Goose . . . Goose . . . Duck!?

Dad loves the river. He loves the geese. He likes cats. And small dogs. He does not like big dogs. Apparently a certain Ruby Hollenbeck had a big dog and Dad did not like it! LOL  We hear that story quite often. Anyway, we've been watching the babies grow up all summer, and this white duck has been hanging with the geese the whole time! We can all get along!

We had a rain tonight finally! Hopefully some tomatoes will start turning soon. Dad and I had a great ride, air fresh from the rain, nice temp, 70 degrees. We saw 2 deer, the goose goose duck, and a peacock. Very pleasant.  We also saw corn and beans out the wazoo! Dad told me he wanted to see those fields again, long about October, if he was still alive! LOL  I always say, "Ok, if you are dead we'll skip it!" LOL   He always laughs . . . well, mostly. :)

John's this weekend, a vegan weekend! Time to get serious (or at least acknowledge) my wager at healthywage.com. Woo hoo! Reunion next weekend. No veganism there . . . bring on the fried chicken!

My friend's folks are dropping like flies! I have a ton of friends who would love to take their their dad or mom for another ride. Thanks Mrs. B, for being my bud and for making me reflect on things, thereby giving me a gentle attitude adjustment! I will work hard . . .

Kathleen

Mid July

John and Hera relaxing after the fish fry today.

Hi Folks!

Well after the last "Big Blow" post our power was off for about 36 hours! Some people had it way worse! The best part of it was being able to give the fridge a good cleaning. Way too many bottles of salad dressing and little jars with bits of this and that! And all those mystery foil packets of stuff in freezer! I hate to be wasteful, but they had to go.

I was so ready in some ways, batteries checked in flashlights and lanterns, all my power outage lights plugged in, fully charged, stuff like that, but no bread! LOL  Oh well. Could have been worse.  There was no place to buy any bread either, everything was closed! Joe scored some hotdog buns at the liquor store (hooray!) lol, and the next day one of the stores was open.

The power outage lights confuse Bernie. He thinks because lights are on, the electricity is on. Then he'd say, "I think we used to have one of those radios that runs on batteries." If he heard the radio (on battery) playing, he thought he should be able to turn on the TV. We were all glad when the power came back on, especially Bernie. Routine is important for people with Alzheimer's/dementia. And people around people with Alzheimer's/dementia! LOL

It was a busy week. Thursday night I took mom and Dad to the courthouse concert on the lawn. The weather recently has been spectacular, 70's during the day and 50's at night woo hoo, and it was delightful on Thursday evening. The Chauffeur's were playing, and though Bernie would have preferred a marching band, he had a good time listening to the band and people watching.He wanted to hear a polka too! Oh well.

Today we took a ride to Streator for a delightful fish fry at John's. We all had a great time and enjoyed the delicious meal. Tilapia, cod, garden zucchini and green tomatoes, mushrooms, and homemade bread. Homemade tartar sauce and horseradish sauce. What is NOT to like! LOL And cheesecake. Yum. 

Bernie, Mom and Joe went to church tonight (I was chauffeur, I'm a sinner), and I have Monday off work to take him up to Hines VA Hospital for his semi-annual visit with his neurologist. Before we head up there I get to the Midge and Finn to the vet for shots! What a day off! LOL Oh. And I'm dog/cat sitting for a friend of mine Sunday night-Thursday night. You know you are old when taking old people to a concert on a weeknight, and driving the family to Streator for a fish fry and then to church tires you . . . and there was no beer whatsoever involved!

Having trouble getting pictures to format properly tonight, so read caption. Everything is out of order.

Have a good week!

Kay

Isis honored us with her presence this afternoon, the most social she has been. But she still liked it under the couch.

Much to our amusement, Dad gave John a $2 tip as we were leaving today! LOL  On the way home Dad said, "He can probably use it." LOLOL  Where is my gas money you keep promising me Bernie!!!?

Fish fry food! Tilapia with a compound butter: lemon zest, parsley, chives, wow! Garden zucchini, shrooms, garden green tomatoes, horseradish sauce, homemade bread. It was delicious. Is there anything better than the first fried green tomato of the season? Maybe the zucchini . . . lolol

Bernie during the power outage. Yes, that is the TV remote he is holding in his hand! He kept pushing the power button when he thought we weren't looking! He is very persistent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stormy Weather

Wow, what a big blow last night! Yes I mean the weather! Power is out since 9:45 last night. Bernie thought it was the end of the world! And he wondered . . . did he bring this on by coming to Morris. He did not like to see such storms on his first night in town! LOL  All is well, except for a shortage of bread, ciggies, electricity, and instant coffee. The coffee is just stale, I guess I shouldn't complain! Hardly anything is open, no McDonalds, Burger King, etc., only a couple of gas stations open. No Wal-mart no Jewel! ARGHHHHHHHHH. Hopefully power will be restored soon. Thankfully the temperatures have moderated somewhat. I will update when the power comes on. I guess I'm lucky I have it at the office. Not technically working today, offices are closed, but I needed some electricity and some coffee that was not stale!

Kay

Liberty Days

Our town always seems to have something going on, a festival or a carnival, something. This week it was Liberty Days. I had dad down to the Courthouse lawn on Thursday night, Saturday afternoon, and again tonight. He loved the National Guard Band from Peoria tonight, he was full of the applause and the toe tapping. It was lots of fun and a great concert. The beautiful weather didn't hurt either, a little warm, but very pleasant in the shade with a lovely breeze. Nice that it was a busy concert week, since the river is flooded and has been closed all week. Bernie loves the river. Hoping it opens soon.

Mom told me a funny story. Dad gets ants in his pants just about the same time every day, about 3:00. He just gets sort of restless, of course just as Mom is getting a start on dinner.  Well, the other day she handed him some radishes and a knife and told him he could help her by cleaning the radishes. Dad looked blankly at her, holding radishes in one hand and a knife in the other, like he had never seen either before! LOL  He asked her how to clean them, and Mom demonstrated. Dad cleaned 3 radishes (very very slowly!) and then he says to mom, "I am a little dizzy. I think I better stop doing this and go sit outside." Then boom, like a flash, he is out the door and down the porch steps way faster than any dizzy 94 year old should be moving! LOL  Dizzy my ass! LOL

It has been interesting at work. My boss's son is interning with us, just having finished his first year in law school. Zack is very pleasant, easy to be around, but I can't help but remember when he used to spend time at the office zipping about in his walker! We were having an interesting conversation last week about urine (chain of evidence of a urine specimen in a DUI case, not just random pee talk people!), and I said, "Zack . . . times sure have changed since the good old days when all we did was play hide and seek!" LOL

Glad this is a short week. I've been waking up freakishly early and have trouble getting back to sleep. It's got me dragging ass and a touch gnarly and short of patience.  

It was a busy week for Bernie, what with the concerts and all, and church, plus he had a visit from his cousin Mary Prindiville. He loved it all!

Tomorrow should be interesting. I went around the whole yard and pulled a bunch of tall grass from the base of the fence. I gotta get in shape . . . a different shape!

Have a good 4th of July. I might try to get Bernie out to see the fireworks. I know he'd love it, but I think getting him to leave the house in the dark will be harder than getting him to take a shower! LOL

Kay

Happy Father's Day

We took Dad over to Streator yesterday and John made us something new, Greek lasagna, with ground lamb. We all liked it. Homemade bread, salad, yum. Pecan pie bars (the best breakfast in the world this a.m.!) and a scratch cake topped with white chocolate mousse. I may have to take a moment . . . Dad liked the ride, tons of tractors for him to see. He had church last night as well, and I think he was tired out. He asked even more than usual if he had to milk the cows, did he have to work in the a.m., does he just go straight into bed, he doesn't have to take a shower, does he? It must be really hard and tiring to have Alzheimer's/Dementia! Poor Dad. Nights are the worst, he is much better in the day.

Freakishly windy here today. Cats are jumpy. Bernie is afraid it is going to storm.

The river has been flooded so Dad hasn't had any boats to watch. Well it is open today, and packed! We pulled into our our favorite shady spot to watch the action and gosh, did Bernie crack me up! There is a kayak rental place at the river, and a couple was taking a break, their kayaks were nearby, they were lying on the grass on their backs sunbathing, knees bent, just chilling. I was afraid Bernie might make a off-color comment (nice looking girl in a swimsuit you know) lol, and he looked at this couple and turned to me and, with this impish grin, said, "I wish I had a bucket of ice water. I'd go throw it on them and run!" lmao. Oh it was priceless. LOL

Garden looks pretty good. Things are coming along. Looking forward to a short week this week. John and I are going putzing on Friday, heading up to Madison and check out the Farmer's Market. We've only been there in the fall for apples, so why not a summer trip? It's always fun.

Have a good week folks.

Kay

Decoration Day

I lost my burning bush, the red bud is in jeopardy, but my wee lilac bush is glorious!

Finn has started a new stretching regime.

Upward Facing Cat.

Dad has been going around the block. Pretty good for a 94 year old! I found one of those walkers at the thrift store that has a seat, and he sits down at every corner, but just for a brief time, less than a minute. It's so handy to have a seat in case he gets tired. He thinks he is going off by himself and is really surprised when one of us comes up behind him! LOL  He just wants to see someone he knows. Of course once he is in Morris longer he'll know more people. He has just been here a day you know!

Soon the concerts will be starting downtown on Thursday nights. We'll have a break from the same old same old ride, by the old farm and down to the river. Not that I don't like a ride, but the same route does get old. When you don't have dementia/Alzheimers, I mean.

We took a ride this week, down through Seneca and to Marseilles to the greenhouse we like, the one by Uncle Eddie and Aunt Dorothy's house. I'll always think of that house that way even though they are gone now.  Fun memories of visiting there through the years. Have all my garden stuff in and hoping the rain forecasted for the next few days materializes. Dad did not want to stop and the Seneca Cemetery, which surprised us all. We'll take another ride and take care of decorations another day.

Kay

Mother's Day Weekend

Drove the fam to Streator yesterday, John made brunch. Mom's fave, biscuits and gravy again. How in the world does a woman who likes to put pats of butter on her hefty plate of biscuits and gravy NOT weigh 300 pounds? I must ponder this. And I forgot my camera! I took a few with John's but no pics of people. Oh well.

Hera is the welcoming committee at John's. She rolls over on her back, and bares her tummy for rubbing. Good thing she is a cat, because if she were a person, I think she'd be a floozy! Poor Isis hid again. I got a good pet in with her in the basement though, so at least I got to see her for a bit.

I made a lemon cake, you poke it when it is warm and pour a lemony glaze over it. Yum.

Dad enjoyed the trip. He was a little reluctant at first, but I told him John would be disappointed if he didn't show up. Then he decided he could go to Coal City after all! LOL  And then he told me how he and John used to shuck corn together; so did Eddie and Jim (his other bros). So son John is brother Pat still.  I didn't spill the news that we were actually going to Streator til we buzzed past good old Route 113, when Dad kindly informed me I had missed the road to Coal City! LOL

 If he said it once, he said it 25 times  . . .

"Man! Look at that field! You can't see the end of it!"
"Streator is too far! I'm not coming here again!"
"No names on the mailboxes, damnit!"

And at John's  . . .

"Did you paint all this yourself!?"
"Did you lay this carpet?"

On the way to Streator we saw, Mazon, Kinsman and Ransom, so I decided on the way home that it would be fitting to go through Verona. I have no aversion to gravel roads (fond beer drinking memories of my youth . . . and adulthood!), and as we were tooling along I heard Dad say in a low voice to mom, "I think there is a hard road you can take from Streator to Mazon." LOL He also said, "John is good to us. I should have left him a tip!" LOL  He commented that he had a $5 in his pocket, but it was too late now to give it to Pat. Hmmmm. I have noticed that Bernie often comments about giving me a $5 to fill up my gas tank :), or comments about how he  "should have left a tip", but the money seldom leaves his pocket! Dad always was proud of always having money in the bank, even in hard times . . .  now I can see why! lol

John sent me this pic. After we left the little stinker came out!

I really cut back on my annuals, but you have to have some. Look at my Lantana, isn't it pretty? And of course a red geranium for Dad, his fave.

And my buddy Finnegan helped me too! Stinker! I guess I better pick up some plants and fill up this planter, and hopefully he'll stay out of it! Boy he can fling that dirt!

Making mom her favorite Honey Lemon Tilapia today. Gotta get marinating.

Have a good week peeps.

Kay