August 2017

RICK:
Have a great trip, but don't bring back any cold weather! You are going to miss the eclipse....too bad you will be sailing along on a luxury cruise while we are all staring at the sun...

We are going to go somewhere to see the total eclipse, but won't know for sure where until the weather can be predicted. Donnie has been waiting for years for this event. If the weather is good we will probably go to S.C. If it is cloudy there, we will go west, perhaps to Tennessee. If the entire country is cloudy, Donnie is going to pitch a fit.

It was cloudy all day here today. Nice and cool, too. I am busy dehydrating apples from our tree. They are so tasty!

Ark, the eclipse is going to be televised LIVE on the Science channel. For DirecTV, it's channel 284, starting at noon EST.

For me, I'm going to see it on TV...........I have no special glasses. Of course, that is if we're not at war.

I believe we r already at war, just a different location. Freedom to continue our lifestyles is definately not free.

I will watch eclipse from my yard..

Ellen, just dont know if we will keep the horses, it was hard the first time selling them, hubby could shoot me on buyback, but i want to know where they go. So eat my shorts sweetie. Told the folks rocky was and has only been a trail horse, doesnt like to run....duh....no he isnt going to make a good roping horse if theres no appitude there. Deginately not built for halter either. Red, now he liked to run, but hes not real big....he does have speed, but controllable. I dunno. Lots of wannabe horse trainers out there.

CB, you're right, we are at war. However, not at nuclear war on our soil.
I hope your horse situation works out.

Very glad you got a good car ROSE. Sorry your arm is still swollen. Hope it shapes up soon.

No news here. Going lunch with the blah blahs.

Bon Voyage to RICK & CAROL.

God bless.

My grandson is in kuwait and other places...he says its a hellhole war. He cant wait to come stateside.

Raking and mowing on my agenda today. Hubby is working on horse fence....

I think that why we got rid of the house and horses so we could just put up our feet......and yet here we are..... :rake:what the hell happened.

Hello, hello!

Way past due to check in with Foop Friends... Things are toodling along here not badly at all. We have been kind of quiet lately, summer time is our hibernation, both Jim and I hate heat and humidity, and are pretty useless in that weather. It hasn't truly been bad this year, not like last year... blech! but still not the time we get much done outside.

Mom will be 90 in November and is doing well, considering. Her dementia is still pretty mild. She had a couple of incidents this year, and it slowed her down quite a bit for a long while. The first was early January when she fell down about 5 steps in the house. Bled like crazy from a very deep and large wound on the front of her lower leg muscle. Called the ambulance and she had 25 stitches, doc would have liked more, but her skin is too thin to do it. Had nursing come in every 2nd, then every 3rd day until today, which was the last appt. Finally healed. 7 months.

Then in March she complained of back pain, and after a lot of trial and error they finally found out she had a spinal compression fracture. It was excruciating and she had a hard time doing anything. Getting out of bed was nearly impossible. She has finally turned the corner with that as well this week. Is using the treadmill again..slowly... wow, wasn't sure she'd actually ever do that again.

So, that has been a lot of the focus around here and we are no longer leaving her overnight. She doesn't know this, we just aren't.

We need to plan a big family party for her 90th... siblings that remain and their spouses, etc.

I finally stopped working a couple of months ago. Even though the hours were very minimal, I just wasn't able to keep up with the attention and coordination needed for Mom and to have any time or energy to spend with Jim.

I find I have more patience now, and it is working out fine.

Did several gigs in July which were nice, some Baha'i Unity in Diversity projects, and a Canada Day gig, which required learning a bunch of new songs by Canadian artists. That was fun. Shania Twain, Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Young, Anne Murray, Joni Mitchell, Tragically Hip and more. Got to use my brand new guitar and amp, etc. Woohoo. You'd almost think I was a pro...LOL

Horse life is nil... feeling rather deprived of that, but still very grateful that I had the best horses for me that I could have had.

Jim is pretty well, Bardi is still a clown and runs the household quite well. She will be 11 in December. The vet is impressed with her health, and she is just starting to have an older face, but everything else about her is very young. Being blonde, you don't see graying either.

Don't know what else to tell you.

It is really nice reading back a bit and seeing what you are up to.

CB, I can never keep up with where you are... LOL

ELLEN, nice to hear about the family next door. So nice for you to be involved with them, both for them and for you. I love being able to picture you there at your lovely home.

Ditto for GRAYMARE, it is nice to imagine you at your home where we visited as well. Hope you and TL are doing great.

ARK and DONNY, you too! Love to see the pics you share of you and your horses, and picturing you there.

Everyone else, it is so good to hear of what you do... Rick and Carol off on another adventure... how exciting.

ROSE, too bad about your arm! Hope you are not in too much pain, and will heal quickly.

Nancylee, good to hear from you. I always said we were going to travel about....we are here and we are there...gone somewhere else for winter, somewhere else for summer months....as long as we can do it.

Yardsaling a bit today.  Then back to fence building this eveni g.

Thanks CB. I am glad you are doing what you wanted, it is what we want more of when we are free to go. We would like to just live the "backpack" lifestyle, more or less, depending on our situation at any given time. Right now we can't, but when Mom doesn't need us, it's anywhere we hang our hat is home, for however long we feel like.

Hey, Nancy Lee. Great to hear from you and know you are OK. We're extra glad your mom is
well. AND, of course, Jim. And, Bardi. Ha, we remember when you got her. And, you're still doing gigs which is great. I still listen to you on that old cd which I have worn out. You maye me vacuum with rhythm.

NANCY LEE!
Great to see you! Good to hear that your mom is feeling better, she had some painful times.... Happy 90th birthday to her when that arrives!
And Bardi is 11! Wow, she should still be a puppy.
I am glad that you are still playing music. How are you feeling these days? Hi to Jim!

ELLEN
Donnie wants to see the eclipse in person. He has been "into" astronomy since he was a kid. He made his first telescope when he was eleven and in college taught physics students how to grind mirrors for telescopes as his student job. So we will be going to see the total eclipse. He just looked up motel prices in TN and found several for over $1200 per night. I suspect we will not be staying in those.... The Columbia, SC area to the coast is projected as the busiest area on the east coast to go see the eclipse. We will probably go to TN even though Columbia is closest.

Gotta get the barn done. Have a great day!!

I just got home from getting my hair cut, and attending a 5 year old's birthday party. The "Batman" party was in a city park that is very well maintained. The weather was just perfect and a good time was had by all.
I stayed the two nights with one of my cousins.

Nancy Lee, I'm so glad to see you post again! It's good to hear that you mother is recovering. Sometimes one little thing can really get an older person down to where they can't heal enough to get up and going again.
The weather here at the lake has been REALLY nice the last couple of weeks. Bardi would love playing in the water.

Ark, I saw a little piece on TV about a tiny little town in Tennessee that is right in the middle of the eclipse path. They are expecting a LOT of people to come there and have made all kinds of souvenirs to sell. The primary path is going to be at the other end of the state from me, so I'm guessing it will not be a total eclipse here. Close, but not complete. They are predicting partly cloudy/sunny tomorrow.
A company in Tennessee has been producing eclipse sun glasses to the tune of about 45 MILLION. They are paper, similar to 3D glasses.

Thanks ARK, GRAYMARE and ELLEN! Lovely to "see" you all.

Must be very exciting for DONNY to have this event so close to you, close enough to be reachable anyway. Good luck getting accommodations that are well priced and pleasant. B&B? camping?

45 million pair of eclipse glasses....wow

Yes, it seems not so long ago that we got Bardi. But we had her for a couple of years before Mom moved in and that is 8 years ago.

Graymare, you are always my biggest fan... thanks! I like to think of you boogying to Rock Steady...LOL

I am afraid age and unfitness has caught up with my voice. I tried recording an album last year, and I won't be finishing it unless I can whip myself into shape LOL quite demoralizing to hear myself. I always hate hearing myself anyway, but now.... blech!

Maybe now that I am retired, I can do more physical activity. Get on a schedule that is less dictated by erratic work schedules etc, and more what is most important to me.
We'll see

ARK, I am doing pretty well, thanks. Enbrel has really helped, combined with Methotrexate. The skin psoriasis is entirely gone since starting Enbrel. You couldn't see it before, but it was really thick and nasty on my scalp and in ears, and was starting to get on my face. Had it since I was 9 years old. I do get some joint pain still, but not as bad as before, need the anti-inflammatories still, but fatigue is the worst problem to overcome. I feel fortunate to have coverage for the meds. The Enbrel I inject weekly, alone is $1700.00 a month. I don't and couldn't pay for it. We have it covered through Jim's work pension. Thank God... We cannot take these benefits for granted, and we don't.

I still get fibro symptoms sometimes but not often.

ELLEN, sounds like fun with the birthday party!

I was afraid of that with Mom when she had some bad luck one following the other. So often you hear of people who are laid up after a fall and that is the beginning of the end. But although it took a long time, she has turned the corner, and we just have to keep her going.

Tomorrow we are going up to Parry Sound on north Georgian Bay in Lake Huron. It is a beautiful area, and I am going to take her on a 2 hour boat cruise in what they call the 30,000 Islands. The place is totally a maze of islands and channels and lots of rock, stunningly beautiful and I have never been on the water there. Looking forward to it greatly.

So, I will get packing up the stuff to go in the morning and try to clean the house too.

Hugs to all

Trudy, where r you?
Last day of feeding kids zoo on their weekend getaway....she has cats, digs, pugs, goats, llanas, horses, chickens, ducks....lordie what a mess....her whole property is a mess....we have all talked to her....she is a hoarder.

CB: I'm around. Still trying to regroup from last weeks insanity. This week should be calmer...only a root canal tomorrow and a meeting with the new team leader at church on Friday. I'll just be hanging out this week recuperating from the stupid root canal. We all know how much I LOVE going to the dentist. Wipes me out for days. I'm already a nervous wreck and not sleeping.

Saturday will be our 29th wedding anniversary so we are going out to eat at our favorite restaurant The Pine Barn Inn in Danville with friends of ours. Can't believe 29 years have flown by and we have managed not to murder each other.

The rest of August should be fairly quiet and relaxing. Wonder what I will do with myself. Quiet and relaxing is not anything I do well.

We ate there once with you, happy anniversary.
Glad you r ok.
I have fillings at dentist tomorrow, 2 redheads at a dentist in same day could make dentists worldwide retire.

I hope you two redheads aren't sitting around with ice packs on your jaws this afternoon.

My appt is at 5...wish it were iver with....ugh...

The dreaded dentist...............AAAAAHHHHH.

CB: Here's hoping your dentist appointment went better than mine did. After drilling and digging around in my tooth for what seemed like hours, Dr Bruce decided that he couldn't get thru my tooth to the root. The tooth has calcified sooooooooooo next week I get to have surgery on the gum to get at the root that direction. Or pull the tooth. Great choices. I certainly don't want to start pulling my teeth so surgery it is. Oh it's just a little surgery 7 or 8 stitches to sew the flap they are going to cut open. SO OK I'm trying to calm myself with my favorite saying when things go down hill quickly. If this is the worse thing I have to deal with, then I am truly blessed. I have a whole week to worry myself to death about it or accept it and move on. Of course, I have chosen to worry. Just my nature when it comes to the dreaded dentist.

I have one filling for long time, he talked about root canal, i said, no pull it.....another appt. When it bothers me, not doing it until then....and filling is still strong.....so im waiting.
Two big ol fillings, and 5 lil ones....im on xanax and nittous and made points with my dentist when i told him i had to go pee now!  He says NOW....and i said yes NOW, would you make your mom wait, he said, ok, now. Lol.
Ill send good vibes ur way, trudy.

NANCY LEE:
I am so glad there is medication available to make you feel so much better! And I am glad you can get it. That is such a problem for so many folks.

ELLEN:
Batman party! What fun! I bet all those little batmen were very cute. Did you take pix?

GRAYMARE:
Well, believe it or not, we can't find any eclipse glasses, so we are making our own using overlapping welding shield glass. By overlapping Numbers 10 and 5 welding glass, it will be more than enough to block the sun's light to our eyes. They have it at Rural King. We are still up in the air about where we are going. Donnie is wearing out the weather websites looking at different places within range of us driving. I suspect we are going to end up in Tennessee and staying in our car if we don't get home Monday night. I just sit back and let him fret. I am fine with wherever we go to see it.

TRUDY and CB:
Ouch. Sorry about the dental visits. My least favorite medical visits. I think I am caught up....I hope. Nothing is hurting, nothing is falling out....

Lori is coming today for my Areion lesson at 4 pm. A magazine photographer is coming at 6 pm to take pix for an article Donnie wrote about making small round bale hay on small acreage. You can imagine what my hair is going to look like... ...It is mid-80s degrees, sunny and humid. After an hour or two of riding Areion and Ivan with a helmet on, I am going to really look good.....

Ark, don't take the helmet off.

No, I didn't take any pictures this time. Now that almost everybody has a phone, my pictures aren't as interesting. Besides, Google and Internet Explorer have made it soooo much harder to get pictures into e-mails. I used to be able to just do a copy/paste/done. Now, I have to move them from the stick, to documents, and then see if I can get more than 3 or 4 into one e-mail at one time. After Windows Live e-mail went defunct, nothing else works well.
I now have an Outlook account, but it doesn't sync with my internet carrier.
It's a royal pain in the a** and makes taking pictures less fun.

Going to utah in hopes the tech can get our camper jacks fixed, harry has replaced all parts in the system....something not right.
Aldo we bring our horses home....then we havenyo make up our minds again....

TRUDY:
Happy Anniversary!! (I know it is tomorrow, but I don't want to miss it! )


Well try booking a motel anywhere near the eclipse! Rooms are few and far between. I finally found one in Pigeon Forge, TN, which is about 45 minutes away from Maryville, TN, which is where we are going to see the big event. And they weren't even overcharging, unlike many I found. Now it had better not be too cloudy.... Donnie has his small telescope all set up with solar filters, his binoculars on the ready, and his camera quivering in anticipation.

The photographer and wife showed up, both with cameras. They took lots of pix of Donnie with tractor, horses eating a hay bale, and I don't think a one of me. They probably thought my helmet hair would break their cameras . They showed up early while I was still on Areion, so I didn't have a chance to do much about my 'equestrian' look.

Here where I am, we will get about 85% of total eclipse. I'll try to get a couple of pictures, but mostly, I'll be content to watch it on TV.

I heard of places that are making big money renting out places to stay for the big event. One guy was renting out fully finished and furnished containers for $3500 a night. That would be about 160 square feet of space. I suppose if you were only there for one night, it would be sufficient. But $3500????!!!!!