A Better Late Than Never Hodgepodge…

It has been a crazier than usual week, and I’ve been kicking myself for not being able to join in today’s Hodgepodge this morning.  Then, suddenly, my husband reminded me that it’s still Wednesday for another two hours and forty-five minutes!  Better late than never, right?  As always, thanks to our gracious hostess, Joyce, for the great questions! Here goes…

1. Did you do anything ‘memorable’ this past weekend? We had a family cookout at our daughter’s house. We officially kicked off summer with watermelon, boiled peanuts, plus grilled ribs and chicken–oh, and a swim in the pool for the cousins! 2. Ronald Reagan is quoted as saying- “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.” Your thoughts? Do you somehow acknowledge and appreciate the freedoms you enjoy? Did your upbringing contribute to that sense of appreciation? If you’re a parent, are there specific things you do to pass on this sense of responsibility and appreciation to your own children in regard to the freedoms they enjoy? I agree with the quote, and I do acknowledge and appreciate the freedoms we have–now more than ever–in these turbulent times.  I also appreciate the men and women who served, fought, or died to protect these freedoms. I’m proud to say that several of our family members are among those who have served.

3. Loudest noise you’ve ever heard? The music coming from the very large speakers at an outdoor Michael Bolton concert!  Our seats were very close to the stage, and were located directly in front of the speakers.  I had to stuff bits of a napkin into my ears to be able to stand it 😦  I don’t think my hearing has been the same since.

4. What was the last thing you ate that might be considered ‘junk food’? Did you enjoy it? A heavenly hash ice cream cone?  Yes, I enjoyed it very much 🙂

5. When was the last time you were somewhere the crowd felt ‘packed in like sardines’? I’m going to say July 4, 2010 when we made the mistake of going to St. Simon’s Island on a holiday!  It was awful.  It’s a tiny island, and there was literally standing room only on the beach! 6. Are you organized when it comes to packing for a trip? Do you make a list weeks in advance or toss items in last minute? Are you a carry-on only sort of packer or do you need an entire suitcase for your shoes? Yes, I’m very organized when it comes to packing.  I make a list weeks in advance, if possible.  I’m somewhere in between a “carry-on packer” and “needing an entire suitcase for shoes”.  I always bring a little extra, but not too much (in my opinion).

7. What was the last sporting event you attended in person? Did your team win? Did you care? I don’t know if this counts, but the last sporting event I attended was one of our grandson’s T-ball games, a couple of years ago.  The teams just took turns hitting the ball and running the bases, instead of playing to win.  It was entertaining to watch four-year-olds learning how to run the bases. Random: Like I said, it’s been a crazier than usual week here.  Our garden vegetables are getting ready to pick, so that’s how we’ve been starting our days.  This morning Ed picked almost a bushel of green beans before eight o’clock!  My back still won’t tolerate much bending, so I can only help a little.  However, I  snapped all of the beans.  Ed and I ‘canned’ seven quarts of beans, this afternoon, and will do the other seven in the morning. The garden peas need picking, again, and so do the blackberries.  The refrigerator is filled with fresh squash, cucumbers, and carrots that we’ve gathered, this week. I made a fresh blackberry cobbler, this week, too. This afternoon, I also babysat two of our grandsons while their mother attended an out-of-town funeral. Our granddaughter came over to visit, as well.  Having three children running around, while canning green beans, makes for a busy afternoon.  Did I mention that Ed and I also met with our financial planner and bought groceries, this morning (after picking beans, but before the children arrived)?  What a week it’s turning out to be!

A Few Friday Fragments…

It’s the end of another exhausting week, and time to share little bits and pieces of it through Friday Fragments.  Thanks to Mrs. Fours @ Half-Past Kissin’ Time for hosting, and giving us “Fragmented People” a place to link up!  Here we go.

While it hasn’t been a great week, it’s been one of the best weeks Ed and I have had in quite a while.  Perhaps we’re just becoming accustomed to things going wrong!  We’ve certainly had lots of practice with that.  Medicare Part B refusing to pay Ed’s first claim, this week?  No problem.  We’re used to such things.

The temperatures here have been brutal, this week.  The highs have been into the 90’s every day.  Ed has braved the heat each day, as he attempts to put new underpinning around our house.  It’s what you do when the workmen you call for estimates don’t bother to call you back!  He  has one side almost finished.  A quote comes to mind, “That which does not kill you, will make you stronger.”  I hope this home improvement project only makes Ed stronger.

I’m now entering the seventh week since my attack of sciatica.  Each week seems to get a little better.  My back hasn’t hurt in several days, nor has my leg.  Now, if only the numbness in my left leg would disappear. It comes and goes, but at least I can walk without much discomfort now.  It’s amazing the things we take for granted, until we suddenly can’t do them!

My daughter and I spent the better part of Thursday morning peeling and chopping onions.  She’d been given a 50 pound bag of Sweet Vidalia Onions!  We peeled and chopped most of them, bagged them, and put them into our freezers.  They come in very handy for cooking.  If you haven’t tried sweet onions, you’re missing a treat.  Some folks eat them like apples…but I’m not one of them!  My hands may be smelling like onions for quite a while.

I mentioned, on Wednesday, about our experiences with the “Broody Hen”(she wanted to sit on the eggs and hatch chicks, but we didn’t want her to.) We gave her a cold water bath, one day, then put her in solitary confinement the following day. (With a fan blowing on her to keep her cool, because cooling a broody hen off is supposed to break the broody cycle.)  I’m happy to report that “Broody Hen” is now back with her sister hens–and she isn’t spending all day on the nest!  I guess the treatment worked!

After our garden nearly drowned in April, we’re running ourselves ragged trying to keep it watered in May.  Ed moves the sprinkler several times a day.  We haven’t had any rain in quite a while, and it’s very dry–everywhere except under our house!  We’re still fighting the problem of high humidity under there.  Go figure!

Even with the  hot, dry, weather, we’ve been able to enjoy fresh vegetables from our garden, daily.  We’ve enjoyed fresh carrots, squash, peas, cabbage, lettuce, cucumbers, and peppers, so far.  Hopefully, we can add green beans and new potatoes to the list, soon.

We got a call from our youngest son, who lives in another town, this week.  It was good news!  He and his wife have had their house up for sale for three weeks, and have been going crazy with all of the “showings”.  They had sixteen showings within sixteen days!  On Tuesday, a couple finally made them an offer!  Brad and Jennifer countered their offer, and the couple accepted.  Their house is now under contract.  I’m so happy for them–and us!  They plan to move back here as soon as their house is sold.

School is out for the summer, here.  Thursday was the last day of public school.  The class of 2015 will graduate tonight.  Several of the graduating students are near and dear to my heart, and have been since they were in first grade, when I was working as a paraprofessional.  I volunteered to tutor one little girl, the summer after she finished up first grade, because she was having some difficulty with reading.  I knew she could be successful with a little extra work, so I offered to help.  Chasiti came to my house each week, that summer, and we sat at my kitchen table and practiced reading skills.  I’m proud to be able to say, Chasiti is going to be an honor graduate tonight!

That’s about it for this week’s edition of Friday Fragments.  I hope everyone has a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend.  We don’t have any elaborate plans, just some good food and family fun, at home.  It’s hard to beat that–unless it’s a trip to a beach somewhere!

Hello Again Hodgepodge…

It’s time for that little mid-week distraction, known around here as The Wednesday Hodgepodge.  It’s brought to us by our gracious hostess, Joyce, From This Side Of The Pond.  (Thanks, Joyce!)

1.  Did you make someone laugh yesterday? Was it intentional?

No, I can’t say that I made anyone laugh yesterday, but someone else made me laugh.  I overheard a phone conversation between our son, Brad, and my husband, Ed, concerning a cockroach.  It was funny!

2. What’s a simple question with a complicated answer?

Why is the humidity still so high underneath our house?  Sigh.

3. Rhododendrons or azaleas…you have to choose. Are either currently blooming in your yard?

Azaleas.  There aren’t any azaleas blooming in our yard because they all bloomed in March.  To tell the truth, I’m not sure we even have any rhododendrons in our neck of the woods.

4. May 21st is National Waitstaff Day. Have you ever worked as a waiter/waitress? How would you rate the experience? What was the best/worst part of the job?

Yes, I once worked as a waitress (at my uncle’s store/restaurant).  My experience was horrible, and I only lasted about two days.  I’d rate the experience 1 because I hated almost everything about it.

5. What fashion trend for women should be outlawed? How about one for men?

For [older, heavier] women, leggings should be outlawed.  For [all] men, those awful saggy pants, with straddles down to the knees, should be outlawed.

6. Name a writer who inspires you….now tell us why.

Our Hodgepodge hostess, Joyce, inspires me–and, yes, I do consider her a writer.  Joyce writes about life, and her words come straight from the heart. Oh, how I wish I had Joyce’s way with words!  She’s definitely an inspiration to me.

7. What well-known quote or saying sums up your plans for today or this week?

I don’t know what my plans are for the rest of the week, but there’s a part of the song, ‘Knee Deep’ by Zac Brown Band, that keeps running through my head:

Wishing I was knee-deep in the water somewhere
Got the blue sky breeze and it don’t seem fair
Only worry in the world is the tide gonna reach my chair…

Guess where I’d really like to be today?!

Ed and I were on St. Simon’s Island, last Wednesday, and it was wonderful 🙂

Random:  “Broody Hen”

As if Ed and I haven’t had enough things to deal with, now we have one more–a broody hen!

One of the hens in our new flock of ‘girls’ has gone ‘broody’.  Broody is a term used to describe any hen who wants to sit on her eggs and hatch baby chicks.  We don’t have a rooster to fertilize our eggs, so poor ‘Broody Hen’ would be wasting her time by sitting on the eggs.  (We don’t want baby chicks, that’s why we don’t have a rooster.)  ‘Broody Hen’ has been dominating the nest, and causing all sorts of chaos in the hen-house.  Something has got to give!

This week, we’ve been trying different remedies to break our hen from her broodiness.  We gave her a cold water bath, on Monday.  The bath didn’t seem to help, but now I know where the phrase “As mad as a wet setting hen” came from 🙂

On Tuesday, we put ‘Broody Hen’ in solitary confinement, with a fan blowing a gentle breeze on her.  The desired result is to keep her away from the nest, ‘cool her off’, and break the broodiness cycle. So far, no luck, but sometimes this can take several days, so I’ve read.  Besides, our temperatures reached well into the 90’s yesterday, so it was difficult to cool off!

We’ll see how today goes…  At least the other hens can lay their eggs in peace while ‘Broody Hen’ is chillin’ under the breeze of her fan!  At night, ‘Broody Hen’ is allowed to join her sisters back in the hen-house.  Of course, milk jugs, filled with water, are sitting inside of the nests–just in case ‘Broody Hen’ feels the  urge to sleep on a nest!

Good News, Bad News…

Ed and I have been on somewhat of a roll, lately, having lots of unexpected issues to deal with.  The truth is, it almost got the best of me, but I’m turning over a new leaf, and gaining some new perspective.  There’s always going to be bad news, but there’s always some good news, too.

For instance:

The bad news is, last week, I felt the need to take a little hiatus from the computer.  I just wasn’t in the mood for reading or writing.  I fell into a bit of a ‘funk’, if you know what I mean.  The good news is I’m feeling more creative, this week, after taking some time off.

The good news is, while taking a hiatus from the computer, Ed and I took a little road trip, which eventually took us for a little visit to St. Simon’s Island.  It was totally unplanned and wonderful!

The weather was nice, the crowds were small, and sitting there under the shade of our favorite oak tree was just what I needed to soothe my weary soul.  The bad news is, we had to come back home at the end of the day.  Sigh.

The good news is, I recently learned that stretching exercises are good medicine for sciatica. (Thanks to blog friend, Mary @ Life in a Small Town, for this tip!)  Today, my back is feeling better, and my leg isn’t nearly as numb as it has been.  The bad news is, I now have what feels like a urinary tract infection, but I’m not quite sure what it is. (drinking lots of water, for now)

The bad news is, I had to miss our oldest grandson’s Kindergarten graduation, on Friday night, because I couldn’t stay out of the bathroom.  The good news is both daughter-in-laws took pictures, so I got to see how everything looked.

Grandson, Caden

The bad news is, I sat home, sad and alone, while everyone else attended Caden’s kindergarten graduation.  The good news is the entire family came over to our house, immediately after the program was over (including Brad, Jennifer, and Evan, who came from out-of-town for the graduation.)!

The bad news is, I didn’t get nearly enough sleep on Friday night.  The good news is, I stayed up late talking to Jennifer and Brad because they decided to spend the night with us!  Sometimes, unplanned visits are the best 🙂

The bad news is, Brad, Jennifer, and Evan had to go back home early on Saturday morning because they had plans.  The good news is our daughter and her husband (who’s back home now, thank goodness) hosted a cook out for the rest of us on Saturday night!  Does it get any better than grilled burgers and sitting around a fire pit with family?  I think not!

Our next-to-the-youngest grandson, Chase, ( brother to Caden) said he wanted to play t-ball, this year.  The bad news is, he changed his mind, once he got to the ball field.  He never once left the dugout, didn’t want anything to do with any of it.  They say “a picture is worth a thousand words.”  One look at Chase’s face and you can see how thrilled he was with t-ball.

Grandson, Chase

There’s good news, Chase!  T-ball season is now over.

Granddaughter, Madison, broke her arm on Easter Sunday, and had to wear a cast for six weeks.  The good news is, she’s going back to the orthopedist, today, and should be able to throw her cast away, after that!

Some might say, the bad news is, the weekend is over and it’s Monday morning.  I say, the good news is, it doesn’t matter–we’re retired!  Let a new week of adventures begin.

The Wednesday Hodgepodge…

Thank goodness, today’s Hodgepodge questions are short, and don’t require a lot of thought on my part.  Otherwise, I’m just not sure I could deal with it today.

Life continues to throw unexpected curve balls our way, and it’s just about to get the best of me.  The latest one?  Our previous insurance refuses to pay for mine and Ed’s March lab work because of the lab the doctor’s office sent it to. We’ve used the same doctor, for years, along with the same insurance, and, as far as I know, I’ve used this lab before and have never had an issue–until now. Total cost for both of our bills?  Over $900.  Ouch.

Anyway, thanks to Joyce for continuing to host The Hodgepodge, even in the midst of all that she has going on!  God bless you, Joyce 🙂

Here are today’s questions:

1. When is your next big deadline? What’s it for?

We don’t have a deadline for anything, but we’re anxiously awaiting the arrival of Ed’s first Social Security check on the third week of next month.  It’s been a long time coming (and we’ll need it to help pay thosee ridiculous lab bills!)

2. May is National Barbecue Month. Do you prefer cooking indoors or out? What’s the best thing about a barbecue? What’s the last thing you cooked on an outdoor grill?

I prefer cooking outdoors, because Ed does all of the cooking on the grill!  (However, I can make some pretty good Crock Pot Barbecue indoors.)  The best thing about a barbecue is eating it with family or friends (besides the taste of the food, of course!)  The last food we cooked on our outdoor grill was hot dogs.

3. What is one thing on your “never again” list?

I can absolutely say, without a doubt, that I will never again ride a motorcycle. Besides, I couldn’t hike my leg over the seat, even if I wanted to!

4. What’s something that annoys you about people your own age? Something you love about your generation?

I can’t think of anything about people my age that annoys me, unless it’s the fact that we’re getting old!

I think the thing I love about my generation is the era we grew up in.  Times were much simpler back then!  People still treated each other with respect, the music and cars were great, and it was a lot easier to be prosperous than it is these days.

5. Lilac, iris, hyacinth, pansy…your favorite purple flower?

Iris.  I can’t grow them, but I love them.

6. What’s a song that always calms you down?

I can’t think of one particular song that calms me, but this CD always does the trick!  I bought it for our first grandchild, then quickly discovered how soothing the music was.

7. What’s the last thing you donated?

I donated some clothing and a few odds-n-ends to Goodwill, a couple of months ago.

Random:

Apparently, the love of gardening runs in the family.

Here are some pictures of our two oldest grandsons, along with their little vegetable garden!  (I borrowed them from their mom’s Facebook page)

 

 Absolutely adorable–our little boys and their garden!

This-N-That On Tuesday…

I’m posting my usual ‘Monday post’ on Tuesday because I simply couldn’t motivate myself to write anything yesterday.  Life continues to throw curve balls at me, and sometimes it just gets to be a bit too much.  Yesterday was one of those days…

The weekend was a busy one.  Our oldest son turned 33 on May 10–Mother’s Day.

the birthday boy

Our entire family (almost) celebrated his birthday with him on Saturday night.  His wife made delicious pulled pork for supper, and finished the meal off with her delicious ‘Hershey Bar Cake’.  I can’t believe 33 years have passed since our son entered this world–just four hours after Mother’s Day of 1982 ended.

Of course, the Saturday night celebration was followed, on Sunday, by Mother’s Day.  I’d like to say it was a ‘great’ Mother’s Day, but instead I’ll just have to say it was a ‘different’ Mother’s Day.  We went through the motions of celebrating, as usual.  I spent time with my daughter and both of my sons, at different points throughout the day.  I received several lovely gifts, some cards (and a letter), and Ed took care of making breakfast and lunch.  I felt very loved and appreciated, but a cloud loomed over our celebrations–and I didn’t take one single picture.

The damper on the celebrations was the fact that our son-in-law, of almost 14 years, was not with us.  He and our daughter are in the midst of some marital woes, and are currently spending some time apart.  Life threw us this curve ball about a week ago, and we’re still reeling from it.  If you  know me, you know how I feel about family and marriage, so I’m definitely hoping and praying the two of them will be able to back up, regroup, and make things right again.  In the meantime, it’s tough for all.

Life threw, yet another, curve ball when our son helped us install a moisture meter (I think the correct term is humidistat) under our house over the weekend.  Even after adding insulation and a moisture barrier, the humidity level under our house was still over 80%!  I wanted to cry.  For the moment, we’ve added a fan to the equation, which seems to help some.  In the meantime, we’re figuring out our next course of action.

I’m still having some back issues, but continue to put off going to the doctor because of the medical bills I know it will cause. Most of the time my back feels okay, but my left leg continues to be a problem.  Sometimes my leg goes to sleep if I sit or lie down in a certain position, and sometimes it will begin to have what can only be described as spasms when I walk. It often feels ‘heavy’.  For now, I’ll continue my ‘wait and see’ approach. My daddy had chronic back issues, as does my older brother.  I’m pretty sure it’s genetic.

Ed continues taking care of the garden alone.  I am finally able to walk out there each day, but that’s pretty much all I can do, at the moment.

Ed (far left) hoeing alone

2015 is proving to be a challenge, in gardening, for us.  The ground is either too wet or it’s too dry.  Then there’s the challenge of fighting off insects, rabbits, and deer. Our latest curve ball, regarding the garden, happened yesterday, when the tire of the tiller blew up!   Ed just bought a new tube for that same tire, last week.  Now he’ll have to buy the whole tire.  It’s always something!

a few garden-fresh veggies

On a happier note, so far we’ve enjoyed fresh squash, carrots, cabbage, and garden peas, and a few blueberries from our garden.  The hens have been enjoying fresh lettuce from the garden, each day.  We expect to have fresh potatoes and onions in a few more days, and, hopefully, some green beans before too much longer.

During these days of our trials and tribulations, I have to constantly remind myself, Kathy, things could always be worse.  God showed me this, yesterday, when a particular incident occurred. I’d sent Ed to town to run an errand for me.  He’d only been gone a few minutes when the phone rang.  It was Ed, on the other in of the line, saying, “It’s me.”  He went on to tell me that he’d come upon a bad wreck, on the way to town, involving a large tanker and a pickup.  There were two Life Star helicopters on the scene.  Ed was calling to let me know he wasn’t involved in the accident, in case I heard about it before he returned.  After I hung up, I immediately thanked God that Ed hadn’t left for town a few minutes earlier.  Yes, things could always be worse–but I’m sure hoping they’ll be better soon.

 

 

 

Friday Fragments…

Another week has gone by in a blur.  Time is passing so quickly, the days seem to all run together.  Lately, things are crazy, and it feels like life is running fast forward.  I’m pausing long enough to post and link up with Mrs. Fours at Half-Past Kissin’ Time.

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On Monday, the exterminators came.  They were supposed to treat our house for termites, and put down a plastic moisture barrier underneath the house, afterward.  They stayed two hours, sprayed under our house, then left, saying they wouldn’t have time to finish putting the moisture barrier down, so they would come back.  We haven’t heard from them since.

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The good news is we haven’t paid the exterminators yet, and they didn’t find any termites under the house (only one place where they’d been)!  The bad news is while they were under our house, they did find a broken drain line (apparently caused by the guy who sprayed insulation under our house, last week).  For over a week our bathroom sink had been draining underneath our house!  Ed had to crawl under the house and get the pipe hooked back into place.  We’re now running a fan and trying to dry things out before the exterminators return.

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On Monday, I got a letter in the mail, from the insurance marketplace, telling me they’d received all of my financial information and everything had been approved.  I’d had to send via registered mail–twice.  On Wednesday, I got an email from them telling me they needed more information!  What’s up with that?

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On Tuesday we had two different people come out to give us estimates for putting some ‘stucco’ underpinning around the bottom of our house.  One said he’d have to get back with us, the other told Ed, “It’s easy to do.  You could do it yourself”, then he left.  What the heck?  It’s Friday and we still haven’t heard back from either person.  Ed’s been watching ‘do it yourself’ videos on YouTube…

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My back is getting better, but it’s been improving so slowly, it’s been hard to notice. Then, on Tuesday, I was able to actually cook a meal (standing up), make the bed, clean the bathroom, and dust the entire living room.  That’s more than I’ve been able to do in an entire month!  Three weeks ago I was using a walker to get around.

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On Thursday, Ed got a bill from Medicare Part B for over $500!  They’re supposed to be taking a monthly premium out of his Social Security check–if and when he ever gets one.  Guess what?  We’ll be making another trip to the Social Security Administration office today!

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I actually caught Ed singing Que Sera Sera this week. In case you don’t remember that oldie, but goody, by Doris Day, here’s part of the lyrics:

Que sera, sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future’s not ours to see
Que sera, sera
What will be, will be

I guess that’s a good way to look at things.  Especially in these crazy times!

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Our youngest son and his wife have had an interesting week concerning the showing of their house.  It’s been on the market a little over a week.  Of course, they are having to keep it ‘showcase ready’, which is no easy task with an 18 month old little boy in the house!  They’ve had several showings in the past few days, and the show times aren’t always convenient.  As if all of that’s not enough, this week,  a deranged woman suddenly started calling the realtor and harassing her about the sale of our son’s house–not once, but several times!

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I can’t help but wonder if my readers get tired of hearing about our crazy lives.  It’s all true.  Nobody could make this stuff up!  When Ed and I planned for retirement, we didn’t plan for all of these complications.

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After the crazy week we’ve had, I went outside, late Thursday afternoon.  I looked up, and immediately realized the Lord was sending us a sign– a beautiful rainbow directly over our house!  I quickly ran inside and grabbed my camera.

Things are about to get better.  I just know it in my heart!  Have a great weekend, y’all.

‘Mother, May I’… Present To You The Hodgepodge?

The underlying theme of today’s hodgepodge brought the old childhood game, ‘Mother, May I’ to mind, which prompted my title.  Just thought you might like to know.  In these modern times, I can’t help but wonder if anyone still plays ‘Mother, May I’?

Anyway, it’s good to have The Hodgepodge back, after last week’s hiatus, so thanks to our hostess, Joyce for hosting.  Joyce, it’s good to have you and The Hodgepodge back!

1. What’s a phrase your mother often said to you? If you’re a parent, is this something you now say to your own children?

The years spent with my mother were so long ago, my memories have faded somewhat, but one particular phrase my mother used that stuck with me through the years is “They don’t have any scruples.”  When things would go awry between me and someone else,  during those turbulent teen years, mama would often say, “They just don’t have any scruples.”  I’d never heard the word “scruples” before, and it struck me funny when mama used it.

I can’t say I’ve ever used this particular phrase, to my children or anyone else, other than relating it in this story about mama.

2. What is a scent you associate with your mother or your childhood home?

I’ll always associate the scent of Avon with mama.  Mama loved  Avon products, and even sold them for a brief period of time.  Mama always used Avon perfume, and had several decorative decanters–some of which we still have.  Those pictured below are not among our collection, but Mama had some of them.

photo via Google

3. What’s an activity you remember always doing with your mother (or someone who was a mother figure in your life)?

Things that stand out in my mind are: the ‘girl talks’ we had, coloring Easter eggs together, and shelling peas or butter beans together during the summer.

4. Flared jeans, maxi dresses, and jumpsuits are 70’s fashion trends back this spring. Are you on board? Which trend would you be most inclined to try? For the men…flared corduroys, wide-collared shirts, and floral prints…what say you?

Oh, how I remember the fashion trends from the 70’s!  I could never wear those jumpsuits, back in the day, because their straddles were never long enough to fit me, but you can “bet your sweet bippy” I wore my fair share of flared jeans in the 70’s!  These days, I’d only wear the maxi dress, and only around the house!

As for the 70’s men’s fashions, Ed had a couple of pairs of flared corduroys, and, at least, one wide collared shirt.  I can’t say that I ever remember seeing him in a floral print though.  These days, I don’t think Ed would be caught dead in any of the fashion trends!

Below is a blast from the past.  Kathy and Ed in our 70’s attire.  Ha!

5. May 6th is Teacher Appreciation Day and also Nurse Appreciation Day. Is there a nurse or teacher you have especially appreciated along the way? Tell us why?

There are two nurses who are especially near and dear to my heart.  The first is my mother-in-law, who’s now deceased.  She was an office nurse, and worked in local doctor’s offices for many years, standing on her feet all day, making sure sick people were taken care of. Her working hours were not set in stone.  She went to work mid-morning, and got off after the last patient had been seen, which was often as late as 7 p.m.  She truly loved her job, and didn’t give it up until she was in her 70’s.

The other nurse who’s special to me is my daughter-in-law, Jennifer.  Jennifer became an RN just over five years ago. She has established (and excelled at) her nursing career– in a large, over-crowded, under-staffed, hospital–in the midst of losing her mama, battling cervical cancer, and carrying a high-risk pregnancy, I might add.  Jennifer works long, hard hours, in addition to caring for her family.  Many times her twelve-hour (or more) nursing shifts have fallen on weekends and holidays.  Jennifer takes her job very seriously, and often brings the worries of the day home with her.  I tip my hat to Jennifer for what she does, and am proud of all she’s accomplished in such a short time.

6. If I came by your house, what would I find on your frig door?

You’ll find several Shutterfly magnetic photo magnets on the front of my fridge, a sheet of paper tallying my ‘egg count’, and a small copy of a poem about grandparents, that my daughter gave me.

7. Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana made her royal entrance on Saturday, May 2nd. On a scale of 1-10, how much attention did you give to all the news coverage? 1=Who’s Charlotte? 10=sat glued to the telly, cuppa in hand.

Actually, I read about the birth on the internet.  I guess I’d have to give myself about a 2 or 3 on this one. I  know who Charlotte is–and I saw a brief news clip, of the couple taking Charlotte home, but I didn’t watch any of the news coverage before, or after the birth.

Random:

Today I’d like to take this opportunity to wish our oldest son, Brett, and his wife, Christina, a very happy wedding anniversary.  The years are flying by, and it’s already been nine years since the two of them ‘tied the knot’.

First there were two…

May 2006 (rehearsal dinner)

but soon there were two more, when the Lord blessed this couple with two precious little boys 🙂

April 2015 (Easter Sunday)

Wishing them many more  happy years together!

Just Another Monday…

I hesitated about blogging today, wondering if I really had anything ‘blog-worthy’.  This past weekend was a somewhat slow, ‘do-nothing’, kind of weekend at our house.  I suspect we’ll be having more and more of those as time goes on.  Times are changing…

On Friday, Ed and I went on a bit of a shopping outing.  My back is far from being normal, so my outings are still brief.  Ed drives me to the front door of the store, I quickly shop for what I need, then go back to the car to rest my back.  For now, two stores is my limit. The muscle spasms are subsiding, and I’m able to stay on my feet for longer periods of time, but I’m far from normal.  Recovering from this reminds me of recovering from surgery!  It’s slow going.

Anyway, Ed and I had a nice time on our ‘outing’–until we made our final stop at the drugstore.  Keep in mind, we both have different health insurance, now that Ed’s retired.  This month was the first month of having our prescriptions filled using our new (and separate) insurances.  Ed’s Medicare supplement seems to be pretty good.  He got his prescriptions filled, last week, through the mail order program with zero co-pay.  On the other hand, my insurance is not working out too well…

In the past, the co-pay for all of mine and Ed’s medications, combined, ran about $100.00 a month for eight prescriptions.  On Friday, the cost for  my medications, only, was $227.00!  Yes, that’s two hundred, twenty-seven dollars for five prescriptions!  I almost died!  One particular prescription isn’t covered by my insurance at all.  The cost?  $162, that’s one hundred, sixty-two dollars– for EIGHT  estrogen caplets known as Vagifem!  Lord,  help us!  I’ll be looking for an alternative for that one, ASAP!  Now I understand the plight of senior citizens who have to decide whether they will buy groceries or refill their medications 😦

In other news, our weekend weather was unseasonably cool.  Nights and early mornings required a light jacket of some kind.  This is very unusual for this time of the year.  We’re still trying to dry out from the six inches of rain we received last week, too.  Of course, the cool, wet weather makes perfect conditions for grass to grow, and our lawn has never looked better!  The garden?  No so good.  Some plants took a hard hit from too much water, and the grass and weeds are running rampant.  It’s still early, and it can recover–if we don’t get another flood!

I think our old desk top computer may be on its last legs.  It has Windows Vista so that tells you how old it is.  Ed and I are in the process of backing up all of my pictures and music.  I’ve already saved the data on an external hard drive, but wanted to put it on  jump drives, as well.  We used two 64 GB jump drives for pictures, alone!  I used to take lots of pictures, these days, not so much–which explains the lack of pictures on my blog.  I did, however, find some great older pictures that I’ll share here on the blog, sometime in the future.

Today, the exterminators are coming to treat our house for termites and lay down the moisture barrier. With all of the rain we’ve been having, we sure do need that moisture barrier!  Unfortunately, none of these things come cheap. We’re also trying to figure out what to do about new underpinning for the bottom of our house.  Goodbye money…

Have a great Monday!

Friday Fragments…

In an effort to get back into blogging on a more regular basis, I’m posting some Friday Fragments and linking them up @ Half-Past Kissin’ Time.  It feels good to get back into a ‘somewhat’ normal routine again.  Posting with a bad back and a retired hubby around is difficult, y’all!

I ventured out of the house on a short trip to the grocery store, with Ed, on Monday.  (I’ve been pretty much housebound since my back messed up.)  Never, in my wildest dreams, did I think I’d be so happy to visit the local grocery store!  Walking was still painful, so my visit was short, but it was great to get out and about a bit–and we have plenty of food in the house now!

I also helped cook supper on Monday night.  I had to sit in a kitchen chair to finish up, but, with Ed’s help, I made it. We cooked fresh squash from our garden, and, as always, they were so good!  Home-grown veggies always taste the best.

On Tuesday, we lost another one of our ‘original’ flock of six red hens.  Now we’re down to just two.  Sick sister, as I called her, had been ailing for a while. She’d get low, then she’d rally for a few days.  I’m not sure, but from what I’ve read, I think she may have been suffering from ovarian cancer, a disease her breed (Red Star) is known to have. I take comfort in knowing she had a good life.  She enjoyed the last several months of free ranging. We still have seven young hens in our new flock.  Our egg count topped 500, today–and that’s just since January!

On Tuesday night, we received some of the ‘typhoon-like’ weather that had been predicted for Wednesday.  The wind and rain woke me up during the night.  We woke up to find our house surrounded by water.  The garden was  surrounded, as well.  Fortunately, Ed had dug a long ditch at the end of the garden rows, so he was able to open up the rows, and drain the majority of the water out of the garden.  It’s too early to tell how much damage was done to the plants while they sat in water overnight.  We’ve gotten over six inches of rain during the past week!

On Wednesday, I drove my car for the first time in over three weeks.  I drove myself to the hair dresser’s.  It was time for a haircut, and I was more than ready!  I had over an inch cut off, in an effort to get rid of some of my old hair color, and to make my hair easier to take care of.  The salt and pepper look is quickly taking over my hair, but, you know, I kind of like it!

The weather turned unseasonably cool, on Wednesday.  I’d just thrown my flannel shirt in the dirty clothes hamper (I use it for a jacket when I do outside chores) because I thought I was finished with it until fall.  Surprise!  I had to dig it back out, on Wednesday morning–and turn the heat back on!  What is up with this weather???

After the crazy month of April, I’m more than happy to say hello to the month of May!  Hopefully, life here will soon settle back into a normal state–with no mold or termite issues, no dealing with government agencies, and no more back aches!  Normal sounds very good, right about now.

Happy May Day!