It's Wet Out There

I've just come from looking at another friend's blog.  She loves Mondays.  I do too.  It started back in the day when Monday was payday.  I could get my money in order for the week and it felt good.  Now, payday is later in the week, and Monday is usually my busiest day because I get all fired up to get lots of things done and often do them.  It seems like my plan is to work hard, especially with the business side of things earlier in the week, crash and burn, then rest on Thursday and Friday, with a rekindling on Saturday, another rest on Sunday and I'm back in the harness on Monday to start all over again. 

It rained here.  Saturday.  ALL DAY.

It's a good thing really.  We have been very dry.  The wind has been blowing every day.  One day we had 50 mph winds and the dust blowing off the construction sites created 'brown outs'.  I didn't hang out the sheets I washed because even if they would have stayed on the line, they would have been full of dust.  So, we were happy for the rain.  It was one of those nice soaking rains that really did some good.  I went out Saturday to do some errands and on my way stopped to get the mail and the rain blew some drops into my ear.  I didn't realize the wind would blow the rain in my open window so fiercely and my immediate thought was, "Oh, no, I'm not supposed to get water in my ear!"

I worried all day, thought my ear felt wet, imagined all sorts of scenarios: would I get an infection, a fungus, how soon should I go to the doctor?  At the end of the day, we puffed in some of my leftover fungicide powder that if not effective as a medicine should succeed in drying up any water.  

It seems to have worked.  

I think I need to protect that ear when I go out from rain and dust.  Not that we will likely see rain again for awhile.  We got 6+" over two days and that is about half of our annual rainfall.  

(Well, not really, but it seems like it.)

Sunday was Jim's birthday.  My folks came to visit and we had most of the family over for supper that night to eat and talk and distribute gifts.  

Zane and Barry colored pictures for cards for Papa, but Christian had a bad day and didn't make one.

We've been trying for a few weeks to burn this great big pile of trees and stuff.  The first time Jim tried to get a burn permit was the last time we had snow on the ground, but was refused because it was supposed to get windy, it didn't.

That rankled in his soul for the days after so he went right down today and got his desired permit.  Today is a good day because it rained (and rained, and rained some more), so it was too wet to be in danger of spreading and to wet to do any underground construction work.  

It was a bit hard to get it started.  Jim used some dry boards from the shop.

Fire starting on a foggy morning. 

Then the sun came out. 

The fire burns. 

The fire dies down and the clouds come up. 

I'm glad that eyesore is out of our line of vision.

And, I'm still waiting on news for implant surgery.

And in honor of tax day:

Learning New Things

One thing that happens weekly is a visit from Lorene and the two little boys, since Zane is in school.  Lorene left them with me for a hour while she was off and those boys must have had spring fever, since they were inside and outside and wanting to play one game for 5 minutes, and then another game for 5 minutes, then perhaps this toy would be the right thing....and on and on.  

I let them spray my plants with a little hand sprayer and that was the biggest mistake because then they went on to the windows and the kitchen floor, which is all well and good because they were all cleaner than when they started, but since they were willing enough to help wipe at first, that idea was much less appealing that running around spraying things.  I finally shoved them outside and they could spray anything out there except the windows.  

Before Lorene left Barry brought up my small stepladder from the basement,  (how he can manage that since it is taller than he is I don't know), with the intent of get the marshmallows I keep on the top shelf.  He can't get up there so I got the marshmallows and during this time the timer on the microwave rang to remind me I had clothes in the washer, but I forgot them because Christian grabbed the microwave door which didn't open and he was pulling it toward the edge of the counter! (He was on the stepladder.) Lorene jumped as only a mother can when her child is in danger and in the kerfluffle an egg full of glitter left over from Lynette's senior Spanish class crashed to the floor and we had glitter all over.  I was glad to be done with the thing floating around.  Poor Christian thought he was in trouble, but we were just all excited over the microwave incident.  

