The link below goes to Google Photos from the Aloha going-away party for Jessi Broderius from the AAC (our senior center).
AAC_Aloha Party for Jessi Broderius, August 17, 2018
Below is the link to all the photos John took at the Rotary Cowboys’ Kick-off (Fair & Rodeo) Breakfast and Farmers Market last week starting a little before 7:00 a.m. A few added from Amy taken of our mascot, Haley, who won the Cutest Cowgirl award for the 2nd year in a row.
Monday, Aug 20
I published the blog very early today, after losing all sorts of time with computer and DSL issues. This morning my Word quit working. At 10:00 a.m. my whole computer froze, so I restarted. This technology is driving me insane.
I think this morning, I will add photos from my neighbor, Ron Swedberg, of a Great Horned owl, his brother Ken saw in the window of their old barn. By the time Ron got there the owl had flown into a pear tree, but he saw him and captured these photos. So, Ron, Ken, me, you. The Owl and a few others like her hoot most every evening from nearby trees.Photo by Ron Swedberg
I left for town to deliver plums to Briarwood and to the AAC, where I will attend SAIL exercise class.
This next link will start your week off on a happy note, especially welcomed. It’s from our long-time friend (since 1974), Robert Oppie (Bob) who sent this note with it:
I have long been intrigued by words and the power they possess. My rendering of the below. A one-minute clip filmed in Glasgow Scotland. Not a joke, not religious, not political; full of wisdom and special. Bob
The Power of Words
{John says: If true, great. Filming had to be from a reenactment so the cynical person would wonder about the coin tossers – few before, many after.}
Tuesday, Aug 21
I called Kittitas Valley Healthcare (KVH) Medical Records about having my records for lab draws there from April to present sent to Dr. Antony Kim at the Yakima Heart Center. The department I need is Health Information Management, before 4:30 p.m. Here’s my story and situation behind my request:
My appointment is scheduled for Sept 24 and they will need the records received in advance. My request involved the need to get all lab records sent to two doctors, because my PCP (Norman Wood) Cle Elum KVH supervises the cardiologist’s requested heart medications and required monthly blood draws, but both doctors need the records without my intervention. I used to be able to request records to be sent to both at the time of service, but now it is not allowed. If they have gone to electronic storage of medical information – – Why can’t each place get to my records and view them?
(I know the answer – it’s because each medical facility is associated with a different hospital – and it is the reason I wear a MEDIC ALERT bracelet.)
I reached Cindy (in that office) this morning, explained my needs, and she will set it up and with the lab to add Dr. Kim’s name to all work to be sent on my lab results. In addition, she will send all my labs that have been done since April to the Yakima Heart Center. I thanked her, but then decided I would do more.
I called and requested of Jill, at the front desk, to mail me a care evaluation form so I could put in a good word for Cindy with the administration. The form arrived 8-24-18, and is a Care & Service Report that provides for feedback on our service-exceptional care you received from our staff-or to file a grievance. I will fill it out and take back to the front desk for processing. I’m happy I knew previously of this form.
Wednesday, Aug 22
Called in John’s Levothyroxine refill request and I picked it up while in town today.
I printed copies of It is No Secret to sing as a tribute to Bill Bolman who was a volunteer at the food bank, and also a fan club member of our music group, at the food bank and at Briarwood, where he resided. This week is our visit there (3rd week of the month), and we will sing and play and eat. That actually turned into a much more of a tribute memorial, which you will experience if you look at this Saturday’s post.
Right before leaving, we contacted by phone, Consolidated Communication to report our problems with losing our DSL (sometimes three times a day). The tech support (in Tennessee) listened and decided to call for a technician to come to our house. We gave him the phone number, and expected the tech to call before showing up. He did not call, but John was here, and the technician supposedly fixed it. I came home while he was still here, but leaving. John told him if he had come tomorrow, neither one of us would have been here. Our land line was clearly on the work order and we were told he would call first. It’s nice to have it back working again, and I hope it continues. (It did not. Same old drops and re-connects several times a day.)
I worked on several projects before leaving at 10:55.
One thing I did this morning was to change from wearing my FitBit to a regular watch to wear in the shower, because the FitBit is only supposed to be splashed, not to experience running water. I was rushing to leave, and neglected to change back to my FitBit, so the benefit of my exercising today, steps, aerobic time, etc. was not recorded.
After music at the food bank, I went by the hospital for my monthly required INR & potassium blood draw. I called ahead to the AAC to let them know I was coming but would be late, and why. Turns out I wasn’t that late arriving.
When I was called late afternoon at home, with my test results (INR 2.1 and K 4.5), I asked about when John’s test was scheduled in Sept after 2 months of increasing the dosage to 88mcg. Cody looked it up for me and I put it on the planning calendar in the kitchen. Nice communication with the Coumadin team at KVH Cle Elum. I suppose I should issue a Care & Service Report on them!
Thurs, Aug 23
John left at 5:55 a.m. for the Stevens Pass WTA work crew, but sadly received an email canceling it at 5:45 after his computer was turned off and he was outside packing things into his car, feeding the horses, and opening the gate.
Cancellation: Air quality remains in the unhealthy category at the pass today in addition to the red flag warning blowing gusty, dry winds into that area. Due to these conditions I feel that it is best to cancel the work party today.
Nate Schmidt – Crew Leader
PCT – Stevens Pass
I received a phone call at 7:20 a.m. from the Blue Hat (Crew Leader above) that the WTA trip was cancelled, but there was nothing I could do. By the time I got the phone call and message, John was past Leavenworth, into the Tumwater Canyon.This is not a place for cell phone reception.
If I had known previously (from the email), I could have called him while he was on Hwy 97 or in Leavenworth, where some stretches have reception. So, he didn’t know until he got to Stevens Pass (about 2 hrs), and found no one at the trailhead at one of the ski area’s parking lots. He called me. Sadly, I told him what I knew. Cells work at Stevens Pass, and sometimes at White Pass (road to Mt. Rainier), but not this past summer. No explanation for that. Do they only turn that on during ski season?
The only redeeming thing was, 12 miles east of the Pass, a cougar stepped out of the brush from the downhill side of the road, bounded across at a safe distance in front of the car, and went up the bank on the north side. (See his note in this week’s Not So Nasty News). He’s never seen one in the wild. He stopped at the Forest Service Regional District office to report his sighting. The wildlife biologist wasn’t in, but the person thanked him and told him she would report to the staff, who would be grateful for his information. There is a Christian camp ½ mile away, in the direction the cougar came from!
From there he stopped by
Smithson Ranch fruit stand and purchased 3 ears of corn and a bag of Starkrimson® pears.
The peaches he bought last week were Starfire, but today only a few were left, and these were too ripe (left over from the shipment he bought from last Thursday).
He got home in time to fix us a brunch of eggs, sausage, toast, with sliced fresh peach and our sliced fresh plums.
Today is my day to play music at Hearthstone. I have to leave early to take a photograph at the senior center. I made my stop and took my photograph of the backdrop that Jessi made with pictures with ~40 people & her at her party last Friday.
Here I am today, in my Ellensburg Rodeo baseball cap I actually won there at the AAC in a raffle a couple years ago. The western shirt was given to me by my friend Joanie, and then she served as my seamstress to tailor (using darts) to allow me to wear it after I lost my weight. I think it was originally a 2X. The silver Ellensburg Rodeo button I’m wearing is from 2008. I’m standing in front of the back drop containing a number of photos of Jessi with admirers at her party, an Aloha going away for sending her off to her new job in a Senior Center in Coeur d’Alene, ID. My photo with Jessi, is at the lower right side (bottom row). This below was taken at the same time on my camera and shows more of my “dress” there that day. Nancy with Jessi, last week (Aug 17) at her Aloha party.
Seeing this photo again, made me remember the Amber Necklace I had on above the white one. The white one was make from seashells for the Hawaiian themed party, but the Amber one is my favorite and picked up on the gold and amber colored flowers on my blouse. I have had that for 25 years, given to me by a former student at the Univ. of Idaho, after she left and was teaching in Montana. She met me in San Francisco, and shared my timeshare there. As a thanks, for our week’s stay there for an Association of American Geographers’ meeting, she gave me the necklace she’d bought in Lithuania. The Balkan Sea region is well known as a repository for Amber.Map centered on Baltic Sea. Amber is sold in Latvia and Lithuania, but mine came from Lithuania.
I’m still working on finishing the photos taken on two cameras (the AAC’s Nikon and my own). I only took 18 on mine, but took 6 videos as well. The rest were taken using the AAC’s camera.
Today’s mail brought the paperwork for my next appointment at the Yakima Heart Center, September 24, 2018. It is with two different persons: (1) a device check technician to evaluate my ICD, followed by a 6-month appointment with my cardiologist, Dr. Antony Kim. It is nice they accommodated my request to combine them to save us a 99-mile round trip for one of the appointments. The device check usually takes less than 15 minutes, and they take me directly from there over to the cardiology side of the same building.
Evie and I were the only ones able to make the Grand Re-Opening Event at Pacifica, and both of us stayed much longer than either one of us had planned. I have one picture from there (at the very end) in my outfit I planned to wear at the Saturday Breakfast event. At the time I couldn’t find my Ellensburg Rodeo hat, which I since found, and put on to wear yesterday. I thought the western shirt I had on yesterday was still a little too big (Joanie had darted it but she decided a couple days ago that it would work well if I wore it a little differently with a shirt underneath, as yesterday).Nancy after the reception (near their Fireside Room)
Evie and I were amazed at the food offered – and there was a walking accordion player for part of the time. Food consisted of BBQ pork {best part, with Cole slaw [From Dutch koolsla, from kool (“cabbage”) + sla (“salad”], potato salad, a corn dish, some carrots & celery, with a full stash of dessert items, from Cream Puffs to little bites of cheese cake and chocolate hors d’oeuvres. It was served on plastic embossed plates with Pacifica Senior Living logo/address, with pressed wood utensils, and drinks served in a giveaway red glass pint jar with a handle, a straw within the screw top, and Pacifica printed on it as well. Beverage choices included spiked lemonade (Triple Sec & Jack Daniels), plain lemonade, or water.
Friday, Aug 24
We slept in this morning and we stayed home all day.
John spent time investigating things on the internet and did not do much outside. I checked my RCI records to make people we’re sharing our timeshare with in Kauai Island, Hawaii, aware of the current winds with respect to the hurricane and resort location. Good news is it will be over before they go September 8. It has calmed down already from this morning’s search.
“Garden Isle”, Kauaʻi . . . . swirling winds . . . . . Lawai Beach ResortPictures and info about the resort are HERE .
I have spent more time on processing the photos from yesterday and from last Friday’s going away Aloha party. I also need to send all the Rotary Cowboy’s Breakfast photos to Google Photos. (That was finished later tonight), but I still need to get in all the people I want to include in the notification to email it.
We had our brunch, and John has done the beginning chores in the pasture and yard.
Here’s a photo of the Milky Way at Cannon Beach OR, at Haystack Rock. Photo by Anthony Krueger of PNW Photography
Local geologist (ex CWU) Jack Powell identified the rock as Columbia Basalt. Friend & neighbor, Allen Aronica alerted me to this – On Facebook by a photographer, Anthony Krueger, professional photographer. He calls his business, PNW Photography (also the Facebook page name). His description of this photo follows: Got up at 3am to take this shot of the Milky Way at Cannon Beach overlooking Haystack Rock. One shot using a Canon 6D and Rokinon 14mm f2.8 for a 30 second exposure at ISO 5000.
John continued sorting onions he’d grown and we contacted neighbor Allen, a mile north, to see if he wanted some to share with the family who will be coming for the Rodeo and Fair. He was delighted and came down to pick them up and visit. The official dates are Aug 30 to Sept 3rd. As the “kick-off” started last Saturday morning, there are activities going on all week.
In this afternoon’s delivered mail, I received a lovely thank you note for the tribute we arranged for a Briarwood resident who passed over the rainbow bridge recently, and whom many of us knew at the Food Bank and at Briarwood.
You saw that 10-minute video in last Saturday’s blog entry. This thank you note came from the Briarwood couple who were featured singing (Terry) and voicing memories of a co-worker volunteer and friend of Bill Bolman, by Marilyn (Terry’s wife). Our music group backed the singer and the audience sang along on the chorus before and after each verse Terry sang… of the song, It is No Secret (what God can do) .
If you missed the link last week, here it is again:
Tribute Memorial to Bill Bolman
We continued working through the evening, each on projects we needed to complete. We both lost track of time, and didn’t get to bed until after midnight.
Saturday, Aug 25
This morning it is chilly and welcomed, but the haze has returned, winds have died, and the visibility is only 4 miles. However, the winds returned just before 10:00 a.m. and we had 28 mph gusts that are moving some of the smoke from the valley. So now at 11:53, the winds are sustained at 21 mph and the visibility has increased to 5 miles. It will get better throughout the day.
John has gone to open the gate, take care of outside chores, inside chores for me, and we are about ready to have our late brunch.
Early morning John put in the Crockpot for all day, a nice beef roast with onions and canned tomatoes. Tonight he fried more onions, some yellow summer squash, I cut two of his nice homegrown tomatoes, and two of our plums (purple each one from a different tree). One was cling free and the other was supposed to be, but didn’t get that message.
I made good progress today on photographs and videos I had taken last week. Should be able to finish them and put them on Google Photos to distribute by tomorrow, and then update the beginning of this blog.
Following a suggestion from a new WTA volunteer, John made a nice sectional description of the trail for the Dingford Trail work next Friday. He will take it along and show it to the crew at the trail head and safety talk that precedes every WTA work party.
Sunday, Aug 26
Mom is one of the 3-yr old twins, Bambi gets along with Buck
A few days later the local bucks have shed their velvet.
Cat & Mouse (left).
Here is my video:
Czar playing with mouse & Sue enters later
Hope your week was fine.
Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan
with video (below)