I managed to get the last full week\u2019s long blog out late Saturday afternoon, so that day was covered.\u00a0 Now it\u2019s Sunday, and I slept in, catching up on much needed rest from my busy days and nights in Seattle. \u00a0John already has started his work, in a chilly, but beautifully sunny environment.\u00a0 He\u2019s still working on multiple yard tasks, including protection (deer & rabbits) for blackberries, strawberries, and asparagus.\u00a0 He\u2019s also whacked the old apple trees (severe pruning).\u00a0 I\u2019m still inside resting.\u00a0 I did start cleaning up dishes to put in the dishwasher, and will continue that as I can.\u00a0 Also need to unpack my suitcase.\u00a0 Nothing on the schedule but Taize\u2019 tonight for me.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been following up on leads I picked up for colleagues at the conference this week, and need to finish those.\u00a0 Monday all day was another rest day.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t even go to town for my exercise class.\u00a0 I was just too beat.<\/p>\n
Tuesday was another very busy day when we left the house about 9:25 and didn\u2019t return till 4:00, and then I went back in for a 6:00 engagement.\u00a0 Here\u2019s the scoop.\u00a0 This morning at 10:40 I was due for my 3 month check up on the device monitoring my heart.\u00a0 They need to check to be sure it is sending signals all right and the battery is still functional.\u00a0 That was quickly completed, and all is well.\u00a0 Then we were off for a leisurely drive through the older part of Yakima\u2019s residential area, to enjoy the flowers and flowering trees.\u00a0 The area is somewhat hilly (mostly a wee bit over 1,000 feet) and \u201cspring\u201d just arrived there.\u00a0 (Home is 2,200 feet and it will be \u201cspring\u201d soon \u2013 we hope.<\/p>\n
After the device test and the flowering plant search, we drove down the hill to Yakima Regional Hospital where I spent all the time in 2009-10, in ICU, and visited the mother of a good friend who had a stroke.\u00a0 She is doing really well getting physical therapy before she returns home to Ellensburg.\u00a0 After a nice visit with her and her daughter who slipped in on her lunch hour, we went to the ICU nurses\u2019 station to see if there were people there who were my caregivers. \u00a0There were two people there who remembered me and others had just left for the cafeteria.\u00a0 We visited awhile and then went to the cafeteria where we found 3 more.\u00a0 My favorite male nurse was there, and very happy to see me doing so well.\u00a0 He was one of the prime drivers telling me I would recover and play music again.\u00a0 Then off for lunch and on to Costco for dog food and a few other things.\u00a0 Home by way of KVCH for a blood draw for me (to check my INR for the Coumadin I take).\u00a0 Home for a short while, and then I took off for a nursing home to visit our accordionist who had hip replacement surgery recently, and then to play at the same nursing home with \u201cThe Connections.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s a religious music group.\u00a0 Now it is only 9:00 p.m. and John and I are both ready to go to bed.<\/p>\n
Wednesday:\u00a0 Great lunch and visit today with a former student from Ghana (now in California), he was a consistent blog-reader through all my illness.\u00a0 He would call me regularly on my cell phone, once I was allowed to have one.\u00a0 Check out this link to hear about his master\u2019s thesis work with us, and see the results for villages in his country, suffering relocation by the construction of a large hydro dam and reservoir.<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.scribd.com\/doc\/31753290\/In-Their-Own-Words-Voices-of-Affected-People<\/a><\/p>\n Yesterday I was walking out of the Yakima Heart Center, and just turned my cell phone back on.\u00a0 They do not allow them at all in the doctor’s office.\u00a0 I received a call from him that he was in town for a week, and wanted to get together.\u00a0 I arranged to meet him today for lunch.\u00a0 It was really cool, and we had a nice visit, over a piece of pizza and a Pepsi.\u00a0 He brought me a gift that is a couple of yards of wonderful, colorful cloth he had his mom send over from Ghana.\u00a0 He cannot afford a trip over right now, as it is $2,000.\u00a0 He is working part time and going to school taking Biology and Chemistry courses.<\/p>\n I always admired his shirts, and he said he wanted to make one for me but he cannot sew and couldn’t borrow his sister’s machine.