Sunday, May 20\u00a0 John started the day with many chores (usual and different).\u00a0 His major different one was spraying two gallons of Weed-B-Gon around the yard.\u00a0 Of course, there was a sprinkle, but hopefully not enough to strip off the stuff.\u00a0 I spent about 20 minutes on the phone with a 52-year-old cousin from my GA days. \u00a0He has worked many years for Shell Oil, most recently spending 5 years on Sakhalin Island, Russia, north of Japan. \u00a0Now he and his wife (she doesn’t work for Shell) have been transferred to Kazakhstan since January to a little northern city above the Caspian Sea, below sea level!\u00a0 He is back visiting in Austin, TX with his two sons, 32 and 23. \u00a0One is an electrical engineer and just finished college, and the other is a corporate attorney, with two children. \u00a0John is my cousin’s name, and he is the youngest son of my mom’s youngest sister, Mary, who stayed with my parents the first 6 years of their marriage.\u00a0 My mom called me Mary most of my life, so I grew up answering to both names. \u00a0Today we went to a birthday lunch at our neighbors.\u00a0 We had roast beef, salad, blueberry muffins, and carrots, with peanut butter pie for dessert.\u00a0 Boy it was good.\u00a0 Then came home and found the next chapter of our feral cat story. \u00a0An orange male cat is recuperating from his neutering, still in our house.\u00a0 His mom (orange) and sister (dark brown & black) are back outside all spayed and healed.\u00a0 John is still putting food out for them.\u00a0 This afternoon I was talking on the phone, looked out, and saw 3 cats, two orange ones.\u00a0 What a surprise!\u00a0 They all three went happily into the hayloft and were eating and drinking together.\u00a0 We don’t know where that extra orange cat came from.\u00a0 Therefore, we will have to trap it and take it to the vet.\u00a0 We also don’t know if the one we captured actually was the yearling who has been around here; could be that it is the one we still need to capture.\u00a0 I suppose we are helping with the cat population increase in our neighborhood.<\/p>\n
Monday, May 21\u00a0 Started the morning with a big rainstorm while John was exercising the dogs.\u00a0 He had already fed the neighbors’ horses, and moved ours to the upper “pasture.”\u00a0 I called the vet to see if it would be all right to release the neutered cat, and we managed to do that chore.\u00a0 The rain had stopped before John carried him out in a dog crate to the hayshed.\u00a0 Just had finished, when his sister Peggy called about having a portable keyboard with 26 keys that you make play by blowing in it.\u00a0 That should be helpful for lungs.\u00a0 It is a Hohner Melodica (German made), in a case.\u00a0 She wondered if I would like to add it to our music collection.\u00a0 She’s going to check into the shipping costs via UPS.<\/p>\n
We think we neutered another cat from our neighborhood, not one of Sue\u2019s.\u00a0 He is a very noisy\/vocal cat.\u00a0 Now we see the yearling back running around with our Woody who along with her mother was spayed.\u00a0 So, I paid $ to neuter a neighborhood cat ! \u00a0At least he won’t father any more kittens.\u00a0 Now we have to catch the orange one we have fed all winter, Little Sioux.<\/p>\n
Tuesday, May 22\u00a0 Yikes, I was swamped today even after awaking early with a good night’s sleep not interrupted with howling cats.\u00a0 I went to town stopping at the old building where I last had an office before moving to the new building in 2008, and I got a mouse to replace the one that died on my computer.\u00a0 While there, I turned in my old Mac Book laptop that died in January for them to destroy.\u00a0 Gave the cords and power supply to my geography colleague who got her Mac Book the same time I did in 2007.\u00a0 Then met her and the candidate for a geography job for lunch at the Soup Bowl, across the street from my bank, where I parked in their lot.\u00a0 I had a half tuna\/egg salad sandwich and a small bowl of tomato\/roasted garlic soup.\u00a0 I was worried about the garlic, so they let me taste it and it was fine.\u00a0 From there I went to the music store to pick up my microphone (but they hadn’t been able to fix it).\u00a0 While there, however, the luthier and electronic expert explained what was wrong, and how if I found a working mic I could use the parts of mine.\u00a0 Also, I asked him a question about the tuner I bought for John a few days previously, and he showed me better how to use it.