Just need to talk to my friends (170)

Sasue

The 3 M tape is what I used for Rich’s colostomy also.

Sandy 

Mint

Good morning

36F, 2C.  Suppose to warm up a bit now.  

Rolled ice cream interesting.  Had never heard of it.

Glad you are doing a little better Judith.

Lorita I retired January 11, 2019.

Had a nice day at work yesterday.  Got to deliver flowers twice.  That was fun.  Was very busy.

Take care everyone

ronald71111

Lorita,  when I've had trouble with cable in the past I've reset the box, sometimes I've even unplugged everything, waited a few seconds. Plugged back in and let it reset. Once the sitter was cleaning around it and messed it all up. Nothing I did worked until finally I went into the tv settings and found the tv was not set in cable, I set it and everything was fine.

I am having a lot of leg and hip pain lately and it's starting to hurt my little sleeping time. I've also noticed a small knot in my left leg about the size of a bbq. I bruise easily and for some reason my legs bruise for no reason I'm aware of. Guess if it doesn't get better I'll have to get it checked. 

Hope the front porch is full the morning, Lorita has a pot of coffee on and we are all talking about cooking, gardening and even a little singing.

Ron

BethL

Good morning! I'm here on the porch for coffee and cinnamon rolls! Or peach cobbler!

We are getting a welcome rain today. I just love hearing the sound of rain. So peaceful. We are no longer in drought, not even "abnormally dry" per the U.S. Drought Monitor. Some of Iowa is still abnormally dry and some is in moderate drought (like my area was last year), and a small area is in severe drought. I also took a look at the whole U.S. and the west is not good. Of course those of you who live there know this. Our grass is SO, SO green and we have tulips and daffodils in bloom. There are 2 Dutch communities in Iowa that have tulip festivals and it is so beautiful to visit there/hundreds of thousands of tulips! I have gone many times in the past and will attach a pic or two. The town also has 3 bakeries and they specialize in Dutch letters. Those are flaky pastries shaped like an S with almond filling. Have you ever tried them? I make almond bars that use almond paste and also almond flavoring. SO GOOD! 

Went to Olive Garden with 2 friends. We all had the soup/salad/breadsticks meal. Their salad is a favorite of mine. I like those little pepperici peppers in their salad. 

Son, wife and 4 kids coming over this weekend. Will make baked pork chops, baked potatoes and corn, plus almond bars. Will "gift" them with some Hello toothpaste: Unicorn Sparkle and Strawberry (I kept the grape flavor). 

I have 5 books waiting to be read: The Palace Papers, Inside the House of Windsor by Tina Brown; Clock Dance by Anne Tyler; Celestial Navigation by Anne Tyler; Well Doc it seemed like a good idea at the time: the unexpected adventures of a trauma surgeon; and Dreamland: the true tale of America's opioid epidemic. Recently read The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah - so good! Kristin Hannah and Anne Tyler as authors have been recommended by others, so was Dreamland. I read just about anything I can about the royals. Love the Cambridges. The Queen is an amazing woman. A lady from church told me she sent condolences to the Queen and William and Catherine on the loss of Prince Philip and she got return mail thanking her! 

Time to get on with my day. Will attach some Tulip festival pics. 

Lorita

Morning,

 It's cloudy and very windy this morning.  Supposed to have wind gusts up to 45 mph today and storms later if the cap doesn't hold.

 I woke up this morning about 1 - had been laying on the divan watching Barney Miller so go up and went to bed.  Woke up again about 4:30 and couldn't get back to sleep worrying about Sheena.  Finally got up about 6.  She was able to get up by herself this morning and go outside, walked around the house and when I came back in she and Stormy came in.  Maybe the rest she had yesterday helped - so, we'll repeat today.  Stormy even seems subdued.  He still has diarrhea, too so I'm going to cut out all canned food and just let them eat dry food for a while and be very careful about leaving any catfood around that he might eat.  Tom-Tom wasn't there for breakfast this morning - hope he shows up.  Very unusual for him not to be ready to have breakfast.

 Girls were scattered all over the south and east pastures so tried to call them down - some came, some didn't.  Toad fed and not all of them even bothered to come down.  They're not used to having feed after mid April but those who did come down came in a hurry.  Saw one mom up in the pasture babysitting with a couple of little ones.  Mike drove among them yesterday and said it didn't look like there would be any new babies for a while - no one was springing, so I can relax for a while.   I'm not going to do anything today except some laundry - of course, I'll do other things but not too much.

 Ron, thanks for the suggestion - I'll try that.  I know when I hooked it up when I got the TV it wasn't hard to do - only had one cable to hook up - now I see three of them - says it can't read the card.  I've heard you shouldn't have a TV in the bedroom anyway but I enjoy watching TV after I go to bed - we've always had one.  I guess if push comes to shove I'll relent and let a someone come and do whatever needs to be done.  They've had some updates since the pandemic began that  I haven't taken advantage of them because I didn't want anyone in the house.  May even change back to DISH.  Too much to think about right now. 

 The coffee's on (really hot tea) and there's  crumb cakes for all - even have the porch swing up.  I have cushions for the chairs in the storage building so they're available.

 I did order the tape for Sarah but it won't' be there until between May 6 and 10.  Sometimes they do ship earlier.  I ordered from Chewy Tuesday and it came Thursday - I think they must have a warehouse nearby - somewhere in Texas, I think.

 Thanks, Sandy, should have thought about asking you earlier.  I do hope it works.  I hope things are well at your house.  When do the girls get there?  That'll keep things lively this summer having three girls there.  Probably about time to fill the swimming pool and get the chairs by the poolside.

 Sara - it doesn't seem possible that you've been retired that long.  I've been retired 27 years and it doesn't seem that long to me either.  So glad you're enjoying volunteering.

Jack has been to the dining room twice and has sat at two different tables.  Yesterday at noon he sat with two men and seemed to enjoy it but last evening they tried three different tables before they found one for him.  He says there's about 65 people there but only about 35 in the dining room.  I told  him he should tell them he wanted to sit with those men but he said it wouldn't do any good to tell or ask them anything.  He's a bit negative about things.  Guess I would be, too.  Do hope things turns out all right wit his house.  I did check on Zillow, too, Judith, and the price was much higher.  How do they know anyway?  I'm sure if it was cleared out it would bring more money.  I have no say in this so it'll be entirely up to him.  I think he just wants to get rid of it and the car.  We'll see what happens.\

 Hard to believe that April is almost oven - this year is going so fast, seems like just a couple of days ago we were having really cold, icy weather.

 Hope all of you are well this morning.  I'll be back later - sort of sleepy right now.

  

 

ronald71111

Right after I posted this morning I started thinking about Louisiana former governor, Jimmy Davis. They said his first election was won because as he went around the State he would start his campaign speech off singing. All of a sudden I started singing some of his favorites; supper time and mansion in the sky. 

Hope I didn't run anyone off the porch with my singing!

Ron

Lorita

Hi,

 Ron, the singing sounded good.  Now, you'll never get those songs out of your head.

 Just called my doctor's office - he leaves at noon on Friday so can't get in to see him until 2:15 Monday.  I've had this irritation near my hip bone in front for several days - thought it was just irritation from moisture so I've been powdering and putting on neosproin.  This morning I looked at it and it's a place about 2" across.  So I thought of lyme disease.  I've had several ticks on me but none I can remember in that area.   I did get to talk with the nurse and she said to apply Neosporin with Lidocaine to alleviate the pain.  I have a bottle of 5% Lidocaine I got when I had shingles - didn't realize it was in 2017 but the pharmacist it might not work as well but wouldn't hurt.  The nurse said I could  mix the Neosporin and lidocaine.

 One of the symptoms of Lyme disease is a bulls-eye rash or solid red rash plus other things - temp. fatigue, etc.  Here's hoping it's not Lyme disease - that's all I need.  Guess if you have an irritation you should really look at it - wish I had.  This morning I thought it might be a bruise from the cabinet I put up yesterday getting against it but since it's been bothering me for a few days, guess not.

 Jack called - his feet and legs are swelling.  While we were talking the nurse came in to check. 

 Still cloudy, cool and windy here.  Getting ready to watch the weather - I did hear earlier that after the rains tonight Saturday should be pretty.  Hope so.

  

Jo C.

Ah; love the sound of singing, Ron; thank you.  Not bad -  perhaps we could get you on stage.  When Tom Jones sang on stage, he used to get women's underwear thrown at him.  Not such a good idea with the the Front Porch group though; we'd have a porch full of granny bloomers.  We shall have to throw cookies or cinnamon buns instead. Lorita; Zillow and companies are valid.  They do their assessment by area and of other similar homes that recently sold nearby.    Doesn't matter that Jack's place is a mess inside; it is the property itself that has the value.  Can sell for a little less due to remediation being needed, but to take a HUGE hit on price is inappropriate and is taking advantage of a senior citizen who may not have adequate judgment and who has no one being his representative/advocate.  Still is an issue if staff purchases or if staff put a real estate person in touch with him, if they low ball buy it; could be considered fiduciary abuse of a dependent elder per legal statute.  That as said, can be prosecutable.  Will have to see how this all ends up. A dear friend who is also an RN is going for surgery today.  She has a genetic condition that causes her blood to clot and to develop deep vein thrombosis of which she has had  many, as well as pulmonary emboli.   She is on blood thinners.  Makes me feel a bit edgy on her behalf.  So hope she does well.   Sorry to hear about the spot on your side, Lorita, if it gets large or has more negative changes, you can always be seen in Urgent Care.   Hope it does better. We are still in the mid 70's today, but it seems that a heat surge will be in the cards for the next week.   Up and down and back and forth, until . . . . the big heat hits.   Hope the full house AC continues to work well.  Had some issues earlier during a heat surge and had it checked out and now all seems to be okay; hope it stays like that.  Every year, right before early spring, we routinely have the AC company come out and do annual maintenance. It has been very helpful and also helps keep the AC unit itself in fairly good stead.  Sure do need it in the summer. When we were much younger, heat did not affect us so much, but now that we are more, "mature," we can no longer tolerate the heat as we used to.  The news reported a night time house burglary.  It was a nice house in a nice neighborhood and the house was all locked up.  The burglar gained access by removing a room air conditioner from a window and then crawling through the window itself.  The people were asleep at the time.  He stole jewelry and money and then watched the people sleeping in their bed - they have cameras, so it picked the burglar up on screen.  Police did catch him, later.  So now room air conditioners seem to be a burglar access point.  Been reading some good books too, Beth; "September," by Rosamunde Pilcher as well as some of her other books.  "Angela's Ashes," by Frank McCourt (boy, could he write!) I will follow that later with  his second book, "Tis".  My favorite book of all times is that really, really thick one, "Pillars of The Earth," and its sequel,  "World Without End."  Amazing reading; what a joy.  I have read Pillars three times.  I let a long time go between readings so it is fresher to me.  Another really good one that I will read again, is, "11/23/62," by King; best he has ever written. Also love good suspense, mysteries, etc.   Reading is my grateful heartfelt treasure and it has always been so since I was a small child.   Loved reading to our children and grandchildren and miss having someone to do that for.   Still have a baskets with children's books upstairs in the guest room just waiting for the next child.  I was going to gift them, but our granddaughter asked me not to.  She loved them so, that she wants to have them saved for when she has a child; so will do. Nice to have a reason to keep those book around. Just found an online low price used book place, it is Thriftbooks.  Some used book places are so expensive that I would never use them; this one seems reasonable.  I will have to give Thriftbooks a try and see how they are.  I do e-reading, but it is good to have regular books.  Love the feel and smell of them, and besides, if there is a power outage, there will be books.  Summer nearly upon us and school out. Many teens are taking care of younger siblings while a single parent or both parents work, and some teens are earning money doing daytime babysitting for other families.  This is always a safety concern, so what I decided to do for a special project at a local church is to have a Red Cross Baby Sitter Certification Class given.   The cost per person is $45.   The church paid for the teens who registered last time.   Will have to see what happens this time - if they cannot do full pay, perhaps they will split the cost with each registrant. Just good to have kids given the do's and don'ts and how to's including CPR, emergency care, etc.; they get a lot of stuff to take home for reference.  Here is a link if anyone is interested: https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/babysitting-child-care May everyone have a good day and a really good weekend; this week for me sure seemed to go fast.  My mother used to tell me that the more, "mature" someone got; each year time seems to go faster and faster.  She may have been right. J.

jfkoc

Calladium info;

https://www.smileysprouts.com/caladium/should-i-soak-caladium-bulbs-before-planting

GMcG

Jo, I also like Ken Follet's, Knightsbridge series.  Not sure if you are aware that there are two additional books in the series, A Column of Fire and An Evening and the Morning.   Both very good.

ronald71111

Have been singing Jimmy Davis and Hank Williams songs all day and did not collect a single pair of granny bloomers. I've switched to Elvis with love me tender and jail house rock, even have the lip going up on one side. Going to fix Lou some fish, broccoli, green beans and corn. After supper just a couple more of Elvis and will end the night with Blue Hawaii. 

Let's see if Elvis will get those granny bloomers off Jo.

Jo. Remember when Tom Jones had a show on tv, the girls went wild. Lou and I use to watch him every week xxv and also Tony Orlando. 

Ron 

Lorita

Hi,

 Thanks, Judith, for the information about soaking the caladium bulbs.  I've  never done that - just sprinkled them.  I have four varieties so will have to find four things to soak them in but I think I'll try it.  Did you buy all White Christmas this year?

 Jo - I've told Jack things you said - about the value of the house not just being the house but other homes in the area - he doesn't agree - says all the other houses are nicer than his.  His house is 40 years old and, to me, looks good - nice fence in yard and what they call a gazebo - but it's sort of square but really nice.  He'll do what he wants to - sort of stubborn and set in his ways - and opinionated.  The real estate agent did come and get the key this afternoon and said she'd see the house tomorrow and get back to him on Monday.  He's wanting to get rid of it ASAP.

 I'm reading Barbara's book - really good. I've read the "free" part on the Kindle so now will read the rest of it soon.

 Sheena has been up a few times today - sometimes she can get up by herself, other times I have to help - just a little bit.  She's not walking very well but hope it gets better.  Same with the cow with the bad hip - she has trouble getting up and walks very slowly.  Hate to see animals have problems.  Sheena just now got up and moved to another place.  They both went outside before  dark so will sleep inside tonight.

 Did a load of laundry today and thought I'd wait until tomorrow to dry it but decided to do it tonight - drying the lighter things and will put the heavy serapes outside in the sun to dry tomorrow.   Washed the curtains I use on the window between the pantry and utility room and the window in the utility room - curtains really make a difference in the way a room feels.

 Laid down on the divan this afternoon to watch TV and went to sleep for an hour - got up and got a drink, laid back down and slept another hour - guess that caught me up for last night although they say you can't catch up on lost sleep.

 Jack said his legs are swelling so he told the nurse and she called his doctor - guess he'll have to take Lasix for a while.  I've told him to be sure to elevate his legs when he's sitting.  I think he's rather enjoing going to the dining hall.  He was late today so had lunch with a different man and seemed to like him.  He said the three men he sat with yesterday didn't talk any.

 It's been a quiet day - the driveway alarm goes off occasionally - guess a tree across the way moves and it goes off.,

 Ron, I remember watching Tom Jones - afraid I was one of those "girls". Does Lou enjoy hearing you sing?  I bet she does - probably keeps her calm.

 Enjoy the rest of the evening and sleep well tonight.

littleme

Hello cobbers, from Australia.

Haven't written for quite a while, but have been reading regularly. So glad that Jack is now safely in a residential setting. Do hope that Sarah's condition stabilises.

Now six weeks since I had the operation on the eyelids of both eyes. Did not leave the house for 3 weeks, as I was not comfortable being seen looking so @#$. Then gradually got back into circulation, even though it was really quite uncomfortable, with the feeling of sand under the lids. But last weekend became even more painful, then I realised that I had bright blotchy red rashes above both eyes and spreading across both cheeks. Did manage to see the surgeon almost at once, but she could not diagnose the problem. Instead put me on eyedrops for possible conjunctivitis; antibiotics and antivirals -just in case. Anyway, after 4 days of treatment, I am now much more comfortable.

Still continuing to downsize my book collection of 60+ years. I really have to be hard hearted to dispose of books that I have cherished for so long, but most of them I haven't looked at in years. So they are going to a charity bookshop, and I hope will  find new owners who love them as much as I did. Most I collected when I was researching my family history in different part of the UK, including London. But I have found a couple of novels that I thought long lost, so I am keeping those to reread.

My little choir gave our first concert this week, after quite a break. We sing in nursing homes, and they are still having COVID troubles. If a resident gets infected, they go into lock-down, and our concert can be cancelled with a few hours notice.

Lorita, I do hope you enjoy reading the Cottage in Germantown. It is certainly very different from the first of my books you read; fiction instead of my family memories. The town is quite near here, and one I know well, so not hard to write descriptions of it.

Just got a shock, as a notice board just fell off the wall above my desk. What a bang!

Fortunately, no damage, but I'll have to find a way to put it back up. Need to find a hammer!

Barbara

Mint

Good morning

47F, 8C. Looks like we are in for a little warmer patch.  

Beth I really like Olive Gardens salad too.  Tulips have been a favorite of mine for years.  Liked  the basic colors and shapes better than the new fancy ones. 

Hope Sheena and Stormy doing better today.  

Barb know what you mean by a small thing causing such a Big Bang.  Many years ago it sounded like someone had just rammed my front door.  Not a thing there.  Next day discovered a card board box had fell in a closet next to the door.  Hard to believe it made that loud of a noise.

I will be just like Jack.  Owning two houses  is not my cup of tea.  Not sure owning even one will be in 10 or 15 years, if still living.  I feel so bad when I go to mom’s and things outside are so unkempt.  Went yesterday and cleaned around the house but her refusal to allow mulch will mean this will be never ending which is discouraging.  She has supposedly gotten a guy to start trimming.  The garden is a dandelion bed and soon will be a weed patch.  Have suggested covering entire bed with cardboard to control this but she is not agreeable to me doing it.  Makes me terribly sad.  We have always kept our places neat.  When it is time to sell it, just want to get rid of it.  It’s a very nice place, nicer than where I live, but higher maintenance.  I’ve mainly provided for myself but have been given a boost or two in life from others that helped me and encouraged me.  Would like to do that for someone else.  Give them a break to help them get a long life’s journey a little easier and take a load off of my shoulders.

The egg farm is having a plant sale today.  My sister and I are going to go check on it.  Next Saturday, good Lord’s will we are going to Mennonite country to plant shop.  My hope is to find a few dahlia plants today.  It’s too early, but if you go later there ish  o selection much.

Take care everyone

Lorita

Morning,

 Sara, hope you have a good time today and that you're able to find your dahlias.  I hadn't thought of those in a while.  I think they're so pretty.  Used to have some dinner plate ones along the front of the porch - when the holly was small.  I'm sort of disappointed in the holly - Bryon and Shane cut it back last year but I guess with the awfully cold, wet weather we had somehow it's lost leaves lower down and it looks leggy.  It's put on new leaves higher up.  I wish I'd kept it trimmed back when it was small or that we'd put something else there.

 It's a pretty morning - not sure if it rained last night - it's pretty wet out but it was anyway.  I think the cap held so we didn't get any storms.

 Sheena got up when I came in this morning - everyone was standing by the bedroom door when I opened it.  I slept in there by myself last night.  Everyone wanted breakfast.  Tom-Tom was there this morning - glad to see him.  I talk to him every morning and he just looks at me, sitting under the tractor.  He won't come to his feed pan until I leave.  Girls are way down in the NE pasture.  Before I got up I heard one of the cows calling her baby - for breakfast, I guess.  Don't hear anyone bawling now so guess she found the baby.

 Barbara, did they ever find out what was wrong when you had the red blotches?  I have very dry eyes and they feel sandy so I know, kind of, what you mean about that feeling.  It's awful.  I hope your eyes are much better.  I am enjoying the book - I read some every day because with the dry eyes it makes it uncomfortable to read too long.  I think/know there's a Germantown in Kentucky.  I think my nephew used to live there.

 I like the way you write - descriptive, sort of like that western writer who really described things - can't think of the name right now which is silly because I have all of the books written.  My mother bought all of the books to read after she retired but she developed macular degeneration so was unable to read them.  I've read a few - the last one I read was The Thundering Herd (about buffalo).  Kind of wish I hadn't read it - so sad that the buffalo was almost exterminated by buffalo hunters.   Zane Grey!! Don't you hate it when you can't think of something.  Carol has that problem, too and she says when she stops trying to remember it comes to her.  And it does!

 Talk about noises - during the last couple of weeks I've heard, twice, something hit our front door - storm door.  Looked out and the first time it was a little bird that had flown into the door and was almost knocked out.  I didn't bother him except to turn him off his back.  After a few minutes he recovered and flew off.  Yesterday it happened and I looked out and didn't see anything - probably hit the door but didn't knock himself out.  Seems like I'm seeing more birds this spring.  Sometimes the trees are full of them (makes me think about the movie "The Birds").

 Sheena is able to get up, slowly, and walks slowly but I think she's better.  Guess it'll just take time.  Stormy's still having diarrhea.  I'll have to talk to Mike about that again.  He's had one round of antibiotics - well, too, because not long after he'd finished the first round he cut his foot and had to be on them again.  I know antibiotics can cause diarrhea in people - wonder if that applies to dogs, too? 

Going to put up the curtains in the pantry and utility room today.  I had used a rod in the pantry that expanded so you didn't have to have hangers - it doesn't work now so I'll have to put up something to hold the curtains - if I do put one in there. I'll have one on the other side of the window inside the utility room.  I know this sounds funny but the utility room used to be a porch - screened-in the first I can remember and over the years my parents extended the roof  and made it into a room but there was a window in thie pantry looking out onto the porch.  That AC that I worked so hard to get replaced is still in it's box sitting on the floor.  Before the hot summer I'll see if Bryon and Shane can put it into the window.  I don't think I can lift it.  I remember years ago Charles and I were trying to put one in the bedroom window and just couldn't lift it.  Some man we knew  happened to come by for some reason and he just picked it up, so easily, and put it in the window.  Nice to be young and strong.

 It's nice and wet today so should do a little bit of transplanting before Bryon mows next week.  There's five or six of the white flower plants that have moved themselves out of the big bunch of them so need to figure out a place in the yard to move them.  There are buds on the roses so it won't be long before I have roses blooming - also need to cut some dead branches out of them.

 There's some floral smell outside this morning.  Can't quite place it - don't think the honeysuckle is blooming yet so not sure what it can be - locusts?  Or maybe it's not floral - the weatherman said we may be getting some smoke from the wildfires in New Mexico but it doesn't smell like smoke so much. 

 Ron - are you singing this morning?  We'll have to have a concert on the front porch sometime.  I'll make a peach cobbler - someone said they'd bring ice cream so we'll have a good time - eating and listening t.  o your singing.  I need to get some Chewy boxes opened and off the porch so we'll have room!

 Hope all of you have a good Saturday and weekend.  Day, I'm watching QVC - Leah Williams is on - really like her.

 This is funny, or was funny, to me. Yesterday Jack told me the three men he sat with the day before didn't talk.  I told him he should try talking to them and if he did, they'd talk.  He dismissed that.  I thought if you talked to someone, they'd reply.  Not to his thinking, I guess.

 Enjoy the day.

  

  

loveskitties

Lorita,

Do you replace the glass in the storm door with a screen in better weather?

If not, I have read that you can put decals on the outside  of the glass to alert birds.  They also say just using white tape will help, but imagine it would look kinda funny.

There is also non-reflective film.

Whatever you use has to be on the outside to block the reflection.

Jo C.

Thank you GMcG for the book suggestions, I will surely look into that.   Two of the other books I found amazingly good reads were,  "A Thousand Splendid Suns, and, "Kite Runner,"  both by Khalid Husseini.   These are both SO well written, filled with such writing that one cannot wait to see what happens and the characters are really well done.  So wish he would write some more; he is quite gifted.

 Well, Lorita; Jack is Jack. Whether that is just basic personality or mild early changes in his cognitive thinking, or a combination of both, what will be will be. Nothing anyone can do about it.  He may turn out to be a bit of a challenge at the facility if he is already beginning to form judgments about the facility and people in a cranky negative manner.  That too is nothing anyone can do anything about.   You have done all that can be done, Lorita and that was a whole lot.

Big secret, Ron; I never liked Elvis all that much.  Now the Platters!  Met my husband at school at age 14; we were in a group of school friends.   We began dating in about the 10th - 11th grade, so I have danced, (and smooched), all the way to cool songs of our era.  Oh my, the memories!  I actually really like the oldies which have long passed, but that generations music was wonderful.   I am such an oldie fan, I even like the big band era of our parents generation.  Old fashioned me.  At least during those days no one was busy singing through their noses and cursing like it was their only words they can speak!  As if.  That, a judgment from a person who loves to sing, but is dreadful -  I cannot find a key and only sound barely passable in the shower, but I sing anyway.   Drove my husband nuts on long road trips.

Hello there dear cobber Barbara; it is good to hear from you.  I am glad to hear that your eyes are doing better, that was a long time getting it all done and being so uncomfortable.   I tried to find your book on Kindle, but it did not pop up.  Perhaps I did not get correct information in.   So hope your choral group is able to sing and not get cancelled.  Really lovely of you folks to bring your music to nursing homes.  

Sayra, I am sorry about your mother's refusal for upkeep and maintenance on what is really your property as you own it; it must feel awful especially for a person who is so organized and takes such good care of her property.   When we had my MILs house to work with, we did everything to be positive and kind.  However, with challenges we finally just used to show up and commence work - no discussion, no asking. That included her lawn remediation and care and even planting flowers in the front yard beds.  What could she do?  Not much - yell?  Not  for long.   Just not worth the city giving notice to clean up or else, or being a neighborhood blight for others on her street, or to not having a property worth to sell as we knew that would eventually be coming as needs arose.  We loved her and even though there was a challenge there, we did the yard work upkeep and maintenance, we also brought her treats and showed affection and kindness when we were not at the yard business, so it balanced out.  Sometimes had to just do things and get yelled at, but if she did, she would wear out before we did.  I send wishes for good luck, from your writing; she is not easy. 

Those loud noises in a house; strange bangs and creaks . . . they can be a elusive.  Sometimes I can hear sounds of a strange, creak/knock type sound from only one corner of the garage, (attached to the house), but have never found anything.  Shall remain a mystery.

 We are having another uptick in COVID cases.  The county reported nearly 2,800 new cases in one day, yesterday.  There were eight COVID deaths yesterday, and an "increase" in hospital admissions, but no number was declared for that.  And this is in the summer; not the expected significant increase in the coming winter.  So; once again, we are all islands unto ourselves and do what we feel is best and safest for ourselves.  Means masking for us.  But . . . DH went out to a store two days ago.   We have N95 masks, but he wore just a blue surgical mask which has been said over and over again is NOT appropriate for the new variants which have taken over.  Those viral particle are so small they get right through that.  Then found him folding his masks and putting them in his pocket for reuse.  ?????  This is not a stupid person, he knows what is effective and has watched videos for "how to."  It startles and astounds me. 

Going to get going and fold laundry as the dryer just told me to get with it by beeping and beeping; as I keep saying, if only it could put itself away. This from a person with a washer and dryer in a laundry room.  Shame on me.  I remember early days in marriage where I had to hang everything out on lines until our budget permitted a clothes dryer, so I now apologize to myself for complaining about the laundry.  And also blessed with no more ironing . . . . big wins!

 J.

Lorita

Hi again,

 Thanks, Marie, I don't replace the glass with screens.  The dogs I used to have and cats have torn all the screens so just use the glass all the time.  I'll think of something to put on the outside of the glass in the storm door - hate to have little birds hurt.

 Jo - you're right - he's not going to change at age 86.  I'll have to learn to curb my tongue and just agree with everything.  I hope he doesn't cause problems.  I've heard the personnel talking with him when we were talking and they came in and they're very nice and kind sounding to him - and he to them, too.   Hopefully, he'll adjust.  He's told me a few times that he knew he had to make changes in his lifestyle.  The realtor is going to look at his house today and see him Monday.  I said "I bet you'll be anxious for Monday to come to see what she says".  He said he wouldn't be so what do you do?

 Watching Dr. Pol and they're pulling calves - lost one but they were able to save the second one.  Makes me nervous because we've gone through that so  much.  According to what I've noted - no more babies until the end of May, then one, and a couple in June and so forth.  I imagine he'll get them back on schedule after a year or so so he'll only have calves in the spring and fall for a couple of months each season.

 I'm doing laundry, too, this morning.  The washer was making noises so went out and opened the lid and there was hardly any water in it - had a couple of serapes and one or two other things (I'm washing winter caps and gloves to put away for the summer).  Closed the lid and it put in a little more water, then started again.  I do not like this washer.  Every time I do laundry I fuss at it but couldn't do without one.  I remember a few years ago, Jo, when you were in the process of getting a new washer you were doing all kinds of research to find one thatwould let you regulate the water level.  How did that come out?

 Got the curtains all hung/hanged?  Now I want to do a little touch-up on the utility room paint where one color meets the other.  The walls in the actual room are dark gray and the ceiling and closet area are a porch-ceiling green - the gray was a little dark but it looks okay with white trim and the curtains.  Also have a west window that lets in a lot of light.  Where the two colors meet in the room need to be touched up - then on to painting the bedroom wall.  I have to be in the mood to paint so may not be today - or tomorrow.

 Sheena is improving (may have already said that) and I'm so glad.  Stormy needs probiotics to help with his diarrhea and I think she needs medication for her arthritis.  I also need to start taking my glucosamine for my arthritis, too.    Tom-Tom was here this morning - ready for his breakfast.  Glad to see him.  If I didn't have animals to worry about, what would I do?

 The red place is going away.  I found a tube of medicine my doctor gave me two or three years ago for the heat or whatever it is women tend to get if they're full-busted.  I've been using it and there's improvement so won't need to see the doctor for that.

 Boiling some eggs - and I'm trying to remember how Zetta says she colors hers.  I think she puts them in cold water for a bit, then pours a little food coloring over them when they're out of the water.  Zetta, if you're reading, how did that go?

 I heard this morning that if you drink hot tea in the mornings instead of coffee it might help fend off dementia.  Wouldn't that be great!  It said any kind of tea - black, green or white.  If you have white tea, is the water clear?  I drink black or orange pekoe or pekoe black.  I need to try that Red Zinger again.  I'm making tea to have iced tea later today. 

 Jo - in the search bar, just type in the name of Barbara's book - the one I'm reading now is A Cottage in Germantown.  It probably will bring up the others, too. Can't remember the whole title of the first one I read about her growing-up years.

 Rawhide just came on - it's about a woman taking four bulls crosscountry to Abilene.  Reminds me that years ago we had a man working on the back barn doors and for some reason we needed to get Casper in the headgate.  I said I'd get him and the man said "you're not going in there with that bull, are you?"  I did and he followed me in, I got out and he went into the headgate.  Pays to have gentle cattle.

  

ladyzetta

Hi Lorita,     I am reading I will answer the egg question and then get caught up on rest of the reading. After I finish with the hot water I run cold water over them and leave a little cold water in the pan and take food coloring and drop a few drop on the eggs let set a little while then slosh them around in the colored water and eggs will turn many different colors. I like blue. Then take them out and set them on a paper towel till they dry. Then put in the fridge. I just did some a few days ago.  I took a picture as soon as my son gets home I will attach it I still don't how to do that myself.

ronald71111

This evening front porch singing will be from a request by Jo. I could use some front porch backup as I open with "the great pretender " and closing son will be "my prayer". I loved all the groups from our 50s and 60s and the platters was one of the best.

Took littlebit to be groomed today and he came strutting into the house like a show dog. Grommer said he was a lot better this time than the last few times she groomed him. He had been acting stressed out and was really worried about him. Today he's acting like a two year old instead of a 17 year old. Hard to believe August he turns 17!

Ron

Jo C.

Lorita, when we replaced our old Maytag rather than pay for an expensive repair; (an action which I wish I had done), we bought a new machine and absolutely hated it. Government mandates:  Had a lid that could not be opened once the water started fillling - it locked for "safety purposes;" I could not control the amount of water in the machine for a load - it did it itself and it was horrible; could not control the heat of the water - the machine did it.  And it had an electronic digitalized control panel. Surprise!   It needed repair actually quite early and with an electronic digital control panel such as that, the entire panel must be replaced when one function needs addressing and it was gosh awful expensive.  Worst of all, it took forever and ever and ever for a load of wash to be done. Those machines take such a long time to wash because of the miniscule amount of water in the machine; so extra time and electricity was being used to get the clothes clean AND it did not clean as well. All of that out of the users control.

 So . . . ended up,  got rid of it. Hated that machine.   I ended up doing some research and found Speed Queen.  I wanted a top loader as I did not want to deal with the issues on front loaders including mildew issues, etc.   I also wanted an analog control model where I turned a dial to choose functions.  I wanted a lid that did not lock, and a machine where I controlled the amount of water and heat of water, (I am careful and reasonable about both); I also wanted a machine that washed well in a reasonable amount of time.   I found all of that in Speed Queen; their machines seem to really be work horses. That has been great for us; someone else may have a different experience.

Speed Queens can be a bit on a higher range of cost, but for quality and longevity for us, it has been a very good choice.  The machine we got has been wonderful.  Never let me down after several years.  Works great, no repairs, reasonable and timely wash cycles, etc.  NOTE: If you are going to buy a new washer, I would recommend buying a companion new dryer to go with it.  It is best to have the companion piece especially if your dryer is older.  Our machines are getting more and more under government mandates and it never seems for the better.

Here is a link for Speed Queen, they list a machine with a non-locking lid and have a video showing how it works and it is an analog model.  I think they have machines that are work horses as historically, they have been the busiest manufacturer of machines for laundromats.  Reminds me of how those old Maytags used to work before they were bought out and were never the same afterward.  This is how the experience worked for us; for someone else, it could be different:

 https://speedqueen.com/products/all-products/

J.

Jo C.

Okay Ron; throw, "In The Still Of The Night," in the Platter mix and I will be over the moon!

J.

ladyzetta

Hello All,

I am back, sometimes it takes me awhile to get caught up on what you're all doing.

Lorita.  I hope my explanation of the eggs came through in time for you to color yours. The reason I leave a little water in the pan is so when you're slouching (sp) the eggs around the colored water leaves different designs on them. It's nice that Jack is joining up with the others in the dining hall, hopefully he makes friends. I am glad you're trying your best to let him make all his decision you don't need that worry on your plate. Let his attorney deal with it all. 

I am surprised you can shut your door to your bedroom at night and Stormy and Sheena and the cats don't make a fuss. If I did that Molly would sit, there and bark and cry till I opened it. Hopefully Mike can give you something to help Sheena move easier.

Marie.  Thank you for answering my question about those hooks. I sort of figured they would not be good on wallpaper. 

Beth.  That tag on Stormi is a good idea. And hopefully she always goes home. Those tulips are beautiful.  I have a big cat that hangs around my place it will let me pet it, I don't try to pick it up and I don't want to bring it in the house. I do leave food out for it, and something is eating it. I only see the cat maybe once a week so, he is probably making the rounds to all my neighbors. 

Jo.    I will be getting my 2nd booster of Moderna, on Wednesday, so if I have any of the side effects you had I wont worry. My stew is a very simple stew. Alls I do is put a can of broth and a can of mushroom soup in my slow cooker  mix it well then add a few potato's that I have peeled and quartered then a few carrots and some bell peppers and mushrooms and onions and stew meat then cover and let cook for 8 to 10 hours. A person can add what ever they want and a much as they want depending how big of a stew they want. 

Barbara.   Its always nice to hear from you and I am sorry you have been having problems with the healing of your eye lids. It sounds like things are clearing up. I hope those eye drops continue to work. My eyes get real tired, sometimes, so I put drops in them for tired eyes I think it helps because it makes them feel better.   Any idea what caused the rash? 

Ron.   It is cute how a dog will strut around when they are pretty. Molly does that after she gets groomed. The groomer puts a bandana around her neck. I take if off as soon as we get home. Bandanas look good on the bigger dogs but Molly is so small she trips on them. I also love those old songs so I will back you up when you sing those. I am sure all the front porch will join in.  

Hope you all having a good weekend. Hugs Zetta 

Jo C.

Zetta; if you and I are going to be back up singers for Ron; we'd better get some better  bras! J. (shame on me)

ladyzetta

No Jo.   We are the backup singers they will be throwing bras at Ron.   (:

BethL

A very quick note. Thanks, Jo, for the book recommendations. I have written them down but will work on the 5 I have first. Also, you talked about thrift book stores. Did you know that on Amazon you can buy used books? I do quite often. Almost all of them I've gotten as "used" are brand new - you can tell they haven't been opened, some have a Target label on them. 

Jo C.

GMcG; it finally clicked . . . . I had read the last book, but not the prequel, and I shall now be sure to get that.  Thank you again.  Beth, I did look for used books on Amazon under different search words, but never found them.  Did find paperbacks but they were pricier than Thriftbooks.  However; with Thrift, I do not know the quality of the books conditions.  Evidently I am not good at Amazon searches.  Isn't it oddly wonderful how books can catch and immerse us.  I have always, since a small child in first grade, have been a book lover.  First library card at that age and I was in heaven.  I read mostly at night before going to sleep.  One of the rare dear treats I would very occasionally allow myself, was to take a day from work and treat myself to a book respite day.   I was salaried and worked loooooong hours.  Once in a blue moon, and it was not often at all, if the day was to be rainy, I would arrange for myself to take  the day off ensuring staff and office was okay; I would light the fireplace and curl up on the sofa with a good book and a cozy afghan.  The kids would be in school and DH at work.  There I was; all alone, with the rain falling softly against the windows, the fireplace crackling and me, a good book and if really on a "me" day, a bag of peanut M&Ms.  I am SUCH a cheap date!   Truly, to me, that was only second to heaven.  Lovely. What is it about rainy days and books I do not know, but for me it is hand in glove and great satisfaction.  Zetta, that stew sounds good.  I love a good, rich stew.  Your house must smell wonderful with that cooking away.  I will be right over with bowl and spoon.  Yum. Great big wonderful wishes being sent to one and all, J.

Mint

Good morning

61F, 16C.

Lol, I’m not on Facebook.  Got my sister to friend the egg farm.   Turns out that she befriended the wrong one.  We went and nothing was going on.  Turns out sh was looking at one about a hour south of here.  Was kind of glad in a way, did not really want to get plants this early.

Got some more grow bags ready to go yesterday.  Still have several left to do.

Marie birds have hit my front door twice and died.  Have a screen down in basement.  Think it probably is for front door.  Going to check that out.  Thank You.

JoC my mom gets loud.  She does not give up easily.  She will go on and on literally for years. You will never hear the end of it.  She could be that way with dad too.  Can remember thinking why can’t she just let it go.  Not worth it to me, and she knows that.  Here where I live things have to get really bad before city steps in.  No where near that bad.  

Take care everyone

Lorita

Morning,

 Sara, it's already pretty warm where you live - aren't you glad spring is here?  It's nice here this morning - weather just said about 50 but it's nice and sunny and no wind, yet.

 Toad just came to feed - early this morning.  I heard the cows bawling and the GPs barking so went out to look - they were coming to the feed from everywhere - so cute to see the moms walking with their little babies with them.  I've already been out to feed Tom-Tom.  He actually came toward me when I was going out there and came over to eat while I was still there - must have been hungry. 

 Day, as you know, I like Denim & Co. and it comes on at 6 a.m. on Sunday.  I wasn't ready to get up, but did, so this morning they were only on for an hour - lots of pretty things but I didn't order.  Local news is on now so I'll watch that and then a couple of the news shows.

 Beth, the pictures are beautiful.  I'd love to see all those tulips.  I had one tulip this year - a beautiful yellow one and it lasted for about a week.  I think I mentioned I had some yellow ones on either side of the rose bush and daffodils but last year the cows ate them before they bloomed - guess they missed that one.  We used to grow different kinds - parrot tulip and another one with lots of petals. Seems like I used to dabble more in different flowers than I do now - of course, I was much younger and more energetic.

 The platters!  I love all of their songs and they were Charles' favorite singing group.  I remember he gave me a Platters album before we got married.  Still have it somewhere.  I used to like to listen to music - liked lots of different groups but not now.  I don't know the names of the groups and can't understand the words to the songs.  I like to listen to music that I can understand.  I'll accompany you all on the piano on the front porch.  I need to play the piano some this summer -  haven't even touched it in years.

 News is saying there's a pretty big increase in the virus.  I still haven't gotten my second booster and it sounds like the weather is not going to be good this week so may wait one more week.  The roads are so awful - just hate to drive over them.  When I went to the mailbox late yesterday there was still water over the road in several places - this after about three days.  More storms tonight are predicted.

 Zetta - I did read how you color your eggs so found some red food coloring - hadn't used it in years.  I put a few drops on some of them but pretty quickly sloshed them around and ran water over them.  Didn't like the bright red - looked like....   They were beautiful though - light pink with a few splotches of darker pink.  I will do that again.  I peeled one for Stormy and one for Sheena.  I have to break theirs open so they'll eat them.  Sheena ate hers and part of Stormy's - I found that he only likes the yolk.  I like mine with salt and pepper or mashed up with mustard - guess that's like a deviled egg which I also like.

 Your recipe for stew sounds good - I'm going to try that - without the stew meat, of course.  I like soups of all kinds - really like thick soup, almost like stew.

 Stormy and Sheena slept in the bedroom with me last night and she was still in there when I came back from feeding Tom. They're both outside now. She is much improved and that makes me so happy.  I don't think I could deal with it if something went wrong with either of them - or one of the cats.  I've dealt with that too many times.  But, she's better and outside with Stormy right now.  She still gets up slowly - but she gets up unaided which is great.  I think she must have tweaked her hip somehow during the night a couple of nights ago because when she went out she was fine, pushing out the door and running down the steps - next morning she could hardly get up.  I'm also better so won't be going to the doctor tomorrow.  Still have to coordinate an appt. for my booster and the lab work so I'll only have to make one trip.

 Thought I'd make some peach ice cream in the Ninja yesterday - only takes frozen fruit and milk and a little bit of sugar.  But, I'd had the frozen peaches a long time and they were not good enough to use.  Next time I get groceries I'll get some frozen fruit and make my own when I want it.  I made some years ago for Charles and I from frozen mango and pineapple.  It was delicious.

 Jo - I'm not ready to buy another washer or dryer yet.  I don't do a lot of laundry like I used to - maybe a couple of loads a week so I'll just fuss at the washer and let it go for now.  The dryer is rusted some on top so I got some contact paper and will remedy that.  It makes a noise like it's catching on something when I pull the lint trap out - something he did, I guess, when he was getting all of that grass and stuff out of it.  I found some pretty cream colored paint I think I'll use on the porch swing.  I've had it seven years and had just left the natural wood color but maybe I'll get around to painting it this summer.  I like to paint but really have to be in the mood.

 I've written too much so I'll stop.  Jo, I bought a used book from Amazon a few years ago - it was by the guy who is a dog whisperer and sometimes has show on TV.

 Enjoy the pretty day.  Sara, I haven't gotten bedding plants yet, either.  Yesterday on QVC they had gorgeous gerbera daisies - they were huge.  So far I can't see any sign of the ones I bought last year coming up yet.  They were perennials and were supposed to be really nice and big - I had one bloom, very late in the season. 

 On our local news show they just had some new kind of doughnuts - each doughnut had the equivalent caffeine of a cup of coffee.  The girls said they were good.  I think I'll stick to hot tea and iced tea in the afternoon.  We used to make sun tea which was really good.

 Enjoy your Sunday - Happy May Day!!!

BethL

How to find used books on Amazon: Enter name of book you are looking for. Click on it to open a page to buy it. Then....ok, example here. Look up "A Thousand Splendid Suns." When you go to the page to buy it, you'll see: Kindle $12.99, Audiobook $0.00, Paperback $11.70. Under paperback, you'll see 325 Used from $1.45. Click on the "325 used from $1.45". There you go. 

The Platters, The Coasters and The Drifters are coming to Iowa soon, Ladies! Woo hoo! I won't be going but thought some of you might be interested. 

Immersive Van Gogh is supposed to come to our area soon. Houston will also have Immersive Monet, Immersive King Tut and is already doing Immersive Van Gogh. Google it if you don't know what it is. It looks absolutely fantastic. I'll bet Judith would really enjoy that. I want to go! Keeping my eyes peeled for when you can get tickets.