Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Test Results and more Questions

Ugh! This morning after breakfast I went out front and raked the leaves from the walnut trees and then went out back and dead headed the roses and picked tomatoes and raspberries. I ate all the raspberries that I picked and a few of the cherry tomatoes but the rest of the tomatoes I brought into the house.

I had used about a dozen cherry tomatoes in my hash brown potatoes and also mixed in some yellow pepper and green onions and I put some hot salsa on top of my egg beaters so I got plenty of vegetables in my breakfast.

After I took the tomatoes into the house I changed into some shoes and took my self for a walk, but not until I took some pain meds. This was one of the first walks that I have had lately where I did not get really sore about half way through my walk. I did feel a little twinge but nothing too bad and by the time I finished with my walk it was not bothering me.

Moral to this story I guess is stay doped up! I do not like having to take so much Vicodin, but right now it seems to be the only way that I can function to any degree.

Speaking of medications I got called back today about the blood work and everything looked pretty good except my potassium is a little low so I need to double the potassium-chloride that I already take. So not instead of taking one 20MEWQ only in the morning I now also have to take one 20MEWQ in the evening as well.

I guess that some of the problems with my chronic radiation proctitis (kind of like Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) has caused low levels of potassium. The radiation proctitis produces conditions that can cause potassium deficiency like diarrhea, excessive sweating, and use of diuretics (for my blood pressure). I also may have to cut out coffee for a while as I understand that it helps deplete the potassium level, bummer!

The same conditions that cause potassium deficiency also effects the magnesium levels in the body and magnesium and potassium go hand in hand so I might need to take a magnesium supplement as well. I guess that is something else that I should talk to the doctor's office about.

Right now I am waiting for another call from the doctor's office to see what he wants me to do about the Lotrel that has probably helped cause me feet swelling. Well, I need to get my feet up again so I will wrap this up for tonight.

Monday, September 15, 2008

More Hot Weather

I know that in a couple months I will be wishing for a few sunny days but right now I could really go for a little rain. It has been in the mid eighties to mid nineties for the last couple of weeks and the only hope in sight is a chance of some rain come Thursday. Tomorrow it is suppose to be in the mid nineties again but the weather is suppose to drop to more seasonable temperatures in the next couple of days so that will be nice but we really need some rain.

We are almost five inches of rain short of our average for the year which ends in October so hopefully we will not drop any further down because so much of what makes this part of Oregon so nice is all the greenery which needs rain to stay that way.

I was just kind of worn out this weekend, partially from the heat and party because my body does not feel too good. My legs and feet are still pretty swollen and that really makes them uncomfortable. Yesterday for church I wore regular socks and when I got home and took them off I could really see where the elastic was as the rest of my leg looked swollen and there was a dent in my skin that took quite a while for it to go down.

Last night we really had a beautiful harvest moon and we are supposed to have another one tonight, with the clear skies the moon really stands out. Although I was outside about an hour ago and the sky was almost orange from the pollutants in the air.

I had gone out to pick tomatoes, I had meant to do that this morning but got busy and forgot. I picked six dozen cherry tomatoes a half dozen roma, three early girl and a couple beefsteak tomatoes.

After I brought them inside I had about three dozen for a little afternoon snack and to get some of my vegetables in today. While I was out there I picked a couple raspberries to snack on before going back inside.

I had picked several earlier this morning to go with my cereal; I also cut up a banana so I have gotten my daily requirement of fruits in today.

This morning after I ate breakfast I went out front and raked the walnut leaves off the lawn and then I watered the gardens in front. The front porch has been collecting a lot of "junk" so I took everything off the porch, swept it and then threw out and recycled a lot of stuff, It does look a lot better although it still has a lot of wood there but if we start remodeling in a couple weeks we will need some of it.

After finishing in the front of the house I went into the back yard and watered all the gardens in the back yard. After I finished watering I gathered up some more flower pots to be recycled and straightened up a little more under the apple tree.

By the time I got back into the house it was 1230 and since I went outside around 0830 I was pretty tired. I was also tired so I made myself a sandwich and then sat and rested for a while.

Kathleen took off to meet with the lady from church today because the lady and her husband are going hunting and would not be around for their regular Wednesday meeting.

Well, has kind of been my day, my feet are bothering me so I think that I will put them up again and see if that helps.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Another Doctor's Appointment

This morning I took my cereal, coffee and the paper outside and sat out by my gardens and enjoyed the cool morning and the birds singing. After I ate I went out front and watered the gardens around the front of the house and then raked the front lawn.

After I finished in the front yard I went to the back yard and watered all the gardens and then pruned the spent roses. Kathleen came out while I was watering and sat in the sun for a while. After I finished watering I sat in one of our Adirondack chairs for a while and watched the birds and squirrels enjoying themselves.

After cooling down and resting for a while I went back into the house and got the mail; although other than one magazine there really was nothing worth keeping so most of it went either into the recycling or got shredded. I have been shredding everything with my name on it; I use to just shred things that had an account or some other important information but I have heard that identification thief's can get important information off almost anything that has a name and bar codes on it.

While I was in my office shredding I decided that I would reconcile my credit union accounts as I got the statement yesterday but since we were gone most of the day I did not get a chance to do it yesterday. Both my savings and checking accounts checked out fine the first time through, it usually does but sometimes I forget to put information into my Quicken checkbook or some of the automatic monthly amounts change and I need to update them when I do my reconciliation.

Anyway by the time I finished it was getting to be close to 1300 so I made myself some lunch and then when I finished I went and took a shower before my doctor's appointment. I usually like to take my showers either first thing in the morning or just before going to bed at night.

When I have a doctor's appointment, other than ones that are first thing in the morning I usually wait until just a little before my appointment; that way I can get some work done and not have to worry about needing a shower when I am at the doctor's.

I made an appointment because my back and hip have been bothering me enough so that I do not go for walks or exercise as much as I should and when I sit too long I can hardly get up. Also my feet have been pretty swollen the last couple of months.

The doctor said that my back is not going to get any better on its own but unless the pain starts going down my legs there is not much to worry about. He did prescribe some Vicodin for me which I went and got filled.

He said that the swelling was probably as a result of the Lotrel that I have been taking for several years and he said that it finally caught up with me. One of the side effects is Edema which is retaining fluids in organs and the skin is an organ.

Just to be sure he had a blood draw taken and several tests run so now I have to wait for the test results to come back to find out what my next course of action will be. I do not wait well so it will be a long weekend and I asked Cory the doctor's nurse and she said that the results would not be back until Tuesday or Wednesday.

After leaving the doctor's office I went to Fred Meyer to have my prescription filled; since I had to wait twenty-five minutes for them to fill it I went out to the garden area and looked around and before I knew it a half hour had passed. By the time I got back to the pharmacy and waited on line it had been over a half hour, but the good thing was that my prescription was ready for me.

Since I had not gotten gas for my Jeep since last February and I paid 2.979 a gallon; today I paid 3.539 a gallon and cost me fifty dollars but when one figures that it had only cost me fifty dollars over seven months that is not too bad.

By the time I got home it had been two hours since I had taken off for the doctor's office and I was getting pretty tired by then. So after I changed clothes I came back downstairs and checked my e-mail.

Kathleen had a woman’s dinner at church so around 1830 I made myself a hoagie sandwich with some slice deli turkey, ham and roast beef. We still had some left-over tuna and macaroni salad and a deli salad that Kathleen bought last night so I had some of each to go along with my sandwich.

Well I think this is about all that I have the energy for today.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

9/11 Never Forget!

9/11 always causes me to think back to seven years ago and all the emotions that raced through my mind. I was at work when they announced over the loudspeaker that an airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York.

With so many of my memories from my youth being in New York and several relatives living in New York City my thoughts quickly turned to them and I sent up a prayer that they would be safe and that this was just a hoax like the "War of the Worlds" many years ago in the radio...but alas it was not!

Over the years as I have been watching birds I watched how the mothers care for their young I have come to appreciate their loving care for their young. 9/11 has never been the same for me and here is something that kind of puts things into perspective for me!

4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day (Psalms 91:4, 5 NIV)

On this day we remember the unprovoked attack on America by Muslim terrorists. Despite attempts to make the country more secure, the threat remains scarcely abated today. So what should our response be? In Psalms 91 we see that we have no cause for fear. The physical danger may be real, but our Lord promises protection in tender words likened to a mother bird's care for her young. Our ultimate deliverance is guaranteed by His sure promises. Trust in His power and truth sustains us as surely as would a shield and buckler.

Our hope cannot ultimately rest in our own military might. God does not promise temporal safety to us, for there have been millions who have succumbed to undeserved violence. Our last hope is of a different order, firmly grounded in "the LORD, who is my refuge" (Ps 91:9 NIV). He responds to our trust and worship with the promise "With long (read here eternal) life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation." (Ps 91:16 NIV). God is much more interested in our response to troubles than in our deliverance, He desires us to believe and serve Him, all the while trusting Him, even in perilous times.

A New Testament application of this principal can be found in 1 Peter; "But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed.”Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened." (1 Peter 3:14 NIV); “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect," (1 Peter 3:15 NIV).

The Lord Jesus Christ is our example and inspiration. "Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." (Hebrews 12:3 NIV). Fixing our eyes upon Him, we have no cause for fear, but it is good to remember.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Another Nice Fall Day!

Well the weather people were saying that we would finally drop below eighty degrees today, well, it is eighty-two degrees right now but I do not mind them making this kind of mistake. Earlier in the week it was closer to ninety degrees which is a little hotter than I care for especially this time of year.

This morning while I was outside picking some raspberries for my cereal I notice a lot of red over in my tomato patch so I knew that I would need to pick some more tomatoes later on.

After eating I went outside and thought that I would rake the front lawn before it got too warm so I got out my rake and got most of the walnut and rhododendron leaves and the walnut shells that the squirrels had chewed the meat out of. There were not many leaves yet but I like to keep it that way. If I wait too long it gets to be too much.

After raking I got out my blower and air swept the front and back sidewalks and the driveway; again it was not really too bad but if I keep at it a little at a time it is not as big a job for me and I can get it done quicker.

After I finished with the driveway I put away the blower and then went out back and pruned the roses and cut down some spent fox glove plants. Then I got our old dog food storage bin and put my garden tools into it.

I had been keeping them in a couple buckets and now they are in one place and I am keeping it under the apple tree for now. I will have to see just how water tight it is once it starts raining and I may have to change my plans at that time.

I got into the house a Kathleen was making herself breakfast so I cleaned up and poured myself another cup of coffee and had an Entenmann's glazed buttermilk donut while she had breakfast.

I decided that I needed to make a doctor's appointment to see if there is anything that I can do to relieve my back and hip pain; the Tylenol is just not helping much anymore. After I made the appointment I took the vegetable scrap container out to my composter and dumped it in there and gave it a few cranks to stir everything up.

I just heard that this weekends temperature is suppose to be in the nineties...much too hot for me. The only good thing about that is that it cools off enough at night so that it is not as bad as it is when the temperature stays warm at night.

Well, Around 1330 I made myself a Boca Burger with a freshly picked tomato, sweet onion and pepper jack cheese and then toasted it in the toaster oven. I also had some tuna salad from last night and some multi-grained chips.

Kathleen left shortly after I started eating to meet with the lady from church and she is still gone so she must have decided to do a little shopping. Well the longer I sit the stiffer my back gets so I think I will go ahead and post this.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

My Monday Morning

This morning after I ate and read the paper I ripped up the splash guard from around the downstairs bathroom and took it out to the garbage and I also took more of the recycling out as well. Then broke up the old backboard and put it into the garbage can, which pretty much filled it up.

Then I went into the back yard and started digging up the area where I want to put in a new pathway leading to the vegetable garden and the raspberries. By the time I got done I was pretty tired and when I went to get the cement bricks that I was going to use for the pathway I did not have as many as I needed because I wound up making the pathway wider than I had originally planned on so I will have to come up with a plan -B-.

So before I went inside I went up front and got the mail. Kathleen had come downstairs so I showed her what I had done and while we were we grabbed some raspberries before going back inside.

After reading the mail I went and sat in my chair for a while and then got up and made myself a salad and a brat. After putting the dishes into the dishwasher I went and sat down again and woke up when Kathleen came downstairs because we wanted to run a few errands.

So I went upstairs and changed clothes and then we took off; first stopping at church so I could drop off our Campbell soup labels and General Mills tops for schools at the pre-school office.

Our next stop was Bi-Mart to pick up thirty pounds of sunflower seeds for our bird feeders; that ought to be about enough to carry us to winter. Kathleen also picked up a few plastic boxes to store things in.

I though that we were finished but Kathleen had one more stop...Fabric Depot. She had ordered a heavy duty thread holder for her large spools of thread. While she was getting that I stopped and looked at the day light lamps and they are now carrying a new item that is for fly tying. It is a magnifying lens that clamps onto my fly vise. I did not get it yet as I am not able to do any fly tying right now because my room is full of stuff from the hall.

Anyway after she got her thread holder she wanted to look around some more so I went to the waiting area and looked through a couple fly fishing magazines. We finally got home around 1800 and Kathleen started making dinner.

Well, I need to get ready to eat so I am going to close this now and post it so that when dinner is ready so will I.

Monday, September 08, 2008

Rough Weekend!

Well, I think that I have mostly recovered from last weeks work; I was pretty wiped out over the weekend. Yesterday after church I changed my clothes and then loaded our old large outdoor plastic table and chair set into the SUV and also several boxes that I had put some of Alyssa's old stuff in to take over to her pool party.

It was about noon by the time I finished loading the SUV up and since some of it was in the basement and some of it was in the garage I was a little worn out between lugging all that stuff and going up and down stairs.

So I went into the house and rested for a while. Finally around 1330 I decided to make myself something to eat so that I would not be too famished by the time we got to Alyssa and Dan's. Then I went back into the living room and waited for Kathleen to come downstairs and be ready to go.

Since I had hoped to be at their place by around 1400 so that I could set the table and chairs up and help getting set up I knew that we would be a little rushed when we did not leave here until after 1400.

When we got there I set the table and chairs up and then brought the boxes of stuff into the house for Alyssa to see what it was. Alyssa was making some of the food for the party and so I helped Dan take the pool cover off and skim off the leaves that had fallen into the pool.

Another reason I had wanted to get there early was to be able to use the pool before it was loaded with little people. Since we did not get there early enough I played life guard so that everyone else could enjoy themselves a little more.

Toni and Chucky arrived after she got off work, Andrea was going to come over but John had just gotten home from Men's Roundup and was really tired. Aaron was working so Tami did not bring the girls over.

We had a beautiful ride home last night taking the river route. The sun was just setting and the orange sky was reflecting on the river and the boat lights were an added touch. By the time we got home last night I was too tired to think about trying to blog so I did not.

Today after breakfast I took a walk, and about half way around I knew that it was a mistake; my hip really started bothering me and so by the time I got home I was not only sore but pretty tired as well.

I went out back and cut some roses for the house and also picked some beefsteak and cherry tomatoes. I could have picked more but I wanted to give them an extra day to ripen a little bit more.

Since I fertilized last week we have not had any rain; we really have not had any dew so I thought that I would water the lawn and also the berries, roses and vegetables. By the time I finished that I was really tucked out so I sat and rested for a while.

When I finally got up I decided to make myself some lunch so I made myself a turkey brat on a bun and also sliced up a couple roma tomatoes and put some pepper jack cheese on a bun and toasted them in the toaster oven. I think I eat a dozen or more cherry tomatoes a day and a couple roma tomatoes as well. Tomatoes are suppose to be good for me so I am taking advantage of this tomato season.

So after eating I sat down in my chair again and Kathleen woke me up when she came downstairs a little after 1500. She had not been downstairs all day and was going next door to visit with our neighbor.

Since I was awake I decided to go and water in the front lawn and also water the flower beds in the front of the house and along the drive way. When I came in I though that I would do my blog now as I might not make it if I waited until later in the evening.

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Still Wipped out!

Yesterday was a really nice day with the temperature hovering around eighty degrees with just enough puffy clouds to make the sky picture perfect. Before breakfast O went out and picked enough berries for my breakfast and also a days worth of tomatoes.

Then after eating I went outside and watered the berries, vegetables and roses pulled a few weeds in the back yard. While I was doing that I discovered a bird that met an untimely death. I have been noticing a lot of cats in the back yard lately so I am afraid that one of them did the dirty deed.

I guess that is one of the drawbacks from encouraging birds to ones yard. I am not sure if there is a way around that or not, but it is hard to keep the cats out of the yard.

I was still pretty sore from Thursdays sledge hammering the concrete so I did not feel like doing a lot of work; but while I was outside I though that I would see if I could break the old rusty bolts and nuts loose so that I could take the supports off the backboard and make it a much more compact pile.

After cleaning up I made myself some lunch and then waited for Kathleen to see if she wanted to go cabinet shopping. She finally called down and let me know that she was getting ready so I went upstairs and changed my clothes.

We looked at two cabinet shop outlets the first one was out in Boring, not too far from Alyssa and Dan's place. We walked around and looked for a couple hours and my back and feet were really killing me and Kathleen's were starting to hurt as well so we decided to think about it some more and head home.

As we got close to home Kathleen asked if we needed bread, and I said that we really did not but we could put some in the freezer so we decided to stop to see what they had. In the same area we passed by another cabinet shop that we had looked at before so we decided to stop to see what they had now.

Since they were only going to be open for another half hour I felt that I could probably stand that so we looked around and saw some things that Kathleen liked. We also found some bread, donuts and rolls at the Oroweat outlet.

After leaving there we stopped at the Barn and picked up some fresh produce. While the Barn is nice it is not nearly as convenient as when Rossi farms had their barn as it was just down the street.

So for dinner we had corn of the cob and left over sweet meat squash, peas and some left over sesame chicken. I think that there is still some chicken left over and a couple ears of corn so that is probably what we will have for dinner tonight.

This morning was just like a morning at the coast, overcast until about 1030 and then it started to burn the clouds off and turned out to be a really nice day.

This morning after I finished eating and cleaning up the kitchen I waited until I heard Kathleen moving around upstairs and then I went up and stripped the bed, loaded it into the washer and then went outside and picked the ripe tomatoes. By the time I finished the washer had finished so I loaded the bedding into the dryer and started it up.

While they were drying I made myself a couple sliced chicken, tomato and pepper jack cheese sandwiches and then put them into the toaster oven. By the time I finished eating and cleaning up the dryer went off so I took the bedding out and took it upstairs and remade the bed.

I noticed that a couple of my pillows we getting pretty squishy so I took them downstairs and put them into the washer. They are just about done now so I think that I will wrap this up and call it a day for blogging.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Too sore to get much done

This morning when I woke up I could hardly close my hands I guess my arthritis did not like all the pounding from breaking up the concrete yesterday. After taking some Tylenol I could close them with a little pain so I made myself some French toast for breakfast.

After eating I finished my coffee and paper and then went to work on the kitchen. First I washed all the dishes in the sink, and then I picked up the rugs, shook them up, loaded them into the washer and washed them. While I had the rugs up I swept and mopped the kitchen floor; then went outside and pruned the roses, topped the fox glove and pulled some weeds.

Since it was still like a morning at the beach, extremely overcast and cool feeling, working outside seemed like a good idea, and then I realized that my hands were starting to object again. Before I went back inside I picked a couple dozen cherry tomatoes a couple early girl tomatoes and three roma tomatoes.

The mail had come so I went and brought it in, opened it up and filed most of it in the recycling pile and put the magazines in the living room for me to read later on. Kathleen had wanted to go look for cabinets for the downstairs bathroom as we are hoping to start on the remodel in a couple weeks.

Well this afternoon I did not get a lot done, I took a nap while I was waiting for Kathleen to want to go cabinet shopping and when I got up I decided that since she had not come down yet I would do my last fertilizing of the summer of the lawn. I will be doing another later this fall and again this winter but this was the last for the summer.

After I fertilized the front lawn I watered the gardens around the front sidewalk as I had noticed that the soil was getting pretty dry. It is amazing how quickly the soil dries out after being so wet last week.

While I was fertilizing the back lawn I noticed three gold finches; yesterday I had seen one feeding at the thistle feeder; I had heard them chirping in the trees before but I had not actually seen them. They really blend in well in the canopy of the golden mountain ash tree so it has been hard to pick them out, but today and yesterday I saw them in the apple tree.

When I got back in the house Kathleen was dressed and deciding whether or not to go cabinet shopping as it was 1530 and that did not allow much time to look at many places.

Well, keyboarding is not the most comforting thing for my hands so I think that I am going to quit and call it good!

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Tiring Day

I felt pretty good again this morning when I got up. Kathleen got up about the same time as I did only she had a bad headache. On my way downstairs I took two loads of laundry down with me and by 0930 I had washed, dried, folded and put it all away.

Before I made my cereal I went outside and picked a cup of raspberries so I had berries to go along with my banana, Cheerios and shredded wheat. After eating I finished my coffee and read the paper and then went outside and started cutting dead branches out of the old apple tree.

The more I cut the branches out the more I realized that the tree will not be around much longer. There are so many dead branches and so many half rotten branches that by the time I finish trimming them there will not be much left of the tree.

I worked on the tree until about 1300 and then I went inside and made myself a couple open faced sliced chicken with pepper jack cheese on top and then toasted it in the toaster oven.

While that was toasting I also made myself a salad topping it off with garden fresh tomatoes, green onions, yellow peppers and mushrooms. After washing the knives and cutting board and putting everything else into the dishwasher I went and rested for a while in the living room.

Kathleen left for her meeting around 1330 and shortly after that I went back outside and started trying to break up the chunk of concrete at the end of the basketball hoop standard. I finally broke it into enough small and large pieces so that I could pull the pole out.

After I got all the pieces out of the way I filled the hole in with some dirt that I had nearby and then raked it all out so that other than the loose dirt it looked like nothing had been there.

After putting all my tools away I went inside and cleaned up and sat in my chair and fell asleep within minutes only to be awoken when Kathleen called from Bi-Mart to ask me a question. I quickly fell back asleep until shortly before she came back home.

After taking something for my headache I watched the evening news and Kathleen made dinner. We had some squash, a mixed wild rice dish from Trader Joe's and some sesame seed chicken.

Now I am watching Sara Palin's speech and since I cannot think of anything else to say I think I will just call it a day and take some more pain meds so that I can move.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Nice Weather Returns Just in Time for School to Start!

Well after a mostly cloudy weekend the nice weather is upon us once again. This morning Kathleen was up almost as early as I was and made hash browns and eggs for the both of us; that is egg yokes for her and egg whites for me. After eating I loaded up the dishes and did the hand washing then I took the recycling outside. Since it was getting pretty nice out already I decided that I would mow the lawn before it got too warm.

After I mowed I dug some weeds out of the back lawn since the ground was nice and soft from the wet weekend and the weeds were easy to pull. When I got done pulling the weeds I took them up front and put them into the yard debris container.

When I got finished outside I cleaned up and then read the mail that had come earlier. There really was nothing there and so it all found its way into the recycling pile,

After a while I made myself a salad with some garden fresh tomatoes, yellow pepper, mushrooms and an onion slice. Then I gathered up all the dishes, silverware and anything else that I could get into the dishwasher and started it up. Then I went to sit in my chair to try to rest up but Kathleen wanted to talk, finally after an hour or so after she went back upstairs I took a couple pain relievers and went outside to see if I could get some work done out there.

First I spent about an hour and a half working on cleaning up the garage, I managed to get some things thrown out and rearranged many others. I can now get both my garden carts out of the garage without having to take my Jeep out. The one cart was full of all kinds of junk and hence the things that made in into the garbage can.

Once I had finished in the garage I went about trying to dig out the old basketball basket. Years ago when I put that in for the children I really used a lot of cement and rocks to hold it securely, really securely! I dug all around it and then when I got to where I could see the cement I got out my trusty sledge hammer and started wailing on it.

I managed to break some of it apart but what else happened was that I was able to loosen the dirt around it enough so that I could push it over. Once I had it down I took it apart and then move the main pole out of the way of the driveway. I was too tired to try to break up the cement any further so I put my tools away and left it for another day.

Kathleen heated up the rest of the mac and cheese and some green beans. We got three meals out of that mac and cheese...not too bad. Well I am pretty tired so I think I will quite before I fall asleep at my computer.

Monday, September 01, 2008

Long Weekend Wrap up

Yesterday was almost a waste for me. I woke up at 0300 and finally got up at 0400 because I knew that I was not going to be able to get back to sleep. So I got and read the whole paper and then made myself breakfast. So after a leisurely early morning I got dressed for church, Kathleen was still sound asleep when I left at 0815 and had just gotten up shortly before I got home about 1130.

By this time my early morning was starting to catch up with me and I could tell that I was not going to get much done the rest of the day. So after changing clothes I went out to the garden to pick a dozen or so cherry tomatoes and my first roma tomato. There were several others that I could have picked but I wanted to give them a couple more days to ripen naturally.

It rained off and on all afternoon and so I wound up taking a couple naps in the afternoon before I finally decided to go to bed when I could not keep my eyes open any longer and managed to get a pretty decent night sleep.

This morning I woke up at a much better time and after eating breakfast I took my time reading the paper and enjoying a cup of coffee. Upon finishing with the paper I put it in the stack of recycling and took it out to the recycling container, and then I got the kitchen recycling and took it out to my composter.

After giving it a couple turns I opened the other side and checked on the contents and all the plant material that I had put in last week had pretty much broken down and was blending in with the rest of the composted material.

While I was out there I pruned the roses and then cut up the shrub that I dug out last week and put them into the yard debris container and took it up front for tomorrows pick up.

After coming inside I went downstairs to the basement and started sorting things down there. Most of it went into a couple piles, one for Alyssa's stuff; one for Aaron's stuff; one for paper recycling one for metal recycling and one for the garbage.

Kathleen came down as I was finishing up sorting and just before I got the broom out to sweep the stairs from the outside entrance to the basement and the floor of the basement. After I finished this I went upstairs and cleaned up and made myself a ham, turkey and provolone sandwich.

After I had finished Kathleen made herself breakfast as I was putting my dishes into the dishwasher. When I finished I took the bag of garbage that I had from sorting in the basement and put it into the garbage can and took it up front.

Most of the rest of the afternoon I spent sitting in my chair dozing off a couple times and getting in one pretty good nap. When I finally awoke the last time I decided that I would do my blog while I still was awake and not have to worry about it later.

Well, it is now just about time for dinner and I need to call up to Kathleen and see what if anything she has planned for dinner. I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend and got rested up before the start of school.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Start of the Last Weekend of Summer

Yesterday I spent some time scrubbing down our old plastic picnic table and by the time afternoon rolled around I was really tired. I sat down in my chair for a while and was awaken when Toni called saying that they were going to come over in a few minutes. They were stopping off at Wendy's and wanted to know if we wanted anything, since I had eaten before I went to sit down all I asked for was a frosty.

They arrived shortly afterward and brought a couple extra Jr. burgers, but all I had was the frosty. After they left I took another nap and when I woke up it was almost 1900 so I called up to Kathleen to see if she was going to do anything for dinner and she said that she would be down shortly.

Since there were two burgers left she asked if that would be okay for dinner, I said sure and so we finished them off along with some cole slaw and potato salad left over form the other night.

After eating and putting the dishes into the dishwasher I logged onto my computer but I could not get my brain to think about blogging so I just kind of decided that I would skip a night.

Today was another cool day, lots of clouds mixed with patches of sunshine so after breakfast I went back outside and picked about three dozen cherry tomatoes and then brought them into the house. Then I went back out and Finished scrubbing down the remaining four chairs from the picnic set that I started working on yesterday.

After cleaning up I got the mail and went through it and put the majority of it into the pile for the recycling. Then I washed the pots and pans and some of the dishes that were in the sink.

Kathleen came downstairs and made herself some toast and I took out the recycling and the garbage as it was starting to overflow. Then I sat down and looked through a couple magazines and catalogs while she ate breakfast.

Felling like I needed to be outside I decided to get my rake and rake up the walnut tree leaves that have started to fall. If I do not stay on top of them they get really heavy from the dew and when it rains they really get hard to rake.

After putting away the rake I went back inside; Kathleen had gone back upstairs I sat around for a while and then decided that I needed make myself something to eat.

After resting for a while I though that I needed to do something else before I wasted away the whole day; so I went back outside and got out my leaf blower and blew off the sidewalks, driveway and around the front lawn.

Well, that has been my life for the last couple days, I Did get a chance to email Ben Roush and two of his sisters, Dianne and Nancy, the last couple of days and got reacquainted after almost forty years and they all said to say hi.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Run Around Day

Today was a much nicer day than the last couple of days. So after breakfast I went outside and pruned the roses and pulled the plastic chairs and table from underneath the apple tree. We had not used them at all this year and not very much last year so I wanted to scrub them up and wash them off a little so that they would not look so bad.

I also discovered our old tether ball pole with the ball still attached; I am not sure how good the cord still is as it has been sitting under the apple tree for many a year. So if any of my children would like it let me know and you can have it; if not it is going to be a candidate for Goodwill.

Well, dragging the table and chairs out and setting them on the back lawn was all I got accomplished this morning as I needed to go inside and clean up so that we could go to the doctor's an noon. I made myself some toast to carry me over until we got back and then went and changed clothes.

After the doctor's appointment we took off to take the SUV thought DEQ. We got our certificate and also our new tags for the next two years. Kathleen had thought about getting different plates but decided to stick with the ones that she had o that was a little cheaper.

Then we headed home so that I could pick up one of my medications to get it refilled at the same time that Kathleen got her new prescription filled. On the way home I stopped and got some gas as it was below a half of a tank and it does not hurt so much as it does as when it is near empty.

When we got home I made myself a brat and sour kraut and then loaded up the dishwasher and turned it on. Then we took off for Fred Meyer to get the prescriptions filled.

While we were waiting for them to fill them we went looking for a coat for Kathleen. She found one that she liked so we went ahead and bought it as she has been looking for one for over a year.

By the rime we checked out from buying the coat the prescriptions were ready so we went and picked them up and then Kathleen wanted to try to find an ice bag; we had looked at Fred Meyer but did not find one so I suggested we try Bi-Mart.

Bi-Mart did not have the size that she wanted so they are ordering a larger one and will call us when it comes in. By the time we got home it was about 1630 so I changed my clothes and checked my email.

It is now time for dinner and I just heard Kathleen come downstairs so hopefully dinner will be ready shortly.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

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.

Monday, August 25, 2008

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, August 24, 2008

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.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

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!

Friday, August 22, 2008

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.