Thursday, June 29, 2006
My moss problem and Family picnic plans.
Moss is becoming a problem with all this wet weather.
I noticed some growing a few years ago under the trees in my empty lot. Well, it`s not really empty as there are trees, bushes, wild rose bushes, and things like that. Then with the ground not drying our so fast, there is also some moss growing. Every year I dig it up and think I have gotten it all, and the next year I still find more. Might be blowing from over the back fence.
Well, yesterday when my youngest son stopped by, I decided to give him some more indoor plants to take home. I went out to the garage for fresh soil to replant them and on the way from the garage to the back porch, I happened to look at the back of the house. There on the cement blocks was all that green mossy junk growing. Boy, did this ever grow fast. There was none there last week when I washed down the outside of the back windows. And here it was covering the bottom three rows of blocks.
I decided to try to remove it fast before the rain started again. So, first my son the power spray, no luck. Then I got out the wide putty tool and scraped it off the blocks and then used a stiff brush to really clean the blocks. Then my son rewashed it clean. If it starts coming back again, I might try using the momument cleaner on the cement blocks. I am glad it hasn`t crawled thru to the cellar side of the blocks.
Finally finished that job and did get the plants transplanted. One was the tall tree like wood vine . I can`t think of the name right now. The original plant was given to my Mother over 20 yrs ago. When it got too large for her house and looked like it was starting to die, I brought it home and cut it down and restarted 2 nice plants from it. I gave the nicest shaped one to my Mother and kept the other one. Well, one of my brothers was living with my mother at the time and I think he either kept it over watered, or over fertilized, because within a few months he had it dying while mine was growing great. I tried to give mine to my mother, but she insisted I keep it. So, I started another one for her from a clipping off mine. It grew a few years, but died shortly after we lost Mother. So, I wonder if my bro just didn`t care for that plant. He slowly got rid of all the plants, so guess he lost interest in them. I have cut mine down a few times over the years. Last year it was so tall that I had to add a hook in the ceiling to hold the weight upward . Tying it to the wood supports wasn`t working any more. So, I decided to cut it all back down again and restart a smaller one. What I gave my son was a clipping that I had re-started a while ago. Already mine is almost 4 feet tall, growing much to fast. Hope my son`s grows a bit slower. Ha-Ha. He says everything is growing good in his back window where it gets the sun. It`s good to hear his excitement when he talks about how well his plants are growing.
Then I also had more tomato plants and I wasn`t sure where to put them, so I sent him home with 2 of the tomato plants. This is his first year to be interested in house plants. He told me that his aloe plants were getting so large and growing in all directions. Sounds like they need separating and re-planting already.
I ran out to pick some of the lettuce before the rain starts again. Bought everything for a tossed salad except the lettuce. Then it has rained everyday, so didn`t want to run in the rain to pick any lettuce. Weatherman says rain again this afternoon, but might be nice tomorrow. Sure hope it is nice Saturday when we hold the large family picnic as we usually have over 100 attending. Last year I think we had around 149. I rushed to Hannaford to buy things to make both my Mother`s baked rice and my cousin`s step-mothers Mexican (Pineapple fruit cake. These are two thing everyone always looks forward to. In my family, I am the only one who learned to make the rice the way my Mother did, so for the last 10 yrs ( this will make 11th yr since my Mother passed away) everyone has expected me to make her rice for the picnics. Takes hours to do her way and sure heats up the house. My cousin`s mom was put into a nursing home about 2 yrs ago, and the one thing I missed last year was her cake, so I have decided to make it myself this year. Glad she gave me her recipe a few years ago. Every year, as soon as she saw me, she would tell me I better hurry and get some of her cake before the others eat it all. She knew I liked it. It is rich, so one small piece is plenty for me. And my mother`s rice, I wasn`t having good luck making it taste like hers. So, one time I told her to let me know the next time she was making it so I could learn her secrets. Well, one day she called me and down I went. Then she had everything sitting on the table waiting and she had me make it with her watching and guiding and behold, it did taste like hers. First it takes hours of cooking the rice on the stove, then after adding everything, It takes another hour and a half or so to bake it just right. My oldest bro always looks for me to bring it and they all still tell me it tastes like Moms. Hope it turns out as good this year. A lot of work, but I hate to disappoint anyone. Don`t mind the work, just the hot house.
I noticed some growing a few years ago under the trees in my empty lot. Well, it`s not really empty as there are trees, bushes, wild rose bushes, and things like that. Then with the ground not drying our so fast, there is also some moss growing. Every year I dig it up and think I have gotten it all, and the next year I still find more. Might be blowing from over the back fence.
Well, yesterday when my youngest son stopped by, I decided to give him some more indoor plants to take home. I went out to the garage for fresh soil to replant them and on the way from the garage to the back porch, I happened to look at the back of the house. There on the cement blocks was all that green mossy junk growing. Boy, did this ever grow fast. There was none there last week when I washed down the outside of the back windows. And here it was covering the bottom three rows of blocks.
I decided to try to remove it fast before the rain started again. So, first my son the power spray, no luck. Then I got out the wide putty tool and scraped it off the blocks and then used a stiff brush to really clean the blocks. Then my son rewashed it clean. If it starts coming back again, I might try using the momument cleaner on the cement blocks. I am glad it hasn`t crawled thru to the cellar side of the blocks.
Finally finished that job and did get the plants transplanted. One was the tall tree like wood vine . I can`t think of the name right now. The original plant was given to my Mother over 20 yrs ago. When it got too large for her house and looked like it was starting to die, I brought it home and cut it down and restarted 2 nice plants from it. I gave the nicest shaped one to my Mother and kept the other one. Well, one of my brothers was living with my mother at the time and I think he either kept it over watered, or over fertilized, because within a few months he had it dying while mine was growing great. I tried to give mine to my mother, but she insisted I keep it. So, I started another one for her from a clipping off mine. It grew a few years, but died shortly after we lost Mother. So, I wonder if my bro just didn`t care for that plant. He slowly got rid of all the plants, so guess he lost interest in them. I have cut mine down a few times over the years. Last year it was so tall that I had to add a hook in the ceiling to hold the weight upward . Tying it to the wood supports wasn`t working any more. So, I decided to cut it all back down again and restart a smaller one. What I gave my son was a clipping that I had re-started a while ago. Already mine is almost 4 feet tall, growing much to fast. Hope my son`s grows a bit slower. Ha-Ha. He says everything is growing good in his back window where it gets the sun. It`s good to hear his excitement when he talks about how well his plants are growing.
Then I also had more tomato plants and I wasn`t sure where to put them, so I sent him home with 2 of the tomato plants. This is his first year to be interested in house plants. He told me that his aloe plants were getting so large and growing in all directions. Sounds like they need separating and re-planting already.
I ran out to pick some of the lettuce before the rain starts again. Bought everything for a tossed salad except the lettuce. Then it has rained everyday, so didn`t want to run in the rain to pick any lettuce. Weatherman says rain again this afternoon, but might be nice tomorrow. Sure hope it is nice Saturday when we hold the large family picnic as we usually have over 100 attending. Last year I think we had around 149. I rushed to Hannaford to buy things to make both my Mother`s baked rice and my cousin`s step-mothers Mexican (Pineapple fruit cake. These are two thing everyone always looks forward to. In my family, I am the only one who learned to make the rice the way my Mother did, so for the last 10 yrs ( this will make 11th yr since my Mother passed away) everyone has expected me to make her rice for the picnics. Takes hours to do her way and sure heats up the house. My cousin`s mom was put into a nursing home about 2 yrs ago, and the one thing I missed last year was her cake, so I have decided to make it myself this year. Glad she gave me her recipe a few years ago. Every year, as soon as she saw me, she would tell me I better hurry and get some of her cake before the others eat it all. She knew I liked it. It is rich, so one small piece is plenty for me. And my mother`s rice, I wasn`t having good luck making it taste like hers. So, one time I told her to let me know the next time she was making it so I could learn her secrets. Well, one day she called me and down I went. Then she had everything sitting on the table waiting and she had me make it with her watching and guiding and behold, it did taste like hers. First it takes hours of cooking the rice on the stove, then after adding everything, It takes another hour and a half or so to bake it just right. My oldest bro always looks for me to bring it and they all still tell me it tastes like Moms. Hope it turns out as good this year. A lot of work, but I hate to disappoint anyone. Don`t mind the work, just the hot house.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Getting wet from the rain?
How many of you have left your car door opened and wish you hadn`t?
One of my older bros stopped in a while ago to use my telephone. Guess he didn`t intend on staying very long. He had gone after a new rubber enclosure for his frig door, but the fellow who does that work had moved since he was last there. So, he came to my home to look it up in the phone book and called to see where he was now located. Turned out he had moved off another road that isn`t too far from where I live. Bro had the model no and brand name, but forgot to look up the serial #, so had to go back home ( about 20 - 30 minute ride from me) to look it up.
Well, what this title talks about is what he did while here. He had only closed his door part way , so when he got back out to his car his drivers seat and seatbelt were soaked. When he saw the partly opened door, his remark was " My car door is open, how could that have happened?". I`m thinking "He never shut it up, how else?", but I didn`t answer him. He is one who always finds something else to blame, so I`m glad he was riding alone this time. It was so bad that I gave him a large garbage bag to lay over his shoulder and lap to keep the wet belt off his clothes. When I think about it, I feel like laughing. Not over the wet seat as I wouldn`t like that to happen to anyone. He had stood outside in the rain trying to brush off some of the water on his seat and squeezed lots of water from the fleese shoulder pad on the seatbelt. All this time while he was bent over , his back was getting more and more soaked. Funny thinking about keeping the soaked seatbelt off his clothes when the back of his shirt was already soaked and he was going to be sitting on a soaked seat. He didn`t seem worried too much about sitting on the wet seat, just about wearing that wet seatbelt.
Me, I would have wanted the garbage bag to sit on.
I told him , now you know how I felt the time you picked me up to ride with you and you had forgotten to close the window on the riders side door and that seat was soaked. He said he tried to dry it off some. I used a store plastic bag to sit on that time and grabbed some of his paper towels to wrap around the seatbelt. I told him that time was worse because we were heading for the Wake for a friend`s Father. This time he is heading home where he can change his clothes. If he is smart , he will use some large bath towels to soak up as much water from the seat as he can and then find my Mothers old hair dryer and use it to dry off the seat before heading out again. He also has the heater on the riders side that won`t shut off while the drivers side is ok. So he puts on the air-conditioner on the drivers side and keeps his window shut, while I am dying with the heat from the heater on the riders side. Here it was, almost 90 degrees outside and I have the car heater running all the way to and from the Grad Party. He said he couldn`t afford to get it fixed yet because they need to remove the whole dash to fix it. I just had the air-conditioner fixed in my car last week, plus the long exhaust pipe that goes from the front of the car to the catalic converter. I am lucky as my daughter`s boyfriend does the labor for nothing. I tried to give him extra money again this time and the next day he gave it back to me. I feel he deserves something for all his work, but he never agrees.
Still pouring out, but the thunderstorm warning have changed to flood watch warnings. So, looks like we might be saved from the thunder storm and my road is far enough away from any water that I don`t have to worry about flooding here at home.
I have been knocked off already by Internet explorer, hope it posts ok this time.
One of my older bros stopped in a while ago to use my telephone. Guess he didn`t intend on staying very long. He had gone after a new rubber enclosure for his frig door, but the fellow who does that work had moved since he was last there. So, he came to my home to look it up in the phone book and called to see where he was now located. Turned out he had moved off another road that isn`t too far from where I live. Bro had the model no and brand name, but forgot to look up the serial #, so had to go back home ( about 20 - 30 minute ride from me) to look it up.
Well, what this title talks about is what he did while here. He had only closed his door part way , so when he got back out to his car his drivers seat and seatbelt were soaked. When he saw the partly opened door, his remark was " My car door is open, how could that have happened?". I`m thinking "He never shut it up, how else?", but I didn`t answer him. He is one who always finds something else to blame, so I`m glad he was riding alone this time. It was so bad that I gave him a large garbage bag to lay over his shoulder and lap to keep the wet belt off his clothes. When I think about it, I feel like laughing. Not over the wet seat as I wouldn`t like that to happen to anyone. He had stood outside in the rain trying to brush off some of the water on his seat and squeezed lots of water from the fleese shoulder pad on the seatbelt. All this time while he was bent over , his back was getting more and more soaked. Funny thinking about keeping the soaked seatbelt off his clothes when the back of his shirt was already soaked and he was going to be sitting on a soaked seat. He didn`t seem worried too much about sitting on the wet seat, just about wearing that wet seatbelt.
Me, I would have wanted the garbage bag to sit on.
I told him , now you know how I felt the time you picked me up to ride with you and you had forgotten to close the window on the riders side door and that seat was soaked. He said he tried to dry it off some. I used a store plastic bag to sit on that time and grabbed some of his paper towels to wrap around the seatbelt. I told him that time was worse because we were heading for the Wake for a friend`s Father. This time he is heading home where he can change his clothes. If he is smart , he will use some large bath towels to soak up as much water from the seat as he can and then find my Mothers old hair dryer and use it to dry off the seat before heading out again. He also has the heater on the riders side that won`t shut off while the drivers side is ok. So he puts on the air-conditioner on the drivers side and keeps his window shut, while I am dying with the heat from the heater on the riders side. Here it was, almost 90 degrees outside and I have the car heater running all the way to and from the Grad Party. He said he couldn`t afford to get it fixed yet because they need to remove the whole dash to fix it. I just had the air-conditioner fixed in my car last week, plus the long exhaust pipe that goes from the front of the car to the catalic converter. I am lucky as my daughter`s boyfriend does the labor for nothing. I tried to give him extra money again this time and the next day he gave it back to me. I feel he deserves something for all his work, but he never agrees.
Still pouring out, but the thunderstorm warning have changed to flood watch warnings. So, looks like we might be saved from the thunder storm and my road is far enough away from any water that I don`t have to worry about flooding here at home.
I have been knocked off already by Internet explorer, hope it posts ok this time.
A Busy Week
Hi everyone. I might need to make this one a short one as we are expecting another thunderstorm this afternoon. It is just raining hard out right now.
I have had a real busy week or so. Here is part of how i spent the last week.
One day a cousin from out of town was here and we had a nice visit. I hadn`t seen her since she stopped in last summer. We grew up about 5 miles from each other and were real close all our growing up years. After High School she left for a Nursing career, then got a job in a Hospital out in Rochester, met a fellow, Married and decided to live out that way. It is about a 6 hour drive from where I live. We used to see each other more often before I lost Walt, as we used to drive to see his relation in Buffalo, NY and often stopped to visit them on the way.
Another day I took off to the Hospital to see my newest great granddaughter. She is beautiful like all babies are. Both Mom and baby are doing good and are back home with the daddy.
One day I attended a High School Graduation party for a niece`s daughter.
Yesterday I was gone from 10am in the morning till after 8 pm at night . I attended a 50th Wedding Anniversary Party for the parents of the nice fellow that one of my daughter is marrying sometime next year. They are a great family and I had a nice time. There is something about his parent and his Mother`s sister that made me feel I belonged from the very first time I ever met them. Funny how sometimes you meet someone and you just click together like you have been good friends for years. They are like that. It rained the last half of the day, but the Pavilion they held the Party in was still nice and dry. There was way too much food, all delicious, think everyone left feeling stuffed and there was still way too much. Some later played volley Ball, others threw horseshoes till the rain started. It was about 1 1/2 - 2 hours drive each way , so it was a long car ride just to attend the party, but well worth it.
This morning I took off early for the Hannaford grocery store before the rain got harder. Right now it is pouring out. It is starting to get dark in here so the thunderstorm must be getting closer. TV said the power is out about 30 miles from me. Hope it isn`t that bad when and if the thunderstorm reaches us. I am hoping it holds off till I get this written and posted and maybe read a few more of the e-mails that have been piling up while I was so busy. I had gone shopping a couple days ago, but forgot to buy milk and a couple other items, so needed to go back today.
Guess I better make this a short post and write more later as the thunder storm is already just across the mountain from me now and should be here real soon.
Hope not too many errors in spelling as I don`t have time to re-read it or won`t have time to post it and get off the computer in time.
Hope everyone is having better weather today. We have had a lot of rain and expect it most of this week.
Hope it posts thia time as the last time it didn`t post and i had to reconnect again.
I have had a real busy week or so. Here is part of how i spent the last week.
One day a cousin from out of town was here and we had a nice visit. I hadn`t seen her since she stopped in last summer. We grew up about 5 miles from each other and were real close all our growing up years. After High School she left for a Nursing career, then got a job in a Hospital out in Rochester, met a fellow, Married and decided to live out that way. It is about a 6 hour drive from where I live. We used to see each other more often before I lost Walt, as we used to drive to see his relation in Buffalo, NY and often stopped to visit them on the way.
Another day I took off to the Hospital to see my newest great granddaughter. She is beautiful like all babies are. Both Mom and baby are doing good and are back home with the daddy.
One day I attended a High School Graduation party for a niece`s daughter.
Yesterday I was gone from 10am in the morning till after 8 pm at night . I attended a 50th Wedding Anniversary Party for the parents of the nice fellow that one of my daughter is marrying sometime next year. They are a great family and I had a nice time. There is something about his parent and his Mother`s sister that made me feel I belonged from the very first time I ever met them. Funny how sometimes you meet someone and you just click together like you have been good friends for years. They are like that. It rained the last half of the day, but the Pavilion they held the Party in was still nice and dry. There was way too much food, all delicious, think everyone left feeling stuffed and there was still way too much. Some later played volley Ball, others threw horseshoes till the rain started. It was about 1 1/2 - 2 hours drive each way , so it was a long car ride just to attend the party, but well worth it.
This morning I took off early for the Hannaford grocery store before the rain got harder. Right now it is pouring out. It is starting to get dark in here so the thunderstorm must be getting closer. TV said the power is out about 30 miles from me. Hope it isn`t that bad when and if the thunderstorm reaches us. I am hoping it holds off till I get this written and posted and maybe read a few more of the e-mails that have been piling up while I was so busy. I had gone shopping a couple days ago, but forgot to buy milk and a couple other items, so needed to go back today.
Guess I better make this a short post and write more later as the thunder storm is already just across the mountain from me now and should be here real soon.
Hope not too many errors in spelling as I don`t have time to re-read it or won`t have time to post it and get off the computer in time.
Hope everyone is having better weather today. We have had a lot of rain and expect it most of this week.
Hope it posts thia time as the last time it didn`t post and i had to reconnect again.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Saturday, june 17th, 06, Another new great granddaughter!!
I just received a telephone call from my oldest daughter that her oldest son has became a Father .
Normally in good weather I would drive down to the hospital to see the new Great GrandDaughter. I think her name will be Kayleona Elizabeth. What a long name it will be for a little kid to learn to spell. But today is another rainy day and they are still saying possible thunder storms. You usually have to park a long ways from the hospital as all the closer places are usually always filled. I just don`t want to be walking that far in the rain. This makes my 13th great grandchild from my own kids, plus 4 more from the step grandchildren- totaling 17 G Grandchildren in all. No wonder I am starting to feel old. :)
Yesterday I went to the Mall with a bro. My daughter had picked up a replacement battery for my cordless electric drill. It had the same voltage as my old batteries, but this battery wouldn`t fit my Drill. I couldn`t find the receipt so couldn`t return it. I checked and found out the Sears Store doesn`t still handle the one I need. So, I had to order the right one and figured I might as well order 2 batteries while I was ordering. Now, I will have to wait for it to be delivered by mail. Hope I can find the receipt for the other battery so I can take it back for the money.
This morning I wanted to beat the thunderstorm (if it happens), so at 7am I drove to Cumberland to buy new minutes for my cell phone while it was still just raining lightly. The fellow a daughter is engaged to bought me the cell phone for last Christmas. He felt my driving an older 1990 Mazda I should have some way to contact someone if I ever needed to. Wasn`t that real thoughful of him?
Next Saturday should be a busy day. My Niece`s daughter is graduating from High School and I am invited to her Party at 3pm on Sat.. Then I received an e-mail from a cousin saying she would be in town on Sat and planned on stopping to see me by noon at the latest on the same day. I haven`t seen her since last spring, so it will be nice to see her and her husband again. She grew up a few miles from where I grew up, but after she married she moved to a different section of our state. Now we live about 6 hours drive apart. Walt and I often drove across the state to visit his relations in Buffalo, NY and would stop at my cousins and also sisters on the way. Now, alone, I don`t take those long drives anymore.
