Friday, July 31, 2015

Bye, Bye, July!

Tonight's picture is of the rooflines of Union Station in Nashville. This was the view we had as we headed from the car to The Frist Center yesterday. Woody got up and walked four miles this morning. It has been less humid today so the mid eighties didn't seem as hot as they do sometimes. Woody mowed several different times today. I got up and finished the tank/muscle shirt for Elijah. Then I headed back to read some more in my new Italian Fashion book. The history behind the Italian fashion industry is quite interesting. I haven't gotten very far in the book...did finish the introduction...BIG pages...so lots of words on a page...that is if the page isn't a lovely photo. At some point I put away things that I had gotten out to make Elijah's shirt...trying to keep the sewing room a little clean after I worked so hard to get it that way! Kathy and I did sit this afternoon and talked about a couple of different schedules...one for two days and a night next week when Goosey (Woody) and I will be taking care of the children while Nathan and Kathy attend a NAMB (North American Mission Board)Conference. The other schedule we discussed was about my part of their homeschooling. I think that we got the school schedule worked out. And, the schedule for the two days next week will probably get figured out as we go through those two days and a night! I think that my busy day yesterday caught up with me this afternoon as there was a time that I just couldn't move I was so sleepy...I would try to watch something on my iPad or read...and my eyes would just close. I have napped off and on and I still feel like I could go to sleep at any moment! Guess I had better post this blog before I doze off! Well, on that note I will bid adieu to July...when next we "meet" it will be August.

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Home in Time to Blog!

Woody got up early and walked eight miles. I got up and got ready to head towards Melany's (Murfreesboro). This was the first time that I drove the "new" car out of Tullahoma...first time that I got above 45 miles an hour when driving it. I really don't like to drive...so it is a stretch for me to drive out of little Tullahoma...but going the back road helps some...at least as far as traffic goes. Melany lives on the side of Murfreesboro that lets me avoid downtown Murfreesboro (a nightmare place to drive...it has grown beyond its road system). I only have to go a few miles after I come off the back road and I am at the place to turn into their subdivision. Once I got to Melany's I turned the driving over to her till it was time for me to turn the car towards Tullahoma. I left the house at 8am and arrived back home at 7pm. We really had a fun day and really "did in" the Frist Center. We were there from 10am till almost 4pm. We did take a break from looking at the exhibits and went to the cafe that is part of the museum. We both had yummy sandwiches (mine was a grilled eggplant sandwich...delish!) and homemade potato chips. After lunch we went back and looked at the exhibits that we hadn't seen earlier. The main reason that I went was to see the Italian Fashion from 1945 to the present. It was a wonderful exhibit...part of the Victoria and Albert Museum collection in London. The wonderful displays were much appreciated by me! We even saw a diamond brooch that was owned by Elizabeth Taylor. We saw costumes from a couple of Audrey Hepburn's movies (War and Peace and Roman Holiday). The beading, handwork, satins, silks, laces, furs, Prada shoes, etc. were pretty mind boggling for a seamstress like me! I bought "the book" so when I finish blogging I will go look through the book and refresh my memory. This fashion exhibit has inspired to make a blouse with the Italian shirting that I bought at a couture fabric store some time ago. The head (Isabella) that you see in tonight's photos was an intro to another exhibit that was at the museum. These are part of the artist Jaume Plensa's Human Landscape. This part of the exhibit is in conjuction with Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art (also in Nashville). You can really see them as landscape when visiting there. Melany had been to Cheekwood last week and saw them outside as part of the Cheekwood landscape...they were displayed both on solid ground and in water. Rather interesting as when you walk around the sculptures they seem to change from 3-D to almost flat. The ones inside the Frist represented emotions...they were "Hear no evil, See no evil and Speak no evil"...hanging sort of sideways from the walls in the room. Some of the thinking behind the sculptures was a bit beyond my comprehension!!!! When it comes to art, I pretty much express myself with my photos and my sewing...not a lot of abstract thinking behind "my art!" The other exhibition was of postcards from Austria (Postcards of the Wiener Werkstatte)...part of an American's private collection. I found these very interesting, also. We also stopped in the hands-on-art rooms that they have for children. We ended up talking to a mom and a helper in the children's art center. Lots of fun things to do in that room. Being in that room reminded me of another time that Melany took me to The Frist several years back. Erin was with us that day and she spent a good part of the time painting in this room while Melany and I were looking at exhibits at a too-slow pace for a child! I still have the water color of an elephant that she painted and gave to me. It's right here next to me in the sewing room on my cork bulletin board. Melany and I really had a fun time today. She heads back to school next week...so her "freedom" is quickly fading into the sunset. I appreciate her giving up one of her last free days to take me to The Frist. I know that the neighbors (Nathan & Kathy & family) must have picked blueberries today as we have several pints on the counter. And, I know that Woody must have done some baking as we also have a blueberry dump cake on the counter. Nathan brought us over a piece of the blueberry pie that they baked today. Blueberries abound! Well, I'm off to read through exhibit brochures and check out my Italian Fashion Book. An interesting fact about The Frist...they have no permanent displays/exhibits...so over the months of the year there is usually something new to be seen.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Middle of Another Week

We have pretty much had a normal Wednesday. Woody got up and walked six miles and came in with his t-shirt sticking to him it was so humid outside...not all that hot...just VERY humid. I got up and went to work on Elijah's shirt so it wouldn't take too long if he decided to come back to help me. Woody went to do his Wednesday Krogering and Farmers' Marketing. Isaac came over and kept me company for a while and later in the morning, Elijah did come over and we worked some more on his shirt. He chose the color for the ribbing and then he helped me push buttons on the sewing machine. He headed home when it was time for lunch. I ate lunch and then headed off to the church to work in the library for a couple of hours. Joseph came over and stayed with Woody for a while after lunch. When I left for the library, they were heavily into the Old MacDonald...not sure which of them was singing "Old MacDonald" the loudest! After I got home I started to put the rib trim on Elijah's shirt. I talked to my sister while she sat in her backyard in AZ watching their bird that had flown the coop! She emailed me a little while ago and said that the bird had been captured safe and sound. She also asked me if I wanted a bird! After supper I started looking at maps to make sure that I would know where I was going in the morning. I am going to drive to Melany's and have traveled this road many a time...but have only driven it myself just a couple of times. It is the back road that Woody and I like to take when we go to Vanderbilt. Tonight's picture was taken last week when we took this road on our way to Vandy...so I will be traveling it again tomorrow morning...but this time on my own. I will drive to Melany's and then she will take over the driving. We are going to Nashville to the Frist Center for the Arts. There is an exhibit of Italian designer clothing from the 1940's to the present. It is an exhibit that is on loan from the Victoria and Albert Museum in England. The last time I got to see one of their traveling exhibits it was fantastic so I am looking forward to seeing this one.

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Summer Reflections

Woody suggested a few minutes ago that I just blog from my recliner on the iPad...and, after coming into the sewing room to the laptop, I think that he had a very good suggestion. It took more than thirty minutes to get the pictures that I took today downloaded onto the laptop...and there were only seven pictures..."things" were just so very slow in opening, etc. I have done much better with my back spasms today...except when I am getting up out of a reclining position...as from my recliner or from the chair where I got my hair wet before my haircut today. Woody had just gotten back from walking to and from the church prayer room, when I woke up from an after-supper nap...and he heard me "trying" to get up to come in here to blog...that is the reason for his suggestion that I blog from in there! But I did manage to get the dusting finished in the sewing room...at this point I only dusted the top shelves of the book cases and all the picture frames. I will come back at another time to actually dust the books on the shelves and all the shelves. I also still have the top of my sewing cabinet...again another job for another time. But other than that the sewing room is much cleaner than it has been in some time. Just as I was finishing the bookcase tops this morning, Elijah came over. He was finished with his school work for the day and came over to "hang out" over here. All of a sudden he said that he wanted to do some sewing. I told him that I thought we could do something with the sewing machine if he wanted to. He then told me that he wanted to sew on the machines in the sewing room rather than the one in the guest room that we do our sewing lessons on. And, then I realized what he had spotted. When I was sorting/putting away fabrics the other day I found a piece of knit that has fire engines on it. I had made him a shirt from this fabric a year or so ago and I decided to pull it our of the bin and perhaps make a tank top for one of the smaller boys from it. I wasn't sure if I had enough for one for Elijah or not...but was pretty sure that I had enough for Isaac. Well, Elijah had spotted that fabric and was interested in making it into something. So we went to my cutting board and I got out the pattern...which luckily I had in his size and we put it on the fabric and there was just enough...so "we" cut it out. All the time that I was cutting he was checking out some of my special rulers...having a bit of a math lesson over here...learning about inches in feet, etc. So I guess I have my next sewing project...sew this tank top together for Elijah. Woody has been very helpful in the kitchen today. The dishwasher was ready to run this morning so I got it going and when it was finished, he put all the dishes away. He also washed all the dishes that didn't fit/couldn't go in the dishwasher. Then he surprised me by making some butterscotch pudding. When I was going through the cabinet pantry the other day, I pulled out a box of cooked pudding and decided that I would make it...well, it had sat on the counter for a couple of days and I guess he decided to get it off the counter by making it! Yummy. This evening I made a new recipe using eggplant: Miso Sesame-Glazed Eggplant. It was pretty good...it was made by roasting the eggplant cut in half in the oven till it was done and then brushing it with this miso/tahini/maple syrup/rice vinegar glaze on it and then sprinkling toasted sesame seeds on top and then broiling it for a couple of minutes. After it broiled I sprinkled chopped chives, fresh from our herb garden, over the top and then it was ready to serve. It was tasty, though it seemed a bit salty for my taste. Woody said that it was a recipe that we should use again...so guess it was a keeper in his eyes! And, it certainly was fairly easy to prepare. It was another very hot day...that is till a storm blew in this afternoon giving our plants a nice drink and cooling the air off some...though I'm sure that the humidity made the air thick enough to cut...though it really wasn't too bad out when I went out to cut the chives for our eggplant dish. Right now Weatherbug says that it is 75 and the humidity is 89%...pretty humid...but the temp is better than our earlier low 90's. Typical summer day. I took tonight's photo this afternoon after I got my hair cut...it was very hot and humid when I was taking the pictures...I didn't tarry long taking them...pretty anxious to get in the car and get the air conditioning blowing on me!

Monday, July 27, 2015

Going Great Guns...And Then...

Woody got up and walked four miles...beating out the hot temperatures of the day. I got up and continued cleaning in the sewing room. There are just so many nooks and crannies in there to gather dust and for spiders and their webs to hide. I spent most of the morning in there either vacuuming or dusting. I worked quite a bit on it yesterday, too. And, perhaps that is where I made my mistake...going at it too steadily...as...this afternoon I sat down and realized that my back didn't feel quite right and not long after I started having back spasms. So the recliner and heating pad (felt good even though we got into the 90's today) have been my friends since. It is better and I was able to come in here to blog and didn't scream out in surprise when a spasm "grabs" me...so that is good. I have donned Woody's wrap around back brace and that helps too. Woody went to The Life Care Center today and had Bible study with Jeff. This evening, he offered to cook supper...big help! He made Steak-Um sandwiches...cooked sliced onion and green pepper to put on our minute steak sandwiches. Very good. Hit the spot! Now we are both settled in for a quiet evening. I'm hoping that I will be able to continue on my sewing room as most that is left to do is dust. I think that crawling around on the floor and pulling things out so I can vacuum behind and under is over for this cleaning spree. I need to clean on top of my sewing cabinet but don't know if climbing up to do that is in my near future. That dust may just stay there...well settled! I'm hoping that I can dust the top of the bookcases...lots of picture frames on top of five bookcases that line one wall. I guess I won't attempt to dust books this go-round. I was aiming to get this room done so I could next attack the school room...just a few more weeks till my part of the neighbor grandchildren's school. They have started on several of their subjects this week, but my part is still a ways away...hopefully I'll be up to doing a thorough cleaning in the school room before then...guess time will tell. "This old gray mare just ain't what she used to be"...she says some what disgustedly! She still wants to go great guns...but parts of her say "neigh!" Before my back decided to act up, we had a Frostie drive-by...baby Frosties were dropped off for both Dorrell families...that's a lot of baby Frosties! Thanks, Doyle! A nice treat on a hot day!

Saturday, July 25, 2015

18...Is It Possible?!?

Could it really be possible that the sweet little boy in tonight's picture turned 18 today and will soon be heading off to college?!? My...time does go by all too quickly. Happy Birthday, Alex! Woody got up and walked four miles this morning. Later in the morning he did his normal Saturday errands...library and Walmart and, I think, a quick stop at Kroger (anyway, I think I recall a Kroger bag among the bags that I unpacked and put away). I got up and went back into the sewing room and got busy going through things and throwing things away and putting other things away. I did work a little on preparation for making some Christmas ornaments. But haven't started actually stitching them as I realized that I had forgotten to get a couple of colors of thread when I was at JoAnn's yesterday. So this afternoon I made a quick run to JoAnn's and bought two spools of thread. Woody made some healthy strawberry banana shakes...the recipe that he bought the bee pollen for...well, I drank a small amount...tasted pretty good...it was made with coconut milk. I think that I would just as soon skip the bee pollen...just saying. My throat felt a little scratchy not long after drinking it...but that feeling did go away quickly. I wondered if I was going to have to take Benadryl and sleep for the rest of the day! Now to show how really quickly time flies I will end with a link to our blog of five years ago today...Woody was at NIH for his three week stay. It doesn't seem possible that five years has passed since he went through the TIL protocol! Here's the link to what was happening five years ago: http://wdorrell.blogspot.com/2010/07/end-of-very-adventurous-day.html

Friday, July 24, 2015

Just Walked in the Door!

I just got home from running errands. When I saw the time, I decided that I would blog before I go get something to eat. I checked and Woody had already done some scrounging for his supper and I will do the same after blogging. Woody got up and headed off for an eight-mile walk. I spent time earlier today doing some deeper cleaning than I usually do. Woody was a help with that task as he helped to move some things and hold some things out of the way (like the printer) while I vacuumed under in the space where the printer table is, etc. I'm working most in the sewing room...going to go through some things and get rid of some items...at least the paper trail that I seem to accumulate even though I try not to print a lot of things these days. Some papers that I am going to go through have been around for a long time and I don't see a reason to keep them...so going through notebooks and recycling the pages that I no longer need. After I vacuumed the center of the sewing room, I did what I did yesterday...vacuumed everywhere the cord would let me...so I vacuumed a good part of our bedroom and the school room and the upstairs hallway. After I had done that I wasn't sure that I had enough energy to run errands. But before I left my sister called me so I sat down and talked for a while and that rested me enough to head off after we finished talking. I made stops at the public library, Radio Shack (a camera contraption needed a battery), Joann's, and Walmart. The thing that took the longest was reading shampoo labels trying to find some that didn't have several ingredients that Melany has found out she is highly allergic to. I decided that I would try to do away with those items in things that I use also and see if that would help me. I figure that there is a good chance that I am allergic to some of the same things that she is and I have a lot of trouble with shampoos. I finally found one brand that didn't have the ingredients that she is allergic to in them...so time will tell if it helps me to switch to this brand. I also tried to get the washing detergent that is okay for her to use...but I was unsuccessful in finding that at our Walmart. I guess I will have to look further. This morning I got in the mood to start making some Christmas items so I found what I want to make for Christmas ornament gifts for this year. At Joann's I found the thread that was called for and also got the base fabrics that are called for. I hope to get those started stitching. They can stitch while I continue to clean the sewing room...look, ma, no hands! Shhhhhh! I hate to be the one to say this, but Christmas is five months from tomorrow. As I said last night the days seem to be flying by...also the months! And, with that said, I am off to rustle up some supper. Not sure that I have much energy left for this day to do much more...this has been a busier day than usual for me.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Thursday...Again!

Is it only me or some of you thinking that the weeks just seem to fly by? It just seems like yesterday that I was posting a "Thursday" post. Tonight's photo was taken yesterday when we woke up to a lot of fog. I was going to post it yesterday, but Woody insisted that I post the vultures, as he was disappointed on Tuesday when he read the blog that I hadn't posted them that day. The main reason that I didn't post them that day is that they are a bird that is representative of death and I didn't want to put their picture up on a day that we had good news...didn't want the picture to give the wrong impression! Woody got up early this morning and walked five miles. Later in the morning, Woody made a deliveries to a couple of friends who are recooperating. The rest of the day seems to have just slipped by for me, I don't know if it seems to have done that for Woody or not. I did manage to get up enough energy to vacuum some downstairs...plugged in the vacuum and vacuumed as far as the cord would reach...plugged it in in the kitchen and that let me vacuum the kitchen, most of the family room, the dining room and in front of the living room door. The main reason that I plugged the vacuum in the kitchen was that under the cabinets needed to be vacuumed...I reached for something that fell the other day and met up with some spiderwebs...so that told me that I had better do that job. After I vacuumed the floor and under the cabinets, I mopped the kitchen floor...so I guess that the kitchen is fairly clean for about four inches off the floor! It always seems to take me a couple of days to recoop after our trips to Nashville...especially when we make two trips in two weeks...of course if I look back there were times when Woody first got diagnosed with melanoma that we made two and even more trips in one week...so I'm really not complaining...just observing that my energy seems to be zapped at least for some reason! I did talk for a while this morning with Melany. She had received something in the mail and I was checking with her about how it worked. Goosey (Woody) and I ordered something for Esther for her upcoming birthday. And,when I ordered Esther's, I was given the option to order a free one for a school teacher...so of course I chose Melany and her school to be the recipient of my free item. It had arrived at Melany's school and she had picked it up today so I was checking in to see if she had fun trying it out. She is very happy to have this item and said that what she tried with it worked great and looks forward to letting her school children use it. I will tell specifically what it is after Esther's birthday...till then...very hush, hush! I was excited to buy one and get another one free and very glad to be able to give it to Melany to use with her K thru 5th art students. Pretty smart promotion on the part of the company...in my opinion. I'll get a picture of Esther using hers after she gets it for her birthday!

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Oops...A "Late-to-Blog" Night

And, I hope that these vultures aren't giving me an evil eye for not posting their picture sooner! We came around a curve on the back road yesterday to see many, many of these Black Vultures enjoying their venison breakfast and many, many more in the sky waiting their turn. I didn't come even close to getting them all into the picture...for one reason I didn't want to include too much of their breakfast in the photo! I included a close-up of their "lovely" faces so you could see their specialized beaks...all the better to eat their meals with! I took these pictures out Woody's driver's side window. Woody walked ten miles early this morning. I awakened at 3am, but did go back to sleep and did something that I hadn't done in many, many months...perhaps in more than a year...after I woke up at 3am, I decided that I would try sleeping on the bed rather than in "my" recliner. I did manage to get back to sleep and slept for several more hours. But it is still hard to find a comfortable position to lie in that doesn't hurt...and...when I get up my back really hurts for a while...which it did this morning after only a few hours of lying down. I just know that I can't "stand" to sleep in a bed for very many hours...but at least I did manage a short snooze there this morning. I fell asleep with my glasses still on and the light still on last night...reason that I woke up so early...also I went to sleep a lot earlier last night as I was tired after our day at Vanderbilt...and very rarely do I sleep more than five or six hours at a time. But a light in my eyes didn't help last nights recliner slumbers. Part of Woody's walk this morning included the Wednesday Farmer's Market. But he has learned that he can't buy very much there and then carry it home if he is walking...he about wore himself out last week when he bought 13 ears of corn and a large zucchini. So this week he stopped back by the farmer's market and bought what he wanted when he was going to do his weekly Krogering. He also went to our local fruit and veggie market...yummy peaches from there. He asked questions of several of the farmers at the farmer's market...about growing garlic and about bee pollen. One of the men has many hives and he sells bee pollen. Woody bought some as he found a recipe that includes bee pollen. I know that some say that eating local bee pollen helps allergies...but...I'm a bit leary...I would hate to have an allergic reaction to it...that would be my luck with my allergies. We will have to research it more. This is local wild flower bee pollen. Interesting!?! After lunch I went to the library as usual on a Wednesday afternoon. I got caught in a downpour on the way there...so I sat in the car in front of the church for part of the time that I should have been working waiting for the rain to let up a bit. The three of us still got quite a bit done...more books ready to check out. I came home and didn't stop to rest as I usually do. Instead I got busy making our supper. By the time that I had finished cooking and eating supper, I was ready to head to my recliner...and the reason that I am late blogging...well, my rest turned into a snooze...hmmmmm...now the question is will I be able to sleep tonight! While I snoozed, Woody baked a couple of loaves of Blueberry Zucchini bread...one of his specialities. I'm hoping that he has sliced into one of the loaves...I'm ready for a little snack after my evening snooze!

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

A Smooth Sailin' Day

Since we didn't have to leave as early as usual, Woody went on a four-mile walk early this morning. We left the house a little after 10am and got home at 5:40pm...so about 7 1/2 hours on the road and at Vanderbilt. We got there early and he got called in early for all his appointments. Our visit with Dr. Sosman's nurse practitioner (Dr. Sosman is in Italy)went as we expected. First the brain scan showed nothing...except that he does have a brain! And, the PET scan showed that the two places that show up-take on the scan continue to grow smaller...and, there is still a possibility that what is showing has to do with surgery and radiation that he has had on his arm and the radiation that he had on his leg. Everything was "go" for another infusion which he had and then we hopped in the car and headed home. After supper, Woody headed off to walk to the prayer room at church. That sums up another day at Vanderbilt. The clouds were beautiful today...both on the way there and on the way home. Tonight's blog photo was taken on our way home.

Monday, July 20, 2015

Christmas in July

Woody got up early to beat the heat and walked four miles. i got up and did a little of this and a little of that. I just realized that I forgot to put the load of wash in the drier...guess I'll do that in an hour when it isn't high usage time for TVA. Late morning we headed off to meet our friends, Linda and Doyle Hasty, and their four grandchildren. Two of their grandchildren live next door to them and the other two live in Kentucky so the four aren't here at the same time very often. Last year I took their picture for their Christmas card and today attempted to do the same for their card this year. We went to the Tullahoma Greenway and walked to a bridge that goes over the creek. Tonight's photo is at the end of the photo session when the children headed off to check out the creek (where I stood for part of the pictures). And, you know, that if I stood in it, there wasn't much water running in it! They all looked very festive in their bright red shirts. It wasn't quite as hot as yesterday as it was overcast, but it was still quite humid. This afternoon while I was going through choosing and editing the pictures, I was surprised by a loud "crack." At first I thought that a transformer had blown, but then soon realized that it was thunder. The thunder and lightning did bring us a pretty heavy shower for a few minutes. I know that the gardens were glad for the drink...though Woody did water some this morning...guess the plants in those were doubly glad! Woody made quinoa burgers this afternoon. We will be heading off to Vanderbilt tomorrow. Woody's appointments are a bit later than usual. Originally they had been early but when Dr. Sosman was going to be away, they had to be rescheduled with his nurse practitioner. Thus we didn't have much say as to their time. I hope that we don't end up having to drive in evening rush hour...time will tell...but at least we will miss morning rush hour. Tomorrow he will find out the results of his PET scan and MRI that he had last week. And, he will have the usual labs and, unless something unexpected comes up, he will have another Keytruda infusion. To date he has had twelve Keytruda infusions.

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Saturday Doings

I, again, woke up all too early (4am). I read for a while and when I heard Woody go out for his walk (5am), I got up and decided that I would get to work on Esther's dress. Woody walked six miles and I got well underway on Esther's dress. Later in the morning Woody did his usual Saturday errands: Library, Walmart, and Fruit/Veggie Market. Our printer was acting like it was out of black ink so Woody bought some while on his errands. I am the official ink cartridge changer so that was one of my jobs today. But when I got ready to change it, I realized that the one in the printer was still pretty full of ink. So in the end I put the cleaner through a printhead (or whatever) process and that seems to have fixed it. At least it let Woody print his crossword puzzles so he was happy. Isaac spent part of the morning with me while his family ran some errands and did some yard saling. One of the neat things that they found was a school desk that has the name of Nathan's fifth grade math teacher on the bottom of it (written on the bottom of the desk so it would get back in the correct room). Nathan remembers having that type of desk in her room. It was in very good condition. This gives them a desk of this type (in various sizes) for each of their scholars for their school room. I have Esther's dress completed except fot two buttonholes and sewing on two buttons. Woody got a cookbook at the public library that got him interested in making ghee (clarified butter). So he has made his first attempt at making ghee this evening...the verdict is still out, till it cools, as to whether he was successful. He cooks his veggie burgers in olive oil and has problems with it getting too hot and smoking. The ghee is supposed to be able to withstand higher temperatures...again...time will tell! Such a hot day today...in the 90's and pretty high humidity...sort of took my breath away when I walked Isaac back home just before lunch...after that brief time out I pretty much chose to stay inside the rest of the day.

Friday, July 17, 2015

The Monkey Shuffle!

The girls are back from camp...but so far I have only managed to catch Joy for a picture or two. Esther came home minus another tooth. And, Abigail was home about two hours and headed off for a sleepover at church for the Middle School girls. I can't believe that it is time for her to leave the children's department and become a youth. Time does fly. Tonight's pictures show Joy doing The Monkey Shuffle...a song/dance that they learned at camp. I think that they had a good time, but are all glad to be back with their family. Graham graduated from coding class today. I am a bit late blogging today because I was helping Nathan. He is trying to get some new shirts made with crazy ties on them for a camp that they will be doing next week. He got in a mess and thought that he was going to have to buy Kathy a new iron, but I came to his rescue with some iron cleaner that I have. When I left him, he seemed to have things back in control! Woody got up and did his walking before it got hot today. He walked eight miles. And, despite the very warm, as in hot, temperatures, he mowed. I got Esther's dress cut out and started sewing it. That has been on my to-do list for some time...but with various aches and pains hadn't gotten to it. What a hot day and I think that it is predicted to get hotter over the next few days. Even with the sun down it was pretty steamy as I walked between our houses a little while ago. It was one of those days that it was almost too hot too cook...but I did cook, but by the time I was finished I was ready to come upstairs and let the ceiling fan cool me off. I cooled off a bit before I cleaned up the kitchen...but it is now all cleaned up and I am heading to "my" chair to read for a while...that is if I keep my eyes open! Woody was multitasking when I last checked on him...reading and watching television.

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Surprise Visitor

Woody got up early and walked eight miles. I slept in a bit later than I have been lately. Melany called not long after I got up and said that she was heading to Tullahoma as she needed to turn in some paperwork to Motlow College. Her printer was on the fritz so she emailed us the files she needed for us to print. Woody got them printed before she arrived. Melany filled them out after she got here and then she and I headed off to Motlow to fill them in. That was a quick process and we came back home and we visited till late afternoon. We had a really nice day.
We found out last night that we had a mix up in our appointment day next week at Vanderbilt. When they called last week to change the appointments because he was going to see the nurse practitioner rather than Dr. Sosman, Woody understood them to change the day from Tuesday to Thursday. Well, last night when the friendly automated Vandy reminder call came, it told us that his appointments were on Tuesday at the times that he remembered. I emailed the office and they confirmed by email back that the appointment day was indeed Tuesday...now to change it on my iPad calendar AND reschedule lunch with friends. So much for the free Tuesday that we thought that we had...but guess it frees up the Thursday that we thought it had been changed to...guess six-of-one and half-a-dozen of another! I'm thankful for that friendly reminder or we would have missed his appointments.

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Busy Wednesday

We both woke up early. Woody headed out for a four-mile walk. I read for a while and then got busy on a couple of tasks that I had planned to do today. One of which included washing out shower curtain. I managed to get all the hooks unhooked and the curtain down without "too" much trouble. And, got it, the bath mat, and towels into the washer. Then went about doing a couple of other things while they washed. I started some pasta cooking and then did some dishes by hand that didn't fit into last night's dishwasher load. By that time the washer was finished and it was time to hang up the shower curtain once again...not sure which was harder getting it down or back up. But that task was finally completed. Woody got the grocery list and headed next door to find a boy to go with him to the grocery store. Elijah ended up being the volunteer...but I hear that Joseph was the quickest to raise his hand. I was given the opportunity to go through some fabric before it was given away to a local GoodWill-type place (called Attic Outlet). I went through the fabric and chose more than I probably should have...now to find a place to store it! I found one piece that I may use to recover the cushions on the glider rocker in the family room...now to get up the energy and nerve to do it! I put the groceries away when Woody and Elijah got home. By that time it was about time for lunch. Before I headed off to the church library to work, I put together a pasta salad for our supper. With three of us working in the library this afternoon, we got more books ready to check out...our library patrons should be very happy with all these new books! By the time I got home I was very ready to head straight to "my" recliner upstairs. Woody did his usual multitude (something like nine) of crossword puzzles today and has read and watched some TV. Elijah and Isaac came over this afternoon and challenged Goosey (Woody) to a game of Junior Monopoly. I think that interest waned before a winner could be declared, but a good time was had by the three of them and Goosey invited them to come back and play another game another time.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Another Long Vandy Day

We left the house at 5:05 this morning and didn't walk back into the house until 3:00 this afternoon...ten hours of driving, waiting, and tests. Due to leaving so early we got there with hardly any slow-downs...now if we had left five minutes later...there is no telling what sort of slow-downs there would have been. Anyway, we got there so early that valet parking hadn't started so we did something that we hadn't done since our early Vanderbilt days...parked the car ourselves. We parked in the garage right across from the hospital as Woody's first stop to register is right behind the hospital waiting room. He got registered quickly and we headed to the waiting room for the P.E.T. scan more than an hour early for his 7:45 appt. They took him in early since he was the first patient there...and that meant that he was finished early. I finished a book during the waiting time for the P.E.T. scan. We then headed back to the car as his next scheduled test wasn't at Vandy proper...but at an imaging place that is part of Vanderbilt but down the road a bit. It was just a block off of the road that we take to get back to the interstate...so that worked out well. We got there HOURS early and we waited all those hours as they didn't call him back till five minutes before his scheduled appointment which was for 11:45. He was finished at 1:10pm and we got back on the road. We had been watching the sky as there were predicted storms (bad storms) for this afternoon. We decided that we wouldn't take our usual time to stop and have a hamburgers and a shake at Steak and Shake. Woody is supposed to drink a lot to get rid of all the dyes so he decided that we would stop just for a shake someplace else. We ended up stopping at a Baskin Robbins. He had a pralines and cream shake and I had a hot fudge sundae. We took these on the road with us as we were still trying to beat the storms home. And, we did beat them...and the predicted bad storms didn't really develop here as it was thought they might. We did have thunder and some rain...but no straight line winds, no hail, and no tornadoes, etc. Woody thought about walking to the prayer room at church this evening, but realized that he was a might too tired to do that walking today...proud of him for realizing it and giving into it. This is the first time in a while that he has had two tests in one day and I remember how tired he used to get when he had several tests when we were at NIH. So we have battened down the hatches and are in for the night. Glad to be home after a long day.

Monday, July 13, 2015

Off to Kids' Church Camp!

Woody got up early and walked six miles. He needed to get his walk in early today as one of the rules for his CT scan is no exercise 24 hours prior to the scan...so he got his walk in just under the wire. I also woke up early. I decided to read as the library e-book that I was reading was going to expire today. Well, I decided that I would check to see if our public library had a copy...they did...so I decided that I wouldn't "kill" myself trying to get it finished. I decided that I would go see the girls off as they headed off to camp. So did that and snapped a few pictures. Their camp is in Kentucky. They arrived safely. And, have had a rather exciting day so far...a tornado warning that 300-400 kids had to pack into the food serving area to wait until the all-clear! They got ice cream cups as a treat to keep them calm! The last I heard the all-clear had sounded so they were able to go about their camp fun. The following pictures are of the stencil that Nathan designed for their girls' t-shirts:
Right side up it says "heart (love) camp" and upside down it says "heart (love) Jesus." He did them for them yesterday. Pretty amazing how he can make a four letter word turn into a five letter word! After the campers took off, I headed off to the public library and got the book that I was wanting to finish. I will take it with me tomorrow so I will have something to read in the wait time while Woody has a CT scan and then later an MRI of the brain. We will have to leave very early as his apppointment is at 7:45 at Vanderbilt and they asked him today to be there by 7:15...guess we will be up with the birds in the morning. His MRI is scheduled for four hours later and it is at a different location...away from Vanderbilt...just down the street...we think! Hope that we can find it! There is a shuttle that will take us there, but it is on our way home so we figure that it will be best to head that way so we will already be on the way home when we get there! I will end tonight's blog with panaramic pictures of two of the gardens that Woody has mulched...the two largest. I couldn't get all of either of them in the picture...perhaps with more practice with the panaramic feature on my camera? The one of the garden in front of our house is quite distorted as the walkway is straight and not curved...but I think that you can get the idea that he has done a lot of work and this isn't all of the mulching that he has done. The garden that goes beside out driveway goes all the way to the street.

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Saturated Saturday

Today has been a tech saturated day for me. I came in to do something on the laptop and there was a suggested clean-up so I decided that I would do it while the screen was there. It has taken a good part of the day. One of the "bad" things that I did was get rid or our email program...so the last several hours have been devoted to getting it back...of course all email addresses were lost too...unless the backup that I have will let me copy them back in...I will look into that in a little while...maybe...pretty sick of the computer at this point. Nathan has been helping me get back into our email server...what a mess. I guess I should have left well enough along! Woody walked six miles early this morning. And...drum roll...hands clapping...he finished his mulching this morning!!!!! He also went to the library and went to WalMart and Kroger. I did make a potato casserole that took a while longer than it might have, as the recipe called for cream of chicken soup and I made it from scratch...so added a step to the recipe and more mess to the kitchen. The casserole turned out great...this was the first time that I had made it with homemade cream of chicken soup. Joseph took his afternoon nap over here as the rest of the family headed off to friends. They are learning the ins and outs of canning...today jelly/jam and yesterday green beans/pressure canning. We even got a jar of cherry preserves out of the deal! I guess I will go back to seeing if I have the email set up correctly and then attempt to add the addresses back in. I tried to be so careful when I was letting the program delete items...there was a long list and I read down through it and kept those (like the blog address and a couple of others that I didn't want to figure out how to get back into), but I overlooked the email program...guess it is live and learn! It meant "no sewing" today! I spent a good part of the day in the sewing room, but at the laptop and not the sewing machine. Oh, and, Esther came in this morning with another hole in her mouth where a tooth should be. She lost the one on the bottom...I asked her if she pulled it out herself and she told me "no, it fell out by itself!" She becomes more and more The Toothless Wonder!

Friday, July 10, 2015

Hanging On By a Thread

Last night after I blogged I sewed for a little while on Abigail's shorts and then went next door to help with getting little ones ready for bed. I got Abigail to help Isaac get into his jammies and in the meantime several decided to play puppy dog with Joseph and me. Joy and Esther would bring a ball to us and then we would give it a little toss and they would pretend they were dogs and go after it and fetch the ball back to us. Joseph likes this game quite a lot. Well, we was giving Esther (one of the puppies) the ball and he pushed it into her mouth. Well, Esther's two front teeth are both loose and one has been just hanging there for several weeks. But the push was enough to make it just hang by a "thread." (Esther will tell you that it isn't a thread that "it is tissue.") Anyway that started her tooth to bleeding...but she handled the blood quite well. We got ice water and had her rinse and it wasn't long before it had stopped bleeding. Then came the challenge to get it out before her mommy and daddy got home. Well, that didn't happen and it took a while after they got home till it finally fell out. The one next to the one that came out is very loose...I wonder how long till it comes out!?! She also showed me one on the bottom that is pretty loose. I'm going to call her "The Toothless Wonder!" By the way the only child who was in bed when the parents got home was Isaac and he was asleep...guess one is better than none! Too much tooth excitement to get the others in bed...each tried to help in their own way to get Esther to make that last tug...she even attempted to cut it out...in the end she got upset and started crying and the next thing she was telling her daddy that it was out. Finally! Woody walked four miles early this morning. Later he weeded and mulched. I walked outside a few minutes ago with him and he showed me what he has left to do on that garden. Not a lot considering the size of the garden...he did admit that he can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I did manage to get Abigail's shorts finished last night after I got back from their house. Abigail came over to try them on this morning and she thanked me and said that they were even more comfortable than the ones that we copied. So she is a happy camper...or at least she will be a happy camper when they head off to camp this coming week. The three girls are quite excited about going to camp. The boys are excited that it will only be boys at their house for five days...that is except for their mom! I made Creamy Shrimp and Mushroom Pasta for supper tonight...a new recipe for us...quite good! Woody headed out to Life Care to get the TV tuned in to the Yankee game for Jeff, the man that he does Bible study with on Mondays. Jeff is a quadrapalegic and can only communicate with his eyes. Woody has discovered that he is a Yankee fan so Woody tries to get Jeff's TV tuned into the games when the Yankees play and are broadcast. I got the dishwasher loaded after we ate supper and I've been reading in "my" chair till it was time to blog.

Thursday, July 9, 2015

This and That Thursday

Woody walked 6 1/4 miles early this morning. He also weeded and mulched some more this morning. Abigail came over mid morning wanting to know if I could make her a pair of shorts to replace one of her favorite pairs of shorts. She had "sort of" ruined them gardening. So I spent time taking that pair apart to make a pattern of them. Her shorts have to be blue as her grade at the camp she is going to next week is supposed to wear blue! Well, I found some blue knit fabric that "may" work. I got them cut out and started sewing on them a little while ago. Woody walked to the barber and got a hair cut to add some more on to his walking total for today. He is now next door taking care of the neighbor grandchildren while their parents have a date night. Melany called a while ago to report in after her busy day. This morning she met up with the head of the art department at Motlow College. She is going to be an adjunct professor in the fall if the art class that they have chosen for her to teach makes. Motlow's main campus is here in the Tullahoma area, but they also have several other campuses...the one closest to Melany is in Smyrna. And, she will be teaching at the Smyrna campus, but her class will meet at a high school in Smyrna. She went today to see the class room that she will teach in if all works out and to find out some more details about the class. This afternoon Melany had to go back to her dermatologist's to find out about some allergy testing that she had earlier this week. They are trying to find out what ingredients that she is allergic to in certain topical meds. They put 60 patches on her back two days ago and they had to stay on for 48 hours. She was pretty glad to get them off as several of them really itched (there were six of the 60 that she was quite allergic to...one that she was very allergic to. Interestingly enough several of the ingredients that she is allergic to are in the medications that had been prescribed for her by the dermatologist. She is beginning to realize why she had been having so much trouble lately with her face looking like it had chemical burns! Hopefully these skin tests will give her a clearer picture of what is okay for her to use. Now for the adventure of checking out ingredients in many, many things she uses...everything from make-up to toothpaste. Well, I'm heading back to sewing Abigail's shorts.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Rather Warm Wednesday

Early morning for both of us...I woke up at 3 and I'm not sure what time Woody got up, but he mulched for four hours. Then a bit later in the morning he walked to the Farmer's Market that is held at a church every Wednesday morning during produce season. Today he added quite a bit of weight for his walk home...two large zucchinis and 13 ears of corn. I made cucumber gelatin salads...one for us and one for the neighbors (Nathan's family). After lunch I headed off to the church library to work for a couple of hours. Donna and I got quite a few more books ready to be checked out. My car thermometer for outside registered 93 degrees on my way home...I didn't think to look on the way there. As I headed off to the library, Woody headed off to do our weekly Wednesday Krogering. Since I wasn't home, he put most of the groceries away. We have taken it easy since coming home. I have had to be a little careful of my movements as my back has been going into spasms at unexpected times the last few days. Never a dull moment...not easy getting older. Well, I'm going to publish this and talk with Graham. He's waiting on his parents to come home from their Wednesday activities. His youth activities ended sooner than the rest of the family's activities. He had a picnic at one of the parks here in town. The rest went to the skating rink.

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Party! Party!

I'll start off wishing Elijah a happy sixth birthday. I think that he has had a fun day. He started out the day not being able to wait to open his presents so Woody went next door and observed him getting most of his gifts. (I missed that part as I off partying myself!) Then they went to the new "swim park" that has opened recently here in town. I think that all his siblings and his parents enjoyed that part of the party a lot. He had cake and ice cream (a Star Wars theme)at their house after swimming. I stayed after cake and ice cream and watched a movie with them. Woody, again, did some weeding and mulching...but he had a lot of branches/limbs to pick up. In the night I heard a large limb hit the ground...I was glad that it wasn't a tree falling..it made a pretty loud thud when it hit! When I got home from next door, Woody was gone. He had walked to the prayer room at church. I started off the day partying. I went to breakfast at a friend's house. We had such an enjoyable morning...beautiful day for an outside breakfast. I will end the blog with a picture of "my" other party. Really a fun day all around.

Monday, July 6, 2015

July Monday

Woody got up early this morning and walked eight miles. I didn't hear him go so I guess that his latest fix worked for the the squeaky hinges on the front door. He also weeded and mulched some more...he is at the point of being a very slow-go. I think that he is beginning to think that he won't ever get finished with this garden. His weeding was probably helped a bit by all the rain that we got over the weekend. I headed off to the eyeglasses place mid morning to get the nose pads changed on my new glasses...I knew that I should have had them change them at the start...these are smaller and softer than the ones that came on the glasses. When I got back it was time for Woody to go do Bible study with one of the residents at Life Care Center. He also visited another friend at Life Care. After lunch he went back to visit with her and take her one of his books. He took Joy and Esther along for that visit. About an hour or so ago I sewed the last button on my blouse so that sewing job is finished. I always dread when it gets to the point of sewing the buttonholes. My machine does a fantastic job making buttonholes...but the dread comes from problems with buttonholes in years past...it is always my fear that I will ruin my project at the very end with the buttonholes...but very successful at getting them exactly where I wanted them this time...so no reason to dread! Tonight's photo shows that Isaac's cucumbers are growing. He picked some today and brought us two. I guess it is time to make our cucumber jello salad.

Saturday, July 4, 2015

Friday, July 3, 2015

Rain, Rain...and More Rain

Woody didn't walk early this morning as it was raining...he didn't walk mid-morning as it was raining...but finally in the afternoon he was able to go on a walk. He walked to and from the Credit Union...about a seven-mile walk. He did take an umbrella...just in case. But I think that he managed to get his walk in without having to use the umbrella. I got up and first finished the book that I "almost" finished last night, but got to sleepy to keep reading. Then I headed into the sewing room. I have managed to make some progress on my blouse, but I kept getting interrupted whenever the rain storms turned into thunderstorms. I have been able to sew for the last couple of hours without being interrupted by the weather. I also made a marinated salad this afternoon. It only got into the low 70's here today and was in the mid-60's for a good part of the day...rather cool to be July. I believe that more rain is predicted...we'll need a boat shortly! Just as I posted tonight's blog it started raining...again!

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Friendships

Woody got up and walked six miles this morning. I read for a while after I woke up and then got up and got ready to go meet several friends for breakfast...always a fun time to get to visit with friends. Woody did some weeding and mulching in between rain showers. We have had several heavy downpours throughout the day and evening. One happened while my friends and I were having breakfast. And, then Woody and I were out in a downpour a couple of hours ago when we went to visit a friend who had been in a car accident and is now in a rehab facility near us. So it has been a day of being thankful for friendships that have developed over the years while we have lived in Tullahoma. It would be very hard to get by in life without friends and we have been blessed with many. Tonight's blog photo shows that the last of our new bird houses now has residents...a blue bird family. I had fun watching from our upstairs bedroom window as the momma and daddy bluebird came and went from their house today.

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

New Month, New Clarity

Woody got up and walked four miles. He worked in the garden and made some headway on his weeding and mulching. This last garden that he is doing has lots of growth in the way...like prickly ground cover that still has leaves in it as leaves really can't be raked or blown out of the ground cover. So he is lifting and trimming and weeding and pulling leaves out around and amongst it...a tedious job. This is the garden that runs from the road up a good part of the length of our driveway over to our to our property line...so not a small garden...if I were the gardener I'm afraid that my patience would run out with it and there would be parts that would never get done! But he is persistant and patient. When we got home yesterday from Vanderbilt, I had a message that my glasses were ready to pick up. So that was my accomplishment of the morning...picking them up. I was amazed how much better I could see immediately upon putting them on. They are trifocals and all three "levels" seem to be working for me great. I still haven't done any sewing...except to try to thread a needle. I still think that I can see better to thread a needle without my glasses on...before this pair I was always taking my glasses off when I was doing something up close that had to do with sewing. My eye doctor said that is a phenomina that happens over time to near sighted people...that at a point the shape of the eye gets such that you can see up close without glasses...like for reading and close sewing. I hope to sew some tomorrow to test out how I like them for that task. The middle part of the lens that I use for computer viewing seems to be great. I can lean back in my office chair and see the screen really well. So at this point I am liking them and can see much clearer than I saw with my old glasses...new clarity! So I am happy with them. This afternoon Woody went to do our weekly Krogering and I went to the church library to work. Donna and I, once again, got more books "check-out" ready. We have several periods of heavy rain today. Woody said that when he was ready to come out of the store that it was raining like a hurricane--sideways. He said that he waited for it to subside, but probably didn't wait long enough as he got rather wet going to the car. I think that we are going to be in a rain pattern for the next few days...wonder if it will be a rainy Fourth. Can you believe that the year is half over? Welcome, July!