Author: admin

. . . but one would need to stay in the cabin

Sunday, Jan 21

No CPAP – Oximetry for Jan 20: SpO2 low 83, 8 events <88% with overall avg., 90.3%. Avg. low SpO2, 87.2%. Pulse avg. 56.8, low 50. Slept 8 hrs 48 min.

I worked on the blog and dishes. John wasted the day away, as usual (his edit, not mine), after doing the normal chores.Glenn & Nancy
Replay, of a photo I forgot to include for our music time and meal at Briarwood, 1/20/18. Anne Engels is our group’s tambourine & Maraca player (on calypso songs), and this is her son, Glenn, with me after we finished playing & eating. He came by to see us (he lives there in the Apt. complex, called the Briarwood Commons). She had texted him we were there. The residents brought him over to me and I stood up and gave him a hug (always do when I see him). He was my student about 15 years ago, and has been a good friend ever since. We had a special relationship during classes, because he is hearing impaired and needed to have “Type Well” transcribers (which happened during the class lectures).
Somehow the gals managed to listen to what I was lecturing, type it, and Glenn would read it on his computer laptop screen. He had to read and also look up at things on the PowerPoint screen. I learned to watch his eyes so I didn’t point to the PowerPoint display of visuals while he was reading and not seeing it. I also had the transcribers email me the complete transcript, so I could read through it to make any corrections of terminology or phrasing that was misleading or different from what I had said. I would return those notes to them and to him, along with a CD with the PowerPoint of the day for him to have at home to see with the notes. Actually, I gave him the PowerPoint the day of the lecture.
His abilities to understand map reading and map interpretation and two GIS (Geographic Information Systems) courses, which were full of computer cartography and technical terms and knowledge, was phenomenal. He took at least 3 computer cartography courses from me that I remember, and probably other of my geography classes. I know he audited John’s and my ending in-classroom “field trip,” which was an educational wine-tasting. We team-taught that class during summers for 6 weeks, taking field trips to vineyards, wineries, and the wine-making facilities, barrel rooms, and related economic & cultural experiences via videos and slides from around the world. To this final meeting, the “type well” gals came with him, providing him the comments we were giving the class. And, he had a setting so he could also experience the tasting as well. We mostly had them sniff, swirl, view, and taste, but spit out most of the wines into containers. We had a couple of stemmed glasses for each person and we evaluated about 14 wines.
We had crackers, dried sausage, and cheese to go along and water, and one student brought a cake for our anniversary (July 12), as a complete surprise to us. We paid for the wine and supplemental food (not the students or the state). The class was a senior one (Geog 465: Wine, A Geographical Appreciation), which graduate students could also take for credit. The class has not been taught since I retired. Another two of my GIS classes (one at the sophomore level and the other at the graduate level) also have not continued being taught. End of a legacy.

Monday, Jan 22

No CPAP – Oximetry for Jan 21: SpO2 low 85, 6 events <88% with overall avg., 92.1%. Avg. low SpO2, 88.5%. Pulse avg. 55.5, low 50. Slept 7 hrs 56 min.

I worked on house chores, music planning, ate, and went to SAIL exercise class and had a good workout, but only 10 minutes of aerobic exercise. Check Wednesday this week. I returned to more computer chores and finished loading the dishwasher. John worked outside some.

Inside, John has had several old phone books and other things under his keyboard and our modem on our counter separating the den and kitchen. He cut a piece of plywood (top of a wood pallet) into an ‘ L-shaped ‘ configuration to replace the mess. Now he as a smooth flat surface (and I a sturdy spot for my coffee cup). It still needs a better top, says John. He used parchment paper as a quick fix, but has material for a better looking and softer surface. Maybe we’ll have a future picture.

Our mail brought more things to be done. John’s Crosstrek’s license tab will expire in Feb.; I’m the one who takes care of those on line. I have to do some paperwork on several other medical issues. Those are continuing.

Tuesday, Jan 23

No Oximetry to report for Jan 22. I have ceased doing it because my SpO2 has been excellent for many months, and yesterday, I received a laser burn on my finger, because I slept so hard all night I never changed it to a different finger as I usually do. One is not supposed to leave it on the same finger for > 2 hrs. Slept 8 hrs.

Snowing big time now after 10. John should have fed the horses earlier when we first got up and he fed the birds and cats.
I’m staying home today to take care of projects that have been ignored for weeks, actually months since July notification of losing the old email address.

This afternoon, I finally cut John’s hair. It took 45 minutes minus a 12-min break to cool the clippers.

On the break, I managed to send out 5 new jobs to the NW Geog. Jobs list I moderate, and I took another break to feed one of the outside cats who didn’t come this morning, and came to the window to meow his wishes. He is the most vocal of all our cats.

Wednesday, Jan 24

Going the FISH Food Bank Soup kitchen for music and on to SAIL at AAC (my FitBit recorded 31 minutes of aerobic exercise!), drove by Carole’s to pick up mics for members of the KV F&F group to attach to instruments, when we are playing outside in the Ellensburg wind (once or twice a year).

On the way to exercise, I stopped at Petsense for some pate canned cat food because we ran out. We were supposed to get it when we last were at Costco, but didn’t. It’s only 47¢/can there, and 49¢ at PS. Getting 24 in a box for $11.76.

Cheryl C. dropped off 4 plastic dinosaurs to me at the AAC for Haley to enjoy playing with and Amy to use in the preschool for a lesson on prehistoric reptiles. I took those by on my way home. They look small and light, but are rather heavy. Also, I drove by Alder St. to drop off a large coffee can to the mom of a gal on the Buy Nothing East Ellensburg/Kittitas site.

I heard tonight my months-ago plea is being fulfilled for a toboggan or sled for John to use to move a bale of hay over snow. With snow over 5 or 6 inches, the wheeled cart works not so well. A lady plans to give us a small plastic toboggan and an old child’s sled. Tomorrow I pick it up in town. The owner lives in Cle Elum, but will bring it down. We haven’t seen the sled, guess it looks like an old Radio-Flyer, or Flexible Flyer, or Yankee Clipper, or whatever. More later. John says, after he sees it, he will investigate. Thinks maybe he and Peggy had such a thing.

Thursday, Jan 25

We had an early morning call from the lady with the plastic toboggan and the sled. We arranged for her to drop them off at Seth Motors (car repair place), where we have done business since I arrived in town in 1988. We weren’t scheduled in town until 1:30 today, so she delivered and we picked it up from Chad after the music at Hearthstone.

When I turned on my computer today, I had a new screen shot, of some awesome mountains in Peru. I never knew of them, so I searched for more information to share with you all. Also known as the Rainbow Mountain, Vinicunca translates to “seven-colored mountain” in the local language (Quechua) spoken in the Cusco region of Peru.

The mountains’ colors come from mineral deposits, but they weren’t always easy to see. For years, Vinicunca was hidden under a thick layer of ice.
The first link is a story in Forbes magazine by Elizabeth Johnson, “Why You Should Climb Peru’s Rainbow Mountains Now.” [after clicking on the link below, wait a moment for it to come in]

Peru’s Rainbow Mountain

Next is a YouTube of Rainbow Mountains in Peru, caused by glacial action and the uplift of the Andes. The bedrock is granite and sandstone, and the colors are from minerals deposited in different times of the past, on the sandstone.
The video has a musical background of the long hike or trek in to see them (elevation is over 14,000′). You can hike on foot or use animals provided by tourist guides and local Peruvians. The place is higher than most people can get to and, until recently, required a multi-day hike and camping. Now it is easier, but still short of oxygen. Video

If you’d like to see more EXCELLENT pictures of the local people, sites, and animals along the walk up and what to expect when hiking Rainbow Mountain in Peru, you should visit this: LINK

John and I left a tad before 1:00 and made it to Hearthstone to setup for music, and carry in a couple of items for people there. We had a good turnout of musicians, and a large audience of appreciative residents.

While still in town, we drove by Seth Motors and picked up a plastic sled/toboggan like the blue one, with broken handles (won’t matter loading stuff on to pull over the snow).And in the earlier process, a fellow on another Free Givers site sent me the directions for making a sturdy one from a plastic barrel. I saw one (abandoned) across the road in weeds near a neighbor and asked if she wanted it. It was hers, and she gave it to us. So, if it is too narrow, she has offered she can get more, so we are going to request more. John can always use them to store water prior to a dry ditch in late summer. Tomatoes grow and produce later than, say onions and strawberries.On our way home, we picked up the plastic barrel from our neighbor, Joanie. It is bright blue!

Friday, Jan 26

I started at CWU at noon with a visit to Barge Hall for our Scholarship Luncheon meeting. I visited, ate, and left for the senior center, where I was scheduled to be the volunteer photographer at the event for this 4th Friday of the month.

It was to be an Under the Sea “Shellabration”. Most of the participants had left. I was late arriving at 12:30, but it also ended sooner than most events. I got a run down on the events of the day and a serving of egg salad they saved for me. It was served on croissant rolls (because they look like shells). I did not take a roll.

They had blank name tags for those who wanted to be a Pirate or a Mermaid. Below are the pages, with columns, for the name creations. Pick one from each column, left if you are a pirate type, or from the right form if you are mermaid.My mermaid name was Ianthe Siren of the Pearls. I guess if I used my real given initial for Lee instead of B for Brannen (the middle initial I use now), I would have been Ianthe Speaker for the Pearls.

Then we followed up with pictures of me with two staff members:
Katrina, Nancy, Elaine with props (parrot, lips, crown, beard, goggles). The attendees were able to have their photos taken in front of the wall hanging.

I stayed for our SAIL exercise class and got my workout.

Afterwards, I used the computer room for a few minutes and then drove to Super 1 to meet John, who had returned from taking 400 lbs of trash to the transfer station. The price has gone up this year; the cost was $21.41 [Fee is $103.35 + tax per ton]. That beats the pickup fee at the end of the driveway. A friend just put an extra bag out last week, and was charged an addition $5. Yikes. It must not have fit in the garbage can. Wonder if they’d left the top off, so the machine could pick up the can, if they’d have taken it without the added cost.

I drove John up to CWU campus and parked with my Emeritus parking sticker to save his paying $5 to park. (Parking lots are free after 4:30 p.m., so that works for night meetings only, not for 4:00 afternoon seminars.) I returned him to his truck afterwards, so he could rush home to feed the animals before it was totally dark. He got the mail and paper too.

Here is my documentation of the presentation.

First, is the location of the Cascade Crossroads Documentary presented in the Natural Science Seminar Series at CWU.This image, being used in poster and postcard form to advertise the Cascade Crossroads Documentary film (30 min), was designed by Daniel Cohn. In the real world, the crossing bridge will have high sides so drivers/animals will not see each other. Also, there are East & West lanes using separate tunnels under long bridges on I-90. The film shows those too.

Be sure you pull the start back to the beginning on the YouTube link below:

Traffic and Animals corridors

Also, please view that above before you watch the comments below and they will be more meaningful. The questions and answers and comments are offered by the team who put the funding, research, and construction together. The video shows lots of folks from local, State, and Federal agencies.

The following three videos I captured from the next to the back row above an aisle in front of my seat. My purpose was to give the feedback back to the researchers. I did not see anyone from the University there videotaping, and I did not have a tripod or stand up to videotape the comments. There was a row of people behind me.

I was pleased to see many of my colleagues there and a number of students involved in the research. I was at the original meeting 10 years ago (in that room), that Professor Darda mentions in his introduction. Jason Smith was a Geography grad working then at WSDOT Environmental Management in Union Gap, WA.

(1) Introduction by David Darda, CWU Prof Biology
LINK A

(2) The film trailer with all involved in the documentary
LINK B

(3) This video consists of comments and Q&A part of the program and lasts 22 minutes. It was a discussion about the documentary with questions from the audience of all the representatives there who were previously introduced, mentioned in the film, or associated with the project and there in person.
LINK C

I drove John back to his truck, so he could get home before dark to feed the animals, and I continued on down to Burger King for the special price on two Crispy Chicken sandwiches so he wouldn’t have to cook dinner, and with it we shared the rest of the egg salad from the AAC I bought home in my own container.

We weren’t home until dark, and there was a message waiting from the Yakima Heart Center at 4:40 (late on a Friday), to return a call to the scheduler. I have no clue what is being scheduled. Maybe it is a meeting with the new Cardiologist I’m being assigned to, but I cannot find out until Monday. I want to research the one I’m assigned to before I meet with him or her. I met about 10 of them while in the ICU (Yakima Regional Hospital in 2009; I prefer an MD who knew me then).

Saturday, Jan 27

One of the coolest things that happened in my preparation for attending the Natural Science Seminar, was seeing so many of my former colleagues and students at CWU in the Cascades Crossroads documentary. Then yesterday to be there and see Aja Woodrow in person during and at the end, made it even more special. He and his wife Helen Lau, work for the forest service and were instrumental in the wildlife biology research for the documentary. Aja (pronounced ‘Asia’) and Helen were both students in my Intermediate GIS class, back in the day. I remember the class, the largest enrollment I ever had. So large, we had to have three computer labs scheduled to cover the hands-on learning, in addition to the lecture in a very large lecture room in the computer science building.

This morning I uploaded the videos from yesterday.

I searched for more information on an image in the documentary, of a wolverine climbing a structure. I learned that is a Run-Pole Station, used to capture hair (coat) to determine their DNA. My former student Aja, now a Wildlife Biologist with the Forest Service, and his wife Helen is a Zoologist with the FS in Cle Elum. She is a regular contributor to the jobs list serve I manage. I found these references below, and will stop my research now, so I can complete this week’s blog and get on the things I very much need to do, such as receipt filing and income tax preparation. I need to stay home long enough to carry through on cleaning and organization chores that don’t get done while I’m running all over town to activities.

Here is something else for you to see for background to the wildlife studies happening for the I-90 crossovers and crossunders. Top, Aja walking away from a set run-pole (meat from road-killed animals); bottom a visit from a wolverine is captured on camera. See the article for the reason for the camera picture of the face coloration for identity.

One last informative article before I leave this topic:

Wolverines Recolonizing in the Washington Cascades (presentation by Aja Woodrow, March 2016)

Wolverines

Read the article below for a description of the run-pole setup to gain information about the wolverines in the local region, through an interview with Aja Woodrow.

Research methods

As an ending note, we, as Geographers, choose to include an interesting article on Paris –
It is Flooding, Again & Again, & …

Rain and the Paris Basin

We had sad news this week. Nephew Eric called with information that his Dad, John’s older brother, died. He was 85. More later. Our best to wife Kit, and the entire family.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

If you have never heard of the “January Thaw” you can either look it up on the Internet, or note the forecast high in Pittsburgh, PA for Monday, Jan. 22 is 62°F. It was 31 degrees cooler on Friday – just below freezing.

Monday, Jan 15

No CPAP – Oximetry for Jan 7: SpO2 low 86, 2 events <88% with overall avg., 93.5%. Avg. low SpO2, 90.9%. Pulse avg. 53.0, low 50. Slept 7 hrs 6 min.

We uncovered a bunch of magazines with pictures of people (looking for different cultures) for a teacher’s pre-preschool children’s classroom (2-3 yr olds). We’ll drop them off tomorrow when we are in town running errands. {John says, I remember zero from when I was 2, and near zero from 3. I think the big learning experience was how to spit.}

I received an early morning medical message from the Yakima Memorial Physician’s Portal telling me to login for an important message. Figuring it was a response about my change in cardiologists, I tried to gain access. I spent an hour trying to access the system, because I had my username, but not my password.
Once I finally got on, it was unnecessary information about washing hands to keep away flu bug germs, and other obvious things. I requested to be off that part of the portal information, and only to receive notifications for important appointments or decisions.

I received a SCAM call about my computer sending messages, and Microsoft “tech support” would help. I hung up, and looked up the number and found that it was a Fake call – mine came from John Regehr (showed on Caller ID) from number 587-775-0448. I normally do not answer when the caller ID displays a number or name I do not recognize. However, I was awaiting a phone call from the Yakima Memorial Physician’s Portal staff at that time, so I just picked up the phone without looking at the caller ID and answered, “Hello there.” There was a slight delay, robot call, which should have alerted me it was not the Yakima office person I just talked with at Memorial Hospital. First, the caller asked a question which required a YES answer, but I know not to do that, so I said no.

I’m invited to a baby shower this coming Saturday. I received a request on email from the hostess asking me to bring a photo of me as a baby, preferably one under 6 months of age. I have no idea where my baby book is packed away, and is probably in stuff moved back from my mother’s apartment in 1977 to Idaho, some still packed in boxes never opened and stored in our garage here. Most of the furniture made it into this house, but it is too small for all, so some is still out there. It was a moving van full that ended up in our basement in Troy, ID.

However, in 2011, I went to my high school 50th reunion, and remembered that I made a web page of my grade school days to add a photograph one of my high school buddies brought to the reunion, to show those of us she’d known in the Cherub Choir when we were photographed. Our ages were 2.5 – 5. We found five from our high school graduating class, and I identified them, in addition to all the others we knew. Here is the photo. See if you can find me.I was likely 3-4 yrs old in this picture, of the Cherub Choir at First Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA (downtown). Ages were from 2.5 to 5 yrs. Interestingly, all 5 people who were graduated from the same high school (North Fulton High) are in the same row, of the five rows. One of the 5 brought the photo for us to see. When I got home I asked her to scan and send to me, so I could put in the write-up web page I was making on our 50th high school reunion. That’s the last one I will make it to. I have stopped flying.

Many moons ago John bought a large can of peaches, in case the bridge went out, or something. He looked at the label and August of this year was its best-by date. Still he decide to open and start using them. Late this evening, he made a peach cobbler, actually he filled two aluminum pans we get pasta meals in at Costco. Base of the cobbler was a lemon cake, with cinnamon on top. He cut one into pieces and froze them. The other we ate – it was very good.

That afternoon, I went to SAIL exercise class for a good workout.

Tuesday, Jan 16

No CPAP – Oximetry for Jan 15: SpO2 low 84, 7 events <88% with overall avg., 91.6%. Avg. low SpO2, 89.4 %. Pulse avg. 55.7, low 51. Slept 8 hrs 3 min.

I talked directly to the County Auditor this morning (I know him), and found that the fee I mentioned last week is not out of line. His office has to charge $73 for the first page and something for each additional page to ‘reconvey’ [we never had it so why the “re”?] the deed into our name from the lien put on by the bank 30 yrs ago. He also told me to contact the Treasurer’s Office the end of February to set up the property tax bill coming to us in April and October. So ends one monthly payment, after 30 years. Another follows.

I spent time on phone with arranging to pay for our long term care policy. However, it is going to work and they are sending me the paperwork to allow them to have it taken out of our checking account, automatically. That will be a lot of time saved on doing it by phone (going through a robot with security questions and non-responsiveness of the system), and will circumvent writing a check and mailing it. This company is losing money on this aspect of insurance, but it is gaining on the issue. Some other companies are out of business. This one is teaming up with a company from China that wants to introduce the business there. Thus there is an infusion of capital that should carry our provider through these tough years.

I had to spend a bunch of time with online banking to re-enable my account. I have been on wait forever. Stayed there, but finally got help and now am back on board. It allowed me to check my bank balance to be sure nothing would bounce of the withdrawals I made on-line today. Somehow my account I have easily checked regularly was disabled by the system from incorrect passwords submitted.

We plan to leave our house about 12:30 to make it to all the stops in town. The first stop was near the airport to leave a package of our already read Wall St. Journals, for the business student. We run this errand about 3 times a month. Repurpose them for her education — what’s not to like. We delivered bread to a visually impaired woman who cannot drive to the Food Bank bread room. She gave me a large flower vase (I donated to the senior center so that we and others can take in flowers and they’ll have receptacles for them), and a blouse with zebra stripes I may wear to a special event there that is wildlife safari-related, or something zoo-like. This week is an event about “under the sea”. The center keeps coming up with interesting topics for events.

We stopped at the bank, but the person I intended to talk with was still busy with another person, so we left and returned. Went by Safeway to get our refund of $ improperly charged for items we bought last week. (I had called it in, and had the ad and receipt.) Their receipts are so confusing, it makes it difficult to check and I wonder how many times no one looks, and they keep the money. This is the 3rd time it has happened to us, on sale items, and on different products. We don’t frequent that store often, mainly for marked down items. We picked up a few things while there, and went by to drop off the magazines with people pictures before returning to the bank about our house mortgage payoff.

Once at the bank, we sat again for a few minutes waiting for the person to finish with another customer. I was approached by a woman who asked if I was Nancy. She is the new manager of this local branch, and had heard my story from her employee with whom I had made our original appointment. She invited us to her desk so that she could take care of the transaction. There is no one there now that worked there when we started. One early clerk has become, 20 years later, our dental hygienist. So Jamie, the manager, is our new contact at our bank.

That was a good experience. She processed the paperwork, and obtained a Certified Check for the ending amount necessary to finalize the mortgage. I signed the papers (one signature was all right). She made copies for us, and I requested an envelope, so I could put it in, and asked that she put in their mail to the Umpqua office in Spokane, where the mortgage stuff resides. She said they did not have a courier service, and it would just go by the U. S. postal service. So, I asked for a stamp to have her put in their outgoing mail tomorrow. She obliged, we said thanks, and left.

Our next trip was by my dental office to pick up the special fluoride treatment toothpaste (prescription required). It’s called Prevident 5000. It cost $15. I asked for a receipt for potential future reimbursement by my medical insurance (Kaiser Permanente), but to have them pay for it, I first have to make an appointment regarding a new prescription, to visit my PCP, and if he finds it medically necessary, he can send the referral for it to Kaiser that will cover it through the dental office in the future. A teeth cleaning in 2009 is what began my experience with endocarditis and a 1st visit with cardiologist Kim, and then on to my heart valve replacement. Therefore, the fewer times I have to go in for dental work, the better are my odds of safety. I believe I can make a good argument for the medical need in my case history. I bought this container, and plan to use it for the next 4 months until my next cleaning, to see if an obvious improvement has occurred. Then I will make my appointment with my PCP for a visit. He is in Cle Elum, so the visit is time-consuming to us and snowfall makes it worse for travel. Perhaps I should get the appointment now for better weather to have the process begun, in April.

We went by Bi-Mart to check our number, but did not win anything. On the way home, we stopped at Knudson’s to spend $11 in coupons, including $6 from my trip to the Ladies Night Out promotion back in December, where I obtained $5 for a gift donation to the Community Christmas Gift program, and a $ for my purchase of nails for John, while I was there. I came out ahead with a nice pink Knudson’s shopping bag. Five $ of the coupon was sent to John for his birthday! We bought an additional $16 worth of common nails in sizes we did not have.

Wednesday, Jan 17

No CPAP – Oximetry for Jan 16: SpO2 low 86, 1 events <88% with overall avg., 93.0%. Avg. low SpO2, 91.0%. Pulse avg. 53.2, low 49. Slept 8 hrs 14 min.

I got my salad ready to go to town for music at the food bank soup kitchen. While there, I learned of a way to hard-cook eggs, so I have to find our muffin baking pan to give it a try. Folks write “hard boil” but that’s now what you do to them. You bake them until they are hard. Perhaps I should have tried before printing the recipe below, but I’ll try it at the lower temp & minutes with only a couple of eggs.

“Hard boil” eggs easily and the shells come off easier too
(from Peggy Coble and recommended by Kevin)

Preheat oven to 350°.
Put eggs in muffin pan.
In oven for ½ hour.
Remove to ice water.
(I checked on the Pinterest site and they say 325° for 25 min.)

This picture is cool and came over Facebook to my account there. It’s from Audra Levine-Fuller who is my friend and professional nutritionist helper that volunteered for my weight loss (& inches) advice and weigh-ins/measurings. She also gave John the sweatpants he needed a couple years ago for his operation (to have loose fitting clothes, requested by the surgeon). Her dad died and her family inherited Penny. She posted this of them doing cardio together. I thought this was a neat photo I would share. It looks as if her dad is also using a smart phone.

After the Food Bank music and meal, I went to my SAIL exercise class. There I recorded 23 minutes of cardio exercise minutes on my FitBit. For this day, I walked 2.02 miles and burned 1,860 calories.

From there, I rushed home to drop off my violin and drove a mile over to my neighbor for a much needed haircut. I had cancelled the last one the end of December because it conflicted with the only available appointment with the Endocrinologist in Wenatchee.

Thursday, Jan 18

No CPAP – Oximetry for Jan 17: SpO2 low 84, 8 events <88% with overall avg., 91.1%. Avg. low SpO2, 89.6%. Pulse avg. 53.2, low 50. Slept 8 hrs 28 min.

I managed to do a load of dishes before leaving for music at Pacifica. The weather was nice, so John stayed home to work outside. We needed all 12 chairs, but they have done away with the Coca-Cola room and put all the stuff in storage with the chairs. They replaced them with very short and extremely uncomfortable metal chairs with no cushioning. I’m going to have to add carrying a pillow in with my violin, music for me and two other players, and for the audience.

Went to Audubon meeting for a talk on Forest Health from a WA Fish & Game forester. Animals are the main concern of this agency, not trees, so it was interesting to hear their “take” on the issues. We have been in some of the areas on horses, and John has hiked some.

I took 2 duck prints (borders suitable for framing) I got from the senior center’s free/discard table and my guess is they were sent to someone that gave a donation to Ducks Unlimited. John thought it might make a nice gift to give to one of the volunteers. So, we gave them to the President. She thought it was a super idea.

We picked up Burger King meals on our way home, and got enough food for two days for the both of us, for the price of one. One was a complete meal that was free, so we just bought two additional sandwiches (different type, crispy chicken) at a half price special.

Friday, Jan 19

No CPAP – Oximetry for Jan 18: SpO2 low 86, 2 events <88% with overall avg., 92.8%. Avg. low SpO2, 89.8%. Pulse avg. 55.8, low 51. Slept 7 hrs 55 min.

Awakened at 8:00 a.m. by a phone call from the hospital about a message I left on voice mail during working hours yesterday. I think no one was taught as I, by my mom, not to call anyone before 9:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. I can understand robot calls (which we got earlier this week), but not personal ones. Maybe I’m showing my Southern Upbringing, or my age.

We are scheduled to go at 5:00 to The Palace Café, where they have John’s birthday card notification at the desk front. We met our friends Linda and Bill Weir there, had a leisurely dinner and visit (hadn’t seen them in several months), and then we left for the CWU campus. We made it to CWU by check-in time, met our neighbors (to whom we had printed and previously given free tickets required to get in), and we checked in together (the tickets were all in my name at the desk at the entry).

We were there to attend Nick Zentner’s premiere showing of the Second Series of videos titled, Nick on the Rocks at the Student Union Recreation Center Theater, which has a capacity of 324. They offered free admission, but one had to print out their tickets or reserve them to be picked up that evening. First showing of these is on two local PBS stations but they are not exclusively there.

If you follow this link: Nick Premiere — you’ll see the animation that precedes each video, and the list of the PBS episodes in the “Nick on the Rocks” for Season II, and also the opportunity we had to reserve & print the tickets.
Link below, but first . . .
I got an “unsafe error” once for this, so just shut it down. Yesterday, I was able to access it fine, but I need to shut down my Chrome and restart to see if that will eliminate the problem.
Just beware, that might happen to you. I’m not willing to shut down until I preserve all the stuff I have on my Google Chrome.
Here is a link which will take you to the videos described above:
Nick on KCTS9
John was able to reach it today without any issues.
Regardless, you have all the content for them below in my videography from the evening, in addition to the comments from the audience that night. Nick Zentner (Geological Sciences) introduced the episodes and hosted a dialogue after each with comments and questions from the audience.

If you are on the PBS site, (they are supposedly available on YouTube as well, but I have not checked), go separately to each one. They all have the same intro, but each tells a different story. At the Premiere, a few of them had the intro removed (for time). The order is also different on their site than it was during the CWU Premiere.Photo from the Premiere evening at CWU, Nick Zentner

Videos – below are mine from the Premiere evening in Ellensburg. I tried for the most part to record the Q&A and comments at the end of each episode on each video, along with Nick’s introduction to the next video.

1-Intro to the Evening & PBS: Lake Chelan — Battle of the Ice Sheets (with Chris Mattinson)
Tongues of ice dig trenches

2-The Seattle Fault (with Sandi Doughton)
The Seattle Fault, discovered in the 1990s, runs directly beneath downtown and out to Bainbridge Island.
Look out Seattle

3-Chasing Ancient Rivers (with Steve Reidel)
The Columbia River had many different paths throughout its history, as did other major rivers in the state (particularly, the Yakima and Salmon Rivers).
Really old rivers; older than the hills

4-Ancient Cascade Volcanoes (with Daryl Gusey)
Ancient volcanoes have been identified where Mt. Rainier-like volcanoes once stood, but now are eroded and gone caused by glacial action.
Long gone volcanoes

5-Bridge of the Gods [Bonneville Landslide] (with Jim O’Connor)
When did a mountain in WA state split and slide to Oregon in the Columbia River Gorge? Why, and will it happen again?
Jim O’Connor is a research Geologist with the US Geological Survey based in Portland, with the Geology, Minerals, Energy, & Geophysics Science Center.
Bridge of the Gods landslide

6-Columns of Basalt Lava
Spectacular rock columns are on display throughout the deserts of Eastern Washington. How do these stone pillars form? How old are they?
Basalt columns

Saturday, Jan 20

No CPAP – Oximetry for Jan 19: SpO2 low 83, 4 events <88% with overall avg., 92.6%. Avg. low SpO2, 90.3%. Pulse avg. 53.1, low 49. Slept 7 hrs 40 min.

I attended a morning (10:30) baby shower, and it was fun. We started with a counter-top of fruit (grapes, cut oranges), caramel popcorn, poppy seed muffins, the best pear cobbler, and hot beverages. Then we played a game with the photographs people brought of themselves at a much younger age. I picked one in a cute bunny suit, with big eyes. I knew 3 others there, and ironically, the cute pink bunny was my friend Amy. I matched her correctly. The next part was Laina’s unwrapping the gifts. That was a learning experience, because there are so many more baby things on the market than were available when I was babysitting years ago. A friend there with a 4 year old, said many were new to her as well. The picture of me I took to the shower was snipped from the photo above of the Cherub Choir.
So, did you find me in the photo above?

From there I stayed in town, because John wrapped my violin in two coats to slow any temperature change while I went to the party. We weren’t expected to play music at Briarwood until 1:30. I had an hour to kill, so I ran errands, and filled my car with gasoline. Our local price is just under $3. This was the nicest day for the next week, so I’m truly glad I did. I spent a bunch of time in my car reading the manual and trying to reset the clock on my dash. Problem occurred a few days ago, when we came home in the dark, and apparently, I turned on the inside light and did not turn it off. John found the dead battery and recharged before we had to use the car. When the battery dies, all the settings go with it. I still have not figured how to do it.

At Briarwood, we had 10 people show up to provide music, and a full house (audience). They always feed us, and yesterday on the menu was potato soup, hot apple cider, cornbread, oyster crackers, Jell-O with fruit salad, chicken salad sandwiches, which I didn’t have because of the large size of the bun. I made up for it by having one whole piece of dessert and ½ of another. I brought half of the apple cobbler home to John, and a full piece of the other that I had had one of. I don’t know what it is called, but it had a crust, with strawberries, bananas, pineapple, whipped cream, and chocolate sauced dribbled on it. I told John it could be called a Sundae Cake, but it didn’t have any ice cream with it (as in an ice cream sundae). CHANGE THAT THOUGHT… rename the actual name: Banana Split Cake. I found recipes on line and this was the closest pix yet not exactly the same. Rather than pudding, ours had Cool Whip, over the graham cracker crust, and no cherries or nuts on top. It is a no bake cake.The left looks as if it is pudding on the bottom layer, but ours looked more like the one on the right, without the nuts and cherry, but instead, the fresh fruit throughout (+ crushed pineapple).

By the time I got home, I had been away from home for 7 hours, so I was bushed.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

Sunday, Jan 7

No CPAP – Oximetry for Jan 7: SpO2 low 83, 9 events <88% with overall avg., 91.3%. Avg. low SpO2, 88.7%. Pulse avg. 53.8, low 47. Slept 8 hrs 24 min.

This morning, I got the photos to Google to send to the AAC about the event on 1-5-18, Jeopardy & Scrabble games day with lunch. I started working on dishes, and it took me until very late afternoon to be able to start the dishwasher.

I printed 19 copies of a back to back page for the last two songs of our Jan-Feb music to add to the audience copies. Now just need to get John to staple them onto the current booklet. Then I have to arrange the music for my book, and for Charlie & Gerald’s book, and reach Maury by phone to check his music (and the 3 changes from 2017 Jan). Neither Gerald or Maury have a computer or access to email.

We posted the blog at 3:44 p.m.

We celebrated with a piece of chocolate cake, following our lunch (sausage, eggs, peaches, and cheese toast).

Late afternoon, Jeri Conklin on Facebook posted a set of photos of our co-owned Brittany, Cedaridge Kip’s Camelot Shay Tre’ JH (call name, Daisy). She is only one “leg” away from an AKC Senior Hunter (SH), with SH title to add to her name. The photos were taken during a training session this morning, which included two honors, a stop-to-flush, a point, and a retrieve to hand (pigeon). Jeri was the handler, and hubby Kurt, the photographer.Daisy – all 4 feet off the ground running; & Finn (brace mate) too.Daisy on her 1st honor on the point of her Weimaraner brace mate, and her 2nd honor with Jeri. Jeri’s just kneeling with her hand on her hip, watching. The handler cannot talk to or touch the dog stopped on an honor. Daisy on point brought a comment on Facebook (“very nice photo!”) from David A. Simons, from La Puente, CA, who connects to her through his dog he raised as a teenager, FC Simons Ruff-Shod O’dee. He asked after seeing this photo if he was in her pedigree. Yes, he definitely is (on the sire and dam).

Ruff was born 8-28-74 (which coincides with our move from Iowa to Idaho). He achieved his Derby points in the field with David handling (Derby dog competition goes to 2 years of age). That trial was held at Las Flores Ranch in southern California. David and his son, Jurgen, with Cody, his retriever from the Simons breedings.

Ours and Daisy’s connections to David is via Ruffy (the name we called him). We moved from Iowa to Idaho with 2 cats and a Brittany, Lovely Wistful Lady (Wisty, named for her wistful eyes). That year, we joined the Inland Empire Brittany Club (newly forming regional club with AKC) based in Spokane, WA, 90 miles from Troy, ID, where we lived. Through the IEBC, we met a field trainer, Dan Richmond. On Dan’s string was Ruff. John ran him in Amateur events, and we bred to him starting in the 1980s. When he was 9 yrs old, we bought him from another owner (after David).
I showed him because his conformation was excellent and he should have been a Dual Ch (field and show). I went on the Montana circuit with Carol Pochardt with Ruffy and others of our dogs and managed to get a bunch of reserves (2nd place, no points) because his teeth were quite worn (nothing wrong with the position of his bite). Judges didn’t like it, however. While he had show placements (and points) in his younger days, he never finished the Ch. But, he produced many Duals when bred to our Dual Ch. Sirius Sashay (born in 1978). Their breedings created Brittanys with excellent temperament, conformation, and hunting abilities. One owner of more Duals in that family than any other, is Michele Pelle. She still has semen stored from her DC/AFC MC’s Brett Jared O’dee from Shay & Ruffy. Simons dog is on both sides of Daisy’s pedigree.

Carol Pochardt, mentioned above, lived in Moscow, ID (13 miles from Troy) at the time, and she took Ruffy through Shoot-to-Retrieve trials, for many wins, and he competed in the Western Regionals in Oregon, with a friend from WA who handled GSPs. Ruffy had a nice long life and made it to Ellensburg, WA with us. He lived for 2 more years to almost 17, and was in good health and still hunting (and seeing and hearing), whereas Shay lost her hearing, but not her scenting abilities.

By the way, the Tre’ at the end of Daisy’s name is because she was the third Shay named thusly in our Cedaridge lines. Daisy-Stop to flush before another bird found (from her point above) with a retrieve to hand (pigeon).

Monday, Jan 8

No CPAP – Oximetry for Jan 7: SpO2 low 83, 8 events <88% with overall avg., 92.9%. Avg. low SpO2, 90.4%. Pulse avg. 53.5, low 50. Slept 8 hrs 35 min.

I called Larry at Safeway Pharmacy about Stephen’s selling me two bottles of 100 mg Allopurinal, for $26.54 each. I put the one for 90 tablets on the counter, but I had the 180 in my pocketbook from my last purchase there. I just looked it up again, and found for 180, the GoodRX price is $24.30. That was approved by Larry 3 months ago when a clerk did not want to honor the Discount Drug Card. So, theoretically I was affected twice this time, and accepted the extra bottle (I had only ordered ONE), but both were there. I have not opened them, and realize I cannot bring them back. I asked him if I could have difference returned in cash or credited to my credit card. He agreed, and a few days later, I received cash for this calculation: $26.54 – 24. 30 * 2 = $4.24. It pays to stay on top of all medical charges (including doctor visits), and whether the insurance was billed properly.

I went to SAIL today, and did some other things. It was supposed to snow today, but didn’t. I hope it doesn’t decide to, tomorrow.

I contacted Umpqua about ending the mortgage payments in Feb., but got nowhere, except probably it will just happen in February and quit being taken out of our checking account. We’ll later have to arrange with the Assessor’s Office how to pay the taxes, or just get them and pay them when the bill comes. It has been going into escrow and taken care of. End of story happened later with a postal notification from the bank, about the reconveyance fee of $106.61 to reconvey the ownership to our name, when the mortgage is paid. We have 30 days to get a certified check to the Spokane office to finish the procedure.

I checked on line and found this: The reconveyance fees will vary according to the state that you are in, but they are currently in the range of $50 to $65. They do receive upgrades every once in a while, but there is no defined schedule as to when these fees are assessed or changed. Your lender or lawyer may charge a slight premium for the convenience of paying the county registrar on your behalf. You can check with your local municipality to see what the state charges if you think that you are being overcharged by your liaison.

Also, Obtaining a Reconveyance When a Mortgage is Paid Off
In the state of Washington, when you pay off a mortgage, the lender must issue a deed of full reconveyance on the trust deed that secured the mortgage. The reconveyance deed is a recorded document that eliminates the lien that was recorded on the property. After the reconveyance is recorded by the lender, the property does not have any deeds of trust and is considered “free and clear.” The county recorder sends you the reconveyance after it has been recorded. After you pay off a mortgage in the state of Washington, your lender is required to issue a deed of reconveyance within 30 days of receiving the payoff. This shows that your property is free of encumbrances.

I plan to call the Assessor’s office to see what the charge for a reconveyance fee is for our county.

Check all medications to see what Costco will charge for them after finding out we can use the GoodRx price there.

I started tonight with John’s Tamsulin which is ready to run out and found that for the past 3 months we’ve paid $15.20/30 capsules. At Costco, we can get 90 capsules for $20.18. WOW!
His HydrocholoroThiazide 12.5 tab for 90 is actually cheaper at Super 1, so I will just keep a watch on all our meds. My Allopurinol 100 for 180 tabs at Safeway is $24.30 & at Costco $22.81, but at Costco, the added value is we get 2% back on all purchases there!

Here’s a happy note to add to our blog; check out the video below: Dog sledding reminds me of our old dog, Tailwind Talisman (Brittany), carrying a tennis ball up a flight of stairs, dropping it, and retrieving over and over again (in our Troy, Idaho house).

Fun on the snow [~80 seconds ]

Tuesday, Jan 9

No CPAP – Oximetry for Jan 8: SpO2 low 84, 7 events <88% with overall avg., 90.3%. Avg. low SpO2, 88.1%. Pulse avg. 54.0, low 50. Slept 8 hrs 23 min.

I dropped by the Historical Museum and paid our membership, and received this quarter’s Newsletter. On it is the list of talks, and we will go to several of them: Nick Zentner (geology), Allen Aronica (native Kittitas Indians), and Kelsey Doncaster (local history). I have put those on the desktop calendar hung on our kitchen wall. Nick’s is first, March 29. Allen lives near us, and plows our drive as needed, and we share things. Kelsey was my student.

Today was the first day of ballroom dancing instruction at the senior center (Ellensburg Adult Activity Center). You can see the rest of the people participating in the videos below, except for me, the videographer. I did practice some of the steps with the teacher (from CWU, Adam Meyers) and with my friend Evelyn (not in the pix above), but in the videos.

Video Jan 9 Ballroom Dancing Part 1

Jan 9 Ballroom Dancing – Fox Trot & Music Part 2

Wednesday, Jan 10

No CPAP – Oximetry for Jan 9: SpO2 low 85, 4 events <88% with overall avg., 91.6%. Avg. low SpO2, 89.6%. Pulse avg. 54.6, low 50. Slept 7 hrs 41 min.

Food bank, SAIL, and go by the Gym for Klaire (a probiotic).

I took my Amoxicillin at 2:00 p.m. during the middle of my exercise class in preparation for going at 3:00 for dental cleaning by Tracy. I received a nice report. Now to get insurance to pay for special prescription for fluride added toothpaste.

I paid my dues on line for the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers (APCG) retired rate, but it showed me my extra donation I normally make, but did not tally it into my total paid, so I was only charged $15. I guess it’s okay, as I won’t be attending the conference and luncheon I used to attend in past years to honor the women’s recipients of scholarships. Others in the profession still teaching and receiving part of the costs for attending conferences can pick up the slack. This year’s meeting is farther away than I want to drive, in Chico, CA. I did attend a meeting once when it was held in Olympia, WA a couple years ago.

Thursday, Jan 11

No CPAP – Oximetry for Jan 10: SpO2 low 85, 5 events <88% with overall avg., 93.2%. Avg. low SpO2, 90.7%. Pulse avg. 52.9, low 47. Slept 7 hrs 45 min.

We awoke to 5” of snow!

I called Cle Elum KVH office to request a refill for John’s Tamsulosin 0.4mg capsule for 90 to go to a different place (Costco Pharmacy in Union Gap). Costco’s price is $6.73/mo.

I completed washing dishes this morning. Weather is nasty. John went along with me to EBRG to help with the set-up and take down of chairs, and music. He reads in an adjacent room, but can still hear our wonderful music.

We had an amazing amount of people there today, 14 (Nancy, Gerald, Charlie, Minerva, Tim & Roberta, Maury, Kevin, Dean, Anne, Manord, Laina, Amy & Haley). We sounded pretty good today and had a very appreciative audience (as usual). Haley (our 4 yr. old mascot) charmed them at the end, with singing, Hey! Good Lookin’.

I got so busy with the snow and John and going to Safeway for some good sale prices that I forgot to go by my dentist’s office to pick up my prescription toothpaste they recommended to me. Now I have to wait until Tuesday after Monday’s MLK day. Oddly, CWU takes Monday as a holiday, and so has activities on Thursday the week before. Many, if not most, of the students here are from Puget Sound area and go home on weekends and, especially, for 3-day weekends.  

We went to Bi-Mart after playing, because John saw in their newspaper flyer they had sunflower seeds for $6.00 off. With all the birds coming in daily and depending on us, we loaded up. I got some gel for my eyes (severe dryness prevention), some Fisherman Friends cough lozenges, plus many wire holders for Christmas ornaments (for a dime). I hope to use them to add extra silver bells to my bell wreath, which we use for keeping time to the music during December. Picture was in previous blog.

I wore my boots with a big flat sole and rubber bottoms, and really needed then in the parking lots where we stopped. I also needed them to get to and from my vehicle, at home, even with all John’s shoveling this morning.

Friday, Jan 12

No CPAP – Oximetry for Jan 11: SpO2 low 85, 4 events <88% with overall avg., 92.7%. Avg. low SpO2, 89.8%. Pulse avg. 53.7, low 49. Slept 8 hrs 40 min.

I called Cle Elum to see if the prescription for John made it to Costco. We were going in either case, but yes, it’s there.

We went to Costco to pick up my glasses and get some meds for John, at an incredible savings over Super 1 pharmacy. $15.20 there for 30 days supply and at Costco, where it’s $20.18 for 90 tablets!!! (through a GoodRX coupon). The only place in Ellensburg, honoring that is Safeway, and it is higher priced there.

We’re back from Costco, with good news. I have my new replacement glasses, the right eye still is not corrected to the same strength as the left, but it is a little better than it was. It may well be that that right eye will have to have its film removed with a laser, but thus far, it is not blurring yet, as the left eye did, and had to be lasered Oct 30. So, I will wait, patiently. I was given new eyeglass holders that can be folded up (easy to put in a shirt pocket), and, when one is done using them, one can return the glasses into the protective case. I guess you could call them a collapsible eyeglass case. I’ll have made a collage to show the concept, in case you are a reader who has never experienced such cases for eyeglasses. I had never seen one. Mine are black, but I chose to find some colorful images on the web to use for a demo picture. Also my eyeglass frames are much nicer and daintier than the one pictured. My lenses do not have a frame completely around them but sit on my nose piece with only the top and sides as part of the frame.

John’s year old glasses are covered with fine scratches, so while there, we also checked on the cost of lens only, if John wished to replace his. The Mt. Rainier trail was especially rocky and dusty (workers made more dust) and John was there over a dozen times last summer. The standard “wipe on your shirt tail” procedure is a poor choice in all the grit. Even lenses-only are a little pricey at $160, and the clerk said the company might reject the frame too, and you’d have to buy another. We were hoping they could remove the protective film from the glasses, but apparently that is not an option there. Ten years ago our local provider did this, but we don’t know if the current glasses are made in a different manner. They are from Costco Optical.

Saturday, Jan 13

No CPAP – Oximetry for Jan 12: SpO2 low 84, 8 events <88% with overall avg., 92.9%. Avg. low SpO2, 90.6%. Pulse avg. 52.8, low 50. Slept 8 hrs 23 min.

I’m trying to figure how to attend a wedding Mar 10, in Vancouver, WA, that requires at least a one night stay.
We spent an hour before brunch taking all the meat off the rotisserie chicken we brought home yesterday. We packaged up enough chunks of white meat to add to salads for a month or so of Wednesday lunches that I carry to the Food Bank, every Wednesday. The rest we nibbled on while working, and some will go into a pan to cook to remove the fat, use the broth, and have some base for casseroles.

Sunday, Jan 14

No CPAP – Oximetry for Jan 13: SpO2 low 86, 2 events <88% with overall avg., 92.8%. Avg. low SpO2, 90.1%. Pulse avg. 54.2, low 50. Slept 8 hrs 43 min.

Morning started with dishes cleanup, animal feedings, email review, overnight news and oximetry review and capture, checking weather (we had a bright spot of sun on the hill behind us, but no longer). It’s going to be another dreary overcast drippy roof snow-melting day and week. Some of the ice on the back patio concrete melted a little and John was able to remove. Temperature is 37°, misty, with only 1.5 mile visibility. When we awoke it was 4° in the town where John was born, Brookville, PA, and where his cousin almost 100 yrs and her daughter live (in separate houses).

Phew. After making lunch, John’s been working on outside chores and me inside, plus trying to finish this week’s blog to get out tonight. I just finished loading the dishwasher I had started yesterday.

Finishing up the blog and ready to turn it over to John, for editing and putting onto WordPress, but he is also busy fixing baked chicken thighs for supper.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

Monday, Jan 1 Happy NEW YEAR! & Super Moon Seattle’s view of the super moon with the Smith Tower in the center. That is the > 100 year old building my grandfather, John Benjamin Wilkins worked as a carpenter, lived in West Seattle, and began raising 3 children there. My mom was the youngest born in 1914. Then they returned to GA and raised 5 more children.

No CPAP – Oximetry for Dec 31: SpO2 low 82, 3 events <88% with overall avg., 92.5%. Avg. low SpO2 90.7%. Pulse avg. 57.4, low 50. Slept 8 hrs 18 min.

We spent the day on chores and the blog. Late getting it published, but we did… after 10 o’clock PM.

Tuesday, Jan 2

No CPAP – Oximetry for Jan 1: SpO2 low 85, 5 events <88% with overall avg., 93.5%. Avg. low SpO2, 90.7%. Pulse avg. 57.4, low 52. Slept 8 hrs 38 min.

My exercise class was cancelled today, so I did not go to town, for pharmacy items. I have much catching up to do on our Jan/Feb music for our Fiddlers & Friends group. I succeeded in finalizing the playlist, but will need only to run 19 copies, back to back of two pages, and attach to the audience copies from last year. Saves a trip to town and just costs a little for printing and only a few pages of paper.

I called Fairpoint customer service and they changed our email address to the new joint one, so we will receive our bill monthly via the G-mail account. It had been going to the old one that has faded into the Aether. While the neighbors were making noise late Dec. 31st, we lost contact with that old friend. So sad.(John says: “Since the heads up way last summer, Nancy has notified hundreds of people and sites to make the change. 3 cheers for her.”

I wrote an email to my previous cardiologist’s nurse, Colleen Meyer, about a Cardiologist replacement for me. I await her call or email notification. John says she may be off this week. She’s usually very prompt in communication.

Wednesday, Jan 3

No CPAP – Oximetry for Jan 2: SpO2 low 85, 2 events <88% with overall avg., 92.9%. Avg. low SpO2, 91.8%. Pulse avg. 56.3, low 51. Slept 8 hrs 53 min.

I worked more on Jan/Feb F&F music. I took out time to make my lunch to take to the food bank, so I wouldn’t have to eat the pasta and dark green salad. It was tuna fish/egg salad & lettuce.

I met Kristin and Casey at the Food Bank. She brought back John’s WTA green hat she’d borrowed last spring, and stayed for our music and lunch. We had a nice visit.

I left and dropped off a loaf of bread to a gal who is visually impaired and doesn’t drive. I need to see if I can find her some white rolls and buns. She is a few blocks west of my trip from the Food Bank to SAIL exercise class.

Went on to SAIL class and we had a full house. My FitBit recorded 25 minutes of vigorous exercise. Good after the layoff for New Years. I picked up groceries and pharmacy items for John at Super 1, for me at Safeway, and took a box, with cut-out handles, for my groceries. A decree by the EBRG city communists council requires stores to charge 5¢ for 1-time use plastic and brown paper bags. Super-1 gives a 5¢ discount to those with their own box or bags, and that also saved the 5¢ tax. That is a dime in my pocket.
We use the paper bags for kitchen waste that composts. So, at Costco we bought 500 for <$8; or 1.6¢ per bag. These actually fit the kitchen space better than the large ones from the grocery store. Three cheers again! An aside, by John: The City of Seattle started a fee of 1.75¢ per ounce on soft-drinks. That's $1.18 on a 2 liter bottle. The item price for house brands is 90¢ to $1.20 before tax. The bean counters of Seattle expect to raise $15,000,000 this year to spend on their trendy projects. The Seattle Costco put a sign up telling members where to go to nearby Costco stores just outside the city limits. No extra fee there. We can see that $15 M not materializing. Link to story

On my way home I traveled the route near the airport and dropped off the WSJs we read and give to a business student, and a block away, I picked up a bunch of coffee cans. A gal was collecting these in her pump house, and her husband runs a business in Ellensburg, near where I travel to and from the Food Bank, so he is the transfer point. He met me to transfer these to boxes in the back of my car. The ice was treacherous in their parking lot on the north side of the building and made me consider carrying along my trax during weather like this. (I did later in the week).
Here is a photo from The Free Box Facebook site that grabbed my attention and I asked John if he wanted them. He has a unique use for them.
{Begin John} The use involves strawberries. In the photo, the two upper berries are called Cabot. The other one, with the top of a Quarter showing, is a different variety — very nice. These are from 2014. Cabot berries, being large and heavy, tend to lay on the ground. This makes for contact with organisms, both fungus and crawly things. I want to experiment with 3 or 4 ways to keep them off the ground, and keep irrigation water off the berries. [Remember giardia? I do.] Among other ideas, I want to cut the end of the cans out, sink them into the soil with extra fill, and have a single-plant raised bed. I’ve ordered new plants for delivery after March 26th. {End John}

Now I’m back to working on music. Worked much of the evening, with a break for a great chicken casserole dinner from John (brown rice, green beans, mushrooms, & with help from a can of chicken soup).

Thursday, Jan 4 Happy Birthday John !!

No CPAP – Oximetry for Jan 3: SpO2 low 87, 3 events <88% with overall avg., 93.8%. Avg. low SpO2, 91.9%. Pulse avg. 56.4, low 50. Slept 8 hrs 34 min. Wow, yesterday was good, but this is the best ever!

Go to Rehab. John went along to help carry things, and to read his WSJs.
We took cashews by to Louaine.
John made brownies from a box. A cup of chopped cashews made them special. We served some warm with a dollop of ice cream. Happy birthday! (photo snagged from web)

More time with music creation.

Friday, Jan 5

No CPAP – Oximetry for Jan 4: SpO2 low 84, 4 events <88% with overall avg., 91.9%. Avg. low SpO2, 89.8%. Pulse avg. 56.8, low 50. Slept 8 hrs 31 min.

I had to put trax on my shoes to walk to John’s car today. Mine had very little gas, and we are driving it to Costco tomorrow to get my new prescription glasses ordered and we’ll buy gas while there at a much lower price.

My sole purpose for going to town was to be the photographer for the AAC event today, Game Day, with a luncheon of Elaine Bleggi’s multiple cheese & macaroni casserole. It is so good.They served it with a wonderful looking spinach salad, but I cannot have spinach because of its vitamin K content & my being on Coumadin, so I took my own Iceberg lettuce/tuna fish/egg/ pistachios/Bleu cheese salad. John told me I should have had a few bites, and upon reflection I agree.

Because of the ice, many people cancelled. They had fixed food for 50, so I brought some home for John, in my container I took in for my salad. He had stayed home to, among other chores, put gravel down on the walkway to our cars, others: re-positioning a solar light, working on a broken fence, and providing water for the horses, feeding deer, cats, and exercising Annie.

Here are more collages of our AAC event. We had two tables and after lunch played Jeopardy that table 2 won, and Scrabble, which table 1 (my table) won. Everyone enjoyed the food and fun, and the temperature had gone above freezing for leaving. Each table started with the same number of letters, and we replaced them as we used them to put on the board. They were face down on a table so one couldn’t see the letter or the points worth. Also, it helps to have Scrabble players at your table to know all the rules for doubling up, and having successful words.
We got clever with our positioning of the letters off the board.

Happiness expressed by the winning team !! (minus one man). Sandra, Curtis, Marilyn, Catherine, Debbie, and Nancy. I do not remember what was so funny at the time, but maybe it was Katrina, balancing on two folding chairs using John’s camera.

The link below will go to all the pictures (some more than once) taken that day on John’s camera. I’m adding this link here, because otherwise people not on Facebook will not be able to see them. The above collages are pretty small, maybe even in this blog.
ALL THE PICTURES

I have a lot more photos of the event (see above link), but I will send them to the AmeriCorps gals and they will put them on Facebook on the Ellensburg Adult Activity Center’s site. If you are on Facebook, search for it and review the photos and activities there. It’s a wonderful resource for people 55 and older, and in some cases, of need for exercise, people who are younger are allowed to participate in activities for their health. Every first Friday of the month is a lunch with some neat activity. We have people on walkers and in wheelchairs that come to the center. The local HopeSource bus delivers people with their wheelchairs or walkers (free of charge). They will come out as far as needed. A friend of mine rode the bus for 2 years 30 miles from Ellensburg to Cle Elum to visit her husband in an assisted living home there. They pick a person up at their home, and deliver them to doctors, to the grocery store, or other special needs.

I intended to stay for the SAIL exercise, but it would have been over an hour wait, so I ran one other errand in town, and left. I drove back through Kittitas and picked up some wool knitted hats — not that we really need more hats. Still they made a late birthday present. They were free, from the clothing bank and food pantry, there. They’re only open Fridays, at 1:00 for 2 hrs. I walked in and said I wasn’t there for food but just looking for the winter pullover hats for my hubby. The lady in charge said she had a box and would bring them out. (Clothing is in the unheated back of the building and too cold in this weather to allow people to visit). She left the box by the entrance in case others needed one.

I drove by a house off No. 81 Road. We haven’t learned why it is called that. There is also a No. 6 road, but not others. I picked up a
Seattle dressed teddy bear from a Buy Nothing East Ellensburg/ Kittitas Facebook site member, Shannon. I’ll give to Katrina (AAC Director & Seattle Seahawk fan, for their special decorated truck).

I finished the songs (PDFs) for our KV F&F group, and emailed them last night. I worked on them much of the afternoon and evening.

John took the Mac ‘N Cheese I brought home, added more cheese, and pieces of cauliflower to go along with slices of a breast of chicken we bought yesterday, and he fried it with a special sauce with spices. Nice meal to end a busy day.

Saturday, Jan 6

No CPAP – Oximetry for Jan 5: SpO2 low 85, 4 events <88% with overall avg., 92.1%. Avg. low SpO2, 89.8%. Pulse avg. 57.8, low 49. Slept 8 hrs 37 min.

Working on pictures from yesterday, the blog, and getting ready to drive to Union Gap, to Costco. The weather is beautiful (cold) but sunny. John has already fed the cats, deer, and now went out to take care of the horses. We’ll have sausage, eggs, toast, and peaches for brunch and leave. Driving my car to fill up with $2.65/gal gasoline. Cheaper by 22¢/gal 50 miles away, and take off 4% of that too as a returned reward by the VISA/Costco card.

More deer (the twins and mom) arrived for treats, and Sue made it in for her morning cat food. The other two outside cats, Woody & Czar ate earlier.

We ran out of sun at the Military exit and I pulled off I-82 to grab my camera for the view of fog in all valleys ahead of us. We ended up driving more slowly through thick fog in several places.
In the photo, under the near fog is Selah, and after the gap is Yakima. The next ridge is 7 miles south of the gap, and we could not see any of it.

We made it to Costco and was it ever crowded! Checkout lines went down the aisles for a long way. Perhaps the first Saturday of a new year and after Christmas is not the best time to go.

I started my trip through Costco at the Optical department and had to wait until five people went ahead of me, but I occupied myself by coordinating people as they arrived, and told them who they would be following. They need a pick a number system for times like today. The two clerks were very appreciative of my efforts. I was appreciative when Daniel got to me (he was my original helper when I got them in November), listened to the story, took my new prescription for my right eye, and the glasses and said they would do it at no cost. I’m still surprised at that service, but pleased to accept it. They will regrind my right lens in my regular glasses and my sunglasses (identical frames). We will return in about a week to pick them up.

John and I went around the store picking up the few things we needed.
Nice they have wide aisles, because of the crowd. We went past a Sears store on the way to Costco. The large lot had, at most, a dozen cars. This may be the last year for Sears and K-Mart (same owner). Say good bye. We made a quick stop at Walmart just before leaving the metro-Yakima area. Walmart is working hard to adjust to the changing retail scene. Very busy, today.

We eventually made it to the medical supplies part of Costco. I asked the pharmacists about my GoodRX coupon to check if they accept them. I was happy to find out they do, if I print it out and bring with me. I am used to doing that already, in Ellensburg. On one recent drug John just refilled for $15.20, we can get it there for $8.73, so I need to transfer several prescriptions there, after I check them out on line, and as John said to me tonight, I need to spread the word. I’ll start here. If you need to know more, just email me. Or, you can go to GoodRX.com and check it out yourself. I learned about it from my cardiologist’s nurse several years ago. It has saved us many dollars. You don’t have to go through your insurance and can use a credit card (such as I have), the VISA/Amazon/Chase Bank, and get an additional 2% discount on medicines. I cannot use that at Super 1 Pharmacy, because their charges report as a grocery store, not a pharmacy.
These medical things are convoluted, complicated, and tiresome.

I left John in the checkout aisle through the medicines and walked down through all the aisles to the farthest one (near the entry, and went back to tell him to come there. I’m sure we saved time but by being so far away from the office, we paid for our TurboTax program, and the “runner” never made it down before we were packed and gone. We got home and realized we didn’t have it. It will be our word only, so I tried to call to report it, because we were charged for it, but it is an empty box they replace after you have paid for it. According to the web presence, the office was supposed to be open until 6:00 tonight, and I called at 4:45. No answer, so I searched for some way of writing customer service an email. I did that, and hope someone responds and believes me. Otherwise, we’re out $54. + tax.

We came home to many chores and finally had our supper. It was a salad, with iceberg lettuce fixed by Nancy with Bleu Cheese dressing and pistachios, with smoked turkey leg chunks, apples, cauliflower, bread croutons on his and Cheezits bits on mine.

We continued working separately on our computers until dessert (a brownie with cashews, and vanilla ice cream). Now it’s bed time.

Sunday, Jan 7

No CPAP – Oximetry for Jan 7: SpO2 low 83, 9 events <88% with overall avg., 91.3%. Avg. low SpO2, 88.7%. Pulse avg. 53.8, low 49. Slept 8 hrs 24 min.

We have been doing chores and now getting ready for brunch, and to finish publishing this tome.

We checked the weather in Ohio and Pennsylvania where John has relatives. The serious cold just ended and the temperature is rising from mid-20s to low 30s. Freezing rain, sleet, and wind are on the way. That is through Wednesday Noon. There is an old joke about people living in such situations:
Q: What’s is the difference between people living in XYZ-town and a U.S. Penitentiary?
A: Folks in the prison know they are being punished.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

Sunday, Dec 24

No CPAP – Oximetry for Dec 23 SpO2 low 86, 8 events <88% with overall avg., 93.1%. Avg. low SpO2, 90.5%. Pulse avg. 57.0, low 51. Slept 8 hrs 36 min.

Blog finally published late afternoon. Nice phone call with Seivertsons in Eureka, CA

Nice phone conversation with John’s brother Richard in San Jose with Kit waiting for several of the family to join them. Their Christmas is all week, with some family in Florida and not back until later, so they will have several Christmas celebrations; another later this week.

Monday, Dec 25 Merry Christmas!

No CPAP – Oximetry for Dec 24: SpO2 low 85, 10 events <88% with overall avg., 92.0%. Avg. low SpO2, 89.5%. Pulse avg. 56.7, low 50. Slept 7 hrs 29 min.

Here are some Christmas bells in a wreath we have been using for accompaniment with our music group for Christmas songs, when bells fit in.
We didn’t do much today.

Tuesday, Dec 26

No CPAP – Oximetry for Dec 25: SpO2 low 85, 8 events <88% with overall avg., 91.9%. Avg. low SpO2, 90.6%. Pulse avg. 58.2, low 53. Slept 8 hrs 35 min.

Tonight about 5:00 we drove a few miles south on snow-covered roads with ice beneath to view some incredible lights.The house and buildings are 240 yards from the road and lights begin there. Some of the lights make animals and there are real ones also. John was driving — blame the bumpy ride on him.

Entrance on Brickmill Road

The Driveway

Wednesday, Dec 27

No CPAP – Oximetry for Dec 26: SpO2 low 87, 4 events <88% with overall avg., 93.5%. Avg. low SpO2, 91.1%. Pulse avg. 57.0, low 50. Slept 8 hrs 36 min.

I went to the Food Bank for music, took my salad, and we played for 1/2 hour. From there to SAIL, and then home.

Thursday, Dec 28

No CPAP – Oximetry for Dec 27: SpO2 low 83, 2 events <88% with overall avg., 93.3%. Avg. low SpO2, 91.4%. Pulse avg. 90.5, low 50. Slept 7 hrs 32 min.

Musically, we were locked out of Hearthstone because of the bad flu bug that quarantined all residents to their rooms, so we did not perform.

John drove to town for his new 6 yr driver’s license [$54], and went shopping at two stores. The State claims the license costs $9 per year, but if you die (or quit driving) before the 6 years is over, we don’t think you get any money back. John will be 80 if he gets to use all of this one. He thinks people over 80 ought not to drive.

Friday, Dec 29

No CPAP – Oximetry for Dec 28: SpO2 low 84, 6 events <88% with overall avg., 92.0%. Avg. low SpO2, 89.8%. Pulse avg. 57.7, low 50. Slept 8 hrs 35 min.

The first morning chore was for Lic: BEF4009, John’s Crosstrek 2016, I called parking at CWU, added it to my Emeritus parking sticker, and changed our email address to the new one.

During the night and now, we’ve had light rain coming down on cold air and snow. Nasty mix.

Iced in, postponed Dr. Davis until afternoon, and to KVH blood draw for standing order INR & for BMP. I heard late afternoon my readings are where they are supposed to be. Fine.

Looking through old e-mails and wondering who some of these folks are, and why we were in contact. Toss some. Send to others. Progress.

John is making dinner, and will be making Roasted Candied Pineapple to take with Candied Walnuts to tomorrow’s Raclette. I’ll put warmers in my boots when I leave. They are supposed to last for 9 hours. (they did). We will leave @ 10:30 to get there by noon, with our firewood, food, and ourselves. I’ll have my camera to document the experience. We may luck out on the weather. Today looks great. Yesterday would have been not so nice, and certainly getting to Interstate 90 would have been difficult.
Straight over the mountain and river to the vineyard is just 24 miles, and by road about 65.

Saturday, Dec 30

No CPAP – Oximetry for Dec 29: SpO2 low 82, 7 events <88% with overall avg., 92.5%. Avg. low SpO2, 90.7%. Pulse avg. 55.9, low 50. Slept 7 hrs 33 min.

I called into Super 1 Pharmacy, HydrothoroThiazide for John and have to pick up Tuesday with my Allopurinal at Safeway (better price using GoodRX coupon, without insurance).

Be at White Heron at NOON for the annual Raclette for the volunteer wine grapevine pruning crew, and their families.

We traveled the hour and 20 minutes to our favorite winery and landscape, above the Columbia River, between Quincy & Wenatchee, uphill from Crescent Bar (and West Bar with the Ice Age Floods caused ripples in the sand.  Cameron & Phyllis Fries are the owners of this winery and vineyard.  The event was held to honor and give appreciation to the volunteer wine grapevine pruners from last spring (along with their families).  As in previous years, this year’s lunch was a very Swiss, Raclette. This is a Swiss event consisting of cheese melted and served on boiled potatoes or bread. Pickles and pickled onions were common. Maybe a sausage. We have all of these and more.
Raclette is pronounced [rah-klet’]. Raclette(French, from racler, to rake, or scrape), [Nancy says, racler is pronounced, ra-clay with a rolled r] originated in Valais but is made elsewhere in Switzerland and France.  Cameron Fries reasons that Raclette was made before the current political borders were made, such that Valais would have been part of the House of Savoy, and thus of the Holy Roman Empire.  The House of Savoy extended considerably into what is now called France.
This was traditionally a pruner’s lunch in the vineyard with potatoes and cheese over a grape-wood fire. Now this is done by most folks indoors with an electric heater and various gizmos. The vineyard and real fire ambiance is missed, perhaps unknowingly by many.

Here is a brief video description from Cameron, from 4 years ago:

Cameron Fries Describes Raclette

We arrived just before noon and unloaded firewood that John had packed Thursday, before our ice storm. Good thing he did. It was tough getting into his car to start it today because of 1/2 inch of ice.John unloads Jessica; Cameron picks up and stacks; John throws pieces up. [Jessica, the Crosstrek, is named after a song.]

unloading the firewood – 33 sec

I watched the unloading process for a short while, and went to the house to visit with Phyllis, and offer help. She didn’t need any, so we just visited. First, I had to re-meet Altessa, their collie, and give her treats (cashews) to have her go through her sit, down, and stays. She’s a cutie. Phyllis showed me her large Jade plant, and I did not think to pull my camera out for a photograph. I need to remember that the next time I’m over there. It is certainly more of a tree than our guest bedroom’s crawling jade plants. John keeps them alive, but they suffer from no care. She gave me a Jazz Christmas music book they were looking to re-home. I’ll add a song to our next December’s music for our Kittitas County Fiddlers & Friends group. We added Jingle Bell Rock this year and Let It Snow!

People didn’t start arriving until 12:30 p.m. and we were already back outside setting up around the bonfire. Cameron took a van down to the winery and brought that up, and loaded other things from the house. At this point there was bright sun and a 48° temperature. Neither lasted, but the fire and wine helped.
John did take our photo. He hates my camera, but it was the only one I had because his does not take video. I didn’t take too many videos or pictures this year, as in the past. It wasn’t long after getting back outside, I had to retrieve one of the 2 coats I brought along. Once a breeze started, and the sun went behind a cloud, I had to change coats to a much larger, heavier one I also had thrown into the car.

From 2014 Raclette write-up: “The cheese used on their device over the coals is a French cheese purchased in Auburn.  This type is especially needed for cooking over coals. “Raclette” ovens are sold, which utilize a squarer “Swiss Raclette” cheese, which has no crust and is specifically made for the oven use.” I think one of the pruners has such an oven, maybe we could switch to that next year? We had trouble with the smaller square this year over the bonfire with the unique holder at White Heron, for holding over the fire’s coals.

COMPARISON OF ROUND AND SQUARE RACLETTE CheesesLeft is the round version – Right, the square, note the splitting, because the rind is not as thick to hold (or as good to eat)

This video above, with Cameron explaining “Raclette” is from the Raclette held for 2013 (but on John’s birthday 1/4/14) with the round cheese, which I think does a much better job over the fire than the square ones meant for raclette ovens. And, this video below shows a nicer version of scraping the cheese over the potatoes; see farther below for 2017.

Nicely Filled Plate: Raclette on Potatoes

These following videos are from this year, Dec 30, 2017 and pictures are farther down the page:

Altesse Talks to Erik

Cameron Set up Coals for the Raclette and Connected Cheese
Set Up

Cameron serves
Margaret

Tom serves
Erik

Next is a short video around
the crowd, eating

Tom Serves Cameron

55 more seconds of eating to end the party, Dec 30, 2017
More eating

Here’s a collection of photos, in collages: Phyllis, Cameron, Nancy ^ & ^ Nancy, John, Phyllis (2015)
After it got colder, I retrieved my heavy coat from car, see above.
John greets Lynne arriving & Phyllis joins with a bottle of wine.Altesse greets Linda & Bob from Newman Lake (north of Spokane) – and we have the wine ready – Roussanne. Fire making the required coals! That’s my blue pot on the rocks with Pineapple and Walnuts, warming. Cameron visits with Linda, and Bob with Tom. Top: Around the fire: steamed sausage pot (top right), cheese on the right, and potatoes. The blue pot has the pineapple.
Bottom: Goat cheese covered in cranberries, Brie, candied walnuts, Bleu cheese, salmon, peanut butter fudge, chocolates; not pictured, onion & garlic breads, red cabbage salad, and apple/spice frosted cake.

Regarding the pot-cooked sausages, my preference would be to roast them over the fire, as Phyllis demonstrates below, in a previous year. She needed a longer roasting fork. See below photo.
John’s found this on the web, and is thinking about next year.John visits with Erik; . . .Phil with Phyllis.

Bob, Lynne, Mark, Cameron, Audrey, and Raclette cheese holder
Activity around bonfire (below)Cameron, Bob, Margaret, Linda, John, wine, woodFrom set up to eat up. Left, in house (with wasabi peas, pickles, sesame crackers, cranberry wrapped goat cheese, Brei, cutlery in napkins, and plates stacked; rt, finished product, by the bonfire.

Sunday, Dec 31

No CPAP – Oximetry for Dec 30: SpO2 low 85, 1 events <88% with overall avg., 92.5%. Avg. low SpO2, 90.4%. Pulse avg. 58.6, low 52. Slept 9 hrs w/ > 3 hrs off oximeter

I was miserable last night after returning home at 5:00 p.m. and I seem to be having a reaction to being around the bonfire and smoke for 4 hrs yesterday. I have been allergic to smoke since childhood. It must have been accentuated from being sick for 5 weeks with bronchitis from a bacterial infection. We had problems with the cheese for the raclette being the square kind with a thinner rind than the old thick round ones we used for years. Maybe we should lobby for a raclette machine if the rounds are no longer available. Might change the ambience, but could give us fewer problems, and we could sit and visit around a big dining room table.

Cat is in my lap.

Winding up the year and pulling old stuff from messages on the account we lose today. This is just one of those things:

The Banana Dance

Found this with the story of Evonne Ellis, WTA crew leader we’ve known for 5 years. She used this to warm up muscles for people on WTA work parties. A couple of years ago, John was getting an award and I had this big stuffed banana – a bowling prize.
We arranged for a slot at the WTA Volunteer banquet. It was my old Banana I won at the Banana Belt bowling tournament in Lewiston, ID, and had in my Geography office the entire time at CWU since 1988.John with his WTA Carhartt Award jacket, Evonne with our Banana Award, from my past. Me with my prize for her. She’s on the right leading stretching exercises at the start of a WTA work party, and John’s setting up the tools in the background, to present the safety talk. A volunteer made the costume for her to wear.

Daisy, Cedaridge Kip’s Shay Tre’ JH and mom, FC KWK Windswept Guinevere of Camelot JH both received an AKC award today, the Achiever Dog award. A Facebook friend of Jeri’s looked it up and said, “The AKC Achiever Dog certificate program is designed to recognize those exhibitors and dogs who participate in multiple sports. A dog will receive an AKC Achiever Dog certificate when they have been awarded a placement or earned a qualifying score in three different sports.” Jeri and I figured it is for field, hunting, and show. (The JH after her name is for Junior Hunter, in an AKC Hunt test, and she is currently almost finished with her Senior Hunter title, and will proceed to her Master Hunter title. New Year’s Eve phone call catch-up with John’s sister, where the temperature is very cold. What’d she say? 5 degrees ? Ouch!
We are 31°F. here.

I quit my cleanup of the old email account tonight, at 7:30 pm. Tonight we lose any contact through there.

We have had to sit and pet our dog with isolated fireworks being set in the neighborhood. Not bad yet. I hope they stop before midnight, so we can get to bed. Hopefully, it is too cold.

We had a nice visit with our sister, Peggy, in Ohio by phone, and caught up on the week since Christmas, and on the cold weather and snow stories (55 years ago) from their memory of lake effect snow.
We are having tenderloin steaks tonight to start off the New Year right. They were given to us by a friend and are from her White British cattle.

We stayed up until 12:30 because our neighbor, in the woods across the creek, shot off fireworks. John found a 2+ hour web music set. We had the volume turned up on the “Best of the Kingston Trio”, and that helped. Further, there were songs we had not heard and John looked for info on the web while the music played. Annie was upset but did not freak out, and we didn’t have to put her in a crate. She was so tired she slept hard all night, not moving when we stepped over her.

Monday, Jan 1 HAPPY NEW YEAR!

No CPAP – Oximetry for Dec 31: SpO2 low 82, 3 events <88% with overall avg., 92.5%. Avg. low SpO2 90.7%. Pulse avg. 57.4, low 50. Slept 8 hrs 18 min.

Working on the blog today, finally, after a final week of notifying people of our changed email address. Not fun.
We sent very few Christmas or New Years’ greetings, but did get some via the US Postal Service. Thank you for yours.

Czar (Salazar) cat gone all yesterday returned this morning for his vittles. He must have been traveling. Rarely has he not shown up for food or water (twice/day) for 6 months, since arriving in the neighborhood. Makes us wonder.

Charging FitBit (1/2 down). 9:38 a.m. John’s going out to feed horses, and to announce to Woody that it is time to eat. She, too, seems to go places, but often is in the big hay shed or a smaller little building we call the Red Barn. It is not very red, if it ever was, after 35 years of being there. And it is not really very barn like. Oh well.

Now, as John went out, he had to break up a cat fight between the two male cats. Never a dull moment. Woody arrived, however, and I just fed her. Maybe the males had a tussle while we were at the raclette and the one cat stayed away yesterday. This morning they were at the front door meowing and I let Rascal (yes he is named properly) in and then fed two of the outdoor cats.

11:20 a.m. – Just loaded several days of dishes and await the cleaned results before we have our brunch. I’m hungry and ready. We’re having link sausage & eggs, and peaches. The temperature hasn’t risen to freezing/thaw yet, and won’t today. Still, it is better than back east and most of Canada.

John fixed a nice brunch and I continued working on this blog, mostly creating photos and collages to add from the Raclette.

Hope you week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan