Odds and ends.... May 26th

Rain: It still keeps raining... As of 5 p.m. today we have received officially 9.71 inches of rain this month and more rain is forecasted in the coming days. Next Monday is the first day where no rain is forecasted.  According to the radio, it has rained almost every day this month.  The good thing is that most of the storms have been nice, slow, easy rains.  So of course everything is green and growing like crazy.  Right now the wind is blowing and the grass is moving in the wind - it is so long and thick. It sure beats the lack of rain....

Labs: Last Friday I went down to the hospital to get my monthly labs done.  I was done around 9 a.m. By the time I got back in the area, stopped at the store and got home I had an email to check "My Chart". My labs were processed and posted within 90 minutes! Must have been a slow day in the lab and doctor's office since the results go from the lab to the doctor's office who reviews them and posts them to My Chart. Once again, my kidney and liver are happy campers!!!!!! For the first time ever, my glucose was a few points above norm.  I'm not going to worry and will see where it is next month.

Fairy Garden: My Fairy Garden aka a Miniature Garden is done after spending weeks buying the little pieces to go in the garden plus 2 books on how to make one and ideas.

First of all, these are not cheap to make! Some of the plants come in 1" pots and cost as much as those in 4" pots. The hardscape items are very spends since they are the latest fad in gardening. Trimming is done with scissors and a small paint brush is the rake and used to sweep dirt off things. . The trees, african violet and coleus are planted in their pots so they will stay small. The Irish Moss "grass" is planted in the dirt. To put it in a size perspective, the tiles making the patio are 1" at the widest point. It was fun to do and I enjoy looking at it.

 

This is the side of the patio where it sits along with other stuff. If I choose to, I can bring it in this winter instead of starting over next spring.

 

Bursitis: It is definitely getting better but the side effects of prednisone have arrived in full force. I have all this energy but things are hard to do with only one arm. I finally went to sleep around 3 this morning and that is really hard for me to deal with. The pain pill that is supposed to make me sleepy was not strong enough to override the prednisone but at least I wasn't hurting while laying there wide awake.... Hopefully it will go better tonight but I'm not holding my breath...

 

Monday Misc - May 25th

Putting flowers on graves: Vivian and I drove down to Sarcoxie on Saturday to put flowers on the graves of family members including Vida's parents, etc - 14 graves altogether. The back of my vehicle was packed full of wreaths.  We got smarter this year because when we bought there here, we wrote the name of who it was for on the label. All but 1 grave was in the same cemetery in Sarcoxie.

Right to left of the front row: My nephew (Bill's son), Daddy, Mom and the empty space on the left will be mine... I look around at the names in the cemetery and it is like a trip down memory lane because I knew so many of them when I was growing up.

Whenever we have been to the cemetery the last few years we always say "Wonder how we can get the black stuff off Vivian's mother's tombstone?" So after last year, I called a company that makes then and asked how they can be cleaned. 

 

The guy said to put a few drops of Dawn dish detergent in a spray bottle, spray it really good, brush with a soft bristle brush and then rinse thoroughly. So after I sprayed and scrubbed awhile, Vivian took over and this is how it turned out. The two darker lines on this one is where the water hadn't totally dried yet.  This fall we plan to go back to the cemetery and do the same on the tombstones of some other relatives.  The build up isn't near as bad on theirs but want to do it before it gets too bad. The guy told me is was just dirt and algae that builds up on the non-polished part of the marble.

On the way home, we stopped at the Reeds Cemetery, in the little town where my mom grew up, so I could show the cemetery to Vivian.  Two of my uncles are buried there plus wives and some of their children.  We notice a new grave for a Tommy Dean Goodson and it turns out it was a cousin of mine. He was a year older than me but I don't remember him as a kid.

Bursitis update: The bursitis in my shoulder is a little better today.  I slept most of last night in the recliner.  The doctor said to take the pain pill when I went to bed so that is what I did.  I didn't know it took at least an hour to kick in. I could not find a position in bed that didn't hurt when I went to bed so got up after 30 minutes and went in to the recliner with a blanket. By the time I woke up at 5:30, I went to bed and through the magic of pain pills didn't have any pain. The pain is better today after the prednisone started working. Tonight I will take the pain pill at least an hour before going to bed! Today was one of the few times I was thankful for naturally curly hair because there was no way I could use a blow dryer and brush on my hair after a shower this morning.

More Arboretum pictures

I have a few more pictures from last Monday's trip to the Overland Park Arboretum of some of the flowers that were in bloom.

I really, REALLY, visiting there!

Overland Park Arboretum

Love this place!  It is just so peaceful to go out there and walk the trails.  Yesterday was a little more challenging since there were 2 school buses there with kids but I made it.  I really doubt if 1st graders had a fun time looking at flowers but were probably excited to get out of the classroom. They had a special exhibit going on right now called Container Gardening that was interesting. Here are a few of the pictures in the exhibit:

 Plants planted in a trunk.

 

 A different use for a shopping cart....

Above and below:  I never thought about using old purses as a container but it is kinda unique.

Below is a cute Fairy Garden in a cut-out clay pot.

Monday Misc for May 18th

Where oh where is the year going?  It is passing so fast..

