Early Trip to the Grocery Store

After breakfast of French Toast, sprinkled with salt and pepper (no powdered sugar, please) we had to go buy dog bones and croissants with cherry filling. I bought a pound of hamburger for supper.

The Friday Free item was available so  I picked that up. Photo below. Remind me of Cheetos without the messy fingers. Very fresh and crunchy!

Such necessary trips.

I have seen a discussion about the dates that different folks get their SS checks. . .the first Wednesday, the third Thursday, the last Friday etc.

They much have changed this since I was eligible. Mine is always on the 3rd of the month.

Thank goodness for that "insurance" plan. People say it's our money because we paid it in. Yes, we paid but it depends on how much you earned and the amount you qualify for. I feel so lucky that I worked and have that extra coming in now.  I have received so much more back than I ever paid in. I'm sure that is the case for others as well. Some people don't see it that way!

Peanut Butter

I like peanut butter. I usually buy the chunky Jif now that it's available. Lee decided he would buy some smooth and found some called Bee's Knees, from Peanut Butter & Co. since 1998. After reading the label, I discovered it has some honey in it! "peanut butter blended with scrumptious honey." We used to mix our Skippy's with honey!

When I was a kid. the oil separated from the peanut butter and we stirred it back in. This must have been before homogenized everything - well milk, anyway.

So reading more on the label of Bee's Knees, I saw that refrigeration is not necessary. And then: if Oil Separates Just Stir it back in! (their capitalization and punctuation.)

But wait. The ingredients: "Our Simple Ingredients: Peanuts, cane sugar, honey, palm oil, natural honey flavor, salt." So what is natural honey flavor?

I tried it on some wheat toast. Very nice.

Trimming

Early this morning we had to go to Orscheln's Farm Store for large (40 gallon) black garbage bags. We needed them to put branches in.

There was a big pile of limbs on the yard near our neighbor's drive-way. They were maple limbs so Lee figured they came out of our trees. The neighbor has maple trees too so who knows where they came from? They were piled up very neatly.

We came home with the bags, got the giant trash can, clippers and headed out with the Jazzy to the side walk. After we had cut up limbs, twigs and leaves, our nice neighbor came out and said she had someone coming to pick up the limbs this week!  They were from her trees and she had dragged them out and piled them up.

Lee used his new loppers and cut up all the smaller ones. The big ones are left to be picked up. We filled two of the black bags. A good work out while it was still cloudy and cool. She really thanked us for an unnecessary job!!

Micro Burst?

I heard thunder during the night. There was a little shower but this morning there were some limbs down in the front yard.

Luckily, the trimmed trees did not appear to lose any more limbs. I can only imagine the difference if we had not had the work done.

The local news mentions a micro burst. I guess I slept through that.

Back to Summer

This was a quiet day - the trimmers finished a few small branches and then cleaned up. They loaded all the limbs left from yesterday. The trailer was so full that they couldn't get them all piled up last night.

And then they raked.

And blew the driveway with a blower!

Not a leaf left. Very nice job! A little expensive but we don't have to worry about wind or ice weighing down those limbs that were just high enough to land on the new roof!

And the temperature started to climb. The weatherman said it was 90 something but felt like 100 in our town. Come on, Fall.

Trees

We've talked about having the trees trimmed. Last March the wind blew down some limbs and broke our/the neighbors fence. We got that repaired and did not want that to happen again.

We called a company recommended by the same neighbor. After an estimate we had the choice of waiting till all the leaves fell or doing it sooner. It is cheaper after the leaves fall.

We decided to do it now. I called yesterday and left a message. Today they arrived at the front door - ready to work!

So glad we're getting it done.

Ice Storms in August?

It may seem odd to think about ice storms now but we have some limbs that need to be trimmed. Last spring we had a wind storm that dropped some large limbs that in turn dropped a section of fence. That tree is still there. We need to get it trimmed so that doesn't happen again. Lee would prefer it just be taken out completely. We have already lost three trees in our back yard since we've lived here the last eleven years.

One was interfering with the electrical lines and the power and light company removed it. Then one was so close to the house that it was worrisome. We had that one removed. Then ice got the pretty V shaped tree that had both pink and white blooms on it in the spring. I hated to see that one chopped and removed. However, a bunch of tall sprigs are coming up from the base. Maybe we'll have flowers again next spring.

Poached?

I don't remember ever making a poached egg. Fried? Yes. Boiled, yes, Microwave scrambled, yes. Cooked in plastic bags in a boiling pot of water with onion, green pepper, chopped cooked bacon added, yes. (Our granddaughters in Texas thought this was a loser.)

My mom used to poach eggs. So yesterday I poached an egg!

The directions on the chicken apple sausage said to simmer it in water until heated through. It's already fully cooked. So I thought, "Hmmm, simmering water. I'll try a poached egg."

It was successful and I placed it on top of a piece of wheat toast. Very tasty.

A New ICU

Our hospital had an open house Thursday from 11:30 till 1:30. I decided to go. I worked at the hospital switchboard when the new hospital was built in 1975. Since then there have been many improvements. This one is a remarkable circular Intensive Care Unit.

The first photo is a cake made in the pattern of the hospital building! The woman who made it said it took her twenty-four hours to complete.

The next picture shows how large the room is without a patient's bed in place. Almost the whole wall has the large windows. There will be some type of shade for the sunny days.

The next photo shows where the bed will be placed. There are no head boards. All the controls are on the two movable arms.

Back to the refreshments, Besides plates of sandwiches and veggie, there was champagne. I didn't partake - driving, you know.

And the last photo shows the nurses' stations right outside the door. The windows have louvres between glass and can be opened or shut from either side.

There is also a translating device that can translate two hundred languages for non-English speakers plus sign language. 

It was very impressive and the speeches  with many thanks were long and flowery. We all stood for over an hour. If I hadn't been against a wall, I wouldn't have been able to do it! Many people stood in line for the "eats." I saw several people that I know and one of our retired doctors. He was one of two who started the ICU idea back in the 1950's at the two hospitals we had here before they merged.

One of the speakers mentioned maybe they communicated by tin cup then. I asked Dr. W. if that made him feel old. He replied, "I am old."   (Me too!)

At the same time they built this new facility, the replaced all the wiring in the whole complex. That is amazing. They made a 3D schematic of structure and closed a section at a time to install the new wiring.

I finally left about 1:15.

I was impressed.

Tiring Trip

This morning started out with a trip to the vet's at 7:30. One of our dogs has not been trained to walk on a leash. The harness we have is very complicated and trying  to get it on a wriggling dog is not easy.


We finally made it. The doctor does not arrive until eight.  The receptionist was not friendly and never made eye contact with Lee or me. She did take care of the problem.

Not a good start to the day!  It wore me out to the point that I came back home, went back to bed and slept until noon. We had been up the night before until midnight trying to solve our problem will Jill with no success.

Poor Jack stayed at home and while I am trying not to put human feelings on a pet, he looked very alert as we were going out the door without him. I imagine he wanted to go where we were going but one thirty pound dog is almost more than we can handle! Jack is only about twenty pounds.

1946

I saw a photo on another blog that showed a family reunion. This picture immediately came to mind. I don't know if I have all these people listed on the back of this photo or not - right now I can name them all. So far only the two boys in striped shirts and I (plaid shirt) are still around. The young boy in his mother's arms was killed in Vietnam.

Sixty-Six

Today is the big day. We've been married sixty-six years. And my mother-in-law told me several years after we got married at the parsonage that the reason they didn't come to the 7:30 p.m. ceremony was that she didn't think it would last and she didn't want to be a party to the crime. (Lee's sister was eleven and we are now more like real sisters. Love you, Judy.)

Fortunately, I thought that was funny. I guess we showed her!

My mom and dad were there and three friends stood outside to take our one wedding photo. I don't remember whether it was Darline, Carlene or Barb who had the camera but they forgot to advance the film.

The first photo is from about 1935 - a Tom Thumb wedding at the church. Why did those church ladies dress up little kids as bride and groom? Tom Thumb was a big deal in the circus world.

 The second is from 1952. I  think my mom was disappointed that we didn't have a church wedding. I personally thought it was a waste of money. We'd known each other three and a half months. I guess nobody thought it would last very long.

We have two sons who live far, far away. The older one also got married on August 15th without his wife even knowing that it was the same date as ours. They had a nice ceremony at the courthouse with his in-laws there and a couple of their friends. The other son and his wife eloped! Nobody can say the Nutterfields do things the traditional way. Both the daughter-in-laws are great girls/women! And now we have four granddaughters! 

Perfect. 

Tuesday

There is not much going on today. It's cloudy, cooler and a few sprinkles have fallen.

I cannot Skype with my sister-in-law. She has a temporary hearing loss. I hope it's ok by tomorrow!

I have a slight (?) hearing loss. If people don't speak up - and I don't mean shout - I have trouble hearing them. My husband told me the other day that he read that people who are hard of hearing tend to blame others...that's it THEIR fault that the listener (me) can't hear.

I'll accept that. However, why is it that from the other end of the hall I can hear him talk to the dogs and understand every word and when he talks to me, I cannot hear what he is saying? (I told him to pretend I was one of the dogs.)


Answer? It's because he mumbles and barely speaks above a whisper. I do notice that with a group around (very seldom happens here) I have trouble making out what is going on. Some folks speak very rapidly.  I should get my hearing checked and then I could see how much loss I do have. I need one of those old time ear horns. My ears are evidently no large enough to trap vocal sounds. Putting a hand behind the ear, as you see in old movies, does actually help.

So, JRC, I miss Skyping. Hope you are better tomorrow!

Cloudy

It's a cooler day with lots of clouds after a shower last night. On our trip today we parked next to a van (suv?) with the two front windows cracked about two inches. Inside was a white poodle who barked vigorously at us. The temperature was 76. I swore that was too hot for the dog. Lee says with no sun out it couldn't be that hot.
We climbed into our van and I thought it felt pretty toasty.

I have the tag number - a Reno County handicapped tag. I just hope the dog is all right. I should have left a note.

Some people have no brains.

That Number is OD

On Tuesday night we had a nice rain. Since then our house phone has not worked. Static only when we try to call out. When I called in from my cell, I got a message telling me that the number 206-xxx-xxx is busy and to leave a message. In the first place, that is not our area code. Secondly, it is one number short of a working number. Trouble somewhere.

I wanted to call Cox and report it. Lee said, "Don't bother." Every time we have a heavy rain, the phone is OD (operator lingo for Out of Order.) So we have had no calls wanting to sell us something. No calls period. I keep dialing it every few hours and was still getting the same message. . .until just a few minutes ago. It's working. No workman had to come out. I guess it just finally dried out.

I used to work as an operator at United Telephone in Russell at a cord board. Then much later, I was hired in Hutch to work at a cord board which soon transferred to a new office with fancy new consoles. I loved those jobs. At the last one, we were encouraging customers to do their own dialing which I thought was just going to put us out of a job. Who knew that a cell phone would do that? We had experience with mobile phones and they were a pain.

A long way from the rural numbers that had metal drops over the connectors in Russell! Every time we had lightning in the area, all would drop at once and we had a paint brush to sweep them all up and closed again. Those were also the time when we rang the called number with a long and a short or a short and a long. The persons on the party line was only supposed to answer their ring.

But that's how the news traveled through the countryside.  Life was certainly simple.

Remembering

Lee decided he wanted to split a milk shake. So off we went to Bogey's. Before we got there, he changed his mind. "Let's get two small ones."  O.K.  Small chocolate and the special, Fudge Stripe - for a limited time.

Mine had a doughnut shaped chocolate striped cookie on top. The total bill? $7.72. It seems the extra cookies (more throughout the shake) were an extra ninety cents. L' s - $3.09 and mine was $3.99. Sixty four cents sales tax. They were delicious.

The sad thing about living this long is you can remember when a milk shake was made in a large metal container, served in a glass with the remainder in the steel cup served along side to refill your glass and it was twenty-five cents plus one cent sales tax. (Two cents kicked in at about at about a sixty-four cent purchase.)

Time do march on.

Weird Things

Some days are stranger than others.

Today Lee had an appointment at the clinic at 10:45. We were home all morning and received no phone calls. When we arrived to check in, the receptionist said they had been trying to call us this morning, The doctor is sick today. We need to reschedule.  O.k. We were home all morning and neither phone rang. I asked her which phone she called and she gave me the cell number. I wish I had looked at the phone then to see when the call was made that we missed.

But I did not. Suddenly the phone rang. I looked at the number and did not recognize it so did not answer while I was talking with her.

I wish I had.

It was 10:37. After we got home, I returned that call. Guess what. It was the from receptionist desk of the doctor where I was standing.

I wonder if they thought I wouldn't notice the time the call was made - 10:37.

I sure wish I had answered it!  There were no other calls received on either phone this morning. Anybody can make a mistake, but don't try to fool an old person. We can usually figure things out if we're given enough time.

Thunder Storm

Jill is tan and Jack is black.

We had a shower about 2:30 a.m. Jill was pacing the floor. Usually the bathroom door is shut but when I opened it, in she went. We have noticed this is her hiding place when firecrackers or thunder can be heard.

Jack was asleep on the bed, in the middle, as usual.

Why are the bullies afraid? Jack is the one being bullied and the only thing he is fearful of is Jill.

Sunday

A pretty quiet day until I found out that Lee fell during the night. I must sleep very soundly because I did not hear it happen. He hit a bedside table instead of a wall this time.

Struggling to know just what to do about this.

Red and Blue and Some White

This one is finished. It measures 58" x 45" and I guess that's big enough to wrap up in this winter.

I never know how big one will be. I try to measure from my chin to the floor while standing but they still come out in many different dimensions!

And then my dear sister-in-law manages to outdo me by making them the size of a double bed. Now that's an afghan!!

Mysery Solved

The weird credit card case is now explained.

I went to "the Google" and looked up the name of the business on the letterhead. It was a company who supplies products for  pets.

We had purchased heart worm medication for our two dogs and this was the form of the rebate. Lee peeled back the sticker covering the amount and each card is worth $5.00.

The letter states we can use them anywhere they are accepted.

Maybe we can use them at the vet's

False Alarm

So we were at the doctor's office at 8:15. Lee got right in - right back out. They will schedule the surgery for October. He wasn't surprised. I was. I should have known they want you to stop blood thinners for a week.

It's another not so hot day! We are so lucky not to have the fires, floods, storms that are all over the rest of the country.

I am almost finished with my latest afghan. Lee says, "Who is it for?"  Me: "Don't know." He says I should keep it for myself. When it's done, I'll put a picture up. I do like the colors this time.

The Clinic - Again

It seems that all we do is go to the clinic. Luckily we are about 1 mile away.

We needed to schedule some minor surgery for Lee.  Whenever and if he couldn't get in before September 17th, he could take my yearly appointment and I would reschedule.

I told the receptionist we needed an appointment. There had been a cancellation.  How about tomorrow at 8:30?



Wow!