Sunday, January 4, 2015

2015...here I come !

 ...and here we are.  A new year, all wrapped up in crazy, and it's only the 4th day. Tonight or tomorrow night is the Wolf Moon, January is the month of the Full Wolf Moon. It appeared when wolves howled in hunger outside the villages. It is also known as the Old Moon.   

  The weather has been erratic.  2 days ago it was 40. Today it snowed and was cold as all get out with crazy winds.  Right now it's 15 and feels like 0.  Wednesday the high will be 7.  The low will be an actual 0.  The furnace is running a lot, even with the thermostat set at 67. I am chilly, even with sweaters on and blankets.  All the critters are staying in and barely going out...just to do their business, then right back in again. As a result of that, they are all sluggish and snappy.

  I haven't been out at all today, though yesterday I did walk down to the mailbox. (Or was that Friday?) lol I have been hit with the stomach bug going around...feeling bad since early on New Year's Eve.  No symptoms except serious stomach cramps and pain. And exhaustion. Spent most of  Wednesday and Thursday in and out of bed. Had to cancel a couple of appointments. Felt a little better Friday and much better Saturday. So, naturally, I did too much and today have been back at a borderline place again. Stayed out of bed except for nighttime the past 3 days though.  Stomach just icky all day, and now and then some stomach cramps. But otherwise, okay ?  Everybody and their brother is sick around here.  And all around the country as well.


  The truck was supposed to be repaired on Friday. 5 PM came and no word from the mechanic.  We called and there was no answer, so we left a message. Saturday morning we called again, and again it went to voice mail and we left a message. Have not heard a word. My theory is that A) He was kidnapped by gypsies OR  B) He has been struck down by the dreaded flu too.  My son went into town and said the garage was closed and all locked up, and he could see the truck sitting in the center bay.  No idea what is going on.  Then on our way south on Saturday morning, the check engine light came on in my Honda.  SERIOUSLY ?!?!?!?!
Went by the auto parts place and they did the free diagnostic on it and said it was the catalytic converter.  It's either clogged or is starting to go bad. The car seems to drive and run alright, so we bought a bottle of CC cleaner and poured it in. It has to run so he has something to drive to work. Please God.  I have nowhere to go, so we can make do with the one vehicle.

   I live in a small rural area, snuggled between a small town and a village. Thursday night a 30 year old man not far from us was murdered in his home.  The police caught the guy, apparently it was some sort of revenge thing. But believe me, we were all quaking in our boots for a little while there.  Just a little too close to home. ..


   I made a lovely lentil soup for lunch today. A new recipe that has coconut milk and Indian spices in it, and it was wonderful. Neither of us were very hungry come suppertime, so I made us each a bowl of miso soup, with scallions, chickweed and seaweed in it. It was remarkably good, and my stomach seems to have stopped cramping. Hmmm...the fermented miso, perhaps ?   Ah...the mystery.


   Well, it's late and I'm tired. Got my Mother Earth News blog finished and submitted (late).  Got my kitchen cleaned up. Think I'm ready for some shut eye.

  Happy 2015....






Namaste.
  

7 comments:

Mariodacatsmom said...

Hi friend, Sorry I've been missing for so long. Hopefully I'm back on track now. So sorry you have gotten that bad bug that's going around. Our state is full of it too, but so far I've escaped. I hope we manage to avoid it all winter. How horrible to have a murder in your neighborhood. I'd be locking the doors and pulling the shades down tight. Glad they caught the responsible person.

Mama Pea said...

Sure hope your tummy troubles are all gone by now. And that you have your truck back.

We're all hale and hardy in our household (knock, knock) but the germs going around our area seem to be bad colds, sinus infections and pneumonia! Our temps have been so low (21 below a couple of nights ago) that maybe all of the germs will die a fast death!

Take it easy, be good to yourself, and don't work so hard just because you feel a teensy bit better! Hugs.

Ol'Buzzard said...

You spoke of wolves: We lived in the arctic for a number of years. We notices a strange occurrence. Every night, during the winter, at eleven p.m. the village dogs would howl and at the same time the wolves would around the village would kick off. You could set your clock by it. I do not know if the dogs were the catalyst or the wolves; but timing was a mystery.
the Ol'Buzzard

Akannie said...

HI Mary..

Apparently it was a revenge thing and not just a random killing. That made me feel a little better. (yikes) Glad you guys are steering clear of the bugs too--it seems to be everywhere. One of my cousins said that the school their grandkids go to closed for a week because 75% of the students/teachers were out sick ! And people from all over seem to be sick. I'm lucky that what we've had has been mild compared to most !

Hope your 2015 is looking bright !!

Akannie said...

Mama Pea...all is well. Truck is home, car is running fine (I think) and we are all doing okay here. Silly cold here though, temps around 3 degrees with winds of 30 mph...not a great combination.

Been taking it real easy. Gonna take down the Xmas decos today...

Akannie said...

Ol' Buzzard...apparently there have been sightings of what they call Coywolves (cross between coyote and wolf). They have mostly been quite a ways north of here, but are drifting south.

We have that same phenomenon here in the summer with the songdogs...at almost the same time every evening, the coyote pups will start howling and the dogs out here in the country all join in. Kinda cool, in a creepy sort of way. lol

Rita said...

I am all caught up, my friend!! Sorry I haven't been around. I wasn't feeling the greatest from about Halloween till this turning over of the new year. Not sick-sick--just fibro fog and arthritis stuff. Was still in good spirits, just extra sore and tired. Anyways, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. ;)

I sure hope you got the truck back, the Honda is still running okay, and that you are feeling better. There has been so much crud going around this winter.

I am so excited for you to be a Mother Earth News blogger!!! That's fabulous! I recently learned from Leah (DIL) that one of the terms for the new earth-conscious, tree-hugging, recycler types (which we called hippies) is "crunchy". I guess it derived from granola-lover--LOL! (We're going to sew our own cloth pads/panty liners and Leah said that some people would think that was just way too crunchy for them.)

I hope to visit more often in 2015! *hugs*