2015

Another year has gone by and  my has it been uneventful for me personally;  the world on the other hand has had a crazy year with political unrest, the refugee crises in Europe and the middle east.  The climate has had its say also this year with a 4 year drought follow by El Nino, California and the west have been on a very scary roller-coaster ride.  One that effects the rest of the country.  We get a lot of our food from out west.  Here in the east we have had a very warm year.  Its December and we have had only a handful of cold days how are the trees, insects and animals going to react to this change in climate. 

There is good and bad in everything,  I have used very little wood so far this year and I am still getting lettuce, carrots and collards from the garden.

On reflection 2015 was not a good nor was it a bad year for me.  It started with the loss of my dog Zeke.  He was a good dog and I miss him very much.

My joints have been telling me that I am getting older another definite downer for the year.  I think that is why I got WAY behind on the yard work.  Its hard to go up and down the hill with knee that aren't happy.   Gotta address the knees this year, I HATE doctors!! 

Aside from the loss of Zeke and the "I'm getting older" feeling the year pretty much followed the same old same old.  Work, garden, friends, camping trip with friends and to the beach 3 times to see the boys.  I know that I have said that I like the same old same old but I guess I would prefer the same old with a little new for next year.  So what is there to do about it.

This year 2016 I am going to go to school to be a paramedic.  I have been volunteering with the Floyd County EMS as an EMT for the past 6 years and feel this would be a good thing to do.  It wont be easy and the lazy part of me does not want to do it but it will be good for my mind.  It will make me use the brain a bit more.

Body wise I guess I will just have to trudge on try and lose a little weight and watch what I eat.  Cut way back on sugar and wheat two big time inflammatory agents for me.

I need to clean out the house this year, I have way too much stuff.

It would be good to relocate the garden...... Hummmmm

Maybe go on an adventure.........

"Winter" morning

It is hard to believe that in just a few days it will be winter.  Where has the year gone.  I have heard that as you age time seems to go by quicker.  It seems like just a few weeks ago the garden was green and just last week the trees had leaves of color but now....  the official first day of winter is almost here and while the trees are barren the grass is green and the few things left in the garden are thriving. Lets face it the seasons seem to be changing,  where I am the winters seem to be getting milder and while that has its up sides nature is not a speed boat able to turn on a dime, its more like a giant tanker it needs a bit of leeway to change course.  I hope the fruit trees are the kind that have a large variance in cold days needed to produce fruit.

Well I am off to start the day looks like another nice one

First day of summer 2015

Today is the first day of summer I have the windows and doors open as I sit here at my computer with a cup of instant coffee, yes instant coffee I LOVE IT, enjoying the sounds of morning.  I have to work today but that’s not all bad, the weather guru’s say it’s going to be hot and muggy so I might as well be at work.  Tomorrow on the second day of summer I can cut the grass and weed the garden and when rest demands its place in my day I can enjoy my book.  Life is simple for me and I love it.

Its been a long time since my last post, what can I say life is good and I have been busy.  This is going to be an interesting return to blogging but heck hear goes!!!

Replacing the toilet fill valve

All I wanted to do was replace the toilet fill valve.  The old one had been broken for months.  How hard can it be to replace a fill valve?  WELL let me tell you…..

 First my toilet is in a little “cubby” so things are very tight that really should not have been a problem; just unscrew the old fill valve and screw in a new one.

 NO, NO that is not how things rolled, I could not get the old one off it was stuck and I could not get a plumbers wrench back there to unscrew it so I had to move the whole toilet.  A 30 minute job became a 2 hour job.   But it is done and I was able to paint behind the toilet and all is good.

I love fixing things; I get such a good feeling inside when I accomplish these simple little tasks.