Random Musings

Last week we escaped to Cherokee and Bryson City for a few days.  We had one day set aside for shopping and driving through the Blue Ridge Parkway. As we exited the parkway, the traffic was backed up like Highway 50 in Garner in the evenings. As we turn to head away from the traffic to head back toward our cabin, I see a flashing road sign in the opposite direction. "Elk Viewing...please get in right lane. Lane closed ahead."  We were puzzled, but have also never seen elk, so we turned around and got back in line.  We were about 35 miles from Gatlinburg. Sure enough, the right lane was closed off with cones where vehicles could pull of and view the elk in the field. We pulled over and got out to head toward the area of the "viewing lane" where the herd was located. When we got about half the distance toward the end, a park ranger came up and advised us not to get any closer unless we got on the road side of the cars. The bull above was staying close

Sunday morning I was talking to a friend, and we wound up on the subject of eggs. She shuddered and said she was short on time so didn't do the float test, and sure enough, had a bad egg. It made me stop short.  Float test?  I had never heard of such a thing. You take a "fresh" egg and put it in a bowl of water. If it stays flat on the bottom, it is fresh. If it doesn't, it's not good. So I tested 24+ that I've collected in the last week but not refrigerated yet, and it works!!! Totally submerged egg. Egg slightly rising on one end... Egg halfway floating (one end kept peeping out of the water). So none of my eggs totally floated (which I know is a sign of baby chick developing inside because that means the air pocket is full OR the egg is totally rotten), but I never knew about the partial floating.  Below are how the eggs turned out that were floating a little bit:  The eggs that were lifted slightly on one end but not out of t

In addition to my fall last week, I also lost some of my hearing in one of my ears. It kept filling with fluid. After talking with the doctor and trying a few things, I finally went in for an appointment. I saw the nurse practitioner instead of my doctor, and had my ear flushed for the first time ever. There was some wax buildup, but there was no sign of infection, for which I am very thankful. But since my hearing didn't return (everything sounded like I was under water in that hear), she gave me a steroid pack to take for 6 days. Which means I have slept very little, even though I was exhausted, the last week. Since we had to move almost everything out of the 3 bedrooms while we replaced the flooring in the room and the hallway, my sewing room, (which was a nightmare) had to be emptied. I determined that I was going to sort and clean as I put things in and was NOT going to have such a cluttered mess. As part of my cleaning and re-organizing, I moved the old tv/bookcase (the o

It's been a week and a half. While I am healing, there's still some discomfort and general ugliness.   Day one: hurts like crazy but doesn't look too bad Week One: The bruising has come out halfway down my leg,  but I can now bend my knee without pain.   11 Days Out: Bruising is slowly fading, but after standing on concrete 3 hrs yesterday and then walking 1.5 miles at the corn maze last night, I'm feeling the pain today. At least the toe bruise on this leg is gone. Right foot is going to take much longer. My wrist healed and cleared within 3 days.  I was really hoping this would be cleared up before the elections on Tuesday. But if I survived moving furniture the few days after this happened for the new floors (still working on putting things back!), I should be able to survive getting in and out of my car over and over followed by 30 minutes to an hour of standing and walking between each trip for 16 hrs straight. I'm still thankful this fa

If I have slowed down enough to take pictures, they're on my cell phone, which for some reason is now saying I do not have access to my blog. So until there is time to upload photos, I'll just have to posts a few quick reminders... I officially ended my garden today. Yes. On October 4th. We've always had okra and some tomatoes grow until the end of Oct or the first frost, but never peas or green beans. I honestly think if I had kept watering it we'd have more, but I was ready to be done by the middle of September. The garden gate is now open, and tomorrow the chickens can have at it. We had three Quilts of Valor presentations last week. While we were preparing to leave for the first one, I tripped and fell in the garage. Didn't land on the ramp like I did 10 years ago, but I still fell on the cement. My cell phone case did its job and was utterly destroyed, but my phone survived (and is now scratched from a week of no protection). As long as I don't kneel or