My Uncle was right..It's hell to get old!

         

Don't even get me started on the gray hair..

           My Uncle Billy used to lament about getting old. I thought he was being over dramatic or whiny. I thought Geez, how bad can it be?? But, then I hit my 50's!
           Everyday I wake up and think WHEW! Made it! Another night of restful sleep...ummm maybe not. It seems my dreams get crazier and more detailed all the time. Sometimes they are scary, and I wake up with my heart racing. Crazy CRAZY I tell you! Snakes..roses..earthquakes..weird houses..some of which I think oh yeah..saw that on Facebook. BUT..most make no sense at all.
           I roll over and cuddle next to Cliffy, who I figure probably wants to wake up and hear all about it. Well...maybe in the morning. At least I can cuddle with him until I get the nonsense outta my brain and doze back off. Or not, and I just lay there..changing positions 50 times..leg in..leg out...blankets on, blankets off..window up..window down..electric blanket on, well...you get the picture. A solid 8 hours sleep is clearly a luxury now and I have to get used to that fact.
           So..rise and shine I do, ' cuz, I'm nothing if not cheerful. However, the rate of the aforementioned "rising and shining" has dropped dramatically. First, I have to extract my legs from between the warm dog bodies framing my body. Big Doob in the middle, and Molly on the outer edge. So, I have to pull my knees clear up to my chest and roll out to the edge of my bed. Just like that, my morning leg lifts are done. Always glad to get the exercise out of the way!
           I plunk my feet on the floor and do my assessment. How do the ankles feel? Knees? I sit there and ponder a few minutes, and I'd like to say I'm deep in meditation or praying or something profound like that. However, it is much more likely that I am stalling until I hear the fire started in the kitchen stove and the coffee perking away. I'm old..not stupid!
           You've heard of Custer's last stand?? Well, it is now time for Carmen's first stand. Often, for whatever reason, my first stand of the day is accompanied by my mind singing a line from the old sea chantey "Drunken Sailor". ( Didn't I tell you my mind has been doing it's own thing lately?)
Yep, as I stand up and stretch, that little voice in my brain chimes in with a rousing "WEIGH HEY AND UP SHE RISES, EARLY IN THE MORNING!!" My mind can be so obnoxious, I swear.
           So, I stretch, head for the bathroom, clothes in hand. My activity level of the day before has a direct bearing on how fast a trip I make. If I was busy and active, I am like a granny nightgown clad snail, dunked in molasses. Now that's slow. If I am not particularly stiff, I am like a granny clad 100 year old Galapagos tortoise, speeding along. You get the picture..not fast.
           I get dressed, wash up, and head out to the kitchen, where Cliffy is having a coffee and patiently awaiting my arrival. We have our daily coffee and write in the diary, while the previous days events are still fresh in our minds, and then we start the days work.
       

That wood ain't stacking itself..

  Now, I have always worked hard and actually, I read back in my old diaries at the amount of physical labor I have done and it is no wonder I am dragging. Farm life is very hard work and I never hesitated to do what had to be done.Haying, shoveling manure, spreading it, wood cutting and stacking, fencing, raking, mowing, pruning, gardening etc etc. I was in my element and truly loved it.

There I am taking down old fence...oh wait..

           Today, now that I'm...dare I say it..closer to 60 then 50, I still help, but alas, at a much slower pace. Luckily, my two sons and nephew are still around so I can do what I can, and you know..."guide them" thru the more difficult things. I say guide..they say boss..but I do it with affection. We "share" in the work..like for example..
            We had an old pellet stove out here in the barn that weighed a bloody ton. I was all for getting it to the dump already, and everyone else likely to be involved seemed to think it was "fine" where it was. One day I commandeered the crew  to clean the barn..the crew being Cameron, Liam, Nolan and Cliff. I said "lets get that thing loaded and out of here". They looked at me like I had three heads but at the ages of 14, 18, 26 and 76, they have learned I can be stubborn.
            So, Cliff backed his truck up, and the four of them muscled it with lots of "guidance" from me, and got it up into the back of the truck. Then I did my "share" of the job..I grabbed the broom and swept up where it had been. SEE! Many hands make light work..an expression I use often and frankly, I think everyone hates.
           

There I am cleaning attic..oh wait..

There I am polishing the stove..oh wait...

 I still do all my housecleaning, with spring housecleaning being the big event of the spring.  I go through the whole house from attic to cellar, cleaning away all the dirt and cobwebs from the last year. I am looking at a big job this year, as we need a mess of work inside done. Our bedroom needs a serious paint job, and I plan on doing the living room over with a new ceiling, fresh paint, wallpaper, carpet and couch. SO, I better get these knees ready to go. Cliffy and I both worked together and got the apartment all papered and painted and are,amazingly still together, so I say let's do it! He can't wait. He loves papering with me. OK, not so much, but it will be a "good job done", as my Uncle Billy used to say whenever we completed a task.

There I am painting in the bedroom..oh, wait..

             Yep..the old body has slowed me down, but thankfully I am still sharp as a tack in the old mind. (well, other then the sea chantey songs..and well the snake dreams..and the fact I can't get the "shallow" song out of my brain for love nor money.) Yessirreee...sharp. Nothing gets by this old gal..I've got it all going on upstairs for sure. But perhaps you can explain why I went to pay the eye doctor this morning and pulled three dog biscuits out of my pocket, instead of my wallet...