Is it really September already!?

I started this post a couple of weeks ago, and it was so boring I just saved it as a draft  . . .  and it is still pretty boring!

School starts and it gets hot! All the more reason school should start later.

Bernie's bowels are in an uproar. He's going to the doc to get checked out Wednesday.

Did some yard work last Friday, trimmed some bushes and some growth along driveway. Had a terrible allergic reaction, eyes nearly swollen shut, face blotchy all over. I looked a fright people. Got some prednisone, had to take some benadryl and some zyrtek, and doing better now. I can't do any more yard work, woo hoo!  I'm sure there is a more definitive reason for my allergy, but I prefer to just steer clear of the yard work. Who wouldn't!? lol

BOOOOOO! This is my much improved eye area. And my second selfie! I felt kind of like the dog on Little Rascals. I had to call in sick for two days, and I got some looks the day I went back! I guess just  because it was looking better to me, it still looked pretty nasty! lol Nothing like a scarlet rash to show off my pale (deathly white) complexion! I looked like I got in a fight and lost  . . not that that would ever happen! LOL I was pretty miserable for a few days.

Now I'm back to present day, September 7, 2014 . . .

My rash is pretty much gone. There are still a couple stubborn spots. Or hell they could be age spots or zits. Who knows? I'm going to go with the rash.  Man, do I sweat after I finish a round of prednisone. That hot spell last week nearly did me in. I was sweating at the drop of a hat. Or hell it could be hot flashes I guess. I'm going to go with the prednisone thing.  I'm not good on prednisone. Temper temper temper! Is that why they call it 'roid rage?

Beautiful weather!  It's going to be in the 50's tonight! What a change from that miserable heat last week! So glad the humidity is gone.

Bernie got some medicine for his bowels. I had already been pre-warned by my friends that old people worry about their bowels (thanks Mar!), so I kind of knew it was coming. 

Bernie commented on our ride the other night, "Well well well, brother and sister sitting down at the river!" LOL  It was cute. Of course I was his sister, Norene.

I went to John's this weekend. I had fun at the Kroger mega-sale. Gosh I'm old! I did sneak out last night and get some Blue Moon Wheat Grass Ale. It was 1.2 miles to the little market round the corner by John's house. It was delicious. I'm getting all frou frou I guess. What the hell!? Miller Lite is probably missing me. Telefon is a good movie. I did not like The Possession of Michael King. We had just turned off the air and opened the windows and it was dark, and maybe there was evil lurking out there, and John kept getting startled and jumpy and he yelled  and was scaring me. It was almost bed time and I got the heebie jeebies and we had to turn it off. I do not recommend that movie! No no no! No! Telefon is a good movie, I recommend that one.  The 70's movies have really aged well. Not so much for the 2014 movies. John made the evil sound today while I was in the kitchen but I didn't fall for it! In fact he sounded like a person with allergies clearing his throat. Why that sound would scare someone in the dark I do not know!

I had to laugh at the start of one 70's movie, The Evictors, when at the beginning of the film I read that it was based on true events. That was followed up by the any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is just a coincidence language. What!? lol

Dad and I have been checking on a pheasant family on our nightly rides. The little guys were so short you couldn't seem them following their mum, you could just see the grass moving behind her. We missed them for a few rides and finally saw them again tonight and they are above the grass and beautiful! I was admiring them and Bernie says . . . "Somebody will shoot them and have a nice dinner." Sigh.

I can't tell you how many times Bernie and I have had this conversation, or some derivative thereof, during a ride, and after Bernie has admired the crops:

Bernie: "I want to come out here when they are combining . . . if I'm still around."  Bernie says this with a cute, rueful grin.
Kay/Norene: "Sure! That sounds exciting! Tell you what, if you are not alive, we'll skip it!" Chuckles from the Bern, giggles from Kay/Norene.

We have had that conversation hundreds of times!

Then the other night this is what happened:

Bernie: "Can we come out and see them combining?"
Kay/Norene: "Sure Bernie, but if you are still alive and kicking!"
Waiting for chuckles . . .
Bernie (very seriously): "That's not funny! I'm ready to go home now!"

What a hoot. I guess I'm only allowed to make my joke if Bernie opens the door with the "if I'm stll alive/around" disclaimer!

Mom and Dad go for a ride in the afternoons, and they come by work so I can wave at Dad out the window.  Well bad luck last week. Mom was about to turn the corner and some lady backed into her. No injuries, except to the car, $3080 in damages and 9 days in the shop. No fault of mom's, but what a pain in the arse. Hasn't been repaired yet, it is driveable, so it could be worse.

I leave you with my latest series, "Cats in Bags" . . .

 Kathleen :)

Reunion

It was a busy day for Bernie yesterday.  A shower, reunion, and church! I didn't take many photos, having forgotten to charge the camera. I blame my airheadedness, not age . . .

Brothers. Uncle Jim, 93, and Dad, 94. I got Dad some nonalcoholic beer and he liked it. Uncle Jim is golfing 9 holes every week.

Uncle Jim, Aunt Kay, Dad, Aunt Joan. We all missed Aunt Jean yesterday.

Dad did very well, knew a lot of the cousins by name, We had great food and weather, a spectacular day. Dad tired pretty early so we headed home so he could rest up a bit before church.

John's vegan 30 days is over tomorrow.  We had some good meals last weekend, but I wasn't really a vegan. I learned that I could NOT give up animal products and coffee at the same time, and I went to the gas station to get coffee and they had whipped cream sitting right there.

What did the cucumber say to the tomato?

You are such an ass!

Last summer concert on courthouse lawn this week. Dad loves them! Banjo Buddies got rained out last time we went, Bernie got a little wet, much to his chagrin . . . and my amusement. LOL

My sunflowers finally bloomed, and the goldfinch hurried to pluck off all the petals so they could get at the seed! LOL

Tomatoes are coming in very well, I eat a couple every day. There is zucchini too, and my self digging taters are back. I've found 3-4 in the tater bed so far. I think I need a deeper bed for my taters.

Quiet at work last week, intern is done, boss on vacation, court reporter and judge down my hallway on vacation as well. It was too quiet up there!

That's all.

Kay

Vegan Weekend

I got to John's house and this is what I found . . .

John is 11 days into a 21 day vegan detox plan. I ALMOST went down to camping today, my friends were renting a pontoon boat for the afternoon. So it was a tough decision, 3 1/2 hour drive down to pontoon, boat, lots of junky yummy  food, beer, beer beer . . . or a vegan weekend at John's house. Hmmmmm. Were it not for the long solo drive, I would have gone down to camping. So here I am at John's! We had this . . .

and I got a text from my friend Donna:

"Fricking raining! No boat! Out 50.00"

I guess I made the right decision! LOL  I'm in for the vegan weekend!

Kay

It's a Jungle Out There

Zucchini business.

Tall tall sunflowers, 11 feet and 9 feet. Maybe more!

Oh the left is Finn's a.m. sleeping box. On the right is Finn's p.m. sleeping box. In the center is Finn's (formerly Midge's) nap chair.

Super tall. Super.

I have a bazillion green tomatoes. I hope they turn soon.

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