Sunshine Saturday

I must have really been tired last night, I do not even remember my head hitting the pillow and I slept through the night until about 0530 this morning. Once I got up I put Aaron's guitar wraps into the dryer and then made my Saturday morning omelet. While it was cooking I cleaned out several things out of the refrigerator that had spoiled and emptied the dishwasher.


After breakfast, I took the wraps out of the drier and folded them. Then I poured myself a fresh cup of coffee and read the paper. Andrea called and wanted to know if we wanted to come over today to see their new place. Kathleen was not up yet so I told her that we needed to put another coat of sealant on the grout and after that we might be able to get over there.


Kathleen got up and came downstairs around 1100 and it was after noon before we got to working on sealing the grout. After we finished sealing the grout, I went outside and did a little more trimming on the birds nest spruce.

Shortly after I finished that Aaron came over to pick up the wraps for the guitars. He also brought the finished guitars over so we got to see them and I helped him wrap them up. He was going to try to get them to FedEx to send them off today.


Andrea called back and said that they were going to be going to church in about an hour or so and since we had our Sunday School Christmas dinner tonight at 1800 we decided that it would not be a good idea to try to go over there today...maybe tomorrow.


We just got back from the dinner, it was fixed up really nicely and the food was good as well. I think that everyone had a really good time. It seemed much more relaxed than some of the ones that we have had in the past.


Well, to day was a nice sunny day and tonight is nice and clear, so tomorrow morning there ought to be a lot of frost on the windows. My knee is really bothering me and it is oozing so I think that I will call it a day and say good night!

Fatigued Friday

I slept in until 0730 this morning; I think that I was making up a little from my lack of sleep a couple of days ago. Since today was yard debris pick-up day when I got downstairs, I went out side to add some more to the can, that I had put up front last night, but to my surprise it had already been picked up.

So I went ahead and trimmed the Birds Nest Spruce as it was growing into the sidewalk leading up to the front porch. I am planning on taking it out eventually, but I wanted to trim it back until I got the opportunity and the energy to actually cut it out and dig out the roots.

After putting my tools away, I went into the house and made myself a pot of coffee and some oatmeal for breakfast. After breakfast I emptied the dishwasher and put in my breakfast bowl and silverware. Then I took the kitchen vegetable scraps and coffee grounds out to the compost tumbler. This was the first time in about a month that I have been able to use my right hand to turn the tumbler and I could feel the loss of strength in my right wrist.

For the last few days I have been keeping my splint off unless I went out somewhere and that was more of a reminder that it was not at full strength and also so that those who did not know would realize that my wrist was injured. It has felt pretty good not having it on although my wrists have been hurting a lot more these last few days. Part of it may also be due to the cool damp weather and some of it due to my using it more without the splint.

Anyway, after coming back inside and cleaning up, I read the paper at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. Aaron came over to drop off some cloth for Kathleen to make some protective covers for his guitars to protect them in shipping and also for use as protective covers afterwards.

While he was still here Kathleen took her sewing machine to Montivilla Sewing Center to correct a problem that she was having and also to get a new software updated for it. Aaron took off just before 1100 as he had a dentist appointment to go to.

Kathleen came back and a little after noon and set up her machine again. Andrea had called earlier this morning wanting us to come over and help her pack/watch Brandon so I told Kathleen that we probably ought to do that because if we waited too long we would not be doing her much good.

I made myself a turkey and dill pickle sandwich and then we took off to help her pack as she and John are hoping to move tonight and tomorrow. I took apart Brandon's crib and then watched Brandon while Andrea and Kathleen packed up some of the kitchen items.

We left about 1530, so that we could miss most of the traffic, although we did run into enough the way it was. Andrea had put Brandon down for a nap before we left so she could pack by herself and did not need someone else to watch him.

I felt bad that I would not be able to help with the actual move, but I did not think it would do my wrist any good to do that and I stood a good chance of re-injuring it. I still have not seen the house, I guess now I will see it once the get moved in.

For dinner tonight we reheated our left-over dinner from Giuseppe's last night as we were both too tired to do much of anything else. We did not get to give the grout a second coat of sealer today, there just seemed to be too many urgent things that got in the way.

Right now Kathleen is busy finishing up Aaron's guitar sacks and I am trying to stay awake at my computer. Well with that said, I think that I will just say good night.

Thursday's Tiles

Well, this morning I was awake by 0430 and could not get back to sleep, so I just got up. I think it was from the late nap that I took yesterday, now I am ready to crash again. Oh well, now for today’s tail.

Since I was up so early I read the paper when it got here and then made a pot of coffee and started my omelet. Kathleen came downstairs and made herself some English muffins. The mail came as I was clearing the breakfast dishes and putting them into the dishwasher. I went through the mail at the kitchen table but there really was not much there.

After recycling the paper and the mail, I put on my work jeans and went up into the attic to see if I could the light switch wiring in the north bedroom. I disconnected the wire to the light and then found where the switch came from. I noticed some very creative wiring, and was able to eliminate a junction box and abut ten or twelve feet of wire.

Once I had cleaned up that mess, I connected the wires up the way they should have been and then looked down at the switch, which was on but the lights were still not on. I had to climb down and take the switch plate off and then remove the switch from the box to see what color the wires were and to which side of the switch they were connected to.

After seeing how they were connected, I went back upstairs and rewired the junction box so that the switch would work...and surprise, surprise...it did. As I was going back to the entry hatch, the overhead light went out, so I had Kathleen check to see what else was out.

She told me, so I traced that wire to another junction box and noticed that one of the wire nuts was not tight. I tightened it and the overhead light came on and so did the light plugged into the outlet that was out before. I made my way down the hatch before anything else went out.

The wiring is so messed up, that every time I have had to fix one thing, it not only takes me five times as long as it should, but I have to fix two or three other things in the process. I am not sure what is in worse shape, the wiring or the plumbing! Both are in really sad shape. I have fixed several things, but I almost need to replace both the plumbing and the wiring in most of the house.

It only took me from 1030 until 1130 to fix the wiring this morning, much quicker than yesterday. After cleaning up I went downstairs to sit down and relax, but that only lasted a short time. I thought I had better ask Kathleen when she was planning on sealing the grout. We could have gotten the toilet and the sink put in today, but we needed to have had the grouting done already.

When I got upstairs she was in the bathroom contemplating doing the grout. So I got a bucket of warm water and she cut up a couple sponges. We finished about 1630. I went downstairs and promptly fell asleep in my easy chair, I probably still would be sleeping except Toni called and wanted to know if we had left yet for Giuseppe's, a nice Italian restaurant.

We had not, so I made it upstairs and changed into my good jean shorts and off we went. Toni, Andrea and Brandon were already there, so we joined them. Chucky was coming from work and would join us after a while. Dinner was good, but I was really tired from being up so early.

We finally got home about 1730 and I am ready to crash, as soon as I finish this, I think I will call it a day. I think I probably wrote enough for one day, so I am just going to say good night.

Wednesdday's Wirings

Well, where do I begin? After breakfast and emptying the dishwasher, I read the paper and made myself a pot of coffee. After the paper I started to clean off the counter and the stove top. I had noticed some ants, and thought that I would make it less attractive for them by scrubbing everything and getting rid of anything that might attract them.

I heard the mail come, so I got it and opened it, not much there except a couple sales fliers. I took something upstairs, and Kathleen was up so I told her about the ants and she came down stairs to look.

While she was there she made herself some breakfast, so I told her that when she got done I would need her to shut off the circuit breaker so that I could work on the wiring in the attic. When I went up there, I thought that it would probably be about a half hour job.

I finally tracked down the wire, but it seemed to be hot at one end and nothing at the other, so I used my tester to determine where the current stopped. I had hoped that it was in a connection somewhere, but it was the wire.

So I went back down and got my box of wire and replace the wire that was bad. Well that fixed the wire and the lights that were not working before. So I gathered everything up and climbed back down the ladder. Then when I went to turn off the light in the bedroom where the hatch to the attic was it would not go off...so back up to the attic again.

I traced where the wire was, and it was loose, so I reconnected it and asked Kathleen to turn it off, again it did not go off. I wiggled the wire at the light and I could see the light go off and on downstairs, so I went back down and took the light fixture apart and there was a loose wire, so I rerouted it and reconnected it. That still did not fix it, so I took the switch out and replaced it, but again it still stays on all the time.

I had been up in the attic for about three and a half hours and my body was really aching, so I decided that I would just leave it on for now and go back up into the attic tomorrow. The attic is so full of wires that either go nowhere or are inter connected. I have wanted to redo it all for a long time and it looks like I am getting my chance to do at least a few of them.

While I was up in the attic earlier, I had rewired a wire and eliminated a connection box and a couple wires that went no where. There must be yards of wire that just wind around, I eliminated about twenty feet of wire earlier and there is two or three times that much more that I could eliminate when I get the energy.

I was really exhausted and tire by the time I finally got out of my clothes and into my shorts and tee shirt. Kathleen made me a couple salmon, onion and lettuce sandwiches and when I finished them I went upstairs and took a nap from about 1600 until 1945. Kathleen is now heating up some beef stew for dinner, I am still so tired and sore that I did not make it to tonight’s gathering with the guys.

Well, my wrists are really hurting and every so often they freeze up on me, so I think that I am just going to say good night and call it a day.

Tuesday's Turnaround

"the water had receded from the earth". I think that this verse is appropriate for us today, as after three straight days of steady rain, over three inches, this morning when I got up it was not raining. Our back yard was beginning to look like a swamp and from the living room looking out toward the street; it looked like we had lake front property.

Kathleen got up before 0800 this morning, and made herself breakfast; I was still reading the paper, so I made myself an omelet when I got done. Afterwards, I emptied the dishwasher and then did the dishes in the sink.

As I was finishing up it started to downpour, but it only lasted for about twenty minutes or so. After it stopped I went outside and picked up some fir branches and cones, but for as stormy as it was suppose to be there was really very little that had fallen. Then I got out my hoe and re-trenched some of my water runoff ditches, in the summer time they are where the grass and garden meet and I call it edging.

While doing it I discovered that a root that I thought belonged to one of my rhododendrons really did not, so I got out my stubbing hoe and chopped it out. that will also make it easier for my trench to work better. I also pulled out a filbert tree that was starting to grow near my Japanese maple tree.

While I was out I decided that I would transfer the electric cord to the new reel, so I got the old one out and unwound the wire and then rewound it up onto the new one. It was really too muddy outside, so once I finished those couple things, I went back inside and cleaned up. I decided to go up into the attic and put up the string of lights that I put together yesterday. I stretched them out and hung them up in the peek of the attic.

I had planned to do some more, but my knee got to hurting so much that I had all I could do to make it back to the hatch and get out of the attic. I thought that after "babying it for the last month I would be alright to knee in the attic, but it is still really tender. I kind of think that it might be the nerves that are causing the pain rather than the knee itself, but what-ever it is sure sore.

Kathleen had gone out to Mount Hood Community College to see one of her friends, this morning, and she finally got back around 1800. It what then that I discovered that the outside light was not working, so I must have moved one of the wires and now I will need to get back up into the attic tomorrow.

It seems that our bedroom ceiling light is also out, so it must be a wire got disconnected somehow. Oh some of the joys of owning an older house! I sometimes feel like I take one step forward and three steps backwards.

While Kathleen was out she stopped by Fred Meyer to pick up one of her prescriptions, and while she was there she picked up a nice Chinook Salmon fillet, so that a couple baked potatoes and some mixed vegetables is what we had for dinner.

It looks like our rain is scheduled to return again tomorrow, it was nice not to have it today, but this time of year it is almost expected to be wet outside. I am just thankful that we did not get the strong winds that some places got and because we are high enough up we were not affected by any high water from rivers overflowing their banks.

I guess I will call it a day, I did get a few things done today, and maybe with the help of knee pads, I can make the trip into the attic with out too much pain. We still need to put the sealant on the grout, but we almost need two people to do that and Kathleen was gone most of the day.

As you can see, I am writing longer blogs again, I have not been wearing my splint very much lately, only if I am going something that might injure it or when I go out. Mainly to let people know that it is still injured or at least not at full strength. Well, it is time to say good night for today.

Mopping up Monday

Well it was still raining this morning when I got up...almost three inches worth over the last three days. The temperature was in the fifties this morning and got up to the sixties. Is this really December?

After making and eating my oatmeal I emptied the dishwasher, did some of the dishes in the sink and added my breakfast dishes to the dishwasher. Then I went into the living room and read the paper. The mail came before I had a chance to read the paper, so after I finished the paper I got the mail. I got a one hundred dollar check from a contest that I had entered and that was my winnings. Kind of a belated birthday present I suppose.

I was getting cabin fever from having to be inside for the better part of the last three days, so when the rain slowed to a drizzle, I went outside and redid a couple of my trenches to divert the water away from the house and driveway.

Before I knew it, it started raining really hard again, so I went inside. About a month ago I bought a sting of work light, that I put together, basically adding the plastic cage to the sockets and putting light bulbs in them. I plan to use them in the attic while I do some work up there, and then the garage when I do some rewiring.

Luckily I had gotten several catalogs in the mail today, so I looked through all of them and before I knew it, it was 1600, so I took a shower and got ready for going to Alyssa's for Natalie's birthday dinner and family party.

Alyssa is having a party for Natalie on Saturday with several of Natalie's friends, but decided to have a dinner and cake tonight for the family. I am sure that she will be posting about it tonight along with some pictures, so no need for me to do that here.

We got home about 2000 and both of us were really tired. I think that it has something to do with the anticipation of the wind storm that kind of put an emotional strain on us. Well that is it for tonight, so I guess that I will say good night and call it a day.

Soggy Sunday

As I sit here writing this it is 49 degrees out and before the night is over the temperature is suppose to get to the mid-fifties. What is wrong with this picture? Unfortunately for us, we are getting the left-over from a couple South Pacific typhoons, hence the rain and the 109 wind gusts on the coast with even higher expected winds tomorrow.

Let me back track a little, I woke up this morning, hoping that I would feel well enough to make it to church or at least Sunday School, but my sinus' were draining so much and irritating my throat that I could not stop coughing. Then when Kathleen got up she did not feel very well either, so we just stayed home. When I first woke up my eyes were just about glued shut with eye goo.

Yesterday at Alyssa's my eyes were really burning and itchy, so I must have gotten into something that irritated them. I am not sure what it was, but that is probably the same thing that is causing my sinuses to be so active as well. I think that I will have to take some medicine to see if I can get my sinuses to calm down a bit.

After eating my morning oatmeal, I unloaded the dishwasher and then went into the living room and read the paper and comics. While reading the paper, I got up a few times and put the caps on the outside faucets, although I do not think that there is any danger of freezing at least for the next few days or so. I also got all my 18 volt batteries and charged them up in case we loose our power tonight or tomorrow.

I also transferred my tools into the new bags that I bought last night. I think that both of them are going to work out pretty well. Right now I have my electrical tools in two heavy nylon bags; one is a little bigger than the other and some spare parts in a medium size plastic container.

I have my carpentry tools in a large heavy nylon bag and a large plastic container, and I have my plumbing tools in a medium size canvas bag. I also have some spare pieces of pipe other spare parts in a medium size canvas bag and a medium plastic container.

I did not get much done this afternoon except cut coupons and organize some of my cordless power tools a little. Most of them have been scattered all over the place and now I have them in two places. I even found one that I could not find, I had seen it and just could not remember where, so it was nice to find it.

I also tested all my 18 volt batteries and found that one of them was defective, so I know not to try to charge it. Now I just need to get ride of it, so that I do not try to use it some time in the future. I did use a "Sharpie" and put a "D" on it to remind me until I can dispose of it.

Tonight Kathleen heated up some left-over Thanksgiving turkey and made a couple baked potatoes. I think yesterday was the first day that we have not had turkey in one form or another since Thanksgiving.

Well, I am sure that I will be hitting the sack early tonight to try to get some sleep before the high winds hit, so that just in case they wake me up, at least I will have gotten some sleep. So until my next blog this is good night!

Saturday's Surprises

Well this morning I had a meeting at church that lasted until about 1130 and by the time I got home it was time to go to Alyssa's for my lunch party. We left the house about 1215, because we had to stop at Winco to pick up some things for the salads.

We did not get out of there until almost 1300, because we picked up a few items that we would need just in case we get the storm that they are predicting that we are suppose to get. Anyway, we finally made it to Alyssa's; Andrea, John and Brandon were there already, but Tami and the girls got there a little later.

Aaron stopped by for a little while as we were finishing eating and was able to share in the "Happy
Birthday" singing and also the angle food cake, but had to get back to work. Toni and Chucky stopped by after Toni got off work, so eventually I had all four of the children, their spouses and all six grandchildren...the makings of a truly happy birthday!

We finally got back home about 1930 after a stop a Home Depot and the gas station. I wanted to stop at Home Depot as they had a couple things that I wanted to pick up with the money that I got for my birthday and also the Home Depot gift card.

I got an electrician's bag with some tools in it and also a general bag for larger tools like hand saws and wood working type tools.

Kathleen heated up the last of the turkey soup and made some melted cheese sandwiches using garlic Italian bread. Well, I am exhausted, I had not stopped to really rest since I got up this morning. Not that I did anything strenuous, but just that I did not have any alone time.

I had a good time with the grandchildren, I read stories to all of them except Brandon, he was too busy crawling around the floor and climbing up on things. It has been a good day, one of my better birthdays in a while. I am not sure why, but I enjoyed it more and was not disappointed after everything was said and done.

I guess that is about it for today, good night and thanks for the memories!

Finding Friday Fun

Well this morning when I got up I called my Mother and wished her a Happy Birthday, even though it was about 0700 here it was about 1000 in New York, so I knew that she would be up. We had sent her some flowers and she said that she really liked them. My sister Sue told me that as well.

It is always a little scary to order flowers and not really know what they will look like, but several years ago I had asked Sue is she could recommend a good florist and she recommended one to us and we have been using them ever since and always had good luck.

After talking to my Mother I did my computer stuff and then took off to meet with the guys for breakfast. It was really crowed and we had to wait fifteen or twenty minutes to get seated, but the food was good once we got it and we did not leave until after 1000.

When I got home, I called Stan and let him know that I was back and he could come over and do the caulking and put up the molding around our new door. He got here around 1100 and worked until about 1730. Next week he is going to be working on another job, so Kathleen and I will be sealing the grout and painting the ceiling and walls.

He did say that he would stop by one afternoon and help put in the new toilet and sink, so maybe we will be able to actually use it next week. It is hard to believe just how much better the "new" bathroom looks compared to the "old" bathroom. Even without the sink and toilet, it looks good.

For lunch I made myself a sardine and dill pickled relish sandwich, while this may not be quite as tempting as Alyssa's phyllo filled "left-over turkey, potato and dressing" wrap, it is easy to make and in case of power failure you can still have this as a meal. Try that with your fancy wrap!

Actually it really looked good, especially since we had left-over turkey, mashed potatoes and dressing for dinner tonight, but I do not think that Kathleen saw Alyssa's blog when she heated our dinner in the micro-wave.

Well, just getting out on my own was fun today, as was meeting with the guys, some simple things that I have not been able to do for about a month. Since I cannot think of anything else to say, I think that I am just going to say good night and Happy Birthday Mom!

Tiling Thursday

Well today Stan got here about 0900 and grouted the walls and then the floor; it took him until about 1530 to finish. Now it just has to sit for seventy-two hours before we can do anything else to it.

I think that tomorrow he is going to caulk around the edges and maybe up the molding around the door. Then next week we can start putting the fixtures in i.e. sink and toilet. Since there was not much I could do while Stan was grouting, I dinked around the house.

I vacuumed the downstairs, washed dishes, and watered the house plants, which reminds me, our Christmas cactus is really starting to bloom nicely. I also went outside and dug a couple channels to help the rain water drain to where I wanted it to go better.

Luckily I got several catalogs in the mail today, so I flipped through them to kill some time. I also loaded some of the updates for my laptop as Kathleen has had it in her sewing room for a while and I had not gotten to update any of the software for a long time.

Tomorrow morning I am suppose to go to breakfast with the guys, it will be my first time driving since I fractured my wrist. I only wore the splint for part of the day, and I tried to use it as much as possible so that I can start building up strength in it again.

Well, not a very exciting day, but that is the way many of them are. I guess I will just say good night and call it a day.

Wednesday Work

Since Stan was not coming over today, I took my time getting going and before I had a chance to start on the tile, Jack called and wanted to come over to fix some of the problems that we brought to his attention the other day.

While I was waiting for him to get here, I swept and vacuumed the upstairs bathroom floor, then I started to scrap out the extra dry mud from between the tile so that Stan could start grouting when I gets here tomorrow.

I got most of the long wall done when Jack got here, so I stopped so that he would not have me in the way. While he was working, I read the paper and the mail and just kind of puttered around the house.

Jack worked for about three hours and then I helped him take his tools out to his van. Then I started back on my project for the day. I could only work for short periods of time as I was getting too stiff and my wrists would get to hurting too much.

I did not wear either my old splint or my new one while I was scrapping, but I wore the two wrist supports that I bought yesterday. They gave me a lot more movement and a little support, but by the time I finished me wrists were both really sore.

Kathleen had called Stan to let him know that I had discovered a tile that had not been set in place with the mud and also one of the glass tiles was really loose, so after he finished his other job, he stopped by and put some mud on them and reset them.

He also said that my scrapping looked really good and that he would be back tomorrow morning to start grouting. After Stan left, I watched the news and Kathleen made some spaghetti for dinner.

Well, my wrists are letting me know that I exercised them today, but it is nice keyboarding without that old splint on. The new one that I bought does not come up as high in my palm and I am able to use my fingers better. With that, I think that it is time for me to say good night.

Tempting Temperature Tuesday

Well, this morning it was not windy or rainy out so after I had my omelet and read the paper and mail, I went out and worked in the yard. Since Stan was not working here today, I could do what I wanted to do, well almost.

I pulled weeds in the rose garden, berry patch and under the fir trees. I also worked on the raspberries, and took myself for a little walk, something I had not done since my fall. I could not do as much as I would have liked to as Kathleen had her doctor's appointment at 1300, so I needed to stop and get cleaned up a little after noon.

We got in right away and the doctor spent about an hour with Kathleen, she seemed pretty nice and knowledgeable. She was Romanian and specialized in the Endocrine system, so hopefully she will be able to help Kathleen get her thyroid under control. She also asked questions about Kathleen's diabetes and cholesterol level, so maybe she can attack several of Kathleen's problems at the same time.

She gave Kathleen a new prescription, so after we left the hospital we made a quick stop at the credit union so that I could deposit a check. Then we stopped at Home Depot so that I could pick up a few things that I needed for the remodeling.

Finally we went to Fred Meyer to pick up a prescription, but there was a problem so it took over two hours to get every thing corrected. I bought a different wrist brace, this one is not as long and is not as annoying, it also has gel in it as well as the steel like my old one had. I also bought a couple really small wrist supports, one for my sprained left wrist and one for my right wrist when I take the brace off.

We finally made it home at 1740. We were both pretty tired so Kathleen fixed me some chicken gumbo soup and some lentil soup for herself.

I think that is about it for today, I am still not sure if Stan is coming over tomorrow, so I am not sure what I will be doing tomorrow. Well, I guess all that is left is a good night!

Monday's Make-over

Stan got here this morning around 0830 and we finished laying all the tile. Now we will have to wait a couple of days before we can grout. So before Stan took off today we hooked up the switches for the overhead light and the light/fan/heater/night-light unit. We tried the out and everything works!

While Stan and I were working on the electrical, Jack stopped by with his plans for the sideboard and hutch for the dining-room, and we shared some of our concerns about the work he did in the bathroom. There was nothing really major, just a few things that are a little annoying.

We figured that as long as we were having the work done we might as well have it the way Kathleen wants it. Also the molding he put up was a different color white than the cabinets, so we would like him to paint them the same color.

Alyssa come by as Kathleen is taking her to the doctor's to see what can be done to prevent her from getting kidney stones so frequently. So they took off and I helped Stan clean up his equipment and he left around 1430. Stan will not be back until Wednesday or Thursday as he is working at another customer's house.

As soon as I got cleaned up I made myself another Limburger and herring sandwich, yum, yum! Once that was finished I emptied that dishwasher and then added some more dishes. Then I went into the living room and read the paper. After I finished the paper, I added it to the recycling and took it outside.

Kathleen is still not back, but she is planning on having left-overs tonight, since I eat dinner around 1500 I am not all that hungry yet. Tomorrow Kathleen has her own doctor's appointment, I had not planned on going with her as I thought that I would be working on the house, but now it looks like I will be able to go with her.

Well, I think that is it for today, so I think I will just say good night.

Sunday's Scrapping

Well, this morning we made it to church but not without a little excitement. We saw that the lawn was white from frost but did not take into account that we would need to scrape the windows of the car. So first we had to find an ice scrapper, I found an extra one that I had in the garage, but using it with my left hand was not the easiest thing for me to do.

After church I change back into my shorts and tee shirt, this was the first time that I have worn long pants in six weeks and also the first time I have worn a long sleeve shirt since last winter. Then when I got back downstairs I made myself a Limburger and herring sandwich, what a delicacy!

After reading the paper, I did a couple loads of laundry, folded and put it away, but that was about all I got done today. For dinner tonight we had some of the turkey soup that Kathleen made. It give it a little special flavor Kathleen added some Lingenberries.

Well, I guess that this is it for the weekend. Tomorrow Stan should finish the tiling and the in a couple days he can do the grouting then maybe we can even put the toilet and sink in. So maybe next week we will once again have an upstairs bathroom. That means no more middle of the night trips downstairs.

I cannot think of anything else to say for today, other than it was cold all day. So I guess that I will just say good night.

So-long Sunshine Saturday

Well, the weather is once again changing, it was not nearly as windy as it has been the last few days but it also was not as sunny either. Since Kathleen went grocery shopping yesterday I was able to make my Saturday morning omelet with onions and mushrooms.

After eating, I emptied the dishwasher and then got the mail as it arrived just as I was finishing the dishes. Not much of anything, except for My American Express Gold credit card bill. Jack arrived about 1030 and worked most of the day on the molding and installing the doors, draws and their respective hardware.

While he was working upstairs I swept and mopped the kitchen floor. Once the floor was dry I put the rugs back down and then washed some of the pots and pans that had been sitting around for a couple days. With only one good hand, washing the pots and pans is difficult to say the least.

I had also re-hooked up the charger earlier this morning and when I rechecked it the battery had charged, so I unplugged it and put the charger away. I then hooked up a solar battery charger that I had bought last summer to see if that would keep the battery charged. I had kept forgetting about it when I had charged the battery before.

I also dug up an arborvitae and cut it up into small pieces. Jack discovered that he had forgotten something so he had to run home to pick it up. By this time it was lunch time so I mixed the left over potato chowder and Kathleen's bean and bacon soup and had it with a herring sandwich.

I finished just as Jack returned with the long pieces of molding he had forgotten. Jack finally finished around 1600 and other than not having a toilet or sink the bathroom really is starting to look like a real bathroom.

Tonight we are having some left-over turkey and stuffing for dinner and I think Kathleen is going to cook the bones to make some turkey soup. Well, I am tired, my wrist is sore and I think it is just time to call it a week and say good night.

Friday's Finish

This morning after breakfast I went outside and finished pruning the roses. I did not do the two by the back steps to the basement as I was not sure how I wanted them to look. I also hooked up the charger to the Jeep. I figured that even if I could not drive it I could run it for a while once a week or so.

I also cut the rose buds and put them into a couple vases, I thought that if I left them outside they probably would not bloom anyway. While I was back in the rose garden I noticed a blackberry bush coming through the fence, so I got my shovel and dug it out.

Then I got my pruners and went to work on the mugo pine. I mostly cut the dead branches out of it although I did cut out some of the green branches to give it a little better shape. I am going to dig it out eventually, but just not right now.

I was getting tired, so I went inside, cleaned up and made myself some lunch. There was just a little of the ground turkey, rice and pea dish that Kathleen made the other night, so I finished that and added a can of sardines to it.

Kathleen left to go grocery shopping, she asked me to go, but I was too tired from working in the yard the last couple of days. While she was gone, Aaron stopped by to return some of my things so I got to see his new car. It looked pretty nice and is more practical then his old car.

Kathleen came home around 1700 with lots of groceries, so I helped her unload the car and put things away. She was tired from shopping so she heated up a can of minestrone soup for me and she had a can of bean soup.

Well, it is hard to believe that this is the last weekend in November, but it is! I think that I have run out of energy, so I am just going to call it a night and say good night.

Thursday's Thanksgiving

Well, I actually slept in until after 0800. After putting the dishes away and putting more into the dishwasher, I went outside and raked leaves. It was still pretty windy, but there were not that many leaves to contend with.

Once I had the leaves up, I decided that I would mow, so I got out my Honda mower as with all the raking some of the grass the does not get cut very close to the ground was sticking up. It also gave me to try to run the rest of the gas out of the mower. Well, I finished both front, back and sides of our lawn then I mowed my neighbor’s lawn and the driveway strip of my other neighbor's next to our fence.

After doing all that I still had some gas left, so I mowed our front lawn again, this time going in the opposite direction giving it a diamond effect. I still had about a quarter of a tank left, but I decided to put the mower away and maybe do it some other time.

I had not gone anywhere in my jeep lately, so I got my key and went to start it to charge the battery a little...too late! I thought about pulling the battery and putting it on my charger, but I decided to wait until I could drive it if it were charged.

It was so sunny out that I wanted to stay outside as long as I could, so I got out my pruners and started giving my roses their winter pruning. I left a couple rose buds and flowers and I will need to go back and finish them up. I got all the roses in the two big rose gardens in the back yard and a couple along the driveway done.

My barrel was full so I stopped, knowing that I needed to do a couple of the others later anyway. As I was doing the roses along the driveway I noticed a five foot hawthorn tree growing, so I got out my shovel and dug it out.

By this time I was getting pretty tired, so I went into the house and got cleaned up and made myself a baby spinach leaf salad. After putting my bowl into the dishwasher, I went in and went through the paper. I think it was one of the largest papers that I can remember.

After finishing looking through the paper and the ads, I took a shower and got ready to go to Alyssa and Dan's for Thanksgiving dinner. When we got there Andrea, John and Brandon were there and Alyssa and Andrea were working on putting the finishing touches on dinner.

Aaron, Tami and their girls arrived a short time latter. They came in their new vehicle, but by now it was too dark out to see it. After a while longer Dan and the children came from Dan's Mom's and Chucky showed up as well. Toni did not come as she had to get up for the early sale at JC Pennies.

The food was all so good that I could have eaten a lot more, but I just took one helping of everything...well except for Alyssa's yams and Kathleen's stuffing. I needed to have a little extra of those two. Andrea had made a couple of pies, a pumpkin and a lemon meringue, but everyone was so stuffed that we did not even slice them.

Normally after our big family meals I would wash the dishes, but this year because of my wrist being in the splint I was not able to do it. We finally made it home and it was almost 2200. I was just a little too tired to do my blog then, so you are getting it now instead.

I hope that everyone had a really Happy Thanksgiving!

Windy Wednesday

Stan called again this morning and said that he was running late and that he was on his way to Home Depot to pick up another bag of mud mix. So I decided to vacuum the living room and the entry way as that is where most of the fir needles land.

Then since it was a pretty nice day, I went out and swept off the front porch to get rid of the fir needles there. After I finished that, I got out my blower, the first time I had used it since my fall a couple of weeks ago, and blow off the sidewalk.

Once I finished the sidewalk, I decided to do the driveway as well. This time I was really aware of where I was when I was winding up the electric cord. Stan still was not here so I decided to do some pruning in the back yard.

Stan came as I was cutting up some of the branches I had cut, so when I finished cutting up the few branches that I had left, I helped Stan unload some of his tools. After he mixed up the mud we went upstairs to see what we needed to do, he also needed to let the mud set for ten minutes or so.

Once the mud had set up, Stan marked up a few tiles for me to cut while he put up some more full tiles. We finished the wall by the door and behind where the toilet goes and then started on the short wall between the shower and the vanity.

We finished that wall and continued along that wall up to the wall behind the sink. Stan needed to go across town and pick up something for another customer, so he had to stop and clean everything up to get there before the place closed.

I helped clean up the tile saw and gathered up the tools. Since it was getting late, Stan took off, so I stacked all the tool boxes on the porch and took apart the tile saw and put it there as well. Stan said that he would be back when he picked it up and delivered it to the customer.

Now I get four days off to try to get some yard work done. Right now I am looking forward to getting back to my schedule instead of working around Stan's schedule. I fell asleep in my chair tonight before dinner, so I kind of know that I over did a little.

Well, my wrist is telling me that I have keyboarded enough tonight. I think that I will say Happy Thanksgiving and good night!

Tuesday's Tiling

Stan called this morning and said that he would be late this morning, so I picked up some of the debris outside. I would have liked to have been able to rake some leaves in the back yard, but everything was just too wet, so I went back inside and vacuumed the downstairs.

Stan got here around 1000 and after getting everything unloaded from his pickup, he takes most of his tools home each night, and getting the tile saw set up he mixed the mud for the tile. We were able to finish the two walls we started yesterday and just about finished the other side of the door and the area behind the toilet. We also installed the counter top so tomorrow we will be able to finish were we left off today and then hopefully start and finish the area around the sink.

Tonight when it got dark, I put on my headlight, a LED light that is on an elastic band that one wears on their head, so that I could see where to make my cuts. Then as we were cleaning up, I noticed that the moon was getting rather large and there was kind of a halo around it from the fog that was forming.

The days are nice with the temperature in the 40’s or 50’s but the nights are getting down into the 30’s, so fog is pretty common. To night for dinner Kathleen made some hamburger and rice stew with some Mexican spices to give it a nice warm taste. The stew was a good choice for such a fall like night.

Well, I am tired and my wrist is sore, so I think that I will stop here and say my good nights.

Milder Monday

While today was much drier than it has been for the last three days, it was still wet today. Stan got here about 0830 and sanded the walls and ceiling and then textured them. I think it will look much better than it has in a long time.

After he finished the texturing of the walls and ceiling we worked on the wall tiling. Stan was putting the tile up while I tried to keep up with him cutting the tile. He was really able to go pretty quickly when he got to the whole tile sections. We were able to get one wall just about done and got a pretty good start on the other two walls.

We did not go any further on the one wall as we were not sure how high up Kathleen wanted to go so we stopped short. Kathleen was out with Alyssa and her children, so tomorrow we will be able to finish the first wall and most likely the other two as well.

We stopped where we did because we used all the mud and it was late enough that Stan did not want to mix any more. I was having trouble seeing where to make my cuts anyway, so I was glad to stop as well.

Stan left about 1730 and Kathleen got back around 1800, she had stopped off at Burgerville and picked up a couple burgers and shakes as she was too tired to cook. Well, it has been a pretty productive day; I am tired so I think that I will just say good night.

Such a Soggy Sunday

I slept in a little later this morning than I usually do and could have made it to church and Sunday School if I were able to drive, but with only one available hand I did not think that was too wise. So I took a little extra time and made myself a salmon omelet.

After cleaning up the kitchen I went into the living room with my coffee and read the paper and comics. Kathleen made it downstairs about 1100 and looked more rested then she has for a while. She said that the smell from the salmon woke her up. She was hoping that I had used up all the salmon, but I told her that I had not.

There was just enough salmon to make a couple open faced salmon melts for lunch, so that is what I did. I really did not want to have salmon twice in the same day, but for Kathleen's sake I went ahead and used up the rest of the salmon. The sandwiches were really good and I would really liked to had some more, but it was probably a good thing that there was not any more.

I sanded on Zander's walking stick a little more, it is starting to dry out a little bit, but it is still pretty wet. I have not been able to do too much with it because it is just too hard trying to do it with one hand.

For dinner tonight Kathleen is making some ground turkey and dressing, I think to get in the mood for Thanksgiving. Well, it has been a really wet weekend...as wet as we have had in about eight months, but I guess that is to be expected this time of year.

With that said I think I will just say good night as my left wrist and hand are letting me know that I have been using them more than it is use to, so good night!

Saturday's Surprise

This morning started out where yesterday ended...with rain. I made myself a couple peanut butter and jam toast and a bowl of cottage cheese, I was getting a little tired of oatmeal and I did not have what I needed to make an egg beater omelet, so I was left with toast.

Aaron called and wanted to know if I were going to go to the men's breakfast this morning, but since Kathleen was not feeling well and I could not drive I had decided earlier that I would not be going. I called Sue and wished her a Happy Birthday and the talked to Mom for a while.

Kathleen got up and still was not feeing great, so I advised her that she should call and let the folks we were suppose to have dinner with tonight that we would not be coming. Finally after a while she decided that it would be better for us not to go.

I got to watch a little of the Ohio State vs. Michigan game, but we needed to leave to go to Becca's family birthday party. We had a good time and so did the grandchildren. Tami made several pizzas and that was a big hit by all.

Becca and Alexis drew some pictures and showed them to me and one of the presents Becca got was a word game that she asked me t o help her with. Then just before it was time to go Natalie brought a book over for me to read, I am not sure if no one else would read to her or what, but she had not said much to me all afternoon.

When we got home I checked my computer to see how Ohio State did and was glad to see the results. For some reason I usually seem to miss the Ohio State/ Michigan game and today was no exception.

While talking with Alyssa, she mentioned that Zander met someone using a walking stick and was fascinated by it, so after checking the score, I went out to the pile of branches from one of the trees that I had cut down a couple of weeks ago and found a branch that I thought might make a good walking stick for him.

The wood was really still too wet (green), but I did not have any dry ones. I began by whittling branches off and the whittled the bark off the rest of the branch. Next I smoothed out the rough spots where the small branches had been so that the stick was nice and smooth.

Right now I have it sitting by the heater vent to see if I can get it to dry out a little. Kathleen just came down and asked if I wanted some clam chowder, I think that I could always have clam chowder so I said sure. Well I think this is going to be as good as any to close and say good night.

Friday's Finality

Well today Stan sanded and then put on the finish coat of mud and the put the cove molding around the floor. The bathroom is really starting to take shape and it is such an improvement from what it started out looking like.

Next week we will be able to get started on the regular wall tiles. Before we do that though we still need to do the cove molding in the kick plate, but that should not take too long.

Well I it has been a long week for me and I think that I will just say good night now and see if I can get Kathleen to make something for dinner, if not I will probably make myself a herring sandwich.

Thursday's Taping

Well yesterday Kathleen told Stan that he could come earlier in the mornings. He had been waiting until I would call him when Kathleen got up. It was decided that he would get here about 0800, it was Kathleen and Stan's decision, and I would have liked it a little later so that I could get the dishes washed and some other things before starting to work on the house.

Luckily today Stan was doing dry wall taping so I could go downstairs and take care of the dishes, sweep and mop the kitchen floors and shake out the throw rugs. It takes me quite a lot longer to get things done because I have to do everything one handed, left handed at that.

We also put the recessed light in, the upstairs bathroom. The room is starting to look more like a bathroom now that the walls and ceiling have been taped am mudded. Tomorrow it everything is dry, Stan will sand the mud and then apply another coat of mud tomorrow.

Well, I reheated the some of the salmon and the rest of the peas and rice for dinner. Kathleen did not care for it so she said that I could finish it. I should probably be able to have two or three more meals out of the salmon.

I guess that is about it for today, my left wrist is really bothering me, probably because I am having to use it so much more then I normally do. It also was the wrist that hurt the worse after my fall. My knee is doing better; the red spot is continuing to shrink in size, so that means that the infection is going away.

Well, I need to sign off for tonight, so good night!

Where Is Wednesday?

I did not need to rake this morning there were not that many leaves down and with the wind blowing as hard as it was it would have been an exercise in futility. I did pick up all the fir branches and cones that had fallen since yesterday but one would never know it now as there have been quite a few fall since.

Stan did not get here until about 1100 as he was doing some work on his house. We did manage to get all the switches and outlets put in and patched the holes in the dry wall. Kathleen and I had to leave at 1400 as I had a 1415 doctor’s appointment.

The doctor said that everything was looking really good, but I will still need to wear the brace for another couple of weeks. He also wants me to use it less, so that I do not re-damage it. He also said that in three weeks or so when I take the splint off I will need to do some squeezing exercises to strengthen my wrist and grip.

I was in and out by 1435 but Stan had left by the time we got back home. I was probable a good thing as both Kathleen and I were tired.

Kathleen fixed some salmon and rice with some peas for dinner. Aaron and Alexis came over while we were eating dinner. Alexis' pre-school was selling wreaths so we ordered one from her. They just left a few minutes ago, hence this being a little late getting written.

Well me "good" wrist is really hurting so I think I will end this and just say good night.

Tuesday Temperate Temperature

Well after a couple of windy and damp days the sun finally was out again today. So after breakfast I went outside and picked up the fir branches and cones and then raked the front and back lawns. All of the leaves are gone from the walnut trees in the front of the house, in fact almost all of the leaves I raked off the front lawn were from my neighbor’s alder trees.

In the back yard the ash tree is totally leafless and the cherry trees and apple tree have just about dropped all of their leaves. So unless there is some more really strong winds I should not have to rake the front lawn again this year and maybe only once more for the back yard.

Stan came over about 1000 and we fixed the plumbing problem, where I needed to move the cold water pipe and replace a hot water pipe that had a couple pin holes in it. Then we started on some of the wiring and added a couple outlets.

Well, that is about it for today, I am really tired and I am having a hard time keyboarding left handed, so I think that I will just say good night.

More on Monday

Well, I am kind of back, after taking a couple days hiatus from blogging, I thought that I had better get back in the swing of things. I raked a lot of leaves this weekend and had the lawns looking pretty good until this morning.

The wind storm that I woke up to this morning blew most of the rest of the leaves down, along with several fir branches and fir cones. After eating breakfast and reading the paper I went out and picked up fir cones and branches.

I had the majority of them picked up when the wind came back and it was not long before there were as many branches and fir cones down as there was before I started.

Stan got here before I had a chance to pick any more up, so I guess that I will have to try again tomorrow morning. Stan finished the floor tile today; he did not want to do much more because his wife was off today and wanted to spend some time with her.

Aaron stopped by for a while and brought a Veterans Day cards that Becca made for Kathleen and me. They were really cute. Andrea and Brandon also came over for a while I was working; she and Kathleen asked if I would hold Brandon for a while, but with my right wrist in a splint that is next to impossible.

Kathleen is out now; she picked up the grout and the caulk so tomorrow Stan can grout the tile tomorrow. She is also stopping at Trader Joe's to pick up some goodies. I am not sure what we are having for dinner tonight, and I am too tired to care too much.


Well, keyboarding left handed only is not a lot of fun for me so I think I will just say good night.

Full Friday

Another rather uncomfortable night, having that splint on my wrist is really annoying, more so at night then the day, although it certainly is annoying during the daytime. This morning I made myself oatmeal and flax seed for breakfast and then read the paper.

After recycling the paper, I went outside and raked the front lawn, it was not too bad considering that I did not rake yesterday. It was slightly uncomfortable with the splint on my wrist, but not all that bad. Once I finished the front lawn, I moved on to the back lawn.

The back yard was worse; the only tree in the back yard that had dropped all of its leaves was the mountain ash. The apple and the cherry trees had not dropped that many leaves yet. The leaves were dropping almost as fast as I could rake them, but I finally got them all up...at least until I went into the house.

Jack called and said that he would be over about 1300, so when he got here we started putting the cabinets in place. A couple of them we needed to make some modifications to and the vanity I will need to work with Stan to try and modify the plumbing a little.

Jack left about 1600 and I was really wiped out. We needed to stop by the credit union today, but we never made it and I was too tired and Kathleen had a headache.

Kathleen made some spaghetti for dinner tonight, I had lots of fun trying to spin it on my fork left-handed, but I did it. I use to be able to do a lot more left-handed more easily than I can do it now, but I am getting some good practice in right now.

Well, I am tired and my sinuses are giving me a fit, so I think that I will just say good night now.

Thursday's Trudgings

Making my omelet this morning was interesting to say the least. I made it through it; it just took much longer than it usually does. After breakfast, I folded the towels that I washed yesterday and then read the paper and mail.

Kathleen had an appointment with her sleep apnea doctor at 1100, so I went with her since I really could not do anything here. After we left there we stopped and picked up our prescription sunglasses and I had my new glasses straightened out. They really got tweaked in my fall last week.

Then we stopped at George Morlan Plumbing to see if we could find a toilet for the upstairs bathroom. After a couple of hours of looking around we (Kathleen) finally settled on a white Toto Promenade two piece. They only had the bowl there so the set that aside for us and will call us Monday when the tank comes in.

We finally made it back home about 1645; we were both pretty tired so Kathleen reheated up the hamburger stew from the other night. Well this is all the one handed keyboarding that I can handle for one night, so I am just going to say good night.

Wednesday's Woes

This is going to be a short blog tonight as I only have one hand that I can use. This was oatmeal breakfast morning, so after eating I emptied the dishwasher; we are only running the top rack now as it takes too long to fill the whole dishwasher up. We usually run out of things, like silverware, before we can fill it up.

After emptying the dishwasher, I washed the hand wash things that were in the sink. The mail came as I was doing this, so after I finished with the dishes I went and got the mail, it was not until I opened the front door that I realized that I had not gotten the morning paper yet. So I brought both in and looked through them, I recycled them and then went outside and raked both the front and back lawns.

