Keeping track

Sunday, July 31

For July 30 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 5 hrs 8 min with AHI=0.00. Events: 0 CSR, 0 H, 7 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 6 L/min). Oximetry: Okay all night.

Saw John off at 5:40 a.m. for Mount Rainier, and I stayed up to tackle the many chores awaiting me: KV F&F Music, cat feeding, AAC photos, dishes, clothes, shoulder exercises.

This link is the best ever of Ashokan Farewell. The singer was 13 at the time recorded, 3 years ago:

Ashokan Farewell

Monday, August 1

For July 31 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 3 hrs 42 min with AHI=0.54. Events: 1 CSR, 2 H, 11 RERA. No mask leaks (max= 6 L/min). Oximetry: nothing special to report.

Early call about getting our hay delivered this week (finally). We are about out of hay.

I have been catching up on music finalities and going tomorrow to copy pages for players and audience.

John is off to have his teeth cleaned and to pick up more frozen food dinners for our neighbors. Mentioned last week: no one is available to cook their meals, while their caregiver son recovers from his heart surgery. Another son is helping except on weekends, when he is working out of town.

We received an email report from Evonne (the Crew Leader) on yesterday’s WTA trip.
In part, here is some of her words of thanks to the crews, particularly to John and his crew.

Thank you so much for joining me on the Owyhigh Lakes Trail yesterday! Yesterday was truly epic – the hike, the work, and the wonderful place where it all happened. Yet, none of it would have been possible without your presence and effort out there. Yesterday took a huge joint effort on everyone’s part to see each task through. You made a real difference with the energy that you poured into the day.

John, as always, it was a pleasure to work with you. Thank you for helping with everything that you did yesterday! From doing a double check at the campground for volunteers to heading up the poles and railing crew, you executed every task. I really appreciate that you come all of the way from Ellensburg to assist with work parties, and I always look forward to working with you.

Shon, Alle, and Kathleen – thank you for searching the forest for poles with John. All of you did a wonderful job of pealing, cutting, and transporting poles for the bridge. Great job! Thank you all for the extra tasks that you completed throughout the day.

I have chosen a few of my favorites but John went through the entire bunch with me explaining the full story of the work accomplished.
Left photo, the new log is being pulled (on rollers) toward the creek.
Right photo, the plan is to skid the new log on top of the old one.
Middle photo, note the blue-shirt fellow working the come-along as others guide the log.John’s crew went to find downed trees of a size to make posts for the rail. Once found they can be cut to size, trimmed, and pealed. Below (left), the crew included a Nat’l Park member with a chainsaw, here cutting the old structure into pieces that could be moved and hidden well away from the trail.
Crew leader (Blue hat), Evonne Ellis, with her boss, Karen Daubert, who is retiring but came out on a walk at Mt. Rainier as part of the Hike-A-Thon project for WA Trails Association. She and hiking friends and/or WTA Board members arrived in time to hike up the trail with the crew.

This evening we attended the going away dinner (food fixed by the young visitors from Belarus) as part of their 5-week stay with the Children from Chernobyl program.
These were the participants this year, two boys and 4 girls, all teenagers. They lived with host families, and you have already met the girl on the right, Aryna, 16, who stayed with our friends, Helga & Charlie Firkins, and whom we met early in her stay to pick cherries from our trees (look back in a previous blog for that story). The photo on the right above is a shot of part of the table of food the kids prepared for the dinner for us. It was a tasty treat. The desserts were in a different place.

Various bags of items (including medications to take home for family) were given to the kids. Above is a photo of Natasha, their chaperone and surrogate mom for the trip, with Sasha and Aryna on the right. Sasha entertained us with a piece played on the piano during the evening.

Tuesday, Aug 2

For Aug 1 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 5 hrs 7 min with AHI=0.20. Events: 0 CSR, 1 H, 9 RERA. No mask leaks (max= 4 L/min). Oximetry: even and fine all night.

Soaked feet, washed dishes, completed voting ballet, put numbers on music and figured out required numbers of copies, wrote my instructions, and got copy paper.

I had to carry meds along to take at 2:00, in prep for Physical Therapy session and to run copies of the music for August & September for our group who visits assisted-living homes.

I went by Grocery Outlet, the UPS store, returning the wrongly sent Amazon item for turtle feed, and by the Courthouse to deposit our Primary Election ballots.

When I came out of the PT appointment, I almost was blown away and uncomfortably hit by flying spruce tree needles. Checked the airport later when I got home, and at the time I was walking a block to my car, the gusts were 45 mph.

I organized music I had run and sent out job announcements to the Google Groups list serve, NW Geography Jobs (which reaches far beyond the PNW). I am still not through with either, but do not need the music finished until Thursday. I have a few ready for the people I will see tomorrow and will take it by to them at the Food Bank music.

Wednesday, Aug 3

For Aug 2 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 3 hrs 42 min with AHI=1.08. Events: It’s unclear what happened at 2:00 a.m. and system quit working/recording.

This was the morning the group from Ellensburg of all the host families with their “kids” left for their return trip. They had to be at the SeaTac airport by 10:00 and we had been concerned about checking travel alerts for I-90. We learned that 2 of 3 lanes on the Easton hill were closed to west bound traffic, but early this morning, I was on the computer and heard of a horrible tanker truck collision and fire about 8:45 a.m. at milepost 88 a few miles east of Cle Elum. That accident closed all east and westbound lanes because of the spill and toxic fumes of anhydrous ammonia.

The first photo was alarming; John checked KOMONEWS and also used Google Earth’s street view to identify the location, 18.8 miles from our house. I turned on the police scanner (via my computer) to keep up with the story. About 9:30, I called our friend’s cell phone to see if they made it through, and they were all entering the airport. That elicited a huge sigh of relief.
Images above are from the Komonews site in Seattle.

I left to pick up Gloria for our trip to the Food Bank & SAIL exercise afterwards.

Afterwards, on my way home, I took music and a doll to Amy for Haley. The story that follows is hilarious. Below the photo collage, I will explain.
The story starts on the left with a doll advertised as free on the Buy Nothing site group I’m on, from a gal in Kittitas. I spoke for it for a friend’s daughter, who is pictured with it a week later (today in the 2nd picture above). She played with it about 1/2 hour and then gave it a dust bath, as birds do, (3rd above). Her mom retrieved it, scolded her daughter, bathed the doll, and redressed her. It all ended all right, and she brought it to our play gig the next day (after sleeping in bed with the little girl, Haley, all night).

My first thought for the dolly was to add to the gift of goodies for the baby shower last Saturday, but when I saw it was from a Facebook friend of my friend, I decided to give it to her.

Meanwhile, speaking of that container of clothes, it was emptied and I picked it up on my way to town this morning from the high grass at the end of their very long driveway. Raychel sent me photos that were taken at the gift opening and during the party that evening by the grandmother of the baby. Below are those with an explanation.
Top left is the table for gifts at the entrance. The last two things at the right of the table next to the flowers are our gifts – recycled gently used baby things. The Sterolite container holds dresses, pullovers, jackets, pants, T-shirts, wraps, blankets, and a teddy bear. The package on top holds a car seat. Beneath that is a picture of our table where we enjoyed smoked meat and veggies on a skewer with salads, chips, and conversations. The fellow in red is Dr. Lundy, the grandfather of the baby. On the right is the mom, Raychel, going through our box of goodies. Myles, the father, is holding their doggy, modeling one of the baby’s dresses.

Today was a busy day. Once I was home at 4:00, we started receiving the hay from our broker, Mario Giorgianna, with only 1.5 bales left for our horses, so the timing was perfect. He delivered it in two runs, a total of 15 tons. 13.5 of that went into our pole barn, 16 bales into the little red barn, and 14 more onto the truck that John took to an old horse trailer down in the pasture.
In the above collage, on the left is John walking into the Pole Barn with a “hay elevator” sending bales to the top of the stack. To the right shows the front of the stack with John, Nancy, and Mario in their hats for his business: High Valley Hay and Cattle. Mario has been delivering hay for our horses for several years. John used to have to drive across the valley and load hay into our stock trailer and pickup bed (2 tons, max), and then come back and unload it and stack himself. This is far superior to that old way but when we got up to 5 horses it became a necessity.

Thursday, August 4

For Aug 3 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 5 hrs 18 min with AHI=0.57. Events: 1 CSR, 3 H, 18 RERA. No mask leaks (max= 14 L/min). Back to sleep w/o CPAP for 3 hrs, continuing Oximetry: AHI- 0.36, 8h 25m total. Clearly shows about 1/2 hr with SpO2 below 88.

Rehab for music today – many people (14) with a new violinist, who also plays a Viola. Her name is Andrea. She was brought to the group by another group member, Laura. She’s a CWU student we hope will not have too many conflicts with her classes in the fall. When I was teaching, I always worked my class schedule around the hours every Thursday when we needed to play. I started with this group in 1991.

I carried by wine corks from my friend who cuts my hair to give to Meagan Huber at her work to make a nursing necklace for her 5-month old baby.

John drove so he could drop me off and get gasoline in his car for the trip to the PCT* tomorrow, and he went shopping at Super 1. [*Pacific Crest Trail, north from Snoqualmie Pass]

Friday, August 5

For Aug 4 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 3 hrs 1 min with AHI=0.33. Events: 1 CSR, 1 H, 8 RERA. No mask leaks (max= 6 L/min). Kept Oximeter on for longer: Oximetry: from up at 3:00 on to 6:00 with lower than 88 SpO2. SH. AHI-0.16, 6h 13m

About 6:35 a.m., John left. He hadn’t been on I-90 for weeks and did not know how much the construction would delay him. Not much as it turned out, so he was first of the crew to arrive.

I went first for CPAP supplies and got them. That includes new filters, tubing, and a head gear with mask.

I went for a session of PT at to 3:15. Rather painful. I then went for lemon meringue pies at Super 1 and by a BNEE house to pick up two suspense novels for a friend.

Saturday, August 6

For Aug 5 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 42 min with AHI=0.60. Events: 1 CSR, 4 H, 9 RERA. No mask leaks (max= 12 L/min). Oximetry: went off sometime.

We went to town for a grand opening of a new Petsen$e store in town. We bought canned cat food for $.40/can and an ID for Annie’s collar:

We were allowed 4 lines and I chose to put her name with our last name, our road address, zip and phone number, her age and that she is Epileptic, (assuming if found, someone would recognize she might need meds). I just realized Epilepic is misspelled on the last line.

We also got some tops for opened canned food, but they don’t fit as well as the others we have had with a little rim inside, the only difference I can see.

Tonight we met Tanya Myers and family (Andrew, Jessica, & Michael) at the Red Horse Diner (old car theme and the flying red horse of Mobil Oil). The old station and garage is still standing with the gasoline pump (price $0.229/gallon).
History lesson

We had a large dinner and a fun time. I brought half mine home for lunch tomorrow. John had a fancy hamburger with home fries, and I had sandwich named: Tri-Power – roast beef, with sautéed green pepper, onions, mushrooms, and Swiss cheese, au jus (very watery gravy), served with sweet potato fries. I almost bought the Desoto one, remembering the old 1950 Desoto my family had.

Sunday, August 7

For Aug 6 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 8 hrs 9 min with AHI=0.12. Events: 0 CSR, 1 H, 12 RERA. No mask leaks (max= 12 L/min). Long quiet night. Annie asked to go out at 4:15, but I went right back to sleep. I had a good night. Oximetry: AOK.

This morning I told John I took some photos of the yellow plum tree earlier this week, but the lighting was wrong and the pictures did not come out well. He took some with morning sun. Here is a cheerful collage I made from those he took.

The only plums I saw were on ONE tree that is full of yellow plums, Shiro, but he found one fully colored but not ripe of a variety called Bubblegum, the reddish bronze one. That tree has only about a dozen. A third tree has a dozen – still green. This started my day off right. We will eat some yellow ones with supper tonight.

I have worked on various projects all day, including this blog, and John has done yard work. We had leftovers for lunch from my dinner last night.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

… Trail Activities

Sunday, July 24

For July 23 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 55 min with AHI=0.13. Events: 0 CSR, 1 H, 15 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 13 L/min). Oximetry: good all night, 2 blips SpO2 below 88.

Spent the day doing the blog and doing dishes.

Monday, July 25

For July 24 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 39 min with AHI=0.78. Events: 2 CSR, 6 H, 12 RERA. No mask leaks (max= 20 L/min). Oximetry: good all night, 2 blips SpO2 below 88, one awakening with Annie wanting out.

I drove to the doctor appointments in Yakima, leaving about 10:00 a.m. for Dr. Kumar, Dr. Tews, and Costco.

Dr. Kumar’s visit was nice. My stats are good with an average AHI over a year as 1.1. I did not enjoy all of the Dr. Tews appointment to evaluate my implant possibility (they did a 3D CT scan to see if the bone graft had worked and scheduled the surgery for August 29). That was tolerable and interesting to have interpreted by the assistant and then in consultation (John there too) with the dentist/surgeon. While there, a technician made an impression of my upper and lower teeth. I thought the suction was going to pull out the remaining teeth I have.

I had carried my computer along for the time I was in the offices having to wait, but used it only on Whopper WIFI at the Burger King on Nob Hill. We had time to eat in a/c comfort, and about 45 minutes for me to work on my computer. Unfortunately, something affected my computer and I lost the ability to make my Word software work. In addition, I lost my ability to use the Google Chrome search engine. Short story, once home, I did a disk cleanup, rebooted, reloaded and prayed. The next morning I shut down and restarted 3 times before I got access again to my “stuff.” John decided it is time for a new computer. It is back working again but this flakiness is not a good sign.

Tuesday, July 26

For July 25 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 5 hrs 12 min with AHI=0.00. Events: 0 CSR, 0 H, 7 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 14 L/min). Oximetry: okay throughout night.

Shower, get haircut at 12:15, back home to eat, go Naneum to Mt View to Hospital for INR (which was 1.9), but it was done with the pinprick rather than blood draw because their coagulation machine was broken. I normally do not prefer that because the instant pinprick machine is very tough to keep calibrated properly. My Coumadin dosage was increased and I have to be rechecked Aug 11. From there I went on to Jazzercise, with five there, the largest number recently. I got there early and was able to pick up a couple of yellow squash someone brought to share from their garden. We have enjoyed it since, because John did not plant any this year. Afterwards, I went to PT and left about 4:15, without an ice application. From there I drove to the Drivers Licensing Bureau to renew my license that expires on my birthday. It did not take long at all, and now it will last 6 years ($9/year). Then off to Bi-Mart to check my number, where I did not win anything.

I am hurting pretty badly, but I tried working on my computer stuff, only to realize my arm/shoulder was not the only thing hurting. So was my head. I decided to set up an ice pack with the new compress thing John bought for me, and lie down. I rested nicely for an hour, and when John came by the front door and saw a buck with a nice set of antlers inside our front gate eating sweet grass or a tall clover, he told me to get up to see him and take a picture. Meanwhile, I told him it would take me awhile to find my camera and for him to get his. He did, and then I got up to see. I decided I would find mine that I had misplaced. Luckily, I found it, and I took some photos and videos too.

John’s captures provide a good intro to mine:
Left shows the setting to our front yard, with gate open to the rear of the buck, who is standing in front of the sweet clover he and the fawns like; right shows the proximity to our deck at the front door, and shows him eyeing the Mt. Ash berries. He comes on to the ancient wood deck only a few feet from the door to eat grape leaves. It is a useless grape plant, except to the deer.

My photography follows:
Left the buck eats a weed; middle and right, he’s looking.
Buck in his favorite resting spot in front of shed outside our front gate (with the horseshoe). He will lie down there and rest. When we come home sometimes, he is there resting.
The photos above I took from my video below, as the inquisitive buck checked out our female cat; “here I come” — “ducking my head.” The video shows what happened next.

Below is a very short but sweet 8-second video, of the interaction between our fluffy feral cat, Woody, and the buck.

Woody & Buck Interaction, July 26, ’16 Link

Above is the little buck looking back at Woody, before he moves on out (see video below).

Little Buck’s Departure 7-26-16 Link

Wednesday, July 27

For July 26 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 43 min with AHI=0.52. Events: 0 CSR, 4 H, 11 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 21 L/min). Oximetry: great, with all above the 88% line, SpO2

I picked up Gloria and went to the Food Bank. She was tired from hosting her brother and sister for 2 long visits. I was tired from yesterday, so we went by her bank and on home.

I put my PT appointments on the calendar for the month of August, and had to call and change one on the same day as my dental surgery is planned.

Our Internet has been very spotty, so John decided to follow the routine of unplugging it, count to 15, and re-start. That began our stressful computer situation. Seems some units have a code on the bottom to help restart. Not this one. It needs to be connected to a computer with an Ethernet cable. We spent a lot of time on the phone and finally they decided to send a technician to our house. Only problem was the timing. The person wouldn’t come for maybe 72 hours. That won’t work with as much as we depend on the computer (and our printer), which is on WIFI and will not work when the modem is not working. We were very much out of luck.

We needed to be able to log into the Internet on the machine in the back room where the modem/router is connected. That computer has not been turned on in a year, and is an old XP one. Mouse and other things were not connected – ’cause we were scrounging for parts months ago. However, John managed to get it up and going.

We had to get back on the phone for 45 minutes to get to and change the password on line. However, in the process, the name of the in-house WI-FI was changed from the phone name to the router’s name. I was running late, needing to be out of the house by 11:00, and it was after that.

The rest of the afternoon went slowly, trying to catch up on all lost without the computer the day before. John had to re-establish a WI-FI connection to the printer using the new password. The 9 key entry process has to toggle through upper case, then lower case, and then numbers. Special symbols are gotten by repeatedly hitting that key until the one desired appears. Passwords to be meaningful have to be complex. But, hey, he’s got nothing else to do.

Thursday, July 28

For July 27 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 22 min with AHI=0.31. Events: 0 CSR, 2 H, 14 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 6 L/min). Oximetry: Fine, extra 2 hours sleep off recording.

Working on music additions for today preparing for the Aug/Sept playlist.

I received a note from a friend in the southwest who has owned Brittanys from our lines, and keeps up on our blog. She asked how Annie was doing and if the ramp was adjusted for her to use. I was able to tell her things had improved dramatically and she had started using the ramp (and did while we were gone so long to Yakima on Monday). The temperatures there were 98 and here almost as much. Annie has had no more episodes and is progressing well.

I was calling around trying to get help for a neighbor. We had to make an unscheduled trip to get to a place before the person left at 2:00. I was going to be tied up playing music at an assisted living home. We hurriedly dressed and drove to town to a place where food is stored for “meals on wheels.” We took a cooler and got frozen dinners for the weekend for our neighbors. Their son (and caregiver) is in Yakima Regional Hospital’s ICU recovering from a 7-way bypass. The parents are in their nineties. Another son has been cooking for them, but he will be gone for 4 days, starting tomorrow. I called a few folks and learned from Hospice Friends of this possible opportunity. They are too far out to have volunteers willing to drive them hot meals for lunches. Amazing that I was able to pull this off so rapidly. There was no way John or I could have been able to take over cooking for them. Much of our time over the weekend is already planned.

Friday, July 29

For July 28 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 33 min with AHI=0.00. Events: =0 CSR, 0 H, 12 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 6 L/min). Oximetry: Beautiful.. great all night.

May have to be at a neighbor’s at 9:30 to take her to eye doctor for minor surgery. I’ll take along my computer. Thankfully, I did not have to go. Her daughter-in-law drove her into town. I am glad I didn’t have to squeeze it in this morning with all that was happening and especially needing to get ready for my day away.

I have a Physical Therapy progress report at 2:30. Those are always painful to extend to the maximum range of motion hoping to see an increase in flexibility. One reach has not improved — straight out in front and raising arm on its own (without assistance of the other one or of a therapist). Other ranges of motion are slightly improving. Probably won’t be able to do anything with the first one. Perhaps there is a CT scan possible for diagnosing if something in the shoulder (a tear ?) is preventing progress, from mine and the therapist’s hard work exercising and manipulating. Still would have to find out if surgery were necessary, if I could have anesthesia and not a local only, as was the case with my oral surgery. I need to check on that with my family physician and perhaps my cardiologist as well.

John read an article about someone’s son visiting home and throwing out all the food that had dates prior to that day – including the frozen food. The father is a writer and was working on an article about the amount of food wasted and thrown out because people don’t understand the meaning of the dates on the packages. We had a few things that needed (really) tossed. In the process of looking we found a can of condensed milk purchased in November 2007 (“best by Sept. 2008”). I poured that out and cleaned the can to toss in the garbage. John thinks if that were simmered for a few minutes it would not kill you. A bit brown though. (Nancy here – it smelled rancid – no way I would ever use it). I went back to working on “T for Texas” for the music group.

Stopping to work on blog pix.

Our resident buck was back again this afternoon, and brought along the fawns into the front yard and up on the wooden deck, right at our front door. The buck was primarily interested in the grapevine leaves. The youngsters were interested in the sweet clover and grasses. See the first photo here: White Sweet Clover

I had left the front gate opened when I came home, because recently the buck jumped the 4′ fence to come inside.
On the left are fawns beneath Mt. Ash tree; and on the right behind buck, while he eats on the grape vine.
Left is the buck eating grape leaves; right, one fawn and him sharing suckers from the Ash tree and/or weeds. We’ve seen him chase the little ones away if they seem about to munch the same piece he wants (moreso on cherry branches).

Saturday, July 30

For July 29 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 27 min with AHI=0.62. Events: 2 CSR, 4 H, 13 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 6 L/min). Oximetry: Fine.

I managed to reach my neighbor, Kenny, in the ICU in Yakima Regional. Years ago this would have been a long distance call – assuming the ICU would have had a phone. He had his cell phone and it got charged. Ken had a 7-way bypass (no complications so far) by the same surgeon, Dr. Sharma, as I had 6.5 years ago (wow! hard to believe it has been that long).

I got medications into my container for the week, and I called the pharmacy for two refills.

I packed up all the baby clothes to take to the baby shower party this afternoon/evening at Lundy’s, just south of us on the Naneum Fan. It’s for their son and the wife/soon-mother was a student in the last class of mine at central. The one I didn’t quite finish in 2009. Plan is to smoke meat and grill shish-ka-bobs with lots of other dishes – but I wasn’t asked to take anything. About 4:30, we left for the party – 3 miles down the road, stayed and visited and ate until returning home at 7:00 p.m. It was windy but the temperatures were tolerable. We carried our gifts, and I forgot to take a photo of them. I used a see-through plastic container and loaded it with baby clothes and a teddy bear. We had a car seat, too. I got most of it donated from the Buy Nothing East Ellensburg Kittitas Facebook site. I asked for the storage container back – maybe will do something like this again. Beats wrapping things. They requested no wrapping paper so people could see what was brought.

Sunday, July 31

John will be off to the east side of Mt. Rainier. Evonne will be the Crew Leader and John the assistant. Usually the National Park trail crew has a person work with the crew. They don’t sign up via WTA so John doesn’t know who that will be. For this east section there are 4 people and he has worked with 3 of them. WTA has 14 green-hat volunteers; several have been out previously, and that helps a lot.

Because I will not have any photos yet from today’s WTA day, here are some from last week with the same Crew Leader, at Surprise Lake, over past Stevens Pass.
Lots of brushing was needed. Eryn & John worked replacing a broken puncheon. Middle photo shows the two of them cleaning out some “armed to the teeth” Devil’s Club (Oplopanax horridus).

Devil’s Club

Left: ready to drive a spike with a small “double-jack.”
Right: Using a makeshift mallet on a chipping operation: making a large plank fit a smaller space; the space shown on the right-most photo up above.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

Monday, July 18

For July 17 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 15 min with AHI=0.41. Events: 2 CSR, 3 H, 15 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 14 L/min). Oximetry: Nice all night.

We were going to take Annie to the vet to check to see if she had more cheat grass in her ear, from symptoms of flipping her head. We also wondered if something else was going on because of some of her recent actions, perhaps balance related.

John’s morning trip out with Annie resulted in an apparent seizure that might explain her recent strange behavior. At 10:00 a.m., we took her to Dr. Roster (vet at Critter Care), where she diagnosed an apparent onset of Epilepsy (treatable with Phenobarbital). The vet did blood work and found that she has no kidney, liver, or other identifiable problems, but she had a fever when we got there (104, on the high side), and she had a slight issue while in the waiting room. The doc gave her some injections and will keep her for observation overnight, and through the day to be sure the dosage is correct. We will contact her at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow if she hasn’t gotten back to us about picking her up, and also tomorrow, pick up her medication from our pharmacy for her next application (she will have had 3 doses). It has been successful preventing seizures in canines. Apparently, there is another possibility I learned of from a friend, who had her dog on it. Annie apparently is the right age for such an onset. We have never had any of our dogs with the disease. However, we did encounter several through the years while boarding dogs in Idaho.

John just found this link:
Seizures & dogs

I like this, maybe you will too. (The concept for “everyone has a story” came from a long ago acquaintance, David Johnson, when we were living in Troy, ID and David was a news columnist (wife our departmental secretary). David would go to a town and randomly pick a name from the phone book. Steve Hartman of CBS picked up on the idea (stories now on YouTube).

Make folks happy

While we are on videos, here is one heck of a Hail and rainstorm yesterday on Blewett Pass – 17 miles north of us (July 17, ’16). I’m glad we were not in this. First image is a ‘still’; scroll down for the video:

Hail Blewett

John drives this road when he goes to HWY 2 WTA trail sites (for example, Icicle Creek) to work on trails, or our friends would have used that access on their way to Leavenworth (earlier blog entry).

Tuesday, July 19 —

For July 18 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 28 min with AHI=0.62. Events: 0 CSR, 4 H, 13 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 16 L/min). Oximetry: Excellent all night.

We picked up Annie at the vet, paid her bill, got some meds, and brought her home. She’s calmed down and is sleeping.

I worked around the house for a couple hours and then went to Jazzercise and then to a Physical Therapy session. It was a very tough workout. I’m still hurting 5 hours later. I took a vase of dahlias (their vase, I just filled it), and we watched a lightning and hail storm from the 2nd story windows. I need to finish getting stuff ready to go for leaving in the morning no later than 7:15 a.m.

John made a Dutch Apple Pie today, with Marie Callender’s help, and we had a piece with vanilla ice cream for dessert. Heading to bed, so I can get up early and hit the road.

Wednesday, July 20

For July 19 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 4 hrs 27 min with AHI=0.00. Events: 1 CSR, 0 H, 6 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 16 L/min). Oximetry: Until 3:30 a.m. everything was perfect, but something blipped that maybe caused me to wake up (besides needing to go to the potty). I went back to sleep, but not before an hour had passed. Then I slept until 6:00 and thought the alarm had not gone off – jumped up and started my day.

Today is Tillicum Village day, via car, bus, and ferry. I left about 7:10 for EBRG and the Senior Center (AAC). 14 of us mostly old folks are headed for Blake Island in the Puget Sound, near Seattle.

It was a gorgeous day in Seattle. Cool here, nice and sunny, but eventually the air temp got to 81°F. All of us on the trip started taking off extra shirts. It was just 47° when I left for town but we are at 2,240 feet elevation. That’s just 800 ft. lower than Snoqualmie Pass.

The road for our trip is Interstate 90. It is always under construction. Here’s is a design-concept-animation about 4 minutes long:

We made the trip to Seattle via a 12-passenger bus, full, with two leaders up front – one the driver, Katrina, and the other the co-pilot, Carly. We experienced a lot of road surfacing construction on I-90, and once to the Seattle area, we were in traffic backups at 10:00 a.m. Because of the number in the bus, we were able to use the High Occupancy Lane (HOV). That only helped for a short while.

We checked out several parking lots and couldn’t find one with an opening, because they didn’t want to take up a bus space with a smaller than usual bus, as ours was.

Selected photos may enhance understanding of my day away. I had to miss my normal music at the Food Bank and SAIL class.

This is my story.

We made it to the Pier to board the ferry that would take us to our experience of the day. Here are a few shots taken in the 45 minutes we waited.
At Pier 55. Sailboats, Seattle Great Wheel

The Seattle Great Wheel is a giant Ferris wheel at Pier 57 on Elliot Bay in Seattle, WA. Its height is 175 feet and was the tallest Ferris wheel on the U.S. West Coast, when it opened 6-29-2012.
See link for more information. I included it here because the Senior Center will be taking a trip over there this year. At this point, I do not plan to go.

Go Round in a Circle

I did my favorite thing when in big cities – people watching, as we waited over a half hour to board. I sat in the shade.
Nancy people watching: all sorts of colors of hair, clothing, and statements (Mariners Baseball fan), note the sidewalk with glass windows. Those were put in for salmonid babies to have light to swim – supposedly, see LINK
The right bottom photo is part of our group.

In the link above, comes this statement:
By moving the new seawall landward, the amount of shallow aquatic habitat adjacent to the seawall would increase by approximately 1.8 acres (with cantilevered sidewalks with light penetrating surfaces (LPS) above the newly exposed habitat), improving nearshore habitat conditions for a variety of aquatic organisms that will be able to utilize this area.

Here is a link to a nice brochure on the project with photos and explanation of the new Seawall:

Another LINK

Now for boarding and the trip to Blake Island.
Our trip left from Pier 54 on Argosy’s ship, Goodtime II. Note the lower and upper deck. On my way over I was on the top deck, back on the bottom, next to an open window, while sitting down.

On the trip over I was rocking and rolling and on my feet a lot, getting different angles for photography on the port, starboard, stern, and prow (portion of a ship’s bow that’s above water). Our bow hit some large wakes in the Sound from ocean-going ships.

Chronologically, from the stern, my travelogue. …

Left is the “Space Needle” at Seattle Center (not to scale with picture on the right) from Elliot Bay, middle is me on the stern, showing our wake on Puget Sound, part of the skyline with the Smith Tower off to the right. John put in the orange line to identify it on the skyline.

My interest in the Smith Tower extends to the beginning of the 20th Century. In 1914, the Smith Tower became the first skyscraper in Seattle, and the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. Now note it is the small isolated building on the far right of the skyline. My grandfather was a carpenter and moved from Guyton, GA to the west coast to Vancouver, BC to work on the construction for new growth related to 100,000 by people moving into that city. There he met my grandmother. They married in 1910 and moved from Vancouver to Seattle for him to work, possibly on construction associated with the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, which was a world’s fair held in Seattle in 1909, publicizing the development of the Pacific Northwest. We know he worked on the Smith Tower, built a house in West Seattle (still there), on the corner of SW 44th Ave and SW 102nd St, and started a family. My mom was born as the 3rd child in Seattle, and they left when she was 6 months old. She was born the year the Smith Tower opened. I have a more complete history I can share with anyone interested (as part of our annual greetings for 2012, when I went back to the Wilkins family reunion. (It’s on line). I need to alter some links to our new website HTML domain before I distribute the link, widely.
The correct link just to that story is Reunion of 2012

… but if you go there, to see the start of the greetings intro to this above, you should not follow any of the links that start with www.ellensburg.com because it no longer exists. Here is the full story for 2012 without corrections within, but the information is visible for the introduction to the family reunion link.

Greetings

More from the Tillicum trip.
Above a collage of views from the ship on our 8 mile voyage. Top left is a large grain-carrying ship.
TERMINAL 86 GRAIN FACILITY

… below the ship is an insert of W. Seattle and Alki beach. Top right is the Alki Point Lighthouse, and below that is Blake Island, an ancestral camping ground of the Suquamish Indian tribe. The region was under thousands of feet of ice to about 13,000 years ago.

Coming in to Blake Island we have views of the Longhouse, totems, and the clamshell walkway.
Left, Long house and ramp from the ship in the marina, right, entrance with the greeter I met later describing his Raven mask utilized in the dance (see my video – 11 seconds below). Here he is above, dressed in the traditional Kwakiutl button blanket. The walkway behind him is the clamshell one. The people on the walkway are members of our group. We were served 2-3 clams in their shells and nectar upon arrival. The photo advertising the clams on line is more generous with the clams than we experienced (see below in my collage).
Left, Nancy w/Totem; Clams-mine on top, ad below; right, clamshell walkway and bottom, Louise, a Blackfoot from a Montana tribe, sharing shade with me as we ate our clams. She requested a second cup that they gave her. My serving was good, but had more shells than clams. I received only two clams, but I had fun doing the clamshell dance at Louise’s request to break them up on the clamshell walkway.

On inside to eat our buffet luncheon.
Our menu, my plate, the salmon end of the buffet table. More below.
Green salad with sunflower seeds, cranberries, and Oregon blue cheese. Top middle shows three of the entrees to go with the salmon: Palenta w/ wild mushrooms, wild rice, and venison stew. Fruit salad is pictured on the right, with Louise serving herself.

Then they dimmed the lights, making it tough to finish my meal that I hadn’t previously. No photos or videos were allowed during the performance, but we were allowed to meet and talk with the actors afterwards in the lobby.
Nancy with the young girl in the story, and Stephen Maher, (the greeter from the entrance, and dancer with the large Raven mask), describing its size in the video below. On the right above, is him with the mask in place (as he wore it to dance), and below the salmon roasting set up.

Video..Tillicum Village Dancer – Raven Mask Information
Dancer – Raven Mask
Stephen Mather, 25, a member of the Makah tribe, demonstrates how the raven mask, or Kwakkwakwalanuksiwe, is worn. Mather is one of the dancers in the Tillicum Village story show, I taped for only 11 seconds, but check it out.

