Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!

 June 4, 2020

I haven’t posted anything on my blog since having my surgery for breast cancer. If I am all clear when I go in for my appointment in July, then it will be 3 ½ years since my treatment was complete. It has been a hard 3 ½ years. I know that people who have been through cancer and cared for their loved ones while they fought cancer and, hopefully, went through the recovery process, will understand that it is a struggle.

It didn’t help that I struggled through cancer with bad knees. Then, I had them replaced when I was cleared to do so by my oncologist. After the second knee replacement I had blood clots go through my lungs. That taught me to never take air for granted. Exhaustion has been my friend for so long, that I don’t really remember what it feels like to not be tired.

There are days when I wondered if I would ever feel good again. Not completely pain free or having a brain that remembered things, just GOOD. Don’t get me wrong, I do have good days. Especially when I go up to the CMW Ranch. But, it would be so nice to have good days while I am working and not go home from work so exhausted I can barely even think of trying to do anything that I used to consider fun.

My future house's view (CMW Ranch)

Blaze at Crazy Mountain Women Ranch

Last night as I lay with my lymphedema arm in its sleeve and the pump methodically squeezing my arm (think blood pressure cuff, but not quite so tight) I finally came to the conclusion that if I didn’t do my part, I would never reach that stage of being good on a daily basis. So, this morning when my alarm went off, I got dressed and took my dogs for a short walk. Blew was so amazed when I asked if she wanted to go for a walk, that it took a few minutes for it to sink in that I was really taking her out front for a walk. Blaze, of course, is just happy to go where ever I go. Blaze is my now two year old mini-Australian Shepherd. Blew is thirteen, gasp!, this year.

 

Blew at CMW Ranch

 I didn’t make it very far. And, I am ashamed to say, I had to stop four times on the way to my pre-decided turn around point and once on my way back home. But it is a start. I am bound and determined that when I retire to the Ranch, I will be able to do the things that I love to do. One of which is walking, especially in the morning and the late evening.

This morning was the first step in the right direction. Tomorrow morning will be the second step. I have goals that I would have laughed at for being ridiculous before cancer. Now some of them seem almost impossible. I will never, even silently, laugh at anyone’s goals again. Things that once seemed so simple and that I took for granted loom just out of my grasp. And maybe that is what I needed to learn to continue in my progression. Everyone has things that come easily, and everyone has something that is extremely difficult for them.

Intermittent creek at CMW Ranch

In my scripture study this morning (Alma chapter 5:58  For the names of the righteous shall be written in the book of life, and unto them will I grant an inheritance at my right hand.) I read a commentary about the Book of Life by Bruce R. McConkie. He said, “In a real though figurative sense, the book of life is the record of the acts of men as such record is written in their own bodies…  That is, every thought, word, and deed has an [effect] on the human body; all these leave their marks, marks which can be read by Him who is Eternal as easily as the words in a book can be read.”

For this purpose, I am finally taking my life into my own hands again and adding a few healing chapters into my book of life. Onward and upward, to an even better life.

Six Of My Earthly Angels

I am feeling very blessed today. It is amazing that when trouble crops up in your world you find out how many friends you actually have. Tomorrow is the day when I begin to discover if I can be at all like Kari Dalton. Only time will tell.

For the last few weeks, I've had six very special angels helping me with my Blew problem. You see, Blew likes to take her food dish up on top of her throne so that she can eat while guarding the world around her.

Three of Blew's winter dishes, circled in red.

 


The problem is, my knees have been so bad this winter that I haven't been able to climb her hill and gather up her dishes. In the winter I use plastic dishes so as not to damage any snow removal equipment that comes around. I learned the hard way that if your snow blower swallows a moose antler it breaks a shear pin.  :)  In past years, when the snow was soft, I would climb Blew's throne at a crawl to help distribute my weight a little more and, hopefully, not break through and be buried up to my waist. The knees don't want to crawl this year, so I was in somewhat of a dilemma. That is where my angels come in. 

Angel Mary with Blew on top of her throne.



Blew greeting two of my angels
 

Lately, Blew has been taking her dish up to the top of her throne every day. Sometimes she even takes two dishes up there. The worst problem is that now I am down to only three dishes. I have no idea where two of them disappeared to, although I suspect the fox that has been hanging around has something to do with that.

My angels know how to listen to the Spirit when it speaks to them, and come rescue me (and the dishes) without my even requesting their assistance. I don't know their father as well as I should, but I can definitely tell you that they take after their mother in their thoughts and actions.

I love it when they come in and talk to me while I am at work and tell me everything that is going on in their lives. They liven up my day, especially in the winter when nothing much is going on.

I asked their mother to take pictures of them making snow angels. So, last week, they snow shoed into the park and she proceeded to send me a photo of them with visible wings.

All six of my earthly angels
 





Angel Ahsley
 

Angel Elodie


 



Angel Maggie

Angel Mary

Angel Eden

 

 

Angel Emma

 

 

 

Thank you, my earthly angels, for bringing extra joy into my life!

Silver Linings

I love this time of year. It is wonderful to see the snow melting and enjoy sunshine and warmer days. Yes, it is still winter, but spring is just around the corner.

The other day, as I was getting ready to go back to work after lunch, I looked out the kitchen window and saw Blew curled up in the half whiskey barrel planter on the front porch. I guess she was feeling the need to be in dirt. She usually hops right out when I open the door, so I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to capture a couple of pictures of her in the planter.

Blew and I took a drive around Quake and Hebgen Lakes, mostly to see if we could spot the bighorn sheep that congregate near the Slide Inn just below Quake Lake this time of year. We did see about 12 sheep, 8 ewes and 4 rams, but the light was not great for taking pictures, so we just continued on our way. Both Quake and Hebgen were totally frozen over. If the light had been better, I would have stopped to photograph the cross country skiers making their way across Hebgen Lake. A little later on, I did stop and take a couple of pictures of an old, falling down barn. I wonder how much longer it is going to last.

I'm going to have to take this drive during the changing of the seasons and see the difference spring and summer make of this poor, forlorn looking building. Will it look as lost with green grass and flowers growing around it and the sparkling blue of Hebgen Lake glittering in the background as it does in the barrenness of winter? I sincerely hope not. It does remind me that we all go through times in our lives when we feel like we are lost and alone and the world is cold and empty around us.

There is always hope that spring will come. And, it is visible this time of year. The snow begins to look like molten silver in the sunlight. That is my silver lining that reminds me that cold and white will give way to the brilliant yellows of glacier lilies, the vibrant hues of the pink shooting stars, and the wonderful new green of grass that has been waiting for its blanket of white to disappear so that it can grow and be productive once again.

Only another month or two, and these beauties pictured below will be back to gladden our hearts. It's an old picture of mine, but since they are still waiting beneath the snow for their moment to arrive, I'll joyously put a little color on this post.  :)

Re-Awakening

It has been a long time since I posted anything on my blog. With the events of my life in the last few weeks, I have come to the decision that I need to re-awaken my interest in some aspects of life. My camera used to be a huge part of my life, I took it everywhere. Now I practically have to dust it off when I decide I need to take a picture. So, over the last couple of days, I dusted my camera off, charged up the battery, and decided that I need to look for things to take pictures of. My goal for the next few months is to find something, no matter how small, that captures my attention and make a memory of that moment at least with a picture, if not with words.

Taking Blew on her run this evening, I noticed a bird nest in a tree just around the corner, that had snow in it. A simple thing, but I decided it was worthy of taking a picture. Of course, I didn't have my camera with me, so I had to stop at home, pick up my camera, and travel around the block one more time.

Blew was cooling off in the middle of the road and checking out the dog that is visiting four doors down when I came out of the house with my camera. I quickly snapped a couple of pictures of her, then started back around the block. She didn't hesitate, but gave one of her leaps of joy as we headed out once again.

 

Driving around the southern corner of the block, I let me eyes wander off the road and spotted this bird house with a clump of snow on top. Another image worthy of a photo.

 

 

 

 

And here is the bird nest that caught my eye. Doesn't it look like there is a snowy white cockatoo sitting in this nest? A little whimsy to give me pleasure in the day.

Blew took a shortcut through the block and beat me back home. She was waiting halfway up the snow bank, not quite on top of her throne and vantage point. She is a wonderful companion, and I'm glad that she condescends to be a part of my life.

Adopting an Older Brother

My house in February taken from in front of Bart's house.

In February, one of Blew's friends lost his owner in a snow mobile accident. I offered to care for Jesse, an 11 1/2 year old chocolate lab. I thought Blew loved Jesse, but I didn't realize what an adjustment it would be for her to have to share her home (and me) with another dog full time.

Jesse, taken March 26, 2013

It has been just over a month since Jesse came to live with us, and Blew has Jesse fully trained. Like all labs, Jesse will eat anything. Except for Blew's treats that I swear she leaves out just to tantalize him. She left a milk bone in the front room, and it lasted for days. And, he actually sleeps part of the night out in the front room. He is a good tempered dog, never fights back when she gets angry at him, and always has a tail to wag when he sees me. He has kept her closer to home than she would normally stay when I let her loose, although he does wander a bit with her when he is feeling good. I no longer have the problem of unwanted dog food spilled and left forgotten on the ground. Jesse cleans it up for me (see picture below).
 

Earlier this winter, two of my neighbors trapped several beaver that were causing havoc in certain areas of Island Park. They skinned them and used the rest of the beaver for bear and wolf bait (remember, these are Fish and Game/Forest Service employees). One of the guys threw the beaver skulls up on top of his enclosed trailer to dry out and keep away from four legged scavengers; you know, like coyotes, wolves, bears, and Blew. Ha...it didn't work with Blew, anyway.


The snow got deeper and deeper, and pretty soon Blew was able to get up on the trailer and began bringing home beaver skulls. She taunted Jesse with them, let him help her break them down into chewable bits, and carried them around like some sort of trophy. I did make sure it was okay that she was taking them. Actually, I told John that if he wanted them back, he would have to take them away from her!

This picture above is with skull number three. I think she brought home skull number five tonight. John told me they trapped a total of ten beaver. We are halfway there!

Look at her licking her chops! She knows she can find good stuff on the top of that trailer. I'll be happy when the snow finally melts enough she can't bring home the rest of her trophies.

Power Outage

I woke up Sunday morning at ten to six, reached over to turn on my light and it didn't turn on. It has been threatening to burn out for about two weeks, so I just assumed that it had finally bit the dust. I headed into the bathroom without turning on any other lights, flipped the switch in the bathroom, and discovered that the electricity was out. It was chilly in the house, but that was not unusual, since the temperatures at night had been 20 to 30 degrees below zero for the days preceding Sunday. I found out later that it was 35 below on Sunday (in some areas of Island Park, not necessarily at my house).

I went back to bed, assuming someone else had probably called the electric company to alert them that our power was out. As I lay there, trying to decide whether I should really get up or not, I remembered earlier this summer when I was without electricity twice, and it had only been my house both times. So, I jumped out of bed and called the outage in.

I don't care how cold it is, Mom!  Come take me for a walk!!!

At about seven, I received my first call to tell me that church had been cancelled because of the cold. By the time seven-thirty rolled around, I was really starting to get cold. I crawled back in bed to try and get warm. I heard the crunch of tires as the electric company's work crew cruised our neighborhood to try and find the problem. I thought the power would soon be on. Ha. It turns out it was an underground problem, and it took until 10:30 before they were able to fix it. In the meantime, my wonderful home teachers brought over a little propane heater to put in my kitchen so my pipes wouldn't freeze, and I had built a fire in the wood stove downstairs for the first time in the ten years I have lived here.

I only had to endure 5 1/2 hours (my neighbor told me yesterday that the power was out when he got up at 5 a.m.) of no electricity in this bitter cold. Thinking back to our first major power outage in Idaho City, this outage counted as nothing. I remember that we were out of electricity for three days that first time in Idaho City, and it was almost as cold there that winter. A news team caught me out shoveling snow off our walkway to the front door and stopped and asked if they could come into the house and interview me for that night's news...about what it was like to be without electricity for so long. I wouldn't let them come inside. Imagine what it is like to go three days without being able to do dishes (it isn't that easy to melt snow for water).

Besides, they should have headed further up the mountain to Placerville, New Centerville, Centerville, and Pioneerville, because those towns were without electricity for seven to ten days. 

It really makes me appreciate electricity!

Here's some more pictures I took Sunday after the electricity came back on and I took Blew with me to return the propane heater:

Come on! Let's run!

The guy's snowmobile trail from the forest service sheds to the groomed trail on Old Chick Creek Road.

Swans on the Henrys Fork of the Snake River by Angler's Lodge

Cold water meets colder air.

Last Chance subdivision and Sawtelle Peak

 

 

First Official Farrar Family Christmas Party

We decided as a family to begin having our Christmas celebration together prior to Christmas so that each individual family could spend their Christmases with their immediate family without that guilty feeling of having to visit another home on Christmas.
There were only two siblings and their families, plus a niece and nephew from another family, who were unable to attend this year. Although we missed the ones who couldn't come, the rest of us still had a fun time playing games and visiting with one another. Here's to many more Farrar Family Christmas parties!

My two (so far) great niece

My great nephew

Merlin and Michael compete while Mom keeps score

My youngest nephew (love his hair!!!)

M&M compete, with Carma keeping score. (And yes, that's nephew Ryder, asleep in the background.)

Alicia and Jason

M helps guide her mother's ping pong ball into the cup.

Amanda and Mike's turn

Merlin and Lynette were the funnest to watch! You can tell they've been married for a few years.  :)