Short road trip

Today we went over to Drummond, a very small town 40 miles to the east of us. Drummond has an interesting history being a company town up until the 1930’s. We stopped at the little museum (very impressive btw) and saw lots of pictures and artifacts from the logging days of the past. Jim posed in this picture to show just how big the slice of wood really is. The tree it came from was one time the tallest white pine in the country...until lightning struck and knocked 40 feet off the top of it. 

After the museum we went to a nearby lake so Rudy could take a dip. Next was lunch at the bar some friends own...right in town.  I think their place makes a total of three business in Drummond. Not much left from the days of of logging camps and lumber mills. Also not many giant white pines left either. Thank goodness they didn’t cut all of them. 

This is a test..again

I’m trying out a new app that’s supposed to work with blogger. Let me know if you can see these pictures.

 

A rough-legged hawk, somewhat out of its summer range.

Mama duck and some of her young’uns

 Beyond the birdbath!

The Rest of the Story

After my last update about having the flu and not being able to get rid of the cough, I went to urgent care, sat in the waiting room with all the other sickies and 3 hours later found out I had pneumonia!

These two were REALLY sick!

I was given a prescription for Z-Pack antibiotics and some cough suppressants.  I was back at the clinic yesterday and the physicians assistant I saw said I was good to go!  I go back in a month for another chest x-ray just to be sure.

Not much else going on here mainly because I wasn't sure if I could go out walking like we usually do.  I can now, but the cold air still makes my lungs feel not quite right.  Take it slow he said, a little more each day until you're back to where you were before you got sick.

Back a few posts ago I mentioned getting an Instant Pot.  This appliance is magical!  (Thank you Jenny for the link you shared.)  I saw a post on Facebook where a gal made potato salad in it!  Yup cook the potatoes and eggs together for 4 minutes, cool them down, make your dressing and voila potato salad! 

Picture from Facebook

My bowl of homemade potato salad!

I really don't remember the last time I made it, but this was so darned easy that I know I'll be making it this summer.  Now I have to remember just exactly what I used to use to make the dressing.  It was good, but missing a few flavors.  I'll get there though!  No more tubs of Walmart Amish potato salad for us!

Checking In

It's been awhile since I posted anything here, so here's a review of what we've been up to.  We both had the horrible flu that's been going around.  I had it worse and longer than Jim.  It's been 7 years since we've been sick and this was awful!  Just when I thought I was feeling better I had a day that I seriously thought I was going to die!  Well, maybe that's a bit extreme, but my whole body hurt, I had a fever and all I could do was sit in my chair with my blankie and nap most of the day.  I got over most of those symptoms, but still have a nagging cough.

On Tuesday we celebrated Rudy's Big Day.  That's what we called his gotcha day.  He sure has turned into a nice dog.  So glad he's part of our family.  He takes us for a walk almost everyday.  This is one of our favorite places.  It's a connecting road off the main road with very little traffic.  It's just a nice place to walk especially when there's snow on the ground.

Last Friday I met up with 4 relatives of mine.  I think they'd be called first cousins, twice removed.  I remember all of them from when I was a little girl and we'd go to their towns to visit their families.  Except for one of the ladies, it's been close to 60 years since I've seen them.  We're Facebook friends, but that's not the same as meeting at a wonderful, quiet place on the University of Wisconsin Campus for lunch.  

It was a fun lunch and I was surprised by some of the details I remembered that were actually correct!  Like what the old farm looked like, that Uncle Walter always wore bib overalls and that there was always tons of food when we came to visit.

Not much else going on around here.  The cold weather is gone and the snow we got last week should be melted by the end of the weekend.  Yay!

Hope everyone stays well.  Like the experts say, wash you hands often, use hand sanitizer and try to avoid germs! The flu shot wasn't the correct mix this year.  

So Much for Walking Everyday

I spoke too soon!  Tuesday Jim had signs of a cold, Wednesday I had the same signs and now we're both miserable!  No walking yesterday or today.  Besides being so cold out there, it hurts too much to even think about going outside.  Any suggestions on how to explain that to a dog?  Rudy just doesn't get it!

It's 2018

No new year's resolutions for me. Like every year, I want to continue walking everyday and perpetually try to lose weight. We’ve been walking even in this cold and I’ve finally come up with the best combination of layers to stay warm. It isn’t pretty, but it works.

Rudy doesn’t mind the cold at all.  He’s quite a dog. Actually nothing bothers him!  He just wants to be with us and see what kind of treasures he can find along the way.

This deer rib cage was the second one he found recently. Don’t know why people have to dump them along this dead end road, but Rudy sure likes finding them. He also found a leg that really excited him. 

It’s going to be another cold week and we’ll continue to go for our walks. Looking on the bright side, we don’t have much snow and there’s been plenty of sunshine!