suicide is not painless~

Exhausted... physically and mentally. That's what I was last night ... and even today yet ... after the end of the fisheree yesterday ... but it was all worth it!

What a day! We had such a good turn out, considering our bitter cold weather.  We raised a good deal of money to go towards our goal of  the suicide awareness program for our schools.   Thank you thank you thank you!!!! to everyone who showed up and gave their support.  Without the support of others that we receive each year; this event wouldn't be possible.  So once again, THANK YOU!!

Plus... I really have to toss in an extra thank you to all the people who bid on my pies.  WOW!! On just my nine pies and 5 other ones that were donated we made over $1000.00!! WOW!!! That was an average of over $70 a piece.  So once again, THANK YOU!!!

Plus all the other raffle tickets and auctions that were bid on or purchased ~ thank you!
The support given us by the surrounding communities ~ thank you!
~~~
I didn't have my camera with me yesterday... can you believe it. I forgot it at home; but I will have some pictures of the event to post in a few days.  Our photographers Leslie and Terry H. I'm sure will have a disc to share soon... even aerial photos ... that was Les and Jane in that plane that was buzzing the flowage.   As soon as I get them I'll be adding some photos to the jpdwarrior.com website.

I hope they got some photos of my grandloves and my nieces ... sliding on the ice and playing in the snow.  Those little kids were having so much fun!  It was like watching my nephew years ago doing the same thing with his friends.

That's why this fisheree is so important to me.

My nephew (click to see photo) committed suicide.

One day he was just a little boy, like so many other little boys ... playing games with his friends.  Going out fishing with his buddies.  He grew to be a wonderful, loving, fun, handsome young man ... who we all thought had everything going for him.

But we were wrong.

Inside our Justin's mind was a pain.   A pain that he couldn't talk about.  A pain that he thought he had to carry by himself. 

Do you remember the theme song from the movie MASH?  Suicide is Painless ... well let me tell you something... it's not painless.  That song is wrong.  It's a horrible pain!!  A pain you do not have to endure alone ... there is help!

All you have to do is ask.  It's okay.

Your life; no matter how miserable you might feel it is ... is worth it!

You do not have to be ashamed of the feelings you might have.  Thoughts of suicide is a sickness.  It's a form of depression ... and depression can be helped.

PLEASE ... if you need help  ~ talk to someone about it.  Don't keep those kind of feelings to yourself.  

Call:
National Suicide Crisis Hotline at 1-800-784-2433 
or LifeLine at 1-800-273-8255
or tell a friend
or clergy or pastor
or a teacher
or co-worker
PLEASE ... talk to someone.
~~~
It's been six years since my nephew died and it still feels like yesterday.  I don't ever want you to feel the pain that our family has endured.  If you have a loved one that you are concerned about ... talk to them.  Let them know that this is a burden that they do not have to carry alone.  Help them get the help that they need. 

Help Promote Positive Life Choices! 

Until next time...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

pies pies and more pies~

I spent the better part of the day in my hot kitchen baking for JPD Warrior Project fisheree.

I made 2 Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecakes:

A Strawberry Rhubarb Custard: (from my home grown rhubarb)

A Chocolate Walnut Pie:

A Tin Roof Sundae Pie aka. Sin in A Tin

A Blueberry Pie: (from berries I picked this summer)

A Coconut Caramel Drizzle Pie:

A Raspberry Lattice Top Pie: (more berries I picked this summer)

A Peanut Butter Pie with Dark Chocolate Shavings:

It sure was a challenge getting all these pies together today without licking the spoon!  But I must say... it was very small tastes that I took ... just lots of them! lol ... it's hard to be on a diet and then have to go and bake pies all day long. 

At least my house is still warm ( and it smells scrumptious!!) ~ actually too warm ... my furnace part never showed up today, so we were unable to get that fixed.  I'm not too happy about that.  Especially when I went and paid all that extra shipping to have it here today.  bummer
Now... I don't know when we'll get this taken care of; because the next two days we'll be so busy with the fisheree business.  Always something!

Until next time...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

it's cold~

image from the internet

Remember Chilly Willy?  I loved him.  He was one of my favorite cartoon characters. 

It's cold here in northern Wisconsin today ... tonight we're already at -15°F and that's without the windchill factor added on.  So it really feels like -30° F.  Not the best weather for our fisheree; but what are you going to do.  We have no control over the weather.  It'll be a good weekend no matter what.  We're prepared for it.  We'll have 3 huge heated tents set up for warming up in.  Plus all the raffle tables and food tables and the auction area is all in the tents too.  We're expecting around 1,000 people to turn out for the event ... I hope the weather doesn't deter them too much.  We're a tough breed of people up here in the north!  

What it's not good weather for though is furnace problems.  Unfortunately, that's what we have going on right now.  The main circuit board on our gas furnace needs to be replaced.  We heat our house with wood all winter long and the gas furnace is our back up; but we use the blower on the gas furnace to force the hot air through our duct work in the house.  

We did luck out though on the problem ... being the blower on the furnace won't kick off when the thermostat reaches the temperature that we have the furnace temperature set at.  Not turning off is a lot better than not turning on ~ this way we at least have heat.  

So... we have the furnace set at 70 degrees; but the blower keeps going and the house keeps warming up as long as we have the outside wood boiler going.  So instead of the house maintaining it's temperature it just keeps raising.  This afternoon it was 87 degrees in the house ... and I had 2 windows open!  Not exactly what you want to be doing when it's -30 below.

 I ordered a new circuit board online this afternoon.  It's coming from California ~ next day express to the tune of $300.00 ... boy ... I hope it gets here tomorrow and that it works!!!  I'm bummed that we have to have this kind of expense to deal with; but what can you do.  You have to have heat.  In the meantime... 

Tomorrow is my pie baking day for the fisheree.  That means my oven will be going all morning ... so the temperature will be going up a few more notches in the house.  I'll have to crack open more windows. lol  Hopefully, the new circuit board will get here and the repair guy will be able to come back and put it in before I have to head to the flowage for setting up for the fisheree Saturday. 

Never a dull moment.

~~~

It's a full moon tonight.

I just went outside and took a night time picture of the moon and the smoke coming out of the smoke stack of our wood shed.  It's kinda eerie looking ~

Until next time...

So it goes in my neck of the woods. 

~mel

my beast~

I too have a beast ... like my friend Holly


Here's a photo of my beast.  It's not the same beast as Holly's; but in the same species.  It sits in my office ... right behind my chair ... daunting and menacing ... calling me to just jump on so it can exhaust me and toss me to the curb.   It's ugly and hates me; but I will conquer it!!

It has a name.  It's called a Gazelle ... but I call it Hell.

Hell knoweth no fury like a woman scorned.
My body has been scorned and abused by the years of bad choices.  It's true... you are what you eat ... but this year things are on the mend.  I will tame my wild beast and possibly one day look at my beast and call it by it's given name... Gazelle.

~~~

Sam's cooking with the BIG kettle again.

What's in it you ask?

A wicked batch of chili.  He's cooking it up for himself and his buddies at the ice fishing shack. I must admit... that kid can cook!  (when he wants to)

This is my problem.  I live in a household of great cooks.  We love food.  HELP!!

Until next time...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

got the boot 2~

Look at my new tires!

Love the tread on them??

I even purchased a new pair of wool socks to wear in them.

I had to go and do some serious boot shopping yesterday after my disastrous blowout on my boot the other day.  I needed something warm and with some tread on it for my winter walks.  This pair was a little bit heavier than I had hoped for; but I'll just look at them as ankle weights and imagine the extra calories they are helping me burn as I push my way through the snow and the brush.  I also wanted something heavy enough to help keep the toes warm while standing out on the ice for 8 hours at a crack... especially this coming weekend for the fisheree.  We're in a cold streak right now.  Our predicted high this week is a balmy 12 °F  ... not exactly tropical weather out there.  Good thing we have these huge heated tents that we set up for the fisheree. 
I know I go on and on about the fisheree ... but it is such a great cause that we have it and I have to put a plug in for it whenever I can:)  http://jpdwarrior.com/fisheree.html
~~~
We also went to see our tax man yesterday... and he wasn't in ... so another appointment today.  Happy happy, joy, joy.  I hate doing my taxes; but I guess it's just a part of living here in the USA ... the joy of filing taxes.
~~~
I also need to stop in at the grocery store today and pick up some ingredients to get the pies made on Friday.  The pies are for the pie auction at the fisheree(photo page - I'm the one in braids - kind of like 'Where's Waldo' lol).  Last year, my strawberry rhubarb pie sold for $80!!  This year I'm making a strawberry rhubarb, rhubarb custard, peanut butter cup pie, coconut caramel drizzle, raspberry and a blueberry.  I guess someone else is doing the apple and pecan.  Anybody out there want to come and join me in my kitchen for a day of pie??? Come on over!

Until next time...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

got the boot~

I need to go boot shopping today ... so I have something warm on my feet for the fisheree this coming Saturday. 

Yesterday on my walk I had a major blowout on my right tire!!  Needless to say ... my heel was about as frozen as a popsicle by time I got back home.  Snow and a holey boot don't mix well together.  So now it 'got the boot' ... right into the garbage can.  I needed a warmer pair anyways; but I just wasn't planning on boot shopping this week.  That pair of boots had a lot of miles on them.  I really liked them.  The tread was worn thin, as was the lining; but they were so comfortable and light weight for walking in.  I hope I can find another pair I like as well.  
~~~
I'm off to see the accountant this afternoon and getting the taxes done.  Wish me well!!  I wonder if my boots qualify as a deduction?

Until next time...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

down the trail~

On my walk today ~
down the trail and through the woods to G'ma's house we go.
When I got all the way through the trail where I could see G'ma's house (my Mom) I could see she wasn't home, so I turned around and came right back. It made my walk a little longer than intended; but I made it none the less. 

It was a pretty snowy walk.

The snow on the log shows how much snow we got last night.

I try to stay pretty close to the center of the trail so I don't get snow falling off the trees ... down my neck.  Not a pleasant thing to have happen.

Snow on the pine boughs.

An old tree stump that the birds are using for a winter home.  That's Lake Inferior in the background aka. also known as the pond.

More snowy branches to navigate around.

My walking stick.

Only have to cross another 80 acres ~ and I'll be back home.

~~ a new project or should I say a very old one:

I have an old oak table that I want to refinish.  I've been meaning to get at for years and last night Sam and I finally dug it out of the corner in the garage and started on it.

It's a five legger.

When finished ... it should make a pretty nice little table for down in the family room for playing cards or board games on.... or maybe even a scrapbooking table.

Until next time...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

chix & veggies~

Let it Snow

Let it Snow

Let it Snow

30 minutes later:

I'm giving up all talk of spring ... because we have a couple more months of winter yet and all that talk of spring is just depressing.  About as depressing as our gray and cloudy skies we have today ... about as depressing as looking out my window at the HUGE snowflakes falling ... about as depressing as looking at my flower beds that are still under a foot of snow.  BUT... these days will pass and spring will show it's beautiful face soon enough.  Then I'll be complaining about raking up dog poop,  having to stain the deck, washing my house windows, getting the dead grass and last years leaves off the lawn, walking the muddy trail to the wood shed, feeling guilty if I use my clothes dryer instead of hanging the laundry out on the clothes line, cleaning up all the mess under the bird feeders. Spring is messy.  Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow!

~~~~

I made a quick pan of comfort food last night for supper.  I think this has to be one of my favorite little toss together meals. I call it, "Chix & Veggies".  Sometimes I eat it just as is in a big ol' soup bowl; or will have it over rice or mashed potatoes.  Last night we had it over a big spoonful of mashed potatoes. It's a very pretty medley of veggies ~ they say you eat with your eyes before your stomach. 

Chix & Veggies

1 Tblsp. olive oil

2 chicken breast cut into one inch pieces

3 Tblsp. flour

1 tsp. curry powder

1/4 tsp. season salt
1/4 tsp. sea salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. dehydrated or freshly minced chives

2 carrots cut in strips

2 ribs of celery chopped

1 large red onion chopped in big pieces

1 small cluster of broccoli

1 med. potato peeled and cut into one inch cubes

 2 cups of hot water

In a large skillet over medium heat add the olive oil.  Next add the cut up chicken breast and cook for several minutes turning to lightly brown the pieces.  Then add the flour and seasonings.  Cook an additional 5 minutes, stirring often.  Add the vegetables and water.  Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until all the vegetables are fork tender.  Bon Appétit! 

Until next time...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

a glitter~

The tree branches are just full of glitter today with the frost on the branches.

I'm chasing a chickadee...

waiting for it to stop long enough to get a pic...

 

 Until next time...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

it's just $ ~

Last night ... just for S'sG's&G's ...  DH and I took a drive over to LCO for the prime rib buffet and to drop some dresser change in the slot machines.

As luck would have it ...  I had none.  My allotment of change was long gone and I was just sitting around watching others attempt at the big lotto.  As I was sitting, patiently watching Slim try his luck on this one machine there was a little old lady sitting next to him.  They had struck up a conversation while sitting there plunking their quarters... just small chatter about the weather... luck on gambling... etc...

Well... as I'm sitting back... silently observing and every once in awhile getting up and strolling around the casino and coming back to watch some more ~ I watch this little old gal win a $200 jackpot SEVEN TIMES!!  Not once does she make a scene about it ... whooping and hooping like these other guys were over on the craps table.  She just quietly puts the money away and keeps on playing.  Twice I saw the attendant have to come over and give her a pay ticket... so that meant her winnings were over $1000 each of those times.

Then... to my shock and surprise...

She cashes out a hand full of quarters out of her machine and puts them in a cup and turns to me and says, "Happy Birthday... go play with these." What!!! I couldn't believe her.  I told her I couldn't do that. I didn't even know her. How did she know it was my birthday? She says, "Oh yes you can.  It's just money and I have lots of it.  I'm just here to have something to do and I've been winning all day.  I knew it was your birthday because I saw you spin the birthday wheel when you walked in the door."   After much convincing on her part ...  I took those quarters and won $71.00.  I couldn't believe it!! That  gal was as happy for me as I was for myself.  She refused to let me repay her... and she wouldn't even tell me her name.  PLUS ... Slim was down on his luck and ready to call it a night and I gave him $10 of my winnings and he made another $100.00!!  So all in all ... that woman had the midas touch and she shared it with us :).

So...   Sweet lucky gal at the casino ~ whomever you are ~  THANK YOU!!  You really made our day!!

Until next time...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

down the trail~

I took the dogs out for a little hike down the trail.

Amber and Brandy don't want to cooperate and have their picture taken  ... having too much fun jumping around; enjoying the warm weather.  It's 34 degrees out today!

Amber is pointing at something... most likely a little mouse or possibly a weasel. OR... Nothing! She's good at that. lol

Here comes my brother Randy through the woods. He called me earlier to wish me a happy birthday and said he'd drive over on the Rhino ATV to give me a ride.  That's why I figured it'd be a good time to take a hike on the woods trail.  I'd walk halfway through and bum a ride back with Randy. 

I love afternoons like this.

Until next time...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

birds and blooms~

I love the thistle seed sock feeders ... and so do the birds.

We're still buried under the snow banks... and dreaming of spring and warmer days.

I was going through some old photos and came across some of my flower bed pictures. It's kind of sad that  they have such a short growing season here in northern Wisconsin; so when my flower beds are blooming ~ I'm smiling :).

Today's Flowers

and so is my dog ...

and ...

my frog.

I'm so looking forward to the end of February.  We'll still be buried under a ton of snow here in Wisconsin; but that's when we're taking our road trip south to Texas.  I was talking with my sister on the phone.... and a trip to the Japanese Botanical Gardens of Ft. Worth is on the agenda.  I can't wait!!!

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

hump day~

It's hump day ... Wednesday ... half the week is gone already... over the hump ... and onward we go.

~~~

I had an appointment this afternoon with the doctor and it was a thumbs up ... things are getting better.  I have a bit more energy back; which is good ... and my disposition has improved... which is major good!  I don't feel quite as down in the dumps as I've been lately ... so I'm calling it a GREAT DAY!!

I did, however, gain 10 lbs. since being out of the hospital again.  bummer...  I'm back on a stronger diuretic and potassium and vitamin D ... so hopefully all this fluid will come off again .. fast!!!  I swear ... it's just so frustrating to put on that much weight that fast.  How can the body even do that??  I know it's all goes hand in hand with my bum ticker ... but seriously,  10 lbs of fluid back up again. Yuck.

Tomorrow I have the go ahead again to start using my tread mill or gazelle ... so that will help immensely.  Just being able to get out for a walk again is good news.  It's really really hard to lay low and do NOTHING.

~~~

I have a new cake recipe that I'm going to try out for my birthday on the 17th ... it's affectionately called a Teddy Cake.  When my Dad was alive, our neighbor gal ~ Jeri , would always bake him a sour dough cake that he loved and it became known in the family as the "Teddy Cake".  Well... I called Jeri up the other day and asked her if she'd share the recipe so I could make one myself for my birthday this year.  The next day, here she was at my door step with the recipe card in hand.  Thank you Jeri!!

