New Year, New Things

Things, well, they've not been that important to me--except for old
things that I lost when Mr. Natural and I split up.  I had Christmas
ornaments dating back when I was 6 years old.  Gone.  They,
and other things, were in a storage unit  supposedly in both
of our names. No, emotional blackmail was his specialty.  So
I lost my book collection. my poetry book collection, my
ornaments, my collection of red glass that I had collected even
before I ever met him.  And the things I had painted when I
painted ceramics.  Things that couldn't be replaced.  I spent a
great deal of time being depressed regarding this.

Back to things.  My daughter and I went looking at furniture
this past Sunday--and I realized that I had never bought "new"
furniture.  I had my mom's old chest of drawers--the other two
chests were antique.  One, I'd  had since the early 80's. So since I'd
never done it, I shopped for a living room suite and a bedroom
suite.  Huge deal for this antique old furniture person.

I found a charcoal gray sofa and loveseat, that I never would
have bought, but it was coupled with furniture that was sort
of grayish color--looked oldish and perfect for a country
home, So I got it.  Next I looked for a bedroom suite.  I had
been looking for 4 poster  bed, but I was looking for metal.
I spotted one that was wood and metal--it was gorgeous and
feminine.  I loved it.  And, since it was time for a new mattress.
I got one those IQ ones--supposedly a combination of memory
foam and baffles.  Nice.

I wanted a month before delivery.  Remember all my plumbing
woes.  My entire house was torn apart.  My bedroom has a hallway
going  to my bathroom.  My bathroom had to be torn apart,
so I went ahead and got a new vanity toilet and new flooring.

But the living room and bedroom are disastrous.  It'll take a
month for me to get everything squared away.  I'm still
battling polymyocitis and am so weak that my muscles will
spasm if I try to do too much at one time.  I have to space all
my activities.  So I'm finishing up on the kitchen. Slowly, but
getting it done--organized, each drawer and cabinet has been
emptied, cleaned, and then put back together in an organized
fashion.  The same for the living room and bedroom..

I don't have to worry about throwing anything away.  My
basement  was turned into a smallish apartment, which I plan
to furnish and rent out--eventually.

I wrote my New Year's Affirmations down on New Year's
Day, and have been pretty faithful regarding keeping them.
All the housework has cut into my writing time.  As long as Book
One is completed by April--that's OK--and I did work out the
two missing chapters.

My chickens are in Molly's old crate in the laundry room.
They made happy chicken noises --they liked the warmth.

Mollie sleeps in her doghouse at night only.  Frigid cold
and she'll be snoozing on the ground.!  Pyrenees are different
sort of dogs.


All for now--

Kate Thorn

Happy New Year!!!

I went out for dinner with my daughter and her friend.  Very cold!  Brrrr.
But really good food!  So they are out having a New Years--me, I watched
Ghost.  Yeah, very chic flick--but I like chic flicks.

My first book of the year is Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit.
I'm a Solnit fan.  Book begins with a humorous story of her attending this
party in Aspen.  The host said to her, in a condescending fashion, about the type
of books she wrote.  She gave him a very brief description of the latest book.
His reply was the there was this Amazing book on the same subject.  Her
friend had to tell him 4 times that was the book she'd written.  His state of
embarrassment followed.

The following chapters are quite serious.  She gets into womens right
away.  How women are silenced.  Their opinions do not mean anything,
My mother didn't want me to go to college.  She said I needed to keep my
job at Roses (equivalent to Walmarts then).  I made a nickle more than
than minimum wage and only worked 32 hours a week.  Anything was
going be a step upward.

The next chapter is statistics of women being abused, silenced.  And after
a chapter regarding politics.  The book is full of quotes, deep thoughts.
She is my favorite author,  She makes me think, learn, and hunger for more.

Entering the two missing chapters in my own book has some problems.  One
chapter is totally different from the existing.  Going to be a bear reconciling the two.

That's it for now.  Time for me to write my affirmations for the coming year.

Have a happy new year.  May the next year be blessed with more happiness
than this year!

All For Now--

Kate Thorn

Time Flies--Almost Christmas

I have been meaning to write more, but I have working on my book series
and I found out I missed  two important chapters, so I must backtrack and
insert them.  They explain things yet to come and why one of my male
main characters react the way they do.. I'm still plugging away at it.

Not done as much bird watching, but I saw one the precious little downy
woodpeckers  a few minutes ago.  Glad to know they are still here.

My critters (dog, cat, chickens, birds and occasionally a stray possum or
two) consume more food than I do.  The dog food alone cost 60.00 for
60 lbs. of Happy Hips kibbles--Loaded with vitamins and glucosamine,
chrondroitin. Her weight two weeks ago was  94 lbs  and even though
she's a year old, Pyrenees are considered puppies at this age.  If they are
going to work around animals, one isn't supposed to even try to train
them until they are 18 months old.  That is how much puppy they are.

My daughter had an allergic reaction ,which scares my daughter silly.
I do fall that easily.  So I try not to worry her.  So I called a neighbor--
whom we give eggs to--and askedif he would come over for about 5 minutes.
He started to follow meinto the pen, one glance at Mollie--was very still
and staring at him intently.  I said, "No, your job is to call 911 is she accidentally
knocks me down"  Mollie was golden, but she never took her eyes off of him.
That assured me and scared me.   These dogs cannot be trained to follow
commands.  Their genetic code is such if someone tried to harm me,
she'd come though the fence and kill them.  But only to protect me,
save me.  Never to be vicious.  They are really friendly.  But one just
want to mess with these dogs.  They are different in that they never attack
from the front.  The go for the back.  One Pyrenees scared off a
grizzly--in Montana--and saved a kids life.  The dog sustained minor
injuries.  Minor!!  After attacking a grizzly bear!  I could hardly
believe it.  I knew two Pyrenees could bring and kill a bear--I knew
they fought wolves off--and with one bite, killed the wolf.  They
kill wolves, coyotes, by one bite to the back of the neck; they literally
sever the spinal column,  You cant treat them like a toy, or a regular
pet.  And you have to be the alpha.  No matter what.  Mollies toy--
she dug up a piece of a log--it's 9" around (at least) and about 12" long.
It's heavy--even for my daughter.  Mollie grabs it up and runs up and down
her log carrying this in her mouth.  Amazing!

I have a small tree up--with only 4 sets of mini lights on it--and 5 sets
winding around the deck--what was left went around the railing and
the top of the front porch.  Looks so cheerful!

Merry Christmas to all!!


Later,  Kate Thorn

Beach Trip in Late September

A couple of weeks ago i went to the beach with my daughter
and grandson--and, of course, Daisy.  (I even take a small
vacuum cleaner just for her.)  We went out to eat--food was
great--and we stopped at one beach wares shop.  Not one of
the super large ones.  I wanted a mug--that's all.  But we walked
around perusing the other goods. And that's when I fell--no
warning.  I fell on my right shoulder--the same one broken in April.
And it hurt--really hurt.  I had just been released from the frequent
visits to the doctor.  I got up with help.  My beach trip was essentially
over.  The weather forecast was for rain.  So we did not bring my
cart.  I spent the rest of the time feeling very miserable, but Daisy and I
really enjoyed just watching the ocean.


All for now


Kate Thorn

Life in Hendersonville NC

This has to be the most pleasant small town I've ever lived in.
As we were going up the road towards Walmart, we saw blue lights
on both sides of the road.  No, not a wreck.  They were directing traffic.
So the people could could get out of the church parking lot safely.
And they do this for all churches of a large size.  They also do this
when some huge company, as a car dealership, has a sale.  Unreal!
They didn't even do that in Mayberry!

The kennel I boarded Mollie in while at the beach thew in a free bath.
Mollie weighed 70 or 80 pounds then  so it had to be an experience.
Free Bath!  Another unreal!

Anyway, I love this town.  After buying groceries today we went to
Messalunas to eat.  (spelling not checked yet).   The food was delicious
and, service was beyond excellent.  Next we went to a spice store--and I
found this wonderful vinaigrette call Gingered Honey--to die for--so
it came home with us.  They had the most unusual teapots--black
iron with a ceramic coating inside and out.  The outside was rustic
matte--with different designs on them.  My favorite was the dragonfly
purple teapot. Of course, the spice scents made you want to buy--
and I did--but only 2 packs of the flavored sugars--clove sugar and
cinnamon sugar--I am going to mix a small amt (1/2 tsp) in hot water
and see how it tastes.  Then I'll try it tea.  I usually use Stevia Pure
Via from Amazon--800 packs at a time.  Lasts forever.  I put it in Greek
yogurt and tea.

All for now

Kate Thorn

PS-We refers to my daughter and I.   Mr. Natural is forever gone.--One
last thing--Mollie ran off a bear a few nights ago--super protective now.
All pets are super spoiled. The chicken house is insulated with styrofoam
and more plywood. They are still laying eggs!

Kate

90 Minutes a Day

This idea isn't mine--I believe it came from FeedBurner.com by a person
that goes by Life Hacker., who also publishes on Feedburner.  It is a paid
site, but well worth it.  I "only" picked 140 subjects I was interested in--
and in the beginning, I tried to read all of them.  Not even possible.

Yesterday I read the How 90 minutes could change your life,  It is a simple
concept.  Pick a block of time that you are fairly free--and devote 90
minutes per day to that project.  I am day 3 with my re-writes on my book,
and I've completed 11+ chapters of Book One.  That is a lot.  They aren't short
and uncomplicated chapters.

I just wanted to pass this along to others out there who are trying to create time!


All For Now


Kate Thorn

8/24/2014

Mollie and Springing a Leak

Mollie hit with the electric wire at the bottom of her fence.  Her behavior
regressed to that of a small puppy.  And she weighs 75 lbs. now.  She
wouldn't leave the deck.  And she was stir crazy.  My daughter took her
for walks--but that only helped a little..  So I expanded her space outside.
Her dog lot is now about 30 ft. wide--she has a third of the entire back
yard--and the largest doghouse I could find.  (It it states that it will fit a
large german shepherd, well, it's too little for Mollie.  She is that large
and still growing.

After being on the deck (near me--that's her goal), she was ticked off
after being put in her space.  She promptly went into her doghouse and
to come out for 2 days.  Throughout the day, I would throw treats to her.
And what did Mollie do?  Looked at me, put her nose in the air, and turned
away from me.  Wouldn't take anything from me.   That lasted 2 days--and
then she began to explore her new yard, come out more often, and started
eating again.  I was relieved.  But I am definitely what she wants to guard.
My daughter was considering buying a pygmy goat for her to guard if
didn't start eating and being Mollie again,  And when she gets used to being
outside, she will be allowed in at night again.

During this same time period, I went downstairs to wash a small load of
clothes.  I put them in and went to check out the rest of the downstairs.
Everything was OK until I reached the hallway leading to the bathroom.
It was half-covered with about a half inch of water.  The concrete was
even wet.  The carpet in bedroom was wet.  I freaked, as plumbing isn't
one of my skills, and called a plumber.  He came soon--seems I had hole
the size of a dime in a pipe.  Over 200.00 later, that was fixed.  Then he said
I HAD to have rehab on the downstairs.  I will be paying a thousand
dollars on that--then my homeowners will kick in.

Here lately, I've been
been bleeding money due to finishing up the other house.  It should be completely
finished in a week and a half--and then the "for sale" house will go on the market.
I'v completely rehabbed this house.  Part of the floors and joists are completely
new,  Walls and ceiling are sheetrock--new.  Tile will be on kitchen and bathroom
floor. Appliances are all purchased and ready to go.  New dishwasher (on sale)
and almost new washer and dryer (used 11 times--girl moved in with boyfriend,
and no longer needed them--sweet deal.)  The stove was a good price, not very
old, a couple of years maybe, and it's the same size as mine and a glasstop.
The only thing slightly aged was the fridge--but it's not as old as mine!  It's a
2 door style, which is my preference.  And it has a really nice HVAC (ouch
on the price!) The wiring wasn't up to code--so the entire house was rewired,
inspected.  A lot of lights and outlets were added.  The plumbing also had to be
re-done.  Has a new and larger breaker box.  The guy in charge of doing all
this went out on a limb and picked out lights for house, and sconces for hallway.
This sort of worried me, but his taste was excellent; I couldm't have done as well.
The water heater is 2 years old--yes, I need a new hot water heater too, but I
got lucky.  This has heating element top and bottom.  He sold this to me for 125.00,
originally cost over 400.00.  It has all new windows.  And the paint color inside is
White Hydrangea, which a white with only a touch of cream.

All for now.

Kate Thorn