It’s coming

Today is supposed to reach a high of -7C or -8C, after which the temperatures are supposed to drop. An Alberta Clipper weather system is blowing its way through the prairies. The snow is supposed to start this afternoon, for a total of up to 15cm over 36 hours.

We already have a light dusting of snow right now. I didn’t get a head count, but the cats definitely prefer to be in the sunroom, or the cat house. Only the super fluffy ones, like Driver, here, are staying out. The sunroom was at just below 0C when I came in this morning, compared to -12C outside.

Today’s jump in temperature makes it a good day for the phone tech to come out! My brother tried to phone me yesterday and, instead of the crackling noise as before, he got a busy signal. Even when I pick up the phone, I now only hear the light crackling of an open line. My brother says we just have a short, somewhere. The question is, where?

I will be taking advantage of the warmer day and heading to town to pick up a few things. I hope the local hardware store has stove pellets for the litter. I don’t want to drive further afield, but we’re running low. We had lots, but have been going through it faster. Using oil in the cat’s ears, and the subsequent grooming, has had unfortunate effects on their digestive systems! Nothing like so many cats having the s***s at the same time!

We’ve taken a break on doing their ears right now. The next time we do them, we need to keep track of which cats still have too much detritus in their ears and keep doing them. Some are nice and clean, so no need to keep doing theirs, anymore.

Hopefully, the phone tech will come in the next hour or so, before I plan to head out. Otherwise, I’ll be leaving the gate open for him. He’s supposed to try and call my husband’s cell phone, first, but who knows if he’ll have enough signal.

Meanwhile, it was nice enough out that I shoveled the outer yard paths, to the garage, burn barrel, and electricity meter. Depending on how much snow accumulates over the next few days, we might need to break little Spewie out and do the driveway. For now, though, the truck can easily clear the snow we have so far.

I’m so happy we have that truck!

The Re-Farmer

It’s in! Plus, computer news

Just in time!

I just got back from the post office and brought this home. The heat lamp for the sun room. It’s assembled and ready to hang up. I’m going to let it all come to room temperature before I try to hang it up and turn it on.

This is much better than what we used before, which was never intended to be used for anything other than keeping the pipes under the kitchen sink from freezing. This is a brooder lamp, so it’s meant to keep critters warm, safely. The bulb guard being particularly appreciated. Sure, a cat could still stick it’s head in, though I’ll be sure to hang it where that is not likely to happen. More likely is an accidental brushing. Between the bulb guard and the depth of the reflective shade, that is no longer a concern.

There is the option to hang it from a hook, or using a clamp. I expect to be using the clamp, but it’s good to have choices.

We are not expected to have daytime highs below -20C for a while yet, but overnight lows have already dropped to that point. The city we lived in last is expecting to drop colder than -30C, so we don’t have much to complain about.

In other news, I got a voice mail on my cell phone. It never rang, but at least it took a message.

It was the computer repair place, letting me know my machine is ready to pick up.

!!!

I had thought it was a lost cause, but no. He got it going. It takes about 5 minutes to boot up (it was taking that long for a while, now), but it’s working again. The total bill, including saving and backing up my data, is almost $300. Much cheaper than a new computer!

I do still need a new computer. The hardware is giving out and it’s not worth replacing it all, but it does give us time to figure out getting the funds for a new machine. Or even a refurbished one.

I don’t know when we’ll be going into the city next, to pick it up. That gives us time to scrape the money together to pay for it.

Then there is the cost of replacing the valve stems on the truck.

Then there is getting my mother’s car in to see what the damage is, and how much it will cost to fix.

My husband has an eye appointment coming up and will need new glasses. The last time he got glasses, it cost over $1500, most of it for his special lenses, some 15 or so years ago. His insurance currently covers only about $400.

Then there is…

Then there is…

Then there is…

It just doesn’t end, does it?

However, the kitties will be nice and warm. I think the lamp is ready to hang up, now!

The Re-Farmer

A home day

I’m happy to say that I have no errands to run, no unexpected outings, nothing. Just a day to stay home, inside and out of the wind!

We’ve had a very mild winter so far, but as we head towards the end of January and into February, we are expected to get more average temperatures. Not so much that we need to worry about the vehicles freezing, or even plug them in. Which is good, since I discovered the truck’s block heater plug end was ripped off and never repaired. Clearly, it wasn’t an issue for whomever owned it before. This thing can handle the cold much better than the van could.

We do need to try and get the garage door closed, though. One corner wheel came off the track. I’m hoping that, if one person is able to push up the opposite corner, it will move the loose corner close enough to the track to be able to get it back on. This is something to do on a warmer day and will require taking the truck out, setting up a little ladder at one corner, and the folding scaffolding set at the other. It will take three of us to manhandle the thing. One to push up the opposite corner, one to move the loose corner towards the track, and one to try and get the wheel back on the track. It’s an unusually large door for its type.

The outside cats are appreciating being out of the wind. This morning, I counted 33 of them. Last winter, we had a ceramic heat bulb set up for them, but the old fixture we were using stopped working. We currently have a replacement on the way. What we had before was something my brother had put together to set up under the kitchen sink, so the heat from an incandescent light bulb would help prevent pipes from freezing, while the house was empty. The kitchen has no heat vent, so it was the one area of concern in the house.

What we are getting is a clip-on lamp designed for chickens. It has a heat reflector shade and comes with a ceramic bulb. I plan to set it up facing under the platform, which will have the added benefit of the sheet of insulation above, to help keep the heat in their favorite sleeping spot. If it gets too warm, they can go on top of the platform. The only thing I’m not sure of is how I will attach it securely. I’ll figure that out, once it arrives, and I can see exactly how the clamp is designed.

Meanwhile, we are still figuring out our phone problems. I spoke to my brother, through Messenger, and told him we thought the problem was the jack in my husband’s room. My brother suggested we simply detach that jack and see. I never even thought of that! So I went into the basement and traced the wire to the hub, and removed it.

Nothing changed.

My brother said it sounded like moisture got into a jack, which is what we think, too. Likely due to our two fixed males that still spray! There are two other jacks on the ground floor, but there is no way cats or moisture could get to either of those. That leaves the one jack upstairs, which we’ve never used, which could have had damage to it. So, one of my goals for today is to find and trace that wire and remove it.

If that doesn’t do it, then the problem is something else, and we’ll have to call someone in.

The main problem is, either how we have things set up, it’s hard to access all but one of the jacks. We will have to clear things for a tech to reach them, if he needs do.

Speaking of clearing things, once Christmas is over on Jan 6, and we store away our decorations, we need to rearrange parts of the living room again, so I can access the big aquarium greenhouse. We need to get our onion seeds started!

Then we will need to bring other things in from the sun room, including one of the shop lights, to set up our growing zone again. We won’t be able to do the same setup as we did last year, but I think we might not be starting quite so many seeds indoors this year. We shall see.

Lots to figure out how to do, that’s for sure!

The Re-Farmer

Still foggy

I found myself waking up way too early this morning. That’s what I get for going to bed before midnight!

It has been warming up all night, and is supposed to stay above freezing for most of the day.

I think the yard cats are liking it. Only 25 came around for breakfast! They don’t get as hungry when it’s warmer.

The fog is still here and expected to stay for a while longer. The resulting frost on the trees is quite gorgeous – and I’m happy yo not have to drive in it!

I did get some good news of a sort, this morning. Our oldest cat didn’t show up for breakfast this morning. When my husband came out, I told him about her being missing, and that was why we’d come knocking at his door after we couldn’t find her during the ear cleaning session. I feared we were now looking for a body. He told me that she did turn to be in his room! He thought all the cats were out before closing his door. She may have been under his hospital bed, far enough that we couldn’t see her. Or maybe under the table that holds his little medication fridge.

While I’m glad she was around after I’d gone to bed, the fact that she isn’t coming around for food concerns me. For now, I hope she is in her usual spot, cuddling my daughter in bed!

The Re-Farmer

(This post will be published late: it seems we lost power, while I was writing it!)

A day in the fog

Freezing fog rolled in last night, making for a gorgeous morning!

It didn’t go away.

My daughter and I headed into the city pretty much as soon as I was done the morning rounds. The roads were good and the visibility was okay, so long as no one tried to pass anyone. We made a quick stop at a gas station in my mother’s town to pick up drinks, and I sent an update to a road conditions group I’m on. When a was able to check it later on, people driving a highway almost parallel to the one we were on described several times when there were people trying to pass others in the fog and almost causing accidents! That highway is notorious for dangerous drivers.

Once in the city, our first stop was the computer place to drop off my tower. I told them, no hurry, for budgetary reasons. We talked a bit and I got an idea on what things might cost, depending on what he finds. The prices were quite reasonable, though if it’s a worst case scenario, replacing the valves on the truck tires will have to wait a month. In talking budget, I mentioned the various expenses that crop up, especially this time of year, and he totally understood. Turns out his engine blew on his own vehicle, recently! He’s got a loaner that needs to be returned today.

When I mentioned the valves on our tires, he immediately asked if the rims were aluminum. Why, yes. Yes, they are! He suggested getting steel ones, as soon as we can afford it. Which is funny, because the mechanic that checked my tires was saying much the same thing! 😄

With the computer, I’d things turn out to be badly damaged, we might need a new hard drive. He told me the cost for a 1T drive, which was very reasonable. Except, it turns out we have a spare! A recent care package we received included a hard drive, in case we found it useful. When I messaged my husband about the computer and the worst case scenario, he checked, and it’s a 1T hard drive.

Thank you, M! We may not need it, but what a serendipitous gift!

Once that was taken of, we went across the street to the Costco. We topped up on gas, which was 123.9 cents/litter. Higher than last time, but still 10 cents lower than everywhere else. After tanking up, I dashed in to get more eggs and cream. The girls are planning to make eggnog.

After that, we finally went for breakfast, though it was noon by then. We then went to a Sobeys I wanted to check out, which had a liquor store attached. I got stuff for our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day meals, which will be all finger food this year. My daughter went to the liquor store and picked up what they would need for the eggnog, and for both Christmas and New Year imbibing.

Our last stop was supposed to be the Superstore, where I got the last of what we needed for our celebrating. We will need to pick up other stuff for our New Years fondue, but that will wait until after Christmas.

I was also looking for a gift for my mother. She always says, she has too much stuff, so I wanted to get her food gifts as treats. I had no luck, so I left my daughter to pack away the purchases (I even got $50 off with loyalty points!) while I walked over to a Walmart.

I took me so long to settle on something. What did you get for the person who hates everything?

I ended up getting a little gift set with tea, crackers and tiny jam jars, which is the sort of thing she eats when she takes her medications. I got a pretty cup for the tea. I also found a Hickory Farm set with beef sausage, cheese, crackers, and a little cleaver. Again, stuff much like what she likes to have. Just a bit fancier.

I got a gift bag for it all, with plans to drop it off at her place on the way home.

I was settling into the truck and about to call my mother to let her know I’d be dropping her gift off, but not staying, because of the fog, which was still just as dense, when I saw a message from my husband suggesting we bring home McDonald’s. The budget was getting slim by then (McRaunchies is not a cheap deal anymore!), plus burgers from the city would be cold and wet by the time we got home. I’m not sure why he didn’t suggest the new Dairy Queen that’s closer to home!

I called my mother, and my daughter started messaging her sister. Before I knew it, she’d sent me the funds to stop at the Greek restaurant in town.

Before all that was settled, though, we’d reached my mother’s place and I ran in to drop off her gift.

She had already forgotten I was coming.

When I gave her the bag, she asked what it was, and I told her it was her Christmas present. She promptly started telling my she didn’t need it, and we needed it more (even though she had no idea what “it” was).

Then she wanted me to sit and visit. I reminded her, I was just dropping the gift off, because its foggy out there, and it was going to get dark, soon. I made the mistake of mentioning my daughter was with me, to help look out for deer. She started going on about how she didn’t even come in to say hi…

I left, with her glaring daggers as me.

*sigh*

With supper arrangements made, we crossed to the next highway to go to town and order four meals to go. This place is so generous in their portion sizes, it’ll be enough to feed us for 2 days!

Unfortunately, by the time it was ready, it wS fully dark. Thankfully, the fog was not as dense, so I could use my brights at times. We only saw one deer along the way!

Though it felt far later, it was only past 5 when we got home and unloaded. My daughter parked the truck while I distracted the outside cats by feeding them, while my other daughter put the shopping away.

It was a couple of hours late, so we went straight to cleaning that cats’ ears with mineral oil. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find one cat. Grandma. Even when we started putting out wet cat food, she didn’t come out. I still haven’t seen her.

Unfortunately, with a senior cat, I can’t help but think she found a quiet place for her final nap. But where? My daughter even checked the basement. We can’t find her.

I’ll try looking in the basement myself, later on. I hope I’m wrong in my concern.

It’s been a while, and we’ve had our supper (the girls and I all ordered pickerel dinners, and I got a burger meal for my husband), but as I tap away, writing this post, I have eleven greasy cats on the bed behind me, most of whom are still grooming either their own ears, or the ears of a cat next to them! They all look so bedraggled. 😁

I really hope this treatment does the trick. Some of them still have such dirty ears, which means they still have active mites. At least some of them are noticeably better! Some were never bad at all. We’ve got at least 4 more days of this, though if we feel they still need more, we might switch to using aloe vera gel, which should also help with healing. We shall see.

Beyond that, I’m just glad we got this trip in and, hopefully, we won’t need to go anywhere until after Christmas!

The Re-Farmer

Looking white out there again

Overnight, yesterday’s rain turned to snow.

I’d say it’s a good thing I changed my mind about going into town! I was keeping up with the chatter on a local highways conditions group, and things were getting really dangerous out there!

It’s still warm enough that the pools of water collected under our gate aren’t completely frozen. Those sections of ice on the main gravel road near us would be much like this, still. Thankfully, we don’t need to go anywhere for a couple of days.

While our current temperatures are still mild – we are at -5C/25F right now – the winds were absolutely brutal while I was doing my rounds. From what I can see in the trees outside my window, they haven’t died down, either. The wind chill is currently at -18C/1F

The outside cats were not enjoying it!

I counted 33 this morning, and 18 of them were in the sun room. Some pretty much never go into the sun room, no matter how cold it gets. As I was finishing up my rounds, the some of the ones outside were taking shelter under the kibble house.

We tried to arrange the shelters in such a way that they, and the house, would cut the wind, but somehow the wind always gets into there, blowing snow into the kibble house and their food trays. It doesn’t seem to get under the kibble house as much, and with that sheet of insulation on the ground, and more insulation under the floor of the kibble house, forming a ceiling under there, it is a favourite spot for them to hang out.

The water bowl shelter’s floor is quite a bit higher off the ground, and we’ve got another kibble tray under it, as well as pieces of insulation on the ground. At some point, I want to use some scrap carpet – we might have some usable pieces in the barn – and make a sort of wind break. I want to cut a piece long enough to go around three sides of the water bowl house, then cut it into strips, except for a solid band that will be attached to the base of the water bowl house. The cats would be able to easily push their way through the strips of carpet, and the carpet would shelter from the bulk of the wind and snow. My brother put something like that over the door of the dog house they gave us, except he added two layers of carpet, and the strips were cut so that they overlapped, cutting the wind even more. Unfortunately, the cats have been scratching at it, so it needs to be replaced.

Today is going to be a good day to stay inside and catch up on things!

The Re-Farmer

Back home

Well, we’re back!

My daughter and I left really early for my eye exam, just to be on the safe side. The drive is normally about 45 minutes. Road conditions were good, but the farther south we drove, the denser the fog and the worse the visibility. The town my appointment was in was completely enveloped in fog. The city, another 15 minutes drive away, would have been even worse!

Since we got there so early, we had time for lunch, and to check out a couple of stores. I still got to my appointment almost an hour early. I’m glad I did, because they were able to take me in early. There was the pre-test stuff, which included a field of vision test, this time. I haven’t had one of those in well over 20 years. Then I got the eye drops and stayed in the waiting room to give them time to do their work. Even with all that, it was still earlier than my appointment when the doctor came to get me. I have some extremely mild hemorrhaging in my eyes that she wanted to check again. They seem pretty much unchanged. My field of vision test also seemed fine, though she didn’t have any previous tests to compare to, of course.

She wants me back again in 6 months, partly for a regular eye exam, but to do the field of vision and dilation tests again, and be able to compare.

Since I was taken in so early, it was still light out for our entire drive home. Being a passenger for a change, I tried to get some pictures out the window. In town, the visibility had actually gotten worse, but once we were on the highway and heading north, the visibility improved.

One good thing with everything being covered with hoarfrost. Deer are highly visible!

We even got back early enough to pick up a parcel at the post office, before they closed.

So now I sit here wondering if my eyes can handle working on another garden analysis post.

Considering how they feel, just from writing this, I think they’re still way too dilated!

Ah, well. I’ll catch up tomorrow!

The Re-Farmer

A few updates

First, the cuteness!

The Beast looks so tiny at the top! Directly below is Pom Pom, and they are both on top of Clarence, who is getting HUGE. Then there’s Shadow at the bottom. Tin Whistle is snuggled into Clarence’s chest, and Ghosty is off by herself. Soot Sprite crawled into the pile after I took this photo, too!

All the cats are doing well. I have not been able to get a picture of Toni. She is such a worm! If you come close to pet her, she starts to squirm and roll and wriggle – then seems confused when the petting stops, because she’s no longer in reach.

Today is working out to be a fairly quiet day. We have reached 8C/46F! Warmer than forecast. I think I’ll take advantage of it and head into town to refill the water jugs after I finish writing this.

Speaking of taking advantage of the weather…

After talking with my brother (I don’t think he’s happy with me, but he did agree to the vehicle sales), I did some research on that old panel van, then contacted the guy today. The van is actually a 1950 Dodge panel truck, and it turns out to be a collector’s item. I found some similar ones, 1959 or so, in rough shape like this one, but they still had their engines and door handles, etc. selling for $2000 or more. That would be US dollars, too. Anyhow, some years ago, my brother said it was worth around $1000, and that does not seem to have changed.

When I first called the guy, I left a message and mentioned that. They decided not to buy the panel truck! 😄 The other vehicles will be used in restoration, but that one was an “extra”.

To take advantage of the mild weather we’re having, they’ll be coming out on Friday for a truck and two cars. The tractor his son wants to buy will likely have to wait until spring. The forecast does say we are supposed to get heavy snow on Thursday, but only briefly in the morning, then Friday warms up again, so it should be okay.

So Friday should be interesting.

The Re-Farmer

Morning kitties (Updated with names!)

I counted 35 this morning. I didn’t see Shop Towel this morning. Broccoli showed up later, so… 36?

I got some pictures after the feeding frenzy had died down. 😄

I’ve decided to call the black and white cat, Hypotenose. Actually, I was going to call him Hypotenuse, but then my husband made the pun and I just had to run with that.

I think the white with grey tabby spots has a name my daughters gave it, but I can’t remember for sure.
(Update: I have had a wonderful name suggestion for this cat. Purrthagoras. )

We haven’t given this sweet boy a name yet. He is pretty well socialize, and I can usually walk right up to pet him, and even pick him up and cuddle him. He’s so incredibly soft! He’s also got a permanently stunned expression that reminds me of Decimus (who now has a new name in her new home). Unfortunately, he also reminds me of Pointy Baby, and my heart kind of breaks a little bit every time I see him.

*sniffle*

He’s such a sweet little thing.

He needs a name!

(Update: I got an awesome name suggested for him! Syndod (sun-dod). Welsh for “surprised.”)

In other things…

We are hovering just below freezing today, though we might warm up a bit. Yesterday turned out to be warmer than predicted, so that might happen again today. It’s cloudy and has stopped snowing, but it actually looks like we have snow or fog, off in the distance.

Tonight, we have to isolate the 6 cats that will be going to the vet tomorrow morning, to fast overnight. The rain that had been predicted for tomorrow morning kept getting pushed back, and is now supposed to start on Sunday afternoon. Temperatures are supposed to continue to reach highs above freezing for at least another 10 – 14 days. By Tuesday, they are now saying we will reach a high of 7C/45F. After that, it’s expect to be colder, but still above freezing, for the highs. At this point it looks like the day we are planning to visit my husband’s family in the city will have good driving weather.

The weather app that came with my desktop includes monthly forecasts. For what that’s worth, it’s predicting mostly sunny days and relatively mild temperatures; all highs warmer than -15C/5F, and even the lows are expect to mostly be warmer than -20C/-4F, with only a few nights dipping just under that, all winter. We don’t even plug in the vehicles unless temperatures are expected to go below -20C/4F. With the strong El Niño we’re getting this year, that should mean we won’t be getting those dangerous, bone chilling, polar vortexes for a change. Between that and the new truck’s higher clearance, we should actually have a winter where we aren’t stuck at home for weeks at a time!

Not that we’ll stop stocking up, just in case. With all our spare funds going towards getting the truck, we won’t have the 2 – 3 months of supplies we normally try to have on hand for the winter, but we will at least have enough for 1 – 2 months. Especially once we pick up our quarter beef in January, which will be quite a bit larger than previous years. We’ve been paying $100 a month towards it since spring, but for November and December, we’re paying $200 a month, for a total of $1400. In January, the final balance should be about $35. The price is by hung weight, and the first quarter beef we got was about $800 at $6/pound. The next year was over $1000. This year, they had to increase their price by just under 50¢/pound, on top of the weight being quite a bit higher.

We’ll have to make more room in the chest freezer! 😁 Christmas is going to be tight, but we’ll have plenty of food! We don’t really do much for gift giving anymore, unless it’s hand made, and our Christmas and New Years are spent quietly at home. Gone are the days when we would do Christmas dinner with my family on Christmas day, here at the farm, then Réveillon with my husband’s parents after Midnight Mass, and finally a Christmas dinner on Boxing Day with his brother’s family. We’ve lost so many members of our families over the years, we couldn’t do those gatherings anymore, anyhow. We’re planning to just have our usual quiet, non-traditional Wigilia dinner on Christmas Eve.

When I was a kid, we butchered our own cows and chickens. We sometimes had pigs and geese, too. One year, my parents tried turkeys, and they had ducks for a couple of years, too. Between that and the garden, they kept two freezers; one just for meat, and the other for everything else. I look forward to a day when we can have that set up again! Though if we ever have meat in such quantities, I will most likely can, quite a bit of it. I’d hate to lose a freezer full of meat if the power ever went out for an extended period.

But I digress!

We’ll have to adopt out and fix a lot more cats before we can afford that, anyhow! 😄😄😄

The Re-Farmer

Just a bit of snow!

Well, we didn’t get storm conditions, but we did get plenty of snow overnight!

The cats were very hungry, so I made sure they got their food and warm water, first. I actually had to knock snow out of the kibble bowls, first! Somehow, at least some snow always manages to get in, but when the wind comes whipping around the West side of the house, it really gets into that kibble house.

I messaged my daughters for a refill of the water jug while I started shoveling. I wasn’t sure if I’d need one, but I set the kettle going after I filled the first jug (half cold water from the sink, half water heated in the kettle), just in case! The cats really, really appreciated that warm water!

I didn’t want to scare away the cats with shoveling, so I cleared the stairs in front of the main entry, then the sidewalk to the chain link fence, before digging my way back to the sun room. From there, I cleared in between and around the shelters, then a path to the shrine. I actually had to take the ice scraper to the concrete in front of the sun room. I even cleared the snow on the hand rail. From the last photo in the series above, you can see that even the birds appreciated that!

After that, I continued my morning rounds, including switching out the trail cam memory cards. The snow is really light and fluffy, bit it’s also quite warm – we’re already above freezing as I write this, and warmer than the expected high still listed. Which meant that, at first, the snow was very easy to push down the path, but when I paused to shovel it to the side, the bottom was heavy with wet snow. The ground is not frozen yet, and even the grass is green, so the snow as basically being melted from below.

When I was done and starting to head inside, I realized that there was no kibble left in the sun room at all. Not a crumb! Nor was there anything left in the two levels of the shelf shelter I drop handfuls into. There was still a bit left in the kibble house, at least, but before I headed inside, I topped up their food a bit. They need those extra calories, this time of year!

I’ve asked my daughters to clear other needed paths to the garage, the compost pile and the area we dump the litter sawdust as its own compost pile. Burning it would be preferable, but in the summer we rarely had days with low enough winds – we only did one burn all summer! Other paths I would normally shovel can wait. With how much snow there is on the ground now, and the long range forecast changing downward, I no longer expect all the snow to melt away next week. The next couple of days are supposed to be a bit warmer, and the main paths we shovel today will clear faster, which is what we need.

I’m hoping that, this winter, we’ll be able to keep enough of the south yard clear that we can drive right up to the house to load and unload the truck. We’ve only got the little electric snow blower, but it can do that job. The snow we have right now, though, is too wet and would clog up even the gas powered snow blower, if that thing still worked.

In the near future, we need to invest in a variety of straps. With the truck, we can now take the snow blower in to be checked out and, hopefully, repaired, but right now we don’t have what’s needed to secure anything back there, properly.

I’m keeping tabs on the local highway information group, and a lot of people were saying, stay home if you can! Even the local school division closed the schools in our region, because road conditions were too dangerous. The plows and sanding trucks are out, though, and I’m already hearing about some of the highways being clear.

Yesterday, my phone gave me a notification for an appointment I had today. !! I completely forgot about it. It was for a 6 month follow up, with a field of vision test and dilation, so I’d have to make sure my daughter came along to drive me home.

I’m glad I always set my phone to remind me of appointments 1 day ahead! I called and rescheduled to next month. When I told the receptionist I had an appointment for today, which she confirmed, then asked to reschedule, she just laughed! She was not at all surprised, that’s for sure. I wouldn’t be surprised if quite a few out of towners were rescheduling their appointments!

Unfortunately, as I write this, I’m realizing I think my neck and one shoulder is having rather painful issues. Not from the shoveling, though. I think I slept in a bad position or something, because it was already a problem when I woke up. It’s just worse now, after the shoveling.

So… I injured myself by sleeping.

*sigh*

I was hoping to avoid taking pain killers for at least one day!

The Re-Farmer