Basket making display & explanation with cedar bark, spruce root, and sea grass being used in the basketry.
A typical Native American Alaskan hat in the upper left has an Ermine skin attached. Ermine is a winter-coated Stoat (Mustela erminea), for those that want to further their knowledge. The prices on the work were hefty. I only captured the one $450 tag on the right basket.

Then out to the garden to see the pretty flowers:
Nice Hydrangeas, Dahlias, and a resident Raccoon, as a surprise.

Back to see more crafts:
Many totems and other wood carvings around the rooms, the blackboard drawing I found intriguing and well done. Beneath it is a Drum, hanging on the wall above the counter. Next is a clock, and then another carved animal on the floor near the exits.

Finally, we were ready to board for the final shots of the return trip.
Ten of us made it into this picture, and on the way out of the marina from the bottom deck, I took the pictures of the Heron.
This was taken at the start of the day, and we could get a photo at the end. I wish they had picked one with my eyes open. They took more than one. Oh, well, here’s our group.

Thursday, July 21

For July 20 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 4 hrs 27 min with AHI=0.45. Events: 0 CSR, 2 H, 8 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 21 L/min). Oximetry: SpO2 lowering for a few minutes before 1:00 a.m. fine before and after all night.

I spent a bunch of time trying to add some songs for future play lists and to replace some of the Fourth of July types we are getting weary of. Today was at Brookdale (old Dry Creek) assisted living home. We had a good turnout of audience and players.

I got home and found this picture from Dawn & Victor Estrella and the news they had made it safely home to Boise. This is a beautiful photo of Snoqualmie Falls (25 miles east of Seattle). Nice ending to a great trip. She wanted Victor to see the falls, and I’d say that is the nicest view I have ever seen there in many visits over the years.
Snoqualmie Falls in Washington (photo by Dawn Estrella)

Friday, July 22

For July 21 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 3 hrs 35 min with AHI=0.00. Events: 0 CSR, 0 H, 4 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 8 L/min). I was awakened by our dog at 4:30 asking to go out, but I did sleep through until morning, without the CPAP connected. This medication she is on is causing her to drink more and need to potty more. Oximetry: A couple blips of SpO2 below 88 about 1:30 a.m.

We drove separate cars to town, because John needed gasoline for his trip tomorrow. I had 3 appointments. We started at 11:30 at the Senior Center with lunch and a talk from a new medical doctor in town on the subject of Long Term Care. We both went to the grocery store and John dropped me back by the AAC for my SAIL exercise (and to use the computer room). I left exercise 15 minutes early to get to my Physical Therapy session at 2:30. I was very sore going in, and more sore upon exiting. My PT session started with a recumbent bike to loosen my muscles (supposedly 120% better than using heat). From there to the workout table. My Percoset was not working as it had a week ago. I need to figure how far in advance I need to take it. A half hour was not sufficient today. Windy outside all day, in the 40s. The highest today was 45 mph!
Saturday, July 23

For July 22 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 31 min with AHI=0.15. Events: 0 CSR, 1 H, 6 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 17 L/min).

One break in my night’s sleep, when Annie asked to go out. She has stopped wanting to go up the ramp to the doggie door and this morning, I think I found out why. I gave her a treat and asked her to go, but her back right leg fell off the ramp. (It, the ramp, has gotten a bit wobbly, so a fix of that might help.) We had guessed it was related to her balance problem before she was put on the medication. Now we may have to adjust the ramp or add something to the side to catch her foot. She will go out the backdoor and come back down the ramp. Oximetry: Fine.

John took off at 6:30 a.m. for a WTA trail work party at Surprise Lake with Evonne as CL. John is the only official assistant. I’ll get a report when he returns. (Rhonda was an unofficial assistant.)

This morning, I completed the music for the Rose of Tralee for our group, and added this history note at the bottom: Tale of love affair between Tralee merchant William Mulchinock and kitchen maid Mary O’Connor in the 1800s. They met secretly each day. One night under a pale moon, he proposed. His family disapproved. ‘Tho Mary loved him, she declined so that his family would not disown him. William wrote the song to try to get her to marry him, but no. Heartbroken, William left the country, returned 6 yrs to Tralee, intent on seeing Mary again, only to find that she had died from tuberculosis. At his request he is buried next to her in Clogherbrien. Since 1959, there is a festival in the town.

Check below for the video of John McCormack singing the beautiful Irish song along with lovely landscape photos of Ireland merged nicely with the lyrics.

Landscapes of Ireland with Music, The Rose of Tralee:

LINK

Today is the birthday of my friend in Eagle, ID. I called to wish her a happy birthday, and reached her before she left for a lunch with her bowling buddies there. We bowled together in Moscow, ID and in bowling tournaments.

Okay.. after a grabbing a bite for lunch, I’m going to attempt to finish the pictures I took at the going away party for Olivia, already written up in this blog last week, but first, I need to complete the ones from the AAC field trip to Tillicum Village on July 20th.

That never got done because of calls from people in Ellensburg and the need to travel to town. I was going to make it a multi-purpose trip and go by the hospital lab for my blood draw I forgot to get on the 19th, but found it closed at 2:00 on Saturday. That was a surprise and a huge disappointment.

Sunday, July 24

For July 23 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 55 min with AHI=0.13. Events: 0 CSR, 1 H, 15 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 13 L/min). Oximetry: good all night.

Warmish today – 91° F. At the airport.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

Monday, July 11

For July 10 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 14 min with AHI=0.00. Events: 0 CSR, 0 H, 10 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 9 L/min). Oximetry: Excellent all night.

Went to Dr. Cardon for toenails, with medicine compound to show. Screwed up, fiasco, full waiting room, only one doctor with 4 patients inside with him, and people waiting since 9:30. No need to stay for as long as it might be. Others ahead of us for 10:15, 10:30, and we were to be at 10:30 and 10:45. Rescheduled for Aug 8, at 11:15 and 11:30. The clinic is in rented space in EBRG while the doctors and staff are from Yakima. Had we driven to Yakima to be informed their timing was so flawed, there would be no end to the anguish.

I made Toll House & nut cookies to take in the morning to our retired Geography Profs meeting because I could not find the leftovers in the freezer from a previous “forget.” John will stay home to meet our hay broker with 7.5 tons of hay he plans to deliver. Subsequently, we found the old frozen ones, so will use for next month, and our hay broker’s truck broke down, but his call didn’t come until John was out of the house preparing, and I was already at the meeting in town.

Tuesday, July 12 — our 47th wedding anniversary

For July 11 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 46 min with AHI=0.64. Events: 0 CSR, 1 CA, 1 PP, 4 H, 10 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 19 L/min). Oximetry: Good all night with two blips below 88 for SpO2.

I responded early to some emails and took off for town at 8:20 a.m., taking my container of cookies for the group. We had a guest speaker on politics who is a faculty member at CWU and who writes a column for the local newspaper. We only had 8 members there, but we interacted well with the speaker.

I left to come home and change clothes for my PT appointment. I carried along a box of cherries for the PT folks and another for our Jazzercise teacher. I also took my painkillers in preparation for the session. I met a new therapist and she shared my time with the owner. They gave me quite a work over and made measurements of my range of motion on internal and external rotation. I got there early for my heat treatment at the start, and stayed for my ice treatment at the end. Now a few hours later, I am in pain again. But they say I’m making progress.

I went directly from there to Jazzercise. I got more of a workout for 45 minutes. On home by way of the Food Bank bread room to pick up some stuff for our neighbors and us. We will be having a hamburger with mushrooms for dinner, and I got some nice cheesy rolls to use, along with a loaf of sourdough Boule bread. Boule is the French word for ball, and the bread is cooked in such a shape. Our neighbors received a loaf of cinnamon bread they like and a package of nice large biscuits and also dinner rolls.

Tonight I am going to play music back at the place I started this morning, Hearthstone. I’ll be worn out when I get home, for sure.

Wednesday, July 13

For July 12 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 8 hrs 9 min with AHI=0.74. Events: 0 CSR, 6 H, 14 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 16 L/min). Oximetry: Looks good all night, 2 blips to 88-89 & on SpO2.

Shirley, Stan, & Gloria are not going with me for 2 weeks to our normal gigs.

John is setting up irrigation water to send to Sherri because her ditches are cleaned, as is the in-between neighbor’s ditch that carries the water down the fan.

My trip to the food bank was good (with good music and food afterwards). I went on to SAIL exercises class afterwards.

We had more cherries to pick, and deer to view and share with as we picked. The deer go for the leaves first. Some of the cherries, if any are on the branches, mostly get eaten too, but there may be other critters doing that.

Thursday, July 14

For July 13 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 5 hrs 33 min with AHI=1.26. Events: 1 CSR, 7 H, 7 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 14 L/min). Oximetry: Battery died; only an hour’s graph.

We met Dawn (Tjemsland) and Victor Estrella for lunch at the Golden Dragon buffet 11:45, from their walk around the CWU campus, 20 years later. Dawn took Victor to see various places (such as her dorm/apt, Lind Science Hall (where Geography was housed then), and to the Wildcat shop at the new student union building.

She has a few memories she shared on Facebook, but I picked this one.
Dawn with the CWU Wildcat in front of the new SURC (Student Union & Recreation Center).

We spent a nice visit before and with food and had our waitress, Lisa, take our photo at the end on both our cameras. The picture on Dawn’s camera was better that the rest.
John, Nancy, Victor, and Dawn.

We drove to music following at The Meadows Place. Victor joined us on the accordion, borrowed from Gerald Gordon. Dawn was my student about 20 years ago. She now teaches Earth Science in Boise and Victor is a Special Ed teacher. I last saw them in 2007, when I went to a Geography conference in San Francisco, and they were living in San Leandro. They were very gracious to invite me to stay at their home for the duration of the week, and driving me to the BART station for going back and forth to SF. It was while I was there I heard Victor practicing with his band. He plays the bass and the accordion. We couldn’t get him a bass fiddle, but we could obtain an accordion.

Dawn took my camera and made one video (below) and a couple of photos.
Battle Hymn of the Republic by Kittitas Valley Fiddlers & Friends, 7/14/16

The Battle Hymn

After the music, we parted and they went on to Leavenworth for the night. I followed them on Facebook and enjoyed more of their trip, to Washington’s pseudo Bavarian city, an economic development result occurring from a dying forest and railroad town.

They stayed in a Bavarian decor (everything in the town is, including Starbucks, McDonald’s) hotel.
They went out dining and drinking during the evening. My favorite photo was of them fooling around, when they found a photo shop. This sepia capture is my favorite and will keep me chuckling.
I joked with them about singing the Sounds of Music, and how this accordion fits Victor better than the one he played on with our group.

From there they drove to Anacortes for the Ferry to Orcas Island, for the wedding they had originally made the trip for. We on Facebook were able to share their adventures to the wedding, but this was another favorite of them all dressed up for the special event.
This is on Orcas at Eastsound, WA.

On their way out Sunday, they toured a special park on the island, Moran State Park. I am sure this has been a fun trip for them.

Continuing with the music theme, our friends also in the Boise area in Nampa, have some celebrating to do. Katrina Nicolayeff is the daughter of my violin teacher at the WA Old Time Fiddlers Workshop for 22 years, Roberta (Bobbie) Pearce. Katrina is a left-handed fiddler. This video below only can be viewed by those with Facebook accounts, but I’m putting it in anyway.

