July 31, 2015

A Cooler Ending to July

July 31, 2015

This morning we had beautiful clouds.  They were so pretty, that right after I backed out of the garage, I stopped the car and got out my camera.  July was a very hot month and almost everyone in town is complaining about the electric bills.  Today the clouds thickened as the day wore on and the temperatures were about 10 degrees cooler than the previous few days. 

I had to run some errands around noon and was pleasantly pleased when I stepped out the door of the shop.  It was a welcome change.  Of course, sometimes there is a price to pay for the good things.  The price was that we could not see the moonrise for the Blue Moon tonight.  

We were up early for my allergy medication at 5:00 and shots at 6:00.  I did better on them today.  Ron left for the office early.  He had a safe to deliver this morning and wanted to get it loaded into his car before he opened the office.  I took my time and read a little, while my hair dried after my shower.  I had taken care of the birdbaths and feeders in the yard early this morning.

 Mid-morning sky today

Once Ron left to deliver the safe, I started sewing and  almost finished 4 of the string pieced blocks.  I hope to finish them tonight.  Ron came back about noon and I worked on a deposit to take to the bank.  When it was ready, I took the deposit and then went to pay the Discover bill at Sears.  From there I stopped at the pharmacy to order the syringes for my allergy shots.  They should be here Monday.

Back at the office, the mail man came, bringing a couple of checks, so I took them to the bank since it was the last day of the month and I wanted the deposit to show for this month.  When I returned, I did the posting for the month and printed the statements to mail to our customers.  I got them finished just before closing time.

We met our friends for supper and had a good visit.  On our way home, I asked Ron to pull over so I could photograph the beautiful sunset.  It was about the only portion of the sky that had a break in the  clouds.  When we got home, I again filled the birdbaths and watered some of the hanging plants.  It was a relaxing evening.

July 30, 2015

Some Sad News 

on A Nice Day

July 30, 2015

I think I heard a few days ago that this full moon is known as a Blue Moon.

Tomorrow is actually the full moon night, so tomorrow night will be the Blue Moon.* 

 

It saddened me today to learn that a lovely young woman had lost her battle with brain cancer.  Her name was Linda.  Like mine.  She was named after me.  It seemed appropriate that she would be the precious flower girl at Ron's and my wedding a few years later.  Her older sisters were very close friends with my younger sisters and they chose the name.  That gave me a strong tie to this lady. 

For many years she lived in another state and we rarely saw one another.  The last time I saw her was not too long ago at her father's funeral.  The many years of brain cancer had taken a toll on some of the reaction times - her speech was slow, but her physical beauty was still there and her spiritual beauty was shining brightly.  You could see in her eyes her love of the Lord.  I know that she is now free of pain and walking on the streets of gold in Heaven.  She is probably singing a song of praise to the Lord.  She is probably talking rapidly to everyone she sees as she did in the years before the cancer began to do its damage. 

Her mother holds a special place in my life, because she is the lady who taught me to quilt.  What a wonderful gift she gave me as she taught her skills to me.  Tonight my heart aches for her, for Linda's children and all of her family, and for all who loved and prayed for her over the years.  What a ray of sunshine she was over those years.

My work day was fine.  I went in a little late to the office.  Ron was busy most of the day on jobs that customers had brought in for him to work on.  Around noon I went to Staples to buy a variety of office supplies.  My shopping took a while, but I think I got everything I need for now.  Back at the office, I had my lunch and then started sewing.  I got 4 border sections made. Ron left in the middle of the afternoon and did not make it back to the office the rest of the day.

After I locked up, I stopped by my mom's and some of the McAllen bunch was there along with some other friends.  After they left, I took Mom to get her groceries.  It had been a while since I had taken her to stock up since she was out of town last weekend.  I picked up a few things, but had done my shopping a few days ago.

After I took her home, we unloaded groceries (Carmen and I) and I helped Mom with one of her medications, and then went to Ron's mom's house where we were meeting for supper.

 Ron's mom

We had a delicious supper and a good visit with family there and then I excused myself to come home so I could do a few things before bedtime.  Tomorrow is one of those days where I get up at 5:00.  So I think I need to wrap this up.  

 I have a sister-in-law who is an outstandingly great, creative cook.   Yum, yum.  Good supper!

Such a delicious supper.  Thanks to the kitchen crew.

*A Blue Moon happens when we have two full moons in one calendar month.  Most years have 12 full moons, but this year has 13.  So the phrase "once in a blue moon" means something that doesn't happen very often.  The next time it will happen will be in 2018.  The color of the moon doesn't change (unless there is an atmospheric reason for the moon's color to appear to be different. (Dust in the air from a volcano can do that.)  If tonight's sunset is any indication, tomorrow's moon could appear red as soon as it rises as tonight's sunset looked.

 

July 29, 2015

Summer Reruns

July 29, 2015

An early evening moon rise

In years past, when we talked about summer reruns, it was reruns of the popular television shows during the summer months while the stars took a break from filming.  My summer rerun is that today was much like yesterday - with a few exceptions.  One exception brought a funny start to my day.

Today was a day for my allergy shots and it had been decided last week that I would get up early and take an antihistamine one hour before the allergy shots.  Ron and I agreed I would get up at 5:00, take the medication and we could both go back to sleep until 6:00 when I  would take the allergy shots.  I set my alarm for 5:00 before going to bed last night and when it went off, I didn't disturb Ron, I just got up and took the medication.  Following that I returned to bed, reset the alarm for 6:00 and went back to sleep without ever waking him. 

Later, he woke me up and told me it was 5:00.  I told him I already had taken the medication so he could go back to sleep until 6:00.  I looked at my clock and it said it was 7:00.  Yikes!  I had slept until 7:00 and needed to get up and do the allergy shots.  Ron said no, it was 5:00.  Well, when I set my alarm last night, I messed up the clock and moved it by 2 hours.  So when it went off at 5:00 (according to the clock) it  was really 3:00 a.m.  Are you totally confused?  Ron was.  Anyway, I told him to go back to bed and wake me at 6:00 and I reset my clock this time to the correct time.

Ron's mother's Golden Shower tree continues to bloom 

and these clusters reach all the way to the ground. 

So my night was filled with interruptions.  I was so tired after I gave myself the allergy shots, that I ended up going back to sleep which they recommend against, but I could not keep my eyes open.  Later, I got up and had breakfast, took my shower, got ready for work and got there later than usual.  Ron was boxing up all the locks he had done for the place on the island.  I helped with customers since he was trying to finish up that job.  Then a customer came in looking for a safe and I had Ron help him. 

Ron was out on jobs almost all afternoon.  I had spent the morning on customers and working on attaching receipts to credit card bills for the last two months.  I spent the afternoon paying bills, helping customers and going through some files.  Again, I did not have time to sew.

Not only are clusters of flowers in the Golden Shower Tree touching the ground,

 they are continuing to bloom high in the tree.  It is lovely.

When we closed, I went by to check on Mom, but she was napping and I only had a few minutes before I was to be at Ron's mother's house for supper, so I did not wake her.  Supper was great bar-b-que from Rudy's and we enjoyed it.  Shortly after supper I left and came home.  Ron stayed to install and window unit a/c for him mom in her bedroom.  Hers had quit working. 

My evening was relaxing and I read for a while.  I didn't feel good after supper, so I decided just to relax.  Our daughter-in-law Vickey called and we had a nice visit with a lot of laughs.  I think it must be bedtime.

July 28, 2015

Fun With Family

July 28, 2015

This was a nice day.  We didn't have to get up early and both slept until about 7:00.  That is late for us recently and we had a more relaxed start to our day.  After Ron left for work, I went out in the yard and filled the bird bath and watered the hanging baskets.  It was about 10:00 when I got to the office. 

Ron was in the office all day working on locks for a customer on Padre Island.  He has just about finished them.  I spent much of the day at the sewing machine in the office and got seven blocks made for the string pieced scrap quilt - now have 137 blocks.

About noon Ron had a visitor who stayed for a couple of hours, and I waited on customers as much as I could during that time, before getting back to my sewing later in the afternoon.  I took care of a few small bookkeeping chores, but that was about all.

I left work early and went by Mom's house to see how she was doing.  She seemed to be doing pretty well after her 3 day trip to Corpus to see my brother, but says her back is hurting some.  I visited for a while and then headed to our house where we were meeting some out of town family members so we could go to supper together.  We had a great time chatting at supper and then came to our house and visited for a couple more hours.  It was a good relaxing time and there were lots of laughs.

Hearing went well in most cases, but multiple conversations (in person or on TV) cause problems.  We did well at supper since the place was about deserted.  The same thing went for the time at our house; one conversation is fine - more is a problem.

July 27, 2015

Busy With Bookkeeping

 at the Office

July 27, 2015

Today was allergy shot time.  I did get up and take the antihistamine by 5:00 this morning so I could do the shots at 6:00 and hopefully have less negative reactions.  It did go better.  I had also taken a different antihistamine before going to bed last night.  I did have some hives, redness and itching at the site of the shot containing the mold serum, but very little of the stomach upset. 

Ron had a job in Harlingen, so I had to go in a little early.  I had showered early and spent a little time in the yard, filling the bird bath that Ron replaced the pump on yesterday.  The pump turned out to be too strong, so we lose some of the water and have to be careful to keep it filled.  The birds are happy to have it back in operation.

Ron left for Harlingen shortly after I arrived at the shop.  He was working on a bid for a job.  I waited on customers, paid bills, balanced my personal check book, placed a couple of orders, and generally caught up on office work.

One customer who came in while Ron was gone ended up staying almost an hour talking and talking.  He was a fairly young man - probably about 30 years old, and has a couple of autistic children.  First we were talking about that.  It sounds to me like he is an excellent father who is very involved with his children and their education.  We talked about his dad who works in Mexico and the dangers over there.  We just had some interesting conversation topics. 

One thing that came out to me during that discussion, is how unprepared most of our churches are to meet the unique needs of special needs children.  These children need to be in church and their parents not only need the teaching of God's Word, but the adult fellowship that they rarely have time for while caring for these children.  When trying to attend services, this man or his wife would often be called out of the service to help with their children until they decided just to stay home.  Now a family from a group that does not teach truth, comes to their house every Sunday afternoon to share their misinformation.  It was very convicting as he shared how kind this family is to them.  We in the churches are failing in this area.

After he left it was past time for my lunch, but only my Jell-o agreed with me, so it was a quick, light lunch.  Then I returned to bookkeeping.  I had a deposit to make, mail to deal with, some invoices to research, and on and on.  I stayed busy at my desk all afternoon.  I sewed for about 15 minutes and finished two blocks I started last Friday.  I now have 130 of the string pieced blocks.

I left the office a few minutes early and went to the bank and then to the grocery store.  I needed some additional things I could take to the office for my lunches.  I ran into a couple that we are friends with.  Last night I had sent a message to the man asking him to help identify the bird in the picture at the opening of yesterday's blog.  He had messaged back he thought it was a curve-billed Thrasher.  We discussed it at the store and I let him know that I appreciated his help.  I will go back and add that to the blog entry for yesterday.

Once I got home, I had supper after putting away the groceries.  I spent some time in the yard again filling the bird bath and watering all the hanging baskets and potted plants.  I have seen no activity around the woodpecker nest in several days.  I hope we have not lost another woodpecker baby like we did a couple of years ago. 

Ron was staying late at the office working on some locks for a place at Padre Island.  He had to order things for the job but worked on what he had on hand already.  It has been a long day for both of us, but I think we both accomplished a lot.   

July 26, 2015

Sick On Sunday

July 26,2015

Curve-billed Thrasher

This morning I was up early.  I had breakfast, took my shower, read while my hair was drying and then at time to get dressed for church, I started feeling really bad.  It just got worse and worse until I had to tell Ron to go on without me.  I hoped I would feel like joining him in time for the worship service, but it was not to be.  I slept all morning and just stayed curled up in the recliner.  It was 3:00 before I felt like getting active.

The upset stomach seems to be a combination to several things: the stomach tests, the allergy shots, and possibly a medication the gastroenterologist put me on.  It may take a few days to figure out if it is the new medication.

About 3:00 I ate just a little bit and curled up again in the recliner until 5:00.  So much for getting sewing done today.  Ron spent part of the afternoon working in the yard, fixing one of the bird bath fountains, and trimming or removing trees.  About 6:00 I spent 30 minutes out there trimming the grass around some trees and flowerbeds, but the sweat kept dripping in my eyes, so I gave up, came in and baked an angle food cake and started the dishwasher.  I had done a load of laundry earlier and that is about the extent of the accomplishments for my day.

My hearing can cause problems that seem simple.  I didn't have my sound processor on while sleeping.  When I woke up I looked for Ron but since I didn't find him, I figured he got delayed after church.  An hour and a half later I was still waiting.  He had been on the couch in the living room, reading all the time since around noon. 

July 25, 2015

Morning at Marine Military Academy

July 25, 2015

We were up early.  Ron woke me to take my anti-histamine at 5:00 and we both went back to sleep after that.  At 6:00 we got up so I could take my allergy shots.  He went back to sleep, but I didn't.  I worked around the house some and then got my shower and went to get Carmen at 7:45.  She came to clean my house and Ron and I left a few minutes later to go to Harlingen for the Graduation Ceremony for the young men who had spent the last four weeks attending camp at Marine Military Academy.

These two brothers missed each other.

One of our grandsons had attended this camp.  He had worked hard the last few months, doing his school work and working as a janitor at the church school to earn money to attend the camp.  It is an intensive boot camp with a lot of emphasis on working as a team, and improving yourself.  He had a great time and worked hard.  There were campers there from all over the world.  Most of those from out of the U.S.A. were in special units with others who spoke the same language. 

Saying good-bye to new friends

The ceremonies started on the drill field in front of the Iwo Jima Memorial and at 9:00 they marched to the area between the barracks for Graduation.  Our Grandson was in Company D and they had earned the award for the best drilling company.  I noticed that their marching was superior to the others.  So I was glad to know it wasn't just me being partial to our grandson's unit.

His baby sister was waving to him

It was HOT.  There was a breeze and that was nice.  D Company was in the shade most of the time for the graduation ceremony; at least the families were in the shade, but not the guys.  You could tell our grandson was happy.  He had a good time at camp and spent much time telling new friends goodbye, after they were dismissed.  It was a great experience for him and I glad he got to attend.

More good-byes

After we left there, we headed to Cracker Barrel to shop, then Ron took me to the quilt shop that was closing, but they have already closed, gone out of business.  I will miss them.  We stopped at Longhorn Cattle Company to pick up lunch on our way home.

Something I mentioned on Facebook, but not on here, is that our grandson was able to earn a Boy Scout badge for attending the summer camp.  He is close to earning his Eagle Scout award and hopes to finish that this fall.  He can be a very hard worker and I know this camp pushed the limits of that.

As soon as we got home, I took Carmen to her sister's as she requested.  They were going to visit.  Her sister lives very close to me so it took about 5 minutes to take her instead of 30 minutes to take her to Mom's.  Back at the house, I posted some photos from this morning and then spent time working in the sewing room before finishing the blog for yesterday.

Ron worked in the yard for a while and is trying to replace the pump on one of the fountains.  The birds are missing their showering birdbath and will be delighted and cooled when he finishes.  My afternoon and evening was spent in the sewing room sorting and cleaning.  I have gotten project boxes for the many assorted incomplete projects I have in progress.  I am checking to be sure all the parts to a project are in one spot.  I put one of those projects on the design wall and have been looking for a few additional small pieces to finish it.  I think I have now found the things I needed and I think it would be wonderful if I could complete this quilt top this weekend.

As for my hearing, when we were outside in front of the barracks, I was not able to hear the man in charge, but Iused the remote control to adjust the sound processor and take it to the maximum size circle and the maximum volume and actually heard him pretty well.  I was on the setting that takes down the background noise.  But it was a challenge and in the car, hearing is hard with road noise.

But, I must say, it was a very nice day.  We had time with family while my house keeper cleaned my house, I had time in my sewing room, and Ron got some things done in the yard.  Yes, it was a very good day!

July 24, 2015

Full Friday 

July 24, 2015

Since I slept so late Thursday, I woke up extra early Friday (4:45 I think).  I got up and did some work, showered, and then got ready to go to the office.  Ron had an early job promised so I had to be there earlier than usual.  I spent part of the day cleaning my desk.  The desk needed clearing of stacks of papers and needed cleaning with cleaning products.  It is so much nicer now than when I started.  There is still one stack of papers on the end of the desk, but that is minor compared to what it was.  I spent time waiting on customers while Ron was gone and also when he got back as he worked on writing bills and proposals for jobs.

He made a trip to the post office and then when he got back, after lunch, I went to the doctor for my monthly check-up that I have to have for one of my medications.  I had the appointment scheduled for Saturday morning, but wanted to go to Harlingen Saturday morning for the graduation for our grandson at the Marine Military Academy.  The doctor's office said just to come in Friday afternoon anytime.

I was able to see both the doctor and the allergist.  I have been having reactions to this series of allergy shots and was able to catch the allergist and get her suggestions.  One of her suggestions did not please me.  It is that I get up an hour earlier to take an anti-histamine an hour before the shots.  Actually she said get up at the same time but delay the shots an hour.  That puts me that much later getting to the office.  So I will try getting up earlier.

The nurse practitioner was who I saw instead of the doctor, and I like her, so that was fine.  She checked on several things and asked about the visit to the gastroenterologist and the hospital for my mammogram. The mammogram results were fine and I updated her on the procedure done this past Monday.  I am sure she will get copies of both but I took her copies of what I had been given.

On the way back to the shop, I got gas in the car and when by my mom's for a piece of my sister's birthday cake.  Mom is doing well and we talked a few minutes before I left to go back to the office.

Back at the shop, I prepared a bank deposit which Ron took while I finished some bookkeeping chores.  Then I paid a couple of bills and left just before closing time to go to the post office and then to pick up Mom for supper.  Ron met us at Jason's Deli and we had good food and a good visit.

We were both tired when we got home and went to sleep early; that is why this blog is a day late.  You won't want to miss the next one with photos from Marine Military Academy on Saturday.  

July 23, 2015

My "Baby" Sister Turns 60

How Can That Be?

July 23, 2015

 The center of the Log Cabin Quilt that just came back from being quilted

Today is my baby sister's birthday.  How can she be 60?  That means I am older than 60.  Actually I am 9 years older.  How did I become 69?  She looks wonderful for 60.  I look 69.  She and her husband flew down late last night and spent part of the day with Mom before flying back home.  I missed out on seeing her.  I didn't know she was coming; I knew she was going to try this week.

My sister, Janet, on a recent trip here when I did get to see her.  

Happy Birthday, Janet!

The reason I missed out is that I did not feel good today.  The current level of allergy shots I am on is giving me mild reactions.  That combined with Monday's stomach procedure, I think has worn me out.  I got up at 6:00 this morning for the allergy shots and did a few things around the house.  I took my shower and by 8:30 I was very sleepy.  I sent Ron a text and asked if it was alright for me to come in about noon.  He said it was not a problem (love being married to the boss).   I woke up at 1:10 this afternoon.  I felt much better and saw I had missed some messages inviting me to join my sister, her husband, and Mom for lunch.  It was going to be past lunch time before I got there and really did not feel like eating.  I went on to the office so Ron could go out on jobs if needed.

One square of the 80 in the quilt

During the afternoon my friend Dolores brought the quilt by that she had machine quilted for me.  You see a portion of it at the top of today's blog.  I still need to trim it and add the binding.  That will take me longer than it took her to quilt it.  I am very pleased with her work and it makes me eager to finish up some of the many projects I have on hand.  She has another one of mine that she hopes to work on next week.  I am so thankful for her help on my quilts.  Here is a photo of the entire quilt - as I said, it still needs to be trimmed and bound.

The entire quilt, or at least as much as I could get in the photo.

On the quilting, I had wanted to ask her to try to put little hearts in the red squares which symbolize the heart of the home, or the hearth of the home - the warmth.  I didn't ask because I thought it might be too much trouble.  She did it anyway without me asking.  I am so pleased.  Ron just came in and looked at it and said he really liked it.  He rarely comments on my quilts.  Dolores does all the machine quilting free hand!  I am impressed.

Note the hearts all over the quilt.

The rest of my day was spent on paper work and customers.  I had some bills to take care of and some filing to do.  Customers were mostly handled by Ron but there were several times when we both had customers to help.  After work, we met our friends for supper and had a good time catching up on what was going on with each other.

Feeding time

My hearing had been a problem this week and I realized that on Monday at the hospital in the pre-surgery area, I had changed the settings because it was so very noisy in there.  After I reset them at supper, things were better. 

Baby Golden-fronted Woodpecker

This morning before I went back to sleep I took a few photos of the baby woodpecker and this evening I took a photo of the hole from the yard, getting a better view of the entrance.  That is a bigger opening than usual.

Entrance to the nest

This evening, our son in Dallas called on his way home from work and it was good to talk to him.  I did have trouble hearing him and finally took the phone to Ron and had it on speaker and Ron could tell me what I didn't understand.  That worked, but I sure am looking forward to talking to all of them when the family gets together in a couple of weeks. 

July 22, 2015

Windy Wednesday

July 22, 2015

One of the first sights to greet me this morning was this baby Golden-fronted Woodpecker peeking out of the nest for the first time that I am aware of.  He (or she) was rather vocal in letting the parents know that food was not being delivered in a timely manner. 

It was fun to watch the food being brought to the noisy 

baby and good to be able to hear the noisy baby.  

They eat a varied diet of bugs, berries, and citrus.

Here is the dad, taking a brief break from the breakfast catering.

 

This morning I made a big bowl of chicken salad and cleaned the kitchen before getting my shower and heading to work.  During the morning Ron was out briefly and I went to the drug store to pick up a couple of prescriptions.  Then during the afternoon when I wasn't waiting on customers, I did a little sewing and some cutting of strips for more blocks.

Dad is back to delivering breakfast.

This was one of those days where the wind was strong from just the right direction to blow our office door open often during the afternoon.  The door chimes would ring and the strobe light would flash and no one would be there.  Ron was out on jobs most of the afternoon and so I would have to constantly check to see if someone had come in.  There were quite a few customers during that time, but not all of the door chimes were announcing customers.

Here, Dad is stuffing the food down the baby's throat.  Yuck!

Our three young campers were due back today from church camp and that meant our daughter-in-law would be in town to pick them up.  I invited them to supper since she had to stay for a meeting about the church camp the oldest two boys are going to next week.

Our youngest grandchild, playing with blocks that belonged to Ron as a child.

We had chicken salad for those who wanted it and the rest got grilled sandwiches.  We visited over supper and then Barb left with two of the children to run errands while one was at youth activities for the evening, followed by the meeting.

The granddaughter who is addicted to the sewing machine got to work right after we ate. 

That left us with the four youngest children.  I had told her to bring clean clothes and I would see that they got baths while they were here.  Well, I got 3 of them to take baths.  Then she picked them up and had to return to the church to finish signing forms for the trip before she had to drive back to McAllen.  So sorry she is going to be so late getting home tonight.

She sewed all evening, making doll clothes that it turned out 

would not fit Barbie, so she made a doll that could wear them.