, much needed nap this afternoon.

We got 1.5 inches of rain on the prairie today. It was a beautiful rain and we should have enough run off to fill some ponds. Lots of mud puddles to walk through when I went down to do the chickens this morning. The girls gave me 21 eggs today. They even came out and played in the rain for a bit today.

We went to Cottonwood Falls and looked at a house for sell. We would use it as an investment property – either as an Airbnb or a rental. The owner may already have it sold but it that deal falls through I will buy it. It needs some work done to it but nothing Jim can’t handle. We would hire someone to replace the roof but Jim should be able to do most of the other work that needs done. I am pretty good with a paint brush and doing some much needed cleaning and scrubbing. We will see what happens.

Katy, Jim’s cat that is 18 years old is not well tonight. She is laying in a funny position and hasn’t moved much all day. We are thinking the end may be close for her but she has fooled us before. It is always hard to say goodbye to a loved pet.

Got some more tax forms in the mail today. Still have a couple more to come in. Jim found some of the numbers I needed from him so as soon as the rest of the forms come in I can get the package handed off to my accountant.

I may get on the hot line again tonight. They are so busy lately and don’t have enough counselors late at night. People are sometimes waiting up to an hour for someone to chat with. I doubt if I will be sleepy anytime soon so might as well help out for a bit.

The wind is gusting up to 40 MPH tonight. It has switched to the North and the temperature is dropping. Grateful our moisture came in the form of rain and not snow today.

Jim’s article wasn’t in the KS Reflector today so am thinking maybe it will be in tomorrow’s paper. We shall see.

I had ordered ten chickens from a local rancher that is starting an organic farm. He is processing them on Monday and will deliver one day next week. I’m excited to be getting some farm raised chickens to eat.

I love rainy days. They make for good sleeping weather and great naps. It will be nice to see the sun tomorrow though.

Grateful for the rain the prairie received today, grateful for the chickens that will be in my freezer later this week, and grateful for long afternoon, rainy day naps.

The girls have fresh linens. Jim shoveled out the old straw and I laid new straw. The eggs will stay much cleaner for the next couple of days until the girls rearrange the straw enough that it falls out of the nesting boxes. It smells much better in the coop too.

I scared the girls when I went around the corner of the coop and one flew out and over the fence. I chased it around and Jim opened the door. We trapped it and I was able to pick it up and return it to the coop. The Americanas are good flyers. I have a fence over most of the yard to prevent them from getting out but this one found a small space to be able to get out. It was scared and didn’t appreciate its freedom.

They gave me 20 eggs today. I have 3 extra dozen on hand if anyone needs some. I deliver on Mondays so give me a call if you want me to bring you some. They are $3 a dozen or 2 dozen for $5.

I took eleven calls on the hot line last night. It was an unusual assortment of calls. I don’t feel I had a goodnight on the hot line – I was inpatient and got frustrated with my texters easily. Some nights are like that. I was on four times this week and that surpassed my emotional limit I think.

I was surprised I was able to sleep last night after sleeping so much the day before and taking a nap. I woke up this morning and my drug hangover was gone, thank heavens. I didn’t even have to take a nap this afternoon. I finally feel rested.

Jim got a call from the Chase County Health Department to schedule a vaccine. I had signed us up before we were able to get into the clinic in Emporia. It is nice to know they are working their way through the list. They are doing it by age. Found out both of my Aunts have or will soon be getting their first vaccine. That is a relief. Sometimes it helps to be old.

I have five repeats done on the blanket I am making. Not sure how many more I have to go but at least five more if not seven. I don’t have a deadline on this blanket so I am taking my time and enjoying the knitting. I like the colors and it is fun to work on.

Jim submitted an editorial article to the KS Reflector and it is being publish tomorrow. That will be fun to see his name in print. I really enjoy reading the KS Reflector each morning. Somedays it starts me day off on the wrong foot but only because they report the stupid tricks the KS Republicans are doing. The articles are always well written and informative. It is free and you can get it delivered to your in box daily.

I got up in time to put the pot roast in the crock pot this morning. I added potatoes, carrots and onion this afternoon. The house sure smells good. It will be an easy dinner tonight as everything is already fixed. I may make some beef salad from the leftovers. Jim likes eating it and I hate to see food go to waste. We can’t begin to eat a whole pot roast.

No plans this weekend. We will stay home and shelter-in-place. I didn’t need groceries this week so we don’t need to go to town for that. I’ll check to see if the grandkids need treats but I think they should be good. I took them some earlier this week.

It was nice and sunny this morning and it warmed up to the low 50’s today. The clouds have taken over now though and the wind has picked up. Feels like a winter storm may be brewing and headed our way. I can almost feel the fight happening between Spring and Winter. I prefer Spring so I am voting for it to win.

I have a newsletter stuffing project to work on next week for the Symphony. That will give me something to do. Jim is going to Stillwater Tuesday for an eye doctor appointment and will bring a car load of stuff back with him.

I am realizing how much I enjoy these quiet days at home with lots of empty space. I’m not sure I will want them to end when ever the pandemic is over. Since we are retired I guess we can keep on keeping on with the routine we have now. Jim keeps talking about travel and I can’t quite seem to go there yet. It doesn’t hold much appeal to me right now. We will see if that changes once things feel safer to get out and go.

Grateful the girls have fresh linens, grateful for a fun knitting project, and grateful for empty space and quiet on the prairie.

I had trouble going to sleep last night so I took a NyQuil around 4:00. I slept until noon or after today and then had to take a nap this afternoon. I cut the package in two and only took one tablet. Wonder if I would have gotten out of bed today if I had taken both of them. I finally feel like my hangover is gone. Needless to say, I didn’t get much done today. It is a good thing I don’t drink as I don’t think I would make a good drunk – I would just fall over and sleep if I got drunk.

I took 11 calls last night on the hot line. A couple of them were tough calls. Two of them will stick with me for a bit as I’m not sure how much help I was or if there is a solution for them. Both seemed calmer at the end of the call and told me they could get through the night. That is all I can ask for some times. Wish I had a magic wand and could grant grace and ease to some of the callers. I was wiped out at the end of my shift. I had gotten on early and stayed on a bit late to finish up the last call. I felt guilty when I got off as there were over 75 people waiting to be chatted with. I just didn’t have it in me to handle another call. I have another shift tonight.

I did a bit of knitting today. I’ll have to check it and make sure I didn’t drop a stitch as I was tired when I was knitting.

I was going to fix a pot roast for dinner but didn’t get up in time to put it in the crock pot. I’ll fix it tomorrow night. Jim is delighted he gets to doctor up a frozen pizza for dinner. He is a good sport when plans have to change.

The full moon is beautiful tonight. It was too cloudy on the horizon to watch it rise but it is shining brightly on the prairie now. I love winter nights when the moon is shining. The very light covering we had of snow melted today.

Got 19 eggs from the eggs today. I had two double yolk eggs for breakfast and I think there was another double yolk egg in the egg basket. I am like a child when I get a double yolk egg – they make me smile every time I see one.

A friend is coming over tomorrow to pick up two dozen eggs. When she asked me if we were free I told her I would check our social calendar. I checked and it is empty for tomorrow – and for most of the month and year after that. Not much on the calendar these days for sure.

Tax forms are starting to come in the mail. Still waiting on a few more and then I can get that project finished up. I need to remember to prompt Jim for the numbers I need from him. He is usually a April 15th filer.

Nothing on the agenda for the weekend. Jim is going to Stillwater next Tuesday for an eye doctor appointment and to exchange cars and bring another load up. He has a physical with our new doctor in Emporia next Thursday. Other than the normal things I don’t have anything special on the calendar next week. At least it will be February next week and Spring is only six or seven weeks away.

Grateful for NyQuil and sleep, grateful for frozen pizzas when Plan A for dinner fails, and grateful for the beauty of a full moon on the prairie tonight.

I went on the hot line last night but only handled two calls. Both were suicidal and hard calls to manage. The second one we ended up having to call emergency services for. The Supervisor had stayed on the line with emergency services until they arrived and made contact with the texter. The call was intense at times and it was a relief to know that help arrived and the texter was still alive when they did do. I’ll never know if they made it through the night but we gave them the best chance to do so.

I have a hot line shift tonight – trusting it will be a bit smoother and easier for me. The suicidal calls take a toll on me after a bit.

Jim and I went into Emporia to drop off peanut butter balls and a dozen eggs to Jason and Michelle’s house. I had baked a banana cake this morning so we took part of it to each of them too. I got to see Tagen for a hot minute when I did the drop off at his house. Tagen was doing school so I didn’t bug him for very long.

When I got back in the car from Jason’s house I noticed the back passenger side tire was low so we stopped at the tire store on the east side of Emporia and they graciously checked and aired up all the tires. The tire was rather low so we are going to have to keep an eye on it – it may have a leak in it.

When we came back to the hills we went into Strong City. Someone was giving away solid oak doors and Jim needed one for the shop he is going to build in the big barn. The lady giving them away had warned us they were heavy. As we were pulling up two young men had just loaded up three others and saw us drive off. They took off but then came back and offered to help Jim load the door. He was going to refuse their offer of help but I talked him into accepting it. He was glad he did as the door was very heavy. We managed to get it out of the car and drag it to where he wanted to store it in the barn when we got home.

I took a nap when we got home as I didn’t sleep very well last night. My feet were aching due to the cold front that came in. We got a very light dusty of snow overnight. The deck was covered lightly but it didn’t show up much in the grass. It was mighty cold walking down to do the chickens this morning as there was a brisk north wind.

Other than baking a cake I didn’t get much else done today. I haven’t even gotten any knitting done today. At the end of most days I kinda scratch my head and wonder where the time went and what I did with it.

Jim has an eye doctor appointment next Tuesday in Stillwater so he decided to wait to exchange cars then. I think he is planning to go down in the morning and come home the same day but he might end up spending one or two nights if he decides to try to get some work done too.

Nothing on the calendar for the rest of the week or the weekend. It is to warm up a bit tomorrow and even more for Friday. I have spent lots of time today at my desk as I have a little heater under my desk and I have been trying to stay warm in front of it. I don’t like cold weather anymore.

Grateful to See Tagen for a hot minute today, grateful someone gave us a solid wood door, and grateful for the help of the two young men.

Trash day today – it must be Tuesday. It is the activity of the week that grounds me to the calendar.

I made more Peanut Butter Balls dipped in Chocolate today at the request of Jason’s family. I need to remind the kids that these are special Christmas treats only and I usually only make them once a year in December. Tagen had requested some in November, I made the regular batch in December and now I am making them for the third time. There must be a pandemic going on or something!

Jim had to go to town to get some of the ingredients for me so I could get them made. I asked him to get a small box of Rice Krispies and he came home with two big boxes. Sometimes I don’t think he can hear very well or maybe he just has male selective hearing. Men seem to be able to hear what they want to hear when they want to hear.

Jim helped me with the dipping into the chocolate process. When he was done I told him to pour the hot double boiler water into the chocolate. Instead he put his hand in the pan of hot water. I cut some Aloe Vera plant and put it on his hand. He was inpatient and didn’t let it sit for very long so not sure how much good it did. Maybe he will learn to listen to me but not going to hold my breath.

We are to get snow over night tonight. Haven’t heard how much is forecast to fall. It was mighty cold walking down to take care of the chickens this morning and it hasn’t warmed up much today. They only gave me 17 eggs today but I gave them a free pass as it is cold out today.

I was watching the Lyon County Health Department website for the enrollment of another vaccine clinic as I am trying to help a couple people get appointments. They didn’t open the clinic they are having this week to on-line reservations as they found people this time otherwise. I feel so bad for the people that have to answer the phone at the health department. There is great demand for the vaccine and not enough to go around. The Health Department doesn’t know how much vaccine they are getting until the last minute and it is hard to be fair to all when so many qualify to get it. I think they are doing the best they can under the circumstances. It is hard to be patient to wait though as it can mean the difference between life and death. I’m afraid it isn’t going to get better very quickly.

I wish I could say I am surprised by the comments left on Facebook about the vaccine clinics but I’m not. I do understand how frustrated people are but the local Health Department has no control over how much vaccine they can get their hands on. They are turning it around as quickly as they can and are learning as they go.

I have some ripe bananas I need to use up by making either banana bread or a banana cake. If I make a cake I will have to give some of it away. Anyone like banana cake? I would be happy to share.

Other than making peanut butter balls I haven’t gotten much done today besides some knitting. I guess most days I say that these days. I may be in trouble if there comes a day when I have to get something done – I think I am forgetting how to do that.

We are having the rest of the hamburger soup for dinner tonight so I don’t even have to cook tonight. We have had left overs two nights in a row so tomorrow night I will have to come up with something for dinner. I’ll probably fix a pot roast as we haven’t had one of those for a bit. It is to be cold tomorrow and something cooking in the crockpot will smell good all afternoon.