\u00a0 I told him I would either have someone make one for me, or I would frame it and hang in our house.\u00a0 It is really a lovely pattern of greens and other colors, such as yellow, red, and white.<\/p>\n John moved our old camper today (hadn’t been on the road since 1994) and is all destroyed but is full of cans (aluminum) and dog kennels, and who knows what else).\u00a0 We need to clean it out and then take it to the dump.\u00a0 It is beyond help.\u00a0 One of the jacks is broken.<\/p>\n The camper was out in our orchard in the way of where John wanted to extend his “garden plot”.\u00a0 So, he moved it back out of the way.\u00a0 He’s really been doing a lot of yard work since he quit pruning grapes.\u00a0 I think as soon as all the strawberries and asparagus are planted he might get back to training horses.<\/p>\n He just came in and cut off a piece of the pork loin we bought at Costco yesterday, so we will have a decent dinner later.\u00a0 It’s baking now and smells scrumptious.\u00a0 Tomorrow is another lighter day for me.\u00a0 I will go play music at a retirement facility (Dry Creek), where everyone is in semi-decent shape and sometimes a few get up and dance.\u00a0 I have finally gotten my stamina back and today after lunch I went to my exercise class.\u00a0 There were 12 of us there, and we have lost our teacher (she graduated from CWU and has to find a job), so she left town.\u00a0 We led it ourselves today, and will continue.<\/p>\n The dogs got to be outside in the orchard today working with John.\u00a0 They loved it.\u00a0 An older female won\u2019t stay with him if he is cutting brush or trees.\u00a0 About 8 years ago she wandered under the tip-top of a tree as it came down and didn\u2019t appreciate the experience.\u00a0 Just her feelings were hurt!\u00a0 When John isn\u2019t actively urging them forward, they have time to find things.\u00a0 So, while John worked, one of them dug out a shrew and killed it. \u00a0I saw it when I got home, and John picked it up and buried it.\u00a0 It looks like this:<\/p>\n http:\/\/animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu\/site\/resources\/mzm2\/43.mr2.jpg\/medium.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Shrew<\/a><\/p>\n Thursday; not much today but a trip to town for both of us, John to shop while I play music at Dry Creek.\u00a0 We had a full slate today, with several violins, viola, bass fiddle, guitars and a banjo, plus a singer (who will be getting on her viola to join us some day.\u00a0 We were missing our accordionist who had hip surgery.\u00a0 The wind was wicked today, reaching 45 mph gusts a couple of hours in the afternoon.\u00a0 John managed to feed the horses and take the dogs for a spin, plus work on cutting up apple branches from a tree he pruned severely yesterday.\u00a0 Last night in the middle of the night, our kitty, Sunshine, caught a mouse in the hallway outside the bedroom and bath.\u00a0 John retrieved it (with a glove) and launched it into orbit. Well, it was dark, so maybe not.<\/p>\n Friday.\u00a0 \u00a0I slept in this morning and then had a small breakfast and took off for a shoulder massage at 11:00.\u00a0 After that I came out of the door in the Sr. Center and saw a person who sometimes plays harmonica with us.\u00a0 He told me he had a heart attack last week, and had to have 4 stints put in.\u00a0 Wow.\u00a0 Then on to a scholarship luncheon at the SURC (Student University Recreation Center) at CWU.\u00a0 On my way there I passed a garage sale, so I stopped and got a roll of Burlap for John for $2.\u00a0 It was a gorgeous day — for Earth Day, too, and John was doing his part. \u00a0He planted pines and Rocky Mountain Maples \u2013<\/p>\n http:\/\/classes.hortla.wsu.edu\/hort231\/List04\/AcerGla.html<\/a><\/p>\n The pair of winged seeds (paired samaras) have a swept-back shape (V-like on a jet plane) while Washington State\u2019s other native maple, the Vine Maple, has seeds like the wings of a Piper Cub.<\/p>\n http:\/\/classes.hortla.wsu.edu\/hort231\/List04\/AcerCir.html<\/a><\/p>\n On the word \u201csamara\u201d and related maple word lore:<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.billcasselman.com\/canadian_garden_words\/cgw_three.htm<\/a><\/p>\n On the way into the SURC, I heard a guitarist sitting on an outer wall, singing and playing.\u00a0 I slowed down and listened and heard some of the words of the song, with Okanogan in it.\u00a0 I walked over to him and told him he had a beautiful voice.\u00a0 We visited a bit and he said he was going to be playing inside for Earth Day at 1:00 to 2:00.\u00a0 I went down to hear him after lunch. Our lunch was good, with different kinds of Foccia bread (with toppings), salad, and big yummy strawberries.\u00a0 Lemonade to drink.<\/p>\n The singer\/guitarist had introduced himself to me (Dana Lyons), and said he had a web site and I could go there and download his favorite song, he wrote, called Cows have Guns.\u00a0 I stayed at his concert till he played that song, and then I left, getting to my exercise class a little late.\u00a0 He plays an electric guitar that sounds very much like an acoustic one, just like the performer on the electric violin I told you about a couple of months ago.<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.cowswithguns.com\/cgi-bin\/home.cgi<\/a><\/p>\n . . . will give you a taste of his talent.<\/p>\n Saturday.\u00a0 John has already started his yard work by packing the \u201cfarm truck\u201d with apple tree prunings and carrying down into the pasture to add to the quail condos.<\/p>\n Ours are the California types and sometimes called \u201cvalley quail\u201d . . .<\/p>\n http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/California_Quail<\/a><\/p>\n They frequently cross roads in front of cars but unlike most sensible birds they rarely fly away \u2013 they have an elegant running gate.\u00a0 Because they travel in groups (a covey) they will reverse directions \u2013 darting back and forth in front of the car.\u00a0 This suicidal behavior means you cannot drive for long in the Valley without hitting one.\u00a0 And they are so cute!\u00a0 In a compensatory gesture, John makes brush piles with interior spaces for them to hide and nest. The dogs will point them, and that\u2019s fun to see.\u00a0 Once in awhile a small hawk with quail-for-lunch on its mind hangs around.<\/p>\n It is Saturday evening: I have been doing work inside the house, mostly on my computer.\u00a0 I\u2019m off to play at a special Easter Vigil service.\u00a0 I\u2019m expecting another violinist, a clarinetist, and pianist.\u00a0 It\u2019s not till 7:00 p.m. and we won\u2019t be doing the Taize\u2019 service tomorrow night.<\/p>\n John is to put this into the \u201ccloud\u201d and feed the horses, dogs, cat, and himself.\u00a0 I get snacks at the church.\u00a0 Maybe they will have a chocolate egg or a chocolate bunny.\u00a0 Funny \u2013 the things we do.<\/p>\n Happy Easter.<\/p>\n Nancy and John in Ellensburg, WA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I managed to get the last full week\u2019s long blog out late Saturday afternoon, so that day was covered.\u00a0 Now it\u2019s Sunday, and I slept in, catching up on much needed rest from my busy days and nights in Seattle. \u00a0John already has started his work, in a chilly, but beautifully sunny environment.\u00a0 He\u2019s still … Continue reading “Saturday — Late Easter, Late Spring, wind & chocolate”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-random-issues"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p72iNf-cn","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=767"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":770,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767\/revisions\/770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![http:\/\/animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu\/site\/resources\/mzm2\/43.mr2.jpg\/medium.jpg<\/a><\/p>\nhttp:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Shrew<\/a><\/p>\nThursday; not much today but a trip to town for both of us, John to shop while I play music at Dry Creek.\u00a0 We had a full slate today, with several violins, viola, bass fiddle, guitars and a banjo, plus a singer (who will be getting on her viola to join us some day.\u00a0 We were missing our accordionist who had hip surgery.\u00a0 The wind was wicked today, reaching 45 mph gusts a couple of hours in the afternoon.\u00a0 John managed to feed the horses and take the dogs for a spin, plus work on cutting up apple branches from a tree he pruned severely yesterday.\u00a0 Last night in the middle of the night, our kitty, Sunshine, caught a mouse in the hallway outside the bedroom and bath.\u00a0 John retrieved it (with a glove) and launched it into orbit. Well, it was dark, so maybe not.<\/p>\nFriday.\u00a0 \u00a0I slept in this morning and then had a small breakfast and took off for a shoulder massage at 11:00.\u00a0 After that I came out of the door in the Sr. Center and saw a person who sometimes plays harmonica with us.\u00a0 He told me he had a heart attack last week, and had to have 4 stints put in.\u00a0 Wow.\u00a0 Then on to a scholarship luncheon at the SURC (Student University Recreation Center) at CWU.\u00a0 On my way there I passed a garage sale, so I stopped and got a roll of Burlap for John for $2.\u00a0 It was a gorgeous day — for Earth Day, too, and John was doing his part. \u00a0He planted pines and Rocky Mountain Maples \u2013<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/classes.hortla.wsu.edu\/hort231\/List04\/AcerGla.html<\/a><\/p>\nThe pair of winged seeds (paired samaras) have a swept-back shape (V-like on a jet plane) while Washington State\u2019s other native maple, the Vine Maple, has seeds like the wings of a Piper Cub.<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/classes.hortla.wsu.edu\/hort231\/List04\/AcerCir.html<\/a><\/p>\nOn the word \u201csamara\u201d and related maple word lore:<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.billcasselman.com\/canadian_garden_words\/cgw_three.htm<\/a><\/p>\nOn the way into the SURC, I heard a guitarist sitting on an outer wall, singing and playing.\u00a0 I slowed down and listened and heard some of the words of the song, with Okanogan in it.\u00a0 I walked over to him and told him he had a beautiful voice.\u00a0 We visited a bit and he said he was going to be playing inside for Earth Day at 1:00 to 2:00.\u00a0 I went down to hear him after lunch. Our lunch was good, with different kinds of Foccia bread (with toppings), salad, and big yummy strawberries.\u00a0 Lemonade to drink.<\/p>\nThe singer\/guitarist had introduced himself to me (Dana Lyons), and said he had a web site and I could go there and download his favorite song, he wrote, called Cows have Guns.\u00a0 I stayed at his concert till he played that song, and then I left, getting to my exercise class a little late.\u00a0 He plays an electric guitar that sounds very much like an acoustic one, just like the performer on the electric violin I told you about a couple of months ago.<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.cowswithguns.com\/cgi-bin\/home.cgi<\/a><\/p>\n. . . will give you a taste of his talent.<\/p>\nSaturday.\u00a0 John has already started his yard work by packing the \u201cfarm truck\u201d with apple tree prunings and carrying down into the pasture to add to the quail condos.<\/p>\nOurs are the California types and sometimes called \u201cvalley quail\u201d . . .<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/California_Quail<\/a><\/p>\nThey frequently cross roads in front of cars but unlike most sensible birds they rarely fly away \u2013 they have an elegant running gate.\u00a0 Because they travel in groups (a covey) they will reverse directions \u2013 darting back and forth in front of the car.\u00a0 This suicidal behavior means you cannot drive for long in the Valley without hitting one.\u00a0 And they are so cute!\u00a0 In a compensatory gesture, John makes brush piles with interior spaces for them to hide and nest. The dogs will point them, and that\u2019s fun to see.\u00a0 Once in awhile a small hawk with quail-for-lunch on its mind hangs around.<\/p>\nIt is Saturday evening: I have been doing work inside the house, mostly on my computer.\u00a0 I\u2019m off to play at a special Easter Vigil service.\u00a0 I\u2019m expecting another violinist, a clarinetist, and pianist.\u00a0 It\u2019s not till 7:00 p.m. and we won\u2019t be doing the Taize\u2019 service tomorrow night.<\/p>\nJohn is to put this into the \u201ccloud\u201d and feed the horses, dogs, cat, and himself.\u00a0 I get snacks at the church.\u00a0 Maybe they will have a chocolate egg or a chocolate bunny.\u00a0 Funny \u2013 the things we do.<\/p>\nHappy Easter.<\/p>\nNancy and John in Ellensburg, WA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I managed to get the last full week\u2019s long blog out late Saturday afternoon, so that day was covered.\u00a0 Now it\u2019s Sunday, and I slept in, catching up on much needed rest from my busy days and nights in Seattle. \u00a0John already has started his work, in a chilly, but beautifully sunny environment.\u00a0 He\u2019s still … Continue reading “Saturday — Late Easter, Late Spring, wind & chocolate”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-random-issues"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p72iNf-cn","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=767"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":770,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767\/revisions\/770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"http:\/\/animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu\/site\/resources\/mzm2\/43.mr2.jpg\/medium.jpg\"){kind=link}