Still Hanging Out at Vanderbilt

I saw this Charles Schultz drawing when looking through "things" on the iPad today and decided it was the perfect picture for tonight's blog.  Our last day of October/Halloween has been a pretty quiet one.  Not a lot happening around here.  Our room has been pretty quiet except for a nurse or other hospital employee popping in now and then.

It looks like Woody will get to go home tomorrow.  They will be switching him over to oral antibiotics when he is next due for antibiotics.  They will be giving him an oral antibiotic that is close to what he has been getting in his IV.  We had an interesting conversation with the  infectious disease doctor.  She explained antibiotics and answered several of Woody's questions.  Due to surgeries, the ortho Doctor didn't come in until late.  But he concurs with the infectious disease team and thinks that Woody will be ready to go home a while after he starts getting oral antibiotics.  So not exactly sure when they will release us.  Time will tell when we can notify "our driver" to come get us!  Hopefully they will give us an hour-and-a half  warning so we can have Nathan head our way.

Definitely Woody's pain is much better...one sign that the infection is reacting properly to the antibiotics that he has had.  He had a very good night sleep last night.  He was able to get right back to sleep after being awakened for one thing or another...so sleep broken up...but still got quite a bit.  He is dozing as I type this.

He will go home with oral antibiotics for a period of time and will be given an appointment to come back for a check in a couple of weeks with Dr. Holt.  They are still pondering whether the loose/broken screws might be causing an irritation inside his leg that might cause the infection.  We will address that problem after infection is cleared up.  I will say that I looked back at old X-ray reports and the screws have been broken for a while.  Anyway, it will be decided at a later time if he needs further surgery to repair the repair! Stay tune...to be continued.

Don't think that we will be seeing any trick or treaters tonight!  We're pretty much off the beaten path.  I'm hoping to blog from home tomorrow night". Time will tell!  Woody was given the task by his nurse to come up with something she could for him before her shift ended. He asked her to print off the Los Angeles Times daily crossword puzzle.  I always have trouble doing that task when he asks me to do it.  I hope she gets to leave tonight!  I know he has missed his puzzles.  I hope she is successful!

He Has Some Screws Loose!

Pretty drive yesterday...here is a shot from my viewpoint in backseat!

We already knew that Woody had some screws loose...right!?!  But today we learned that he has a couple broken screws that attach the plate to his leg.  Interesting!  Good that we have the orthopedists looking at this.  They are looking it from infection point of view and also making sure that leg bone reconstruction isn't causing the problem from the inside.  I don't think that they think the screws are part of the problem.  Also the screws in the plate/leg bone will be addressed at a later time.  It may not be a problem since there are so many in there.  Not something that we are thinking much about at this point!

It is thought that Woody's infection is getting better.  His leg looks less red, it is still contained within the Sharpie marks the doctor drew on him yesterday. Woody is in less pain today, also.  All these things are good signs. They are waiting for cultures to see if there is a specific antibiotic that they should use.  One antibiotic that they started with has been withdrawn at least for the time being due to his kidney function.  We are waiting for at least one antibiotic to be given to him at any time...they are running behind per usual when it comes to med schedules.  Woody has a newly graduated RN as part of his nursing team.  She is being well watched...and, her supervising nurse is also being very kind as she goes through different procedures with her.  But new nurse is nervous!

We don't have any idea when he will be sprung...we're guessing Friday or Saturday.  They are guessing that they won't be able to pinpoint what caused this infection so it will be an educated guess as to what antibiotic to send him home with.  It was even mentioned that he might go home with an IV!  That doesn't sound ideal to me!!  But guess we will do whatever!

I imagine that the night was long for Woody.  He didn't sleep much, if at all.  He did doze for a little while this morning.  I did manage to sleep in between getting up to help with Woody.  I have dozed off and on during the day too.  We have both done some reading.  Mostly just hanging out in Woody's room at Vandy!

Deja Vu All Over Again!

And, here we sit in a hospital room at Vanderbilt.  I emailed a picture of Woody's leg to Dr. Holt late yesterday afternoon.  She emailed us back a couple of hours later telling him to come to her clinic at noon today and that she was probably going to enter him into the hospital for IV antibiotics.  We think that it is cellulitis.  They are doing lab work to try to find out what kind of infection it is.  The infectious disease doctor came in and drew around the place on his leg so they can see if it responds to the antibiotics.  He is on several kinds of antibiotics.  One IV bag is finished and they brought in another of another kind and he is taking an antibiotic by mouth.  Should cure what ails him!  Well, the next IV is finished...beeping once again.

Nathan drove us here and went home after we found out if I could stay in Woody's room.  I have a little cubbyhole corner with a recliner in it.  They offered to bring me a cot, but I told them that the recliner was better for me.  Dinner was questionable...I figured that it would be hard to keep on his diet in here.  We asked for a renal diet but he got a regular...so I pretty much ate it...he could eat the half apricot, several cucumbers, the leaf lettuce.  All the rest were "no-no's"...tomatoes, potatoes, turkey, chocolate pudding...so I helped him clean his plate.  Oh, it also included cooked spinach...another "no-no."  I only ate a bite of the spinach...not the best!  He could have eaten the roll, but they left it off his tray!  He says that he got enough?

We will sit here till released!  One nurse said that the room we are in says that they don't expect him to stay here long...but then the next said that it takes a couple of days for some of the cultures to come back.  So I don't know if that tells us about length of time or not.  They want to see response pretty quickly.  Dr. Holt is still wondering if there is a problem deeper.  She did take X-rays today to make sure that nothing shows broken in there.  They had X-rayed his leg when we were here two weeks ago. She just wanted to be extra cautious.  If things don't start clearing up quickly with these strong antibiotics then she wants him to have an MRI.

Life is always an adventure!  Stay tuned for the next installment!  We'll still be here...I'm sure!

Create! Create! Create!

I spent seven hours totally enveloped in the sewing world today.  I even managed to accomplish a  little.  I have one Christmas gift totally finished and one really close to finished.  As soon as I publish this, I plan to put the finishing touches on it and can chalk the day up to finishing two gifts completely.  I never get as much done as I hope when I attend these sewing days.  I had quite a few more items to work on than I even touched today...but that is good as they are ready to tackle here at home.  I had a very good time visiting with some friends that I have known for years and then others I just met today. We all have the same thing in common...the love of sewing.  This group has probably more of a love of quilting than I, as I prefer garment sewing, but none the less we speak the same language!  We had good food, too.  They can cook as well as they can quilt/sew!  I came home with several new sewing notions.  The gift bag/door prizes that we each get are always chock full of neat things...mostly sewing related. I'm still not totally "unpacked" but I will do that gradually and get my sewing things that I took back in their proper place...eventually.

Woody fended for himself most of the day.  He dropped me off about 8:30 am and picked me up a little before 4 pm. I gave him his workout today...lifting my machine and getting it into the place where we met and then back home again.  It is extremely heavy. He has also had the responsibility of tending to Georgia, the kitty, as Esther is away for the day so he was put in charge of feeding her, etc.  He went to the library this morning...reason that I know...well, I did ask him, but I also spotted a new children's book on the stairs that he checked out for Joseph and Isaac and anyone else interested.  Isaac has been attempting to read some of the ones that he had been checking out lately.  I'm sure that Woody completed his Sunday School lesson for tomorrow...the evidence: the book is laying here next to me.  I'm also sure that hegot in some reading and TV watching and some eating.  He looks none the worse for wear for my "neglect" today...probably majorly enjoyed being alone for a length of time!

Liquid Gold...Again!

This is the second time this week that I have made "liquid gold" = broth/stock.  I made chicken stock on Sunday and then today I made vegetable broth.  It's easier and less messy to make vegetable broth...no fat to have to let rise and cool so it can be skimmed off (this broth can be used immediately) and no greasy chicken to have debone!  All I have to do is dump the veggies that cooked all afternoon into the compost pile.  I used almost all the veggie broth that I made for a new soup recipe. (Note to my sister: Cheryl, I got it out of the Gooseberry Soup cookbook...I think that you gave it to us some years back...one of their small publications.)  This recipe is definitely different than any soup recipe that I have made before it is Apple-Barley Soup...rather tasty but not exactly what you expect a soup to taste like...a little sweet and a little tangy.  The chunks that look like potatoes are apples.  It also has carrots and thinly sliced onions...then the veggie broth and then it's supposed to have apple cider...well, "it's soup" (a saying that we often say about our soup recipes when we tweak them a bit) so I put in cranberry juice which is part apple juice.  I just tried a small bowl of it and it will do to add to our cookbook of our "Woody friendly" recipes!  It was one of the very few that all ingredients that were in were okay for Woody to eat.

Woody spent most of his morning running errands either for us or for his friend.  He got our groceries and stopped to pick up another small light tube for one of our under the cabinet light fixtures...we had just replaced one on the other side of the sink last week...well, Nathan did the replacing...one of his "sonny-do" jobs!  Now we have another for him to replace, though he doesn't know it yet. Woody was pretty worn out by the time he got our shopping done and then went on errands with his friend who has no transportation.

It has been a drizzly day all day.  I can hear it on the roof as I am typing.  It was pretty squishy underfoot when I went out to get parsley and thyme for our vegetable broth.  I have worked on getting everything together for tomorrow's all day quilting gathering.  I have quite a few small projects to work on. I have been putting them in individual plastic bags so all things needed for each one will be right there when I decide to do each one.  I still have to pack everything up and get my sewing machine ready to go.  I'm hoping to get several Christmas gifts completed tomorrow.  And, those that I don't get completed then they will be ready to work on here at home.  At least Christmas sewing will be more underway. I about choked when I realized that Christmas was two months from yesterday!  And, time is just flying!

Woody has continued to work on his Sunday School lesson today, and has watched some TV and also done some reading and has helped me with some of the cooking dishes.  Georgia Kitty continues to improve and become more at home in our house.  She slept on my lap a couple of times today and today staked out the far end of the couch in the living room for most of the afternoon and slept for a while on the family room couch.  She doesn't seem too particular as to where she sleeps...except she usually does find a place where there is a pillow behind her to snuggle into.  I spent a good part of the day going up and down the stairs doing wash.  I think that I have done four loads...all are put away except for the last load that is still in the dryer...and Georgia has gone out on her porch so if she doesn't come back in, the I won't disturb her.  The clothes in the dryer can wait till tomorrow.  Plus I am tired of carrying clothes up and down the stairs!  I'm pretty tired this evening and I still have quite a bit of packing up to do!  Guess I had better go rest my back for a few minutes and then get back to gathering up sewing necessities and getting them packed into our laundry basket to carry with me tomorrow.

Beginning To See Fall Color

A hint of fall color is beginning to show here and there as you drive through town or look down our street or into our backyard.  As I was walking over to Nathan's I found two bright red leaves from one of our oak trees in the front yard.  The hickory trees in the backyard are beginning to turn a pretty yellow.

I had school this morning on a usual Thursday schedule.  Isaac joined Joseph after Joseph had his reading and counting lessons.
Thursdays are Osmo days.  Joseph chose to do the coding game once again.  He likes the little character who loves to eat strawberries!  After Joseph's time then the others fell into place for their turns to read.  Then it was Isaac's long time with Grammy.  He wanted to sew and wanted to make another pillow.  He has about depleted my stuffing!  He came back over in the afternoon and wanted to make another pillow for Joseph.  I used the excuse of "no stuffing" for the reason that we needed to wait.  Joy and Esther came over and painted a picture to give a friend for her birthday.  While they were doing that Isaac did a little artwork, too.  I was resting during their art time.  Georgia seems to be feeling a lot better and her wounds look better each day now.  She still has a way to go to be completely healed.  She had a long leisurely nap on the guest bed this afternoon!  I hope that she will sleep tonight and not keep Woody up with her antics out on the sun porch!

Woody managed to get a hair cut this afternoon.  He had tried earlier in the week and his barbershop was closed, but he was successful in finding it open today.  I have had a couple of conversations with our insurance man.  We are in the process in getting me signed up for a different Medicare Part D.  I've got part of the paper work done and then it wouldn't accept my Medicare number...I don't know which it wants...my new one that I was mailed the other day or my old one...it didn't accept either!  So I guess I'll be back on the phone with the insurance man tomorrow or the first of the week.  I made Woody Mexican Rice this afternoon.  He ate his rice and I ate my rice from what I made for the church...I added chicken to mine...quite tasty.  His is tasty, also.  We are slowly but surely trying to find tasty recipes that he can eat.  I look through my recipe books and ones that he can have are far and few between!  He gets labs done next week.  I wonder if all this strict diet has helped him with his kidney function numbers.  I'm pretty sure that the diet hasn't helped him with his anemia problem!  I guess he will see the next week what his nephrologist wants to do about that since his oncologist passed that decision back to the nephrologist.  Woody has worked on his Sunday School lesson today as well as playing the computer multiple games of Scrabble.  He is now downstairs sitting in his recliner reading and/or watching TV.  As usual we are settling in for a quiet evening with only a few interruptions from Georgia wanting our attention!  She is a good one to lie in wait and jump out and scare me!  I'm still not used to having a cat in the house...we used to but haven't had a cat in years and years.  I have been working on projects to take to the all-day-quilting day on Saturday and am going to get back to it as soon as I hit publish. Hopefully I will have enough projects done by tomorrow evening when I blog and will then be packing up things to take the next morning...it's almost like moving my sewing room...well, not quite!

X-Ray Vision!

I finally found the copy of Woody's latest leg x-ray and thought that it might be of interest.  This is his right leg...I think both taken from the same viewpoint...just one of them shows down to his ankle.  He has something much the same in the upper bone in his left arm.  Can you believe the length and number of screws!?!  It shows the length of the plate in his leg also...I guess from the top screw to the bottom screw! And the grayish mass that the screws go through is bone cement!

I had a usual day of school with five marching through.  Elijah chose to do Osmo for his long time today.  He played Pizza Co. for part of the time.  It is a facsimile of a pizza restaurant with customers coming in and asking for various toppings.  Elijah puts the pizza toppings onto a disc and then "slides" them into the oven and the customers give him points on whether he made it the way they like it.  At a point he has to "go into" the eating area and let the customers pay him and he has to make the proper change for them.  He did that for a while and then experimented with the Hot Wheels car race that is also part of the Osmo system.  Today he raced himself with the two cars and experimented in how all the tokens work that help or hinder winning the race.  He had fun and learned along the way.

I ate a quick lunch and then went to work in the library.  Donna and I did some maintenance.  She entered a DVD and I entered a new patron.  We both tried to solve another library mystery...but didn't get very far with figuring it out.  When it warmed up a bit, Woody went outside and did a little work in the garden weeding and mulching...the first time that he has been out in a while...either the weather hasn't been conducive to him going out or his leg was hurting badly enough that he didn't feel like going out.  After, I got home from the library, Woody and I went to vote.  That was a quick and easy process...not a long line or long ballot this time so we were in and out very quickly...now if it rains or something else happens on the actual voting day, we have voted.

After voting, I worked some more on getting several Christmas projects ready for Saturday's sewing day.  I probably have about enough to keep me busy for that day, but the more I get ready, the more I will have ready to work on even at home after Saturday...getting a good start on Christmas...though probably not early enough this year.  Woody has played Scrabble some this afternoon and also has been reading and watching TV...probably what he will be doing this evening...though, I did hear dishes moving around downstairs so perhaps he has washed a few that didn't get put into the dishwasher.  The kitty was in here trying to help me type.  She is anxiously awaiting Esther's arrival back from church so she can have her last meal of the day.  Woody and I are trying not to feed her since she will probably love the person who feeds her the most!  I figure that she is somewhat bonding with us since she is spending time in the house with us, but I don't want her to forget her real owner!  Georgia's wounds are looking better...that was one mean cat who picked a fight with her!  Georgia has finished her medicine.  Now to watch and make sure that her wounds continue to heal and not get worse again.  Definitely they are looking better every day at this point, but there is still quite a bit of healing that needs to happen before she is reentered into the outside world!

When I was at the church today, I decided to check to see if my food containers were still there from the food that I took yesterday.  They weren't ones that had to be sent home, but someone told me that they would be there if I wanted to pick them up.  And, what did I find, but both containers with almost as much in them as I delivered!  Either the crowd wasn't all that big or they weren't in the mood for rice and veggies!  Anyway, I picked up both containers along with the rice concoction.  I gave the biggest container to Kathy for their family and I brought the smaller container home for me.  I ate some with a cube steak tonight...Woody had chicken noodle soup!  I thought that the rice tasted quite good...so hopefully it wasn't left because no one liked it!  At least it isn't sitting in the church refrigerator going bad! And, bringing it home...means my time, effort, and ingredients won't go totally to waste and Kathy was glad to get some as they are down to few, if any, meals in their freezer, as it is time, once again, for them to do "once-a-month cooking."  I think that that huge cooking effort may be happening next door tomorrow.

Truly Tuesday

The day started out with school.  All cycled through and at their proper times.  Esther had her long time and spent it watercolor painting.  She said that the next time she thought that she would use her special colored pencils.  She's doing great working with all sorts of art mediums and having lots of fun.

As soon as school ended, I got busy cooking for a meeting at our church.  I made a rice vegetable medley...using things in our freezer that Woody is not supposed to eat...got rid of two big bags of veggies that contained broccoli and also finished up a bag of brown rice...again, something that he isn't supposed to eat.  

While I was cooking, Woody headed off to take a friend to McMinnvile for a medical appointment.  After he got back to Tullahoma, he stopped at the prayer room at church and then headed home.  I was chomping at the bit for him to get home so I could deliver the food to the church.  He did get home in plenty of time and I did get the food delivered.  When I got home, Woody asked if we could have Philly sandwiches for supper.  I wasn't exactly in the mood to do any more cooking, but he cut all the peppers and onions and I just had to cook them and then cook the minute steaks (one of the only times that he will eat meat these days...these are very low in sodium and no additives even though a processed product.).

I did a little more preparation for my quilting event on Saturday.  I plan to go do a little more after I post this blog.  Woody was helping clean up the kitchen (his leg must be feeling at least a little better).  I imagine that he will read and watch TV for the rest of the evening.  The kitty is wandering around until it is time for her to settle into "her room" for the night.  She is healing, but it is a slow process.  Esther has been coming over and putting her in carrier and taking her outside at her house so she can start getting ready to head over there.  Now to get Peaches and Georgia to be friendly to each other...sisters!  I think that Peaches was enjoying her "only child" status and isn't too excited over her sister's return!

Painting Fall!

Here is the watercolor that Esther painted a couple of weeks ago. It is now feeling like Fall...we actually had frost this morning.  According to WeatherBug it got down to 30 degrees last night.  It was pretty chilly this morning, but turned into a very pleasant afternoon.  I had school this morning, but it was changed around a bit as the three youngest boys went off with their daddy for a field trip.  Joseph and Isaac came at the same time this morning.  I did several lessons with Joseph and then had Isaac read.  Joseph continues to do a good job with his phonetic reading.  He started his second Bob Book.  While I was having school with Joseph and Isaac, Woody headed off to The Life Care Center to have Bible study and visit with some of the residents.  He also left Georgia just roaming around the house, which is usually perfectly fine as she has settled in nicely to being a house cat till her wounds heal (they are better, but still not healed...she has been home a week now).  He didn't realized that Peaches was also in the house.  Well...I started hearing a rumbling noise and couldn't figure out what it was...it was the cats realizing that each other were both inside!  The rumbling was a deep seated growling...I guess!  I had Isaac go over and get Esther and Kathy so we would have more than one adult referee! Peaches is not being very welcoming to her sister!  They had a stare down before both turned and went to separate rooms in the house.  Kathy corralled Peaches and Joy and Esther and Joy got Georgia.  Georgia went back to the sun porch and Peaches went back outside.

Nathan, Elijah, Isaac, and Joseph headed off in our car to go to a farm about an hour away.  They had arranged to get duck eggs from this farm and found out that along with lots of ducks, they also had a baby alpaca and other animals.  One of Joseph's favorite animals at the St. Louis Zoo a couple of weekends ago was the Alpaca because of the way they chewed!  He also loved the hippos at the zoo...no hippos at the farm, though!  The reason for the trip for duck eggs is that Joseph is allergic to hen eggs, but seems to not be allergic to duck eggs.  Using duck eggs in what they cook makes things a bit simpler and makes there be more that they cook that Joseph can eat.

This afternoon Woody took our Ford Fusion in to the Ford dealership to have a recall done on it.  It was done very quickly.  I'm not sure what problem was fixed this time.  This is at least the 2nd recall we have had done on the Fusion.

Esther read to me right after the boys left and then I had an hour to do things before it was time for Joy to read and then have her long time.  Joy painted again today...but I didn't think to snap a picture of what she painted.  She is enjoying the watercolor paint pens that we gave her for her birthday.

During my downtime when there were no readers, I got busy on getting some items ready to sew at my Saturday quilting/sewing day that is put on by one of the quilting guilds in town.  I told myself that I would work on Christmas gifts so I am getting things ready to have things to work on that day.  After lunch I worked on them some more.

I made a big pot of chicken noodle soup...Woody can have everything in it except the chicken, I was going to leave it out and just add it to my bowl, but Woody said to go on and put it in and he would just eat around the pieces!  I used a fork and took out most of the pieces of chicken before serving him his!  Maybe having it in it will give him at least a little protein...I am concerned about him being anemic...he's looking pretty pale!  He goes back for blood work next week and then sees the doctor the next.

Woody went to the Furnace Room Prayer Meeting this evening.  He is now home and we are settling in for the a quiet evening...he reading and watching TV and me probably working some more on Christmas gifts.  I "almost" said "tis the season!"  And, I guess since I am working on Christmas, that it is...but I will wait a bit till I really start saying it!  'Tis the Season will be here before we know it!

Saturday Doings

I was looking through pictures tonight and decided that I would show Esther's blouse that I finally finished last weekend.  It really looks cute on her.

Today's sewing project: get going on some Christmas sewing and I finished my first gift for this year.  I'm afraid that I am a bit behind this year, but at least I have gotten started.  I realized today that next Saturday is the all-day sewing/quilting event that I participate in each year and that I need to get something underway to work on that day.  I can work on some of the gifts that I am planning to make, but I will need to do some preparation before Saturday so I need to get going in doing that.

Woody did go to the library today.  And, a while ago went to a Deacon meeting at church to meet a new possible minister of music for First Baptist.  Mid afternoon I ran an errand...other than the library, church, and an errand, we have both stayed pretty close to home.  Woody is still trying to take it easy on his leg.  I am hoping that the antibiotic is working and that his leg will start to not hurt so much.  I think that he is moving a bit easier today than he has been.

The cat seems to be feeling better, though her wounds still aren't healed...they have to heal from the inside out and that takes a while.  But she seems to be feeling pretty good if the way she can take off and run around the house is any indication.  Elijah and Nathan built her a scratching post today...she is inclined to try to use out furniture as a scratching post and we definitely are discouraging that!  I'm not sure that she has figured out what the scratching post is for, but hopefully she will figure it out quickly!  She needs to come into the main part of the house part of the time...it is just too confining on the small sun porch...but if she can't keep her claws where they belong...she will be only staying in the sun porch!  We want her to settle down and get used to being around us again.  We are afraid that she will bolt the moment that she regains her outdoor freedom once she is healed.

It is definitely beginning to feel like Fall outside these days.  We have actually had the heat on already this year...at Woody's request!  Woody is usually the last holdout for wanting the heat on...the reason that I am glad that we have two units..."his and hers!"  "His unit" heats and cools the downstairs where he spends most of his time and "my unit" heats the upstairs where I spend a good portion of my time.  Usually works out well.  Note that I say "usually!"  But the shock this year was that "his unit" was turned on for heat before "my unit"...a rarity!

Friday = Baking Day!

Busy day for both of us.  Probably busier than either of us needed it to be...especially Woody.  Even though I told Woody that I would do the shopping, he said that he could do it.  So he headed off a little after 8 am.  He got home after 10 am.  He carried in one bag of groceries and I got the rest while he rested.  He ate some grapes and then headed out the door to run errands with his friend who has no transportation.  He didn't get back home till 12:30 pm...or maybe a little later.  He was definitely ready to collapse in his recliner!  And, has stayed pretty close to the recliner for the rest of the day. Hopefully his leg is getting better...still has a way to go to be healed.

Speaking of healing, Georgia, Esther's kitty seems to be doing fairly well.  We let her roam in the house today and...she went wild going up and down the stairs...her wounds must not hurt her too much for her to be able to zip around as fast as she was!

While Woody was at the grocery store, I got underway with making English muffins.  We found out that the bought ones...at least the ones that we had bought recently had additives that Woody isn't supposed to have so I decided to venture into making them.  Erin and I had made them some time back, but I couldn't use that recipe as it had ingredients that Woody can't have.  So I found a recipe that was "Woody friendly."  They really aren't very hard to make.  We each just had one toasted with the jam that is "Woody friendly" and they tasted pretty good.  Before Woody got home from his second errand trip, Isaac and Joseph came over to see if Isaac could work some more on the placemat that he had started yesterday.  I had a lull in the baking "schedule" while the dough was rising so helped him finish up the placemat.  He was happy.  When I went over to Nathan and Kathy's later in the afternoon, I looked to see who I had used the blue corduroy and baseball print for their one-year photo and it was Isaac!  So he chose well...and looks like he approves of what I made him so many years ago!  He gave Joseph the first one that he made.  Joseph was happy with that decision.  He was happy as long as he got one, I think!

I rested for a while after my bread making and wasn't sure if I had it in me to make the apple pie after the morning of bread making.  But in the end I decided that I would go ahead while the flour, etc. was still out.  I tried a new recipe for pie crust...not happy with the results...at this point.  The pie is still in the oven due to come out in a little while.  Smells good around here!  Guess I had better head downstairs to keep an eye on the pie in these final minutes!  Just wish that we had vanilla ice cream!!!!!  But...ice cream is not "Woody friendly!"

Red-Letter Day!

Joseph finished the first of the Bob Books today.  He took it home and has been attempting to read to anyone who will listen.  Nathan said that he read the whole book to him.  It is composed of  four stories.  He was rather pleased with himself.  He had been wanting a book that he could read all by himself...there aren't too many books out there that are pretty much totally phonetic...in this one he had to learn the sight words "the" and "a."  The rest he could sound out and by the end of the book he wasn't having to sound out words that were repeated a lot in a story.  He did a great job!  I'm really proud of him.

Woody continues to take it easy.  Earlier he said that he thought that his leg was a little better.  When I asked him just a few minutes ago, he said that it was about the same...don't if that "the same" was that it was "a little better" or the same as it was yesterday.  He is still using the walker to help him maneuver through the house when he isn't sitting in his chair.

I had a pretty much the same as usual day of school.  I just realized that I forgot to have "Osmo Day" with Joseph.  We got so involved in getting finished with the first Bob Book and then with our counting lesson that  Osmo slipped our minds!  He was pretty anxious to head home and let everyone know that he had a book that he could read all by himself.  This week has been a bit topsy turvy due one thing or another...yesterday I only had Joseph, Isaac and Elijah come over.  They went to Montessori School to juggle for Abigail's birthday.  On Tuesday we missed school all together because Woody had the appointment at Vanderbilt.  So I guess that it didn't seem like Thursday to either Joseph or me!  Isaac read and later came over for his long time.  He came over all ready to make another placemat...this one for Joseph...except he found some fabric with baseballs and baseball bats on it and I think that he plans to trade the one he already made to Joseph so he can keep the baseball one!  Whatever!  We also got back into the reading mode with Isaac, Elijah, Esther, and Joy this morning...moving forward in each of their books.  Joy took hers home since she is getting to the place in the mystery that she wants to know what happens next.

I rested for a little while after I ate lunch...read.  And, then got busy on making supper.  I made another pot of cabbage soup with the other half of the cabbage.  Woody told me when I made it earlier that it was the best thing that he had eaten since this strict diet.  It still isn't my favorite, but since it tastes so good to him and I had all the ingredients I decided to make it again.  Tomorrow I plan to make a pie and some bread...we'll see if I follow through on said plans!

Here's Looking at Fifteen and Thirteen!

Abigail turned 15 today!  She got "Flamingoed!"  Joy turned 13 last week, but she wasn't home on her birthday so I didn't get a picture of her on her birthday.  We celebrated as a family on Sunday...a day that I don't blog so no pictures that day either!  I decided that I would post a couple of pictures today on Abigail's official birthday day!  I think that they have both enjoyed celebrating separately and together!  Joy has one more celebration.  She still has a sleepover with friends.  So the celebrating goes on...and on...and on...and...

Woody is still having a lot of pain with his leg.  So he has taken it easy and stayed pretty close to his recliner today. This afternoon, he even had me pull out the walker which helps him maneuver a bit easier and he doesn't have to put as much pressure on that leg when he walks and the walker helps him get up from his chair.  I hope that this antibiotic is the answer to his problem and that it "kicks in" quickly!  

Over the River and Through the Fog to Vanderbilt We Went!

Parts of our ride both going and coming home took us through fog...more on the way to Nashville.  Today Woody had a yearly check in with his orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Ginger Holt, at Vanderbilt.  This was a appointment that was set up last year just to keep him in "the system."  Dr. Holt told him last year that if he was doing okay that it would be okay to just cancel the appointment.  In the end he was glad that he had the appointment as his leg had been bothering him...not the bones...but the area that had been radiated. The skin in that area had become very sensitive and was hurting quite a bit.  She took x-rays and those showed that the bone/bone cement that was her creation was doing well and looked fine.  She took a close look at the red area in the radiated place on his leg and decided that it was perhaps infected.  She felt like he needed a round of antibiotics.  After we got back in Tullahoma, we stopped at our pharmacy and picked up his prescription.  He is to take it for two weeks.  I am hoping that is what it is.  She wants us to let her know how it does.  She took a picture of the area on his leg and was going to put it in his records for a reference point.  I can send her a photo of what it looks like "after the antibiotics."  Technology is so funny these days.  She pulled her phone out to take the picture.  Back when she did his first surgery to remove the melanoma tumor on his upper arm bone, I sent her a picture when his incision started getting blisters.  She determined that the pattern of blisters showed that he had had a reaction with the adhesive on the tape that had been used.  So we have a history of using photos between Dr. Holt and us.  I guess that tradition will continue.

We have both just lazed around after returning from our trip to Vanderbilt.  That trip always seems to do me in these days!  Going to the orthopedist is a much shorter visit...we left a little before 8am and we were back before 1pm and had stopped to pick up his prescription. They were running over with patients today but it still wasn't a bad wait.  They called him in for x-rays almost as soon as they knew that he was there so that helped to move things along.  We had a little rain on the way home and the rain seems to have settled in now and we have had a slow continuous rain for a while.

Georgia seems to be settling in to her confinement on our sun porch. She has done a lot of sleeping.  She doesn't seem to be walking stiff legged today.  She is ready to greet us whenever we walk out there.  She would like to get out into the rest of the house...maybe when she has healed a little more?  She is the purriest of the two kittens and her purr hasn't left her!  Being on the back porch (which is a very narrow "room" on the back of the house half of which is the laundry room) she has floor to ceiling windows on one wall, the back of our house.  So it is a good place for her to look out in the day time and see what is going on in the world.  Peaches keeps coming up the back steps to look in the door to see what is going on inside.  Esther thinks that Peaches is wondering why that other cat gets to stay in all the time and she is only invited in for short periods of time! Georgia is still sleeping a lot which is good for her healing.  The children enjoy coming over to check on her.  A little earlier everyone except for Nathan and Graham were crammed in that small space checking on her.  She has been good about taking her medicine...thank goodness!  When I look out the family room door windows, she is usually in her basket (the one the children made a pillow for the other day...made for Peaches but has become Georgia's...or in the cat carrier.  She has a litter box and a bowl of food and a bowl of water and quite a bit of  loving throughout the day...what more could a wounded kitty want?

The Lost is Found!!!

When I took this picture, I think that Georgia had begun to feel the hurt
 in her leg due to the shot the vet gave her. She was limping a bit when I
went out to check on her and then when she went over to get
 a drink, she kept her leg stiff and laid down to sip her water!
Poor kitty!  But considering four months away,
she is really in pretty good shape...though I didn't take a picture
from an angle that would show her wounds!  They show that
she is a bit the worse for the time away from us!

I can't believe that I can tell the tale that I will tell tonight!  And, a true tale it is!  Last night after 9pm Kathy received a phone call which she figured was a telemarketer due to the number being an unknown...so she didn't answer it.  Well, soon after the first call another came from the same number and she decided that she would answer.  The voice on the other end of the line informed her that he was calling from an 24-hour veterinary clinic and that he had her cat Paula Peaches.  Kathy asked where he was as she had just seen Peaches in their window in the last 20 minutes.  He said that he was in Murfreesboro.  After getting a description of the cat, she realized that he was describing Georgia.  Georgia has been missing for a little over 4 months now so this was a big surprise.  Someone had found her outside a Subway (guess Georgia was hungry!) and had brought her to the vet due to her having some injuries.  She had been chipped (though, obviously their chips had been mixed up since she had the one with Peaches' name!). Nathan called on his sister to go to the vet and rescue her.  Melany did and they kept her in one of their bathrooms for the night.  Tis morning Nathan drove Esther and Joseph to Murfreesboro to pick up Georgia from Melany's house.  Erin was taking good care of her till they got there.  They came back to the house and picked up Georgia's papers from her adoption and vet records and took her to a vet here in town.  They had originally gone to a vet in Winchester, but getting a vet closer to home made sense.  The vet is pretty sure that she had been in a fight with a cat and that Georgia hadn't come out on the winning side.  She has several wounds on her chest.  The vet shaved her, out some salve on them, gave her a shot and also some oral antibiotics that Kathy plans to start administering tomorrow morning.  The vet told them that she needs to be kept inside for at least a week...till her wounds have healed.  Nathan is allergic (He was having a terrible time by the time he got home from having her in the van with him and also being at the vet...he headed to the shower to hopefully clear his head!).  Since they can't have her in their house, she is now being sheltered on our sun porch at the back of the house.  I went out to take a picture of her so I could I post it but the laptop says that we have no internet connection so I have had topmost on the iPad so no picture tonight.  Just able to share the good news that Georgia is home!  Esther is very happy, as everyone is! (Nathan came over and got the laptop up and going with the internet again so I have added the picture of sweet Georgia!)

Woody goes to his orthopedic surgeon tomorrow.  This is his yearly checkup, but I think the timing is right, as his leg has been bothering him lately.  I'll report tomorrow night.

Simply Saturday

We've had a pretty quiet Saturday. Woody did go to the library and also ran a couple of errands.  I have stayed inside all day.  I got the buttons sewed on Esther's blouse last night.  This morning I got up and pressed it.  It is now ready for her.  They have had a pretty busy day...two ministry performances and a party.  Woody made Italian Cauliflower and I made Italian Bread!  Just realized that we cooked with a country theme!  The bread does taste really good.  For supper I melted some Havarti cheese on a couple of slices...very good!  I really like my new silicone pastry mat.  It was so easy to knead the dough on it...no slipping around that I always got with my pastry cloths...so glad to have disposed of the two pastry cloths!  When shaping the dough it was so easy to make it the exact size rectangle that the recipe called for as the mat has inches on two sides and centimeters on the other two sides.  I lined it up with the inch sides!  The mat is all cleaned off.  When dry I will roll it and  put it in the baking utensil drawer.  I'll probably have to rearrange it as I will need the full length from front to back of the drawer on one side as the mat is pretty big. While the bread rose I read.  Woody has been watching football and reading this afternoon.  Looks like another quiet Saturday evening for our household! That last fact certainly isn't a surprise!  

Flittering Friday

We have both gone here and there today.  Woody headed out first to do our weekly shopping.  While he was gone I cleaned the refrigerator.  It was pretty empty today before he went to the store so it was a good time to wipe off the shelves, etc.  Then I got the kitchen counter ready to make bread...although that activity didn't happen...hopefully tomorrow.  I got a new silicone mat to roll out pastry on, knead dough, etc. so made a spot for it and started getting out the utensils and equipment that I would to make the bread.  I'm going to make Italian bread...one kind that Woody can have.  When Woody got home, I put away the groceries.  He sat down to catch his breath for a moment and then headed out to run errands for/with his friend who has no transportation.  While he was gone, I ran errands.  I did some last minute birthday shopping for Abigail and Joy's birthday family celebration on Sunday.  When I got home, Woody was back and not sitting in his recliner so I thought that he was upstairs working on the laptop...but then stopped and realized that Peaches was sleeping in his recliner and I looked into the family room more and there was Woody sitting on the couch since the cat had his place!  Spoiled kitty! I did get the buttonholes made on Esther's blouse.  Now to cut them open and sew on the buttons and give it a good press and it will be ready for her to wear.

We have another teenager in the family as of today!  Happy 13th birthday, Joy!  

#3300

As I was clicking on links to get in I noticed that tonight's post was my 3,300th post.  Shaking my head...are you?!?  Sometimes I question my sanity for keeping on doing this for so many years.  But want to keep it going "just in case"..."just in case I need to keep folk posted about Woody's latest whatever!  So I keep on posting photos and drivel!

Today has been a pretty quiet day.  I have noticed that since our phone has been out (for a week, at least, now) that it is quieter than usual for our household!  Woody didn't walk or do yard work today.  He said that he stayed in to keep warm!!! It only made it into the 70s today...but I expected him to take advantage of it being cooler out in the garden with the sun beating down on him...but no!  I am still not feeling that I need to keep warm...still plenty warm upstairs in my lair!  I did get chilly in the night and grabbed for a throw.  Woody has played Scrabble with the old computer in the school room and also done some things on the laptop in here.  We vie for the rolling office chair when I am sewing and he is working at the laptop!  We do have a folding chair, but that isn't as comfy!  I am now finished with the machine sewing on Esther's blouse.  The skirt is attached.  Whoever came up with the way to finish the bodice was a genius...the instructions seemed fuzzy until I started following them closely and going step by step, it worked and the lining was attached as if by magic!  Not quite...but I will never know how they figured out the way they instructed!  I am using a Children's Corner pattern...a company out of Nashville.  The main designer at one time was from Tullahoma so I actually know her as she and her twin sister and her parents all went to our church at one time.  I have become reacquainted with her through the sewing world. Anyway, the method was rather amazing and finished off attaching the bodice lining with very little hand sewing.  I put aside the blouse to come in here to write the blog.  I am diligently hemming it by hand and that skirt is a wide expanse since it is a pleated skirt.  It is going to take me a while to get around it.  When that is done then it is on to buttonholes and buttons and then a good pressing.  I think that I will have it finished before we celebrate Joy and Abigail's birthdays on Sunday.  It's only taken me a little over two months to get it finished...lots of interruptions and also it took a while to do the hand embroidery.  I'm pleased with it at the moment...now as long as making buttonholes goes smoothly!  I am a little hesitant each time that I make buttonholes because my machine at one time had a problem with the buttonhole sensor and it took a while for the tech to figure out what was wrong...ever since the sensor was fixed I haven't had problems, but I still hesitate a bit when it is time to make them...as that last step "could" ruin all the work that I have done!  This is pretty fragile fabric so I don't want to have to pick any buttonholes out!  I imagine that I will finish hemming tonight and leave the buttonholes till in the morning when I am fresh!

Besides sew today, I have been on the phone (cell) trying to find and start to solve some problems.  First I called our pharmacist to find out about a Part D Plan that my insurance agent has recommended that I switch to so I can continue to use the local pharmacy.  She said that the one that he has suggested would work with them.  So I have that information when he calls me next week to set up a time to come here to sign me up!  I also asked the pharmacist about transferring my prescriptions for a short period of time to Kroger Pharmacy till I can go back to using the local pharmacy after the first of the year.  So I know how to go about that now.  THEN I decided that I would once again attempt to find out if our landline problem was still on file at AT&T.  Once again, I mainly got in a loop and couldn't get out.  I ended up trying an online chat for AT&T but it ended up being for U-Verse and after a lot of back and forth it was decided that they couldn't help me!  I finally found an 800 # that let me check the status of our report of the outage...and it looks like it is still reported and they still say that it will be fixed by October 17th!  One place that I called, told me that I had a bill that was to be sent shortly and did I want to pay it...definitely not!  At least I know that we are still on a "list" that says our landline that needs to be repaired!   I questioned it as it was fixed momentarily after Nathan phoned in and then when next we picked it up to use it, it was dead again.  Do you suppose that they want us to give up our landline?!?

Well, back to hemming.  Woody flopped on the couch downstairs watching TV and covered up with his quilt!  His circulation must be telling that him that he is getting old! It is not that cold...yet!

Up Close

When I was looking at tonight's photo, I realized that the close-up looked very sponge-like.  Mushrooms and toadstools always intrigue me.  We seem to have lots of varieties that have popped up all over the yard...looks like we can grow something!

Woody spent a lot of time outside weeding and mulching...one bucket at a time.  Peaches helped him some today, too!  I think she enjoys him being outside when there are none of her household outside!  She also likes to wind in and out of his legs when he is walking to go get more mulch...could be dangerous!

I continued to work on Esther's blouse...it's actually getting closer.  I basted on the pleated peplum a little while ago.  After I blog I will sew it on.  There are still quite a few steps since the bodice is lined.  I will have to go back and get it all attached somehow.  At the moment it is a mystery to me that I hope will become clear once I start doing it.  This pattern has been put together differently than any that I have done before and the instructions are a bit sketchy (literally since they are sketches).  I can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel with this garment.

After lunch, I headed to church to work in the library.  Donna and I did maintenance and finished processing several books.  When I got home, I headed to my chair as I started not feeling great...I think that perhaps the air pressure from Michael got to me.  For a while I ached all over and couldn't stand the feel of my jeans on my legs...glad that I have nice soft pj's!  I sort of closed my eyes for a little while and now the aches seem to have passed at least for the moment.  I haven't felt like a weather barometer for a while now.  I guess it is just the start of this seasonal change.  By the end of the week, the temperatures are supposed to be going lower.  Today's temperatures were lower, but the humidity was very evident.

Angel Trumpets!

 Woody spotted this interesting plant in Nathan and Kathy's backyard and told me to grab a camera or two.  I had never seen an Angel Trumpet plant in person before...though I had seen someone post a picture of the interesting blooms just the other day on Facebook.  I don't know if you can spot Woody or not, but he is in the background of the top photo.  He walked over with me while I took some pictures and had sat down.  I noticed when I took a picture of the whole plant that he was "hiding" in the background!

Soon after I got up this morning I went back to work on Esther's blouse.  I was making some progress when a couple of the neighborhood grandchildren came over with a bright idea.  They wanted to make a pillow for a basket for Peaches to sleep in.  Woody was wanting to use the laptop (which means the sewing chair) in the sewing room so I headed to the guest room where the children sew.  We had already found a piece of fabric that they wanted to use.  The only problem with what they chose was that it was in many pieces so I ended up piecing it together for them with my serger.  They stuffed it. Put it in the basket and showed it to Peaches and she immediately settled in the basket ready for a nap!  They were pretty happy that she liked it so well!

I went back to work on Esther's blouse and got a little more done on it.  I am about to set in the second sleeve...this is the second time for this sleeve.  I realized after I got it in that I hadn't done it the way that they recommended so sat and debated for a while whether to take it out or not.  Finally I basted the second one in the way it was supposed to be put in and liked it better so took out the first one.  Now I am ready to begin again on the second try for the first sleeve!

The weather was more pleasant today. It is feeling a little more like Fall!  Woody worked in the yard again weeding and mulching.  As he says he is making progress...slowly but surely!

This evening Woody walked to the prayer room at church.  He returned a little while ago.  We are now settling in for another quiet evening in our Dorrell household.

Old Meets New!

This morning I introduced my tea pot (a wedding present so almost 50 years old) to my new tea cup and saucer!  I packed away all the new dishes except for this one tea cup and saucer.  I figured that I had several extra of them so I could use them and if I happened to break one or both prior to starting to use the new set of dishes that at least I would still have a complete set.  I enjoyed sipping my morning tea from my new tea cup!  We had a nice afternoon visit with Melany, Wade, Erin, and Wade's mom.  Melany was pleased to get her bag and bean bags with the color words on them to use with her kindergarten class.  I really like our new dishes.  They are a bit paler than the picture that I bought them from...but will work perfectly even if I want to use them at the same time as our gold dishes from our wedding registry.  The only problem with the gold ones is that they aren't microwavable. The gold flowers on the plates that have flowers on them is the exact same color as the teapot.  So I figure that I will be able to use them together to change up our place settings a bit.  Now to work on getting the kitchen redone so I can use them.

I did get the phone call from my insurance man today.  He thinks that he has found a plan that will work with our drugstore.  He's going to come and help me get signed up sometime after the 15th of the month...when Medicare plans can be changed.  We still don't have a phone.  I spent over an hour yesterday trying to make sure that our land line was registered as having a problem, but just got caught in what I will call a "loop of bureaucracy!"

Woody has spent time our in the garden weeding and mulching today.  Supposedly our temperatures are supposed to be going down to be more fall-like.  I think I am ready...though, then I remember that this season change from hat to cooler temperatures can not be the easiest on my Transverse Myelitis...at times I "sort of" forget about it...but then certain things will make it rear its head once again.  We'll see how this seasonal change does this year.  As much as I don't like to be hot...hot is better for me than cold.  The other day when I fell at the ball park, I ended up with no bruising...just a bit of a skinned elbow...but I did have some of the old feelings from my Transverse Myelitis...leg feeling extra hot and a bit more tingling in my arms than usual.  I have a feeling that I jarred my spinal column when I fell.  But "things" are back to pretty much normal now...my right hand always feels tingly like it is asleep...though most of the time I can ignore it and hardly realize the feeling unless I think about it, as I have gotten so used to it feeling that way!

Woody just returned a little while ago from the Furnace Room Prayer Meeting.  Not as many there this evening since it is Fall Break for our city schools (and our home school).  Before Woody left for the prayer meeting, I managed to get a new soup concoction made.  I guess I'll call it Barley Vegetable Soup.  It ended up being pretty good, though I will never be able to replicate it again since I just dumped a little of this and a little of that in till I was satisfied with the taste.  All the ingredients were ones that are okay for Woody and he seemed to like it.

I have sewn some today.  Esther's blouse is taking shape.  I guess I will go back and work on it a little more this evening. Woody is reading and has the TV going...his best effort at multitasking!

Scattered Saturday

We've both done a little of this and a little of that today.  I'm not sure what I have accomplished...but a little, I guess!  Woody made his usual trip to the library this morning and on the way home stopped and picked up a prescription for me.  He made a triple batch of his apple zucchini bread.  I got up with plans to sew and I did start out doing that.  I finished cutting out Esther's blouse last night so I was ready to sew this morning.  I sewed French seams in the side seams of the peplum for the blouse.  I then folded in a lot of pleats and basted across them...and that is where I stopped with my sewing...but it was a start!

Melany called and said that they are going to stop by tomorrow afternoon for a visit and bring us our new dishes.  Melany will get to pick up her color bean bags and drawstring bag for her kindergarten art classes. They are going to bring Wade's mother for a visit. I figure that Erin will come along, too.  The last time that she visited at our house was at the time of Melany and Wade's wedding...many years ago...27 to be exact!  I picked up all the K'nex mess in the living room...put it on the far side of the living room once again...where it has resided almost all the time since Graham became so enamored with K'nex.  I vacuumed the living room, dining room and kitchen and Woody vacuumed the family room. I also mopped the kitchen floor...it needed to be done...but it ended up having to be done after Woody dropped the olive oil bottle on the floor and the top popped off!  So we have relatively clean floors downstairs.  Isaac vacuumed the stairs yesterday...so even the floors leading to the upstairs are vacuumed.  I will do some quick dusting and a little more straightening in the kitchen and clean the downstairs bathroom and then I think that the house will be half-way presentable!  In between cleaning jobs, I did a bit of napping!  My stamina just isn't what it used to be! Surely it isn't my age!?!

Interesting Friday

Today has been an interesting day...the way a lot of days can become when they aren't planned out!  My cell phone rang about 8:30 this morning and a little voice asked me what I was doing.  I told him that I was talking to him.  It was Isaac and he wanted me to come over to help him with his school work.  His mama had to be away for a while.  So I trotted over and helped him to move along with today's assignments.  Later in the day he came over and asked to finish his placemat that he had started yesterday so we did that.  I have managed to get the cutting table cleared so I could put out the yardage for Esther's blouse.  I have some of the pattern pieces pinned onto it and ready to cut out and some I am still considering placement so I will have the optimum yardage to make the piping that I need.  I think that I have it figured out...now to just go on and cut it out!

Woody spent almost all morning either doing our grocery shopping or taking his friend to run his errands.  Those errands took a lot longer than normal.  Woody didn't get home till after noon.  And, he started out around 8am.  He has spent time outside today...mowing and perhaps some weeding and mulching.  He cooked up some of the cauliflower recipe that we have used for years...a recipe of ours that he can actually eat and not have to leave anything out for his diet.  A little while ago he made pumpkin pudding to take next door as an evening treat.  The first pumpkin pudding of the season and it was made from a pumpkin that we grew.

Melany and Wade picked up the new dishes that I bought through Facebook's Marketplace.  Melany said that I was going to be happy...that they were definitely yellow!

I have spent time off and on today reading...I managed to finish an e-book that was going to be due in a couple of days.  I had already started another e-book that had just become available to me through our online library.  I am enjoying.  It is by an author that I had read before and liked her books.  I just learned the other day that this book, The Second Sister, by Marie Bostwick was the inspiration for the Hallmark Hall of Fame Film, Christmas Everlasting. So I decided that I wanted to read it...doubt that I will see the movie since we don't get the Hallmark station...but guess I might see it when it is a DVD.  Often the movies that Woody gets from the library are Hallmark Hall of Fame movies.  So maybe one day...but for the moment I am enjoying the book!

I think that I mentioned that I had put out a call for help from an insurance man who had signed me up for my medicare supplement.  He was supposed to call yesterday and didn't and I still hadn't heard from him today, which surprised me as he is usually good at following through.  Well, this afternoon, I got an email from him saying that he had tried yesterday ad today and had always gotten a busy signal and that something might be wrong with our phone.  And, sure enough when I picked up any of our phones...nothing.  I checked them all and then went and got Nathan to make sure that there wasn't something that I hadn't done.  He further checked by unplugging them all and plugging them back in one at a time...still nothing.  So at that point he decided that we could call AT&T as he didn't know what else to do.  The call of course was an automated one...glad that he made the call...those always frustrate me!  He was finally told that, yes, there was something wrong with the line and that they would make sure that it was fixed by October 17th!  Well, by the time he hung up the cell phone and picked up one of our landline phones it was already back in service!  At least we didn't have to wait till the 17th!  I guess that it had been extra quiet phone-wise...but neither of us had any idea that it had been out of order for a couple of days! So at the moment...last time I checked anyway...our land line is back to working!  Never know what it will be next!  It's things like that that make for interesting days!

Summer-like Fall Thursday!

Woody didn't walk today, but has spent a lot of time outside in the yard...mowing, weeding, and mulching.  I had a usual Thursday for school.  Joseph did a little reading and then Isaac joined him and they both did Osmo coding.  Then when it was Isaac's turn to read, he finished the Dick and Jane book and Joseph stayed around and listened.  We also read a story about a three-legged cat.  Isaac had his long time today...literally since he was here for most of Joseph's time, then his reading time and then his long time.  He started making a real placemat today.  The ones he came up with last week were very temporarily lived...which I knew would happen. Today he chose fabric for the placemat and then we put a thin layer of batting in.  It has been sewed around so when he comes next he will choose some fancy stitches to decorate it with.  When today's school drew to an end, it was the official beginning of my second Fall Break this year.  This year we are breaking the Fall break up into two separate weeks.  Tullahoma this year began their Fall Break today and it will go through next week.  Melany is having her Fall Break from Rutherford County Schools this week.

I talked to Melany this afternoon and asked her and Wade to help me out with a purchase.  I found some dishes that someone is trying to sell and I really like them in an online area marketplace.  They will be our everyday dishes "when" our kitchen gets remodeled...perhaps that should read "if!"  We still haven't met with the contractor. I am trying to be patient, but I think that I will give them a call next week to make sure that we are still on their list!  The seller lives in Murfreesboro so I asked Melany and Wade if they would meet up with him and purchase them for me.  So the transaction is supposed to take place tomorrow.  So Melany and Wade will have an extra set of dishes till we meet up with each other!  Joy and I have the color bean bags and drawstring bag for Melany to use at school so we "need" to see each other sometime in the near future.  When we do meet up, Melany and Wade can get paid back for the dishes and we can give Melany the color bean bags, etc. and we can get our dishes!  Maybe in the not so far away future they will make a visit our way or we theirs!  What was nice was when I suggested a place to meet for the transaction, the seller said that he lived close...and, it is just around the corner almost to Melany so looks like it is convenient for both!

I continued to work on finding a new Part D Medicare prescription plan today...what a pain!  My insurance person, who I had hoped could steer me in the right direction, didn't call.  Oh, well, I have plugged in a lot of numbers to several plans and now will have to decide if it is worth changing or not.

We continue to have a very summer-like Fall so far this year!

Opening a Can of Worms?

I guess I should have gone looking for a picture of a worm for tonight's blog...well, this handsome fellow did start out as a caterpillar...so sort of a worm!  My can of worms is that I am thinking about changing my Medicare Part D Prescription plan.  I found out that my current one will no longer have a contract with our local pharmacy.  I have been trying to figure out what I can change to and use our pharmacy.  I feel loyalty to this pharmacy after using it for almost 50 years!  I have found a plan that looks like it will work and I have someone (not from this plan but someone who helped us with my Medicare suppliment) calling me tomorrow to perhaps help me figure out if I should change or not!  What a headache!

Woody walked four miles the last two mornings.  Still walking early because the temperatures are rising up to summer-like temperatures as the day goes on.  He drove to the local farmer's market and got corn and zucchini.  This will be the last day for him to get corn.  He will miss the fresh corn as one of his "okay" foods. We will switch to frozen that doesn't have any salt added (hopefully). Lately we have added Cream of Wheat to the breakfast menu...a memory for me of childhood days.  It is better for his diet than oatmeal since oatmeal is a whole grain.  I'm going to look to see if quick oats are better than old fashioned.  This diet is such a pain!  Tonight I cooked some more eggplant that was given to us by friends fresh from their garden. Hard to come up with a variety of foods/meals with this diet.

Woody continued his work in the garden...mulching and weeding...a long tedious job!  The part he has done does look good...so it isn't totally a thankless job!

We had a usual Wednesday school schedule this morning.  Joseph is getting really close to "hearing" the three-letter phonetic words that we make each morning.  He gets the sounds out super quick now and is really getting the hang of it.  Too bad that there are "p's," "b's," and "d's!"  Reading would be so much easier if one didn't have to distinguish between letters that look so much alike!  He's doing a great job of blending the sounds together and hears most of them when he is sounding them out back to me.  He has really matured this year, as far as school goes.  He finally enjoys coming over and we have a great time together and his time flies by...even to him!  Isaac is almost finished with another Dick and Jane reading book.  He should finish it tomorrow.  Then there is one more for him to read.  We have these Dick and Jane readers in our church library.  Friends gave them in honor of our grandchildren and our grandchildren have definitely benefited from them!  Elijah did finish a book today and started another one.  He also had his long time.  He is still figuring out about gears using the K'nex.  Today he started a build that he didn't complete as it was a bit more detailed than some.  He is finding out how a car window goes up and down...this is a crank version of a car window, but I would assume that the mechanisms for moving them up and down would still be the same withing the door frame.  When the gears all meshed, Elijah was pretty pleased.  Now to add the finishing touches to it the next time...or when he just comes over after his school is finished for the day.

After lunch, I headed to the library at church.  Donna and I did maintenance and then worked for a while on another book order.  I came home rested for a while and then went down and cooked the eggplant as part of our supper.

Woody is downstairs watching television and I am going to go in and read for a while.  I'm going to put away the Medicare stuff for tonight...enough is enough!