Keeping track

First, we’ll catch up with information that didn’t get posted last week..
Back from Friday, Aug. 3, here are two links to the camera work I did that day.

Link to many photos, AAC_8-3-18, A Fair to Remember

Link to 3 short videos, AAC_8-3-18, A Fair to Remember
Below left: one of 3 spotted fawns we have regularly around our house this year. This is just over the fence in our front yard of the house.Bambi, then with Czar on crossover and Woody too. The cats pay attention to the deer, but don’t get involved.

Monday, Aug 6

I’m still working on photos from Aug 3 AAC event. Above you have access to the results of all photography in two links, but here is my favorite video, which occurred outside the building at a petting “zoo,” at the event, A Fair to Remember. Emily with Peep (2 yr. Leghorn) & the back of her shirt

Emily introduces Peep during the Buckles & Belts 4H showing outside the AAC

John went with me to town for my 1:30 – 2:30 SAIL class, with the prime reason to use the senior center’s Wi-Fi access to activate our new cell phone. Plus, we have access to the staff there who own and understand Smart Phones. We cannot do it from home because of only a local in-house Wi-Fi, and no cell reception. A huge disappointment of the new phones, because the company “suggested” we might.

We took our voting ballots to drop by the courthouse, and John picked and carried in some yellow squash for the EBRG seniors. Someone else brought in zucchini so many folks took both. Once class was done, the director Katrina helped us initiate our “Smart” phone. We went through the startup settings and then called our service provider to activate, but we only activated one phone (John’s). Apparently, on the way into registering it, we ended up putting all our Gmail account contacts (e-mail) and not the ability to enter contacts with their telephone numbers.

I called Consumer Cellular on our landline this evening for help, but it was slow coming. The representative did not know how, and was going to check to find out how to delete my contacts list from John’s phone (our joint Gmail account), and then get phone numbers. She never returned the call, and they closed before we had an answer, so I will call tomorrow morning.

Tuesday, Aug 7

I started by contacting Consumer Cellular to see if someone would help us reset (delete e-mail contacts). We managed to find someone who knew the answer, which we did not have last night. Today, we had to make a trip to a Target store in Yakima to get help from a fellow in Electronics there who will eventually be able to transfer all the contact phone numbers from my Flip phone to the Smart Phone, when I decide to activate it (after I learn how to use John’s for things I need). We bought the same exact type of phone, but mine is gold and his is black.
His soft cover is red and mine is gray. Both of us received our tempered glass cover to protect from scratching and breaking. The first ones we ordered were delivered but did not fit our phones. We can return those, sadly for a cost of $6.00 shipping. We package them up and send by way of the USPS. We also bought the wrong cover for my phone, so we can return it at the same time. John has already re-ordered the correct parts, and they were delivered later this week.
By the end of the week, we have succeeded in learning the things he mostly wants to know for immediate use, namely call from the car and take photos. Also, important and not something a lot of folks do (apparently), is he wants to download photos to his computer. He often enhances photos via color manipulation, change size and resolution, add text, lines, arrows, and overlays.
We needed to know how to add contacts, and he only really cares about having a few people on for his needs. Most important was to have our home phone (landline) for Nancy; second was Nancy’s cell phone #, and third was his (our) sister Peggy. There are to be a few more, including several of WTA contacts.

Our main reason for going to Target today, was to buy a micro SD (Secure Digital) card for storage of photos, and to have it installed in the SIM card slot. I took my laptop computer and the transfer cable along to test putting photos on the new storage card, and then transferring them from the phone to my laptop. Once we got home, we tried the technique on his computer, but we had forgotten the steps. (I watched the “agent” do it, but we did not write down the actual steps, and it is not well explained (or to find) on the web.
I remembered, however, what we wanted to do, and a day later, John found the “button” to change the smart phone from charging the battery, that is the default when plugged into the computer. Once charging is stopped the computer’s File Explorer will recognize the SD storage and find the photo files for retrieval. Now we are 2 or 3 or 4 steps up the learning curve.

I’m keeping my flip phone for now until we figure out the things needed. John has learned enough for all he needs to use it for. He now has the 3 numbers mentioned above, plus on Saturday, we added his 100-yr old cousin, Ethel, but we did not manage to connect with her while in town, because we called during her nap time.

We didn’t arrive home until 4:30 p.m. and I needed to go to Evie’s house in Kittitas, WA and be there by 6:30 p.m. with folding chair, music for me and 2 other players, violin, stand, & pencil.

We had a productive practice session, learning and agreeing on intro lead-ins to establish the correct beat of the song, so we can get the proper “count in” for the song and all start at the right note. I did not get home until 9:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Aug 8

We took off at 8:25 a.m. for the sometimes monthly meeting of the Emeritus Geography group (retired geographers). We warmed and carried along the food treat, which was a raw apple cake (glazed) that my neighbor made for us from his mom’s special recipe. John cut it into small brownie size pieces, and I packed plastic forks, napkins, plates, to set up once there. The Activities Director at Hearthstone (where we meet) set up coffee, tea, and ice water for us. One of our members (Lillian) lives there and brought her Irish Cream creamer to add to the coffee. We had 9 people show up. We started at 9:00 and a few of us stayed until almost 11:00.

I also took my camera to record information for reporting to those not there. I have only one conversation to share that occurred by Dee Eberhart talking about a T. E. Lawrence book, of which he has finished reading all 700 pages. His presentation was well worth hearing and I’m happy I had my camera there.
Dee Eberhart on T. E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1926)

Then we had some reports on good things and sad things. The saddest was the loss of a colleague’s son, to a cancerous brain tumor, at only 55. One of our own told us the story at the meeting. Then I gave a report from our current chair who planned to come to our meeting, but had another called at the last minute by the Dean’s office. I also gave a report from another member about her planned trip to Tuscany, Italy. We will meet again in a month.

John and I drove separately because he left for home, and I stayed in town to go to two other events – music at the Food Bank lunch and SAIL exercise class in the afternoon.
I went from that meeting to the Food Bank Lunch and played music for the audience for a half hour. Then we get to eat. Everyone enjoys our presence, and they do a good job singing along and provide applause to keep us happy.
From there I went to the senior center for my SAIL exercise class.
Once home, there are chores.

Thurs, Aug 9

John left a little after 6:00 a.m. for a WTA work party at Surprise Lake south off Hwy 2. I stayed up, even though I was operating on only 4-5 hrs. sleep.

I washed dishes. He tried the camera phone.Left is a dead tree outlined by a white sky (thin clouds and smoke). The crew did lots of brushing and drainage cleaning.
Middle and right photos shows a log (flattened top) bridge crossing. This is a natural fallen tree with a big root clump on the near end. Enough roots have been cut and a ramp of rocks built.
On the east side of Surprise Creek, Dan cuts back the brush – including blueberries, but mostly other things.

I am working on videos from the Aug 3 party at the AAC, and now I have to add one from the Aug 8 morning meeting.

I put my pills in the distribution box for a week, ordered Metoprolol and Entresto, and halved the remaining Entresto pills.

I called in a count of 9 (for armless chairs) to Roberta (the Activities Director for Meadows Place), where we play music today. We actually had 11 there (but two stand).

The weather is scheduled to be very hot. Five miles from us, the airport reported 107°F. However, there is evidence that when it hits about 95° it loses contact with reality. A concerned person (not us) has asked the National Weather Service to investigate. At home we got to about 97°.

I talked with Reece at Critter Care. The first available appt. is Monday, Aug 27, and we will take Annie in early – to be back for our farrier David to do Myst’s foot trim at 10:00 a.m. We’ll then get Annie in the afternoon when she comes out of the effects of anesthesia. They will evaluate her need for Phenobarbital, anesthetize, do blood work, trim nails, shave, and call when she is ready to be picked up. I will have to leave both phone numbers to be sure I’m not already on the road to SAIL exercise class.

Talked to John Bowen. The Hultquist Award is distributed at the start of every quarter, Fall/Win/Spr, at $333. For 2018 awards, they will be distributed for both students, Caleb Valko and Mallory Tripplet through all 3 quarters.

This morning on Facebook, my friend, Joanie Taylor forwarded me a video, which included a geographically incredible journey along the U.S./Mexico border, viewing the potential “Wall” being proposed for building along the border. This report shows the topography confronting the goal.

Knowing many of our readers do not have Facebook accessibility, I searched, found, and created this link:

2,000-mile Border Journey

For brunch: sausage, 2 eggs, 1-½ piece toast with jam.

I finally got out with all my load of weight for the Meadows Place, and put off my musical stuff at the door, found a parking space, and went inside to help set up the chairs.

We had a good turnout, but problems with hearing each other for the intros especially after our bass guitar player’s sound died. It was a disaster for trying to hear the lead in, which went so well Tuesday night in the practice session, so we could and all start on the same beat and keep it throughout the song. The audience didn’t care that we were practicing and restarting when things went awry. They appreciate us when we are there, regardless of the sound. They also love watching Haley bounce around the room, dance to Irish Washerwoman, and yodel with us.

I came on home and John called about 4:30 p.m. from Leavenworth, but he still planned to stop at a fruit stand, and then would be out of range for his phone. I was exhausted from short sleep, so I lay down and went to sleep. I was still sleeping when he came in the front door. I guess I needed it.

He brought 16 beautiful peaches (he’d bought 10# for $12.) He also bought some excellent corn-on-the-cob. Not from up there, though. It is from over east, near Quincy where White Heron Winery is. I think I already mentioned that, somewhere in the blog, maybe later.

Friday, Aug 10

From the Yakima Herald report: This photo is along Rim Rock Lake on White Pass, showing smoke from the Miriam Fire.

The Cougar Creek Fire near Chelan and the Gilbert-Crescent Mountain Fire near Winthrop are producing smoke in the region.
There are other fires in the region, but none near us – at the moment. John has read that 84% of wildfires are related to humans. Not arson, but humans and human actions.

An air quality alert has been extended until 10 a.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. “A windy and cooler weekend is likely in Eastern Washington, reducing smoke accumulation in most areas but also worsening fire spread,” the interagency Washington Smoke Information blog said.

I watched an awesome video of Jennifer Lipton’s son, Miles (only about 6 yrs old, singing and strumming his dad’s ukulele to his original song, “Steam Train Through the Woodland Forest” – It is an epic saga of a steam train. November 2017. I’m sorry, I cannot give you the Facebook link, because unless you are her FB friend, you won’t have permission to view it.

Saturday, Aug 11

John went to open the gate, with Anne along. Some things needed water out that way, especially the “new” rose bushes.
He also brought around the Chevy “farm” truck to drive about 7.7 mi. round-trip to pick up five plastic 55-gallon containers, a couple with 10″ of dirt, and weeds. What? Cannot imagine how that got in them through the two little holes in the top. I drove behind John to be sure he didn’t break down and have no way home. The truck is 38 years old.
At home we switched to a car for a trip to town.
We went in John’s car, first to Safeway for colas, but the price was up on 2-liter bottles to 99₵ each. They have been 10 cents (and even 20) lower. We went on to Super 1 Pharmacy for my two prescriptions, and checked the cola prices there, and found they were $1.28. Then back north to the Farmers’ Market for peaches from Royal City and for corn from Wapato (south of Yakima). We got 24# of peaches for $35 and 6 ears of corn for $3.00.

Sunday, Aug 12

John started earlier than I, but he then went out and got a hose fixed to fill buckets and barrels, and to water veggies. Now we are ready to process peaches, and get around to brunch. We have processed and frozen one layer of the large box we bought, and eaten brunch (eggs, sausage, a peach, and I had toast with apricot preserves).

I have called and notified Dee Eberhart about follow-ons to the Emeriti meeting.
We still have peaches to finish.Here is my photo coming home late up Naneum of the red sun sunset because of the haze from smoke in our valley.

Our ending was just filmed tonight before dark. It’s a video of 3 yr old twins with new Bambi, sharing Mt. Ash branches.

3 yr old twins with new Bambi, still spotted, sharing Mt. Ash branches, 8-12-18

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

Item #0: the Weather
Our high temperature on Thursday was 100°F. Tomorrow, Saturday, the high is expected to be 76°F. That’s good news.

Item #1: New phones
My new phone has now replaced the old one.
It works in the car and takes pictures.
Being of Android/Google linage, it prods me to do things to enhance their bottom line. It also has a mess of an introduction every time it is turned on. I’m at the beginning of the learning curve.
However, our provider is Consumer Cellular and they buy tower space from ATT. We do not have a connection in the house and barely outside. Booster kits are available, but cost more than the phone.

Item #2: Good things to eat
My chance of getting to Australia is slim to none. However, you might.
If you do, look for the confections of a company called Darrel Lea. At one time the company sold only out of its own 60 stores. That business plan started to fail and now they are in 3,000 outlets. Ice cream will be available, such as Rocklea Road, peppermint nougat and peanut brittle. So, a nice story from OZ.
Darrel Lea

Item #3: Man rescued
A man in Germany called police. Why?
You have seen this story – right?
Saved from a tiny squirrel

The link has photos of the actually chaser, but not the chasee. I could not find a nicely presented story. The one linked to is okay, but could be better. I wanted to see a picture of the chase.

Item #4: Stargazers – heads up
There is to be a multitude of meteors this weekend.
One story is here: Kat Kelly says

Really, that’s her name. Here is a video: H.R. Macmillan Space Centre Astronomer Kat Kelly

Kat K. urges folks to go to a dark place, take a blanket, and your favorite beverage, and several people to talk to. There are lots of breaks in the action.
{Actually, she did not quite say that, but close.}

If you are not going to watch, there are nice photos here, with some tips on how to take such photos.
Tips from NASA

.
Item #5: Be more active

Just about everyone needs to turn the TV off, turn you cell phone off, and close the refrigerator door.
If you want to get some exercise, folks in Western Canada can introduce you to Axe throwing.

Ales Soloducha

You can travel to “Lumberjax Axe Throwing” in downtown Regina and Winnipeg. Or you can find a place closer to your home.
Try Philadelphia, PA.

From the City of Brotherly Love

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

We recently got the “report” from a WTA trip of 7/19 to Mica Peak. {There was fire on the return, so late.}
John went over past Spokane for a WTA work party, driving his Ford truck and carrying his commercial Stihl brusher with a metal blade. He left that over there for crews to use during subsequent workdays.

John was not in any of the photos of the crew because he with two others were downhill about 3-4 miles working on brushing the road. Others were working on a new trail, toward the summit. This one photo grabbed my attention. It is a Trapdoor spider on a person’s glove.

I have never known of them, but here is an interesting video describing their behavior.

Trapdoor Spiders Are Masters Of Surprise

Sunday, July 29 (addition)

Another late entry. John went to the South Puyallup River Trail at Mt. Rainier. This is a short trail that connects the old Westside Road (now no vehicles except NPS) that connects with the Wonderland Trail. After the drive over, National Park trucks and drivers carried the crew to the trail over the otherwise closed road.Top: John gives the morning tool safety talk and demo. Workers sitting on an interestingly crafted bicycle stand for bikers to leave their bikes to hike to a view. Bottom: the crew at lunch.
The South Puyallup River has been carving up the trail, so WTA is currently doing some re-routing to higher elevations. New trail begins with streamers tied to trees through the forest. Below.
Note red letters: A = small tree; B = old log; C = another small tree; and higher is D = larger tree.
Only a half dozen folks have walked along this route.
On the right side “After” photo, note trees A & C have been cut; Log “B” has been slid downhill; small brush along the corridor has been removed; and tree “D” is more visible.
It is a start.On a nearby hillside the work is a bit further along. Below.
The “Before” image is actually near the end of 2 days of cutting new trail. It is rough, narrow, and has a steep shoulder on the uphill side. That steep shoulder is ‘leaned back’ in the “After” photo, the trail is smoother, and wider. This is very passable and safe, but not finished. Some roots and larger trees have to go or they will soon fall and rip up the trail. A Park saw crew can now go in and cut larger things with a chain saw. More work will follow.

Monday, July 30

Morning of another hot day when temperatures are supposed to climb to 103°.

John left to take his car, Jessica, Crosstrek 2016, to the dealer for a pre-paid regular oil change / lube / and check over. (They ended up finding his car was out of alignment because he had hit a deep pothole pretty hard on the Rainier trip. It took them longer to get that done than the scheduled items, and he was charged (not included in the prepaid service).

He went to Costco while there, and is taking an evaluation of a Smart Phone (Motorola Moto G4 Plus to ask Mat if my 2014 Forester will support it with its Bluetooth). They claim it will.

It’s expected to be a very hot day.

Ordered John’s Hydrochlorothaizide and Lisinopril. Whoopie, the cost (insurance co-pay) for 90 will only be ~$7.54 for each and there’s no need to have it rewritten for more tablets. Last was only for 30, I prefer getting 90 at a time. It is supposed to be in our records at the doctor’s office, but somehow, last time, 30 slipped through.

I canceled going to SAIL today, because of the high temperatures.

Tried on my clown suit from Marcia Hedrick, and it will work for Friday’s, A Fair to Remember.

Okay, I called Mat Bland & Subaru to get a message to John that he left his phone at home, and I wanted him to get Friskies cat food at Costco today.

Check the A/C and measure the glasses for ordering my new grey clip-ons. They should be shipped Monday and to me within the week.

Wrote note to KV F&F for this week and sent Julie’s pictures.
A/C just turned on to 76° in the house
at 12:59, out front the temperature is 97.7°; airport it is 98°.
1:59, 97.6° here; at the airport it is 101°
2:59, 97.5° at the airport it is 102°
3:59, 96.6° at the airport it is 102°
4:59, 95.4° at the airport it is 102°
9:00, 80.0° on our front porch still

At 2:00 p.m., I ordered two Smart Phones (G4) from Consumer Cellular and talked Stephanie down $10.00 on my purchase, because I have complained for 3 yrs about no reception on my cell phones at home (flip phones, G3 technology), but supposedly the new phones have a higher technology but work off the same towers, and we will have reception (we’ll see). I got $5.00 credit on my current July invoice for service, lowering it to $33.92. When next month’s statement comes, I am to call Consumer Cellular and request my $5 credit adjustment for August.

For Internet access on the Smart Phones, we will need 1 Gb $10/mo or 3 Gb for $20/mo; Normal $20 for unlimited minutes and $10 for John’s + $10 for 1Gb data; $40 billed monthly, plus taxes, after our Smart phones are activated.
I changed the password on my Computer Cellular account when I ordered two new Smart Phones. Question now is, when the Smart Phones are activated, will our charges increase for usage of phone, accessing the web, or texting. I found out the answer. Because we already have an unlimited minutes account for $20/mo., it continues, and John’s on it also continues on his phone for $10/mo. The only extra is for data and I chose 1 Gb for $10/mo. Both our Smart Phones will use off the same account. So, our price after taxes are added is $39.80, and that will go up by $10 probably with another 8.0% added.

I checked briefly on Facebook and found this link, which was sent to me by a few local friends:

Video of the day… I-90 Cle Elum River Fire

For those without Facebook: check this video taken from a car headed east on I-90, that started when a pickup truck caught fire, and instead of leaving the truck on the roadway, the driver pulled over to the dry grass and the fire rapidly moved south into the trees. The pickup was destroyed.

Original Video of the closure of I-90 at MP 81 for the Cle Elum River Fire

Jump ahead to Saturday, Aug 4, when another car fire stayed in the right lane, on the pavement, and closed westbound lanes of I-90 at MP 67, near Easton, but the driver did not pull off onto the grass along the side of the road. The WSP and Fire Crew responded and handled the issue.

Tuesday, July 31

I realized the link for the Nick Zentner video from last week I sent was replaced by another, so I re-sent the corrected version.

Calling for 103° temps again today; got to 104° at the airport. It was very hot when I was in town today.

I went for my haircut, and took a pair of jeans to Celia for her to use on making carrying bags, which she sells. She made one for me with extra-long straps to have to carry my audience music to play on Thursdays. Also, I took her a 20# box of 5 different onions John has grown. She and Bobby eat a lot of onions, and she always appreciates them.

I went to Bi*Mart (for Friskies) but skipped going to the senior center for Jazzercise at 2:00. Last week was too much. I guess I pushed myself too hard, trying to keep up with the leader. Next week the time switches to 11:00 a.m. for the month of August and I don’t think that is going to work for me.

Wednesday, Aug 1

Food bank soup kitchen music, with SAIL exercise afterwards.
Picked up John’s prescriptions.

Thurs, Aug 2

I started a little earlier for town today, because I had to deliver a 5-gallon bucket of Dahlias to the AAC for tomorrow’s event. I left it for them and went back afterwards to retrieve the bucket. They had made a nice arrangement, which I’ll take a photo of tomorrow when I’m in for the event.

I dropped by Bi-Mart on my way from AAC to Rehab and got 2 more cans of Friskies Pate to enter my receipt for prizes. Done!

I played music today at the Rehab, and the winds were blowing for my whole trip in and back home. I was blown around walking from my car at several stops. On the way home, winds were rocking my car as I drove north. No wonder – winds gusted to 47 mph during that hour.

Our phones and protectors arrived today. We found out Sunday the tempered glass protectors do not fit our phones, so we have to return them ($6.00 postage) and will be returned $14.51 on an E card (whatever that is). Their advertising was not clear on the original purchase. We realized we also bought the wrong case for my phone, so John added the case to the return request. Then he purchased the correct stuff.

Friday, Aug 3

Today, my father would have been 120.
John is going to the West Fork of the Foss River, northwest from here for a WTA work party, leaving about 6:30. Four people on the crew canceled at the last minute last night. He says a couple of others not on the list showed.

Here is a view from that trail with two photos received from Nate (the crew leader). More pix are expected from others on the trip.Left: The outlet from Heart Lake on the West Foss River Trail; part of the trail on 8/5, with the crew from WTA Fireside members – more than small $$ donations. John and another are not yet to the bridge. An assistant crew leader always walks ‘sweep’ or ‘drag’.

Before I left home, I received a call from my optometrist, saying my glasses lenses arrived and I need to come by to have them put into my frames today. I said, oh my, I know on Friday you close at 1:00 and I am going to still be at the Senior Center. But, depending on how long it takes, and if you don’t mind my coming in a clown costume, I’ll come by on my way there. They didn’t mind and he said it would only take 5 minutes. It worked!

I was on my way to an event – A Fair to Remember at the AAC, as a requested volunteer photographer. We have lunch before and fun before, during, and afterward. I dressed in a clown costume loaned to me by a fellow member there. We did have cooler weather than earlier in the week, but my carrot top wig was made from rug wool and was extremely hot, even inside in the a/c, but I survived.

Lunch included: corn dogs, kettle corn, veggies with dip, and cotton candy. I took my own salad (with apple, cherry tomatoes, smoked turkey, and iceberg lettuce, just in case I couldn’t eat the veggies or salad. I ended up bringing home 2 corn dogs, and 2 bags of Kettle popcorn. I did not eat a corn dog there or have any popcorn. The balloon sculpture maker in Ellensburg (Hugh Wilder) made a bag of “things” and donated them to our AAC for today’s event. I brought a flower home to John to thank him for the large vase of Dahlias he grew, cut, and gave me to take in yesterday for the staff (our neighbor, Gabriella Bacon, a volunteer at the AAC arranged them). She did a beautiful job. Photos included below.

All other AAC events are canceled all day for this big one. We will have games to play and tickets to enter. Outside, 4H kids and parents are bringing farm animals for us to enjoy. We got to visit with a miniature horse named Bravo, a goat, a sheep, a white leghorn 2-year old chicken named Peep, two different rabbits (one pretty white one with red eyes), and a little doggie.

Photos are below, and I will add the links to Google Photos/Videos in next week’s blog.There I am in the clown suit holding the vase of Dahlias. Ellensburg 2018 Rodeo Queen, Erin, Rodeo Clown, Nancy, & Rodeo Princess, Mikaila, with us all holding balloon sculptures made and donated by Hugh Wilder, from Ellensburg.

One of the games on the arcade was balloon dart throwing. I enjoyed it the most, watching others, and participating. Here I am below, and next blog, you’ll have a chance to see several others, including happy 4H kids. Other games were spinning a wheel, ring toss, lawn darts, dropping pennies into jars in a tank, and awards for canning or growing fresh vegetables. The tour of the animals was a delightful part of the day. Clown Nancy, Ready, Aim, Fire! I hit one out of 3.

Saturday, Aug 4

This morning I have been working on the plans for our music group to have a practice session.

After breakfast, John went out to water veggies and trees.

We are meeting folks at 1:30 p.m. for lunch at The Palace.

John had a BBQ something or other slices of beef with a ton of French fries and I had a Hawaiian burger, with a half a plate of salad.

We had a nice visit with a couple seriously considering a move from Tonasket, several hours north – to Ellensburg. We visited about a number of topics. John and I left to fill my gasoline tank, to go to the grocery, and then by Bi-Mart to get a new watchband for him. It broke yesterday while he was sawing limbs overhanging the trail.

John stopped for peaches on his way home. He bought them south of Leavenworth, near the intersection where Blewett Pass road takes off. He also got 6 ears of corn (3/$1.00), and we had one last night that was the best we’ve had this year.

Sunday, Aug 5

We cleaned, cut, and froze peaches this morning.

I called in our RSVP to the local Audubon picnic for Aug 16.

Did so many things today, I don’t remember them all, but we stayed busy the entire day, and are continuing tonight.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

I’m starting with things left out of last week’s blog: our trip to Moses Lake (Wed), John’s trip home with the wildfire blocking west and eastbound I-90 from Vantage to Kittitas (Thurs).

We went over Wednesday, July 18 to Moses Lake to visit with my violin teacher, Roberta (Bobbie) Pearce, from Nampa, ID, who taught the class I was in, in Kittitas, for 22 years, and then I took another year at the WOTFA Summer Workshop, when it was moved to Moses Lake. I only did it that one year, because the weather all week was way too hot for me. Her daughter, Katrina, came too, as she is teaching the Hot Shots class (Advanced young fiddlers), at the workshop. We also had a gift (along with dinner), that I got from an Ellensburg resident, and gave to Bobbie for her collection of porcelain dolls. This one was newer, from the 1990s, but she is a pretty little thing. She sat on the side of our table and watched us eat. We also got to enjoy the sunset over the lake.Top- John, Katrina, Bobbie, Nancy; Below- Doll & Lake Sunset

On John’s way east early in the morning following our dinner at Michael’s on the Lake, he drove again by the town on his way past Spokane to Mika Peak for a Work Party, carrying his new Stihl brusher in the back of his canopied truck. His trip home was another delay of over an hour, by the closure of I-90 in both directions because of a grass/brush fire started near the highway.

I mentioned that in last week’s blog, but didn’t included any of the pictures I had found or that John took on the last long leg of his trip.
First, a map of the 3 fires in our area, influencing John’s trip home. Boylston was the one I saw the smoke plumes from, on my way home about 3:30 p.m. from Ellensburg.Left from I-90 Ryegrass Rest stop; Rt., Boylston fire from Yakima.

I’ve combined 4 of the images John got on his camera from the east side of the Vantage Bridge on I-90. Top row: Plane heading back for a refill of retardant at an airport in Moses Lake, from rest area looking toward Vantage and smoke from the fires on Yakima Training Center lands.
Bottom row: Line of traffic westbound waiting for 50 cars coming in from the old Vantage Hwy bypass I-90 to get onto the entrance going east. Then 50 cars were let through the west exit of the bridge at Vantage onto the old Vantage highway.

Monday, July 23

Morning of another hot day when temperatures are supposed to climb to 96°. They got to 98° between 3 & 4:00 p.m.

I sent this to all the AAC folks: Links to both photos & Videos:

Link to 70 Photos, 7/13/18 AAC, Nicole Jones Going Away Party

Link to 5 Videos, 7/13/18 AAC for Nicole Jones Going Away Party
Click on each video to start and view; they will repeat so click on it to stop it and go to the next video (to the right is a forward arrow) to click on.

I worked on various projects this morning, and I made it to my SAIL class by 1:20 p.m. I carried in a vase of Yellow Star and Tahitian Sunrise dahlias that John raised and picked. Everyone loved them. You saw them still growing in photos in last week’s blog.

Afterwards, I made it for my INR blood draw check, and got the results when home, of 2.7 (good) so don’t have to check again until a month. Potassium was 4.5, also fine.

John did a lot of watering today, and also came in to fix a casserole for supper. He had cooked rice in the outside garage in a steamer earlier in the day, and cut up ham, onions, mushrooms, and put in the rice and mushroom soup. Picked some of our yellow summer squash, and fried it for supper. Then he fixed a piece of his lemon/blueberry cake with strawberries and ice cream for dessert.

Tuesday, July 17

We are setting up a regular service of inspections, oil change & lube for Monday a.m. next week, for John’s Crosstrek.

Today, I went first to town to drop off at Airport Storage a bunch of Wall St. Journals and magazines for a business student. Then by the Food Bank bread room for bread for a seeing-impaired gal and her child who need bread and she cannot drive. Also got a roasted garlic bread loaf for a neighbor. From there to the Family Eye Clinic to discuss my non-darkening progressive darkening glasses. Today, about 1:05, I reached the optometrist for checking eyeglasses for sunshine. It turns out they lighten up when one is inside the car driving.

Yet, I found this on line: As light conditions change, the lenses adjust quickly to provide the appropriate level of tint. They block 100% of UVA and UVB rays, providing convenient protection from UV radiation. However, Transitions® XTRActive® lenses react to visible light so they do moderately darken behind the windshield.

Made it to Bi-Mart and missed the winning number by 213; closest I have been in a long while. I got my number when I moved to town in 1988. I got back to the Senior Center by 1:30 in time for Jazzercise by 2:00.

Came home after, and washed dishes plus did a lot of emailing for various projects.

Wednesday, July 25

Food bank soup kitchen music, but did not go to SAIL today, because of going by the optometrist about my new glasses… and the need to come back to town tonight early for Nick Zentner’s geology presentation at the Library.
John fixed some of his Ailsa Craig onions (named after an island in the Firth of Clyde west of Scotland), for dinner and hushpuppies tonight. They are a mild onion, big & white.

I showed one photo of our garden’s Ailsa Craig last blog, but here are some close-ups from the web. One very large one – we have never had one larger than a softball, but we have had a 2 pound onion.The top right is our onion patch, in our old garden, and the other 3 are from the web.

I helped John load empty wine boxes into his car to take over tomorrow for the bottling. Cameron was in need of boxes to store his wine. These are mostly white boxes, John emptied from our White Heron ones or we got from Grocery Outlet. Last week, I went in once and brought home three.

We went tonight to Nick Zentner’s talk at Hal Holmes (the auditorium adjacent to the Ellensburg Library. Below is my video, with the link to it, but it was not completed until Thursday midday.

Nick Zentner, 7-25-18, Ginkgo Petrified Forest

Over 50 species are found petrified at the site, including sweetgum, redwood, Douglas fir, walnut, spruce, elm, maple, horse chestnut, cottonwood, magnolia, madrone, sassafras, yew, witch hazel, – – and ginkgo.
Nick reports that, despite the name, most of trees are not Ginkgos, no one is sure where they came from, or how they got there. There seems to be a large mysterious lake involved. It will be a neat story if it ever gets figured out.

Thurs, July 26

John left at 7:40 a.m. to be at White Heron by 9:00 a.m. this morning for bottling Late Harvest Roussanne. He brought home 3 bottles (in tall skinny bottles), which hold ½ of a regular bottle of wine. Regular bottles of wine are 750 milliliters.
[A fifth of booze, or wine, was equal to one-fifth of a gallon. Even though people colloquially refer to liquor bottles as “fifths,” since 1980, they have actually been 750 milliliters or 25.36 ounces, which is slightly less than exactly one-fifth of a gallon.]
John brought home 3 of those also, 1 white and 2 reds.

I worked on Nick’s new upload, to redo completely what I tried to upload last night (and through the night), which failed. I did not complete sending it to YouTube until 11:50 a.m., and I had to leave soon after that for afternoon music. It was a crazy day.

After playing at Hearthstone (where we had a fun and interesting time), I went by my optometrist to ask a question. It was a successful visit. He is going to send a request in to change my glasses (no additional cost), and trying for a darker color.

We got the new music into packets and stapled.

Friday, July 27

I talked to Jim (optometrist) this morning, after visiting with him yesterday afternoon. I asked him if he could raise the gradient region so I don’t have to tilt my neck so much to get the effect. This was already in his thoughts, and the order goes out this morning to produce new glasses with the new Amber color. I tried hard to use the first attempt with my music, but could not get happy with them.. I’m sure this adjustment will help me.

Saturday, July 28

John harvested Ailsa Craig and Redwing onions. The Redwings are smaller and more pungent, but have the storage potential of 8 to 10 months. A few are shown to the upper left of the Craigs, that may only last a month or two in storage.
There are 3 more types to harvest: Copra (white-long keepers), Ringmaster (sweet, mild, 4 months), and Sterling** (mildly pungent, 6 months).
**For Sterling they use a cute kid in the picture.Now we are getting ready to dress and leave for a 70th birthday party, near the Teanaway River 20 miles west of us. Sharon (her birthday bash) plays the bass guitar with our group. She and husband, Jack have a place suitable for horses on this side of the Cascades, but usually reside on the wet side – going back and forth at least once a week. We planned to eat at 4:30, with our group playing at 5:30, but it didn’t happen that way. We played first at five and went for an hour, not eating until the end.

John drove separately because he has to leave the house tomorrow morning at 4:30 a.m., for Mt. Rainier WTA work time and needs to get ready to go. He left the party before we played and went to EBRG for gasoline.

I had my camera along, but didn’t give it to anyone in the audience. Tonight, I received 5 photos of our group, Kittitas Valley Fiddlers & Friends, from the wife of a member of our group, Julie Gibb. Hubby Kevin is our banjo player, in the photo below, sitting behind me in a blue shirt. I have on a straw hat. The birthday girl is Sharon Jenson, to my left in the white blouse, playing a bass guitar. The photos of other musical groups below were taken by our flute, fiddler, washboard, penny whistle player, along with her daughter Haley, who is our mascot and yodeled the last song with us.Top: Sharon’s solo with flute, Sharon with another group
Bottom: Hubby Jack presents Sharon a BD cake to make one wish with Barb looking on, and Haley stands at the Teanaway River which flows by their property. Haley (5 yrs old) enjoyed swimming there and finding caddisflies. She loves insects.

Sunday, July 29

John left very early (4:20 a.m.) for the South Puyallup River Trail on the southwest side of Mt. Rainier. Several years ago a major rainfall trashed a section of this short trail. WTA volunteers will spend (Fri, Sat & Sun) until October doing a reroute of the damaged sections. They worked in shade at 4,000 feet, so the hot weather was not a big issue. He got back at 7 PM.

Today is Arlane Nesmith’s birthday, and I just called her, sang Happy Birthday, and wished her well.
Worked on the blog and a bunch of chores all day.

Now 98.6° on front porch at 2:30 p.m.
It was “down” to 95.5° at 4:13 p.m
Almost 6:00 p.m. down to 91.1°.
High at the airport in Ellensburg today was 101.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

Friday, July 13 Ira Spring

We only received these photos this week, and you have heard in last week’s blog that John was working there while I was here. So, Saturday is missing because you already have heard about that, when the blog was published last Saturday.

Ira Spring was a photographer and Harvey Manning a writer. Together they published hiking guides. The sign on the bridge says “The Spring Family Trail Fund.” He died the year I did my first work with WTA – 2003.The crew at Ira Spring Memorial Trail

Sunday, July 15

Started awful at 3:00 a.m. with both of us awakened by a cat fight outside the bedroom window. John was scheduled to get up in an hour to leave by 4:30 and was so wide awake he stayed up. I was going to go back to bed, and thought he should too, but he said he wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. We both stayed up. It took him longer than expected to load the cherries he was taking along today (picked, cleaned, and dried yesterday), but also he packed boxes of cans of cherries to send home (needing cleaned before eating), with crew and staff members. In a cooler, he had in a large container of cooled cherries (all Rainier) to share at lunch & snack times with the WTA crew working at Mt. Rainier on the Wonderland trail today.

About 3:30 a.m. he asked if I could fix my small handheld camera for him to take for pictures. Unfortunately, I needed a bunch of time to clean off space and charge the battery. I have two batteries, so I could plug one in to recharge completely (and it did before he left), and use the one in it to free up the storage. He probably will only take 4 photos, but the process needed to be done and ended up allowing me to find some missing email addresses I had stored in the case, many moons ago. Mt. Rainier, Wonderland Trail, a slice of an old Douglas Fir that began growing in 1293; so says the center tag. Other tags, towards the outer rings point to rings added during historical events.John carrying a split Cedar rail for project stairs. Work crew poses.

Of all things, two of the cats came to the front door for vittles. It was nice and cool, so they were happy to be served. We continued working and John took off at 4:28 a.m., just as the other cat arrived to be fed. I stayed up working on the computer until 5:30 a.m. and then tried to go back to sleep. I don’t think I succeed until after 6:00 a.m. but I did then sleep until almost 9:00 a.m. I was expecting my neighbor to come to pick enough pie cherries for one pie, between 9:00 & 10:00. He called at 9:25 to say I did not need to come out to help. The tree was in the shade. That was actually a relief, because I wasn’t yet in the best of shape.

Cherry picking was done at 9:48 and I saw him driving away. He called after leaving to say they are red but really not ripe yet, so he will return when they are riper. He saw the little “bambi” and she is still very spotted, but mom was not in sight (probably in the bushes watching her little one). See below, I got some photos tonight of the little fawn, with her mom. I really don’t know “her” gender.

Now 11:20 and I have finally started feeling better after being sickly at 9:20. I just enjoyed a large bowl of All Bran covered with peaches. The temperature on our front porch is up to 90° but tomorrow is going to be over 100°. Maybe today. Right now at the airport @ 11:53, it’s 89°, with no wind to cool things.

We managed to cool down the house last night with all the windows open, and just now it was still 71° in the interior hallway where our thermostat is. I have the a/c set to turn on at 76°, so I will listen and see how late that is.

I do need to make time to finish loading dirty dishes and do that run. I may take a nap this afternoon after I finish processing the pictures for 7/13 and 2 more videos. Also need to send out the first call for players (count for up to 12 chairs) from Pacifica Senior Living, where we will be this Thursday.

At 1:50 p.m., it 92.5° front porch, 76° in hallway, and a/c came on at 2:55. I’m grateful for that. I am not a hot weather person.

I finished working on the videos from Friday the 13th at the Senior Center for the going away party for Nicole. They were taken on my Nikon which is not how I normally take videos because it is too high resolution, but John had my Exilim camera with him at the Ira Spring trail work. See tomorrow for the Google link.

I went out and took some pictures of the little fawn with spots and mom, when John got home at 7:15 p.m. and said they were in the orchard. The ditch is just 30 feet away but drinking out of a bucket is, apparently, a better deal. Interesting interactions displayed here.

I thought I heard a mouse so John set two mouse traps and he caught one at 10:25 p.m. I heard it snap down. A quick end to that story. No more have appeared. He set more than one trap.

Monday, July 16

Morning of a day when temperatures are supposed to climb to 101°. John has picked cherries, raspberries, fed, watered, and otherwise worked outside. Now he is back again in the shade of a tree (still hot) picking cherries off branches with our neighbor, Ken Swedberg. Ken got some sweet cherries last week (taking branches away in his truck to pick at home, and today is back for pie cherries. John’s picking Rainiers and gave away some branches with Rainiers for Ken to take home. It was too hot to continue in the orchard (even in the shade). Here’s a photo story of the start of their cherry picking, when I went out to greet.Family Swedberg’s Barn, Ken coming to pick Pie Cherries from branches John cut from the tree. This is one of the trees planted by the first folks to build a house on our property. The house was built in 1981; trees planted then or a year or so later.Picking station in shade on Gorilla cart, John’s picking box (with Rainiers in front). He’s trimming branches for Ken; caterpillar found on branch.

Here’s the beginning video of the process:

John’s Setup for Ken’s Picking Pie Cherries, 7-16-18

It was too hot for me, so I returned to the house.

I’ve been spending the morning finalizing 70 photos from last Friday’s AAC event, “Go for the Gold,” honoring Nicole Jones, one of our AmeriCorps staff members for the last 10½ months. I’m now uploading to Google Photos, and still have more videos to do. I ended with a total of 5 videos on a separate link. This one Google Photo link takes you to all videos and allows you to view them by clicking on the image.

Taken during the going-away party for Nicole Jones.
Click on each to start and view; they will repeat so click on it to stop it and go to the next video (to the right is a forward arrow) to click on.

LINK TO 5 VIDEOS

More stuff from the Nicole Jones day.

LINK TO 70 PHOTOS

John came in and fixed our brunch while I got ready to go. I made it to my SAIL class by 1:20 p.m.
I came on home afterwards. When I left the temperature was 97°, but north a couple miles it was 100° yet went down on my way (uphill) home. When I parked my car my car at home (we are at 2240’), it was reading 93°. Elevation in Ellensburg at the south end of campus, on University Way is 1500’.

We had a salad for dinner, and John fried us some yellow summer squash. I fed the cats. We’ll have strawberries, and John’s lemon/blueberry cake tonight, and hit the hay (at least for me), earlier than last night.

Tuesday, July 17
Staying home today to finish projects needing attention and to be cool on the second hottest day of the year.

Early morning, I walked out to take a photo of the Dahlia bed in the sun. It was a bit windy, and difficult to take still photos, but here you go.John got new Dahlia bulbs this year. I don’t know their names. We don’t think they are as big or pretty as in previous years.

It’s 83.5°on the front porch and 10:00 a.m. and John is still outside doing chores. He just put the canopy back on his truck. That’s a tough job, but needs it on to carry over his Brusher over to the WTA trip this week on Thursday, to Mica Peak.

I made some long distance phone calls on the landline, because my cell phone has no reception in the house. Michael’s on the Lake reservation for the Sunroom (inside) for four at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, 7/18.

I washed John’s WTA clothes for Thursday. Now he will be all spiffy to get all dirty again.

Wednesday, July 18

Food bank soup kitchen music, and SAIL today.
I contacted the Wall Street Journal about our missing papers over the past 2 weeks. It was fixed in two days.

Thurs, July 19

John left at 4:38 a.m. for Mika Peak east of Spokane in his Ford Truck with canopy with his new Stihl brusher for a WTA work party. Gas powered equipment isn’t happy in a closed car.

I slept in.
Early morning, I was on and off the phone with the pharmacy and our PCP provider’s office about a fouled up prescription for John and for me. I believe it is fixed now, or will be for me to pick up the meds today while in town for music at Pacifica.

I worked on music for Aug & Sept for our group which will be needed soon, (some today). I packed up my music and went to play at Pacifica Senior Living. We had a nice turnout of people and audience and all had a good time.

I had some errands in town before leaving and was a little late getting home, but on my way, I saw two plumes of smoke east of town. I kept driving to higher points to see where it was, called a few people in the Badger Pocket area to see if they knew, but couldn’t reach anyone.

Got home and found that I-90 was closed both directions between MP 136 (Vantage) – MP 115 (Kittitas)

I followed the fire reports all afternoon after first seeing the plumes of smoke at 3:30 from town. This is a nice view of a helicopter in western Washington … scooping 300 gallons (we think that is a bucket full) from the river to put on a brush fire.

Note from Caitlin LaBar this morning:

“This was going on right behind my apartment complex an hour ago, they were dipping out of the Coweeman River to dump on the nearby brush fire about a mile south of me. Haven’t heard the helicopters in a while so am assuming they got it under control. It was amazing to watch up close. (not my video, I only got one fuzzy picture)

from southwest WA Helicopter filling bucket for brush fire

I did have a small bowl of popcorn when I got home that I brought from Pacifica.

I also had a phone call just after 5:00 from our doctor’s office about John’s thyroid medication. They are going to raise the dosage to 88 mcg from 50, and recheck in 2 months. I had gone by for my own med today and hoped for his, but it was not in yet, so I got 3 pills from the pharmacy to tide him over. Now they cannot take them back, but the Dr.’s office has sent down the refill prescription orders for the new dosage, and it will be there tomorrow for us.

Also tomorrow we must go get our new eyeglasses. I called this morning, asking what happened. They had told us they would have them in about 10 days, and would call us. That was July 3rd and now it is the 19th. Their phone message only said, “We received your phone message and your glasses are here. If you have any questions, please call before 5:00. Jeez. So in the morning I will have to call to see what the Friday hours are.
John called at 5:35 from Ritzville, and planned to stop for a hamburger on his way home, and I figure it will take him 2 hours to get here, if he eats on the road, which I expect he will.

Had a call from our neighbor Ken at 6:47 that he was on his way down with 2 pieces of cherry pie for us, made from the pie cherries he picked 2 days ago. We had told him thanks but not to make a whole pie for us, that two pieces would be sufficient. They are huge pieces and probably almost a half a pie!

John called from the overlook opposite Vantage at 7:00 and now at 7:30 called from trying to get on the bridge to come home. There are 40-50 cars in front of him going about 2 mph., and he thinks he sees traffic coming from the west headed east down the hill. Nothing has yet made it to the DOT alert updates, since they closed both lanes between Kittitas (Exit 115) and Vantage (Exit 136). He was going to try to take a photo. He said planes are skimming water from the Columbia River.

He did stop in Ritzville for a Carl’s Jr, special meal. I had eaten the rest of my salad from last night. Had the rest at noon before leaving for music.

Annie went out to wait for John in the front yard over an hour ago, and just came to the front door and asked in. So, he must have been delayed by the traffic around the 2-lane old Vantage Hwy, with all eastbound and westbound traffic routed to there. It will be a long trip home.
He didn’t make it until 8:45 p.m.

Friday, July 20

Crazy morning. After sleeping in until 8:00 a.m., we were busy with things and then had to be at the optometrist’s office before 1:00 closing. We made it and experienced a lot of traffic on the way in, because they were re-routing the traffic eastbound off at Ellensburg rather than Kittitas to come down University Way and directly on to the Old Vantage Hwy to bypass the fire which closed both lanes of traffic until 7:00 a.m. when westbound was opened, but they kept the eastbound closed. The only way around was one old state route.

From there we went to Super 1 for John’s prescription, and I spent the rest of the day trying to get used to my new glasses. Considering the extremely high price, I’m not sure I like them. I don’t believe the sunglass change is dark enough for me, so I may well wear my old ones (just for far vision) for driving in the sun. The close-up is change for the bifocals without a line and it is not in the correct range for my head position. I’ll have to learn to adjust. If I rapidly turn my head to the right, I seem to get a weird parallax reaction. I might have to watch carefully when I go across uneven ground or down stairs. I realize there is some adjustment always necessary.

I tried keeping them on to take chicken breast off the bones tonight, and it wasn’t working well at all, with the positioning of my head for clarity of close-up vision. I took a break and went over with my glasses on to see what writing on my laptop computer in my lap in my chair, but it was not clear. So I took them off to finish the remainder of my salad making and will not use with my computer. I hope I can read my music tomorrow, but if not, I’ll just take them off. (I could read it better without the glasses.) I haven’t had glasses on at all for anything but driving. We know full well, we will use these as long as we can and next time go back to Costco for our glasses. This was a huge mistake, and it was all my fault for wanting to use our insurance, and Kaiser Permanente doesn’t honor Costco as a recommended provider. It will be worth it to us financially, to go there without an insurance rebate ($150 / pair of glasses every 2 years), because the cost for John’s will be $613 LESS. That’s insane. Mine I cannot compare because I didn’t have a comparable set of glasses to what I got at Costco.

We took a garden walk tonight, and I took some photos. The original reason was walking to the old red barn to view the beds the twin deer have burrowed out beside a stack of wood against the side of the barn. From there back to check out the tomatoes, in our newer garden, where the deer are entering to eat the green plants of the new raised strawberry beds John built this year. We look at the squash as well, and realized the butternut will never make it. We have had a few summer squash, but we have been neglecting them, and some are too old. We haven’t tried to give them away as we did a few years ago. From there we went for an onion, in the original garden. Czar followed us on all our travels, so he is in a couple of my photos. Yellow summer squash (new), but Butternut will not make hard fruit for winter keeping. Too cool. The onions arrived from Texas early – they expected heavy rain, so dug and shipped them before John could plant them. They have done well, though, and we harvested one for supper (Onion Rings) and then we had the rest for lunch Sunday in an omelet.Czar in strawberry raised bed just planted this year, and (right) an older strawberry patch. The fence is not high enough to keep deer out of the newer berry garden. He set up a simple scarecrow Saturday afternoon, and there was no additional damage. John went out Sunday evening to put a wire covering over them (half-tunnel), so they are not totally destroyed.

Saturday, July 21

Morning stuff. I worked on music for our group for Aug/Sept. John fixed a breakfast for us.

I had to sort through a bunch of Rainier and Bing cherries to make some good ones to take to Briarwood today for the buffet table after we play. John helped by lying them out to dry after I washed them, and then I packed them to carry.

We don’t have a lot of players able to come today, but we have a great group of singers there who always carry the load. Then they feed us a feast. Those were my initial thoughts and expectations as I left today, but the reality was that we had a good group of players, audience, and a wonderful time. Two people came that I did not expect. I just remembered one thing I forgot to do today – ask if anyone had a birthday in July. We usually sing happy birthday once for the whole month. Next month I’ll have to ask for two months, July & August.

We probably played for 20 minutes prior to starting at 2:00 with the “booklet” of 23 songs. Using it as a jam session and playing songs in the practice section of our book or just following along with songs Charlie comes up with. He’s a walking, playing, singing music encyclopedia with his 12-string guitar.

John stayed home to do yard chores that have been waiting for attention. Some recent ones I know of include, mowing and bagging as much cheat grass as possible in the backyard. And, watering onions and other things around such as fruit trees (pear, plum, cherry); bushes such as blackberries and raspberries; larger trees – pine, spruce, Carpathian walnuts; flowers – tulips, gladioli, dahlias, roses, sunflowers, and all things in the garden need water. We don’t have a lot of garden stuff that will produce well, I’m afraid. Strawberries are done. We have gotten some yellow summer squash, but the butternut will not likely make it this year. Last night we had a low of 41. Cabbage might grow.

On my way home, I stopped by the place on the Kittitas Hwy, west of Ferguson Rd, to take a photo of a piece of Petrified Wood, I had seen the week before, when I went to a garage sale there. It was in the rock garden of a home where the parents had passed and the kids were clearing out the house and out buildings to sell the farm. I pulled into the shade (crabapple tree), beside the rock garden and asked if I could park there. When I got out, I checked out the rock garden and noticed the beautiful piece of petrified wood. I ask one of the family about it, and she said, it is a long story. I asked her to share, because I love the history of our area. Turns out this chunk was obtained by her grandfather during the construction of I-82. I had heard about such finds, and jokingly from Jack Powell how people would “stupidly roll the rocks into the back of a pickup”, collapsing the suspension (did it flatten all the tires)?
Somehow, the grandfather got it over to the farm. (That part of the story was not passed down). I said, “Well I hope you have a way of keeping it before you sell the place.” So, she continued with her story. Her brother-in-law has a backhoe and her sister lives near Dusty’s, and they are moving it to her place. The interesting thing is today, when I stopped, I especially stopped because I saw a woman walking at the front and so I turned in, introduced myself, and asked if I might take a photograph, as I had heard the story recently at the garage sale. Turns out this person (Ann) was the sister who will be the new home for the “rock.” I was talking originally to Kathy. I do not know their last name. I did buy John an old Stanley measuring tape at the sale.

Here is the piece of petrified wood:This is the view from the south, and this from the east.

Sunday, July 22

After working for several hours outside this morning, John came in and constructed the nicest lunch we have had in a long time. I guess you’d call it a quiche, without the crust. Does that make it an omelet? It had 8 eggs, ham, cheese, asparagus (ours), mushrooms, onions (ours), and red peppers. Served with red potato homemade hash browns.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

Friday, Saturday, July 6-7 Annette Lake

John went to two WTA work parties over the weekend, both at Annette Lake with crew leader LeeAnne, but we didn’t have pictures until later in the week, so here are a few.

First was a project John headed: Ardeth preps trail, removing roots. Side-log, peeled and placed, and partly done with adding rock base, then covered with soil. Done.

Another two projects John was involved with are below. The second one in the 4th photo, he was only advising on about a drainage question.The first 3 photos are of the same project with leader, Darrel;
Rocks are brought and placed, then the tread is placed.
4th is a different project by Clare.

Sunday, July 8

Blog out at 9:44 p.m. PST – you already heard about the rest of the day in last week’s blog.

Monday, July 9

We got to Dr. Cardon’s office at 11:07 a.m. for toenail clipping and were seen at 11:15, both of us out of there (surprisingly) by 11:37, even with visiting about WTA trail backcountry week longs. I also talked with him about my index toe on my right foot. It is in the early stages of becoming a trigger toe, so he described the surgery and suggested it needed to be done sooner than later because it would only get worse and harder to manage. It will be covered by insurance and can be done here in his one visit / week to Ellensburg in the office, and I will be able to walk on it right after, just be careful. He explained what is done in the operation and it is done with a local. I will wait until fall for that, and our next visit is in October (3 months away), so he can evaluate it then and we can schedule the surgery.

We went to Safeway for a few things including the special Monday fried chicken and some other coupon savings on drinks for John and me, PowerAdeZero.

I went to SAIL at 1:30 p.m. and took along the Rubbermaid container to return to Roberta. She gave me a pan of oatmeal rolls in it.

Tuesday, July 10

We went by and picked up bag of clothes from Joanie’s front porch on our way in Ellensburg to stop for my regular blood draw at the hospital before driving to Costco, primarily for two purchases at over half price of the drugs less than in Ellensburg pharmacies. That pricing part is very strange to me, and we pay cash without having to use our insurance. Also, we receive a 2% cash rebate once a year from our membership at Costco for any purchases in the store (including pharmacy and eyeglasses).
We ate our lunch there too and filled John’s car with gasoline (at $3.19/gal, lower than EBRG’s.

Between noon & 1:30 I was to call Dee Eberhart to wish him a happy 94th birthday! We needed a quieter place in the store, so found it near the pharmacy after turning in a prescription I had requested be sent down by our doctor’s office in Cle Elum this morning for John. We had no refills, and didn’t realize it until the last minute. Normally they require 3 days to process a refill, but I called the triage nurse and she ran it through because we were on our way to Costco today.

On the way home, we stopped across the street at the WinCo store, and picked up four boxes of 100% All Bran Buds for only $3.68/box. The price in town here at Safeway is $5.49, and all stores do not carry the “buds”, but only the other squiggly cereal pieces. John likes the buds because they can be used as a snack as well. I moistened mine with Almond “milk” beverage, a non-dairy product for my coffee. I also use Raisin bran flakes with my cereal, and we have with peaches or bananas (if any in the house), and I even had strawberries, recently. Getting all the fiber is good for our digestive systems.

Wednesday, July 11

Food bank soup kitchen music, and skipping SAIL to get ready to go back to town to a 6:00 p.m. dinner date with Linda and Bill Weir at The Palace. It’s a local long-time restaurant that offers a free dinner (Chicken Fettuccine or a Chicken Fried Angus Steak choice), on one’s birthday or one for a couple on their anniversary. We get that price during the month it falls, so we were a day early for our anniversary celebration. John always has the steak (normally $15.76), and I have my favorite, Cobb Salad made only with Iceberg lettuce at my request, which is described on their menu as: The king of salads. crisp greens topped with bacon, turkey, blue cheese crumbles, avocado slices, egg, and tomato. It is definitely the best Cobb salad I have ever had.
Here are some photos of our celebration dinner tonight:Bill & Linda with John & Nancy at our table (with John’s eyes closed); right is just us with his eyes open.

The left picture above shows the raised booth we were in, and the window in the middle behind, shows an opening to another room for dining. The significance of that is that at the table next to John sat a mutual friend, who is a crew leader with WTA, and also a granddaughter of friends in town that go back to the year I moved to Ellensburg. She is Beth Macinko, and her grandparents are Mary Ann and George Macinko. I lived in the Macinko’s house the first year I was here alone before John moved over to Ellensburg from our home in Troy, ID. They were gone on sabbatical and needed a house sitter and someone to take care of their cat. I had the use of their house for the whole year. George has since died, but his wife Mary Ann is still in Ellensburg, and we had just talked to her that afternoon, asking a question about the owner of the land east of their house that has about 20 horses grazing on it. We were trying to figure out the owner, and she told us.

Our conversations could be heard through that open window, and late in our dinner, we were discussing some brusher work John is planning to do in the Spokane area with his new brusher. Beth heard the “brusher” discussion, and came around to say hello. She had been at WTA Crew Leader collage recently where they were instructed in its use. Our meals: Nancy’s Cobb salad; John’s Chicken-fried Steak.

We had taken a box of cherries to the Weirs, but they walked to the restaurant from their home, so we delivered the box of cherries back to the house and left it on the stairs.

Thurs, July 12 ° ° ° ° Happy 49th Anniversary to us

John started his day picking raspberries (about 3 pounds). Most went to the freezer. I cannot eat them because the seeds annoy me – sticking in my teeth.

Then he finished picking cherries from branches he sawed out of one of our trees yesterday. I caught them and pulled them out of the way. The second one downed was too heavy for me to lift and carry. He cut down about 4 and then came down and picked from the grounded branches.

I packed up my music and went to play at The Meadows. We had a nice turnout and played beautiful music.

Friday, July 13

John left for again at 6:40 a.m. this morning for Ira Springs Trail. It was warm by noon, but in the shade. He did a lot of brushing work today, and got home at 4:30. His first call was at 4:13 and I had only been home for a few minutes.

I slept in this morning after he left for almost another 2 hrs. I had several chores to do before leaving, and knew I needed to be at the senior center close to 11:00 a.m. I’m the volunteer designated photographer for special events, because the staff is busy setting up and serving food.

Before I left home, I needed to do a few things John would appreciate being done before he arrived home. These included interesting and unrelated things, such as finishing loading the dirty dishes and starting the dishwasher. I also had to frost a large cake he made last night, on our anniversary – a lemon cake filled with blueberries I bought frozen. I used a white frosting.

I also had to respond to a few things on the computer, and to plug in my camera to recharge the battery. I was up first at 5:30 a.m. and took care of that. Then I had to pack Rainier cherries to take along for me and some to share with the people at my table, because I knew I could not eat the mixed green salad. The senior center party was a going away party for Nicole Jones, who has working there as an AmeriCorps member for the past 10 months.

Finally, I made it to my car and drove in. Except for one long rural block (at 35 mph) and one double curve slow down to 30 mph, my trip in is at 50 mph and mostly a gentle down slope drive.

I made it a few minutes later than desired but still managed to get one parking spot away from my desired one, under the trees in shade. Mine was in shade later but not when I pulled in. I needed to be in view from the front door of the center, so I could go to the door at 12:15 to open the hatch-back of my Subaru, to allow a woman to put emptied cattle food and dog food bags in the back of my car. She accomplished that, and closed it.

The first entry is the video introduction Katrina Douglas (Director of the AAC) gave (after a phone rang and messed up the beginning of her presentation). This is most of it, minus 15 seconds:

Nicole Jones’ Going Away Party Celebrating her Last Day

Here are a couple of collages of the day for my memories:Judy admires memory photography book that Jessi Broderious, the other AmeriCorps representative this past year, created for Nicole; a page with two of me with her, and the bottom one on Valentine’s Day, has me between Nicole and Jessi; on the right, two appreciative statements, which were made. Marilyn & Curtis Rost like her Sense of Humor, and I thank her for her Funny Faces (facial expressions) and her Tech Helps (with my camera resetting date and time and teaching me how to make links to high resolution photos to send with one link (via Google Photos), to get the pictures I take at events back to a lot of folks in an easy manner.Ada and Nicole; and Nancy with Nicole fooling around at the end.

I called Nicole over to get in the picture with Ada, who is the mom of one of my students back in the 1990s, Michael Buchanan. The last photo was taken at the end of the day with as many people as we could get to stand in front of the Olympic Gold Sign with Nicole for her memories of today’s party. There were over 50 people there to celebrate and honor her. The other thing I did not record was all the comments (into a portable microphone) telling stories about what we would remember about Nicole’s entry into our lives. Included were some very funny stories, some of which Nicole didn’t even remember but many she did and enjoyed.

Almost everyone had their photo taken with Nicole in the position above, flexing muscles. Many of them were on the camera belonging to the AAC, but I have several on my camera to add to the others I took before our lunch, and during the microphone storytelling time. Those will be published on Facebook (on the Ellensburg Adult Activity page), and also I will send to the emails of the 42 AAC members for which I have addresses.

I continued the afternoon at the center, and then before our SAIL exercise class was to start, I went into the computer room to check a couple of my email accounts, and to send a note on Facebook to the gal who delivered the feed bags. I had tried to call her from the parking lot to tell her which door I parked near, but the number I normally reach her on was answered as if I was a FAX machine, with a high-pitched tone. She figured it out, when I went out before 12:15 and opening the hatch on the back of my car and she put them inside and closed the door.

After SAIL exercise class, I went to Super 1 for Chapstick, smoked turkey breast, and a head of Iceberg lettuce.

I worked a lot tonight on photos from the party today at the senior center.

I’m so far behind. Just sent out 7 jobs to my Google Groups NW Geography Jobs list and still went to bed late.

Saturday, July 15

John’s picking cherries while the temps are lower, but they are rising…up to 74 by 9:00 a.m. It got much hotter as the day progressed. John picked a bunch of Rainier cherries to take to tomorrow’s WTA trail work party with Hannah (crew leader) at Longmire, Mt. Rainier. John will be leaving quite early in the morning, no later than 4:30 a.m.

We are publishing this tonight.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan