April 27, 2016

The Best Laid Plans...

April 27, 2016

Finally took time to sew at the office today.

 

This morning Ron needed to go to the doctor's office for blood work.  He got ready early and was hurrying to get there before they got crowded.  Then, about 1/2 way there, his car died.  It just stopped and was not going anywhere.  He called AAA to come tow it to our mechanic's shop.  I was on my way to the office to open up since I knew he would be late since he was going to the doctor.  After they towed it, they dropped him at our office and he borrowed my car to go to the doctor's office.  It was after 11:00 before he returned. 

Customers kept me busy all morning and then I let Ron take care of them while I ate my lunch.  After lunch, Ron left on a job and I actually did a little sewing.  I was trying out an old traditional pattern that I had not made before.  It is all curves, so it is a challenge, but I may try to do something with it.

I did not do a very good job on the curves, so I will 

need practice.  Think I want the squares to be larger also.

 

Toward the end of the day, I took a deposit to the bank and then took Ron to see if his car was ready.  It was not but the man said 30 minutes, so I took him back to the office and went to see my mom.  She was doing well and we had a good visit.  I came home and on my way, our youngest son called to chat.  They had a water mess at their store today.  A toilet tank had cracked and water had created a soggy mess that he found when he opened up this morning.  I told him he was well trained for that job since he often helped with rising water at our office.

At home, I checked on things in the yard and about that time, Ron called to say his car would not be ready so I returned to the office to get him.  We had a relaxing evening.  I read, did laundry and dishes and started packing.  I will be going to McAllen to take care of 5 of the grandchildren this weekend.  Fun times ahead.

April 26, 2016

Time to Have Blood Work

April 26, 2016

This was a frustrating day at the doctor's office.  We usually see the Nurse Practitioner which is who I saw today.  She seemed to be in a hurry and did not go over all the things I needed to deal with.  They were busy, but not as much as last time I was there.  They were to do blood work first and they put me in a room and said they would be back in a minute to do the blood work and then forgot about my lab work.  The nice thing is that the young woman who drew the blood did a perfect job.  No pain and the tiniest bruise I have had in a while at this office.

In the end the Nurse Practitioner had told me she was going to switch me to a different medication, but instead just doubled the dosage of the current one.  This afternoon I went to the drug store and talked to a pharmacist there and got some answers that were helpful.  Just a little frustrated.

At the office Ron kept busy and went out on one job right after lunch.  Late afternoon got busy, which is rare.  The day was another very windy one and the doors kept blowing open, ringing the chimes, making us think a customer had come in.  That reminds me, last week a man who manages several businesses in a national chain was in and I was telling him I had walked out of one the previous week because no one would wait on me.  He decided he needed a door chime installation like we have.  Ron just bought the parts and installed it himself. 

After work I stopped by a funeral home to make a visit to a friend whose husband passed away a few days ago.  He had been sick for a long time and it was not unexpected, but it is always sad to lose someone special.  I grew up with the wife in church and in our neighborhood.  I did not know her husband well.

From there, I went home and ate supper.  I did a little cleaning during the evening, but not too much.  Late in the evening I talked to our daughter-in-law in New Mexico.  Her nephew had just suffered a painful injury in spring practice for football.  If the two of them lived closer together, they could both lay on the couches with their legs propped up and have a good visit.

Yesterday I forgot to mention that we were surprised and delighted when a friend stopped by with a goodie basket for us.  There was a large jar of honey from the area and some delicious baked goods, all in a basket I can use on the table to hold napkins.  It was so thoughtful for her to do that for us.  She is one of the many kind friends God has put into our lives.  

Oh, I guess the best news of the day is that the remodel job at our son and daughter-in-law's house in
Dallas progressed yesterday.  It had been on hold while they waited for cabinets for the kitchen to be completed, but they were installed yesterday!  They are so delighted.  There is finally a light at the end of the tunnel!

April 25, 2016

Monday Morning With

 Some Grandchildren

April 25, 2016

Working on closing the opening for the stuffing.

 

Last night I must have slept very well in the recliner since I slept until 8:30 and the two grandchildren who were here had gotten up at 7:30.  They were enjoying playing with the General Store when I got up.  We all had breakfast right away since some of their siblings were due to be here at 9:30.  Our grandson got his shower and got dressed as soon as he finished breakfast.

All finished!

 

Before long we put away the General Store and other miniature furnishings before the younger children arrived.  The grandson who had spent the night and his mom had plans for part of the morning  so I had the other 4 of the children.  The two oldest boys had not come; they were helping on a mission project for a few hours before they got back to their home schooling.

Fabric selection

 

The kids played with everything they could think of like Beanie Babies, Legos, Fisher-Price toys, and the sewing machines.  The oldest of the girls had a sore throat and rested while she was here.  Three of the children spent time at the sewing machines and the youngest of the children, for the first time expressed interest in sewing.  There was not time to let her do it this morning, but I gave her a stack of fabric squares to look through and select some for a quilt for her teddy bear.  She made some excellent choices and one of her sisters quickly pieced it for her.

Putting the quilt top together for her baby sister.

 

Their mom and brother returned and we visited for a while as the children picked up toys and fabrics.  The youngest of the boys made a pillow for the stuffed toy he sleeps with, but decided that he wanted it to be a pin cushion after it was made.  I helped him with the sewing machine and he did the hand sewing to finish it.  He loves to hand sew. 

Sewing is so much fun!!

 

It was about 12:15 when they left and I got ready to go to the office.  Ron and I ate lunch when I got to the office.  It was quiet today.  He went out on a job or two and I did some bookkeeping chores. 

After work I went by Mom's.  My sister from Ft. Worth was here.  My brother and his wife had been here for a few hours in the middle of the day.  They had invited me to lunch, but I needed to spend some time at the office.  My brother and his wife had returned home, but my sister, Mom, and I went to supper at Luby's before they went to do some shopping and I came home.  At supper I used the Cochlear mini mic and could hear my sister very well.  We had a good visit at supper.

April 24, 2016

Time with Family

April 24, 2016

When one of our sons moved out of the town where we live, to a town about 70 miles away, many people said, "You are lucky that they will be so close.  You will still see them all the time."  Wrong.  They have very active lives.  We have obligations that keep us in our corner of the world most of the time.  Yes, we can see them more easily than we can see the ones that are a 1/2 day drive away, the ones a day's drive, or the ones a 2 day drive away.  But it is still not as often as we would like.  The oldest of the children is a high school senior and although the children are home schooled, there are still many senior activities taking his time.

It had been 3 or 4 weeks since we had seen the family from up the valley and we were delighted when they said they could come for the day on Sunday.  They arrived in time for Sunday School at our church and the two older boys helped at church as they had been doing before they moved.  They were glad to see their friends and we were so glad to have them for a few hours.

After church we picked up some chicken for lunch and went to our house, ate lunch, and visited for a few hours.  Mom joined us for lunch and a visit.  Two of the children stayed to spend the night.  They had a great evening playing, sewing, watching the birds, and spending a little time in the yard.  We had leftover chicken for supper and enjoyed our time with the children.  Ron helped the grandson who stayed work on a model airplane and the granddaughter who stayed helped me clean some doll house furniture we had found in the playhouse before it was torn down.

They played with Legos, the General Store doll house, and the other toys.  Bedtime is always a challenge since they are just not here long enough to play with all the things they want to enjoy.  Our grandson slept on one couch in the living room and his Grandpa slept on the other.  Our granddaughter slept on the couch in the sewing room while I slept in the recliner.  They always want us nearby.

It was a good day with lots of laughs and lots of chatting about college for the oldest, ballet recital with the girls, their new puppies with all of the children, and the new friends they are making in the various activities.  We miss them, but believe they are where they belong.  They are loving their new surroundings.

April 23, 2016

Laid Back Saturday

April 23, 2016

This grackle would take about 3 bites and then purposely

 scrape seed out of the feeder for the ducks on the ground.

 

Saturday morning I was up at 8:00 and was very frustrated because there was no reason that I needed to be up at that time.  I had hoped to sleep late.  I got my breakfast and then spent about 30 minutes working in the yard and checking on ponds and feeders.

I had wanted to mow early in the morning, but the mower was out of gas, so I ignored that chore.  I spent time reading and relaxing.  Some laundry got done and some kitchen cleaning got done.  Ron got home about noon and spent the rest of the day working in the yard.  I was in and out helping a little, but it was hot and humid and I don't like that kind of weather.

Late afternoon sunlight hitting the waterfall.

I folded part of a pile of clean laundry.  It has been a while since I have been so far behind on housework in general.  We had leftovers for Saturday meals, so I didn't do any cooking. 

Black-bellied whistling duck on the fountain.

April 22, 2016

Time to Catch Up!

April 22, 2016

Again I am playing catch up with the blog.  There have not been lots of events that are Cochlear related, but in another way, everything is Cochlear related.  Without my Cochlear implant, my world would be so very different.  It is hard in some ways to imagine what it would be like for me to be deaf for the rest of my life.  At this time 3 years ago, I in the midst of the testing and scheduling for my implant.  With the implant, there is not a guarantee that it will work but the vast majority of the surgeries do provide hearing for the patient.  I am so thankful that for me, it worked and that immediately I was able to hear things as I had before - there are still times I have to have things repeated, but I had that problem before.

Friday was a good day.  I spent about 45 minutes in the yard before going to the office.  I love starting my day that way.  Things at the office were fine.  Ron was out on a job for a while and I had several customers while he was gone.  Then as has happened often lately, Friday afternoon was quiet.  I did a little cleaning and some restocking.  We had a salesman in earlier in the week and the things we had ordered arrived, so I worked on putting them on the display racks.  I prepared a bank deposit and got that done.

Ron needed to take supper to his mother after work.  I had tried to get a Saturday appointment last week and this week for a haircut and the only time she could take me was 5:30 on Friday afternoon.  So I took that appointment.  Ron and I normally eat with my mom after work on Fridays, but we changed plans and after my haircut, I went to pick Mom up for supper and Ron ate with his mom.  Mom and I ate at Pepe's again and had a good time "people watching" while we ate.  We had a table right next to the front and enjoyed seeing the variety of people.  It seemed to be an evening of adorable little toddler girls.

After supper, Mom and I went to the grocery store and got our shopping done.  It was nice to get it done on a Friday evening and not have to get out and do it Saturday.  I took Mom home and carried in our purchases and left them for her to put away or for her to wait until her helper got home for a service at her church.  By the time I got home, Ron was sleeping.  It was a quiet evening for me.

April 21, 2016

Early to Rise

April 21, 2016

 Ron out flying with a friend

Ron is so good about getting me up at the time I request.  He sometimes just gets me up and goes back to sleep, but that is fine.  The reason for me getting up early Thursday was that he had an opportunity to go flying with a friend.  Ron took up flying many years ago and got his license as a private pilot and it wasn't long after that, that he became an instructor.  He just has not had the time and money in recent years to keep up with his love of flying.

Our church is about the center of this photo. 

 Note how green Brownsville is! 

 

His friend had called to see if he would like to go flying for a while and of course I told him that would be great.  All he would have to do would be to get me up early so I could open the office.  I got there before opening time and got things ready.  It is normally not busy early in the mornings, but I had a few customers in.  While Ron was out I did a little cleaning and had a good morning.  Ron had a good time flying.  His friend let him do the flying and that is always a treat for him. 

Start of Space X development

 

They flew over the area where Space X is beginning to prepare the property for their construction of a launch site not too far from our city.  They flew over our church and he was able to get some photos showing new construction of Phase I of the gym project.  They flew out over the beach area and the ship channel before flying over the city.  They just had a great time as you can tell by Ron's smile. 

Our church property - First Baptist Church Brownsville

 

The afternoon seemed to go slow.  I told Ron that the day at the office was way too long when it started at 8:30.  He just laughed, since he does it all the time.   We met our friends at Texas Roadhouse for supper and conversation.  It is something we look forward to each week, time with our friends.  We catch up on what has gone on in each others' lives since our last visit.  It is amazing that we never run out of things to talk about.

First Baptist Church, Brownsville

 

I used the Cochlear mini mic during supper.  It worked well after a bad start.  I don't know what happened, but at first it was just loud static, but after turning it off and then back on, it was fine.  It does take a little time to get it set up each time, but it is a good help.

April 20, 2016

It Was a Very Good Day

April 20, 2016

Male Painted Bunting just outside my sewing room window.

The day started out wonderfully!  What better way (well maybe seeing the kids and the grandchildren would be better) to start my day than to spot a cute little male Painted Bunting.  I thought I had seen one on Monday, but did not get a good look - only a flash of red as he flew from the feeder to the tree.  Today, I was about to leave for the office and spotted his colors in the grass.  He saw me but did not fly away.

An amazingly beautiful bird

 

Before leaving for the office, I spent about 10 minutes taking photos of the painted bunting.  It has to be one of my favorite birds.  He is small and colorful.  I was funny, I had some other photos on the disc in my camera and when I downloaded them, they were by the painted bunting pictures.  I decided I should call this quilt "The Painted Bunting".

My newly maned quilt: The Painted Bunting

 

Ron was out of the office for a couple of hours in the middle of the day.  I got some cleaning done while he was gone.  Late in the afternoon I paid bills  and did some other paper work. 

Do you see how little this bird is? 

He was eating grass seeds.

After work, Ron went to check on his mom and I went to get milk and bread.  When we got home, we both spent time in the yard.

April 19, 2016

Time To Tear It Down

April 19, 2016

There are times when my husband just goes all out to fulfill one of my requests.  About 35 year ago, he did that when I asked him to build a playhouse for the children to play in.  He built a very nice house for the boys.  It was 8' x 8' and very sturdy.  It had double doors on the front and two windows .  Eventually it became a storage shed for odds and ends from the house.

A couple of years ago I asked if he could make it into a greenhouse for me or potting shed.  He said the flooring had caved in and it was not feasible to repair.  So I suggested removing it.  Finally that day came today.  He hired a man to bring a crew over to tear it down.  They had come a few days ago to look at it.  The owner of the company is a friend.  His crew bet that they could just push it over.  I hope they did not bet money on it.  It was built by Ron the Nailer.

When Ron builds something, it is made to last.  These guys started tearing it down, removing corner pieces that were obviously rotten.  Then they took out the windows and removed what was left of the doors.  They started pushing.  Nothing budged.  So they started to remove the siding and it was still strong and firmly attached.  With crowbars and hammers, they removed nails.  With a long heavy 2x6 they tried to break the walls.  I asked the owner why he was the only one wearing gloves.  He said the others thought they didn't need them; they thought it would be an easy job.

They pushed and shoved and worked up a sweat on a pleasant evening with a nice breeze.  They found out that looks can be deceiving.  That playhouse had lasted through a few storms; it didn't give in easily to them.  Finally they brought it down and loaded all the debris into a trailer.  It is strange that the playhouse was such a major object in the backyard for so many years, and one of our sons said , "That will really open up the backyard."  But now that it gone, there is just a small area surrounded with trees left as a reminder.

It is good to have it done and all the debris removed.  I hope the kids have some good memories about the playhouse.  It never got as much use as I had expected, but a couple of the boys have expressed they would miss it.

My Tuesday at the office was good.  I got several things done.  Then after lunch, I picked up Mom to take her to get some test results from the heart doctor.  The man was very nice and told her that her heart was in fine shape.  She has been short of breath sometimes, but he said it was not due to a heart problem.  That is good to know.   After taking her home, I made a quick grocery store stop and then went home to wait for the demolition team for the playhouse and to be ready for the quilt group.  There were only three of us, but we had a good time. 

April 18, 2016

A Nice Monday

April 18, 2016

These sweet miniature roses were brown in the middle when

 they started to open.  Wonder why?  Now they are so lovely.

Monday mornings can be difficult, but mine was fine.  I got to the office a little later than I wanted, but that seems to be my style these days.  Ron was doing some cleaning and I did a little of my own: gathered trash, did some filing, shredded a stack of papers, and waited on a few customers.  Ron took care of most of the ones in the morning, but I did several in the afternoon.

Hanging basket of Marigolds.

As I checked Facebook postings, I found that our daughter-in-law's presentation she gave last Friday evening was posted on Youtube, (at least one hour of it) so I greatly enjoyed watching the program.  She had spoken to a group of 40 adults (men and women) and did a very good job.  A man had agreed to make a video of the program for her and he did a very nice job.  Her husband, our oldest son, will be speaking later this week to coworkers (about 70 people) on some things he had worked on in grad school and that are now in the news in his field.  We are so pleased God is using the talents of each of our sons and their spouses.  Each one is uniquely gifted and is where God wants to use them.

 Ron moving book case into garage.

Lunch was a chicken sandwich I had made at home and it was great.  In the afternoon I kept an eye on the weather forecast.  Houston was getting such terrible flooding and Corpus was having heavy rains.  Our rain was due in the evening and that is when we got it.  What a storm.  We had LOTS of thunder and lightening and a good amount of rain.  Ron just mounted my rain gauge this evening so in the morning, I will check it and see how much we got.

About 9:45 p.m. with a lightening flash to brighten the photo

 

Ron had work to do in the yard again and I was in and out this evening helping him a little.  We had a good time talking about our kids and Ron got done the jobs he had hoped to accomplish.  I talked to our son in Dallas to check about their weather and he said they were fine - very little rain.  Then I checked on our son in San Antonio and they had a heavy rain last night.  Last, I talked to our daughter-in-law in New Mexico.

This was taken near 10:00 when there was lightening.  

It lit up the area very well!

 

Following the phone calls I spent time enjoying the lightening, the thunder, and the rain.  It was fun trying to get lightening photos, but the lightening was not visible, only a bright glow, not a streak of lightening.  I did have the sense that things were getting hit with cloud to ground lightening, but didn't have a good view of any of those. 

Pouring rain.  Heavy lightening.  Lots of thunder.

The same view without lightening.

 

April 17, 2016

A Different Sunday

April 17, 2016

The grapevines appear to be growing a couple of inches a day.

 

Last night I got sick again - probably from a new medication.  Ron woke me at 7:30 but I was not feeling well and went to the recliner and fell asleep and slept until 1:00 p.m.  I felt better when I woke up but not ready to do too much work.

Ron left again (he had gone to the church in the morning).  He picked up lunch for his mom and ate with her before picking up a loaf of bread for me and a prescription.  It was about 3:00 before I ate anything and then had a chicken sandwich for lunch. 

A lovely hibiscus with a spider in the middle!

Ron spent the afternoon working in the yard and I was in and out doing a few things outside and a few things in the house. 

It was really a slow-paced day.  I was pleased to see that so many things are growing well and blooming beautifully.  I am pleased to see how much Ron has been getting done in the yard.  More should get done in the next week or so if we don't get stopped by rains that are predicted for this week.

These ferns were transplanted last weekend and seem to be doing well.

April 16, 2016

Relaxing, Cloudy Saturday

April 16, 2016

Pink oleander out back next to the water

This morning I was able to sleep late and was up at 8:30.  Why???  Why can't I sleep late on the days when I could?  I did spend the morning being lazy.  I started some laundry, fixed some breakfast and then read for a while.  I spent time in the yard off and on all day.

My sister who was visiting Mom was leaving today to fly back to her corner of the world in the Northwestern United States.  I picked her up about 1:00 to take her to the airport.  Mom rode with us and after my sister left, Mom and I headed to the grocery store.  After shopping, I took Mom home and then came home to unload and put away my groceries. 

Chrysanthemums

 

Ron was working in the yard and I was in and out during the rest of the afternoon after I ate a little lunch.  He got the third grape vine planted and I am eager to see if it does well in the spot where he put it.  Our yard is very shady and it is often hard to find places that get enough sunshine for many of the plants. 

Our evening was quiet.  I talked to our kids in New Mexico and exchanged texts with a granddaughter in McAllen.  They are so excited about finally getting puppies.  They have wanted a dog for so long.

During the evening I found that I had an email from a friend with questions about my hearing loss.  Her sister-in-law suffered Sudden Hearing Loss a couple of weeks ago and she asked about some of my experiences.  It sounds like she got immediate treatment, but so far the hearing has not returned.  Over the three years of this blog, so many of you have said you had never heard of Sudden Hearing Loss, but as time passes, some of you are sharing that now you do know someone now who has suffered the loss.  It is my hope that you will pass on this blog location to them and suggest that they start reading at the beginning to see what can help them.

Zinnas

 

Sometimes, the help, is just to know that they aren't alone.  None of us want others to suffer from things we have suffered through, but knowing there are others out there who got through it, can sometimes help.  So, just a reminder:  If you, or someone you know suddenly becomes deaf in one or both ears, that is a medical emergency.  Don't just wait around seeing if it gets better.  Yes, it might just be stopped up, but it might not be and immediate treatment is necessary to have any hope of restoring the hearing.