The rain has stopped, but the sky is still very gray looking and the wind is starting to blow harder. So, it won`t surprise me if it starts raining again soon,
Seems I have needed a bandaid every day for the past three days. First I was replacing a rotted board on my garden support and a screw in the end left a small cut. Next day I was putting away a box of Saran Wrap after wrapping a dish with a piece of Banana cream Pie (actually a cake) to give to a Granddaughter to take home with her. While sliding the saran wrap box in the small rack I accidently hit a finger on the cutting side and cut another finger. My granddaughter looked worried and asked if it was deep because it was bleeding. I had to put it under cold water to wash off the blood to show her it wasn`t deep. Then yesterday I was playing with sassy ( my dog) and once she jumped up and her toenail cut my right arm- she weighs over 50 pounds. So there I was with a bandaid on my middle finger, one on my pointer ( first) finger and one on my arm just below the elbow. Middle finger is healed enough to remove that bandaid. Now waiting for the others to heal. If Walt were here he would be telling me to sit down and rest before I get hurt again. He was always worrying about me. All bandaids were on the lefthand and left arm.
Seems like the older you get the easier your skin breaks. I remember one time when I was helping my Mother get out of a lawn chair and a fingernail verily touched her skin and cut it. She was 90 yrs old back then. Here I am about 15 yrs younger than she was and already my skin seems to cut more easily. I remember one time years ago, when I was washing dishes for my mother and one of her forks was so sharp it stuck into the end of a finger when I was just moving my hands around in the sink checking to see if there were any more silverware to do. When I pulled my hand out of the water, that darn fork stuck right there in my finger. I was so surprised and never heard of such a thing happening before. I showed the fork tong to my Mother and she never realized she had a fork with that sharp a prong on it. She told me to throw it away, but I felt funny about doing it so I placed it across the end of the drawer behind the silverware container so noone would use it. I told my Mother where I had put it so she could later toss it out if she wished to.
OH Well, at least I didn`t get burnt last week when I baked the cakes for the Banana Cream Pie . Wonder why they call it a pie when it is actually a 2 layer cake with lemon pie filling in the center and dark chocolate frosting all over the top and sides. Haven`t made it since I lost walt and that will be 4 years ago on July 19th. After making it I worried who I would get to help me eat it. I send almost half of it next door to my daughters home, then the next day I gave a piece to a granddaughter, plus a second huge piece for her to take home. I only had three real small pieces myself. Walt was the sweet tooth in our family.
Well, that the news so far, but it is only 3pm now, so who knows what the rest of today might bring. If it didn`t still look like rain I would head off to the hosp to see that new Great Granddaughter. Maybe it will be nicer tomorrow, but Week-ends are always packed at the hosp parking lots.
Normally in good weather I would drive down to the hospital to see the new Great GrandDaughter. I think her name will be Kayleona Elizabeth. What a long name it will be for a little kid to learn to spell. But today is another rainy day and they are still saying possible thunder storms. You usually have to park a long ways from the hospital as all the closer places are usually always filled. I just don`t want to be walking that far in the rain. This makes my 13th great grandchild from my own kids, plus 4 more from the step grandchildren- totaling 17 G Grandchildren in all. No wonder I am starting to feel old. :)
Yesterday I went to the Mall with a bro. My daughter had picked up a replacement battery for my cordless electric drill. It had the same voltage as my old batteries, but this battery wouldn`t fit my Drill. I couldn`t find the receipt so couldn`t return it. I checked and found out the Sears Store doesn`t still handle the one I need. So, I had to order the right one and figured I might as well order 2 batteries while I was ordering. Now, I will have to wait for it to be delivered by mail. Hope I can find the receipt for the other battery so I can take it back for the money.
This morning I wanted to beat the thunderstorm (if it happens), so at 7am I drove to Cumberland to buy new minutes for my cell phone while it was still just raining lightly. The fellow a daughter is engaged to bought me the cell phone for last Christmas. He felt my driving an older 1990 Mazda I should have some way to contact someone if I ever needed to. Wasn`t that real thoughful of him?
Next Saturday should be a busy day. My Niece`s daughter is graduating from High School and I am invited to her Party at 3pm on Sat.. Then I received an e-mail from a cousin saying she would be in town on Sat and planned on stopping to see me by noon at the latest on the same day. I haven`t seen her since last spring, so it will be nice to see her and her husband again. She grew up a few miles from where I grew up, but after she married she moved to a different section of our state. Now we live about 6 hours drive apart. Walt and I often drove across the state to visit his relations in Buffalo, NY and would stop at my cousins and also sisters on the way. Now, alone, I don`t take those long drives anymore.
The rain has stopped, but the sky is still very gray looking and the wind is starting to blow harder. So, it won`t surprise me if it starts raining again soon,
Seems I have needed a bandaid every day for the past three days. First I was replacing a rotted board on my garden support and a screw in the end left a small cut. Next day I was putting away a box of Saran Wrap after wrapping a dish with a piece of Banana cream Pie (actually a cake) to give to a Granddaughter to take home with her. While sliding the saran wrap box in the small rack I accidently hit a finger on the cutting side and cut another finger. My granddaughter looked worried and asked if it was deep because it was bleeding. I had to put it under cold water to wash off the blood to show her it wasn`t deep. Then yesterday I was playing with sassy ( my dog) and once she jumped up and her toenail cut my right arm- she weighs over 50 pounds. So there I was with a bandaid on my middle finger, one on my pointer ( first) finger and one on my arm just below the elbow. Middle finger is healed enough to remove that bandaid. Now waiting for the others to heal. If Walt were here he would be telling me to sit down and rest before I get hurt again. He was always worrying about me. All bandaids were on the lefthand and left arm.
Seems like the older you get the easier your skin breaks. I remember one time when I was helping my Mother get out of a lawn chair and a fingernail verily touched her skin and cut it. She was 90 yrs old back then. Here I am about 15 yrs younger than she was and already my skin seems to cut more easily. I remember one time years ago, when I was washing dishes for my mother and one of her forks was so sharp it stuck into the end of a finger when I was just moving my hands around in the sink checking to see if there were any more silverware to do. When I pulled my hand out of the water, that darn fork stuck right there in my finger. I was so surprised and never heard of such a thing happening before. I showed the fork tong to my Mother and she never realized she had a fork with that sharp a prong on it. She told me to throw it away, but I felt funny about doing it so I placed it across the end of the drawer behind the silverware container so noone would use it. I told my Mother where I had put it so she could later toss it out if she wished to.
OH Well, at least I didn`t get burnt last week when I baked the cakes for the Banana Cream Pie . Wonder why they call it a pie when it is actually a 2 layer cake with lemon pie filling in the center and dark chocolate frosting all over the top and sides. Haven`t made it since I lost walt and that will be 4 years ago on July 19th. After making it I worried who I would get to help me eat it. I send almost half of it next door to my daughters home, then the next day I gave a piece to a granddaughter, plus a second huge piece for her to take home. I only had three real small pieces myself. Walt was the sweet tooth in our family.
Well, that the news so far, but it is only 3pm now, so who knows what the rest of today might bring. If it didn`t still look like rain I would head off to the hosp to see that new Great Granddaughter. Maybe it will be nicer tomorrow, but Week-ends are always packed at the hosp parking lots.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Hiking Mt. Marcy
Mt. Marcy is a peak in the Adirondack Mountains and the highest point in New York State, U.S.. Iit has an elevation of 5,344 feet (1,629 metres) above sea level. It is located in west-central Essex county in the northeastern part of New York state, and about 12 miles (19 km) south-southeast of Lake Placid village. Lake Placid is way up on the far northeastern part of New York State, not too far from the South Eastern section of the Canadian border . The Hudson River's main headstream, the Opalescent River, originates on the mountain at Lake Tear of the Clouds and waters from this mountain is where the Hudson River and some others rivers also originates. This Mountain was named after William L. Marcy, who was Governor of New York at the time. He was the first to climb it in 1837. He did a geological survey of the Adirondack region. Mount Marcy is now a popular hiking place
Have you ever climb a mountain and seen the glorious view from the very top?
Have you ever spent the night in a lean -to half way up the highest mountain in the State or area where you live? It can be loads of fun as long as everyone is careful while climbing. I had the pleasure of doing just that when I was a teenager in High School. I had joined the Girl Scouts when I was just 12 years old and remained a Scout up until I graduated from High School. We belonged to a Group called the
"Senior Girl Scout Troop". When we left the junior Scouts we needed a leader to continue, so our High School Gym Teacher agreed to become that leader. When summer arrived our Leader asked us if we would
like to go mountain climbing. Of course we all said yes. So, she set a
date for shortly after school ended in the spring. This teacher owned a little coupe with a back that opened to uncover what was then called a rumble seat. This seat held just 2 or 3 people- a bit crowded, but since
we were small, 3 would fit. Two could squeeze into the front seat with
the driver ( was a bit crowded). That left 3 more needing a place to ride. Under the rumble seat in the back was the trunk. We discovered that 3 could easily ride laying down in the trunk. We climb in head first with our feet at the rear of the trunk. Can you imagine anyone daring to ride
in a trunk today? The law would forbid it for fear of suffication. But, I was one of the three who rode in that trunk. I bet our parents would have forbidden us to go if they had know this part of the trip.
I think the three of us in the trunk had the most fun on the long drive to Mt. Marcy. We were just teenagers and we found we could use our feet to slightly open the trunk to see what was behind our car. At first, every time we opened the trunk, the leader could see it in the rear view mirror and she would yell back at us to shut that trunk before we got sick from the gas fumes from the exhaust pipe that extended under the trunk. After a while us three girls realized if we opened it just a little, the driver wouldn`t see it. So, thats what we did.
Now, if you are wondering why we wanted to open the trunk a bit, just remember we were teenagers at the dating age. Have you already figured what was driving behind us? There were boys driving on motorcycles just a few feet from the back of the car. So, we were having one heck of a good time with these flirting boys. We couldn`t hear too well over the noise of the motorcycles, but we all knew the game where you use motions to convey what you were trying to say. Like playing a pantamine game where you used motions to show what you were thinking of and others had to guess what it was. They drove behind us for at least 2 to 3 hours. When they drove off on another road, then the ride seemed twice as long. It took at least 6 hours to arrive at the foot of Mt Marcy where we drove into a fenced in field that resembled a cow pasture, but we didn`t see any animals in the field. All of our camping gear was forced down behind the front seat. Pushed pretty hard to get it in and was also hard to pull it all out once we got there. We left the car there and got ready for our long hike, carrying all our food and hiking gear. I still remember carrying all that weight on our backs while climbing.
We stopped for lunch after a few hours of hiking. Then we trudged upward mostly using trails where we found them. Today, I read there are different trails to use to climb all the way up the mountain . Back then there were some clearings with paths and some places where the brush had overgrown and you had to make your own way thru them. As it started to get dark, we found there was a Boy Scout troop spending the night just around the next bend and we saw a 3 sided lean-to where we could spend the night just before that curve, so we went back to camp there. So, we built a small campfire in the clearing in front of the lean-to to cook our supper. After we retired for the night we saw a mother bear and her cub noseing around where the fire had gone out. We were laying in our sleeping bags just a few feet from the bears. As our leader said, they won`t bother us as long as we remain quiet and don`t bother them. She was so right. When they finished searching for food, they slowly walked off. We had been very careful to clean up any sign of food after we ate. Early the next morning the boys had left, so we started our climb on up the mountain. What a beautiful view , you could see off in all directions, but some places you just saw the top of smaller mountains.
We made this mountain climb again the next summer, but we invited some of the Junior scout to join us and we had a bigger car to ride in. One of the younger girls sprained her ankle shortly before we reached the Mountain top and we couldn`t continue to the top that year. We used our arms to make a chair and took turns carrying the girl back down the mountain. Took us lots longer going down that year. But still we all had a great time.
Have you ever climb a mountain and seen the glorious view from the very top?
Have you ever spent the night in a lean -to half way up the highest mountain in the State or area where you live? It can be loads of fun as long as everyone is careful while climbing. I had the pleasure of doing just that when I was a teenager in High School. I had joined the Girl Scouts when I was just 12 years old and remained a Scout up until I graduated from High School. We belonged to a Group called the
"Senior Girl Scout Troop". When we left the junior Scouts we needed a leader to continue, so our High School Gym Teacher agreed to become that leader. When summer arrived our Leader asked us if we would
like to go mountain climbing. Of course we all said yes. So, she set a
date for shortly after school ended in the spring. This teacher owned a little coupe with a back that opened to uncover what was then called a rumble seat. This seat held just 2 or 3 people- a bit crowded, but since
we were small, 3 would fit. Two could squeeze into the front seat with
the driver ( was a bit crowded). That left 3 more needing a place to ride. Under the rumble seat in the back was the trunk. We discovered that 3 could easily ride laying down in the trunk. We climb in head first with our feet at the rear of the trunk. Can you imagine anyone daring to ride
in a trunk today? The law would forbid it for fear of suffication. But, I was one of the three who rode in that trunk. I bet our parents would have forbidden us to go if they had know this part of the trip.
I think the three of us in the trunk had the most fun on the long drive to Mt. Marcy. We were just teenagers and we found we could use our feet to slightly open the trunk to see what was behind our car. At first, every time we opened the trunk, the leader could see it in the rear view mirror and she would yell back at us to shut that trunk before we got sick from the gas fumes from the exhaust pipe that extended under the trunk. After a while us three girls realized if we opened it just a little, the driver wouldn`t see it. So, thats what we did.
Now, if you are wondering why we wanted to open the trunk a bit, just remember we were teenagers at the dating age. Have you already figured what was driving behind us? There were boys driving on motorcycles just a few feet from the back of the car. So, we were having one heck of a good time with these flirting boys. We couldn`t hear too well over the noise of the motorcycles, but we all knew the game where you use motions to convey what you were trying to say. Like playing a pantamine game where you used motions to show what you were thinking of and others had to guess what it was. They drove behind us for at least 2 to 3 hours. When they drove off on another road, then the ride seemed twice as long. It took at least 6 hours to arrive at the foot of Mt Marcy where we drove into a fenced in field that resembled a cow pasture, but we didn`t see any animals in the field. All of our camping gear was forced down behind the front seat. Pushed pretty hard to get it in and was also hard to pull it all out once we got there. We left the car there and got ready for our long hike, carrying all our food and hiking gear. I still remember carrying all that weight on our backs while climbing.
We stopped for lunch after a few hours of hiking. Then we trudged upward mostly using trails where we found them. Today, I read there are different trails to use to climb all the way up the mountain . Back then there were some clearings with paths and some places where the brush had overgrown and you had to make your own way thru them. As it started to get dark, we found there was a Boy Scout troop spending the night just around the next bend and we saw a 3 sided lean-to where we could spend the night just before that curve, so we went back to camp there. So, we built a small campfire in the clearing in front of the lean-to to cook our supper. After we retired for the night we saw a mother bear and her cub noseing around where the fire had gone out. We were laying in our sleeping bags just a few feet from the bears. As our leader said, they won`t bother us as long as we remain quiet and don`t bother them. She was so right. When they finished searching for food, they slowly walked off. We had been very careful to clean up any sign of food after we ate. Early the next morning the boys had left, so we started our climb on up the mountain. What a beautiful view , you could see off in all directions, but some places you just saw the top of smaller mountains.
We made this mountain climb again the next summer, but we invited some of the Junior scout to join us and we had a bigger car to ride in. One of the younger girls sprained her ankle shortly before we reached the Mountain top and we couldn`t continue to the top that year. We used our arms to make a chair and took turns carrying the girl back down the mountain. Took us lots longer going down that year. But still we all had a great time.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Rain, Rain, go away: But the gardens love you.
Another rainy day. Expect tomorrow to be the same. So. just doing some washings and pick- up around the house today.
But, yesterday was a nice day. Feeling pretty good, so I decided to get out of the house for a change. Left home right after Lunch and took some flowers to the cementary to put on my mother`s and father`s , plus my Husband`s Graves. Years ago I had made and decorated a beautiful large flower box for my parents. Lots of people asked me where I bought it. They were surprised when I said I made it. Had it there for a couple years. I had just had my hand operated on when I painted it so I knew I could do better. So , one year I repainted the whole box and added better painted designs onto it. Had taken it down and a few days later when I went down I found that someone had stolen it. I was so dissappointed that I didn`t make another one to be stolen. So I bought one and just painted a design on it and have used this one for the past 4 or 5 years. I will never understand how someone can steal off a grave in a cementary. When I was talking to some people who lived next to the cementary I was told that kids in a car often had beer parties out in the back empty place in that cementary, so who knows, they might have taken it.
I did make a flower box for my husband 4 yrs ago, and so far that one has remained. This time I decided to put both Walt`s name and mine inside of a heart on one side to discourage them. I figured the box would be harder for anyone to bring home without questions with our names on it.
While I was there I clipped and trimmed the two bushes on each side of my parents stone. Now they look nice and neat. They sure have grown a lot since they were first planted over 10 years ago. One of my brother-in-laws used to do the trimming, but he passed away 2 years ago from a fall while climbing a ladder he had leaning on a tree in his backyard. He was a nice person.
Well I noticed that none of my family was taking care of the bushes, so the past two years I figured I should do it. After the bushes were trimmed, I watered the flowers the rest of the family had put there. There is one very tall monument there with my grandparents names which I also keep clean. I keep them all clean, but this one is quite old and got so bad a few years ago that you couldn`t read the words on it. A daughter helped me brush it clean again last year. Took us over two hours to get it really clean. It was so hard to do , that now I check it every time I go there. Then I went over to my Father`s parents and wow, my other grandmothers stone was so coated that you couldn`t even read her name or the date. I went to the car for the brush and then I remembered I had forgotten to bring the monument stone cleaner with me. So, I worked hard using just the brush and some water and did manage to clean the entire top of the stone so now the name and date are easily read. Next time I will need to bring the cleamner and do the sides of the stone, along with her second husbands stone. It is a shame when people let the stones get covered with moss and look that bad. I can`t understand why it never bothered the rest of my family.
i remember one year when my youngest daughter went with me. She was in her early teens. She saw where a bird had left it`s mark on my Father`s stone (this was while my Mother was still living). She started to cry until I got some water from the pump and cleaned it off. She had been real close with her grandfather.
Once I finished watering all the flowers , trimmed the bush and scrubbed so hard to clean the top of that stone, I was tired. Then I went over to my Husbands to place the flowers there. I noticed that someone had removed the picture out of the plastic that a granddaughter had left there. She had a picture of her kids there. It was starting to fade a bit, so I am hopeing she is the one who removed it or she will be upset the next time she goes. I noticed that someone had put some cut red roses there, but they were already dead flowers when I saw them. Now I am wondering which one left them-- almost sure to be either one of our girls, or maybe the granddaughter went and her or her bro from Florida might have left them. I know this grandson gave me some beautiful cut flowers when he stopped to see me, so maybe he also visited his grandfather with flowers. Hadn`t seen him in over 5 yers. These wonderful grandchildren are the children of my step daughter.
When I left there I went over to water the flowers on my brother-in-laws. A lot of walking to go to all these places. By then I was tired , but still didn`t want to head back home. So I decided to drive down to my oldest bros home. I visited with them, then went down the same road to visit first with my other older bro and then across the road to visit with a sister and her husband. I left for home just in time to make it home before it got dark.
It felt good to get away from the house and visit with family. I really should do it more often. I noticed my cars muffler is getting to sound louder, so guess I better get that checked. I have a wonderful Tec who will check it for me for nothing-- he is engaged to one of my daughters and they are planning on getting married next year. Just waiting for a nice day when it isn`t raining for him to crawl under the car. I always keep large sections of cardboard for them to lay on under a car.
Well, guess that covers yesterdays travels.
But, yesterday was a nice day. Feeling pretty good, so I decided to get out of the house for a change. Left home right after Lunch and took some flowers to the cementary to put on my mother`s and father`s , plus my Husband`s Graves. Years ago I had made and decorated a beautiful large flower box for my parents. Lots of people asked me where I bought it. They were surprised when I said I made it. Had it there for a couple years. I had just had my hand operated on when I painted it so I knew I could do better. So , one year I repainted the whole box and added better painted designs onto it. Had taken it down and a few days later when I went down I found that someone had stolen it. I was so dissappointed that I didn`t make another one to be stolen. So I bought one and just painted a design on it and have used this one for the past 4 or 5 years. I will never understand how someone can steal off a grave in a cementary. When I was talking to some people who lived next to the cementary I was told that kids in a car often had beer parties out in the back empty place in that cementary, so who knows, they might have taken it.
I did make a flower box for my husband 4 yrs ago, and so far that one has remained. This time I decided to put both Walt`s name and mine inside of a heart on one side to discourage them. I figured the box would be harder for anyone to bring home without questions with our names on it.
While I was there I clipped and trimmed the two bushes on each side of my parents stone. Now they look nice and neat. They sure have grown a lot since they were first planted over 10 years ago. One of my brother-in-laws used to do the trimming, but he passed away 2 years ago from a fall while climbing a ladder he had leaning on a tree in his backyard. He was a nice person.
Well I noticed that none of my family was taking care of the bushes, so the past two years I figured I should do it. After the bushes were trimmed, I watered the flowers the rest of the family had put there. There is one very tall monument there with my grandparents names which I also keep clean. I keep them all clean, but this one is quite old and got so bad a few years ago that you couldn`t read the words on it. A daughter helped me brush it clean again last year. Took us over two hours to get it really clean. It was so hard to do , that now I check it every time I go there. Then I went over to my Father`s parents and wow, my other grandmothers stone was so coated that you couldn`t even read her name or the date. I went to the car for the brush and then I remembered I had forgotten to bring the monument stone cleaner with me. So, I worked hard using just the brush and some water and did manage to clean the entire top of the stone so now the name and date are easily read. Next time I will need to bring the cleamner and do the sides of the stone, along with her second husbands stone. It is a shame when people let the stones get covered with moss and look that bad. I can`t understand why it never bothered the rest of my family.
i remember one year when my youngest daughter went with me. She was in her early teens. She saw where a bird had left it`s mark on my Father`s stone (this was while my Mother was still living). She started to cry until I got some water from the pump and cleaned it off. She had been real close with her grandfather.
Once I finished watering all the flowers , trimmed the bush and scrubbed so hard to clean the top of that stone, I was tired. Then I went over to my Husbands to place the flowers there. I noticed that someone had removed the picture out of the plastic that a granddaughter had left there. She had a picture of her kids there. It was starting to fade a bit, so I am hopeing she is the one who removed it or she will be upset the next time she goes. I noticed that someone had put some cut red roses there, but they were already dead flowers when I saw them. Now I am wondering which one left them-- almost sure to be either one of our girls, or maybe the granddaughter went and her or her bro from Florida might have left them. I know this grandson gave me some beautiful cut flowers when he stopped to see me, so maybe he also visited his grandfather with flowers. Hadn`t seen him in over 5 yers. These wonderful grandchildren are the children of my step daughter.
When I left there I went over to water the flowers on my brother-in-laws. A lot of walking to go to all these places. By then I was tired , but still didn`t want to head back home. So I decided to drive down to my oldest bros home. I visited with them, then went down the same road to visit first with my other older bro and then across the road to visit with a sister and her husband. I left for home just in time to make it home before it got dark.
It felt good to get away from the house and visit with family. I really should do it more often. I noticed my cars muffler is getting to sound louder, so guess I better get that checked. I have a wonderful Tec who will check it for me for nothing-- he is engaged to one of my daughters and they are planning on getting married next year. Just waiting for a nice day when it isn`t raining for him to crawl under the car. I always keep large sections of cardboard for them to lay on under a car.
Well, guess that covers yesterdays travels.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Damp raint Days don`t like me.
Still another rainy day. Temperature down to 56 degrees F. This chilly damp weather really doesn`t like me, or is it just that my body doesn`t like this damp chilly weather. Some days I think it is trying to win, but I`m just too stubborn to give in.
Hey, that reminds me of something a Nurse told me years ago. She was trying to get my pulse in my left wrist. There my pulse is so deep that no one can find it. I had told her before she tried to use my right wrist, but she was certain that she could find it even if others couldn`t. Well, she finally gave in and read my pulse in my right wrist. Then I still remember her reply to me. Here is what she told me:
" Dorothy, you are still here only because your right side refusses to give in." Told her I am usually the one who gives in, but in this case it is good that part of me is too stubborn to give in. So, guess there are times when you just have to be stubborn. And if that wasn`t enough, next the nurse took my tempature and when it read only 94.6, she decided her thermometer wasn`t working, so out she went and came back with a brand new thermometer and took my temp. again. Of course it read the same 94.6. Then she told me she was glad I was too stubborn to give in. You see, I often leave the Hosp with a fever because when my temp reads the normal 98.6, I have a fever. But, I know it is not high enough to worry about. One of my best friends was a head Nurse years ago and she tried to read my pulse in my left wrist and she also had to admit it couldn`t be read. Lost this wonderful friend a few years ago, then lost her Mother who was like a second Mom to me, and last year was the sister of my friens. One beautiful fa,mily that i will always miss.
But to get back to the weather and how it affects me, my Dr had given me a prescription for Celebrex, but i soon learned my heart didn`t get along with it. It had my heart running like a race horse, so i decided not to take tyhem anymore. So, last Sept. my Dr gave me another prescription for pain pills-- only started out with 40 pills and still had about 6 of them when this rain started last week. Have had to start using them again and today I finally had to give in and refill that prescription. I am one who hates taking and medication unless I have to. But the arthritis is now reminding me that it is still in my joints playing havoc with them. My back , hips and legs are also fighting with me. I spent almost 2 hours playing my organ yesterday. My fingers were getting so stiff they just didn`t want to listen to me anmore and had a mind of their own causing me to keep dropping things. They are moving a little better today, so the organ playing exercising must have done some good.
I learned years ago that exercise is the only thing that seems to help your body fight arthritis. The more you give in and just sit, the more the joints go stiff. Can`t let it win. Had a cousin who got so bad she spent her last few years in a wheel chair. I felt so sorry for her. She was a great person who was always trying to help someone else.
Well, right now I have Banana bread baking in my oven. One way to heat up the house and remove some of the dampness without having to turn the furnance back on.
I`m back again. First I had to put the clothes from the washer into the dryer, and then the oven timer went off. My trusty toothpick tells ,me that the Banana bread is done. So, now it is sitting on the rack cooling off a little so I can remove them from the pans. Yes, I made 2 loafs. Couldn`t see running an oven for almost an hour for just one loaf. Someone will stop by and help me eat them, and if they don`t, I can send one next door to my daughters home. I had been wanting to bake it all last week, but it was so hot I new I wouldn`t be able to stand the heat of the oven. So, today it is warming my kitchen up.
I hope it stops raining long enough for me to get my car out of the garage without getting soaked. I reordered the pain pills and now need to drive down to Hannaford to pick them up.
Well, now I have another reason for running out in the rain. My mailman just left mail in my mailbox out in front by the road. But, that isn`t as far to walk in the rain as it will be from Hannaford parking lot to the store. So, even though the weather man says it will rain all day, I am still hoping it stops even if just for a half hour or so. I`ll wait a while to see if it does at least let up before heading off to Hannaford Store.
Back again. Just rushed out to the mailbox wearing Walts spring jacket to keep me dry. Just read where my Prescription coverage is being changed to a provider I have never heard of. Just hope they don`t charge more . I will have to read up about this "Medco Health Solutions" and see what I find on line about them. Wish me (and all others that are receiving this change)_ luck that the prices don`t go higher with this new place. The paper says that this other Co. is the Nations leading prescription drug provider. Well. I will just have to wait and see.
I asked my Daughter yesterday, how much she was charging for her parking lot. She just bought a van to carry all her day care kids in, already has a 2 yr old car and the fellow she is engaged to has a new truck. Then a Niece was there with her car. Then 2 other cars stopped to drop of their kids. So it did look like a parking lot. She just laughed. Today there is just the three vehicles that belong to them. When I asked her yesterday, she had come home from the store and couldn`t drive into her driveway, so parked her car in my driveway. Doesn`t bother me as my driveway is wide enough for 2 cars. Had the fellow ask me how I can steer my Mazda without having power steering on it. I am so used to it that it doesn`t seem hard to me. I have been driving it since 1994 and so used to it that it doesn`t seem hard to me. He said I must have stronger arms than he does. He had driven it over to the fuilling station and filled it with gas for me. Pushing to use the gas pumps is hard for my hands to do. Then later a grandson stopped by with his son. The great grandson was trying to climb into a kitchen chair, so i picked him up and set him in the chair. His Dad looked at me ans said " Do you know how much he weighs?" Then he told the great grandson to tell gram how much he weighs. He said 37 pounds. I told his Dad that he is easier to pick up than the dog food bags that I get every week. The bags get heavy because they flop over whikle carrying them, plus i hgave to carry them up the porch steps.
Well, guess I should stop writing and get this posted. I find that writing it under new message in outlook express, I am less apt to lose it before posting it. I have tried some other good writing places, but still find outlook the easiest. There if company shows up I can just send it off to myself and finish it later. I am sitting here with my sterio playing music. I do enjoy music, especially Country love songs.
Guess it is time to think up something for lunch, and remove the bread before it sticks to the loaf pans. They should be cool enough now.
Definitely have to go on line and post this now as the dryer is buzzing to tell me the clothes are dry and should be removed from the dryer if I don`t want then looking wrinkled from setting in the dryer.
So, I off till next time.
Hey, that reminds me of something a Nurse told me years ago. She was trying to get my pulse in my left wrist. There my pulse is so deep that no one can find it. I had told her before she tried to use my right wrist, but she was certain that she could find it even if others couldn`t. Well, she finally gave in and read my pulse in my right wrist. Then I still remember her reply to me. Here is what she told me:
" Dorothy, you are still here only because your right side refusses to give in." Told her I am usually the one who gives in, but in this case it is good that part of me is too stubborn to give in. So, guess there are times when you just have to be stubborn. And if that wasn`t enough, next the nurse took my tempature and when it read only 94.6, she decided her thermometer wasn`t working, so out she went and came back with a brand new thermometer and took my temp. again. Of course it read the same 94.6. Then she told me she was glad I was too stubborn to give in. You see, I often leave the Hosp with a fever because when my temp reads the normal 98.6, I have a fever. But, I know it is not high enough to worry about. One of my best friends was a head Nurse years ago and she tried to read my pulse in my left wrist and she also had to admit it couldn`t be read. Lost this wonderful friend a few years ago, then lost her Mother who was like a second Mom to me, and last year was the sister of my friens. One beautiful fa,mily that i will always miss.
But to get back to the weather and how it affects me, my Dr had given me a prescription for Celebrex, but i soon learned my heart didn`t get along with it. It had my heart running like a race horse, so i decided not to take tyhem anymore. So, last Sept. my Dr gave me another prescription for pain pills-- only started out with 40 pills and still had about 6 of them when this rain started last week. Have had to start using them again and today I finally had to give in and refill that prescription. I am one who hates taking and medication unless I have to. But the arthritis is now reminding me that it is still in my joints playing havoc with them. My back , hips and legs are also fighting with me. I spent almost 2 hours playing my organ yesterday. My fingers were getting so stiff they just didn`t want to listen to me anmore and had a mind of their own causing me to keep dropping things. They are moving a little better today, so the organ playing exercising must have done some good.
I learned years ago that exercise is the only thing that seems to help your body fight arthritis. The more you give in and just sit, the more the joints go stiff. Can`t let it win. Had a cousin who got so bad she spent her last few years in a wheel chair. I felt so sorry for her. She was a great person who was always trying to help someone else.
Well, right now I have Banana bread baking in my oven. One way to heat up the house and remove some of the dampness without having to turn the furnance back on.
I`m back again. First I had to put the clothes from the washer into the dryer, and then the oven timer went off. My trusty toothpick tells ,me that the Banana bread is done. So, now it is sitting on the rack cooling off a little so I can remove them from the pans. Yes, I made 2 loafs. Couldn`t see running an oven for almost an hour for just one loaf. Someone will stop by and help me eat them, and if they don`t, I can send one next door to my daughters home. I had been wanting to bake it all last week, but it was so hot I new I wouldn`t be able to stand the heat of the oven. So, today it is warming my kitchen up.
I hope it stops raining long enough for me to get my car out of the garage without getting soaked. I reordered the pain pills and now need to drive down to Hannaford to pick them up.
Well, now I have another reason for running out in the rain. My mailman just left mail in my mailbox out in front by the road. But, that isn`t as far to walk in the rain as it will be from Hannaford parking lot to the store. So, even though the weather man says it will rain all day, I am still hoping it stops even if just for a half hour or so. I`ll wait a while to see if it does at least let up before heading off to Hannaford Store.
Back again. Just rushed out to the mailbox wearing Walts spring jacket to keep me dry. Just read where my Prescription coverage is being changed to a provider I have never heard of. Just hope they don`t charge more . I will have to read up about this "Medco Health Solutions" and see what I find on line about them. Wish me (and all others that are receiving this change)_ luck that the prices don`t go higher with this new place. The paper says that this other Co. is the Nations leading prescription drug provider. Well. I will just have to wait and see.
I asked my Daughter yesterday, how much she was charging for her parking lot. She just bought a van to carry all her day care kids in, already has a 2 yr old car and the fellow she is engaged to has a new truck. Then a Niece was there with her car. Then 2 other cars stopped to drop of their kids. So it did look like a parking lot. She just laughed. Today there is just the three vehicles that belong to them. When I asked her yesterday, she had come home from the store and couldn`t drive into her driveway, so parked her car in my driveway. Doesn`t bother me as my driveway is wide enough for 2 cars. Had the fellow ask me how I can steer my Mazda without having power steering on it. I am so used to it that it doesn`t seem hard to me. I have been driving it since 1994 and so used to it that it doesn`t seem hard to me. He said I must have stronger arms than he does. He had driven it over to the fuilling station and filled it with gas for me. Pushing to use the gas pumps is hard for my hands to do. Then later a grandson stopped by with his son. The great grandson was trying to climb into a kitchen chair, so i picked him up and set him in the chair. His Dad looked at me ans said " Do you know how much he weighs?" Then he told the great grandson to tell gram how much he weighs. He said 37 pounds. I told his Dad that he is easier to pick up than the dog food bags that I get every week. The bags get heavy because they flop over whikle carrying them, plus i hgave to carry them up the porch steps.
Well, guess I should stop writing and get this posted. I find that writing it under new message in outlook express, I am less apt to lose it before posting it. I have tried some other good writing places, but still find outlook the easiest. There if company shows up I can just send it off to myself and finish it later. I am sitting here with my sterio playing music. I do enjoy music, especially Country love songs.
Guess it is time to think up something for lunch, and remove the bread before it sticks to the loaf pans. They should be cool enough now.
Definitely have to go on line and post this now as the dryer is buzzing to tell me the clothes are dry and should be removed from the dryer if I don`t want then looking wrinkled from setting in the dryer.
So, I off till next time.
