Keeping track

Here is a gorgeous photo of Mt. Rainier from a few years back:
Mt. Rainier, Photographer, Jennifer Stone (permission granted). Taken from Paterson Road, Carbon River Heights, WA; the resolution is low because Facebook significantly changes it.

Maxine Herbert-Hill posted this the day before her birthday. When I questioned her if she had taken it, she said that it was taken by a friend of a friend. It was a gift for her birthday. She said she would ask for permission to pass it on. She agrees it is an amazing shot that she loves too.
Personally, I have seen lenticular clouds over it before, but never stacked that high, and we usually see it from the eastern side of the mountain.

Monday, March 25

We were up early and I started drinking water to make my blood draw go more smoothly.

We finally packed and left. Our trip to Ellensburg, took a Lot longer than ever to get my blood drawn, but I met lots of folks in the waiting room and gained some interesting information. One person I met and had not seen for over a year or more was Bonnie Clement. Her health has not been good since September.

We proceeded on down to Costco, filled my car with gasoline (at $2.75/gal) cheaper than Ellensburg, and it was dreary driving in the clouds, down and back. Once we arrived back in the Kittitas Valley it was truly cloudy and overcast. This is what we returned to:The right photo looks a little nicer than the left.

Amazingly as we got closer to home, some sunshine appeared. A welcome sight.

An afternoon call brought the news of my results from the blood draw this morning. My INR=2.7, so I’m staying on one Coumadin every day, except ½ on Wednesday & Saturday. My Sodium was up to 135, and Potassium was 4.7, with Chloride 98.

Today we came home to an interesting and surprising email, from Marilyn Mason (President of the CWURA [CWU Retirement Association] that the Retirement Association Board had nominated both of us for this year’s Distinguished Retiree Award. The award recognizes the contributions made to the community and university since retiring. They would like to honor us at the CWURA Annual Banquet, May 21.

Tuesday, March 26

I’ll start today with photos of pretty flowers (Azaleas) sent by my cousin from Sullivan’s Island, SC. I used to spend my summers in that house and all around the island, including fishing, and ski boarding in the inland coastal waterway. We also traveled around into south GA visiting relatives, water skiing there. Great memories of the southern flowers, and my mom had about 18 different Camellia bushes in our home’s front yard in Atlanta, GA on Piedmont Road.

John’s leaving for White Heron at 7:40 a.m. for pruning. I stayed home today trying to catch up on things, and it seems impossible after all the things that have accumulated needing attention since I was unable to do much, while feeling so crummy. John was kind enough to go through town on his way home from pruning, to check our numbers at Bi-Mart and find out we “won” with the last digit of our membership number, a large box of Idahoan Potatoes dehydrated (I guess) to make into mashed potatoes. We have had a small one before and liked them.

He also went by Super 1 Pharmacy to pick up two of his meds that were ready, and by another place in town. I was grateful.

I did talk with the Triage nurse in Cle Elum about meeting with my new PCP Chelsea, to put in refills at a higher dosage that can be split with a pill splitter. I also needed to know my return date for another INR checkup to be sure we were back on track after all the antibiotics of the past couple months. They raise it and play havoc with the numbers, requiring dosage changes to be adjusted. My next draw is April 8th, so that gives me a rest from weekly.

The two drugs involved you have heard previously in last week’s blog are Atorvastatin & Coumadin (Warfarin). Our normal Pharmacy at Super 1 has to use our insurance co-pay, but at the local Safeway Pharmacy, we can process them through GoodRx . com and get a significant discount using our credit card and paying cash price (not using the insurance co-pay). This time they even were willing to split the pills for us. (Previously, they would not.) So we had to do it. Super 1 Pharmacy has always split pills for me. I have one that needs to be split into quarters. That’s a tough one!

I spent a bunch of time today, backing up telephone numbers from our old land line phonebook list so as not to lose when we install the new Panasonics later today. In between, I washed clothes and dishes. John did a nice job yesterday of adding batteries and charging five phones for 7 hrs.

Started a load of clothes. Ended the day doing two loads.

John fixed us a nice bowl of beef vegetable soup for supper with broiled sourdough toast with butter and Parmesan cheese.

I stayed up working on emails later than I should have.

Wednesday, March 27

Photos of the day: California Poppy – Poppy fields in Lancaster, CA beautifully captured by Jeri Conklin.

John left late at 7:50 a.m. for White Heron; back at 1:30.

He helped me pack the rest of the stuff I’m taking today (except my violin and music), which I will have to add with my lunch and pills to take.

I’ll take my Fiddle and music to the Food Bank arriving between 11:00-11:20 to meet a couple for transferring things mentioned below. I took one of my drinks Ensure & Yogurt for ease in fixing lunch. I don’t enjoy having pasta (the main dish on Wednesdays).

I am taking some hygienic stuff (shampoo, deodorant soap, toothpaste, washrags), and clothes: socks, shirts & sweatshirts) to give to Lisa & Leonard Muhr to deliver around the state to Homeless Veterans through Stand Down events. Stand Downs are typically one-to-three-day events providing supplies and services to homeless Veterans, such as food, shelter, clothing, health screenings and VA Social Security benefits counseling. I appreciate their meeting me at the Food Bank, to save my driving to their house on Hwy 10. While they were there, they were able to eat lunch. They also were coming back in the afternoon for food distribution (they are registered for), but loaded some bread out of the bread room, while there.

I started loading dirty dishes this morning, but only made a small dent.

Got a call from Safeway Pharmacy my prescriptions are ready to be picked up, so I guess I will go by on my way home, and not wait until Thursday, when we have so many more things on the schedule. Well, I got there without my coupons printed and realized the price was not right, so I’m printing my coupons and going back tomorrow after John’s dental visit is over.

Thursday, Mar 28

Sunshine at the moment after John emptied all the buckets in the roof drip line to prepare for the rain that did not come.

We started at Johnson’s Auto Glass by taking John’s Crosstrek in for a windshield replacement after 8:30 a.m. and then on to his dental teeth cleaning appointment at 9:00 a.m., running into closed streets for the procession from the funeral home to the CWU Nicholson Pavilion Memorial for Kittitas Sheriff’s Deputy, Ryan Thompson.

I carried along my laptop computer to sit in the waiting room and work, while John had his teeth cleaned, X-rayed, and evaluated.

After that, we picked up my meds at Safeway at a reduced price, even more off than what I expected yesterday. While there we bought some colas for John and PoweradeZero for me, on sale, along with bags of Honeycrisp apples (on sale) for my neighbor who likes to have an apple / day, and particularly likes Honeycrisp.

We came home for lunch, and John fixed us a ham slice, and 2 eggs each. He had home fries, but I had English Muffin toast with apricot preserves.

We left for music in town at 12:50. Our destination was Hearthstone today. We had a nice bunch of players there with a challenge playing through the replacement of a window in a door behind us, that had been shattered (I wish I had had my camera there to take a photo or asked someone with a phone to take it). I found out it was shattered by a piece of plywood they were using above to knock of the icicles from the roof that had been threatening the glass windows on an angle above the room. The glue they were using to seal the glass pane about did us all in, making us loopy from sniffing the fumes. It was particularly troublesome for our two flute players, who have to inhale a lot of air through their noses to play. Then the hammering began, and not in time with the beat of the music we were attempting to play. We had a smaller audience than usual, but they were very attentive and appreciative. They served hot beverages to the audience and gave out cookies with chunks of chocolate or regular chocolate chip ones.

Folks playing today included: Sharon, Maury, Marilyn, Kevin, Gerald, Charlie, Evie, Nancy, Dean, and Amy.

John and I left and went to the Senior Center to use the computer room until we could pick up his car with the replaced windshield, after 4:00 p.m. We had not counted on the long service, with much Pomp & Ceremony, for the Deputy killed last week. We walked in on the ending final 45 minutes or so of the Live Streaming Memorial from CWU’s Nicholson pavilion, with 2,813 seats. They set up large screens in another room in Nicholson for those who couldn’t fit in the main room. We watched until the end on the big screen at the Ellensburg Adult Activity Center. Likely there were many other places that did the same.

There was a lot of coverage on KOMONEWS with videos appearing later on Facebook of the entire service.
You can reach a nice presentation of parts of the memorial here:

Komonews Coverage Ryan Thompson’s Memorial

If you have a Facebook account, you can get the entire Memorial at this link:

Entire Memorial Service Using A Facebook Acct

We drove by to get John’s Crosstrek, and it cost us only $100 deductible, for an almost $500 job.

Friday, Mar 29

John took off for White Heron this morning at 7:40 after feeding the livestock and birds, taking his companion dog and cat along, and doing stuff around the house.

I slept in, and realized late that I was supposed to be at a scholarship luncheon today at the SURC 3rd floor boardroom. I called Cameron’s phone and caught him and John side-by-side, so talked to both on speaker phone.

This morning I had called Safeway Pharmacy about the count of my halved pills picked up yesterday. It’s now all set with Kayla the Pharmacist. She will put my missing pills in a container and leave it hanging with only my name. Glad I asked. (I had counted them twice last night and found I had only 84 of Atorvastatin (instead of 90) and only 88 of Coumadin (Warfarin) of the 90 needed. I asked if it was possible when they halved them, if they could potentially lose some, and she said, it could happen.

A long time contact from the west side, Bryce Van Parys, is a music instrument guru (and seller of things) with Hammond Ashley Violins, and the good part, is he has a cabin northwest of us where he stays the weekend, and comes by Ellensburg visiting CWU’s musicians on his way back to Renton, WA on Mondays.

He will meet me Monday afternoon at 3:20 p.m. at the CWU Music Building to sell me two sets of 4 strings (one for the future) and help me restring one set on my violin. For me, this is a wonderful service. Thank you Bryce!

Tonight, we went to a Music Antiqua concert by the music faculty at CWU. Below was the email invitation.

Date: Wed, Mar 27, 2019 at 9:42 AM
Subject: CWU Presents Musica Antiqua Series Final Concert
The CWU Department of Music will present the final free program of this year’s Musica Antiqua concert series on Friday, March 29 at 7 PM in the McIntyre Music Building Recital Hall. Directed by harpsichordist Margret Gries, the program is based on old English popular music and conveys a kind of storytelling at the most basic level. Even our title “Old England Grown New” refers in its original form as a commentary on seventeenth-century economic and political changes. In today’s world, the same story can be heard as a narrative on Brexit! {the current removal of the UK from the European Union} CWU music faculty and alumnae perform traditional instrumental settings of ballad tunes for string ensemble and soprano Jennifer Samples brings the traditional ballad repertoire to life with tales of love and loss, the fear of ghosts and the dangers of eating pudding! With variety of tunes and textures, and the insightful observations on human nature, English country ballads never seem to lose their appeal to today’s audiences.

Musica Antiqua performance at CWU Music Building Recital Hall: “Old England Grown New: Songs of Love and Country Life in Early Modern England.” Here is a list of the performers:

Jennifer Samples, soprano
Vanessa Moss, baroque violin
Maija Henderson, baroque violin
Michelle Rahn, baroque viola
John Michel, baroque cello
Margret Gries, harpsichord

Link to Baroque violin

My video captures of the evening I sent to YouTube, but I have the full set to share on a thumb drive with the group, if they are interested. John thinks he may have seen it being videotaped from the back of the recital hall. As you can see, I was right near the stage. We were close enough to see the soloist’s expressions.

If you only want to check out a couple below, I would pick the first, third, and fourth, for the overall content. I’m sorry I cannot provide the lyrics here. I was amazed at Jennifer’s ability to memorize so many songs, and deliver them with such gracefulness and interpretative meaning.

Margret Gries explains the English Ballads

The Country Lass by Jennifer Samples

Harvest Home by Jennifer Samples

When as I Glance – Baroque Instrumental Group

Saturday, March 30

Earlier than John, our friend Evie Schuetz was up to view the stars, from Olmstead Place, Historical State Park on Ferguson Road east of Ellensburg. Here was her incredible morning capture (time lapse 6 seconds), with the lights of a semi-truck on I-90 illuminating the barn (with barn quilt), and continuing to make a “lighted fence” beyond. Olmstead Park, photo 3/30/19 by EvieMae Schuetz

Below is a capture I made from the Street View of Google Earth Pro, taken in July of 2012, before the Barn Quilt was installed. I adjusted the colors to improve the red barn, but I think it actually has been painted since 2012 and looks much brighter. I need to drive by in person on my way home with my camera to get it now in the daylight.This originates from Google Earth Pro’s street view camera coverage in July of 2012.

John was up early to say good morning to the outside cats and put out their food. Then he finished his normal gathering of news and interesting things, which I kept him away from yesterday by taking him in the evening to the concert you have heard about. His “Not So Nasty News” is out now, as of this morning.

Except for tonight when I have a Clothes Swap meet to attend, I will be working on chores around the house and on the blog. Thus far I have done mostly work on my computer, which has lost the chargeability of its battery, so I have to determine what the battery is to be replaced, or whether I should just get a new computer. I truly hate setting up a new computer with all the software I need to install, so I guess we will go with a new battery. John found one on line for just under $50 for one that fits, and John will have to unscrew about 9 screws on the underside to replace it. Now if I have to leave home with it, I have to take the power supply and plug it into a wall (as I had to at the dentist office Wednesday).

I called Dee Eberhart about the planned meeting at Hearthstone of the Retired Geographers and their wives. I sent a note to the members about who can come on April 10 at 9:00 a.m. I always take something sweet to have with coffee, tea, or hot chocolate, provided by the activities director at Hearthstone.

I removed the videos taken last night on my camera at the Music Antiqua performance at CWU Music Building Recital Hall. Now I need to remove them from the camera and recharge the battery that barely made it through last night. That was accomplished Sunday.
I am currently uploading a couple of my favorites to represent the night. I will not upload all to YouTube, but hope to locate some of the musicians to offer my videotapes of their performance. I was up close to the stage with a good perspective on most of the group.

After brunch and John is now outside preparing to plant onions and a few other things. The long spell of cold and snow chased the pruners out of the vineyard, and no garden work got done here; except John shoveled 8″-10″ of snow off the places he wanted to get to first. Normally, they have finished by April. They are only half done.

I took myself to an event tonight at the Ellensburg Foursquare Church. This happened because of trying to clean up old clothes that no longer fit me. This event was a Clothing Swap (just for gals), and the entrance ticket was bringing in during the previous two weeks, 12 items to be distributed freely to those participating tonight. Things that could be included were clothing and accessories, including pocketbooks, hats, shoes, jewelry, scarves, and gloves.

Tonight, I was surprised to find some things to bring away, and realize I still have many things to go through at home to donate to the Ellensburg Community Clothing Center (ECCC) at the United Methodist Church. I found a colorful winter beanie that will fit John (and Sunday morning I found it would fit me too). I even found some earmuffs for me and a pair of winter gloves. Several pairs of pants, jeans, and a lovely vest, two cardigan sweaters, some blouses, and a denim shirt. Anything I change my mind about or that doesn’t fit, I’ll pass along to the ECCC, orshare with a friend. Now I just have to hope they will do this again, but I know it was a major undertaking requiring a lot of volunteers. I participated in such an endeavor several years ago, and realize the incredible amount of work collecting, organizing, and putting on. Still, re-purposing such things is good.

Sunday, March 31

Ending the last day of March with an EvieMae Schuetz’s photo: Here are my reflections upon Evie’s photograph: Now that is nothing short of fantastic! We lived in Idaho for 15 years (starting in 1974) and took field trips to the Bunker Hill Mining Company (in Kellogg, ID), where we toured the facility with our students. The Sunshine Mine was located between Kellogg and Wallace. We even went “down” (~8,000 feet) into the Lucky Friday Mine in Mullan, ID. Wow, was that a trip! It got pretty hot climbing around on ladders, and walking along beside miners, and little mining cars on a small railroad track. I doubt anything like that would be possible anywhere today with OSHA regulations. So your photo brings back incredible memories, and certainly is a classic photo. Thank you, Evie!

Our day today has been inside the house (Nancy) and outside (John), first preparing ground, fixing fence, and removing mulch from strawberries. New green there, he says.
Frost this morning, but Monday – maybe not.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

Lise McGowan’s elk photographs at Oak Creek feeding station, 3/17/19, on St. Patrick’s Day. Thank you, Lise, for providing the photos and permission to publish.This is a few miles west of Yakima and usually noted as being near Naches WA – 5 miles west, actually. If you use Google Earth and go to this location:
46.7399, -120.9147 –
Then back out until you can see both highways #410 & #12. The green areas to the left are the valleys and mountains of the Cascades. In winter, elk come from there, down that valley to where it meets the highway (#12) to White Pass. Years ago there was an offer to adopt an elk – buy hay for the season – for $90. We don’t know what it is now.

Hay is thrown from trucks

While we are on St. Patrick’s Day, shift back to Friday, March 15, and add this link to get to the photos taken by me and the AAC camera crew at the event. Mine are numbered and theirs start with AAC.

St. Patrick’s Day Party at AAC-3/15/19

Monday, March 18

Last night we managed to publish the blog at midnight.
This morning, I slept in until after 9:00 a.m. after staying up until 1:00 a.m.

John has left for White Heron to prune wine grapevines, and I’m leaving soon for the hospital for a blood draw to check my INR after all the antibiotics last week and the change in dosage of Coumadin trying to compensate. I have a few other chores in town, and then will return to tackle more. Need to get things done that have been ignored for over a month.

Not leaving until almost 1:00 p.m. for my blood draw to recheck my INR, so I can be there when my favorite phlebotomist returns from lunch.

Got a call from Lacey, the Triage nurse, at 4:00 with the results from today. INR = 2.1, Potassium = 4.6.

I’ll have it rechecked Monday, 3/25. History on the K= (3/7 4.4; 3/12 4.8; 3/18 4.6) Coumadin dosage will be full pills every day but Wed & Sat nights with ½ pill. It will be nice to get back to the old grind without the influence of antibiotics on the value of the INR and all associated concerns with medications.

I went to several places in town. First, I hit the food bank bread room and got a windfall (I love English Muffin bread for toast and they almost never have it), maybe once in 4 months. It costs $3.00/loaf so I have stopped buying it. I met a guy there in the parking lot. I was all dressed in my St. Patrick’s Day green outfit (you’ll see in the blog) and he wanted to talk. I invited him to come back this Wednesday, bring his wife, and sit in front of us and sing along and then stay and have lunch with us, but he did not show.

On my way there, I stopped to pick up a free bottle of Apricot Preserves (commercially made) from a family I know in town who doesn’t eat much jam. She’d advertised it on The Free Box. I prefer the homemade apricot preserves from my neighbor, Ken. This almost tastes acidic. Weird, just not the same at all.

Now that the season is advancing, pruning will start at 9 am; but today they start at 1 pm. John won’t be home until 5:30 p.m. and I need to wash more dishes, but right now I need to rest.

I stopped by the Dollar Tree to see if they had any St. Patrick’s Day stuff left over and marked down, because our music for two months has an Irish tilt/lilt. I found some Shamrock necklaces with blinking green lights, marked down to 50 cents, so bought 6. Two didn’t work, when I got home to undo the wrapping, so I carried them back later, and traded for a box of toothpaste (it had to be a non-food item that I exchanged for). I thought not everyone would wear them, but it turned out I had more than four gals happy and willing to wear them. You’ll see the picture later of 4 of us on Thursday at Pacifica.

Then I went by the Pharmacy for John’s and my refills for meds and home by way of one more store which had ordered nothing for St. Patrick’s Day – interesting how marketing works. I talked to the buyer at Super 1 this morning by phone, and found out she only bought napkins and paper plates. RiteAid had nothing. Christmas they were loaded with several aisles of stuff. However, all stores, including the $ store are setting up big time for Easter.

There are not a lot of “Irish” in the State. They came, but shed their identification as Irish as they achieved prosperity. They “looked upon past traditions, wounds, and memories of the ‘Old Sod’ as irrelevant and, at best as “remote.” Their mobility and transformation from Irish immigrants to Washingtonians has been through.

Irish in Washington — The Early Years (1840s to 1890)

Still, quite a few – if you ask – will have an Irish ancestor, as does John.

Washed another load of dishes, and started going through the Friday AAC photos I took.

John fixed a neat supper of chicken breast meat, wild rice, and peaches.

Tuesday, March 19

John’s out doing morning feeding chores and such.

I’m trying to finish cropping the photos from last Friday at the AAC to take by the Senior Center on a Jump drive to share.

Finished and now need to fix and eat my brunch. Then off to town to check numbers at Bi-Mart, and visit other places.

I had a late brunch, and am sticking around until later when I will start at the food bank with a free fruit and veggie giveaway, and then on to the AAC after 2:30 to exchange photos, and home by way of Bi-Mart.

Missions accomplished. From the fruit and veggie give, I brought home apples, onions, a few oranges, and some baking potatoes.

Wednesday, March 20

This morning was a sad day of mourning for the tragic shooting in our community of Kittitas, WA, last night, 3/19/19. Sheriff’s Deputy, Ryan Thompson died, and Benito Chavez, Kittitas Police Officer, is recovering in Harborview (regional trauma hospital in Seattle) from a shot in the leg shattering his femur. The Deputy Ryan, was trying to make a stop of a “road rage” call, and that ended several miles later on a blocked street in Kittitas. Because the driver of the car was killed, no one seems to know why this happened. We suspect a report will have more in a week or two.

Below is Lise McGowan’s tribute to the occasion linking to the setting super moon. Mt. Rainier is on the left.
John left at 7:40 a.m. for White Heron; back at 1:30.

I’m taking my Fiddle to the Food Bank to see in a gentler place whether I can manage playing it. It took me forever to tune it, and that may be my problem playing today, keeping in tune after all these days. Otherwise, it seems like I can hold and play it all right. I managed to play for 40 minutes, but my fingers need some calluses (having not played since Jan 24)! Here’s a photo to prove I was there today.Nancy at FISH Food Bank Soup Kitchen Lunch. It was a trial run for tomorrow. I decided I would make it tomorrow, but probably not for the whole hour.

I went by the senior center to meet Roxanne, we’re exchanging photos – from my USB jump drive and to get ones from their AAC camera. I still need to collect them and send to the members of the AAC for which I have emails. I have not done that in over 2 months. You have seen the way I sent them above in this blog after the Elk Story on 3/17/19.

Sent out the call to KV F&F for tomorrow’s chair count and added the invitation to the 2019 Volunteer Recognition dinner, on April 9th (a dinner celebration for community volunteers as we are with our music group). Need to RSVP by 4/2. It’s from 5-7:00 PM at the Ellensburg Presbyterian Church on E 3rd, across from the EBRG HS. We can invite our family.

Tonight, John fixed baked chicken for supper with cornbread with creamed corn. I had mine with maple syrup. Nice after only a liquid lunch at the food bank (because it was easier to carry).

Tonight our friend Evie Schuetz was out photographing the super moon, and look what she captured for the exposure! Photo by Evie Schuetz, March 20, 2019 in Kittitas, WA ~10:30pm

Thursday, Mar 21 First full day Spring

Spring came to the Naneum just before 3 PM yesterday, so today is the first full day.

Around 7:00 a.m., our friend from Kittitas, Evie, photographer extraordinaire, was walking along the John Wayne Trail {now re-named, but no one can remember to what} where she took the following photographs. The location is the part of the road where the Trail crosses the Kittitas Hwy. The willow tree is ~200’ from the Kittitas Hwy on the trail, in a fellow’s backyard.
These are some of my favorites of her morning photo trek, and she has given me permission to post any of her photographs.From John Wayne Trail, near Kittitas, WA by Evie Schuetz, 3/21
I love the sky’s purple hues over Manastash Ridge, and the rich vibrant colors in the valley floor of the early morning sun.

My favorites of hers of the willow tree are here: Willow tree: Prior to sunrise, and “sunrise” by Evie.
I love these and find the sunrise one almost eerie, but lovely.

On this first full day of spring, Evie captured a local sign that spring has sprung with the arrival of the Red-winged Blackbirds:I love the “heart” on the side of the talkative one. Photo by Evie.

John left for White Heron at 7:40 a.m. We both viewed a nice full moon setting and a pretty sunrise this morning, through the trees, from our northerly end of the valley.

I counted my pieces of clothing for delivering today before 1:00 p.m. to the Foursquare Church clothing drive, which is planned for March 30th, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

It took me almost an hour this morning, but I finally filled in the requested digital survey from the University of WA (Seattle consultation with Matthew A. Napierala MD – and Frederick Matsen MD) on 3/11/19. Part of my time spent was capturing my answers on the whole thing with the Windows 10 snipping tool, so John could see what I answered, and I had a record as well.

I also made arrangements with our car insurance (Safeco) to pay the majority of the bill at Johnson’s Glass to replace the broken windshield on John’s Crosstrek this coming Thursday, when they need it all day. Our deductible is $100 and the cost will be over $500 total. My next chore is to change our payment schedule from monthly credit card to a one-year charge for the rest of this year as a payment from our banking account (that won’t cost but a $2 service fee (maybe), and we will have a discount as well (next year) for paying the bill all at once.

Afternoon fun with music by the Kittitas Valley Fiddlers & Friends at Pacifica. We had a good turnout: Charlie, Evie, Nancy, Amy, Tim, Roberta, Minerva, Charlotte, Sharon, Marilyn, Maury, Anne. We had a good audience who joined in and enjoyed it.

Here I am at Pacifica, in my birthday present from Joanie Taylor last year (the Irish shirt), with my shamrock put on incorrectly and not turned on in either photo. I showed the others how to turn them on and then didn’t do my own.

Next the gals willing to wear the shamrocks, but later I gave mine to Evie who was standing playing the flute and it could be seen much better; plus, she loves shamrocks and anything Irish. Sorry I do not have her photo here. We took these early on before she arrived on the scene.Here we have Charlotte, Sharon, Amy, and Nancy

I took Lemon Cookies for the residents, after checking with Terri the activities director to see if it was okay for them to have sugar.
I had help carrying in my stuff and in taking it out as well, for which I was very appreciative.

At the end, Evie and I met at the back of Amy’s car and sorted through clothes Amy was clearing out. I received a nice dark White Stag jacket (L), and some other tops. I told them about the Clothing Share at the Foursquare Church next door. People take in 12 items for each person in their family, and then receive a number on an entry, to allow them entrance to come back March 30th evening from 6:00 to 8:00 and pick out that number (or fewer) of things others have donated. I need to get rid of things, not bring in more, but I have a deposit place for anything I need to move out, and have been using it (The Methodist Church Community Clothing Bank).

Friday, Mar 22

Check out Evie Schuetz’s morning sunrise – with awesomely spectacular colors, she described as “absolutely unbelievable.”John took off for White Heron this morning after feeding the livestock and birds, taking his companion dog and cat along, and doing stuff around the house.

I slept in for some much needed rest. I’ll be arranging for some plans tomorrow to visit our neighbors for a birthday party, and thinking about the celebration in PA of John’s cousin Ethel Reynolds, special birthday! Her 101st! Family members are visiting her both days this weekend in her apartment in Brookville, PA (John’s birth place, but a short stay).

Brunch. Chicken Soup with rice, wild rice and veggies (lima beans, and carrots). Wild rice: We don’t know what it is, but it is not rice and we don’t know where it comes from. Looks a lot like mouse poop.

This afternoon has been full of doing things that have been put aside in the past couple of weeks.

Next is to arrange for some GoodRx (less expensive medications through the local Safeway Pharmacy). Normally we prefer to use Super 1 Pharmacy, but occasionally the price difference is worth the bother. That is the case for Atorvastatin and Coumadin.

Saturday, March 23

I slept in a little longer than I should have, but had a rough night with weird dreams awaking me, and totally unexplained.

I was able to call two pharmacies with questions about refills on medications I will have to arrange for changes to, this coming Monday, when my doctor’s office is open.
I checked with my normal pharmacy and refilled two of John’s medications he will be running out of the end of next week.

Then I called another pharmacy (Safeway) where I can buy (without insurance) some meds at a lower cost. I can even make it lower by buying a higher dose (of a pill) which we can ½ and get twice as much for the same amount of money. This is through GoodRx.com . If you are on a lot of medications, it is definitely worth checking out. You’ll be quite surprised.

These were my concerns:
I’m taking only 40 mg or Atorvastatin, once a day. I asked if they had any 80 mg available in stock, and they did. I spoke with Dan, the pharmacist.

I will need to check with my PCP to have a refill rewritten for the 80 (because we intend to ½ it to get the 40 mg required / day). It’s cheaper to buy the 80 mg for 90 days. Here’s the price difference: For 40 mg, 90#, it costs $19.24. For 80 mg, 90#, it costs $20.74, but I get 180# after halving the pills. We have a pill splitter. Or, some are scored and can just be done by hand (e.g., the next one, Coumadin).
I will need also to check with my PCP to request a refill on my Coumadin for getting 5 mg that I can snap in half for the daily dose of 2.5. I suppose I can keep some of the 2.5 when I have to lower them to 1.25 mg, down the road, in case spitting further would not be possible. Some of my other pills are quartered into very small pieces. Luckily, my normal pharmacy will do that for us. Safeway will not.

We went first to the Methodist Church Community Clothing Center arriving about 10:00 a.m. I wore my green shirts to show them what I took away to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and use at Assisted living homes through March & April, when we are playing Irish and Celtic music. They were happy to see how their clothes got used. The residents at all the places we visit, including the FISH Food Bank lunch bunch, love it when we dress up. I really got a lot of Christmas stuff from the clothing bank back in December. We also donate a lot of clothes to the center. Today, we carried in a nice spring jacket to share which I liked, but had shoulder pads that were sewn inside the lining and I couldn’t just cut them out easily as in a blouse. It made me look like a full back football player.

Today I returned an REI winter coat to the bank that John found there a couple of weeks ago, which I had not tried on at the time, because I thought it was my size (marked WL). I interpreted that as Women’s Large; but it did not fit, and we looked it up on line to find that WL stands for Waist Length (strange marking). They were happy to have it returned, and allowed me to look for an exchange. I didn’t really need another jacket, so I traded for a blue/green small plaid shirt that I wore to the birthday party.

We went to Super 1 grocery for ice cream on sale, a dozen eggs (88₵), and navel oranges 68₵/pound, some Italian sausage, and some large cans of mushroom soup. We are frustrated with the lowering of the size of a can of soup to 10.5 oz. It seems a lot smaller than years ago, but can’t find a source of such things. Many other package things are smaller. How far will they go? Remember the “Where’s the beef?” commercial.

Lunch at Swedberg’s home was scheduled at 1:00 p.m. We took a couple of bags of Delicious apples for the family to share when they left for home, and ice cream for the cake. We took Butter Pecan, and kept a container for ourselves.

The lunch was a birthday party for the grandfather’s 96th. Grand and great grandkids and families from around the state brought food, kids, and dogs.
We were late eating, after 2:15, but enjoyed all the food: meatloaf with tomato sauce, mashed potatoes, beef noodle & corn casserole, big strawberries, cantaloupe, ice box rolls, salad, and chocolate fudge cake for dessert with two kinds of ice cream.

Today is John’s cousin Ethel’s 101st birthday. We had a nice afternoon (early evening for her) telephone call. She is amazing and planning for her 105th with family visitors who came to her apartment today with food. The church sent an orange cake with orange frosting to her. It was left over from an event at the church yesterday where 100 were expected and only 50 showed, so it was appreciated as a 101st birthday cake for Ethel. I never heard what was on the rest of their menu for lunch.

Ethel has advanced macular degeneration and doesn’t see much, but she still gets around without a walker, rides the elevator down, but walks back up 17 steps to her apartment. She believes her long life is helped by keeping moving**. Her daughter, Pat, washes her clothes, but Ethel still takes her own shower. What a trouper! She also is still able to write messages on birthday cards she sends to us, with the help of daughter Pat.

**Clint Eastwood says “Don’t let the old man in.” And a country musician friend created a song for Clint’s new {‘The Mule’} movie:
Toby Keith
**
We both were tired at the end of the day, came home, and took naps. Mine was longer than John’s, lasting 2 hours! I guess I needed it.

He had a bite of last night’s casserole, but I skipped it. I ate a lot this afternoon. We will have a piece of turtle pie and hit the hay.

Before I do, I’m going to copy a link to a video on The Time Out Saloon’s Facebook page, of the folks in Kittitas welcoming Benito Chavez [Kittitas Police Officer shot in the leg by the Shooter (illegal alien) who killed our Sheriff’s Deputy, Ryan Thompson this week in Kittitas, WA].

I realize those of you without Facebook will not be able to view this moving tribute of support.Night view of The Time Out Saloon, 101 Main St., Kittitas, WA, by Evie Schuetz backed by the super moon, 2019.

Benito Chavez Arrives Home in Law Enforcement Caravan

Sunday, March 24

Just when I thought the views of our valley were on hold, comes one posted this morning, but actually taken on Friday, 3/22, just after sunrise. On Friday, I published her spectacular sunrise photo. Some of the same purple hues are noticeable in this photo below as were noted in the Friday post.

This morning and all night before, the rains fell, so no sunshine today in the valley, or tomorrow, when we have to drive to Yakima, via Ellensburg.

From Evie Schuetz, another beautiful capture and composure:The Clerf farm with Kittitas, WA water tower, backed by Manastash Ridge and gorgeous morning clouds, but the lower right under the shed, tells the significant part our valley plays in the World Global Economy through our Valley Hay Farmers. The colorful red and yellow farm implement is a Harobed, used to pick up and stack bales of hay from the hay fields around our valley. The machine was developed and named after the inventor’s daughter. Spelling it backwards gives her name: Deborah!

Here’s a video of the history of the Harobed, invented by Gordon Grey in the late 1990s, in Lancaster, CA. This video shows the stacking occurring in the field, but most of us have seen the process happen in barns around Kittitas County. I have taken hundreds of photos and videos over my time in the valley, after being enthralled with it and teaching about it in my Economic Geography class at CWU since the 1990s.

Harobed Clearing a Field of Hay Bales

I’ve been working much of the day on the blog (my portion), and took some time this morning to run a load of dirty dishes. More still await attention.

John opened our 2-year-ago purchase of Panasonic telephones, which we have put off installing until the others finally crashed on us yesterday trying to talk with cousin Ethel. We had to use the speaker phone on mine and stand close together to have our conversations heard. John now has all five phones charging for 7 hrs. Maybe tomorrow, after we return from Yakima, we can set them up.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

Sunday, March 10

Left, below, is March 10, with cold fog in the Valley. We left for Seattle in the middle of the night and the temperature down there was about 2°F.
We were in the sunshine much of the day, and the Kittitas Valley lower elevations were covered in fog, and all the trees we saw the next morning on our way to Seattle, were covered in frozen fog and iced all over. Even the cattails in the side ditches were sparkling. Now a week later on St. Patrick’s Day we are in bright sunshine with beautiful blue skies, and outside our temperature is ~ 40°. At the airport 5 miles south, it is 37°. By 3:00 p.m. today, at the airport it reached 50°. Spring has arrived with a foot of snow still on our place.

Monday, March 11

For today, we are at the long-awaited trip to Seattle to consult with the shoulder surgeon, Dr. Rick Matsen III, about the potential of solving my severely arthritic shoulder with a complete shoulder replacement. Recall that I fell a few weeks ago, and could barely function. We are approaching this with a lot of concern about the ramifications on me with all my related heart issues that might throw a monkey wrench into the process.

Years ago, my original cardiologist – Dr. Kim, warned that it was a life threatening operation, that I should not consider, because of the general anesthesia required. We were hopeful that medical technology had moved ahead and perhaps it would now be possible, under the guiding medical eyes of the best surgeon team, with MDs, cardiologists, and anesthesiologists from the best hospital in the west (UW). I was referred there by my now-retired Primary Care Physician, who had Dr. Matsen replace his shoulder 2 years ago, successfully.

The two doctors consulting with us allowed me to videotape all the information and comparison of my shoulder x-rays from 2016 to the present in January after the fall, and the 3 x-rays taken Monday morning at UW. (They are advanced in their radiology capture!). John and I got to see views of my shoulder, on an x-ray taken with me lying down, viewed from under the ball and socket to see an unusual (but telling and educational) view of the actual proximity and relationship of the ball in socket.Left normal view of my left shoulder, showing bone-on-bone with ball in socket, bone spurs, and bone cysts, & my ICD that looks like a mean man starring out from inside my body. The image on the right was taken from underneath the shoulder, providing a totally different perspective to view the misalignment.

The surgeon, Dr. Rick, was incredibly concerned and honest, telling us about his personal life. He said he was 75, the same age as I, and has been married for 52 years (we have been married for 50 years, this year). His wife has an unusable right (dominant hand) shoulder problem she will live the rest of her life with, but without a complete shoulder replacement. His recommendation for me was with my heart issues, the same life-threatening issues still exist for me as I had been warned about in 2016 by another surgeon from Yakima. He was pleased how much I had stretched and exercised to recover almost the range of motion I was experiencing prior to the Jan 24 fall, and asked if I was coping well? Was there great pain? (No.) Could I live with it? Of course, my response was a definite yes.

Since 2016, I have learned to make adjustments and I am able to participate in fiddling, sometimes 3-4 times weekly, in assisted living homes, FISH food bank lunch, and retirement homes, providing music; I also participate in exercise classes at the Senior Center (SAIL, Silver Sneakers, Jazzercise, and Dancing there), just by altering certain of the over-the-shoulder moves. Our music group (Kittitas Valley Fiddlers & Friends) also visits the Senior Center for special days, with patriotic music (July 4 celebration and Veteran’s Day).

Our consultation meeting lasted from 7:00 a.m. until after 10:00 and involved two medical doctors and a technician (including the radiology technician at the start of my day). They are thorough and it was a great experience. Young Dr. Matt did initial things, much like physical therapy, noting what I could do, or not do. Elder Dr. Rick continued with questions, explanations, and advice. They agreed the shoulder was in bad shape. That they could replace it. And, that they advised against doing so.

After obtaining a CD with the x-ray imagery taken today of my left shoulder, and watching the fish swim in the waiting room aquarium, we proceeded to the kiosk to pay our $12.00 parking fee for the underground parking on Roosevelt Way, and continued our day by heading toward Seattle’s waterfront.

The office had several tanks of fish. Several were of a half-round type. See this one. Back in the early 1980s, John suggested to the owners of the mall in Moscow, Idaho that they get something such as these. They are a great attraction. These at the medical facility get cleaned every week. Very nice. We wonder now whether or not other buildings at UW have similar things?

Video: The Aquarium in the Radiology Waiting Room

From the parking garage, we drove south on old streets of Seattle, through Capitol Hill (disputed source of name thereof), en-route to Pike Place Market.

First, a few photos of the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle.Street scene Capitol Hill Seattle – Boxwood sculptured
We stopped because it was a beautiful structure and the Seattle Tower can be seen from the back parking lot of the church. We didn’t know until later that Cameron’s mom’s ashes are enterred in this church. She was a minister.

We had a fun trip down the hilly streets to the piers and market. We saw familiar places as REI Co-Op where we have shopped.

Trip down Stewart to the bay, hilly terrain and fun views First views of the Pike Place Market:

We took a right here and were lucky to find a free parking space.
Passed other lots where the cost was $5.00 for a half hour!

We walked in by a bunch of vendors and I snapped photos.Woodworker’s crafts appealed to me.
Lots of fancy flowers. Who buys them? Why?
Maybe helps to cover the smell of the fresh seafood?

Lots of fish selling going on.. have to put in two:

I’d rather go gather my own Morels. No price listed, and no one to ask. The dates looked good, but expensive as everything else.

We spent a couple of hours in and out of the 5th floor Northwest Tastings shop, overlooking Elliot Bay, with a view of cruise ships, ferries, tugboats, the snow-capped Olympics, and even the demolition of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Did not see a big ocean-going container ship.

We were there with the owner, Cameron Fries (Vigneron & Vintner) of White Heron Cellars & Mariposa Vineyard (west of Quincy, WA), where John volunteers wine grapevine pruning and occasional bottling. We enjoy their winery events throughout the year as well.Made it to:
Northwest Tastings in Pike Place Market

A 2 minute video. Watch for the huge timber behind Cam’s head.

After we had an interesting (not the best in my book) Pike Place BBQ lunch, Cameron gave us a tour of the market, which we had already seen some of the crafts and farm tables going through to get to his shop. We learned the history of the market (started in 1907) utilizing very large timbers to build the structure. Big trees were plentiful and cheap, back then.

We met other vendors he has gotten to know there, and got an excellent behind the scenes view. We walked all over, and my Fitbit recorded almost 2 miles for the day. A young lady in need of mental help came by. We even saw the original Starbuck’s on the street in front of the market. We left and drove home, not arriving until about 3:00 p.m.

Ending this day with a prize winning photo from our friend, EvieMae Schuetz, winner of the Old Farmer’s Almanac Weekly Cover Competition for her sunset tonight, of the Stuarts.Sunset in the Kittitas Valley over the Stuarts, by Evie Schuetz.

Tuesday, March 12

I dropped my effort – it got increasingly complicated – about helping with getting Meals on Wheels for taking food to a person who had back surgery and cannot drive for 6 weeks. I arranged for volunteers to pick up the meals and deliver them to his rural house, and also had people willing to travel to another facility to pick up frozen dinners for the weekend and other meals through the day, other than the hot meals made at the FISH food bank for Senior Nutrition, Mondays – Thursdays. In order to set it up, the person in need had to be interviewed in his home and examined at his house to determine his eligibility, making the request himself. Originally, it was meant as a good wish and nice gesture by his friends to help out, but we knew he would not want to participate in the qualification process, because he felt he had enough food on hand and did not want to bother anyone.

We also stopped by my Pharmacy with a prescription for my Amoxicillin, to pick it up later in the day, so I would have it for my Wednesday dental visit for teeth cleaning and full mouth x-rays
.
I had to go to the hospital lab today to have a recheck on my INR and potassium midday. That was accomplished.

John and I stopped by the Bi-Mart store to check our numbers for prizes, and look for the place to pick up WA license tabs for our plates, on the south side of town (rather than the courthouse). By going there for pickup, the $5.00 fee goes to our county funds, whereas, if we go to the courthouse, the $5.00 goes to pay for Ferry Funding on the west side. We’d rather the money stay in our Kittitas County.

Before we left town, we went to Fred Meyer and took advantage of their special sale for Gatorade G Zero (means zero calories) and if buying 10, we get the price of 77₵/32 oz. bottle.
While there we ran into several people we knew, so it was a useful stop to catch up on news.

Wednesday, March 13

I started at dentist at 11:00 for my teeth cleaning and full mouth x-rays. Here is the evidence I succeeded in making the appointment: The one on the lower left shows the socket for the recently extracted tooth (#30) in potential of infecting my bloodstream with bacteria to eat on my Mitral valve (porcine) replacement.

Then after scheduling 3 dental appointments for the future, I drove to the FISH food bank and participated (late) in singing with the group—Irish songs and others.

Stayed and had lunch with the bunch until 1:30. I probably didn’t get home until a little after 2:00, and did some computer work, and then was sitting in my recliner going to sleep, so I turned off my computer and lay down. I got a phone call at 3:30 talked for a few minutes and went back to sleep until 6:25! Guess I needed it.

Thursday, Mar 14

John left at 11:30 to drive to White Heron to prune wine grapevines from 1:00 – 4:00.

Today, I went to help with music at Meadows Place. We had a great turnout and a good audience, with lots of thank yous and compliments at the end.

Friday, Mar 15

John left at 11:30 to drive to White Heron to prune wine grapevines from 1:00 – 4:00.

I left earlier today to get gasoline before going to the AAC for St. Paddy’s Day party.

Then I was off for the Senior Center, and a great day of entertainment and reconnecting with friends, as I have been away from there for a long time with all my recent health issues.
I have missed exercise, Silver Sneakers, and dancing classes in my time away, and have not been to any weekly events since the end of January. For lunch they served corn beef, cabbage, and carrots, and a banana pudding for dessert.

What great news on the Ides of March!

Buttons Cle Elum Elk-New Home at Woodland Park Zoo

Needed to figure how to print (after numbered) the last 7 songs for March/April audience music copies. I need to print a few copies back to back to add to old copies from 2016 & 2017. John helped me finish this project.

I took a bunch of pictures of the folks there, and have some photos of myself as well. Maybe I’ll just include it here and send you the link to the others next week.

Nancy in her wearing of the green.

My musician friends, Barb Riley, Roberta Clark, and Tim Henebry (with Celtic music group, Prairie Spring), played music for us for an hour.

Barb (Violin), Roberta (on Bodhrán and also Autoharp), and Tim (on Guitar & Cittern). Cittern is the instrument in the photo standing at the end.

Saturday, Mar 16

I went to Briarwood for our 3rd Saturday fun of the month.

We retrieved my old mandolin case from the back room covered with > 15 years of dust, and I’m slowing vacuuming it to take to a player to see if he wants to buy it for his friend. Mine is a Fender. I cannot play it, except for picking individual notes (it’s strings are tuned the same as a violin), but my left hand cannot get the range of motion to do chords on it, and I took a week long course at the WA Old Time Fiddlers Summer Workshop years ago, only to realize I was unable to play it. It’s a nice mandolin. Because paper-proof of our Car Insurance was ended today, March 16th, I spent time putting all the updated paperwork in envelopes. Now we need to get those to the glove compartments of all our vehicles. It felt good to have that behind me. I took my own with me today to drive to town, and John put his in his Crosstrek, but the pickup trucks will have to wait until later. We have those near the door, ready to go out.

I also had a canvas shopping bag with a 4” seam missing, so I asked Rita (our singer), if she would be able to sew it up on her machine. She told me to bring it today, and she would be happy to. Not only did she take it and sew up the hole, she brought me another lovely handmade (by Rita) shopping bag that is lined. It’s lovely and would have been just the ticket for carrying my medical paperwork over to Seattle, this past Monday.

John’s onion starts arrived today in the mail, from south Texas near the Mexico border, Carrizo Springs, TX, a little ahead of time to plant, but that’s the breaks. Happened last year as well.

Thanks to the ladies at Briarwood, headed by Lee, Jo Ellen, with helpers Connie, Kathy, and Deirdre for putting on a fine dinner after music. No picture here of Lee’s homemade Chicken Soup with Wild Rice and Veggies (carrots, celery, mushrooms), and large chunks of white meat of chicken. It was scrumptiously good, as was everything. Betty’s great corn flake cookies and Lee’s Shamrock sugar cookies added a special touch, but the birthday cake not shown cut in these pictures was a highlight. Chocolate cake two-layered, with the yummiest cream-cheese frosting you have ever had. Everyone enjoyed it.
Dessert table on left, and sandwich and salads on right.

Sun, March 17 Happy St. Patrick’s Day

I slept in until 8:30 a.m. and John has now been out to feed the horses, and I have been working on the blog. He’s headed out to move snow, to make a place to plant the onions starts. We have had a foot or so of snow on the ground. All of February and to Wednesday of this week, none of it went away. Over the last 3 days the snow has gotten softer and sagged some. Still there. Still freezing at night. With snow off the onion beds, and the brown surface, maybe he can plant by next weekend.
I’m continuing with my chores. Off to the kitchen to load a couple of sinks full of soaking dishes, into the washer. Now enjoying a cup of coffee after taking some more morning pills and my BP.
More things happened all afternoon, but I quit taking notes.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

Item #1: Images

Item #2: St. Catty’s Day

You may not need this prayer:

St. Gertrude of Nivelles, ask you I pray
.
a last thing I beseech from thee,
Protect my sofa from claws and my carpets from pee.

From: Prayer to patron saint of cats

My favorite cartoon – Breaking Cat News – introduced this previously unknown (to me) saint. Intro and first of several. Follow the week’s entries by clicking on the forward button ( > )under the right side of the panels. Friday’s panel is cute.

I wasn’t going to use this, but Monday, while waiting in the doctor’s office in Seattle, I noticed much cat hair on both Nancy’s and my lower legs. I had on my cleanest dirty pair of dark blue jeans.** What we need, instead of a prayer, is a hand-held mini-vacuum.
[** Hear Kris Kristofferson perform “Sunday Morning Coming Down” lines at 22 to 32 seconds. Video link

Item #3: Regarding Pepperoni

The major controversy in the Nation seems to be whether or not the pepperoni on a cooked pizza should remain flat or curl or cup-up when cooked. In the image at the top, the choice is to have it look like little cups. Most big chains opt for flat.
Marco’s, America’s eighth-largest pizza chain, has offered both lay-flat and cupping pepperoni, which it calls “Old World Pepperoni,” for about seven years. “We see people requesting the Old World more and more,” said Steve Seyferth, the company’s chief marketing officer. The cupping style was featured in the company’s latest TV commercial.

Y’all can discuss at your next pizza meal.
The image of the store here is the Marco’s in Parma Heights OH, closest to sister Peggy. So, Peggy – take your friends to Marco’s. Order pepperoni of both flat and cupped styles. Let me know what the elder Parmesans think of this?

Item #4: Carly

From the Clydesdales’ barn

Budweiser Clydesdale Puppy Love Super Bowl 2014 Commercial [ Link ]

Item #5: Approaching blossom time

This site may be of interest.
Washington D. C. cherry blossoms

One of our grape vine pruners says to skip the mall and go to the Botanical Gardens

More to see; fewer people

And that, for this week, is the not so nasty news.
John

We realize we are still behind, but this will at least bring us up to the current time frame, and I shall slowly update the previous weeks you have missed in our life.

I’m actually going to start this week with a photographic tour by EvieMae Scheutz (an integral part of our Fiddle Club weekly in Ellensburg). As well as being an accomplished musician on many instruments, she is a photographer extraordinaire. You have seen her work published previously in our blog, with permission, as with this link. These are her own entries into the game (that last from 4 days to 3 weeks), including participants photographing our beautiful world. The voting is done by the competing photographers. (On each photo, the left number is the number of votes; the right one is the number of views.) I find this really interesting.

Evie (Queen Bear) Photography

Before I decided to put this link to all Evie’s competition photos, I was going to put in these, so will go ahead and add here.Evie’s Icicle Drop, left; Macro from the web of Ant pushing drop

Comparison of Evie’s Icicle Art with our backyard ones showing snow roof roll beyond.Evie’s beauty beside our beast. Our longest is just left of center red line.

Monday, March 4

Pretty danged cold this morning. Airport said it was zero. We were 6.2° on front porch sensor which is a little warmer because of the adjacency of our house.

John took off by way of Ellensburg to buy some black oil sunflower seeds for the birds, and onto White Heron to prune from 1:00 to 4:00. After it warms, they will be doing 9-12, as in prior years.

I did some paperwork through the bank to pick up tomorrow and take to the courthouse to arrange for payment automatic withdrawal from our bank account for our property taxes every ½ year. It used to be done for us through escrow from our mortgage payments, and then we happily transferred the chore for paying taxes and insurance to our own checking account auto pay withdrawal. Apparently, it was too late last year to have time to make it work. This paperwork had to be in by March 15, but now we are set for the future.

Got a message from SunRidge Oral Dentistry that they sent the paperwork to Hospice Friends for the Ensure. That will save me $35. We have been members and contributors for many years since I came out of my 2009 experience and donated my large 4-wheel walker to the organization, along with a gate belt, and some other stuff.

Last week, John bought gasoline in Quincy for $2.49/gal. Not bad. But, today they raised it while he was pruning. Guess the whole region is up 5-6 cents/gal. He got home about 5:20, and went to feed horses. We talked twice on the phone while he was coming home.
His Motorola Phone works nicely from the Crosstrek.

I fed sunflower seeds to the front and back birds and they were happy. All the little birds and the quail are depending on us during this cold snow-covered winter. Michelle Kristine’s Sunset Teanaway Forest, March 4, 2019
{30 miles northwest of us}

Tuesday, March 5

I took my shower in the morning, while John was still in the house.

I needed to arrive for my blood draw before 12:15 p.m..

The redraw today was because of the elevated reading of the Potassium test last Friday, way above my normal. It came in at 5.6. I knew right away that was way high because monthly I have that blood test with my normal INR readings. I knew it usually is 4.2 or 4.5 max.

On Friday afternoon, my PCP Chelsea explained the elevated item measured could have occurred by the method used for the blood draw. It was done in Cle Elum. Normally, the one we usually do monthly is by a standing order, for Potassium and for the INR, and I do that at the local hospital.
Chelsea scheduled me for a retake today and to talk with my favorite phlebotomist at the hospital lab in Ellensburg, to be aware of this and to be careful of the drawing procedure.

I know exactly what was used at Cle Elum to draw my blood, and it was totally different from anything ever done in Ellensburg. Instead of a small butterfly needle with a syringe, she used a large one with a container, then left it in the vein, and pushed the two vials in separately to fill. She finally took the needle out, and put the gauze on my arm. I held onto it. I told her I needed Coban and she obliged and then ‘taped’ it.

Chelsea said: the method of handling blood can damage red blood cells and then they leak, and therefore the values for blood chemistry (such as Potassium) are wrong. The terminology is called hemolyzed. Much is written on the web about the phenomena and many phlebotomists and nurses are aware of the potential problem occurring. Obviously, my PCP was on top of it. I ended up being educated in the process, and I now have decided against having blood drawn in Cle Elum again. They do not have the facilities to do the analysis on the sample and have to use a courier to pick it up (handle it and not disturb or shake it too much), and deliver to the lab in Ellensburg. The prime time to centrifuge the sample after the draw is 1 hr, 50 min. or less. Otherwise, that too can affect the results. From now on, I will drive by the hospital lab on my way home to have the blood drawn, and give Cle Elum a call to check in an hour for the results on the computer. I can check the portal myself too from home .

Included Friday morning were two chest x-rays. We stayed around Friday for Chelsea to view them and compare to the ones done on me in Nov, 2018 at my annual physical. There was no change.

Also needed to meet Jeannie in Vanessa’s office to sign and pick up my CD order for the two chest x-rays from Imaging at the hospital. I need it to take to the consultation next Monday with the shoulder surgeon in Seattle.

Went by Bi-Mart to check numbers (no wins) and buy some Friskies Cat Gravy food, Tussin CM (for my congestion), Fisherman Friend’s for cough, and 2 bags of songbird seed (I paid for and they no longer had any outside in their container).

Went by Midstate Coop for 2 more bags of buggy Black Oil Sunflower Seeds for $9.99 each.

Went by Umpqua Bank and got 4 copies of our joint checking account checks (free). I voided one and attached to the form to go to the Courthouse (County Treasurer’s office to turn it in for setting up automatic withdrawal from our bank checking account to pay our property taxes each ½ year).

Wednesday, March 6

Today is National Stay Home with you Dog and Drink Wine Day!!!
I should have had John do that to celebrate and stop his cough, which is driving me insane. He says it is more of a tickle at the top back – a web image points to “oropharynx’, middle throat behind mouth. Whatever. It goes away in 3 days.

Called people who haven’t responded about not going tomorrow to Rehab (canceled because of flu outbreak). Everyone emailed or called to confirm their knowledge.

Sorry, you’ll need a Facebook account to view the following video.

I long to be able to do this, again:

Silver Sneakers: 5 Exercises for Healthy Shoulders

Meanwhile, I want my shoulder to improve so I can rejoin my Silver Sneakers class and SAIL exercise class at the AAC (Senior Center).

Snowing hard started 12:30 p.m. and is still going on. John just went out to feed (and shovel more), and said whoever prayed for snow got their wish, and he wished they hadn’t. In five hours we received 5” of the fluff. I don’t know how much total we have had by 5:30 p.m.

Peggy from Parma called and we talked 40 minutes while soup simmered. Nice conversation. Now we can eat. Late for her in the Eastern Time Zone, and she is way south of us, too.
In the West, Mount Shasta is near her Latitude.

Thursday, Mar 7

John stayed home today from pruning at White Heron because of the lousy weather forecast. He was able to drive me around town, for which I was most appreciative. If/when my shoulder is repaired, he will be doing even more such things and full time for awhile.

Today our Kittitas Fiddlers & Friends music at Rehab was canceled because of a flu outbreak in house. I will use the time to go back for a recheck on my INR. The high value [5.9] Tuesday is over the top.

Results: the INR reduced to [4.3] which is still too high. So, my Coumadin dosage was decreased for the next 4 nights to
no tablet, no tablet, ½ tablet, and ½ tablet. I’m scheduled to go back next Tuesday for another retake.

We went by Bi-Mart: for cough drops for John. There are 3 or 4 “brands”, several package counts, half-dozen flavors, and at least 2 Menthol dosages. The store brand “GoodSense Honey Lemon” was the best deal, better than the on sale famous Swiss Ricola. The Audubon songbird seed is not yet in.

Went this afternoon to Celia’s for a haircut (much needed). John need a haircut but claims he can wait until my shoulder is fixed and well.

Friday, Mar 8

I stayed home working on a number of projects, starting in the morning with a talk that went unfinished last night with the medical professionals in Cle Elum, who needed to report and evaluate my blood test results mid-day.

I wanted to get to my medical records for Monday’s trip to Seattle, but never made it to them.

John went to prune from 1 to 4 at White Heron, and had beautiful sunny & warm weather. A few places had 8″ of snow, so they will miss some of the ground hugging suckers. The fastest pruner, Tom, will go visit young granddaughters for two weeks near the end of this month, and the work will get further behind. It has been way to cold for 6 weeks to get work done outside. Massive acres of fruit trees in the region remain untrimmed.

Terri Towner sent me scans of all the material she got when she was over for her consultation with Dr. Matsen. It’s very useful while I’m filling in my paperwork, and considering my questions for the surgery team. I understand from Terri they will have a lot of questions

Saturday, Mar 9

Spent time working on various computer and medical records (getting ready for the trip to Seattle Monday a.m.). I still have a ton of things to do today, on the actual 11 page questionnaire.
I will fill in my one copy for John to proof and if it is okay, then I’ll copy that for my files.

Only just today we got an automated call saying my appointment was 7:00 a.m. not 7:15 a.m., as we originally thought.

We went by the Methodist Church Community Clothing bank just before 11:00 a.m., and found it closed, in honor of a woman who died and had been involved in this community service for years. Her celebration of life was held at the church at 11:00 a.m. We were going in to look for winter skull caps and scarves for us and hopefully find some Irish colors/emblem (in shirts or jackets) for celebrating our Irish music this month at the assisted living homes. I received quite a bit of neat stuff at Christmas, so I’m hopeful there will be some Irish paraphernalia there.

We went around the corner and up main for gasoline for my rig. The place was full, with one pump broken, so we drove on up past the other 7/11 in town. The price there was $2.649/gal, so we went on over to the bread room, supposedly open between 10:00 and 1:00 today, and it was locked shut. No clue what happened there.

We left there and went back by the most eastern gasoline station, where earlier, we had seen the price posted as $2.619/gal. Thankfully, it had not change in the time it took us to move around town.

Over in Seattle, if all goes well, we plan to visit Cameron at Pike Place Market [ Wikipedia Link ], where he has a sales room, called Northwest Tasting, with his wine and some other local central WA products such as Smoked meat from Cle Elum.
About all that one sees nationally of this is young men throwing 20 pound Salmon from the viewing front to the wrapping tables behind. However, it is a large area with several levels and many vendors. The link above has a long-long explanation and many photos. Be sure to look at them, if this is a new thing to you. You need to be an avid historian to read the text.

Saturday, Mar 9

Wintertime Teanaway River by Scott Seymour, March 9, 2019
This photo was taken right near our friends, Sharon & Jack’s home in Cle Elum, WA. Currently, they are in Seattle.

Sun, March 10

Great way to end this week with a video (made almost exactly a year ago) about the kind of stuff I loved teaching in Geography, through GIS and other classes, presented here by a good friend Joseph Kerski, who says: “A good map helps you to ask a better question.”

It’s worth 10 minutes of your time watching at full screen view:

Whys of Where | Joseph Kerski |TEDxVail

John used the old 4WD Chev PU and moved 7 bales of hay to 2 places under cover near where he feeds the horses. He also used the rig to drive a couple of figure eights around the pasture, to give him and Annie some paths to follow on their morning and afternoon walks. The snow is still cold and fluffy, but the ground is hard. That will start to change mid-week, as spring arrives.

I stayed inside working on a few house projects, but mostly dividing time between the blog creation, and on my paperwork collection for the consultation tomorrow morning.

We plan to go to bed by 9:00 p.m. tonight to be ready to leave early morning. John has already planned all the routes and made a Google Earth map street view for us to use to find the places we need to go. Cameron made sure he had an alternative route planned, just in case I-5 got shut.

I’m hesitant to take a nap, because once I hit the hay I want to sleep until I wake up ready to dress and leave. I have been setting out my planned wardrobe. Along with maps, John is putting his “travel” box in order, with drinks and food.

Now mostly all that is left is a night shower and finishing up all the paperwork required, and being sure I have packed all my medical insurance cards, my photo ID, my credit card, my filled in questionnaire, and my CDs of prior x-rays (Chest and Shoulder).

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan