NOT the weekend I had planned...

So, what's that old saying.. "the best laid plans"... or "If you want to make God laugh, TELL him your plans".... well, it's seems that both apply to my plans of this past weekend.

I woke up around 2:00 am Friday morning with my heart racing... I laid in bed for a few moments, wondering if I had had some kind of a night mare and then listened to hear if some noise woke me. Neither idea applied... I got up, went to the bathroom, and tried to pull it together and figure out what was going on. I didn't feel that great, but in the middle of night out of a sound sleep...who would, so I went back to bed. For the rest of the night I was up and down, not the way I felt at first, but just not feeling that great. Around 7:00, Ed kissed me goodbye and headed out for work, since I had nothing pressing that day, I decided to sleep again and just get up when I did. About an hour later, I gave up and got up.. still not feeling great.

I had a few dogs in for boarding, so I went to get them out and fed, and as I was going down to the kennel, I felt like I completely ran out of energy. I pushed threw, got the dogs out and their breakfast made, and then headed back  upstairs, thinking "I need to sit down".... I sat for a bit, then went to bring the dogs in and again, that same... out of energy feeling, followed by thinking I might faint. This scared me... so once the dogs were in, I decided I was going to call Ed home from work. I didn't dare head to the barn....

I called Ed at work and asked him to come home. Now since this is something that I NEVER do, everyone knew right away something was up. Ed must have called Kass, because she was right on the phone, and then Deb kept calling to check on me, but all I could do was sit in my chair.

Once Ed was home, I asked him to get the barn chores done, check the dogs, and then told him I  need to run down to the local ergent care and see what was going on. I felt kind of foolish, because one minute I wasn't great and then a few minutes later, I felt OK and was worried that I had "worried everyone else" for no reason. But we headed down to the ergent care just the same.

They checked me in, everything seemed OK.. blood pressure, temp... but then they checked my pulse and the nurse said "I'm just going to hook you up and take a look at your heart"... and then some how I knew (and she did in a mere couple of seconds)... I was in a-fib......I couldn't believe it!!!!! Now, we are well versed in "a-fib" because Ed has dealt with this for years, and I thought, "no way can it be my turn".... but sure enough.

so, they asked all the questions, "have I had this before, do I drink, smoke or whatever"... on and on.. of which I say no. And then on top of that, with the farm and the animals and the like, sitting around is NOT my life style, so why in world would this be happening. They kept me there for a while and I did begin to feel better, so talked to Ed about what we would have to finish up when I got home... mainly.. that Kas and I were going to have a yard sale at her house on Saturday and I hadn't finished packing up all the things I was going to bring. Ed smiled and said "hon... you're not having a yard sale... you'll be going to the hospital".... What????? I needed to be home... too much to do!!!

but, he hit the nail on the head.... a few hours later, after a nice ambulance ride.. I find myself at the hospital. They had already scheduled all kinds of tests and scans, so I wasn't in my room for a few moments and I was off. All the tests and scans showed everything perfectly normal (in fact, the doctor made a nice comment on how healthy and strong my heart  is)... and because I hadn't had anything to eat... they decided that I would be cardio-verted right away and get the heart back into normal rhythm.... this was all done before Ed even made it to the hospital. (he had gone back to the farm to make sure all the animals were settled before heading down).

I had an over night at the hospital (a very nice lobster roll for supper) and by Saturday morning I was more than anxious to get out and get home. My heart stayed in rhythm all night and the next morning the doctor came in and said... "it was unexplained why it happened"... teasing him I asked if Ed and I could have the "family plan"......

I have felt great since being home, the doctor said it would be good if I could get some weight off, watch the caffeine  and   resume my life and do everything that I always do. Other than feeling just a tad tired, I am back to normal and feeling great.

There is an excellent chance that it won't happen again... or for a very long time.. which is fine by me. It's a scary feeling, but one thing for sure, I have a super new appreciation for what Ed deals with when his heart acts up..... and I know we have been married for almost 32 years (on august 22nd).. and we share many things, often dress alike and even finish each other's thoughts, but sharing this... well.... now it's gone a bit too far!!!!!

Nate's Birthday...

August 1st is Nate's birthday, so over the weekend, the family came together to celebrate. I feel so blessed when ever I can see the "grands"... let alone seeing them together. Abbie is still madly in love with her little cousin, and Reagan is growing in leaps and bounds, and is becoming "more like a little person all the time"....

Our dear friend, Glenn, was visiting from Tennessee. He and his family always try to make the trip up this time of year... so, when he came into town we were so happy that he came to the birthday party.

He was so happy to meet Reagan... last year when he came, Kass was just beginning to tell people that she was expecting... so to have him here in real life, is a treat for Glenn... 

It still seems odd to me at times... that our high school friends...who we hung out with and "got in trouble with" are now celebrating the arrival of grand children with us!!!!

Nate was up for doing anything fancy for his birthday.. he was just as happy having people over to the house and enjoying the fire pit.....

And birthday PIE!!!!!(blueberry I might add - what else would it be this time of year???)

It was a fun evening.... family, good food, old friends... this is certainly one of the jewels in life.....

Well... unless you are three.... then your jewel is being able to play with Tee-tee's computer!!!!!

So, the summer on the farm continues in it's usual routine... I feel that the day to day stuff isn't so exciting, so I know I don't write as many stories as I did when we were building. But, its all good. Ben came out to trim the horse's feet... old Silver is hanging in there... he's having a good summer, but as you can see, keeping weight on him hasn't been easy. I'm not sure "what" the decision will be about trying to get him threw another winter.... I can't quite think about that right now.... for the time, though, he is going along pretty well.

Every few weeks, Ed and I try to make a check of the bees. They seem to be doing well too. They're building up the hive and seem to be quite strong. I hope we have a good warm fall of flowers and such, so they can get the honey stores in for the winter....

We added a third box a while back, I was hoping to see some honey stores in it, but they are still building up the comb. (Do you see that one little bee half way in a comb cell??) I've been talking with other bee folks, and it's isn't uncommon to have them just get the comb built and not use it over the winter. and in fact, it will give them a jump for next spring....I hope we get them threw the winter!!!






The two lower boxes have good activity... here we have a frame of good "brood".. the ones that are capped are baby bees that will hatch soon, and the uncovered are the lava that when they reach a certain size will be covered and then hatch. Other than finding honey stores, seeing the lava is a good sign of a strong and working hive. so... we'll see....



Hard to think we are into August already.... we have some busy weekends coming up and dare I say... Labor Day will be upon us.....

first food!!!

Just had to share.... Reagan had his first taste of "real" food for dinner last night!!! My Kass... she is quite the gal, she got some freshly picked summer squash from Deb's garden, and made some up for Reagan. She actually got "so  much" of it, that the rest  was stored away for more meals.  I would say from the look of the photos, his Momma's cooking was a big hit!!!!!

bye bye piggie...

One of my little guinea pigs passed away today. We called her Penelope and she and her two sisters were a "surprise" from our piggie Franka. They were born on 2/09/08 (I did a blog about that) and they were so cute!!!

We kept two of the sisters, and gave the other sister to Deb.... to live with her bunny. Last year Franka passed.. and the two sisters continued to live together.

I don't know how she died.. she was fine last night and whistled at me this morning, just one of those things I guess. She hadn't been gone long when I found her. I just worry about Curley, she has never lived alone and I hope she'll be OK. It probably wouldn't be wise to get another piggie just now as Curley is "old", and a young one might be too much for her...

guess I'll just wait and see how she does...

so, rest in peace "Penny"  you were a nice little piggie and a lucky one too, since you lived your whole life with the people who loved you from the beginning.....

and here it is... 5 months!!!!

 And here he is!!!! "Our" little boy is five months!!! Kass got these adorable photos of him, and this "is" exactly "who" he is. He smiles all the time, loves to be busy, and certainly what you would call a "good baby". He's rolling from his back to his belly, and is beginning to  schooch along, so it won't be long before Kass won't be able "leave" him. I have a feeling he's going to be a very active little guy once he finds his feet. So Happy 5 months little Reagan, and we can't even begin to tell you how much we love you !!!!!

beach night..

Last night, Ed and Nate went to see a show.. it was a Father's Day gift from Kass... so with the menfolks heading out for the night, that left us with time for our own fun. How's this for supper... a hot fudge sundae and a cup of coffee.... well, I did have a "real supper" too, but dessert is what's best.

Reagan certainly would have been happy to get his hands on his Mommy's sundae, but he has a couple months more before he's ready to handle the 'big stuff"....

After our sundaes, I wanted to take Debbie out for a little hike around the beach. It's a good place to "work" a service puppy with so many things to see and do.....

We walked all around and went threw the amusement park. Being a Sunday evening, it wasn't so busy... but they still had the rides running, and there were enough people. Debbie took it all in stride - just as I thought she would.... she is fearless....

I even had her "stay" in front of the haunted house.. filled with it's creepy sounds... she could hardly care less and was way more interested in the group of kids waiting to go inside....

We walked down by the ocean... it was a cool evening, especially for summer, but she was enjoying it all and taking it all in.... She got lots of pats from people walking past and thought she was quite the little star...

I don't think that she wanted to leave.....














Back at Kassy's though, while we waited for the boys to get home, she fell right to sleep... dreaming of her fun (and first evening) at the beach....

puppy raiser cookout...

What a fun weekend this has turned out to be. After the wedding yesterday, we were packing up and heading down to the beach house. My friend and fellow puppy raiser from New York State, Lee, takes the house for a week and invites the rest of the puppy raisers to come and have a lobster bake. It's nice when we can cook them outside and leave all the "mess" in the driveway.

My dear Ed.. the master chef... pretty good for a guy who really doesn't care for lobsters or clams... (he had a steak on the grill --- which I cooked)....

Everyone brought some special treats to go with the lobsters and clams.. and it was a feast fit for a king or in our case.... puppy raisers.... doesn't this table look yummy????

Ah, yes.... now this is what it's all about. For the record.. I ate two, and then had two to bring home. I love lobster!!!! and hope we'll have some more feeds before the summer's end.

Here's the gang... course you know when you say puppy raisers, you also mean the puppies too.... and we had a good batch again this year....

The doggies are as excited to see  each other as the humans are. You can tell that they really are good friends....

Abbie was with us because Sadie and Jesse were off on their honeymoon... she was "in charge of Debbie"....

They're beginning to warm up to each other, but Abbie tells me that she still misses Rylie.

Uncle Rick... your suppose to be eating lobsters.. not children!!!!!

Zuzu just cracks me up... she does everything in her poodle style.. including.. "I want to have fun and be silly, but no one can see me doing that!!!"

Debbie enjoyed smoozing with everyone... she really is a charmer and had Tom right where she wanted him. The weather was perfect, the company was simply grand and the food wonderful... such a perfect time....












And at the end of it all... Papa and Abbie were completely exhausted.....

the wedding of Sadie and Jesse...

Saturday, July 20, 2013.. at 11:00 AM the wedding ceremony of Sadie Mae and Jesse John.... at Sweetgrass Farm.........

We are set up, and ready to go......

Food arrives..... a traditional pig roast!!!!!

The house is alive with activity... everyone is getting ready for the big day.....

The woodstove serves today as a flower spot....

Abbie is taking this very seriously and listens carefully as to what "her job" will be...

My Mom and Dad.. and Amy, take their turn going down the "isle"....

Pastor Abby, Jesse, and the grooms men....

the flower girl.....

Here comes the bride......

(and Tatter nearly trips Ed!!!!)














Kassy....

the vows.....

a shady spot, and perfect view of the activities......

exchange of rings....

The wedding party.... of course we had a professional photographer, so these blog photos are what I could catch while trying to play Mother of the Bride.... and I will just let the rest speak for themselves... but I will be so excited to see what MaryEllen captured with her camera....

The Manchester family.......