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Monday, July 11

For July 10 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 14 min with AHI=0.00. Events: 0 CSR, 0 H, 10 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 9 L/min). Oximetry: Excellent all night.

Went to Dr. Cardon for toenails, with medicine compound to show. Screwed up, fiasco, full waiting room, only one doctor with 4 patients inside with him, and people waiting since 9:30. No need to stay for as long as it might be. Others ahead of us for 10:15, 10:30, and we were to be at 10:30 and 10:45. Rescheduled for Aug 8, at 11:15 and 11:30. The clinic is in rented space in EBRG while the doctors and staff are from Yakima. Had we driven to Yakima to be informed their timing was so flawed, there would be no end to the anguish.

I made Toll House & nut cookies to take in the morning to our retired Geography Profs meeting because I could not find the leftovers in the freezer from a previous “forget.” John will stay home to meet our hay broker with 7.5 tons of hay he plans to deliver. Subsequently, we found the old frozen ones, so will use for next month, and our hay broker’s truck broke down, but his call didn’t come until John was out of the house preparing, and I was already at the meeting in town.

Tuesday, July 12 — our 47th wedding anniversary

For July 11 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 46 min with AHI=0.64. Events: 0 CSR, 1 CA, 1 PP, 4 H, 10 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 19 L/min). Oximetry: Good all night with two blips below 88 for SpO2.

I responded early to some emails and took off for town at 8:20 a.m., taking my container of cookies for the group. We had a guest speaker on politics who is a faculty member at CWU and who writes a column for the local newspaper. We only had 8 members there, but we interacted well with the speaker.

I left to come home and change clothes for my PT appointment. I carried along a box of cherries for the PT folks and another for our Jazzercise teacher. I also took my painkillers in preparation for the session. I met a new therapist and she shared my time with the owner. They gave me quite a work over and made measurements of my range of motion on internal and external rotation. I got there early for my heat treatment at the start, and stayed for my ice treatment at the end. Now a few hours later, I am in pain again. But they say I’m making progress.

I went directly from there to Jazzercise. I got more of a workout for 45 minutes. On home by way of the Food Bank bread room to pick up some stuff for our neighbors and us. We will be having a hamburger with mushrooms for dinner, and I got some nice cheesy rolls to use, along with a loaf of sourdough Boule bread. Boule is the French word for ball, and the bread is cooked in such a shape. Our neighbors received a loaf of cinnamon bread they like and a package of nice large biscuits and also dinner rolls.

Tonight I am going to play music back at the place I started this morning, Hearthstone. I’ll be worn out when I get home, for sure.

Wednesday, July 13

For July 12 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 8 hrs 9 min with AHI=0.74. Events: 0 CSR, 6 H, 14 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 16 L/min). Oximetry: Looks good all night, 2 blips to 88-89 & on SpO2.

Shirley, Stan, & Gloria are not going with me for 2 weeks to our normal gigs.

John is setting up irrigation water to send to Sherri because her ditches are cleaned, as is the in-between neighbor’s ditch that carries the water down the fan.

My trip to the food bank was good (with good music and food afterwards). I went on to SAIL exercises class afterwards.

We had more cherries to pick, and deer to view and share with as we picked. The deer go for the leaves first. Some of the cherries, if any are on the branches, mostly get eaten too, but there may be other critters doing that.

Thursday, July 14

For July 13 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 5 hrs 33 min with AHI=1.26. Events: 1 CSR, 7 H, 7 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 14 L/min). Oximetry: Battery died; only an hour’s graph.

We met Dawn (Tjemsland) and Victor Estrella for lunch at the Golden Dragon buffet 11:45, from their walk around the CWU campus, 20 years later. Dawn took Victor to see various places (such as her dorm/apt, Lind Science Hall (where Geography was housed then), and to the Wildcat shop at the new student union building.

She has a few memories she shared on Facebook, but I picked this one.
Dawn with the CWU Wildcat in front of the new SURC (Student Union & Recreation Center).

We spent a nice visit before and with food and had our waitress, Lisa, take our photo at the end on both our cameras. The picture on Dawn’s camera was better that the rest.
John, Nancy, Victor, and Dawn.

We drove to music following at The Meadows Place. Victor joined us on the accordion, borrowed from Gerald Gordon. Dawn was my student about 20 years ago. She now teaches Earth Science in Boise and Victor is a Special Ed teacher. I last saw them in 2007, when I went to a Geography conference in San Francisco, and they were living in San Leandro. They were very gracious to invite me to stay at their home for the duration of the week, and driving me to the BART station for going back and forth to SF. It was while I was there I heard Victor practicing with his band. He plays the bass and the accordion. We couldn’t get him a bass fiddle, but we could obtain an accordion.

Dawn took my camera and made one video (below) and a couple of photos.
Battle Hymn of the Republic by Kittitas Valley Fiddlers & Friends, 7/14/16

The Battle Hymn

After the music, we parted and they went on to Leavenworth for the night. I followed them on Facebook and enjoyed more of their trip, to Washington’s pseudo Bavarian city, an economic development result occurring from a dying forest and railroad town.

They stayed in a Bavarian decor (everything in the town is, including Starbucks, McDonald’s) hotel.
They went out dining and drinking during the evening. My favorite photo was of them fooling around, when they found a photo shop. This sepia capture is my favorite and will keep me chuckling.
I joked with them about singing the Sounds of Music, and how this accordion fits Victor better than the one he played on with our group.

From there they drove to Anacortes for the Ferry to Orcas Island, for the wedding they had originally made the trip for. We on Facebook were able to share their adventures to the wedding, but this was another favorite of them all dressed up for the special event.
This is on Orcas at Eastsound, WA.

On their way out Sunday, they toured a special park on the island, Moran State Park. I am sure this has been a fun trip for them.

Continuing with the music theme, our friends also in the Boise area in Nampa, have some celebrating to do. Katrina Nicolayeff is the daughter of my violin teacher at the WA Old Time Fiddlers Workshop for 22 years, Roberta (Bobbie) Pearce. Katrina is a left-handed fiddler. This video below only can be viewed by those with Facebook accounts, but I’m putting it in anyway.

Katrina recently won the championship at Weiser for the third time:
Katrina

If you can see this video, the little girl is her on the violin at 3 and not her red-haired daughter, Chloe.
Here are some photos of her at Weiser this year.
Katrina on left holding the trophy – at first I thought it was a bottle of wine, and her “diploma.” On the right we see the top of the fiddling trophy. So kewl. Katrina Nicolayeff is everyone’s favorite left-handed fiddler. She is having a CD release party on July 30th in Boise, for her new CD. We were invited, but we have conflicts that day. We will arrange with her to get a copy, “signed.”

Finally, from being on Facebook collecting information about the CD release and party, I picked up a few pictures of the family:
Left, Stampede Breakfast this weekend. Fiddlers got in free to enjoy pancakes; Katrina had her CDs there to sell. Middle her patriotic kids, and Chloe on the right. What a cutie.

Here is her new CD.
I hope you can see the list of songs included. #13, Orange Blossom Special, is John’s favorite fiddle tune.

Friday, July 15

For July 14 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 5 min with AHI=0.16. Events: 0 CSR, 1 H, 7 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 19 L/min). Oximetry: Fairly even all night long.

John left at 6:30 a.m. to help repair a broken railing on a log bridge (Annette Lake Trail) but did not know what he would be doing when he left here. See the 2010 photo at this link:

See foot-log bridge

A recent tree fall took out about ¾ of the rail or almost all of what appears in the photo.

I slept in for another couple hrs, and then did some stuff. Last thing before I left was to pick a 5-gallon bucket full of purple and white and with purple Dahlias John has grown (just this year). I had promised to bring dahlias for the going-away party for Olivia Estill, working for AmeriCorps for the past two years here at our Ellensburg Adult Activity Center (the senior center). She participated in leading three exercises classes: SAIL, Yoga, and Tai Chi. She was helpful in all the activities of the center, and went along on field trips from the center throughout the state. She has helped manage the Facebook presence on line. If you are on Facebook, you can find their account at Ellensburg Adult Activity Center, and get an idea of all the activities happening there. I only talk about a few of my favorites in this blog.

I don’t have a photo of the 5-gallon carrier, but I have the before shots in the garden and the after in the vases (and in some of the pictures).
The two left are from the garden a week ago, but the ones I took are mostly lighter with dark purple highlights. The two vases spent most of the party beside the trivia game board. However, if you look below, you’ll see the one pitcher in my hands during the photo session. Olivia was going to take the flowers home with her to enjoy over the weekend.
Once I got there, there we found two vases and put the dahlias in them. I found a place to sit where I could do some picture-taking. This was a going away party for our AmeriCorps worker for the past 2 years, whom we all have grown to love. She is from Kentucky, and will returning to work on a Masters degree in Exercise Physiology.

Olivia Estill’s going away party was well attended. We had homemade macaroni and cheese casserole, with 3 different types of cheese. It was excellent, and that statement comes from a non-pasta liker. Green salad, and a root beer float for dessert.

Two videos below – at the beginning and at the end of the event:

Katrina Douglas With Olivia Estill – Going Away Party, 7-15-16

LINK 1

Olivia – You are My Sunshine – Nancy’s Comments 7-15-16

LINK 2

Carly, Nancy, Olivia, and Dorothea.
Hugs and dancing with Olivia.

Saturday, July 16

For July 15 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 5 hrs 26 min with AHI=0.18. Events: 0 CSR, 1 H, 8 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 7 L/min). A ringing doorbell in my sleep awakened me at just before 6:00 a.m., but I went back to sleep for a couple of hours without machines on. Oximetry: seemed to be okay but had some glitches at the end-maybe the battery died an hour before I awoke, and turned off the oximeter. Strange.

John started by working on the computer on a WTA trail report and then took care of re-routing irrigation water and other chores – getting ready for 15 tons of hay, watering plants, and feeding cats. Now the temperatures have increased into the 70s.

Going tonight to Charlie’s and Helga for a potluck with the Belorussian visitor. We took two pieces of cooked (by John) Alaskan salmon given to us by our neighbor, written up earlier in this blog. His son caught them. In addition, we took a 1.25-gallon ice cream container of fresh cherries. We came home empty-handed. But full bellied. Should have grabbed a few cookies or raspberry pie for John. We actually will have fresh raspberries on our coconut cream pie tomorrow night.

Sunday, July 17

For July 16 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 46 min with AHI=0.64. Events: 0 CSR, 5 H, 16 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 11 L/min). Oximetry: just fine throughout.

I spent the day working on the blog and on dishes and music projects. John spent his out hours mowing, moving hay, killing weeds, and other minor chores.

Late afternoon a thunder and rain storm went eastward across the valley to our south. It only rained slightly here. Friends down in the Badger Pocket area likely were more impressed. My friend in Thorp got dumped on, along with fireworks as well.

To end this day, I will post a photo taken Friday at the Gorge, with a concert by Phish. The photo is gorgeous, and was taken by my friend, Hannah Gillick, from Ellensburg.
The location is 9 miles south of where John prunes grapes at Mariposa Vineyard.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

Taylor Bridge is 17 miles west of us, on Highway 10.

Monday, July 4

For July 3 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 25 min with AHI=0.27. Events: 0 CSR, 2 H, 13 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 15 L/min). Oximetry: SpO2 down for a couple minutes to 87%.

Day of work around the place… mostly picking cherries (John) and sorting (Nancy). Work on the computer (Nancy) and a few household tasks. Late afternoon I was not feeling well and went to sleep for 1.5 hours. I think I pushed exercising my left shoulder too much.

Tuesday, July 5

For July 4 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 36 min with AHI=0.91. Events: 3 CSR, 6 H, 12 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 18 L/min). Oximetry: SpO2 never below 88, mostly in the 90s. Pulse mostly 50s and 60s.

Nancy took an early morning trip to town, and John stayed to pick cherries, feed horses, and cats. I was going for a Physical Therapy appointment changed so I could go with John this afternoon to Cle Elum to the doctor about his medical issues. I was there for an 8:45 appointment, and left a little after 9:45. I received moist heat to start (10 minutes), and then a new physical therapist, Mandie, worked on my left shoulder for 30 minutes or so, and then I did some exercises, with her advising and leading. At the end, she set me up with ice for the cool down (15 min). On my way home I went to Bi-Mart and bought an ace bandage ($4.99) to tie on an ice pack for doing the same at home after exercise. I needed to go to Bi-Mart today, anyway, to check their “win this” numbers {match with one’s membership #}. I called Rite Aid, where often medical supplies are cheaper, and they wanted $8.99.

I also talked with my pharmacist, and found out the difference between my Oxycodone (5mg) received last week, and that which I was taking for the Oral Surgery (5 mg of Oxycodone with 325mg of Acetaminophen), called Percoset. She said it would be okay to take the pills I had with one Acetaminophen. From there I went by Grocery Outlet to pick up some more tomatoes, and Almond Breeze milk on sale (but also nearing its use by date).

John and I had leftovers from yesterday’s breakfast, for lunch with a bunch of cherries added to the plate. He probably picked another 6 boxes of cherries today, weighing 4-5 pounds each.

Folks from Ellensburg came out to pick up (borrow) a very large cooler and a 5-gallon drink dispenser for their family reunion this July 15-18. We visited until John had to get ready for going to the doctor.

We left just after 3:00 to get there by 4:15. (it’s in Cle Elum). While there I checked with my Coumadin adviser, Lacey, and we discussed my INR of 3.1 and my need to check again in 2 weeks, on the 19th. We were there in plenty of time, but they were running late. That’s common when an appointment is near the end of the day. We didn’t get out of the building until after the front desk personnel had left for the day. I imagine it was close to 6:00. John met with a PA about his hernia and ear wax. She was very attentive, understanding, and informative. She made recommendations, and then removed wax from his right ear. We had been softening it up with drops, but the left ear needs the same treatment so we can go back for a 15-minute appointment to have that removed from the other ear. We need to start working on that. He came home and ordered a wide elastic belt to see if pressure in the right spot (just below belt level and left of center) can keep the intestine from escaping through the abdominal wall. For many years it was happy living in there but last November it developed a desire for freedom.

We stopped for a few minutes on the way home to take photos of the area where the fire was last weekend, on Hwy 10 starting at noon, July 2, Saturday. I had a request from a neighbor in the line of the old Taylor Bridge fire a few years ago asking about access to the first responder county emergency scanner. This fire began at the bridge, by a blowout in a tire on a boat trailer being pulled, that created sparks, igniting the fire. District #7 Fire Dept a little over 5 miles away in Cle Elum responded, and worked with 3 helicopters grabbing water from the Yakima River to help douse the flames, which were approaching 3 houses. The fire was stopped at 45 acres.

I received an email from friends who have moved to Hayward Hill, about 9 miles away, a spot in the path of the Taylor Bridge fire in 2012, started at the same location. They wanted to know the location of the scanner I listened to during the fires in 2012 and 2014. They were away from home, and so I listened for a couple hours and reported to them by cell phone until they could return home and get it on their own computer to listen.

The first set of photos was posted on the Facebook page of #7 Fire District in Cle Elum, the day it happened.
This collage above was on their site. Right is along Hwy 10, firefighters, and in the rear on the hill is the middle house on Hart Road. See it below in the right photo and ones to follow.
<- before from the Daily Record 7/2 . . . . . . after by Nancy 7/5/16 ->
The Yakima River is visible in both before and after photos above and is from where the helicopters scooped the water dropped on the fire.

These are some other pix I took on the way home.
Note the house in all three; in the line of fire. It is also seen in the first two collages. That house is on Hart Rd. Look on Google Earth if you want its situation. I have tried below with 3 snips from Google Earth. There are 3 images kluged together. Left (and separated) is the location along Hwy 10, Taylor Road connecting to Hart Rd, and the Taylor Bridge, then the middle shows the Yakima River and the 3 houses on the hill. The right snip has two images merging Hart Road with Durango, and showing the houses on both roads that were evacuated July 2.

A follow-up story is interesting. These are taken the same day July 2 as the fire. This orphaned elk thinks she’s a horse and came from the old Taylor Bridge fire. The locals call her Buttons. She was getting very friendly with the firefighters.

Ironically, this was ironically just sent to me by my friend in New Jersey.

See this link.

Wednesday, July 6

For July 5 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 45 min with AHI=1.04. Events: 4 CSR, 7 H, 15 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 13 L/min). Oximetry: okay all night.

At 6:00 a.m. this morning, I grabbed these photos of the doe and her two fawns, and took some video too. I saw them from my back room window and ran to get my camera.

John went out early to pick cherries. He kept bringing in boxes, most mixed 1/2 with Bing and Royal Anne/Rainier. He brought in one flat with sticky ones, which he’s going to wash before leaving Friday morning and taking to the crew at Icicle Creek. He will be driving up with Bill Weir (who lives in Ellensburg).

I left just before 11:00, with 4 pounds for Gloria Swanson and her sister Shirley to have (they had some last week too), and this week they will share with Shirley’s son and daughter who are up Saturday for a visit and lunch. They are living in Ecuador but back working in Toppenish for a few weeks, and visiting family on the west side and here.

John kept picking after I left. When I returned he was sitting on wood pallets in the back of our ’80 Chev PU farm truck. He used it to access a very large branch, and was sitting there picking in the shade of the large Walnut tree next to the Rainier tree.

I had picked up Gloria and Shirley and gone to the Food Bank, where we played music for 1/2 hour with a bunch of players/singers leading the crowd, which was smaller today, but very good at participating, enjoying, and applauding. That always makes us happy. We had singers (Lowell, also sometimes playing a recorder), Peggy, Brooke, Richard, Bob (guitar), Kyle (baritone ukulele), Evelyn (banjo), Evie (violin), Nancy (violin), Reta and Yvonne, singers.

Our meal presented today was good. Choice of two pastas — I had the white sauce and it had steak and red peppers, a large green mixed salad with all sorts of things. I chose Bleu Cheese dressing and garlic bread. We had red/white/blue frosted cake for dessert. We had three drink choices: iced tea, milk, and chocolate milk. All this is free as thanks for entertaining the guests for the day.
We left there, stopped off at the bank for me, and went on to SAIL exercise class at the AAC. Fifteen participants were present. One of the largest groups recently. One fellow normally goes to the 8:00 a.m. class.

We came on home. I called a neighbor who raises pigs and we invited her over within the next hour to take away some cherries for them to cull out the bruised for the pigs. She stayed about 20 minutes eating and picking the rest of the cherries from the branches John had in the back of the PU. I sat in a chair to pick into my own box, John, Krista, picked. We exchanged stories. Then we dumped my box into theirs and she went away with 10 dozen empty egg cartons, and probably 10 pounds of cherries.

In the video below, at the 2:10 mark the right side fawn picks up a branch with cherries on it. The deer eat all the leaves and some of the cherries they find. July 6th.

Fawns get an easy meal at the Cherry Tree

Thursday, July 7

For July 6 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 28 min with AHI=0.27. Events: 1 CSR, 2 H, 21 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 14 L/min). Oximetry: all right.

John and I went part-way out the driveway into a native plants area looking for Mariposa Lilies. Only 4 are in bloom this morning, with more coming. He’d sent me this link on Tuesday night to remind me they were back (it is a July occurrence).
Info on Mariposa Lilies

Until several years ago the horses could get to this spot. Now they cannot. However, we disturbed a lot of the ground where the lilies had been in the past by putting in a new drive to the barns and to have an access driveway to the west side (back) of our house.

Mariposa photo combo has John’s and my photography combined.
The left photo has an unopened flower while the opened on there shows the green stripe on the outside of the petal.

John went with me to run errands while I set up and played music with 11 people at the Rehab. He got himself some colas at Safeway. Went by the Goodwill looking for a rain jacket because they’re expecting rain at the work site tomorrow at Icicle Creek, and he came out with some real buys for me and for him. He found a Carhartt Coverall (~$100) for $10. It is only slightly used. I had one given at our Buy Nothing clothing share, but it had a broken zipper that needed to be replaced. We had his worn out pair with a good zipper, but the cost was probably going to be much over $10 to take out the one and replace in the other. He found a set of three screwdrivers, 2 normal slot ones (horizontal, jokingly called a ‘minus’) and a Phillips head (jokingly called a ‘plus’). He found me a “Soothing Body Wrap” – a piece of cloth containing something such as flax seed or rice that can be heated or cooled and used as a compress. I think this contains some sort of artificial chemical to mimic the other grains. I put it on tonight after leaving it in the freezer for 3 hours. It works perfectly. What a good buy that was!!! On the web it’s $15. He paid $4.

After John picked me up at the Rehab, we visited Bi-Mart looking through their 25% off garden chemicals, a rain jacket, and to return the ace bandage I bought yesterday, after realizing John had ordered 10 of them in a package that arrives tomorrow in the mail. While there, we found a rain suit he bought, a Frogg Toggs, Ultra Lite Rain Suit 2 with a jacket and pants for $18.99. Ever since we fed the cats and horses, it has been raining, so that was a good purchase for his trip to the mountains tomorrow to work on trail (probably in the rain).

Friday, July 8

For July 7 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 38 min with AHI=0.91. Events: 0 CSR, 6 H, 13 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 21 L/min). Oximetry: Never turned on until 3:40 in the morning, and then up with John and feeding cats. Back for an hour. Night was weird awaking at 2:00 a.m. with people chasing John and me with guns. ?? wonder what caused that nightmare.

I drove by Charlie’s and Helga’s to leave something for Arina and pick up Acetaminophen from Helga to tide me over until we get to Costco. This week a Costco tractor/trailer driver managed to tip off an interstate from the top level to the one below. The trailer split open and spread items all over the road and beyond (John’s addition).

I was on my way to Canyon View Physical Therapy, stopped off at a yard sale, buying some very interesting food tongs for 50¢. They are black plastic and have a closure/opener that is unique (pull out the end of the handle). I went to PT with a cute stuffed animal appropriate for Natalie’s PT business – a little monkey with a stick he pulls above his head to shinny up on. I told her I had a gift of a mascot for her place. This represents one of the overhead exercises I do to gain a range of motion above my head. She liked it, but said when her 5 yr. old daughter saw it, she would likely want it.

John’s first-aid things (via Amazon) in a multi-item package arrived today with an extra item – a hockey puck-sized thing of turtle food. Their robotic picker must have gotten a stray electron or some such. We have neither a turtle or a hockey stick so the item is of no use.

Saturday, July 9

For July 8 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 31 min with AHI=0.15. Events: 1 H, 2 PP, 13 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 7 L/min). Oximetry: okay.

Had some English muffin bread; only two pieces left. Ate lunch.
Got another call from the 963 number and recorded it on my camera.

May need to grab another wink. My eyes are hurting. I waited until 5:00 and got a little rest before John called.

Changed my CPAP filter, finally.

Washed and dried clothes washed for John, mostly, with blankets.

John called, being late getting home, and arrived just before 7:00 p.m. He took Annie for her evening walk and came back to say we should go in town for our anniversary dinner, and fill up his car with gasoline. He rode with Bill on Friday and Saturday but will go alone Sunday to Icicle Creek (~160 miles, round trip). We went to the Palace Cafe, in business since 1892. We receive a free meal (choice of Chicken Fried Steak or Chicken Alfredo) for our birthdays and for our anniversary to be used in the month of occurrence. We got there and had a CWU student as waitress. Beth is in a Physical Education/Sports degree program but with her looks and personality might make a better living moving up in the world of high end waitressing.

Returning home we still had some chores to do and John had some prep to do for his early morning departure. His stuff got spread around some because he was riding in Bill’s truck.

Sunday, July 10

For July 9 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 25 min with AHI=0.00. Events: 2 CSR, 1 PP, 0 H, 12 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 19 L/min). Oximetry: okay.

I was extremely tired and slept in until after 9:00 a.m., after not being able to get back to sleep when John left at 6:30. I was up with him to send him off and feed one of the kitties (Sue).

Been working on returning the wrongly delivered Amazon purchase filing a return and printing the UPS delivery slips to attach inside and outside the package to return an Aquatic Turtle Banquet Block Food & Calcium Supplement Treat, Giant Zoo Med Turtle Feed Pellet that came via Amazon. I first tried giving it away on the Buy Nothing site, but no one has a pet turtle.

I also have been working on getting ready to meet a former CWU Geography student and her husband coming from Boise Thursday, on their way to the west side for a wedding. They entertained me long ago for an AAG (Assoc. of American Geographers) conference in San Francisco, when they lived in San Leandro. They’ll join us for lunch, and then come hear us play music, possibly joining on an accordion, or perhaps a bass fiddle.
Washed dishes and fed another cat (Woody). Only one not back is Lemon. He’ll be back for a large supper.

I called Dee Eberhart and wished him a Happy 92nd Birthday!! Dee (WWII vet in Europe) retired from CWU as I arrived and is the patriarch of the orchard from which we glean about 1,000 pounds of apples each fall.

Need to work on the blog, but first eat leftovers from last night, and do my shoulder exercises.

Crazy things (telephone calls and emails) happened this afternoon to alter my schedule significantly.

John made it home, calling me from WA’s (Pseudo) Bavarian village of Leavenworth, a little over an hour away, at 5:00 p.m.

He was exhausted and went to bed early. He and the Crew Leader, Alan, did 3 days; Bill 2, and others just one each. He did post a short note yesterday, so check that out: “We’ll be a day late, again.”

I tried to stay up to finish the blog, yet after putting in a lot of time and information, I decided to leave things out to put in for next week. I still didn’t hit the hay until 12:30 a.m.
Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

Sunday, June 26

Celebrations, Crew Work, Consultations, Cherries

For June 25 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 5 hrs 24 min with AHI=1.30. Events: 0 CSR, 7 H, 9 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 22 L/min). Oximetry: both SpO2 and pulse good.

John left at 5:40 a.m. for Mt. Rainier. We’ll add some photos from his day on the trail below my trip to town for the baby shower report.

I slept a couple more hours, and then fed all three outside cats (Woody, Sue, and Lemon), and one inside (Rascal).

Around 10:45 a.m., I took off for town with my gifts for the baby shower, including three things: a gift bag full, a plastic container full, and a stationary baby seat for the floor.

I don’t remember when we started eating, but it was after playing several games and drinking tea and lemonade. Games included guessing the prices of baby necessities from the grocery, baby stuff (from her baby registry requests) in brown paper bags, and guessing the gestation period for a number of different animals. We all decided a few of the larger ones (such as an elephant) was way too long. All through this everyone was visiting. Another game was measuring a piece of yarn string to come the closest to the number of inches around Jess’s middle. After all that fun, we ate a fantastic meal including a large variety of veggies and fruits, meat, sweets (cupcakes, chocolates, almond-poppy Bundt cake), and chilled dishes of various sorts. I loved the fresh cut figs, as I have not had one in over 50 years. We had a fig tree in our backyard, where I grew up in Atlanta, GA. I’m sure I left something out of the food fare explanation. I forgot to take my camera, so I have no pix except those sent to me at my request (by Jess’s sister Julie). Collage below.
Left: Nancy with Kathy & Lynn Swedberg. Middle: Grandmother, Lorene Swedberg in pink sitting in walker, Jess Swedberg middle behind her. Right: Jess with her yarn to measure her circumference.

After lunch, we opened gifts. I have pictured my contributions below (pix taken before I left home).
On the left in the collage above is one large gift bag with blankets and an animal towel, and clothes in the bottom. The left top is a skeleton suit with pants and shirt and little shoes and kitty stocking socks. The right is a plastic container full of clothes from newborn “onesies” to rubber diaper pants, bibs, the Monkey blanket, some baby safety swabs, and various clothing to 9, 18, and 24 months. All this stuff came freely to me from the Buy Nothing site (except for driving all over the area to pick it up).
The collage above is from the web to describe my third gift wrapped in a garbage bag, with the overhead thing disconnected. I had checked this out in advance with Jess to be sure someone else in the family was not providing one (as was the case with a car seat).

John’s trip was to the White River (east) area of Mt. Rainier. The park is divided into 4 sections for trail maintenance. This is on the Owyhigh Lakes Trail.
The main project was building a turnpike, replacing a buried one, and creating a new part over the wet spot on the trail. John is the one with the orange hat (Assistant Crew Leader), and the yellow hat is for a trail worker for the Mt. Rainier National Park. Note the black plastic culvert.
Three shots: Andi with John; middle called the long view with green hats (volunteer workers) up front, and John way in the rear; right with the crew sitting on the almost finished project. “Almost” because it still needs about 100 buckets of mineral soil to fill in over the rocks and between the logs.

Monday, June 27

For June 26 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 8 hrs 36 min with AHI=0.47. Events: 0 CSR, 4 H, 17 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 20 L/min). Oximetry: Excellent all night.

We did morning chores and left for an appointment at the vet to get Annie taken care of. She was not feeling well for the past couple days. I intended to take my clippers along because she needed to be completely shaven to access and treat the injuries, ticks, and cheat grass, but I forgot my container with the clippers and the instructions and we were 12 miles away, having driven the truck & canopy with a large kennel in the back for Annie. The Doc gave her a tranquilizer and we stayed with her awhile. After 20 minutes, she settled nicely, and they walked her back to the surgery room, where she was anesthetized for the procedures. We used to help with such things but now they kick us out.

We left for lunch and received a phone call on my cell phone from the assistant because the Dr. wanted to report in, and she knew we were going to lunch, intending to come back. That was a nice touch saving us time and travel distance. At the time of the call, the doctor and the assistant had worked on one side of her. They said they needed to keep her overnight to give her an injection for the infections they found. She was running a fever of 104° (normal for a dog is ~102°). They cleaned an abscess on her neck (apparently from running into barbed wire), cleaned cheatgrass from both ears that had been embedded for a while and were infected. She said they had taken off several ticks, and that they had trimmed the one side and done her toenails. They were going to complete the shaving, but give her injections for the infection, and wanted to keep her overnight. When that is the case, for best results, they do not wish to send the animal home. They also found a rash on her tummy apparently from the infection in her system.

Here is the after shot, at home the next morning, worn out from her overnight at the vet.
Wiped out from a night of little sleep, we imagine. All trimmed to the toenails. Cheatgrass also was removed from between the toes. She had an amazing amount of thick hair removed from her entire body. It is cool this week but she will likely be more comfortable when summer heat arrives.

Tuesday, June 28

For June 27 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 9 min with AHI=0.16. Events: 0 CSR, 1 H, 11 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 12 L/min). Oximetry: Just fine, all night.

We left to pick up Annie. She is looking good all trimmed up and doctored. She had a lot wrong. Final bill was $243, which included anesthesia, grooming all hair off to access the doctoring of the abscess, several other abrasions, exposing ticks to take off, (meds for a month, one NexGard chewable pill costing $26.00). I figured I could find more for a lesser price on line, and we’re working on that. I paid for overnight boarding because they gave injections they wanted to check in the morning when she was out from being under. They gave her one 500mg Amoxicillin and enough for twice daily ($15) for a week. I had some of that at home, but went ahead and took theirs and paid for it. As mentioned, the vet removed several pieces of cheat grass from both ears. Annie had a rash (little red spots caused by her infection) and the abscess on her cheek. They put on a diaper rash cream, and we bought some today at Bi-Mart to continue the application.

I have been arranging for the celebration we are playing music for early, in honor of the Fourth of July, at the Ellensburg Adult Activity Center (the Senior Center). We have provided the entertainment for well over a dozen years, at 3 different locations in town (starting at a park south of town), near the Yakima River.

We went back in (John drove me so I could take a Percoset) for my hour’s PT evaluation assessment after 5 weeks of treatment. Medicare requires these updates. I have to show improvement to be able to continue. I am scheduled Thursday to visit my family physician, to approve the sessions twice weekly for another 6 weeks. I managed to improve in my numbers for range of motion and strength of resistance. The Physical Therapist will complete the report and FAX to my doctor’s office tomorrow. I will go by and receive a printout of the angles measured and the complete report.

I removed all data from Oximeter and CPAP for last night and recorded. It was a good night, with the lowest AHI in awhile.

Thinking music, I went back in tonight and stopped at the bread room with 2 minutes to closing, drove on down to Super 1 for my prescription pickup (got 2 of 3), and picked up 1/2 dozen donuts marked down – nice Boston Crème in the middle of chocolate frosting over the doughnut. I went on to the Rehab, visited with a few people, and realized it was the wrong night of the month. Oh me oh my. I gave my apologies to the staff and left to fill up my gasoline tank before the prices go up for the 4th weekend. I paid $2.519/gallon and came on home. WA gas tax goes up 4.9¢ per gallon on July first, and next year again. Roads and bridges need repaired. Costs have gone up, so over 3 years the tax increase will be 11.7 cents. There is a need for a replacement bridge to span the Columbia River between Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR. Money for that will come from another way – if they can decide when and how to build it. After if falls down?

Wednesday, June 29

For June 28 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 22 min with AHI=0.31. Events: 0 CSR, 2 H, 12 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 11 L/min). Oximetry: both readings good all night.

John started by picking strawberries and now is running Annie. She was anxious to go, and hope it will not expose her to any potential problems (i.e., cheatgrass). She’s had her antibiotics.

I am getting ready to leave just before 11:00.

I stopped to pick up two sisters to take with me to the Food Bank and to SAIL exercise. We enjoyed our day together and picked up some bread for them at the bread room. Shirley was all excited to find roasted garlic bread, and they got nice sourdough and French bread loaves. For lunch, we had a nice white sauce pasta chicken dish without a lot of garlic, making me happy. The meal included bread, salad, dessert and drink. From there we went to SAIL exercise. Once done, I needed to go pick up the medicine not refilled yesterday, and we dropped by a house for me to leave a bag of toddler clothes for our mascot Haley (see below) to try on.

Thursday, June 30

For June 29 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs with AHI=0.00. Events: 0 CSR, 0 H, 25 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 15 L/min). Wow… first time in many months I had a perfect reading of ZERO. Oximetry: both fine all night.

We drove 45 minutes to the 9:45 appointment with my family physician, Dr. Schmitt, in Cle Elum. He gave an okay on progress from PT and paperwork to continue. He noticed a change in what he noted of my range of motion from my previous time in his office about 6 weeks ago.

After taking the Percoset, I left with John driving me to my PT session appointment. While I had my appointment, he bought a weed sprayer to replace one with a broken air-pump handle. The new one has a filter and the old one did not. That’s the up side of old things breaking. John picked cherries.

Friday, July 1

For June 30 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 4 hrs 56 min with AHI=0.00. Events: 0 CSR, 0 H, 11 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 10 L/min). ZERO again. Oximetry: OK.

I slept in an hour, and then for another hour cleaned many dishes, fed the cats, and gave Annie her medicine. More cherry picking for John. We made it to the AAC by 11:00, with two large boxes of cherries and all the music stuff needed.
John had packed cherries of different types (Rainier, Queen Anne, and Bing) with stem on, into two large flat boxes probably close to 5-7 pounds each. The kitchen crew was willing to wash only those that would be eaten today, and will dispense the remaining to people in bags to take home and refrigerate (they’ll last for at least a week), and we told them NOT to wash them until they were ready to eat them.

We stayed around at the end and John helped “hang up” the chairs on stands and put away tables. We received many compliments for our music, and the group sounded good with a responsive audience. I am sorry I don’t have videos of any of the music, but John took his camera. I will post a few collages below.

COLLAGES at the AAC Fourth of July celebration early.
Top shows Nancy’s introduction of the program to the audience (of over 60 people) who had the lyrics to sing along to 13 songs. A dozen of us performed for over a half hour, ending with everyone standing, saluting the flag, and singing our National Anthem, acapella. This is a moving experience every year.
Singing audience, part of Kittitas Valley Fiddlers & Friends, Nancy with our mascot, Haley in her Sailor suit.
Another collage of the day.
Final collage shows Sailor Haley smelling the flowers outside the Ellensburg Adult Activity Center on her way inside, where she danced and visited with the audience.

John is out working in the yard, and thankfully the wind has lessened – not 40 mph gusts as yesterday. The winds today have been in the 30s, with a high gust of 35 mph.

Tonight, our friends Helga and Charlie Firkins are bringing their visitor (for the next 5 weeks) to pick cherries from our trees. John will cut branches from the trees and the rest of us can pick while sitting. We did this with their visitor 9 years ago. The visitors are part of the Children of Chernobyl program held in Ellensburg. There are usually 6 teenagers brought over to participate in a week of business classes at CWU and to get free medical visits, and treatment, as needed. A different group comes each summer and this has gone on for a number of years sponsored by local community members. Charlie and Helga have hosted from 1 to 3 girls in past years, since 2000. Our music group always shares fun times with them.

Deer Greeting Firkins Cherry-Picking Visit

Cherry pickers
Cherry deliverer

Saturday, July 2

For July 1 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 4 hrs 45 min with AHI=2.31. Events: 0 CSR, 11 H, 9 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 23 L/min). Oximetry: Battery ran out; no report.

John was up and out of here by 5:25 a.m. and saw the fawns and mom in the orchard eating cherries when he went to start his car, load boots, and lunch. They were dining on cherries from our picking yesterday. John only had to drive to Ellensburg to carpool (in a truck, does that mean it was truckpool?), with another WTA volunteer, Bill Weir. Bill and John shared one previous trip, and plan for more to come. I appreciate knowing he is not driving the whole 236 (round trip) miles to Mt. Rainier and back alone. The last one they visited together was not as far, being just west of Yakima. We don’t have pictures of the trip but below is the view from the work site – yellow dot on the lower right.
That’s dirty ice in the lower left (Emmons Glacier) with Mt. Rainier (14,411 ft.) on the upper right. The center peak (rock & snow) is Little Tahoma, 11,138 feet. John was at just over 5,000′.

I helped with a few things but was still very tired and went back to sleep for 3 hrs. Guess I needed it. I had not slept well the night before, and yesterday was another busy day.

Now I began this morning with chores on and off the computer, have closed up the house at 70° outside, gone out, and fed one of the ferals, Lemon. Washing dishes, processing photos and videos for the blog, planning to package raspberries for the freezer, and take cherries off a few branches John cut last night late – and put in the fridge. He washed a few and took a little sandwich bag full for his trail work lunch and snacks.

Sunday, July 3

For July 2 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 9 min with AHI=0.70. Events: 0 CSR, 5 H, 10 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 23 L/min). Oximetry: Nothing unusual all night.

We awoke with nicer temperatures, but found a very windy day with 41 mph gusts highest thus far, probably occurring during the time we were out with our new (southern edge through one other property) neighbor. John has picked cherries by the multiple pounds for neighbors unable to get out, for us, has worn out his picking-hand (left), and is now at rest.

I have been sorting and packing as he brings them in, and trying to continue taking the movies and pictures off my camera.

Our new neighbor down-ditch from us, who shares our irrigation water, drove up with her son in his truck, to carry away a bunch of limbs from two different trees for their visiting relatives to sit on their porch and pick.

Sherri Fought & Son Derek Limbing Royal Anne Cherries, 7-3-16

This video link above shows dropping the first large limb from a Royal Anne Cherry tree. John cut it off while Sherri steadied the ladder, and Derek grabbed the limb to carry to the back of his truck. During the time they were here, we were getting winds 26 mph + with gusts during that hour of 36 mph (measured 5 miles south of us at the airport). Just before 3:00 this afternoon, we had 43 mph gusts.

Neighbors arriving.
Neighbors leaving. (short box truck)

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

From the Saturday before, June 18—pictures by Laura Norsen on the Jack Creek work trip John made last weekend.

We did not have any photos to share, until John found this Jack Creek trip report on the WTA web site, and I followed Andy and Laura Norsen’s tinypines.com site to get to their blog to see more photos (including one of the crew of which John was the ACL (Asst’ Crew Leader—Orange hat). Green hats are the volunteers that do the bulk of the work. John is also a volunteer, and he is a hard worker too.

Trip report

From there I located more photos taken by Laura and Andy Norsen who were on the Saturday Jack Creek Trail crew. I made collages of some of their photos, with explanation below.
This collage begins with their photo from Hwy 2 to the trail-head, where the crew had to put up all day with rain and muddy conditions. The middle is one glimpse is along Jack Creek; the bridge is about 500 yards from the parking area. The right photo was a glimpse of sun as they were leaving the work site on the way to the trail-head. Thanks to them for the use of their excellent photos.
Left is the Chatter Creek Forest Service station stock barn (horse & Mule) that has been unused for many years. Districts no longer have the money or crews to maintain pack animals. The right photo is of rock repositioning – out of the trail and, later, set as an anchor & visual cue at the corner of a drain crossing or other trail structure.

Monday, June 20

For June 19 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 54 min with AHI=0.14. Events: 1 H, 13 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 22 L/min). Oximetry: Great all night.

We stayed home, I think, to work on projects. I guess I didn’t write down anything for today.

The only thing I have to show for the day are pictures taken around our place. First, our little resident buck in velvet who comes right in the front gate, if we neglect to close it.
This is the little buck. Left photo is in front of our door, through a dirty window. He came through the open front gate to eat sweet weeds. In the middle, he is leaving, I have stepped outside the front door, and he is heading to the open gate. Right he leaves through the front gate. He and another have been coming in to eat leaves and Mt. Ash berries all their lives. Right now we have a lot of Mock Orange blooming. Deer eat this too.

First, the mock orange.
This is Yarrow up on the east of our property near the road, under and around the cottonwood trees. John lets it survive around the edges (only because there are other more important things to keep under control). The plant has a strong, some say, sweet scent. Others say it stinks.

Tuesday, June 21

For June 20 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 4 min with AHI=1.13. Events: 1 CSR, 8 H, 11 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 21 L/min). Oximetry: no battery; OK, only for 1.5 hrs.

I helped a friend down the road a mile get on the Buy Nothing list I’m on, after she saw what all I obtained to give at the shower we both attended Saturday night. She is actually going to be the recipient of the car seat I mentioned getting last week (freely given). She was my student several years ago. Raychel Ann Parks. She’s having a baby girl sometime near my birthday, the first of September.
This is the car seat I wrote about earlier. The image on the left was with the note offering it on line, and the two others are taken in the back of my Subaru.

John picked strawberries this morning, and I sorted the best out for two neighbors. We will clean and put up the rest after dinner.

I went to a very painful PT session, came home, and went back to The Connections, but my left arm hurt too much to think of playing my violin. I just sang along, and drove by Super 1 on the way in to buy a dozen nice large donuts mostly with chocolate on top. The package is $3 off (they were in the counter today, and not bought). They do this every evening, starting about 6:00 p.m.

After singing with the group, I went through Kittitas to pick up another bag of baby clothes. These primarily clothes for a girl, and I will share them with the person who managed to get on the buy nothing list later. Her baby shower party is July 30, and is a dinner for couples, so John knows her and the grandparents, and he will attend. Any non-pink items I will give this Sunday to another former neighbor for her shower for a new baby boy. John will be all day at Mt. Rainier on the part of the Wonderland Trail near White River.

When I got home, I was hurting so badly that I took a real painkiller (Oxycodone) left over from my oral surgery. I seldom do that, but I think it allowed me to get a good night’s sleep.

Wednesday, June 22

For June 21 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 52 min with AHI=0.38. Events: 1 CSR, 3 H, 16 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 18 L/min). Oximetry: Very good all night and for another 2 hours off the CPAP.

I slept in a little while and then John and I cleaned and froze raspberries, strawberries, and, also, chicken for use in chicken casseroles.

I left for the Food Bank to pick up two women (sisters) to go with me. Normally, just Gloria goes with me, but her sister Shirley came up for a visit from California. We had a nice singing session, and then ate a good lunch. On to SAIL class at the senior center, where people also know Shirley from past visits. From there, home. I was still rather sore from the day’s workout before, and did not feel up to doing exercises. I am falling behind. It is important that I keep stretching the ligaments, muscles, etc., to improve my range of motion.

We visited a couple of neighbors giving away strawberries and cherries. We gave another gift, a poster from the Western Art Association in 1989, to our Native American neighbor a mile up the road—Allen Aronica, whom we met in 1989. Nice visit and he gave some Alaskan salmon to us for our return trip. His son caught it.
A collage of Nancy and Allen (6-22-16) with him in his native dress (date unknown) from a few years ago. [Added later: The photo with me and the War Bonnet was taken about 3 years ago down at Frank Beard’s. Believe it was around Rodeo time. Allen]

The poster is from this group:

Western Art Association

I was waiting to give it to him when the snow was not on the ground. His birthday came and went, so this was a good opportunity. He was very happy with it. I received it from a woman who gave it on the old BNE group. I spoke up for it for my friend, and told her when it was delivered I would send a photo to her. I need to do that now that I made the collage above.

Thursday, June 23

For June 22 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 46 min with AHI=0.89. Events: 0 CSR, 6 H, 12 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 16 L/min). Oximetry: Good all night long and also the 2 hours off the CPAP while the oximeter still gathered pulse and SpO2 values.

John picked raspberries, strawberries, and a few not-quite-ripe cherries, and directed irrigation ditch water four times, south of us, for 3 adjacent neighbors.

John dropped me off to play music at Hearthstone and went to shop at Bi-Mart. He had given me a ride so he would have his car in town to get gasoline to be ready for his trip this Sunday. We had a good crowd of 10 musicians, and more in the audience. We enjoyed having a great group of folks, who sang well and appreciated our being there. I was given more music books by our leaving Activities Director, who often joined our group (with her guitar or ukulele), when we were there playing. She is taking a job in Walla Walla.

From there we went to the KVC hospital to have my INR tested (2.6) via a blood draw. I go back in two weeks to be sure the toenail compound is interacting with the blood thinner. Then we went by Safeway for a few things we needed that were on sale and to pick up my Micardis medication. It was $67.85 (through GoodRX paying cash) for 90 tablets. That’s the one I moved from my usual pharmacy because my insurance jumped the price of my co-pay to that much for a 30-day supply (1/2 the number of tablets). I take 1.5 tablets/day. While at Safeway we got John some colas, me some canned tuna fish, some Bush’s baked beans, and some BBQ sauce. Figuring out their promotions, pricing, and register lines is a big pain – but sometimes the price is the lowest.

From there we went to another store up the street for Sharp Cheddar cheese and some frozen hash brown potato patties. Sadly, they had raised the price on the cheese, but it was still less than buying at Safeway. We lucked out and got a $3.00 off coupon on our receipt for our next $25 purchase. We probably only have a month to use it.

On to the gasoline station to fill John’s car for his trip to Mt. Rainier this Sunday. Sadly, the price of gas went up a couple of cents from yesterday, and sadder yet, Friday, when we were not in town, the price went down 3 cents/gallon. Go figure. My car is in need of gasoline, so I may get some Sunday when I’m in there.

Friday, June 24

For June 23 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 33 min with AHI=0.76. Events: 1 CSR, 5 H, 6 RERA. Small, acceptable amt of major mask leakage. Oximetry: Perfect on and off CPAP all night long. Even after the CPAP was off, the SpO2 continued higher than some already high reading while on.

I awoke in pain just before 6 a.m. and went back to get more rest following a succession of nightmares.

John did morning chores and is now picking strawberries.

I have been dealing with a mistaken billing on a May 3 physician’s visit about my shoulder to get a referral for Physical Therapy, rather than get a Cortisone shot that wouldn’t have lasted but a week, if that long. I think the bill is straightened out now after talking to three people – billing at the local hospital, billing at my doctor’s office in Cle Elum, and a customer rep at Group Health. Group Health had not paid their portion after Medicare (primary) and GH (secondary). The original coding was incorrectly sent only to the secondary. Undoing these mistakes (frequent) is necessary except for the very rich or a member of congress. I still wonder what happens when some people just receive a bill and pay it without questioning if it was wrongly sent. I know that at the beginning of the year, I have to meet deductible figures both for Medicare and Group Health, and Group Health will not cover any of the secondary payments leftover until the Medicare deductible is reached. That seems like double jeopardy to me, but there’s nothing that can be done. For example, they don’t carry over and pay when the deductible is met. Something is wrong with that philosophy. At least the Medicare deductible is lower than the Group Health. But:

Seattle’s Group Health Cooperative will be acquired by Kaiser Permanente, a California-based health-care giant. No immediate changes in local care or coverage are planned, officials said.

Yea, right!

My PT appointment was cancelled today. I’m staying home and will cut John’s hair – long overdue. It took me nearly an hour because of having to stop 3 times to cool the clippers. We shall NOT wait as long next time. I needed to work in exercises but my arm was still hurting. I waited until after I finished the haircut. I skipped going to the SAIL exercise class because I dislike going 24 miles to town round-trip, for only one activity.

John came in and has been doing strawberries after a lot of yard work today. Plum trees need watered, gardens weeded and watered, and other stuff.

He fixed an interesting supper of baked beans, barley, mushrooms, ground beef, and tomatoes, with grated sharp cheddar cheese on top.

Saturday, June 25

For June 24 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 5 min with AHI=1.32. Events: 1 CSR, 8 H, 18 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 15 L/min). Oximetry: Really good all night with and without the CPAP, total time 8 hrs 10 min.

We need to get the blog out today, because John leaves at the crack of dawn for Mt. Rainier tomorrow.

At the suggestion of my pharmacist in Ellensburg, Leslie, I made an early morning call to Cavallini’s Pharmacy in Cle Elum, to the pharmacist, Dave Arnold, with questions about my compound for my toenails. He advised that I soak the toenails to get them soft and get rid of the build-up of the DMSO / anti-fungal / antibiotic liquid put on twice daily. DMSO hastens the entry of the compound through the nail. I will try it for a week and see if it takes away the build-up and helps. I need to report back to him to tell him the results.

John has been out doing chores, the most recent of which was mowing about the edges where weeds and brush encroach. Photos below are from behind the house and Jay’s folly (aka, semi-permanent pond), above the creek bank. Left image he is moving an old post while keeping the mower running with the other hand. This is one of the places we see deer – because it is slowly being cleared of brush and all burnable stuff. And it is right out back. I got photos of the fawns this year and a large buck a few years ago. John saw the fawns yesterday, not near the house though.
I need to take off the CPAP and oximetry information from last night, finish proofing this for John to enter into WordPress, and get busy preparing my gifts to take to my second baby shower tomorrow (this one for a boy). I’m doing a similar gift of gently used baby stuff as for the one last week.

Now before we have lunch and I pass this along to John, he is out picking strawberries. Pick, then water. He brought in some Rainier cherries his last trip and we enjoyed a dozen each. Unless something else comes up, we will pick cherries on Monday. They are nearly ripe and the Magpies have taken some.

He came in for lunch and was going to fix leftovers from last night but we will have that for dinner too, and I decided not to join him with it until supper. I fixed a patriotic light lunch with two yogurts (blueberry and strawberry) spooned over a bowl of strawberries. We have about 7 pounds to work on today. We are freezing most of them and saving some to eat on our dessert.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

Monday, June 6

For June 5 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 5 hrs 30 min with AHI=1.64. Events: 1 CSR, 9 H, 18 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 18 L/min). Oximetry: excellent.

I started early (6:00 a.m.) finishing blog for John to edit and put on WordPress. He slept in until the Magpies made so much racket.

We did not finish it and publish until after Noon, and I had a 1:00 appt for a haircut at my neighbor’s 1/2 mile away. It was posted without the normal final proofing, once it’s entered into WordPress.

It is 97° outside. John has been going out every so often to water the strawberries. I’ve been slowly cleaning the ones he picked earlier and brought in.

Tonight John made a chicken/red pepper/mushroom/cashew/shell noodle creation for dinner.

Leftover from last Saturday’s Award Geography End of the Year party was this photo taken on the Bowen’s camera of me with the two winners of our distinguished service award.

Tricia Snyder, Nancy, and Jessie Martin, both graduate students in the Resource Management program.

Tuesday, June 7

For June 6 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 5 hrs 56 min with AHI=1.01. Events: 0 CSR, 6 H, 11 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 15 L/min). Oximetry: okay all night.

My physical therapy exercises painfully completed. Today is hot and sunny again and, again John sprayed a mist on the strawberries – actually twice. He had watered the ground before the big heat so these sprayings are to lower the temperature and increase the humidity.

I went by Joanie’s and Ken’s to pick up my bag and blouses. Joanie had kindly removed an extra button from one shirt and sewed onto another for me. She plays mandolin or viola with our group, and has been sewing new elastic in my pants for some time. I surely appreciate her help. She has taken up clothes (vests) that were too big for me; no charge for anything. It’s nice having my own seamstress.

Joanie’s hubby, Ken, kindly hand sewed a fix in the Costco grocery bag handle. It was given to me, and I don’t recall its being cut then, but I know I wouldn’t have cut it with anything I was carrying in it. Another of life’s mysteries. Left photo shows the cut strap. Ken put a “backing” piece on and did lots of cross stitching. Better than new.

From there, I went to AAC jazzercise, getting there ahead of time in order to write my check for my fee for an upcoming field trip to Tillicum Village on Blake Island, across the Puget Sound from Seattle. That doesn’t happen until July 20th, but all tickets have to be purchased in advance (this week). It’s a big planning effort, but happily, enough people signed up to take the trip to make it a go. It’s a little pricier than most of their day trips, but there are lots of associated costs of transportation, admittance fees, and the luncheon buffet (Salmon Bake Native American style, venison stew, and steamed clams appetizer) is included. We will be on a cruise ship to the island for 45 minutes from Seattle. More discussion to follow with pictures after I make the trip. The area is a national park honoring the British Columbian Kwakiutl tribe’s culture.

From there I went a long block south, parked in the shade of two old spruce trees, and went inside the 3-story building for a painful manipulation at PT. I returned home via Kittitas with paperbacks to deliver. They are destined for inmates of the King County Jail. They only are allowed paperbacks, and a gal that lives in Kittitas works over there three days a week as a psychiatrist counselor. She donates the paperbacks. Hard back books are not allowed. Three of the books I had picked up earlier and John filled another box with paperbacks, largely fiction, from our house. We will go through all our old magazines eventually too. If there are too many, we can take them to the donation stacks in the City Library, at the entrance to the building.

Wednesday, June 8

For June 7 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 21 min with AHI=0.94. Events: 1 CSR,6 H, 24 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 14 L/min). Oximetry: just fine throughout the night.

I was hurting too much to do more than 5 minutes of exercise, but managed to get a small workout on my shoulder, and then also play fiddle at the Food Bank and then afterwards in SAIL exercise class. I had picked up Gloria and we went to the food bank together, ate, and then drove back by the Creative Kids preschool to drop off my donation of a clown shirt for their upcoming circus event and parade. It is a cute short-sleeved sweatshirt.

Gloria and I left SAIL 15 minutes early to take her to the hospital respiratory/cardio department, for her to be fitted with a 24-hour Holter heart monitor. That went well.

John was gone all day to take his 2009 Subaru outback for its 90,000-mile work. In this case, the service cycle begins to repeat and this is the same as 30,000. We expected multiple hundreds, but it was “only” $343.33. The 60,000 mi. one is more extensive and costly. Besides paying for all the checks on systems, we had three windshield wipers at $6 each to replace. Our oil change and lube and filter was prepaid, and worth about $100. It took a lot longer than planned as he got there at 1:00 but called me from Costco at 4:30 and made it home about 6:00. He thinks they had a couple of disruptions – a lady with a car just fixed came right back because they had missed something. John had a newspaper and 2 books to read, so he hardly noticed.

Thursday, June 9

For June 8 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 2 hrs 10 min with AHI=5.10. I am not sure why it recorded such a high AHI, and I do not know why I took the mask off. I awoke at 3:00 and the machine was turned off, mask off. Events: 1 CSR, 11 H, 5 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 13 L/min). Oximetry: actually very good all night. It ran, while the CPAP did not for 2 extra hours, but then I slept another 2 without either. The extra time compiled to 4 hr 3m and the AHI went down to 2.72, although still not representing the entire night for CPAP.

Worked on the July music.

John drove me to town in the truck (’cause it needs to run once in awhile) so he could get 3 bags of horse feed and go by a couple of places. He found a nice pair of slippers at Goodwill and a fantastic book on Prehospital Emergency Care, with many color pictures. Quite a large book (1268 pages). I looked it up on Amazon. We have the 8th edition. The 10th is available for $32, but that is to RENT. The 9th and 10th editions are available new for over $100. Washington Trails wants the leaders to have some first aid training.

Friday, June 10

For June 9 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 29 min with AHI=1.87. Events: 1 CSR, 14 H, 16 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 21 L/min). Oximetry: was fine all night.

This was another crazy day. I went to my 11:00 PT appointment, met someone in the parking lot early, to receive a nice pair of Nike sandals and a leather wallet. Nicest padded flip flops I have ever worn. Now to get my toenails cured and willing to be seen in public. I have an incentive now, as well as encouragement for the medication to dry after applying daily, before putting a sock on.

Both of these were free from the Buy Nothing East Ellensburg /Kittitas site.

On to a heavy-duty exercise manipulation following a nice 10-minute moist heating pad application. I now have new exercises to add to my routine, including rolling the back of my shoulder muscle (not sure which muscle, have to ask) on a tennis ball. I know the location, and it hurts to show me I’m in the correct place.

The wonderful thing about my visit was it was a two-week check on measurement angles of my range of motion in four directions. I am happy to say all of them showed improvement, two more than the other two.

Below is a collage of the two new exercises along with my measurements indicating the GOOD increase in the angle of my rotation.

Late afternoon, John raised the blinds on the patio door, and saw a little fawn. He called me from the kitchen and I grabbed my camera. As we watched, we saw his mom standing in the back, and he walked over to her. They left. All the photos are taken through the woven wire fence with 2″ x 4″ spacings. The middle photo gives a good perspective of visual size sense from the door.

The left image has a purple line that is 5 spaces up, or 20 inches. The ears poke above that line about 2 inches. The antlers on the bucks are growing and still in velvet. The adults will stand on their hind legs to get leaves and cherries.

Saturday, June 11

For June 10 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 5 hrs 58 min with AHI=2.51 Events: 3 CSR, 15 H, 15 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 10 L/min). Oximetry: all night was fine.

This morning was busy dealing with neighborhood irrigation issues. As snow melt and/or spring rains decrease the available water is less and adjustments are needed. Our landscape trees were heavily watered so far and the Strawberries are fruiting and John is using well water on them. That’s because they could have been the source of the Giardia he suffered from last August. We are sure it came from the creek water, but it might not have been from the berries. Precaution seems a good strategy anyhow.

I left for town about 11:00 to run errands and get to the party in the park, Fun & Friends of the Buy Nothing Ellensburg site – this one combining all the subgroups we split into so it was nice to be able to meet up with people from the past, and now no longer in my group.
Below is a collage of all of us moved to a table in the sun because we were freezing inside the shelter, using that table. [Hot and sunny went away.] All the food remained on the table in the right of the photo. That one shows some of our shared menu items. One gal brought two foot long sub sandwiches cut up to share, I took 3 containers of the best strawberries in the west, picked fresh this morning by John, and cleaned by me. I had them packed in a cooler with ice and only put out one bowl at a time. It was interesting to hear people’s responses and amazement at the taste and even ripeness of the berries, almost as if they had never ever before eaten strawberries directly from the garden. They were all beautiful specimens. I didn’t make it home with any berries!! Probably took 3+ lbs. Also brought was a large container of very good homemade potato salad, packed in a bowl of ice. After the photo was taken, another person added a homemade bowl of Cole slaw to the shared table, and a package of Oreos with peanut butter/chocolate filling.

This set of blouses had not been spoken for in my new Buy Nothing subgroup, when I offered them, so I managed to take them today and find a person (new to me) from another group, who wanted them.

While there, I picked up from another person a black long sleeve soft spandex blouse. As well, a woman delivered 3 hats I had “won” on the current new buy nothing site from her. She lives way out in the pocket, probably a 1/2 hr from my house. I was happy not to have to drive out there. The flames one is for John, white one for me (a bucket hat, too big for me, but probably too feminine for him), and a happy face high funny hat again too big, but I will use a safety pin to make it fit, and use it to cheer residents when we play, “You are My Sunshine.” I may be able to talk Joanie into making a seam in it. Here is a collage of the hats:

Sunday, June 12

For June 11 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 51 min with AHI=1.47. Events: 1 CSR, 10 H, 12 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 15 L/min). Oximetry: good all night.

Our temperature was cool at 45°. John left at 5:50 a.m. to make the trip to Mt Rainier’s work party on the Wonderland trail at White River. There was snow in the Cascades above 5,000 feet with more coming in the next 48 hours. John’s route via Chinook Pass (5,430′) had no snow but did have a little remaining cloudiness. The crew moved large rocks for a wall and many buckets of gravelly-sand from the White River (water free areas) for the tread. The White River area campgrounds are not yet open. Still there are hikers, climbers, and viewing from the road.

Two cats came to the cable table early (as he was leaving), so I fed them, and continued by following one (Lemon) to the back haymow where he prefers to eat. He was purring at me and came right down on the stacked hay beneath the mow to receive his vittles. He sadly has rhinotracheitis, or at least the symptoms, with bad conjunctivitis. There is nothing we can do to get an antibiotic into him to treat the condition. He is not one that we caught and had neutered and vaccinated.

Been working on projects trying to get energy to do exercises. I have done a few but they were quite painful (as expected). No pain, no gain.

I fixed a nice tuna melt for my lunch treat, and entered my new PT dates on the calendar. Once I finish the blog draft, I’ll fill my medicine dispenser for the week. Also, early morning I fed the cats and cleaned the kitchen counters and dishes. John called from near town to see if he needed to go into EBRG for any reason. Nope. When home he took care of the horses and picked a pound of Strawberries. Now we’ve eaten supper and await dessert.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

Monday, May 30

For May 29 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 4 hrs 55 min with AHI=3.05. Events: 6 CSR, 14 H, 12 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 13 L/min).
Changed back to the old mask and it did not seem to affect the high AHI. Oximetry was OK and that is really the only reason I am on the CPAP machine.

Morning came with sunshine and no winds. Three cats were on the front porch awaiting food. One is a new stray, and we do not know the gender. It appears to have 3 colors, so possibly is a female, yet our Mackerel tabby male, Rascal, also has 3 colors.

With no notes, I don’t remember what we did all day before afternoon arrived.

Around 4:00 Anne and Glenn Engels arrived for some pallets for “raised” garden beds. At 5:00, they left with four. She hadn’t decided on a design and, thus, we await the completion of whatever.

My upper body is aching–shoulders and upper arms, from attempts at physical therapy exercises.

Nice casserole for supper. John’s the best chef in the west (probably the world). [John: I cook. I don’t chef.]
Spun wheels all day doing chores and finishing few. We did get out the blog, so I guess that is significant.

During WTA’s recent training days, Anna Roth (orange hat – assistant crew leader) visited the various and widely spread work sites. She took photos, a few of which are below. These are from 12 miles east of North Bend, WA on a trail called the CCC trail. Link

A: Gear ready for carrying. Saw teeth are covered to protect them – and the person doing the carrying.
B:Rick found a log, Doug’s got the saw – now with handles. Someone said something funny. Directive #2 of WTA is to have fun.
C: Safety is Directive #1. John, with a small saw, is cutting stubs of limbs off the log. When the cut piece drops these broken limbs can dig into the ground, break and fly off, or if the log rolls they can catch on something and change its direction of motion. None of these are good.
D: The “D” is on the left arm of our chief sawyer for the day. He is explaining the technique of “under bucking” a log that will pinch in on the top (note the notch). Knowing the log has “top bind” that will stop the saw, the majority of the cut will be finished from the underside, and the cut will open and allow free movement of the saw in the kerf. Thus, we are under-bucking. [Below the sign-out for this post, John has a bit about the term bucking.]

Tuesday, May 31

For May 30 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 10 min with AHI=1.14. Events: 0 CSR, 7 H, 19 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 13 L/min).
Oximetry: just fine.

At 1:00, I had a physical therapist appointment and got worked over pretty well. My friend Joanie says PT stands for Physical Torture. I totally agree. I know – no pain, no gain, but it is going to be a long trip to avoid the shoulder surgery and fix the adhesions. I will try hard. (It has been very difficult; I am writing this parenthetical comment late in the week). I went to Jazzercise directly from there, and I probably will not do that again. On future Tuesdays, I am going to PT after Jazzercise, so maybe I will be warmed up, or maybe that will not work either. I only have two Jazzercise days in June and then our teacher is gone for a month on a trip to Europe. Today’s was a wait-listed appointment, so I didn’t have a choice in the timing, as it was the only thing available this week, and I’m supposed to go be manipulated twice a week for 45-minute sessions. The first 10 minutes of my time was spent on a recumbent bicycle that pulled my arms up and out and back as I pushed the pedals. The left arm support was set different from the right. I think I averaged 32 steps, but did not understand the gauges, what they were measuring, and what my goal, if any, was.

2:00 Jazzercise. While doing Jazzercise (only two of us there), a gal who lives in Kittitas near a house we almost bought in 1989 (and I’m glad we didn’t), brought a load of baby things to me for my growing gently used clothing, blankets, etc. for baby showers I have to attend. (One couple asked for gently used baby stuff). Majority of this received today consists from newborn socks to hats, little shoes and boots, dresses, bibs, with blankets and changing or smaller ones for burp pads (I guess). Most of these are for baby girls. I have another bunch meant for boys. So, now I have to figure how to present it – wrapped, bagged, boxed or what. I was also given some gift bags, but I have more things than will fit even in a very large gift bag. I am leaning toward using a large plastic container with a lid. We’ve checked for a few of these items on the web and discovered that cats, dogs, and horses are cheaper to keep and care for than kids. Later in the week, at a Geography party, we saw a baby tent – on Amazon they are $90.

I drove to Kittitas to pick up some other things; one a package of little boy’s shoes for a gal on the Buy Nothing site who is my neighbor. We both are 10 miles away from the source. I went to another place but she forgot it was Tuesday, the planned day of pickup, so I will go again Thursday, when I also have to meet another person to whom I need to deliver some stuff, and to pick up from another. I picked up two hooded bath towels (on the hood, one has a cat and the other has a dog). What will they think of next? Here’s a photo for those of you who have no clue (as I). These seem to cost from $10 to $20.

Wednesday, June 1

For May 31 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 5 hrs 42 min with AHI=1.05. Events: 0 CSR, 6 H, 12 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 16 L/min).
Oximetry: Looks okay, except for jags when changing fingers on Oximeter.

I left before 11:00 to pick up Gloria, and on my way, I stopped around the corner from her house to call my foot doctor’s assistant in Yakima about the medication that was ordered from a lab in Texas for me March 15 but never delivered. I have called the doctor’s office a couple of times, to no avail. I was supposed to receive it and start application of the cream daily for 3 months to kill a bacteria and fungus determined by a DNA test on a piece of my toenail.

This morning, I reached Brittany, Dr. Cardon’s medical assistant, who gave me a phone number to call tomorrow morning to give my permission to receive the shipment and to verify my address. Why did this procedure take so long? The medical assistant claims the lab is supposed to call me for the information, but I was never called, and no message was left for me to call their number.

I picked up Gloria and we went to the Food Bank for music.

I intended to drop off a seed packet at the courthouse for a friend from Thorp, but she was not at work today because of being ill.

After we finished at the food bank, we went to SAIL exercise. We only had a few people there today, maybe 7. From there we went to the hospital for me to get blood drawn for my INR. It was back to normal. I imagine all my asparagus (high in Vitamin K) eating a couple weeks ago, lowered it. The garden still yields and John took some for lunch on a WTA trip.

John worked on outside projects all day. We both took 1.5 hr naps this afternoon. I was still wiped out from yesterday’s PT.
John has been harvesting strawberries daily. At the moment we can eat all he gets but the crop is about ready to expand exponentially as serious sunshine and warmth approach. This link is worth checking. Too bad all these strawberries are being wasted in Arlington, WA.

pickers needed

Thursday, June 2

For June 1 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on was only 2 hrs 59 min with AHI=1.00. Events: 0 CSR, 3 H, 4 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 17 L/min). I looked at the clock when I awoke, thought it was 4:00 but it was 1:45! Needed to go to the bathroom, so unhooked my CPAP, and when I realized the actual time, I did not set it back up again. I was in pain all night and morning. I waited until 5:54 to take Tylenol. Oximetry: all right for the short time it was on.

This morning, I phoned a pharmacist (Rob) at the lab in Texas, named Trinity Pharmacy (844 213 5670). I must have the answer before noon tomorrow, or I will cancel until I hear from Cardiologist Kim about the possible conflict with my medications. After finding my cardiologist is not in the office today or tomorrow, but is with his critical patient in the ICU, I put the request on hold until I hear next week from him. He is also the ICU’s hospitalist the entire week.

The Texas lab, using DNA analysis, creates the compound produced to eradicate the specific bacteria and fungus on my toenails. I have to apply it daily for 3 months.

I need to know before I pay $65 for it if it conflicts with my meds and heart situation. The Compound required for me will be made of an Antifungal, Traconazole and an Antibiotic, Vancomycin that are put into DMSO for making it a liquid to apply as fingernail polish.

My insurance does not cover the cost of compounds, and this bottle lasts for only 2 months. I am required by Dr. Cardon to apply daily for 3 months. While it’s similar to a nail polish, it is supposed to be applied to the skin (½ in. or so) near the cuticle as well as the nail, and I was warned it would stain the area, brown.

It was to have been shipped FedEx from Trinity Pharmaceutical Labs in Texas. This was diagnosed March 15 but now I just found out, the Dr.’s office has not been communicating with the correct FAX number. [John: Why is a medical facility still using facsimile technology, or FAX? The idea was first used in 1843 and the modern version in 1924.]

Turns out medical assistant, Brittany, at Cascade Foot and Ankle there in Yakima must have called after my call to her, yesterday, to check, because they only received the FAX request after my phone call to her. Again, why this never happened with my other three previous inquiries is beyond me.

John took me to the Rehab for music, went to fill his car with gas for tomorrow’s trip to Mt. Rainier and do some shopping. Besides his time, we surely do donate a lot of gasoline costs and Subaru wear and tear. Too bad that is not a tax-deductible expense. But he gets to muck around in the White River and do things that would get the average visitor arrested.

We had 7 people providing music at the nursing facility, and John came back to help me out with my stuff. We managed to make it to three stops in Kittitas, with John driving. I delivered a bag of clothes to a thrift shop, unexpectedly met a friend and her children out front, picked up baby things from two different people, so it was a successful trip.

Friday, June 3

For Jun 2 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 41 min with AHI=0.00. Events: 1 CSR, 0 H, 12 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 7 L/min).
Oximetry: excellent.

My haircut at 11:00 today was cancelled for emergency medical reasons, unfortunately after I had showered, cleaned my hair, and dressed for the trip.

John spent the day at the base of Mt. Rainier. On his way over he saw a beautiful view of the mountain with an interesting cloud, but he didn’t have his camera. He tried using the camera on his cell phone, but it did not get the whole scene in the frame. We looked at it when he got home. The next day, posted on Facebook, I saw a photo taken today of the mountain with the lenticular cloud. The photographer, my friend, has just moved from Ellensburg to rural Puyallup, WA. I captured it for John to see and got her permission to publish it here. John’s view was from the East, looking west, and the cloud was bigger and mushroom shaped. Tendrils of cloud were streaming down the outer edge.

The picture below is from Google Earth, centered on the White River, but with North to the right. Coordinates: 46.901042, -121.642552 Zoom in and out to see where this is – about 6.5 miles from the peak and 57 miles from home, but twice that far by road. There is an S (south), an M (middle), and on the right side an N (north). These mark log bridges for hikers on the Wonderland Trail. About every 3 to 5 years the logs get moved or smashed by the river, or the water channels move and leave a dry place under the log – and a new channel with no crossing.

The logs are usually 50 to 60 feet long and weigh 2,000 pounds. These all have posts and hand rails. The image below (from the web) is similar to what one will find on many trails. The log and railings are (when available) de-barked Yellow Cedar because it is slow to deteriorate compared to other trees, such as a Fir. Now for the truth: John spent all but an hour of his work time in the nearby forest (shady), and not more than 200 feet from the parking area.

Saturday, June 4

For June 3 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 5 hrs 11 min with AHI=3.28. Events: 3 CSR, 17 H, 12 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 16 L/min).
Oximetry: surprisingly fine.

John’s off Saturday to Cowiche Canyon getting to Ellensburg to ride with a co-worker, leaving at 7:30a.m. Bill Weir is an Orange Hat too (Assistant Crew Leader).

Lisa Black (right) was the crew leader; John, as one of the assistant crew leaders, explained the use of the McLeod tool – a large rake & hoe.

Betsy Bloomfield, one of my former students at CWU in the 1990s in the Resource Management graduate program is now the Executive Director of the Cowiche Canyon Conservancy. She was along on the work party as well. Ed Stover was along for the WTA trip, and he took most of the pictures shown, but then Lisa grabbed a photo of Ed with Betsy and Becky. The flowering shrub in the center photo is a Mock Orange native Mock Orange, Philadelphus lewisii.

John made it home in time to get cleaned up a little for going to the End of the Year Geography Awards and Potluck about 10 miles from our home.

We carried a frosted cake, cookies, and donut holes for the dessert table, not recalling they had invested in a cake for the graduating students last year. Again, this year was a beautiful half-chocolate and half-white cake with the initials of all the graduating geography majors and minors and resource management folks.

The graduates are from several undergraduate (BA, BS) degree programs and an MS in the graduate Cultural and Environmental Resource Management program.

John and I donate money for two student scholarships each year to honor “distinguished service” to the department, university, and community.

Here is a video I took of this year’s presentation of our award.

Hultquist Geography Award for Distinguished Service 2016

Sunday, May 29

For May 28 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 5 hrs 52 min with AHI=1.54. Events: 2 CSR, 9 H, 13 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 13 L/min).
Oximetry: good all night.

John did a bunch of early morning watering before the temperature went up. Now at 3:00 p.m. it is 98. He has been napping and I have been working on various projects, not the least of which is putting in medications for the week, alternately working on the blog, uploading videos from yesterday’s party, cleaning strawberries and dishes, working on the job announcement s list I manage, trying to do shoulder-breaking exercises every 3 hours for my shoulder’s adhesive capsulitis, amid the painfulness. I haven’t succeeded well today. It is still 98 outside but thankfully only 77 in our house.
We just celebrated with a piece of leftover cake from yesterday’s party. John got a nice nap, but I slept in a little this morning.

We intend to go grocery shopping later when it cools down.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

Crosscut saw bucking

If you have a better idea about the term “bucking” – let us know.
The term for cutting a log into pieces is “bucking.”
Searching for the source (etymology) of this usage has turned up a gaggle of misdirections, or so I think. However, here’s my best guess.
There is a word in Dutch that can mean trestle, namely bok.
Look at the photo, below, and focus on the thing that holds the piece of tree trunk, let’s call it a sawhorse.

That structure looks a lot like a trestle, thus, bok (Dutch), and thus buck (in English). Heating homes or other buildings in eastern North America (think Maine to Pennsylvania) during the settlement period involved the felling and cutting (across the trunk or grain) of a gazillion logs. Cutting a log laying on the ground is awkward and tiring, not to mention the issue of the teeth of the saw getting dulled by hitting soil or rocks.

Putting the log up on something is a really smart thought. A leap of linguistic imagination could swiftly lead from bok to boking, and then, bucking. Consider a man saying to his sons, “Boys, let’s go out and lift logs onto the trestle and cut them logs across into lengths suitable for the fireplace.” Probably that is not what the old man would say. But, he might say, “Boys, let’s go buck some logs.”
Works for me. Dry Side John, June 2016.
[sawhorse is found in American usage in 1778; bok in the sense here from 1817. Both were likely used much earlier.]