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

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