It was looking like we would not have a white Christmas, but it started snowing early Christmas Day and we ended up with 4 – 5 inches before it was all over. This gave me an opportunity to fire up the John Deere garden tractor, equipped with a blade, and plow out our driveway, sidewalks, and some neighbor’s sidewalks.
Before I get into our Christmas Day in detail, below is a clip of foster kitten batch #25 featuring Vivianne, Edward/Eddie, and KitKat: (Run time is 3:16)
[cincopa AgEArNcW0kDy]
We had a few presents under the tree, a classical (nylon string) guitar for Pam and a “selfie stick” for me. (A selfie stick is a light-weight monopod with a camera mount on one end. You can put your camera on the mount and take photos of yourself without the use of a tripod.) The RV trailer received a set of wheel covers to help preserve the tires.
Pam cooked an excellent meal and topped it off with a reduced-sugar rhubarb pie. Pie turned out picture-perfect and tasted great. Daughter Felicity Skyped from a house sit in Dublin, Ireland to catch up on events, and Pam had spoken to son Toby on Christmas Eve so the family news was pretty well covered.
We put on Christmas music and relaxed most of the rest of the day. My snow plowing took a few hours – two rounds as the snow got deeper – and the rest of the time was spent eating, looking at small house plans on the web, and trying to video-tape the kittens for the above clip. It was a relaxing day. We hope everyone reading this had a good day as well!
December 26th we braved the roads – still messy but the snow was melting – and did a bit of after-Christmas shopping. Not much; we needed a few groceries and sundry items such as a new pair of gloves for me. Does everyone have a pair of not good but not bad enough to throw away gloves? Mine finally reached the throw-away condition. J. C. Penney had Isotoner gloves for men at half-price so I bought a pair for driving and another pair for general winter work. The feel of brand-new gloves is quite nice.
We had an unexpected repair just before Christmas…the F-150 blew out it’s alternator, $562.00 to repair at a shop. (Also included changing the serpentine, or fan, belt.) Ouch. The Honda needs a new thermostat; it occasionally turns on the “Check Engine Light” and the code tells me a replacement is needed. I hope to get to that job today or tomorrow. The Honda turned over 350,000 miles yesterday, a record for any car we have owned, so minor repairs are to be expected.
On the medical side, I had a reaction to the original prescription I was on, Metformin, and was switched to a drug called Glipizide. The Metformin gave me severe lower back pain, bad enough that I had trouble standing up and walking. The Glipizide seems to be much easier on my system. Glucose tests are coming in under 140 in the evening before dinner. This is good news as my doctor was aiming for 150 over-all. Tests at other times of the day are a bit higher so I still have a ways to go, but progress is evident. I’ve lost about 10 pounds so far and hope to loose more as I continue the low sugar diet I am on.
I miss my ice cream. I miss my tea. I miss my cranberry juice and Pepsi. I am hoping that at some future point it will be OK to have, in very small quantities and only occasionally, some of these foods again. I have tried Splenda and Truvia as alternate sweeteners but they are not as good as the real stuff. On the other hand, we are eating more turkey and fish, foods I like and are better for me anyway. Life is always a balance.
Last night I had a service call to go into the office as our e-mail server quit passing e-mails through the system, and I am on 24/7 call for these sorts of things (even when I’m technically on vacation). Hours later I had the problem fixed but didn’t return home until about 1:30 AM so I slept in late. As I type this the day looks sunny but cold with a forecast high in the mid-20s. Later this week we will get into the single digits for lows and will not get above freezing for the next week or more. I guess winter has settled in after a warmer-than-normal first few weeks of December.
I hope all reading this are anticipating a Happy New Year.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Two Cents Worth:
Regarding the kitten clip, these kittens are named after characters in the movie “Pretty Woman.” Observing KitKat (the gray one) as well as attempting to catch her after she’s been running free has convinced me she is too feral for adoption. KitKat will need to be introduced to our garage cat colony when the time comes. Vivianne and Eddie will domesticate just fine. It is what it is; I’ve learned one must accept the animals as they are.
The addition of a six string guitar to the house is my attempt to bring music back into the daily routine. Although I’ve always wanted to learn to play the guitar, I currently don’t have much time in the day to practice. I also may have waited too long in life to start playing, as arthritis is beginning to slightly swell my finger joints. We will see.
Happy Trails.
Rhubarb pie — it’s been awhile. I normally limit myself to one pie-a-year, usually pumpkin around Thanksgiving.
Ice cream & frozen yogurt, or things with added sugar and salt, have also faded into my past — on “general principles”, not doctor’s orders…
A guitar’s an appropriate challenge — have to work at dexterity, or our fingers become merely sausages at the end of our hands. I suppose knitting would also work, but there are only so many socks and pot holders that one needs, and sweaters are too much of a challenge…
Great to read all of your posts and reconnect once again. Hope that your updates will come into my email box.