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Ramblings From The Reservation
or
http://ramblingsfromthereservation.wordpress.com/
I hope y'all do not get as confused as I am about the whole moving thing.......
Ramblings of a Native American woman ..
The BBQ/Roping was a huge party. A big success for the hosts. We did not stay long at all, barely an hour. I would have loved to have partied and roped long into the night but Trick or Treat took precedent over my fun.
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The BBQ/Roping was a huge party. A big success for the hosts. We did not stay long at all, barely an hour. I would have loved to have partied and roped long into the night but Trick or Treat took precedent over my fun.
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Okayyyyyy. I like Gobstoppers and I know what they are. But I am unsure on what the heck a Mary Jane is. I always thought of it as a code-name for weed.......is it some kind of lollipop? And........what is a Goldenberg Peanut Chew?
Yesterday afternoon I caught some of Oprah's show with Bill O'Reilly. I do not watch Oprah much at all, but I did watch so I could see why Bill O'Reilly was on her show. I am an O'Reilly fan. Yep, I am. I think he is obnoxious, conceited, pushy, and so on. But, I still like the man. I would probably be labeled as a Right Wing Conservative Republican (RWCR) in many people's eyes. I hate labels by the way. I am not a die hard RWCR. I do have a few liberal views but not many.
I have a feeling that some of my blogger friends are quite a lot more liberal than I. Which is cool. I have no problem with that, in fact, I love hearing others views on things in general. It gives me a chance to see things thru others eyes. "How we perceive our world around us is our reality." Everyone's perception is different, just like experiences, ect. I welcome that as a chance for me to broaden my thinking avenues. Once or twice, my own views may have changed, just thru seeing something, someone, or a situation in a different light.
O'Reilly has a test, Culture Warrior Test , I took it. It said I have traditional values but I am undecided. Hmmm. That sounds about right. I dont think O'Reilly gets a fair shake, but then I am sure there are a lot of people who think he is biased. One thing I know for sure, is I support our troops 100%. It is wrong for Americans (like Sheenan, Moore,ect.) to think we(Americans) are the terrorists. If they did not live in America, they would never have the opportunity to freely voice their opinions.........instead, they would have been shot on sight under Saddam's Regime.
I will leave it at that for today because I feel an all our rant coming on..............it could get ugly.
I took this picture in the middle of the afternoon yesterday. It was so dark outside-yuck!
The rain is suppose to end soon (Before noon I hope!) The sun might peek out but it is cold and blustery-more yuck!
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Today has started out crazy and most likely will remain that way until long after dark.
Hubby's good friend of many years Father passed away and the funeral is today. Hubby and B. have been friends since elementary school. So hubby is going to try to make it to the funeral this afternoon, work might not cooperate tho. If he misses the funeral, he can try to make graveside or the gathering afterwards. I did press and starch a pair of his good Levis and a dress shirt. He rarely gets fancied up so I thought I had better re-iron, re-freshen, a set of his dress clothes.
I have an afternoon MD appointment, the boys and I have a Fall Carnival to attend at school this evening. Tomorrow is our communities trick or treat night, and also son #1's church's Fall Festival.
I'll be making my favorite blog rounds very slowly but surely in between running up and down the highway, chasing Toddler Terror around, doing laundry, cleaning my AGAIN dirty floors, and cooking.........sigh, I am tired just typing all that crap.
On a good note, I did get all of Scooters cockleburs removed lastnite. Baby oil and a big strong hair pick made it easier this 3rd time around. He hasnt came out of his stall much since it turned nasty outside, I am not too worried about him getting back into the burs today but tomorrow, hubby and I will be getting rid of those nasty cocklebur bushes! No excuses......
Last nite I let hubby read my post about the The House . He was not suprised I went and took a picture. He woke me up about 3:10 am this morning and said he had a nightmare about the house. I asked him if he wanted me to get one of the boy's nightlights and put it in our room for him. He didnt answer but I know he was giving me a dirty look in the dark. Hubby hated that house, he was always in a hurry to get away from it when he stayed there with me. He doesnt even like scary movies, I guess I should not have let him read the post!
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Yesterday we woke up to a dreary and damp day. This morning it is the same but worse, with thick FOG. The weatherman said a cold front is headed our way with severe storms this afternoon and much colder tomorrow.
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The Old Guy is muddy. I have no idea how he gets so dirty since he prefers to stay inside the barn when the weather is nasty (like the past 2 days). These pictures I took yesterday afternoon. It was so dark out that my flash worked on my camera. I need some sunshine! I am tired of this gray weather. The weekend is supposed to be great weather, I am very much looking forward to it!
I am sooo p*ssed. More cockleburs!
And in his tail, ack! This is the 3rd time I have had to get them out.
I thought we had gotten rid of those nasty cocklebur bushes, guess we missed one or two.
5 college students were found murdered and mutilated over 3 days in late August of 1990, just as the University of Florida's fall semester was beginning in Gainsville FL. Every one of them had been killed with a hunting knife. Some had been mutilated, sexually assaulted, put in shocking poses. One girl's severed head had been placed on a shelf, her body posed as if seated.
