Baa Baa Black Sheep

We had a sort-of smooth sailing day. We left the house about 7:40 and headed Manchester way to renew our car license. Then we got on the interstate and headed Nashville way...except for a stop in Murfreesboro to "hand-off" the pulled pork to Melany and family. We could definitely tell that going in a bit later made a difference in traffic patterns. We definitely had smooth sailing traffic-wise. Made it in just about record time considering that we made two stops on the way. His labs and appointment with Dr. Sossman were almost on time...Dr. Sossman's was a bit late, but it was a quick appointment so we were on our way early for the next appointment (the infusion). Dr. Sossman decided that Woody's creatinine level was a bit high so he ordered that he get some extra fluid at the time of his infusions. We were more than an hour early for the infusion appointment and we usually have to wait an hour. So after Woody signed in at the desk at the infusion clinic, he told them that he was going to go visit a friend who was in the hospital there. We were not away more than 15 minutes...but we guess that they called him while we were away and then they didn't see him come back in and he sat back against the back wall so he went unnoticed for quite a while. More than an hour later one of the aides did come and find us. Even though it did back us up a bit in time, I am so glad that we paid the hospital visit. The young man that we visited grew up here in Tullahoma and was very good friends with Nathan. Back in grade school years his mom dropped him off at our house in the mornings and the boys walked to school together and then in the afternoons he came back home with Nathan till his mom got off from her teaching job at another school. Plus they went to the same church as we do so the boys were together a lot. He has been very sick with an infection that made it necessary for him to have a heart valve replaced on Saturday. He is doing amazingly well considering how serious the surgery was and how sick he had been prior to the surgery, but he still has a long road of recovery. We hadn't seen him in years so it was very good to touch base with him and his mom and stepdad. Woody's infusion took longer since he had to have the extra fluid so we didn't get away from Vanderbilt till 3:30. This time since it was so late and we were looking forward to our barbecue meal at home,we didn't make our usual Steak and Shake stop. While Woody waited (futally) in the infusion clinic, I got appointments for all the way into September. It took quite a long time to get all those appointments made and when I got back upstairs Woody was still waiting. When they finally found him (I'm trying to figure out why, since they were looking for him, they didn't call out his name, things proceded smoothly once again...the Keytruda and the saline were already there so we didn't have to wait on them to arrive...which is usually a 30 min. wait once he is in an infusion cubicle. Oh, well, we know next time that we go MIA (as they called it) that when we come back we will let them know that we are back! Woody didn't think much about the wait since most every time we wait at least an hour in that waiting room, if not longer. This was the fourth infusion in this set of infusions and after every 12 weeks then he is scheduled for a PET scan a week before he goes back for the next infusion. This time Dr. Sosman has also scheduled a brain MRI. Woody hadn't had one in a year...so that got added on to the appointment on the day that he has his PET scan. So those tests are in two weeks and then the next week he goes for labs and to see the doctor and to continue with infusions if tests says he should continue. The reason for the title tonight is the number of bags he had hanging on his IV stand today...two saline and one Keytruda...so "three bags full" for Baa Baa Black Sheep! And, since he needed hydration, he got every drop of all three bags. Woody came home and ate supper and then walked to the prayer room at church. Now to convince him that he NEEDS to drink more when he exercises and works outdoors on these hot days so he won't need extra hydration the next time! Good bye to June!

Walking, Gardening, Cooking, Sewing

Tonight's blog title pretty much sums up what Woody and I have done today...he did three of them and I did two. He walked four miles and then weeded and mulched some more. Later in the day he made cole slaw. I sewed some this morning and part of the afternoon and then made potato salad. We are gearing up for our Fourth of July week/weekend eats. Nathan and Kathy had a fund raiser (professionally smoked Boston butt roasts) for their Poland mission trip. Woody and I bought one and yesterday was the day that they were ready. I decided that it worked great to shred the meat while the roast was still hot so in the end I shredded the one that Melany and Wade bought too...so yesterday I did a lot of shredding! We will deliver Melany and Wade's roast all shredded tomorrow when we are on our way to Vanderbilt. Woody has appointments for labs, the doctor, and an infusion...so we sort of know what our day has in store for us...driving, waiting, and more driving. We'll do quite a bit of reading, puzzle working, etc. during the waiting periods which makes the wait not so bad. I have a feeling that our day won't go quite as quickly as it has the last couple of times as we are scheduled to see Dr. Sosman tomorrow. He usually slows things down!

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Woody got up and walked eight miles. After he got back from his walk, he heard sirens and went out to investigate. A neighbor down the street had a grease fire. I hope that there wasn't too much smoke damage. Woody said that the firemen were blowing the smoke out of the house and that it really smelled strong. I guess that was the excitement in our lives today! I was upstairs in our room and heard the sirens, but didn't realize that they were that close. Later in the morning Woody went to WalMart, the library, and made a hospital visit. I spent the morning working on my blouse. It's still in pieces, but the interfacings have been basted in and all necessary markings have been made with tailor tacks. I think that I am ready to take it to the sewing machine. I completed tomorrow's Sunday School lesson before I went to sleep last night so my day has been pretty much freed up to do what I wanted/needed to do. I have done a couple of loads of wash...just need to put away what is in the drier now and put the other load in the drier. I also did some hand washing that I had been putting off for a while. Graham and Elijah came over in the late afternoon to show us how well they can fly their quadcopters since they had been practicing at their house. Esther came over and cross stitched for a while. We had BLT's for supper...so an easy meal. We had storms come through last night and it cooled things off. It barely made it to 80 today...so pleasant when one walks outside. A nice break from the heat and humidity that we have been having.

A Double Quad Day

Woody got up early and walked five miles. Before it got too hot, he also did some more weeding and mulching and added some pruning into his gardening chores. After lunch Elijah came over and Woody gave him his birthday present from us. He got it a bit early...one reason is that he won't be here on his actual birthday and then the other reason was that Goosey (Woody) didn't want to wait to give it to him! You see pictured our sweet, clown-faced Elijah who will turn six in a little more than a week...his face is painted because he participated in a clowning workshop. Woody placed Graham in charge of teaching Elijah how to fly his quadcopter...the package says for 14-and-up...so Woody decided that perhaps Elijah would need a bit of guidance. By the end of the afternoon he was doing a pretty good job of getting it to take off and fly a bit...landings were still a bit hard (as in they weren't soft landings!). We had given Graham a larger quadcopter some time back, but he hadn't been able to get all the settings just right to be able to fly it. But this afternoon he was successful both with teaching Elijah and with getting his off the ground. We had two happy boys...and a girl (Joy) who now wants a quadcopter and their daddy over here watching and/or playing with the quads! Graham had some hands-on experience at robotics camp with remote control quadcopters so that extra info gave him the boost to get his off the ground today...plus wanting his to fly since his little brother's was flying! Anyway, we had two quads buzzing around our family room this afternoon. At the moment Woody is next door with the children...Nathan and Kathy have gone out on a date. I stayed over here and worked some more on Sunday's Sunday School lesson. This morning I did manage to get my blouse cut out, but haven't gotten a chance to start sewing on it yet. We had a storm blow through a few minutes ago. As soon as it stops raining, I'm going to go next door and see if there is a diaper to change as well see if there are some children who need to get into their jammies.

One Potato, Sad Potato

Just a silly photo for tonight's blog. I thought this potato was photo worthy when I found it a while back...just came across its picture when I was looking for a photo for tonight's blog. Woody headed off early this morning and walked ten miles. He also did some more weeding and mulching. Before 10am he was ready to call it quits for outside endeavors...it was pretty steamy out there. I did walk to the mail box as I did a little church library work this morning which included writing a thank you letter. I was hoping to beat the mailman by getting it out before he came...but I lost that race. When I got to the mail box our Thursday mail was already there. I also did some background reading for this Sunday's Sunday School lesson. Then pretty much the rest of the day I have been working on getting the pattern pieces fitted and ready for making myself a blouse. Fabric is pressed and the pattern pieces are ready to pin on the fabric. I am being extra cautious with fit this time as I am using some special fabric that I bought at a couture fabric store in AZ a while back. It has been hanging in the fabric closet waiting on me to decide to make it into something to wear! I "think" that the time is finally right to make a blouse with it. Woody has been watching TV, reading, and working cross word puzzles and attempting to stay cool inside since finishing his yardwork this morning.

Wednesday Patterns

Woody started out his day with a four-mile walk...again beating the heat of the day. My main accomplishment of the morning was getting a dress pattern traced and cut out for Esther. I managed to first cut it out and then realized that I had forgotten to add on the seam allowances...so had to start again...I think that it is now correct and awaiting a little girl to hold the pattern up to see if the length will be right. After lunch I headed to the church to work in the library for a while. Donna, Fran and I continued to work on processing new books. We got quite a few completely ready to be checked out. After I got home from the library, Woody headed off to do our weekly Wednesday Krogering. He also made a Lowe's stop to get some needed light bulbs. I took a short nap after I got back from the church and woke up in time to put away the groceries. Every so often when I don't cook something for supper we do what we call "scrounging," which means eating whatever strikes our fancy of food that we have on hand...so tonight we scrounged. this evening I am now working on fitting a pattern for a blouse/top for me. Just before I came in to blog, the phone rang and it was a call I was expecting...our friendly automated call confirming Woody's Vanderbilt appointments for next week...three weeks comes around faster than one can bat an eye!

Tuesday

Woody got up and did yardwork while it was still cool. He weeded and mulched. Later in the day he did make several attempts of going out when it was hot and making a swipe or two with the mower in the yard. I'm not sure what I have done today excpept cook our supper and give out snacks to several of our grandchildren. This morning I did make an attempt to catch up with one of Nathan's childhood friends who is quite sick and a heart patient at Vanderbilt. I am keeping up with him with Facebook. Then this afternoon we learned through email and then Facebook that two ladies in our church were in quite a bad accident and I attempted to find out how they were doing...one is at our local hospital and the other was airlifted to Vanderbilt with multiple broken bones. Not the best day for three of our friends...to say the least. Woody headed off after supper to walk to the prayer room at church. Our supper consisted of pork chops (still working on using food in our freezer) and fresh veggies that the grandchildren have shared with us...tonight green beans and green peas. I used the green beans in a recipe that I usually use canned french-style green beans. I have a way on my food processor to cut fresh green beans french-style...so did that and adapted the recipe to use fresh rather than canned. They tasted great. It was another hot summer day...got into the lower 90's with humidity that probably made it "feel-like" closer to upper 90's. I'm hearing thunder rumbles...wonder if Woody is going to get rained on when he heads home from the prayer room.

Summer Has Arrived

Woody started out the day early with a six-mile walk. Then while it was still cool, he did some planting, weeding and mulching. Later in the morning he went to the Life Care Center to do Bible study with one of the residents. Then this afternoon he mowed a little. I ended up running errands this afternoon...something that I hadn't done much of lately. So today was a "test," I guess, of my shopping stamina as I made three different stops. I have also finished another book. The temperatures definitely spelled out S-U-M-M-E-R. For supper we had turkey salad and some more yellow squash from Nathan and family's garden. We had a little short period of rain a little while ago...so I guess you could say that we have had our first summer shower.

What a Day!

And, it didn't end up being a day that I took very many pictures and I missed an opportunity of getting all our grandchildren into a picture with Goosey (Woody). Woody started out the morning heading next door a little after 7 to start taking care of Isaac and Joseph. I stayed at home for a while and did a couple of things that needed to be done around the house. Then I headed to the drugstore to pick up a prescription. After that I headed next door and spent time with the three boys (Isaac, Joseph and Woody). I fed Joseph his lunch early and took him upstairs for a nap. Then waited for Melany, Erin, and Alex to arrive. They brought us barbeque for lunch for an early Father's Day celebration. After lunch the little boys entertained us both inside and outside. Nathan, Kathy and the other five children went to one of the Tennessee Baptist Children's Homes and did some outside work and then did a juggling show for the children after lunch...they came home pretty tuckered...I think that it is slightly evident in tonight's picture. Melany, Erin and Alex waited for the crew to get home, but then left after they had visited for a little while. We provided supper for Nathan, Kathy and family...hamburgers and fixings. After supper the children showered their daddy and Goosey with Father's Day gifts. We are now home and I don't know about Woody...but I am ready to settle in for a quiet rest of the evening...I'm rather tuckered myself! Busy, busy time...just wish that I had taken the opportunity to snap a picture of all the grandchildren with Goosey before Melany, Erin and Alex headed home. Grammy just wasn't thinking straight when all the commotion started up when everyone was in the room at one time! I guess I was thinking too much about our supper...and there wasn't much to it...and I had a lot of help...Abigail helped us carry food from our house over to theirs...Nathan fired up their grill and cooked the hamburgers...and, Woody cooked the corn on the cob and heated up the baked beans...guess I was just thinking logistics...probably over-thinking like I so often do! But, all came together and we had nice visits with our children and grandchildren. Nice to get to see them all on the same day...a nice Father's Day celebration for 2015.

Hot But Pretty Day

Woody got up early and walked eight miles. He was back by 7:30am so he had to have started pretty early...I was still asleep when he left. I woke up and read for a while and then got up. I talked with a friend on the phone...by that time Graham and his friend who had spent the night were over here getting busy on the K'nex that they had brought back into the house and set back up in the "K'nex area" in the living room. They had been stored in the garage since before Christmas (They had to be put away before I could decorate for Christmas.). After the two big boys came over, the rest of the crew trickled over and at one point we had all of them except for Joseph. Kathy told me later that they had had a pretty quiet morning next door! While they played in the living room, I got busy on my next job in the kitchen...the floor. So today I first vacuumed the floor and vacuumed up under the cabinets and along the base of the cabinets...then I mopped the floor. I also got a load of towels including the kitchen rug that goes in front of the sink and got them washing. As soon as I blog I plan to go down and put them in the drier and start the dishwasher. I left a little before lunch time and went to get my hair cut. Tonight's picture is of Lake Tullahoma...such pretty clouds today...but at this point no rain has come out of them. It was another hot day...I think that it got to 90 today. I stayed inside except for going out for my haircut. I did finish another book today and am getting close to finishing another. Woody did do short spurts of weeding and a little mulching off and on during the day. He was out when I got home from my haircut but went inside shortly after that as it had gotten so hot, even in the shade. He went to the Credit Union, Kroger, WalMart, and the fruit and vegetable market today instead of tomorrow as we will be taking care of Isaac and Joseph for part of the day tomorrow. Also Melany called and she, Erin and Alex plan to come and spend part of tomorrow with us to celebrate Father's Day. So it looks like tomorrow will be a busy but fun day. Just heard thunder and the wind is picking up...oh, rain on the roof...guess those clouds did bring us rain after all!

Good Day for a Siesta!

I woke up way too early so by this afternoon it was definitely time for a siesta. This morning Woody got up and decided to work in the garden weeding. He took advantage of last night's rain...Kathy's phone's prediction about rain was just about right on the money. Woody ended up wishing that he had walked first and then worked in the yard as it was pretty hot when he walked. He worked a little here and there during the day out in the garden and did some more this evening and he said that it was a bit cooler after the sun went down. I once again worked a little in the kitchen...this time the other side of the kitchen...microwave and wiped off the stove top. Not a lot to do as Woody keeps those wiped off fairly well when he is "on his own" in the kitchen. After that I headed off to try to choose some new glasses...which I hopefully chose well. I haven't had new ones in years. After lunch I read and did take a siesta...pretty hot once again. Woody has read, watched some TV and did crossword puzzles. I'm off to transfer a load from the drier to be folded and a load from the washer to be dried...last work for me of the day!

Very Warm Wednesday

I have quite a "stock pile" of photos when it comes to choosing pictures for the blog. Tonight I went back to some I took four years ago when several of us went to visit our friend who had a great love for birds...feeders everywhere. I sat in their sunroom and enjoyed taking bird pictures out the window while we visited. This is one of the many that I snapped of hummingbirds that day. I was in the mood for a bird picture tonight and when I went looking this is the picture I ended up choosing (LOTS to choose from!). Woody got up early and walked eight miles before it got too warm. I climbed into the 90's today so it was good that he went early. This morning he did a devotional after the neighbor Dorrell's breakfast. Later in the morning he headed off to do our weekly Wednesday Krogering (special senior adult discount on Wed.). He also stopped at the weekly farmer's market and got some yummy ripe peaches. Mmmmmmmm! I got up and headed to the kitchen to make today's long cooking item = split pea soup. This isn't a normal choice on such a hot day, but we have been trying to use items in our freezer...trying to free up some space...and the ham bone from our last ham was taking up quite a big space. I also spent time in the kitchen doing some more cleaning. Since I had been sort of layed up for a while with bum feet, etc. several things seemed to have gotten in the need of spiffing up a bit...so while the soup simmered, I cleaned/wiped off some of the small appliances like the toaster oven, can opener, etc. While I had hot water in the sink I even wiped off a couple of shelves in the fridge. So the kitchen got a bit cleaner while the soup simmered. We had the soup for lunch. Even though it was such a warm day, it tasted quite good...for one reason...we hadn't had it in a long time. After lunch, I headed to the library where Donna and I worked some more on processing books and getting them ready for the shelves (ready to check out). We put out several new ones and quite a few others are just a few steps away from being put out when we work next week. I came home and flopped in my chair...a pretty busy day for me. I think that I will be resting most of the rest of the evening...pretty much all my energy for today has been spent! Woody headed out after supper to plant some seeds that we were given a week or so ago. I think that he managed to get them planted without being driven back in by mosquitoes. Several of the grandchildren were in and out today. Elijah came to add to his birthday list and Esther came to start hers today...Joy gave me a couple of birthday suggestions for her this afternoon, too. Elijah's birthday is in a couple of weeks and Esther's is in August...but Joy's is in October (quite a bit of time for her list to grow!). Not too many dull moments around here! They keep us smiling...and often laughing! As I typed that...several thought that they were surprising me...Grammy has good ears...and they were none too quiet...but they just came up all excited. They were bringing us a couple of banana peppers and a couple of yellow squash...on their way out they decided to help themselves to the yummy strawberries that Woody got at the store today...sounds like a good trade-off! I am hearing thunder in the background...Kathy says that her phone says that it is going to rain at 8:07...time will tell! Now I'm off to make Woody happy and attempt to fix the printer so he can print his crossword puzzles. (Just realized when I published Thursdays that this post was sitting in the posts as a draft...so here is Wednesday's a day late.)

Some Like It Hot

I imagine that even the birds were looking for ways to keep cool today. Usually the bird bath is very popular on hot days. Woody attempted to work in one of the gardens today, but he was swarmed by mosquitoes and ended up having to come inside to get away from them...so not much gardening got done today. We have both spent most of the day inside. I worked cleaning the kitchen for a while this morning and then headed into the sewing room to finish up a machine embroidery project for Nathan. I got that done and then spent a good part of the rest of the day in "my" chair either reading or snoozing...well, I did watch a couple of shows on my iPad. Today was leftovers for our supper, but I did make a green pea salad to help the leftovers stretch a bit farther. Woody left a little after supper to walk to the prayer room at church. He hasn't returned yet. Our thermometer showed that it got into the low 90's today. I know that the couple of times that I ventured out it was plenty warm and I was glad to get back inside.

In the Cool of the Day

Tonight's blog title tells the way we did things today...this morning while it was still reasonably cool. Woody walked four miles first thing knowing that it was going to be a hot day. After he got back home, he watered some of the gardens...again, knowing that it was going to be hot today. Then he did some weeding and mulching, but it wasn't long till he came in saying that was it for the day as far as outside work. He did go to the Life Care center and do Bible study with one of the residents. I got up and decided that I would cook while it was still cool. I had planned something that had to cook for 1 1/2 hours in the oven and didn't want to do it in the late afternoon. Since it got done before lunch, we decided that we would have our big meal at lunch and then we had BLT's for supper. I got the kitchen all cleaned up from my cooking and then put away some laundry. This afternoon I have mainly rested, read and visited with several of the grandchildren as they came in and out. Joy read to me from the book that she is reading for the summer reading program at the public library and Esther and Elijah played with K'nex for a while with Isaac watching them. It has seemed like a lazy summer afternoon and evening...the temperatures said that it could be summer (upper 80's)...but the calendar still says that it is spring...though for only about another week. Summer is definitely bearing down on us!

Flag Day 2015

Sundry Saturday Doings

I often don't post some of the interesting pictures that I take (due to taking so many!) when we are on the road to and from Vanderbilt. This time we went off the beaten path and found this interesting church in Bell Buckle, TN. It caught my eye due to the way the Ten Commandments were displayed so prominently and then when I read the sign and saw how old it was it interested me even more. A rather quaint church off the beaten path on our treck home from Vanderbilt. Also this time I never shared something interesting that Dr. Sosman's nurse practitioner shared with us. Dr. Sosman still hadn't made it back into the clinic from his trip to Los Angeles (He was supposed to have landed in Nashville and was on his way for his clinic time.). He had been there for a drug conference or some such. But the interesting statements that she made were that Woody's drug, Keytruda, was one of the hot topics at the conference as were imunotherapy drugs in general...which his drug is a part of that category. It's good to hear that good things are being said about what Woody is taking. I have had a very good feeling about his drug, Keytruda...hearing her say that it was of great interest at this conference makes me have even better feelings about it! Today has been a pretty typical Saturday for us. Woody did a little weeding and mulching before it got too hot. He has finished the large flower garden that straddles our property line and Nathan and Kathy's (our shared flower garden)and has started on the last of the decorative gardens...another large one that is between our driveway and the property line with our other neighbors. He can sort of see the finish of the weeding and mulching...but this is still a large expansive area that he has to finish. He has been to WalMart, the library and stopped at the fruit and vegetable market for tomatoes. In the heat of the day he watched a DVD movie that he got at the library. After supper and once the sun went down and it cooled off a bit he headed off for his four-mile walk of the day and has yet to return. I finished another e-book, worked some more on tomorrow's Sunday School lesson and cleaned a bathroom and did a couple of loads of wash...one of which just called (buzzed) me to come get the towels and fold them! After I push the publish button, I will try to get up enough energy to go down and bring them up to fold. Joy came over this afternoon and read me a chapter in her library book. They are all reading for the summer reading program at the public library. The Great Pyrenees brothers were urged into Kathy's parent's truck this morning and I would imagine are now at their new home in Georgia.

A "Great" Day

A Great Pyrenees Day...that is! This morning Nathan and Dottie (Kathy's mom) decided that they would walk the dogs. Well...we don't think that these dogs had been on leashes before...anyway at the start of the walk it was sort of "who was walking whom," but by the second time around the block (pic.#1) they had started to get the hang of it and this afternoon when they were taken on a walk they did even better. Picture #2 shows Nathan with the dogs after he and Dottie finally convinced them to go back into the back yard after the walk. They did NOT want to go back in. Nathan decided that he wouldn't chain them up since they were getting used to the back yard and thought that was probably why they didn't want to go back in...well, reason for chaining them up was two-fold...1)they are known escape artists and 2)they tend to chew up anything plastic that happens to be around. Nathan and Dottie went back in to have breakfast and left the dogs so they could run around the backyard. Well, it had been next to no time and Woody came in from his weeding/mulching saying that the dogs were out of the fence. He had told Nathan and Nathan was in pursuit on foot and Woody came in to get the car key to go pursue Nathan and pick him up so they could more easily catch up with the dogs. Well, they did find them...no more than 10 min. after their great escape...but at that point a lady in a neighboring subdivision was about to take them inside and hold on to them till she heard if someone was looking for them. Nathan spotted white fur just in time or who knows if we would have located them yet. Woody drove back home and Nathan walked the dogs home. By the time that Nathan got home, it was time to go get Graham at VBS (Vacation Bible School) at church as he had an orthodontist appointment to get his retainer. Since Nathan hadn't gotten the dogs back inside their fence yet, I offered to take Graham...so off I went to the church and then to the ortho. This was a very short appointment and after he got his retainer, I dropped him back off at the church and then I headed home. The third picture shows this afternoon when they decided that the dogs would like a bath...for 2 reasons: 1)they really needed one and 2)it was a really hot afternoon. So this evening the dogs are much cleaner...still in the fence...and hopefully will stay put till Dottie and John (Kathy's parents) head off tomorrow to take them to their new home in south Georgia...a seven hour drive in a pick-up...oh, my! Dottie said that the next feat would be getting them into the pick-up! I did sew for a little while this afternoon...started working on a project for Nathan. This morning I made a new marinade sauce and marinated pork chops in it all day. I cooked them for our supper...they were pretty good. After supper Woody went on his four-mile walk of the day. I guess today started the "dog days" of summer...at least for the neighbor Dorrell's...it seemed hot enough...but tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter...heading for the 90's!

Thursday Doings

This has been a stay at home day for both of us...of course, except for Woody's five mile walk. My take on the day is that it was a rather warm one...based on going outside twice for a very short time and never leaving our yard. I did go check out the neighbor's back yard...from our side of the fence...they are keeping two large white dogs (Great Pyrennees, I think). Note...I was on my side of the fence...not a dog person. These dogs had belonged to their neighbors, but their neighbors were moving and weren't going to be able to take them with them. Kathy parents had mentioned that they would love to have them...and today they were given to them. I know that Kathy's mom is delighted. They are on their way from south Georgia to get them...a seven hour drive. These dogs are known for the fact that they are the escape artists of the neighborhood...so Nathan and Kathy are hoping that they can keep them inside their fence long enough for Kathy's folks to get here for them! The kids have been watching the dogs from inside their screened-in back porch. Joseph will miss going up to their fence to point at the "woof-woofs." I'm not sure that he will be all that excited to have them in his back yard...he's not too fond of dogs that are up close and personal. He was away when the dogs came to stay in his yard so I don't know his reaction. The kiddie pool that my friend Linda brought for the kids to splash around in became a large water bowl for the dogs...necessity is the mother of inventions! Besides taking a walk today Woody has worked in the yard weeding and mulching. Inside he has read, watched TV, worked crossword puzzles, etc. I started out the day finishing another e-book. Then I got busy on working on the Sunday School lesson for Sunday. Late afternoon I did actually step into the kitchen and cooked...not something that I have done a lot of lately due to my feet bothering me and then yesterday my back. Today I managed to fry slices of yellow squash freshly picked a couple of days ago from the neighbor's garden...Joy brought it over to share with us. It was very good. Then I also made pork chops...did a variation on a recipe that we sometimes make with country ribs...I made a sauce with orange marmelade...tasted quite good. We also had steamed asparagus that Woody prepared. After supper I got the dishwasher all loaded and then set the timer to remind me to go down and start it running. The timer just went off so as soon as I publish this I will head downstairs to push the start button. This is the time of year that we are encouraged to not run major appliances from noon to 8pm (peak electricity hours in the summer)...the way we are encouraged to do this is by our utility board charging us more during these hours. I "try" to use less during this time...but cooking and cooling of the house sometimes have to be done peak hours or not! Dishwasher can be run at down time...that is if I remember to start it! So on that note I am pushing the publish button and heading downstairs to start it...before I forget!

Look, Ma! No...BRACES!!!!!!!

Here's how Graham looked on the day that he got his braces on April 2, 2013:

And, here he is today (2 years & 2+ months later):

He may get me for putting the last photo on here...but it was the only way that I was able to show how REALLY straight his teeth are. When he had that contraption in his mouth they were taking pictures so they would have before and after photos...so I just snapped a few while the nurse was working! I guess you can tell that I went with Graham to the orthodontist today...I was given the task to try to capture with my camera some of events of his appointment. His parents and siblings were doing a school camp program in Nashville. By the time we got back home, his family was back and they were all pretty happy to check him out without braces. Graham's first request for food that he hadn't been able to eat = corn on the cob and another of his requests = popcorn...so as his daddy said he must have been feeling pretty corny! Graham will go back on Friday to get his retainers. By the time everything settled down after getting bracesless Graham back home, it was time for me to eat some lunch so I could start to think about going to work in the church library. I did have to sit down a rest for a few minutes...and, I think I even managed to doze before I headed to church. Donna and I worked a couple of hours and got quite a bit done on the processing of our latest book shipment. So First Baptist readers...be aware that there are already a lot of new books in the library from the book order before the one we worked on today...AND that there will be a lot more once we get the final processing done...be on the lookout! While I was doing all the morning and afternoon coming and going, Woody worked in the yard...mowing, weeding and mulching. He also took a four mile walk. Then after I got home from the library, he headed off to do his weekly Krogering. I sat and rested while he was gone and then got up and put away the groceries that he bought. I was too tired to cook so we scrounged...and we really needed to do that anyway as there were several leftovers that we needed to eat before cooking something new. I "think" I'm going to cook tomorrow...we will see! As I feel the years creep up on me, I never know what I will or won't be able to do the next day! Today I was just too tired to add another chore into my day such as cooking...plus my back wasn't the happiest today...I was having spasms in my back and had to rest for a while with the heating pad...much better now...BUT if it isn't one thing it's another!!!!! Getting older isn't for the faint of heart!

Another Smooth Sailin' Vanderbilt Day

We left the house at 6:30 and Woody was checking in at the Vanderbilt Cancer Clinic by 8:15 (45 minutes early for his lab appointment). Traffic wasn't super bad...pretty much just normal rush hour traffic. We saw one accident on the way to Vanderbilt and one accident on the way home. Once he got registered he was called in fairly quickly for lab work and we headed over to the big waiting room on the outer realms of Dr. Sosman's exam rooms. He was called in very quickly there and we did wait for a while in the exam room, but not all that long. He saw Dr. Sosman's nurse practitioner today...a good thing as Dr. Sosman was on his way back from some big drug conferences...he would have been there eventually...but I am very glad that we weren't set up to meet with him today...or there is no telling how long of a day we would have had! She met with us very briefly...all labs looked good and she sent Woody on his way upstairs to the infusion clinic. We left Dr. Sosman's area ten minutes before our scheduled appointment with them. That meant that Woody signed in for his infusion appointment about an hour early. That waiting room was rather full, but it wasn't all that long of a wait before they had his infusion cubicle ready for him. The good thing about being early is that they can get the Keytruda ordered from the pharmacy...it takes a while for it to get from pharmacy to infusion lab. Due to the extremely high cost of the Keytruda, they don't order it till the patient is in the room and seated in the chair. His infusion appointment was for 11am and he was getting the Keytruda by 11:15. This infusion only takes 30 minutes and then there is a five minute drip after with saline. So we were out of there a little before noon and on our way home...heading toward our treat...Steak and Shake. We rarely get to Steak and Shake during a peak dining time...usually we are there in their down time. Well, today we found out why it is probably best to go in a down time. It was very busy and we got seated (note they did seat us...so it wasn't that we had just gone in and seated outselves...so at some point they knew that we were there)...they seated us in a rather obscure spot...at least we seemed to become invisible and we got to sit and relax! As Woody said that the extreme wait time didn't bother us as we weren't extremely hungry as we are when our lunch is put off until late in the afternoon. I think that at least four workers asked us various questions before we finally got to put in our order. Others who had come in after us had been served and some of those even left before we got our food. They do not have many servers (as so many places have cut back to bare minimum). We had the manager finally discover that we hadn't been waited on...he thought that we had already eaten and came and picked up our menus...finally he came back and realized that we hadn't even ordered...it still took a while to get our server to us...I'm thinking that she might have been new...at least we hadn't seen her before as we had seen all the other servers. We finally did get our food and enjoyed it all the more for the wait! The best was when one of the servers who had waited on us several other times stopped by our table and asked if everything was okay and then she realized that we hadn't even been brought silverware. She then told us to ask for her to be our server when we come in the next time. We finally got home at 3:15...I slept for part of the trip home and took a few pictures. We did take the back road home and Woody took a side road or two and I did get to take several pictures. Tonight's pictures were taken at our usual stop on the one-way bridge so I can record how much or how little water there is in the Duck River. Today Woody spotted something back on the little island that is sort of in the middle of the first picture. I was concentrating too much on framing the picture and didn't notice the bird...so I zoomed in as you can see in the other two pictures. The middle picture shows the bird's reflection in the water...you can see it better if you click on the pictures (towards the right side of the bush in the middle of the picture). The last one is taken with the zoom...so the first shows how far away I was and then the last shows how close my lens let me get. This guy never turned around before he flew away. But I am pretty sure that it is a great blue heron. I have taken pictures of them before, but never directly from behind...but the feather colors and the "v" on his head make me pretty sure that my identification is right...if someone else thinks that it something else then let us know in the comments. After we got home I took another nap...this day always wears me out more than it seems to wear Woody out. After supper, Woody walked to the prayer room at church. He has yet to return. I'm just glad to be here sitting in a chair at home typing...at least I am awake at the moment!

Monday...Arrived...Again!

Monday arrived per usual. Woody did some weeding and mulching this morning. This afternoon we have had thunder showers pass through several times...another is just passing through at the moment. Our plants are very happy for the rain. Woody walked four miles this morning and also went to Life Care Center to do Bible study with one of the residents. Our friend, Linda, arrived in the late morning and she and I walked around the yard looking at plants. She brought us some fennel...that we will attempt to transplant. Right now it is getting a good soaking in the rain. She also brought a small turtle shaped wading pool that her grandchildren had used when they were small. This afternoon I walked around the gardens with Joy (She wanted to show me that her bean plants now have some baby beans on them.). We ended up over at the garden in their yard and I noticed that the little wading pool was all set up...not long after Joseph (1), Isaac (3), Esther (7) and Joy (9) were all attempting to wade and/or sit in it. It was a rather full wading pool...but being very much enjoyed...crowded or not. Abigail (11) stayed on the outside of the pool and filled squirt guns and was squirting the participants. Our next rain seems to have settled in. It's good to hear the rain on the roof after a bit of a dry spell around here.

Fun and Games!

Woody and I headed next door this morning to take care of the four youngest of the seven neighbor grandchildren. The three older headed off to church with their mom. Nathan was off in Kentucky doing prison ministry (He got back a couple of hours ago.) It was the day to decorate rooms for Vacation Bible School which will get underway on Monday. You can see by the pictures that we did lots of activities...and I didn't include all! The last picture shows the culmination of a lot of patience on Esther's part...it was not easy to get that igloo together and keep it together! But in the end she, Elijah and Isaac were all able to crawl in and have fun for a little while till it all came tumbling down with a "bit" of help from Isaac. After Kathy and her VBS crew returned, we headed home. Woody headed off to the library and WalMart. I got back to work on tomorrow's Sunday School lesson. We are all settled in for our normal, quiet, boring, (just the way we like it!) Saturday evening. Just before I blogged I printed off the Sunday School lesson...so now I plan to go back to reading my book. I hear a library DVD playing downstairs so guess Woody has settled in with a movie and probably a book (though he will tell you he can't multi-task).

Successful...Finally...but Guilty as Charged!

Tonight's photo shows part of our herb "beds." The cedar planter at the front of the picture shows some of the pimento, English thyme and our chives. Behind in the barrell on the right is our oregano and in the barrell on the left is our flat leafed parsley...all are doing well and I have started using them in our cooking. The flat leaf parsley Woody planted this year from seeds. The oregano has been growing for quite a few years now in that barrell...it manages to winter over. The plants in the cedar planter (Woody had Nathan and Graham build that for me) are all new this year...and were all started from plants. We also have dill...growing higher and higher and rosemary. Dill is from last year...or maybe the year before...it reseeded itself. The rosemary we bought as a plant this year...it is ready to be used for cooking now, too. In the raised bed out back we have sage and basil...both manage to winter over. Woody was very ambitious today. He took it upon himself to take all the furniture off the front porch and spray and wipe it off. He also sprayed off all the cushions as they are made of treated fabric for outside. He decided that all the pollen that was on these items might be part of the problem causing him allergy problems. We now have a nice clean porch...all ready for company! Speaking of company I will plead guilty as to probably being one of the folk who managed to have Southwest Airline's site crash. They announced on Tuesday that they were going to have a three day sale on tickets wherever they flew in the US. Since we hadn't gotten my sister to commit to a time to come out yet...we decided that this was a good time to try to have her choose a date and us get the tickets (her Christmas present from us). Well, I guess a ton of people all over the United States decided to buy tickets, too. And, Southwest's site went down, down, down! I tried for several days and kept getting the same message...that due to extremely heavy traffic at their site...Well, I finally pinned my sister down to dates today and I managed late this afternoon (Southwest extended the dates for their low tickets till today due to the problems on their site) to get on the site and book her two tickets...we decided that we would let her go home too! I'm afraid that we probably will have to clean off the porch again before she comes...as her visit is still several months away...but for now it is all nice and clean...so any who would like...come on over and "set a spell!" This wasn't the best time to make her choose a date to come as she is in the midst of moving...so that is more on her mind than a trip! But the trip is on the calendar none the less! Besides all his work on the front porch Woody did do some weeding and mulching and he walked four miles after lunch. I helped a little with his work on the front porch...helped move the glider off the porch and then rearranged the chairs and pillows after he put them back on the porch. By the time that I got that done, I felt that it was a bit too warm and humid to sit on the porch plus the pillows still hadn't totally dried off...tomorrow will be a better day to "set a spell" and snap a picture or two of our birds at the feeders. I did a little work around the house...just a little...I'm still moving a bit slowly and ready to sit down quite frequently. I spent a while this morning getting underway with Sunday's Sunday School lesson...need to work some more on it this evening. I also started the book that I got at the library yesterday. Really a pretty lazy day for me. Woody put together another "batch" of crispy quinoia veggie burger patties and cooked them...so he will have "burgers" for several days.

New Resident?

At last it seems that a bird has decided to take up residence in one of our new birdhouses. I believe that it is a house wren. Small little bird with a big voice. It sat on top of the birdhouse for the longest time just singing its heart out.

Woody and I have both ventured out into the world a bit more today. He was feeling a bit better from his allergies so he worked a little while in the garden weeding and mulching. I walked around the yard and took pictures of birds and flowers. I also put a new suet cake in the suet cage and it didn't take long for the birds to discover that it was full again. The blue jays were the first to discover it and then it was hard for the other birds to get a turn...but several others did manage once one jay chased the other jay away. Woody went on a four-mile walk after supper and I headed off to the public library to return the book that I finally completed. The library had tons of folk there...I hadn't realized that it was the kick-off night for their children's summer reading program. I found another book quickly and headed off so I could give my parking place to someone coming for the kick-off...looked like lots of kids were in for lots of fun. It made me think back to library summer reading programs that Melany and Nathan participated in...many moons ago.

Proof It's June

The day lilies start blooming almost always just as June arrives. Ours have started blooming this year...right on time...once again. I will admit that tonight's picture is from another year as I haven't been out to take any flower pictures in over a week...maybe tomorrow! Woody has limited his activities somewhat today due to allergies. He didn't go on a walk nor did he work out in the yard. He did do our weekly Krogering and he took me to the church library and came back and got me. My foot is doing well enough that I could have driven, but I had two boxes of books to take in today and I knew that I probably would never get inside with them till it was time to turn around and go home...due to my slower pace. This morning I worked on checking the book order that arrived yesterday...I checked off the packing list and also wrote library info on the title page...date purchased, where purchased, listed price, and price paid. So that took a hunk out of my morning as I had purchased quite a few books as there was a good sale at Christian Book Distributors AND free shipping. Free shipping on a heavy order of books is always a good thing. I only worked at the library for a little over an hour as today was my first day to venture out in over a week. I did the few things that I needed to in the library and then left the library in Donna and Fran's capable hands! I am trying to finish a book that is due at the public library and I have reached the limit in renewal...I'm always a slower reader when I haveto get a book finished...or so it seems to me! When I finish blogging I will head back to my chair and try to get it finished this evening. I didn't sleep the best last night so I keep dozing off rather than reading. Just before I came in to blog, we got our friendly robotic call from Vandy confirming next week's appointments...three weeks between appointments seem to fly.

This Tuesday

Things have gotten a little more back to "normal." I have actually walked everywhere I've walked today on my own steam. The walker has been put aside. I still haven't done a ton of things...continue to sort pictures, read, and I actually made an easy pasta sauce for our supper. We divided the cooking duties...I made the clam sauce and Woody cooked the pasta. Not having done a lot over the last week has made it hard to jump right back in at a "normal" pace...I'm still pretty slow. And, as the day has worn on, my foot is feeling tired. I plan to blog and then head to the recliner and put my foot up for the rest of the evening. Woody continued in the yard today...weeding and mulching. He is having a bit of allergy problems...he guesses he has spent too much time out amongst the various pollen that are floating around in the air. After supper, I came upstairs to rest and Woody headed out the door to walk to the church prayer room. That about sums up this Tuesday! The little bird pictured tonight is a Carolina Wren.

It's Already Monday...And, It's JUNE!

The days/weeks/months go by sort of like blowing on one of these dandelion "blow flowers" (as our children and grandchildren call them). Here it is June! How can that be already...the month that will put us to being half-way through the year has begun. And, I know that in a blink of an eye it will be July...but I will try to sit back and enjoy June while I can! Today I have started to come back to life...sort of...but at least my foot isn't hurting...it just has a tight feeling as all the swelling isn't down yet...it is so good to be without the pain. Over the weekend I started being able to sit here at the laptop in the sewing room and started going through the pictures that hadn't been sorted for the last few months. I did it a bit differently this time, I went through them and deleted any that were not good. Today I started sorting what was left into their proper spots in photo file folders. I got through March and have started on April. So that has been my accomplishment today...at least something that lets me stay in one place and not walk much on that foot. This evening I got a phone call from one of my "moved-away Tullahoma" friends. We had a nice talk catching up with each other. She follows the blog so she keeps up with me more than I keep up with her family so it was good to hear how they were doing. Woody walked four miles today and has worked quite a bit out in the yard weeding and mulching. He also went to Life Care to do Bible Study with a patient there. At some point in the day he made cole slaw (using your recipe (German slaw), Connie...should have told you that when we talked!). I think that it is about time that I head back to the kitchen and get inspired to do some cooking to give Woody a break! I will ease back in over the next few days...or at least that is "my plan." We will see if said plan comes to fruition. I continue to read a lot and watch some TV on my iPad. I've talked to my sister...lots happening in her world...lots of change in the near future for her so I "need" to keep up with what is happening! Cell phones almost let you be there...almost! I think back to when Woody and I married and my family and I would talk every other week...I would call one week and Mother and Daddy would call the next time. Such a change to be able to so easily call in this day and age. And, if we don't talk on the phone, we have an option to text or email...and we could Skype...but I'm still not too fond of being seen while I talk...plus we have never had the greatest connections when trying to Skype or FaceTime...really emailing and phoning are going by the wayside...but I'm still not too fond of texting...so I will stick with a regular old phone call...except will use a cell phone! I'm definitely not totally up with the times! But I do like being able to talk pretty much whenever we want...sometimes Cheryl and I go a week...and sometimes we talk several times in one day. I like not being restricted...cell phones have provided a freedom in my long distance life! The cell phone makes Arizona seem much closer.