Sunday, December 15, 2013

Oh, brrrrrrr!!! Another cold day here, and I’m getting pretty tired of it. The birds aren’t too thrilled with it either,
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But the kitties know where to go to be warm and safe from the dogs, up on top of the kitchen cabinets,
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I am finishing up on my sister’s quilt, I’ve got a bit more quilting to do on the border and then have to bind it. Then I’ll get back to my appliqué quilt.
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Hopefully, I’ll get on the torch tomorrow morning while Christian does the shopping. I’d like to play around with making some more murrini. Here’s the last two tests,
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Another funny Internet pic,
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Friday, December 13, 2013

You have GOT to be joking,

“Fox News television host Megyn Kelly told viewers on her December 11 broadcast that Jesus and Santa are both white men.

"Just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesn't mean it has to change," Kelly said. "Jesus was a white man, too. It's like we have, he's a historical figure that's a verifiable fact, as is Santa, I just want kids to know that. How do you revise it in the middle of the legacy in the story and change Santa from white to black?" “

Where do they find these people? Are there actually adults who believe Santa is real? And Jesus wasn’t white (meaning European) either, he was a Jew, as anyone who has actually read the Bible would know.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Honestly, it must be my time for fiascos.

Health insurance, I still can’t pick out a policy. I got through to a live person and was told that it was a ‘known issue’ with the website, so she was going to push it on up to try to get it fixed.

My new mattress!! I have a full size bed, but three other bodies sleep with me. :) My little diva dog, Pip, who in the winter likes to jam herself down against my back to stay toasty warm, Suka the husky, and Pry, the Great Pyrenees. I was like a skinny slice of ham on a big bun, but how can I say no to a dog who puts his head on my bed and looks at me with those soulfully sad eyes? So last month I went to Sears and bought a queen size mattress/box spring set. The next week when it’s supposed to be delivered, the delivery company calls at 7 a.m. to see if I really wanted a queen size mattress and a half of a flip box spring. What?!? I didn’t order a flip box spring! So I have to wait until the next night for the saleslady to get back to work to have her order the right set.

It was supposed to be delivered last Tuesday. Three hours after their delivery window goes by, I get a call that their delivery truck broke down, and they won’t be able to deliver until the next week (yesterday). OK, they called yesterday and left two messages on the answering machine, the first so soft all I could make out was two mattresses and two box springs. The second message was a little clearer, two mattresses and a queen box spring and half of a flip box spring, with a phone number to call to get it straightened out. I call the number which is Sears Logistics. I explained what was happening, he wanted to know how I got his number, because that’s not the right number. He was nice enough to call the delivery and get it straightened out that I ordered just one queen mattress and one queen box spring. So I finally got my queen bed set up yesterday, and last night enjoyed not being a sandwich.

Until I went to pay my Sears bill and saw that they double billed me for the mattress and box spring. So I called Sears customer service, they opened a dispute and will contact the store. A dispute?!? So now I get to wait until they ‘investigate’ and get it cleared up. No wonder Sears is floundering.

It was -15° this a.m. Frigid even by Minnesota standards. It’s supposed to get up to 17° by tomorrow, and goodness, that’s going to feel downright balmy!

I just sold two beads that I really, really liked,

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I’ve been getting back into making murrini again, and have one that turned out not too bad. I’ll get some photos of it posted later.

I have to post this one of Suka, he’s bored and wants someone to play with him and his ducky,

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Here’s Heidi, our heifer calf from last winter,

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and Ingrid, the baby,

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and a funny Internet pic,

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Monday, December 09, 2013

So the fiasco with health insurance continues. I applied on Oct. 15 through the Minnesota exchange, and there it sat ‘Pending.’ After three calls and two emails, it was finally approved Saturday morning, which was nice since I have until Dec. 15 to get a new policy.

So now it’s on to picking out a health plan, which I would love to do, but this is now the message I get when trying to do that, ‘Error: It seems you have an in-progress or approved application, please remove if in-progress or contact your local agency office if you have an approved application.

Sigh, on the phone with a wait time of over 60 minutes...

Lukas was checking the WCCO forecast and came across this. I think someone was having a little fun at ‘CCO.

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Tuesday, December 03, 2013

A dark, dreary day here, with cold weather coming in. The good news is that the days start getting longer in three weeks.

Watching the news today, I don’t see much difference between the two stories, The first, a pup that chased a squirrel and got stuck in an irrigation pipe,

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The second, a story about a woman who tried jumping from one roof to another and fell down and got stuck between the two buildings.

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Feel sorry for the pup, but not for the woman. She supposedly has more brains than a dog.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

I should have just stayed in bed today.

My computer wouldn't start last night, completely dead. Made a Genius Bar appt. at the Apple store down in the cities for this morning. Got there, it's in a busy mall, no parking, tried calling the store to have someone come out and bring the computer in (it's a tower and weighs about as much as a concrete block, and it's a service they offer). Automated phone system, I hate them!!!! I finally gave up, went and found a parking spot, got to the store, which is packed. Told the blue shirt I needed someone to pick the computer up, went back out to the back parking lot, drove the car around to the service door, unloaded the computer, drove around and found another parking spot.

Got back into the store, told a blue shirt I had a Genius Bar appt., she said the appts. were only for 15 minutes, I kind of lost it and told her I was there on time, but wasted too much time on their blasted automated phone system trying to get someone to get the computer. She grabbed a higher up blue shirt, he said, oh, yah, her computer's over by the counter. So I stood around for a half hour waiting, my shoulder is just killing me (it doesn't like driving anymore), a tech got to me, I explained it was dead. She grabbed a power cord, plugged it in, pushed the start button, and the bleep-bleeping thing started up. I was thinking nasty thoughts about my son, because before I left home with the computer, I had suggested trying his cord (we have both the same model computer) and see if it would start up. The nice blue shirt lady ran diagnostics on it, and everything came out fine.

So after a couple of side trips, I got home, miserable drive through the rain, and we went out to do the chores.

No baby calf in sight.

I was going to walk out to the east pasture to look for her, and to get to that pasture, you have to go through the gate by the entrance to the cow barn, which when it’s wet, gets a little mucky. Did I say little? I took a couple of steps through, and got stuck. My foot came out of my boot and I’m flailing in the air, trying to keep my balance. Well, of course, I couldn’t. My foot landed in the muck and sunk down into cold, wet muddy muck. Flailing around, still trying to get my balance, screeching. Christian, on the other side of the barn, yelled to see what was wrong. I’m still flailing, one foot in muck, the other in a stuck boot. Well, the boot stayed stuck, my foot didn’t. Out of the boot, into the muck along with the other one, with me still screeching, trying to keep my balance and hoping if I fall, I land on my butt and not my face. About then Christian came running around the barn and saw what was happening, and grabbed me. He was nice enough to grab first and laugh second.

Hosed my feet off, got back into the boots, went back to the house to get walkie-talkies and the truck. Drove out to search the pasture, and thank goodness Ingrid was pretty easy to find. Trucked her back to the barn and got her locked up with Mama. From here on, we’ll let Daisy May out, but keep Ingrid locked up in the barn.

So, got back into the house and cleaned up, got my computer and plugged it in. It came on!! I had thought I was going to have to order a new cord, since they didn’t have any for sale at the Apple store. So Christian got all my hard drives put back in, got it over to my desk, got all the externals plugged back in, pushed the button to start it up. Nothing. Dead as a doornail. Not quite, though. We notice a red light coming on when we tried plugging it into a different outlet. Googled it, and that red light shows there’s power going to the computer. But it’s not turning on. Sigh. Will be going back to the computer store, but NOT tomorrow! Hopefully a week morning will be less hectic there.

But two positives from the fiasco today, I picked up an adapter so I can plug my laptop into my big monitor, so I can actually see what I’m typing, and when I picked up my computer at the store, I saw a sign by the service door saying that it was a loading and unloaded area, with half hour parking!! Yes!!

When the new MacPros come out, I’m getting one!!!! 9 inches tall, 6 inches in diameter, and it weighs 11 lbs.!! Oh, be still, my heart!

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Friday, November 15, 2013

It’s been a long day!! I went down to the cities see my nephew, he’s improving, and sounding more like himself. When I got back, we went out to do chores, and this is what we found,

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We weren’t expecting this quite yet. That’s the trouble with having a bull, you never know for sure when to expect the baby.

My cactuses are blooming, and they are just beautiful!!

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I get to run back down to the cities tomorrow morning. When I tried turning on my computer, nothing happened! Fortunately, all my data is backed up on an external drive, so I hooked it up to the laptop and am using that. That 13” screen is pretty hard to take, though. Hopefully, it will be just the power supply on the desktop, and will be easy and cheap to repair. I’ll know more tomorrow after I take it to the Apple store.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

This is what 800+ lbs of meat looks like,

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A sense of satisfaction...

I trimmed a fern the other day and let it drop on the floor for the babies to play with. Chunk was having a grand old time burrowing in them.

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Funny Internet picture!!

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Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Finally got out to my vegetable garden yesterday to get the rest of the veggies in. I didn’t keep records of what I planted in there like I did in the greenhouse, so I wasn’t sure what I was digging up, other than that they were some kind of root crop, and they were HUGE!! After I got into the house, I googled different root crops, and figured out they are rutabagas, then remembered talking to my sister about using them in soups and stews, and that’s why I tried growing some this year.

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The garden is pretty much wrapped up now, although I still have some hoses to pick up and get into the greenhouse.

I’m just about ready for winter and my recliner by the wood stove. Things need to slow down a bit, my nephew has been in the hospital for the past two weeks with necrotizing fasciitis (flesh eating bacteria). He’s slowly, slowly getting better.

I have to admit I’m a needle phobic. I hate shots!!!! I still remember in grade school standing in line waiting to get the shot in the arm and the polio sugar cube, just the sheer terror of it. Friday, don’t ask me how I did it, because I don’t know, I punctured my ankle. Christian suggested I get a tetanus shot, but phobic person that I am, I waited until the next morning to go to the doctor, and then only because it was aching. Oh, and my sister told me to! Have to listen to her! So they x-rayed it, gave me the shot (it wasn’t as bad as I had dreaded), and put me on antibiotics. For good measure, I had Christian dig up some comfry root to put on it. It was much better by the next morning. The two plants that I just would not want to be missing is aloe and comfrey.

I finally got some more beads listed. This is one I really like,

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A funny Internet pic to end with,

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Tuesday, October 22, 2013

I am just so NOT ready for this,

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Just nine more weeks until the days start getting longer.

Canning is all done now. There were still tomatoes left in the greenhouse, but after making a couple of batches of salsa and canning them, I called it quits. We got the chicks out of the greenhouse and into the chicken house, but they still haven’t quite figured out that’s where they need to go at night, so we get to go out after dark and chase them in.

Honey knows where to go to get warm, on my bead kiln,

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Some of my latest earrings,IMG_0353-2013-10-22-18-48.JPG

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Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Just got back from the cities with our new van. A big orange exclamation point came on in it Sunday morning on our way to meeting. Christian looked it up in the manual and thought it was the brake override system, so we turned around and came home and made an appointment with the dealer. Sigh, guess what it was… low pressure on one of the tires.

So I made a shopping day of it. I went to Fleet Farm and bought new chores boots, dog and cat food, and various other things, then went to Trader Joe’s (wasn’t really all that impressed with it) and then hit Costco to stock up on a few things.

It’s been horribly drearing the past few days, wet and cloudy and dark. A portent of what’s to come.

Think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts…

I did more canning this year than I have for a very long time, I don’t know how many quarts of tomato sauce, 30 pints of grape juice, 20 quarts of grape juice, and 7 of apple juice. I’ve got most of my plants inside now, and next week will start digging up all of the dahlias and other bulbs and tuck them away in the basement. Nick came yesterday and picked up our two steers, and by now they’re hanging in a meat locker. Now we have to get our freezers cleared out and defrosted.

This is a really cool bead that I listed on Etsy, it’s got pink metallic shimmers over the striations. Neat!

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Got to end with another snagged silly pet pic,

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Friday, October 11, 2013

A very impressive young lady, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjGL6YY6oMs

Monday, October 07, 2013

The Internet is a wonderful tool which can be abused by unscrupulous people. I was on Pinterest searching for horse drawings to pin on one of my boards. It’s a way of getting other artists’ works noticed, and their work is an inspiration to me. Much to my surprise, I came across a very familiar horse drawing, and was not so pleasantly surprised to see a young woman claiming to have done it herself. I filed a copyright complaint with Pinterest and waited until today to see if it would be taken down. In the meantime, a friend left a comment about it not being her drawing. This is the what has transpired,

Horse drawing I’ve drawn :) good?

1 repine 5 comments

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Uploaded by

Sarah Arthur

  • laureldiebolt_1347399951_30-2013-10-7-19-24.jpg
    Laurel Rigoulot Diebolt
    That’s ‘interesting’ that you say you’ve drawn this, because I know the original artist you’ve copied this from… I know she has kindly asked you to take it down, too.
  • 1__%252524%252521%252540%252521__saraharthur10-1376936035_30-2013-10-7-19-24.jpg
    Sarah Arthur
    I have drawn It from a reference photo, which the reference photo was probably was hers. If you’d like, I can take it off Pinterest. I haven’t sold it or anything, but kept my drawing for me to look at. But I have drawn it, I can show you my “Drawing in progress” photos. I’m sorry if I offended her.
  • betsyinmn_1327790695_30-2013-10-7-19-24.jpg
    betsymn
    Sarah, please remove this pin. You couldn’t have drawn it from a reference photo because I took the photo myself and have never posted it. And if you want to be an artist, I would suggest you research copyright law and infringement. Under the Fair Use law drawing from a photo is acceptable to a certain degree, but tracing over another artist’s work and calling it your own is very unethical.
  • missyhilger_1329456551_30-2013-10-7-19-24.jpg
    Missy Hilger
    I also follow the work of the original artist. This belongs to someone else and is very unethical.
  • badcatdesigns_1330727843_30-2013-10-7-19-24.jpg
    Lynne Kasper
    Please remove this pin. My Betsy is a wonderful artist and your copy is not flattery is is unethical.

Here is my drawing on the left, and hers on the right,

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My drawing has my name on it, which she erased and replaced with her own. The pin still hasn’t been taken down.

On to better things. Gertrude saying hello to me,

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Does she look like she’s bulging out a bit? I think so (she’s the one on the very left).

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Dexter, the bull,

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And here are the chicks in the greenhouse. I’m going to let them out tomorrow for the first time, since it’s going to be such a nice day.

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I’ve been very busy canning the past couple of weeks. I’ve frozen and canned I don’t know how many quarts of tomato sauce, in the area of 30 pints of grape juice, and now I’m making apple cider. I LOVE my steamer juicer, shown below. It’s just the cat’s meow!

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And some beads I’ve recently listed,

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Life is good…

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