The back eight has been sold. But we know the guys who bought it, so it's all good. They are putting a real gate in across where the road hits their property.

Started burning some of the old hay and downed sticks

Part of the score Scott brought home from work

Liam was using the tractor to move rocks and clean up the yard.

Food?

Trying to eat here...

Scott went over and picked up some hay from his boss. Said boss offered the use of the four wheeler with the sprayer mounted on back. Sprayed weed killer, and fertilizer 

I have furrows in my garden now. We borrowed this nifty thing to drag behind the tractor. If it would ever get warm enough to put plants in the ground

Potato soup

 I loved the potato soup from Panera Bread in Arkansas. They don't have one of those here abouts. So I went poking around the internet and found two recipes that looked good. I liked a little bit about both so I combined. It was yummy-licious.

Potato Soup
Two baked potatoes. I nuked mine in the microwave.
Six russet potatoes. Mine were kind of small so I used six
Half a brick of cream cheese
One cup sour cream
Three cups of milk
Three cups of chicken stock. I've been making my own stock with a lot less salt
Half an onion, chopped small
Half a stick of butter
Three tablespoons of flour
Bacon bits or four slices of bacon cooked and crumbled
Grated cheddar cheese
Handful of chopped green onions

In a large stock pot melt butter over medium low heat. Add onions and cook until onions start to go translucent. Add the flour and stir frequently. You don't want the flour to brown, just to cook out the raw flavor and help the onions melt into the butter. Add the milk and chicken stock and whisk to combine well. Bring the heat up some to bring everything to a boil. Whisk in the sour cream, and add the cream cheese. Stir until everything is combined. Add in the cubed potatoes. I mash the two baked potatoes, with the skins on, and mix this into the soup. Turn the heat back down to medium low. Cover and leave to simmer/low boil until the potatoes are soft. Serve out into bowls with bacon, green onions and grated cheese sprinkled on top.

Makin stuff grow

Jim came over with the little tractor, and borrowed the box tiller from the dairy farm down the street.

He even let Scott drive.

We took down the round pen and re-tilled it all up

 Getting ready for the garden

This is where we're putting in grass

Tilling up in front of the house for the yard

My tomatoes have all sprouted and are taking off

The sugar snap peas are the tall ones in the back

My other sweet potatoes finally sprouted vines

Raspberries are growing. As soon as I figure out where I want them, they'll go in the ground

Yay blueberies

The first sweet potato vine I cut is rooting

Well it's supposed to be spring

The calender says spring. We had a few really warm, spring-like days. And then we keep getting snow. Nothing that really sticks, but it's still SNOW. I want to grow things. I want to ride my poines. I want to go outside without a coat.

We're going on with getting things ready for spring at any rate.

Scott scored big time with some wood at work. This box is like 20ft long, and all mode out of 2x12's

 Some oversized pallets

 2x12 box again

And I'm starting to Grow things. In the green houses I have three or four types of peppers: Roccot, Hugarian Yellow, Bell, and Jalapeno. Three types of peas: Sugar Snap, Shell, and look at only Sweet Peas. Eggplants. I'm sprouting sweet potatoes too.  

 The smaller tray is Roma and Beefsteak Tomatoes.

Jan 30th

Jess is just silly. Ad I am too lazy to flip this pic on it's side. So what did we do today. Got off to a lazy start. I made bread and chicken soup. Scott and Liam cut logs into rounds yesterday. Jess and Liam stacked it today. Liam stacked more in the garage so it's easy to go out and get. The hay we got a few weeks ago was stacked today. It was somewhat productive even it was a late start.

Bread resting on the counter before rising

 Soup starting on the stove

 

Bread set to rise, soup starting to boil

 

 Soup cooking merrily away, bread almost ready for second rising

 

 Wood in the garage

 

Covering the small stack out front

 

Jess and Liam finishing stacking the hay

 

Life on the homestead. Well I don't really know if you can call it a homestead yet. I'm not raising my own animals for food yet. It's winter so I don't have a garden. No chickens, no cows, no pigs. No tomatoes, eggplants, peas. I'm still trying to make my own things. I did the hats. I made a scarf for myself. I want to take apart the denim rag rug I started and redo it. I just have to remember where I stuck it. Fri I made bread. Yesterday I took the two turkey carcasses out of the freezer and made turkey stock. Six cups in the freezer, and made turkey noodle soup with the rest. Today was made up a batch of sausage and scrambled eggs, and fried potatoes and onions, so Scott can make breakfast burritos when I'm not home in time to make him breakfast before work. More bread. And for dinner was bacon wrapped chicken thighs with mozzarella inside. I stoled the recipe from my friend Melissa. Her blog is here. http://livefromnapa.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/prosciutto-wrapped-rosemary-chicken-thighs/ She did a rosemary stuffing, but I'm not a fan of rosemary.

