Just need to talk to my friends (220)

Carl, you made me laugh I can picture the pretty nurse and all the male patients suddenly finding the doctor visit not so bad. 🤩

Good afternoon.

Lorita, when I called my cousin in Brooklyn her voicemail message was in Spanish. I don't know how that happens.

We're expected to have a heat wave here in SoCal for the next few days.

For those of you dealing with ants, I had posted a flyer regarding snt snd using baits from when I visited the LA County Fair. If you want to see it again, it's on May 29th of Friends # 218. I did not want to bring it yo the you to avoid confusion.

I'm glad the young calves are enjoying frolicking in the field, Lorita.

Iris

Does anyone want to watch Whitney Houston sing our national anthem from 1991? She still gives me chills and makes me feel proud!

Here's that brave husky!

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1396276005891344/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

GG, I was going to ask you what was the Japanese dessert, but you said you didn't know the name, LOL.

Iris

Good morning!

GG, sorry you have cataracts. I have them too but mine are not near the stage where surgery is needed. I hope surgery is never needed. I do have friends who had the lens implants that mean they no longer require glasses, except maybe for reading. Some (bifocal folks) even do mono vision lenses. That means the lens for one eye is for distance and the other for reading. It works well. I did that with contacs for a time - but it was actually no lens at all for one eye as my distance vision is fine, and one contac for reading. It worked well but I really found it easier just to use readers than to deal with a contac lens so only did that for a couple of years. I went to nursing school in central Iowa where there is a famous eye clinic. It was said that Elvis was treated there. Cataract surgery has come a long way. It used to be that a person had to be on bedrest with their head between sandbags to prevent movement. (I don't remember for how long but the patient did spend time in the hospital.)

News from the exercise front: I met with a trainer on Monday to work on lifting. I deadlifted 115 pounds! I was very proud of myself. That is my one lift max; I'll do workouts with 75-85% of my one lift max.

HB, sorry your mom's appt was cancelled. Hope she can get the help she needs soon.

We are taking two grandsons to a AAA baseball game today (Iowa Cubs). Looking forward to it! We have very good seats, just a few rows up behind home plate.

Japanese beetles are invading my yard. I noticed a little tree's leaves were brown. On investigation I found literally thousands of J. beetles in the tree. I don't want to use poison because it kills beneficial insects too. So I drop them into soapy water and drown them and then throw their wretched little bodies to the fish in the pond, or into the compost. The trees they are on are birch which apparently are a favorite - those trees are coming down this fall. I don't want to deal with this again. Truly, it is miserable dealing with them. They fly at me and I've had 3 in my hair!!! So now I cover my head and put on a sweatshirt despite it being 90 degrees. I go out and work on them about 3 x a day and speaking of….it's time to go for the first time here soon (7:30).

Speaking of heat…it's been on for a week or two and no end in sight. There are storms in Minnesota that will cross into Iowa tonight and then into Missouri - heads up Carl and Ron.

Have a good day, everyone!

Beth

Lorita, I wore a full slip under my dress Sunday as I was afraid the dress would be too um, revealing without one.

Good morning,

I am sooooo tired and sleepy, sleeping a lot so guessing it’s the meds. Dr sent pictures and history of rash to dermatologist at VA in Chicago. Im waiting to hear back and see if we have a third opinion.

Ron

Beth,,,I can dead lift a full gallon water. I know because I watered/fertilized my ficus trees yesterday. It takes a while since I water a bit at a time. Discovered one pot is cracked all the way down the side. Hmmm. The plants are at least 6 feet tall. Any/all suggestions on that process are welcome. Note: I do have two better looking and slightly larger pots in the garage.

Iris…you certainly keep us informed with interesting posts.

Ron…I am 85 and have a rash on the inside of my thighs. Went to Urgent care where the NP said it was contact dermatitus. I assured her that I have had no contact. Well, she said it could be from detergent. We all had a chuckle.

Weather? Probably hot so I will muck about inside today.

Interesting tidbit;

• In 1921, Milne bought his son Christopher Robin the toy bear from Harrods department store.[11][12] Christopher Robin had named his toy bear Edward, then Winnie, after a Canadian black bear Winnie that he often saw at London Zoo, and Pooh, a friend's pet swan they had encountered while on holiday.[13][14][15] The bear cub was purchased from a hunter for C$20 by Canadian Lieutenant Harry Colebourn in White River, Ontario, while en route to England during the First World War.[16] Colebourn, a veterinary officer with the Fort Garry Horse cavalry regiment, named the bear Winnie after his adopted hometown in Winnipeg, Manitoba.[17][18] Winnie was surreptitiously brought to England with her owner, and gained unofficial recognition as The Fort Garry Horse regimental mascot. Colebourn left Winnie at the London Zoo while he and his unit were in France; after the war she was officially donated to the zoo, as she had become a much-loved attraction there.[19] Pooh the swan
• "Pooh": "Pooh" was the name of a swan the family frequently fed on holidays. Additionally, in the Winnie-the-Pooh books, author A.A. Milne jokes that the bear got the name because he had to make a "pooh" sound to blow flies off his nose when his arms were stuck in the air. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Lorita, do you wear your socks on the grass? I'm confused.

B Lynn, I'll keep a lookout for the bees at Mt Rushmore. Tomorrow I'm going to the Original Farmer's Market.

I hope you get some rest, Ron.

Iris

Good morning. Cloudy here with T-storms forecasted from late morning until around 7pm. I have an appointment with my PCP and am meeting friends for dinner. It's going to be a bad hair day.

Ron— I hope you hear back of the rash. The derm should be able to sort you out. I had a rash on my calf which I (and my endo) thought might be a drug reaction. Derm saw it during my annual skin check and wrote it off as dry stressed skin from my operative leg swelling late in the day. She gave me a cream for it and voila— gone in a week. I should have reached out to her sooner.

Lorita— I, too, miss Mint. I hope she's well and her mom is not the reason for her absence.

Iris— I do like a nice farmer's market. There's a weekly farmer's market here at the grange. It's a mix of stuff— lovely but expensive produce, baked goods and even crafts.

Have a pleasant day.
HB

Lorita, the Raid ant baits aren't liquid but I don't really know what's in them. I don't have pets or children so I just spread them on the kitchen counter near where the ants are coming in. The ants are going in and out of the traps, there are fewer of them, and I'm finding some dead ants so I think it's working. I have never used Raid traps before so I don't know how long I will leave them out; until I no longer see ants, probably. I have lots of ants in the flower bed outside the kitchen window and probably should do something about that, or another hive will just take the place of the one I'm killing.

I was scheduled for a second laser eye procedure this morning, but the doctor decided I was doing so well that I didn't need another "if that's all right with you." Avoiding unnecessary treatment is all right with me, so I'm home early. 😎

Iris, you will love Mt. Rushmore. I first saw it in the early morning. We were tent camping, woke early, were there shortly after dawn and had the place pretty much to ourselves. The Black Hills (named for the dark green Ponderosa pine trees that cover them) are beautiful in themselves. I can see why the Native Americans held them to be sacred.

Warm and partly sunny today, getting a few showers. We expect less than a quarter inch, but there are flash flood warnings, so who knows? Ozarks weather is just like a box of chocolates.

Have a great day!

I don't know what the laser surgery I had is called. The ophthalmologist called it "a new procedure for glaucoma" and the insurance form said "surgery." I had cataract removal several years ago, with plastic lens, but this is unrelated to cataracts.

When my uncle had cataract removal in the 1950s, he had to lie between two sandbags for a couple of weeks, and he didn't get replacement lens. He had to wear really thick glasses and had no peripheral vision outside of the glasses. Now, you get plastic lens that let you see 20/20 and can go back to work the next day as long as no heavy lifting is involved. We're living long enough to see science fiction come true.

Good news about the negative Hantavirus test, Lorita!

Carl, I know you're glad not to need another eye surgery!

I just came back from the Original Farmer's Market. It has changed a lot from when I was there forty years ago,when it was full of produce and pastries and exotic foods. Now it is full of eating places—it's like a big food court.

First, we had lunch at Cantor's, a Brooklyn-style deli on Fairfax. Pastrami sandwiches are their specialty, but I had a chopped liver sandwich with barley bean soup and potato salad. This deli was built on 1931 and reminded me of delis in my youth.

Main dining room

The counter

My chopped liver sandwich—it was very tasty!

President Obama visited in 2014. A constituent had written Obama, so they arranged to meet at Cantor's Deli. The lower picture is of Obama and the constituent. (Sorry, it's blurred.)

An old-fashioned cigarette vending machine—remember these?

GG, this is for you.

Guns 'n Roses at Cantor's

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has an exhibit of Marilyn Monroe.

World-famous Farmer's Market clock tower

Inside the Market

Inside the Market

Nuts and Candy

There were several butcher shops with nice cuts of meat.

The only produce stall sold the same fruit as in the supermarkets.

Giant caramel apples with different toppings

"Zoltar" from the movie Big with Tom Hanks. This was outside a toy shop, where I purchased a book of Mad Libs—remember those? This is for my next trip.

Mad Libs

Overall, it was a nice outing, with good weather and good food. The Original Farmer's Market was okay to revisit, it is more a place for tourists now, because there were mostly places to eat. Actually, the Whole Foods Market across the street probably had better produce and groceries for the home.

If anyone has visitors coming to LA, direct them to a local farmer's market for better produce. But if they want a special Los Angeles eating experience, direct them to the Original Farmer's Market at 3rd and Fairfax. Also, this place is next door to The Grove, which is a huge upscale mall--very LA.

Iris