Just need to talk to my friends (223)

Lorita

Sweetwater, never heard of tree wipes. I have blepharitis and my doctor told me to use Ocu-soft wipes. What are the light treatments? I have the Bruder mask.but afraid to use anything until I'm sure the inflammation is well. My eye.isn't tearing but don't know if that is good or bad. Have never heard of those eye drops either. Are they better than Systane? Also use Refresh. Tonight is the 10th night to use Erythromycin. Will probably call to see if I.should continue.

GG, that is one scary squid. Woild.not like to see a live.one.

It Is really strange for Darwin to not be at his home. Things are always changing, aren't they?

You all sleep tight. Good night.

Iris L.

GG, I wouldn't like to enter a room and see that giant squid.

California has a new alert for wildfires anywhere in the state. I thought very briefly about signing up, then decided No! I don't want to know about what's going on except in my own area, I just can't handle any bad news around the state.

It was extremely hot again today, I stayed in most of the day. I can barely think due to the heat. I hope tomorrow will be cooler.

Good night.

Iris

Carl46

Iris, I don't blame you for not wanting the fire alert. I'd want it if I were driving around the state like a traveling salesman, but not otherwise. When I traveled in winter, I used a MO website that mapped road conditions before setting out.

I guess squid actually grow that large (30')! Whales are found with scars where they have fought giant squids deep under the sea, in total darkness.

I went to the C&W dance at the senior center last night and had a good time.

harshedbuzz

@GothicGremlin

In my county, once you hit 70 you can decline without going through the usual channels. Alas, I will miss this by 5 months.

HB

BethL

Love the giant squid sculpture! Pike's Place is a very interesting place to visit. If I am correct, I think it is the home of the original Starbucks. Thanks for sharing.

I want to thank everyone for the anniversary wishes! It was a good weekend.

harshedbuzz

Good morning.

It's dreary and drizzly here today. I'll need to wait until tomorrow to mow the lawn. It's looking pretty shaggy at the moment as the front lawn is thriving in the cool damp weather.

Sweetwater— Can I ask what sort of light treatment you did? Was it worth it? My optometrist offers several different kinds of treatment— Optilight, Opitilift, low light and radiofrequency are all things they do. Insurance covers nothing and I'd probably still need drops/heat masking.

DH and I are in post-vaccine hell today. We each did a Covid booster and a flu shot. I feel better than I expected but still lousy. We'll go out for an early pizza when DS gets home from work.

I'm catching up on laundry. Today me is kind of angry with yesterday me for not starting it then. I've got 4 loads I should tackle. DH and I did get a short walk in yesterday. His first since Covid-times so he wasn't loving it.

Hope all have a nice afternoon.
HB

Lorita

Morning, sunny, calm and cool this morning. Hope everyone is well or as well as can be. I feel emotionally drained for some reason. Just too much has been going on the past two weeks.. You wouldn't think losing a neighbor would affect you so much. He was frail and she had dementia but they were there. He would have come if I had needed him if he had to walk

.They are not happy. Yesterday she told me she wanted to come.home and I know he does but they will never be able to. Really makes a.person think about what is in store. I have to get in gear and get my will made and do something about the farm. Nothing in the future for me that's good.

So sorry- just leave it to me to ruin the day for you all. I need to get outside with the girls, at least those that were mine. The others are as wild as March hares. A calf got out the other day and talk about nuts, he was. Our girls were gentle because we talked to them,not just feeding them. Sorry, there I go again. I'll stop and.not do more harm to everything.

Sweetwater

Harshedbuzz, I did a combination of Low Level Light Therapy, Intense Pulsed Light, and Radio Frequency. There were four sessions about two weeks apart. The cost was $1900. Follow-up treatment consists of drops (Vevye which is a prescription drop), Bruder mask, and Optase lid cleansing spray. The combination of all has definitely helped. I feel the improvement and health of my eyes is worth the expense.

Lorita, Occusoft makes a tea tree wipe. Other good brands are Cliradex and Oust.

jfkoc

Googled Jenner…wish I had visited.

