Dreary Day

It was really overcast this morning again when I got up and it never did get much better although later on in the afternoon the sun did make an appearance between clouds.

I did go outside for a while when I took the recycling out to the container and also the kitchen recyclables out to the composter. I managed to pull out just about all of the remaining mole plants although I am sure that twice that many will soon take their place.

This afternoon I sat around most of the time although I did go through several magazines and tore out the pages that I wanted to keep and recycled the rest of the magazines.

Kathleen left around 1500 to meet with one of the ladies from church and I went upstairs to try and take a nap and try to loose my headache but no such luck. My mind kept running though the things that needed to get done and if I did not do them they do not get done.

So after trying for a while I finally got up and went outside and dug out a shrub that had started to grow alongside of one of our climbing roses along the fence west of the driveway. I am pretty sure that I cut it down a few years ago but this time I tried to dig out as much of the root as possible.

Once I had the shrub out I could see several dead branches on the rose so I pruned them off and also several suckers that I try to keep cut off. While I had the area cleaned up a little I was able to see several fir cones that I picked up and put in a bucket to take back and grind up in my chipper when I get around to it.

Well, my headache has not gotten any better; it did not bother me as much while I was working outside but now that I have stopped it has really started bothering me again. I am not sure what has been causing them but they are really annoying and can get rather intense at times.

Finally got to go Grocery Shopping Today!

This morning it was pretty overcast when I got up from raining last night; I thought that it might clear up after a while but it really never did. After breakfast I went outside and picked up a few apples, most of them are coming down rotten already and there are a lot fewer of them than there were a couple of weeks ago.

While I was out there I picked and ate a few raspberries as my second crop is starting to come one now. There where only a few ripe enough to pick and eat so I did even though they were a little mushy from having been rained on last night.

Since I dead headed the roses for a couple days I did that; I also cut off the stems of the lilies that had finished blooming and pulled a few weeds while I was at it. I had noticed a couple blackberries popping up in the grapes from the other side of the fence so I got my shovel and went around and dug a dozen or so out. They are so intertwined with the grapes that for now I can just dig them out below the surface; I will have to wait until after the grapes drop their leaves so that I can really see what I am digging up.

Having a little bit of energy left I went out front with my landscape rake and smoothed out the piles that I had dumped there Saturday. Little did I realize that in a couple hours the mailman would drive over it and put a nice trench through the middle of it.

We have a substitute mailman as our regular carrier is on vacation, but even so he had to drive up and over something that was eight to ten inches higher than the roadway...some things I just cannot figure out.

About 1130 I went upstairs and gathered up the trash form upstairs and Kathleen decided that it was time to come downstairs and eat breakfast. So by the time I finished taking out the trash and putting the garbage can, the recycling container and the glass recycling bin up front it was time for me to make myself some lunch.

Since we had some left-over chicken, rice and zucchini I decided to reheat it and have that for lunch. After I finished eating and putting the dishes into the dishwasher I went through the coupons, sorted them out, through out the ones that had expired and clipped the ones that we needed to the shopping list so that we would have them handy for our shopping trip.

Finally around 1430 we got out the door and headed toward the credit union as I had a couple checks that I have had for almost a month that I needed to deposit. So after a quick trip there we headed back to Winco.

We had not been there for over two months; we had gotten things at Trader Joe's, Fred Meyer and Wal-Mart during that time but not a full fledged grocery shopping trip. After taking all the groceries into the house and putting them away I went upstairs and changed my clothes.

After spending a while on my computer I looked up and it was almost 1900 so I called up and asked if she were ready to eat. We did not have to cook anything as we had gotten some chicken and JoJo's at the deli counter for dinner tonight as Kathleen knew that she would not feel like doing anything more tonight.

Sunday's Snoozing

Well today has been one of those days where I did not get much done other than go to church and Sunday School. I felt pretty good when I got up other than my back was really sore from moving all that dirt yesterday. But the longer that I was up the more I realized that I was still extremely tired.

I felt more tired the longer I sat in church and by the time Sunday School rolled around I had to keep rubbing my eyes as they felt like they were full of grit. The fact that it was really muggy feeling did not help me at all. I could not wait until I got home and was able to put on my shorts and tee shirt.

After a while I reheated some left-overs and then read the paper. I just barely finished the paper and put it into the recycling pile and this time when I sat down in my chair I fell asleep.

I did not feel much more rested when I awoke so I have a feeling that it is going to be an early night for hitting the sheets. It is suppose to start raining a little tonight and I am hoping that it will clear the air and make it not so muggy out.

This next week we need to get Kathleen's SUV to pass DEQ inspection and then renew the license for another couple of years.

Well, since I did not get anything done today there is not much to write about, maybe this next week will be better.

Sweaty Saturday

I must have felt pretty good this morning when I got up because after breakfast I went outside and picked a couple dozen cherry tomatoes and one early girl that had started to rot on the bottom side. After I brought the tomatoes inside I went back outside and pruned the roses and then mowed the back yard and since I was feeling pretty good I went ahead and mowed the front lawn as well; that is something that I have not been able to do for several months.

I was pretty tired when I finished and so I went into the house cleaned up and sat for a while. Before I knew it, it was about 1330 so I reheated the rest of my shrimp gumbo and had that for lunch. Since there was not a lot of it I sliced the bad part off the tomato with a lot extra just to be safe and then cut the remainder into slices and put them onto a couple slices of wheat bread and added a few slices of mozzarella cheese on top and them broiled it in the toaster oven.

Kathleen came downstairs and made herself a couple left-over pancakes for breakfast; I had four of them for breakfast myself and there are still enough for breakfast tomorrow. After we both finished eating I loaded the dishes into the dishwasher and turned it on and then went into the living room and took a nap.

When I woke up I had a feeling that I wanted to get a little more done and so I went back outside thinking that I would just work out in the garage for a while; butttttt, since it was such a nice day outside I decided that I would shove some of the soil from the west side of back part of the driveway and move it to the front part of the driveway.

By the time I finished not only was I pretty exhausted but I had a pile of dirt about a foot high and four foot wide by ten foot long. I just did not have enough left in me to level it out so that will have to wait for another day.

It is almost time for dinner so I think that I will go upstairs and see what Kathleen is planning for dinner. While she is doing that I think that I am going to hit the shower and clean up and cool off.

Fabulous Food Friday

Since Alyssa has not posted one of her fabulous foods I thought that I would give it a shot. Since this is the time of year when everyone is either trying to give away their extra zucchini or trying to figure out what to do with the over-sized squash that some one unloaded on them.

The Simple Zucchini

Zucchini, a summer squash, is one of the easiest vegetables to grow. It is inexpensive, versatile and tasty. Although it is not especially high in any specific nutrient, it is low in calories, and it contains antioxidants and 2.5 grams of fiber per one-cup serving.

The long, green summer squash is most familiar to us and is easy to prepare. Toward the end of summer, many people tire of it and look for new and interesting ways to cook it. If you grow zucchini, you are most likely need more recipes for cooking it, since the plant has a reputation for growing “out of control” overnight, producing a great number of squash that can grow very large.

There are thousands of recipes using zucchini available on the Internet. You can use large or small zucchini for Zucchini-Crusted Pizza recipe, which is delicious and low in carbohydrate. The crust is made by shredding the zucchini, a good way to re-introduce it to people who don’t like seeing the seeds when it is cut into “moons” or chopped.

Here is something you might try. Enjoy this unusual pizza for breakfast, lunch or dinner and for a healthy snack.

Ingredients & Preparation

Zucchini-Crusted Pizza Ingredients:
2 cups packed grated zucchini (about two 7" zucchini)
2 eggs, beaten
¼ cup almond flour or almond meal
½ cup grated mozzarella
2 tablespoons grated parmesan
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasonings, or 2 teaspoons combined of minced fresh basil, thyme, oregano and parsley
Topping
1 large ripe tomato, thinly sliced
2 ounces goat cheese
1 thinly sliced fresh or roasted red pepper
8 olives, sliced

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400°.
Spray a 10" pizza or pie pan with vegetable oil cooking spray.
Combine zucchini, eggs, almond flour, cheese and herbs in a bowl and mix well.
Spread crust mixture in the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven, but leave oven on.

When the crust has cooled for about 10 minutes, use a spatula to loosen it from the pan, so it won’t break when serving.

Top the crust with the vegetables and goat cheese and bake at 400° until heated through and cheese starts to color.

Makes 6 servings


Serving Suggestion:
Additional suggested toppings:
Sliced raw or sautéed mushrooms
Chopped artichokes, water packed or marinated
Sliced onions
A layer of pesto
Fresh leaves of spinach or Swiss chard
Fresh or roasted garlic
Chopped fresh or dried herbs such as basil, mint, parsley and thyme
Make a breakfast pizza by layering thin slices of Canadian bacon, shredded cheddar cheese and diced pineapple.

Nutrition at a Glance (per serving)
Calories 140
Total fat 9g
Saturated fat 3g
Carbohydrate 8g
Dietary fiber 2g
Protein 8g

Good luck and enjoy!

Almost an Ideal Day Weatherwise

I woke up later than I did yesterday; yesterday I was up by 0400; so that was not too hard to do and it was still half way dark outside but it looked like it was going to be a pretty nice day.

By the time I made myself breakfast the sun was out and not many clouds in the sky. So after putting my dishes into the dishwasher I took the recycling outside and then went for a walk. After my walk I went out back and picked a dozen and a half of the cherry tomatoes. For some reason they seem to be the only ones that are ripening in any quantity right now.

There are about three early girl tomatoes that are turning red but I notice that they are also starting to rot from the bottom. The roma tomatoes are starting to get pretty good size and should be ripening soon.

After taking the tomatoes into the house I went back outside and raked more of the front lawn. I have just about all of it raked now and about two-thirds of it thatched. I would have liked to have finished it today but I am starting to figure out when I am pushing myself too much and trying to stop before I pass the point of being exhausted.

So after putting my rakes away I decided that I would do a little pruning on the apple tree in the back yard. Since most of the apples are gone now I thought that it would be a good time to trim some branches that the squirrels use to go from the golden mountain ash tree to the apple tree.

I filled two large garbage cans with branches and then dumped them into the recycling container. That container really holds a lot as the two garbage cans did not even fill it up. Maybe with this larger container I will be able to get rid of some of the yard debris that I do not usually get to get rid of.

By the time I finished pruning I was really getting tired so I put my pole pruner and my loppers into the garage and went into the house and cleaned up I was really sweaty and tired.

After resting for a while I reheated some more of that shrimp gumbo and had that for lunch. I reheated the remainder thinking that I would finish it today but I finished about half of it so I will have the rest of it for lunch some other day. I am trying to eat slowly enough so that when I do get full I know it and can stop before I eat too much.

After putting the rest of the gumbo in the refrigerator and my silverware into the dishwasher I went into the living room and sat down for a while before I fell asleep. I knew that I was pretty tired but I was surprised at how quickly I fell asleep.

After waking up I went checked my email and tried to stay awake. I had thought that I might have been able to go out and finish raking this afternoon or do some more cleaning in the garage but no such luck. I am really tired of being so tired all the time.

A Mixed Bag Weatherwise

Today it was almost a nice day with a lot of ugly looking clouds that looked like they were going to dump lots of rain on us but it never did. After breakfast I loaded up the dishwasher and started it up. While it was running I went outside and picked about a dozen tomatoes, pruned the roses and pulled some weeds in the back yard and then I went out to the front yard and picked up fir branches and cones.

While I was out front I noticed that the front lawn was looking pretty sad so I decided that I would rake it and get the walnut leaves. Once I started to rake I found out that I was actually thatching the grass as well.

The grass and ground was still pretty saturated from all the rain the last few days and while I could see how much the lawn needed thatching it was sticking together too much to make raking very efficient.

I was wearing myself out faster than I wanted to do so I only wound up doing half of the front lawn. So I put the rake away and got out my leaf blower as I thought that if I took a break from raking I might be able to finish the lawn.

Unfortunately I was more worn out than I had thought and by the time I got done blowing off the driveway and sidewalks I was too tired to finish the lawn. Maybe tomorrow the grass will be drier and will rake easier; the weather is suppose to be much warmer and drier.

By the time I finished putting every thing away and got cleaned up it was almost 1330 so I emptied the dishwasher and then I reheated some of the shrimp gumbo that I made yesterday. As I was heating it up Kathleen finally came downstairs for breakfast so we were able to have time at the kitchen table together; I for lunch and she for breakfast.

After putting our dishes into the dishwasher I went into the living room and laid down on the floor and put my feet up on one of the ottomans so that I could keep my feet above my heart. I dozed off in that position and when I went to get up I could not get up without going over to the couch to help me up.

It was just about time for dinner so I called up to Kathleen and asked if she had any ideas for dinner. She brought up some frozen chicken from the freezer in the basement and thawed it out. The she cut up a zucchini that we got from Alyssa on Sunday and fried it with some onion, garlic and sun dried tomatoes. She also cooked some rice to finish off the meal.

For Some Reason the Cool Wet Weather Seem Kind of Nice after too much Hot Weather

It rained again last night but it still feels kind of muggy out. This morning after eating breakfast and reading the paper I went outside and picked up some fir branches and cones that had fallen during the night. We were supposed to have some pretty strong winds last night; I slept right through them if we did.

Kathleen's SUV has needed washing for some time but it has either been too hot or I have been too tired to do it; so since I was outside and it had stopped raining for a while I decided to fill up my wash bucket and give it a lick and a promise. It is such a big rig that I had to get the small step stool out so that I could wash the top of it.

I like washing the vehicles either during a light rain or right afterwards as the rain helps loosen the dirt and makes it much easier to wash. Today was such a day so I took advantage of it. I try to avoid washing them when it is hot out as the soapy water dries too fast and I have to wipe it down as I am rinsing it off.

The mail came just as I was finishing up so I went out and got it, but there was not much there, just a few catalogs and a magazine.

Kathleen left to meet with one of the women from church and a few minutes after she left Chucky's mother called and talked for ten minutes or so. I had just started to make myself some gumbo so I was glad that the call was as short as it was.

I made it with rice, green bell pepper, a grated carrot and celery stick, onion, garlic, okra, an eighth of a cup of Worchester sauce and the same amount of Sriracha Hot chili sauce and about a half a pound of shrimp.

I made enough so that I will have some for the next couple day’s lunch. Kathleen does not care for it, she does not like okra and I know that she would not like it as hot as I made it either.

Well, Kathleen is still gone; she and Andrea were going to go to Ikea this afternoon so I am guessing that she just met Andrea there after her meeting. I cannot think of anything else to say so I think I will go back to lying on the couch with my feet up to see if I can get the swelling down.

What a Change in the Weather!

Boy the weather certainly has changed over the last couple of days; Last week it was hot and dry with the temperatures in the hundreds and this week it has just barely made it into the seventies and it has been raining off and on.

This morning was very overcast but not really raining, it had done that last night. Yesterday it drizzled off and on most of the day and I did not get much of anything done in the afternoon.

Today after I ate breakfast I took a walk, I had not done that for a while as it had been so hot. Today it was very nice walking weather even though it looked like it could rain any minute; it did not or at least not that I am aware of.

After I got back from my walk I worked out in the gardens pruning the roses and pulling weeds. I checked on the tomatoes but there were not any more ready to pick; yesterday I picked over a dozen some of them I would have left for today but with the threat of more rain I picked them a little early.

Even though some of the tomatoes were not as ripe as I would have liked they still tasted much better than the ones in the stores. That is one of the main reasons that I like to grow tomatoes or any vegetables for that matter there is just something about that fresh out of the garden taste that you can only get right out of the garden.

My carrots are looking good as well and I am going to have to pull one or two of them up one of these days to see how big they are getting. With carrots the baby ones taste so good it is hard to wait until they get full grown.

Any way after I finished in the garden I went into the garage and sorted, rearranged and threw out things for about an hour and a half. I would like to get the garage so that I can do more than get my Jeep into it. I would like to be able to do some woodworking in it and also other things.

When I got back into the house it was 1230 and I was surprised at how late it was. After a while I made myself a Boca burger on toasted wheat bread with an onion slice and some melted cheddar cheese. I also had some multi-grained tortilla chips that are really good.

This afternoon I mostly rested and did some work on my computer. I had kind of thought that we might go grocery shopping today, but Kathleen decided to pick up her sewing machine instead.

Well it is almost 1830 and I think I will check with Kathleen to see what she wants to do for dinner tonight. Last night I thought that using a whole wheat Boboli crust and putting a can of Hormel's no bean chili on top instead of pizza sauce. Then for topping we put olive slices and sun dried tomatoes covered with mozzarella cheese. We did not have any artichoke hearts that I normally like to have on pizza.

We will have to see what we can come up with tonight...always the challenge!

Finally some COOL WET Weather!!

Saturday was kind of a crazy day, it started out rather normal but that did not last too long. I made myself some French toast and a couple sausage links for breakfast and then put my dishes into the dishwasher. Then I worked out in the yard most of the morning until it got too hot for me to do anything else.

About 1300 I shaved and took a shower as we had a wedding to go to at 1400. By the time we finished at the reception it was a little after 1600 and we took off to do a little shopping.

Well by the time we got done it was early evening and by the time we got home it was almost 2000. So by the time we had dinner I was too tired and hot to even think about blogging.

Then yesterday we started out pretty normal with church and Sunday School and then home. After changing my clothes I made myself something to eat for lunch and then read the paper.

It was a really muggy day but at least it was the first day that it was not over a hundred degrees that we have had in a while even though it was in the mid to upper eighties. So after reading the paper I dozed off for a while as I had not been sleeping really well due to the hot nights.

Alyssa was having a birthday party for Hayden starting at 1600 but she said that if people wanted to come over earlier to go swimming that would be okay as well. So we left her a little after 11500.

We were the first ones to arrive, what a shock that must have been, and so we helped Alyssa get ready for the party. Hayden got several "big" trucks some remote control others just made a lot of noise. We got him a really big Tonka dump truck, it did not make any noise and had no remote control but it should last him a life time.

I had hoped to leave a lot earlier than we did but that did not happen and while we were sitting out in the yard we could hear the thunder rolling around in the hills and every once in a while it would start to rain, but nothing very hard or long.

We finally made it home and it was about 2100 so again I was too tired to do any blogging. I got a much better night sleep as the weather was a lot cooler and it even rained a little during the night.

This morning it has been raining off and on but I managed to get a little yard work done before it started raining too hard to stay outside. Seeing how I could not do anything outside I came inside and emptied the dishwasher, and loaded it up again. Then I gathered up the throw rugs and shook them out, swept and mopped the kitchen floor and then the downstairs carpet.

They just announced on the noon news that we got .14 inches of rain which is more than we have had in the last month or so. Well, it is getting close to the time I start thinking about lunch; Kathleen just made it downstairs so I think that I will just go ahead and send this off.

Hot!!

Well the temperature when I got up was seventy-five degrees outside so it did not take long for it to heat up and become really uncomfortable. I mixed some strawberries, blueberries and a banana with my cereal this morning; I was suppose to go out for breakfast with the guys but my bowels had other ideas so I loaded up the washer with a load of dark cloths and had breakfast.

After putting my breakfast dishes into the dishwasher I took the clothes out of the washer and put them into the dryer and then added a load of light clothes into the washer. So by 0930 I had washed, dried, folded and put away two loads of laundry and by the time I had finished the temperature was approaching ninety degrees so I am glad that I did it as early as I did.

Then I went outside and gathered up some more little chunks of wood to put into the garbage can. I also dead headed the roses and pulled a few weeds. I also noticed that several more tomatoes are starting to ripen; unfortunately these are just the cherry tomatoes but the roma, early girl and beefsteak tomatoes are starting to get big.

It was starting to get too hot outside but I wanted to put the Jeep battery on the trickle charger and get it back up to full strength so I did that and then went into the house and got the mail.

There was not a lot there and I thought that I would go out to the garage and straighten up in there for a while as I noticed it was not quite as hot in the garage as it was outside. Unfortunately I had to keep going outside and I was only able to work on that for about an hour as I was really getting overheated.

It was about 1230 by the time I got back inside and cleaned up so I made myself a brat and some cold rhubarb sauce. After cleaning up my lunch dishes and Kathleen's breakfast dishes I decided that I would take some of the boxes from my upstairs room back down to the basement as we have pretty much finished the remodeling upstairs.

I keep my sanding tools and paper in a couple plastic boxes, my plumbing tools in a canvas bag and a plastic box and my electrical tools in a couple canvas bags and about four boxes. I also have a bag of carpentry tools and a couple plastic boxes of carpentry tools and odds and ends.

I had to make about ten trips from upstairs to the basement and by the time I got most everything down into the basement I had worked up a pretty good sweat and was huffing and puffing pretty good. There are still a few boxes that I need to take down into the basement but at least now I can get into my room without putting my life on the line.

After moving all that I decided to sit down and relax in the living room; that was a couple hours ago and now it is getting close to start thinking about dinner.

To Hot to Write

I did not write to my blog yesterday because I was running around most of the day and by the time I got home I was too hot and tired to get my brain working. The weather folks keep reminding us that the temperature is going to be above a hundred degrees until Sunday, and then it is suppose to be in the high eighties.

I have been spending my mornings watering my gardens and then at noon I have been going to church to cut up fruit for the basketball camp that our church is helping organize. This morning I had my first tomato from my garden this season; there is nothing like a fresh tomato right out of the garden.

Yesterday afternoon Kathleen and I went over to the other side of the river and ran around for a few hours and then spent the rest of the time in traffic. I was able to pick up my prescription at Fred Meyer yesterday and we also got a few groceries. I brought some coupons so that half of what we got was free. The clerk even asked me where I got some of my coupons...I have my sources!!

This morning I just had cereal with blueberries and a banana as it was already too hot to cook eggs and hash browns. After eating I put my dishes into the dishwasher and gathered up everything else that I could find and then turned it on.

I went for a walk before it got really hot, although it was warm enough that I did not want to walk too far or too fast. Then shortly after I got back I changed clothes and went to church to cut up fruit.

I was the first one there; so what else is new; and I had three quarters of the fruit cut up before most everyone else showed up. The was one lady that showed up shortly after I did but I spent more time showing her what to go and trying to work around her that I finally asked that she just take the fruit that I cut up into the trays.

The last fellow showed up just as we were finishing up and asked if there was anything that he could do, so I suggested that he transport the fruit to the place where the b ball camp was being held.

Then when everyone else left I cleaned the knives, cutting boards and sinks. Then I dried everything off and then before I left I mopped the floor. By the time I went back outside it was really heating up in fact Kathleen's SUV did not really cool down enough for me by the time I got home.

Once I got home I changed back into my work shorts and tee and went back downstairs and had some lunch. Kathleen did not finish her ham hoagie from last night so I had that along with some deli salads and a dill pickle. After eating I emptied the dishwasher and then put my lunch dishes into it.

Since then I have not done much moving around as it is just too hot. It was over ninety degrees by noon today and they are telling us that the temperature will probably stay in the mid seventies tonight.

Well the 1600 news just came on and we have set another temperature record. They just said that tomorrow it is suppose to set another record and is supposes to be the hottest day in over a decade. Where is all that cool rainy weather when we need it?

I think that I am going to call it a day as my butt is getting too hot to sit here any longer!

Another Day at the Doctor's

This morning started off quite overcast but it was starting to wear off by 0800 and by 0900 it was starting to get pretty warm. Kathleen came downstairs while I was eating breakfast as she was going to go across the river to see if she could get her glasses to fit better and also to pick up her diamond ring and wedding band that she was having made smaller.

So when I finished eating and reading the paper I put my dishes into the dishwasher and washed the pots and pans. Then I took the recycling outside and worked at picking up some of the small junk in front of the garage. I gathered up a couple small bags of mostly small chunks of wood but also some dry wall and a few nails.

After I put the bags into the garbage can I went into the back yard and straightened up a little, pulled a few weeds and apples. I found a couple pieces of pipe that would fit over the plastic stake that I bought a couple weeks ago to set the bird feeder on and cut them to fit. Now I just need to see if the squirrels can climb up on it!

I was getting pretty sweaty and since I had a doctor's appointment this afternoon so I stopped before I got too involved and it got too late for me to take a shower. It was already noon by the time I got inside and so I gathered up the bed linens and put them in the washer.

After doing a few other things I made myself a couple roast beef sandwiches for lunch and looked through a couple catalogs that had come in the mail today. Then I put them into the recycling container and put the bed linens into the drier.

Then when the drier buzzer went off I gathered them up and remade the bed. By this time it was getting late enough that I decided to shower and get ready for my appointment.

Since Kathleen had not gotten dressed yet I was guessing that she was not going to head across the river, since traffic gets pretty hectic with rush hour traffic if one does not plan their trips around the traffic patterns. So I asked her if she wanted to go to the doctors with me and she said she would.

The appointment went pretty well and the doctor said that my self diagnosis was pretty accurate and said that about the only thing that he could recommend was foam so he wrote me a prescription for some.

So after we left there we went to Fred Meyer to have it filled. Well, I guess that what I have is rare enough that the last time they had ordered it was a couple years ago and they did not have any at the store but they would have to order it from their warehouse and it should be here tomorrow.

While we were at Fred Meyer we picked up some more deli salads, a pace of brats and some buns. I think that we are going to have some bean less chili on buns tonight for dinner along with some of the salads.

Speaking of dinner I think that I am going to have to check with Kathleen to see if she is going to cook dinner or if I am going to have to do it. Since it is after 1800 I think it is time to get serious about dinner, I hate to eat dinner too late in the evening and if I do not do something soon it will be late!

More Recycling

This morning I slept in a little longer than I usually do and it felt good! I could tell it was going to be a nice day as I got up and saw that the sun was shining in the windows already.

Before eating breakfast I went outside and picked a couple handfuls of blueberries for my cereal and then emptied the dishwasher before I sat down to eat. After eating I put my bowl and spoon into the dishwasher and then sat down to read the paper and finish my coffee.

After I finished the paper I gathered all the paper, plastic and metal recycling and took it out to the recycling container. Since I had not had time to pick up all the apples yesterday I went back to gather them up, but surprisingly there where not a lot of them.

While I was out there I started going through all the "stuff" that was under the apple tree that had to do with potting. I use to have my potting bench set up there but I have since moved it but there are still a lot of old plant pots back there and I never will use all of them. So I saved out a few of each size and recycled the rest of them.

I even took the pots that I had used for container planting and dumped the dirt out of them and either recycled them or put the good ones together for use later. I also found some pots that I had some bulbs planted in that I took out and planted where the old apple stump was and recycled the pots.

Since I could now see what was there I gathered up some old Tiki torches and threw the bamboo into the yard debris and the metal fuel cans into the recycling. I even put an old barbecue into the recycling.

While I was in the front of the garage I gathered up the rest of the "stuff" that I had set next to the garage and either put it in the back, in the garage or recycled. By this time I was getting pretty worn out so I sat in the sun for a while and drank some of the water that I brought out earlier.

When I finally made it into the house it was almost noon so I went and brought the mail in. There was not much, about the only thing I kept was the credit union monthly statement. By the time I had gone through the mail and returned a phone call it was about time for me to make myself something for dinner.

I made my self a roast beef sandwich using some of the roast beef from yesterday's barbecue. I also made myself a salad with some dried cranberries and roasted walnuts on top. After I finished eating I gathered up my dishes and put them into the dishwasher.

Since I had the credit union statement in my hand I went and logged on to the credit union website and opened up my copy of Quicken and reconciled my savings and checking accounts.

Kathleen just came downstairs and wanted ideas for dinner so I suggested that she use some of the roast beef and some potatoes, so she did. Well it is time for dinner so I am just going to post this and have dinner.

Where did the Day Go?

I got up this morning I made myself a pot of coffee and then after emptying the dishwasher I made myself a raisin nut English muffin for breakfast. Since I had slept in a little longer, I stayed up too late watching the Olympics; I had only a short time to get ready for church. Kathleen had not made it downstairs yet but when I got up there she was dressed and heading downstairs to get something to eat.

I changed my clothes and want downstairs and waited for Kathleen to finish eating. We managed to get there on time this morning something that does not happen too often when we both go to church.

Attendance was down a bit from last week, I guess the honeymoon of the new pastor is over already, but it was still pretty full by the time the service started. For our Sunday School class we sang hymns from the hymnal, something that we do not do very often any more in church.

After church we came home and changed clothes and then headed back to church as Aaron and Tami's class was putting on a barbecue for the whole church. This is the third year that they have done this. They roast a few roasts in the ground and then have some salads and cookies.

Kathleen and I were one of the first to venture outside as most of the people stayed inside, what kind of barbecue does one have inside? Anyway after a while Tami brought Becca and Alexis outside to sit with us while she went back inside to slice up some more roast. After awhile she and Aaron joined us along with several of their friends.

We had a good time and after visiting for a while we decided that we needed to leave, they were folding up the tables and taking down the canopies, we eventually got the hint.

A friend of mine has not been coming to class for a while as he is having a lot of hearing loss, he has a lot of fluid in his ears and just a couple weeks ago had tubes put in his ears. He is a little embarrassed by the whole thing and had kind of isolated himself for others.

So I called him to see if they were going to be home for a little while as we wanted to stop by for a while. His wife answered, so we went over and visited for an hour or so.

By the time we left and got home again it was 1630 and both of us were really tired. I changed my clothes and decided to get some work done on my computer and my blogging.

It is getting close to dinner time, so I think I will wrap this thing up and see what Kathleen has in mind for dinner if anything.

Sore Saturday!

When I woke up this morning not only was my back still sore, although not as sore as when I went to bed, but my legs were really sore. I made it downstairs and was glad that I made it down without my legs giving in on me.

I had a Discipleship Ministry Team meeting this morning and it seemed like it took me forever to get going. I finally made it out the door with a few minutes to spare, or so I thought.

When I went to start my Jeep all I got was a week attempt by the started to turn over. So without even thinking about it I got my jump starter, which I had charged up, and jump started it. I took it along just in case I would need it after my meeting.

The poor Jeep does not get driven enough to keep the battery charged and if I do not think about starting it up once in a while I wind up with a weak or dead battery. Luckily after the meeting it started right up just like it is suppose to do.

I got home about 1130 and since I did not have very much for breakfast I had the rest of the cold pizza from last night and a slice of lemon cake. While I was eating I went through the mail that had come today.

About 1500 I got hungry again so I made myself a couple English muffin pizzas. Since I had not done any hand wash pots and pans for a couple days I decided to gather up all the pots and pans and get them washed.

I had poured a couple containers of water and added the drops to take the chlorine out of the water a couple days ago so since I had the counters and stove top relatively cleared off I decided to give my beta a "bath".

It is amazing how quickly the water turns green in that vase that I keep him in. It does not seem like it was that long ago since I changed the water, it must be the time of year and the amount of light that the water is exposed to.

I am doing this early so that I do not fall asleep before I get a chance to do it later on tonight. Say, did anyone else watch the opening of the Olympics last night? Kind of amazing, but at the same time very sad when one considers the poverty in that country and the amount of money spent on it.

A Nice Cool Day

This morning when I got up it was really overcast, little did I know at the time that it was a sign of the rest of the day. I guess that I have lived on the beach long enough to think that the overcast would just burn off around 0900 or 1000 and then be nice and sunny the rest of the day until evening when the fog would roll back in.

So after I finished eating breakfast I decided to go outside since it was still pretty overcast and do some chipping. I hate doing it when it is sunny and hot as all the dust from the chipper settles on me and I look almost like a tree without leaves. As it turned out this was an excellent day to do this as the temperature only got up to the high seventies today.

Anyway, I thought that I would try to pick up as many fir cones as possible from the front and side yard as possible so that while I was chipping branches I could also chip up the fir cones as well. I filled up a fifty gallon barrel with just fir cones (95%) and walnut shells (5%); I could not believe how many there were.

I spent from around 1030 until about 1330 chipping branches and cones, I had two really large garbage cans full of small branches, three or four feet long, and several larger branches from a pile that I had stacked up a couple of weeks ago.

After I finished chipping and putting the chipper away I drug out an old picnic table umbrella and took it apart separating the metal parts for everything else. I put the metal parts with the recycling stuff and the rest I just put into the garbage can.

By the time I finished putting away everything, went into the house and cleaned up it was a little after 1400. I went and got the mail as I had not had an opportunity to get it before and then I realized that I was so tired that I could hardly stand up, so I sat down in the kitchen and then after resting a little bit I got out the lemon cake and cut a slice for my lunch.

That was all that I had the energy for but after a little while longer I asked Kathleen if she wanted her left over salmon and salad from last night and she said she did not so I ate that cold. There was not much left, but it was just enough for me at the moment.

I noticed that my back had really started to hurt, I had not picked up anything heavy but I had been bending over a lot picking up fir cones and then loading the chipper for over four hours so that is probably what was causing it. I guess I will have to take some extra Tylenol today.

Not having a lot of energy left I decided to go through some of my catalogs and magazines that have come in the mail the last couple of days. Kathleen needed to run to Montavilla Sewing Center to pick something up so I suggested that she pick up a Papa Murphy's pizza on the way home. We both like their delight style pizzas so she ordered a three meat for her and a veggie delight for me. That was one pizza split in half.

We had a couple pieces leftover so I will probably have that for lunch tomorrow. Right now I am so tired that I am already having a hard time staying awake. I am fighting going to bed because if I went to bed now I would be awake in the middle of the night and I really do not want to do that.

Run Around Day

This morning felt cooler when I got up and after I finished eating breakfast I loaded up the dishwasher and turned it on, then I went outside and picked up apples. I also gathered up more junk and put it into the garbage can.

The weather folks said that we might get some rain this afternoon so I did not bother watering, but found some weeds that were trying to sneak into the gardens so I pulled them and put them into the yard debris container.

As I was putting the weeds into the container I spotted the mailman so I went out front and got the mail from him. Then I went into the house, cleaned up and opened up the mail. About ninety percent of it was junk so I added it to the junk mail pile and then went back into my office and sorted out some more paperwork.

I had a lot of old Boeing things that I had been saving and decided that while I was working there it was a good place to earn a living but I had given Boeing too much of my time already and now was as good a time as any to start getting rid of memories.

Kathleen had taken off to Montavilla Sewing Center to trade her sewing machine for another one. Hers has been in and out of the shop more than she has been able to use it so they finally agreed to give her another one.

While she was gone I went through some of my old paperwork and threw out about twenty pounds of paper. A lot of it was stuff that I had been saving from Boeing and a lot of it was just stuff that I should have thrown out a long time ago.

Anyway Kathleen got home about 1045 and grabbed something to eat so that we could take off for her sleep doctor appointment at 1130 over in Tigard. After her appointment we stopped of at the jewelers where I bought her diamond ring so that she could get it and her wedding band resized. She has lost so much weight that her rings are too big for her.

After we finished there we stopped of at the place where she got her glasses so that they could exchange her frames. Her old ones had some of the rhinestones fall out and they just replaced the old ones with new ones for her.

We got home about 1545 and after bringing her sleep machine into the house I made myself a Boca burger on dark rye toast with an onion slice and melted cheddar cheese. I kind of vegetated the rest of the afternoon. I think that I finally have my computer working close to how it was before it lost it's mind on my a week or so ago.

Tonight for dinner we had cold left over salmon and some deli salad that Kathleen had picked up yesterday at Fred Meyer. The temperature only got up to the mid eighties today which almost seemed cool after the last four days in the upper nineties.

Well my mind is starting to wander, usually a sign that I am getting tired so I think that I am going to publish this and call it a day.

Not as Hot but Really Muggy

This morning when I got up I left the fan on as the temperature inside and outside were about the same. The first thing I did when I got downstairs was to make a fresh pot of coffee. I had not had any in a couple days because my stomach was so messed up and I did not want to upset it with coffee.

While the coffee was dripping I went outside to pick some blueberries to have with my cereal. After eating breakfast and reading the paper I went outside where I picked up apples, sorted the barrels of branches and fir cones; I kept the fir cones and larger branches to run through the chipper and the smaller ones I put into the yard debris container.

I also pulled out all of the spent poppy plants, I like them when they bloom but they look rather ugly once the petals fall off. I also picked a few more blueberries to snack on before going into the house to clean up.

For lunch I got a frozen pizza and baked it in the toaster oven. They are not my favorite meal but I have pretty much run out of other options as we need to go grocery shopping.

This afternoon Kathleen took off to meet with the lady from church and I kind of dozed off and on most of the afternoon. After her meeting Kathleen went to Fred Meyer to pick up a prescription and she also picked up some salmon for dinner.

After dinner I put the dishes into the dishwasher and then caught up on my e-mail as I had not done that this afternoon. Then I read Zander's and Alyssa's blogs and now I am doing my own.

Too Hot to Do Much of Anything

This morning when I got up turned on our whole house fan and then went outside and watered the vegetables and berries as it was suppose to be in the upper nineties again today. When I got back inside I opened some windows and left the back door open to let as much cool air in the house as possible.

When I checked the indoor/outdoor thermometer it read over seventy-five degrees inside and only seventy degrees outside so I wanted to get as much of the cool air inside before it started warming up.

I made myself some hash browns and egg beaters for breakfast and after emptying the dishwasher I loaded my breakfast dishes into it. Then I went outside and picked up apples and ate some blueberries. I also sorted out some of the potting pots that I have been "collecting" and now when Kathleen comes out we can decide if we want to keep any of them.

It was starting to get a little hot for me so I went inside and cleaned up again. I did not get much done today other than what I did this morning except I did sort through some magazines and catalogs. They have a way of piling up and I need to get a handle on them before they get out of control...if that is possible!

Well, the last temperature high that I heard for today was only ninety-seven degrees, the house only got up to a little over eighty degrees so opening the windows and having the fan on early this morning helped a lot. I had to shut the windows and turn the fan down around 0900 so as not to suck in too much warm air.

Now tonight when the outside temperature get to be about the same as the indoor temperature I will turn the fan on and hopefully tonight remember to open the windows before I go to bed. Last night I was too tired and my brain was not working very well.

I am starting to feel better today and I did not spend nearly as much time in the bathroom today as I had the last couple of days and nights. Well, I am getting brain fog and I need to say good night!

The Day After

Yesterday was the first day for our new pastor and between services we held a reception for him and his wife. Afterwards Kathleen and went home, I had not felt quite right that morning but I wanted to go for his first service so I pushed myself a little. Then at 1330 our class had our annual picnic and croquet tournament.

I did not feel any worse so I went, but shortly after I finished eating my stomach started cramping up on me and I had to leave. Kathleen wanted to stay so I put our stuff into the SUV and went home by myself. I spent most of the rest of the afternoon and evening in the bathroom and by the time Kathleen got home I was really exhausted.

I did not feel like eating anything that evening and went to bed early. When I got up this morning I belt much better but still not really great. Between last night and this morning I finished a two liter bottle of lemon-lime soda.

Since I had not picked up apples yesterday I did that this morning and then picked up some leftover junk and put it into the garbage. Then I went into the house, cleaned up and read yesterdays paper. I felt so awful yesterday that I did not read the paper.

After reading the paper I went upstairs and went to bed and took a nap for a while. Andrea had called earlier and wanted Kathleen to go with her to the doctor's to watch Brandon and Christian. It turns out that she has a staff infection in her leg and so she got several things to try to get it cleared up.

I had just come downstairs when they drove up. The stayed a little while and then Andrea had to leave as John was on his way home from work. So for dinner Kathleen heated up the leftover salmon and rice for the other night.

I am starting to feel better tonight but I am still really tired, I got a pretty good night sleep last night and took a nap this afternoon yet I still feel like I need to go to bed.

Another REally Nice Day

It was still pretty overcast when I woke up this morning, but it was not raining and the weather forecast was for cloudy morning and the sun coming out this afternoon; strangely enough they were correct.

This morning I sliced up a banana and a peach to have with my cereal and the peach was just the right ripeness and was as sweet as could be. After eating I emptied the dishwasher and then put my breakfast dishes in.

Since I had not picked up apples yesterday, I though that I had better get outside and pick them up before they all got squished. It took about twenty minutes to pick them up, it is too bad that they ripen and then get really soft so quickly because if they can be picked and eaten right away they do not taste too bad.

Since it had been a while since I had watered and the little amount of moisture that fell yesterday did not do much good I thought that I had better water today. I not only watered the berries and vegetables but I also watered the roses and flowers in the back garden.

After I watered I did a little pruning on the roses and a little weeding in the rose garden. While I was watering I noticed a blackberry that had started to come through into the rose garden so I also dug it out.

I was all set to go into the house when I saw that I still had not finished weeding around the tree rose by the gate to the driveway so I got my tools and finished weeding that area.

While I was down in that area I thought that I would pull out the violets and the mint that was growing along the fence by the basement stairs. Part of it I got from the back sidewalk and the rest of it I stood in the stairway and pulled them. I really like the idea of pulling the weeds from the upright position...it is much easier on my back.

By the time I put my tools away and cleaned up it was after 1300 so I decided to make myself some lunch. Since I still had some salmon from last night’s dinner I decided to have that along with a sardine sandwich.

About 1530 we got a phone call reminding us about a dinner we were having with some friends; it is a good thing we got the call as Kathleen had next Saturday marked for the dinner. So Kathleen had to rush off to Winco to pick up something to bring.

While she was gone I shaved and showered as I was a little dirty from working out in the yard for over four hours. I normally do that just before going to bed as it is kind of refreshing and relaxing.

That is the reason that I am blogging this early; I do not think that I will be feeling much like doing it when we get home tonight.

It almost Rained Today!

When I got up this morning it was really overcast and when I got downstairs I could see that it looked a little damp outside. Since Kathleen had picked up some bananas the other day I had a sliced up banana with my cereal this morning. After eating I loaded up the dishwasher and when Kathleen finished eating I put her dishes in and turned it on.

Then I tackled the pots and pans; I had not cleaned out the pan that the salmon was cooked in last night and when I came downstairs it really smelt like salmon so I thought that I needed to wash it first. The rice cooker had not been cleaned out other than just the cooking bowl so I took it apart and gave in a little cleaning.

Since I was meeting with the guys today at 1000 I went upstairs and changed my clothes and then took off. It was drizzling a little, but not enough for me to have to run the wipers.

After I left Manny's house I went to Costco as I had a couple coupons that expired Sunday and that place is really a zoo on the weekends. I was worse than I had seen it in a long time and I was lucky in that a line just opened up as I was getting ready to check out.

So when I got home I changed my clothes and then got the mail, not much of anything interesting so I went to my office to pay a few bills. None of them were due right away and so I had the credit union to send them just a few days before they are due. That way I get to keep my money a little longer and earn some interest on it.

After a while Kathleen came down and said that her sewing machine was ready to pick up and she wanted to know if I wanted to go along as well. I thought that since we were out anyway we could stop by Newport Bay and get some thing to eat for dinner.

Kathleen asked me if it had rained today as she heard on the radio that it had but she was not aware of it. I told her that it did not really rain but drizzled off and on for a while this morning, but this is the first time we have had any significant precipitation in a month.

Kathleen had a shrimp Louie and crab salad and I had some Alaskan Coho salmon and a cup of fisherman's soup. I had a good size piece of salmon left over and Kathleen had a lot of her salad left over so we took home three boxes for tomorrow's lunches.

Well I did not get much done today, I am getting closer to getting my computer monitor looking like it should, it is still not quite correct, but it is a lot better than it was last week end.

What Was I Thinking?

First off, Happy Birthday Alyssa and Charie; both share the same birthday only Alyssa is ten years older!

This morning when I got up I felt pretty good so since I had sorted clothes last night I did a couple loads of laundry. Then and after a while I made myself some hash brown potatoes and I used Kathleen's egg whites and some egg beater to make myself and omelet. I used a pretty good size potato and so there were a lot of hash browns, so I did not make myself any toast to go along with it all.

After I finished eating I finished my coffee and read the paper. After that I Put the first load of laundry into the dryer and the second into the washer then I went outside and picked up apples.

After I finished picking up the apples I mowed the back lawn, pulled some weeds in the rose garden and pruned the roses. After adding the yard debris to the container I went into the house cleaned up and then took the first load of clothes out of the dryer.

I took the clean dry laundry upstairs and folded it and put it away. Then I went back downstairs and made myself another salad for lunch. I used up all the baby spinach and arugula and just about all of the romaine lettuce. By the time I finished lunch the laundry was done, so I took it upstairs; folded and put it away.

Then I went back outside and sat in the shade while I did a little reading, I was going to read inside, but it was such a nice day that I decided to enjoy the fresh air and listen to the birds. While I was out there I noticed some birds feeding from my thistle feeder; I noticed that the amount of thistle level had gone down but I had never seen any birds using it.

After I finished reading I decided to mow the front lawn and move some more dirt from the front of the garage to the front of the west side of the driveway to fill in a low spot. By the time I finished all that I was so tired that I could hardly stand up but I managed to get my tools put away and cleaned up.

I had just sat down to rest when Kathleen asked me to help her load the sewing machine into her SUV for her class tonight. I got her machine into the car and she took off for class; I was going to eat but I was too tired so I sat down and watched The O'Reilly and Hannity and Colmes.

In fact I am watching Hannity and Colmes on my computer now while I am writing my blog. I decided that if I kept sitting there I would fall asleep and so I decided to write my daily blog while I was still somewhat awake.

Well, I am getting more tired all the time so I think that I will go ahead and post it and then have some fresh salmon for dinner.

Nice Weather Returns

I did not feel like getting up this morning, but I knew that if I stayed in bed I would be more tired than if I just got up and started my day. So before breakfast this morning I went out and picked some blueberries for my shredded wheat and Cheerios. Kathleen got up this morning as I was getting breakfast ready and so I poured her a cup of coffee as well.

After putting the dishes into the dishwasher I went outside and picked up apples, there were not as many again this morning. I think that it has something to do with not having as many left in the tree. After Picking up the apples I ate a few more blueberries and then watered the berries, the vegetables and then went and watered the gardens in the front of the house.

Kathleen left while I was watering to go over to Tigard and Beaverton so while her big SUV was not in the driveway I decided to get out my blower and air sweep the driveway off. While I was doing that I did the back stairs, the sidewalk and all around the front garden.

After I finished putting my tools away I went into the house, cleaned up and made myself a baby spinach, arugula and romaine salad. Since I used the last of the raspberry dressing I made my own out of some apricot sauce and some tarragon vinegar.

After putting my dishes into the dishwasher I rested for a while and then went back outside so that I could dig out the big apple tree stomp from the back garden area. I had been planting around it for a couple years and it was getting so rotten that I was afraid that it would fall over and crush one of my peace roses.

After getting it down to ground level I got out my good old stubbing hoe and dig the roots and the rest of the tree stomp out. I still have my old wheel borrow over at Aaron's and I did not have the energy to get the garden cart out of the garage so I moved my big reel mower close by and loaded the largest pieces on it and wheeled them over to under the fir trees.

I had to use several five gallon buckets to pick up the smaller pieces but I got most of it picked up. After digging all around the former stump I put all my tools away and went into the house and cleaned up. I had just finished cleaning up when Kathleen came back home so I went out and helped her bring her sewing machine inside and upstairs.

She had also stopped by Fred Meyer's and picked up one of her prescriptions and some groceries so that she will have something to make for dinner tonight. Well, I am feeling a little tired so I think that I will go rest for a while before dinner.

A Different Kind of Day

Well I got a good eight hours sleep last night and when I woke up it looked like it was a lot earlier than it really was. It was really overcast this morning and it never burnt off; the weather man had said that it was suppose to rain today, but I did not see it. I could see things looked a little damp outside but if it precipitated at all today it was not much.

It was so dreary out this morning that instead of having my normal Egg Beaters I decided to have some hot cereal instead. Before I started cooking it I took the kitchen vegetable scraps and put them into the composter and then I picked up apples. There were not as many apples as there have been so that was nice; and after picking up the apples I picked a couple handfuls of blueberries to have as a pre-breakfast snack.

After I got back into the house I emptied the dishwasher as my cereal was cooking and then I read the paper as I finished my coffee. Since this was garbage day I took the bag out to the can that I had brought to the front yesterday so that we would have a full can for them to pick up.

After coming back into the house I decided that since it was suppose to rain today I probably would be better off working inside today so I went into my office and started going through the bookcases on the walls and the small bookcase that I had just moved Sunday. I am now using it to house the shoes that I keep downstairs; like my walking shoes and most of my Birkenstock's.

I even cleaned off the extra desk and now I can actually use it to sort things out on. I got rid of a lot of my old Boeing memorabilia, stuff that I had held onto just because I wanted to keep them as mementoes of about a third of my life.

A lot of what I got rid of was just paper, old catalogs or brochures that I had picked up at some time. I sorted out my computer programs, disks and manuals and got rid of several disks and manuals of equipment or programs that we no longer had.

Other than a lunch break I worked on my office about seven hours, I do not feel too tired but then I did not do anything that took a lot of energy either. Kathleen was tired so I made myself some dinner and then cleaned up my kitchen mess. Well since it is 2000 I think that I will call it a day, so good night!

Almost a Perfect Day

I awoke early this morning and did not get to do back to sleep so finally about 0545 I got up. It was a really nice looking morning out and not overcast like it has been the last few days.

Then this morning for breakfast I went outside and got a couple dozen blueberries to put on my shredded wheat and Cheerios. After finishing my morning coffee I picked up my dishes and put them into the dishwasher.

Then I gathered up the recycling paper and cardboard and put it into the new recycling container outside and then picked up twenty gallons of apples. I think that between the squirrels and birds just about all of the apples have been chewed on to some degree. Every once in a while I seen raccoons up in the tree as well, so it is kind of like a mini wild kingdom.

After picking up apples I decided to go back and work on the garden area that I did not get planted and de-weed it. While I was at it I spent some time weeding around the raspberries. That area was not as bad as it has been in years past but some of the weeds were getting pretty tall.

Since I was working both in the sun and in the shade I was not sure how long I had been exposed to the sun, so I stopped and put my tools away and then went into the house and cleaned up. The mail had come while I was outside so I went and got it and put it on the kitchen table so that I could go through it and the paper while I ate lunch.

For lunch I heated up the rest of that Trader Joe's shepherd's pie and an English muffin. There were more catalogs than anything else in the mail today for some reason; almost all of them said that this might be my last catalog if I did not order anything. Funny thing is that I did not ask for most of them in the first place.

After recycling the junk mail and putting my lunch dishes into the dishwasher I went into my office to see if I could figure out what was wrong with it; I spent most of the afternoon trying to get things back to "normal" to no avail. It is a little better and it is usable to some degree but not as friendly as I had it before and I still need to get it working better but I am too tired to worry about it now.

My leg kept cramping up on my while I was working on the computer and I kept having to get up and walk around to work the cramp out. Finally I gave up and went into the living room and sat in my chair and put my feet up on the ottoman. Of course when I did that it did not take too long for me to fall asleep. All that I remember is that I was watching the Reilly Factor and when I woke up Hannity and Colmes was on.

Today was a great day as far as I was concerned, the temperature was in the high seventies or low eighties and was sunny just about all day. Well, it is after 1900, I have not heard from Kathleen for a while and I am guessing that she is sleeping so I think that I will make myself something to eat for dinner. With that said I am going to call it a night.

What a Weekend!

Yesterday started out pretty good; the weather was nice although not as sunny as t has been, in fact there were many clouds in the sky but still mostly sunny. While I was making breakfast I loaded the washer with a load of towels, then after putting my breakfast dishes into the dishwasher I put the towels into the dryer on my way outside.

When I first got outside I picked up apples and then mowed the back lawn. Still feeling pretty good I decided to do some weeding, only the place I needed to weed was in the sun, I weeded for as long as I could take it and then decided to eat some berries for a while.

The raspberries have slowed down and now I have to look harder for what berries are left. We will get another crop later but for now the berry production is not was it was for the last few weeks. The blueberries are still going strong so I collected a few handfuls and then headed inside.

I was about 1230 so I decided to make myself some lunch. I finished up the rest of the Trader Joe's chicken and some ride that was left over from the other night. After sitting down and going through the mail I decided to go into my office and see if I could straighten it up a little.

I started by putting everything on the desk into a box and then unplugging the wires from the CPU so that I could put it back on the floor. It has been on the desk for over a year and it makes it hard to work at the desk and hence keep it clean.

Once I had everything unplugged I put the CPU aside and then moved the desk about three feet toward the west. This will allow me to move my file cabinet to the east side of the desk so that I can fill things easier. I keep stacking things to file and by the time I get to file them I have three or four updates of the items. Hopefully now I will not have that excuse; that is when I get the stack filed in the first place.

To make a really long story short when I plugged the monitor back in the screen came up differently than it had when I disconnected everything. Kathleen had been helping me as I could not work under my desk due to my back and so she spent a lot of time working on it to try to get it working correctly...it still is not working as it should so I am doing this on the lap top.

While she was working on my computer I decided to take the garbage out and then dispose of an old watermelon. Just as I was picking it up Kathleen called me into the room; well rather than put the watermelon down I carried it into my room. On the way to the computer, I tripped on something and not wanting to drop the watermelon I went crashing to the floor.

I held onto the watermelon until my elbow hit the floor and that jarred it out of my hand and all over the place. When I tried to get up my left side was really aching, from my shoulder on down. I finally made it up and then went into the living room to sit down for a while.

The longer I sat the more I hurt; I could feel my insides starting to not feel too good and my head was really pounding, so I took some extra Tylenol and sat some more. The towels had been dry for quite a while so I took them out of the dryer, folded and put them away.

Finally around 1900 I asked Kathleen if she were going to make some dinner; she heated up some of the left over meatballs and potatoes and rice from another meal. By the time I was done eating I was too worn out both mentally and physically.

Since my computer was still not working correctly I just kind of vegetated in front of the TV until around 2000 when I decided to take a shower before going to bed. I thought that a hot shower might help my aching body, and it did a little.

That was yesterday, last night every time that I move, my body would hurt and I would wake up for a while. This morning Kathleen's sleep machine was noisy so I got up a little earlier than I normally would because I knew that I would not be getting back to sleep anyway.

I still was pretty sore and I did not know for sure if I were going to make it to church or not. Finally after moving around for a while I started to feel less sore so I went upstairs and changed my clothes. Kathleen had gotten up to see how I was but she was still tired so she went back to bed.

I got really sore from sitting so long at church and Sunday School and was really stiff again for a while. By the time I got home I was pretty sore again so I took some more Tylenol and changed my clothes. Instead of resting and reading the paper I decided to work on my office again for a while.

In the last two days I have moved every piece of furniture except the large bookcase. It was a good thing that Kathleen was upstairs the whole time because I had "stuff" in the living room, the dinning room and the hall way, just so that I could move things around in my office.

I still have a lot of sorting to do, but at least now I have some open space in which to do it in. I have been trying to group things in boxes that are similar, i.e. computer cables in one box so that I can sort through the box and get rid or what we do not need any longer. The same for my Palm, Garmin and iTouch. This will hopefully make it easier to find things and get rid of what is not needed.

By the time I had move everything around and got the boxes back into the room it was 1500 so I heated up some left over chicken and rice for lunch. When Kathleen had come down I showed her what I had been working on and what I had gotten rid of already. Kathleen worked on my computer some more and so I went into the living room and read the paper.

Finally around 1730 I asked her what she thought about having for dinner and she did not know so I suggested heating up a shepherd pie that we had gotten at Trader Joe's so she did. She does not like them so I had half for dinner tonight and probably will have the other half tomorrow for lunch.

Kathleen wants me to see the doctor about my back tomorrow, I told her that I will see how I feel tomorrow but I am afraid that I will have to do something sooner than later. Well I am still really tired, I did not get a nap today and I did not sleep all that well last night so I think that I will just post this and call it a day.

Too Tired

This was another nice day; almost a little cool this morning as I woke up but I liked it. So after eating breakfast and reading the paper I went outside and picked up apples and then finished chopping up the branches that I had stacked by the raspberries.

I put all the really small branches into the yard debris container and the medium branches I put into an other barrel to chop up in the chipper and the really large ones I stacked to use as poles or cut up for fire wood.

I also pulled the grass that had crept up on my dirt pile where the branches had been and made it loop into the rose garden so that it almost looks like I planned it to be that way.

By the time I finished chopping and taking care of the loppers it was almost noon so I went into the house, cleaned up and got the mail. There was not much there except for a couple catalogs which I have not had time to look at yet.

Finally around 1330 I decided that I needed to eat something as we were going over to Andrea's house to take her to the eye doctor to have her eyes checked. So I made myself a salad with some baby spinach, arugula, romaine lettuce, some sweet onion and some slices of yellow and orange peppers. I put a raspberry dressing mixed with some red wine vinegar on top of it all.

We picked up Andrea, actually took her SUV as it already had the car seats in it and got to the eye doctor's just in time. Andrea was able to get an appointment right away and it usually takes me weeks or months to get one, but the last time I was there I was still working in Sandy.

While Andrea filled out her forms, this was her first time there, I took Brandon over to look at frames as I need to schedule an appointment for myself and get some new glasses. Each time I get new glasses I get smaller and lighter ones; I use to have to wear larger ones when I worked at Boeing because they needed to be safety glasses and most of them are on the large size.

I did not feel comfortable at first with smaller glasses but the longer I have to wear glasses the more conscience I am with the size and weight of the frames. That is one of the main reasons that I am looking at smaller frames, also the smaller ones are not quite as conspicuous as their larger counterparts are.

Andrea did not need glasses so we took her home after she got out from seeing the doctor. We stayed at her house for a while so that she could adjust to having her eyes dilated.

After we left we needed to stop at Fred Meyer so that both of us could pick up a prescription. While we were there we picked up a few items, like muffins and something for dinner. We got a combination mashed potatoes and meatballs; I guess that sounded good to Kathleen as she and Andrea had talked about having meatballs at Ikea.

By the time we got home it was almost 1900 and I could barely make it back into the house with the groceries. For the last couple of days my back has been bothering me; not a much as it did a week ago, but more than it usually does.

Well, I had planned on not even writing to my blog tonight because I was so tired, but I thought that I would give it a try. So I am sorry if this does not make a lot of sense or the spelling is bad but I am too tired and sore to care. I think that I will be turning in early tonight!

Warming up again

This morning when I woke up it was still pretty overcast, but by the time I sat down to eat breakfast, around 0900, the sun was out and shinning brightly. So after I finished eating I emptied the dishwasher and put my breakfast dishes in.

Since it was starting to warm up already I decided not to take a walk this morning besides I think I walked enough yesterday that I wanted to give my legs a little rest. So I went out to the back yard and chopped up some of the branches in my branch pile and put some in one of my barrels to run through the chipper and the smaller ones I put in the yard debris container.

It was almost noon by the time I got back into the house and cleaned up so I went to the mailbox and got the mail. There really was not much of anything worth keeping so most of it went into the recycle pile or the shredder.

While I was outside Kathleen had come out and said that Aaron, Tami and the girls were coming over after stopping off at Subway and wanted to know if I wanted something from Subway for lunch. It had been a while since I had a store bought sub so I had a veggie sub.

While I was waiting for them I went to the west front lawn and raked out the piles of dirt that I had dumped there a couple weeks ago. I finished smoothing it out and went back into the house and cleaned up.

They got here after a while and we all sat down and had our subs and after that the girls and Kathleen went out back to pick raspberries. Tami was watching one of their friends baby and so she and Aaron sat in the shade of the cherry trees and mountain ash.

After a while they left and I went back inside and paid a bill and checked the activity on our credit union accounts. Around 1700 Kathleen asked me to bring her sewing machine and embroidery attachment downstairs for her; I had forgotten that she had a class tonight. So I brought them downstairs and put them into her SUV and then she took off as her class started at 1730.

I was glad that I only ate half of my sub sandwich because that is what I had for dinner. I had though about having it tonight or tomorrow for lunch and I am glad that I had it tonight because it was starting to get pretty soggy.

Well today was much warmer, I think that it got up to the mid eighties and it is suppose to be this way most of the rest of the week. I do not mind the temperature like it was today, but much hotter will be getting a little bit uncomfortable for me.

Fire Fire!!

It was slightly overcast this morning and the weatherman had said that today’s temperature would be in the seventies again today. After I finished my breakfast and reading the paper I loaded up the dishwasher and started it up, then I got my walking gear and went for a walk.

As I was walking behind our house I notice a plume of really black smoke that looked to be four of five blocks away so I cut across the field and headed down the street toward where I thought the fire might be coming from. The further I walked the further away I could tell it actually was but I kept walking; after all it was down hill and the walking was easy.

I finally got all the way down to Sandy Boulevard and 112th and saw a fire engine heading north on 112th and I could see where the fire was; it was a couple blocks north of Sandy, but since my bronchitis was just getting better I decided not to go any closer. Her are a couple pictures of the fire:

I kept walking down Sandy until I got to 105th and then decided that I had better start heading home since Kathleen had a doctor's appointment at 1130. As easy as walking down hill was walking back up the hill was equally hard...but I made it and I did not feel all that bad afterwards just tired.

We went to Kathleen's doctor appointment and then Kathleen dropped me off at home and she went to meet with the lady from church at 1330. I had some of the Trader Joe's chicken and rice from last night’s dinner for lunch and after I finished eating I emptied the dishwasher and put my lunch dishes in.

Since it still has not rained I decided to water the garden in the front of the house, so I went out and did that. After watering I got my broom and swept off the steps and then the walkway. Then I went back into the house and read the mail.

Tonight Kathleen heated up a can of chicken gumbo soup for me and fixed herself something else as she does not like gumbo. After dinner I put the dishes into the dishwasher and here I am writing my blog.

Tomorrow it is suppose to start heating up once again, I will not like it as much but just about everyone else will and I guess that warm or hot weather is what one should expect in the summer.

Unseasonably Cool...but my kind of Weather!

It seemed darker outside than I thought that it should be when I got up this morning, and after I got up I realized why. We had a beach like cloud cover that stuck around most of the day that not only made it cooler but also darker than usual.

So after reheating the pancakes from last night and making a fresh pot of coffee I sat down and had breakfast and read the paper. After I finished eating and reading the paper I emptied the dishwasher and put my breakfast dishes into it and did the hand wash pots and pans.

After I had finished in the kitchen I put on my Birkenstocks walking shoes and took myself for a walk. My hip did not bother me as much as it had last week and so I took a little longer walk than I had in a while. When I got home I changed out of my Birkenstocks walking shoes and then I went outside and picked up apples from the back yard.

I stopped for a while to enjoy some blueberries, raspberries and probably the last strawberry for a while until the next crop come in. Then I went and got my hedge trimmer and trimmed the hedge in the front yard. After I finished with the hedge I got my rake and picked up the trimmings and put them in the new yard debris container.

That new container sure holds a lot more than my old barrel did as I filled my old one up with trimmings and but it on top of the yard debris that I had already collected over the last two weeks. I think that the new one must hold two or three times as much as my old barrel. That is nice because many times I have to use two barrels one to put out front and one to hold the excess until the next collection day.

After I finished I put my tools away and went into the house to clean up. Andrea called and said that she was in the neighborhood and wanted to know if she could come over to pick up a tank top that she had purchased and some how Kathleen had in her SUV and left there.

So she dropped by for a while and we played with Brandon for a while and then I got to hold Christian until he fell asleep and I put him in his car seat. Andrea, the boys and Kathleen went shopping after a while and once they left I made myself some lunch.

While they were out they stopped at Trader Joe's and Kathleen picked up a few items and made one of them for dinner tonight. If the one they went to today was a closer and a little more convenient to get to I think that we would probably do most of our grocery shopping there.

Kathleen said that I seemed to be feeling better today and I think it is because the weather was much cooler and working outside was not a tiring as it is for me when it is hotter. I definitely like this cooler weather but I also realize that the vegetable garden will not do as well when the weather is cooler. I think that it did not make it to eighty today.

Nice Day Today!

When I woke up this morning it was a little overcast but that burned off by 0930 and it was really a nice day. So after eating breakfast I went outside and picked up over ten gallons of apples. I did not do that yesterday and so I guess that was about what I have been getting lately.

While I stopped to have some blueberries a couple honey bees landed on me; I guess they thought that I was a sweet smelling flower or something. My friendly humming bird also buzzed by me on his way to some of the flowers in the rose garden; I probably need to find another name for that garden as it now has a lot of different flowers other than roses.

When I first planted it I had only roses in it; I still have about twenty roses in it but there are also foxglove, lilies, lavender, oriental poppies and a lot of other things. Right now the roses are done for awhile and so are the fox glove; the poppies are just about done but the lilies are just starting to come on as is the lavender.

After snacking on the berries for a while I got out my pruners and finished pruning the roses by the back stairs to the basement and then dumped the clippings into my new yard debris container. Then I went inside, cleaned up and reheated up the rest of the noodles and kielbasa for the other night. Since it was so nice outside I decided to take my food and ice tea outside and sit in my new Adirondack chair and enjoy the fresh air.

It was really nice out and the temperature only got a little above eighty degrees so it was a pretty average summer day in Portland. It is suppose to be in the seventies tomorrow and then stay in the low eighties for the rest of the week…my kind of weather!

When I finished eating I took the dishes into the house and then went back outside and got my mat and hori hori knife to weed the garden directly in front of the house.

I also took the Roundup to the weeds in the parking strip and driveway; I use to just pull them by hand but I no longer have the energy to do that anymore. When I got done weeding I dumped the weeds into the yard debris container and took it and the garbage can up front for pick up tomorrow.

After finishing that up I went inside and cleaned up and then checked my e-mail. Kathleen finally made it downstairs a little after 1600; she had been up since about 1000 but had not made it downstairs. So I asked her to think about what to have for dinner and she said that she kind of thought about pancakes. We have not had pancakes for dinner in a while so that sounded good.

Sunday's Business

Some days are like this where there are so many things going on that one cannot do them all, today was one of those days for us.

I had gotten up early so that I would have time to have an unhurried morning before church, so I made myself some breakfast, had my morning coffee and read the comics. Then I went upstairs and started getting ready to go to church; Kathleen had just gotten up and said that she wanted to go as well.

So when I finished dressing I went back downstairs and read the paper and then waited for Kathleen to come downstairs. We made it to church a little late but not all that late. After church and Sunday School we stopped by Winco so that Kathleen could pick up a few items for the pot luck at church at 1300. Then we went home and I changed into my shorts and tennis shoes and then waited for Kathleen to come downstairs so that we could go back to church.

While I was waiting I took the chicken and cookies out to the Acura and then waited inside for Kathleen. We finally took off and got there just at 1300 and I put the food on the table and found us a couple places to sit.

While waiting for everything to start Alexis and Becca came up to me and gave me a big hug and Lexis wanted me to pick her up, so I did with much care. Aaron had to work so he was not there so it was just Tami and the girls.

Soon after that the master of ceremony gave the blessing and then we went through the line. Kathleen lucked out and were toward the front of the line so I had the hard task of trying to take a little of things and not taking anything that would cause my bowels to act up. I did pretty well except for some sauerkraut and Cole slaw; the cabbage is something that is not always kind to me but I like kraut and Cole slaw too much.

After finishing the main courses I went back to the desert table and had some Marion berries, raspberries, strawberries, black berries and blue berries along with some cantaloupe and an oatmeal raisin cookie, my favorite cookie.

When I finished that I thought that I would go back through the line and have seconds on some of the things that I really liked but I waited for a few minutes and by then I realized that I was full, so I just satisfied with what I had already.

By the time the elders and the associate pastor said their parting words to the transitional pastor and presented him with several gifts it was 1500 and so we headed home. Toni had invited us over to Alyssa and Dan's this afternoon but we wanted to rest up for a bit before heading out again.

I took a nap on the couch and Kathleen got lost in playing a computer game. Finally around 1830 I decided to go upstairs and see what Kathleen planned on doing and she seemed to be enthralled in playing the game so I went back downstairs and reheated up some of the left over noodles and Kielbasa from last night.

It is now 1930 so I doubt that we will be going over to Alyssa's...just too many things going on today and not enough time to do them all. If we had not planned on going to our transitional pastor's going away pot luck for several weeks we probably would have gone to Alyssa and Dan's but there would not be another time for us to do this as he is heading up to Seattle to pastor a church up there for a while.

My back was still a little sore today, but nothing like it had been last Friday; I think that was one thing that added to my tiredness. I have kind of decided today that I will need to go see someone about my back; it is either getting a lot worse or I am just not able to handle the pain any longer but whatever the reason I need to see about getting something done.

I am going to try to wait until after I get my bowel problem taken care of if I can stand it, but the way I have been feeling lately I may not be able to do that. I do not look forward to the possibility of back surgery, but I also do not see myself not being able to do things either.