FOR THE MILLIONTH TIME

Out of the snow I rise, past the computer I walk, onto the launch pad I climb. It is fitness time again and I MUST make some changes in my lifestyle. Exercise is the key element missing from my daily routine. Today I vow to get busy once again and so I shall be taking a sabbatical from my blog in hopes that I can report at a later date that things are under control. Don't wish me "luck" but please do wish me "willpower".

AND THE QUESTIONS ARE?????

I worry more about sneezes than heartbeats. I heard once that brain cells die every time we sneeze.

I started writing poetry at age ten and ran out at age 52.

When children outnumber the care givers they need to thrive then there are too many for love to reach.

Gather all the sunsets you can.

Society needs to stop making rules when they replace common sense.

My spouse can trigger that kind of laughter in me very often. It is the blessing of our marriage.

They say jokes are all variations of 720 of the same. I think love songs are all variations of one.

It is a sad fact of nature that good news does not hold our attention the way bad or gory facts call to us.

I have grown far too old when I cannot supervise my own care.

I am like Goldilocks at the last bowl, the last chair, the last bed that are all just right. (I try not to think about the bears coming home.)

Tabor of One Day At A Time has the questions that I have answered above. See what YOU would say in response to her inquiry.

My god daughter Jessi gave me this link to a live streaming video of puppies. Who can ever get enough puppy watching?

Happy, happy Tuesday. Ron and I celebrate the 578th Tuesday since we met.

DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE

We are seeing SNOW again! (Most of the previous snow has melted and I don't believe temps will get cold enough for this to stick.) Besides that old worn out story of woe, here are some other things I see on blogs that you might enjoy.

It was an honor a while back to be invited by Monica to post on her blog STRINGS. I failed to make other than a minimal contribution but she has turned it into a delightful place to stop for thoughts on acts of kindness and feeling good. It is a quick and delightful read and you can catch up in no time. She also is the author of Changes In The Wind.

Nancy doesn't have her own blog, but she writes occasionally for THE ELDER STORY TELLING PLACE and today she has a great story that I find in keeping with my recent blog on siblings.

MARILYN'S MONEY is having a nice give-away of a book called WEALTH WATCHERS and you only have to leave her a comment plus add yourself as her follower and then if you mention her post on your blog you will get three more entries. I have followed her for quite a while and she gives many money saving tips, coupons, free products and discounts.

If you are all a follower of 24 you won't want to miss the video Adam of THE JACK SACK made about how Hitler would review Season 8 so far. It is hysterical.

If you are up to an unbelievable number of questions, go to ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE and see if you can attempt to answer. Wine is recommended before beginning.

If you are a follower of BONNIE'S BLOG you will know how exciting it is to welcome Rossi Jean, Bonnie's new grandaughter.

Do you ever search a blogger's sidebar? Judy of IMAGINE has the most interesting link ANSWER TIPS that we all will want to add to our blogs. I would have missed this if Tabor had not pointed it out.

And, in keeping with the mention of sidebar links, do you have one or more on your blog you would like to share with the rest of us? I try to look at each blogger's sidebar information but I don't do a very good job of it. Tell us what you think we might enjoy.

I SAID I NEVER WOULD BUT I DID

These are the hijackers of United flight 93 on September 11, 2001.(I have removed the pictures because they are too horrible look at each time I open my blog.) I vowed never to watch any of the movies or dramatizations of 9/11 but yesterday I broke that vow and watched the movie UNITED 93. I don't remember who told me to watch it saying it would not be what I expected but they were right and now I'm glad.

It was my expectation that the movie would get us all deeply, emotionally attached to the characters on the plane. We knew they were going to die and therefore the melodrama would be more than I could take. Actually the movie was about the air traffic controllers and the military scramble and other events swirling around all the confusion and flight activity of that day.

We know a lot about the heroic passengers on the flight because many of them were relaying events as they occurred to their airlines, their friends and their family members by phone. There is no doubt that these passengers caused the hijackers to fail in their mission and by their own sacrifice averted an even greater tragedy that day.

Everyone should watch this movie at least once. It keeps us mindful of the events of that day "lest we forget". Everyone should also go to google images and search the pictures of all the 9/11 hijackers as well at the picture of the shoe bomber and the panty bomber and ask again why we are searching old women and children at the airports.

SHOCK AND AWE

Ron, Slim and I were standing looking out the front window the other morning and a scene much like the picture above (from google images) unfolded before our eyes. The only difference was the coyote we saw parading itself before us was strolling right down the middle of the main road in front of our house. It was walking as if it owned the place and was enjoying the cleared pavement as opposed to the snow that was everywhere else. This arrogant wild creature seemed to know that Ron did not have his gun, I did not have my camera and we were not going to be able to get the frozen front door open to send Slim. By the time Slim got outside she was following a phantom trail down toward the lake. At least the chickens and guinea fowl were safe and sound in the hen house.

(Hum, I wonder were the term "safe and sound" comes from?)

DO YOU HULU?

There are thousands of new and old television programs and movies on Hulu. Most of the time I share information here and learn that I was the last to know. Forgive me if you are all way ahead of me on this but I must post it in the event you haven't found Hulu yet.

If you miss a show and fail to record it (of you don't have DVR) or if you hear of a new show and want to preview it, simply go to hulu.com and enter the name of the show and 9 times out of 10 you will find the episode you want and be able to play it free right there.

My son had heard of Hulu but never went there because he thought they charged you for membership. That might be something they plan for later, but right now they do not. I guess they pay for this service with the 30 second commercials in the episode and that barely detracts from watching.

MDS (My Dear Spouse) controls our remote on the satellite television so Hulu allows me to simply open my lap top and watch the most recent episode of THE GOOD WIFE (because I don't get CBS at all on my digital antenna TV) or see TWO AND A HALF MEN that we missed last night watching 24.

As you hear me tell of my television shows, my Netflix movies, my Hulu programs, my audio books (and my chickens of course) you may wonder how I have time for housework. All I can say is, "What's that?"

(Yes I do manage the care and feeding of MDS but only when he can tear himself away from the History Channel)

DOES IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

My sister, me, my brother.

Called to my daughter’s parent teacher conference in her elementary school , the teacher took out my son’s folder and began to compare her work to his. “Put that away” I told her, “We’re here to talk about my daughter”.

My sister was a bit of a rebel in college. My first year at OCU, I was called to the Dean’s office for a conference. As soon as I sat down the Dean pulled out my folder and inside the front cover in big black letters it read “Elenore’s sister!”

Forget it when my sister and I were compared to our brother. Let me just say that we have always called him Saint Jim and neither of us can hold a candle to his reputation.

My siblings and I seem connected at times by ESP. Other times I have to wonder if we were all three raised by the same parents. Setting all differences aside, we share compassion and love and that is what matters.

We also each share having married the perfect mate because none of the three of us would be worth a hoot without our practical, loving spouses who anchor us and keep us humble. Ron defines me best by saying I was running amok until he found me.

I have heard that we are more influenced in our growing up by our siblings than by our parents. Also our sibling placement plays a large role in how we turn out. Were you only, oldest, middle or youngest? Did your siblings affect you in a positive or negative way? If you were an only child, who inspired you?

HERE WE GO AGAIN

MORE SNOW? YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!

WHAT SLIM IS SEEING OUT THE WINDOW THIS MORNING.

The first event arrived last night. It was the "ice event". The second event is here now. It is the "snow event". The bad news -- my Oklahoma City family members are hard hit once more. The good news -- our area is not going to get it as badly as originally forecast. It is now all up to Punxsutawney Phil on Tuesday to let us know how much longer this winter is going to last. I'll use this boring weather post to update you on the movies I have seen through all these home bound conditions.

The following are the movies I gave four or five stars:

INTO TEMPTATION (Jeremy Sisto)
MERRY GENTLEMEN (Michael Keeton)
500 DAYS OF SUMMER (Joseph Gordon-Levitt)
NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH (Kate Beckinsale)
SUNSHINE CLEANING (Amy Adams)
THE WAY OF THE GUN (Benicio Del Torro)
JULIE & JULIA (Meryl Streep)

I gave these three stars but debated between that and four stars:

SUGAR (Algenis Perez Soto)
THE INFORMERS (Billy Bob Thornton) Giant "R" rating so go there with caution.

What movies have you seen lately that you would recommend?

Oh and let me tell you this. I have had HURT LOCKER on my Netflix list since in first became available four weeks ago. It has a "long wait" and I can't get it. I mentioned it to my sister and she added it to her list and she got it the next day! Again, the story of my life.

DON'T LET THE BED BUGS BITE

I did not manage to catch David the cat and the big fat hen together so I captured these shots of our birds at bedtime. Some will roost on the poles and others in the rafters. It is dangerous to go inside and count them every evening for fear of droppings from the ones in the rafters. That is where the guinea fowl love to roost so it doesn't conflict with the chickens. However you can probably guess that Jack Bauer requires the highest level so he's found an ideal spot were he can keep and eye on everyone.

Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite .....or the droppings light.

WHY BRING IT UP AGAIN?

Many of you will remember our story of finding the kittens in the nesting box last Spring. There are several posts plus I still have a link on my sidebar that connects to the publication in COUNTRYSIDE MAGAZINE.

Why would I bring this up again? Well if you will also remember the two surviving kittens are David and Goliath. They have grown nicely and David has surpassed Goliath in size.

My old Australorp hen has taken to sleeping in a large wooden box on the floor of the hen house. She is too old and too fat to hop up on a roosting pole. The last three nights I have found David the cat curled up with my aging hen. Both seem quite content. So far I have not been successful getting a picture but will keep trying.

(This might cause you to wonder about Elenore Hen but don't ask. I still can't talk about that.)

CARLE JOHN BLENNER 1884 - 1952

Here is my grandmother's painting. I had to take photo from angle because of the glare from the glass. The artist is Carle John Blenner and he has quite a biography.

When I look at this picture I can smell my grandmother's dusting powder on her dresser and her fried chicken. I catch a hint of grandpa's cigarette smoke and I always hear laughter.

SLIM DELIVERS PEOPLE

Our watch dog, Slim, is very strange. She welcomes all visitors and herds them to the front door. Slim then jumps on the window to let me know she has brought us people. She is excited when we let them in and she shows them off like treasure. This morning it was indeed treasured people she brought me. The DISH repair men arrived. WhooHoo!

Yes, in fairness after my complaint, I will say the DISH (for WildBlue) agreed to extend service to us at no charge for this visit. They said to expect the repair persons between 8:00 AM and Noon. They arrived before 8:30 and had us up and running by 9:00. The weather had damaged the connections on the satellite. I am a happy country girl once again.

Thank you guys for your support and suggestions regarding our satellite program.

Thank you also for your input on naming our new chickens. Of course you know the rooster is Jack Bauer. (Attire designed by Adam of The Jack Sack)The red hens are Slippy and Slushy (named by Brown English Muffin), in honor of the conditions when we collected them. The Buff Cochin twins are Flo and Ethel (named by Lucy of Lucy's Frugal Living) and, because I misunderstood Lucy's last suggestion, the black and white Brama is Mame. (She suggested Maine but when I read it as "Mame" I loved it so that it stuck.)

If you think raising chickens is just for people in the country, take a look at this neat video, BROOKLYN'S BACKYARD CHICKEN KEEPERS that I saw at Urban Chickens.

BIG GIRLS, DUCT TAPE, FLOWER PAINTING

THESE GIRLS STILL NEED NAMES.

Our new chickens are perfect. I may never try to raise baby chicks again. The hens have taken to our property and have fallen in step with the older residents. These big girls do not need to be warned of potential predators because they have already experienced enough life to proceed with caution. Our last batch of chicks never learned that. They ran behind the barn every morning right into the mouths of danger. If you have chickens, do you prefer acquiring adult chickens over raising chicks?

Have you all seen the photo of the pilot who crashed his plane and patched it back together with duct tape? Recently Stacy posted the picture and story. It has me thinking about all the amazing things I repaired as a single mom with duct tape. I kept my antique vacuum cleaner together for years beyond expectations by patching it up with duct tape. You could not tell it was ever red because it looked completely gray. What was your best home duct tape project?

There is a lovely floral painting in my living room. It was my grandmothers and she always had it in her living room. Looking at it reminds me of all the wonderful times at Grandma's house. My sister and I recently googled the artist and found this painting is most likely worth around $8,000. That would make my grandma so proud because I don't know how she acquired it, but I know she didn't pay much for it if she bought it. What centerpiece in your home brings back fond memories of your childhood?

BOUQUETS OF DISHES

Take a drive outside of our town's city limits and notice the moment you reach three miles out you will begin to see roofs bursting with Wildblue Satellite Dishes. Two years ago DSL and Broadband reached our town but if you live over three miles outside the town, your only providers of internet service are dial up providers or Wildblue Satellite. We live four miles outside of town.

At first I was delighted to switch from dial-up to satellite. We have had the Wildblue service almost a year. We have had some problems but overall we have been delighted. Then our weather changed with the blizzard of 2009 on Christmas Eve and we have basically been without internet at least 50% of the time. We pay for this time that service is not available because nothing can be done about the weather. If they send a repair person out to look at the position of the dish their charges start at $49.95. It as to be the most expensive internet provider to begin with and only becomes worse as they continue to charge even when their records can clearly show all the times you are out of service.

The other kicker in their great internet program is what they call their FAP (Fair Access Policy). This sounds to me like something straight out of ATLAS SHRUGGED. You have three tiers of programs to buy and each allows you more usage each month. If you go over the usage your program allows, they slow you down to dial-up speeds until you drop back your usage. We are now buying their largest program and just after we switched to it, we began to lose our service due to weather.

I only know that when the day comes and we have choices for internet service and competition arrives in rural areas there is going to be a mass exodus from Wildblue. They must not anticipate anything happening soon because they hold all the cards at this time and do not need to make any concessions. If we would attempt to leave them now we would have to buy out the remainder of our two year contract but that is a mute point because we have no place to go. A small business could not survive if it had to depend on rural satellite internet service.

Our television is provided on DISH Satellite and basically our internet is too, it is just installed and maintained by Wildblue. Our television service should be going out as often as the internet but it is not. Once we are able to leave satellite internet, we will probably leave DISH television also. Don't you think they would be working to insure retaining us when that day comes? Or, God forbid, do they know that day will never come? Oh woe is me:(

JACK BAUER DONE UP PROPERLY

Received today from Adam at The Jack Sack.

Hi Annie,

I wanted to send you a picture of your new rooster, done up properly as Jack Bauer. This was a lot of fun to make, I hope you enjoy it!

Warmest Regards,

-Adam

I'm still laughing at how wonderful our new rooster looks in his proper attire created in response to this post of mine. Thanks again Adam.

ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY SUCKS

Who can we get to pay attention? If Allstate Insurance Company will not, perhaps Kim Holland, Insurance Commissioner for the State of Oklahoma will. We sent her a letter last week and copied it to Allstate.

Ron's accident was April 2, 2009, nine months ago. Some of you will remember the grief they put us through on replacing our Van that was totaled. Finally agreeing on a price for our vehicle we continued on into the medical portion of the claim.

We have talked with two medical adjusters and their two assistants and delays have occurred as the adjuster has been changed and the new adjuster needed to be brought up to date. We sent them what we believed would be the last of Ron's medical bills on November 2, 2009 and mailed them under a delivery confirmation number so they could not claim non-receipt. We spoke with them before Christmas and expressed hope this could be resolved before the holidays. They assured us they received the bills and only needed to make one more phone call to our Primary Care Physician.

We have received two more form letters from them since November that assure us, "We are looking into the matter".

I have read one devastating story after another about the shady way Allstate Insurance Company handles their claims. A recent show done by Anderson Cooper on CNN gave the best summary and it seems to be what we are experiencing. This explains how they handle claims under the three D's, delay, deny, defend.

If you are injured in an automobile accident and the responsible party has Allstate Insurance you best be prepared to turn it over to an attorney immediately. Our kids encouraged us to do that but we couldn't see that benefiting anyone but the attorney and we are not all that fond of our overly litigious society. However that is looking more and more like the way we will need to go.

Our lives were disrupted. We were thankful that no one was killed. We only want fair treatment. The Allstate Insurance adjusters seem to rejoice in adding insult to injury.

Is there anyone out there who believes they received fair treatment from Allstate Insurance or any other insurance company regarding settlement from an automobile accident? If so, how in the world did you manage it? Did you have to hire an attorney?

WHERE IS THE "DOODLE-DOO"?

MAY I INTRODUCE YOU TO ROOSTER JACK BAUER

Yesterday was another time we needed the video camera. Our new Araucana Rooster was turned out with the rest of the flock and it was get acquainted time. He and Daryl had been speaking to each other and I noticed that Daryl would speak the usual five tones of "Cock-A-Doo-dle-Doo" while the new rooster only had the "Cock-Aaaaaaaa" and no "Doo-dle-Do". Perhaps that became a bone of contention because the next thing I knew, the two big boys were at it.

It was a serious fight and the first in attendance to watch were my chicks, Mr.Gibson II and Chicklet II. Chicklet II grabbed a rooster tail feather that had been shed in the heat of battle and began running around in circles, flying the feather like a banner. Perhaps it was her way of announcing the fight because the next thing I knew the guinea fowl all gathered in a ring around the roosters and I'm pretty sure they were exchanging bets.

I was worried but Ron assured me the roosters needed to establish a pecking order and to leave them alone. Slim wanted to jump into the fray and break it up but I held her off. Finally I told Ron that the new rooster was covered in blood. "Well break them up!" he yelled, as if he hadn't told me to let them fight. Anyway I allowed Slim in at that point and she sent the two roosters packing in different directions. The rest of the day there were no problems and today each rooster has their own little flock of hens to tend to.

Then it dawned on me -- the new rooster wasn't crowing, he was saying "Damn it!" thus his name is now Jack Bauer. That is appropriate since Season 8 of 24 starts tomorrow night. How was that for a segue into an ad for the show? LOL

WHAT A CHORE FOR SIX MORE

Why didn't someone have a video camera? Yesterday we added six more chickens to our flock. We found a place near us that sold laying hens. We called and the owner said that yesterday would be the best day for us to get them. (Remember folks, we are in a massive thaw of snow and ice that has covered us since Dec. 24th.)

The gate to their estate was locked and we had to wait for them to drive down, open the gate and allow us entry. We drove our pickup and not the van so we didn't have very good traction in the slush. At least I had worn my Roper's.

These true and natural farm folks have a huge variety of fowl for sell and goats, mules, dogs. The people and all of the animals were up to their ankles in mud. Ron was happy that he had failed to wear his boots and these chickens were for me anyway, so he guarded the truck and our cage while I tromped through the muck to select my new hens. It was their feeding time so it was easy to gather them in grabbing reach while they gathered round the trough.

There were only two laying hens left so I got them and two cochins, one Bramah and yep, I could not resist a beautiful Aracauna Rooster. Daryl needs a little competition to keep him from getting mean (or should I say too cocky? LOL).

My spouse got way too much entertainment out of watching two ladies grab six birds. He was the one wishing for a camera. There was a lot of slipping and sliding both on foot and in the truck but we made it home with our new chicken children which I will name. It seems that I did not have good luck with my chickens when I stopped naming them.

The attached pictures are not my actual six but they look a lot like mine and maybe you can help me name them. There are two of the reds, two of the buff, one Brama and one Araucana rooster. It will be a while before I can photograph them because we will keep them in the cage and separate from the rest of the flock for a few days.

The main picture I failed to take was of my boots. I wiped them off before I thought of what a story they could tell on their own.

CHEERING FOR THE BAD GUYS

There is a national story unfolding in Tulsa, OK involving Arrow Trucking. To make a long story short it appears to be a case of “Daddy builds a great company. Daddy dies. Son takes over and pours company assets into his personal luxury life.”

This once reputable company hits bottom on Christmas Eve when pay checks begin bouncing as banks from Oklahoma to Utah begin to calculate their losses. Drivers were ordered to park their trucks and try to find another way home and these drivers begin calling family and friends to send them money to help them return home. Some can get home but others are totally stranded and, you can imagine, they are bitterly angry.

A huge number of trucks and trailers are missing and rumor has it that some of these stranded drivers drove their rigs to Canada and Mexico and are selling everything they can off the trucks.

A repo company has been hired to go looking for the missing assets and it is said the five employees of the repo company look like the crew in the 1984 cult movie REPO MAN. Perhaps this will lead to another movie of that kind and in the end the truck drivers will win.

I usually hate it when the crook is made to appear the hero but this story just makes me want to cheer for the drivers who were abandoned and so they worked out their own solutions. I know, I know, two wrongs don’t make a right………….but the big guys will probably get a government bail out and the drivers will only end up with what they can salvage.

Click here for today’s story.

LET IT THAW, LET IT THAW, LET IT THAW!

2010 FROZEN GRAND LAKE O' THE CHEROKEES

LAST PHOTOS OF FROZEN LAKE BEFORE THE THAW

We started out Sunday morning with a delightful heat wave of +3 degrees. By 1:00 PM the sun was shining and melting snow was pouring off the roof of the house and barn. Our temperatures reached 32 degrees and all of our fine feathered friends were allowed outside to soak up some good vitamin D.

We managed to go to the restaurant for lunch and I brought back my favorite lemon meringue pie. We did drive down the hill to the lake and I got some photos of it while it was still frozen.

Snow is lovely but it is equally lovely to see the sun and watch the white stuff disappear after such a long covering. We have not seen bare ground since Christmas Eve.

The predictions for temperatures by Wednesday are 54 degrees. Unbelievable!

If you missed my Sunday post regarding Ron's movie idea, be sure and read it today by clicking here:)

I believe you have until Tuesday to get in on ALWAYS NESTING's $25 TJ Maxx give away so be sure to check out that link on my sidebar.