\u00a0 I had had trouble tuning two of the strings on John’s guitar.\u00a0 Meanwhile, my friend who bought the microphone and stand at the surplus sale called home and John answered.\u00a0 He told him where I was having lunch.\u00a0 It was about 3 blocks from his house, so he brought me the microphone he had donated to his church and they weren’t using.\u00a0 He walked into the restaurant and handed it to me!\u00a0 Wow.\u00a0 It was free, and he gave me the connector cord to hook to the amplifier he also gave me earlier.\u00a0 I will take it tomorrow to the Food Bank to help project our voices.\u00a0 Then I returned to the parking lot outside Dean Hall to wait for the talk at 2:00, but it was raining hard.\u00a0 I just sat in my car and made some calls on my cell phone.\u00a0 It stopped raining long enough for me to go in the building (I didn’t have an umbrella along or in the car).<\/p>\n
John says the unfixed cat is sleeping in our old camper out in the yard behind the shed where I park.\u00a0 I had seen a yellow cat there (on the ground) yesterday.\u00a0 All 3 fixed cats were happily eating in the haymow this morning.\u00a0 We got the binoculars to check their clipped ears.\u00a0 All were clipped, so, I guess the new cat, Cashew, has decided to stick around.\u00a0 Perhaps he’s been around all the time, but we have never seen but two orange cats at one time.<\/p>\n
The annular solar eclipse was not visible from here.\u00a0 The best views were from Utah, in a little small town with few services where 2000 photographers showed up.\u00a0 We had friends also on the edge of it in CA who went with their physicist friend to photograph the eclipse through a telescope, but they were off center there, and they only got crescent shaped images not a ring.\u00a0 Still, I suppose it would be neat to view, considering it won’t happen again till 2023.<\/p>\n
Wednesday, May 23 \u00a0Today was another really full day.\u00a0 Got my microphone, cord, extension cord and amplifier together and took it to the Food Bank to set up for the two of us to use.\u00a0 It was a lot of carting in and out stuff, but it worked well.<\/p>\n
Then on to exercise, and to a thesis defense at 3:00 of a former graduate student assistant of mine, finally ending with a 4:00 talk by a candidate for the chair of geography.<\/p>\n
Thursday, May \u00a024\u00a0 It has been another crazy day.\u00a0 John went with me to lunch in Kittitas (10 miles from our home).\u00a0 We met 7 riders from the trail riders club who made the trip on horseback, along the John Wayne Pioneer Trail, from Ellensburg, to Kittitas, and another 6 of us used car horsepower to get there.\u00a0 I had my favorite Taco Salad (minus olives, substituting tomatoes), and John had a Taco burger, but it was nothing like he expected.\u00a0 He should have had Tacos or a regular hamburger with fries.\u00a0 It was not a burger, but some of the meat sauce from a taco, spread on a hamburger bun with shredded lettuce and a little tomato!\u00a0 Then he dropped me off at the post office to mail my broken Toshiba mini mouse to CA for a replacement.\u00a0 This mornng I finally got the paperwork for the invoice I needed from Toshiba Direct after 45 minutes on the phone going from person to person.\u00a0 They would not accept the Order Status from their own web page, even though it had all the information on it.\u00a0 We tried using the post office in Kittitas, but it was still closed over the noon hour at 1:05.\u00a0 So drove to EBRG to the post office and got it sent off before John took me on to Hearthstone Cottages to entertain with our music group.<\/p>\n
While I was playing music, he went shopping and got lots of good stuff for much marked down prices. \u00a0Butter, frozen dinners, soft drinks, low salt potato chips, chicken, and something else.\u00a0 The receipt claims we saved $30.37, but that’s actually not true, because we wouldn’t buy them at the higher price!\u00a0 He came back as we were finishing and they gave us tea and cookies.\u00a0 I grabbed four cookies (3 peanut butter & one shortbread type) and brought them home.\u00a0 I ate most of them, but John had a part of one and also warmed a donut I brought home yesterday.<\/p>\n
We needed to stop by the hospital for a blood draw for my INR test. \u00a0That we did, and it shocked me to walk into the main front desk and be called by name.\u00a0 Hi Nancy=from one of the guys who has worked there a long while.\u00a0 That’s when you know you have been at that hospital TOO many times.\u00a0 One has to check in to be recognized and get a paper to take to whatever department you are going:\u00a0 Imaging, lab, outpatient services, or the pulmonary unit.\u00a0 They always need your birth date and to check your family physician or the doctor requesting the work, plus ask if anything has changed.\u00a0 I know all the questions so I just sit down and give the answers before they have to ask.<\/p>\n
John has been considering driving 20 miles past Stevens Pass to do some trail work in the Foss Creek watershed, a place where he worked last year.\u00a0 In our 2011 greetings, there is a picture of him there on a bridge and also one of a huge fir tree, which they cleared trail around.\u00a0 He told me I should charge up my computer battery and drive along with him.\u00a0 I was seriously considering it.\u00a0 It is very pretty country up there, and the only reason for staying home is to clean stacks of boxes, and who wants to do that ?\u00a0 He came in awhile ago when it started raining (now the sun is out) and he is back out planting yellow bean seeds he got today.\u00a0 I cannot eat dark green veggies, but yellow should be all right, yes?\u00a0 I told him I was considering going along, but he said that really wasn’t a great idea, because it was 20 miles from the ranger station with restrooms.\u00a0 Okay.. I won’t go.\u00a0 Later, he decided they no longer needed Assistant Crew Leaders, so he wouldn’t make the trip this time.\u00a0 He’s got enough brush removal and fence building to do around our place.<\/p>\n
Friday, \u00a0May 25\u00a0 This morning early, I got a call from my doctor’s office that my INR was 2.1.\u00a0 That’s a good thing.\u00a0 Maybe it has stabilized again.\u00a0 I hope so.\u00a0 It’s nice not to have a blood draw but once a month rather than 2-3 times.\u00a0 Only problem with the next one, will be that it will be while I’m in Georgia.\u00a0 I’ll wait until I return.\u00a0 Yesterday they wanted to prick my finger, but I prefer blood draws to that.\u00a0 It affects my playing the violin.\u00a0 Today was an interesting day.\u00a0 I called about dental insurance, after chewing off my enamel cusp from my upper tooth last night.\u00a0 I have been considering buying the insurance while it is still the month of May, so that it will pay for my work in June (cleaning is all that was planned, but now I have to have this tooth fixed).\u00a0 I headed out for lunch and exercise picking up my 87-yr-old friend, Lois.\u00a0 We went to the luncheon. \u00a0It was neat with table clothes and cloth napkins. They fed us fried fish (first time in a LONG time I have had tartar sauce), Cole slaw, a large flat hushpuppy that looked like a pancake (strange with no butter or honey), potato wedge, and a chocolate mousse for dessert.\u00a0 They served ice water and coffee or tea.<\/p>\n
From there we drove to exercise and had a hard workout. \u00a0Then I drove Lois to Fred Meyer for her to pick up some necessities for the long weekend. \u00a0She will have to fend for herself because the bus (Hope Source) to pick up people in town doesn’t operate on weekends or holidays, and the Senior Center where she eats Monday lunch will be closed for the holiday. \u00a0She asked me to help her read her meter on the propane tank. \u00a0I opened it and screamed because there was an active wasp nest with 3 wasps I saw, before slamming it shut. \u00a0She will get her son to come over (he lives next door), and bring a spray to kill them and then read her meter.<\/p>\n
Once home, I walked around the yard with John and the dogs, and petted ALL the horses (except Ebony who must have been somewhere else in the pasture). \u00a0We didn’t succeed in capturing the orange cat last night. \u00a0Now there is a holiday and we have an appt for next Tuesday. \u00a0Cashew is sticking around and is good friends with Rascal, sharing canned food, and the cat house, as well as playing together in the yard.\u00a0 Woody has gone back to buddying up with Little Sioux around the camper in the front yard. They do come back to the hay loft to eat, but I think John will move the trap out to the area around the camper.\u00a0 Our weather today was in the high 60s and pretty nice, with a cooling wind.\u00a0 John also showed me around the garden(s):\u00a0 reviewing his blueberry plants, the yellow bean seeds he planted today, the asparagus coming up, the strawberries (blooming nicely), but all his squash and tomato seeds he planted into little boxes did not make it.\u00a0 Also, he showed me the yellow (Anne) raspberries he planted.\u00a0 We walked up to get the paper, and he showed me where our Rocky Mt. Maple trees and Rose of Sharons (Althea) had died.\u00a0 The latter were never strong and seemed to dessicate.\u00a0 Previous winter we covered them with snow but this past winter there was never enough snow to do that.\u00a0 A couple of the maples lost all their leaves to frost and another couple may make enough new leaves to survive.\u00a0 If they survive through next spring they might become established.\u00a0 They are common in other parts of the county \u2013 just not here.<\/p>\n
Saturday, May 26\u00a0 I started out early this morning (8:00 a.m.) logged into an online real-time streamed video from Ohio, by Christian Howes about techniques of playing the violin using different ways to improvise and complement group playing.\u00a0 I watched it for almost two hours.\u00a0 I learned a lot, but I did not have an easy way of showing it on a screen and also playing along on my violin.\u00a0 During the time, he talked about his website and a workshop he does each year in Columbus, OH, and about his Creative Strings Academy on line, for learning all sorts of string musical things.\u00a0 He mentioned at one point how a person could subscribe for 3 free days on the site that costs $30\/month minimum to participate.\u00a0 Perhaps one day I will feel comfortable enough (I doubt it) to go to his summer workshop in Ohio, for a week in June.\u00a0 For adults it costs $750, so I think at my age and condition, I’d be better off to subscribe to the on line version that’s $29.95\/month.\u00a0 I believe the workshop is mostly for kids, in fact, for kids it is only $159 for the week.\u00a0 There they study improvisation, composition, and non-classical styles in an experiential learning context through the week long workshop.\u00a0 The folks registered work with world class artists every day learning RnB, bluegrass, freely improvised music, and others.\u00a0 (description from his website,\u00a0 http:\/\/christianhowes.com\/<\/a> ).<\/p>\n After watching the lesson this morning, I wrote Chris a thank you note and requested a copy of his Harmony Handbook which members of his Creative Strings Academy receive.\u00a0 He sent me the link to download a .pdf file, and I have done that.\u00a0 Now I have something to work on that will assist me in playing with the groups I do.\u00a0 Also, our Washington Old Time Fiddlers Association (WOTFA) week-long workshop 10 miles from home for $100\/student seems a better summer alternative for me.<\/p>\n If you are interested in seeing his online US-streamed videos, follow this link, and look for “So you want to play fast?!.”\u00a0 There are 3 other videos there.\u00a0 He does one of these every month for the public.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/christianhowesviolinist\/app_196506863720166<\/a><\/p>\n All of the ferals (well, 3 of them) were with Rascal in the haymow this morning.\u00a0 After lunch, we had a little excitement when Rascal brought a small snake onto the back patio.\u00a0 So that it didn’t end up in our hallway, John put on a glove and retrieved it, throwing it over the back fence into more suitable habitat.\u00a0 If it wasn’t too injured, it will survive.\u00a0 Now we are resting again, and plan to talk to John’s sister tonight.\u00a0 We had a nice conversation with Peggy and caught up on all the happenings in her life, and we reported on ours.\u00a0 Then we walked up the drive for the mail and for John to show me the pollen cones or “flowers” on the different pines.\u00a0 This link has some examples but ours are not included:<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.growsonyou.com\/bluespruce\/blog\/7837-conifer-cones-flowers-yes-flowers<\/a><\/p>\n We can take some pictures of the unusual purple and yellow colors and link to them for next week.<\/p>\n Hope your week was a good one.<\/p>\n Nancy and John<\/p>\n Still on the Naneum Fan<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sunday, May 20\u00a0 John started the day with many chores (usual and different).\u00a0 His major different one was spraying two gallons of Weed-B-Gon around the yard.\u00a0 Of course, there was a sprinkle, but hopefully not enough to strip off the stuff.\u00a0 I spent about 20 minutes on the phone with a 52-year-old cousin from my … Continue reading “Moving on into 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