Definately crimes that should be punishable by the Death Penalty and nothing else. Just because this creep confessed to the awful things he did does NOT mean he should have been spared death. In my opinion, put Rolling's confession and the DNA that proves he committed these atrocities, together.......and there should be NO DOUBT this creep deserved nothing less than death.
I could not get a decent picture of the house. This was the only one I took. There was a man in the front yard unloading wood out of a truck and cars everywhere. Junk cars, it looked like to me. I was suprised at how rundown the place was. There was junk and trash everywhere.
I removed the picture of the house , you'll see why in the comments section.
Too see a picture of the house go here:house
This is the West side of the house. Both bedrooms are on this end. The bathroom as well. The windows in the picture are the bedroom windows. The closest windows are to the room that was my bedroom. This porch faces South. Part of the porch's door can be seen (it also has another door, the one I talked about later in this post), this door leads into a living room.There is a cellar in the far left. The place has 3 cellars. The tree on the right is one of the big cedars.
Best friend L . and I could not believe our good fortune to have snagged a great house, small barn, and garage when we first moved to Oklahoma. It was recently bought then rented out. We were the 2nd people to have ever rented the place. The house was at the end of the long dirt driveway, it could not be seen from the highway. It was surrounded by huge, old cedar trees. It was built by a wealthy Osage man back in the 1940's. It had been kept up and was in great shape.
When best friend L. and I first looked at it. We both liked it but at the same time, felt a creepy feeling. When the owner went outside to give a chance to check the place out alone, we both agreed it had a weird feeling. It was what we needed.....we would deal with all the negativities later.
We got ourselves moved in, horses and hounds all settled. Best friend L.'s coon dog Pepper stayed inside, but at our 'new' house, she preferred to sleep outside with the other dogs. She rarely wanted to come indoors anymore. We decided she didnt like our 3rd roommate the 'ghost'.
We had a king size bed and a twin bed. We set up the big bed in best friend L.'s room. We put the twin bed in my bedroom. It was early winter when we had moved and to save on heating, we only lit the furnace in best friend L.'s bedroom because it was near the bathroom. Propane was a big cost on our single girls budget. Since we had slept in the same bed millions of times growing up, we did not think anything of sleeping in the king size bed at the same time. Much to some of our 'new' male friend's disappointment, we were not lesbians or bisexual. What is it with guys thinking that way anyhow?
We dismissed people's comments about our house being haunted and such. As a Native American, I believe there are Earthbound Spirits but I was skeptical of 'haunted houses'. Sometimes people tend to exaggerate about stuff like that, so I took other people's statements with a grain of salt.
We had only been living there for about 3-4 days when we came home from work one sunny afternoon and our friend Bobby was sitting in the driveway. He said when he pulled up, he swore he saw someone walking around inside and thought one of us was home playing a trick on him or just hiding out. When he knocked, Bobby said he heard someone walking, he thought. We were suprised as he was. So, we all went inside together. The house was locked and no one was inside. We just laughed and told Bobby to lay off the wacky tobacco. This was not the first time our friends reported coming by daytime OR nighttime and saw 'someone' inside our house, only to realize we werent home and no one was inside. This happened to hubby once. I told him it was probably his headlights making a shadow, he disagreed.
Often best friend L. and I would hear dishes and silverware clanking in the kitchen, similar to people eating. The first couple of times we heard this, we snuck out of bed thinking we were going to catch an intruder raiding our kitchen, only to flip on the light and see nothing. We just shrugged and told our 'ghost' to keep it down a bit, we had to work for a living. The dish sounds in the kitchen and the old time music playing were 2 things that happened quite regularly and they only happened at night. There were a lot of cold spots but that could have been from the house being old or drafts from outside. Batteries never stayed charged inside the house. Our coon hunting halogen lights we wore on our heads always lost their battery charge, same with our flashlights. Our smoke detector battery was always dead.
We both felt like we were not alone in the house. Best friend L. and I got used to our 'ghost'. Many times when one of us was inside the house alone and in the shower, we heard sounds coming from the other parts of the house.
We partied every minute we were not working or coon hunting or riding hell bent for leather. We used to blame the 'ghost' feeling on being drunk or on being sober or staying up too long without sleep, things like that. It was weird, whenever we had a party, which was often, someone always brought up the 'ghost' subject. At first, best friend L. and I were excited to talk about our 'ghost' and share the things we had experienced. But we soon learned our 'ghost' didnt like us discussing it with strangers. Usually after we had company or guests, the 'ghost' activity would pick up. It often retaliated by locking us out when we purposefully left a door or window open (we had 1 key and the house had 4 outside doors). It would turn on lights in the middle of the night. It would turn on the TV. It opened doors. Our TV turned on early one morning when best friend L.'s parents were visiting from N.Michigan. I was sleeping in the living room on the couch and her little brother (hes 2 years younger than us) was on air mattress on the floor near me. The 'ghost' would hide things, like a favorite hairbrush, car keys, reins or the hair-dryer. So many things happened in that house, I am only recalling maybe half of some of the experiences we had.
When The Bullrider Johnny and I were on the downhill slide of our relationship, it was a bit intense. I only lived in the house about 2 and 1/2 months while we dated. The last week Johnnie stayed at the house, before he left for another rodeo and we split up for good, he had 3 flat tires in my driveway. The air was let out of the tires, no damage. It was a different tire each time. One time Johnny set his copenhagen on my nightstand and the next morning it was gone. I found it about 3 months later on a top shelf in my closet. My closet door never stayed shut. It was a walk-in, cedar lined and the door latch never stuck when it was closed.
Once, we had a local handyman come out to set up a new waterbed. He was an Osage man in his middle 30's, very nice and polite, he came well recommended from the furniture store. He got busy working my bedroom but he kept coming out of the double doors that lead to my bedroom and looking around. Best friend L. and I were standing around in the kitchen with friends killing time. We were drinking a few beers before leaving to go to a roping. The handyman fussed around for about 10 minutes. I had asked him earlier what was wrong the first time he came out of the bedroom, thinking he needed a hand, he just said, "nothing." Eventually, the handyman came into the kitchen and said,"he couldnt work, there were spirits in the house and he was not welcome." Then he went outside and left. It was like something out of the Twilight Zone, I am not joking. We all stood there speechless. I believed him, I could tell he was serious and telling the truth. One of those friends present that day is my best guy friend D. He still mentions how spooky the house was and the day the handyman was there. A little over a year after that happened, best friend L. and I were at the (Osage)Dances in Hominy OK (we had since moved into our own houses) we ran into the Handyman who was dancing at the ceremonies. He told us how the house was filled with spirits and that he was overwhelmed by the intensity of them that day. He said the feeling was so strong it made him physically ill for a whole day. Best friend L. and I both told him, "we believe you." We did.
Best friend L.'s asshole boyfriend (Ill call him ABF) was dropped off at our house one night when we were working late. He had been gone off on some job and had the people he was working with drop him off at our house instead of taking him out to his parents place where he stayed in their bunkhouse and had his truck parked. I remember this well because it was one of the rare times he actually worked. As we pulled into our driveway coming home from work, I almost drove over ABF who was trotting down our driveway in the dark, half dressed, carrying his gear. He was all wild eyed and I thought to myself "lookee whos been on a big time drinking/drugging bender." No, I never gave ABF the benefit of any doubt. I never trusted him or ever liked him or believed a word that came out of his mouth. I just tolerated him because of best friend L. Anyhow, ABF jumped into my car and started telling us how he got into town, went by Sonic Drive Inn and got himself some dinner because he knew we wouldnt have any food. His co-worker dropped him off, he tried the side porch door we usually left unlocked (it appeared to be locked if it was tried by someone unfamiliar, it had a secret way to open it) he let himself in the house, ate, then took a shower. He heard someone call his name when he was in the shower. He said he got out of the shower 2X and checked to see if we were home. ABF said he was spooked but thought it was not any big deal. After his shower, he turned on the TV and laid down on the couch and fell asleep. He woke up because he heard his name again. He said he laid there for a few minutes trying to hear it again. Not hearing anything he sat up and looked towards the back of the house near the bathroom because something got his attention. He saw the hallway light was on, he never turned it on, it was off when he got out of the shower. Then, as he was sitting up thinking about hightailing it out of there, a small breeze of cold air blew by him. This was too much for ABF, he was scared and was not staying there. He took off walking (more like running). We went to the house after hearing his story, the hallway light was off and nothing seemed odd. ABF swore the hallway light was on when he left our house in his big hurry. ABF wanted me to drive him out to his parents house that night, I refused. I was late for a date, I was meeting hubby at the local bar. Best friend L. stayed home with ABF and they slept with the lights on that night. Too bad the 'ghost' didnt keep ABF away permanently......
Best friend L. and I never felt like we were threatened or in danger, except that one time....
We had lived in the house for about 7 or 8 months. I was seeing hubby and he refused to spend the night alone in my house, he disliked staying there even with me. The house creeped him out. Nothing really ever happened to hubby except seeing someone inside the house when no one was home. He heard the kitchen dishes and music plenty of times. Hubby was gone working for a few days with his Uncle the weekend the 'scary' incident took place. ABF was on the outs with best friend L. We had worked all weekend, long shifts, we needed the money and also a break from our hard partying schedule. We got home from work, it was late, after 11 pm (we worked in B-ville). We were dead, dog tired. We both got into our pajamas and crashed for a good sleep in best friend L.s kingsize bed. I went to sleep right away. Best friend L. woke me up. She was whispering to me. She said she heard someone almost yelling behind the double glass doors that led from her room to the hallway that led to the laundry room and back door. The bathroom was to the immediate left of those doors. It was a dark night but the yard light shown thru the windows so we could see. Then something hollered again but it sounded more like a loud growl, very hard to describe. She asked me if I had heard that. Yep, I sure did and it scared me, my heart was in my throat. We both were laying there under our covers wondering why the dogs were NOT barking. We heard the loud sound again. The dogs always barked when someone or some animal came around. I told her, lets look and see. But first, our guns were in her closet, and the light switch was right next to the closet door. She said she'd flip the switch while I grabbed a shotgun. We'd run at the same time. We thought maybe someone was breaking in or messing around. Our hearts were pounding. As we were counting down to make our run for the closet, the double doors swung with such force, they hit off the walls and broke one small glass window in the doors. At the same time, something blocked out the yard light shining in, then it moved and we both saw a pair of legs and nothing else, just blackness. We both hollered and ran into the closet, slammed the door, and turned on the closet light. I grabbed the loaded 12 gauge. After a couple of terrified minutes, we ventured out and turned on the bedroom light. No one was there. Nothing. All the doors were still dead-bolted from the inside and locked. No windows were open to blow the doors against the walls, even if it was windy that night and a window was open, those doors were hard to push open because they would drag on the plush carpet. We were totally freaked out. We left and spent the night at Bobbys house. When we returned the next day, the inside of the house felt heavy, very stuffy.
That was the only time either one of us was terrified of something inside the house. We tried debunking the glass doors swinging open a hundred times, we could not nor could anyone else. Our 'ghost' went from being no big deal to something awful. When hubby heard what happened, he said " Y'all need to move." This incident threw me for a loop. I wanted to know what the big black shape was and who's legs we saw. Were they legs? I kept asking myself. I know best friend L. and I saw the same thing. That was one time I remember the cold, hard feeling of absolute terror taking over my entire body. Neither one of us ever stayed alone in the house at night after that. The 'ghost' activity slowed a bit except for the music and the kitchen dishes. Maybe those sounds were 'imprints' and had nothing to do with the 'ghost'.
I think it would be easier for me to accept if it had been a psycho, escaped, mental patient killer that was after us instead of something I cannot explain.......
Monday has arrived with the speed of light. It seems like it was just Wednesday afternoon, I was picking son #1 up from school, and we were excited it was Fall Break.........now it's back to school. Son #1 has decided against wrestling and did not change his Athletics Schedule like we had talked about. He is sticking with basketball. So, today his basketball season starts. Football is my favorite and I am still mourning the end of the season. Geesh, nothing like rushing my mourning process.
Son #1 also stole my K-Swiss tennis shoes for his basketball shoes. I am NOT happy about that! I told him I wanted them back, we'd buy him a pair of basketball shoes. He said "Mom, you never wear them, you always wear your boots or those slip on Keds." So, I still like to have a pair of nice tennis shoes just incase I need to wear them sometime.
Yesterday was NOT a good day 'round here. We all got up about 6:30 am. I cooked breakfast so hubby could get son#1 into the woods and to his deer blind early. Hubby was coming into the kitchen to fix his breakfast plate and Wee One (who hadnt ate anything except grape juice) hurled all over hubby. Ack! Grape juice was everywhere. Anyhow, hubby handled it much better than I had expected..........he doesnt do very well with gross stuff like that. It seems Wee One contacted a 24/hr stomach type virus. The poor thing was so sick. Both times he puked he said "Im sorry, I made a mess." Hubby and I kept telling him he didnt do anything wrong, he didnt need to be sorry. It was so sad. So, I spent yesterday tending to Wee One and washing the carpets.
No one else has had a stomach bug. I am not sure where Wee One caught it from. Maybe his pediatricians appointment on Tuesday. I am highly suspicious of the playland at Burger King he played in with 4 other toddlers on Thursday. We were shopping in Bartlesville and I let Toddler Terror (with son #1's help) burn off some energy playing at the playland. He rarely gets to play in them. They are so filthy. And, I did not have my Germ-X in my car. I took it out when Wee One squirted it everywhere and didnt put it back. I did wash him up in the bathroom before we left, but that didnt appear the cleanest place either.
So far today Wee One has kept all of his 7UP down and seems a bit better, kinda puny but better. He is going to have a warm bath in about 30 minutes, that always makes him feel better.
My trail ride I was so very much looking forward to with best friend L. was cancelled. I think even the Old Guy was disappointed we didnt get to ride. He has been full of himself in the cooler weather, running, bucking, and snorting in the early mornings.
Yesterday was a perfect day for it to. Sigh, oh well....there will be other ones.
These are the 3 books Wee One wanted read to him while he was sick. Over and over. The Dinosaur book is kinda neat, it has all kinds of easy to understand facts for kids. When I was a kid, I was fascinated with dinosaurs. I can remember my mom taking me to our usual library visits. I read every dinosaur book the county library had, along with every Black Stallion book ever written.
Wee One loves deer. Whenever he sees one, he says "Bambi or Feline." The deer book was his favorite book all summer, now it is in the catagory of his top 3. His Aunt J. bought son #1 "Stranger In The Woods" book when he was a lot younger, son #1 loved it back then, now it its Wee One's favorite.
Son #1 saw a good sized 6pt yesterday when he was hunting. He could not get a good, clear shot at it. The buck was moving thru the woods at a fast trot. He is hopeful tho. I am glad he listened and didnt take a shot when he was not sure he could hit and kill the deer.
My house isint cleaning itself, and that maid I wished for has not showed up yet.....so I guess that means I had better get my ass off the computer and to work.
Have a fast and painless Monday.
Remember TT's favorite toy "Brown Cow"? Now he has a new favorite one "Brown Goat". He LOVES these animals that Atwoods in B-ville sells. He wants them all. I bought him the big goat, a baby calf, and a long horned steer for his birthday which will be here in a couple of weeks.
Y'all have a super Friday......I think I'll take another cough drop and lay down in front of the TV for a bit.
The Easy Jerky recipe I use:
2 lbs deer sliced thin ( it is easier to make it in 2lbs at a time )
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp whole black pepper
3 large dashes liquid smoke sometimes I substitute liquid smoke w/ honey for a different flavor
Combine all of the ingrediants, marinate strips overnight in refrigerator (I like to use the quart size plastic baggies to marinate the meat in). Bake in the oven at 150º until dry or put in dehydrator until the meat will snap went bent. Ive cooked it both ways. Its tastes great either way.
Deer jerky has a short life around here. I make as much as I can. This year Iam hoping we all are able fill our deer tags, that'll give us each 1 deer for sure. Wishful thinking. My hunting days are always limited because of Wee One, son #1's are limited because of school (he goes after school), hubby's because of work. Each of us may not get a chance to shoot a buck, but we will be able to each shoot a doe eventually the way Oklahoma laws go. Anyhow, I am counting on 3 deer to be tagged from all of us this Fall, I better get atleast 3 deer.....
Wee One at the Homecoming parade last Friday(wearing his favorite shirt, its almost threadbare). He has chocolate on his face.
I took a good one of son #1 riding on their float with his face painted up but he said I did not have his permission to 'put it all over the internet for just anyone to look at'. A while back he said I had to get his permission to post any pictures of him. He said one day he might be famous and doesnt want to be embarassed.
I must continue to respect his wishes, even tho I want to say 'I am your mother, Ill do as I please' but that wouldnt be a very good example.......
Ha! like I am a good example setter. Now, that is too funny.
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Warning: more boring stuff.....
It rained Sunday and Monday, yesterday was beautiful but it is cloudy, damp, and dreary today. Cleaning house on Monday seemed like it took forever or I was moving slow. It didnt make it any easier with Toddler Terror following behind me creating new messes. I even gave him his own cleaning tools and encouraged him to help me clean. He was excited about helping for about 3 minutes......then it got old.
One chore I really detest-putting away the clean dishes from the dishwasher. I should be thankful I have a dishwasher and do not have to wash them by hand-but I still hate unloading the darn thing.
I like the new Tom Petty song "Saving Grace" . Wee One likes it also, he knows a lot of the words, he dances and sings along. Ive been searching for the HTML code. I am not having any luck finding it.
Wee One's pediatrician appointment was resceduled to yesterday from last week. His MD wanted to get his blood drawn again and there was a wait for lab so instead of waiting we have to go back to the clinic today.....not looking forward to that.
Last nite was son #1's last football game. We won 20-0. I am glad I was able to make it, it was out of town, only an hour away. I took Toddler Terror, he was a complete and total Angel. Who woulda thought!?!!
Sunday afternoon, Wee One and I did his favorite thing. We baked a cake. It was a chocolate, non-dairy, non-wheat one with non-dairy fluffy chocolate frosting. It tasted pretty darn good too for not having dairy or wheat in it. I wished I had bought more mixes on my last Adkins shopping trip.
When you see pictures of Wee One, do you notice that he often wears the same 2 outfits? They are his favorite. He likes to pick out his clothes and dress himself. I always suggest something different but his mind wont be swayed. Son #1 did this too when he was a toddler, except he had about 6 favorite outfits, mostly all camo.
I am losing my edge.
I felt a twinge of guilt. It was a tiny, bad feeling in the back of my mind, it was very short and very brief, but nonetheless it was there.
Last nite driving home from the game, a big fat coon ran into the road. I hit it, hard. Killed it. It was loud. It was at dusk but we saw it clearly. Wee One was turned around as far as he could in his car seat and said "awwww, mean momma."
Son #1, living up to his true DNA, acting like his mother's son, said "cool mom, it hardly even thrashed around! You must have really smacked it!"
I felt badly for it dying needlessly.....what a waste. If I were hunting it, Id never have felt guilt. When I see deer, my first thought is, " that would be a good shot, it would drop right there easily" or "couldnt take a shot at that one, if he'd just move a bit more sideways." but then I start thinking "wow, that would be a great picture, where's my camera".
Ack! I am becoming wimpy as I get older......nah, I am still looking forward to deer season and filling our freezers with some tastey venison. We have none left, we've been out since spring. I have all my jerky seasonings stocked and ready, the meat grinder is shiney and clean just waiting to be used, I have plenty of freezer wrap and freezer baggies, and my butchering knives are sharp. We always butcher our own deer. We eat a lot of venison, everyone here loves it.
Im looking for another jerky recipe to try out this year. Ive used the same simple one for the last 8 years and it tastes great, but Id like to try out a new one. If anyone has one they like and can pass it on, I would like to try it.
My friend didnt make her horse show. ET was having truck problems, something about a tire. She has a new truck so I have no idea why her tire would be bad. Hubby offered me his truck to drive so she could still go but ET had her panties in a wad. She was angry with her parents and I was not about to put up with her drama...so I never really got the whole story.
He saw me outside and wanted some attention. You cant see them in this picture, but he had gobs of cockleburs in his tail and forelock. It took me forever to comb, pull, pick them out. My fingers hurt. My good leather gloves seemed to have disappeared.......the cotton ones did not protect much so I just took them off, they were cumbersome anyhow.
At least The Old Guy stood still while I groomed. Well, not really still.....more like ASLEEP. I woke him up tho-I rode him for a good hour while Toddler Terror was sleeping, His big brother was actually home all day. Son #1 listened for Wee One napping so I could give Scooter some exercise. We also took a 30 minute trail ride at a walk to cool down.
Scooter was a little rusty on his lead changes again....getting lazy, he is. I rode him in a light 3 piece o-ring snaffle, no roller. Scooter is a horse that constantly works at the bit, he likes a copper roller. I usually ride him in long shanked ported snaffle with a small roller. But if I am just exercising him, I use a light o-ring snaffle as much as possible.
This cooler weather has The Old Guy in good spirits, his joints are stiffer, it takes longer to get him supple and warmed up. I am giving him his daily arthritis supplements which help tremendously and I also gave him a dose of Bute paste(anti-inflammatory) about 7:30 am with his breakfast. He was not sore-just stiff. He had another dose of Bute with his Equine Senior dinner last night. The paste is easier than an injection. Bute hasnt upset his stomach which it is famously known for. I use it sparingly just in case.
Yesterday evening, hubby and Wee One finished up winterizing the riding lawn mower, and weed eating some straggly weeds. They put a new door on Elvis's doghouse so when it gets really cold, no wind or precipitation can get inside. Elvis liked it, altho it is kinda heavy for the little bugger but he can get inside. I finally broke down and gave him a bath yesterday morning. He is fresh smelling and freshly Frontlined. So he got to come inside and hang out in the laundry room and inside his crate. Wee One doesnt have any pet allergies but I am not taking any chances until we get more test results.
I cleaned both of the outside run in stalls. The Old Guy has been spending more time inside at night. Scooter is actually a clean horse as far as horses go.....he doesnt make too big of a mess inside his stalls unless he is given too much hay, then he wallers it.
Son #1's last football game is Tuesday, an away game. I am waiting for babysitter B to call me back. If she cant keep Toddler Terror that game nite, we will take him with us and hope to heck he behaves.....
Doesnt it get exciting around here? Always something goin' on........not always exciting either.
My bestest and oldest blogging buddy, Brian over at truth is freedom wrote a very nice post about me yesterday. Brian is my best blogging buddy,hes very smart, very talented, and a compassionate guy.
In an email Brian had stated this (I hope he doesnt mind me sharing with you):
" I remember I lurked for a while and read through your posts. I was intimidated a little bit by your passion and love of horses because I didn't know if you would like someone who didn't know about them."
Luckily, on 4/24/06 Brian commented here at the Res, all I can say is, the Spirits were smiling down at us that day, we formed a bond.
Horses have been my passion since I started having memories as a small child. Horses are a part of me. Occassionally people ask me to explain my connection with horses. It is hard to put it into words. I am at my best in the company of horses. I feel that is where I belong, I understand them, I find happiness and peace. Like I said, very hard to put into words..... Brian intimidates me with his passion and love for words. Brian also intimidates me with his strength to face down his inner demons.
In yesterday's post he included his poetry that he has written and given to me. Please give Brian's post a read, I am very honored to be his friend: truth is freedom: "BarnGoddess" .
I have always thought of Brian's poetry that he has given me as diamonds. They are precious, and they last forever.
Thank you for the wonderful words Brian!
This poem reminds me of Brian.
Smiles!
Smiling is infectious,
you catch it like the flu.
when someone smiled at me today,
I started smiling too.
I passed around the corner,
and someone saw my grin.
when he smiled I realized.
I’d passed it on to him!
I thought about that smile,
then I realized it's worth.
a single smile just like mine,
could travel round the Earth!
Unknown
*****************************************
Monday, I will post Part II of The Dead Girl. The followup and ending of The Dead Girl .
It was a cold, gray, dreary Sunday afternoon. I was 10 yo and in the 4th grade at St. Mary's Elementary School. My mother's brother, my Uncle frank came over for Sunday dinner with my cousin Stevie. I have nothing but great memories of Uncle Frank. He is a fun guy, a great Uncle, a decent man. When I was younger, he always came by and picked me up taking a bunch of us kids to the lakes or rivers for swimming or fishing or camping or hunting or any kind of outdoor adventure. He always had patience for us kids and was good about teaching us things like fishing, hunting, stuff like that. He had the BEST rabbit dog named Charlie....okay getting sidetracked here, back to the story.
My mom had cooked a roast with all the trimmings for dinner. Thinking back, I can smell the roast cooking and see my parents house back in those days, the late 70's. My sister K., her husband G. and their baby daughter Kel were over for dinner too. My Grandmother made some of her famous homemade cinnamon rolls for desert. After dinner, Uncle Frank suggested we all go mushroom hunting to a place he deer hunted last fall on State Land. Of course we were all game...except my mother who was never the outdoorsy type, nor my sister who is like our mother-scared of the 'woods', nor was Grandma, she was too frail.
We loaded up in Uncle Frank's car and headed out(Uncle Frank,me, Stevie, my Father, and bro-in-law G.). We went to his suggested spot on State Land, in an area that I was not familiar with as a child. We were a very long ways from town or home. Stevie and I took off on our own, I have always been comfortable in the woods, so was Stevie(he is 1 year older than I). At our tender ages we had hunted lots and were very capable of being alone in the swamps or woods.
It didnt take long for Stevie and I to give up the shroom hunt. It was too early in the season for any to be out. We started hunting for some salamandars but didnt find any, we didnt find anything. We didnt even see any birds, we even talked about how weird that was. We finally caught up with the adults, they were ready to go home. On our way walking out of the woods, we came across a deer carcass. It had obviously been there for the entire winter, it was well scavenged but still had a bit of a stink to it. We tried to stay clear of it and got into our car that was parked on a 2-track road.
We had driven in about 2 miles off the highway on this 2-track road.We turned around and headed out to the highway. We were about a mile from the road when we smelled a horrible, awful dead smell. It came across us so sudden, we stopped the car and all of us got out gagging at the smell. We all checked our boots thinking we had some of the dead deer stuck to us when..this is what is weird... it seemed like all of us looked in the same direction at the very same time. We looked towards a clearing in the pines, and there she was. She was about 25-30 feet away, laying on her side facing us. We had no idea if it were a he or a she because her face had been blugeoned to a bloody mess. Her skin was an icky greenish/brown color and she didnt have on any shoes. She was clothed in jeans, and a red/black hunting vest. The smell, it was unlike any other awful smell I can describe. Ive encountered lots of dead things in my life, but nothing has ever smelled as horribly as the dead girl.
My Father and Uncle Frank immediately recognized what we were gazing at and ushered us into the car and out onto the highway. We were in search of a phone to call the Michigan State Police. Let me give you a little background of where I come from. It is a huge tourist place. But, in the winter months, it is like a ghost town, nothing. Nowadays, the ski resorts have built fancy accomodations and the snow-mobilers have the city and county plowed trails, but back then.....there was nothing or no one around that time of year.
We drove for about 45 minutes trying to find someone home to use their phone, we couldnt get too far away from the area, but we still needed a phone. It seemed all the homes in the area were summer cottages. Uncle Frank and my Father finally found someone home, they made the call and to our suprise, the Michigan State Police were already on their way to the area because the 17 yo dead girl had been reported missing days prior to us finding her body. Her purse was found the exact same time we found her body. The purse was found by a gentleman about 3 miles from where her body was. This guy got out of his car to take a leak and found her purse and took it into the police station. Funny how things like that play out.
So, it was nearing dark, we met the State Police and led them to her body. My parent's best friends, the kind that you spend Holidays with, baptisms and such, Ken was a State Trooper and he was the first officer to meet us. I remember he set Stevie and I inside his patrol car, then got out his camera equipment from his trunk. The only thing he said to us was "stay put." Ken went quickly to work taking pictures of the dead girl. Then more officers arrived, Stevie and I were seperated. I was taken to another patrol car, set in the front seat and asked my statement. The older, grandfatherly officer didnt quiz me too hard, he called me 'Madame X' (my 10 yo mind had no friggin idea what that meant) and was nice enough to explain to me what the officers were doing and what all the gadgets inside his cop car were for. I remember he asked me if I had seen anything, anything at all when Stevie and I were trampling thru the woods on our own. I guess we had came the closet in proximity to the dead girl, we just didnt know it because of the way the wind was blowing. I told him "nope, not even a bird, no living things we saw." when the officers compared Stevies statement to mine, Stevie also had commented on not seeing even 1 bird or anything. Odd how young minds work.
That night I vaguely remember dreaming of the dead girl, not horrible nightmarish dreams, but just unsettling, restless dreams. I think I may have ended up in my parents bed sometime that night. I was allowed to stay home from school the next day, which I was happy about. Of course, the police had kept me way out past my bedtime.
There is a lot more to this story.....so stay tuned for Part 2 of 'The Dead Girl'. She has a name and a family who loved her.
And a killer............
We've definately have some cooler weather here in Oklahoma. Not freezing cold, but a bit chilly. Not what we've been used to. It is refreshing!
There is a horse show this weekend. I think I'll take Wee One and go. One of my friends is showing her horse in Western Pleasure, Halter, and Hunter under Saddle. When I spoke with her at the beginning of the week she hinted about needing some grooming help because she was showing all alone this weekend. Hubby has to work 4 hours on Saturday and I declined to assist him since that would include minding Wee One while we were out in the middle of no-where checking leadlines. Umm, no thanks! I'd rather make an hour and a half road trip and gaze at some equine beauties while catching up with my friend. Wee One is usually behaved in his car seat...usually...
In honor of Halloween, I am posting an Urban Legend story.........it'll make you check under your bed the next time you check into a Hotel.
Urban Legend: A couple check into a remote hotel and smell a strange, rotting smell coming from the bed. After complaining to the desk clerk, they discover that a dead body has been stashed in the box springs. Unfortunately, this tale has true roots.
The Story:
Most of these stories take place at a Las Vegas, Nevada hotel either in the city or in the desert in a remote location. They have been around since the early 1990s. There have been cases like this actually happen around the country. Under the bed or in the pedestal for a mattress makes a great quick hiding place for a dead body that needs to be stashed out of the way. In each case, it wasn't until the smell brought attention to the body, that it was discovered.
Some Examples:
On June 10th 1999, the rapidly decomposing body of a 64yo man was discovered inside the bed in Room 112 at the Burgundy Motor Inn in Atlantic City, New Jersey. A German couple on vacation had spent the night sleeping over the man's remains and had put up with a rank smell all night. It was their complaint to the manager about the smell which led to the discovery of the corpse.
In July of 1996, a woman's body was found under a mattress in the Colorado Boulevard Travelodge in Pasadena, CA. The motel's staff discovered her 10days after her death after a guest had complained for several days of a foul odor coming from that room.
In Virginia in 1989, a man, disposed of the remains of his 2 murder victims this way: the first was a 27yo woman, who was discovered in May under the floor of a motel room on Route 1, the second was a 29yo woman, who turned up in June under a bed in the Alexandria Econo Lodge. In the first case, the killer first kept her body partially hidden under his bed for 2 days, then subsequently placed it in the crawl space under the carpeted floor. Her presence seemingly didn't bother him, because he didn't move out of that room until 3 or 4 weeks later. Both girls' bodies were eventually found after other guests complained about the stink.
Sick f*cker! I say this because, when I was 10 yo I found a 5 day old decomposing body of a 17yo girl who has been murdered while mushroom picking with some of my family, that smell is the worse ungodly thing you can imagine. Once you smell it, you never, ever forget it, it is burned into your memory and senses forever.
In Mineola, New York, motel in 1988, a body turned up in a box spring. The remains of a 29yo woman were found at the Oceanside Motel. Again, the body was discovered days later and only after other patrons complained about the smell. At least 2 other guests unknowingly co-habited with the body before it was found, and at least 1 guest refused to stay in that room because of the smell.
This legend was used in the 1995 Quentin Tarantino film "Four Rooms"
P.S. I'll write about the murdered girl I found when I was 10 yo. I am a spur of the moment type writer and its hard for me to 'plan' post. I just type whatever comes at me when I have time to blog.....soon, I promise Ill tell ya about 'The Dead Girl"
Here is Wee One showing off his new toy his Daddy bought for him when they went to town yesterday evening. He calls it "boobies" I have no idea why......
I still WANT a Voodoo doll! A real one!~
But since that isint likely to happen soon, I got a virtual one here at Instant Voodoo...........
Rain and drizzle fell from the sky most of today, thankfully. It has been horribly dry in Oklahoma. This is the driest year Ive ever seen. The Old Guy spent a lot of time inside his stalls today. He demanded to eat all his meals inside. Now he is tucked safely in for the night with a flake of hay(which he'll probably waller, then sleep in it). Tomorrow Ill have to clean his stall-grrrrrrr.
Son #1 won his game lastnight. 28-0. He had a great game- 3 sacks. He also ran the ball for 15 yards (I think). Wee One has a doctors appointment with his pediatrician tomorrow. I think he needs a shot. Ouch.
My best guy friend D. has not called me in a week. I finally called him 2X and left messages. He is really starting to p*ss me off.....I am also a bit concerned, he always calls me back. We hardly ever go this long without checking in with eachother. I hope he calls soon.
Today has been a long day. Toddler Terror did not cut me any slack and I had to do all my chores in the rain. A happy rain tho! Elvis is inside his doghouse with an extras blankie. Yesterday he rolled in something very nasty and is NOT allowed indoors until he gets a bath.His regular groomer cant fit Elvis in until next Wednesday. That about wraps up things around here....