Discouraged

 Well, I don't really have anything new to write about, but I will give it a shot.  If you need to hear about my Christmas, take a look at "secrets" from Dec 9th. I have changed it from the original brief entry.

I bought a box of Biore strips to work on my blackheads.  You may remember them from years ago; you get the pre-shaped strips and after wetting them, you put them on your skin (face nose) and after 10 minutes they are peeled off, bringing the blackheads with them.  I found a very small amount on the strips after doing this, but it is pretty neat to check the inside of the strip after use and see all the little marks from my nose.  I will try again in a few days, I need to get them on smoothly the next time. 

I rounded up all the makeup that arrived while I was gone, and it amounted to a small-ish box all filled to bursting.  I will try to get them sorted the way the last ones were done, although I will need to clear off the desk/table first.  Without that all the tubes, etc. will dive under the desk mess never to be seen again (black hole proven)  but I won't know which ones are missing until I am actually putting the makeup on.  I have a list of the order I put each on, and the list gets longer and longer the more I follow the do-it over in the fashion magazines.  To which I now refuse to subscribe.  Have I posted a photo of me, recently?  I will try to find one.   Well, maybe this once...

Hopefully Google won't erase it update-recovered header!, like it did all the others. This one isn't very new, but oh well,I look the same here, just tidier than usual.

My journal writing has likewise taken a hit, not having written in it since September.  I can fill it up with information from my hospital stay, I can't do the same here because who knows who will read it, what is amusing for me would sound mean for another reader.  What is hard for me to admit, I still can't walk without a walker, or better yet is being in the wheelchair.  I will continue the exercises in the hope that some improvements just take longer to show up.

One thing I will relay, is hospital etiquette.  All the rooms were double, and since I was there longer than most I got a fair cross-section of roomies.  In all cases they listened to the TV until 10:30 or later (I go 9:00 to bed) and loudly too, as the TV is mounted up high on the wall and they seem to be hard of hearing.  I never turned my set on, and one roommate had it tuned to the Western station, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Cheyenne, and on and on until way in the night.  I didn't remember any of them until they were on.  But from one woman I demanded another room.  She was demented?  anyway she had 3 things she shouted all the time - "Nurse!", "Help!", and "Water!", and she shouted really loudly ALL the time.  I told the nurses I would sleep in the hall if they didn't move me, and I guess they took me seriously and moved me after about an hour.  I don't speak Mumble either.  She would shout even when the nurse was in the room with her. And of course she drove them crazy too, and she was NPO so no water. They had a brain damaged unit in a separate wing, but it was full.  Of course.

I didn't give out candy this Halloween although I had planned to.  But I left the hospital on the 28th and by the 31st I didn't feel up to sitting out in the cold for 2 hours.  I didn't hear much merriment outside that night.  When my kids were young the last year I asked them if I bought lots of candy would they skip the trick-or-treating and they said "yes!" with much enthusiasm.  That let me off sewing costumes; I had always done the real elaborate ones, starting them weeks ahead of time.  It was a lot of work for one evening of wearing.  In the end I sold them all at a flea market.  (The costumes, not the kids!) The Dracula one was the one everyone wanted, that and the dragon/dinosaur one.  We had 50 kids year before last, mostly wee tiny kids.  They came in such a rush I didn't get to enjoy their costumes.  Just one boy with a toy sword pushed through a box of cheerios - he was a "cereal" killer.  Pretty clever...

That is all the miscellaneous bits I have now, and it is dinner time.  Home cooking, Yum!  for now, take care...

No more photos/cartoons here

 The copy write police have trained their view on this poor old blog, and deleted most all of the illustrations from here.  The only ones that I reinstated are the ones that I took, and photos of me, the farm house, my car, a doll, the pony, and the header which I bought from the artist many years ago (I began this blog in 2004) and is therefor protected, being 19 years old.  I think.

Anyway, the blog would be more entertaining with the illustrations, but two or three strikes and they take the channel off.  How this helps the originator I don't know, I would think the more widely seen the better for the artist.  But what do I know?

Bye for now.

Only to be read when boredom threatens

I thought I was done with this post, but the table of contents shows "0" pages and "Draft" in the place that (name of the post) should go.  

this is one of those days, I guess.

Have you ever ordered something online only to find, afterwords, that you made a big goof?  This is my speciality, and my latest error yesterday.  I wanted to order a CA king mattress, and the discounts right now made it doubly attractive.  So last night I ordered a mattress from Allswell that is a hybrid one, and 25% off the usual price.  So I picked out what I wanted (King size CA beds being hard to find), closed the browser, and sat back and checked out delivery time.  But then my eye caught something on the order.  In all my goofs, this one is the most egregious error.  I ordered TWO mattresses, and had already gotten an email confirming the order.  And it was Sunday, so no one in the office until Monday.  I couldn't cancel through PayPal, they only want to do a cancelation after the seller has confirmed a cancelation.

Sigh.  So I called first thing this morning and they couldn't change the order, only cancel it.  So they canceled and I will re order tomorrow.  It's a really nice mattress, and I have had very little success going to a furniture store, only to find it is too -- hard, soft, squeaky, and so on.  I only hope they don't send two.  Cost $2986 for both.  My tum is in revolt just thinking about it.

I got my Christmas cards out and paired the cards with their decorated envelopes.  It took forever, but better now than when I am trying to send them.  Job all done, put the cards in a big envelope, put that envelope on the cart beside me, and then --- are you ready?  knocked the entire pile of cards + envelopes onto the floor in a big mixed up heap.  I am really on a roll.

Usually I give up and go shopping, but that is not an option when I need   to be driven, and then pushed around the store (s) in my wheelchair.  So I ordered stuff on the web.  Delayed gratification.  I ordered 2 pant sets, green + dark red, and a light blue of pants (but no matching shirt.)  I'm not done yet...

So far I have 3 small gifts for R, a battery organizer and 70 batteries, two couch pillows, and something else that I can't think of right now.  For C I have almost nothing yet.  He is so hard to buy for, anything he wants he buys himself.  So does R, but I can think of things that she would probably like, and I always keep the receipts.  I bought C another clock for his room that can be seen at night, but not so bright at night.  But it couldn't wait another 5 weeks.  Coincidently my clock broke too, and so I bought (Amazon) another clock for me.  My new clock has green numbers and I quite like it.  Not too bright either.  Money?  Not very thoughtful, really.  He uses my debit card, which is the same as cash, for groceries, gas money  and so on.  So I can't think of something C would lack, that I could buy.  I can't get even a flashlight, he uses his cell phone light.  He already has a wallet; so that's out.  His bathrobe needs to be replaced, but he says he likes the fuzzy one he has (from Christmas of 7 or 8 years ago).  He does all the cooking, but I know he wouldn't appreciate a kitchen appliance.  I did get him a Columbia jacket and a hat, but he already has those, so this is a duplicate from two years ago.  I'm stuck.

I am even stuck on my last post that would finish it off for me.  

Worse yet, C asks me what he can get for R for Christmas!  Money, I tell him.  With it stuck in the pocket of a sweatshirt.  

Maybe I will have an epiphany later today.

Meanwhile, have a good time off for the holiday, I am off from work permanently but I would go back in a heartbeat if it meant I could walk again.  Meanwhile, onward... Bye!

Cross stitch

 I have had an error in my cross stitch projects.  As I related a few posts ago, one of the critical parts of stitching is the floss, and my blasé take on floss is that it can easily be duplicated if lost.  But that is only partially true.  I have several (4) projects in the process of being stitched and I have gotten their floss mixed up.  The directions for two of them don't list the DMC number/color name and so I am left trying to match possible colors (example: dark green, out of 7 different greens)  to the color which is already stitched.  I use a color card that shows all 250+ colors with DMC colors labeled.  I have found that green is a color that I am lacking a  discerning eye for; but several other colors are difficult too.  If the already stitched floss is adjacent to a blank area, the slight difference between old vs new colors can be glaringly obvious.  If only my floss for a given color included DMC number, it would be a snap to move on.  But all I can do now is approximate the color to use.  If only I had stashed the flosses in a labeled envelope when I am finished for the day, I'd be good to go...

Enough of this, boring for someone who doesn't share with this hobby.

I want to go to a local furniture/mattress store tomorrow that is having a big sale to see what $$ will be involved.  I want not only a mattress but a chest of drawers (5 drawers), all solid wood and no MDF or plywood.  I have looked at Wayfair, but they come disassembled and cost more if a person comes with it to assemble at my home.  C would be good at doing this but it takes two people and I am not able to help.  I have been sorting my drawers out in my current chest, but there is a limit to what they can hold.  The chest was Mom's, so it is 70 years old, more or less.  And I could fill the chest with just socks...

I have ordered, from Amazon, small organza bags to help organize makeup.  I only need a half dozen or so, but had to buy 50, although the 50 only cost $7.  Once in the bags, though, I have to find a place put them.  Sigh.  I have too much stuff.  Lipstick alone is around 75 tubes.  Most of them were free-with-purchase, and only 6 or 7 did I buy, based on the free ones that I like.  My new purse (did I mention I bought a new handbag?) has a very nice lining and I will have to be careful about a lipstick top coming off.

I ordered hairball remedy for the cat, who is barfing way too often lately.  That is the benefit of Amazon.  If one can wait a day or two, it can save oodles of effort shopping.  I just wish that both on-line and in a store could survive, each one holding a segment of sales.  I'm going to order a new kitty litter stock, and because I have prime Amazon I won't have to pay shipping for such a heavy purchase.  It is just out of stock right now.

Snow.  A four letter word.  It was only a skiff on the ground when I got up, but now all is white outside the window.  

Six years ago our neighbor and his son were shoveling their driveway (which is Very long) while N used the snow blower to clear ours, and when he finished he took the blower across to the neighbor, whose son made a record run back to their house.  Another neighbor saw this and after our neighbor finished (no more than 40 minutes) the other neighbor borrowed the blower to do his driveway.  All in all a feel-good feeling for N.  N is gone now, and C doesn't know how to get the height right so it isn't scraping the asphalt that is our driveway now (the neighbor moved away too.)  Now it is shovel time.  Another thing N expected to be around.

This isn't a very amusing post, but I will try again soon.  Bye for now!

OUCH

Yesterday I saw our cat nosing around something shiny on the carpet.  I couldn't make out what it was, but I put my foot on it and called Chris.  Turns out it was a tapestry needle.  I can only imagine the repercussions if she had bitten, or swallowed, it.  Last time she was fascinated with something on the bookcase, it was a hornet.  I dropped a heavy book on it and called Chris (poor guy, he gets all the jobs like this).  Bugs are the worst for me to deal with.

I went to Spectrum Optical in between the podiatrist and the Orthopedic doctor, and had them see if they could adjust my glasses.  I had fallen with them, and bent them pretty completely.  I had gone there soon after the fall, and the tech fixed the worst of the damage, but told me they were twisted and they didn't have the ability to un-twist them.  So when I went back yesterday, I expected I would need new frames, using the original lenses.  But the tech ( a different one) took them in the back several times and got them lined up so the right eye wasn't higher than the left, something I could see when I wore them.  He got them even, and replaced the nose pads, and all for no charge.  I will be back there when I need another pair.  I had gotten a mail-order Glasses USA pair, but they were so fragile they warped when I took them off the headboard of my bed one morning.  Don't go there.

The Orthopedic surgeon said there was a limit of what they could do, barring knee replacement (which he refused to do, and understanding the reasons I agreed).  So he will try a cortisone shot under my kneecap, using an artificial cortisone that hopefully will improve the result.  I can't walk now, so any improvement will be fine.  I trust this doctor  from when he did my right knee replacement, after the original doctor got "stung" selling and using drugs.  He didn't look like a user, but the surgery result he got on my right knee looked like a second year med student did it.

I really missed my Mac Air while I was in the rehab hospital, but being out of the room for three hours every day might prove too great a temptation if someone wanted to lift it.  There was, of course, a huge stack of mail to deal with once I got home, a lot of it election pleas.  Not too many bills, thank you very much.  The phone rang constantly with election candidates, and we told them all the same thing:  already voted.    The other phone calls were from the in-home therapy groups : OT, PT, nurses, and on and on, most arranging visits.  Sometimes we hung up the phone and it rang immediately again.  All that has slacked off now that the initial evaluations are complete.  And weekends are blissfully quiet.

Home at Last

For those readers who have hung in here, I reveal the reason for my lack of posts:  I have been in the hospital for the last 2 weeks. and out of any posting longer than that.  I hope to fill in here soon, so watch this space for a bit longer and I will do my best at Randomly posting in the next week. 

I guess Google and Blogger have parted ways.  As a result, all the headers are missing, and all the illustrations with Google are gone.  This leaves the entire blog a chopped up mess.  I have contacted Blogger, but I don't suppose I will get an answer from them.  

I am home from the hospital and feeling quite exhausted.  I hope to recover in a day or so but I am not making any promises now.  I have had 2 nurse visits so far, with three or four to go before the weekly regimen begins.  Blah.

My table is a complete mess and I need to unearth the bottom layer before I can work on new posts.  I will work on it today, hoping I will be able to get at least some of the posts whipped into shape.  I apologize to my readers at how long this will take to complete.

Bye for now...

make up?

I bought a "reborn" doll a couple of weeks ago, and when it was seen by C his comment was "creepy"  and I agreed, it is little creepy.  I have 30 days to return it, making it "reborn" again.  I'm already checking on the boxes that the doll came in.  I am thinking of a little child that would Luv to get a doll like this at a bargain price.  It is pretty low price as these things go.  But really, it looks like an escapee from the Twilight Zone.  I sent it back.

I put on makeup yesterday for the first time in months.  No occasion, just because I got a package from Ipsy.  Usually they are the usual samples, maybe one item that is fairly close to full sized but this was a deluxe assortment (for more $ ) and I was pleased to unwrap it.   I have tons of makeup, one ten drawer organizer, one two drawer chest of drawers, and more scattered here and there, like in purses.  I just give many away, like to N's niece, but the last time I sent a box full to the brim for her I didn't get even get a "thank you" when we visited them a few weeks later.  So that is that.  I know teenagers are busy with school and social things, but come on, one quick word when N was there.  

I got in touch with the man who was my shoer when I still had horses, and asked if he would take down and fix the gate and fence (where the tree fell and demolished the gate) , for $ of course, but right now his wife is in the hospital with a torn shoulder, and that takes his free time to see her.  It can wait, up until snow flies anyway.  The traffic belongs to homes past us, even though the builder promised we would be the last home on our road.  ho ho.  Update:  I never heard back from the shoer, so I looked in the phone book and called one of them from there.  He came out the next day, gave us a fair estimate, and cut up and hauled it all away.  No fence repair, will have to hire someone to do that.  The wisteria is so very overgrown you can't see the broken part.

Let me see, the entry that mentioned seeing if I could sue the medical doctors that have mis-managed my knee/ ankle is all for nothing.  The limitation on a medical lawsuit is 2 years; and having to hire an expert doctor to explain the medical facets may cost $500,000 and by the time all of the expenses have been covered, there would be nothing left for me.  I have gone through my records and I don't know the left from the right, so I will give it up.  

N died in May 10th of 2016 not June, missing our 46th anniversary on June 6th.  

The tree that fell and demolished the fence and gate was pretty tall and would have done some wreckage if it fell at an angle and hit the house.  But it will just be a mess to clean up, and Chris said (and I agree) that a chain saw is not a place for an amateur.  There again, N thought he would be around longer than me.  I know nothing about cutting trees up, and where would I dispose of the cuttings.  Do I look in the yellow pages?

The semi-thought out plan to buy a mobile home and sell this home to pay for it, that won't fly.  C doesn't want to go, and says the homes at the village are too close together; the prices of mobile homes having hit the $300,000; he went to the meeting with the park manager and noted that all the homes have their shades closed.  All of them.  186 mobile homes.  I have lived in a mobile home when I was first married and didn't find it claustrophobic at all.   So I will continue to live in this one room, the stairs defeating me.

I have recharged the two Nikon sure-shots, anticipating that I would use one to get the mobile park recorded, but now I don't need them for that.  Neat little cameras, especially the S4300, which has a lot of features found usually only in big cameras.  Although I don't have anything to photograph other than in trips to the doctors.

I found a garfield squeaky toy and it is fun to watch the cat (only a tiny amount) react.  Garfield's shirt says "hug me", and he's wearing bunny slippers.

I cannot figure out how to calculate the in-come and the out-go so I know where I stand, month to month.  I have to go to the bank branch and get them to help me.  One time I get one number; the next time I get a different amount.  Drives me crazy.  And me with a college minor in mathematics.  

That is it for now, wish I could be more upbeat, but maybe next time I won't feel so glum.

BYE 

Pot decision pending

Well I am deceiving you a little.  The pot I am taking about comes in groups of 12 or more, and is going to be my one eventual set.  To cook in, you know?  We donated the set of Revere ware that was left and and bought a set from a department store and they have been a mistake; burn food was the recipe of the day.  I can't get to the kitchen until my knees are functional on stairs, so I will save these until then.  I also have a hand mixer set aside for the same treat.  If you don't like to cook (like my nail manicure lady), I can see you going "what???) but hopefully all my recipe ideas are at least OK.

I have once again tackled my chickadee cross stitch project and it does have a lot more to go, but I am at least making headway.  I thought this pattern would be a ginger snap, but no, more like a molasses cookie.  And I am going to put it in a BIG frame so everyone can admire it.  Or at least go "hmm; you say you spent HOW many hours on this?"

I am still getting phone calls for N, it has been 6 years since he died in June of 2016.  He volunteered for a lot of projects, and not many people read obits daily.  But each phone call is another reminder that he is gone.   

Past tense

 I have determined that I should seek legal help as my health gets worse by the day.  I have a call into the med records, I should get them tomorrow.  I don't know how long this has been moving along, at least 10 years, and here I am in a wheelchair.  I guess the average patient would not take this long, but I keep hoping the next treatment, or the next injection will be the One that will turn my symptoms  around so I can walk again.  Foolish hope.  All these years I am waiting for cure.  Given enough money I can buy a mobile home, all one level and a ramp out front.  Maybe one with wide doorways that a wheelchair will fit through.  I am a dreamer, don't you think?

Here comes the dentist

 I was too optimistic about the number of days that would take to recover from the dental work, it has been 10 days and counting.  I am so very tired of so-called soft food, and the alternative makes my teeth hurt.  A lot.

I never traveled much since coming here (why?) and now that seems like freedom unmatched.  And tonight dinner was weird in flavor, probably due to my teeth.  So I made a dinner out of crescent rolls tonight.  I like them, but as the main course, not so much.  I am nearly out of pain medication and of course it was late when I called the doctor's office, so at least 24 hours for a refill.  Why do doctors assume first that druggies are trying to scam a pain med and only second that a patient needs help?  I'm not even asking for a mega variety, I am allergic to all but the mildest variety.

Ah well, I have bent your ear about this in the past, so I will move on.

I have been passing time going through my jewelry (costume) and found two 30 inch silver necklaces that I did not know I had.  Nice.  I also found some pretty earrings, but my ears will have to be re-pierced since it has been a couple of years since I wore posts.  I discovered a treasure-trove of post earrings all nicely arranged in a box, so I could wear a different pair every day of the year and never repeat.  Does Claires still pierce, or do you have to go to a walk-in clinic?  

I have also been attempting to work on my cross stitch but I have hit a road block.  I have been Stitching for years and years, but I can't figure out how to thread a needle so that it will be looped in the back, not run the stitch behind other stitches.  Every time I think I have the trick, the needle falls off the floss.  Maybe tomorrow I will try again.  The good part that came in yesterday's mail was two Cross stitch patterns, one called yarn cat, the other chickadees in blossoms.  I already have the chickadee one, but the yarn cat is new to me, and as a humorous one it will be different too.  If, I guess, I can thread the needles.

The dog across the road was picked up by the dog catcher 3 or 4 days ago, I saw them do it and went "Woo hoo". I hoped they would keep him at the pound while he got some decent food and be adopted by a nice family, but damn today he was back again.  I don't have anything against dogs in general, but this dog runs loose chasing cats, barking all hours of the night, and has the neighborhood children terrified when he charges them.  I don't know who called the dog catcher, but they have my sympathy.  I have heard that the "ransom" is pretty high, so maybe the neighbor will try again.  Or the owner will give up the next time.

I think I will read tonight, I have a book by Barbara Hambly that I started and for whatever reason, never finished.  And this is a purchased book, not a library one.  

Bye for now, sewing and reading await.  

I have been pretty slow in keeping this post ship-shape, I hope you haven't given up (all 12 readers) (joke).  And in fact I have been gathering   topics to post here.

I lost my last cousin in a motor vehicle accident.  She was my age and I have all these photos of us as tykes playing on the swing.  We drifted away over the years, but still ....family is family.  She lived in NC and I saw her last year for the family reunion.  She seemed the same as before, just grayer.  But then so do I 😢

I just got my nails done today, and boy what a change.  I have been putting it off for weeks, and my nails were very chewed up (not from being chewed) but they look spiffy again.  The trick now is to keep them from being damaged in day-to-day use.  I still can't managed steps, up or down, and rough lawn is the same.  The nail lady comes here, for a mere $60.  Well worth the money, measured against the dreary days without anything to lighten the mood.

I have been all set to take up where I left off on three cross-stitch projects  BUT there are four parts to stitching.  Fabric to hold the design, floss to stitch, pattern of the design, the stitcher.  But I found that there are at least one and maybe two components that are missing of each one.  Floss is the easiest to replace, I just take the list to Hobby Lobby.  Fabric isn't too tough once the size is account for.  One would think that the pattern is easiest since it is what attracted the stitching.  I have lost at least one and sometimes two of the necessary bits; even though they are more than half finished.  Sob.  If I could find just one missing part of one pattern, I would be well pleased.  Where could they be, I and C have searched the room to no avail.  One of the three is no more than the cover with none of the contents, pitch.

 If only I had been more thorough while urging C to mow more effectively; the grass and weeds are 2 feet tall.  One of the neighbors volunteered  to cut it for us, as it is past the point that we can manage.  with a push mower.  There are three  of them and it is 91 degrees outside. I think we could send them Cinnabons; Mmmm.  One neighbor is giving directions, "the next house past the house with tall grass."  What a claim to fame.

I have been keeping up with my exercises in our home, in both knees.  There is a chance I can get the surgeon to agree to do my left knee replacement. Or not.  But there is a plus side in in any case.

Time to go, all of you, hope you find smiley to match you mood. Bye for now!

I am going to try a perm

 I have never tried a perm, we shall see how that goes.  I want get a do that I can get out of the shower and shake my head and there, all done.  

update:

The salon I had picked to do this is a mess, we drove past and there are babies crying, dogs yapping, women shouting etc.  and didn't look too clean either.  Therefore, no hair styling until I find a better venue.

Dinner soon, sigh.  I was counting on the hair to give me a little lift.  C cleaned out the back corner of the room a few days ago and when the therapist arrived it was the first thing he commented on.  And that the room looked bigger to him.  A little boost there at least.  

I have 8 pairs of scissors mostly 8" size, I had so many I didn't know until they were all together.  Just the thing for the odd octopus strolling past.

Covid invader

 Here about 5 or so weeks ago I came down with a cold that wouldn't quit.  Today I had my  first Covid test and it was positive. This explanation makes sense to me looking back now.  I have gotten rid of the usual side effects and now have a new set of illness to tolerate.   My lingering side effect isn't cough or fatigue.  It is weakness when walking, to the extent that I need help with a wheelchair  going to shower or getting dressed, and anything where I must lean over and then stand quickly. It is not as obvious as the other ones, but there isn't a clinic, or study group to teach coping skills.  There are plenty of bystanders who loudly proclaim "doesn't look handicapped to me."  A little compassion would help a lot.  My husband died in our driveway on the way to a chemo session, and he never looked ill to me, but I was willing to take the opinion of his doctors.  I will never get past having him dying in my arms.  45 years together.

Enough.  

OK this post is being saved every time I stop

I am going to go to the orthodontist next week to get the size-able crowns fitted.  Then two more visits to get the best sized from the crown .  I guess that is where all the fancy money goes.  I just want to be able to eat what I want.  Pizza? Check.  Popcorn at the theater? check.  All kinds of junk food?  Check!!

And as for Gianni Versace I picked up a container of loose powder at a flea market and it is marvelous, in my color for a wonder, nearly full.  Things like this are really rare for me..., you'd think I found a Mona Lisa sketch at the time.  Anyway, I'm not planning on munching face powder, but it was a good find.  

I once found a twenty dollar bill outside the apt a friend lived in, but that wasn't hard to figure out.  My friend denied it was hers, so I  kept it, after posting a couple of "found" notes around the apartment complex, guess it was too trivial an amount. to claim.  My daughter lost a $20 for the yearbook, but it was not her fault and I made it up for her.  Just an example of how little high school is about handling cash, checks, so forth.  When I was in high school (drum roll) I never had $20 all year.  A $1 was a rarity, lunches were paid through the office, and if money were seen to be changing hands then someone was in trouble.  Times change.

The black pickup truck is sold, and of course two people wanted it.  We flipped a coin and the winner needs a bill of sale notarized, we'll meet at the UPS office.  I have never understood why a notary public lends a smidgen of reality .  Years ago I was on the jury for a man who showed up wearing bright orange,   and chains, just what prisoners in jail were wearing that year.  A long story, but all I would write now is that the witnessing notary was in deep Kimchee, because she left her son the stamps and so forth while she was on vacation.  He was very slow, and notarized the bill of sale for anyone who asked him to do so.  When asked if he could read and write, he said yes, slowly and anything not too complicated.  The prisoner was found guilty of fraud and went off to the pokey.  The notary lost her stamp.  The son proclaimed that it was all a mistake, he knew the defendant.  The entire trial was 2 days, including the lunch breaks.  If you ever have to be a defendant for the court, don't wear orange.  Trust me.

The black pickup was a 2009 GMC, but had only 12,000 miles on it.  The main rider was  a lady cardinal who waged war on the side view mirror and made a mess.  The buyer didn't care, he just washed it off.  

did I save this post?

 

Did I fail to save this post, or did I save it and then erase it when I began another post?  I can't remember...

Anyway, here I go.  Again...

I got, finally, the trunk that I needed for safe-keeping of the fur collar ( removable(X that replaced the damaged one)).  It also holds the hoods of several other coats, I am not sure which are faux and which real, but they all fit in the trunk so I won't try to puzzle them out for now.  The trunk is brand new, white, and I will keep it clean if I can.  The fur hood is really poofy, if I was a teeny lady it would smother me!  And of course I got the coats at the beginning of summer, and must wait until September or so to wear one.  

Maybe a cold snap would come along and I would be ready now.

At last the worst of the tooth work is over, I hope.  My teeth felt very odd the first 4 or so days, but they are unremarkable now.  One more visit and I will be done.  Please.

We have a roofer coming in a few days to tear the old roof off and shingle it anew.  We had a hole in the roof and into the attic, C noticed it from the bang!  Bang! noise just above his room.  Boy I am glad we cleared the attic of everything before this.  I had a number of recommendations from friends, etc. and the first 4 had no active telephone numbers.  The fifth company was this business, and he was very professional.  Although nearly the maximum in price, we need the roof fixed and not just tacked together.  Five year warranty and they pick up all the nails that drop (that sounds like a trivial job  but 6 flat tires in a month is not trivial) let's hear it for a big magnet.)  I hope we are using a good company, but really, who can tell until the job is under way?  One of our neighbors last year had her roof redone with the copper type and I happened to be driving past when she was in her front yard yelling at the roofer.  They tore the partial roof off and the house stayed covered with tarps for weeks until another roofer took it over.  Not one of the companies I called.

                                            

                                                    Shiny car!

                         

    

Pony boy, pony boy...

This is a work in progress, so just read the high spots and forget the typos.

Today is President's day, which has everything shut down, mail, banks, and so forth.  As for me, it doesn't mean anything now that I am retired.  I work just as much, but have little to show for it.  I spent a fair amount of time yesterday doing my nails, but at least I can look at them without wincing.  I ordered a fox ruff to replace the one the rats clawed up, and this one will not hang in the closet but will go inside a metal locker.  Hope that will stop the miserable pests, in addition to rat bait.  This is a bad time for buying lockers, with band/camp/scouts and so forth.  I will figure out something once the ruff shows up, for temporary safe keeping.  Maybe the freezer or the refridge ?  If I had any in-laws I could convince them that the fur is their missing pet dog... Nah

My visit to the dentist last week was grim.  He was as easy as possible in removing 4 teeth, but I have to go back 10 days later for the implants (caps, whatever).  Then I will be able to eat anything I like.  I knew I was in for it when I saw the palatial offices, that and the bill for $3600.  And more to come.

Do you know that horses have teeth that keep growing?  Every few years they may have to have them "floated" to remove the sharp edges to prevent the rough sharp stuff that would cut into their cheeks.  The noise tooth rasping causes makes my own teeth flinch.  That is why the old-time horse traders looked in the horse's mouth, they're estimating the age of the horse.  I miss my three horses more than I estimated, I remind myself it wasn't all sunny and nickering, this past 8 weeks the weather has been icky.  Bonafide meteorology term, icky.  And mud over the boot tops.  I think about pony equines, but most ponies are mean and meaner, so much for "Royal Velvet" and ponies like shetland or connemara.  The last pony I owned, when the kids were small, bit me in my *   * and she went down the road soon after.

👋 BYE

OK

 OK, I know it is 7 or 8 weeks since my last post, Somehow I thought new posts would magically appear on the published posts even if I didn't put them out there. ( I still have my teddy bear from 7 years old.)  

Meanwhile I am trying to get a topic going that I can fill up without going silly.  Could it be refills on my scripts?  There are a lot of them, the problem is that they just lay there, no action.  I have been trying to get going on lots of topics, but none of the read well.  I can't see how writers sit down, dip into the ink well and write a best seller.  I have been trying to get the manuscript for my novel to be correct, but I just keep re-writing what I should leave alone.  At the rate I am going to finish in time for my 80th birthday.

So OK I will drag what is left into the light, no read-right  what is  (above) finished, fixing typos as I see them.  

C has gone to take a nap, and I could do the same, but I would wake up feeling worse than when I went to sleep.  Its is nearly eleven and I just had brunch.

When I was well and hearty I went to see a doctor who was gradually losing losing her battle with cancer, but still cheerful, at least.  I called her at her house for a quick yes/no that Dr. Number two recommended and she sounded like her usual self and the answer was "no".  She remembered who I was and what meds I was taking.  It was a real blow when she passed.  I have seen more than 5 doctors since then and everyone has left for one reason or the other.  The main one has been they missed too many of the kids' soccer etc. games, and the older ones missed too many grandkid's games.  One of them said "I thought I could change the system but instead it changed me".  I seem to invite all sorts of "secrets" and have no idea why.  Once I repeated the words to another doctor that #2 was leaving and he had no idea.  Whoops, open mouth insert foot...

Today being  Sunday there are no nurse visits.  Yesterday there were 4 visits from nurses, therapists, etc. and one would hardly leave and another would arrive.  No doubt Monday will make up for today.

I am tired already.

We called the power company when the wind knocked a line down, and the guy (singular ) wrapped the line up in his hand and disconnected the power, I guess.  He didn't seem too bothered.  Makes mowing more straight forward.  One would hope.

OK, that is it from here, hoping all there is OK.  I will try to do better.

Bye for now!

 Addendum: We were having not a simple cold, but Covid.  C got it first, from R?, and it has knocked him down, good thing he is retired.  I got it from him and I thought I would miss but no, just a a brief pause from the entire run of the illness.  I have been trying to use OTC to ease the system, but no help.  *cough*cough*.  we all tested positive on the in-home tests and then  R works in Family Medicine and I would expect she would have it already, but is cleaner yet.

I am still working on cleaning and sorting stuff, but it is hard to go into the closet when there is so much that needs to be sorted.  I should offer an incentive to those per armhole? that needs to go, but there would be a massive dump.  When N died, they went in the closet and outside of a sweater or jacket they just dumped them to Goodwill.  Some of them were mine.

Anyway the deed is done, 5+ years ago, and if I ever get to go shopping, I will buy all new.  With a new budget.  And the closet will look radically different.

Moving along, dum de dum

 OK, I have news, bad-ish, about Heath Bars.  I was eating one of the miniatures, and there was a *crack*, and there in my hand what I presumed to be a piece of candy.  I tossed it, but an hour later I felt a rough part in my molar, and I think I busted a filling.  I will call Monday and hope it is a trivial matter.  I just love to get dental work, don't you?  And my dentist for years and years retired in Dec., and the new one is an Unknown Quantity.  

C got a new phone, the old one was cracked and crazed, so this one is a big improvement.  I think he had been nursing the old one along, and R got him this one for Christmas, a big improvement.  I got a cd player, but I don't know where I will put it, this room is so filled with everything.

C and I have both been given an extra gift; we caught R's head cold on Christmas day.  Yippie!  This has set my clearing up several days behind, but I will get there.  Meanwhile I need to get pitch / donate / keep divisions from spreading out everywhere.  

I see the ortho doctor at the end of the month, this is to make up for the appt. in Dec that I missed.  Another fun-filled appt, this one involving needles of cortisone under the kneecap.  What fun.

 If it weren't for doctor appt. I wouldn't have any social life.

Well that is all the news such as it is, hope everyone of you had a merry merry Christmas, and I will catch you on the flip side.  Bye!