Storms and Stitches

 GOOOOOOD morning!!!!  Boy did I ever hate those words when I was a kid.  It meant getting up really early, eating cold cereal, bundling up so much you could hardly move, and taking the long walk to the barn to catch the horses.  I never understood why everything on a ranch had to be done at 4:30 in the morning.  

Moving cattle from field to field (they were all numbered and we had to remember which one was which), gathering cattle for different things like branding, vaccinations, fly spraying ... it all began in the cold dark of morning.  

There's nothing like riding your horse across the irrigated pastures and being completely covered with mosquitos.  Folks that complain about mosquitos now, don't even have a clue how bad they can really be.  We would spray the horses before we went out because they would be absolutely covered with them, as would WE.  I think I lost a pint of blood every time.  The most words I heard in my life were YOU WILL LIVE.   

Mosquitos ... you will live.  Fall off the back of the truck while moving ... you will live.  Have a horse fall and roll over you ... you will live.  Break your leg ... you will live.  Get smashed in the chest by that cow they said would NOT run over me ... you will live.  Almost cut your finger off cleaning fresh caught fish ... you will live.  I suppose I have to admit they were right, since I'm still here.

I rather think that's what they say back East when these big storms roll through causing flooding and tornados.  I'd rather have the mosquitos.  I watched this yesterday every 30 minutes or so as Patsy and Bill were right in the midst of it.  We had a little rain off and on, but nothing like this crazy storm.  

I spent most of the day on the couch.  I can say with absolute certainty that it was boring.  I can only attribute it to a late night at Bingo ... and this quilt.  It took about 90 minutes to actually quilt on the machine before beginning the task of binding.  

That binding part, though many do it by machine, is all done by hand in my house.  That means at least five hours sitting on the couch.  Truly, that's okay because it also means I get to snuggle with Mr. Cooper.

How could I not love this?  It also means lots of OUCHES when I stick myself with the needle.  It's even worse since I got a NEW needle ... one as sharp as sharp can be.  OORAH for the Marines ... this one is now finished.  

The only other interesting thing, though not all that exciting, is I've lost a few pounds.  How you ask?  Since I'm always complaining about diets?  Well one of the gals at the Elks Lodge, under doctor's order of course, is fasting one day and eating carefully the next.  Not a novel idea I guess.  

I never in a million years thought I could go all day without eating.  It made my day LONG and BORING.   I've always said I eat for something to do.  Especially when I'm not on the road and bored to tears.  That made it pretty tough not to head to the kitchen and cook something, just to wile away the hours.  

Of course I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch, but I've lost five pounds.  That's like losing a Costco chicken!!  The next day I eat very carefully, half of what I used to.  Mostly I'm doing this so I can fit in that penguin tuxedo a little more comfortably.  If I'm going to sit through a two hour meeting, I'd rather not be squeezed in the middle until I can't breathe!

And so the day ended with a little sunshine as I drug my big living room rug back inside the house.  Yup I washed it in my big machine, but it won't fit in the dryer.  The hot concrete seems to be the best place to dry it out.  Too bad I didn't see all those little spiders BEFORE I brought it in.

After about five minutes, I realized there were things moving on the rug.  There was a flurry of swatting and crazy dancing until I saw no more movement.  Note to self ... next time hang it on the patio chairs!