Sunday has started out a nice day. I am resting after cutting John’s hair (much needed). He’s out in the yard working. Today I go in to hear a family group play and sing blue grass and Celtic-inspired songs. All eight children play musical stringed instruments and the mom too. Should be nice. It will be a good break from being a performer to just sit and listen and enjoy. I did manage to load the dishwasher, but that’s the extent of my housework thus far. Need to wash clothes and to clean up stacks of papers. Maybe later. after the concert. Nope, I’m back and have just been sitting and resting since. The concert was fantastic. Eight kids (oldest 22, youngest 10) played and sang. It was really a fine concert and went on for 1.5 hours. Many of the family members play more than one instrument. One fellow played a guitar, mandolin and violin; another played the drums and a violin; another played the Bass Fiddle and a Bass guitar; many of them sing as well. One gal played a cello and a violin. Their mom joined them to sing two songs. What a talented family. If they are in the vicinity again, I will return.
Sunday night I was editing a friend’s book and my computer was invaded by a nasty virus that tried to take over my system and lure me into buying some software (a SCAM). I knew enough not to buy it, but I didn’t know how to rid my computer of the virus. It had been missed on my Antivirus program. I thought maybe when I rebooted the next morning all would be well, but it wasn’t. So, after a frustrating hour with my laptop, I called and took it to the computer gurus in town to doctor my system. It took them all day and till noon Tuesday to rid it and install two more malware programs to keep an eye out for these horrid things. They only charged me for an hour of their time, so that was very nice.
Monday had three trips to town. First to deliver the computer, with a short stop to see my friend in the nursing home. Back in the early afternoon to exercise class, and to the store for supplies and my meds. John took the car in at 4:00 to go to the dentist and grocery store.
Tuesday began with a call from the dentist to see how John was doing and a request for me to fill a slot that freed up at 10:30 am for a teeth cleaning I very much needed. I went in and John went along with me to confirm that the location of the local radio station had not changed during or since weather data were collected there during the period 1954 to 1974. He learned that the location is the same but the current crew is too new to remember that activity. With those chores done we went to the grocery store for needed things and then by to pick up my virus-free computer. Wow… it’s nice to have it back.
Then later in the afternoon I went back again to town, this time for a “tea party” — not that Tea Party! It was given by a friend (in music in the valley) for her visiting sister from New York City. The sister has taught at Juilliard Music School for 40 years. My friend wanted to introduce her to women in music in Ellensburg. There were many of us there, some from the choral groups in town, several from bands and orchestras, and a few friends who supported the “tea” by making sandwiches and cookies and serving tea. We had Scones, nuts, little “cocktail” sandwiches, sugar mints, and two types of tea (Earl Grey and a special “organic” market spice tea). I had the latter and enjoyed it a lot, especially the taste of orange. I spent much time on the backyard patio in the lee of the house, with a view of the Columbines and large red Poppys in the garden.
Wednesday started with a bunch of chores, and this afternoon I will join my SAIL exercise class. I hope I don’t have to lead it today. That’s much harder work. Now, later, I can say I didn’t have to lead the exercises but I’m still worn out. The wind was really blowing again today, with high gusts of 45 mph, and several over 40, with sustained winds on average for several hours of 32 mph.
Tonight John made some awesome chicken soup for dinner. We found out our trip planned for Friday to Leavenworth needs to be Thursday instead. Good thing our cat and dogs are using the doggie door John set up yesterday.
Thursday will be music at Dry Creek, and I will run home to get John and hit the road for Leavenworth. We pick them up at their motel at 6:00 p.m. Our friends are on a cross-country Tandem bicycle trip. We left at 4:20 and drove through awful traffic and insane idiot drivers on a mostly 2-lane mountain road, but reached Leavenworth
http://www.leavenworth.org/modules/pages/index.php?pageid=1
in front of their motel at 5:40. We had planned to meet them at 6:00. We visited, saw their tandem bike (named Alto), and then walked downtown for dinner. It was a nice German restaurant and we enjoyed, rouladen, Schnitzels and cabbage rolls.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rouladen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schnitzel
Had a nice visit too, and John and I pulled out of Leavenworth about 7:40. We had a slower trip back home, but almost no traffic and no deer seen on the road or side of road. We had seen one small in-velvet buck going up. We got home just before 9:00 p.m. and the dogs and cat were fine. They had access to the house and the backyard through the previously mentioned doggie/kitty door. Turns out the German food did not agree with me. Either a spice or the red cabbage and sauerkraut (?). But I was miserable the rest of the night burping and awoke in the middle of the night, itching all over.
Friday mid-morning, I am better but the lack of sleep is not good. Anyway, I went to the food bank and played music. There were just two of us. We had a nice spaghetti dinner and salad and a cinnamon roll type cake with white frosting. Then I went to exercise class, but I was tired. Checked out a couple of garage sales, but they were expensive and junk (or both). Went back for Bingo but only had 3 people show, and we needed at least 6. However, the 3 of us there were fed pie and ice cream before leaving. I had a small piece of Cherry and also Apple, with chocolate ice cream with choc chips. It was quite good, and they even gave me two pieces of the Cherry Pie to bring home to John. Then on home I came. I’m sitting in my recliner checking email and thinking about the leftovers from Leavenworth. I had some of the Wiener Schnitzel (Viennese Schnitzel), with toast, but not any cabbage.
Now it’s Saturday and a quiet day, except for the wind blowing hard again. John’s out preparing his fence around the garden for solid panels on the bottom on the west (prevailing winds) side. Last year, we took metal off the roof of the small barn and replaced it with asphalt shingles and “torch down” on the “wing” or less steep part.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lep0_624CwM
The plan is to have the solid barrier reduce the damage to plants from the wind. Yesterday, John brought in a 36” blackberry cane (one of his thorn-less ones) broken off from the wind. He came in just now to say the center shoot (leader) of a Ponderosa Pine has been snapped off on a young (but too high to fix) tree beside the driveway. I’m getting ready to do inside chores. I have been putting them off all week, so I must show John that I really can do them. He told me this morning that I kept saying it but never did. Well, this weekend we have NO events to attend, so that will give me more time . . . (sound of phone ringing) . . . Uff da ! We’ve just been invited to Father’s Day lunch tomorrow. I’ll get to those chores another time. (Actually, John wrote the last couple of sentences, because he answered the phone. I have done a few chores since, but stopped to come back and “proof” this blog.) Now I will go back to the den and report next week on progress there. Hope you all have a nice week.
All our best regards
Nancy and John
in the Valley of the West Wind