Sunday, January 01, We awoke to a doe INSIDE our front yard (4 ft fence) looking at the front door. She stayed around awhile and ate some berries off the Mt. Ash tree. We don’t really think they like them, but she tried, twice. Finally I got out my camera and took a picture through the front door (has glass panels on the top). I didn’t get her while she was nibbling the berries, but did get her looking straight at me, and then a going away picture of her leaving over the fence. The tree is in the way, so all you see are feet and head. Funny–life on the Naneum Fan. While she was waiting to leave, about 2 dozen quail came in to under the feeder and were eating fallen seeds. We got a nice look at them, but no pix.
We have no plans except to try to clean a path to under the sink in the kitchen for a Culligan repairman to check the water filter. One guy was here back in Sept and replaced filters under the sink but did not have a “big blue” one to replace at the softener unit in the garage. A month or so after he was he here, we quit having any fancy filtered water. At my first complaint, they said it was past the warranty on the work and we would have to pay for a service call. Considering we paid a couple thousand (I think) [incl. a replacement for a 22 year old unit and the new under-sink 4-filter pure water gizmo] for the unit in Aug 2010, that seems unreasonable. I called to complain and the woman on the line in Spokane, said she would check with the service mgr., but it probably was not covered. She was supposed to get back to me that afternoon and did not. A week later I called again and asked for her by name. She claimed she left a message on my phone the next day, but I failed to receive it. So while I had her on the phone, I requested to have the Service Manager (Scott) call and talk to John about what he might do to trouble shoot it. We didn’t get a call for 2 weeks, but then he did call and luckily while John was in the house, and he talked to us both. He agreed to send a repairman at no cost to us. John was ready to write the company a huge complaint.
Continuing with this morning. John added some bird seed to the garbage can outside my window, and put apples on the other side of the fence (6’). In not too long there was a visitor doe. I got a picture of her behind the garbage can and there were some birds on the feeder. One of them is reddish (purple finch). Very pretty.
Monday, Jan 2 Nothing new at the Rock ‘N’ Ponderosa. We had 4 deer back behind the fence in the backyard early, lots of birds at the feeder, and then the doe returned to the front yard. John went out and shooed her over the fence and threw her three apples down the driveway. I’m afraid that will be considered a reward and she might return for more later. Nothing on tap today but cleaning up the den for entrance by the repairman tomorrow. Many more deer around the back fence several times today. We just counted 7 we were watching after eating a late lunch. John’s gone out to move the horses to their other pasture and he turned off the heat in the cat house. It is warm outside today. I’ve been alternately working on a graduate reference letter for a former student to go on for her Ph.D. and on the 2011 greetings. (Link to latter will be at the bottom of this newsletter, finally).
Well, we never cleaned up the den as planned, but while I was doing dishes, the doe came back to eat more Mt. Ash berries by standing on her hind legs. She was doing such a neat dance that I decided to take a movie. Now have to figure how to get it on my web site, somehow. I’m not sure that I can, but I might try. Figured the easiest way was to put it on You Tube, and then link to it from my web page. Only problem was I was holding the camera vertical to get her all in the picture frame, so the movie is sideways. At least I have it documented. Pretty cool.
Tuesday, Jan 3 began early at 8:00 a.m. with a call from my bakery lady friend that the Apple Fritters were just like I like them today. Then we worked on the computer and eventually did a little to get ready for the repairman coming. I actually left the house at 11:00 and he called a few minutes later telling John he was south of town (about 20 minutes away).
Good news on the Culligan repair story. The technician who came was the one who put in our original new system in 2010. I missed all this so it is indirect from what John told me this afternoon. The problem with no water was related to one of 4 filters, and one of them was clogged, and kept the water from coming through. The tech had a special little tool for putting into the line to bypass filters one by one to see where the problem was.
He was kind enough to leave one with John so if it happens again, John can determine which one to replace. [It is just a piece of molded plastic – about 19¢ worth.] It may have been a defective filter to clog so soon after replacement. He also replaced a large filter on our big softener which was full of brown gunk, and left a replacement one for John to check and possibly replace in 6 months. There was no charge, which has made us have a renewed faith in the local office (if Spokane can be considered local). Culligan supplies the equipment but does not own or operate the local places. We were ready to broadcast widely about the poor service and complain but the folks in Spokane must have sensed the frustration and irritation we were having, and decided to override the policy. The Culligan “guide” that comes with the system is a totally useless piece of parrot barf (John’s injection). Most of 60 pages is quite technical water quality stuff of no practical use. Under “troubleshooting” one can find several totally blank pages. The paper was worth something before they printed this nonsense on it. Now it is bird cage liner. Good Grief!
While John was home helping with the Culligan system, I was having an acupuncture. It was one of the best I have had. There is a definite progress from what I could do with my left arm and shoulder movement several months ago. The combination of it with massage seems to be helping.
After that treatment I took the Subaru to the Collision Center for an evaluation and estimate of damage costs and to schedule it in for fixing. While there the manager cleaned all the glass shards out of the back seat and floor, and also the front seat. He replaced John’s cardboard insert with plastic but I do not like it at all. It rattles loudly in the wind, and so much that inside the car one has to turn the radio volume to 22 to hear it. John will replace the cardboard to cover the plastic, or else replace the card board and put the plastic over it to protect from rain and snow. He ended up taping the cardboard over the plastic for fear once he removed the plastic he might not be able to reapply it.
On home to a call from my doctor’s nurse–the mammogram images appear to be all right when looking at the magnification ones, but I need to go back in six months to be sure all is well still.
Wednesday, Jan 4 (John’s Birthday). Let’s see. Wow, what a day. It was filled up from early, fighting with a Ford Foundation Fellowship letter of referral I had to do for a student to enter a Ph.D. program with this request for funding. It was not your normal letter. It has taken me forever to write it. I had to respond in a nontraditional way to 10 different paragraph questions with multiple parts, and I had to submit the results on the web.
My first attempt this morning went fine, but I reviewed it (at their suggestion) on line before submitting it. When I found a mistake I corrected it and went through the process as defined, but it wouldn’t accept. Rats. I needed to leave the house at 11:15 and I was running out of time. I went through tech support and finally at the last minute got it submitted.
Then I played music (and ate) at the Food Bank Soup Kitchen. Always a very good meal. We play from 12 to 12:30, eat, and then I go to exercise class at 1:30. While there the guys that work there heard it was John’s birthday and offered me a Red Velvet Chocolate Cake to bring to his evening birthday party. They know he has delivered apples there to donate in the past. Also he went with me once and helped set up chairs for the Wednesday lunch. I received a phone call from John that he had chipped off a part of a tooth while eating a cracker at lunch. He was able to get an appt to have a temporary put on at 3:00. I left the adult activity center and dropped a check by the dentist, and went on to pick up our pizza.
It really was a wild day today, filled with activities. In the evening, we went to a birthday party dinner for him across the street at our neighbors. We had the pizza that I picked it up on my way home (reheated at their place). I had ordered special donuts (chocolate old fashioned with nuts), but when I went to pick them up the lady said they are not the usual ones John likes. The cook made them with a lighter milk chocolate that almost looked like maple. I told her I would pass.
Nice birthday party with our neighbors for John: The lady of the house made lime gelatin salad with pears to go with the pizza. She also gave John homemade chocolate-nut fudge. We had a nice party, and she served the cake with ice cream.
Thursday, Jan 5 The wind is howling today. Rained last night, but the day was nicely overcast with some sunshine. We had only one trip to town, and John let me off to play my music at the nursing home on the hill (Royal Vista), where we had 10 musicians show.
The nicest part of the day was that our new guitar player, Minerva, gave me her Viola. It was given to her 50 years ago, by her dad, and she took a few lessons but didn’t stick with it. She now is learning the harmonica to play along with her guitar. She says she has been carting this all over the country for all this time, and wanted to find it a good home. She did not want to sell it. Her dad is still alive at 84. She has no one in her family to give it to, and she wanted to give it to a friend. I’m very pleased to be the recipient. It’s a beautiful instrument, made in Mittenwald, Germany, and distributed by William Lewis & Son, Chicago, Illinois. I tuned it and played a couple scales on it. It is similar to a violin, but has a different lower string (C), and the same strings as the lower 3 on a violin (G, D, A), but no high E string. It’s pretty cool and I think I will start alternating with it. I love playing the harmony on my violin with the group. The Viola is recognized for being written into harmony parts in orchestras, and interestingly, many composers played the viola. “Dvořák played the viola and apparently said that it was his favorite instrument: his chamber music is rich in important parts for the viola. Another Czech composer, Bedřich Smetana, included a significant viola part in his quartet, “From My Life”: the quartet begins with an impassioned statement by the viola. It should also be noted that Bach, Mozart and Beethoven all occasionally played the viola part in chamber music.” (From Wikipedia)
While I was playing music, John delivered a package to our clarinet player who, with others, was in the atrium of our grocery store seeking donations for veterans. He also visited the Dollar Tree. There he got two $1.00 watches with clip-ons so he can connect them outside on his jackets. He has lost the recent wrist band one he got for $1. Turns out one is broken and can’t be set, so we will have to take it back for exchange.
Friday, Jan 6 I was off early to attend and perform at the Adult Activity Center free potluck. Food is on at 11:30. It was Baked Potato Soup with ham and made by the staff at the center. All participants brought potluck items and it was really generous and varied today. There were homemade muffins, cornbread, slaw with red peppers, deviled eggs (my favorite), various fruit salads, including a Waldorf one. Tons of desserts and the center provides ice cream. At 12:15, an accordionist and I sang and played old time songs from 1900. I was on the fiddle. Everyone in the audience has the words and sings along, enjoying themselves immensely. We even had two requests near the end. Visited with a few of the people, and then we had exercise class.
Then afterwards I took one of the ladies in my class to run some errands around town, and then dropped her off on my way home. She has macular degeneration but lives alone and does amazingly well. She normally rides the Hope Source bus, but today she needed some short stops to a couple of places which Hope Source does not prefer to do. I was more than willing to help her out.
Then on home where John took me on a walk (with the dogs) through the pasture to see all the brushing work he has been doing over the past couple of months. I had a feeling of what he was doing from his description, but seeing it first hand was quite enlightening. He has extended the pasture by clearing out a bunch of overgrown bushes and trees. He has created a couple of tall brush piles for quail cover, and he has cut some of the larger trees and “bushes” for use as firewood. He is cleaning up a real overgrown mess which would be a fire hazard, should one get started. He will be cutting through a path to the creek and to the other side, so it will serve as a fire break and be a nice training ground for us to ride our horses across a creek to train for trail riding.
Saturday, Jan 7 I had a much needed haircut by my neighbor (around the block, Celia), who has cut my hair since I moved to town in 1988. John spent time brushing again, and I washed dishes and worked on the blog. Also we talked to John’s cousin and sister, both in PA. The neatest thing is that I finished (I think) the final draft of our 2011 newsletter, so you will be able to check it out before most people know about it. We realize that only a few diehards still follow the blog, but those of you who do, thanks, and for letting us know you do. It gives us incentive to keep it up.
A link is below to follow to the 2011 newsletter from us, and within it are a bunch more links to follow for enlightenment to our exciting lives. There is even a You Tube link to a movie I made and put out there of the doe in our front yard on her back legs eating Mountain Ash red berries from the tree (inside a 4-foot fenced yard). She is dancing and it is rather neat. Only problem is I was holding the camera vertically to get all of her in the view finder, and so the movie comes out sideways. Also, adjust your browser window to have proper placement of pictures and text.
http://www.elixant.com/~nancyh/2011Greetings.html
Hope you had a nice first week of the year.
Nancy & John
on the Naneum Fan.