One of us will have to go to town tomorrow to drop off the peanut butter balls. If the roads are slick I will have Jim do it as I am a wuss when it comes to driving on slick roads. The highway will clear pretty quickly as it is so busy so maybe by afternoon I can go. I don’t think we have any other errands to do this week so it will be a quick trip to town and back.

January has seemed to go by quickly. I have finally been able to settle into the quiet of the days and allow them to be full of empty space. It feels very comfortable to me now.

Grateful the peanut butter balls are made, grateful for leftovers again for dinner, and grateful for another quiet day at home.

I did my egg delivery today. I included two cinnamon rolls from the rolls I baked last night when I sacked up the eggs to deliver. I was in the mood to bake something and Jim said he would eat cinnamon rolls. He can’t eat two pans full though. I posted on Facebook that my house smelled divine while the rolls were cooking and a friend asked if I delivered. I took her some along with a dozen eggs. I left them at the wrong house. She went on an Easter egg hunt and found them. We both had a laugh about it. Luckily the house I left them at was her mother’s house so a stranger didn’t get involved.

I haven’t gotten anything else done today other than chores. The girls gave us 18 eggs today. I’m surprised they have stayed outside most of the day in the rain. It has rained off and on most of the day. Luckily it is over 36 out so it has come as rain and not ice or snow. My gauge shows we got 3/4 of an inch of rain so far. I’m grateful for every drop.

Jim went to town this afternoon to get something from town. I should have waited and we could have made one trip to town today instead of two but all is well. He probably needed to get out for a hot minute too.

We are having leftovers for dinner so I don’t need to do much to get dinner ready tonight. I may go take a nap when I finish writing. I slept better last night as my arm didn’t keep waking me up. It is feeling much better today and only occasionally yells at me. I’m sure by tomorrow it will be all well. My tummy has been a bit upset today. I think I remember it did this a few days after I took my cholesterol shots last time. Trusting it isn’t a sign that the C-Diff is returning. We will see what it decides to do.

I did get a bit of knitting done today. My arm was so sore the last couple of days that I couldn’t knit for long before it yelled loudly at me. It did much better today while I was knitting. My eyes were getting sleepy and this knitting project is one that I have to stay focused on and it is hard to work on when I am tired. I need to get an easier project on the needles too so I can work on it when I am tired.

Tomorrow we get to take the trash to the curb. It is the highlight of the week out here on the prairie. Ha! We don’t need any groceries so far this week so not sure when we might go to town next. Guess we will stay tucked in at home this week and enjoy the peace and quiet of the hills.

The Symphony office called and asked for some help doing a newsletter. They are going to bring the pieces that need stuffed to me to work on sometime next week. I told them I was practicing distancing and couldn’t come to them. That will give me a project for next week. They have a huge mailing list and it usually takes them a week or more to get it all together to mail. Not sure how many I will do. Grateful my arm will be better by then.

If I take a nap I will get on the hot line tonight if they need help. Usually they are busy enough to need another set of hands any night after 11:00. I can’t stay up that late unless I take a nap.

If anyone is looking for the new prairie quarters the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve has them. I was able to get a roll of them last week. They told Jim they were wanting to get rid of them. They are open most days from 9:00 -4:00. Let me know if you need me to runner and get some for you. I did that for my Aunt Marylyn as she was looking for some.

The weather today kinda matches my mood – a bit blah today. A day to stay inside and do some internal work on myself. It is the type of day that invites me to slow down and go within.

Grateful for the rain we received on the prairie today, grateful my friend found her gift of eggs after having to go on an Easter egg hunt, and grateful my arm is feeling much better.

Had a bit of a rough night’s sleep. The arm where I got the COVID vaccine ached badly most of the night. I would fall asleep and the pain in the arm would wake me up. I had trouble finding a position that was comfortable that I could maintain for a bit. Anyone else that got the vaccine have this trouble? It makes me a little nervous to think about getting the second shot as that is the one where the more severe side effects happen. I’m thinking it is a good thing I am getting the vaccine as not sure my body would handle the real thing very well.

Jim did his presentation this afternoon via Zoom after watching his church hold their annual meeting. He had a busy afternoon. I took a nap. Glad one of us accomplished something.

I have hamburger soup cooking in the crock pot. I didn’t have any lunch and am getting hungry from the smell of it cooking. When I get done writing we will have dinner.

The girls gave me 21 eggs again today. They are surprising me by staying so active even when the weather is crappy. It has been cloudy, wet and cold most of the day. We have had a bit of moisture off and on today – mainly off. More moisture is to come in this evening and hang around a bit. We sure could use several inches of rain. I trust we will get more rain than ice or snow but we are on the border of the front so it could go either way. I’ll take what ever moisture we can get.

I got on the Hot Line last night and handled five calls. No suicides for a change. Had a couple tough other calls though but muddled through. Sometimes it amazes me how people make decisions and the consequences that occur as a result. Reminds me each time how very human we all are.

Other than the egg delivery I don’t have anything on my schedule for tomorrow. It will be a rainy day on the prairie so I will probably sit and knit and watch the rain. Maybe it will be a good day to dust as the rain will quiet down the dust outside.

I do have a few letters I want to write. I have not been keeping up my letter writing activity and would like to get a few written again. I am really missing some of my friends and need to connect with them. Not the same as a face-to-face conversation but the next best thing. So looking forward to spring when many of my friends and I will be fully vaccinated and we can have others to dinner and meet for deep conversations.

The blanket I am knitting is coming along. I have three repeats done and the fourth is close to being done. It is getting long enough to provide some warmth on my lap as I work on it. I like the colors so it is fun to do. It still amazes me you can turn balls of yarn into a blanket. I trust I will always remain amazed at some of the simple things in life – like knitting and gathering eggs. I am reminded every time of what a miracle life is when I gather eggs. I’ve had chickens for over five years now and they still amaze and delight me when they give me eggs.

One more week of January to go. It always feels to me like winter is over when January is done. We have had a mild winter this year with not much snow or bitterly cold weather. We still may get some but it won’t last long if we do. I am so ready for Spring and green grass and prairies.

Jim has already planned dinner for tomorrow night. He has some leftover scalloped potatoes he wants to eat. I will have hamburger soup again. Sounds easy to me. It is so easy to fix dinner once we decide what we are going to have.

I told Jim yesterday that days seem to pass even when I don’t do anything. We are settled into a slow pattern of quietly going through our days with not much urgency or rush. It has been a bit since we had to be somewhere at a certain time. I think I am forgetting how to do that. Time doesn’t seem to have much meaning these days other than crossing another day off the calendar.

Grateful for the entertainment the chickens provide us, grateful for crock pots, and grateful for the moisture that is coming to the prairie overnight and tomorrow.

It has been 24 hours since we got our first COVID vaccine. Both of us are experiencing a bit of a sore arm around the injection site but not bad. No different than what I feel after most shots I get. I hear it is the second shot when one may experience more severe symptoms.

Chase County is giving vaccines to its oldest citizens this coming Tuesday. You have to be over 75 for this first round. Sure wish the counties could get enough vaccine to meet all the demand.

I have stayed inside most of the day. It was a bit cold when I went down to let the chickens out this morning. They gave me 16 eggs this morning. They had laid 18 eggs but had broken two of them. They almost got rid of the evidence but the clean up crew missed some of the shells. They don’t make good crooks.

Yesterday Jim brought up five more eggs for a total of 21 for the day. That was a new record for this group. I have three dozen eggs in the refrigerator now with more in the egg basket on the counter. I will deliver three dozen Monday so am even right now. But by Monday I should have at least two more dozen in the refrigerator if not three.

I knitted for a bit this morning. I have finished the third repeat on the blanket I am making. I altered the pattern I used on the birthday blanket and the repeats are shorter than that one. I needed eight repeats on the birthday blanket and am guessing I will need ten for this one. We will see. I don’t have a recipient in mind for this blanket and no date that it needs to be completed. I work on it in small chunks of time and am enjoying the time I am spending with it.

We are having leftovers for dinner so I don’t have to fix dinner tonight. Tomorrow it is to rain or snow and I plan on either making chili or hamburger soup in the crock pot.

I took a nap this afternoon. I want to get on the Hot Line tonight and I can only do that if I take a nap. The Hot Line was busy last night but I got too tired to get on. I have to be in top form when I get on or I don’t feel I can think fast enough and react like I have been trained.

Jim has a Zoom presentation he is doing tomorrow afternoon for the Stillwater Historical Society. Monday is egg delivery day and Tuesday we take the trash to the curb. Wednesday and Thursday I have a shift on the hot line in the evenings. Other than that our week is full of empty space. You would think with all this empty space I would be getting lots done but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I have gotten very good at doing nothing.

Jim may go to Stillwater one day next week and exchange cars and bring another load of stuff up. He didn’t get to go this week as his car developed an issue. He has that fixed now so we will see if he gets to go next week. We are to get some winter weather the first of the week. He may be able to go later in the week.

I’d like to get my tax package to the accountant but am still waiting on tax forms to come in the mail. Jim hasn’t gathered the information I need from him yet either. It will probably be the second week of February before everything comes in and I can take them in.

It has been a cold, cloudy day on the prairie. We got some sleet for a hot minute earlier today. Rain or snow is to come to the prairie this evening and hang around for a bit. We need the moisture. I miss the sun though. I keep reminding myself that spring will be here soon. February is a short month and we are almost done with January. I get excited when I think that by the time Spring comes our vaccines will be fully effective and we can start getting out a bit more with precautions. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I deposited my stimulus check on-line last night. It still amazes me that by sending a picture of the front and back of a check it can get deposited into your account. I love my on-line bank. I can withdraw cash out of any ATM and they refund the ATM fees.

By March 1 we have to have our reservations and dates in to the Y Camp. We have to decide what size cabin we want this year and when we want to go and for how long. Sure wish I had a crystal ball to know if the kids will be able to come out this year or not. There is a big price difference between a two bedroom and three bedroom cabin. I hate to waste the money and space if they won’t be able to come out. We have another couple of weeks to make our decision but once it is made we are stuck with it as they sell out each year and changing cabins is almost impossible. We wasted a three bedroom cabin last year with only having guests for four nights of the month we were there.

Grateful for round one of our vaccine, grateful for my knitting project to help fill my hours, and grateful for my chickens and all the entertainment they provide.

We got our first COVID vaccine today. I was very impressed with the efficiency of the Lyon County Health Department. We were both in and out in less than 20 minutes which included the 15 minute mandatory wait after you get the shot. We go back February 19 for the second one. They will send us a time for that shot when the date gets closer.

We dropped cookies off at Jason and Michelle’s houses and then went to Cottonwood Falls to dump recycling and pick up Jim’s car. The recycling trailer had been emptied but was almost full again. We were able to get a car load of stuff in it and then we came home.

I handled five calls on the hot line last night. Three were high risk texters and I had to get the supervisor involved in them to monitor the calls. They watch the conversation in case they need to call emergency services for the texter. Luckily I was able to talk them down to a cooler calm and that didn’t have to happen. I usually can handle two cals at a time but when they are high risk I only take one at a time.

I hit my 200 hour mark last night. I had been on the hot line taking calls for over 200 hours now. My original commitment to them was for 200 hours so that is paid off. Now I can decide how many hours a week I want to volunteer and if I want to stay on the schedule or just pop in to see if they need more hands. For now, I think I will keep my schedule as it has been and go from there. I mostly enjoy volunteering for them although it can be stressful at times.

I cleaned the bathrooms this morning. They were disgusting again. I’m not sure why I let things go so long before I clean. I am getting lazy these days I think.

I slept well last night so didn’t take a nap today. It feels so good to get a good night’s sleep. Wish I could do that every night.

I got my stimulus check today. I will get that in the bank this evening. Good to cross that off my pending list.

I’m fixing green chicken for dinner tonight. That will be another easy dinner. Now to decide what to fix tomorrow night. Never ending it seems – deciding what to fix. That is the hardest part of the meal.

The girls gave me 18 eggs this morning. Jim hasn’t been down this afternoon yet to see if they have any more for us today. I now have 2 dozen eggs in the refrigerator with more in the egg basket on the counter. Easy come – easy go. Three dozen will go out Monday to my regular customers.

Jim’s car fix was an easy one and not too expensive. That was a relief to him. Good to have his car back. I love small town repair shops. They left the keys in the car and asked him to put a check under the door. Bet they don’t do that in big cities.

I’m so disgusted with the KS legislature and the disregard for safety precautions regarding the virus. We all look to our political leaders to be leaders and in my humble opinion the Republicans in office in KS are failing. I just don’t understand why they don’t listen to the science and put their little egos aside and do the right thing.

Grateful to have gotten shot number one today, grateful for all the health professionals that are doing a bang up job getting the vaccines out, and grateful I reached my 200 hour mark on the Hot Line.

I sold six dozen eggs today. Yay! My refrigerator is cleaned out. I have a little over a dozen in the egg basket on the counter. The girls gave me 20 eggs today. By the end of the day tomorrow I will have two dozen back in the refrigerator with some in the egg basket. Easy come – easy go. It is nice to empty them out though and start again.

Just after I wrote my blog yesterday I noticed the Lyon County Health Department was offering a vaccine clinic to those over 65. I quickly went on-line and followed the link and got appointments for both Jim and myself for tomorrow afternoon. Shortly after I did that, two dear friends sent me messages to let me know about the clinic so we could get signed up. I so appreciated them letting me know.

I called this morning to make sure that we qualified since we live in Chase County. We do. It will be a relief to get the vaccine and be on our way to feeling safer to get out and about. I understand the need to continue to wear our masks and social distance for a bit but it will be nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

It sounds like Chase County is getting close to offering its first clinic. They are starting with those over 75 and working down from there. I doubt that they know how many shots they can give until the. last minute when they get their vaccine.

I handled six calls on the hotline last night including a high risk texter. The supervisor was right there with me through the call and helped me get the person to a cooler calm. Again I never will know what the rest of the story is and have to trust that the person was still alive this morning. I got on the hot line for about 30 minutes this morning as they were busy then. I have another shift tonight. I am 1 1/2 hour from reaching my goal of volunteering for two hundred hours. That should happen tonight.

I took a long nap yesterday and last night I had trouble finding sleep. I finally fell asleep around 6:00 this morning and only slept until 8:30. I took a one hour nap this afternoon. We will see what happens tonight. Sleep remains a mystery to me.

Since we have to go to town tomorrow afternoon for our vaccines I’m going to bake cookies for the kids and take them to town with us to drop off. I don’t think we have any other errands to run other than dumping the recycling stuff. They haven’t called to let Jim know his car is done so we haven’t made it back over to Cottonwood Falls yet. My car is full of stuff that needs dumped.

We are having fish for dinner tonight. I’ll have a piece of grilled salmon and Jim will have his beer battered baked fish. I’m going to fix sweet potato fries for me and tater tots for Jim. It will be an easy dinner to make. I threatened Jim with fish anytime he can’t help me come up with something to fix for dinner.

We had changed Jim’s car insurance to my policy as it was going to be cheaper for him. When he cancelled his insurance he found out his house insurance was going to double if he removed both cars. We had to cancel one of the cars from my policy and keep it on Jim’s. My insurance company will send me a refund check. What a racket for the insurance companies.

No big plans for the weekend. Jim is doing a Zoom lecture for the Stillwater Historical Society Sunday afternoon. He only has 20 – 30 minutes to talk so it will be short. He didn’t make it to Stillwater this week as his car has been in the shop. Hopefully it will get done yet this week so he can go to Stillwater early next week. He needs to get the Honda titled in KS and the car needs to be here for him to do that. I think his plan is to go down and come back the same day.

It was a beautiful day on the prairie today. The temperature was in the high 50’s which is amazing for the middle of January in KS. We have a chance for some snow on Monday and it will be down in the 30’s next week. Got to love the weather in Kansas – you never know what you will get. I can’t complain though as we have had a very mild winter this year. I’m getting excited for Spring though.

Still processing the change I our government yesterday. It will be interesting to watch what happens with the new administration and if things can get done. I have my doubts due to the great divide but hopefully I am wrong. I am hearing road blocks being put up already – so much for a call for unity. I wonder what it will take for the divide to begin to close.

Grateful for my egg customers that emptied my refrigerator of eggs today, grateful for the appointments to get our vaccine tomorrow, and grateful for an easy dinner to fix tonight.

There were tears of relief and joy shed in our house today as we watched the new President being installed. A big sigh of relief fell over the prairie. The ceremony was beautiful. The poet was simply amazing. The music spot on. Biden’s remarks hit the right notes (although I cringed once or twice). May peace be restored in our nation’s capital was our prayer.

It was alarming to see the photos of the national guard sleeping at our nation’s capital building. To think we have come to this is still beyond my belief. The division is wide and deep. Biden has his work cut out. I trust we all give him a chance and understand it will take time.

I finally found the KS state website to get vaccine information but alas it is mainly blank with information to come. Not sure how OK is getting enough vaccine to inject those over 65 when KS doesn’t seem to be getting it. We will patiently, or not so patiently, continue to wait until the supply chain gets restocked and trust that when the timing is right it will happen. From what I have read they recommend you continue the same precautions anyways so guess getting it sooner won’t change much.

We took Jim’s car to the repair shop in Cottonwood Falls around noon. We tried to dump the recycling but the trailer was still too full to add more to it. Went to Emporia and got some international stamps for Jim and mailed Aunt Marylyn’s prairie quarters to her. We went to Walmart and picked up the stuff we needed from there and then came home after a quick stop at Fanestil’s for bacon and turkey.

The drive to town today seemed to take three hours. Not sure why I was doing the out of time thing today. It was good to get back home. I took a long afternoon’s nap as soon as I put the groceries away. I had woken up at 4:00 this morning when Jim came to bed and wasn’t able to go back to sleep. I have a Crisis Hot Line shift tonight and needed some rest before I could handle my shift.

I have scalloped potatoes with ham cooking for Jim’s dinner. I will have some plain ham slices or else a left over hamburger. White potatoes and I are not friends these days. It has been over a week now since I took my last antibiotic for C-Diff and so far, so good. I trust I haven’t jinxed myself for mentioning it. I still have to watch what I eat as certain foods still don’t sit well. White potatoes is one of them as well as anything raw. I can do limited amounts of beans which is an improvement. I still am avoiding dairy although I can tolerate small amounts of it. Trusting that over time my stomach will heal and I won’t have these limitations. As long as the C-Diff doesn’t return I am happy.

Found a new ball of yarn on the floor this morning all messed up. Tony, Jim’s big cat, had some fun with it last night. Jim untangled it while we were watching the swearing in ceremony. Tony is on my shit list. He better not mess with the blanket I am making or he will be banned from the house.

I still haven’t received my stimulus check. They have to mail it to me. Last time it got forwarded to Jim’s address so thinking that might be what happened this time. My forwarding has expired so am not sure where it might have gotten sent if that happened. Not sure how to track it down. Guess it will show up (or not) someday.

Nothing on our calendar for the rest of the week. We will have to go to Cottonwood to pick up Jim’s car whenever it is ready and hopefully be able to dump the recycling stuff then. It will be another quiet rest of the week at home on the prairie.

Grateful for our new President and administration, grateful the grocery list was filled today, and grateful to be home for the next couple of days.

Happy birthday to my grandson Tagen. He turns 15 today. Where has the time gone to. He has grown into a man this last year. He is now close to 6 foot tall and towers over me. He is a gentle, kind soul who is sensitive and caring. I sure wish I could be with him today to celebrate.

We went into Cottonwood Falls to run some errands this afternoon. We stopped at the National Prairie Preserve and was able to get $15 worth of the new Prairie Preserve quarters. Aunt Marylyn wanted some so I will get hers in the mail to her tomorrow.

We deposited a check at the bank and then Jim checked with a local mechanic to see if they could fix his car. They can so he will take it in tomorrow morning. We tried to dump recycling stuff off but the trailer was too full. Hopefully they will get it dumped tomorrow and when I take Jim to drop his car off we can dump it then.

I need to go to Emporia tomorrow and run a few errands. I need some groceries and need to stop at Fanestil’s for some turkey and bacon. Jim needs a couple of international stamps so will run to the post office and get those while I am in town.

A friend from Stillwater let us know that OSU is offering vaccines to retired OSU staff. Jim gets his pension from them as they are the umbrella university of Langston where he worked. I called to schedule appointments and found out they are only offering the vaccines to staff that worked on the OSU campus. Dang. So close to getting a vaccine. Guess we will continue waiting until KS gets its act together and we get one here.

I got on the crisis hot line for an hour last night and handled two callers. Neither call felt good to me when we were done. Both had problems bigger than a short text call could handle. But both were in a calmer spot when we finished so maybe it was helpful for a hot minute. If I’m not too tired tonight I will get on again. I didn’t take a nap today so we will see if I can stay awake long enough to get on when they get busy late night.

I have 4 more hours to go to complete my required 200 hours of service. I should do that this week. I have interacted with over 350 texters. Some calls still haunt me today. I will never know the rest of the story.

Jim is having tacos for dinner – I will have a hamburger. Easy and quick to fix. I’m all about doing things that are easy these days. Now to decide what to fix for tomorrow night.

The girls gave me 19 eggs this morning and I am hoping there are a few more when Jim goes down in a bit to give them some water. A friend let me know she will pick up two dozen eggs on Thursday. That will take me down to three dozen in the refrigerator – at least until I gather eggs tomorrow morning.

It has been another beautiful winter day on the prairie. The temperature has been in the mid 40’s with bright blue skies. The wind has been in a bit of a hurry off and on today. It feels colder than it is outside with the wind chill. It is to warm up some tomorrow but we have a chance of snow later this week. Gotta love winters in KS and never knowing from day to day what to expect.

I’m so grateful the inauguration is tomorrow and Trump goes off into the sunset. It is disturbing to read the reports that are coming out about the invasion of the Capital building. It will be interesting to see where this all goes. I truly trust that Congress will figure out how to get something done and the bottleneck gets broken free.

Grateful to have found some prairie quarters, grateful for my grandson Tagen, and grateful for all the eggs I am getting.

Another day almost done and another day in which I have no idea where the time went to. I haven’t done anything of any importance today. Really not sure where the day has gone.

I delivered eggs to a customer in Cottonwood Falls around noon. My other regular weekly customer didn’t need any this week. A friend came over and got two dozen this afternoon. I still have three dozen in my refrigerator. They come in faster than I am able to sell them.

Jim is out taking a hike. It is too windy and cold for me to go. I am a wuss. I do not like walking in cold, windy weather.

I laid down for a bit this afternoon but didn’t sleep much. It felt good to lay down though and rest. I didn’t sleep very well last night. I was up between 3:00 and 6:00 and then got one more hour of sleep after that. One of the biggest mysteries in my life is understanding why I sleep sometimes but most often do not sleep well.

One of my memories on Facebook said that six years ago Tagen was spending the day with me. We were going to go outside to do something and he took a while to come out. When I asked him what he had been doing when he finally came outside he said he had to stop and take a scratch. That made me smile. I’m glad I have a record of some of the cute things my grandkids have said over the years.

We are having leftover Ham and Corn Chowder for dinner tonight. That will be easy. Now to decide what to fix for tomorrow night.

When we were coming home from Florence yesterday the light that indicates the parking brake is on came on in Jim’s car. The parking brake wasn’t on so he wants to get that checked out before he drives the car to Stillwater this week. He will try to get that taken care of tomorrow.

I finally lost a few pounds today. I had been stuck on the same weight for over six weeks. I had decided that was going to be where my body was going to stay at. I don’t have a goal in mind this time. I am eating what I think is the right amount for me and I’ll see where what my body decides is the ideal weight for me with this amount of food. It is nice to be getting back down again though. My jeans are much more comfortable now. I am still 12 pounds higher than the lowest I got before. It’s been over a year since I was at this weight. Glad I have been able to drop some of the weight I had gained.

I need to go to the bank and to get a few groceries sometime this week. Jim needs to go to the post office to get two international stamps. He also needs to get his car looked at so he might run the errands for us this week. Since I got out yesterday I am good at staying home the rest of the week.

I have my car loaded with recycling stuff that needs to get dumped in the trailer in Cottonwood Falls. They usually have the trailer empty by afternoon tomorrow so it is easier to dump stuff in. If I remember I will drive over and dump it tomorrow sometime. It is amazing how much recycling material we dump every other week or so.

I’m in the mood to make cinnamon rolls again so may make those tomorrow and share with the kids. I don’t eat them but I love to smell them. Jim enjoys them.

My mind has been quiet today. I will be able to breathe more easily after Wednesday and the new president is installed. I keep waiting to hear about trouble in the state capitals or in DC. I truly trust that things will quiet down nationally and the government will start functioning more efficiently again. In my opinion it is still very broken but it is what it is. Not much I can do about any of it.

Grateful for a quiet day at home, grateful for my egg customers, and grateful for leftovers that give me a night off from cooking.

We had the best afternoon for the longest time. We went to Marion to visit my Aunt Glenda and Uncle Jack. Glenda graciously agreed to take 8 dozen eggs off my hands so we took them over to her. We ended up visiting for two hours. Every time I spend time with either Aunt Glenda or Aunt Marylyn it is like getting a visit from my mother. Priceless!

We stopped at the cemetery in Florence on the way home. I hadn’t been by for a bit. I like to check and make sure the headstone is in good shape. Aunt Glenda had put out poinsettias and everything looked good.

I knitted for a bit before we went to Marion. I have the first repeat done and am starting on the second one. It is a bit bright but I think I will like it.

I have an egg delivery to make tomorrow in Cottonwood Falls. I will get rid of another three dozen eggs then. That will leave me with three more dozen in the refrigerator. I need to find some more regular egg customers.

We are going to have plain hamburgers for dinner when Jim gets done talking with his son. They usually chat for an hour so no rush to get dinner started. It won’t take me long to do hamburgers, veggies for me and potatoes for Jim. Not very original tonight.

The hills were so pretty this afternoon. Coming home the sun was setting and the shadows caused some beautiful scenes. I love the drive over to Marion – I think it goes through the heart of the Flint Hills.

Other than the egg delivery I don’t have any thing on my calendar tomorrow. Tuesday is the big day of the week – we take the trash to the curb. Wednesday and Thursday I have my Hot Line shifts. Jim is going to Stillwater one day this week to exchange cars and bring another load back up. Not sure when he is going yet. Someday soon I need to go to Wichita and go to Costco. My list of things I need from Costco is growing. We might try to go pay a visit to Aunt Marylyn when we go.

I didn’t get a nap today since we went visiting. I didn’t sleep very well last night. May be an early bedtime for me tonight.

I’m feeling a bit nostalgic this afternoon. Going to my parents graves and spending time with Aunt Glenda and Uncle Jack brought back so many memories from my past. It also reminded me how much we are missing out of due to the virus. May I never take for granted again the ability to go see the people I love.

Grateful for a wonderful visit with Aunt Glenda and Uncle Jack, grateful I am down to three dozen eggs (at least until I gather another 18 eggs tomorrow), and grateful for the beauty of the hills today.

A nicer day on the prairie today weather wise. We hit the low 40’s today with bright blue skies and little wind. It was a relief to have the wind quiet down today. The chickens enjoyed being outside today after having to stay inside most of the day yesterday.

I made ham and corn chowder for dinner tonight. I cooked it in the crockpot. It was really good but not much different than the quick cook method. Just easier to fix in the crock pot. I love fixing dinner around noon and putting it in the crock pot and then like magic it is ready at dinner time with no work. Thawing hamburger for dinner tomorrow night – not sure what it will become though.

I knitted on the new blanket I am making. I’m anxious to get the first repeat done to see if I like the color combination. Halfway there. So far – so good.

Took a short nap this afternoon. I went to bed at 8:00 last night and slept until 11:00. Then I was up until 2:00 and slept off and on until 8:00 this morning. Next time I take my shots I will do them at bedtime so the Benadryl doesn’t throw the rest of my day off.

Worked on taxes for a while this afternoon. They are almost ready to take to the accountant. Need to wait on the tax forms to come in from the bank and social security, etc. Good to have that project well on it’s way to being done. I need to file a report with the Secretary of State but that won’t take long. Jim needs to gather some numbers for me too. This will be our first joint return. I’m anxious to see how we come out this year.

I haven’t received my $600 stimulus check yet. They have to mail mine to me so it is a wait. Jim got his deposited in his checking account two weeks ago. I don’t think I am going to use mine to make more masks this time. Masks are easy to get these days so the need isn’t there any more. I’ll probably donate it to a food bank. There are so many in dire need these days.

I’ll probably get on the hot line tonight since I took a nap. I only have 5 more hours to go to reach my goal of putting in 200 hours. It will be nice to cross that line next week. I started my training on April 20 last year and the 200 hours doesn’t include the training time.

I was looking at my calendar for last year and realized now is about the time I started doing taxes for other people through AARP. I will miss doing them this year. The site in Emporia is not going to be open this year. I’m thinking about getting a software package that would allow me to do taxes and advertise to Seniors that I would be happy to help them do their taxes for free. I think we could figure out a way to do it safely for both of us. I’ll think some more on this and then decide what to do.

Grateful for a very quiet day on the prairie, grateful my tax project is almost completed, and grateful the blanket project has been started.

It is a wintery day on the prairie today. We didn’t get much snow but the wind has been in a big hurry all day. Our weather station clocked several 50 – 55 MPH wind gusts. There is a fog or haze on the horizon. Not a day to be outside if you can avoid getting out.

I worked on my tax prep folder today. I got the rental properties information gathered. Three of the four properties had a good year. One barely broke even due to needing a new HVAC and lots of little repairs. They add up quickly over a year’s time. I called my accountant with a question and now have to gather more information for the Airbnb but that will help reduce my tax liability. I’ll work on that another day.

Gave myself my shots after taking a Benadryl 30 minutes before I injected myself. The Benadryl made me very sleepy so had to take a long nap this afternoon. I now feel like I have a bad hangover and could go back to sleep. I had trouble again getting the shot to discharge. One of the sites has a black and blue mark and the other is a tad bit swollen. Wonder how long it will be before this becomes routine and easy. I think the old fashioned shot would be easier than these new ones that inject automatically.

The walk down to the chicken coop was darn right cold this morning. The girls went outside to eat the oats and then went right back in. When Jim went down with water this afternoon they were all inside so he locked them up so he doesn’t have to go down after dinner. The girls gave me 17 eggs this morning.

I got the new blanket I want to made cast on the needles last night. Feels good to have this new project started. I haven’t knitted yet today. I think I am too sleepy to knit this evening. It may be a very early bath and bedtime for me tonight.

Still haven’t decided what to do with the hamburger I have thawed for tonight’s dinner. I might make gravy train for Jim and a plain hamburger for me. I should have made a soup this morning in the crock pot. It is a soup eating type of day.

Jim is out dumping the compost and getting the mail. He likes cold weather better than I do. Once I get cold I have a hard time getting warm again.

Today is my brother Chad’s 66th birthday. It is hard to think of my siblings as being in their 60’s and 70’s. I still don’t feel 67 most days. Where has the time gone?

I took 9 calls on the hot line last night. Several were hard to know what to do or what to tell them. We are not allowed to give advice and on several of them that was so tempting to do. I doubt I get on tonight since I am not feeling on top of my game. I only have 5 more hours of my 200 hour commitment to go. I’ve handled almost 400 calls during those hours. Still debating what I am going to do when my 200 hour commitment has been met. I’m not sure if I want to keep my regularly scheduled shifts or just hop on when the mood strikes.

The news about the vaccines is not good today. I am mentally preparing myself that it will be the end of March before we get our first shots. Jim is thinking the end of February. We will see who comes closest. Nothing really changes when we get our shots for a bit anyways. I’m still thinking no travel this year and Jim is thinking we will get to go somewhere this fall. Again, time will tell.

My mind is in slow motion this afternoon. Hard to capture a thought long enough to act on it. It may be a challenge fixing dinner. It is probably a good thing I don’t drink as I would not be a good drunk or handle a hangover very well.

Grateful the shots got done today, grateful for my brother Chad, and grateful the tax prep is halfway done.

Tuesday night I took my last antibiotic from my 12 week regiment. It was good to have that done and am trusting the C-Diff does not return. I am optimistic since I had that negative test about 10 weeks ago. We will see what happens.

I baked Jim a big batch of Snickerdoodle cookies today. He was almost out of them. He should have enough now to last several weeks. I love baking cookies and he loves to eat them. I may bake up a batch of peanut butter cookies for the grandkids tomorrow. I like to have some in the freezer so when they ask for some I can take them over if I don’t have time to bake.

Last night I handled nine calls on the hot line. They were very busy when I signed off but I had been on for three hours and had reached my limit. The last call I handled was a suicide that met all the requirements to get the supervisor involved. I was able to talk them down and they promised to text back in if the urge came back. The supervisor monitored what I was doing but didn’t have to jump in. It is nice to know they are watching and are there in case the call goes bad. Had a couple other suicidal people but they didn’t ladder up to getting the supervisor involved. I have another shift tonight.

Took another long nap this afternoon. I didn’t sleep well last night. I think the sound of the wind kept waking me up. We had a wind gust of over 51 MPH today and sustained winds of 25 – 30 most of the day. I almost put rocks in my pockets to go down to take care of the chickens this morning. The girls came out to eat the oats and sunflower seeds but when I would look down this afternoon most of them were inside out of the wind.

We had left overs for dinner tonight – well Jim did and I fixed a piece of salmon for myself. I needed the refrigerator cleaned out to make room for eggs. The dogs got a special dinner tonight as they got some left overs too. We are pretty good at using up left overs but there always seems to be some that we don’t get too. I have hamburger thawing for tomorrow night but no clue what I am going to fix with it.

Tomorrow I have to give myself two shots of the cholesterol medication. I need to remember to take some Benadryl 30 minutes before I inject myself. I hope the welts don’t come back as the other ones are just now going away. I really don’t want to have welts on my thighs all the time.

I told Jim at dinner tonight I don’t know how the days manage to slip away and at the end of the day I really have no clue what I did all day. I don’t know how I ever managed to raise kids and work back in the day. I just don’t seem to be able to muster much productivity most days. I haven’t even started a knitting project. Not quite sure where the hours go. I have gotten really good at doing nothing.

No plans for the weekend and nothing special on the calendar for next week. I look forward to watching the inauguration on Wednesday and will breathe better when it is safely completed. I worry about what violence is going to happen next week. Nothing I can do about any of it so it is a waste of energy to worry. Oh how I wish this great divide could be healed. It seems to be growing wider instead.

Grateful for left overs, grateful for the work I do on the hot line, and grateful for the smell of homemade cookies baking earlier today.

I went to Emporia today to take care of some errands. I mailed the hat and scarf, picked up the monthly receipts from my rental property manager for the year so I can do my tax prep work, picked up my prescription and got some groceries. I also dropped off Tagen’s birthday present and some cookies for the grandkids. It always feels good to have all of the errands taken care of. But it feels even better to get back to the prairie. I’m not a city girl any more.

I took a long nap this afternoon. I slept off and on last night and have a Crisis Hot Line shift tonight and needed some sleep so I can manage my shift. Jim took another long walk while I slept.

I fixed green chicken for dinner. It is the simplest recipe ever and so good. Put raw chicken tenders in the crock pot, pour one jar of Guacamole Salsa over them and cook for 2 – 3 hours. So tender and delicious and easy to make. I fried some apples for me, Jim had a baked potato and we both had green beans. Now to decide what is for dinner tomorrow night.

When I went down to the chickens this morning to gather eggs, there was a chicken sitting on top of the eggs in the nesting box. I picked her up and put her on the ground while I gathered the eggs. When I picked her back up to put her back in the box I discovered she had laid her egg on the ground. Talk about a fresh egg! I had it for breakfast.

Got a notification from the Hot Line asking us to consider adding a shift or two to our schedule next week. They are anticipating an increase in the number of calls due to all the national tension that is occurring. It is a tough time for a lot of people right now on many levels.

I got a letter from Aunt Marylyn today. It always brightens my day to get a letter from her. I am going on the hunt for some prairie quarters for her. I happened to get one of the new quarters at the post office today. Last I had heard the Tallgrass Prairie National Park has some so need to go over there and see if I can find some for her. I also need to check Lyon County Bank – at one point they had some too.

I went down yesterday to find some yarn so I could make a prayer shawl for a request I had. I found a box of shawls I had made a long time ago so picked one of those out and sent it on its way today. Now I can start the new blanket I ordered yarn for instead. Knitting is my go-to relaxation method when I need to escape for a bit.

The prairie has fire warnings for tomorrow. The wind is to be in a hurry and the temperatures are going to drop. Not much chance for moisture though – just high winds. We are so dry the fire danger is high. There is a chance for a wintery mix on Friday but then it is going to warm back up again next week. Almost hasn’t felt like winter for long this year. That is a good thing for me – I don’t like cold weather. But we need moisture so will welcome some if it comes in what ever format on Friday.

It is beginning to look more and more like we won’t get our vaccine shots until February sometime, if then. A friend that lives in New York State said 7 million people in New York State are over 65 and they only have 330,000 shots. Wow! It is going to take a lot of coordination and patience before people get their vaccines. Who would have thought a year ago March when we went into isolation that it would drag on this long. Good thing we are used to it at this point. I am jealous at my Oklahoma friends as most of them that are over 65 have gotten their first shots already. Come on Kansas, get your act together and lets get this done.

My propane tank got filled today. One advantage of a mild winter is I haven’t used very much propane this winter. Trusting I will carry a credit over to next year so the bill for next week will be less. I prepay for propane every year to take advantage of the discounted price. It is always a guess as to how much I will need.

No plans for tomorrow or the rest of the week. I have to give myself my shots for my cholesterol on Friday. Trusting I won’t develop welts again this time. The ones I got almost a month ago are slowly disappearing but are still visible. I am to use new injection sites each month – guess the welts will help me remember where I injected myself the month before.

Still sitting with all the chaos in the world and deciding how I want to face it. I see splits occurring in families as a result of siblings being on opposite sides. I see friendships being broken. It is hard to know what to do and how to think. Jim and I keep talking about how we build bridges between the two sides. It seems impossible at times though. I know what a person believes as far as politics is just a part of who they are but I am struggling to find common ground with them and maintain friendships when they have fallen down the rabbit hole in their beliefs.

Grateful for a letter from Aunt Marylyn today, grateful the errands got done today, and grateful for freshly laid eggs.