Left over from last week:
Pictures of our musical group entertaining the day before Thanksgiving… taken of our Kittitas Valley Fiddlers & Friends group by Chuck. He’s the husband of our guest for the day from Bend, OR, playing the accordion, Katie Eberhart.
Here we all were at the end, only holding our instruments, not playing. Left to right, foreground is Gloria, my 92 yr old friend, who just moved into Hearthstone. She’d come down to listen and sing along. We had a nice audience behind the cameraman. Players from the left: Laura, Maury, Manord, Evie, Charlie, Dean, Nancy, visitor Katie, Anne. Some of our regulars were out of town on Thanksgiving trips.
Here’s some collages of close-ups during the performance.
Laura, Manord, Dean, and Nancy
Nancy and Katie happy to see Evie arriving. Right photo Evie is in the middle with Manord and Charlie.
Sunday, Nov 26
No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 25: SpO2 low 86, XX events <88% with overall avg., 89.9%. Avg. low SpO2, 87.4%. Pulse avg. 56.8, low 50. Slept 8 hrs 9 min.
I spent time on the blog, and John entertained himself with a cable-table move. I captured some of the moving of the heavy utility wire spool to a position where we can see and enjoy the birds coming in for black-oil sunflower seeds.
When compared to striped sunflower seeds, black oil seeds are meatier and have a higher oil content, giving birds more nutrition and calories in every bite. Black oil seeds also have thinner shells, making them easier for small birds to crack.
Most seed eating birds are attracted to black oil sunflower seeds. The black in the name describes the all black hull. The oil in the name refers to the higher oil content per gram in this smaller sunflower seed. Cardinals, chickadees, finches, sparrows, nuthatches, and other small birds prefer black oil sunflower over any other seed because of its high fat content and thinner shell.
Striped sunflower is larger and has a tougher shell. Jays, titmice, cardinals, grosbeaks and woodpeckers love striped sunflower and can handle the tougher, larger shells.
We also have California quail and collared doves, a native of subtropical Asia. We wanted to have the feeding take place closer to the windows so we can watch the interactions – and occasionally chase the doves away. They are the largest of the many birds feeding, there are a lot, and they get pushy.
Back to the action.
The “before” location was on pieces of wood over gravel. The “after” location would be up in the air, using concrete blocks for support.
Here is the ramp and lever process photo, with the video below.
Final resting place for cable table:
Final resting place for cable table, with John and companion critters (Brittany & cat) following him up the driveway to feed the horses. Note the bird on the top of the table and on the veranda.
Currently, our little birds are mostly Finches and Juncos.
Monday, Nov 27
No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 26: SpO2 low 82, 9 events <88% with overall avg., 90.3%. Avg. low SpO2, 86.4%. Pulse avg. 57.5, low 49. Slept 5 hrs 35 min.
I got a call from my PCP’s nurse Diane that our new PCP, Dr. Wood wanted to see me today to discuss my Thyroid blood draw results last Tuesday. It was a long trip up and back to a 1:45 appt, that took <15 mins. We suppose that is required for government regulations.
We found out that one of my medications for atrial fib is conflicting with my thyroid (making it dysfunctional), so I am being referred to an endocrinologist for a thorough examination and determination of how to counteract it.
These were the results of my Thyroid tests a few days apart:
Comments: I really don’t know enough to talk about the values above. I only know that my doctor requested the T3 be done after the FT4 results were in, with the elevated TSH test. I do not know the meaning of T3 uptake and total, or the significance of the values. We return for a visit this coming Tuesday morning, and I will learn more before then, and more still then.
The concern is that one of my heart medications (Amiodarone) is conflicting and making my Thyroid “dysfunctional.” I have successfully been on the medication for 7 years with no occurrence of any atrial fibrillation. I do not wish to go back to the prior feeling. Then, I could see my chest moving and feel the palpitations. My hopes are there is some counterbalance medication I can begin slowly with supervision by my PCP to make this work. I am not aware of any effects this condition is making on my life style or energy level.
I thought I fixed the online banking with Umpqua, but the end of the week, an announcement for my statement being ready came to the old account I supposedly changed from. Maybe (I hope) it was already in the system and will be changed next month, when I no longer have the email account working.
The Balinese are going on with life normally, apparently with no concern for the volcano. If I were nearby, I would be concerned.
Bali Mt. Agung “Erupting”
On the way home from the doctor’s office in Cle Elum, I saw some pretty clouds over the ridge behind our house and asked John to stop for me to photograph them for the preschool studies on clouds. My friend from New Jersey has been sharing some neat photos of clouds from back east.
Here was my contribution this afternoon.
Looking across Naneum Fan to the ridge (tops ~5,500 feet) where the Wilson Creek and Naneum Creek drainages combine and flow into our valley. West is to the left, toward the higher Cascades.
Here is my (short) video of clouds over Wilson Naneum Drainages, 11-27-17.
Clouds
Tuesday, Nov 28
No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 27: SpO2 low 86, XX events <88% with overall avg., 90.2%. Avg. low SpO2, 86.3%. Pulse avg. 56.2, low 50. Slept 8 hrs 4 min.
Let’s start with a sunrise we missed, but a friend saw and photographed 10 minutes south of us: 
Photos by Myrna Antonich from her backyard (that pole is her clothes line – the old conventional kind many of us grew up with).
I called Cle Elum to Susan in referrals and give her Gary Treece MD’s contact information: NOVA Health, phone: 509-573-3530. It is located at 6101 Summitview Ave., Ste. 200, Yakima, WA 98908. He is an endocrinologist in Yakima recommended by my cardiologist, Anatole Kim, MD. [He is about 71, and tried to retire. Then was convinced to return. This info puts a damper on the referral – may look elsewhere.]
I called Shaku Amin at College Subscription Service and found out our Discover and Smithsonian are not yet expired. We keep getting requests to renew. I have put her direct line into my notes on magazines in that folder. I also have her email in our new joint account. We also have gotten 4 or 5 solicitations from Forbes Magazine with a gift of Wall-Street Bull/Bear cuff links following our payment. The last time John wore cuff links was likely our wedding in 1969. Someone needs to get out of NYC more often.
I left home to get to the KVH hospital to check in for my mammography appointment at 1:00 p.m. The mammography “machine” is brand new in our hospital, and scans in 3D, not 2D, which allows for better interpretations. While there, I requested copies of my recent thyroid tests that were drawn and submitted to Quest Diagnostics in Seattle. I need to scan these and send to my (now retired) cardiologist’s nurse, for her to share with him, if she sees him this week, as planned. In the process of finding out things about my referral to an endocrinologist, I learned that my cardiologist since 2009 retired Oct 31, 2017 from the Yakima Heart Center. He found the “new health care” environment unattractive. We had discussed this notion with him over the past 2 or 3 years. I am hugely disappointed but not surprised.
I went to my normal stops on Tuesday, and ended up at the AAC for exercise. That jazzy funercise is going to change for a month to dancing with a weekly change in the type of dance (line, swing, ballroom, ?) My friend of many years from the horseback riding club (KV Trailriders), Pat Thomas, was there for her first time, and we were the only two who showed up. Pat also lives on Naneum Rd (our road, 4 miles south). We visited and walked while our leader had to attend to AAC business, but then Nicole (AmeriCorps staff person), joined us and lead us through SAIL exercises for our arms and legs. I was hurting from my mammography, particularly my left shoulder, but the new mammography was an interesting experience to have and watch the machine and see the results on a screen. The main problem was my range of motion to get the edge of the plate under my arm pit and leaning forward. The release was instant and not as painful as in the past. My left side is also a challenge for the technician, because of my implanted (metal) defibrillator getting in the way.
More time spent on changing emails.
Wednesday, November 29
No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 28: SpO2 low 87, xx events <88% with overall avg., 91.2%. Avg. low SpO2, 88.1%. Pulse avg. 56.2, low 49. Slept 8 hrs 25 min.
Today, I worked on various things in the morning. I sorted apples to get a box to give away, then worked on music, but primarily email changes.
I left for the Food Bank, early, and dropped off Wall St. Journals, and then got stuff done setting up at the Food Bank for music, giving containers to the cook, who gave me some return lunch to give to my neighbor. We played Christmas music and the whole audience enjoyed it and sang along, then we ate, visited, and I left to take some Christmas cards to a young woman who asked for them (I picked them up at the Senior Center on the free take table.) Then delivered some music and the box of apples to a family who helped with the veterans’ celebration.
On to SAIL class. We had a good workout today with 24 min of vigorous exercise. I left there for a Hospice Friends stop, and then two other stops, before home.
I also put in a call to my PCP about a prescription that never got sent to my pharmacy. It fell through the cracks somehow, but I believe it will be resolved now.
We both worked some today (John on outside: fence, feeding, and other odd chores), and me on the email address saga and other records I’m taking care of changing.
Thursday, Nov 30 Happy Thanksgiving!
No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 29: SpO2 low 87, XX events <88% with overall avg., 91.5%. Avg. low SpO2, 89.2%. Pulse avg. 54.6, low 49. Slept 7 hrs 11 min.
Long ago Jeff Watson was my student at CWU in GIS classes. He is still in WA doing GIS work for the Muckleshoot Tribe.
This is his awesome post via Facebook, which I seldom visit. This is worth the trip.
Jeff Watson’s 3D pro (ArcGIS) compilation: Need to view in Facebook …his facebook account is Jeffrey A. Watson.
Historic River changes in western WA
Here are his comments:
The Tribe’s Planning Commission expressed interest in gaining a sense of historical flows of the White and Green Rivers so I put this animation together at work to demonstrate where they used to be connected. In 1906 a flood on the White river deposited so much debris along the rise of the southwest side of the Muckleshoot prairie that the river was diverted completely into the Stuck River which became the Duwamish which, in turn empties into Commencement Bay. A long history of flooding in the area drove residents to fortify the natural dam, and the rivers have been disconnected ever since. Needless to say downtown Auburn would be a very different place right now. As the video indicates I geo-referenced the image of a 1906 map into the GIS then digitized the path of the river into a vector polygon data set. The fly-over effect is achieved with not a lot of work via the ArcGIS Pro 3D software. It actually came out pretty cool.
Here’s a previous one he did:
Commentary: May as well toss this one out there too. I made this a while back to highlight the Reservation and some key Tribal features along the Auburn-Enumclaw Highway (SR 164). It starts at the bottom of the hill in Auburn; heads up past the Casino, then southwest through the Reservation. Just south of the Amphitheater we hang a u-turn and wind up through the White River Gorge back to Auburn. Then up to Emerald Downs race track (an MIT holding); then back along Auburn way to the Casino…
We went to an Ice Age Floods Geology lecture tonight at CWU.
Introduction to the evening by Nick Zentner, and to the speaker by Karl Lillquist. LINK
Talk by Canadian on water-caused landscape features in front and underneath glaciers
LINK
Speaker’s responses to questions
LINK
Friday, Dec 1
No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 30: SpO2 low 86, XX events <88% with overall avg., 91.3%, Avg. low SpO2, 88.6%. Pulse avg. 59.4, low 54. Slept 7 hrs 52 min.
I started the video uploads to You Tube from last night’s talk.
Today is the day of the Weekly Web Sites send from my geographer friend in Michigan.
My favorite today is “These Beautiful, Swirling Images Are Maps of Washington’s Geology.” Follow this link for some excellent LiDAR imagery “pictures.”
LINK
This listing of Web Sites comes from a set of “Earth Science Sites of the Week,” which I receive from Mark Francek, and send off to 74 people on my distribution list who enjoyed sharing the information.
I’m still writing to Colleen Meyer about my labs and thoughts on Dr. Treece and the referral. Did not share the Thyroid test numbers yet, or the connection to the thyroid by taking Amiodarone, but I scanned the test results and will attach to the email and hope she will be able to show them and share with my cardiologist now retired. I asked if I could get a last appt, but she said no, yet she would ask him any question I wanted to ask him.
Arranged for the bread rolls for dinner, Sunday, at the Grange.
Washed a load of dishes. Worried with a number of email things.
Never got time to work on the blog until late this evening after supper, and I still am multi-tasking.
John has been shelling a pound or so of walnuts for the past several nights.
Saturday, Dec 2
No CPAP – Oximetry for Dec 1: SpO2 low 83, 12 events <88% with overall avg., 90.8%. Avg. low SpO2, 87.7%. Pulse avg. 59.6, low 53. Slept 6 hrs 30 min.
I did get some good news from Jeri Conklin in CA that our Daisy (and her mother Ginny) both had good field hunting test runs and got another “leg” on their Senior Hunter (SH) test. Tomorrow, Daisy is going for two more legs (hopefully), and when she gets them, she will have the title SH added to the end of her name, after JH (Jr. Hunter).
Good news – pictures came through tonight…
Jeri Conklin with Ginny (left) & Linda Azevedo with Daisy (right). They were braced together (luck of the draw), (Ginny is Daisy’s mom), and they both had excellent bird work and retrieves to hand. Ginny is a little “overweight” from her recent spaying surgery. 
Here we have Daisy held by Jeri Conklin, with Linda Azevedo (her handler in the Senior Hunt test) and Kurt Conklin behind. This all happened today, December 2, 2017. The Hunt Test was held southeast (Claymine Road) of California City, just north of Edwards Air Force Base.
I spent much time this morning thawing and separating 144 rolls and repackaging for us to take to the Community Christmas Dinner at the Grange, tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.
It snowed lightly, and is supposed to snow through 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. However, considering we are almost an hour from the Grange, and it is closer to the Cascades, we may have to deal with snow on our way there and back. (We did not; it was sunny and beautiful on the way up).
We had a late lunch, so imagine our supper will be as well. It was and was very good, thanks to John’s efforts.
He is now cracking and picking walnut parts from the Carpathians. We have had them (roasted) on our desserts the past few days.
I spent more time on changing emails, after evaluating my thyroid issues, trying to make sense of medical reports on line. I’m not sure I’m able to comprehend all I need to, in order to discuss it with any doctor. John read some of the stuff, and is less worried than I am.
Sunday, Dec 4
No CPAP – Oximetry for Dec 3: SpO2 low 84, 8 events <88% with overall avg., 92.6%. Avg. low SpO2, 89.8%. Pulse avg. 57.4, low 50. Slept 8 hrs 32 min.
We did morning chores and got ready to leave, leaving about 11:44 a.m. We made good time, and got there for a parking spot right by the door. We took our rolls in and found us a place to sit. Visited some with several people, offered my help in the kitchen, but there were plenty of people already helping, and I was not needed.
We dressed in our Christmas sweaters, sweatshirt, and hats. No pictures were taken this year.
I did take videos of the musicians who sang Christmas songs to us for a half hour. They did a lovely job. I doubt I have time to include them all here, but here is one (their last).
Mountain Voices Christmas Choir – Jingle Bells (Sorta)
LINK
The meal was huge. I will not need any supper. I had lots of turkey, yams, a little mashed potatoes, a small amount of sausage dressing, gravy over all, some green beans, cherry Jello-O salad, a deviled egg, and dessert (pecan pie and a small bit of cherry covered cheesecake).
Came home to many emails and feeding chores. John shelled some more walnuts.
Heard from Jeri Conklin, that Daisy successfully got her 3rd leg of Master Hunter test this morning. She’ll have to wait until next year (February) to get her 4th and title.
Hope your week was fine.
Nancy & John
Still on the Naneum Fan