Just need to talk to my friends (205) May 2025

Lorita

Sorry, Ron, birthdays and anniversaries close together are hard, especially the first ones. Crying is a good thing, it's a cathartic and afterwards makes you feel a bit better. We're always here when you need to talk which is also good for you. That's what friends are for and we're all friends here on the porch.

Just went out on the porch and saw three cows with their little babies One of the white cows has an Angus baby. Her first baby was white. Guess the little barn swallow is busy taking care of her little ones. She built her nest in a good place, free from snakes, wind and rain, and me. Tried to see them but they're too close to the ceiling.

Dark and cool here, showers predicted off and on today. Beth, this much rain is kind of unusual although for the last couple of years we have had a lot of rain early so much that ranchers haven't been able to spray or fertilize. But for the past two years, there has been lots of rain and then straight into a drought with hordes of grasshoppers. Goodness gracious, I hope we miss.both of those this year.

Thanks, HB and Mint for the information on bread slicers. I checked and WM has lots of different kinds. Guess I will muddle through. I use that bread for toast so uniform slices don't matter too much. I like French bread sliced on a hard angle for sandwiches.

Carl, looks like you may be having rain today. Are you all having more than usual this year? Has your wife settled into MC allright? That always makes us feel better. Back later.

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Lorita

I just saw something interesting on the news, about tinnitus. I have had this in my right ear for as long as I can remember. It's a noise, not really too loud that is always there. I had a friend who had it so badly that he would actually pull off the road thinking a plane was trying to land on the highwsy behind or in front of him. . The treatment requires earphones and a little paddle like thing with electrodes in iT that you put on your tongue. It transmits something to the brain telling it to ignore whatever is causing the sounds in your ear.Not something I would try though.The only time it really bothers me is when it's really quiet, otherwise I have learned to ignore it. Kind of intetesting.

jfkoc

Ron…I still cry all of the time too and it has been years. I can become overwhelmed with sadness and there are moments that I see no reason to even get up. You have had a rough year and the move will, at best be hard…a major change , but you wll take Lou with you and she would be very happy that you are going to be with family, Especially those grandchildren.

eaglemom

That's why we're here Ron, to encourage and help one another. But in the case of this thread we've become very close. We truly care about one another and feel each others pain. You've had a miserable year, but that's behind you now. Next year will be different. You'll be making new memories with the grandkids and enjoying being part of their lives. You can share Lou with them.

It was a good thing I was up and cleaned up early today. Our Zoom leader was running later and asked if I'd step in and run the program. I was very glad to help. We never got to the program, I started us off talking about traveling and the museums they'd remembered visiting. That was all it took to take us on a world tour - tons of discussion and that's what this Zoom is about, engaging everyone. The leader did sign on, but I just stayed with what I was doing. Its amazing what you find out about people and their families - where they traveled, etc. Everyone was smiling and I went over our time by 15 minutes without even realizing it!

I didn't get us to the nursery yesterday. One minute it was sunny and then it was raining. DH and I played a couple of games, which he enjoys. Someone in the neighborhood was grilling, in the rain. I suppose they could have put the grill under the patio or an umbrella, but that just doesn't sound safe to me.

Let's be safe everyone, back later to check on y'all.

Iris L.

Good afternoon. I'm still resting up from my trip. I don't think this is exactly jet lag, but just sleep deprivation. We had to get up early to go on game drives or to drive to the next location and we had dinner late and went to bed late. In one week we stayed at two hotels and at two campsites. The hotels were very modern and the cabins at the campsites had their own bathrooms with toilets and showers.

Unfortunately electric power was spotty and there were a few momentary blackouts at the hotels, but not at the campsites. At one

campsite we were not allowed to walk around after dark because of the wild animals, we had to ask for an escort.

Zebras and water buffalo at the water hole next to the dining area.

Iris

Lorita

Iris, that picture is awesome. Looks like you weren't too far from them. I think zebras are so pretty. Waiting for more, I bet you took loads of pictures.

Zetta, what about the eagles?. Have they fledged? I tried to look at the video today and it said the video had been removed.

jfkoc

The eagle camera is activ e…I watched all day today.

Lorita

Found it, Judith. I didn't scroll down far enough. Looks love it won't be long before they fly,-sitting on a limb outside of the nest now. Have they been flapping their wings?

BethL

Wonderful picture, Iris! What an adventure you had!

Lorita

Good night. Sleep tight.

GothicGremlin

Ron - I'm only seeing this later in the evening (your time), and everyone else has said pretty much what I'd say, so I don't have much to add. Just know that we're all thinking of you. And I'm sure I'd be feeling the same way as you ….

HB - I probably looked like one of those dainty girls back then, especially after I moved from alto sax to flute and piccolo. But I was a tough guy. Raaar! 🙂

Beth - I'm omnivorous when it comes to tea. I love my malty Assam in the morning, the maltier the better. I've never been one to bounce right out of bed to greet the day. I need a little more time to get used to the fact that I'm awake, so I want my tea to smack me around and wake me up. Later in the day I may turn to green tea or jasmine tea, and at night (depending on the day I've had), I'll go for Chamomile tea.

Lorita - Interesting about tinnitus. My dad's case was pretty severe, so I bet he would have tried it.

Iris - What a great photo! I've never seen those animals in person, only on TV or in photos. So cool you got to do that.

Well, I did the stupid thing last night. I knew I had to be at the gym this morning by 10am, so instead of going to sleep at a reasonable time, I stayed up until Death Guild ended at 2:30am. I paid the piper this morning! It all worked out, but man, I was feeling it.

We had great weather today - 70+ degrees. Spring is finally here. Tomorrow is supposed to be even nicer, so I'm looking forward to that.

I wrapped up cleaning my office. So now I feel like I'm ready for the spring and summer.

JeriLynn66

Morning,

Supposed to be sunny here today finally. Then rain again until sun for the weekend. Farmers are worried about all the rain. I'm just stir crazy. But the house is clean, lol.

On a whim yesterday decided we are leaving Sunday to head to Ft. Worth next week!! Driving the car, no RV this trip (thank goodness). So, today is allergy shots, change the oil in the car, start gathering for the trip, stop the mail, etc. Friday, I have a cardiac stress test, echo and Lexiscan. Grandkids will see after the animals. I'm ready for a little vacation. And DH has always wanted to see Ft. Worth, so here we go! Supposed to be sunny all week.

One of the baby barn swallows got dangerously close to the edge of the nest yesterday and was flapping his little wings. Mama came swooping in, Daddy and other reinforcements (? maybe Aunts and Uncles) were flying in and out of the porch, it was high drama for the moment! Mama pushed the baby to the back of the nest and sat there just a fussin'. Then she calmed down and it looked to me like she was cuddling the baby. They all stayed in the nest. I can only imagine the conversation Mama was having.

Time to get up from here and get the day started. I hope you have a good one.

Mint

good morning

HB thank you for the bread slicer link. That looks like a better one than mine. I don’t make much bread in the summer. I don’t have time. But I’m gonna try to remember that trick of laying it on its side and trying that before I invest in another bread slicer.

can anyone tell me how to search for Bills post. On The Calvary Is Not Coming? I never have much luck searching for things on here. I just hit the magnifying glass and then I put in what I wanted to see, but it did not come up. What I got was a post from Wose on it instead.

thanks for sharing the picture Iris

Lorita hope you continue to feel a little better

harshedbuzz

Good morning, all. My knees are forecasting rain at the moment. Nothing horrendous, just a couple days or aches and frizzy hair.

Ron— You have a Lou-shaped hole in your heart. It's understandable that you would still hurt— there's nothing magical about getting beyond that year of unhappy firsts.

Eaglemom— It sounds like your Zoom meeting went sideways in a fun way.

Iris— That's a stunning shot. A friend did safari back in April and I was amazed at how close she got to the animals— you seem to be a lot closer.

Judith— The other evening I passed through the living room where DH and DS were watching the nest. They've been watching the nests for years. I had no idea this was a thing the pair of them do most evenings before I come downstairs. Until you and Lorita discussed it here, I didn't even know this was a thing people did much less under my own roof. They also admitted to participating in Fat Bear Week. Who are these people?

Mint— My SIL who has an excess of kitchen storage and impulse buys, has a bread knife that reminds me of a violin bow which is supposed to help one cut consistent slices. It may be the single most annoying knife I have ever used. I did really like her bagel Guillotine— that thing was cool.

The search function is easily overwhelmed. I got the best results keeping it simple. I searched "Cavalry"

here's the original-

The Cavalry Is Not Coming — ALZConnected

And this is the updated version-

The Cavalry Is Not Coming: 9 Year Edition — ALZConnected

Gothic G— We referred to those tiny girls as fun sized.

Jerilynn— Enjoy your trip and your hotel room.

I hope your tests go well. Will you be doing the treadmill or will you be living better through chemistry? Mom and DH both do the latter. I hope it doesn't take too long. DH insisted I drive him for his last one as a kind of loyalty test (it was not long after all mom's hospitalizations and follow-ups and he wanted my attentions, lol). It took just over 4 1/2 hours which was super annoying; staff felt so bad for me, they offered me lunch I was there so long. He did apologize for wasting my time.

I brought my car in yesterday for the state safety inspection and an oil change. I asked the mechanic to look it over ahead of some summer travel which resulted in a new serpentine hose as the old one was fraying a bit. I mentioned this to DH and he said "seat belt? what was wrong with the seat belt?". That boy so needs hearing aids. He's turning into his mother. Her hearing was terrible even with hearing aids. My BIL once told her a favorite DIL needed a hysterectomy, and she replied "I have a recipe for that down in Bedford". Lord only knows what she thought she heard.

_________________________________________________________________________

I think I'll take mom to the grocery store. I need to pick up a couple things and she's been left to her own devices more than usual as I have kind of needed some time to take care of things at home. She was kind of squirrelly yesterday.

Take care of yourselves.
HB

jfkoc

Eagles…they are fun to check into.

Ft Worth has a lot to offer…really more than Dallas I think. We used to belong to the Kimball so we would go down for the day. Loved eating at Joe T Garcias. You going down to I20 and over?

ladyzetta

Good morning Front Porch Rockers.

Lorita. They have not yet fledged. I'm watching them right now, they are both thinking about it right now. The limb they are on is called the front porch. I have been gluded to watching them, they are on my TV, my phone and my lap top. , I will miss them when they go, but I need to get my house cleaned. 😄😄 they are so close to leaving, I hope they go together 🙏

Iris. Thank you for the beautiful picture, the zebras and the water Buffalo look so close to you.

Hugs and good day wishes to you all. Zetta

Lorita

Afternoon, we went to a wax museum in Ft. Worth years ago. The figures were really lifelike but, to me, it was creepy. Won't do that again.

Just came back from the mailbox and watching the girls go into the barn for the afternoon. Fun to watch them and the little babies. They run so fast with their tails up in the air. My new Dynatrap was in a plastic bag by the gate, delivered yesterday.I guess I can't use it until the baby barn swallows fledge. It's supposed to be about 20 ft. Away and if input it up if would be less than five feet from the nest.

JeriLynn, what a sweet story about the baby trying to fledge and everyone stopping it. I doubt I will be able to see when these leave the nest.. The nest is only about 3-4" from the porch ceiling and to the right of the door.

I turned on the water to fill the water tank before I left and just went out to turn it off. I do not have any stamina, guess that's from being less mobile the last two weeks. Will have to begin walking little by little to regain strength.

I will go back mostly to French bread after I finish this loaf of bread. My slice for toast this morning wss pretty good. Usually one side is thinner than the other. Thanks, though, for the information, HB. I love kitchen gadgets but after a couple of uses they usually end up in the pantry and forgotten. Exception is the bottle and jar opener I use almost everyday. Just don't have too much strength in my hands now.

Weather just reported the tornado at Blanco, Okla . was an EF-3. Winds were about 145 mph and it was 1.7 miles wide. It stripped bark from trees. Amazing! More storms predicted tonight.

Enjoy Ft. Worth, JeriLynn..

Lorita

Carl, are you okay today? And. Ron, how about you?

GothicGremlin

JeriLynn - Have a great trip! It's nice to be able to do things like that on a whim. You'll be in Fort Worth right around the time we'll be hanging out in Charleston, SC. We leave tomorrow and will be there almost a week.

That's a great story about the little barn swallows. I bet they are super cute.

HB - Okay, I really like the idea of a bagel guillotine. The image in my head …. And ha!! about the "fun sized". I'd forgotten all about it, but I have been called that in my distant past. Also munchkin.

Lorita - I'm pretty deficient when it comes to geography. Is Blanco, Okla. near you? If so, I hope you're not in any paths of tornadoes.

I'm with you about wax museums - pretty creepy.

Carl and Ron - I'm thinking of you guys.

In happier news than my last sad news, Charleston shouldn't be a bad trip. We're going to get my s.o.'s mom on the waiting list for assisted living. She's ready for it. She knows we're going to do this and she's onboard. She'll probably even go on the tour with us. Looking forward to going to Folly Beach, which, if you haven't been, and you find yourself in the vicinity, think about making the trek. There's a nice pier, and several great places to eat, not to mention being on the ocean.

My morning turned out differently than I had planned. I went to the gym, anticipating a workout with my substitute trainer. Yesterday we had left it that I could have a half hour instead of an hour since he needed to take his wife to the doctor. Then last night he texted me saying I could have the whole hour If I wanted, and that he'd tell me the whole story when I got there. When I got there this morning he was wrapping up with his previous client and then - my regular trainer waltzed in! His doctor cleared him to come back to the gym - no kickboxing or dead lifts or anything like that for him, but he can do boxing and training. I was thrilled to see him. So I worked out with him (including boxing!) and my substitute trainer took off for the doctor's office. Oh, those crafty trainers. They totally set me up, but in the best way possible.

Lorita

Been watching the Eagles some this afternoon. Zetta, can you tell them apart?. I thought for sure one of them was going to fledge, really was trying out his wings.. He will probably be first to go

Got my groceries delivered today. I was cookie hungry so ordered a package of sugar cookies, as big as your fist. The girl who delivered them said the plastic pkg. Was broken when she picked them up. Something heavy got on them, I guess. I imagine they're still okay but I don't think I'll eat them.

Darwin went down to cut up a big hackberry that had fallen and when he called to say he was on the way home he sounded worn out. Told him to not unload it, just go in and lay down. He said he had laid down a coup!e of times when he was working. I'm afraid he will get too tired and pass out down there.

GG, Blanco is way south of me, near McAlester.

I cooked some carrots this afternoon. Had them with mashed potatoes and cottage cheese. Pretty good.

Already a tornado in the panhandle but the weather this afternoon has been nice. Still have to get catfood, do good and catlitter to the utility room but maybe tomorrow. Judith, I use the dolly so it isn't too bad.

Thunder Up, everyone! One more win and they go to the NBA finals. I heard the cheapest ticket to the game tonight is $195. SGA was voted NBA MVP this year. Quite a feather in the Thunders cap.

Has anyone seen a post anywhere from David?

ladyzetta

Lorita. I can't tell them apart. The moderators say the one with the longest tail with the white on it is ?? I think they said it was

.

ladyzetta

Lorita. I'm not sure why the above post sent before I was done. What I was saying is I think they said it was Sunny. I was holding my breath a few times today.

Carl46

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/244296#Comment_244296

My wife died Tuesday morning a few minutes after my last post. I have been running around making funeral arrangements, making sure the flooding hasn't blocked access to the family cemetery, and telling family about it. I'll be OK but I'm not real OK now.

I'll post more later, but my nerves are fried today and I'm going to bed pretty soon. Thank you for asking about me.

Lorita

Carl, I am do very sorry. This is a shock to me, had no idea she wss that bad. I was worried when you didn't post earlier but glad you let us know. I hope you can rest and get some sleep tonjght. Again, sending my sincere condolences and prayers.

Goodlife2025

Carl, so very sorry to hear of your wife's passing. You have shown her and us the very best a caretaker can hope to be. May you know the peace only He can provide. And many many hugs from this friend in the background.

GothicGremlin

Carl - I am so sorry to hear about your wife's passing. Please accept my sincere condolences.

Take your time, and get as much rest as you can. We'll all be here for you when you come back.

ronald71111

Carl, I'm sorry to hear about your wife passing. I wish I was already moved where I could be there for you, if you needed anything.

Ron

JeriLynn66

Oh Carl, I am so sorry. You and your dear son are in my prayers. Peace be with you friend.

Mint

Good morning

Carl I’m so very sorry for your loss. Wishing you and your son comfort and peace during this time. You have taken good care of your wife and son.

Thank you HB for the links. I am probably giving the search thing too much information. I will try to remember that in the future.

harshedbuzz

Carl—

I am so sorry to learn of the passing of your dear wife. My sympathies to you and your family.

HB