slowly but surely

 Bob and I are taking small little trips out of the house. We didn't catch covid from our grand son... lucky us.

But his parents did... His case was much milder than theirs. He is well again and masked, he can go and take his make-up finals at the high school on Thursday.

His parents are still stuck at home...

Luckily our granddaughter lives away from home in an apartment... has had covid, two vaccinations and the booster... she became the person who went and bought food etc for everyone who was quarantined and left it on the front steps!!

In the midst of all this quarantining our daughter's toilet had a malfunction. Not the easy one where you replace the flapper but a more complicated one. Bob had a replacement part in his "stash" so he dropped it off on her front steps after checking to make sure she had any necessary tools... AND she fixed it!! BTW her husband has absolutely no mechanical skills... Bob made sure ALL the kids ( male and female) could change the oil on a car, change a tire, fix toilets and so on. I made sure they could cook, do laundry and run the dishwasher!

Our postponed Christmas get together will be January 6th !!

Merry Christmas to all

 

 

Waiting...

 Luckily my husband found some" at home covid test kits" at our pharmacy... because our daughter ( mother to grandson) started displaying covid symptoms.... not really surprising. We sent over to her house one of the kits and she reported back that "yes, she is positive"! They are definitely on quarantine...their daughter drops groceries etc at the front steps!

Since we were together on Saturday for lunch at the restaurant where our grand daughter makes salads and sides ( she was so excited to have us all come and popped out of the kitchen to say hello.) we were our own super spreader. Now we wait to see if any one else tests positive.  BTW we, the adults, are all double vaccinated and boosted.

Christmas now postponed for even longer...  presents, all wrapped, are waiting under the tree!!

So far Bob and I are fine ( fingers crossed).

postponing Christmas

 My grandson ( vaccinated twice) texted home,  during a final exam, that he was feeling ill. His father checked with attendance office and arranged to pick him up. One of his lunch buddies had tested positive for covid so my grandson's parents arranged for a rapid covid test this afternoon.

It came back positive  ..my daughter, son-in-law and grandson are under quarantine till next week. The family talked about splitting up , presents too! But we decided to postpone things till the end of next week... unless someone else in the family caught it from my grandson.  If that happens we will be having an Eastern Orthodox Christmas in January.

Best laid plans don't always work out...

ps... Dominic is almost 16 so has not been cleared for a covid booster vaccination...  yet

counting down tasks

Let's see... Dominic passed the state test!! Good for him!!

Cards with letters in... love getting those annual catch-up letters. Some we have been receiving for over 50 years!!

My bed becomes the package wrapping station each day... of course each night I have to unload everything !!  LOL

Our elder daughter texted us saying the hand rail supports had snapped... no idea how. The railing goes along the stairs from kitchen down to the basement ( laundry area) and to the garage. The dogs were running up and down but could they have done something to make the supports snap?  Bob and I went to to make repairs...He managed to get the old screws out ... hard work. Today new supports added and the railing hung!!

Tomorrow we have lunch at the restaurant where Lili makes salads and sides. She is excited ( and so are we) .. can't wait for us to see and taste her "work"!! 

lousy night.. busy day

Last night was one of "those" nights... didn't sleep well! Lots of "unmentionable" reasons why which led to a nap in the recliner after my Christmas shopping jaunt. Naps don't make me feel better so unless I fall asleep without planning on it, I don't !!

The Christmas tree is finished... being decorated that is. A timer turns it on early evening. Our tree is small and sits on a desk in the bay window with white lights, ornaments and the angel we bought our first year of marriage!

As I was decorating the tree,  I sorted through boxes and boxes of ornaments from the days of big trees, handmade by kids ornaments and hand me down ones from my Mother and Bob's parents ( and grandparents) and came up with a box full for our grand daughter Lili's first tree!! Waste not want not !!

Lili called needing car repair help... something to do with spark plugs and coils... and could she come over after work and have Grandpa help?? Of course.... Luckily the temps are still in the low 70's so working out in the driveway was feasible!! About an hour later they got things done!!

Dominic ( the grandson) is taking a cooking class as an elective... one assignment was to cook dinner for his family at home. Three dishes...new recipe etc. The main one he cooked was a Hungarian soup. Everyone liked it but him... poor Dominic. To finish up his class he had to take a state required test... three hours long. Two hours of which he had to leave his regular classes for. Evidently only 50% of the test takers pass...

Tomorrow's weather predictions sound a little ominous... high temps and lots and lots of wind. We are in the same weather pattern that led to tornadoes in Eastern Missouri, Tenn, Ky and Illinois last weekend.

Downhill..

Today started out quite upbeat. The quilting group had a good time last night.. lots of food, laughs, gift exchange, toilet paper roll crafting  etc. Everything was put away this morning and somethings were made ready for Christmas...

This afternoon I had a hair appointment.... downtown Kansas City. Bob came along to keep me company on the drive to and from. We managed the road construction  with out too much of a hassle.

 Mark ( my "hair guy" ) and I had lots of catching up to do as he snipped away. He was to head out to the airport after my appointment  to fly off to Florida for a long weekend. The haircut was good.. Bob even commented and complimented Mark.

Took a different route back home hoping to avoid the construction only to find more, necessitating a detour. Then there was rock in the roadway!! Bob hit it... lots of noise... alerts from the car telling us tire pressure was down to "zip".

Made it to a gas station where we parked and Bob checked things out. Tire was flat as a pancake and probably not repairable.

Long drawn out conversation with AAA.... tow truck on its way... While we waited Bob called our local Good Year place and told them we were headed their way and told them the tire size...

Car was pulled up onto the two track's bed... I climbed into the truck and with the driver on one side and Bob on the other... off we went. Of course by then it was rush hour...lots of traffic... even a stalled truck...

But we made it to the Good Year place.. unloaded the car from the tow truck... arranged for the tire to be replaced and waited for a lift home ( younger daughter to the rescue!)

Tomorrow we wait... car-less... hopefully someone will give us a left when the car is "fixed"!!  By the way this car doesn't have a spare... not even a do-nut.

pot luck and boxes galore

 I have been getting ready for my quilting group on Wednesday. We are having a pot luck and gift exchange.... and a chance to craft. One of the group came across a u-tube tutorial for making toilet paper tube hat ornaments. I decided to make one ahead of time just to see how it goes...

Here it is.... the quilter who found this plans to add a nose and a beard and turn it into a gnome! Can't wait to see the result.  Now I just have to finish my part of the food!!

As for the boxes.... Carolyn, the gifted teacher , arranged for STEM kits for her classes next semester and next summer from the National Inventors Hall of Fame. She couldn't resist the buy one/get one offer. UPS dropped off the 21 boxes and we piled them up in the living room. Slowly but surely the boxes will make it to her classroom!!

Some of the boxes are gone... here are the rest. Looking at the kits and hearing about what the kids will be doing...definitely a good deal!!

I think we will be able to arrange the boxes so that my quilting group members can make their way to the table!! LOL

Bob put up our outside lights yesterday and I have brought stuff down from the attic to decorate with..

Getting that Christmas look.

pantry??

 I've been reading about great pantries that people keep stocked with everything under the sun. Well we don't have a place in or near the kitchen for one. We live in a Missouri mid-70's house where pantries were not in vogue when it was built.

So... added one in the basement. it's not as handy nor does it have room for all those wonderful things other people seem to have... but it is a place where I can store extra purchases when they go on sale. It seems to have mostly canned things like soup, tomatoes, flour, sugar, mayo.... and empty canning jars!! Now if I would just check before I go shopping !! LOL

Our grocery stores are nearby and I used to go quite frequently... but when covid hit , this stopped. For awhile I did curbside pick up. 

Now I carefully make lists.. no more shopping for just a few things! Milk seems to be the deciding factor... when it gets low, I grab my list and off I go. 

While Bob was out on a doggie pea break visit with Harper and Scout I decided to start bringing down storage tubs of holiday stuff from the attic!! I managed to hang lights on the deck railings... but that's as far as I got!!

Tomorrow a trip to the pharmacy for my pills and a stop at the grocery store afterwards. Not milk... but bread this time!! Bob has been eating loads of turkey sandwiches...

All OK

 After all that awful prep... the results came back even before we left the hospital.  Everything great...!!

Hooray!! My stomach took a big turn for the better!! Guess I was more worried than I owned up to!

We always go to the hospital in our town ( about 60,000) when we need medical stuff. It has always been busy when we would go.... waiting rooms full of people... the lab full of people and so on. But not today.. one person here or there but that was it. Made us wonder...

BTW... Bob was ready for an early dinner and something to drink when we got home!!

Quiet after turkey day

Another online bear show starts on Friday.... so I have been working on my site for the show... adding pictures, editing copy and adding PayPal buttons!

There  is a link to the show's site on the top gadget on the right sidebar... just click if you want to take a look.

Aside from this, our house has been quiet. One daughter is having Thanksgiving #2 for her family. The other is not feeling up to par with all the pre-Christmas stress with her job ( non-profit fund raising). Plus my husband is scheduled for a colonoscopy tomorrow and is working through the pre-test STUFF ( yuck).

No cooking tonight - only clear liquids and pills for him !

Even with all the pledge drive interruptions , we have enjoyed watching the "All Creatures Great and Small" marathon this evening on PBS  ( Poor Bob had to make his own interruptions with visits to the bathroom!)  We are looking forward to season 2 coming up next year!!

 

 

emptier table

 The table was a little emptier... missed my grand daughter and her partner though they are feeling MUCH better.They have another week of quarantine...

Thanksgiving dinner was good...my daughters brought things so we had a great variety of food. Plus plenty of leftovers to send to the "sickies" ! Plenty of texts asking when food was going to be dropped off!!!

Lots of talking... ideas passed around for Christmas present ideas .... menu ideas for Christmas dinner though it looks like we may go non-traditional this year!!  Make your own Pizza? Tamales?? 

My grandson's  table news ... he is excited over the possibility that his marching band will be going to Hawaii next November to play in a celebration around the USS Missouri and the peace treaty signing after WWII. He's not even fazed by the idea of putting his 6'5" frame into a plane seat for 8 hours!!

The house looks like normal again... food put away... turkey stripped.  Turkey sandwiches tonight!!

We did some Black Friday shopping.. not a lot... but some. Ideas worked on.... Lists made for supplies for other ideas...

Changes to Thanksgiving..

It looks like Thanksgiving will be smaller than expected. Our grand daughter and her partner have both tested positive for covid and are quarantined for 14 days !! She had had both shots... he only one.

My daughter's family is doing "contact-less" food delivery  and we all will make sure they get Thanksgiving dinner even if not at our table....!!

She called and talked to her Grandpa yesterday... they are both feeling better! And she is keeping up to date with her college homework!! They talked about her transferring to a culinary  program next year.One that has classes and  paid internships!!

I have been "crafting" at the dining room table ... today I started clearing things off !  We'd all like to sit at the table with table cloth, place mats etc!! I found some wine glasses at Dollar Tree ( $1.00 @) with holly leaves for a Missouri cranberry wine !

The turkey has been thawing... roasting pan brought out... crock pots... A  cooler is on the deck for the things that cannot fit in the fridge.  We are getting there!!

 

Our grand daughter called again... feeling much better ..just a slightly plugged nose.  Needs a food run. She is making tamales and green bean casserole for herself and her partner as their Thanksgiving dinner. So Bob and I went to the grocery store ( super busy) to buy jalapeno peppers, tomatillos, cloves and cumin. She had the rest ! Added water, apple juice, peanut butter cookies and home made Chex mix!

Dropped everything off outside of their apartment...keeping our distance !!

Our daughter and our son-in-law have both had the two shots... but Lili's covid made them more eager to get the booster... which they did this afternoon. Our grandson has also had the two shots but too young for the booster currently.

days gone by

Our dinner out was a good one.. we all ordered a pitcher of Granny Smith apple sangria ... enough for all four of us with a little top up at the end. Each of us chose our dinner and had enough dessert to take some home in a doggie box!!

Our grandson was on his way home ( during our dinner out) from the Golden Regiment's national band competition in Indianapolis. The Blue Springs Band was #10 in the nation!! He was delighted... The weekend was full !! The bus trip was about 10 hours each way!!  And everyone was exhausted!!

Yesterday Bob went to our daughter's house to do a "doggie pee break" session. Our daughter had meetings again and the time she would be away was too long for the dogs.  When he got there the town's Animal Control people asked him if they could set up a trap near our daughter's front steps. They were hoping to catch a sick feral young cat. This morning the trap hadn't caught the cat but DID catch a huge raccoon!! 

 

This morning our older cat had a vet's appointment - 6 month check up. Bob sat with the cat in his carried for almost an hour before he got up and reminded them they were waiting. The front desk had forgotten him!! Anyway... Jack is fine and due back in 6 months. Expensive!!!  But he was one of Robb's two cats.

Bob is out again to our daughter's for another"pee" duty call. Wonder if Animal Control released the raccoon? I'll have to ask!!

BTW ... he'll probably be doing this quite often... the non-profit is gearing up for the Christmas gift giving for their clients "in need".. So our daughter will be working a lot and long hours.

Out and about

 Bob was willing to go with me to a craft show... It was being held in a small town about 30 minutes away and as an added inducement the town's antique shops were all having open houses!!

My reason for going,,, a chance to find some little presents for the Christmas exchange my quilting group has every year!! We usually meet at a restaurant and have dinner and exchange gifts. Last year we cancelled things... This year we are having a pot luck dinner at my house and the gift exchange.

The craft show was a good one... even had a glass of wine at a winery's booth ( unusual breakfast??) Was successful in finding exchange goodies and saw some crafters I hadn't seen in AGES!!

After the craft show we went and did a "look around" at a couple of antique stores.. 

The trip was interesting... we took the back way and hadn't driven that way for 6 months or more. Loads and loads of new houses being built... some of the farmers are holding onto their land with the idea of making a fortune as suburbia creeps ever closer! Some parts of our trip haven't changed one iota in the 35 plus years we have lived here!!

all in all... I enjoyed our outing! Nice to have someone to go with... nice to be successful in a gift search!!  Nice to have someone to carry my purchases!!

Tomorrow Bob and I go out to dinner with our daughters!!

spectacular storm

 Tonight was quilting night... my daughter picked me up and off we went. The meeting was going to be held about 30 minutes away.

On our way to started to rain... no ...it started to pour. The kind of rain that is so heavy you can't see the road markings and the wipers have trouble coping... and then lightning so bright it seemed like daytime!!

Traffic slowed way down.. We were driving on the interstate and  exit ramps were scary!!

When we arrived at our destination it was  still raining so we sat in the car to unwind!!

PO... and then a craft show...then dinner out

It's off to the PO tomorrow with loads of boxes containing bears sold on the online show I am participating in!! They all have prepaid labels so I don't have to do anything but leave them. No standing on line... etc.

Then we are headed off to a local craft show.. I am happy that they are being held again. I like to see what others have been making . At this time of the year I look for gifts for my friends!!

My daughter returned from San Diego yesterday and has asked us to dinner tomorrow. We are looking forward to seeing her and hearing how the trip went...

it's now tomorrow..easy wasn't it??

Younger daughter came over before we could leave to put a bunch of things in a manila envelope for one of her students that had just moved... hoping things from his old school such as notes from classmates, drawings etc. would make the move a little easier.

We added the envelope to my bunch of bear boxes for the PO and off we went.

Reading in the paper that our usual route to the craft store would have construction delays, we took another route which ended up being a chance to see all the changes that had occurred over the last 6 months or so.... and a trip through a local county park where we noticed the trees have started their change... from green to dull green. So far only a few have gone orange or red.

The craft show was interesting. I don't think I have seen so many crocheted hats, gloves, blankets etc. Signs of people staying home relieving the boredom by crochet hook?? Also lots of jewelry... home decor..

Bob bought a mouse on a sled... hm? ... and put it on display when we got home. I bought reindeer horns with snowflakes and bells for our teacher daughter to wear when it gets closer to Christmas ( in the classroom... lol) and some tasty honey infused with black walnuts to put on toast or bagels.  Yummy... I had some on a bagel for lunch when we got home.

Now it is putter around time till we leave for our dinner out!

Booster

 Well... off we went for our booster shots ( Bob also got a flu shot - I'm allergic). That night and yesterday were something else for me. Headache... slept constantly...joints all ached... temperature. Bob felt and feels fine.  It wasn't until evening that I began to feel somewhat normal... Slept well... and feel fine today.

Halloween

After the change in plans I went off and bought candy for the "trick or treaters" and we put up our Halloween decorations.  .... and made sure the lights were on! That's a local rule... if you want trick or treaters , put on your foor light. If not... keep your house dark!!  makes sense.

Things start around 6 pm... no kids for quite a while. We wondered whether they were all at the local "trunk or treats".  But then they started arriving... all sizes.  We think we had about 30.

Today it got COLD ... about 32 this morning. We were glad the drop in temp waited until after Halloween. 

Then we went online and scheduled our covid boosters at our local Target's CVS pharmacy. Our times were today at 12 and 12.30!  So off we went and got our "jabs" , picked up loads of canned catfood and some salad dressing! Easy peasy as they say.

We were still cold when we arrived home so Bob turned on our gas fired fireplace insert... warmed us up and made the room cosy!!

So another day not as expected!!

oops...no San Diego

Bob became ill yesterday and so we canceled... our daughter didn't ! We just got a text saying her flight out of Kansas City has been delayed. Delayed enough that she probably won't make her connection/ change of plane in Denver.

So we'll see what happens next... 

forgot to mention that since we are here and not in San Diego I have made no preparations for Halloween. Bob brought down the decorations and I went to the grocery store for candy,, We are ready... wonder how many will ring our doorbell??

getting ready

Bob has brought down our suitcases from the attic!! We are getting ready to LEAVE... San Diego here we come! 

We leave here Saturday morning and return late Thursday....

Arrangements have been made for the cats... Jack need medication twice a day and is a picky eater. So no boarding... My daughter and her husband will come in and do this and spend time with them!

I have finished everything for my next online bear/friend show which starts next Friday!

The promoter has used a picture of one of my bears ( Noel) for her show advertisement!!  The "what's on your wish list" has garnered all sorts of replies...

Moving onward

Dominic's Golden Regiment came in second after Broken Arrow, OK.... a much bigger school and a long time rival. 

Here he is with the medal the band members were awarded.... after spending the day wearing his uniform hat!!  LOL  His long (!) hair had to be hidden. This was in St. Louis.... he brought the medal to our house so we could see it after the band returned home!! He's going to hang it up on his bedroom wall.

Next competition is in Indianapolis... three weeks away !

Our elder daughter, Bob and I are headed to San Diego on Saturday... Bob is watching California's weather since there is a huge storm north of San Diego. 

Laurel is making dinner reservations for the three of us... many restaurants are closed and reservations are required for the ones that are open. The hotel is on the bay and we are hoping to go "sight seeing" while Laurel is in her convention.

BTW.. the Ina Garten Greek lasagna  ( pastistio) was a winner... took almost  all day and have decided to try and slim down the directions somewhat. But everyone thought it was a winner. There was enough for leftovers for everyone... we are having ours tonight!

Before dinner the four of us got some chores done... moved a dresser down to the basement ( L's new sewing area)... assembled two chairs to be used at the sewing machine or cutting table....brought down L's sewing dress form .  Now she can fill the dresser and the cupboard with her fabric stash, We will bring down the cutting table after our return from San Diego!

after the fundraiser

I haven't posted since the fundraiser... we have all been just too exhausted. My daughter ( the non-profit one) worked so hard on getting things organized she ended up sick. She finally went back to work today but only because she had a board meeting this afternoon. So we were back on doggie duty. Scout and Harper were delighted to see us with lots of licks and requests for petting!!

We are planning dinner together  this weekend. It will be one where each of us provides something. My part will be Greek Lasagna ( or Pastitsio  ) . I found an Ina Garten recipe... fingers crossed!

My grandson will be off to St. Louis tomorrow with the Blue Springs Golden Regiment Band for another competition. The band has been winning all the local competitions so fingers crossed they will do well in St. Louis. The band returns Sunday. 

Fall as arrived...but it will not be a gloriously colored one. Leaves are going blah and dropping. It's currently 48 degrees and the furnace is on.

cold cold cold at the fundraiser

 The fundraiser is over and hopefully life can go back to normal!! It was held in the parking lot of the KC Royals' stadium....  keeping everyone socially distanced etc. ... under  separate tents for each table.

There was a baseball theme... lots of games to play... people to talk to... music... and food. Ending up with the end of the auctions and thank yous for all!

But dang it.. it did get cold.... upper 40's low '50's !! We had brought coats but that really wasn't enough.

Actually we were glad that we had to leave and go feed Laurel's dogs their dinner ! Others were staying to party etc. Not us !! And the dogs were super glad to see us!

Now everyone can relax and start thinking about next year's event!!

up and down life

 Doing the same old routine daily with a trip out to our daughter's so the dogs can have a potty break. The dogs are tired of this and would like to get back to their normal day!!

The only thing different is the up and down weather. One day it will be hot and dry... mid '80s... the next cold, wet windy and under '60!! Then back up... and then down. The trees seem to have trouble deciding what should happen leaf-wise. We have really almost black leafed maples which went crispy brown leaves which are now falling. We have spots of red on other maples. The oaks and we have lots of them are still as green as can be but are dropping acorns at an alarming rate ( we moved the car so it's not under one of them).

Our daughter's non-profit fundraiser is tomorrow night so life should get back to normal on Saturday.. hooray.

I did make a trek out to JoAnne's this morning and now have enough fiberfill for many many bears and friends!!

 There seems to be much more traffic than there used to be!!

Nothing New

 Life has been oh so the same!!  Doggie potty breaks to help our very busy daughter....working on bears and friends for the next online so... and so on!!

Started this a week ago... and nothing has changed... for us.

My grandson is sick and sick enough for his parents to set him up for a covid test. He is doubly vaccinated but what ever he has has some of the symptoms as covid.  Test results came back negative. Hooray!

He and the Blue Springs, MO. marching band ( The Golden Regiment) spent Saturday at a marching band invitational competition.  The band got all 1's - the highest marks.  In a few weeks the band travels to Indianapolis for a national competition.

The temp this morning is actually below 60 and we have had on and off rain for a few days...Has fall arrived?

Daughters' day .. brunch and brioche

 Yesterday was Daughters' Day according to Facebook. Never heard of that before ... but when my elder daughter suggested brunch this morning, it made the perfect excuse. So the four of us headed out to a little Blue Springs  cafe/restaurant ...Le Bleu Cafe .. this morning for coffee and its French Toast on brioche bread  ( leftovers available for tomorrow!)

Lots of chatting and a chance to catch up.... and our doggie potty break assignments for next week.

Oh Harper...

Bob and I were on doggie duty again this afternoon.  Our daughter had things at work that HAD to be done and without Scout.

 Yesterday we had thunderstorms and loads of rain and she lost her electricity .. which means no computer and no work at home. At 3 AM it came back on and that woke her up. So she worked on the computer till it was time to actually go to work!! 

So off we went to let the dogs out for their break. Our temps dropped with the storms and it was delightful to sit outside. The dogs thought so too!!  When it was time to leave we managed to round Scout up and put her back inside. But Harper said "no way"!!  No treats worked.. she just didn't want to!!  So we left her outside... the backyard has a 6 foot wooden fence so she was safe.

My daughter said she was more than ready to go in when she got home!!

day after day

This week has been a very unexciting one once my daughter's a/c was fixed. It has been hot and muggy and trips out to her house for doggie duty haven't been much fun.

My daughter's non-profit has been working hard organizing the huge annual fund raiser. Last year's in-person one was canceled and the virtual one did not do as well . So expectations for this year's are even higher than usual.

With all that and the  meetings going on, Scout has had to stay home. She isn't old enough to wait 8 hours for a potty beak. Harper can. We have been going out daily so the dogs can go out and have people time each afternoon!

They are so excited to hear us pull into the driveway and after a run down the deck stairs to pee they are all over us with doggie kisses !!

Wrote this yesterday but didn't post it... our life has been so boring ! Today we actually went for a walk. We are planning a trip to San Diego in the fall if our daughter's convention plans hold. We will sight see during the day while she is attending the convention and we will all spend the evenings trying out restaurants etc.   BUT we haven't been very active or doing much walking this summer so we had better get into shape!!

Looking better

 Things are looking better at our daughter's... a/c "working" with careful handling. A new blower is on order. The second repair company was much more competent  and the part price quoted was a lot less. Guess which one she's picking?? 

Luckily fall temps are around the corner ... a/c not nearly as needed ...

Descending day!!

 Yesterday started out on a nice high note.... weather was gorgeous.... blue skies, light wind and temps in the 70's.

We were due out to the Green Dirt Farm  in Weston, MO for a wine and cheese tasting. Green Dirt Farm raises its own sheep and turns the milk ( plus cows milk for some types of cheese) into wonderful cheeses.  Weston is about an hour northwest of Blue Springs.

A large table ( with named place settings) awaited everyone. We had been checked in for vaccinations or negative tests. The building was open and seats were far enough apart so mask wearing wasn't necessary.

We tasted and munched - 5 cheeses and five paired wines - with dried fruits, nuts, olives, crackers, breads  and jam!!

BUT...when we were heading home,  texts began arriving from our daughter. She had planned on going with us but a sick dog and sick air conditioner put a stop to that. The texts were about the repairman and the air conditioner. Plus he had let the dog out and she had taken off ( Luckily neighbors helped rope her back in!) Harper was headed for the woods and loads of poison ivy!

The repairman left but his repair job didn't seem to be working... the house was still hot. Too hot to sleep in!!

Her texts to the repair company were treated not so nicely.

Luckily the temps started dropping and with windows open and fan on... the house became livable .. but something still not "right"....

masks ... security...

 Bob and I went to Target today to pick up my prescriptions from the pharmacy...I wore my mask ! Was greeted at the door by two uniformed security guards with a table of masks and hand sanitizer. Guess no one was going inside without the county government required masks...

First time I've seen that... not even last winter before vaccines and everything was pretty much closed down.

arguments

 My son-in-law was shopping at our local Wal-Mart when he noticed two men arguing. One was wearing a mask ( required by our county government) , the other was not. My son-in-law did not hear what the argument was about but thought it probably was about having to wear masks. He decided to stick around just in case....

Then the unmasked man pulled out a gun. Concealed carry is not illegal in Missouri... but my son-in-law decided it was time to leave.  He did not hear any gun shots, so hopefully the argument was settled without them!!

Made my son-in-law very nervous...

versatile...

 My younger daughter teaches gifted elementary students... it's s pull-out program. Each day students come to her classroom from three different elementary schools. One day for each grade level.

Her program doesn't actually start till next Tuesday... giving the regular classroom teachers these last days a chance to get their classrooms organized and running.

So her building has been taking advantage of her not having students... yet. She has been called upon to escort kids to the bathroom... to the nurse... to waiting rides home whether it be parents or bus .. and so on!

Last week she monitored 2 little boys in ISS ( in school suspension)... they had gotten into a fist fight!

Yesterday the school art teacher was absent... so she taught art to kindergartners to 5th graders. Tomorrow she will teach 2nd grade. She's never taught art or 2nd grade!! Luckily the 2nd grade has a student teacher who knows what's planned and my daughter will just be in charge of classroom management!!

If she didn't have meetings on Thursday she'd be teaching art again...

My daughter calls on her way home from school... interesting to hear her daily update!!

nice afternoon

My elder daughter ... the non-profit person... was feeling the result of a stressful week. Too much of which was covid's fault. Her non-profit is having to decide what to do about the October fund raising event. The event provides much of the non-profit's annual funding and the chance for interested people to reconnect.

The board is deciding whether or not to cancel.

So my daughter spent some time recuperating... and so we did not see her until yesterday when she finally felt up to snuff.

No work was planned and the weather was a little cooler. The deck was the "place to be"... she made a light dinner and we enjoyed sitting, eating and having a frozen daquerie  on the deck. Scout and Harper enjoyed having all of us there too!

Harper acted like the hunter for quite some time... trying to capture a skink that lives in a hole next to the rose bush!! I think the skink would try to nip her nose because she would rear up from putting her nose in the hole every so often!!  Don't know what she'd do if she were successful!!

well... that was yesterday, Our daughter is back to work ( lots of meetings) and we will be going out to give the dogs an afternoon potty break. However it poured this morning with wind and thunder. The dogs will gave to do a pee and run back in ! We will visit with them a bit when they go back inside!

Scout potty break time

 Our daughter has been working hard on distributing the ' back to school'  back packs AND accumulating donations for the non-profit's fundraiser this fall and can't get home for the dogs. So Bob and I are on Scout potty break time. She is still young enough that she cannot last for 10 hours. I know I can't either... lol

Scout and Harper are very glad to see us. Out they both go and Bob and I think of something to do while they run around and "poo and pee"!  Yesterday Bob and I did nothing but read and drink cold tea on the deck. It was just too hot. The day before he mowed the lawn and I trimmed around the house.  I think today we will week whack along the back yard fence.

After the break... we crate Scout back up and Harper reclines on her bed.... both of them waiting for their "mistress" to come home.

Actually they are glad to go back inside...they think it's too hot outside for more than the potty break.

BTW ... they have started making our replica Heinie Groh baseball jerseys!! They sent us a sample picture !!

Heinie Groh bottle bat

 Yes... I know he was a long ago baseball player but he was my husband's great uncle. He played professionally from 1912 to 1927. Best 3rd baseman in the deadball era... winner of two World Series rings ( Reds and Giants). After playing he was a coach and a scout . His bottle bat is in the Cooperstown  Baseball Hall of Fame and he is in the Reds' Hall of Fame too!!

Well... the reason for this all is that my daughter's non-profit is holding a fundraising event. The Kansas City Royals baseball team will be one of the sponsors. Event goers wear costumes. I have been hunting around for replica Reds shirts for my family to wear with Heinie's name etc on the back!!

I think we have found a company that will make them!!

wild wild day

 Bob and I were "assigned" to doggie day care while the rest of the family helped sort and fill 500 back to school backpacks  for our elder daughter's Phoenix Family students!

So out we went to do our doggie bit.... Gorgeous sunny day but the thermometer registered 99 F. The dogs did their bathroom bit but it was too hot for them to run around. As we sat on the deck we made sure they had plenty of water and lots of petting etc. and they wandered around the yard.

When we left the sky started darkening... huge black clouds to the Northwest! It started sprinkling as I collected the mail. By the time I got inside it started to pour... then it started to hail....Water poured from the gutters! Huge puddles in the backyard. The temps dropped rapidly! 

BTW... the e-check in worked no sheets to fill in ,nothing but my name  and a quick look at the computer. My doctor was a little behind schedule but I always take my kindle along so that was no big deal. When she apologized ... that's what I told her too.

Dark and rumbly

 Here it is almost 9 am and it is so dark that we have all the lights on and I am beginning to hear the sounds of thunder!!

I have a check up appointment on Thursday and found an email in my computer requesting an "e-check-in".  Covid is still escalating in Missouri and a mask mandate is in force... so an e-check in is supposed to help. So I did... pages of pages of my history etc. to be updated. Insurance numbers to be verified and on and on. It will be interesting to see just how much the doctors and nurses go over again when I am actually in the office!!

Bob had a call for help from our older daughter yesterday morning... her refrigerator was leaking. He rushed over and they spent the morning taking out food.. removing shelves etc. It turned out that the defrost "tubes" had plugged and were frozen shut.  They cleaned.. melted ice... and put things back together. When he got home Bob was exhausted!  It could have been much harder things to have coped with!!

The online show is  over and boxes were packed and mailed!!  Thinking about the next one - middle of September!

All that thunder and a few lightning flashes and it didn't rsin enough to get iwet under the oak trees!!

Online bear show plus

 I will be spending the next three days keeping an eye on the online bear and friend show I am participating in.... PayPal has changed its shipping partner so Bob and I will have to check that out. PayPal said to wait till I had something to send... not looking forward to that.

Just another note on the fish/carp. They are in our local man-made lake which was made for recreation and water retention etc. The carp help keep it clean... they are bottom feeders. One never sees them except at the marina where you can buy ( or bring your own) dog food pellets to feed them. Ducks come too and there is a competition on who gets a pellet first. The marina is a very popular place!!

Here's my "lead" bear.... the bear on the show's home page which one can click and get to my "shop".

doggie care

 Our elder daughter had meetings all day so could not take her puppy to work with her. Now Scout ( the blackish one) is a good dog but being crated for all day is just too much so we were asked to go out and give her and Harper a mid-day break.

Bob and I decided to give our daughter a break too.. by mowing and weeding her back yard while the dogs were out and running around. Luckily it wasn't one of the Missouri super hot days!Things looked good when we were done!!

Harper and Scout were happy to go back inside when we were done...They were super tired. Scout to her crate and Harper to the couch.  A chewy snack to both and we headed home!!

Our other daughter ( and her family) are enjoying a "staycation". She has finished teaching summer school and Dominic is finished band camp. One day they went to the local park/lake and enjoyed feeding the fish. Another day they went to the new Oak Grove pool and enjoyed swimming and the lazy river.

Here is a posting I made on FB a long time ago.... but the fish (carp) are still as happy to have you feed them as ever.

assembling the hall tree

 After our brunch my daughters came to my house... hauled the 65 lb hall tree box down the front steps and into the SUV. Then we all drove separately to the new owner's house and the hauled the box into the house.!

The two of them opened the box, dug out the instructions and went to work.

Bob was on doggie entertainment duty and I sat in a chair and watched my daughters!

Soon the hall tree was assembled and placed in its new spot... perfect!

too hot

After a cool day or so, it was a hot week.... Bob has spent his time on the X-box or playing Suduko. No lawn mowing for him!!

I spent my time sewing bears and friends for the upcoming shows...

Of course after taking pity on the deck plants and watering them yesterday... it poured for a short bit!! Bob said that it was a good thing we didn't wash the car... who knows what would have happened then!

Starting today, it is supposed to be cooler for the next week. We'll see.

Going out for brunch with the girls tomorrow.  We'll  be wearing masks until the food and drinks arrive!

We bought our elder daughter a hall tree from Wayfair for her birthday. The FedEx guy brought it to our front door and we managed to get it in the house until we could take it to her house. Since she works we didn't want it left at her house.

We are going to load the box which weighs 65 lbs into her SUV  after our brunch . Going to be interesting getting it down our front steps !!  LOL  Then  we will follow her home and unloaded it and wrestle it into her house.

Our final resort to all this will be to unpack the box and manage the pieces....

Not as hot as forecast

 It has been hot and muggy... but not as hot as forecast.... mostly low 90's. But bad enough not to want to go outside and "do" anything.

I did water and we did have a quick rain shower....

My daughter gave me a pepper plant on Mother's Day. We have no idea what type but the pepper is LOOONG and yellow. I gave it a try but it doesn't seem ready to be picked. The plant sits on the deck railing and looked a little limp so I watered it.... now waiting.

When I went out to take a picture I noticed "someone" had taken a bite... so I picked it !! Will it be hot or sweet?
 

Still not seeing many people masked up again at the grocery store... But I am. It looks like there will some mask mandates again from our local county and KC governments.  I am hoping that the many school districts will come up with a plan regarding masks etc when in school learning starts again next month.My daughter teaches Elementary gifted students ... too young to be vaccinated. My 15 year old grandson will be back in high school and his age bracket has been able to be vaccinated and we are hoping that parents did vaccinate them!!

BTW my grandson spent all last year learning online.... except for band, His Dad took him to school for that one class and brought him home. Things went ok but even my grandson admits to not being as organized etc as he should have been and had to go to summer school for Geometry ( he aced it then). He definitely wants to be back in physical classes... wants to be with his classmates etc. Fingers crossed that his school district gets things organized.

Denise's garage sale...... and HEAT !!

 yes... I know you all don't know Denise...but... here goes anyway. Denise is a quilter and was part of my group plus another group. She posted that she would be having a garage sale today and tomorrow and since I hadn't actually seen her in months I decided to go!!

Her driveway ( two car lengths long and two wide) was loaded with table upon table of fabric, craft items and other stuff!  Inside the edge of the garage several people from her other quilt group were ready to take the "money" !! People lined up with armloads of fabric and stuff!!

But the best part for me was the chance Denise and I had to catch up and exchange hugs!!  Plus I did find a few pieces of fabric that I just had to have!!  LOL

By the time I headed home I was dripping with sweat...

Weather reports indicate we will have at least a week of super hot hot weather... with a heat index of well over 105 F. 

masks back on

 Bob and I discussed the ever increasing covid numbers here in Missouri... too many are refusing to vaccinate and children younger than 12 are not allowed... yet... So we have decided to start wearing masks again when we go inside to stores... restaurants etc. We have had both shots but too many have not!!

So on my first trip to our local grocery store  ( after making this decision) I wore my mask . And was the only person I saw there to do so!! I will continue to do so and will be watching to see whether or not others do too!

Missouri is having several state wide lotteries for those who have had at least one vaccination.  $10,000... Bob and I signed up ... not that we ever win anything. But if you don't you definitely won't.. guaranteed!!

Nice thought... if I won, what would  I do with that $10,000?

BTW... if you win you HAVE to be willing to have your name and picture published or televised. No being anonymous !!

Lili's kittens

 Lili has found homes for the calico kittens but the two black and white boys and their Mother have not found  new homes.  If she doesn't find homes she will surrender them to one of the shelters. 

but she would rather know who adopts them!!

I'm not sure she realized just how much of a commitment this would be when she took in a pregnant stray cat ! Luckily she has a second bedroom where she could segregate the stray from her own two cats!!

grass mowing... unusual summer

 Usually by this time of the summer the grass has gone into a dormant stage ... dried and crunchy and brown.  But not this year...

We spent out Sunday afternoon helping our elder daughter with her yard work. I weed whacked the front yard and all along the back fence. Bob and our daughter mowed much to the delight of both dogs - Scout and Harper.  They just raced around madly !!

Afterwards we treated ourselves to cold drinks on the deck... The dogs still raced madly but added going up and down the deck stairs to their routine! 

Bob grilled a steak and we had a wonderful steak and chopped salad with diced apples and Panera's apple dressing and French bread on the side for dinner!!

Still feeling stiff etc from all that yesterday!!

Two cousins

 My younger daughter and my niece have taken off on a search on several genealogy sites...It's fun to read their messages back and forth. One is here in Kansas City and the other is in Boston ! They have worked back to the mid 400's !!  To a direct line to Edward IV . To the Mayflower .... and so on. They are having  such fun!!

Wal-Mart shopping

 I don't usually shop at Wal-Mart but I needed some fiberfill... also known as Poly-Fil for my bears and friends and since I am not shopping at  Hobby Lobby that was the place to go!!

It was sprinkling so I took my umbrella... which was a good thing because it was pouring when I left Wal-Mart!!  Anyway picked up some groceries and a huge bag of Poly-Fil  for $10.00. That should last awhile, right? The store wasn't busy and so when it was time to check out I found that the store actually had two cashier manned lines and no waiting. There were probably 20 or more diy ones but when I have things without bar codes such as peppers I'd rather have a person!!

Took the longer way home to see what was new... Whataberger is working on a site across from McDonalds !! The city's "Fieldhouse" - a  gym workout etc facility - parking lot was full for the first time in over a year.  Signs for vacation bible school were up at several churches. 

Later Bob treated me to a take out lunch ... raining too much to eat outside so we took it home.

Even later we all received a message from my niece saying she had found that a coworker is a third cousin! This led her to include a link to the Mormon Church's genealogy website in Salt Lake City, Utah. Carolyn ( my younger daughter) signed up and we explored the family history while on the phone. The site is amazing....She traced her grandparents WAY back to before the 1600's on both sides. You can find lots of info on each ancestor ... where born, where died, where buried, siblings etc.

BTW ... Bob did all the laundry today even folding. Mine was waiting on the bed ready for me to put away!!

Shawnee Mission Indian School

 The Kansas City area has a historical site named Shawnee Mission Indian School. The Kansas City Star newspaper  mentioned it the other day. From what I gather, it was a Methodist run manual training school for Indian boys and girls that was run from 1839 to 1862.  The original site was over 2,000 acres... the current  historical site is much smaller. .. and can be visited. It is one of those sites set up to resemble the day to day working of the original site with volunteers etc.

Native American groups have asked ( for years) to have this site explored for graves of missing Indian children.

My daughter's gifted program has a unit with field trips to sites around the Kansas City area. This site has not been part of the unit... I suggested it should be!!

present from Tigger or Jack

 This morning there was a present waiting for Bob outside the bedroom door.... a very small DEAD mouse. We don't know who gifted us... Jack or Tigger.  No picture since Bob sent it to mousie heaven in the trash !!

We've had mice before and do keep traps set in the basement ... just in case. And Bob will check to see if any need resetting. There are gaps around  some of the vents and Bob works in the garage with the door open occasionally .

Our elder daughter has a thing about mice left over from her days in the Peace Corps in Morocco. Mice would crawl over her long hair at night...So she says she won't visit until we are sure the mice are gone.

I remember mice crawling through the walls in my Mother's Nova Scotia farm house... they would make a great racket until I banged on the wall and told them to be quiet. I set traps every time I visited  and was the "great white hunter" until I went home.

Working inside

Our weather has become occasional rain  and gray skies... so working on bears and friends for the next online show has become the "thing to do"! 

I "treated" myself to some new mohair fabric so my attempt to downsize my stash has gone !!! Phooey!!  But new colors and textures are a treat..

I finished a blue bear yesterday and I think I'll call her "Skye" ... and now I have to decide how to accessorize her. Sometimes that part is the hardest part.

Wednesday my quilting group will meet again. As I have said before, we don't all quilt but we do all talk and eat ! I am looking forward to it and have sent out a text reminder. 

One "member" also makes bears among other things. At our last get together she had been working on memory bears made from a mouton coat ( sheep). The leather was so stiff and thick that she really had difficulty sewing the bears. I came across a package of leather needles from my days of making bears from mink, Russian squirrel etc fur coats and will bring them along for her.

Bob had planned to mow the yard ... again... The grass grows quickly this time of year, but the rainy day has put a stop to that!  Not that he is unhappy about that!! He has found some little jobs inside that are more to his liking! 

LATER..

 .made the blue bear a pinafore dress and added a ribbon head band... 

 I tried a new recipe for peach shortcake type thing. It had great peach flavor but it was way too sweet and the shortcake part was somewhat gummy. Maybe the peaches were too juicy? Not a keeper recipe.

Lili is nineteen

 

Here we go... 19 years have passed!!

This morning she texted me asking whether we still had the family fishing poles. Her Grandfather found one and thinks her brother has the others ( took them to Boy Scout camp). We reminded her that she is now old enough to need a fishing license!!

Blog topics passed around

I was reading   https://travelerswife.blogspot.com/  ( also known as Musings) about what one would take along if one was evacuated... I hadn't really thought about it but maybe we should?

medicines... hard drives and password book... photos...financial records... id...clothes...cell phones... the cats and their food... bottled water.. check books and charge cards... the list of family members - phone numbers, addresses etc

The list gets longer every time I think about it. And think about why we are having to leave... How much time would one have? 

If it's only minutes.. cats , get dressed, cellphones and wallet/pocketbook .... and get OUT!

It's not something we have had to think about.. We do have a tornado plan since we are on the edge of tornado ally. We do have a winter plan for losing electricity... maybe we should think about other emergencies??

stuck in my mind and kittens

 I think the Linda Ronstadt version is the one stuck in my mind !! (Heat wave) But there are many versions of this Irving Berlin song starting around 1933!

Lili's kittens get cuter every day. She has promises for three and two maybes for  a kitten and Mama. Hope she can get promises for the rest... our shelters are full and she'd hate to take the "leftovers" to one!

Tropical heat wave

 I had one of those bits of a song that you can't remember all of it or it or get it out of your head.... mine was "tropical heat wave". I wasn't at home when this hit but as soon as I was I googled it.... boy was it sung by many many artists. From in   "Some like it hot" to " Holiday Inn" to "Sister Act" to Menopause Musical" and on and on! No wonder it was stuck in my head... somewhere!

We will all be together

 

Applebee's is closing early... No night manager available so my grand daughter and her boyfriend can join us!! Hooray! Luckily I bought extra burgers and hot dogs!!

 

Later... we all had a great time except for Harper... The fireworks really are bad for her!!

Morning trip out

 It's gorgeous out ... blue skies, not too hot and no rain expected for a few days!!

As soon as I was dressed I headed out. Our small city (?) has a farmers' market downtown every Saturday morning from the beginning of May till the beginning of October. It is a small affair... veggies, home baked goodies, plants etc. But today I was in for a surprise. The parking lots were full... lots of people wandering about and many more vendors than when I last visited. And people were buying!! bet the vendors were happy!!

Then it was off to the grocery store with my list for tomorrow's Fourth of July grilling session/ dinner. My grand daughter and her boyfriend have to work ( Applebee's - he is a server and she works in the kitchen filling orders) but everyone else will be there.

Laurel's dog Harper ( the older hound one) finds fireworks awful. She shakes. Laurel has medicine from the vet which helps. Scout , the black puppy, couldn't care less. Fireworks have been going off every evening but the big town ones will be tomorrow evening. We will really have to keep an eye on Harper.

more rain

 it was raining ( a bit) when I got up this morning... again.... and probably more again. Rivers are high in parts of Missouri but no bad flooding so far.

Our back yard has large pools of water... the ground is saturated!

We are making plans for the Fourth... everyone but our grand daughter Lili and her boyfriend Spencer ... will be there. They have to work. According to the weather reports Sunday will be cloudy but NOT rainy. The grill will be put to work for hot dogs and burgers. I will make our son's baked beans. My daughters will come up with the final menu tomorrow.

feeling better

After spending all day yesterday "in pain" and doing not much of anything, my daughter says she is feeling much better and went off to work!  Hooray!!

Still raining here and looking at the radar/weather map we will continue to have more. The ground is saturated and we have large pools of  standing water along the fence ( the lowest part of our lot). We are also getting flash flood warnings on our phones. 

The bunnies that make their homes in the neighborhood love this wet time.. everything is very  green and growing like mad! I can watch them from my "computer room" happily munching  away!

It has been a very light mosquito summer ... so far... but with all this rain, I bet this will change rapidly!!

too much stuff on the stairs

 Ever since Tigger tripped me I have been very careful on our stairs.... but my daughter wasn't careful and missed her last step on the stairs ... too much stuff on the stairs and too much stuff in her arms ( laundry and trash bags). I have kept my mouth shut about the hazards! Maybe I shouldn't have and risked being snapped at??

She hurt her knee... her tailbone ... and the wall !! Guess it could have been worse.

We still have the possibility of more rain... but the cooler temps are  wonderful. Last night we took a chance with the rain and had dinner out on the deck.  About 15 minutes after we went in to do the dishes etc. it started to rain. Grabbed the cushions and took them inside. Of course that meant the rain didn't last long!

My deck plants and flowers are loving this!!

changes are here

 Weatherbug  and the tv anchorperson warned us that weather changes were on their way... waves of thunderstorms and rain from this morning till Sat/Sunday. Some say we could have over 4 inches of rain during this period.

When I woke this morning, it was a really greenie dark morning...rain and thunder arrived an hour or so later. I won't be watering for awhile. Temps had dropped to the low 70's and even though there were rumors (?) of the temp rising to mid-90's.. I have my doubts!!

Started this yesterday and it was pretty much accurate. It looks like today will be the same.

We are off to a new restaurant for lunch. Elder daughter has today off so she will join us. We re going to order different things and divide them so we can try lots!!

I keep forgetting to post... Lunch was fine not great but fine. It's still new so time to improve. It's part of a huge nursery complex so the outdoor seating is really nice. After lunch we looked around at the plants and containers for sale.

Two for one day!

 Yesterday was a two for one day... Father's Day and our grandson Dominic's 15th birthday!! 

The day started off on a questionable note... rain!! I had visions of us all  having to get together inside but things cleared by afternoon and all the food was set out in the dining room and cushions out on the deck chairs. We all munched, drank and exchanged cards and presents for Dom !

Elder daughter brought her puppy Scout along. Tigger and Jack hid but all the people were delighted. That crazy puppy loves carrots and since she is still at the chewy stage Laurel brought a bag along. BTW she also loves apples, strawberries, cantelope and so on especially when a little of Laurel's fruit dip is applied!! When our get together ended, Scout was totally exhausted!!

Actually Bob and I were exhausted too!

Today is a lovely cooler one...doors open... no a/c running! Here's hoping this weather stays for a bit!!

Didn't have to cook tonight... leftovers from yesterday filled the bill! Sitting on the deck in 75 degrees with a slight breeze made it perfect!!

Lili and her kittens...#2

 Here's my granddaughter Lili and the Cat Family she is "fostering"!

If you have been hearing about HEAT ...we are hot but not as hot as further West. Yesterday we reached 97... today it was cooler... 93. Neither day was a record breaker. I am making sure my deck plants and the ones in front are watered.

Lili's kittens

 Here are two of Lili's kittens! They are growing by leaps and bounds and are above the expected weight for two week old kittens. One of them is double the weight - not shown  here though! He (?) was asleep  when Lili took photos.The bottom two pictures are the same kitten ... Aphrodite because of the heart on her (?) forehead. It is still too early to tell the sex.

Lili is learning just how much work a litter of kittens is!!

This is Jacques... because of his mustache and is twice the expected weight of a two week old!

day after day

 Day after day of hot sunny weather... sitting on the deck at dinner time... keeping the plants watered.

Younger daughter and her husband have been redoing their bathroom. This is the first big project that they have undertaken.... and it has been a successful one. The surround for their tub/shower was shot. My daughter found a replacement on the Home Depot site and so things began. First their was the demolition... minor repairs to the drywall underneath.. and so on. Finally it is done!

Now she can concentrate on her summer school teachings/students and her own Ed. Specialist classes ( online). She should receive her degree next winter... her emphasis is Gifted Education.

Elder daughter is still working on her transformation of her basement. We helped put in a  ceiling light. She is not quite comfortable with electrical stuff... yet! But now she can turn on a light when she comes in from the driveway and garage.

My "quilting" group is having another get together this evening... everyone is really looking forward to talking, sitting outside on a deck, munching on snacks and working on projects!! Usually we don't get together over the summer but we didn't meet at all for so long that we weren't ready go do the usual hiatus!!

BTW... the kittens are growing... eyes open. Lili has found someone who is interested in Mama Cat after the kittens are weaned and will have her spayed.... and there has been some interest in the kittens. Lili will make anyone who takes a kitten sign a note promising to neuter when old enough. Those she doesn't find home for will go to a rescue.

Memorial Day

 Time to relax!! Yesterday's get together was great even though the weather didn't cooperate and we had to switch places!! 

This was our first time with all of the family since the pandemic started! All of us vaccinated! Even the youngest... my almost 15 year old grandson!!

We tried new recipes... and munched away!!

Suggestions made for the "Fourth of July - Independence Day"!

We decided to figure out who in our families served when....after all it was Memorial Day (LOL)  Bob's Father's brother was a pilot during WWII and flew "the hump". Two of his Mother's brothers served in the Army during WWII and ended up in Italy. ( The other brother was in an essential occupation and could not serve) . My step-Father could not serve in WWII since he was a farmer and considered essential. My step-brother served in the Vietnam War.  My Father served in the German Army at Verdun in WWI and Poland WWII - we couldn't decide how he fit in...  Luckily everyone made it home...

Kitten update...they are all doing well and are beginning to open their eyes. A search is on for new homes in about 8 weeks. Lili and her boyfriend Spencer seem to having some positive feedback!

Kittens

My grand daughter has been taking care of a pregnant stray cat. Since she already has two cats according to her apartment's rules she cannot have another. She tried to find a shelter that would take the cat ( very nice, very friendly and still quite young) but the shelters would abort the kittens and Lili would have none of that!  But they would accept the cat after the kittens were born, foster the little family and then adopt them out.

Lili was ok with that... took the cat to the vet to make sure all was well and prepared to wait. Well... she didn't have to wait long!!

The Mama cat was not happy to have Lili leave her while the kittens were being born... so there Lili sat.  There are now 6 little ones - 1 black, 2 black and white and three calicos. Mama did a great job though Lili said she was almost sick when the cat ate the placentas.  Mama cat is feeding and cleaning them now!!

 After several days of hot weather...  the temps dropped and it rained AGAIN. The lower temps will probably last through the weekend. 

A local plant grower has plants and a big tent in the parking lot of our closest grocery store ... and will be there for at least a month more. So I went out today and bought more flowers and grasses and herbs to plant in my boxes on the deck and in pots in front of our front steps.   The geranium I bought earlier is sending out loads of flowers and buds!!

Doctor's offics says "OK"!

 Bob  heard from the doctor's office this morning... his blood had been tested for tick diseases and came back negative! Hooray!   But we will keep an eye on ourselves for any new bites... it seems like there are more ticks this year.

We spent more time on our daughter's basement project this weekend.  She plans on painting the ceiling this coming weekend with a paint sprayer. She has ordered full cover Tyvek suits for herself and Bob. Will be interesting..

It has rained everyday ... sometimes heavily... sometimes just misting.  But today it was dry enough to mow our backyard.  I see trails of ants all over trying to find somewhere dry enough to put their eggs. Sometimes we even find them in the mailbox!  Bob gets rid of them there and receives thanks from the  mailman!!

Forgot to post so this is now Tuesday ( the next day)

Bob is going to finish his antibiotic prescription even though the test results were good! 

We took a trip this morning  to several thrift stores to drop off the latest "get rid ofs"!  I consider that a win!!  And with things staying dry, Bob is mowing the front yard.

We did set a "record"... this is the first year that we have turned on the air conditioner in May. It is set high but it will make things less humid/muggy!! Of course I hope that this will not jinx things and we will not get frost !

"Looking better !" he says

I have been taking daily pictures of Bob's tick bite ...He says it is looking better. I am not so sure but since we have had no follow up call from the doctor we are assuming that his tick wasn't a really bad one.  Bob is taking his pills and wearing loose socks  ( bite was where the elastic top on a sock is - above the ankle).

So fingers crossed...

tick bite

 Bob was bitten by a tick about a week ago. It was attached and sucking blood when he tried to remove it. He was not successful in getting all of it.. the head remained. He cleaned things up... added an antibiotic cream etc. But it did not get better. When I saw the large red area I insisted he go to the doctor.
The doctor and his nurse said I was right to insist. The red area was a type of blood poisoning. They took blood and prescribed an antibiotic pill  twice a day.  

When the blood tests come  back the doctor will know what type of tick and what to do next. Some are very serious... here's hoping Bob's tick was not!

BTW ... he wasn't out "in the woods" or anyplace unusual ... just in our daughter's back yard!! Her dogs are protected from ticks... Bob was not!!

All day rain... pouring !

 It poured all day long... well there were a few moments when it didn't but they were few and far between!!  The Kansas City Star sent out warnings of flash flooding!  The map showed a huge region from SW KC to the eastern edges of KC along the I-70 corridor.

Our backyard currently has what we call the "swimming pool" .... large areas of standing water !! Our property slopes from front to back so the backyard ends up with loads and loads of water.  Things are too wet for the water to soak in or flow into our neighbors' yards!!

made it to the end

 Well... made it through the three days of doubled lasiks... successfully... with many many trips to the bathroom!! The scale is happy with the results too.

Yesterday was a busy day too with Bob, my two daughters and me working on house and yard projects. They finally got all the mesh hardware cloth down at the bottom of the wooden yard fence... to keep the two dogs from digging their way out!!

I worked on cutting down all the volunteer bushes and vines growing up the walls - outside on the garage. I was going to cut and put everything into yard waste bags this morning but it has POURED  all day!

After this was done we all spent some time  getting the basement ready for spraying the ceiling... it is going to be a sewing room, laundry etc. Hopefully the white ceiling and colorful walls will make the room lighter and more inviting.

After this and some talk time out on the deck, Carolyn went home to see how her son/ our grandson tolerated his first covid vaccine. Dom is almost 15 and the CDC opened vaccinations up to those over 12.  He has been waiting ... being the last one in the family to be able to receive the vaccination!!

Laurel made dinner and after eating we headed home ready to collapse!  There were texts going back and forth this morning on all our aches and pains!!

dreams

I have aphib and other heart issues so I keep track of my weight... if it makes a 5 lb jump I assume I am retaining water. Well it did and I was also getting out of breath when walking into a store etc. My cardiologist upped my lasik, metropolol and potassium for three days....leads to lots of "peeing" and dreams.... finally got to the point, right?  

That addition of pills leads to weird dreams. In the last dream I spent what seemed like hours trying to peel hard boiled eggs  and chop black olives to make egg and black olive salad sandwiches. To add to it all I wasn't sure the eggs were hard boiled!  I finally told myself that everything was fine and that was the end of the dream!!

Lo-o-ong day

 Our trip to El Dorado, Kansas and back made for a long day ... about 7 hours!!

 Part of our trip went through the Flint Hills.... about 50 miles worth ! The Flint Hills are different . Rolling hills of green this time of the year. The soil is thin and tends to slide making small gullies with crumbled limestone being revealed. Very little water except for man-made ponds but where there are streams cottonwood trees are too.

Lots and lots of cattle spread out all over. I heard that this land can only support one head per acre... but with all the spring grass more cattle have been brought in.  One ranch has made a scenic outlook where  the trucks come into pick up cattle from many many pens!!

The last time we drove through the Flint Hills it was late in the summer and everything was brown and all the rock was evident..... and fewer cattle roamed!!  By the way ... in all those 50 miles I saw only three houses!!

Glad to make it home where both of us settled into our recliners for a nap!!

aches and pains

 Scout, my elder daughter's  little black puppy, decided to dig her way out of the backyard on Saturday so we all went to work!!  My daughter bought rolls of mesh screening to go at the bottom of the wooden fence.  It goes to on the grass up to the fence and is held down with long u-shaped metal rods. The grass grows through the metal mesh but the dogs don't like to dig through it. So I weed whacked along the fence so my daughter and husband could lay the metal mesh in place and hold it down.... whew... We managed about half the fence. 

The hole Scout dug was filled it !! It was almost deep enough that she could have wiggled through to the neighbor's yard!!

Teeny tiny Scout now weighs 28 lbs.... still hungry all the time ... the vet says she will probably double that !

This is how small she was!!

We were all exhausted  ( and with aches and pains) on Sunday so Mother's Day was a quiet one!!

busy... busy

 Today my latest online bear show opened!! And so I spent quite a bit of time packing up bears and adding "click and ship" labels!!  Then I pile the boxes on our front steps and leave a note in the mailbox for our postal carrier ( some days its woman some days a man).... that person gets out of the delivery jeep and walks up to my front steps and takes the boxes!!  In the jeep the boxes are checked in with a hand held screening device which reads the barcode on the "click and ship" label! All very easy peasy.

My online show bears are bought using PayPal and the "click and ship" labels are printed through the PayPal site!!

So there went my morning!!   It's nice to see the bears leaving and letting the buyers know that their purchase is on its way ( I send an email).

We went out for a short visit to my elder daughter's house later in the afternoon.  Scout and Harper were very glad to see us!  As was my daughter...lol    Tomorrow we go back for some house chores and our daughter will "reimburse" us by making dinner. Fair exchange don't you think??  

  Here's one of the bears that left today....  She's wearing one of the covid vaccine buttons I received - one for each shot!!

  BTW... our grocery store had signs up about the lack of wet ( or canned or tinned) cat food... evidently due to the manufacturer.  So we are going on  a  hunt tomorrow... Can't have Jack , the gray/black striped one, not have his food. Tigger eats dry ... Jack eats the wet.

temps back down

 I woke up in the middle of the night cold!! I have been sleeping with just a sheet for the past week or so but that just wasn't enough last night!! And the daytime temperature hasn't gotten above the mid 50's!!

Fingers crossed that it will warm up again very very soon!!

Bob had an appointment for a sonogram of the arteries in his neck this morning... no symptoms but his doctor wanted a "look see" when he went for his annual checkup last week.  He went to our local hospital's radiology dept.... in and out in less than a half hour. He said the co-payment part took the longest ! The hospital called this afternoon to tell him he had minimal plaque and to keep watching his cholesterol !

Bob's been fixing our grand daughter's coffee table... I think "someone" sat or stood on it and broke the legs. Well... it's fixed and tonight Lili came by to pick it up. She's had her two vaccines as we have so it was really nice to see her and to sit around and talk. She bought a toy for the cats... a fish that wiggles and has catnip in it.  The wiggle part is charging so we will see if the cats find it intriguing when Bob puts the wiggle part into the fish ( after it is charged )!!

Our grandson is in the 12 - 16 age range and will be able to be vaccinated shortly according to CDC guidelines!! Hooray! He's the last in our family...

not a quiet day

 Even though Bob wanted a quiet day for his birthday... it didn't work out that way. HE decided to work outside some more.... cutting up this winter's fallen branches so that they would fit in the large brown kraft paper bags the garbage company requires. Garden waste must be separated and put into a different area by the trash companies so that it can be composted -- State law. Bob has been putting the branches aside just for this "event" .. the cutting!  

Better than the outside stuff was the many phone calls he received!!  Much to his delight !!

But he was tired enough to go to bed much earlier than usual!!

Bob ..after mowing

 Bob mowed our front and most of the backyard today for the first time this year!! Afterwards... this is the result. Tigger took advantage of the available lap.

By the way... his 80th birthday is Saturday!  He has requested a quiet weekend!!

quilting meeting at long last

 All of us in my little  "quilting " group have gotten their two vaccinations so we decided it was safe to actually meet again. We would probably get together on a backyard deck but it is supposed to rain this evening....

and boy did it rain!! It poured... torrents ran all over... pools in everyone's backyards!! But we were seated around tables working away...talking ( catching up) ... eating snacks and making plans for meeting again!!

During a non-rain spell our hostess showed us her gardens. Everything is sprouting even her plot of 10 year old seeds she found in the garage and potatoes that she planted after they started sprouting. Her bed of strawberries is in bloom... lots of white flowers!!

The "show and tell" has nudged me... need to do something in my flower and herb beds!!

Work work work

We ended up yesterday spending almost 4 hours demolishing the old dog house under our older daughter's deck. We ended up with bags and bags of old shingles, wood framing, siding and so on!! Her dogs, Harper and Scout, were in love with the yellow fiberglass insulation.... a real no no !! Every time they managed to get a  piece they would run off  with it in their mouths shaking their heads. And one of us would run off after them to get it back!! Really really not good !!

We were too tired to cook dinner... the dogs were also exhausted... so it was Pizza Hut delivery! Lucky Harper and Scout were treated to pieces of crust !!

This morning I found our cats Tigger ( the tripper) and Jack sleeping together on Bob's recliner !! A very rare site! They spend more time keeping each other at bay or actually squabbling with horrendous noises!!

Off later this afternoon to finish up yesterday's demolition!! Our daughter will already be exhausted... she has lawn mowing this morning!