I'm so tired of the gray, cold, slushy, and yucky weather...

Well... it's been a week since my last post. I'm very tired at this point. It's past 12:30 am. I've been up watching TV and snuggling with my doggies.

I'm so thankful to be in a warm and cozy home. We installed a second wood stove. The wood boiler in the basement was not able to keep up with our heating demands. The wood stove was installed two weekends ago... and it's been heavenly. Last week was a learning curve. I didn't understand that the wood supply in the basement was a mix of wet and seasoned wood. So... I messed up my first week by trying to burn wet wood for two days. My hubby wasn't too happy with me. But.. in the end, he understood that I wasn't used to this wood stove thing, and needed him to be more patient and understanding with me.

Yesterday was my last day as the secretary to a local business association. I took the position in early 2006, after all my cancer treatment, and resigned as of November 2008. My last meeting was yesterday. A new slate of officers was voted in. Not one thank you... no "we appreciated all your hard work", no "we appreciate your initiative"... and on and on. It apparently was a thankless job. And with the new "President" coming on board, I left, not a moment too soon. God works in mysterious ways. I'm struggling with total depression, complete lack of appreciation, and that people I've been working for in the past two and 1/2 years who are completely apathetic.

I will be taking pics with my new camera soon. Actually, I've been taking pics, but I don't have the software loaded on my computer in order to transfer pics from the camera to the computer. Yes, I'm computer challenged. I'm trying to conquer that.

I'll post pics soon... of course, you're not going to like them. They will be of my ugly messy house and shop. Please be patient with me.

Hugs,
Penny Suzie

A Very Historic Day today!!!

I keep looking at the TV and thinking this whole day is so extraordinarily historical in such a huge way. I have been enjoying watching different angles from the major networks and finding this day so memorable. God Bless America!

Guess what?? I finally got myself a new camera. I got a Canon Power Shot. I cannot wait to learn how to use it.

I hope all is well with everyone. I've been really busy with life... and haven't had much time to check out the blog sites.

Hugs,
Penny Suzie

I'm sick...

I'm not feeling good at all today. Some intestinal bug or something. I've spent almost the entire day in bed, getting up every 2 to 3 hours to put more wood on the wood boiler. At almost 7 pm, I'm hoping I'm looking at the time where I should start to be feeling better. Which, I do, a very little. But my tummy is still not in agreement. I finally managed to drag my sorry self to the couch.

The hubs took this picture last night after we got done with our snow removal and brining in firewood. It's one of our many apple trees with frozen snow-covered apples still on it. It's supposed to be bitter cold this week here, moreso overnights. Anyhow, I'm trying to keep up with the fire.

I hope others are happy and healthy... I'm getting there, I think.

Hugs,
Penny Suzie

Kind a late on a Monday...

I'm very tired. My poor husband woke up at 2:45 AM to get himself ready for work today. He tries to leave by 3:30 am. He has a 2 hour drive to his brother's home, and then it's about 20 mins. from there to his job. He doesn't have to be to work until 6:30 AM, but I'm not sure why he leaves so early... I think it's just in case he runs into worse weather conditions than we have here at home.


The reason I'm tired is that he headed to sleep at 9:00 pm last night... came downstairs at 11:10 pm all frustrated that he couldn't fall asleep. He was ready to head out the door and drive to go "to work"... but thankfully I was able to talk him out of it. I asked him to try some medicine that would at least allow him to get a few hours of sleep. (Nothing narcotic.) We fell asleep with him in my arms... I wouldn't let go until I heard him snore (through my ear-plugs). Thankfully, he was at least able to get about 3 hours of good sleep. I remember letting him go after I heard him start snoring, and then I continued to pray for him the rest of the night in between very extraordinary dreams. Whatever. The hubs got up and then I got up shortly thereafter... just to be with him before he had to go to work. I was very tired, but I just wanted him to know that I was there for him before he went to work. He's been having such a difficult time with work. My husband and my heavenly Father are my whole life. I don't want to see anything happen to him because of "relationship" stuff or any other reason...not nothing, no how!



My heart is so concerned for this man. I know that the Lord's will is going to be done in our lives, but I don't want anything to harm this man that I love. I need him... very much.


And that's all I have to say about that...

Hugs,

Penny Suzie

Humming - Shout to The LORD all the earth let us sing, Power and Majesty and Praise to the King! Amen (Such a great song!) It just popped into my head.

Simple Sunday...

This day hasn't been exactly what I had anticipated it to be. Actually, this whole week has been a little off. I've got mixed emotions about starting a new year. But I would like to share about our tree felling experience.

The tree below is the one designated to come down. This view is from our back yard looking at the back of my gift shop. There is a little bit of siding left to put on (board and batten) the back of the shop... (yeah, it's been a while), but we needed the wood for something else that was being built. Back to the tree. Jeff (our tree guy) figured it to be about 75 to 80 feet tall. Other than some wind, the weather was perfect. The pic below is from the front of the gift shop and the house from across the street. I just wanted you all to get some perspective on how tall that tree really was. And just how snug between the house and the gift shop.
The branches came off so quickly, as I was working in my kitchen, I looked out the window after a short period of time and saw this.
Jeff was up there for quite some time while the guys on the ground took the rope attached to the tree top and tied it securely to the hitch on the back of a truck to pull on it while Jeff cut the top off. He was hanging on for a while because at just that particular point in time the wind decided to pick up and he was not willing to cut the tree top off and risk having it hit the shop or the house. (I really appreciated that!) But the phrase "tree hugger" has a whole new meaning for me. This tree came down in three sections.


These two pics above were the second section which just came down like a javelin. It drove itself about 2 feet into the ground. Not sure if Jeff could have done that twice or not. It was quite amazing.I just had to take this picture. Typical men. Three or four guys standing around watching one guy do all the work. Ha ha! Just kidding. These guys worked quickly to haul away all the branches that came down like rain drops, put into a pile and we'll burn them when they are dead and dry. Jeff only brought his son with him and the other two guys are relatives (of sorts) and the other guy is my hubby.

I was scurrying about in the kitchen making lunch for all my frozen and hungry workers. So I missed the last chunk coming down. I thought maybe my husband would take that pic, but he didn't think of it. I did make the mac and cheese. It was a big hit and well appreciated. Couldn't tell you how many pots of coffee we went through, but I would venture a guess it was around 6.

All's well that ends well. God's protection for Jeff in the tree, the guys on the ground, the property, and everything else. A job very well done. Then they came in and we just had lunch and fellowship/friendship around the table. God is sooo good.

I guess I can finally post this... it's only taken me two days to get pics and stuff done.

Hope everyone is getting back into the groove of "no stress" after the holidays. I know I am.

Hugs,

Penny Suzie

So much hope for the new year of 2009

It's so pretty (but stinkin' cold outside). This is just a photo my hubby took of one of our lilac bushes. It just snowed lightly this evening. No accumulation, just enough to cover all of the ugly black, salted and sooted stuff already on the ground.

We are having a huge hemlock dropped tomorrow. It's between the house and the shop. with only about 15 feet in between. My hope is that it hits NOTHING... but if it has to hit anything, it's the house and not the shop. My reasoning... you ask? The house is insured, but the shop is not. Tomorrow is going to be a nerve-racking day. However, the man who is doing the "dropping" is someone we trust. He is also insured. So... he says he can start at 9 am and be done by noon. He will probably bring his 3 kids with him to help. My husband will also help. I'm thinking some good old fashioned macaroni and cheese might be in order for lunch. What do ya think? Also, the man is going through some very difficult times... and we are trying to encourage him and his kids as best we can through the grace that is shown to us every day.

The pic that is supposed to be of me... (I guess)it's the profile pic), is one of my girls... Brandy. She loves to play in the snow. I don't think you can see it in the profile pic, but I think you can see it rather clearly here on her chin and her eye-brows the snow she's plowed through. We love to watch her play in the snow. She leaps like a deer... it's too funny. I caught it on video last winter. It's hilarious. Three feet of snow does not slow this pooch down!

Good night,
PS