Katrina recently won the championship at Weiser for the third time:
Katrina

If you can see this video, the little girl is her on the violin at 3 and not her red-haired daughter, Chloe.
Here are some photos of her at Weiser this year.
Katrina on left holding the trophy – at first I thought it was a bottle of wine, and her “diploma.” On the right we see the top of the fiddling trophy. So kewl. Katrina Nicolayeff is everyone’s favorite left-handed fiddler. She is having a CD release party on July 30th in Boise, for her new CD. We were invited, but we have conflicts that day. We will arrange with her to get a copy, “signed.”

Finally, from being on Facebook collecting information about the CD release and party, I picked up a few pictures of the family:
Left, Stampede Breakfast this weekend. Fiddlers got in free to enjoy pancakes; Katrina had her CDs there to sell. Middle her patriotic kids, and Chloe on the right. What a cutie.

Here is her new CD.
I hope you can see the list of songs included. #13, Orange Blossom Special, is John’s favorite fiddle tune.

Friday, July 15

For July 14 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 5 min with AHI=0.16. Events: 0 CSR, 1 H, 7 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 19 L/min). Oximetry: Fairly even all night long.

John left at 6:30 a.m. to help repair a broken railing on a log bridge (Annette Lake Trail) but did not know what he would be doing when he left here. See the 2010 photo at this link:

See foot-log bridge

A recent tree fall took out about ¾ of the rail or almost all of what appears in the photo.

I slept in for another couple hrs, and then did some stuff. Last thing before I left was to pick a 5-gallon bucket full of purple and white and with purple Dahlias John has grown (just this year). I had promised to bring dahlias for the going-away party for Olivia Estill, working for AmeriCorps for the past two years here at our Ellensburg Adult Activity Center (the senior center). She participated in leading three exercises classes: SAIL, Yoga, and Tai Chi. She was helpful in all the activities of the center, and went along on field trips from the center throughout the state. She has helped manage the Facebook presence on line. If you are on Facebook, you can find their account at Ellensburg Adult Activity Center, and get an idea of all the activities happening there. I only talk about a few of my favorites in this blog.

I don’t have a photo of the 5-gallon carrier, but I have the before shots in the garden and the after in the vases (and in some of the pictures).
The two left are from the garden a week ago, but the ones I took are mostly lighter with dark purple highlights. The two vases spent most of the party beside the trivia game board. However, if you look below, you’ll see the one pitcher in my hands during the photo session. Olivia was going to take the flowers home with her to enjoy over the weekend.
Once I got there, there we found two vases and put the dahlias in them. I found a place to sit where I could do some picture-taking. This was a going away party for our AmeriCorps worker for the past 2 years, whom we all have grown to love. She is from Kentucky, and will returning to work on a Masters degree in Exercise Physiology.

Olivia Estill’s going away party was well attended. We had homemade macaroni and cheese casserole, with 3 different types of cheese. It was excellent, and that statement comes from a non-pasta liker. Green salad, and a root beer float for dessert.

Two videos below – at the beginning and at the end of the event:

Katrina Douglas With Olivia Estill – Going Away Party, 7-15-16

LINK 1

Olivia – You are My Sunshine – Nancy’s Comments 7-15-16

LINK 2

Carly, Nancy, Olivia, and Dorothea.
Hugs and dancing with Olivia.

Saturday, July 16

For July 15 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 5 hrs 26 min with AHI=0.18. Events: 0 CSR, 1 H, 8 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 7 L/min). A ringing doorbell in my sleep awakened me at just before 6:00 a.m., but I went back to sleep for a couple of hours without machines on. Oximetry: seemed to be okay but had some glitches at the end-maybe the battery died an hour before I awoke, and turned off the oximeter. Strange.

John started by working on the computer on a WTA trail report and then took care of re-routing irrigation water and other chores – getting ready for 15 tons of hay, watering plants, and feeding cats. Now the temperatures have increased into the 70s.

Going tonight to Charlie’s and Helga for a potluck with the Belorussian visitor. We took two pieces of cooked (by John) Alaskan salmon given to us by our neighbor, written up earlier in this blog. His son caught them. In addition, we took a 1.25-gallon ice cream container of fresh cherries. We came home empty-handed. But full bellied. Should have grabbed a few cookies or raspberry pie for John. We actually will have fresh raspberries on our coconut cream pie tomorrow night.

Sunday, July 17

For July 16 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 46 min with AHI=0.64. Events: 0 CSR, 5 H, 16 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 11 L/min). Oximetry: just fine throughout.

I spent the day working on the blog and on dishes and music projects. John spent his out hours mowing, moving hay, killing weeds, and other minor chores.

Late afternoon a thunder and rain storm went eastward across the valley to our south. It only rained slightly here. Friends down in the Badger Pocket area likely were more impressed. My friend in Thorp got dumped on, along with fireworks as well.

To end this day, I will post a photo taken Friday at the Gorge, with a concert by Phish. The photo is gorgeous, and was taken by my friend, Hannah Gillick, from Ellensburg.
The location is 9 miles south of where John prunes grapes at Mariposa Vineyard.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

Taylor Bridge is 17 miles west of us, on Highway 10.

Monday, July 4

For July 3 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 25 min with AHI=0.27. Events: 0 CSR, 2 H, 13 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 15 L/min). Oximetry: SpO2 down for a couple minutes to 87%.

Day of work around the place… mostly picking cherries (John) and sorting (Nancy). Work on the computer (Nancy) and a few household tasks. Late afternoon I was not feeling well and went to sleep for 1.5 hours. I think I pushed exercising my left shoulder too much.

Tuesday, July 5

For July 4 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 36 min with AHI=0.91. Events: 3 CSR, 6 H, 12 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 18 L/min). Oximetry: SpO2 never below 88, mostly in the 90s. Pulse mostly 50s and 60s.

Nancy took an early morning trip to town, and John stayed to pick cherries, feed horses, and cats. I was going for a Physical Therapy appointment changed so I could go with John this afternoon to Cle Elum to the doctor about his medical issues. I was there for an 8:45 appointment, and left a little after 9:45. I received moist heat to start (10 minutes), and then a new physical therapist, Mandie, worked on my left shoulder for 30 minutes or so, and then I did some exercises, with her advising and leading. At the end, she set me up with ice for the cool down (15 min). On my way home I went to Bi-Mart and bought an ace bandage ($4.99) to tie on an ice pack for doing the same at home after exercise. I needed to go to Bi-Mart today, anyway, to check their “win this” numbers {match with one’s membership #}. I called Rite Aid, where often medical supplies are cheaper, and they wanted $8.99.

I also talked with my pharmacist, and found out the difference between my Oxycodone (5mg) received last week, and that which I was taking for the Oral Surgery (5 mg of Oxycodone with 325mg of Acetaminophen), called Percoset. She said it would be okay to take the pills I had with one Acetaminophen. From there I went by Grocery Outlet to pick up some more tomatoes, and Almond Breeze milk on sale (but also nearing its use by date).

John and I had leftovers from yesterday’s breakfast, for lunch with a bunch of cherries added to the plate. He probably picked another 6 boxes of cherries today, weighing 4-5 pounds each.

Folks from Ellensburg came out to pick up (borrow) a very large cooler and a 5-gallon drink dispenser for their family reunion this July 15-18. We visited until John had to get ready for going to the doctor.

We left just after 3:00 to get there by 4:15. (it’s in Cle Elum). While there I checked with my Coumadin adviser, Lacey, and we discussed my INR of 3.1 and my need to check again in 2 weeks, on the 19th. We were there in plenty of time, but they were running late. That’s common when an appointment is near the end of the day. We didn’t get out of the building until after the front desk personnel had left for the day. I imagine it was close to 6:00. John met with a PA about his hernia and ear wax. She was very attentive, understanding, and informative. She made recommendations, and then removed wax from his right ear. We had been softening it up with drops, but the left ear needs the same treatment so we can go back for a 15-minute appointment to have that removed from the other ear. We need to start working on that. He came home and ordered a wide elastic belt to see if pressure in the right spot (just below belt level and left of center) can keep the intestine from escaping through the abdominal wall. For many years it was happy living in there but last November it developed a desire for freedom.

We stopped for a few minutes on the way home to take photos of the area where the fire was last weekend, on Hwy 10 starting at noon, July 2, Saturday. I had a request from a neighbor in the line of the old Taylor Bridge fire a few years ago asking about access to the first responder county emergency scanner. This fire began at the bridge, by a blowout in a tire on a boat trailer being pulled, that created sparks, igniting the fire. District #7 Fire Dept a little over 5 miles away in Cle Elum responded, and worked with 3 helicopters grabbing water from the Yakima River to help douse the flames, which were approaching 3 houses. The fire was stopped at 45 acres.

I received an email from friends who have moved to Hayward Hill, about 9 miles away, a spot in the path of the Taylor Bridge fire in 2012, started at the same location. They wanted to know the location of the scanner I listened to during the fires in 2012 and 2014. They were away from home, and so I listened for a couple hours and reported to them by cell phone until they could return home and get it on their own computer to listen.

The first set of photos was posted on the Facebook page of #7 Fire District in Cle Elum, the day it happened.
This collage above was on their site. Right is along Hwy 10, firefighters, and in the rear on the hill is the middle house on Hart Road. See it below in the right photo and ones to follow.
<- before from the Daily Record 7/2 . . . . . . after by Nancy 7/5/16 ->
The Yakima River is visible in both before and after photos above and is from where the helicopters scooped the water dropped on the fire.

These are some other pix I took on the way home.
Note the house in all three; in the line of fire. It is also seen in the first two collages. That house is on Hart Rd. Look on Google Earth if you want its situation. I have tried below with 3 snips from Google Earth. There are 3 images kluged together. Left (and separated) is the location along Hwy 10, Taylor Road connecting to Hart Rd, and the Taylor Bridge, then the middle shows the Yakima River and the 3 houses on the hill. The right snip has two images merging Hart Road with Durango, and showing the houses on both roads that were evacuated July 2.

A follow-up story is interesting. These are taken the same day July 2 as the fire. This orphaned elk thinks she’s a horse and came from the old Taylor Bridge fire. The locals call her Buttons. She was getting very friendly with the firefighters.

Ironically, this was ironically just sent to me by my friend in New Jersey.

See this link.

Wednesday, July 6

For July 5 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 45 min with AHI=1.04. Events: 4 CSR, 7 H, 15 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 13 L/min). Oximetry: okay all night.

At 6:00 a.m. this morning, I grabbed these photos of the doe and her two fawns, and took some video too. I saw them from my back room window and ran to get my camera.

John went out early to pick cherries. He kept bringing in boxes, most mixed 1/2 with Bing and Royal Anne/Rainier. He brought in one flat with sticky ones, which he’s going to wash before leaving Friday morning and taking to the crew at Icicle Creek. He will be driving up with Bill Weir (who lives in Ellensburg).

I left just before 11:00, with 4 pounds for Gloria Swanson and her sister Shirley to have (they had some last week too), and this week they will share with Shirley’s son and daughter who are up Saturday for a visit and lunch. They are living in Ecuador but back working in Toppenish for a few weeks, and visiting family on the west side and here.

John kept picking after I left. When I returned he was sitting on wood pallets in the back of our ’80 Chev PU farm truck. He used it to access a very large branch, and was sitting there picking in the shade of the large Walnut tree next to the Rainier tree.

I had picked up Gloria and Shirley and gone to the Food Bank, where we played music for 1/2 hour with a bunch of players/singers leading the crowd, which was smaller today, but very good at participating, enjoying, and applauding. That always makes us happy. We had singers (Lowell, also sometimes playing a recorder), Peggy, Brooke, Richard, Bob (guitar), Kyle (baritone ukulele), Evelyn (banjo), Evie (violin), Nancy (violin), Reta and Yvonne, singers.

Our meal presented today was good. Choice of two pastas — I had the white sauce and it had steak and red peppers, a large green mixed salad with all sorts of things. I chose Bleu Cheese dressing and garlic bread. We had red/white/blue frosted cake for dessert. We had three drink choices: iced tea, milk, and chocolate milk. All this is free as thanks for entertaining the guests for the day.
We left there, stopped off at the bank for me, and went on to SAIL exercise class at the AAC. Fifteen participants were present. One of the largest groups recently. One fellow normally goes to the 8:00 a.m. class.

We came on home. I called a neighbor who raises pigs and we invited her over within the next hour to take away some cherries for them to cull out the bruised for the pigs. She stayed about 20 minutes eating and picking the rest of the cherries from the branches John had in the back of the PU. I sat in a chair to pick into my own box, John, Krista, picked. We exchanged stories. Then we dumped my box into theirs and she went away with 10 dozen empty egg cartons, and probably 10 pounds of cherries.

In the video below, at the 2:10 mark the right side fawn picks up a branch with cherries on it. The deer eat all the leaves and some of the cherries they find. July 6th.

Fawns get an easy meal at the Cherry Tree

Thursday, July 7

For July 6 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 28 min with AHI=0.27. Events: 1 CSR, 2 H, 21 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 14 L/min). Oximetry: all right.

John and I went part-way out the driveway into a native plants area looking for Mariposa Lilies. Only 4 are in bloom this morning, with more coming. He’d sent me this link on Tuesday night to remind me they were back (it is a July occurrence).
Info on Mariposa Lilies

Until several years ago the horses could get to this spot. Now they cannot. However, we disturbed a lot of the ground where the lilies had been in the past by putting in a new drive to the barns and to have an access driveway to the west side (back) of our house.

Mariposa photo combo has John’s and my photography combined.
The left photo has an unopened flower while the opened on there shows the green stripe on the outside of the petal.

John went with me to run errands while I set up and played music with 11 people at the Rehab. He got himself some colas at Safeway. Went by the Goodwill looking for a rain jacket because they’re expecting rain at the work site tomorrow at Icicle Creek, and he came out with some real buys for me and for him. He found a Carhartt Coverall (~$100) for $10. It is only slightly used. I had one given at our Buy Nothing clothing share, but it had a broken zipper that needed to be replaced. We had his worn out pair with a good zipper, but the cost was probably going to be much over $10 to take out the one and replace in the other. He found a set of three screwdrivers, 2 normal slot ones (horizontal, jokingly called a ‘minus’) and a Phillips head (jokingly called a ‘plus’). He found me a “Soothing Body Wrap” – a piece of cloth containing something such as flax seed or rice that can be heated or cooled and used as a compress. I think this contains some sort of artificial chemical to mimic the other grains. I put it on tonight after leaving it in the freezer for 3 hours. It works perfectly. What a good buy that was!!! On the web it’s $15. He paid $4.

After John picked me up at the Rehab, we visited Bi-Mart looking through their 25% off garden chemicals, a rain jacket, and to return the ace bandage I bought yesterday, after realizing John had ordered 10 of them in a package that arrives tomorrow in the mail. While there, we found a rain suit he bought, a Frogg Toggs, Ultra Lite Rain Suit 2 with a jacket and pants for $18.99. Ever since we fed the cats and horses, it has been raining, so that was a good purchase for his trip to the mountains tomorrow to work on trail (probably in the rain).

Friday, July 8

For July 7 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 38 min with AHI=0.91. Events: 0 CSR, 6 H, 13 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 21 L/min). Oximetry: Never turned on until 3:40 in the morning, and then up with John and feeding cats. Back for an hour. Night was weird awaking at 2:00 a.m. with people chasing John and me with guns. ?? wonder what caused that nightmare.

I drove by Charlie’s and Helga’s to leave something for Arina and pick up Acetaminophen from Helga to tide me over until we get to Costco. This week a Costco tractor/trailer driver managed to tip off an interstate from the top level to the one below. The trailer split open and spread items all over the road and beyond (John’s addition).

I was on my way to Canyon View Physical Therapy, stopped off at a yard sale, buying some very interesting food tongs for 50¢. They are black plastic and have a closure/opener that is unique (pull out the end of the handle). I went to PT with a cute stuffed animal appropriate for Natalie’s PT business – a little monkey with a stick he pulls above his head to shinny up on. I told her I had a gift of a mascot for her place. This represents one of the overhead exercises I do to gain a range of motion above my head. She liked it, but said when her 5 yr. old daughter saw it, she would likely want it.

John’s first-aid things (via Amazon) in a multi-item package arrived today with an extra item – a hockey puck-sized thing of turtle food. Their robotic picker must have gotten a stray electron or some such. We have neither a turtle or a hockey stick so the item is of no use.

Saturday, July 9

For July 8 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 31 min with AHI=0.15. Events: 1 H, 2 PP, 13 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 7 L/min). Oximetry: okay.

Had some English muffin bread; only two pieces left. Ate lunch.
Got another call from the 963 number and recorded it on my camera.

May need to grab another wink. My eyes are hurting. I waited until 5:00 and got a little rest before John called.

Changed my CPAP filter, finally.

Washed and dried clothes washed for John, mostly, with blankets.

John called, being late getting home, and arrived just before 7:00 p.m. He took Annie for her evening walk and came back to say we should go in town for our anniversary dinner, and fill up his car with gasoline. He rode with Bill on Friday and Saturday but will go alone Sunday to Icicle Creek (~160 miles, round trip). We went to the Palace Cafe, in business since 1892. We receive a free meal (choice of Chicken Fried Steak or Chicken Alfredo) for our birthdays and for our anniversary to be used in the month of occurrence. We got there and had a CWU student as waitress. Beth is in a Physical Education/Sports degree program but with her looks and personality might make a better living moving up in the world of high end waitressing.

Returning home we still had some chores to do and John had some prep to do for his early morning departure. His stuff got spread around some because he was riding in Bill’s truck.

Sunday, July 10

For July 9 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 25 min with AHI=0.00. Events: 2 CSR, 1 PP, 0 H, 12 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 19 L/min). Oximetry: okay.

I was extremely tired and slept in until after 9:00 a.m., after not being able to get back to sleep when John left at 6:30. I was up with him to send him off and feed one of the kitties (Sue).

Been working on returning the wrongly delivered Amazon purchase filing a return and printing the UPS delivery slips to attach inside and outside the package to return an Aquatic Turtle Banquet Block Food & Calcium Supplement Treat, Giant Zoo Med Turtle Feed Pellet that came via Amazon. I first tried giving it away on the Buy Nothing site, but no one has a pet turtle.

I also have been working on getting ready to meet a former CWU Geography student and her husband coming from Boise Thursday, on their way to the west side for a wedding. They entertained me long ago for an AAG (Assoc. of American Geographers) conference in San Francisco, when they lived in San Leandro. They’ll join us for lunch, and then come hear us play music, possibly joining on an accordion, or perhaps a bass fiddle.
Washed dishes and fed another cat (Woody). Only one not back is Lemon. He’ll be back for a large supper.

I called Dee Eberhart and wished him a Happy 92nd Birthday!! Dee (WWII vet in Europe) retired from CWU as I arrived and is the patriarch of the orchard from which we glean about 1,000 pounds of apples each fall.

Need to work on the blog, but first eat leftovers from last night, and do my shoulder exercises.

Crazy things (telephone calls and emails) happened this afternoon to alter my schedule significantly.

John made it home, calling me from WA’s (Pseudo) Bavarian village of Leavenworth, a little over an hour away, at 5:00 p.m.

He was exhausted and went to bed early. He and the Crew Leader, Alan, did 3 days; Bill 2, and others just one each. He did post a short note yesterday, so check that out: “We’ll be a day late, again.”

I tried to stay up to finish the blog, yet after putting in a lot of time and information, I decided to leave things out to put in for next week. I still didn’t hit the hay until 12:30 a.m.
Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

Sunday, June 26

Celebrations, Crew Work, Consultations, Cherries

For June 25 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 5 hrs 24 min with AHI=1.30. Events: 0 CSR, 7 H, 9 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 22 L/min). Oximetry: both SpO2 and pulse good.

John left at 5:40 a.m. for Mt. Rainier. We’ll add some photos from his day on the trail below my trip to town for the baby shower report.

I slept a couple more hours, and then fed all three outside cats (Woody, Sue, and Lemon), and one inside (Rascal).

Around 10:45 a.m., I took off for town with my gifts for the baby shower, including three things: a gift bag full, a plastic container full, and a stationary baby seat for the floor.

I don’t remember when we started eating, but it was after playing several games and drinking tea and lemonade. Games included guessing the prices of baby necessities from the grocery, baby stuff (from her baby registry requests) in brown paper bags, and guessing the gestation period for a number of different animals. We all decided a few of the larger ones (such as an elephant) was way too long. All through this everyone was visiting. Another game was measuring a piece of yarn string to come the closest to the number of inches around Jess’s middle. After all that fun, we ate a fantastic meal including a large variety of veggies and fruits, meat, sweets (cupcakes, chocolates, almond-poppy Bundt cake), and chilled dishes of various sorts. I loved the fresh cut figs, as I have not had one in over 50 years. We had a fig tree in our backyard, where I grew up in Atlanta, GA. I’m sure I left something out of the food fare explanation. I forgot to take my camera, so I have no pix except those sent to me at my request (by Jess’s sister Julie). Collage below.
Left: Nancy with Kathy & Lynn Swedberg. Middle: Grandmother, Lorene Swedberg in pink sitting in walker, Jess Swedberg middle behind her. Right: Jess with her yarn to measure her circumference.

After lunch, we opened gifts. I have pictured my contributions below (pix taken before I left home).
On the left in the collage above is one large gift bag with blankets and an animal towel, and clothes in the bottom. The left top is a skeleton suit with pants and shirt and little shoes and kitty stocking socks. The right is a plastic container full of clothes from newborn “onesies” to rubber diaper pants, bibs, the Monkey blanket, some baby safety swabs, and various clothing to 9, 18, and 24 months. All this stuff came freely to me from the Buy Nothing site (except for driving all over the area to pick it up).
The collage above is from the web to describe my third gift wrapped in a garbage bag, with the overhead thing disconnected. I had checked this out in advance with Jess to be sure someone else in the family was not providing one (as was the case with a car seat).

John’s trip was to the White River (east) area of Mt. Rainier. The park is divided into 4 sections for trail maintenance. This is on the Owyhigh Lakes Trail.
The main project was building a turnpike, replacing a buried one, and creating a new part over the wet spot on the trail. John is the one with the orange hat (Assistant Crew Leader), and the yellow hat is for a trail worker for the Mt. Rainier National Park. Note the black plastic culvert.
Three shots: Andi with John; middle called the long view with green hats (volunteer workers) up front, and John way in the rear; right with the crew sitting on the almost finished project. “Almost” because it still needs about 100 buckets of mineral soil to fill in over the rocks and between the logs.

Monday, June 27

For June 26 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 8 hrs 36 min with AHI=0.47. Events: 0 CSR, 4 H, 17 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 20 L/min). Oximetry: Excellent all night.

We did morning chores and left for an appointment at the vet to get Annie taken care of. She was not feeling well for the past couple days. I intended to take my clippers along because she needed to be completely shaven to access and treat the injuries, ticks, and cheat grass, but I forgot my container with the clippers and the instructions and we were 12 miles away, having driven the truck & canopy with a large kennel in the back for Annie. The Doc gave her a tranquilizer and we stayed with her awhile. After 20 minutes, she settled nicely, and they walked her back to the surgery room, where she was anesthetized for the procedures. We used to help with such things but now they kick us out.

We left for lunch and received a phone call on my cell phone from the assistant because the Dr. wanted to report in, and she knew we were going to lunch, intending to come back. That was a nice touch saving us time and travel distance. At the time of the call, the doctor and the assistant had worked on one side of her. They said they needed to keep her overnight to give her an injection for the infections they found. She was running a fever of 104° (normal for a dog is ~102°). They cleaned an abscess on her neck (apparently from running into barbed wire), cleaned cheatgrass from both ears that had been embedded for a while and were infected. She said they had taken off several ticks, and that they had trimmed the one side and done her toenails. They were going to complete the shaving, but give her injections for the infection, and wanted to keep her overnight. When that is the case, for best results, they do not wish to send the animal home. They also found a rash on her tummy apparently from the infection in her system.

Here is the after shot, at home the next morning, worn out from her overnight at the vet.
Wiped out from a night of little sleep, we imagine. All trimmed to the toenails. Cheatgrass also was removed from between the toes. She had an amazing amount of thick hair removed from her entire body. It is cool this week but she will likely be more comfortable when summer heat arrives.

Tuesday, June 28

For June 27 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 9 min with AHI=0.16. Events: 0 CSR, 1 H, 11 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 12 L/min). Oximetry: Just fine, all night.

We left to pick up Annie. She is looking good all trimmed up and doctored. She had a lot wrong. Final bill was $243, which included anesthesia, grooming all hair off to access the doctoring of the abscess, several other abrasions, exposing ticks to take off, (meds for a month, one NexGard chewable pill costing $26.00). I figured I could find more for a lesser price on line, and we’re working on that. I paid for overnight boarding because they gave injections they wanted to check in the morning when she was out from being under. They gave her one 500mg Amoxicillin and enough for twice daily ($15) for a week. I had some of that at home, but went ahead and took theirs and paid for it. As mentioned, the vet removed several pieces of cheat grass from both ears. Annie had a rash (little red spots caused by her infection) and the abscess on her cheek. They put on a diaper rash cream, and we bought some today at Bi-Mart to continue the application.

I have been arranging for the celebration we are playing music for early, in honor of the Fourth of July, at the Ellensburg Adult Activity Center (the Senior Center). We have provided the entertainment for well over a dozen years, at 3 different locations in town (starting at a park south of town), near the Yakima River.

We went back in (John drove me so I could take a Percoset) for my hour’s PT evaluation assessment after 5 weeks of treatment. Medicare requires these updates. I have to show improvement to be able to continue. I am scheduled Thursday to visit my family physician, to approve the sessions twice weekly for another 6 weeks. I managed to improve in my numbers for range of motion and strength of resistance. The Physical Therapist will complete the report and FAX to my doctor’s office tomorrow. I will go by and receive a printout of the angles measured and the complete report.

I removed all data from Oximeter and CPAP for last night and recorded. It was a good night, with the lowest AHI in awhile.

Thinking music, I went back in tonight and stopped at the bread room with 2 minutes to closing, drove on down to Super 1 for my prescription pickup (got 2 of 3), and picked up 1/2 dozen donuts marked down – nice Boston Crème in the middle of chocolate frosting over the doughnut. I went on to the Rehab, visited with a few people, and realized it was the wrong night of the month. Oh me oh my. I gave my apologies to the staff and left to fill up my gasoline tank before the prices go up for the 4th weekend. I paid $2.519/gallon and came on home. WA gas tax goes up 4.9¢ per gallon on July first, and next year again. Roads and bridges need repaired. Costs have gone up, so over 3 years the tax increase will be 11.7 cents. There is a need for a replacement bridge to span the Columbia River between Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR. Money for that will come from another way – if they can decide when and how to build it. After if falls down?

Wednesday, June 29

For June 28 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 22 min with AHI=0.31. Events: 0 CSR, 2 H, 12 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 11 L/min). Oximetry: both readings good all night.

John started by picking strawberries and now is running Annie. She was anxious to go, and hope it will not expose her to any potential problems (i.e., cheatgrass). She’s had her antibiotics.

I am getting ready to leave just before 11:00.

I stopped to pick up two sisters to take with me to the Food Bank and to SAIL exercise. We enjoyed our day together and picked up some bread for them at the bread room. Shirley was all excited to find roasted garlic bread, and they got nice sourdough and French bread loaves. For lunch, we had a nice white sauce pasta chicken dish without a lot of garlic, making me happy. The meal included bread, salad, dessert and drink. From there we went to SAIL exercise. Once done, I needed to go pick up the medicine not refilled yesterday, and we dropped by a house for me to leave a bag of toddler clothes for our mascot Haley (see below) to try on.

Thursday, June 30

For June 29 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs with AHI=0.00. Events: 0 CSR, 0 H, 25 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 15 L/min). Wow… first time in many months I had a perfect reading of ZERO. Oximetry: both fine all night.

We drove 45 minutes to the 9:45 appointment with my family physician, Dr. Schmitt, in Cle Elum. He gave an okay on progress from PT and paperwork to continue. He noticed a change in what he noted of my range of motion from my previous time in his office about 6 weeks ago.

After taking the Percoset, I left with John driving me to my PT session appointment. While I had my appointment, he bought a weed sprayer to replace one with a broken air-pump handle. The new one has a filter and the old one did not. That’s the up side of old things breaking. John picked cherries.

Friday, July 1

For June 30 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 4 hrs 56 min with AHI=0.00. Events: 0 CSR, 0 H, 11 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 10 L/min). ZERO again. Oximetry: OK.

I slept in an hour, and then for another hour cleaned many dishes, fed the cats, and gave Annie her medicine. More cherry picking for John. We made it to the AAC by 11:00, with two large boxes of cherries and all the music stuff needed.
John had packed cherries of different types (Rainier, Queen Anne, and Bing) with stem on, into two large flat boxes probably close to 5-7 pounds each. The kitchen crew was willing to wash only those that would be eaten today, and will dispense the remaining to people in bags to take home and refrigerate (they’ll last for at least a week), and we told them NOT to wash them until they were ready to eat them.

We stayed around at the end and John helped “hang up” the chairs on stands and put away tables. We received many compliments for our music, and the group sounded good with a responsive audience. I am sorry I don’t have videos of any of the music, but John took his camera. I will post a few collages below.

COLLAGES at the AAC Fourth of July celebration early.
Top shows Nancy’s introduction of the program to the audience (of over 60 people) who had the lyrics to sing along to 13 songs. A dozen of us performed for over a half hour, ending with everyone standing, saluting the flag, and singing our National Anthem, acapella. This is a moving experience every year.
Singing audience, part of Kittitas Valley Fiddlers & Friends, Nancy with our mascot, Haley in her Sailor suit.
Another collage of the day.
Final collage shows Sailor Haley smelling the flowers outside the Ellensburg Adult Activity Center on her way inside, where she danced and visited with the audience.

John is out working in the yard, and thankfully the wind has lessened – not 40 mph gusts as yesterday. The winds today have been in the 30s, with a high gust of 35 mph.

Tonight, our friends Helga and Charlie Firkins are bringing their visitor (for the next 5 weeks) to pick cherries from our trees. John will cut branches from the trees and the rest of us can pick while sitting. We did this with their visitor 9 years ago. The visitors are part of the Children of Chernobyl program held in Ellensburg. There are usually 6 teenagers brought over to participate in a week of business classes at CWU and to get free medical visits, and treatment, as needed. A different group comes each summer and this has gone on for a number of years sponsored by local community members. Charlie and Helga have hosted from 1 to 3 girls in past years, since 2000. Our music group always shares fun times with them.

Deer Greeting Firkins Cherry-Picking Visit

Cherry pickers
Cherry deliverer

Saturday, July 2

For July 1 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 4 hrs 45 min with AHI=2.31. Events: 0 CSR, 11 H, 9 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 23 L/min). Oximetry: Battery ran out; no report.

John was up and out of here by 5:25 a.m. and saw the fawns and mom in the orchard eating cherries when he went to start his car, load boots, and lunch. They were dining on cherries from our picking yesterday. John only had to drive to Ellensburg to carpool (in a truck, does that mean it was truckpool?), with another WTA volunteer, Bill Weir. Bill and John shared one previous trip, and plan for more to come. I appreciate knowing he is not driving the whole 236 (round trip) miles to Mt. Rainier and back alone. The last one they visited together was not as far, being just west of Yakima. We don’t have pictures of the trip but below is the view from the work site – yellow dot on the lower right.
That’s dirty ice in the lower left (Emmons Glacier) with Mt. Rainier (14,411 ft.) on the upper right. The center peak (rock & snow) is Little Tahoma, 11,138 feet. John was at just over 5,000′.

I helped with a few things but was still very tired and went back to sleep for 3 hrs. Guess I needed it. I had not slept well the night before, and yesterday was another busy day.

Now I began this morning with chores on and off the computer, have closed up the house at 70° outside, gone out, and fed one of the ferals, Lemon. Washing dishes, processing photos and videos for the blog, planning to package raspberries for the freezer, and take cherries off a few branches John cut last night late – and put in the fridge. He washed a few and took a little sandwich bag full for his trail work lunch and snacks.

Sunday, July 3

For July 2 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 9 min with AHI=0.70. Events: 0 CSR, 5 H, 10 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 23 L/min). Oximetry: Nothing unusual all night.

We awoke with nicer temperatures, but found a very windy day with 41 mph gusts highest thus far, probably occurring during the time we were out with our new (southern edge through one other property) neighbor. John has picked cherries by the multiple pounds for neighbors unable to get out, for us, has worn out his picking-hand (left), and is now at rest.

I have been sorting and packing as he brings them in, and trying to continue taking the movies and pictures off my camera.

Our new neighbor down-ditch from us, who shares our irrigation water, drove up with her son in his truck, to carry away a bunch of limbs from two different trees for their visiting relatives to sit on their porch and pick.

Sherri Fought & Son Derek Limbing Royal Anne Cherries, 7-3-16

This video link above shows dropping the first large limb from a Royal Anne Cherry tree. John cut it off while Sherri steadied the ladder, and Derek grabbed the limb to carry to the back of his truck. During the time they were here, we were getting winds 26 mph + with gusts during that hour of 36 mph (measured 5 miles south of us at the airport). Just before 3:00 this afternoon, we had 43 mph gusts.

Neighbors arriving.
Neighbors leaving. (short box truck)

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

From the Saturday before, June 18—pictures by Laura Norsen on the Jack Creek work trip John made last weekend.

We did not have any photos to share, until John found this Jack Creek trip report on the WTA web site, and I followed Andy and Laura Norsen’s tinypines.com site to get to their blog to see more photos (including one of the crew of which John was the ACL (Asst’ Crew Leader—Orange hat). Green hats are the volunteers that do the bulk of the work. John is also a volunteer, and he is a hard worker too.

Trip report

From there I located more photos taken by Laura and Andy Norsen who were on the Saturday Jack Creek Trail crew. I made collages of some of their photos, with explanation below.
This collage begins with their photo from Hwy 2 to the trail-head, where the crew had to put up all day with rain and muddy conditions. The middle is one glimpse is along Jack Creek; the bridge is about 500 yards from the parking area. The right photo was a glimpse of sun as they were leaving the work site on the way to the trail-head. Thanks to them for the use of their excellent photos.
Left is the Chatter Creek Forest Service station stock barn (horse & Mule) that has been unused for many years. Districts no longer have the money or crews to maintain pack animals. The right photo is of rock repositioning – out of the trail and, later, set as an anchor & visual cue at the corner of a drain crossing or other trail structure.

Monday, June 20

For June 19 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 54 min with AHI=0.14. Events: 1 H, 13 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 22 L/min). Oximetry: Great all night.

We stayed home, I think, to work on projects. I guess I didn’t write down anything for today.

The only thing I have to show for the day are pictures taken around our place. First, our little resident buck in velvet who comes right in the front gate, if we neglect to close it.
This is the little buck. Left photo is in front of our door, through a dirty window. He came through the open front gate to eat sweet weeds. In the middle, he is leaving, I have stepped outside the front door, and he is heading to the open gate. Right he leaves through the front gate. He and another have been coming in to eat leaves and Mt. Ash berries all their lives. Right now we have a lot of Mock Orange blooming. Deer eat this too.

First, the mock orange.
This is Yarrow up on the east of our property near the road, under and around the cottonwood trees. John lets it survive around the edges (only because there are other more important things to keep under control). The plant has a strong, some say, sweet scent. Others say it stinks.

Tuesday, June 21

For June 20 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 4 min with AHI=1.13. Events: 1 CSR, 8 H, 11 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 21 L/min). Oximetry: no battery; OK, only for 1.5 hrs.

I helped a friend down the road a mile get on the Buy Nothing list I’m on, after she saw what all I obtained to give at the shower we both attended Saturday night. She is actually going to be the recipient of the car seat I mentioned getting last week (freely given). She was my student several years ago. Raychel Ann Parks. She’s having a baby girl sometime near my birthday, the first of September.
This is the car seat I wrote about earlier. The image on the left was with the note offering it on line, and the two others are taken in the back of my Subaru.

John picked strawberries this morning, and I sorted the best out for two neighbors. We will clean and put up the rest after dinner.

I went to a very painful PT session, came home, and went back to The Connections, but my left arm hurt too much to think of playing my violin. I just sang along, and drove by Super 1 on the way in to buy a dozen nice large donuts mostly with chocolate on top. The package is $3 off (they were in the counter today, and not bought). They do this every evening, starting about 6:00 p.m.

After singing with the group, I went through Kittitas to pick up another bag of baby clothes. These primarily clothes for a girl, and I will share them with the person who managed to get on the buy nothing list later. Her baby shower party is July 30, and is a dinner for couples, so John knows her and the grandparents, and he will attend. Any non-pink items I will give this Sunday to another former neighbor for her shower for a new baby boy. John will be all day at Mt. Rainier on the part of the Wonderland Trail near White River.

When I got home, I was hurting so badly that I took a real painkiller (Oxycodone) left over from my oral surgery. I seldom do that, but I think it allowed me to get a good night’s sleep.

Wednesday, June 22

For June 21 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 52 min with AHI=0.38. Events: 1 CSR, 3 H, 16 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 18 L/min). Oximetry: Very good all night and for another 2 hours off the CPAP.

I slept in a little while and then John and I cleaned and froze raspberries, strawberries, and, also, chicken for use in chicken casseroles.

I left for the Food Bank to pick up two women (sisters) to go with me. Normally, just Gloria goes with me, but her sister Shirley came up for a visit from California. We had a nice singing session, and then ate a good lunch. On to SAIL class at the senior center, where people also know Shirley from past visits. From there, home. I was still rather sore from the day’s workout before, and did not feel up to doing exercises. I am falling behind. It is important that I keep stretching the ligaments, muscles, etc., to improve my range of motion.

We visited a couple of neighbors giving away strawberries and cherries. We gave another gift, a poster from the Western Art Association in 1989, to our Native American neighbor a mile up the road—Allen Aronica, whom we met in 1989. Nice visit and he gave some Alaskan salmon to us for our return trip. His son caught it.
A collage of Nancy and Allen (6-22-16) with him in his native dress (date unknown) from a few years ago. [Added later: The photo with me and the War Bonnet was taken about 3 years ago down at Frank Beard’s. Believe it was around Rodeo time. Allen]

The poster is from this group:

Western Art Association

I was waiting to give it to him when the snow was not on the ground. His birthday came and went, so this was a good opportunity. He was very happy with it. I received it from a woman who gave it on the old BNE group. I spoke up for it for my friend, and told her when it was delivered I would send a photo to her. I need to do that now that I made the collage above.

Thursday, June 23

For June 22 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 46 min with AHI=0.89. Events: 0 CSR, 6 H, 12 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 16 L/min). Oximetry: Good all night long and also the 2 hours off the CPAP while the oximeter still gathered pulse and SpO2 values.

John picked raspberries, strawberries, and a few not-quite-ripe cherries, and directed irrigation ditch water four times, south of us, for 3 adjacent neighbors.

John dropped me off to play music at Hearthstone and went to shop at Bi-Mart. He had given me a ride so he would have his car in town to get gasoline to be ready for his trip this Sunday. We had a good crowd of 10 musicians, and more in the audience. We enjoyed having a great group of folks, who sang well and appreciated our being there. I was given more music books by our leaving Activities Director, who often joined our group (with her guitar or ukulele), when we were there playing. She is taking a job in Walla Walla.

From there we went to the KVC hospital to have my INR tested (2.6) via a blood draw. I go back in two weeks to be sure the toenail compound is interacting with the blood thinner. Then we went by Safeway for a few things we needed that were on sale and to pick up my Micardis medication. It was $67.85 (through GoodRX paying cash) for 90 tablets. That’s the one I moved from my usual pharmacy because my insurance jumped the price of my co-pay to that much for a 30-day supply (1/2 the number of tablets). I take 1.5 tablets/day. While at Safeway we got John some colas, me some canned tuna fish, some Bush’s baked beans, and some BBQ sauce. Figuring out their promotions, pricing, and register lines is a big pain – but sometimes the price is the lowest.

From there we went to another store up the street for Sharp Cheddar cheese and some frozen hash brown potato patties. Sadly, they had raised the price on the cheese, but it was still less than buying at Safeway. We lucked out and got a $3.00 off coupon on our receipt for our next $25 purchase. We probably only have a month to use it.

On to the gasoline station to fill John’s car for his trip to Mt. Rainier this Sunday. Sadly, the price of gas went up a couple of cents from yesterday, and sadder yet, Friday, when we were not in town, the price went down 3 cents/gallon. Go figure. My car is in need of gasoline, so I may get some Sunday when I’m in there.

Friday, June 24

For June 23 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 33 min with AHI=0.76. Events: 1 CSR, 5 H, 6 RERA. Small, acceptable amt of major mask leakage. Oximetry: Perfect on and off CPAP all night long. Even after the CPAP was off, the SpO2 continued higher than some already high reading while on.

I awoke in pain just before 6 a.m. and went back to get more rest following a succession of nightmares.

John did morning chores and is now picking strawberries.

I have been dealing with a mistaken billing on a May 3 physician’s visit about my shoulder to get a referral for Physical Therapy, rather than get a Cortisone shot that wouldn’t have lasted but a week, if that long. I think the bill is straightened out now after talking to three people – billing at the local hospital, billing at my doctor’s office in Cle Elum, and a customer rep at Group Health. Group Health had not paid their portion after Medicare (primary) and GH (secondary). The original coding was incorrectly sent only to the secondary. Undoing these mistakes (frequent) is necessary except for the very rich or a member of congress. I still wonder what happens when some people just receive a bill and pay it without questioning if it was wrongly sent. I know that at the beginning of the year, I have to meet deductible figures both for Medicare and Group Health, and Group Health will not cover any of the secondary payments leftover until the Medicare deductible is reached. That seems like double jeopardy to me, but there’s nothing that can be done. For example, they don’t carry over and pay when the deductible is met. Something is wrong with that philosophy. At least the Medicare deductible is lower than the Group Health. But:

Seattle’s Group Health Cooperative will be acquired by Kaiser Permanente, a California-based health-care giant. No immediate changes in local care or coverage are planned, officials said.

Yea, right!

My PT appointment was cancelled today. I’m staying home and will cut John’s hair – long overdue. It took me nearly an hour because of having to stop 3 times to cool the clippers. We shall NOT wait as long next time. I needed to work in exercises but my arm was still hurting. I waited until after I finished the haircut. I skipped going to the SAIL exercise class because I dislike going 24 miles to town round-trip, for only one activity.

John came in and has been doing strawberries after a lot of yard work today. Plum trees need watered, gardens weeded and watered, and other stuff.

He fixed an interesting supper of baked beans, barley, mushrooms, ground beef, and tomatoes, with grated sharp cheddar cheese on top.

Saturday, June 25

For June 24 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 5 min with AHI=1.32. Events: 1 CSR, 8 H, 18 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 15 L/min). Oximetry: Really good all night with and without the CPAP, total time 8 hrs 10 min.

We need to get the blog out today, because John leaves at the crack of dawn for Mt. Rainier tomorrow.

At the suggestion of my pharmacist in Ellensburg, Leslie, I made an early morning call to Cavallini’s Pharmacy in Cle Elum, to the pharmacist, Dave Arnold, with questions about my compound for my toenails. He advised that I soak the toenails to get them soft and get rid of the build-up of the DMSO / anti-fungal / antibiotic liquid put on twice daily. DMSO hastens the entry of the compound through the nail. I will try it for a week and see if it takes away the build-up and helps. I need to report back to him to tell him the results.

John has been out doing chores, the most recent of which was mowing about the edges where weeds and brush encroach. Photos below are from behind the house and Jay’s folly (aka, semi-permanent pond), above the creek bank. Left image he is moving an old post while keeping the mower running with the other hand. This is one of the places we see deer – because it is slowly being cleared of brush and all burnable stuff. And it is right out back. I got photos of the fawns this year and a large buck a few years ago. John saw the fawns yesterday, not near the house though.
I need to take off the CPAP and oximetry information from last night, finish proofing this for John to enter into WordPress, and get busy preparing my gifts to take to my second baby shower tomorrow (this one for a boy). I’m doing a similar gift of gently used baby stuff as for the one last week.

Now before we have lunch and I pass this along to John, he is out picking strawberries. Pick, then water. He brought in some Rainier cherries his last trip and we enjoyed a dozen each. Unless something else comes up, we will pick cherries on Monday. They are nearly ripe and the Magpies have taken some.

He came in for lunch and was going to fix leftovers from last night but we will have that for dinner too, and I decided not to join him with it until supper. I fixed a patriotic light lunch with two yogurts (blueberry and strawberry) spooned over a bowl of strawberries. We have about 7 pounds to work on today. We are freezing most of them and saving some to eat on our dessert.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan