Saturday and Working in the Yard

I slept very well again last night.I woke twice to go to the bathroom after drinking a lot of water after giving blood yesterday. But I got right back to bed and right back to sleep.

I have made my bed and dressed for the day. I am having my breakfast now. 

I am thinking of making another flowerbed in the front yard. Outside of the hanging plants, there is not much color there. I would like to make it around the mailbox where it would get full sun. I would get some more of those red bricks to line it. I will have to borrow a shovel to dig it.

I also want to borrow Janet's hedge trimmer to trim the hedge out front. She says she has two electric ones and I can borrow one. I will check on that Wednesday when I go over there for my hair appointment. I wish I had picked it up last Wednesday while I was there for Bunco but I forgot.

All three cats are out there now eating their breakfast.  They act like they haven't eaten in a week but they were just here last night for supper.

It's 7:12AM ...much later then I usually am drinking my Chai. I am watching the CBS Saturday morning news now on TV.  I haven't even watched "the weather on the 8's" yet. It looks like a pretty day so far.

John and Leslie have undoubtedly left for Nauvoo, Illinois now.  They will be working with a group on our historical properties. They did that once before several years ago. I think they will be gone a week. John's brother-in law will be watching the farm and feeding the animals. Karan has the two house dogs, Kiki and Mini for the week.

It's 8:38AM now and I am thinking of mowing the front yard again. I did it last Monday but there is rain forecast for next Monday and Tuesday and I don't want it to get away from me. It is damp right now so I will wait and see if it dries out some later this morning. After it does. I will mow the front again.  Then this afternoon, I will mow the back again.

It's 9:45AM and I just started mowing the front yard. I got about three swipes done and am pooped out. Evidently giving blood yesterday took a lot more out of me then I thought. I guess I will have to work at it fifteen minutes at a time to get it done.

I got three more swipes done and now I am going to have to rest for 15 minutes again. It's amazing how tired I get after just three swipes at it. It's 10:00AM now and I will wait until 10:15AM to start again.

It's 10:25AM now and I think I only have two more strips to go. I emptied the grass catcher bag this time and swept up the grass on the driveway that didn't make it in the bag. I'll wait until 10:40AM to finish and then after I rest up I will go to the Caney Market and get the groceries I will need for the the week. I will certainly have my exercise for the morning. It depends on the heat this afternoon whether I get the back yard done. It's 71 degrees now...not bad.

It's 10:50AM and I have the front yard finished. 

I will rest up a bit and drink some water before going to the market. While I am there I want to see if they carry that Nestle flavored water. I found an unopened bottle of that in the passenger's side pocket of my car. Bob Avery probably put it there.  I like the grape flavor.

More later..

I did got to the Caney Market and I did find that grape flavored water. I also bought some other groceries on my list.

I read the rest of the afternoon and watched the CBS evening news too. It is 6:15PM now and I am nearly ready to take my bath. I plan to go to bed at 9:00PM again.

 

Friday Giving Blood

I slept very well last night considering I forgot to take my Melatonin. I imagine it was mowing the west yard that did it. I was very tired last night. I slept until nearly 6:00AM. That's unusual for me.

I have an appointment this morning at 11:30AM to give blood here locally. It to be held at the Cornerstone Church. I hope my iron is up. I have been taking a multivitamin with iron ever since being declined at Coffeyville last month.

I have had my breakfast and coffee and am now working on my Chai. I haven't had the "weather on the 8's" on yet or fed the cats. I am behind my usual schedule. I have balanced my checkbook though,

I will get back to this after I check the weather and feed the cats. 

The same three cats came for their breakfast. Blondie, Inky and Scruff. They are eating like they are starving but I know they aren't. 

I read in my latest Kindle book until time for my bloodmobile appointment.

I was able to give blood today here at Caney. I had plenty of iron in my blood this time after taking a multivitamin with iron for a month or so. Now I need to eat some lunch. I drank a bottle of water.

So even later...

I had my lunch and tried again to reach Nancy. I let the phone ring five times but she did not answer. Then I went over and rang her doorbell several times. Then I called her from in front of her home and that didn't work either. I rang the back doorbell then and finally I just wrote a note and left it the glass inside the storm door on her back door. She is so depressed, she is sleeping her life away. I noticed her plants had been watered and even though she has not yet planted the bedding plants she bought at the Independence nursery last week, they too had been watered. It's getting harder all the time to reach her. It's tragic.

So far, I have two lovely Mother's day cards!

  

My kids are very thoughtful.  The two wives and one husband are too. I couldn't be more blessed!

Thursday and A Trip to Chanute

I slept pretty well again last night..but as usual, I was up early... near 5:00AM. I made my bed up and also got myself ready for the day. 

I am thinking of driving up to Chanute where they have a Merle Norman store and getting my makeup. I am nearly completely out of several things. I have e-mailed my friend, Gay, to see if she is free for lunch. I will wait to make my final decision until I hear from her.

I have had my breakfast and am working on my coffee and find out what today's weather is to be like. It's almost 6:00AM now and the local "weather on the 8's" will soon be on TV.  

My allergies are going crazy this year. They are always terrible in spring but this year they are even worse. I have sneezed and blown ever since I got out of bed.

I will also need to find out how many cats are looking for their breakfast.  So, more later...

It's 6:39AM now and my son, Scott, just called and visited with me for awhile. It had been awhile...I am always delighted when the kids call.  I hear from Keith's wife, Esther,  every morning. She has started texting me every morning since I live alone. She doesn't like the idea of no one checking in on me. She's a sweetheart!  

More later... 

The same three cats that come for breakfast every morning are here again. It's the two blond cats, Blondie and Scruff and the black one I call Inky. Blondie and Inky are both male and Scruff is the only female.,,she is a pale yellow.

It's 6:55AM now. 

I am going to have to go to Chanute today to get my makeup.It's forecast for rain the rest of the week. I don't want to drive up there in the rain. I have tried to call Gay and also texted her and she just called me back. She will meet me for lunch at 11:30AM at Opie's. So, I am off for Chanute this morning. It's almost 8:00AM now and it takes me an hour and a half to drive there.

So, more later...

I got back from Gay's about an hour ago. We had a real nice visit and Adele, her  sister, showed up in time to have lunch with us and a nice visit too.  I left about 1:05PM and got home at 2:25PM. I stopped in Independence and got gas at Miller Brothers.

I found I had missed the Schwan's man while I was gone. He left me a catalog with his telephone number so I called him and he brought my order by. Luckily he was still in town.

About 3:24PM I started mowing the west side of my yard. I got about three rounds done and emptied the bag and came in for some water and to rest awhile. It's 3:50PM now and I will rest awhile before resuming the mowing. I'll start again about 4:10PM. I would like to get it finished before the rains tomorrow and the rest of the week.

I got another three rounds done. I intend to just take it a little at a time until I get it finished. I stop and drink water from time to time. That keeps me hydrated.

It's 4:24PM and I have just another six strips to go before I get it done. I have emptied the bag again and am drinking some more water.     

I got the west side of my yard mowed and even got the bag in the trash afterward!

 

 See, it looks nice. I just took it in spells and drank lots of water and got it done this afternoon...before the rains start. 

 

There's the rest of it!

 

And just look at the glowing solar kitty! That was a gift from Leslie several years ago.

It's 8:05PM now and I will eat my banana and I watched the CBS news when it came on.

I had planed to take my bath at 8:00PM and go to bed about 9:00PM.

 

Wednesday and Bunco

 I slept pretty well last night but it was almost 5:00AM when I just got up. I had read all evening. I was watching the program "Bull" that I had recorded the night before and Channel 6 weather had interrupted the program with a storm warning.  I know that is more important but there is so little on TV that I enjoy it always annoys me. I always have watched "Lucky Dog" but now they have changed the cast and also the programming and I don't like it as well.

I am dressed and ready for the day. I have had my oatmeal and breakfast bar and am working on my coffee now. I will get my hair done first at 8:30AM and then get gasoline at Woodshed and go out to Walmart to check for a treat for Bunco. I won't eat lunch because we get so much "junk food" at Bunco. Now that I no longer have Bob Avery to meet for breakfast, my Wednesday morning seems very strange. Nancy is so undependable, I can't count on her to visit and I have no other friends here in Caney. I have outlived most of my Caney friends or they have moved away.

I seldom see Suzanne anymore. She is so cautious since this pandemic and I can't blame her for that.  She has Steve and his poor health to be concerned about and also her daughter and her family are right next door to them. 

More later..I will go watch "the weather on the 8's" and check on the cats a little later. It's almost 6:00AM now. 

I had the same three cats here for breakfast. It has been weeks since I've seen Scruffy. Scruff is her light blond kitty..the survivor of the two from the second litter.  That one has eaten and left. Inky and Blondie are still out there. I hope Inky behaves himself today. He was feeling ornery yesterday.

It is 6:33AM now and I plan to leave for my hair appointment at 8:00AM.  I am taking the box of my caramel peanut clusters for my treat for Bunco. I will stop at Sonic at noon and get a cherry limeade slush in lieu of lunch.

More later...

I did have an e-mail from Dean this morning. He does plan to come visit on the 17th if nothing unforeseen happens. He will stay a few days here with me.

I think I will go on over to Coffeyville as soon as I get the cat food in. I want to get gas at Woodshed and go out to Walmart to get the few things I can't find in Caney.

More later this afternoon. 

I had a good time at Bunco and won the $5.00 prize for the most wins. We had many great treats too. I had my banana for supper. It is 6:30PM now and at 7:00PM, I will take my bath. I plan to go to bed about 9:00PM.

 

Tuesday and No Particular Plan

It's another one of those days with no particular plan. The apartment is clean, the laundry is done and the yard is mowed. The flowerbed is planted too. I really don't have a plan for today. I would like to go to Chanute to visit my friend, Gay, but it's supposed to rain the next couple of days and I don't want to drive 60 miles and back in uncertain weather. It is raining here now.

I slept fairly well considering I didn't take any melatonin. I was up before 5:00AM, dressed and got myself ready for the day. I have even had my breakfast.

I did hear from Dean, my classmate. He is hoping to come for a visit the week of the 17th.  I don't have anything on the agenda that week after my sermon on the 16th. If he gets to come, he plans to stay three or four days. We will play it by ear. He has a bunch of stints in his heart so I am a little concerned about that. He would be driving down from Topeka. He has two doctor appointments this month so we will see what he learns from his doctor on the first one.

I should go check out "the weather on the 8's" and see if any of the cats are out there. It may be raining and they seldom come out in rain even for food.

I notice my little solar cardinal is still glowing out there. I am so glad I got my yard mowed yesterday.

More later.. 

The same three cats were out there wanting breakfast...Inky, Blondie and Scruff, the light blond small cat. They didn't come for supper last night. It's raining now and the wind is blowing too. I set the four bowls as close to the door as possible to try to keep the food dry. They seem to be managing. Suzanne doesn't want me feeding the cats in the garage so I just do the best I can. I had blown the garage out yesterday afternoon. The car tracks in dirt. I finally just parked in the street and hooked up the heavy duty electric cord and blew it clean as I could. The mower makes a mess and I seldom blow it clean.

Inky wanted to wrestle with Blondie and Blondie wasn't interested so finally Inky got tired of being scolded and went somewhere else to spend a rainy day. Blondie hung around for quite awhile until the rain let up a little and then he left too.

It's 10:37AM now and I have ween reading and eating on some candy I had tucked away. I am tired of both.  The trash people came and took my trash and I went out while the rain was light and put away my trash container.

It's 11:21AM now and I have ruined my appetite with the candy. I may just make myself a half a peanut and jelly sandwich for my lunch.

More even later...

 

One of my boys (I assume it was one of them) sent me this lovely hummingbird feeder for a Mother's Day gift, I had the neat solar cardinal from Leslie and John already so that's why I think it must be one of my boys and their wives. I have always had hummingbirds to feed and am so happy to have this large a feeder.  I would like to send a thank you note if I just knew which one it was.

And what do you know..I have my first hummingbird out there eating from it. I am in the den and too far away to show it on this site. 

 

Nope..too far away! Shucks!

But I did discover a notice in the packaging that it came from Ginger and Scott Miller. That was something I needed to know!

I took my bath at 6:30PM and plan to go to bed at 9:00PM or so.

 

Monday and Laundry

I slept fairly well last night. I got up once to go to the bathroom and while I was up, I checked out the new cardinal. It was glowing  brightly! And that was at 2:30AM this morning. I think I will put the solar cat out on the table in the back and see if it's still working too. It was doing fine last summer. It has been in the house all winter. I found it doesn't work if it's just setting in the sun on the table under the window. It has to be outside.

I was up very early this morning and stripped my bed and am doing a load of laundry.. I was out of socks and underwear. The towels and bedding needed to be washed too. Everything is in the dryer now.

I will clean the apartment this morning. I usually do that  on Thursday but I didn't get it done this past Thursday. I think that's the day I took Nancy and we went to the nursery in Independence and got our hanging plants. She got her bedding plants too that day. I wanted some red for my flowerbed and wasn't going to pay $5.00 a plant for them. I got mine the next day at the Caney Market for $1.29 each. I bought five of them.

I see it's 5:45AM and I guess I will go turn on "the weather on the 8's" and see what happened to the rain we were forecast for last night.

I see they have forecast the rain for this evening and tomorrow. 

I have the same three cats this morning. Actually this time it's not the neighbor's big yellow cat. This time it is Inky and Blondie...the slimmer Blondie, Inky's brother, and Scruff the very pale yellow one...the survivor from the second litter of Scruffie. The black sibling of Blondie was the one run over by a car here in front of my apartment. I took all four bowls out to them. That tends to keep them from quarreling over the food....if they have plenty out there. I also filled their water dish.

I have most of the laundry folded and put away. The pjs and towels are still  damp so I put them back in the dryer. 

I got the laundry  all finished and dried and put away and the apartment is clean again. It's 9:43AM and everything is done. I need to go out to Dollar General and buy a product I am out of. So I may as well get that done now.

I got what I needed at Dollar General. One less thing to do. 

I found I couldn't  lift the bag with the grass clippings in it and wondered how to get that done. My neighbor, Brandon, came home while I was considering that and I asked him if he could lift it into the trash container for me and he was happy to do that.

I had set my little solar cat outside on the glass topped table this afternoon...and what do you know, he still glows! Amazing!

 

I read until the battery went down on my Kindle again. I have it charging again now. 

It's 6:30PM now and soon I will take my bath.  I probably should try to go to bed early since I have been up since 4:00AM.

 

Sunday and Church Again

I slept fairly well last night but was awake and up earlier then usual. I made my bed and dressed and got myself ready for church this morning. Last evening I texted everyone that had a smart phone hoping to encourage them to come to church today. I will make my coffeecake today. I skipped last week because attendance was down and I didn't want a lot of leftover coffee cake. I am hoping it will be better today. 

There is no church next week. Too many will be out of town for Mother's Day. I think it's a mistake to cancel services but if so few would be there, there's no sense in having it, I guess. My daughter and son-in-law will be in Nauvoo, Illinois, working on our historical church properties with several other couples. They will be gone a week, I think. Karan will be keeping Kiki and Mini their two house dogs. John's brother- in- law will take care of feeding and watering the other animals and Octavia and Echo and Hoover, the outside dogs.

It's after 6:00AM now so I had better get the coffee cake going, check the weather and feed whatever cats are out there.

The coffee cake is in the oven and it has to bake about 40 minutes. I will go check the weather report while that bakes. Also, I will check the cats and see if they are out there hungry.

The regular three cats were out there and so I took the four bowls out for them... to try to avoid them fighting over the food...so far so good. Of course, Inky and Blondie usually share well. 

The coffeecake has about another 20 minutes to bake and then it has to cool before I can put the glaze on it. I want to leave here a little before 9:15AM so I can get it cut and some coffee made before everyone comes.

It's 7:17AM and I have the coffeecake out of the oven and glazed. It is cooling now. I have plenty of time for it to cool and get it over to the church. I just hope there will be a congregation.

It's 9:07AM now and I still plan to leave here at 9:15AM to get to church and ready for serving the coffee cake. 

 

My early Mother's Day gift from Leslie and John..a solar cardinal for my flower bed. So cute!!

The coffeecake went over well. The two little great grandchildren were there too and all but one piece was eaten. I bagged it up for Kelly! There were almost three times as many there today as last week.

We ate lunch at El Publeto in Coffeyville and Leslie and John bought my lunch too. 

I can hardly wait to see how the cardinal glows in the sunshine!

I got home from Coffeyville about 2:00PM. We waited quite a time to get a table for 10. 

 

I got the front yard mowed about 3:20PM but that's all can manage right now. Maybe I can do the back later this afternoon around 4:00PM. It is smaller. I am trying to beat the forecast rain. I don't think I can do the west side at all. It's just too large. I don't have to look at it so I am not going to worry about it. After the rains are over this week, I will pay the little girl $10.00 to mow the west side.

More later...

I got half the back yard finished before I played out. I will wait until 4:00PM and try to finish it then. I can sure tell I have been sitting around reading all winter. I really need the mowing exercise. I got a few more swipes done about 4:30PM. I will finish it about 5:00PM when I get my second wind.... or is it my third wind: :)

Well, it took me three or four more swipes at it but I got it finished. And it's just now 4:55PM. I need to go open the gate and put away the mower so I will get back to this shortly.

 

I got the mower put away and since I trimmed last Monday evening I won't have to trim this week.  It's just now 5:11PM.  I won't worry with the west side. I don't have to look at it. And I couldn't handle the heavy clipping bag but I will have the teenager put it in the trash receptacle when she mows next. Now, I will go watch the news and later take my bath and read awhile until bedtime. I got quite a bit done today and am pleased about it. I plan to go to bed at 9:00PM or so. It has been a big but productive day. 

I almost forgot. I am supposed to log on to Zoom and do the invocation for tonight's Mission Center worship service. Ted wanted me to log in at 5:45PM.  I still have 30 minutes.  I need to get my lamp in the hall.  I only have one ceiling fixture in this den. One of the light receptacles is not working. Steve tried to put a new bulb in it and that's when he learned only one of those bulb receptacles works. And there's only one plug in in the den too. At one time this was the outside and this room was a patio. They built another room on the slab. 

I participated in the worship service and then read until bedtime. For some reason, 60 Minutes didn't record so I missed this week. I took my bath at 7:00PM. I plan to go to bed at 9:00PM. 

John texted me this evening with more help with the solar cardinal. I followed his instructions and later went on to bed at 9:00PM.