Celiac maybe?

 Celiac disease is an immune disease in which people can't eat gluten because it will damage their small intestine. If you have celiac disease and eat foods with gluten, your immune system responds by damaging the small intestine. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley.

My husbands blood test came back with high Celiac markers. He still needs to have a colonoscopy but this has changed the game. Two weeks before his blood test we decided to stop breads, donuts, bisquets anything with wheat. And it worked. His pains stopped, his mood improved, he is more regular. We now need to see what damage was done by a year long wait not seeing a doctor about this during the pandemic. The first run of tests never showed this but one year later with a better group, he is seeing real test results. He has had the weight fluxuations, undigested foods, rashes, eczema, lethargy, moods and constant abdominal pains. 

And when you go to see the doctor, it has changed. For his scans, he goes in alone, I wait in the car, not allowed in the waiting room because of the virus. Not fun when it is 20 degrees outside. And it is a two hour drive to get to the doctors office. There are no local labs so lab work, two hour drive. Our friend had colon cancer (she is still with us) she had to drive 4 hours a day 5 days a week to get chemo for 8 months because her insurance would not pay for closer chemo to be administered. Her family took turns each day driving her. After the drive and the doctor, you might want lunch, but most places are take out. In winter this means pick up and eat in your car. Might be the normal for some but as a rule I never eat in my truck to avoid mice and ants. But I am willing to do this as we have no choice. We sometimes go to a park and that is nice.

So now we have the colonoscopy to see what is going on inside my husband. Liver, pancreas, gall bladder and intestines. We are hoping that by the right nutrition we can get him healthy again. He has always eaten healthy now just without wheat. 

Meanwhile I have covered our veggie gardens with plastic. Ordered new cloth again to put in next years plants. That took a lot of time to pull down the t-posts and cattle panels. But the deer were let in

to eat all the leftover plants. 

Stones

It has been a simple quiet Christmas for us this year. No one to visit only us and gifts sent out to friends and family. The farm still needs to be fed even in the 10 degree weather. Hay, horses, poultry and an older shepard. She wears a dog diaper when she is inside. It keeps my work a lot simpler to clean up after her. 

We also have an older cat that has her own room, heating pad and litter. She comes out during the day but is put in her room at night. She is a lot happier with that. The only downside is our guest room is occupied for a while. But as this is a pandemic, no guest have stayed.

But I have installed led and solar lights in our coop and kennel. Heating pads for the outside pets. Inside we have warmth and plenty of food.

We watched Christmas Mass on line for the first time ever -not going to church. It was strange but that is the motto of 2020.  We had some cooked ham and plain yams, a simple dinner. As December comes to a close I have jury duty, doctor appointments for my husband and an odd feeling things are not getting better in 2021. This has been the Lentiest year for us.

But I have prayer and hope and that should be enough but it is hard. Winter is a hard season for me. I am looking forward to springtime and getting into the garden again.

 

Papa Noel in Louisiana

One of the cool things about life in Louisiana. It does not get very cold and rarely snows and Papa Noel and his white flying alligators. This year Mardi Gras was cancelled because of Covid. But this statue  was set up way before the virus in Morgan City.

Just a neat well done thing I had to share.

 

Are you Obtuse or Acute?

 If you want to know why people do NOT wear mask here is a good read from the Atlantic.

A very good read about how/why certain people do not wear a mask and will continue to be obtuse.

I posted this on facebook and have gotten a lot of response from both sides of the masking issue. And my observation is this is a great article to cull out the idiots in my life. I already knew who would, one of the perks of getting older, reading people.

Blue Bah Humbug?

This is not my cat but I can relate.. This is a 2020 Christmas cat. I had Jury duty (4 months)and still do until the end of this year, yay. We are driving to doctor appointments now to find out what my husband had going on. We have had no visitors and no travel plans for the entire year, we were going to Japan this year. But on the bright side, we had a bumper crop of vegetables, we got to stay home the farm, we both can work from home, our animals are healthy and it has been peaceful here. We have enough firewood chopped and stacked to get through the winter and we have enough hay for our horses as we slow feed them now. I had a quilt client whose husband lost his job and they have a large family. They could not pay the remainder of the balance due, but I let it go and sent the quilt. One less burden for them to bear. 

I have been working on other artistic endeavours and have not quilted for a while.

I have learned all about laser cutters, resin work, and LED illumination creations. So many unique new forms of art and technology out here these days. And you can watch how other makers thanks to internet and youtube. It is very exciting. I hope to master some of these new skills. 

So this year the has been quite the wild ride. I look forward to life without masks and getting close to humans again. I hope and pray people get healthier again.

 

De-Liver us

So 14 months ago something happened to my 47 year old husbands health. Overnight, his belly swelled up, he lost weight became tired and was very pale. Took him to the clinic multiple test and scans revealed normal but enlarged liver. Nothing was given and nothing was done, no referrals. Then the Covid arrived and we stayed away from hospitals. Then again the pain in the belly, lethargy, pale gums swollen belly trouble digesting or not even hungry started up worse. We got a referral from our vet, our horse vet,to see a DO versed in digestive issues. Test came back all normal but enlarged liver and elevated blood work. Finally got a referral sent to a specialist in Springfield, MO. We are waiting for that. It is December, virus is bad and hospitals are full. We have no choice he is not getting better. So, hopefully we will get an appt. sometime this year, maybe? Very frustrating dealing with an illness and no answers. Everything is a shot in the dark. But I am not giving up. 

I will be giving him milk thistle, pearl probiotics and see what works. The Lysine and the Essiac helped at first, but now seem not as potent. The DO seems to think it might be an food allergy or intolerance from a tick bite reaction back in 2019. My husband reacts badly to any chigger or tick bite. Just have to wait and see. I thought it might be cancer as this seems to be prevalent these days. He will need to be endoscoped to find out more. 

On thing of note here in the Ozarks they have a traveling doctor who endoscope several people at a time without anesthesia at the hospitals and clinics once a month. For this procedure you need to be asleep otherwise you risk movement and a tear and the procedure is very painful. People are being endoscoped here in the Ozarks for years now without being put under. Yes, really. We will be going into the city hospital for the right care and the right surgery.

I had some uterine scarring that had to be chemically burned from my uterus, no anesthesia was given to me, no numbing. It was the most horrible pain I have ever had. The nurse seemed to not care. She was very lucky I did not tear her head off as my husband was with me. Turns out I was supposed to have been numbed.  Ozark medical care- one step above veteran care.

Puff and whale

We got a chance to stop in our local art gallery/bakery this week. They sell locally made art and homemade goods for reasonable prices and the artist get 90% of the money from the gallery. It is called the neighborhood tribe gallery in Mountain View, MO.

They make the best soaps and scrubs and more. They also make bath bombs and other sweet seasonal bath delights. They sell mittens, stuffed toys, photos, jewelry, bowls, art you never know what they will have.

I bought gingerbread body scrub and I kid you not it was like bathing in a gingerbread house. Delightful and nothing artificial. Good enough to eat. Everything in make by local artists.

When I came home our cat inspected a hand crochet whale we bought. I love stuffed animals and especially sea life. It was just so nice to sit and take in the wonders of this store. Calm and peaceful and relaxing to shop. It is small but has a ton of seating, plants and things to see. And it is like this all year long.

 

Serbia the new Williamsburg

I read this article by the New York Post about new yorkers moving out of the US and to Serbia. I feel sad for the poor Serbians. They have to wear masks and live with the New Yorkers. Now the rest of the world can have more reason to not like Americans. The Yorkers are happy they do not have to wear masks and how cheap everything is in Serbia. They are calling it the Williamsburg of NY. I wonder if they will shoot the slow horse buggies over there like they do to the Amish in PA? But with all the crime and violence they have in Serbia I think things will even out with the new money moving into Serbia.

The "welcome to Serbia stick"

Seems our world is changing in ways I never would have imagined.

Meanwhile over here in Missouri the virus is raging. Hospitals are full and with the holiday seasons beginning things are going to get messy. But Missourians are dead set against mask wearing. Our town is proof of that. It is so bad here that the big MO city hospitals are no longer taking any patients from rural areas as we are 75% of the covid carrying cases they see. Our small church no one is wearing masks and they are carrying on as normal. At least 4 people out of 20 got the virus last month from our church. Yet they want to still carry on full steam ahead like normal. I am grateful I am married to a man who thinks hey we need to stay away from these situations. I do miss church and all that but I am not willing to chase the past. I hope people would come around and say hey I might need to wear a mask and not sicken my loved ones, but that is not happening. Everyone seems to just not care and wants to live their life unchanged.

Pfizer me, no Pfizer you!

So Pfizer pushed the virus vaccine out faster than shit out of a duck. This means it was not tested as it should have been. What are the side effects? What are the reactions? 

We do know that it is only good for a short time. You can still get reinfected.

I know some people want life to return to normal ASAP, but what part of pandemic do they not understand?

This means humans could have reactions or lifelong health issues using this vaccine. Does this mean it turns people into zombies hardly, but it is 2020 so who knows.

What I have learned that many families have lost jobs, school time and family members. Everyone has been affected by this virus in some way. Either from lack of TP, mask rashes, lost income, lost loves, and lack of human contact. We have heard so many stories that will never make the news. I'm a glad we live out in the woods away from people. But our friends and family live in big cities and have to deal with this new normal more than we do. Between the violent politics and the health issues our country seems to be falling under the bus.  

It is sad we can't all put on our big person undies and help each other instead of fighting. 

But if we each try to do some small good each day; we can make the country a bit better.

Fall Sunset and firewood

Sunset on Friday after a cold front came into the Ozarks.

Husband and our horse, Bean, watching as he cuts down a walnut tree. This tree was dead and we took it down for firewood. It was very dry and perfect for firewood, no seasoning required. It took two days of cutting, splitting and hauling out of the pasture. We got our workout last week. 

 

Parsley, peppers and celery, oh my!

This is a 1 gallon bucket of parsley in my sink. We got a ton of late season herbs. Using garden fabric kept the roots warm and hardy.

I have been pulling up the dead plants, t-posts, fabric and irrigation to put the gardens to bed for winter. I was blessed with celery and more peppers. Even a few tomatoes were still on the vines.

 So today I am processing all these tasty veggies when I thought it was all done. A nice blessing to have.

 

We are number 8 it ain't great

Current map of Missouri and the deaths so far in each county. Our county is at 8 but I know for sure it is double that number.

Oh and look at that upswing in those cases. I have to say that in our small Missouri town we are the only pair out of 500 wearing mask. We social distance and we mask up. But we are stared at and asked if we are feeling ok. And the deaths are happening. I never thought such God fearing gun loving people would be this stubborn about a virus. The Bible mentions that people we seek their own truth and seek teachers and leaders of the truth they follow. I never thought people would try to act normal in a pandemic and ignore what was happening around them. 

I got depressed about this whole thing and then got jury duty, I kid you not. Part menopause, seasonal affective and just great sadness. But I snapped out of my funk, took some D3 vitamins and got lots of supplementary light and got back to work. Cleared up my coop, summer garden and studio.

I am learning how to make resin and sculpture.

I am so happy my garden provided us 8 months of food and more put away. I am happy I have my poultry laying again thanks to LED strips, I am happy we are healthy and living here in the Ozarks.

I hope masking up makes this virus go away faster. I am looking forward to 2021.

 

Merde frappant le ventilateur

We live in a small town of less than 500, Summersville. The case have been 0 since Feb now we have 18 listed. I know triple over that number have it. They do not report it and they stay quiet. All that anti mask bravado is quiet and fighting for its life here. Everyone wants to stay healthy for hunting season. Kids are being sent home teachers are using subs and it has been quiet in our town. The hospitals are full and still want to encourage regular doctor visits?? WTF? Basically people want to act like life is normal in the mists of a pandemic. What part of pandemic do they not understand? And as the weather turns colder they congregate indoors. The VA home on lost 56 veteran lives from the virus. 

Luckily most of the locals I know are still going strong. But they are teachers, cooks, bakers, nurses, bankers, health care givers, grandparents and people exposed to the virus on a daily basis. I hope it moved swiftly away and leaves us soon.