Saturday and Laundry

I slept well again last night and got up around 5:00AM. I have had my oatmeal and fed the cats...all of them. It has taken three bowls now. Of course, the bowl is small. I began by thinking I was only feeding one cat. Now I have a bunch!!

I have had my oatmeal and finally, I stripped my bed and am washing and drying my sheets and towels this morning. They are in the dryer now.  I feel pretty good today. Better then yesterday and much better then Thursday.

We are forecast for rain today.  I would like to get the back yard mowed this morning but after all that rain yesterday afternoon, it is very wet. So that probably won't happen. Also, the wind blew all kinds of leaves from the trees on the property and they have ruined the looks of my front yard.

I am still wondering if I will go to the campgrounds tomorrow. If it rains again, I don't want to get out on the road...especially the interstate. I hate driving around all those huge semis....it's even worse in the rain. They tend to hog the road. Once you've been hit by one like I was back in the late 90's, you are leery of them from then on. The one that hit me didn't even know he had hit me..even though he strung the drivers side parts of my car all over the intersection.  He missed my left foot by inches. I had to run after him, yelling at him, to get him to even stop. I will never forget that hair raising experience.  It made me semi shy from then on.

I don't have a plan for today except to re-make my bed and put the towels away.

More later...I looked out this morning and saw leaves all over my freshly mowed front yard.


So I raked them into piles and put them in my mower bag buddy.

This is what it looked like after I got that mess cleaned up.



 I can see now that in the fall, I will have my hands full. Well I raked and bagged over at Coffeyville and I guess I can do it here. It would be good exercise anyhow.

The laundry is finished and the bed is re-made. I only need to get the towels out of the dryer. So, more later...

This is the guilty tree! :)



I got the towels put away. I guess everything is shipshape now.

I went to Bartlesville this afternoon and went to their Walmart store and bought some new beige towels. The ones I have are falling apart. I don't know why. They were only bought in 1981. Then I walked around the mall and bought a birthday card for my older son, Keith.  His birthday is August 3rd.

When I got home I decided to eat lunch here.  It's 2:10PM and I had better get to it or it will be supper.

I just finished my lunch. It was Schwans turkey pot pie...very good! I am having a glass of peach tea with it. I had an ice cream bar this morning so maybe I had better not have another.

I went over across the street and picked up all the debris from that child's fourth of July celebration. It was two grocery sacks full. When my grandchildren stayed with me and they set off fireworks, I insisted they clean up their mess afterward. I guess some people don't require anything of their kids anymore. This is the family with the garage door hanging askew and no back door at all.

I know, I know. I am an old grouch. Personally, I think it's good for kids to take some responsibility. My kids were excellent about it. We had a chart on the refrigerator door and I was included on it. We all had rotating chores to do and we all did them. If one of my kids didn't want to do one of his/her chores, they could pay their brother/sister to do that one for them. It worked for us and all my kids are well organized to this day. I know...I am spoiled! My son-in-law told me that.

This is my daughter-in-law, Ginger, with their cute little cowboy corgi, Sarge, on vacation.  Sarge is three months old.



I didn't know when I would get my backyard mowed since it's supposed to rain tonight. So I just bit the bullet and went out and mowed it. Now all I lack is the west side yard.




It's almost 5:30PM so I have another hour and a half before I take my bath. I will drink some water though.

More a little later...

I took my bath a little early  but did make it to nearly 9:00PM to go to bed.

Friday and Still Feeling a Little Weak.

I slept well last night and was up at 5:00AM as usual. I still don't feel as well as usual but not as bad as yesterday. I don't know whether it's the high blood pressure or the medication. I went ahead and took the water pill again this morning. After awhile, I may drive over to Coffeyville and  check in with the CRMC clinic on highway 166. I will give it awhile and see how I feel. The clinic doesn't open until 9:00AM anyhow.

It could even be my allergies. I have been sneezing my head off for days.

I am up and dressed and have had my breakfast and fed the cats. They were waiting for me to come fill their dish this morning. Mama cat is still pretty hostile. I would not approach her. She hisses, spits and growls at me. She wants the food but doesn't want me to mess with her. I don't blame her. She's wild. Lord only knows how she's made it this long. She was skin and bones in February when I began feeding her. She looks a lot better now and, of course, she's had that large litter of kitties.

More later.....

I mowed the front yard at 8:00AM this morning when it was 74 degrees out there and then got myself around and did go over to the 11th Street clinic at Coffeyville. They took my blood pressure and it was 120/60. She checked my charts and saw that I had only had a high blood pressure one other time. I went back out to Walmart and checked with their machine two times. Walmart had 149/90 both times. I stopped by the clinic and told them about that and they said they had no idea how often Walmart's machines were calibrated. Obviously, not often enough. She told me to put away that water pill and get back on my regular blood pressure pill tomorrow morning.

 

Here's the front yard all finished.

When I got home I warmed up the rest of that turkey and noodles that Suzanne had brought me. That's all of that now. It was really good! I also had some more of that yellow watermelon later.

I may vacuum this afternoon and wash the bare floors. Tomorrow I will strip my bed and wash my sheets. I feel fine now.

More later...

I just went out to the Dollar General store to get some more Lipton peach tea. I used the last of what I had this afternoon. Wouldn't you know, I just got out of the garage and it began pouring down rain. Thank goodness I got the front yard mowed this morning. I don't know when I will get the back yard  and the west side done too. They need it but not as bad as the front did. It had been mowed a day earlier.  If I can get them done Monday or Tuesday I will be lucky.

More even later...I am going to get the floors washed and maybe the vacuuming too..

I did get the floors washed and vacuumed the bedroom, the hall and the living room. I will do the dining room and den later..perhaps tomorrow.

I will take my bath at 7:00PM and get ready for bed. I won't go to bed until 9:00PM though.

Thursday and Laundry Day

I slept very well last night, I woke up twice but got right back to sleep. In fact, I slept until 5:45AM..pretty much a record for me.

I have dressed and had my oatmeal and coffee and Chai and am ready for the day now. I would be tempted to mow the front yard but, (1) it's too wet and (2) I just had my hair done yesterday morning. I would ruin that.

On Sunday, I will drive over to the reunion grounds south of Joplin for the Sunday service there. I will stay for lunch there and then come home in the afternoon.

If it doesn't rain on Monday or Tuesday, I will mow then. It will really be high by then and will be a huge job.

I think Nancy's son, David, must have come yesterday. I drove by her house after I came back home from Coffeyville yesterday morning and there was a strange red Toyota there in her drive. I imagine it was a rental car from the Tulsa airport. It will be interesting to see if he can talk her into going into a nursing home this time or even assisted living. She is adamant against it. He may be here several days if that is him.

It's only 7:45AM now and I am waiting for the CBS news to come on. So, more later....

I am not feeling up to par today so I will wait until tomorrow to strip my bed and vacuum and mop. I have been in the bathroom several times this morning. I wonder if it's the new blood pressure med?

More later..... 

Well, I found the brochure that came with the med and I have several of the side effects of the drug.  And wouldn't you know...this is a holiday and there isn't anyone at the pharmacy or probably at the doctor's office. I've never had a any drug side effects before but I am extremely tired and weak feeling, a little confused, have had stomach cramps, dizziness and I've been in the bathroom several times this morning.

I tried the doctor's office and they are closed today and tomorrow and won't be open until Monday. They suggested the doctor's clinic at Coffeyville but I am not sure I should drive 17 miles to the clinic when all they would tell me is to stop taking the med.   I may try to call the clinic after 9:00AM this morning.

I went out to Dollar General to get some more mesh bags for my bras in the laundry and when I got home I decided to vacuum out my car...big mistake! Now I am exhausted! It is already 79 degrees out there and I overdid it. I will stay in the air conditioned apartment this afternoon. What a mess! I was going to get my blower out and blow the grass, etc. out of my garage but decided that was for another day. 

I was working on this computer this morning and the smoke alarm went off. I could not get it to stop beeping even though I pulled it down from the ceiling. It finally did stop but only because the 9 volt battery in it ran down. Steve came this afternoon and put a new battery in it.

It is 3:45PM now. and close to 90 degrees out there. I am staying in here where the air conditioning is. I have sat all afternoon and kept my feet up and watched recorded Dateline programs. Now my left ankle looks a little better.

Steve and Suzanne brought me a lot of produce from the food giveaway here.( I don't know what they call it.)  I have onions, cherries, and watermelon. Lots of it! It will take me awhile to use it up.
I will try some of the watermelon this evening.

More later...

I had some of that watermelon this evening. The inside is yellow instead of red but it is sweet and very good! It has tiny little seeds in it but not many.

It is 6:00PM and I am very tired. I haven't felt really well all day and I hope I will feel better tomorrow. I want to clean the apartment and wash the floors. I have sat around most of today with my feet elevated.

More later....

I am very tired and have had my bath and it's 8:20. I will go on to bed and hope to feel better in the morning.

Wednesday and a Storm

Suzanne brought me a small carton of homemade chicken and noodles yesterday when she came for our rent and another small carton of seedless watermelon. Boy was that watermelon good! I ate it all yesterday evening with my yogurt. I will have the chicken and noodles for lunch today! That was so sweet of her! She had made some for another friend of hers who is a shut in and thought of bringing some to me too.

I woke up this morning about 3:30AM to the noise of a terrible thunderstorm. In fact, briefly, the lights went off. Of course that killed the computer too and the Tivo ...at least until I could reboot both. I also had to reset the clocks in the kitchen. The snails had uncovered the cat food and were eating it. I dumped them out and refilled the cat's dish. Soon several of the kittens and their mother came and ate all of it so I refilled it and they came back to eat again. I just covered it again so the snails will stay out of it.  I hate those nasty critters!

I have dressed and had my breakfast and coffee and Chai.

Needless to say, I didn't get the front yard re-mowed. I had seriously considered putting my jeans on yesterday evening and doing it but chickened out since I had already had my bath and didn't want to have another after mowing.  I had just mowed it a few days ago.

I will go over to Coffeyville this morning to get my hair done at 9:00AM and go to the bank. Then I will go out to Walmart and get the groceries I need.  I may just come on back home and put everything away and then go to Coffeyville again this afternoon. Otherwise I would have to hang out the rest of the morning there and through the noon hour until the 2:00PM services for Wayne. I will just pick up Marilyn at 1:30PM and we will go together.

More later...

I got over there about 8:30AM after driving through a roaring rainstorm. It's good I got there early because I went to the bank first and then drove to the beauty shop and Toni was ready for me. She got my hair done and I went out to Walmart to buy my little bag of groceries. While I was at Walmart, I took my blood pressure. I noticed lately that my ankles are swelling in the evening. The blood pressure was 158/80 so I decided to check into the PA at the clinic. They took my blood pressure and it was 156/76, The PA decided to change my blood pressure med and see if that will help me get rid of that fluid around my ankles.

Then I went to get the script filled and on to Braums and bought my milk before I came on back home to eat my lunch. I ate that chicken and noodles that Suzanne brought me yesterday.  It was delicious! Then I watched an episode of Dateline that I had recorded before coming in here to blog.

I had a text from Marilyn asking if it was alright for Evelyn from the fourplex to ride with us. Of course that was fine.

I will leave in a minute to go back to Coffeyville and pick them up. So more later...

I got there a little early but we visited and caught up on the news.  Then about 1:30, we left for the church. The service was well attended  especially since Wayne was 99. He had many family members there though. He was very well loved. Rev. Passwater gave the funeral sermon. I saw several people I knew there including Rev. Passwater's wife. This will be their last Sunday in Coffeyville. They are moving to Joplin to be near some grandchildren. She told me the new pastor at Trinity would be a younger man.

I got back home about 4:00PM and stopped at Sonic to have a cherry limeade slush. I brought it home with me. It has thundered some this afternoon but no more rain..thank goodness!

Later this evening I will take my bath and go to bed early. The thunder woke me up very early this morning and I will be tired.  I would love to have my front yard mowed but I just had my hair done this morning so it will be next Sunday evening or Monday morning early before I will do it. By then it will really need it.

More later.... 
 . 

Tuesday and a Good Night's Sleep

I slept well again last night. I woke up once but got right back to sleep. I have dressed and fed myself and am enjoying my Chai now. I have left food for the kittys but so far they have not been back to eat it.

No, I was wrong. At least one, probably the mama cat, has been there and eaten some of the food but if they had all been there, it would be all gone. There is still half a bowl there.

It's 7:15AM now and it's still 72 degrees out there. I will try to wait until 8:00AM to mow.

I will go watch the news for awhile. Then I will go mow.

I got the west side mowed! And it's only ten until 8:00AM. That's done for another four or five days! And it's still only 74 degrees and I didn't even break a sweat!.



More later...

Nancy came over this afternoon and visited with me. She is upset about the way her church has turned out. The Assembly of God congregation have taken over their building and have changed the way the First Christian Church worships.  Some of the original First Christian Church people prefer a less emotional service. She is going to stay for awhile and give it a trail but if she can'tr adjust to it, she is going to attend the Cornerstone  church that Brad Sanders leads.

The rest of the afternoon I tried to balance my checkbook. It is a little over $5.00  out of balance and I have worked all afternoon to try to find the error with no luck at all. I may just have to make an adjustment and let it go.

Brad is coming over to look at my power problem in the den room where I have my desktop computer.  He was going the come Thursday but I imagine he wants the holiday instead.

He will be here in about ten minutes so more later....

He knew  exactly what it was. There is a reset button in the garage that is usually just for the garage power but since this den room used to be a patio and the plug was an "outside" type plug, he assumed that that might be the problem. And it was. He took a screwdriver and pushed the reset button and the desktop computer immediately came back up.  So I am back in business in the den. It's only 6:15PM so I have a while to watch the news.

More even later....

It's after 7:00PM now and I will take a bath and get ready for bed. I go to bed at 9:00PM

Monday and A Birthday Party

Today is my daughter's birthday and this evening I will go out to their home and attend a birthday celebration for her. Family and a few friends will be there. I will take brownies. She is making homemade ice cream again. She made it yesterday for the church cookout. As usual, it was very good.

This morning, after the grass dries a bit, around 7:30AM or so, I will mow my back yard. I just stepped out and checked it and it is still pretty wet. It is just a little after 7:00AM now. I have to mow while it's only 72 degrees. It's supposed to be in the 90s today and all week.

I slept well last night although I woke up several times. I got back to sleep each time until my usual 5:00AM.

I have done my laundry along with the dish towels I brought home from church yesterday afternoon. The dryer has stopped now so maybe I had better get everything folded before wrinkles set in.

More later...

I got the laundry folded and put away and checked the grass again. It is 7:30AM and still the grass is  pretty wet and it's only 73 degrees so I will wait awhile to mow. Maybe by 8:00AM it will be dryer and still not too hot.

Later today, I will bake my brownies for the celebration this evening. .

About 8:15AM or so I went out and mowed the back yard. It wasn't getting any drier and it was getting hotter. It was then or never.

 

Then I started on the west side. I got about two thirds finished before I played out.



I will finish it early tomorrow morning.

More later....

Nancy came by and wanted to go to breakfast so we went out to Eggberts and had an omelet. It was very good and will be my lunch (brunch).  We had a nice visit and she later brought me home.

I am getting ready to bake my brownies for Leslie's party this evening. I tried on my bathing suit and it is a tragedy but I will take it. I have never worn it after I bought it years ago. There's nothing yuckier looking then an old body in a swim suit.

I got the brownies mixed up and in the oven and realized I had forgotten to give Nancy her cherry pie. I called her and she came right back over and picked it up. I would have taken it to her but I had those brownies in the oven. She was happy to come get it.

I got the brownies finished and the dish wrapped in saran. It's only 2:10PM right now so I have plenty of time until 6:00PM when the party is scheduled to start. I had some trail mix for lunch. The fiber should be good for me.

More even later..

Marilyn texted me this afternoon that Wayne Bishop had died on Saturday and his funeral is Wednesday at 2:00PM. I will pick Marilyn up at 1:30 PM and we will go to the services together. I was so glad we celebrated his 99th birthday with the folks from the fourplex in May. 

I got out to John and Leslie's a little after 6:00PM. I left in plenty of time but ran into serious road construction on my way there on 75 highway. I should have taken 166 highway but Melissa was so sure on Sunday that 75highway was clear that I took her word for it. She was wrong.

Anyhow we had a fine dinner of steak, salad, potato salad and brownies with homemade ice cream for dessert. Between the two big dinners...one Sunday and then again last night, I gained two pounds.

We had a lot of fun playing with their dogs. Octavia, their blue heeler, loves to play ball. John can throw that ball way up in the air and she will catch it in her mouth.   

I got home after 9:30PM. I took my bath and went straight to bed.

I must mow tomorrow morning to get my west side finished before the rain we have forecast  for this afternoon. I will wait until 8:00AM again.

Sunday and Dinner at Church

I got up at 5:00AM as usual this morning and started my day with dressing and my oatmeal. Then as soon as I fed the cats, I began making my coffeecake. While it was baking Scott called and brought me up to date with the building project on their new home.   After I got that finished, I iced it.  He had the puppy, Sarge, and Eddy, the cat and Ginger's dog outside, so Ginger could sleep.

After awhile I had to ice the coffeecake and so he signed off with "love you, Mom".  About 8:00AM, I loaded everything into the car and left for church. I stopped at Tyro and bought an Amish cherry pie. I also had my potato salad and the coffeecake. 

The service was good. Vivian spoke and and afterward most of the congregation stayed for the cookout. John cooked the hamburgers and they were good!

 
That's John in the truck bed cooking.  The red haired tall one is Kelly and the man at the tailgate is Danny.

Susan and I did the dishes and I put them away afterward. I brought the wet dish towels home to put in my laundry.

After  I got everything put away at home I worked on that coffeecake dish.  The Abbotts took the leftover coffeecake. I sure didn't need it.

I just puttered around all afternoon and watched some more of that program on Amazon Prime that featured  "The Physics of Light". It has been very interesting.

Later I watched 60 Minutes. That was very interesting too. One episode was about a 99 year old lawyer who had prosecuted the Germans at Neurenberg  trials back in the 40s after the war was over.  He is a strong peace advocate. He says all war makes savages and killers out of perfectly normal people.  I have recorded that episode of 60 Minutes and will keep it.

After that program, I took my bath and watched that program "The Physics of Light" until 9:00PM when I went on to bed.