Dairy Daze...and Now Beyond

  But here’s a picture of cute calves!   Last Monday I had a scare.  All weekend I’d felt “off” for want of a better word.  I’d have weird sweating spells off and on and feel like my heart was racing, then feel fatigued off and on. Then Monday when I was fixing supper I REALLYbegan feeling bad.  I could really feel my heart racing, I was shaky and sweaty.  So Gary and I just dropped everything to go to the walk in clinic. They did and EKG and said while everything looked ok, there were still differences so I needed to go to the ER.  Soooo…we headed to the ER.  By the time we got there my heart rate had slowed, but I was feeling really shaky and fatigued. The short story is that they could find no trace of an emergency.  And even though all the other readouts below are messed up from my twisting around to take the pic, at least I am pleased that my blood pressure is good.  Ha! My mom always had high blood pressure, so I figured I would to...

Every spring I look forward to the red-eared slider pond turtles trekking out to lay eggs.  Last year I didn’t really see any come close to the house. This year so far I have seen two. One was a week or so ago, out by a tree by the dog kennel. The second one I saw was last week. She was just out in the front yard, right outside the window.    It always amazes me how they dig holes in the dirt deep enough to lay eggs in, just with their back legs. Look at the mud she churned up. They urinate to make the mud, I believe.  I am also always amazed how well they cover up the hole.  I put an aquarium glass rock there over it and have had it covered for a couple of days with a large bucket lid weighed down with a rock.  Almost without fail coon or skunk or opossum will dig up the nest overnight.  The next morning thee will just be a pile of egg skins there by a hole.  So far nothing has disturbed it  I hope they don’t because I’m going to have to mov...

 Remembering my mother, Mary Rowena (Campbell) Davis.   This year I didn't post anything on Facebook about my mother.  Most everyone else does, usually I do as well.  But I am still in the throes of post high school graduation anxiety from Ellen's graduation activities this past weekend, so I just couldn't handle another emotional post. Not that I  really had any actual anxiety at all from Ellen's graduation, but it was an emotional time, paired with throwing a party for her afterwards, so it was just too much for me to add more emotional memories on top of the mix. Of course I miss my mother terribly, but I wouldn't want her back into the dementia-ridden life she was living at the time.   Over the course of the 50 some years I was blessed to have her we made some fun memories and had a great deal of laughs.  We never did do anything grand as a family, really.  I remember when I was about 5 we all went, as a family, to New Mexico to visi...

 In kindergarten at the Long Lane elementary school, they always got T-shirts for each of the different grades every year. That way when they went on the big school field trip they could better keep track of all of the kids.  That spring they went roller skating in Springfield. Ellen got the skates on, but she didn’t really skate.  I did snap this picture of her: The shirt says; “Class of 2025 Starting it off kindergarten style”.  All of the shirts were a bit too big for the kids.  I kept it of course! This week put it on so we could snap this pic of her on her last day of high school  A bit snug now, but it still fits!   So cute!  

 At the end of every school year the town puts on a parade for the graduating seniors. The police, fire, and sheriff’s departments escort school buses full of seniors around the square, through the main drag of town and to the other school buildings. The seniors wear their caps and gowns and march up and down the halls of the elementary, middle and high school buildings, all to much cheering and fanfare.  Gary and I dutifully headed to the square, on the corner of Maple and Main. But the odd thing was that right at that corner was a swarm of honey bees!  Some were on the sidewalk and some were on the street sign.   Eventually, by the time the parade went by, all of the bees were up on the street sign.   We could hear the sirens of the parade coming and when they got to where I could see them I started videoing recording.  But then some lady walked right out underneath the bee swarm, so my video doesn’t show the seniors going by; it goes all wonky and shows ...

 This is something my in-laws told me how to do and I have done so for years, I don’t think I’ve ever shared the process in detail though.  If you just leave a sweet potato on the counter, or in storage somewhere, it will usually start to sprout all on its own. You can just break off these sprouts when they get a couple/three inches long. Put the sprouts in an inch or so of water, not fully submerged, just to where it will have room to form roots. Like so:  They love full sun, so keep it in a sunny window.    If you want to get a sweet potato to start sprouting, then just put one in water in a sunny window and wait for it to sprout.   There is really no need to use toothpicks to support the tuber, unless you just want to. It will start rooting after a while, then start sending off sprouts, or slips as they are also called.   Wait til they are long enough, break off and put in water.   After they have a bunch of roots you can plant them.  They...