I'm sweeping up the mess while the boys finished their ice cream cones.  This was the first time they've ever eaten ice cream this way, so Lorene had to help them out by showing them how to take a bite and pretty soon they were all gone!

There is no much cuter than a little boy with a flower for his gramma.  One time while the kids were outside that morning, I was in the basement attending to the forgotten laundry when I saw Christian running full tilt to the house with something in his hand.  I went back upstairs so he could find and he held out his dandelion (with a long stem) for me.  I put it with the other flowers on my counter.  

I transplanted these dutch irises last year and I'm so pleased with the way they are thriving.  There were some of my favorite spring flowers when I was a kid and I took some roots of Mom's when I had a place of my own to plant them.

Yesterday I took a trip to Omaha again.  This time it wasn't because I had an infection.  This time it was because it actually looked like I would be able to have that BAHA evaluation done at last.  I was scheduled to have the evaluation done two months ago, but I had that horrible swelling mastoid infection and surgery instead.

The evaluation consisted of finding a foundation hearing level in my left ear by blocking sound in the right ear by putting noise in it.  In the first test I pushed a button when I could hear sounds; in the second test I was supposed to repeat words.  I couldn't hear half the words so I knew I wasn't doing well on that test.  

The next part of the test the audiologist put a headband type thing where the transmitter rests on the bone behind my ear and the other end just rest on the other side of my head.  Then I go through the same tests again, beeps and words and I did a much better job.  The audiologist said I improved from 50% to 88% using that headband which makes me a good candidate for the bone anchored hearing aid (BAHA).  As long as she kept the headband on my head could hear her speak plainly, but when she took it off, I was back to hearing the way I always do, like my head is covered in a pillow. 

The next step is to schedule surgery to have the titanium rod inserted into the bone.  But, first they have to talk to the insurance company.  

I'm reading this book.  I was interested because I was sure this massacre was mentioned in Janice Holt Giles book, "Six-Horse Hitch" a fictionalized novel the includes the Overland Trail, that ran a stage coach and freight lines.  It is basically a compilation of newspaper articles, personal stories from witnesses, stories that came from ancestors, investigations of the site and other historical articles  and insights that relate to the surrounding area and times.  

The next thing that is going to happen on this computer is that Windows 10 is going to install whether I want it to or not.  It's happening either because the mouse I use has a side button that clicks things sometimes that I don't want clicked or else I had 'automatic updates' clicked on my computer and windows is now automatically updating it and I can't stop it.  My computer guy thinks that latter is what is going on.  I will have 30 days to reverse it if I choose.  It will all depend on if my business accounting software will still work with Windows 10 installed.  

Arrgh.  

However, I don't see any little windows open and ready to pounce, so who knows?

Thoughts for the day:

"When your values are clear to you, making decisions comes easier." -- Roy Disney

"Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending." -- Carl Bard

Knit-Knacks

Umm...

This week, I knitted.  

And crocheted.  

And knitted some more.

And hung clothes on the line, and started a new resolution, work in the flower garden at least 15 minutes a day.  I've done it twice.  

My flower gardening at this time of year usually consists of 15 minutes of actual labor and then pushing my garden cart full of garden trash to the far corner of our property, dumping in and pushing it back.  I got really puffed out this afternoon.  

I'm also should not try to blog in the evening since I'm too tired to think about anything entertaining.  

So, I stole my daughters' photos from facebook because they are about people I like.

Zane

Humidity turns into curls.

Barry 

Christian 

Zane looks way older than I think he should. 

Christian 

These boys, while full of beans at home know how to behave at a restaurant.  Their last visit, Lorene and Aaron were complimented by two older couples about the behavior of their kids.  

Jim is working on his dad's John Deere B.  

I celebrated my birthday again with this lovely friend of mine.  Not only did she feed me lunch, she gave me some really neat Pioneer Woman stuff. 

P.S.  Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Obviously I shouldn't blog in the evening since I can't even remember what day it is.  I blogged Monday, not Tuesday.  

Family Time

Earlier this week I was feeling a desire to blog about our trip to Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota, but I think a virus has taken residence in my body and all my desire has flown out the window.  

We did have a very nice time at the Gathering of the Green looking at the the displays and the parts and merchandise for sale. Jim attended several workshops that were about the kind of restoration he plans to do and I attended a craft workshop and a brain energy workshop and spent the rest of the time sitting in the ladies hospitality room knitting and talking to women in there, wandering around  buying things and taking pictures.  

We had a very nice time visiting Jim's sisters and seeing some people we haven't seen for a very long time.  It's rather a pain to have to worry about what I eat, to the extent that people ask what I can and can't eat.  I can really eat most anything except very dry and spicy foods.  Food that has acid doesn't work either.  It does make it easier when people do that for me, but I can eat most normal sort of food that people cook.  

This weekend we went to my folks because it has become a tradition for me to celebrate my birthday with them.  It isn't very often close to the day but we get together in March sometime to eat corned beef and cabbage, and strawberry pie for my birthday meal.  This year on my birthday I was in Minnesota and Dad was in San Diego, so we got together the next weekend.  

I love big old houses--Davenport Iowa.

View in Wisconsin. We've had way too many cloudy days in March. 

Birthday present from Jim.   

Second stop.

Stone wall in Wisconsin. 

I refuse to be cold. I think since I am over 50 I can indulge myself with comfort. 

For my coffee loving friends.  There is tea in there. 

52 years old, this day.  

Como Conservatory in St. Paul. 

The Sunken Garden 

Bonsai.

Whereas in the USA, displays are groups in threes, Japan prefers two, and a great difference in size. 

There is a zoo there, too.  This horrible thing is rather like a legless salamander.

And lavender. Ick.

We came home by way of Mankato.  The author of the 'Betsy-Tacy' books, lived in the yellow house.  Her books are highly fictionalized stories of her life, but the setting is the one she grew up in.  The white house is where 'Tacy' lived.  It was a real thrill to see that the geography of the place matched her description. 

March 24th.  Snow and tulips.  

Resolutions? What resolutions?

Going Green

I really shouldn't do a Tuesday blog post because I am not home. I am tired. I still want to, the easiest way to keep a habit, is to keep it. 

 I am writing this Monday night so it will pop up tomorrow as we are driving home from Minnesota.  We have spent this week visiting John Deere tractors and Jim's sisters.  Part way through the trip the batteries died on one camera, and I didn't bring the cord for the other camera.  I will post a more complete vacation week some other day.  Here are some highlights from the first couple of days. 

Changes in Time

I'll get the resolutions out of the way...

walking--poor

office--excellent

letters--okay

piano--good

I've been enjoying the sunsets this month.  It seems like most days the sun came up to a gray day with a splendid sunset at the end. 

Of course, since my last post, we've had the time change and after listening to the complaints of Jim for a few hours, and avoiding facebook we passed into the new time and the enjoyment of the longer evenings with a minimum of discomfort.  I complained plenty about the time change in previous years. I don't complain anymore.  As one blogger friend said, "However, I don't have young kids." 

One year, when I was a kid, we didn't change back to standard time and I remember seeing photos in the paper of school children huddled under street lights in the pitch dark waiting for their bus.  

I looked up the date and I was surprised to see that was 1974, I would have been 10. Back int eh days before Daylight Savings Time was ever thought of (actually Ben Franklin thought of it hundreds of years ago, but we won't go there, it wasn't adopted until WW1) most of the country was inhabited by farmers.  Farmers started work when it was light and quit when it was dark.  Construction workers in Arizona start early and finish early to escape the heat of the day in spite of the fact they don't observe DST.  If we didn't change the clocks, people who work outside would need to change their start times to get the most work done in teh early part of the day before it gets too hot. Instead of 7 am for example, it would be 6.  Changes would be made whether the clocks change or not.
And everyone likes the long evenings.
  

Year-round experiment (1974-1975)

During the 1973 oil embargo by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), in an effort to conserve fuel Congress enacted a trial period of year-round DST (P.L. 93-182), beginning January 6, 1974, and ending April 27, 1975. The trial was hotly debated. Those in favor pointed to increased daylight hours in the winter evening: more time for recreation, reduced lighting and heating demands, reduced crime, and reduced automobile accidents. The opposition was concerned about children leaving for school in the dark. The act was amended in October 1974 (P.L. 93-434) to return to standard time for the period beginning October 27, 1974, and ending February 23, 1975, when DST resumed. When the trial ended in 1975, the country returned to observing summer DST (with the aforementioned exceptions). 

I have been wanting to write a tribute book/photo album of my Grandparents for years, but the paper and photo method of scrapbooking this particular album left me stymied.  Enter the digital age, and I put it together with a minimum for frustration.  I'm pleased with the result.  

Foggy Sunrise 

Evidence of Spring 

I worked very hard on an open work sweatery topper thingy last summer, crocheting from a pattern that had been badly translated from Chinese or some other language that uses characters.  (There are some mighty good and free patterns out there written in some other language than English.) It took all the skill I have to read the chart and all the knowledge I have of crochet stitches to make it work.  

I was so careful, measuring as I went, but when I sewed it together it was just a little bit too small, and the sleeves a way bit too small.  The only real problem is it is hard to get into with not much give, but once on, it's okay.  

I made doily coasters out of one of the sleeves. 

More signs of spring, delivered by hand by my hubby to his best girls.  (To the only two that were there at the time, anyway.)

Scrambled Up

I seem to be lost today.  Lost in a sea of what to do next.  Yesterday we went to Omaha to another doctor's appointment.  I got a good report on my incision, new ear plugs, and another appointment in a month to be evaluated for a BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid) which is an external hearing aid that snaps on to an implant anchored onto the bone behind my left ear.  It is the only option unless I just have one ear to hear with and poor hearing at that.   The large hole in my ear drum that was exacerbated by the most recent infection, means stuff that usually drains down the Eustachian tube will drain out my ear and a 'normal' hearing aid won't work under those conditions. If my hearing can be restored to that ear, it will make a big difference. 

I spent Saturday baking and cooking and even though I had company the rest of the weekend. It seems like over Monday my 'things to do' pile has expanded.  There is nothing that tires me out so much as all the little things that need put away.  It's a mental thing, I think. 

I tried some new recipes this weekend.  I made a coconut cake that has boiled sugar water poured over it right after it's baked.  Jim loves it.  I can't eat coconut because it is too stringy and hard to chew up and I choke on it.  My other success was a scrambled egg casserole that can be made the day before.  The ham and onion needs to be saute'd before the eggs are put in.  Unfortunately, I forgot to watch carefully and they scorched.  I put the eggs in and decided I couldn't serve it for company so we ate it for lunch, picking out the burned bits. I used 28 eggs that day.  We ate 5 for breakfast, 9 in the casserole for lunch, 9 in the casserole for the company, 3 in the coconut cake, 1 in some sugar cookies,  and one down the sink.  

You know, when I added that up, I forgot the 2 eggs I put in the buns that were an afterthought.  That makes 30! It's a good thing that our chickens are laying well. 

Jim has been working on an old 'B' John Deere that belong to his dad.  It's one of those projects where "I'll just do this little bit to make it run better", that turns into one where one things leads to another.

Getting ready to paint.   

It was foggy on Monday.  Really foggy.  The barn (which you can barely see) is 280' from the house. 1/20th of a mile. 

The sunset is different every day.   

I love having such good views of the sunrise and sunset from our house.

These ear plugs should be called 'ear protectors'.  They don't go into the ear canal, they seal it off.  I cannot get water into the left ear.  The large hole just invites infection to come in.  I'm tired of the cotton ball/vaseline method. 

Resolution Report Card

Walking: 4 out of 7 with one office cleaning day

Clean office on Friday: done

Do office work in the office: done

Letters and Cards: 6

Blogging: done

Piano: not bad