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Posted on Friday, November 03, 2006
Stacey Spent Her Birthday In the Hospital (again)
Wednesday evening about 10:20 PM, Linda rushed in to the bedroom with Stacey and said there was something wrong. There is usually a telltale sign that she is about to have a seizure when her pupils are dilated to the point that I can't hardly see any color. I looked at Stacey and the pupils of her eyes looked OK. Within about 30 seconds, Stacey fell against the bed and began to have a seizure. I went to the kitchen and retrieved Stacey's Diazapham tablets. We couldn't get Stacey to open her mouth to put one of the tablets inside. We laid her down and Linda and I got her ready to go to the hospital. After starting the truck and moving it closer to the house, I carried Stacey to the truck. Linda rode in the seat behind Stacey and I drove to the hospital emergency room. They recognized us and immediately started an IV on Stacey's left arm. There was a doctor on duty that had never treated Stacey, so things went a little slower, but the emergency room staff led him through the procedures. They gave Stacey a shot of Valium through the IV and she responded by regaining control of her muscles and becoming conscious again. The doctor was ready to let Stacey go back home after about an hour, but I told him that usually Stacey would have more problems in about 2-1/2 to 3 hours. We had to give Stacey 3 more Diazapham tablets at different times as the night went on. Dr Rice came to the hospital around 8 AM Thursday and visited Stacey in the ER and he admitted Stacey to the hospital. I left the hospital to take a shower, let the dog and ducks out, take out the garbage and get Stacey a t-shirt, some shorts and underclothes. I returned and Stacey had been placed in a room. I left again for about an hour to pick up some metal roofing and then returned to relieve Linda. Linda went home and slept, changed clothes and picked up some shoes and a jacket for Stacey. She returned to the hospital around 6:30 PM and sent me to get some sandwiches for us. By that time Stacey was getting back to normal and she was eating the supper the hospital brought for her. I returned with the sandwiches and we ate them in the room, then I left for home around 7:30 PM. Linda stayed the night in the room with Stacey. I woke and returned to the hospital a few minutes after 4 AM and let Linda go home for some sleep. Dr Rice came in after Stacey had ate breakfast, he did a quick exam and released Stacey to "go to the house." It was a year ago to the day that we went through the same thing, [Stacey Spent Her Birthday In the Hospital]. That was the last time Stacey had been admitted to the hospital. Stacey, Linda and I spent most of the day recouperating. We all loaded in the HHR and went to the Farm House near Byrdstown for supper. It was a birthday event for Stacey and she picked up a shirt that read, "Real Women Drive Tractors".
Posted on Saturday, November 04, 2006
Wood Shed Sides
We took it easy today to let Stacey rest and get some energy back. Linda
decided she would be able to help me put the sides on the wood shed, so
we took Stacey along. We rode down the hill in the Mule and left it set
where we could keep an eye on what Stacey was doing while we installed
the metal sheets. I used two 55 gallon trash cans with 12 foot 2 by 4s
laid across them for saw horses. I carried the first sheet of metal out
of the barn and stood it up against the end of the barn's existing
siding. We used a level to make sure it was standing straight, then
Linda held it in place while I climbed the ladder and marked the top end
for the cut. I came back down the ladder, removed the metal and laid it
on the make shift table. We used clamps to hold a short piece of 2 by 4
across the metal and I ran the circular saw across the metal holding it
to the edge of the 2 by 4 to cut a straight line. We stood the metal
back up against the barn and I screwed it in place with the
drill/driver. We did the next 3 pieces the same way and we had one end
done. After taking a short break and admiring our work we continued
putting up the metal, cutting it, and screwing it in place, until both
ends were done.
We went to town and ate at Hamilton's BBQ for lunch, then returned
to the farm. Linda started the mulching mower and mulched the leaves
where the old house used to be while I used the tractor to scoop up a
small load of gravel. I drove the tractor to the wood shed and used a
shovel to scatter stone along the bottom of the metal siding.
Posted on Monday, November 06, 2006
Wood Shed Finished
The last two days I have been working on the wood shed alone. I wanted
to finish the work before the rain set in. I carried the metal sheets
out to the shed and stood them up against the framing, then slid them up
on the roof rafters. I used a 4' long piece of 2 by 4 to push the metal
over to align the edge, then climbed the ladder with the drill/driver in
one hand. I pushed the metal as close to the existing building as
possible and finished lining up the first piece with the metal siding
already installed. Then screwed 4 screws into the metal and the wood
framework. With the metal firmly in place, I climbed on top of the sheet
and screwed the rest of the screws in to attach the entire sheet. Then
back down the ladder, bring out the next piece, align it, climb the
ladder, get on top, screw it down, and so on until I had 5 of the 8
pieces in place. I had to quit at that point as my hand was starting to
cramp from reaching as far as I could and putting pressure on the
drill/driver to start the self tapping metal screws.
On Monday, I
began by attaching one of the trim pieces to cover where the edge of the
roofing meets the top of the wall. Then I began installing the last 3
sheets of metal roofing. The best part of the roofing job was no cutting
was required, I had ordered the pieces the length I wanted them to be. I
did have to cut the trim pieces, but those were easy as they were only
about 4" wide on top and 2" on the side. After the 3rd sheet of roofing
was installed, I finally installed the last trim piece, then laid down
on the side of the hill and thought about how much work it had been and
how glad I was it was done.
I started our 2 mowers and Brent's mower and parked those in one
side of the shed, then used the Mule to pull the log splitter and backed
it in the other side. As I walked up the gravel road towards the house,
I looked back and thought that the shed matched the rest of the building
fairly well, considering that I had built it!
Posted on Tuesday, November 07, 2006
We Voted!
We decided to go vote fairly early. It was raining, school was out,
which meant Linda was home, so we drove to Salem Park to vote. There
were a couple of cars parked near the small election house and there was
one person in line when we walked inside. Regina was the election
sheriff and we said hello, then Linda signed the register, Stacey was
next, then I signed. Linda voted, Stacey went in and voted, then I voted
and we were done in less than 10 minutes. We drove on to town and ate
breakfast at the Corner Cafe. There were a few politicians eating and
standing around the Courthouse Square, I guess trying to finagle a few
last minute votes. We finished our breakfast and went back to the house.
Since it was still raining we decided to go upstairs and watch a movie.
Later in the evening we went to Wal-Mart to kill some time before going
to Sonic for their 5 for $5 burger deal after 5 PM. We took Missy along
because her feet had be 'burning' for a couple of days. We let her have
most of a burger and took one home to Cooter. He likes to meet us when
we come home to check for anybody bringing him food. He was lucky that
time. Linda listened to the local radio station and was giving me
reports as to who had won in the local elections, but I wasn't paying
much attention to election reports from the national scene, I figured I
would just wait for the results the next morning.
Posted on Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Lumberjacking
I watched some of the news reports about the election and was amazed that President Bush took the results as well as he did. Stacey and I stayed inside as the weather was mostly dreary and damp. We had lunch at home and around 1:30 I went outside. I took the Mule and picked up the chainsaw and then hooked up the black trailer. I drove across the creek to the slope I keep mowed going back in the 'holler'. I picked out a tall straight tree and cut it down. The tree fell out towards the branch as I had planned, but seemed quite a bit longer once it was on the ground. It didn't matter, there was plenty of room for it to fall. I began cutting it into pieces I could load on the trailer and split with the log splitter. I cut about a dozen pieces, then started the Mule and drove back across the creek. I backed the trailer up to the wood shed and rolled the pieces off onto the ground. After Linda came home, Stacey helped me by stacking the pieces after I split them. Linda fixed us Italian Sausage with green pepper and onion in rice for supper.
Posted on Thursday, November 09, 2006
Cutting Wood
Linda has been working at the school this week, so Stacey and I are
working as a team on jobs. Early this morning we started the Mule and
headed across the creek to the tree I had cut down yesterday. The fog
had just raised enough we could see the sun starting to pop through the
clouds.
Cooter followed along sniffing around the saw dust I had made yesterday.
Stacey messed around while I cut some pieces off the trunk and loaded
them on the trailer. Then I moved the Mule to the top part of the tree
and cut some of the smaller limbs off. Stacey picked up the smaller
pieces and threw those on the trailer while I was trimming brush off the
rest of the tree.
We loaded the trailer and headed to the wood shed, I backed the trailer near
the log splitter and we rolled the pieces off. Then we parked the
trailer and Mule and went to town. I took the smallest chainsaw to have
the chain replaced and then went to NAPA to buy a bolt that I had lost
off the log splitter. The guy gave me the bolt and we stopped at the
grocery next, then on to the farm. We put the groceries up and then took
the bolt and put the log splitter back together. I started the splitter
and split the wood we had cut. As I was splitting the wood, I handed the
split pieces to Stacey and she stacked them in a row inside the wood
shed. We split what we had cut and then went to the house and Stacey
cooked hamburger for Sloppy Joes. I made the sandwiches and we ate
lunch. Linda came home from school and we had cleaned up and were ready
to go back to school to pass out free pizza and pop. I picked up the
chainsaw on the way into town and we pulled in and parked behind the
grade school. Stacey and I passed out pizza. I gave out the pepperoni
and Stacey passed out the cheese pizza. Linda kept us supplied with
plates, napkins and boxes of pizza. I guess we gave away close to 60
pizzas, two pieces at a time. We finished by taking the remaining pizzas
to the front of the school and they gave them away as door prizes along
with some nice prizes. The party was over at 7 PM and we drove home.
Posted on Sunday, November 12, 2006
Weekend
Saturday
We didn't know if Pauline and Brent (P&B) were coming
over because Brent had been sick at his stomach for two days, but they
arrived about 9 AM Saturday. Brent said he was still a little bit
queasy, but feeling better. With the wood shed being finished, there
were some pieces of 4 by 4 pressure treated posts left over and a couple
of 2 by 4s, so Linda wanted us to build some bench seats out of the
scrap. We walked to the hay shed and got the power miter saw out of the
little house. We cut the pieces we could out of the scrap I had left and
figured that we would need to buy three 12' long deck boards for the
seats. Stacey, Pauline, Linda, Brent and I loaded in the pickup and
headed to the hardware store to buy those. We loaded them in the truck
and paid, then went to Hamilton's BBQ for lunch. Brent wanted something
good, but nothing that would upset his stomach again. We ate and went
back to the hay shed and worked on the benches. Pauline and Stacey went
to the house and started a fire in the wood stove while we finished
screwing together two of the benches. We went to the house and it was
nice and warm. Later in the evening, Pauline wanted Subway sandwiches,
so Stacey rode to town with P&B in their HHR to pick up the subs. They
brought it back to the house and we ate around 7 PM.
Sunday
Linda fixed us sausage and eggs with biscuits for breakfast and then
Brent and I went to the hay shed to assemble the 3rd bench. We had a few
pieces of wood left to cut before we could screw it together. The girls
walked around the farm with the dogs while we cut the wood and assembled
the bench. It went fairly quick, then we all headed back to the house.
The walk and us playing with dogs had wore them out. Pico and Poco were
laying on the pillow in front of the wood stove and taking doggy naps.
Pauline and Stacey were taking naps also. Brent was watching the Titan
football game while Linda was fixing mashed potatoes and I was helping
by cooking the ground beef and some creamed corn. We ate and P&B headed
home around 4 PM.
Posted on Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Relocation of Blog
Due to the web server going out of service that I have been using to
store the images and other files, the Norris Family Blog has been
relocated to a different web server. I have placed a web page at the old
location to advise readers of the change in location. I hope each reader
will bookmark this new location and continue reading the Norris Family
Blog. If you encounter any 'dead links' or other problems, please
contact me with the details by sending me an email using any of the
email links on this page.
I'm sorry for any inconvenience this
has caused.
Posted on Thursday, November 16, 2006
Diamond Rio Concert in Glasgow
There wasn't much going on around the farm the last couple of days
because the weather has been rainy. I did put the grader box on the blue
Ford tractor and spread some gravel around the driveway with the scoop
and then used the grader box to level it. Linda has worked at the school
the entire week, so it's just been Stacey and I around the house. We've
watched a couple of movies and ate lunch at home. When Linda came home
from school today, Stacey and I were just about ready to leave for
Glasgow. Linda changed her clothes and then we left. We stopped and put
gas in the HHR, then headed on to Glasgow. Once again, our first stop
was Mancinos for grinders (sandwiches). We ate, then headed to the
Courthouse Square and parked close to the theater. It was drizzling
rain, so we waited about 10 minutes to make sure the doors were open,
then walked about a block to the Plaza Theater. Once inside, we found
our seats and then Linda and Stacey headed to the T-shirt stand to buy a
Diamond Rio shirt.
We walked back to our seats, and a few minutes after 7 PM the
show started with Diamond Rio being the only act. They opened with a hit
of theirs and played several hits in a row before stopping and talking a
minute or two to the crowd.
They played a few songs off their newest album, then played
about 8 of their greatest hits in a medley of partial songs. The crowd
loved it and responded with loud applause and several standing ovations
from most of the people.
Then Diamond Rio played 4 or 5 newer songs and finished with 4
of their best hits, playing them completely. They left the stage for a
couple of minutes and were brought back by the applause and screams of
the crowd. They played one more song that had everyone standing during
the entire song and cheering loudly when it was over.
All too soon, the concert was over, Diamond Rio had played an
hour and a half that went by quickly. We picked up our coats and exited
the theater. The rain was still coming down as we crossed the street
while a policeman stopped the traffic. After walking the block back to
the HHR, we headed home.
Posted on Saturday, November 18, 2006
Hunting With a Chainsaw
Linda and Stacey went running the roads, so I went to the hay shed in the Mule and loaded the chainsaws and hooked to the trailer. I headed back in the 'holler' and picked a tree to cut down. I found one that was leaning downhill, so it would fall in the open area at the bottom of the hill. I made the cuts and it started to slowly fall and then crashed to the ground. I cut enough pieces of the tree to fill the trailer and towed the trailer back to the wood shed and rolled off the pieces. I checked at the house, let Missy out, then went back and cut the rest of the tree trunk into pieces. I drove to the shed and unloaded the pieces into a pile near the log splitter. Then unhooked the trailer and parked the Mule in the barn. I washed my face and hands and went to town for a breaded tenderloin sandwich and salad bar at Jones' Restaurant. Back at the farm, I took the Mule and a chainsaw along with a 30-30 rifle and went back to work on the tree I had cut. I decided to take the rifle in case a deer went by since it was 'Deer Season'. I used the smaller chainsaw to trim the small limbs off and then cut the remaining branches into stove sized pieces. I cut wood for a while, then rested and watched for a deer to walk by. Being a landowner, I don't need a hunting license to kill a deer on the farm. In KY, the rules have changed, now you just call in to the DNR and report that you have killed one, you don't even have to check-in deer anymore. I didn't see one, but I didn't really expect to, since I was running a chainsaw. I'll probably take a gun with me for the next few weeks when I go in the woods, just in case! Stacey and Linda came home after dark with sandwiches from McDonald's in Columbia. Hey, did you know McRibs are back? We ate those and then Stacey watched the Pacer game on TV.
Posted on Sunday, November 19, 2006
Wood Splitting
Linda fixed us a good breakfast to start the day. Stacey and I went
outside and took the Mule back in the 'holler'. We picked up a few small
pieces left from the tree I had cut on Saturday. We loaded those in the
back of the Mule and drove to the wood shed. I backed the Mule up close
and Stacey and I unloaded the pieces and stacked them in the shed.
I started the log splitter and began busting the larger pieces and
handing them to Stacey. She was stacking those and a few pieces I had
already split. We worked for a while, then stopped and rolled a few more
pieces closer to the splitter. Stacey caught up with me and we were
finished with the entire pile in a little over an hour. I lowered the
splitter and rolled it to the back of the shed and we took a ride in the
Mule around the farm.
In the afternoon, Linda fixed dinner and after we ate, Stacey and I
watched the NASCAR race. Stacey had been rooting for Jimmie Johnson the
entire season and was glad he won the NASCAR Championship. We were
flipping back and forth trying to watch the Colts game also. Too bad
they lost!
Posted on Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Dr Rice Visit
For some reason, the coffee maker quit working. The digital timer seemed to short circuit because the LED clock showed no numbers and the on/off switch wouldn't work. I purchased it a little over a month ago, so I unplugged the coffee maker and took it with us to town. Stacey and I returned it to Fred's and they replaced it with a new one, without questions. Then we placed some envelopes in the Post Office drop box and went to the Corner Cafe for a late lunch. After eating we stopped and rented 3 DVDs at the movie shack, then headed on over to Dr Rice's office. Stacey's appointment was scheduled for 2 PM and we were a little early. To our surprise, there were only two other patients in his office. We waited a few minutes, then Stacey was called in to the exam room. Dr Rice checked out Stacey and one of his questions was, "Before the last seizure, how long had it been without Stacey having a seizure?" I told him the seizures had been a year apart, last year on her birthday, and then this year on her birthday. Dr Rice said, "Next year, plan on going to Chucky Cheese for your birthday, don't come to the hospital!" We all laughed, including Stacey. After talking with the doctor, we scheduled another appointment in 6 months and were out of there in a total time of 15 minutes. That was a record for seeing Dr Rice. Usually, if we have a 2 o'clock appointment, we are still there at 4 o'clock. The doctor's advice was keep doing what we have been doing and come see him if anything goes wrong.
Posted on Thursday, November 23, 2006
Happy Thanksgiving 2006
Linda had been cooking since yesterday and Stacey and I
had made a dessert, but there were still things to go in the oven when
Pauline and Brent came over early for Thanksgiving. We talked a little
bit while standing around the kitchen counter as Linda continued to fix
dinner. Around 11:30, everything was ready and we sat down to eat. We
enjoyed the dinner and then Pauline, Stacey and Linda laid down for
naps. Brent and I went outside after the girls were asleep for a while.
We cut up the final 10 pieces of the last tree I had cut down for
firewood. Then Brent split it with the log splitter while I stacked the
pieces. As we finished, the girls had woke and came down to the shed.
They wanted to take a walk, so we loaded in the Mule and went across the
creek. We walked around one hay field, then walked back in the 'holler'
and came back out, then went around the other hay field. I think they
felt guilty about eating so much and were trying to walk it off. I don't
think it worked, but it was good exercise. We finished our walk and went
back inside and ate dessert, then watched a movie as it became dark
outside.
We hope ya'll had a
Happy Thanksgiving too!
Posted on Saturday, November 25, 2006
Wood Cutting Crew
Linda and Brent wanted to cut down a tree that was leaning over the edge of the hay field. We made it a family project. Pauline, Brent, Stacey, Linda, Missy, Pico, Poco, Cooter and I loaded in the Mule and on a couple of 4-wheelers and headed across the creek. Brent used the mid-size chainsaw to cut the tree down, then I fired up the smallest chainsaw to help with the trimming of the limbs. As we trimmed the limbs, the girls were picking those up and tossing them on the trailer behind the Mule. The dogs were running around the hay field and didn't need watched as we were across the creek and far away from the road. When the trailer was full of limbs, I drove the Mule to the edge of the creek and backed the trailer down the bank, then slid the limbs off. I pulled the trailer back to the other side of the downed tree and the girls began another load of limbs. I used the largest chainsaw to start cutting the trunk of the tree into pieces we could load on the trailer later while Brent was sawing up the medium size limbs. Brent and Linda dumped a load of limbs on the creek bank and we filled the trailer once more with limbs. Pauline and Brent dumped the last load of limbs, then we began loading the medium size limbs on the trailer and drove to the wood shed. I backed the trailer to the edge of the shed and we unloaded the wood and passed it along to where it was being stacked. Linda brought us a round of drinks when we finished unloading the trailer. We returned to the hay field and Brent and I loaded the larger pieces of the tree trunk on the trailer and finished cutting any pieces that still needed to be shorter. We drove back to the wood shed and backed the trailer near the log splitter I had setup. Linda and Stacey went to the grocery store for some sandwich stuff for lunch. Brent started the splitter and started busting the pieces. He handed the split pieces to Pauline who passed them to me as I stacked them in a row. We split about half of the pieces and took a break for lunch. I had made ham salad from the leftover ham. Pauline, Brent and I had sandwiches out of that, but Stacey and Linda ate bologna sandwiches. There were chips and pretzels along with pop to drink. Pauline and Stacey immediately took naps after eating. Brent and I went back to the wood shed and started splitting the rest of the wood. Linda joined us to help a few minutes later. We finished the splitting, put the splitter in the back of the wood shed and went back to the house. One things for sure, wood cutting is a bunch easier with a crew of people helping! We set around talking and joking until around 6:30 when Pauline and Brent took their dogs and headed home.
Posted on Monday, November 27, 2006
Beautiful Monday
The weather report was that Monday was supposed to be 70 degrees and sunny. Stacey and I headed out after Linda left for work at the school. We drove the Mule to the hay shed and hooked up the black trailer. I then climbed on the blue tractor and backed it up to the bush hog in the wood shed. I moved the bush hog to a place in the hay shed and lined up the mowers to make more room in the wood shed. While the tractor was outside, I backed the Mule and trailer inside and Stacey and I loaded two loads of wood and hauled those to the back porch of the house. We stacked the wood on the back porch then took the trailer across the creek. We loaded the remaining brush from trees we had cut down and hauled it to the edge of the creek. I pulled the brush off the trailer and we unhooked the trailer and left it in the hay shed. Next I drove the tractor to the creek and scraped the brush into the middle of the creek. Then Stacey and I hooked the back hoe onto the tractor. That took about 20 minutes to get everything lined up and secured. I drove the tractor across the creek, Stacey followed in the Mule, where I used the back hoe to clean out a section of ditch between the hay fields, then parked the tractor back in the hay shed. We went inside and ate lunch of chili, cheese and chips. We went back outside and did a few odd jobs, then went back inside around 3:30 and watched a movie until dark. When Linda came home we went to Subway for supper.
Posted on Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Brent's Thoughts
Well, I was reading
Brent's Thoughts today and found this interesting post by Brent...
Hey we are going to be parents.
"That is right, Pauline and
I went to the doctor today for the start of appointments for our first
child. She had taken several over the counter pregnancy tests about a
month ago and passed them, but we were still a little cautious that it
might not be. She took one at the doctor today and passed it without
even studying so we are calling it official. They marked her as 10 weeks
into the pregnancy and that her due date is set for June 24th right now.
Apparently, it is a 40 week process. All of that was based on a little
fuzzy remembering and no tests, so I don’t know how accurate it can be
considered. Since she is supposedly 10 weeks in, they scheduled an
appointment next week to see if they could find a heartbeat. I am a
little worried that they aren’t going to be able to find one, because I
am not really sure that she is really 10 weeks along, but they are the
people that do this all the time so I am going to stick with their
judgement."
I guess, Congratulations are in order!
Posted on Thursday, November 30, 2006
Probably the Last of the 70s
The last few days the temperatures have been above 70 degrees. This morning Stacey and I went outside about 7:30 AM and it was already 68. We went to the wood shed to finish our wood work before the cooler weather hit. We had finished cutting the tree trunk into pieces and had loaded those and hauled them to the shed, then rolled them off the trailer. All that was left to do was split and stack the wood. We worked for a while, then took a break and went back to the house. A little later, we rode back to the shed and split and stacked some more. This time when we took a break, we went to Columbia for lunch. Back to the farm and back to the shed. We split more wood and stacked it, then quit. We put the splitter to the back of the shed, stacked up 8 pieces that hadn't been split and went to the house. We were done splitting for a few days. I think we almost have enough wood split for next year. I'm glad, I won't have to be outside in the cold weather cutting wood. Stacey watched a Pacer game on TIVO and I just took it easy until Linda came home.