I was about 1130 by the time I finished raking and then got everything put away I went inside and took a shower in preparation for my doctor's appointment. After getting dressed I put a load of towels into the washer and turned it on and then I just waited around for Kathleen to get ready and come downstairs so that we could go.

The doctor checked me over and then had my right wrist and knee x-rayed. The x-ray showed a fracture in my wrist, but nothing in my knee, so I guess that is somewhat good news. So I now have a splint on my right wrist, so it is really hard for me to do very much with that hand.

I also have an infection in my knee, so he prescribed an anti-biotic ointment and some pills that I need to take four times a day. When we got home I put the towels into the drier and the Kathleen fixed dinner. While we were at Fred Meyer's Kathleen picked up some mashed potatoes and sirloin tips in gravy for dinner, it was actually pretty good.

Well that was my day; the doctor also told me that I should not use my right hand to allow the fracture to heal. Now I wonder what I am going to do with my self. I guess that I will worry about that tomorrow, for tonight I am just going to say good night!

Too Tiring Tuesday

Well, I wound up spending the whole night upstairs last night and had a rather good nights rest. When I got up I made myself a Gardenburger sausage patty and then made small pieces out of it and added some mushroom and onion to the frying pan, sautéed it and then added Kathleen's egg white and some egg beaters for a nice omelet.

After putting my dishes into the dishwasher and washing the hand wash items, I went into the living room to read the paper. The mail came while I was reading the paper, so I got it and other than a couple catalogs most of the rest was junk mail. I took that and the paper out front to the recycling bag and then decided to rake the front lawn.

There were only a couple dozen leaves on the lawn so it did not take too long, so I went to the back yard to do it as well. Now that I have been keeping the leaves off the back lawn, I can see where the moss is starting to die out...a good thing!

From all the raking the grass runners were sticking up so I decided to get out my "heavy duty" reel mower, the McLean, and mow the back lawn. First I had to lower the cutting height and then I was ready to go.

A few pushes and I could remember why I started using the Brill, the Brill is about four times lighter and much easier to push. But the McLean’s weight makes for a more even cut because it stays on the ground where as the Brill tends to bounce a little, sometimes leaving the grass uncut.

Once I had the back yard done, I decided that I would do the small east side lawn, that only takes about three passes and it is done. I decided that I would try to mow my neighbor's lawn as well, so I started on her side yard, next to our lawn.

One thing I had not counted on was the fact that her son had mowed it last time and he mows much higher than I do, but that is to be expected with a rotary mower. One of the things that I like about using reel mowers is that I can keep the lawn a lot shorter and it still looks good.

I digress, anyway about half way through her front lawn, I was getting pretty spent, but I did not want to stop and leave her lawn only half done, so I "pushed on", get it I was using a push mower!

Anyway, by the time I finished her lawn, I was more than spent, in fact I was tired enough that I could not clean the mower off or even put it away, and I just left it by the back door and went inside.

I had Kathleen clean off my feet, one of the hazards of mowing in sandals, I could not bend over to do it myself and I was too tired to take a shower and I did not want to leave grass or dirt all over the house.

Finally around 1415 I got up enough energy to make myself a basil and sun dried tomato Gardenburger on dark rye toast and I also finished the rest of the baked beans that Kathleen made for herself last week. I put my dishes into the dishwasher and headed upstairs.

I needed to cut out a larger hole in the upstairs bathroom for the towel closet that we are having made. Jack had called the other day and said that he would be bringing the cabinets over on Thursday so I wanted to have that done before he got here.

I guess Kathleen got tired of my complaining about my chest hurting, so she called my doctor and made an appointment for me to be seen tomorrow afternoon. It has been really sore since I fell last week and every time I cough the pain would take my breath away.

Then I went back downstairs into the living room and crashed in my chair. I got up about 1630 and decided that I needed to wash off the mower and put it away as I probably would not be getting any more energy the rest of the day.

Kathleen and I were going to take our ballots to the library to the drop off box this afternoon, but I was too tired, so she left around 1645. We had also planned on going to the grocery store, but since I was not going I did not think that Kathleen would want to go by her self.

She finally got back home about 1830 and had stopped off at Fabric Warehouse, it was across the street from the library, so it was not really too surprising. Anyway she made hamburger stew with baby carrots, potatoes, onion, garlic and red pepper flakes. It was just spicy enough to be really satisfying.

Well, that pretty much covers my day, now I just need to say good night and call it a day.

Monday Morning Miseries/Magnificent Monday

As I awoke about 0130 this morning and made my way downstairs I was sure that I was coming down with whatever Kathleen had last week. So instead of going back upstairs, I decided to spend the rest of the night sleeping in my easy chair.

I did not feel much better when I finally got up, but I decided to have a bowl of oatmeal and flax seed. The mailman came while I was eating breakfast, so I went out and got the mail. After eating I emptied the dishwasher and then went into the living room and read the paper.

Not being sure how I was going to be feeling, but wanting to be out in the nice fall weather, I decided to rake the leaves in the front lawn. That only took a few minutes so I went and raked the leaves from the back yard.

The more I was outside the better I felt, so I decided to take apart the parts from the sink and toilet that I took out of the upstairs bathroom, so that I could recycle the metal parts. Then I filled the garbage can with as much as I could and took it up front for tomorrows pick up.

I was still feeling pretty good so I went into the garage and got out my spade and marked out where I am planning to put my vegetable garden next year. I wanted to rototill the area but there were two pretty good sized butterfly bushes/trees that needed to come out.

Probably for old times sake I got out my stubbing hoe and started to poke around one of them to find where the roots were. As I found the roots, I would sever them with the stubbing hoes ax end and when I had all of them severed that I could find, I pushed on the tree to see if I could locate any more.

To my surprise I was able to push it over and the root ball came out and I could find only one root that needed to be cut. Once I cut through it I was able to drag the tree a little bit away from the loose soil so that I could cut it into manageable pieces.

O separated the larger pieces from the smaller ones so that I could chip the smaller ones later on. For a second or two I had almost decided to stop and go inside, but I thought that since I had all the equipment there I would test the other tree to see what it would take to remove it. This one was slightly smaller than the first one and once I severed the roots I tried pushing it over just like I had with the first one.

This one was a little more stubborn, and it took just about all the energy that I could muster to finally push it over. Once it was over, I took it apart as I had the first one. I now have a pretty good size pile to chip and also some fire wood if any of the children want it. There are also some apple limbs and fir limbs there, so if you want it, let me know.

I cleaned all my tools and then put all of them away and headed inside. It was only about 1400, and I wanted to take advantage of the nice weather, so after getting a drink of water I went back outside and got my rototiller out and started to rototill the area.

Some of it was pretty well dug up, as I had dug out the onions and garlic that had been growing there, but the rest of it was pretty much sod with the exception of where I dug out the roots of the butterfly trees. I finally ran out of gas...me not the rototiller. I had all to do to clean up the rototiller and put it away.

Once I cleaned up, I made myself something to eat and then I crashed in my easy chair. I kept dozing off and on and finally Kathleen awoke me and said that dinner was ready. She had fixed some orange mandarin chicken with rice and corn; one of her famous yellow meals. Then after finishing dinner we both had an apple and now I am ready to go to sleep.

I feel so much better, even though I am extremely tired, than I did this morning that it is almost like two totally separate days. I am sure that I will sleep well tonight and with that said, I think that I will just say good night.

Sunday's Soreness Subsides

I slept in my easy chair again and I got a little better night sleep. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that I was not as sore and I had taken a shower and removed a lot of the scab that was on my knee and then put some lotion on it to keep the scab softer. That way when I bent my knee the scab did not continually split and get thicker.

This morning I decided to have a bowl of Cheerios, Puffed Rice and Go Lean Crunch with soy milk. It was a little warmer today and I did not feel like hot cereal this morning and I had egg beaters yesterday. I still was not feeling very mobile, and Kathleen still did not feel well so we stayed home this morning, so after eating I went into the living room and read the comics and the paper.

Since it was so nice a day, I decided that I would go out and rake the front lawn, so I did. Since there were really not a lot of leaves that had fallen since yesterday, partly due to the fact that there was not a lot of wind and no rain to knock the leaves off, so it did not take very long to do the front lawn.

Wanting to enjoy the sunshine and warm weather as much as possible, I went into the back yard and raked the whole back yard as well. Again there had not been many leaves fall since yesterday, so I finished rather quickly.

Not having anymore to rake...well, I suppose that I could have gone around the neighborhood and found some leaves, but I really was not that ambitious. I decided that I would sweep off the back steps and sidewalk, so I picked up the mats and shook them out and swept them off and then swept the stoop and sidewalk.

I kind of ran out of quick things to do outside, and I really did not want to get involved in something that was going to take a couple hours to complete, so I just went inside. I am trying to train myself how to relax, something that does not come too easily to me. I guess that I have worked so long that I am always looking for something to accomplish rather than, just enjoying myself.

I mixed the left over clam chowder and the chicken and rice together for lunch; trying to clean out the refrigerator and use up things that there were not enough of for a meal for both of us. Then I put everything into the dishwasher and headed to the living room and my easy chair. Kathleen gave me the micro wave heating pad to put on my chest as I was still having a lot of pain.

Through out the day I kept applying lotion to my knee and it has so far seemed to help. My knee feels much better today and I am able to walk without much pain. I think tonight I will even give sleeping in bed a go tonight, I may need to move back downstairs, but at least I will start the night upstairs.

Tonight Kathleen thawed some ham and bean soup that she made last winter, and it really tasted good, I could have had more, but there was not enough for full seconds for both Kathleen and myself, so I just had a little. I was satisfied, but it is one of those things that tastes so good one just wants a little more.

Both my wrists feel much better today, the right one is still a pretty purple but it almost feels normal and the left one does not feel much worse than it does normally. I think that the raking and weeding has helped it by stretching the muscles and not allowing them to stiffen up. The fingers in my left hand are still a little numb, but I now have feeling in all but my little finger.

Well, if I continue to improve as much as I have today, I should be back to my pre-fall condition in the next day or two. So I guess that for now it is time to say good night most of the time.

Still Sore Saturday

I did not get a lot of rest last night as I slept in my easy chair, so that I would not have to try to navigate the stairs with my sore knee last night. I just could not get comfortable no matter what I did. I finally got up and got the paper and set it down on my chair.

I made myself am omelet for breakfast with onions, mushrooms, garlic; red sun dried tomatoes and topped it off with hot salsa. I also made a couple slices of dark rye toast. After cleaning up the kitchen, I went outside to rake the leaves; first I did the front lawn and then went to work on the back yard.

After I had all the leaves raked, I worked on the garlic and onions. I have them all harvested and am now working on trying to get the rest of the area, where I am planning on having the vegetable garden next year weed free.

I spent a couple hours working on it, for as long as I worked on it I did not really get a lot done, mostly because my knee was so uncomfortable no matter what I did with it. I could not lean on my left hand as my wrist was sore as well, so I had a rather difficult time of it all. I also had to get up every so often so that I could stretch out my knee so that it would not stiffen up on me.

I finally called it quits about 1500 and reheated some of the chicken and rice that Kathleen made for dinner last night. While I ate lunch I also went through the mail, most of it was junk and catalogs.

I finally made my way into the living room and read the paper, it seemed like it took me a while to get through it, not that there was that much there, I just kept getting up so that I could stretch out my knee. Now every time I move my knee, I break open the scab that has formed over my knee cap. In fact my whole knee cap is one big scab.

Well, Kathleen is making me some clam chowder for dinner, and she is making herself some beans. I cannot think of anything else to write about, my wrist is not nearly as sore as it has been, at least I can keyboard with both hands tonight.

Well, I guess I will just say good night, I am not sure if I will sleep in my chair again tonight or not. I probably will as my knee is still really sore and I do not want to take a chance of falling down the stairs.

Friday's Fall

I felt pretty good this morning when I got up and since Kathleen was not sleeping on the couch I was able to use the front door to get the paper. I mad myself some oatmeal and flax seed for breakfast and then went into the living room and read the paper.

After recycling the paper, I cleaned the toaster oven as I had noticed that the tray was getting full of crumbs. Then I vacuumed the downstairs, something that has needed doing for several days. Then I went outside and raked the leaves off the front lawn and then blew off the driveway. As I was winding up the electric cord, I slipped and fell off the front steps. I landed on my right knee and when I was able to get up; my knee was bleeding pretty good.

Both my wrist hurt and I had a hard time standing up, but I finished winding the electric cord and put it and the blower away in the garage. Then I made my way into the house so that I could clean myself up and see the extent on my injuries.

My right hand was purple already and I had an abrasion on the back of my hand. My left wrist hurt the most, but there was nothing visible. My right knee had a nasty abrasion and really hurt, my right leg had a couple scrapes on it, but once I cleaned it up the bleeding stopped.

My right knee on the other hand would not stop until I sat down an elevated it. I had made myself a cup of coffee before I sat down and when I finished it my knee had stopped bleeding. It was still oozing a little and was starting to stiffen up.

Wanting to keep in somewhat loose, I decided that I would go outside and dig up my onion and garlic bed: something that was next on my list to do before my fall. So I went back outside and got my spading fork and my weeding pad and old rug to sit on. Kathleen suggested that I take the phone in case I needed to call her, so I took the phone out of my study and also my cane in case I stiffened up and could not stand up.

I must have been quite a site, fortunately the back yard is pretty secluded so about the only one who could have seen me. I did manage to get most of the onions and garlic dug up; it had gotten pretty overgrown with weeds, so it was not just a matter of digging them up but also separating them from the weeds.

Kathleen came out around 1400 and picked the last few raspberries and gave me a couple. I told her that I was only going to work until 1500, as that was as long as I thought that I could work. As it was I was having a hard time getting up because my knee was really starting to stiffen up. I had taken three Tylenol about noon and I was needing to take some more, so I cleaned up my tools and then headed into the house.

I made myself a salad again today, it is something that is easy to do, but I needed something more, so I made a couple sour dough heel pizza toast. After I finished eating I took three more Tylenol and then sat down in my easy chair. For some reason I felt chilled, so I got a blanket and wrapped it around myself.


Well, right now I have an ice bag on my wrist; I am trying to type with one hand an also keep my knee moving as much as possible. Kathleen just told me that dinner is ready so I will finish this after I eat.

Kathleen made a chicken and rice dish with some baby peas in a cream of chicken soup base, it tasted pretty good. We only had one piece of chicken breast, so we split it. I guess it is time to go to Costco again.

One thing I did find out is that it is hard to push myself up from the table, between my knee being so sore and both my wrists being sore makes it really interesting getting up. I have to adjust myself so that I can get most of my weight over my left side and then push up using just my legs and stomach muscles.

Well as much fun as I am having keyboarding one handed I think it is time to call this blog finished, so I am just going to say good night and hope that I am able to get some sleep tonight.

Thursday.'s Taco's

Today started out pretty much the same as the last few days with Kathleen sleeping on the couch, and my trying to keep quiet and not wake her up. She did get up earlier this morning than she had, so I went out and got the paper and put it on my easy chair to read later.

She went to sleep again, so I made myself an onion and mushroom omelet, a Gardenburger sausage and a couple pieces of dark rye toast. After I finished eating, I put my dishes into the dishwasher then I washed the dishes in the sink, from Kathleen last night and also the frying pan from making my omelet and the other hand washing.

As I was finishing up, the mail came, so I went and got it and made myself a cup of hot water, as I was taking the hot water out of the micro wave, I noticed that the micro wave was starting to look pretty raunchy, so after I finished my coffee I scrubbed out the micro wave.

I thought about going and getting the paper out of the living room to read in the kitchen as Kathleen was sleeping again, but it was so nice outside that I thought that I would rake the leaves instead.

So I got my rake and leave collapsible barrel out of the garage and started in, there were not as many leaves as there had been so it only took a short while to rake the front lawn. Yesterday I had started to rake the leaves on the west side of the driveway, better known as the parking lot, so today I finished that as well.

I thought that since I had all the leaves raked up in the front lawn I would mow it as well, so I got my mower out, put the battery in it and went to work. As I was about half way through, someone walking by commented to me that my mower really did a nice job of mowing, but it was not until I released the lever that he realized that it was an electric cordless mower. It is so quiet the most people do not realize that until I actually shut it off.

Anyway, when I finished the whole front lawn, I moved to the back yard. First I raked the lower and middle level and then mowed that. Then I raked the upper level, and even the area where the raspberries are and mowed it.

It was kind of funny to me the by the time I finished mowing the mower was cleaner than when I was just getting started. When I first started the grass was just wet enough that it was sticking to everything on the mower, but by the time I finished the grass was drier and the mower lost most of its grass camouflage.

I still needed to wipe the grass that still was stuck off, but it turned out to be a pretty quick task. I started to go inside, but it was just so nice that I decided that I would put some weed killer on the lawn, it probably is too cool out for it to do much good, but at least I thought that I would give it a try.

I mixed up a gallon and went to work and got just the front lawn and my neighbor's driveway down that also runs along the west side of our yard. So I mixed up another gallon and did the back yard and my other neighbor's side and half of her front lawn. The method to my madness is that by doing the neighbor's lawn that is close to mine, I will eliminate some of the weeds that might creep into our yard.

By the time I finished I was ready to go inside for a while. It was getting pretty close to lunch time so I started to make myself a salad. I have not had one in several weeks as we have been out of salad fixings for a while and Tuesday when I went grocery shopping I bought some.

While I was eating it, I also looked though the mail, as I had not done it earlier. There were several catalogs...I think it is that time of year! I was going to vacuum the downstairs, but Kathleen was still sleeping, or maybe sleeping again, it is hard for me to keep track as she has slept most of the day since Monday.

She got up about 1700 and called the doctor's office and got an appointment for 1730, so I had to change clothes and run her there. The doctor thought that she just had that nasty flu bug that has been going around. She did write her a prescription for some vicodin, but we did not fill it as she still had some.

As we were leaving the doctor's office Kathleen said that she felt like having a hard taco supreme and a nacho supreme, so we went to Taco Bell through the drive in. I had four soft tacos and realized that we had not been to Taco Bell for several years.

One of the reasons that we stopped going was that they never got our order correct, we were either short a few items or just the whole order was wrong. Before most of the time we were just too tired to go back and get the correct items so we just ate what we got. This time we got everything we ordered, but it seemed like it took forever to go through the drive through.

Well, that was my day, it was kind of nice to be able to work outside most of the day, I have been a little frustrated with working on the bathroom with the weather being so nice, but it was something that we needed to have done.

I cannot think of anything else to say so I guess it is time to just say good night!

Weary Wednesday

Well, I just got finished cleaning up after tiling the bathroom most of the day. The day started out pretty much like yesterday...Kathleen slept on the couch again last night, she was not feeling very well again last night.

So this morning when I got up, I went out the back door to get the paper and then read it in the kitchen at the table. I made myself oatmeal again; it has just been that kind of weather that oatmeal sounds pretty good. While I was eating breakfast, the roofing crew came back to finish putting on the copper strip on the peak of the roof.

Yesterday they did not have enough copper to finish the job, so they told me that they would be back today. I did not think that it would be shortly after 0800 though. Anyway, Kathleen got up a little after 0930, so I called Stan to let him know that it would be okay to come on over.

This morning we put down the border tile that we laid out yesterday. Then today we started to lay out and put down the full sheets of tile. After we put down as many full sheets as we could we started to lay out and put down some of the smaller pieces. We finally quit about 1600 with about nine pieces yet to lay out and put down.

Stan wanted to let the other pieces set before he attempted the smaller and odd shapes around where the toilet is. Stan took all his tools home as he is going to be gone until the twelfth of November when he returns from his hunting trip. So with all his stuff gone I will have a little room to move around and work.

Well, it is only a few minutes until the trick-or treaters start showing up at the door. We never know how many to prepare for, some years it is only a few and other years there are quite a lot. Seeing as the weather is so nice we could have a fair number of goblins.

So I think that I will say good night now, so that I can get the door as Kathleen had not gotten dressy again today.

Tiling Time Tuesday

Well, Kathleen slept on the couch last night, so that she would be close to the bathroom and not have to worry about going downstairs in the dark. So when I got up this morning I tried to be as quiet as possible and not wake her up.

I emptied the dishwasher, and then went out the back door to get the paper off the front porch, and then read it in the kitchen so that I would not disturb her by turning on lights. She was still sleeping when I made myself breakfast, but she woke up as I was finishing. She still was not feeling well, but she felt a lot better than she did last night.

I called Stan and told him that he could come over, so he said that he would be over in a half hour or so. In the mean time Todd called and said that they had a cancellation and his crew would be over this morning. I had kind of had it worked out so that he would be here while Stan was off hunting, but things do not always go as planned.

Kathleen needed me to pick up some things at the grocery store, so I made a list of the things that we were out of and went through my coupons and took out the expired ones and the ones that I would use today. I also had over six hundred dollars in insurance refund checks that I needed to deposit at the credit union as well as about a hundred dollars in cash.

I also needed to stop a K-Mart as I had a coupon for a bag of free candy and a dollar off on two other bags, so I ran there first as it was closest, then to the credit union to make the deposit, while I was there I stopped at Home Depot to pick up a couple plumbing items and then on to WinCo to grocery shop.

I finally got back home a little before noon, so I was gone for about two hours. Stan was already here but I needed to put the groceries away before I could get started on the bathroom. Todd's roofing crew got here just as I finished putting the groceries away.

Once I had them working I went upstairs to change clothes so that I could work with Stan. We did some dry wall patching and also framed in the area were we put the dry wall up. Then Stan cut the tile for the border and before we knew it, it was 1800. But we have the entire border cut and laid out on the floor, so tomorrow we will lay out the rest of the tile and then start to actually tile.

The roofing crew was only here a little over an hour, I was amazed at how much moss they got off the roof, but they clean all of it off the sidewalk and driveway. I will have to clean up what fell in the garden, but it does not look that bad.

Stan is going hunting until the twelfth of November, so the tile will set really well by then. Then he will grout it and then we can do the walls, so we will be with out our upstairs bathroom until sometime in the middle of November. It is almost like camping out!

Well, tonight I mixed the leftover tuna casserole with the leftover cream of chicken soup that Kathleen did not want and then had a brat on a whole wheat bun for dinner. Not the most nutritious meal, but I did not have the energy to be too concerned with that. Well I feel tired; I did a lot more running around than I would have like to today, but it all needed doing.

I am sure that there is more that I did today, but right now I cannot think of anything, so I think that I will just say good night!

Miserable Monday Morning

Well, this is certainly not the way I had planned today to go. I got up just before 0600 and I heard Kathleen come downstairs shortly after that, I was busy on my computer and thought that she had gone back upstairs as I did not see her downstairs. As I sat down to read the paper I heard a moaning sound, so I went to investigate and it was Kathleen getting sick in the bathroom.

She must have been in there quite a while and when she went to get up I had to help her into the living room and onto the couch. Next I had to get her two blankets and a comforter just to try to get her so that she was not feeling like she was freezing.

While she was trying to go back to sleep I was busy cleaning up the bathroom. aside from the toilet, I had to scrub with bleach the bathroom garbage can...then I had to try to get myself into the mood where I could fix myself some breakfast. Before I made myself breakfast I called Stan to let him know that Kathleen was sick and it probably would be better if he did not come over today.

After I finished breakfast, I put the dishes into the dishwasher and then washed the pots and pans and other hand wash utensils. I saw the mail truck across the street, so I went out the back door and got the mail, as I did not want to disturb Kathleen who by now was sleeping on the couch.

After looking through the mail, I heard Kathleen in the other room, she wanted me to call Jack and talk to him about the kick plate on the vanity for the upstairs bathroom, so I did. Then I went outside to rake the leaves in the front lawn. Kathleen was feeling a little better and she went upstairs and put on a pair of sweats and came back downstairs, so when Jack came she was sitting on the couch.

Jack stayed about a half of an hour and showed us the tile that he was going to use on the vanity top. After he left I went back to raking leaves. I actually had all the leaves up off the ground when I went into the back yard.

I thought that since I would not be working in the house today I might as well get as much done outside as I could. Since it was not raining the leaves were pretty easy to rake and I wanted to get them off the ground while I could. I started in the middle level of the back yard and then worked on the upper level and finally the lower level until I had raked the whole back lawn.

I think that this was the first time that I had actually gotten the whole lawn raked at the same time in a very long time. Still felling pretty good I decided that I would start working on spent raspberry vines. While I was doing my fall pruning of the raspberries I also tied up the vines that I was keeping for next year. I got about three quarters of the berries pruned and tied up, so next time I work on them I will not have a lot to do.

I finally decided that I would go inside and see how Kathleen was doing. She was pretty much asleep, so I made myself a brot on a bun for lunch. After eating I went upstairs and took the rest of the cove molding off the bathroom and then took the molding outside to my pile of wood and other things that came out of the bathroom.

I wanted to take advantage of the non rain day as I could so I went upstairs and got my hammer and started to pull all the nails out of the scrap lumber. I had taken some of the nails out of some of it before, but I wanted to get the rest out to prevent someone from getting hurt on them.

When I finished I went inside and sat down for a while, but I kept dozing off, I probably would have been better going upstairs and actually taking a nap, but I thought that I should stay downstairs in case Kathleen needed something.

It is a good thing that I did, because pretty soon she asked me to make her some Jell-o and some cream of chicken soup. Since it was almost 1800, I decided that I might as well make myself something to east as well. We had some left-over tuna casserole, so I heated a bowl up in the micro-wave. When I finished it, I heated up another one and that one satisfied me.

Well, it has been an interesting day and I think that the only thing left is for me to say good night.

Still a Sunny Sunday

Today was another beautiful day; I did not get up until 0730 and felt pretty rested. I had awoken a couple times during the night because I was having a hard time breathing and was coughing, lots of sinus drainage. Then after I was up for a few minutes I started coughing again and could not stop.

By the time Kathleen got up I could hardly talk, and my voice sounded really raspy. She said that it was a lot lower than it normally was and sounded like it hurt to talk, while it did not hurt to talk, I was feeling kind of yucky, so needless to say I did not make it to church. Kathleen did not feel too wide awake and so she stayed home as well.

Once I knew Kathleen was up, I gathered up the towels and washed them and while they were washing I started reading the paper. By the time I finished the paper the towels were dry, so I folded them and put them away.

I was starting to feel better so I told Kathleen that I was going to take a walk and see if some fresh air would help me. I wound up walking about five and a half miles and by the time I got home I was tired, but felt better.

Kathleen wanted to go to the Home Depot at Mall 205 as they had some of the cove tile that she needed for the upstairs bathroom. So I went along to lug the boxes, on the way she stopped at Tile for Less to check on something, and we spent over an hour there.

They suggested that she look at Color Tile for something that they did not have in stock, so we drove there and I stayed in the car as my feet were a little sore from walking and standing around in Tile for Less. Luckily they were only open for about fifteen minutes more so she was not there very long.

Then we took off for Home Depot, while she went to the tile section, I went to electrical to look about some canned lighting and baffles for above the sink in the upstairs bathroom. While I was there I also looked at what we could do to replace the square canned lights above the stairs, but I could not find anything that I thought would work.

We finally left and by the time we got home and I lugged everything out of the car it was almost 1800. I changed clothes and Kathleen started to boil some noodles for a tuna casserole. I am sorry to see today come to an end, for one thing it was such a beautiful day and it also means that tomorrow I get to work some more on the bathroom.

I hope everyone had a good weekend, I got a far amount done and even enjoyed the beautiful fall weather. Well I think that pretty much sums up my day, so I will just say good night.