Thursday, April 21, 2011
Sunshine!
Today is a sunny day! This means no rain pain, no dark and gloomy clouds. I got to sit out on my fire escape finally and enjoy the quiet of the morning before my neighborhood is truly awake. I even managed to talk my grumpy Punky into taking a picture with the laptop. So not a morning person, that one. Have I mentioned that before?
It's actually a really funny picture. I sort of wish that I could post it here, but I'm still trying to shake off a bit of paranoia regarding He Who Shall Not Be Named. I have taken to calling it The Family Portrait in my head, as all three of us are in it just a little bit. >.> Maybe I will put it up later...
Let The Brat sit out there with me. He likes it because it's a privilege and I like it because it's just the two of us for a little bit. Ninety-nine percent of the time the things we do together as a family are three of us kinds of things, but even so Punky and I both find little moments to call our own. Laundry time with her and The Brat is a two of them kind of sport, and fire escape time is a two of us kind of one.
Even Porthos got a bit of sunshine time today. He likes walking off the fire escape on to the awning for the floor below us. He even hops across the wall of the building and circles about to the bedroom windows if he's feeling adventurous. Again, it sucks to take pics with the computer itself, but we might try for some of him.
The Fire Escape was not as mystical today as it normally was. I felt a little sad, sitting out there wondering where the magic had gone. It turns out, it was just too early, and also, I was sitting too close to the wall. Since I want The Brat to be careful out there, I lead by example. He's tiny and built out of toothpicks. If he leaned over the railing the wrong way a strong gust of wind would carry him off Mary Poppins style. So, I sat where I wanted him to sit. Which... is not where I usually sit.
The magic of my fire escape is being able to lay out and look at the clouds. It's being able to see up both sides of the Boulevard and feel like you're on top of a hill. For this, you have to stand at the railing sometimes and lean out over it. I got my magic back once The Brat shuffled off to his local Spring Break Camp Thing. I even got Punky out there to sun her Psoriasis since that usually makes it feel a little better.
I feel like it needs a little sprucing up though. The year before last we tricked it out for Halloween, and last summer I had a mini-farm out there. So far this year it is very very clean thanks to Punky, but also very very empty. Any ideas on some niceties that are weather proof that maybe could live out there for a while?
Today is also Easter Egg Coloring Day. When The Brat gets back we'll have lunch, popcorn chicken and maybe some corn, and get to dipping some eggs. Since Punky and I only just got our first lesson on natural dyes, this year we'll be using a kit from a store. It comes with a brush, some sponges, two kinds of dyes in lots of colors, and about five different ways to decorate the eggs. Those we will definitely take pictures of for the blog.
Last night, steak dinner was a success. Unfortunately, my family pounced the dinner before anyone could take a picture. The forty dollar investment in the skirt steak was a very very wise one. The pack came with far more than we could tell, and was just the tenderest most melt in your mouth piece of meat ever. Yum! We paired it with roasted potatoes and some french bread. A little bit bad to not have some greens there, but we did have a salad earlier, does that still count?
So far, for our next shopping trip we'll need to stock up on more onions, tomatoes, broccoli, corn and possibly cauliflower. We're covered on chicken breast, skirt steak, turkey meatballs, and fish. Soon it'll be time to stock up on grilling essentials. I can't wait to buy our new charcoal grill this year. We have one picked out at The Fenceway Center. They've also got good sales on charcoal, which only leaves us food and lighter fluid to worry about.
I sort of envy Punky's family in Georgia since they can pretty much grill year round. I hope they've been able to plant the seeds we sent down for them.
We may or may not have another play-date with The Raven. This is the codename for our lovely neighbor, a play on her e-mail address. Before three kids and life took over, she used to be one of our goth-y brethren. Her boys are awesome. Not into crafting as we had been thinking of, but definitely into cooking, which is also tons of fun and sort of a craft itself.
Punky is being an adorable vampire. She usually shuns the sun, but since she knows it affects my mood she went ahead and opened all the curtains. It's as bright in my room as it is outside. Well... almost as soon as I started blogging, she just passed right out in all the sunshine. Silly thing. She didn't even take off her shoes.
Off I go to pounce..
-Angelwick.
Punky the vampire!
That would be Aramis beside her. Scientific Name : Getofficus Mylapicus
It's actually a really funny picture. I sort of wish that I could post it here, but I'm still trying to shake off a bit of paranoia regarding He Who Shall Not Be Named. I have taken to calling it The Family Portrait in my head, as all three of us are in it just a little bit. >.> Maybe I will put it up later...
