Just need to talk to my friends (198)

Good morning on the porch—

Lorita— I'm admiring your full moon through the trees right now. It is a super rare supermoon blue moon. It's really bright.

Ron— Thanks for the cornbread picture. It was a nice chuckle. It reminds me of a hack I've seen done where slices of bread were thickly slathered with softened butter and the used to apply the butter to the corncob without burning your hand. It's not elegant, but it is effective.

Judith— I hear you on the gift wrap. I have a bag hanging in my basement with rolls at the ready. I find a lot of nice ones at places like TJMaxx but there's also a new The Paper Source next to my Ulta that has amazing cards, wraps and little extras. I keep buying and then I'm in a rush and stuff whatever in a bag.

I'm not spending my week "off" purging. Mom really doesn't have that much stuff left, aside from clothing and china. She has a considerable number of photographs as one would expect of a woman who is 86. But mostly, she has piles she "organized" which she moves around which means she's not really making progress which leaves her discouraged. And she's keeping odd things. She insisted on keeping her artist's projector; she has not drawn or painted in 20 years and has a significant essential tremor. The girl who is getting the antique quilt would love this thing and have a use in her studio, but mom isn't ready yet.

JeriLynn— I am sorry you're still in the paperwork siege with your FIL's estate. You must be anxious to be able to close on this chapter.

Iris— I'm glad you're feeling better on the new medication.

I know swat about aphids, but the shrub looks like a Rose of Sharon (some folks call them hibiscus). They're pretty enough but can be very invasive. My neighbor has several she doesn't maintain which have sent volunteers to my yard. It's a constant battle with these things. The neighbor on the corner planted them on a raised berm she installed on her side lawn to offer a little privacy. She always maintained hers, so they're full and blooming from mid-July until frost typically.

Mint— I am sorry for this latest development in the laundry room. The time is coming where you may have to be a bit more direct about incontinence care. A lot of people find swapping out other underwear with the decorative panties style Depends to be an option. Others have started with incontinence pads in the undergarments she's used to as a bridge. The larger Always Incontinence Overnights Number 8 has a fair amount of coverage in the back— they're about the size of a size 1/2 infant diaper.

One of my friends had issues with her mom destroying clothes and often throwing them away. She eventually took to shopping thrift for things because her mom couldn't afford the expense of new clothes weekly. She also took to buying darker bottoms as stains were less of a problem.

You got good options for dealing with the stains from Sandy, Caro-lynne and JeriLynn. One downside to scrubbing is that it will wear the fabric down depending on what you're dealing with— you could end up with fading, pilling and even holes. But sometimes soaking does quite cut it. When I dealt with this in the past, I did a Tide and enzyme cleaner soak— a day or more if needed— and then scrubbed if there was stain left. I often find Fels Naptha soap gets tough stains out. This stuff is even better as a stain remover-

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I never made it to the dairy. There was road construction, and the front entrance was blocked off. I took DS with me to Costco because he needed a new laptop for school which starts tomorrow. We just replaced DH's ancient laptop (it literally fell apart) last month; I expect a hefty membership rebate this year.

I'm meeting a friend at the feed store (she'll follow me to a local park and we'll chat over some takeout iced tea). I should make some cheese bread for her. After that I'll take the backs roads to the dairy store and hope they've brought in some tomatoes and melon. I think tonight will be a BLTs for dinner kind of night. Maybe I'll do a cucumber salad and some local corn.

I hope all have a pleasant day.

HB

I live in Southern New Jersey near Atlantic City but 10 minutes from the beach and ocean

Morning!

Ron

Rose f Sharon?

Hi Ricardo, I live in SE Florida and am 24/7 caregiver to my ex-partner with vascular dementia.. Hot and humid here.

Thanks everyone, it might just be a hibiscus, they are plentiful in my neighborhood. I never knew they were also called Rose of Sharon plant.

I think that ladybugs eat aphids. It's hard to manage from afar because it's not my personal garden.

JeriLynn, what time is dinner? Do you say dinner or supper?

Iris

HB thank you for the tips. I’m going to look for that bar of soap. When I looked into it seemed like maybe it’s pretty good. I found a website where a mother told how she got her children’s clothes clean from blowouts when they were still in diapers so I wrote down her instructions. I hope it works for an older adult to.

my mother is very different than your mother. She has no interest in fashion. She’s all about it being what she’s comfortable with and wants. She wants you when something wears out to replace it with the exact same thing. As you know that’s impossible, so she’s frequently unhappy with what I get. She does not wear normal underwear, she hasn’t for years. What she wears now is not underwear, but she wears it as underwear and it’s not formfitting. so there wouldn’t even be a way to put in an incontinence pad.

this summer I tried to increase her gown supply because at first she was getting quite a few gowns wet. She only had three, so if she got two wet during the night, then we had to get it washed and dried for the next night or she might run out of gowns. So I tried to increase the supply so that i wouldn’t have to go back after I had washed her clothing because I’ve been doing wash at my house. Well I ordered her three she didn’t like them so I just kept them for myself because I don’t have very many and they were fine so I kept them. So then I order two more well, she says ones OK but not the other. I wash them both folded them up, put them in the bottom of her drawer, and if she wets enough of them that’s gonna be the option. But actually, she’s not been getting her gowns wet now for a while. She gets what she wears for underwear wet part of the time and then somehow she uses towels and her bed has not been wet in a long time we’ve not had to change the bed extra in quite a while now. I have armed myself with your guy suggestions and I am going to go get that bar of fels naptha soap if nothing happens. And I’m just gonna have to learn by trial and error what works for me? I believe my sister said there was nothing in the shower this morning. That’s where she puts all her special dirty stuff😊. Tomorrow is my day. It’s also the day to clean the house. I wish I didn’t feel dread, I dislike that I feel that way.

Ricardo I’m from Ohio. Guess you have figured out that I’m helping care for my mother. Are you here as a caregiver or someone with dementia? .

I have early stage Alzheimer’s with very few symptoms

Been to Pa alot generally Philly never been to Pittsburgh or Ohio

You around to chat?

Guess not

I finally got a response an hour ago