Monday, Dec 14
Starting Christmas a little over a week early, for our blog.
First stops are in Roslyn, WA in the north part of our county.
Top pix is snow on the Roslyn Museum and the Roslyn Café.
The bottom are the street signs; photos by EvieMae Schuetz.
(This is the town where outside scenes of the TV program “Northern Exposure” {1990-1995} were filmed.)
Morning wake-up not for Nancy until 8:30 a.m. Then cup of coffee and chocolate Ensure with strawberry yogurt.
I sent thank you email messages to people who gave me permission to use their photo in our weekly blog last week. My note to them always starts with the specific location on the web where the photograph taken may be forever found.
The total number of robocaller connections for Dec 4=3.
Tuesday, Dec 15
Motorized Parade, Kittitas, WA – by, EvieMae Schuetz
Sorry, I intended to have the longer 18 wheeler & hay truck be the longer photos, but I failed in positioning, & ran out of time.
Get up early to take pill, and drink ½ hr. later, shake, coffee. We need to be at our first two stops before noon.
Set up my external storage back-up for its noon start. It did it in 26 minutes.
We left for the AAC for our Foot care appointments at 11:00, getting there 10 min early, and mine was first. John was to follow. We visited a little, were given too many bags of homemade cookies, and we gave the staff some SUN*MAID Raisins Boxes. With almost no visitors to the Center, the normal supply of cookies had trouble finding homes. We paid our donation fee, and Shyla started on my feet. I was done about 11:30 so I left for my blood draws at the KVH Medical Arts building, and while it took a little longer than usual, I was back by noon, John had only to wait 2 minutes.
This is our day for errands, (some already above & below) and we had many; review here. We’re using this symbol to indicate stops: ∞∫∞ On way to town, we stopped along Wilson Creek to hang a bag on an old Pickup Truck: Rustler Jeans (too long for John) ∞∫∞ John wants to take our insulated shopping bag by Winegar’s for quarts of their Ice Cream he and I like. We did, but he sat in the car while I went inside for it. ∞∫∞ Nancy went into Bi-Mart to check numbers, and to buy a large wall/desktop calendar for our kitchen. ∞∫∞ Delivered boxes of groceries we get from the free food place. We take to one place, and she distributes further.
Late afternoon check in call from Gerald; he’s fine.
The total number of robocaller connections: Dec 15=1.
Much fewer than in late November; prior to election.
Wednesday, Dec 16
Christmas lights – ’cause I won’t do this again until the 27th.
^^^This is actually a School District in Utah! Description of how they did it: Shot in one continuous take where all 5 busses are electronically connected together through DMX channel relay boards back to a central computer programmed to control the light show.
They wrote: Special thanks to our Transportation Department, Technology Department and Communications Department and the Utah Symphony Orchestra who made this video possible.
The next video is fixed in a loop, so only watch it for once through, 2:07.
School Bus Christmas Light Show video below:
School Bus Christmas Light Show (in loop)
Another restless night, probably because of getting to bed so late, nearly midnight. After being awakened at 7:00 by a Contractor’s employee knocking on the front window to pick up some primer paint. It sat outside for months; John moved it inside when he expected below freezing temperature.
He passed along to expect two in the next morning be back tomorrow to finish the top and end of the stone walls. John and Walter (finally) figured out how they want this done. A 12 inch Cedar board is the solution. Photo next week. An original thought was to cap them with metal roofing-like material. There was a long interlude to develop a different solution.
A lot of wasted time today. I slept in until almost 9:00.
I had to fill in all my medications in my case for the week, and check about some other, also had to check all refills from which pharmacy, and be sure they were correct to give to our P-AC to send approvals for the coming year. We get 90 days at a time. I filled in a separate listing for John and for me, because we may go different directions. Two nurses, different rooms to start. Chelsea, our PA-C “doc”, visited with John and then they both came in for my evaluation (actually, these visits described today will happen tomorrow in Cle Elum, at our doctor’s office there).
John’s now taken care of cat cleanup, feeding, and visiting in the new room, and feeding the horses. I’ve been catching up on emails, and other computer activities.
Started raining today.
Supper: John fixed Pizza for both of us. For dessert, we shared a piece of carrot cake.
Number of robocaller connections for Dec 16=1.
Thursday, Dec 17
9:33 a.m. call from Gerald; foggy over there, otherwise all is well in Thorp, WA.
Ate a piece of fruitcake and fixed a salad for my lunch to eat; planning on a Zoom game. I cancelled that at the AAC with 5 others, and it is Scattergories. I enjoy that game, but I had too much paperwork to document about the problem with my diagnosis from a blood draw of Potassium (K) that indicated I have a seriously high level.
John and I investigated the K in my regular foods. Only the Ensure® seems high.
I’m dressed and ready to leave for Cle Elum at 1:00 p.m.
Once there, Chelsea decided to manage the K with medication changes first, and take me off of Ensure because of its 470 mg/serving), but that was the only food change. I’m also being taken off the drug Spironolactone. We didn’t get home until 6:04 p.m.
The total number of robocaller connections for Dec 17=2.
Friday, Dec 18
A week away from Christmas Day, our last Christmas photos to show again by our same photographer, EvieMae Schuetz.
These are all in her home:
Our photographer EvieMae Schuetz is a musician. She created this Musical Christmas Tree. All the ornaments are musical notes, instruments, or something associated with a musical part of her life.
Today begins with a message back from our friend Cameron Fries’ photo of the newly installed roll bar on the backhoe/front end loader. John wanted to add a roll bar before we had it taken over, where sandy soil and frequent steep grades could be an issue. Local shop couldn’t find one. A Quincy area shop found one. Much more something found in that sort of farming region. More fruit and fewer cattle.
Our property is totally on an Alluvial Fan, full of heavy basalt rocks and little dirt. This implement is too lightweight to handle such, but will be perfect in moving the sands of the vineyard:
Photo of roll bar taken by White Heron Cellars, Mariposa Vineyard owner, Cameron Fries. He’s taken the backhoe off and is using the front loader. We’ve got rocks. He’s got sand – courtesy of massive floods 15,000 years ago.
We left our house about 12:20 to go to the Kittitas Post Office to mail a large envelope to our sister Peggy, in OH. Stopped off at a friend’s house there to pick up a cat scratching post. A woman took it there for us, saving us the drive across the valley in a direction we rarely go.
Gifted post photographed & given by Rachael Brunson. THANK YOU!
The cats have it in their room, but we haven’t yet seen them use it. It’s 16 inches tall.
From Kittitas to EBRG to drop off now taboo Ensure and pick up a pillow and an egg-carton foam pad for a in a pillow case in the seat of my recliner, at Hospice Friends. Onto Safeway Pharmacy to buy my Coumadin pills. From there, for John to pick up his 2 medications from Fred Meyer Pharmacy. Using gasoline to save money on the meds.
At 5:52 my blood pressure is: 127 / 73 pulse 72. I’ve been soaking dishes and need to load the dishwasher. Done.
Supper: beef sirloin tip roast fried, French fried onion rings, pork & beans, canned pears. I had one Reese’s Peanut butter cup.
John finished his Friday weekly blog, Not so Nasty News.
The total number of robocaller connections for Dec 18=1.
Saturday, Dec 19
We both slept in long this morning, I longer than John. I didn’t get to sleep until after 2:00 am. after going to bed at 11:15 p.m. Not sure why my Friday nights are always becoming restless nights, that screw up my ability to get to sleep and make it imperative I always set up all the proper parts of my recording devices for my ICD measurements every time I’m out of bed and back in again. Guess I’ll also have to insert an afternoon nap into today’s schedule.
Brunch: John fixed bacon, blueberry pancake (high on the blueberries), a bowl of canned peaches, with PowerAde (strawberry – lemonade flavor).
John went out to shovel horse manure into the back of his pickup truck, to take another load over to deliver to Cameron at the Mariposa vineyard. He got in about an hour’s work before rain started. It has continued throughout the day and still is falling tonight at 8:00 p.m. It is noisy on the skylights.
Supper: John, again, made sliced and fried sirloin-tip beef roast, with hashed brown large potato patties, canned small beets, plus his own homegrown fried purple onions. Dessert we are eating now, ice cream. He is having Vanilla ice cream topped with melted Chocolate chips fixed so it doesn’t harden. I’m having Winegar’s special homemade ice cream from Ellensburg, flavor: Kookie Kayla – a Vanilla base with Peanut butter, sea salt cookie and fudge swirl. Kayla is part of the Winegar clan, and clerks at the ice cream counter, and explained “her flavor.”
History: Winegar Dairy Farm (with Holsteins) began a dairy in 1956. The kids suggested started the business of the coffee / creamery. Now, grandchildren are involved, with at least 4 generations. A lot more history with photos can be found on their website, along with their menu. It is expensive, but we were given a gift card.
The total number of robocaller connections for Dec 19=0.
Sunday, Dec 20
Thankfully, it stopped raining. It rained all night and into the morning hours. Not real hard, but rain nonetheless.
Awoke at 8:15, a.m. and John also and took care of things for him and the cats. My first cup of coffee and computer startup at 9:00 a.m. Various interruptions kept me from doing some of the things I wanted to do. Maybe Monday.
We called our cousin (age 103) in PA this afternoon at 2:30 p.m. to check-in how she’s doing at her young age; what a gift she’s given us to live so long with a clear memory to be able to share family members’ past. She’s quite the resource. We had a nice 35 min conversation, and she remembered another recent place, company and a sign from near Clarion. John wanted to know if his sister remembered a sign with a saying on a lumber company.
When John realized he quoted the wrong saying, and talked to Ethel about it, things got cleared up. The sign was:
“If you can’t stop, then smile, when you drive by.”
Ethel knew the name – Fulton Lumber – and the name of one of the workers. He moved into a new house – on the street John and Peggy lived on – and had kids that Peggy did sitting for. That’s 65 or so years ago.
John’s original and wrong saying:
“There is no place like this place, anywhere near this place,
so this must be the place.”
So says this building in Texola, OK – – John has never been there and can’t recall why he knows this catchy saying. 
Full wording is on the right – not readable in this view.
The total number of robocaller connections for Dec 20=0.
Supper: Roast chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, and last of the beets.
Apple pie in the oven.
Hope your week was fine.
Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan