{"id":811,"date":"2011-07-09T23:00:23","date_gmt":"2011-07-10T06:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/hultquist\/?p=811"},"modified":"2011-07-09T23:00:23","modified_gmt":"2011-07-10T06:00:23","slug":"saturday-summer-but-the-living-ain%e2%80%99t-easy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/?p=811","title":{"rendered":"SATURDAY — Summer but the living ain\u2019t easy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunday (the 3rd<\/sup>) \u2013 hopefully this will be another gentle day of rest.\u00a0 The day has started out cool.\u00a0 Temp at 11:00 a.m. is up to 70 but is not supposed to be as hot as yesterday.\u00a0 Winds are sustained at high 20s with gusts to 37 mph the past 3 hours.\u00a0 I spent most of the day on email chores, and fixing up a July 4th<\/sup> wish to send to all our friends and relatives.\u00a0 Hopefully you got yours, but if not you can check the links below:<\/p>\n

Please click on EACH link below and view to enjoy both.<\/p>\n

Please do not respond on line unless you put your name in the message, because of the way I did these, when read, the reply comes back as if it was from me, not you.\u00a0 I won\u2019t have a clue who wrote the message if you don\u2019t identify yourself.\u00a0 That happened to several of my sends, and is frustrating.<\/p>\n

About the cards:<\/p>\n

The first one is a new card (from the UK) with the central character a kitty resembling the female we adopted (from our barn), last Dec 4th.\u00a0 She is now quite the member of the family and romps and plays with our 4 Brittanys inside and outside the house.<\/p>\n

Under the greeting, Happy Independence Day, click on the line that says: Click here to learn more about the music, and continue by clicking on Next, at the bottom right.\u00a0 It’s a neat story.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.jacquielawson.com\/viewcard.asp?code=2944613764619&source=jl999<\/a><\/p>\n

The second one is a beautiful rendition of State flowers that ends in a unique way.\u00a0 It’s beautifully done and appropriate for the Fourth of July.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.jacquielawson.com\/viewcard.asp?code=2945120134619&source=jl999<\/a><\/p>\n

Be sure at the end you click on the left side after the Eagle of Flowers has drawn, to see your (or any other) state flower.<\/p>\n

John has been doing some brushing, irrigation ditch clean-out and moving small rocks around in a blue wheel barrow.\u00a0 About a dozen more loads and a gravel topping will complete a very old project \u2013 one, getting rocks out of the way, and two, making a parking place in shade most of the day.<\/p>\n

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY \u2026 started out trying to sleep in from a poor night\u2019s sleep, but we were awakened by an early morning call.\u00a0 Is it just us, or is it a courtesy only East of the Mississippi that one doesn\u2019t call someone before 9:00 a.m.?<\/p>\n

We put a pork loin roast in the oven to take over to our neighbors for dinner (at lunch time).\u00a0 It went off as planned, with the neighbors providing all the stuff to go with the roast.\u00a0 We had salad, mashed potatoes, green beans, celery & carrots, blueberry muffins, and strawberry shortcake for dessert.\u00a0 Too much food and only 6 people.<\/p>\n

The folks have an over abundance of vegatation on the place \u2013 especially Hawthorn trees that grow along fence lines and lean into the fields.<\/p>\n

John has sharpened his chainsaw and is off just before 6 a.m. to the upper pasture \u2013 with stout gloves — to take out a couple that are in the way of the swather.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Swather<\/a><\/p>\n

In the following link, picture three shows why it is called a thorn tree:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.bellarmine.edu\/faculty\/drobinson\/WashingtonHawthorn.asp<\/a><\/p>\n

John calls them Ironwood trees as something similar grew in the region where he lived in Pennsylvania;\u00a0 maybe this one, the Carpinus caroliniana<\/em> subsp.\u00a0virginiana<\/em>.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Carpinus_caroliniana<\/a><\/p>\n

He remembers hearing of the wood\u2019s use to make pegs, dowels, and nail-like items as the wood is very tough.\u00a0 No thorns on this one though.\u00a0 The rest seems to fit.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.woodweb.com\/knowledge_base\/Qualities_of_Ironwood_Also_Called_Hornbeam.html<\/a><\/p>\n

At the local airport the temp got up to 78 but is headed back down.\u00a0 The house siding is brown and warms up in bright sun, making the south and west facing rooms heat up in the late afternoon.\u00a0 I switched to shorts and a 100% cotton top.\u00a0 The A\/C is back on to keep it at 76 in the hallway, but the room I\u2019m in is in the bright sunshine and one of our blinds broke over half the glass sliding door.\u00a0 Too much stuff to fix around this house. \u00a0The house was built in 1981-82 so some of the old things are wearing out \u2013 just like us.\u00a0 We should stay home and fix things but it is more fun running all over. \u00a0We\u2019ll have to decide on what sort of replacement will be suitable for the blind \u2013 a web search turned up about 1,000 & 1 things and wasn\u2019t much help.\u00a0 After a look through the \u201cbig box stores\u201d we may get the terminology figured out and try again.<\/p>\n

Day after the 4th<\/sup>, Tuesday, was supposed to be a light day, with no trips to town, but John started out early by going over at 8:00 a.m. to the north pasture of our neighbors to clean up the mess he created last night with cutting the Hawthorne trees.\u00a0 He put a chain around bunches and dragged with his 4WD old pickup (\u201980 Chev), over to a wet portion of the field that cannot be planted with grass hay.<\/p>\n

I stayed home and took care of things around the house and emails.\u00a0 We\u2019ve rested a lot after he returned, because the temps went up to 93 and it is not conducive to working outside till it cools down.<\/p>\n

Had leftovers plus cantaloupe for dinner.<\/p>\n

Wednesday found me sleeping-in because I did not sleep well last night, or the night before with all the fireworks.\u00a0 This morning I didn\u2019t have much time before leaving for playing music at the Food Bank Soup Kitchen.\u00a0 Normally I do this 3 Fridays a month, but now for July and August, we (3 of us) will be doing the music on Wednesdays.\u00a0 They feed us too.\u00a0 Today was prime rib meat soup with lots of green beans and a few noodles.\u00a0 I cannot say I really enjoyed it and only ate a little, but it was tasty.\u00a0 Also a nice salad w\/ dressing, lemonade (mine) on ice (theirs), and a small piece of yellow cake with orange frosting.\u00a0 Problem today is the heat.\u00a0 It is 92 and most places I was today had no A\/C, so I stripped down and went barefoot too, when I got home.<\/p>\n

Today\/Thursday was an interesting WINDY day.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t have to go to town till leaving at 1:25 p.m., for a nursing home where we played.\u00a0 We played over an hour, and I got out as soon as possible driving home because I didn\u2019t want to leave my violin in a hot car (turned out the wind whipped up a lot–up to 49 mph gusts and lowered the temperature significantly).\u00a0 However, I drove home, dropped the fiddle off, and went back to Kittitas for a baby shower at 4:00 p.m.\u00a0 We had a blast and there was plenty of food to fill up on and cake for dessert.\u00a0 I do not need to eat any supper.\u00a0 Played only one game and it was neat, but mainly we sat around and talked.<\/p>\n

Most interesting find there among the group was what a small world it is.\u00a0 After looking at a familiar-looking person for much of the time, she realized she knew me and had been in several of my geography classes at CWU, along with her husband, also a Geography major.\u00a0 They met in our Wine:\u00a0 A Geographical Appreciation class.\u00a0 We last saw them in 1998.\u00a0 Stayed till almost 6:00 and had to fight the wind all the way home.\u00a0 My car was only getting 19 mpg because of fighting the raging gusts.\u00a0 Normally, it will cruise at 27 mpg.\u00a0 The temp is down to 56 on our front porch and for the past 2 hours the gusts have been 45mph!\u00a0 Highest this afternoon was two hours (apart) of 49mph, one already mentioned for gusty Ellensburg.<\/p>\n

Friday was different from most.\u00a0 Started with a Sears\u2019s repairman to evaluate our freezer part of the double fridge.\u00a0 As expected, it would not make the singing and screaming noise while he was here.\u00a0 We have to wait till he hears it before he can replace the fan, which he fully expects is the culprit.\u00a0 I left for a shoulder massage and it was relieving.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t really feel up to waiting around for exercise class, because I was rather beat from the heat and my reaction Tues and Wed, so I went to the grocery store and by one yard sale ($2.00 bought me a brush for our cat\u2019s tail to get out the seeds she is bringing back from her outside yard jaunts, a pair of denim pants for John, and an acrylic sweater for me, in red\/white\/blues.\u00a0 If the temps were as cold July 4th<\/sup> as today I could have worn it.\u00a0 Then tonight we went to a party.\u00a0 I\u2019ll wait and describe later, but essentially it was to meet the Brittany puppies (6 weeks old) and have snacks (pretty substantial) with the Chemistry and Science Education faculty.\u00a0 Very much fun.\u00a0 Snacks included little Smokies (pigs in a blanket), fruit salad bowl, chips, dip, veggies and a couple of dips, and salsa.<\/p>\n

What a day Saturday turned into.\u00a0 We met up for lunch and a visit with folks from CA coming to pick up their Brittany puppy from friends here in Eburg, where we were last night at the party.\u00a0 Our friends from CA bought lunch for us.\u00a0 It was a great visit.<\/p>\n

From there we took them to the house with the puppies, visited a little and then drove to town for gasoline.\u00a0 John\u2019s car was running on vapors.\u00a0 After that we drove to two yard sales, and found a few good things.\u00a0 John found a pair of NEW high topped strong irrigation\/mud boots, in his size for $3 (probably worth 45+ bucks).\u00a0 He saw a nice large blue blanket for 50 cents.\u00a0 At one other sale he found two glass lids that will likely fit our crock pot that needs one.\u00a0 Or one will work on another pan or skillet. For a quarter each, it was a real deal.<\/p>\n

From there we went to Briarwood Commons (retirement center), where I was scheduled to play music with my \u201cgroup.\u201d\u00a0 We had a really small number today.\u00a0 I was the only fiddler, and there were two guitarists, a base fiddler, a clarinetist, and two singers.\u00a0 While the audience was also smaller than usual, they had words to most of the music and sang along with many of the songs.\u00a0 It was quite nice.\u00a0 This is the group who also feeds us afterward.\u00a0 Today were two types of salad (mixed green & mixed fruit), egg salad finger sandwiches, and a table of desserts with whipped cream topping (homemade pumpkin pie, Bundt cakes: cherry, blueberry, & orange, and cookies).\u00a0 Wasn\u2019t necessary to eat dinner tonight, but John had a little of the lunch leftovers with other chicken leftovers and carrots from a recent dinner here at home.\u00a0 I ate more than him at Mexican restaurant lunch (Prawn Fahitas) and after the music, so I won\u2019t have anything tonight.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m still full.<\/p>\n

This morning before 10:30 a.m. John and I rushed and struggled to get out the newsletter that John writes for the Trail Riders club, and I helped him fold, stamp, and get 48 copies of the 6-page\u00a0 newsletter out to the mailbox as we left.\u00a0 We SHOULD have taken them with us to town to the Post Office.\u00a0 Our postal person did not pick them up out of our box (John always arranges them in a plastic bag), and instead, the carrier threw in the mail and magazines over the top–Damn.\u00a0 We were not happy campers.\u00a0 By the time we found them left in the mailbox, (a very large box and they were at the front), it was 3:53 p.m., and the pickup in Eburg on Saturday is by 4:00 p.m. outside the USPO.\u00a0 There\u2019s no pickup on Sunday, and so club members will be late getting theirs before the meeting on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Once home, we were both tired and slept for two hours !\u00a0 Over the last day or two I\u2019ve developed a swollen lymph node under the jaw line on the right side.\u00a0 We both have blood draws scheduled for Monday morning for annual physicals on Tuesday.\u00a0 Meanwhile, I\u2019ve started taking amoxycillin that I keep on hand for pre-treatment before dental appointments.\u00a0 A couple of weeks ago John had a tooth pain that the dentist checked out but they (he and John) settled on treating with amoxycillin, although he wrote a prescription for Medrol DosePak, in case, over the weekend, John wanted (or needed) additional relief. That hasn\u2019t been needed.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m late finishing this up for this week, but I will now, and send off to John to put on the WordPress blog.<\/p>\n

Our best regards<\/p>\n

Nancy and John<\/p>\n

in windy Kittitas County<\/p>\n

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Sunday (the 3rd) \u2013 hopefully this will be another gentle day of rest.\u00a0 The day has started out cool.\u00a0 Temp at 11:00 a.m. is up to 70 but is not supposed to be as hot as yesterday.\u00a0 Winds are sustained at high 20s with gusts to 37 mph the past 3 hours.\u00a0 I spent most … Continue reading “SATURDAY — Summer but the living ain\u2019t easy”<\/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-811","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-d5","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811","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=811"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":813,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811\/revisions\/813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}