Although... when I make it I'm making some modification to it to healthify it a bit.  I'm going to use artificial sweetener like Splenda instead of the sugar, and half whole wheat flour instead of the all purpose, high carb white.  I hope it turns out as great as the original.

Here's the recipe:

TEDDY CAKE

greased 9x13 pan or 2 - 9inch rounds

350 degree oven 30-35 minutes

2 Cups flour

2 Cups sugar

1/2 Cup cocoa

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup butter

2/3 Cup sour milk

2 eggs

1 Cup hot water

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix dry ingredients.  Add butter, eggs and milk.  Mix well.  Add hot water and vanilla.  Bake. Cool.

Then FROST with

3/4 Cup milk

4 Tblsp. flour

Heat the milk and flour mixture over medium heat until thickened.  Cool.

Add:

1 Cup butter

1 Cup sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

Mix well and spread over cake.

~~~

 We have another meeting tonight for the JPD Warrior Project,  Justin Donner Memorial Fisheree; which is coming up soon - January 30th.   All I can say is WOW... we really have a great fisheree planned and if you're in the neighborhood of the Turtle Flambeau Flowage on the 30th ... be sure to drop in and help support our cause.  It's being held this year over at Donner's Bay Resort.  Porky and Rozanne and the rest of the crew are looking forward to meeting you!

~~~

Until next time...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

~~~

Have a GREAT DAY!

outside my window~

Both of these photos were taken in 2007 ... and if you were to look outside my window today ... it looks the same; with maybe the exception of a lamp and a couple photos sitting on the plant table.  The plants are a little bit bigger ~ but other than that ... yes... it's the same.  The chickadees are still flittering around and landing on the cedar branch I screwed on to the deck post for a landing spot before going to the bird feeder.

Welcome to my comfort zone.

~~~

There really isn't much going on around here lately.  I need to get motivated!! This has been my laziest winter ever!!!

The seed catalog companies are hard at it ... sending those catalogs out to us snow bound people ... giving us something to dream about.  Dear Hubby and I talked quite a bit at length about it the other day and decided that we are not putting in a vegetable garden this year.   Can you believe it?  I'm not giving up canning though ~ we're just going to be purchasing all our produce from the Amish community.  I know we'll miss digging in the dirt and watching those little seedlings grow into a beautiful harvest; but it's a sacrifice that I'm willing to give up.  We'll just be enjoying the labor of love from others.

I'm also so thankful that all the hard work I've put into my perennial gardens over the years will allow us some time this year without having to be nurturing them on a daily basis.  Many of my plantings have reached the point of being quite self sufficient; unlike new seedlings and transplants.

This is going to be our summer of R & R (rest and relaxation) ... ha ha ... I'll be looking back at this post in July and saying HA!  Plus... now that we don't have the bait shop ... maybe... just maybe... we'll be able to get away once in awhile and go fishing! 

~~~

Today Sam and Slim are out in the woods cutting down poplar trees with my brother Eric.  Eric wants to clean up the woods a bit before the spring thaw; before the ground becomes too soft to drive the tractor through the swampy areas.  So they are doing some logging now while they can get into the swamp with the tractor and jammer, while the ground is frozen. 

~~~

Just turned down another customer looking for bait.  It's been five months ... and yet they come.

~~~

Well ...

I'm off to get the vacuum cleaner and give it a whirl through this messy house.  Since my heart can only take but a few minutes of any kind of stress these days ... even vacuuming has become a chore.  Talk about a lack of energy!!!  Last night I didn't even do my dishes.  Slim offered to do them for me; but I talked him into leaving them sit in the sink over night and I did them this morning.  Then ... I was so damn pooped out I had to go lay down for an hour to recoop! This CHF really really sucks!!  I'm seriously thinking about looking for a house keeper to come in for just a few hours a week to help me keep up with things.

For crying out loud ...

I don't work outside the house anymore ...

I don't have the bait shop to be tending to ...

yet I still can't get my own house cleaned.

I'm not used to sitting around like this; and it's driving me crazy!!

~~~

Shout out to my sister Cher and her hubby Thom who celebrated their wedding anniversary over the weekend!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Doesn't time just fly when you're having fun!

~~~

Until next time ...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

peek a boo~

~~~
Surprisingly ... cabin fever hasn't set in yet ... or has it? 

~~~
Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

amanda~

A page for my grandlove ~ Amanda

Until next time...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel