Patriots and Flags

Flagpole erecting day--September 14, 2010!  He wanted it up by September 11th, but it just didn't get done.  Cowboy has wanted a flagpole for quite a few years.  He had the spot picked.  A little over a week ago he got the cement poured and mixed his cement in the wheel barrow.  It was work, and I didn't volunteer to help "stir".

Getting started...

Here we go...

Keep coming...

Cowboy is tightening the top, an eagle.  The eagle was BJ's idea and BJ also sent the flag.  As soon as it arrived my veteran and I had to fold it correctly, I was a brownie scout (many eons ago) after all.  On top of that I worked for the United States Postal Service and flag duty was one of my jobs.  I am sure you are so interested in that!  On to the story at hand...

Joe is in the bucket, Phil is going to guide the pole, Amy is supervising, and Bill is in the tractor...

Phil is saying to raise the pole a little higher.  They had to put the chain over to the left of the bucket instead of in the middle.

Let's try it one more time...

The bucket is as high as it will go and the "teeth" are opened to get more height.  I had a knot in my stomach and prayers on my lips as they were doing this.  Joe said, "the thing is, just don't look down."  It seems to me he is looking down.  Did I ever tell you I am afraid of heights?  Well I am telling you again!

It is in the hole, but not down completely, having a "conference".

Joe went back to the ground and then back up again to paint the "dings".  Cowboy mentioned how beautiful the sky was as we previewed the pictures.  You just can't beat a Montana "Big Sky"...

Hanging the flag...  I couldn't help but think of those jokes, "How many men does it take to hang a flag?"  I get to hear soooo many blond jokes!!

A few minor adjustments to the rope...

Bill hanging the flag...

Just one last loop.  It is catching the breeze...  Thanks to the idea from BJ and the kiddies chipping in to buy the eagle for Bill, maybe the flag too.  I could not raise anyone this morning to get the facts, so I will make them up as I go!

Cowboy wants to do some finish work around the base with rocks.  Looking at the picture I still get a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye.  We are a patriotic family, God has blessed our country and we are so thankful for our freedom.  The Lord knows everything that is happening and everything still belongs to Him.  It is on loan to us to take care of to the best of our ability.

I salute you, Old Glory! 

Little Cowgirls and Sewers Too!

What do I want to be when I grow up??  For a week this summer Kamryn and Jentry stayed with us.  They were with us in July.  The week just flew by.  When they got tired of our house, they went to Great Grandma's and played cards and visited, then back up the hill they would come!

This time because there was a roping dummy close to the garage with ropes hanging off of the horns...LET"S LEARN TO ROPE!

 Okay, PopPop!  Let's get going!

It is pretty hard with two girls, but he is trying to get the stance, the arm, the wrist, you know--ALL of it!

One more time, look this way...

Kamy is pretty serious about this.  They so want to please their grandpa!

See what I mean about SERIOUS?

It is in the wrist...Cowboy loved showing the girls.  Wish they were here more often!  They went and twirled their ropes every day.  The men would straighten the ropes out a couple of times a day.  You know how hard ropes are to get back to the way they coil right!

Jentry and Kamryn each made reversible tree skirts that can turn into capes if they so wish.  I had the Christmas material here waiting for them to come.  Jentry is seven and Kamryn is nine and a half so the sewing abilities were different.  Kamy has sewn with me before, so I knew what she could do.  Attention spans aren't as long, so Jentry and I worked in small stages.  This grandma doesn't want to burn anyone out on wanting to learn to sew!!  Isn't that a sweet smile?!

See that smile of accomplishment??  It was funky stockings and a fun polka dot for the other side.

Jentry got hers finished also and it was green with ribbons, bells, and holly berries and the other side was red with gold throughout.  She was relieved to have hers done too!

Ready for bed and a play time with Miss Tiny toe kitten PopPop brought home...

Looks like they got plenty of vitamin D from the sun.  They play well together and we did many things.  It is hard to take a picture when we were all working!  They did dishes.  They traded washing for dish drying.  I had to let them...

They helped me get meals on as we had two extra men to cook for, so there was always something to do.  They checked books out of the library. 

One of the things I feel bad about is that they didn't get to ride horseback this visit.  PopPop was too busy to get that done.  AND, this is the first summer we haven't put up the hammock.  It was too chilly to begin with and then, after B.J. and Marsha and the girls were gone, we were thinking about other things and the girls didn't even bug me about setting it up.

So, I have blinked and summer is gone.  Grandies are in school and fall is here and we are still catching up on "summer" work.  We have bales to stack, cows to move, oh, it goes on and on.  Did a little canning of pickled beets and freezing of peaches and peach pie filling!  The pies are devoured around here!  I haven't even sewn a stitch in almost two weeks, so maybe I can squeeze in a minute tomorrow!

Eventful Two Days!

Friday I was busy as a could be, but was having a little heart irregularity--that odd beat now and then.  I have had it for about 10-13 years.  It is called atrial fibrillation (I had to look up the spelling) and I can hardly pronounce it correctly. So I emptied a freezer, ate breakfast, did dishes, and took a bath which was extremely hot (I still was not feeling well), got dressed and decided to head outside and work on cleaning out the tomatoes, flowers, and sundry items that the deer are destroying!  I thought the fresh air and sunshine would make me feel better, which it did, I might add!!  I cleaned out some of the big pots I had them in and filled a wheel barrow with dirt.  Decided that that was enough of that and swept under the deck. 

I went into the house and got lunch ready for Phil and possibly Cowboy if he got done loading his truck with the LAST load of the grain.  By then it was 11 a.m.  I thought I would relax a little and then it hit me with full force, racing this time.  So I made myself clean the "now" defrosted freezer.  You know, someone needed to do it!!! 

Talked to my friend Leah and she offered to come and get me.  I told her no, I would catch my breath soon.  I called Grandma M. to come and put lunch on and then called Leah back and said, I need that ride, ASAP.  I am not going to pay for an ambulance ride. 

Grandma came bustling up and I told her there was corn, leftover potatoes to fry, and a roast in the oven.  She offered to drive me to meet Leah and I took her up on it.  By then we were both scared.  We met Leah at the highway and she couldn't drive fast enough for me.  I keep trying to calm myself down but I must have been taking too many breaths as when we got to the emergency room, I was like jelly.  Dan told me I was hyperventilating and to relax.  O K A Y...  He got started giving me some drug I cannot remember and probably not even spell.  I got there at 11:45 a.m. and about 3:30 p.m. he called a cardiologist in Billings who said I should be in Billings.  Dan got my blood pressure down, but the "a phib" was still going on and my pulse was still high.  It would go down and then go back up.  So, I got the ride in the ambulance anyway, and what wonderful care I got in at the ER and in the ambulance.  Dan thought it was a good idea for me to go too as I could get the tests done right away.

Cari got to the hospital right away and they had a room waiting when we got there. It was a circus trying to find it as they told us to turn here, turn there and just take the elevator...not real professional.  But Rex found it anyway! 

In the meantime Cowboy was having his own adventure, AFTER he loaded the freezer, took a shower after shoveling wheat, and grabbing a sandwich to eat on the way to Moccasin to unload the wheat.  BUT...as Paul Harvey Jr. said, "Now for the rest of the story...".  Anticlimactic, Cowboy won't let me tell it and it is truly worth telling.  So, if you really want to know, you have to call him or corner him when you see him.

My BP was low all night, pulse was good.  Tests Sat. a.m. were good.  Heart is normal, no blockages, treadmill test was good, they said they could tell I had been working on my walking.  I think they might have wanted to add "for your age" but thankfully they didn't. 

Before they turned me loose, the prognosis said everything looked GOOD, but they couldn't give me medicine as it would make my blood pressure too low.  I will have more of these episodes, but to document the episodes and there is a procedure that can be done, but not today.  I am to take aspirin daily, don't gain weight, EXERCISE, watch the stress levels. 

Thanks you God!  I felt the prayers and I am thankful that I had one of these that could be recorded because usually they go away before I get anywhere, and the Dr.'s would just look at me.  These won't kill me, but the clots they cause could give me a stroke if I don't do the aspirin.  That is an easy one to remedy.

Enough of that.  Rosie thought I should blog this.  It is pretty boring for some to read, but it is recorded.  Meghan wanted to fly out, but I told her it was okay. 

Now I am going to work on the stress aspect...ideas?  Exercise is a great one for that, but Farmer's Wife, I don't think my knees would take the running.

I forgot how noisy hospitals are, and the two times I was sleeping HARD, they came and took vitals... one at 12:50 a.m. and another at 4:45 a.m.  So needless to say, Cowboy and I slept really well Saturday night.