Good point about the mice/rats. You want the cats to be hungary. BTW, Buckingham palace is known to have a serious rat problem.

Losing your mainstay neighbor would be hard. Thankfully everyone on our block knows and looks after each other.

Great weather here here seems to be sticking after what was a most unusual summer.

Report…eye procedure was very successful.

ladyzetta

Good morning Porch Rockers.

Lorita. I can imagine how lonely it must be with Darwin and Donna not being close to you, like they have been for years. Is Mike pretty close to get to you if needed? Hopefully you have back up plans in place.

Carl. Its nice you went to the senior center and had a good time. It gives you something to look forward to. I also enjoyed The Alford Hitchcock shows.

HB. You and your DH are brave to get both those shots in one day. I got the flu shot and my arm hurt for a few days. Now it's time to go get my covid shot. Its sweet you though about protecting your mother by getting the shots when you did.

Beth. Happy 50th anniversary you were a beautiful bride and a very sweet couple. The chocolate wine bottle looked real good. Was that chocolate melted over the wine bottle? very clever thing to do. You are always so busy and that's good.

GG. Leaving Cottage Grove was a very hard thing for me to do. The hometown bank I had been working in for many years, was taken over by one of the bigger banks, and my position was not being offered so I was one of few who got laid off. We had property in Bend Oregon so it made since to sell our home in CG and move to Bend, Oregon 150 miles away. We lived 10 miles from The Sunriver Resort so because of my auditing back ground I was offered a job at the Resort, that I could not turn down. I was with the Resort for 30 years, until I retired. I still miss CG.

Iris. You are so right you don't need to worry about the wildfires going on in California. I have to limit my worries also. Im glad your staying inside and out of the heat, that heat can get to you before you know it.

It's quite on my end of the porch. My DD and I are big Starbucks people, and we are hearing that lots of them are being closed. We went to our favorite one yesterday and it had a temporary closed sign on it! We hear its open today, so we are going to go check it out, and see what happened yesterday.

Hugs to all Zetta

Lorita

Sweetwater, whay does the light therapy do? Never heard of tree wipes. Are they better? Was your treatments for dry eyes?

I think I saw a mouse last night so ordered more Vamoose,Iris, people must be zeroed on Vamoose. WM limits you to one pkg. And both places they were advertised there was one left.

GothicGremlin

HB - the winning wine combo used the cab as a base, maybe 65% (I can't remember all of the % breakdowns), the Merlot was second at about 20%. The Mourvèdre and the Syrah were accents. The Mercury wine maker is pretty fond of Bordeaux-like blends, so chances are high you'd get one anyway.

70 sounds about right for jury duty. I never try to get out of it, but I never get picked either. As soon as the lawyers find out that I'm a lawyer, it's always "thanks for coming in, have a great day", and I'm out.

We're getting ready to get all of our vaccines as well, we'll probably do that next week.

Lorita and Iris - the squid is actually really cool, and kind of graceful looking. It's up there hanging from the ceiling.

Iris - I've been reading about the heatwave in southern California. I still remember the heatwaves we'd have when we lived there.

Lorita - I'm so sorry about Darwin and his wife. I can't imagine what it must be like to have lived on a sprawling farm with all of that acreage, and then move to a much smaller assisted living place. I'm sure I'd hate it too. How far away are they from you?

Be sure to get your will done.

Carl - going out dancing is almost always fun. I'm glad you had a great time.

Beth - You're right, the original Starbucks is just down the street from the market.

I'm glad you guys had a great weekend!

Zetta - Ahh, I get it (about Cottage Grove). Bend is beautiful too. There was something about Cottage Grove though, I was really quite taken with it.

I forgot to mention about the Alfred Hitchcock movies … I wasn't allowed to watch anything by him until my teenage years. I loved Psycho and The Birds, and really almost anything by him … Rear Window and Rope are two of my favorites. I've driven through Bodega Bay quite a few times - I like most places by the ocean. 🙂

A trip to Charleston is looming for us, but once we do that, we get to stay home until Thanksgiving.

Other than that, I'm looking forward to a quiet day today.

Iris L.

Good morning.

It's 100 degrees already.

Lorita, dont censor yourself. We want to know what's going on with you. Your life is interesting to me because mine is similar, albeit in the city. My long time neighbor of over 40 years just was moved to a nursing home several miles away. So while I still have many neighbors, I only say "hello" to them. They are busy either their lives.

My next door neighbor upset me yesterday. Because of the feral cats that are allowed to live here, our front doors have been sprayed by cats marking their territory. She doesn't want to clean her door herself or to pay someone to clean her door, but she asked me if I would clean HER door. 😒 Of course I said No! The audacity!

October is Raptor Month. Lorita, if you could attract a barn owl, it would take care of your mouse problem. I don't know how to attract a barn owl, though.

Carl, it's so nice to have an old-fadhioned dance at the senior center. How enjoyable!

Zetta, a Starbucks opened up within walking distance of my home, but I've never been there. I dont know how much business it gets because I never see the parking lot busy nor do I see the drive-theu being used. But it's not only the shut-down list for LA County. I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but when I do order a coffee, I actually prefer McDonald's coffee.

70 is the magic age to opt out of jury duty in LA County. I don't know if it's a state-wide rule.

Judith, did you have a cataract removed?

I use Johnson's Baby Shampoo to clean my eyelids. It doesn't cause excess tearing.

I usually get Covid and flu vaccinations at the same time because I always have a reaction that lasts at least 24 hours. That's why I schedule for a Friday, so I will have the weekend to recuperate.

Iris

Lorita

Iris, !osing good neighbors has happened before but then I had Charles with me. Darwin and his wife are 50-60 miles away from here so will probably not see their home again. One of his daughters said she would take me to see them but I think it would be too sad to see him cooped up. I'm afraid he will wither away being there away from his ranch-800 acres p!us. I think I would.

I have started getting information together for my will- will do it this fall. selIing the farm will be so hard. When I.do I will continue to live here until I'm not able. Mike and I have discussed this.

I don't know how to attract an owl either but did hear one several weeks ago. Used to have a white barn owl in our barn a few years ago.

All of the cats are in the bedroom, sleeping, I guess. Sammy slips in when I open the door.

My former Ophthalmologist's nurse told me to use baby shampoo with a little water if I ran out of Ocu-Soft.

Your neighbor really has nerve. Why doesn't she clean her own door?

Sweetwater

Lorita, yes the treatments were specifically for dry eye. The light therapy warms hardened oils in the glands to aid in unclogging so better oil is released when you blink. Before the treatments my tears evaporated in five seconds, now they last longer than ten. The light also reduces lid inflammation and promotes healing. Blepharitis can be caused by too many demodex mites that live on the lashes. Tea tree oil is effective in controlling the mites.

jfkoc

I so not have a will. Everything is held in trusts in order to bypass probate. Lorita, you might look into that method.

The big ingredient in Vamoose is peppermint oil so why not get some peppermint oil???

Iris…your neighbor is something else.

Catracts…both eyes some time ago. Now both eyes have been "cleaned".

Carl46

I spoke with a woman at lunch today who lives in assisted living and loves it. But she moved there from an apartment, not from a ranch. Nonetheless, I hope your friends will make friends and be happy.

Lorita

I have peppermint oil that I spray under the hood. Plus I use the Vamoose packets which are more convenient to put in places you can't spray. Thanks, Sweetwater for the information. Glad there is improvement. Also happy for you, Judith.

Carl, I.hope both of them can adjust. Both have said they want to come.home. Darwin says the.people are nice.

Iris L.

When I'm on a trip it's like being in assisted living. Housekeeping cleans the room, my meals are prepared, I get taken to fun activities, and I'm around nice people. I love that type of life. But I can understand how it's a huge adjustment from living on 800 acres.

Iris

Lorita

Morning, cool and sunny- to.be in !ow 80s this afternoon.

BOLD, everyone, with all our eye problems, we need it. I know all.of our devices are different- on my tablet I use H3 before I begin. I began bolding my posts years ago when a lady with vision problems said it would help her to read and post. Thanks

Iris L.

Good morning.

Thanks for the tip about H3. The letters are larger. But the printing doesn't stay ay H3, it drops back to original font.

It's a bit cooler today, yesterday reached 102.

Iris

P

jfkoc

Monday…longing for a 3 day weekend…sign

eaglemom

Good afternoon all.

Quite the eventful last several days here. And sadly not the events one ever wants. Our neighbor across the street had another heart attack. This was his third heart attack. She was able to start CPR & had her daughter go to another neighbors house that's a police officer that has paddles. He shocked him and had a heart beat within 4 minutes, ambulance was here within 6 minutes and shocked him 4 more times. The hospital has said there is nothing to do so they are calling in family. It just feels surreal in a way. I'm trying to keep DH occupied and not aware of everything - but its been tough. Yesterday I took him to a friends house and he stayed for a bit. We've known him 40 years. Ugh.

This has kicked me in the butt to finalize our wills. We have them but we need to make revisions and it needs to happen sooner rather than later. Last night I handwrote and signed then took mine for a notary. But I want the attorney to do it for both of us. I'll put it on the list of "to do's."

On a much happier note it is specular outside. It's not been this nice in months and months.

Didn't mean to bring anyone down - that's what's been keeping me busy. I need to give DH some attention, I think I'll try to con him into a walk!! Let's everyone be careful.

BethL

HB, hope you feel better soon. I won't take the Covid shot, probably never again. I've heard too much bad about it and with one that I got, I got very nauseated, got out of bed to go to the BR and passed out. So that be that.

Lorita, vent away. Feelings are feelings and they are valid. We are here on the porch and we listen - no judgment. We care about each other. I have trouble believing Darwin needs to be in Assisted Living. Not long ago, he was cutting brush and removing trees. I know, though, that the daughters worry about them and don't live close by. 😥

Judith, as a retiree, I need no 3 day weekends. Every day is like a weekend day for me!

Sweetwater, was your issue simply itchy eyelids? Or was there something else. I know you mentioned the tea tree wipes. I have itchy eyelids and have for over a year now. I saw the eye dr and he prescribed a brief course of topical steroids. You can't use those on your eye area for long, as they can cause glaucoma. I saw a dermatologist and he recommended Claritin and Zyrtec and vaseline at night. It has helped but not a lot.

Enjoy your Starbucks, Zetta! I like it too. My go to's are Chai Tea Latte, Cinnamon dolcé latte and Brown Sugar Oat milk iced espresso. I make coffee at home every day. Starbucks is an occasional treat. Do you know about their Red Cup Day? It is typically in November and you buy a certain drink that day and get a free red cup - plastic and reusable. Those are what I drink my coffee in every day. I have several. You asked how the chocolate wine bottle was made. I don't know. I imagine she bought a mold. Did I tell you that not only could we eat the bottle, but that it also was stuffed with candy!

Iris, you asked if my compost heats up enough to kill weed seeds. No, it does not. Some people can get theirs hot enough but I have not been able to. That's ok. Hot composting is faster, but cold composting works. Think if the forest floor. The leaves etc decompose over time.

GG, hope your travels to Charleston go well. You seem to be racking up the points for miles! Perhaps a free trip or a first class ticket is in the cards for you soon.

Carl, glad you enjoyed the dance.

Gym day today. My back healed but I'm not going at my maximum yet. Trying to ease into things. A lady at the gym stopped me and told me she watched me do deadlifts and she was impressed! She said I was "killing it." Wow, that made me feel good.

Went to a BBQ & Ice cream restaurant for lunch today. Odd combination, huh? But you must have both! So good! I had a smoked turkey sandwich and coleslaw and for dessert two scoops of ice cream: peppermint and birthday cake flavors. I haven't seen peppermint in the grocery store except at holiday time but restaurants likely use enough to be able to get it. It is Blue Bunny brand, which isn't real "ice cream" but rather a "frozen dairy dessert." It still tastes good. To be called ice cream, there must be a certain milk fat percentage.

Mowed the lawn this afternoon and the rest of today will likely include cleaning out 2 junk drawers - places I just thrown papers and stuff and it needs organized. Also will watch Jeopardy and read. Currently reading "The First Phone Call from Heaven" by Mitch Albom.

I hope this is a good week for everyone. Beth

ladyzetta

Good afternoon.

Lorita. I was using H4 now I will use H3. It is a bit bolder and bigger. It is good that you and Mike have plans for your farm. It sounds like Mike, can be of help to you, if needed. Maybe one of his workers can check on you at times.

Owls make me nervous, I hear them outside at night and Molly is so small if she has to go out at night I always go with her. Have you been tempted to bring your barn cats in yet?

Hopefully now that Darwin is saying people there are nice, that will make him feel better.

GG. What was it that took you in about Cottage Grove? When I was there I drove to Eugene alot to do my shopping. It was hard to shop in CG, everyone knew everyone so it took awhile to get out of the store. Eugene was only 20 miles away. I also love the ocean, I could live in Jenner or Bodega Bay, all small and along the coastal highway.

Iris. Who does your neighbor think she is, asking you to clean her door. I hope when you told her no, you said NO! That was very rude. I did not know that feral cats did that. I better check my door.

McDonald's has good coffee, if you like lattes try the Carmel one, hot or cold its delicious. When my DH Dan, was in MC I spent a lot of time in the AL section, I worked in the kitchen a few hours in the morning. It was a real nice place and I would enjoy living there, if and when my time comes I would enjoy living tnere.

Not much going on here, the weather has been nice and warm.

Hugs, Zetta

Carl46

Beth, BBQ, slaw, and ice cream sounds perfect to me. Braum's has peppermint and birthday cake ice cream, but they probably don't have stores in Iowa. They are based in Oklahoma and have stores there and in Missouri; I don't know where else.

Eagle, I know what you mean about the fragility of our friends. An acquaintance from the senior center (his son is a 60-year-old regular) is in NH this week getting therapy after being hospitalized for his second stroke. His wife is in another NH with Alzheimer's and their son is quite concerned.

I took DS to the podiatrist today and have the ophthalmologist Friday, then I'm done with medical appointments for October. Two appointments in November and none in December unless something changes.

It's 79 and sunny here, the sort of gorgeous weather we used to associate with September. Internet Meteorologist Max Velocity says the surface temperature of the eastern Pacific Ocean (El Nino) is setting a new record at 25 degrees F above normal and we are about to have several months of interesting weather. I prefer boring weather but no one asked me.

Lorita

Thanks, guys, much easier to read. Called my eye doctor today so will do seven more days of Erythromycin in my right eye. It's much better already but itchy and sort of burns sometimes.

It has been a most beautiful day, even sat on the porch swing quite a while and watched the girls. Nothing relaxes me more than that.

Heard last night that another 160 acres has been added to the solar farm, data center and Google - that makes over 5,000 acres. They have put a high chain link fence with razor wire on top around the solar farm and even have guards patrolling. People have been stealing copper wiring. I haven't been up to see it and probably shouldn't because it would anger me. Must look like a prison yard. No wonder the delivery boy asked what they were building. Good for the Arapaho and Cheyenne,not sure it was Cheyenne, for putting a three year moratorium on data centers in Western Okla. They think more of their land and.buffalo herds than the people north.of me. I'll get.off my soap.box and get ready to watch Rachel and Lawrence.

You all sleep well. Good night.

BethL

Carl, I wish we had a Braum's in our area. Sounds so good.

The BBQ restaurant I went to serves 16,000 customers a week and 20,000 lbs of meat! Can you imagine???? It is a college town, large university.

Carl46

That must be good BBQ! My favorite place had a fire last month and is still closed. They let grease accumulate under the outdoor smoker, close to the building ☹️

Iris L.

Judith, this weekend will be a three day weekend.

Good night.