Thursday, April 3, 2014

Happy Spring Ya'll!  I'm so glad to finally be able to change my background photo to blooms in the yard.  I know I've not posted a bunch on here but it's been busy as I have been to Oklahoma City three times to help mother after her surgery, throw in a half marathon, spring break, Chloe's broken arm, track practice and homework... I know this is nothing to those with multiple children but it's my reason I haven't gotten on here.

Here are some recent photos of Winnie Bob's yard (our yard).  I'm so thankful for the many types of daffodils and blooming trees.  The bees are out in force as well as the hummingbirds.  Bring on Spring!  I have the greens, onions, kale and herbs planted.  I am looking forward to getting the rest of the garden in the ground after Easter.  We always get a late freeze between Easter and May 1.

This is on the west side of the house facing the barn

Here's Eggs, Chloe's french chicken that immediately got
in a bed that I just planted onions in.  She likes a dust bath

This old tulip tree is right outside Chloe's west
window

Weeping Cherry Tree

The other view of Eggs.  I've probably mentioned this
before, this is the chicken Chloe's tamed and eats out
of her hand.  

Two of the types of daffodils back behind our fence
near the creek

I'm the proud maker of a compost pile.  Jeanie made the first
one you can see with metal stakes.  In desparation to use that
older pile, I went to the lumber yard and got wooden posts
to make another one with the compost from this year.  I've read
that it takes anywhere from 2 months to a year to get everything
to compost down.  That makes be keep turning the pile frequently.

Some of the flowers in my kitchen

I should have thought to get Chloe in this photo from
August's 4th birthday party.  Martin had Chloe taking
photos so he could send them in for the grant for the
Birdeye Fun Park (it's across from the Birdeye Store)

I bought Heddy, the foster, a 3 foot long rawhide but we let
Biscuit take the first lick, he looks crazed in his eyes because
he is...he's a freak about a chew bone

A goose from the Arkansas Post, an Arkansas museum that
is located south of us in Gillette, Ark.

Memaw and Grandad took Chloe to the Arkansas Post
Museum (at her request) during spring break
because they were reading about it in Arkansas history

We went to Oaklawn in Hot Springs this year for spring break.
Note to self, if you have intentions of staying at any hotel for
the swimming pool, it might be a good idea to check with them
and make sure it's open.  We stayed at the Embassy Suites (for
the pool not for the $179/per night) to swim but it was closed
because the weekend before a state choir convention filled the
hotel and either vomit or stool was found in the pool and shut it
down.  We were sad at first but I'm totally thankful since I wouldn't
want either vomit or diarrhea to come home...just saying

Whit, Chloe, Stella and August at Oaklawn (it rained after
the 5th race so we headed back to the hotel where we couldn't
swim, couldn't go play miniature golf or do anything but rent
a movie on the hotel room...it was fun though!)

Photo from the farm taken by Chloe

At the Arkansas Post Museum

From the Arkansas Post Museum

I couldn't believe this asparagus is coming up.
Asparagus out of the garden is so much
tastier than what you get in the grocery
store.  I don't have but a few at a time to harvest,
so there's usually not many to share.  I may have
to add more to the box this year.

I bought this fencing to cover my boxes while the spinach,
mesculin greens and romaine come up.  The ladies get in there
and peck away.  Jackie reported seeing those heifers on there
last week so I may have to do something else.  We'll see.
This box is 3 weeks after planting

The latest challenge at Birdeye are Chloe's chickens that she's
been hand feeding.  This was yesterday after school.  It's like
they are at the back door waiting on her.  With chickens comes
chicken POO so I've got to figure out how to handle this.
Look at Gumball on his pad watching them.  What to do...:)

Chloe was excited about getting this photo at the museum :)

Little Rock Half Marathon, 2014

Stan and Beth, Jackie and Me were the only ones this year
that completed the half this year!

I took this with my cold hand at the finish line on my
thermal blanket.  I was right where I wanted to be during the
race, about 250 ish but as you can see at 9 am, one hour
into the race my blood sugar jumped off a cliff.  I had
to stop at 9:30, just a couple miles from the finish, and
drink 6 Gatorade's and 4 orange slices to try and get
it back.  I was 56 at the finish line.  That's scary.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Jackie and I completed our 6th Little Rock Half Marathon.  I was particularly excited since we got to leave Chloe at Memaw and Granddad's this year.  She's done the kids marathon and helped with Whit, Stella and August during the race the last few years and I thought this year, she would enjoy being on the farm rather in a hotel and in the crowds during the race.  She had a great time at home.

For the record, I packed my chia seeds for the race, I ate what I normally do the night before a 2 hour race, I hydrated, I slept well and I had the normal breakfast and wore my continuous blood glucose monitor like I do for every long distance race.  This year was different.  It sprinkled for the first 1/2 hour, it was cloudy and it dropped from 56 degrees to 38 at the finish line two hours later and we got 2 inches of ice and 2 inches of snow in Birdeye that night.

During the race, I felt fine averaging a 9:45 min mile, which is about right for me.  This was a year that I hadn't trained one time for a half marathon because of all the nutty weather we've had this winter.  When I got to mile 5, my knees hurt going back over the river bridge but they do every time I do this race.  At mile 6, a mile before the Governor's mansion, my blood sugar went off the cliff, literally.  I check the Dexcom sensor every mile, sip water every mile and I had a Shot Block at mile 1 and mile 4.  At mile 6, the arrows were pointing down, I turned the insulin pump off and hydrated, at mile 7 I felt like I was running in quick sand.  That's what it feels like on a bike too, when you have no sugar in your body you literally can't get anywhere, and can't get anywhere fast either.  So I stopped and drank 6 small cups of Gatorade and asked for a coke but no one had any, but they did offer me a donut.  No thanks.  So I finished off the Shot Blocks, 6 to a sleeve with 48 total grams of carbs to make it to the finish line.  My knees didn't hurt but I spent a lot of time at the mile 7 aid station and I did have to stop to use the bathroom, I didn't take the time at the startline like I should have.  Something I had to do this year and haven't in the past is put my pump and sensor in the Aquapac.  Neither can get wet which meant I had to pull that dang thing out of my shorts every mile to read it and stuff it back in.  My abs were sore the day after the race which has never happened before.

So note to self, eat 2 shot blocks per mile which is about 13 grams of carbs.  I think I'll start next year with more training too, just saying!

Chloe's Broken Arm, performing the Olympic Bobsledding move called the Skeleton, Birdeye

Chloe with her new cast on, it
was still warm at this point.  They
heat the Exos splint for fractures then
form it to her arm.  She can only take
it off during showers.  I can tell you as
of Sunday night and it being on just
5 days it stinks to high heaven (and
she hasn't been sweating either).  I
can't imagine what a cast would smell
like after 4-6 weeks, this one is already
pretty tough to be in the room with :)

We took an Xray at the vet clinic
first thinking it was just a sprain
but here you can see the break
in her ulna bone and a fracture
in her radius

This is what sledding Skeleton Style looks like...looks
really safe doesn't it?  They have a helmet on Jackie...:)

Meme gets a shout out for sending
her a bouquet of balloons and
chocolates!!! She had some very
sweet cards too!

I took a photo of her at Dr. Guinn's
office, her orthopedic doctor.  You
can still see the bump on her head
from the tree that stopped her sled
before her arm came down.  This
photo shows her Justin Timberlake
T-shirt at a great angle!!

Friday, March 7, 2014

Yep, Chloe's first broken arm happened Monday during the 2 inches of ice and 2 inches of snow we got the day of the Little Rock Half Marathon.  Chloe wanted her dad to pull her down to the Birdeye Store on his childhood sled to take photos in the snow since school was out.  They ended up following Whit to the APAC hill 1/4 mile behind Martin and Kara's house.  She and Whit were doing the Olympic Bobsled move called the Skeleton, which is head first on your stomach.  In the Olympics they use new sleds that can be turned and wear helmets and gloves...well after many fast runs down the hill and across Hwy 163, Chloe went down and off into the ditch.   A tree and her head collided first then she put her hand down to stop the sled and broke her right arm.  Needless to say we are so thankful she didn't break it in the growth plate or crush it and need surgery and pins.  A cast is a great thing in lieu of anything major.

Chloe's now 4 weeks away from the Benchmark Tests and cannot write her name.  Her teachers and counselors and the school nurse have been very sweet to her.  She's has to have someone carry her backpack and have help to do school work and tests.  She was excited about joining the 7th grade track team which starts track tomorrow.  Coach Sherland said that she could help the team with scoring and Coach Whitaker at the junior high said she could run track.  We'll see about that, we have a follow-up appointment with her orthopedic doctor on Friday.  I was totally fired up about Chloe's piano recital last Friday, which she obviously can't do.  She'd been working on her difficult piece for about 3 months, having it memorized for Junior Music Club.  Looks like we'll have to hope she doesn't get too rusty and will be able to perform at May's recital.  We hope the 4-6 weeks will be no more than 4!

Chloe's right hand may make some "F's" this semester...
I can hardly read this!

Heddy, new foster dog, Birdeye

Monday, March 3, 2014

Heddy, an 8 month old shepherd/lab mix, is adorable.  Chloe
prides herself in photography.  She took this!

 We have a new foster.  I know right?  You expected this.  She's about 8 months old and a mix breed.  She's crate trained and excellent with kids, cats and other dogs.  She does like her own food bowl, so watch out.  Chloe's got her leash trained and she's learning the rules.  Let me know if you know if you have room in your home for this precious baby.  Spay and Neuter People.  I'm just saying.  It's good for the pet and most importantly good for your community.

Chloe staged this one.  She's very sweet and loves petting.

This is Otis, the thoroughbred next door.  All photos were
taken by Chloe...I love this one

The ladies...they follow Chloe around the yard for
scratch.  When they come running, it sounds like a herd
of dogs I swear!

Good head shot of Eggs

Essie Mae

Otis

Chloe set her camera for a selfie...on a 10 second timer,
this is the first shot

Here's the second...Chloe had Dr. Calico in her hands, slipped
backwards and look at what the camera got.  HAHAHA!

Another great shot taken by Chloe.  Look at the ice

Biscuit

Dr. Calico

Otis

Grandmother's Chicken and Rice Casserole, Birdeye

Saturday, Feb. 22, 2014

Man it has been busy and life throws curve balls at you all the time.  I'm super late on this post.  I've been working on this since Jan 25 (see the date difference?) and now it's Feb. 22!!  This is Chloe's new favorite recipe that she has on our kitchen menu once a week.  It will be on there as long as Jackie can hang.  He's not a repeat eater at all unless it involves Chicken Fried Steak, Chili Mac or Bacon.  You get the point.

We had a big ice storm on Feb. 4, we were without power just one night but Harmon and Jeanie were out from Tues to Sunday and Martin and Kara were out Tues through Friday.  School was out luckily on my day off Wed, I took Chloe and Whit with me to Memphis the day after the storm and when we got as far as Crawfordsville all the trees had no ice and no snow on the ground.  It was amazing.

We lost a bunch of trees and J.Harmon, Jeanie and Harmon helped get the yard back into shape except one tree that is still on top of the chicken yard.  I spent a few days Feb. 10 to be with mom in Oklahoma City, she had a big surgery then I went back the next week to give them another hand.  While all this was going on my 86, soon to be 87 year old grandfather on March 5, got cornered by a steer and bruised his leg.  We all know now that when you're on a blood thinner, a simple bruise can't be overlooked.  So it bled for 10 days until they figured it out.  He is still recovering.  Slowing him down is like asking me to slow down.  Glenn is why I am short tempered, very active, rarely sitting still and when I find it hard to find words, I get this from him.  I love hearing him tell a story with his pauses and gets disgusted for not getting his words out.  It's only going to get worse Jackie.  But he is also the sweetest, most genuine person.  What a great inspiration they both are.  He's married to a fantastic cook and mate.  They've been married now 67 years.  I talked to Melva this morning and she said they were sorting cattle so he drove down to the lot in her car so he could oversee it.  I told her to take a photo of her Cadillac in a pasture with 100 cattle and he sitting in it with the windows rolled down.  It will be priceless I'm sure.

This is my grandmother Melva Dickey's recipe that I have modified.  I have my modifications below.  I make a whole one of these, freezing half of it for later.

Melva's Chicken Casserole

1 pkg Uncle Ben's instant wild rice (plus 1 cup white rice cooked, otherwise it's too cheesy)
1 can each: cream of celery, mushroom and chicken soups
1 can Rotel
1/2 c green pepper (I omit this when I don't have it)
1 whole chicken, stewed and removed from bone (I use chicken breasts that I cook in the onion and celery)
6 slices Velveeta cheese (I use about 4 oz and use light)
1 onion chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
Chili powder (I use 2 T)

Cook chicken breast in onion and celery with some olive oil.  Cook both rices while chicken is cooking.  Heat soups together until bubbly. In a greased casserole dish (I use two 8X8 or close to it), layer rice, then chicken, cheese and sprinkle with chili powder.  Pour soups on top then top with rotel.  Bake 350 for 45 minutes.  (I cook at 375 covered for 35 minutes) I didn't get a good photo of it so sorry!!! :)

I have added some recent photos!

 I couldn't get a good photo of the dish but here's her recipe,
my modifications below.

Biscuit loved the snow!

Here's a photo Chloe took of us at the law office when our power
was out.  She's funny, she put that box in a wall that had an empty
slot in.

Jackie and Chloe went up to Spring Hill to sled down Hwy 42
Here's Aussie, the smartest but dumbest dog ever.  Chloe says
she is going to give Martin a coupon to have Cesar Millan
come to train him....He bites kids, herds bicycles and spends
a lot of time on the street.

Chloe action shot of being pulled up the hill

This is the Cutest Snowman and dog...that's Biscuit
on the leash!

I love this photo of Chloe

Dr. Calico wasn't into the snow

How Chloe got this photo I don't know.