Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Pa is home!

Yippie skippy, just a quick note to let ya'll know that Pa is back home. Thanks for all your love vibrations, good thoughts, lit candles, prayers, and the odd sacrifice of a bull to Thor. Oh heh heh..that was us doing the bull thing..bloody heathens...! Apparently(fingers and toes crossed) he is on the mend, the broken rib is healing, although he is in pain he is able to waddle around the house unassisted. So that's a good thing. Mom is just relieved to have him home. He was not doing well last week, and I half expected to fly home at a moments notice...

His cancer is confined to just the tumour, nothing in his lymph glands(yaaaa!). So, early Dec. he starts radiation therapy to shrink the cancer cells into a blackhole of nothingness. Sigh..
Well, that is excellent news!
Thank you all for your support with this, it has meant a million to me, as well as Pa .

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Autumn glory...blood sacrifices..



Raven stone in the golden leaves...



Autumn glory, not in some hidden wood...



It's in front of my Hut, in the backyard.
The above is my private retreat from all things annoying. I call it The Hut. It used to be a potting shed, way back when.Chased the massive spiders out. Scrubbed the wooden floors. I insulated it, sheet rocked the walls, installed power, and turned it into my retreat from dishes. Or shop work...Or the Hubbinator, much as I adore him. But we are together 24 hours a day, so sometimes a woman needs a break.
It's cozy and good. I draw in there, burn some incense, do yoga. ..listen to some Viking metal. It's also the guest house when folks stay overnight, it even has a heater.



It's wonderful to sit in the doorway, sip some tea and watch the song birds feasting at the feeders. I tried to get a decent shot of one of the hummingbirds who hang out all year, but the little bugger was waay too wise to my ways.
The trees around us are golden, red, burgundy, -in short fall is in full blast of color. The pics did not capture the brightness of the yellows..I love this time of year, even though I know winter will be a seemingly endless rain fest. -Which, has started in earnest since I took these pics.
It has been pissing rain for the last few days. hard as hell rain sideways, pelting straight down, beating the leaves off the trees...flooding in the side yard, endless mud..Then this morning we opened the shop to find that the roof is leaking, so up the Hubby went on the ladder to patch the holes. Seems fixed so far. The wind blasting, the rain, Dan says it's almost like Scotland, but not as cold. yet.
Still it's autumn and I love it. Even the pelting storm.
Okay now for the Blood Sacrifice..


Thumb +Grinder =Blood Sacrifice

Here at the smithy we take safety pretty darn seriously..but even we, trained professionals can have an accident creep right up and bite us on the ..thumb in the Hubby's case.
Sometimes power tools show us who is really boss, and this is what happened yesterday.
The Hubby was grinding welds with a hand grinder(see above blue gadget), the welds are in some tight spots, so he was valiantly trying to get at them. Apparently(I was in the house having a tea break...) the grinder decided it wanted human flesh so it tore a huge, gory gash in his thumb. Well they call that tool a hand grinder for a reason...

Blood, blood and blood. Throbbing pain, cursing and me trying to channel all the first aid training I have. He washed it, I bandaged it. So far so good. I told him if he wanted to get out of his turn at dishes, he only had to ask. This was waaay over the top..
Things are looking good today, no gangrene, but it does put the fear into you.
It's so easy when using power tools to be lulled into a trance..esp. when you are grinding welds for hours on end. Unfortunately this grinder can catch on an edge and whip itself out of your hands and into your lap.
I know, I have had one of these try to saw my chest in half length wise...I was pretty damn alert after that, yesir-ee!
He still isn't sure how it happened, but if the shop Gods wanted blood this week they got it.Iam just glad he has an attached thumb and not a nub.