All the damned tests came back FINE!!!!! No sleep apnea, no high levels of adrenaline in my urine. Thyroid is fine, all the blood work is perfectly normal. EKG was perfect, just too fast. Size, shape, function of the heart was perfect, just fast. No growths on the adrenal glands, both the same perfect size. Only I got the flu AGAIN for the fifth time in three months the day after xmas. No cough, no sore throat, no head cold. Just a high fever, uncontrollable shivering because I was freezing, and I hurt everywhere. And this time the gastric system decided to get involved. So my heart is fine, something else in my body is going haywire and causing it to beat too fast.Now they want to test me for cancer.............  /blank stare

I get the flushing. Sometimes I feel really hot, just in my chest, upper arms and face. I feel like a sunburn.

I have the gastric issues. Only a GI doc told me a few years ago, he didn't believe I had crohns disease. It doesn't go into remission for as many years as mine had.

I don't feel like I have asthsma, or difficulty breathing, I just fell alot like there isn't enough oxygen in the air I'm taking in. No matter how much or fast I breath, there just isn't enough oxy. And did I mention they put me on Singular, an asthma medication last month. I don't have asthma.

And I have the effing rapid heart rate. Enough that on this second medication, he wants to up the dose.

Carcinoid syndrome 
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/carcinoid-syndrome/DS00690/DSECTION=symptoms

The signs and symptoms of carcinoid syndrome depend on which chemicals your carcinoid tumor secretes into your bloodstream. They may be triggered by alcohol, stress and heavy exercise. The most common signs and symptoms of carcinoid syndrome include:

    * Skin flushing. The skin on your face and upper chest feels hot and changes color — ranging from pink to red to purple. Flushing episodes may last from 30 seconds to 30 minutes or longer. Flushing may happen for no obvious reason, though sometimes it can be triggered by eating food or drinking alcohol.
    * Facial skin lesions. Purplish areas of spider-like veins may appear on the noses and upper lips of people who've had carcinoid syndrome for many years.
    * Diarrhea. Frequent, watery stools accompanied by painful abdominal cramps may signal carcinoid syndrome.
    * Difficulty breathing. Asthma-like signs and symptoms, such as wheezing and shortness of breath, may occur at the same time you experience skin flushing.
    * Rapid heartbeat. Periods of fast heart rate could be a sign of carcinoid syndrome.

Keep in mind that many of these signs and symptoms are more likely the result of a condition other than carcinoid syndrome. Experiencing these symptoms doesn't necessarily mean you have a carcinoid tumor.

FML!

Meatloaf

Three pounds hamburger
One box cheap brand stuffing
Three tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
Third cup ketchsup
Half cup brown sugar
Two tablespoons mustard 
Two eggs
Garlic salt and pepper to taste


 Heat oven to 357. Mix everything up in a large bowl. I place a piece of tin foil in a broiler pan and poke holes for the fat to drip down. Form mix in a loaf shape. I add a topping to keep the bread crumbs from burning and my kids love it. Cook till the meat thermometer reads the correct temp for ground beef.

 Topping

One cup ketchsup
 Half cup mustard
 Half cup brown sugar
 Table spoon soy sauce
 Three table spoons Worcestershire sauce

Xanodyne agrees to withdraw propoxyphene from the U.S. market

Xanodyne agrees to withdraw propoxyphene from the U.S. market

Great news for me. ARG

So I'm watching TV tonight and I see one of those, call our lawyers offices and let us sue for you!!  It's for a recall on Darvon and Darvocet. It's been causing heart issues up to and including death. I look it up on the interwebz, and it was just recalled by the FDA Nov 20th of this year. Do you know how many of those little pink pills I've taken in the last three years from the nerve damage after getting attacked by that Rottie?!? 
http://www.classaction.org/darvon-and-darvocet.html Arg. I go back to the cardiologist Jan 4th to review all the damned tests I've had recently. EKG, Echo cardiogram, three rounds of blood work, sleep apnea test, peed in a jug for 24 hours, ct scan..............

Saturday was cold and icky. So after I got home from work I made bread. I love hot fresh bread. Three loaves. We usually manage to eat one whole loaf before it cools completely off. I had bought two hams and two turkeys before Thanksgiving day for my freezer. I made a ham a week ago. Yesterday I decided on the turkey. It wasn't bad. Wasn't great but it wasn't bad. We cut more logs for firewood. I should say Scott cut more logs, I helped load some in the back of the truck. Did laundry out the wazoo. Cleaned the kitchen since Liam was sick, and since I did for Liam, I did floors for Jesse. And had the turkey in the oven. Today was turkey soup. The soup was amazingly better than the roast turkey. With fresh bread slathered in butter... mmm.. Took the turkey carcass and tried to put it in one of my large stock pots. I didn't fit. I had to go out in the garage for the Huge assed pot. All the bones of the turkey, half of an onion just thrown in, three whole cloves of garlic, three carrots just snapped in half- skins still on, four celery stalks snapped in half, paprika, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper. Boiled till the bones started falling apart, about three hours.  Strained out the stock through a cheesecloth, added the other half an onion- chopped, three more carrots- chopped and peeled, three more stalks of celery- chopped, all the leafy bits from the inside of the celery- chopped, and most of the turkey I peeled off the carcass last night. I even made homemade egg noddles. I got sick of rolling them out, so they were rather dense. But damn it was good soup.Here's the difference in the size of the pots. lol

 

I also decided I would learn to crochet. I asked the MIL if she had a spare crochet hook while were over to turkey day. She sent me home with a needle, and some left over yarn. I've been making hats

my misbehaing heart saga

Thought I was having a heart attack Oct 20th. Guess not, as they let me go home.  Had the flu two weeks ago. Got better for a few days. Thought I came back down with it again Sat night. Heart did some crazy, relearning how to beat stuff, made me cough when it hit my lungs. Then I puked, got back in bed and back to sleep. No sore throat, no head cold, no cough. Just fever, body ache. Felt better Wed finally. Body ache started in the back of my hips, and worked upwards to my middle back, to head and neck yesterday. No headache today, yay! Round 11-ish headache is back. Take two generic ibuprofen. Noon-ish and I feel nauseous. Start dry heaving, nothing really comes up. I start feeling a little odd. Like my heart feels like its beating very hard/fast, but I'm sitting reading a book and it's 88bpm. Then I get that feeling like after you've had a diet pill, or a benedryl and the loopy wears off and you're twice as wired. I'm feeling rather like I've been hyperventilating, but I'm breathing normally, even slow. My upper body is hot and feeling odd. Almost like lactic acid is building up, but I'm not working the muscles. I'm a little tingly, dizzy-ish. I call my boss up at the house to ask her to come out to the shop to see if I'm a weenie and it's all in my head, or if something is wrong. Suddenly it's everything I can do to reach over and pick up the phone. My arms are so tired. She's not up at the house, and I start crying suddenly. I am the most calm person in a situation I know. Hell I drove myself to the ER after getting attacked by the rottie. She's on her way back to town. I'm sitting there and realizing I really can move my left arm. I can, but it's SO tired and just flops back down. I'm staring off at the wall and realize I'm having a conversation with myself in my head. "You really should take a breath now... Breath in... In and out now..." I just really had no inclination to breath. So I called 911. Balled out crying again to the operator, even though I was trying to be calm. Boss showed up, shortly followed by the sheriff. First Responders. Get my oxy. I never passed out. Shaking like a leaf all over, but not cold. Chest hurts, not bad, just seriously uncomfortable. Load me on the gurney, mask over my face. Breaths shallow, blood ox at like 98. It dips down to 94 or lower when the mask is off, but I really don't feel like breathing and I'm taking very shallow breaths. He feeds me a handful of chewable aspirin. It does help a little. Show up at the hospital, IV in arm. Same questions Ive answered five times. Nitro tabs under the tongue. Damn those things burn. Headache starts. Pain settles down and moves more into the center of my chest. Another nitro tab to burn under my tongue. Demerol, and Adavan. They think it's just anxiety. I have more wired hooked to me. CT scan of my head and my chest. X-Rays of the chest. And then they say they don't think I had a heart attack. Maybe some sort of mini stroke. Don't see any evidence of anything. All the blood comes back normal. So they send me home. I have to go back at 7:00am for more blood work enzyme stuff. Heart attack my not always show up straight away, and may not show on EKG. Brilliant day.

Followed up with my normal family doc a week later. He wants me to wear a Holter monitor for 24 hours. Gies me a script for Atavan.  The sticky pads on those things make me itch like crazy after about 13 hours.

Got a call from my Doc's office Fri. They finally have the results from my Holter Monitor test. I had to wear one of those 24 hour heart monitors. It was annoying. I was a bit concerned since it was the nurse calling saying I needed to come in for the results, if it were nothing she just would have said over the phone. At the same time I was a little not worried because the hospital said if they found anything bad, they would call the doc instead of waiting for him to give me the results. For the last three weeks I've been taking Atavan every time I feel my heart beating too hard, or adrenaline flooding my system. I can only take them in halves, or I'm stoopid, sitting on the couch and drooling.

Hit the Doc's office at 4:00pm. So I really did have an issue with my heart, and it wasn't all in my head. Normally resting, not doing anything heartbeat per min is around 70-80. While working out aerobically you want it to hit around 120 bpm. My resting doing nothing but reading a book was hitting 140! At night while I was sleep is would get back down to high 70's but was up over 115 once. As soon as I woke up I was over 100. Afternoon and early evening was when it was hitting 120, 140. We asked, Scott went with me so I didn't forget anything, and he has some knowledge of the way the body works, if it was anxiety and my head was getting into it too much. I kept complaining the I didn't want to breath. Scott thought I was just over thinking it. Doc says no, not anxiety. If it was, he would expect to see random episodes, when I was awake. Hit, and go away. My rapid heartbeat was lasting hours. And while I asleep. I kept a journal, when I felt weird or an adrenaline dump, I wrote it down. Unfortunately it didn't correlate with my heart being weird on the monitor. 

I asked so what happens if I just ignore it, don't do anything about it. Learn to just live with, or ignore the adrenaline, and the not wanting to breath. He said it's not going to kill me. Soon anyhow. Basically I'm hyperventilating without breathing any harder, and my body is trying to slow it down. With the rapid heartbeat I'm getting too much oxygen. My heart is working overtime and working under too much strain. So I won't die tomorrow, but the added strain is bad. 

He said to let's try putting me on beta blockers to slow my heartbeat down, and help the heart work more efficiently. Atenolol is what I'm on. I can only take half of one at a time because my blood pressure is already really low. It makes me a little tired, and a bit light headed. I have to try this for two weeks. If I don't feel any better, I have to see a cardiologist. My Dad thought of a really good question I didn't think of. Is the rapid heart beat causing the adrenaline dump? Or is it something making me have too much adrenaline that's making the heart beat fast, and I'm just covering that underlying cause with the beta blockers, while the original problem continues. ugh.

Went to the cardiologist Tues morning the 29th. I liked him. He listened to everything I had to say, took notes, and went back over everything to make sure we had it all. I didn't feel rushed, or like he already had an opinion and didn't need to listen to what I thought. I had another EKG, and an echo cardiogram. He even did it that morning in the office after I mentioned I was worried about ending up like a Hallmark movie. Sorry, you have a virus in your heart and now you're going to be dead. Size, shape, and function was all normal. I felt my family doc wasn't really concerned with my question, is the extra adrenaline causing the rapid heart rate, or the heart causing the adrenaline. Next time I don't open my bog mouth. I got to pee in a cup for 24 hours and keep it in a jug in my fridge. Had more blood work. All checking for the adrenaline level in my blood. I have a CT scan scheduled for Mon to check out my adrenal glands. He also had a finger pulse ox machine delivered to my house to measure if I stop breathing during the night. Since I've started the beta blockers I've noticed I wake up gasping like I haven't been breathing for a little bit. He also put me on Singular to help me breathe easier, and a different beta blocker that seems to work better.  He really seemed concerned with the way my heart is misbehaving. It's like if you're panting fast, your lungs never get a chance to really expand and push a lot of oxygen through. Well he said my heart is doing the same thing. Most people don't hit 125bpm when exercising, and I'm pushing 140. Not good. Not good at all. The new beta blockers get me down though. Lying in bed trying to fall asleep while my heart feels like it's going to beat out of my chest, I take my pulse and it's only at 62bpm. I'm guessing it's finally getting the chance to expand all the way, so it feels like it's beating really heard. My blood pressure was 109/68 at the docs and I felt like my heart was beating crazy hard, but the pressure said not so much.