Let The Brat sit out there with me. He likes it because it's a privilege and I like it because it's just the two of us for a little bit. Ninety-nine percent of the time the things we do together as a family are three of us kinds of things, but even so Punky and I both find little moments to call our own. Laundry time with her and The Brat is a two of them kind of sport, and fire escape time is a two of us kind of one.
Even Porthos got a bit of sunshine time today. He likes walking off the fire escape on to the awning for the floor below us. He even hops across the wall of the building and circles about to the bedroom windows if he's feeling adventurous. Again, it sucks to take pics with the computer itself, but we might try for some of him.
The Fire Escape was not as mystical today as it normally was. I felt a little sad, sitting out there wondering where the magic had gone. It turns out, it was just too early, and also, I was sitting too close to the wall. Since I want The Brat to be careful out there, I lead by example. He's tiny and built out of toothpicks. If he leaned over the railing the wrong way a strong gust of wind would carry him off Mary Poppins style. So, I sat where I wanted him to sit. Which... is not where I usually sit.
The magic of my fire escape is being able to lay out and look at the clouds. It's being able to see up both sides of the Boulevard and feel like you're on top of a hill. For this, you have to stand at the railing sometimes and lean out over it. I got my magic back once The Brat shuffled off to his local Spring Break Camp Thing. I even got Punky out there to sun her Psoriasis since that usually makes it feel a little better.
I feel like it needs a little sprucing up though. The year before last we tricked it out for Halloween, and last summer I had a mini-farm out there. So far this year it is very very clean thanks to Punky, but also very very empty. Any ideas on some niceties that are weather proof that maybe could live out there for a while?
Today is also Easter Egg Coloring Day. When The Brat gets back we'll have lunch, popcorn chicken and maybe some corn, and get to dipping some eggs. Since Punky and I only just got our first lesson on natural dyes, this year we'll be using a kit from a store. It comes with a brush, some sponges, two kinds of dyes in lots of colors, and about five different ways to decorate the eggs. Those we will definitely take pictures of for the blog.
Last night, steak dinner was a success. Unfortunately, my family pounced the dinner before anyone could take a picture. The forty dollar investment in the skirt steak was a very very wise one. The pack came with far more than we could tell, and was just the tenderest most melt in your mouth piece of meat ever. Yum! We paired it with roasted potatoes and some french bread. A little bit bad to not have some greens there, but we did have a salad earlier, does that still count?
So far, for our next shopping trip we'll need to stock up on more onions, tomatoes, broccoli, corn and possibly cauliflower. We're covered on chicken breast, skirt steak, turkey meatballs, and fish. Soon it'll be time to stock up on grilling essentials. I can't wait to buy our new charcoal grill this year. We have one picked out at The Fenceway Center. They've also got good sales on charcoal, which only leaves us food and lighter fluid to worry about.
I sort of envy Punky's family in Georgia since they can pretty much grill year round. I hope they've been able to plant the seeds we sent down for them.
We may or may not have another play-date with The Raven. This is the codename for our lovely neighbor, a play on her e-mail address. Before three kids and life took over, she used to be one of our goth-y brethren. Her boys are awesome. Not into crafting as we had been thinking of, but definitely into cooking, which is also tons of fun and sort of a craft itself.
Punky is being an adorable vampire. She usually shuns the sun, but since she knows it affects my mood she went ahead and opened all the curtains. It's as bright in my room as it is outside. Well... almost as soon as I started blogging, she just passed right out in all the sunshine. Silly thing. She didn't even take off her shoes.
Off I go to pounce..
-Angelwick.
Punky the vampire!
That would be Aramis beside her. Scientific Name : Getofficus Mylapicus
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Inspiration!
Having gotten such wonderful support from my bloggy fairy godmothers... I think that when I attempt to cook dinner tonight I will get Punky to help me take pictures with the webcam. It's usually a little tricky to hold the laptop in weird angles, but I think it'll be worth it.
Today was a good day. Sure, it's not over yet, but I need a little something to take my mind away from the pain and a bit of blogging just might do the trick. I'll apologize in advance if I take over anyone's reader list with multiple posts. Sorry. Being sick sucks.
In case any of you are wondering what I'm afflicted with, I'll run down the list. I have HMS. Which, rather unfortunately stands for Hypermobility Syndrome, rather than Husband Money Sex. Essentially, my ligaments are made of jello and do very little to keep my joints in place. I dislocate a lot of things, a lot of the time. However, dislocating something isn't really the worst of it. Of course it sucks to have your kneecap suddenly go on strike and dislocate, but the pain of that is very in the moment. It hurts when it pops, and it hurts when it's set. In between, honestly? Not so bad.
No, the sucky part of HMS is the pain when NOTHING is dislocated. I ache virtually every day. I was diagnosed when I was thirteen, and though the painfest wasn't daily back then, it did eventually become so. Rainy days are the worst. When I was a teenager I would scoff at people who said everything hurt worse on account of the weather, I didn't believe in the correlation between muscle, bone and temperature. Boy, am I paying for that now. I used to love walking in the rain, and much of the chagrin of anyone who knew me, I loved climbing trees in the rain and watching the storms above me.
Now I lay very still and wait for it all to go away. If it's one of the few days when I'm not contemplating suicide, I still like to peer out the window at the rain. It's a little bit of a double edged sword though, as it just serves to remind me that I can't be out there walking in it.
Speaking of walking, guess what I can't do a lot of? Sorry. I apologize now if the tone of this gets snappy or mean. Pain comes and goes in waves and at the moment there's little I can do about it. I try not to lash out, but if I'm honest I have admit that I fail at that a lot. Ever had one of those really bad headaches that makes every single thing annoying? That's sort of what it's like. Everything bothers me, the light, the dark, noise, quiet, everything. It is very frustrating, and as I'm always saying, I'm very young. I lack in a lot of things, including the ability to handle this like an adult.
So yes, before I got attitude-y.. Walking. Most days it's a challenge just to be mobile within the walls of my own home. Hence the dieting. It's very hard to maintain healthy weight when mobility is an issue. All the five minute work-outs in the world don't help if my limbs just won't cooperate.
On top of all that, I'm anemic. Annnnd... because I can never do things in half-measures, I'm not just a little anemic, I'm crazy anemic. At my lowest my hemoglobin count was 3.4. I've had doctors roll their eyes when I say this and tell me I couldn't be right, that if my blood was that low I'd be dead. Well, I'm not. Blood tests tend to shut them up. The last one I took though had my hemoglobin count at around 7. Much, much better. The goal number however is 13.
So.. about this hemoglobin stuff though.. it's kinda important. They're red blood cells, and they're supposed to carry oxygen about. Since there's not enough of them to go around, a simple trip to the bathroom or kitchen leaves me winded. Hella frustrating, and, very embarrassing. I can never bump into someone I know in the street and walk with them in the same direction because I can't keep up.
Last, but not least, the anemia has taken its toll on my heart. I haven't heard the final diagnosis on that though. Just that I'm almost always tachycardic, and in heart pain. This part is the scariest to those around me, since usually if you're around me when my heart is working double time you can see/feel it from afar. I can make furniture vibrate to the tune of my heart beat because it's pumping so hard to push the little blood I have around. It does this in my sleep a lot too.
Part of all of this is my fault. I was diagnosed with the HMS at thirteen. I spent three years seeing scores of specialists and surgeons and hospitals and anyone with a degree. That got old fast, so when I turned sixteen I said no more. I was spending more time in hospitals and doctors offices than at home or school. I couldn't deal, and then I had a very bad experience with my pediatrician. A story for another day, or maybe even just another post later today. I went without medical care for the next two and a half years, allowing everything else to crop up on me.
What happened was, I one day went to visit my Aunt and she talked a lot about my seeing a doctor, even offering to go with me. I could write for hours and never fully explain what this particular aunt meant to me, so just take it from me that she was important and when she spoke I listened. Even so, I was a little hesitant. So, she told me a truth I hadn't known. Earlier in the week I had been shopping at a very nice butcher shop in Ritzy Town. My mother ran into me there because she worked in the area. I remember this much. I was picking out meat and fish, and she asked if I was okay. I said I was fine. So, we said our goodbyes so she could get back to work, and she walked off leaving me to finish the shopping. Two minutes later, she came back to my side and asked if I really was okay and did I need help carrying my basket. I reassured her I was fine, and that I could handle the shopping as I did every week. She left again, and I carried on, not thinking much of it.
Apparently, she went to work and called my aunt crying hysterically. She told my aunt that I was going to die. That she'd thought I was just going to keel over right there at the butcher and die, and that secretly she had stayed behind to watch me in case I did.
My aunt told her she'd call me and check me out herself. That was how I eventually met unhelpful doctor number one. Three blood transfusions later, I can no longer just have blood transfused at a hospital. I have to warn doctors to 'wash' it, I believe the term was. An extra procedure that can take an extra day, because my body fights the blood transfusions and I just bleed them out. I am now very paranoid about getting into a car accident.
I quit on doctors again, off and on. Eventually I fall apart enough to have some caring loved one drag me in by my hair caveman style, but I still fight. I hate doctors like most people wouldn't believe. Someday I'll let Punky blog about my latest doctor, whose treatments included printing information from the internet and handing it to me. Ahahaha.. it's a wonder I'm still considered sane.
None of the above is conducive to parenting, but I've become an expert at gritting my teeth and enduring. Mostly, because doctors around here are worried about my age and my liver and therefore won't give me anything for the pain. I'm going to commit suicide someday with the healthiest liver in NYC.
So.. now I'll post this with my head hung in shame, because you'll see the monster I can be and possibly hate me for it.
I'm sorry.
-Angelwick
Today was a good day. Sure, it's not over yet, but I need a little something to take my mind away from the pain and a bit of blogging just might do the trick. I'll apologize in advance if I take over anyone's reader list with multiple posts. Sorry. Being sick sucks.
In case any of you are wondering what I'm afflicted with, I'll run down the list. I have HMS. Which, rather unfortunately stands for Hypermobility Syndrome, rather than Husband Money Sex. Essentially, my ligaments are made of jello and do very little to keep my joints in place. I dislocate a lot of things, a lot of the time. However, dislocating something isn't really the worst of it. Of course it sucks to have your kneecap suddenly go on strike and dislocate, but the pain of that is very in the moment. It hurts when it pops, and it hurts when it's set. In between, honestly? Not so bad.
No, the sucky part of HMS is the pain when NOTHING is dislocated. I ache virtually every day. I was diagnosed when I was thirteen, and though the painfest wasn't daily back then, it did eventually become so. Rainy days are the worst. When I was a teenager I would scoff at people who said everything hurt worse on account of the weather, I didn't believe in the correlation between muscle, bone and temperature. Boy, am I paying for that now. I used to love walking in the rain, and much of the chagrin of anyone who knew me, I loved climbing trees in the rain and watching the storms above me.
Now I lay very still and wait for it all to go away. If it's one of the few days when I'm not contemplating suicide, I still like to peer out the window at the rain. It's a little bit of a double edged sword though, as it just serves to remind me that I can't be out there walking in it.
Speaking of walking, guess what I can't do a lot of? Sorry. I apologize now if the tone of this gets snappy or mean. Pain comes and goes in waves and at the moment there's little I can do about it. I try not to lash out, but if I'm honest I have admit that I fail at that a lot. Ever had one of those really bad headaches that makes every single thing annoying? That's sort of what it's like. Everything bothers me, the light, the dark, noise, quiet, everything. It is very frustrating, and as I'm always saying, I'm very young. I lack in a lot of things, including the ability to handle this like an adult.
So yes, before I got attitude-y.. Walking. Most days it's a challenge just to be mobile within the walls of my own home. Hence the dieting. It's very hard to maintain healthy weight when mobility is an issue. All the five minute work-outs in the world don't help if my limbs just won't cooperate.
On top of all that, I'm anemic. Annnnd... because I can never do things in half-measures, I'm not just a little anemic, I'm crazy anemic. At my lowest my hemoglobin count was 3.4. I've had doctors roll their eyes when I say this and tell me I couldn't be right, that if my blood was that low I'd be dead. Well, I'm not. Blood tests tend to shut them up. The last one I took though had my hemoglobin count at around 7. Much, much better. The goal number however is 13.
So.. about this hemoglobin stuff though.. it's kinda important. They're red blood cells, and they're supposed to carry oxygen about. Since there's not enough of them to go around, a simple trip to the bathroom or kitchen leaves me winded. Hella frustrating, and, very embarrassing. I can never bump into someone I know in the street and walk with them in the same direction because I can't keep up.
Last, but not least, the anemia has taken its toll on my heart. I haven't heard the final diagnosis on that though. Just that I'm almost always tachycardic, and in heart pain. This part is the scariest to those around me, since usually if you're around me when my heart is working double time you can see/feel it from afar. I can make furniture vibrate to the tune of my heart beat because it's pumping so hard to push the little blood I have around. It does this in my sleep a lot too.
Part of all of this is my fault. I was diagnosed with the HMS at thirteen. I spent three years seeing scores of specialists and surgeons and hospitals and anyone with a degree. That got old fast, so when I turned sixteen I said no more. I was spending more time in hospitals and doctors offices than at home or school. I couldn't deal, and then I had a very bad experience with my pediatrician. A story for another day, or maybe even just another post later today. I went without medical care for the next two and a half years, allowing everything else to crop up on me.
What happened was, I one day went to visit my Aunt and she talked a lot about my seeing a doctor, even offering to go with me. I could write for hours and never fully explain what this particular aunt meant to me, so just take it from me that she was important and when she spoke I listened. Even so, I was a little hesitant. So, she told me a truth I hadn't known. Earlier in the week I had been shopping at a very nice butcher shop in Ritzy Town. My mother ran into me there because she worked in the area. I remember this much. I was picking out meat and fish, and she asked if I was okay. I said I was fine. So, we said our goodbyes so she could get back to work, and she walked off leaving me to finish the shopping. Two minutes later, she came back to my side and asked if I really was okay and did I need help carrying my basket. I reassured her I was fine, and that I could handle the shopping as I did every week. She left again, and I carried on, not thinking much of it.
Apparently, she went to work and called my aunt crying hysterically. She told my aunt that I was going to die. That she'd thought I was just going to keel over right there at the butcher and die, and that secretly she had stayed behind to watch me in case I did.
My aunt told her she'd call me and check me out herself. That was how I eventually met unhelpful doctor number one. Three blood transfusions later, I can no longer just have blood transfused at a hospital. I have to warn doctors to 'wash' it, I believe the term was. An extra procedure that can take an extra day, because my body fights the blood transfusions and I just bleed them out. I am now very paranoid about getting into a car accident.
I quit on doctors again, off and on. Eventually I fall apart enough to have some caring loved one drag me in by my hair caveman style, but I still fight. I hate doctors like most people wouldn't believe. Someday I'll let Punky blog about my latest doctor, whose treatments included printing information from the internet and handing it to me. Ahahaha.. it's a wonder I'm still considered sane.
None of the above is conducive to parenting, but I've become an expert at gritting my teeth and enduring. Mostly, because doctors around here are worried about my age and my liver and therefore won't give me anything for the pain. I'm going to commit suicide someday with the healthiest liver in NYC.
So.. now I'll post this with my head hung in shame, because you'll see the monster I can be and possibly hate me for it.
I'm sorry.
-Angelwick
Today is maybe going to shape up to be a good day
Angelwick seems to be feeling better, but I'm worried he's lying about it. I know I should just trust what he says, but I also know how much he wants to feel better, and the worrisome feelings come. I think for now, I'll take his word for it, and I'll wait to see if there's a fall out. He no longer wants to bite my head off, and that's a very good thing. And he's not pushing me out, also good.
On another note. Essays. Must go them. Math must do it. Go me!
Another note. Oven is sparkling. Fire escape is shiny, as are the windows. Later today I'll be doing more cleaning. For now though, I'm going to take a quick nap.
On another note. Essays. Must go them. Math must do it. Go me!
Another note. Oven is sparkling. Fire escape is shiny, as are the windows. Later today I'll be doing more cleaning. For now though, I'm going to take a quick nap.
Post-Weekend Catch Up..
The trip to Sleepy Hollow was amazing, and, all our fear of bad weather was for naught. Even though it was a cloudy/rainy day it was good because it thinned out the crowds. We saw the whole nine. There was a border collie demonstration that was hilarious.. and .. made me rethink my want of a dog a little bit.
A very nice upstate sheep farmer came to Phillipsburg Manor with four of his herding collies. Dot, Jen, Sweet and .. another one. Oops. He also had a small handful of sheep in a pen. First he did a lot of explaining of the border collie history. For example, his came from Wales, and had been bred for many many generations to sheep herd. The good of it being that they were amazing at it, the bad being that they weren't really good pets. The dogs have a hard time staying still. Which was hilarious, because the man couldn't get through more than a minute of explaining at a time for either their barking or Dot's running about.
So... he lets the sheep out of their pen and man, Dot goes wild. She is on them like white on rice. She is the FBI of border collies, the Big Brother of sheep. Never mind that they don't do much but roam a bit and she's got no commands yet. These sheep aren't getting away.
The farmer [ I wish I had caught his name ] got around to doing a few demo's and explained that to this day the words used for commands and still derived from gaelic. He can have the dogs bring the sheep in a counter clockwise direction by saying something that sounds like ' way by me ' and clockwise by saying ' come by '. He did this a few times, much to the exasperation of the young sheep who weren't used to herding yet and seemed to want him to make up his mind where they were going.
We also met some very nice cows, but I didn't get to commune with them as much because The Brat became bored by them after just mooing at them a couple of times. Ah.. the cows. Punky's favorite was a red and white one. I of course wanted to hug the one with the long pointy horns. Someday, I'll get around to telling you guys about the time I nearly electrocuted myself trying to hug a bull.
Very very nice ladies in colonial clothing held various demonstrations on wool, everything from picking it clean to spinning it on a wheel. Bonus lesson, flax. We also learned about natural dyes, and I now fear for our clothing. Punky's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when the nice ladies explained that to make the wool yellow they just boiled it some water with onion skins and daffodils. I fear any day now I will wake up to a yellow wardrobe. That aside, we're now keeping an eye out for a tree called Logwood. Apparently, when you grind up its dead or dying limbs it makes the prettiest purple color in the world. Punky's inner fashionista was very inspired.
Unfortunately, this trip was not the most stimulating for The Brat. He enjoyed looking at the animals well enough, but he's much more of a hands on kind of person, which I should have remembered. The clothing/wool demos weren't much fun for him.
We all did have an amazing lunch at The Horseman's Diner in town. Very good chicken tenders, and a surprisingly good quesadilla. We also took a small walk about town, but there wasn't too much to see that can't be seen at every other small NY town. So, we went back to the farm and picked up souvenirs for ourselves and the family.
Beyond our day there, yesterday the neighbor in need of a codename came by. I called to ask for her help moving a tv we were throwing out and she came baby and all. We had a nice neighborly chat, and are making plans for another movie date soon. Next up is The Kings Speech. I'll need to think of a snack to bring over. In the meantime, her boys are out of school same as our boy and Punky and I have been tearing our hair out trying to think of an excuse to invite them over. Not just an excuse really, but a craft or activity that they could enjoy.
Sadly, we have limited experience with teens as we were just recently teens ourselves. [ Or so we tell ourselves. ] There's one particular craft we have in mind, fairly cheap to gather the ingredients we don't have, and highly customizable. Here's hoping we work out the kinks and put it all together. We really love the neighbor lady's boys, as they are like the coolest kids ever.
Furthermore, as the greatest pick-me-up in the world... Punky cleaned out the fire escape last night while I napped. Yesterday was a bit of a crummy day as I'm struggling with health and depression. One leads to the other unfortunately, and while I wait around for my new insurance to kick in, I'm falling apart. Unfortunately, it's pretty deep dark hole I fall into when I do, and I tend to push everyone away. Punky was having none of it though, and fixed up my sanctuary for me. If the weather is nice tomorrow, I will drag the laptop out there and try for some pictures of it. I have been dying to share it with you guys after all.
Getting The Brat ready for his big day on the twentieth of next month has been slow but good. Since my paranoia has been up lately, I might be keeping mum about that for a bit. I don't need abusive exes finding stuff out.
Ummm.... Dieting.. Out the window for now. I can't diet and be depressed. I'm a big time stress eater, and comfort eater.. so.. yeah. The sooner I can kick this in the butt, the sooner I can get back to business.
Also.. I need a camera like nobodies business. I'm currently defrosting a huuuuuge skirt steak which I will be cutting into manageable pieces and cooking for the first time ever. Pictures must be taken of my culinary adventures. Maybe once I straighten out this weeks finances I can start saving pennies for another camera. I'd really like another Kodak, since the first one served me so well.
I think that's about it, except for a bit about Pirates. I'll save that for next time mateys.
Hungry Hungry Hippo,
-Angelwick
A very nice upstate sheep farmer came to Phillipsburg Manor with four of his herding collies. Dot, Jen, Sweet and .. another one. Oops. He also had a small handful of sheep in a pen. First he did a lot of explaining of the border collie history. For example, his came from Wales, and had been bred for many many generations to sheep herd. The good of it being that they were amazing at it, the bad being that they weren't really good pets. The dogs have a hard time staying still. Which was hilarious, because the man couldn't get through more than a minute of explaining at a time for either their barking or Dot's running about.
So... he lets the sheep out of their pen and man, Dot goes wild. She is on them like white on rice. She is the FBI of border collies, the Big Brother of sheep. Never mind that they don't do much but roam a bit and she's got no commands yet. These sheep aren't getting away.
The farmer [ I wish I had caught his name ] got around to doing a few demo's and explained that to this day the words used for commands and still derived from gaelic. He can have the dogs bring the sheep in a counter clockwise direction by saying something that sounds like ' way by me ' and clockwise by saying ' come by '. He did this a few times, much to the exasperation of the young sheep who weren't used to herding yet and seemed to want him to make up his mind where they were going.
We also met some very nice cows, but I didn't get to commune with them as much because The Brat became bored by them after just mooing at them a couple of times. Ah.. the cows. Punky's favorite was a red and white one. I of course wanted to hug the one with the long pointy horns. Someday, I'll get around to telling you guys about the time I nearly electrocuted myself trying to hug a bull.
Very very nice ladies in colonial clothing held various demonstrations on wool, everything from picking it clean to spinning it on a wheel. Bonus lesson, flax. We also learned about natural dyes, and I now fear for our clothing. Punky's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when the nice ladies explained that to make the wool yellow they just boiled it some water with onion skins and daffodils. I fear any day now I will wake up to a yellow wardrobe. That aside, we're now keeping an eye out for a tree called Logwood. Apparently, when you grind up its dead or dying limbs it makes the prettiest purple color in the world. Punky's inner fashionista was very inspired.
Unfortunately, this trip was not the most stimulating for The Brat. He enjoyed looking at the animals well enough, but he's much more of a hands on kind of person, which I should have remembered. The clothing/wool demos weren't much fun for him.
We all did have an amazing lunch at The Horseman's Diner in town. Very good chicken tenders, and a surprisingly good quesadilla. We also took a small walk about town, but there wasn't too much to see that can't be seen at every other small NY town. So, we went back to the farm and picked up souvenirs for ourselves and the family.
Beyond our day there, yesterday the neighbor in need of a codename came by. I called to ask for her help moving a tv we were throwing out and she came baby and all. We had a nice neighborly chat, and are making plans for another movie date soon. Next up is The Kings Speech. I'll need to think of a snack to bring over. In the meantime, her boys are out of school same as our boy and Punky and I have been tearing our hair out trying to think of an excuse to invite them over. Not just an excuse really, but a craft or activity that they could enjoy.
Sadly, we have limited experience with teens as we were just recently teens ourselves. [ Or so we tell ourselves. ] There's one particular craft we have in mind, fairly cheap to gather the ingredients we don't have, and highly customizable. Here's hoping we work out the kinks and put it all together. We really love the neighbor lady's boys, as they are like the coolest kids ever.
Furthermore, as the greatest pick-me-up in the world... Punky cleaned out the fire escape last night while I napped. Yesterday was a bit of a crummy day as I'm struggling with health and depression. One leads to the other unfortunately, and while I wait around for my new insurance to kick in, I'm falling apart. Unfortunately, it's pretty deep dark hole I fall into when I do, and I tend to push everyone away. Punky was having none of it though, and fixed up my sanctuary for me. If the weather is nice tomorrow, I will drag the laptop out there and try for some pictures of it. I have been dying to share it with you guys after all.
Getting The Brat ready for his big day on the twentieth of next month has been slow but good. Since my paranoia has been up lately, I might be keeping mum about that for a bit. I don't need abusive exes finding stuff out.
Ummm.... Dieting.. Out the window for now. I can't diet and be depressed. I'm a big time stress eater, and comfort eater.. so.. yeah. The sooner I can kick this in the butt, the sooner I can get back to business.
Also.. I need a camera like nobodies business. I'm currently defrosting a huuuuuge skirt steak which I will be cutting into manageable pieces and cooking for the first time ever. Pictures must be taken of my culinary adventures. Maybe once I straighten out this weeks finances I can start saving pennies for another camera. I'd really like another Kodak, since the first one served me so well.
I think that's about it, except for a bit about Pirates. I'll save that for next time mateys.
Hungry Hungry Hippo,
-Angelwick
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)