Comet, Concrete, & George

Monday, July 13

Early morning arrival 7:15 a.m. of Walter Davenport, to dump off several pieces of heavy plywood to make boxes to hold the cement for the wall footers to be built at either end of the house.
Updates on our remodeling efforts are throughout this blog newsletter.

Nick’s nights off were Mondays and Fridays. Our friend in Nick’s audience presented during those evenings, starting at 5:00 p.m. Those musically-oriented livestreams are ending after the one planned for Monday, 7/20/20, which is a tribute to Benny Goodman. Look down to Sunday this week, where I’ll give you that link. The musical adventures are being replaced on a different day and time to be announced, for future geology of Australia field trips Kathy has started providing.

Meanwhile, here was today’s musical presentation, you can catch in replay.

Kathy presents Schumann’s Dicheterliebe

Her playlist for this evening

The next video John found and asked me to send to Nick. I also looked at it and it is quite well done, but John warned me to warn Nick (and others) not to read the comments, which are filled by a bunch of uneducated crackpots.

Alaskan volcano linked to mysterious period with extreme climate in ancient Rome

Tuesday, July 14

I slept in, and John got up early to work outside while cooler.
Today is my day to awake and keep an empty stomach, with no juice or coffee until I swallow a pill while standing up, and don’t eat or drink anything until ½ hr. later. I can sit down after but not lie down. On Tuesdays, I also have to connect my external backup drive for its Noon hour backup of all new files since last Tuesday, onto the drive. It takes about an hour, and I don’t have to be home. Just leave it turned on, and even if it goes to sleep mode, it will wake up and do its thing.

I invite you to enjoy some great views of the Neowise Comet from different sources as well as different locations within Washington State.

Right here in our Kittitas Valley are photos by Lia Simcox. The top one views it over the Stuart Range and the bottom ones view it spectacularly, fronted by the Northern Lights.
Here’s another unique one from the Puget Sound region:The comet between & behind the peaks of Mt. Rainier makes it look as if it is spewing steam.

Our contractor came today and made the forms with heavy duty plywood to pour concrete for a wall near the front entrance of our house and another on the other side of the house front.

I took 3 bags of clothing and accessories by the Community Clothing Center at the Methodist church before Noon. While there, I found two lower sized pants for me to try – a white pair and a purple pair. I have yet to try them on for size. They are size 12, which I think I may be down to, because my friend Joanie has been altering my 14s with an extra seam in the back to take up the slack.

I went to Safeway for my Coumadin prescription. While there I checked the Just for U specials and found I was entitled to a free pound of Lucerne butter, bananas at 59₵/lb., and 4 Refresh Colas for John at 79₵/each. While there I also got two pounds of nice-looking strawberries, for $1.75/lb. Flyer tonight came from Fred Meyer they have them for $1.25/lb. You’ll see later in the week, on Saturday, John went to Fred Meyer for them and bought 8 lbs. Lots of cleaning up to make ready for the freezer.

Went by Joanie’s house with some things for her, and picked up 3 pairs of pants she altered for me, plus she gave me a special red lace blouse to wear when we play music on Valentine’s Day or at Christmas (if we ever play at assisted homes again). John and I doubt we will be invited back. And the only room that would allow people not to be in such close contact with us would likely be Pacifica Senior Living. It will not be possible to play and sing with a face mask on, so I hope this COVID virus scare is over.
Unfortunately, 3 of our 4 assisted living homes have staff members and residents with confirmed cases. Thankfully, no deaths yet in Kittitas County.

I managed to contact our dentist to check regarding John’ s next appointment for a filling and the amount remaining on our dental insurance until the end of the year, if it has to be repaired before the end of the year with a crown. I’ve now changed it to definitely be a filling, because we have spent all but $150 for him toward a crown. We are hoping the filling will stay until after January, when we will have our allowance back for 2 crowns. We have spent most of our allowance with 2 crowns for me and one for him in 2020.

Called Gerald at the hospital. He’s doing better but still has a way to go before he can return home. He returned home later this week.

Tonight was a special replay, the 3rd in the series, on Tuesday, 5:45 p.m. – 8:45 p.m.
I cannot give you a link for it, because it was an Event for Fans of Nick Zentner hangout Facebook site, and the only access is through the event page with your own Facebook account. It was hosted by Kathy Williams-DeVries on the site she created.

Supper: BBQ pork chop, shrimp, cauliflower with cheese, fried onion rings.

The Renslow Trestle across I-90 at 8:40 p.m., photographed by my friend, Glenn Engels. (Old Milwaukee Railroad bridge, no longer accessible for hikers, bikers, or horseback riders). The trail is available on either side, and there is access on a rural road under the freeway to reach an east bound trailhead. There is parking at Kittitas (6 miles west) for horse trailers.

Renslow Trestle Restoration for recreation is planned and in 2018 received $1.23 million funding from the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program. Since then – silence.

Wednesday, July 15

No idea what’s on tap today except have to put up strawberries and get to feeling better. Slept in until 8:30, and still tired. I was awakened by our dog at 2:00 a.m. wanting to be let out to pee. She has a doggie door to use; guess she’s getting senile. Awakened again at 5:00 a.m. with cats outside demanding food.

I’m not sure how/why this showed up in my feed, but it’s worth a one-minute watch, so am showing here.

Virtual Road Trip to National Parks from USGS (1 min)

This afternoon was the delivery of the ECP (Ellensburg Cement Products) truck with cement to fill the footer walls at two places in front of our house. One on the far right of the front entrance has walls positioned as the edges of a box; the one in front of the front door is straight and rectangular.
Photos of the process:Getting the huge cement truck into the small space was a tough job, but they managed. The top shows the beginning of the turnaround. It was a tight fit along the walkway and the house, and a small fir tree. The bottom photo shows the two walls (on top of footers) on either side of the front part of our L-shaped house that needed to be filled with concrete. Left is Willie finishing up the heavy plywood structure to hold the concrete, and the right picture is of the long narrow rectangular wall near the end of filling it with concrete, and troweling it down to set and fill the space. The one on the right is right by the front door entrance.

The video below, records the linear one. Access for the extended tube was challenging.

Video Filling Concrete Footer at Front Entrance

Called Gerald at the hospital tonight and had a nice talk. He’s feeling some better, but they are still treating him.

At 9:30 the circuit breaker for several lights in our house (washroom, den, backyard) went off, John switched the circuit breaker back on, and it stayed on for only a short while, and went off again. So, we left it off.

Our computers and some lights in the house are working fine. So strange. Refrigerator and freezer have power, so no issues. We were not overloading the power by doing anything unusual.
We’re just going to go to bed early. I need to sleep anyway.

Supper: BBQ Pork, Cauliflower with cheese, and fruit bowl with peaches and banana.

Thursday, July 16

Todd arrived at 8:30 a.m. to fix the electrical light problem and make some other adjustments. Will be back in the morning.
Rubin and Tristan are here working with Walter on the walls. They will have 2×6 studs, plywood, and faced with the same stone as the house.

Brunch: Blueberry/pecan pancake with bacon

Just spent a lot of time searching for missing Stimulus check for $1,200 and to no avail. Will likely have to wait to file 2020 taxes in 2021 and claim then that it never came (for one of us). Only half of that allowed was deposited in our joint checking account, with no clue of for which one of us it was meant.

Now going to photograph the putting on of wood ceiling over the walkway. It’s still underway and will be resumed next Monday. Two of the workers were putting a roof on a place 5 miles west of us but the wind got so strong they left, and came here.

I received a call from Dentist to verify my need to come for cleaning at 2:00 p.m. Monday with Tracy. They don’t work on Fridays.

Supper: Chicken, baked potato

Friday, July 17

Ask Todd when he’s back in the morning for finishing the electrical work, about calling him in the future for our electrical needs, or if I have to go through T & T Electricians’ business.
Todd the Electrician called at 9:00 a.m. to say he would not be returning this morning, and not until afternoon on Monday.

I called David at ComputAbility to review the procedure I’m supposed to do each month to empty my battery below 10% and recharge it. And then, I did it tonight before going to bed.

We stayed home today and John worked outside when the temperatures were lower, outside again when shade was provided, and inside on projects. Plus, he got his afternoon nap.

While he was napping, I made a long distance call to customer service at Eagle Creek, to report a problem with one of their neck pillows (normally used for airline usage). Another project is writing an email over this weekend to Eagle Creek in Wisconsin about a neck pillow product. Mine is no longer holding air. It’s a Sandman model that is no longer carried, but they are going to give me a one-time replacement of a new one to use, for no cost. I have to email them a picture (i.e., below), and give them my mailing address, and they will send it to me.
Pictured below is mine.
It’s inflated by removing the black tab on the lower right, blowing into it, inflating the bellows (probably not called that).

This afternoon at 5:00 p.m. is more music from Australia: John Foster, on Trumpet, joins Kathy Williams-DeVries. Program first below and link following is their playlist.

Kathy Chats with John Foster

Playlist for tonight: with John Foster

Saturday, July 18

Interesting email received this morning about a $1 bill that I registered at WheresGeorge.com . Apparently most people do not do this or the bill doesn’t get used very often. Sheffield Lake is 20 miles from sister Peggy, who sat on the bill for a long time, and only spent it ’cause George wasn’t moving. He’s on the road again. John did chores outside early morning — feeding, spraying weeds, moving rocks & dirt. Came in and fixed a late brunch of a cheddar cheese melt bacon sandwich (I helped with the bacon), and assisted making a bowl of peaches and bananas to have with it. Now he’s ready to go to town (just after 2:00 p.m.) for a few things, mainly sunflower seeds for the quail, and some stuff at Fred Meyer on sale (strawberries).

I have continued working on the laptop, mixed with sorting and filing tax receipts, reviewing photos and videos I took this week on our remodeling project I’m trying to document, and other duties involved with assisting with the study group member of the for the continued connections of students of Nick Zentner. He’s currently out of town, but occasionally goes on an impromptu field trip and publishes it for members to join in on his YouTube channel. I’m also sending some of my remodeling documentation to our YouTube channel to share with blog readers.

This afternoon, John called my attention to the twins around the garden with mom. I got a few photos & cool video of the twins leaving the garden (below the photographs).Twins with Mom (facing away)—Deer don’t eat onions.

Twin fawns leaving the scene along with two quail

Supper: Butternut squash, with pecans, brown sugar, and marshmallows roasted on top served with meatloaf and a bowl of canned pears.

Sunday, July 19

Did charge the battery and get the Exilim camera working again. Check the other battery and see if it is dead or needs replaced.
Cool early. John is outside. Our high today at the airport 5 miles south of us, was 94°.
We cleaned a few more pounds of strawberries, cut them, sugared, and got them in freezer.

Brunch: for me a nutrition drink, and a bowl of strawberries and banana.

Walter is here putting the rock face on the walls. It’s getting hotter but finally he’s back in the shade of the front entrance out of the sun where he’s been roasting for completing the last corner wall. I videoed his work over there midday today and will put that below. The stone panels have a metal strip at the top, holes therein, and screws hold it to the wood.

Walter finishing the rock wall facing around the concrete footer

John’s finally napping. Received a scam call from Promark Resort in TX, but I’ve now blocked that number in my phone.

Just started the dishwasher at 2:15. Now to transfer photos / video from camera.
I’m working on the photos and videos taken yesterday and today.

Supper: Beef Stew with carrots in the plans.

Final warning for tomorrow Monday and Wednesday, this week:
Those musically-oriented livestreams are ending after the one planned for Monday, 7/20/20, which is a tribute to Benny Goodman.

Kathy plays pieces dedicated to Benny Goodman

The musical adventures are being replaced on a different day and time to be announced, for future geology of Australia field trips. There is one coming next week via Facebook, as an Event – on
Tuesday, 7/21/20 at 5:30 a.m. (use the Nick Zentner Fan hangout site) on Facebook.
I cannot give you a link for that; you have to go to Events on your personal Facebook site and sign up as going. It’s going to be to Kangaroo Point Cliffs, and the Brisbane Tuffs.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan