Nancy’s introduction to this week’s blog (written Mar 3, a.m.). I’m sorry, but while I have good information included herein about recovering from my bout with pneumonia, I do not have the energy to make this report more than a skeleton. You’ll have to enjoy John’s column creation this week, please. I will fill in a few spots through the week, to get this draft to him for publishing, with apologies I do not feel up to tackling the report. Actually, while putting it together, I found an addition to end with, while he was out feeding, watering the horses, and picking up branches blown down in our recent high winds.
Sunday, Feb 25
For the rattling, chattering, wheezing noises to cease when I breathed, I needed help. No one knew anything I could easily do. This morning, I developed a new treatment that seems to help me release mucus from my nose and from lower down. Here’s my description.
Make a cup of hot liquid pretty hot. Hold my nose over the steaming cup and breathe through my nose (mouth closed) and inhale and blow out into the cup, to release the heat. Keep doing that until it cools, taking a drink when it is no longer too hot to imbibe. Cough and blow nose. Mucus will be released into a piece of toilet paper (or Kleenex), but I have only been using TP, folded over. Continue until heat is gone and reheat well, after adding more water. Cough more as possible. Do the breathing over the hot liquid to moisten the nostrils. Blow nose. Cough, when possible; continue trying. Something will come out. I did this for probably 20 minutes. I continued and have gotten a lot expelled.
After more minutes, I coughed again and was able to get more up; repeated blowing nose.
I continued through the week, doing it, especially when congested.
(I should have done this at 2:40 a.m. this morning, when I awoke all congested, but I just went with coughing then and released enough to be able to get back to sleep.
We awoke to no snow, but flakes were beginning to fall. Within an hour the quantity changed and we likely have over an inch. We have nothing like will plague the eastern U. S. the rest of this week. John checked road cameras, and there is not currently snow east of us, where he is driving today to go to a lecture at 2:00 p.m. on “Digging Deeper: Ancient Peoples of the Columbia Basin”, by local historian, Mick Qualls, presented at the Quincy Valley Historical Museum in Quincy, WA.
See the photos and info here: Historical Info
John met Tom and Lynne Snyder there, and sat with them in a pew of a Pioneer church, moved to beside the Historical Society’s 1904 Reiman-Simmons House. Both buildings have been restored at considerable expense. 
Tom is one of the pruners John volunteers with regularly at White Heron Cellars and vineyard. Lynne comes to the Raclette and has done several favors (knitting/repairs) and actually knitted some gaiters for me to wear at the Raclette.
Last evening we published the blog about 6:30 p.m.
I need to make progress on several things today.
Work toward writing a letter of recommendation for a former graduate student (Resource Management program) from the early 2000s. She has decided to go on for her Ph.D. in Natural Resources. I served on her thesis committee and had her in three classes.
Yesterday, I receive all her current and past information. I still have to hear from the school and find out exactly what they want me to cover, but meanwhile, she has sent me all my requests for information about her, that being what classes she took which years, a copy of her transcript, Master’s thesis, letter of intent for program application, and her resume.
I need to contact the music group about their upcoming playing Thursday at the Rehab, in my absence. I have to call in the count for chairs.
Monday, Feb 26
We awoke to 29°F, a bit warmer than yesterday morning, John did morning feedings and left at the normal time.
I have been working on the new playlist compilation to share with the group. They will need to pull 19 songs from last year’s packet and change 5 entries for this year. I will make PDFs to mail of the new additions, some of them brand new to the group.
Tuesday, Feb 27
John, off for pruning.
Snowing this morning.
I am very happy our trip to the doctor in Cle Elum was last week.
Early morning I-90 (5:20 a.m.), near Cle Elum, this happened, and blocked the westbound lanes for much of the day:
Glad no one was killed or injured.
I drove in for my blood draw update on the dosage of Coumadin, because of the effect the antibiotic has on it.
Wednesday, Feb 28
John left at 7:40 for WHC after doing the morning feeding.
I stayed home again, and spent the morning on and off the phone, computer, and on Collared Dove control. I’m continuing to fight the phlegm by expelling it.
Bill Howard sent a picture for us and a word doc for me (Earth Science sites). Last week’s send from Michigan came in an unreadable format and I chose not to send it to my list of almost 80 people who appreciate receiving it. I sent a copy to only a couple of regular readers on my list. Bill likes it so much, that he [well versed regarding computers] spent the time to reformat the information, so I could distribute, and I had already notified the team producing it, that the format was incorrect. (Formatting was corrected this week on the new send for 3 March, arriving 3/2.)
I got an email from a gal I recently met at the senior center about her and her husband. They’ve only been here for 3 years, moving from New Richmond, Ohio, not that far from Cincinnati, where John and I met in 1965. I met her through the Line Dancing class, and when I took videos 2 weeks ago of the class, I had collected emails for those there that day.
I worked more on researching information for the letter of recommendation, by going through the information I had for my involvement, starting in 2004.
Got nearly dark at 2:00 and now has started snow flurries.
John left for Nick Zentner’s lecture tonight, “Ghost Volcanoes of the Cascades.” 
For these few near the N-S center of our State, many are in the mid-20 Million year time frame. Goat Rocks Volcano is gone. Mt. Rainier is still hot and only 500,000 years old.
Goat Rocks is the source area (vents) of the Andesite flow making the columns in the picture below.
Unfortunately, when the flow was named this was not known, and so they named it after a different vent, namely one called the Tieton (pronounced, Thai-a-ton), closer to the river of that name.
This photo, near Oak Creek canyon, is part of the evidence of the ghost volcano. They are a specific type of rock, Andesite, that has been traced back to the Goat Rocks. The yellow flowers are Arrowleaf Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata), something we have here on the Naneum Fan. Our rocks are Basalt from flows DNI [Nick’s phrase is Damn Near Idaho].
While John was gone, I constructed a note of consultation with the nurse of my cardiologist who retired. I have an appointment coming up with the new cardiologist on March 19th.
John got home at 8:42 p.m., not soon enough for Annie. She started whining at 8:00.
I’m going to fix a salad so I can take my antibiotic with food.
Thursday, Mar 1
John left for the Mariposa Vineyard, normal time, after feeding the animals.
I stayed up and finished printing and sorting music by name and copies to take with the 2 books, and audience copies.
I took my next to the last antibiotic tablet, after eating a bowl of bran to be my food required with it. It started raining so I dressed with a rain hat. Got all my stuff to the car in the rain, and it started raining on me harder on the way in to deliver the bag of music to the Rehab, where the group is playing today.
After mission accomplished, I went to Super 1 for the sale on canned Friskies cat food, at a much-lower price of 44¢/can. I bought a lot. It was still raining when I got in there, but stopped for my return, and the sun came out. Crazy weather.
From there to Safeway, for lettuce. Safeway has very “busy” ads, convoluted pricing gimmicks, crowded aisles, and undecipherable register receipts. Still, once in awhile they have a great price on something. And usually on the 2-liter colas they sell using the name Refresh.
My last antibiotic pill is tonight.
Now, I need to finish the PDF docs on the March music to send to the players.
Friday, Mar 2 
The recent east coast storm, now heading across the Atlantic Ocean.
We awoke to snow (accumulation about an inch) and John stayed home from pruning. The WA-DOT cameras showed a nasty looking scene where I-90 goes over Ryegrass Summit at 2,550 feet elevation. Much fog, also. A stay-off the roads day. There were accidents on I-82, south of EBRG, but not at Ryegrass.
Our snow pales by comparison with New Jersey’s at Elise’s house.
Her car had ~15” and her mailbox w/ garbage can for scale above
John went with me for my errands: to pick up my music bag at the Rehab, for my follow-up blood draw, which took a long time because of a lot of sick people needing phlebotomist help in ER. We left for shopping at Super 1 and Safeway and on home.
Once home, I began working on the playlist to get finalized for next week. It’s a slow, tedious process.
John made an Angel Hair pasta soup, with smoked Chicken/Turkey and vegetables. He cheated by starting with a package mix from Farmhouse Foods, a brand sold at our local BiMart, and on-sale the day the doctor said “Eat soup.” Picture here. Last week he started with their White Cheddar and Shells mix. They are good starters, but need additions to make a meal.
Saturday, Mar 3
Had a good night’s sleep, awaking to a sunny day.
This morning in the valley (just 5 miles south of us), they are experiencing freezing fog, mist, and low visibility (1.25 miles), at the airport. Weird. 29° there and 34° here at 8:30 a.m.
I need to feed the cats. Did, and found a headless mouse had been deposited for us at the front door.
John just finished the morning feeding and got rid of the mouse. Now he’s off to feed the horses. I hoped to have this draft ready for him, when he returned, but found this entry instead on Facebook, so I thought I would end with a positive note about Brittanys.
The smart dog with the glasses is owned and trained by Kris and Anthony Thompson, of Seattle. Ranger is now a Versatile Dog (AKC award) with this certificate from the American Brittany Club. CH Timberline’s Lone Ranger NA (Novice Agility). The certificate has me listed as one of the breeders. 
I was involved only because I co-owned a parent of his (with Teddi Montes Botham) and had to sign the litter papers. I actually met Kris and her husband, Anthony, in Ellensburg a year or so ago, when Karen Douglas Barrows introduced us at a Hunt Test held about 7 miles from our home. I met them and their dogs and joined their Facebook site (where this just appeared).
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Hope your week was fine.
~
Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan