other normal activities
Monday, Jan 16
For Jan 15 CPAP. Reported figures. AHI= 2.00. Events: 1 CSR, 11 H, 1 OA, 16 RERA. Time on 6 hrs 0 min with (max = 18 L/min). Oximetry: SpO2 low 88, 0 events <88% with overall avg., 93.3%. Pulse avg. 56.7, low 48. Actually a good night; several this week.
Started out with spitting snow, and low temperature, 16 (lower) at the airport, but now the sun is out and the snow stopped.
I worked more on phone number retrieval from my old cell phone, because tomorrow the new SIM card should arrive.
John made Crockpot Chocolate Candy yesterday. I put some together to take to Outpatient Services workers where John was Dec 1, and I had been for many weeks daily for IVs in 2009 and twice in 2010 to kill the bacteria in my blood.
We received a suspected fraud call from AMEX. Someone used John’s Simply Cash card on line, first to check with a $1.00 charge (to Survivor International), followed by a $29.99 purchase from Target. I’m not sure how he was supposed to receive it, perhaps pick up at a store? We had not left home or ordered anything on the card, have never used it at Target, and whatever – somehow the AMEX alert system caught this and, so they did not approve the purchase. We got a call but missed part of the message and called back. We talked some and they voided the card, and are sending John a new card with a different number. Mine was not affected. In fact, we have only 3 automatic pays on that card each month, such as insurance and cell phone, and have not used it for any purchase since last July, and never in Target. Good work on their part – 
I’ll end today with a photo from Celia Winingham of a herd of Elk that have frequented her yard and a neighbor saw them across the street from her house. She took this photo looking east from Wilson Creek road, south of Thomas road; just over a mile from us as the Eagle flies. 
Photo by Celia Winingham
Tuesday, Jan 17
For Jan 16 CPAP. Reported figures. AHI= 1.38. Events: 2 CSR, 1 CA, 1 OB, 2 PP, 8 H, 17 RERA. Time on 7 hrs 15 min with (max = 12 L/min). Oximetry: SpO2 low 68 spurious at start, actual low, 90, on the graphic chart, 0 events <88% with avg., 92.8%. Pulse avg. 55.9, low 50.
We’ll start today with a lovely sunrise taken by our geographer friends, Michelle & Bruce Seivertson from Eureka, CA. This is about 225 miles up the coast from San Jose. The Samoa Peninsula, a sandy place to play, is between the Pacific Ocean and Eureka.
Photo by Bruce Seivertson
A morning telephone call from my Jazzercise teacher cancelled our class today because she sprained her ankle Sunday. Just as well I did not have to squeeze that into my otherwise extremely busy day of activities.
I went to the dentist for impressions for crowns to go over my two implants. I took my Amoxicillin at 11:30 just in case there was any chance of gums bleeding (as there was). The dentist had to remove the cover over the abutment with a screwdriver type wrench, put a higher one on that was taller than my teeth so I could not bite down. I imagine they needed to use that to capture the impression for the crown that will fit over the abutment of the implant. See the diagram below the X-ray of my implants today, showing the higher top holder.
Left was the first taken but they needed to see the relationship to the adjacent tooth, so they retook the one on the right, and it didn’t matter that the pins are blurred. You can also see in these photos that the size of the screws differ because of the smaller size of my mouth. I’m pleased they emailed the images taken during my appointment.
I should have had all this work done on Monday, because the three people who worked on my mouth today, all have names beginning with the letter, M. Mandy was the first assistant with the first impressions taken. Then Molly entered to take some X-rays and help with the further impressions and manipulations done by my dentist, Margi. Dr. Margi Sullivan did the first removal of the cap over the abutment, and then installed the higher edged ones.
Here are some diagrams from the web to ponder:
After insurance pays half, I will owe a total for the two, $1,614. At my next appointment, 2/6, I will pay the remaining 1K. Last year you were exposed to the cost for the two implants – a lot more costly than the crowns. It will be extremely nice not to have to only be able to chew on the right side of my mouth.
Finally, the last collage of photos planning for the color of the enamel on the composite for my crowns.
On the right bottom of the left photo, you can see the cover of the abutment on the front implant.
I took candy to a crew in the hospital, walked in the Outpatient Services door to the front desk, and the receptionist said, “It’s Fancy Nancy!” She always called me that because of a book her little girl has. She was thrilled with the package. To be sure they got a piece of candy of thanks for their service, I mentioned as many of the names as I could remember who helped me in the past, and John recently for his surgery. She wrote names on top of the note, which ironically, I had signed with “Fancy” Nancy and John for the thank you.
I went by Super 1 for meds but they weren’t there yet. I was told to come tomorrow. It almost was a problem, as you will see.
On my way home, I stopped at Bi-Mart with my wrist-cuff Smart Heart BP monitor. I had called and asked for a brand other than that so I could buy a different one that got better ratings. As mentioned earlier, mine had been giving inconsistent readings, even after changing the batteries. They had an OMRON, series 3, which we looked up on line and found good reviews for. I carried my couple year old (past the warranty) with me in the box and told the manager it was no longer working and I thought they maybe should not carry that brand. It was on sale now for $19.95. The Omron was $39.99. I had it in my basket, but had not paid for it yet. The manager told me he would refund my money at the sale rate. I told him I did not expect that, but he said he would, and told me he recommended a cuff over a wrist one, and that he also has to take his BP daily. I thanked him and told him I realized they were more accurate, but that Omron cuff has good reviews, and I simply cannot handle the upper-arm cuff more than once or twice a year. We do use one on John and then check the wrist-cuff against that. With my return allowed, my new purchase was just over $21. I have been pleased with Bi-Mart’s return policy. If it is within a year and you keep your receipt you can get a full refund. Costco has a similar refund policy without a deadline. That’s how we got our current cuff, when another we’d had for 5 years stopped inflating. They GAVE us a completely new one.
Wednesday, Jan 18
For Jan 17 CPAP. Reported figures. AHI= 0.15. Events: 1 H, 12 RERA. Time on 6 hrs 44 min with (max = 12 L/min). Oximetry: SpO2 low 86 spurious at restart oximeter found off finger, actual low, 88, on the graphic chart, 0 events <88% with avg., 92.3%. Pulse avg. 59.2, low 51.
The weather turned nasty and shut down the pass for 2 days. There were accidents, trees, rocks, and snow. Ice and snow caused multiple trees to lean or fall. The DOT crews were not up to that so a commercial firm was contracted for the really dangerous stunts.
Snoqualmie Pass Closed:
CONDITIONS:
Compact snow and ice on the roadway. I-90 is closed in both directions. East bound is closed at MP 34, near North Bend, due to falling trees and rocks, between MP 43 and MP 44. West Bound is closed at MP 106, near Ellensburg, MP 84 near Cle Elum and MP 70, near Easton. This is due to numerous snow slides by MP 50. Both directions will remain closed until DOT can assess the situations during daylight hours on Wednesday morning, January 18, 2017
Now back to my meds problem. With the Pass closed, I wrote an email to YHC and called my pharmacy because my meds probably won’t make it to the pharmacy today here, and I will run out after tonight’s pill. I was prepared to drive to Yakima for another sample of a week’s supply as they gave me Jan 10. After a 1.5 hour search by my pharmacy about their courier delivery person, they found it will be at my pharmacy today. I am waiting for a phone call, hoping to here they arrived before leaving for town.
Another pass report: 10:03 a.m. I-90 Snoqualmie Pass remains closed in both directions from mp 34 near North Bend to mp 106 near Ellensburg. Crews have assessed conditions and determined that the pass will not open today or tonight. Conditions are such that it is not safe in some areas for crews to do the work necessary to open the roadway. Crews are continuing to monitor conditions. Alternate routes are US-2 Stevens Pass and US-12 White Pass.
WEATHER:
Snow and freezing rain
We got a phone call from the pharmacy at 1:45 and went to town to pick up my Entresto meds. The courier brought them from Spokane. They would not have made it from Seattle, where they also purchase meds from a distribution warehouse. This was my free month’s supply from the Pharmaceutical company. I still do not know what the cost will be to me. My cardiologist’s nurse had to FAX 17 pages of information to qualify me for the medication reduction in price. I hope that my insurance will cover some of it, because Novartis (manuf.) is only covering $90/month of a several hundred $ monthly cost.
Thursday, Jan 19 National Popcorn Day
For Jan 18 CPAP. Reported figures. AHI= 0.50. Events: 1 CSR, 3 H, 13 RERA. Time on 7 hrs 58 min with (max = 16 L/min). Oximetry: SpO2 low 74 spurious at start, actual low, 87, the only 1 event <88% with avg., 92.0%. Pulse avg. 58.9, low 48.
I called Rite Aid about the “moderate to severe” Gen Teal Gel drops, that Bi-Mart said they were out of stock and unable to get.
The Rite Aid representative checked the numbers and barcode from the box I still had, and found, sadly, they are no longer manufactured. I had John check on Amazon, and we have not been able to locate the item, anywhere. I have called to local pharmacies (still have two to do), and everyone I called is out. Downtown Pharmacy told me they were aware of its no longer being offered and had to find a replacement for their one shopper who used them. I asked her what brand they settled on. It was Refresh, which has been my second choice for awhile. The only thing I do not like is that while it comes with two larger containers (15 ml), also packaged with them are small containers which are difficult to use.
John was able to get my new SIM card loaded in my phone. Now when in town we will check and see if they can activate it. I still think it is the battery, or something wrong with the phone.
In honor of National Popcorn Day, John popped a quart or two. I enjoy popcorn, but not the little shells that get between my teeth. Then, on my last bite I got a piece on the roof of my mouth in the far back of my throat. It was nasty to get rid of.
The pass didn’t open until this afternoon between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. A lot of unhappy truck drivers lost money while waiting for the WSDOT to clear the road of snow, trees, and rocks that slid onto the highway in several places. John saw a report on KOMONEWS, about a huge rock falling on Hwy 101 on the west side of our state, and showed me a photo (not very clear) of the rock covering one lane and across the centerline. Fortunately, no one was driving by at the time.
Friday, Jan 20
For Jan 19 CPAP. Reported figures. AHI= 0.64. Events: 5 H, 17 RERA. Time on 7 hrs 46 min with (max = 15 L/min). Oximetry: SpO2 low 88, 0 events <88% with avg., 92.2%. Pulse avg. 64.1, low 51.
Using a CBS news feed, we watched only the inauguration and The National Anthem on a nice ACER monitor and with good speakers. John had been reading about and listening to songs by Jacky Evanco, from the Pittsburgh area. She is still in high school, and has been singing since she was 8. You can find some videos of her on the web, but here is a link to the Inauguration Day windy and wet one:
Jacky Evanco’s Star-Spangled Banner
I hope this link remains available on line. It was still there Sunday, but you have to watch an ad before it comes up.
John left for taking care of the horses, and I need to clear out the sink for filling buckets of water for him to take to the horse trough. Deer and horses are drinking from it, and the feeder pipe is still frozen. He did get the insulation needed yesterday to put with his heat tape. He has a list of 3 or 4 must-do things before next winter.
I experienced some interesting activity this afternoon with my blood pressure, and even called John in to take my BP with our cuff (I know it is more accurate, supposedly, but it hurts like heck, and I bought a new wrist unit this week to replace an old one that was giving inconsistent readings. The readings (3rd # is pulse) that alerted me were 66/44 72; 92/53 83; 86/51 85; 94/52 84, starting at 2:13 p.m. I took it again at 2:23 and it was 104/43 67. John took mine at 2:28 with the cuff and it was 103/81 71. I took it with the wrist one at 2:34 and it was 111/57 74; at 2:43, 93/51 70.
Because of the potential side effects of the new medication for my heart, I am supposed to take my BP and report if my systolic pressure (the top number of the ratio) goes below 100 (or above 140).
It has gone low at evening measurements, but today it did so in the afternoon. I have a call into the doctor’s nurse at the Yakima Heart Center (she checks with him), but no response yet.
I received the call from my Cardiologist’s nurse at 5:43 p.m. She listened to and recorded all my BP measurements and figured that Dr. Kim would not make any drastic changes, especially as I was not feeling bad at all during the lowest measurements. She told me he was “on call” all Saturday, so I could get to him, if needed. Meanwhile, she called him and read him all the data. He agreed that nothing should be done at this point, and to keep recording details as I had been. He was not worried as long as I had no dizziness, shortness of breath, not feeling bad, and to continue, but to report in as I had done if there were other lows that occur. He looks at overall averages and how the patient feels. I am to continue doing my activities tomorrow as usual, and not change the dosage of the new drug I have been on now for 8 days. She called me back at 6:03 with the messages from him. All is well. We get the impression he really likes the reported results of this combo-med.
Saturday, Jan 21
For Jan 20 CPAP. Reported figures. AHI= 0.53. Events: 1 CSR, 4 H, 15 RERA. Time on 7 hrs 35 min with (max = 19 L/min). Oximetry: SpO2 low 85 spurious at start, actual low, 89, on the graphic chart, 0 events <88% with avg., 92.7%. Pulse avg. 58.3, low 50.
John started early trying to divert water from our yard and overflow from our irrigation ditch which cannot get under the ice dam at the culvert under the neighbor’s driveway. Once out of the ditch, it isn’t where it should be to go under our driveway either.
As long as it doesn’t go under her garage door, all is good. John says he is learning. If we ever build a new place (not likely), there are many dos and many don’ts, such as do not have your driveway slope down to your garage door.
On my way out, I took a photo of the water (see below on the left of the composite), and I added the right on Sunday morning in the snow, which lasted most of the day and accumulated ~3″.
Left photo shows the water standing around a fenced garden. I park my Forester farther to the left in a 3-sided shed. The right was taken the next morning to show my tire tracks and the closest black line across the driveway, which is the drain (with running water) that John dug through the snow, toward the downhill pasture that will drain to the low area to the south and back to the creek.
I drove to Briarwood for music today. The roads near us were covered with ice and snow for several miles toward town, then got better. We are 800 feet higher than the part of town I was headed to. We had a good group of players and a large responsive audience. Players included these instruments: a tambourine, banjo, two guitars, two fiddles, harmonica, flute and a singer, plus our audience “choir.” They had copies of the lyrics to 20 songs, and at the beginning, we did a couple of others they knew but were not in the book, before starting at 2:00 p.m. on the booklet. They sang along on You are my Sunshine and on Tennessee Waltz. Then we did a Happy Birthday song for one person, and I introduced the whole music group, for the primary reason of two new members they had not met. Also, a wife of one of the new folks, husband of another, and children of another were in the audience. I introduced them as well. Our little 3.5 yr old mascot Haley was also there with her parents and dancing occasionally.
After the music, they fed us a tasty bowl of chili with all sorts of toppings, 3 different salads (my favorite was a fruit salad with lemon Jello, marshmallows, & pineapple), thickly spread chicken-salad sandwiches in a nice roll, a choice of two desserts, and cookies, plus hot cider. Always available is iced water and coffee. I never have to eat supper afterwards.
I came home needing to put my BPs in a log journal, from the slips of paper sitting around my recliner chair during the last couple of weeks. John’s is neatly recorded in his own logbook, and I have one for me (starting in Jan 2017). I completed mine later this evening.
I stayed inside the warm building after our playing and eating with my cell phone and John’s to talk to our cell provider in Oregon to get my new SIM card activated (which supposedly had been activated Thursday, when we were in town). As it was, they had to verify the last four digits of the second line on the card and removing it and seeing it was troublesome. But I found the “2086” needed. I thought I was set to have a working cell phone again, and called John to tell him I would be leaving for home soon.
Once home, I had the same problem with reception as John has had for over a year with the same make phone. The ENVOY phone gets no reception in our vicinity, whereas my old Motorola did at least at the far end of the house or outside in the yard. It apparently “broke.” So I was correct that a new SIM card would not fix it.
Once home, I spent a very long time with Consumer Cellular complaining about my cell phone and trying for a solution.
The newly simmed phone will not get any reception in our house or in the yard. I called to see if they would replace the phone with one that works. They checked AT&T coverage and claim we are in the area served. They checked for T Mobile and it only serves 4 G phones, this is a 3 G. Finally, they sold me a new phone (no return ones at a lower price were available as we have gotten before to replace John’s lost phones), and it will cost $54.10. I will get it mid next week, and if it has reception here, I’ll keep it; if not, it gets returned to the company. I hate having a cell phone I cannot use at home. I forgot to ask if the new phone is a 3 or 4 G. I went on-line to read reviews of the DORO PhoneEasy 626 and about half of them (of the 20 pages I read) are not good. However, folks with problems do let them know, while those without problems are generally not going to engage.
Sunday, Jan 22
For Jan 21 CPAP. Reported figures. AHI= 0.88. Events: 7 H, 18 RERA. Time on 8 hrs 0 min with (max = 17 L/min). Oximetry: SpO2 low 77 spurious at 6:30 a.m. turn off, actual low, 88, on the graphic chart, 0 events <88% with avg., 92.4%. Pulse avg. 59.8, low 42.
Today we did a few chores – John outside and me inside. I did schedule a haircut for John tomorrow with our neighbor who cuts my hair. My arthritic bone on bone shoulder has been bothering me so much that John made the suggestion and I took him up on his offer. His hair is as long as mine right now. Look above a week to last Sunday to see the herd of elk near her house, that she photographed and gave me permission to use the photo.
John just brought me a bowl of dried peaches and dried pears. I’m eating slices of each together and enjoying them very much. I did not dry any fruit this year because we have frozen bags from previous years. Maybe we will intake the calories over this winter, and be ready to dry more for the freezer come fall.
We just had Nachos for supper. John did a nice job. We only ate half and will have leftovers tomorrow night.
We are not the only ones to have ice from snowmelt runoff. Here is a photo of their vineyard from our friends Barbara and Paul, the winemakers and owners of Paradisos del Sol Winery in Zillah, WA.
Photo by Barbara Sherman
Hope your week was fine.
Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan
Our full moon has been lovely, and this morning’s sunrise skies were beautiful with pastel colors, but I did not get my picture of the moon before it went behind the trees, so I will show you, but you best get the wonderful views from the Seattle area.
Left is our backyard view where the moon is setting behind the trees, and right is out the front door.
Compare to the link given above for yesterday from KOMONEWS (in Seattle) of the beautiful full moon.
It is still in the back of my car, along with 80 pounds of Black Oil Sunflower seeds in 20# bags that were on sale (through the end of January) at Ace Hardware. Buy one at $15.99 and get one free. John has now removed the sunflower seeds.
Now for a peek at today’s action in California at the Vizsla field trial for Cedaridge Kip’s Camelot Shay Tre’ JH (call name Daisy), co-owned by Nancy with Jeri Conklin in Lancaster, CA. The timing for the trial was good. CA is getting hit with rain and/or snow in great amounts, but today was between storms. Friend Sonja with horses and dogs, in South Lake Tahoe, is up to her keister in snow. The Tahoe area has power outages and washed out roads. 
At the line, wetting down and ready for the breakaway.
Daisy on point, with judge’s boot blocking her face. Holding and turning to watch the flush, made her head visible.
Scott Azevedo wetting her down after the find before finishing the stake, and on the right, in the “spa” at the end of her run. Look at the water droplets in each photo. 
I went to the food bank today, but skipped SAIL exercise class today to run errands so I could get back in time for a much-needed haircut. I stopped by for some sunflower seeds at Ace Hardware that John wanted (on a good sale – buy one bag, get one free). The fellow before me had just bought the last 4 bags, so they will have more in this Friday, will reserve 4 bags for me, and call us. (That did not occur; we went by Friday to no avail because while they had been shipped in, they’d not yet taken them from the back storage area). I went by our car mechanic (Seth Motors now run by the grandson, Justin Seth) also to pick up 2017 calendars for John (his request), and while there he gave me two baseball hats for us and another carrying bag with their name on the side. [When first in EBRG and still giving blood, John met Grandfather Seth – a volunteer providing a steady hand and a glass of orange juice.] I also went by Super 1 for some sale items, and on the way home, I went by Bi-Mart for more of the reduced price canned cat food. All this rushing around, was caused by wanting to make it back home to leave my violin inside in the warmth, and bring in the groceries, so that I could head over a mile to get my haircut at 3:00 p.m. That happened, and I had a nice visit with Celia and Bobby Winingham and viewed their local contingent of backyard deer. 
Where’s my dinner (1-4-17) _______ Same buck in 2016 (pix by Celia)
The two on the right are “our” Cedaridge pups, Molly & Tobie. I drove them at 8 wks of age to Spokane and Anna’s hubby Paul flew in from Wisconsin to meet me. He carried them back together in a carrier in the passenger part of the plane. So cool. These are not the first dogs they had from us, but sadly, they will be the last because we are no longer breeding Brittanys, since the last litter in 2010.
The young women in two of the pictures are Megan Willwerth and Lauren Healey, working for 10 months as AmeriCorps employees here at the Ellensburg Adult Activity Center. The left photo shows them starting the buffet so they can go serve Black-eyed Pea Soup to the people at the tables. After lunch, they conducted a New Year’s Trivia game for 3 teams (tables) at the party. The questions were in three categories: Facts about New Years, New Year’s Traditions, and 2016 Pop Culture. The last being a topic that we become farther away with each new movie or TV show.
Left is the smaller pan of potatoes we took. Middle shows the larger one in front of the woman in the photo. Right shows part of John’s plate, our shared pie, my plate, and my bowl of soup (black-eyed peas with veggies, bacon, and sour cream). 
Left is Katrina Douglas, Director of the center; right are her parents Dudley & Sharon Kell, whom we met at our table. They have only been in Ellensburg since June, and we told them about the Dudley Bridge over the Yakima River west of EBRG.
Left is a photo of a collection of dolls from around the world that belongs to Marion, an AAC member who brought them to display because of the international theme. Right is a photo op of John and me with props, but his sign said 2017, and he didn’t hold it high enough to be seen behind my little New Year’s Hat (also provided by the AAC). The 17 of 2017 is behind my hat. We enjoyed ourselves at the party.
Ending the day with a beautiful sunset, shows snow, of which we got at least 2 more inches the next day, and it is still snowing Sunday, as we finalize this treatise. The plan is for 2″ more tonight and then flurries through Wednesday. West of us, in the Cascades, there will be more snow and strong winds. I-90 is open but a mess (Sunday at 3). We need to go south, on I-82, Tuesday about Noon.
Left I took from the kitchen window, and then John told me the sun was on them from the bedroom window. The right photo is taken through a dirty window. That’s the next window to clean. Quail live by having a hair-trigger flight plan so I can’t step outside or open a window. Another problem is that all my photos in the blog are low resolution.
Pheasant in front yard. Middle picture-see Mt. Ash berry in his mouth, and the right one shows his foot is banded. Check out the Pheasant in the front yard, 1-7-17 video below. 
Pineapple is on the left between the squash and our potato creation. 
Monday, Dec 26 
This collage is busy, but if you look from left to right across the top and bottom, you’ll see the story unfolding. Top left shows Daisy waiting her turn to run. Middle top shows a Jumbo White Coturnix Quail flushing that she probably thought was a dickey bird. She chased, jumped, grabbed, and retrieved to hand to Jeri. Normally, one would not praise “not stopping to flush”, but in this case, knowing she had previously quit retrieving, made it all okay. Her spirit has returned. 
Daisy on second point and Jeri searching for the Chukar. She had to go around the tree to launch the bird, and Daisy held and watched. 
Third Chukar find. Jeri searched and finally found it and flushed. Far right, Daisy marks the bird, but stays put. Good girl.
The Mariposa vineyard surrounds their home and winery (not seen), White Heron Cellars. Foreground vines belong to Jones of Washington and likely is their smallest vineyard. Jones is a major family corporation and this little plot has a storied background. 
Left to right: Erik, John, Phil, Mark, Tom, Bill, & Cameron
Behind Linda (Bill) and Audrey (Phil), on the left is the wood, some of which John contributed this year. 
Nancy (John)-Phyllis (Cameron)-Lynne (Tom)-Margaret (Mark)
Altesse-2016 Roussanne-2015 Chickens protected by dog.
Bonfire (some vine cuttings are required) and side dishes
Potatoes (some purple) and sausage steaming over wine and vine cuttings. Tops stay on the iron skillet roasters.
The cheese comes from the Puget Sound or left side of the State, because the proper cheese can’t be found locally. Cameron creates the bed of coals for cooking beneath the cheese, which is skewered on a 3-pronged pole mounted device to move it over the fire to melt – and then to swivel away during “scrapping” or the “racletting.”
This plate shows a purple potato, some slaw, and a sausage with the cheese coming and being scraped down onto Bill’s plate.
Three more plates served, with John on the right. 
My parting shot of the view from our Raclette site, over the vineyard and down toward Crescent Bar and West Bar. The right shows folks visiting and saying goodbyes around the roaring fire.
It was a fun day. We were gone 7 hours and got home just at dark.
Below is a photo of Bekah and Vincent. Vincent is from Taiwan and lives in Sydney, Australia. Bekah has been a meteorologist in Wellington, New Zealand, but her company is moving her to their Sydney office. 
They did not have a lot of time in the states, and with many people and places to visit, so we were very grateful they shared some time with us. And, a big thanks to John and Robin for giving us packages of some very lean ground beef (best we’ve ever had) from their herd. We have cooked one package, and had a meal of hamburgers one night and then nachos the next. I took photos I will send them, but will not put any more in this week’s blog.
Left are her pictures she shared on Facebook to see if I wanted it. It was new and she was not going to use it. The right pictures my insulated carrier I will use for it. I photographed it when I got home, in front of the woodshed outside our back patio door. 
Lovely card from our friends in Salzburg, Austria, we met in Idaho at the University in the 1970s. Heinz Slupetsky with his family, wife and two girls, has kept up with us all these years. 
and through the snow
First, he gave them a deer block. Here he has made pictures for me to use in a collage to answer questions you might have. The deer block he hammered on a little to show the contents better. Claims to be 10% protein. The smallest doe (fawn) has figured out nibbling on it.
She prefers this cob mixture. It’s easier to eat, and higher in protein.
Here’s the scratch and here are the quail Christmas morning next to the deer block finding the scratch. Now he has a place in the backyard for them, but they haven’t found it yet.
I loaned it to a resident to hold and play with our songs, because I have both hands occupied with the violin, and I could not attach it to my foot. I need to find out her last name so I can write her a sweet thank you note, and send her a thank you picture.
Hers she donated to John. It is new. It has many slots for cards and things. I think one will work well for his picture ID (Driver’s License). (John says: Washington politicians fuss about silly things and ignore their duties. Our WA drivers licenses are soon to be obsolete with regard to national security; called REAL ID. WA residents won’t be able to get on an airplane or visit a US Gov’t Office, such as Social Security. They have known of this for 10 years.)
I wonder if John remembers where he got this (he doesn’t). I know he never used the coin purse, so the one given to us by Lindsey is perfect. 
The broad view shows the placement in the limbs of the tree, and the shots on the right are two Juncos enjoying the scratch. Generally the name Dark-Eyed Junco is given to these birds but there are color-pattern differences.
John made the pecan pies from his mom’s recipe. My hat is from my friend since the 6th grade when we met. Her name was Nancy also, and we went around Atlanta as a duet playing our guitars and singing, when we were in high school. We both played violin in the high school orchestra. 
On the way home we drove to the Brickmill Road display of Christmas lights we saw several nights ago. Below is a collage of part of what we saw.
The top left is the entrance and at the end of the driveway is a sign pointing up the drive for more lights. We took this as an invitation and drove farther toward the house. The top right picture was near the entrance, and the bottom panorama is south of the house, where we turned around. It was a striking presentation.
I delivered the computer to Monica’s office in Geography for getting Microsoft Office Suite software put on and went by the bread room for some sweets that I planned to take to the Retired Geographers’ meeting Tuesday morning.
Left (taken from the very right side of the other) goes back to October behind the shed; over the “Jay’s folly” depression – camera at a utility pole. Note all the green-yellowish vegetation. Right photo taken Nov 30 is from the opposite direction, showing the reduction of brush and trees (fuel). The center of the depression is 75 feet from the back (wood siding) of our house. 
For these two, note the utility pole (at corner of shed). The slightly brownish brush in the center (left photo) is Elderberry with a brush pile in front of it. The “after” photo on the right has had enough material removed that the big trunk of a Ponderosa Pine is now visible. It is on the neighbor’s property. The stumps of the Aspen trees have been left long so leverage can be gotten if we want to remove them. These are likely clones and all part of one large organism. For context, see 
Left photo is the entrance to the north side of the folly before, and the right photo is the last day’s clearing on the left (south) side, directly behind our house. All the limbs and trunks under 8 inches diameter went through the chipper. What a time saver that is. They also piled logs for John to use later for firewood.
You can see the two Ponderosas that are in both photos, and the one on the right centers on the “folly” hole, which had filled with brush. Some of that (very entangled) is still there, waiting for John to pull it out and get into a brush pile they can come back in the spring to put through the chipper. The FireWise crew had promised an upper-County landowner to do a small job before they quit for winter. Plan is for John to use the truck and a chain to get the stuff out to a better place. 
Left to right: Dee Eberhart, Jo & Ken Hammond, George Macinko, Diane & Jim Huckabay, John behind, Urban Eberhart, John Bowen, Sterling Quinn, James & Lillian Brooks, Rose Shriner. 
Jazzercise was today at 2:00 p.m. at the senior center. It was quite a workout today, and we all felt it the next day. I felt before then by having to play fiddle tonight, when I went back to Hearthstone for Christmas music. That was with “The Connections.” Because of all the different keys changes that thankfully I can do (by ear) because I know the songs, I was the only other instrument besides the piano. There we saw a bunch of our followers who love the music. As a kid in elementary school, I learned the 
Megan Willwerth is on the left and Lauren Healey is on the right.
You may wish to hear it on You tube with photographs of the time in WWI – 1915.
Haley on the front row of the audience and the beginnings of our table of food. Haley’s mom, Amy is at the end of the table with the red shirt with white Christmas tree. We also had cheese cake and raspberry sherbet punch.
Here I am with Haley on the piano bench, just before we started. I made it into a collage, with the left photo being out of focus, but showing both the little derby hats with holly and deer antlers. Haley gave me the green one to match her red one, two weeks ago, and now checks to be sure I have it for our weekly sessions. In the first, we have both hats on but in the second, you can see she is tipping her hat and waving. I was sitting in the middle of our musical group to be the “conductor” and to coordinate the songs in the audience booklets.
Left photo, John’s early morning push-brooming efforts. Right shows him cleaning a little from the newly scrapped driveway, and the deer keeping track of the activities.
Then about 3:30, when John was back in the house, a little buck with 3 points on one side and 2 on the other, visited. We have been leaving the gate open, but they are able to jump the 4′ fence. It is just an unnecessary danger with snow and buckets there.
Likely a 2 or 3 year-old. He showed up this week and is sometimes traveling with the regulars.
Left photo is the X-ray of the two implants. The one on the right is smaller because of the room in my mouth. Each will eventually be covered with a gold crown. Right photo is the view inside my mouth. Both were taken at the 11-28-16 appointment, and shipped to me via encrypted email. Much amazing technology.
It has an SD card slot on the right side (out of sight here), and 3 USB ports (one 2.0 and two 3.0), plus some others.
In addition, this is the report from SleepyHead with CPAP merged with the Oximetry.
If I compared to Friday this week, we’d get totally different graphical results while the CPAP was off. Very strange indeed. 
Sue on left, Randy in middle, getting John ready to go to surgery.
Dr. Harris came in and John asked him how big the piece of mesh was. He held up his hands to show (and you can hear the conversation in the video below). 
The collage above shows the vitals screen as John was coming out from under the aesthetic, and his blood pressure was lowered significantly. Screen shows 42 for pulse and that, too, is a few beats low. Occasionally it is 44 but usually up towards 50. On the right, nurse Lin, is talking with him and removing some of the things so we can leave.
John in the waiting room at 6:30 a.m. before admission to Surgical Outpatient services (they abbreviate, SOP, which I find strange). On the right, he still has his intravenous hookup on his left hand, but Lin removed it. We were ready for the trip home. 
Then early morning, 8:40 a.m., 4 of the crew arrived for their last day of fire-wise work.
We decided later to go feed the male outside cat, and put out hay for the horses, down farther in the pasture. That done, John went to get the mail and paper, which came after dark last night. As we were coming back, two of the crew came out in the chipper rig (as seen above) through the orchard, to take one fellow back to town so that he could leave for the Puget Sound area before Snoqualmie Pass got messy. Two workers stayed. The fellow returned about 10:40, and I took a video of the trip around the house I had missed earlier. 
Haley
Here I am showing my costume at the start and on my way out the door, I posed with my white elephant gift (a microwave egg cooker). 
First shot and the on the right, they are all saying HO HO HO !
Paper one on left, gift box in middle (our name spelled wrongly), and porcelain ornament on right.
We started at sunrise with 3 residents waiting to have their morning treat. John obliged and threw them a bucket full of cuttings. Mountain Ash trees are pretty but the limbs break easily and outgrow their strength. In past years birds have gotten most of the fruit but John wanted the tree trimmed back, and did so before his visit to the hospital. They would eat more than they get. Now they are resting under the walnut trees, so we had to circumvent them and go out the back door with Annie to throw hay into the feeders and over the fence for the horses.
Here we are waiting for John to bring the branches of berries. Mom is in the rear (dark spot on left cheek), and the buck twin is in the middle, little doe in front. It has been good to watch them grow from little babies with white spots.
A company that has made large bells since 1570 made one (ordered in 1751) for the Pennsylvania State House. This was 36+ years before the Constitutional Convention and Ratification, 1787–1789, and the United States of America. A news story this week claims the Whitechapel Bell Foundry that made the Liberty Bell is going out of business.
At my request, John started the day by examining the web for information about the Dell Inspiron I was considering. He found it for a higher price, but he found excellent ratings. So I plan to get one when I’m in Yakima to have my Stability Test on my dental implants, this coming Monday. John cannot go along because he has to stay to work with the chipping / sawing crew for the Fire-Wise work.
Kainoa Aholelei with mom Jessie (Swedberg), and other smiles captured. The one on the far right was on Thanksgiving Day 2016, and that is my memory of his smile. Kai’s dad is Rick, who is Hawaiian.
This set of photos represents the stages of development and filling of the wood shed. (Look back to previous weeks to see where it was previously, with the base for the platform now dug out, and the big rock and Nanking Cherry trees removed). It is filled with about a 1/2 cord of wood, and 3 buckets of kindling. More is stored farther away from the house, if needed. Mostly we use the heat-pump, but wood is the emergency fuel. When real cold the wood stove is a great addition – except for the mess.
I took a before picture and with salsa and sour cream added on the right, so one can see the beautiful ham/cheese/mushroom omelet creation (well, 1/4 of it). That’s Rosemary & Olive Oil bread toasted and orange slices.
After I finish the music, I shall work on the blog. I’m still struggling with the music, now all copies are made and I’m numbering them to send to the person who helped find all the changes, just to be sure it is ready to go.
After that, with two outside cats fed, we had our morning toast, and then started working on computer chores. John has now left the house in the nice sunny day, temperature 45°. He’ll be back for brunch later to finish the omelet. He’s not back yet, but the sunny day turned cloudy and gray around noon. Turns out John never made it back so we’ll have the omelet tomorrow morning. Instead, he worked building another hay shed, in the pathway to a gate from the corral.
Far left above are the twin fawns and mom, who have been watching John’s construction. On the right is later, when the hay shed is taking shape and the gate is still open for John’s access. The purpose of this is to have covered hay close to the house and easy to get to. The horses can feed on the other side of the fence. John will put a ton of hay here and we’ll be able to feed with ease. John isn’t to do anything very strenuous as of Dec.1.
Here is another early morning photo of the older hay shed out back where Lemon hangs out. That’s his morning and evening pose, awaiting food to be carried out and put on the baled straw (not seen here, beneath him). There is a ½ cord of firewood in this shed, also. It’s where I took his evening meal tonight, while John was still finishing up the chores before dark. While walking to feed him, I found the finished graveled and chipped walkway from the patio, so I combined these photos. The gravel is recycled concrete, with much to come next year as we want a no-burn area around the whole house.