Sickness, Healing & Yahweh's Goodness!

Well, I felt really good on Monday. I was up very early and had energy all day long. There was still a little bit of a cough, but nothing bad. Tuesday, however, was a different story. I dragged myself out of bed around 10:30 and did not feel well. I was coughing, so I ended up taking a Claritin. The Zygal the doc gave me did not work, but I think the Claritin may have...so far as the cough anyway. It can be hard to tell.

Today, I am feeling better again...not 100%, but better than yesterday. I hope this will eventually go away for good. I hate the thought of being allergic to where I live. :P

I have been getting more into God's Word again, lately. That is a good thing. I always do much better, all the way around, when I am spending time in it...and with Him. Yahweh has been good to me. He has helped me to survive many things and has done much healing in my life. I look forward to His doing more!

I am so very blessed. This land is beautiful. I have a good marriage. We are all fairly healthy. We have the freedom in this country to worship Yahweh openly...for now.

From our little RV on the hillside to you in your home, I hope you are able to recognize your blessings and freedom!

"Sick Valley" & a Virus!

I went to the doctor today. He's a really nice guy...one of the heads of our home schooling group. However, as I joked with his assistant, I would much rather see him OUT of the office, thank you!

I have been sick for about a week and a half. Some days in bed. Some days not quite sick enough to stay in bed, but not well enough to stay up. It is dragging on...and I am dragging as a result!

Apparently, I have two things going on at the same time. I have a virus and I have allergies to stuff that lives in the region. He gave me an antihistamine (free - woohoo!) to help the symptoms for now. It could take up to another week and a half for the virus to clear.

The Native Americans from this region used to call this area "Sick Valley". What does that tell you? They have identified organisms that grow here that make people sick. Even people from as close as two hours north of us notice it when they come down here.

So, I will just keep plugging along. Praise the Lord my lungs are clear! That was one concern that I had...that it might be turning into pneumonia; but Doc says it isn't. I have some things to keep an eye out for. If they happen, then I will call him back up.

Prayers are very much appreciated. It looks like this is going to be an ongoing battle due to the area we live in. I did not used to get sick this often, nor this severely. So, for as long as our Abba has us here, this is life...unless He chooses differently. Dave often feels like he is fighting something and Elias has been getting sicker more frequently, too. *shrug*

I also had him check out one of my bug bites. For some reason, there are some bugs that I have a hemorrhagic reaction to. Not all of them, thankfully. He says I am, apparently, very sensitive to a number of things, including meds. He told me to take half doses of the antihistamine.

So, that is life for now. Tomorrow night we are doing something special for our son's birthday. It is a surprise. Shhhh!!!

Quick Update!

I am giving a quick update because I am sick, sick, sick! Ick!

I don't often get bed sick, but I have been in and out of bed for three days now, or has it been four? It felt like I was getting better, but I am not sure. Today I feel pretty poorly.

One thing about being sick in a tiny environment is that it helps bring out the "closeness" of the space we live in. This is especially true if I am too sick to make the bed into a couch.

If one being sick is hard in this tiny space...two is worse. Now, our son is also complaining about being sick. Yet, we will get by. We always do! I am washing our sheets today and will lay on the couch. He can lay in his sleep area above.

On the upside, Dave got the wheel back from the motorcycle shop. They replaced the inner tube and balanced the wheel for him. The tire is good and the rotor is good. He is going to pick up brake pads after work today and, hopefully, get the wheel back on this weekend.

Our son is signed up for the homeschool co-op. One of the leaders very graciously got us signed up since I had no van to get there with. Woohoo! We signed him up in faith that Yahweh God will make a way for us to get down there once a week when it starts. I do have an idea on how I might be able to do that, but I am not sure if it will work out, yet.

Fom us "sickies" in our little RV on the hillside to all of you in your homes, I hope you are all very healthy!!

Weather & a Sick Son!

Dave had to wrap up the washing machine last night because of the expected temperature drop. We don't want to lose our washing machine pump! Once the laundry room is finished, it will be well insulated and we can just put a small heater out there and not have to wrap it and unwrap it.

Then the only thing we will need to be concerned about is the hose that runs from the outdoor faucet to the washer. Typically, when it is going to freeze, we will disconnect that hose and drain and coil it. (We use quick disconnects on all of our hose fittings.) We haven't the last few times and it seems to have fared well. I guess it was not below freezing long enough to freeze through the thick hose. It is a heavy duty hose.

When we first moved here we were struck by the odd looking outdoor faucets that people had. We thought it was just some sort of old style nostalgia thing. They all look similar to the old fashioned hand pumps. I wish I had a picture to show you. Ours is kind of covered up right now to keep the hoses connected to it from freezing at the pump.

Anyway, we found out that it is a faucet that is made to be used in freezing weather. I don't how it does it, exactly, but when you turn it off the water drops below the ground level...below the freeze line. You can hear it dropping inside the pipe. By dropping the water level below the freeze line, the faucet never freezes. Like I said...I have no idea just how it does it...but I do like that it does it!

Today is supposed to be in the mid to upper 50's. Right now, it is 32 out there. Tonight it is supposed to be upper 40's to 50. It all depends on which weather service you believe! We are in one of those in between the weather coverage areas, so we always have to figure the weather as being a ballpark kind of thing. The way it works out here...sometimes it is way out in left field! Sometimes, though, it is much closer to home.

I am sure that our living in a little valley probably makes a difference, too. That little valley is off of a much bigger valley through which a river runs. That, too, probably makes a difference. There is a lot of water around here. Hmmm...does that effect climate? I would think so. I would think it would definitely increase the humidity level at the very least.

Well, I am off to wait for a call from the doctor. Our son has been fighting a low grade fever and an off and on sore throat. He only had a couple of days of high fever, but the low grade fever just does not seem to want to go away. Now he is complaining of not being able to breath easily. I hope they call soon!

We have not had nearly the mold problem this winter that we had the winter before. I hope there is not hidden stuff up there effecting him. Although, if there was, I would think it would have effected him long before this. Going to pray about this.

From us here at our Little RV on the Hillside, we hope you are all having a dry, warm and healthy day filled with blessings!

Flitting Thoughts and Friends That Care!

How wonderful it was to come and see that I have three friends who have dropped by to visit my little blog! :)

Gosh, I so hate being sick. As I lay there in my bed I get all these wonderful thoughts I want to share with my friends and family. But when I get up and sit here, it seems like all the thoughts fly away like little birds flitting away from a bird feeder when the squirrel shows up!

Dave is outside hooking up our laundry room. Thankfully, it is not supposed to freeze tonight or tomorrow night, so we will be able to leave it hooked up for a day or so. Since he has specific shirts he has to wear to work, kind of like a uniform, we must get them washed this weekend. I can hear him out there coughing in the cold air. Poor guy! My main goal is just do loads of laundry spread throughout the rest of the day. I pray I have the strength to do enough. I know Dave will help, but he also needs to finish getting well since he needs to be able to work.

Our son seems to be hit the hardest in some respects, but I think he is getting better, too. This is just really taking a long time to pass. :P

We looked out the window today and watched two cardinals at our bird feeder...a male and a female. What funny characters! He would sit there and eat and eat and eat while she watched from a nearby branch. When he would go to another branch, she would fly down and grab a few bites. But that rascally male would come back and chase her away, barely giving her any time to eat!

We watched as this was repeated several times. They seem like a pair, but boy was he pushy! In the times we have seen cardinals at the feeder, they never have more than one at a time. We use a cylindrical feeder and it has four posts in different directions, but one bird still always chases another away. What manners!

Imagine if we came to the dinner table that way...always pushing others away. The weak would starve while the strong ate. Yet, isn't that the human nature we see so often at work in the world today? People pushing others away to get what they want...behaving no better than those birds?

Imagine if our relationship with God was that way! If only the strong and assertive could come to His table and partake of His love! I am so glad that God has room enough for us all and that He welcomes ALL who really want to come to Him. He welcomes the weak and downtrodden. I am especially grateful that He welcomes the wounded and broken.

Well, enough energy here for the moment. I need to get some laundry started. I hope I feel well enough to come back and write some more later.

Signing off for now from our Little RV on the Hillside.

Assorted Thoughts for the Day

It has been a long time since I have been this sick. I am still dragging after overdoing it on Wednesday. Poor Dave had to dump the black water tank after he got home from work because I was just too weak to go outside and do it. Because the water hose to flush it was frozen, we had to dump dishpans of water into the toilet to help it "flush" out the tank. Not ideal...but it works. It got us through the last two winters. :)

Yesterday was a special anniversary for my Honey and me, which I started to write about. But I got too foggy to continue, so I saved it in a document to post later. Hopefully, I will get to it soon. Right now, I am still pretty weak and will be laying down again soon.

There is still a little bit of snow on the ground. It is in the mid 30's, which is about as warm as it is supposed to get today. I am praying that we will be able to do laundry here this weekend. We have the water hose running down the hillside to drain, so it should be open to use.

As I lay in bed I get all sorts of things going through my mind to share about our lifestyle out here. It is hard to have all these thoughts in my head and be unable to sit here and write them out.

As I sit here, my son is watching educational TV. It is amazing the things we can learn from some of these programs. He is laying up in his sleep area while I am below here at my pc. The bed is still a bed. I don't know if it will make it into a couch today. Yesterday it did not. I really don't think I want to spend the energy to convert it both ways today. I need to reserve my strength.

Well, this is about as far as my foggy brain will take me today. I need to go lay back down and get better. It is nice and warm in our cozy RV. :) I hope that all of our friends and family are staying healthy!

Back to Work, Trenching & Life

Well...Dave dragged himself into work today. Our son and I are still dragging a bit, too...but definitely on the upswing! Yay!!!!

I am listening to PBN and writing here in my blog, then I will be off to lay down again.

We still have some bits of snow covering the landscape and patches of ice going down our gravel driveway. One thing we really need to do is to find a way of getting all the water trenched away from the driveway so it won't run down it and freeze.

Ah, trenching! Such fun! NOT! It is always a challenge to try and figure out how to reroute the water. I have spent some hours on rainy days out there in my red mudders, jeans tucked inside, digging trenches. When it rains we have a mini-creek running through our meadow...something we definitely need to reroute as it sits on our septic leach area!

The last heavy rain, I managed to clear the growth out of the trench running alongside the lower part of the driveway. I also dug little mini channels to keep water off the upper driveway. It always feels good to get something accomplished!

My brain is still a bit foggy from being sick, so hopefully these ramblings actually make sense!

Today I need to dump our black water tank again. It is supposed to get up into the 40's, so hopefully, the water hose for flushing the tank will thaw out. Otherwise, I will have to dump dishpans of water into the toilet to sort of flush it out.

3 Sick Ones!

Three sick ones all in row,
Now one's up top,
With two below.

Three sick in a tiny RV.
It's especially crowded
When there are three.

Moan and groan, painful and achy,
When we stand
Our bodies are shaky.

Grab the bowl and get the meds,
Where's the tissues?
We stay in our beds.


That is about how we feel today. Dave is on his way to the doc while we wait it out here. There is so much sickness going around that they don't even want to see you unless you have been sick at least 3-4 days.

We do seem to be a little bit on the upswing. It is hard to tell when we keep feeing so weak. I think today we are going to leave the bed out.

I hope that all of our friends and family are healthy!

Ack!!! Three Sick in the Family!

Well, Dave is on the mend, but not back to work. Our son and I are now sick, too, with something totally different. It is a good thing that Dave was too sick to go back to work, yet at least feeling well enough to take care of us. I am wiped out.

I think it is during times of sickness, which are, thank God, very rare, that the size of our living space really effects me the most. We either have a couch or a bed. I don't do well on a bed in the daytime. I must prefer the couch. For that matter...I don't always do well on a bed in the nighttime, either.

Our poor son has to climb up and down to get to his sleep area. If it is only him sick, I let him stay down on the couch...but with both of us sick...I get the couch.
I am up writing this during a few moments of feeling halfway decent. My experience all day is that it won't last...so back to the couch I go...which will have to become a bed soon.

I really hope my son and I feel better tomorrow seeing as how Dave is going to try to get into work. The way the weather is, though, he might not be able to go in. We will see.

Just another day in the Little RV on the Hillside! *Smile*

Sickness in Tiny Spaces!

Dave came home sick Thursday after work. I thought it would be a mistake for him to go in on Friday. Well...I was right! He came home Friday, worse than ever.

We have actually been pretty successful at avoiding the sicknesses going around. But this time, Dave succumbed. Since our bed is our couch, having someone sick does make things a bit awkward. I had to make bed into couch so that he could lay on the couch most of today.

There is a bin of stuff that we usually keep on the couch in the day and on the kitchen floor at night. Well, today we had to work around it being in the kitchen all day.

Yep, being sick in small spaces is a bit awkward. We are praying that no one else gets sick!