Strawberries: I practically dreamed about the Midwest strawberries during the years when I was out west.  The only place I got strawberries that met my expectations was when I lived in Sacramento.  There was a field along a busy street that grew strawberries and sold them at a stand by the field. Then it was a long dry spell for strawberries while I Arizona but I am back to Strawberry Heaven again. I found out about a family farm/orchard that is about 40 miles away while at the Saturday Farmer's Market. I went out there last year and got some and have been looking forward to them again for the last 12 months. I got an email from them last week saying that strawberries are ready again and open to U-Pick.  Well, let me tell you, I DO NOT DO U-PICK!  I picked strawberries as a kid for spending money - 5 cents a quart and that was it for me. The little town I grew up in at one time shipped box car loads of strawberries by rail from the many acres of strawberry farms in the area. The local farm was at the Farmer's Market last Saturday and I got a quart for me ad 2 quarts for my bother that I delivered yesterday. I finished the last of my quart at breakfast this morning but will be picking up 2 flats at the farm on Wednesday - 1 for me and 1 for Bill & Vida.

Flowers:  Last week I was at Vivian's house (my niece) and her yard is just beautiful.  She must have inherited her green thumb from her Grandma and Grandpa Arnold (my parents) but it skipped a generation because I sure don't have it. Here are some pictures I took of her flowers in bloom:

 

 

My solution to having flowers on the patio or in the entry is to buy a potted plant that is already blooming, stick it in a container and if it lives it lives and if it doesn't then it get's replaced....

Odds and Ends....

My SUV:  Last Tuesday I took my vehicle in for a 65,000 mile checkup, etc.  I got a loaner (free) since it would not be ready until on Wednesday.  Much to my surprise, I got a 2015 RX350 (same as I have) with 604 miles on it. Other than having a navigation system it was almost exactly like mine.  I was surprised that there were very few changes over the last 5 years in that model. I commented on that when I took it back and the service mgr said that they are going to do a major design overhaul for 2016 including making it quite a big bigger. Guess I won't be getting another one of the same model since I want smaller not larger.

Adult coloring books:  If you saw NBC news last Monday or Tues evening then you heard them talking about the big new stress reliever that is coloring books for adults. I'll admit I about choked when I heard this and then the more I thought about it the more intrigued I was with the idea.  So the next day, while at Barnes and Noble book store, I asked the clerk if they had any.  She directed me to a table that had about 20 different book designs. Now these are not your old coloring books like we grew up with.  Large solid space is limited. The designs are intricate and sometimes small.  Here is one page out of the book I got. The page is 8 1/2 x 11 - regular paper size but a heavier paper so the markers don't bleed through.

 

And the coloring is another thing, adults don't use crayolas like we did as a kid.  Now they use colored pencils, gel pens or magic marker type pens - all look different on the paper and you blend colors to get other colors, etc like painting.  They come in boxes like crayolas and are in that section of the store. It was a whole new experience for me to look in the Crayola section of the store yesterday. Last night I tried it out and here it is....

Some pages have several designs on the page, such as the above page, and I thought I would start with this one which is one of the easier designs. I'm not looking at this so much as stress relief but I can't just sit and watch TV - I like to be doing something while sitting and watching TV.  My senior eyes won't let me do embroidery or crochet anymore so I usually read during commercials or play games on the iPad. This coloring seems much more fun.....

 

Trip to St. Louis:  I'm thinking about taking Amtrak to St Louis next month which will check off an item on my Bucket List. If I do, I won't be getting a car but will rely on public transportation...  Could be an interesting trip.

 

 

Gardens, Birds and Squirrels

The grass is lush and green, flowers are blooming, the temperature is perfect - I do love the spring in the Midwest!  I have observed that the landscapers, who do the apartment complex, do not cut the grass short so it looks very lush and even moves in the wind. It is cut and trimmed every week. I noticed this week that the roses are starting to bloom and of course all the other spring flowers have either already bloomed or are just starting. Here is a picture of cuttings from Bill & Vida's peony plant last week.  The blooms are the size of large grapefruits. Nope...I do not miss the desert except for friends....

I've been working on getting some color on my front entry and patio. The entry (below) is about done. I am going for "easy care" stuff this year in both places. Some of it I am leaving in it's pot from the nursery and just setting it down in a container.  That way I can easily replace it if it doesn't like me. One of my new ventures this year is doing a Fairy Garden - or miniature garden. I had never heard of them until last summer and think they are neat. Plus it's something I can set down and work on since I'm putting it into a container that will set on a table on the patio. Stay tuned.....

The Great-Tailed Crackle birds have found my bird/squirrel feeders and are driving me crazy.  I can't believe how much they eat, they spill the seed from the feeders and are just a plain nuisance!  I guess I can't have Blue Jays, Cardinals and squirrels without having these ornery things and doves who are almost as bad. I can put out 5 lbs of seed and in a few hours it is gone!  What really ticks me off is they get into the feed for the squirrels that is on the patio, pick the seeds out and leave them on the ground mixed in with the hulls that the squirrels leave. So if I sweep it up and toss it, I am also tossing a lot of good food. Not sure there is an answer to the delimma but will talk to the guy at the bird feed store this week when I replenish my supply...  Anyway....I caught one of the squirrels stretched out and resting on the patio railing yesterday...

I am discovering that it doesn't take much to amuse retired people.....

Of note...

There was a couple of items I didn't cover in the Monday post about vacation....

This is Andrew, a 6 year old Clydesdale at Warm Springs Ranch. He is in the Wash Room so we could see how they get their weekly bath. The item in the lower right picture is part of a vacuum that is used to blow them dry after their bath.....  Andrew was in the Super Bowl "Puppy" commercials. They are such beautiful, gentle animals!

 

And now for the Art Museum.....  This is one of 4 items in a special exhibit this summer. 

Philip Haas (born 1954) is an American artist, screenwriter and filmmaker, perhaps best known for his 2012 sculpture exhibition Four Seasons.  The Four Seasons are busts whose feature characters are comprised of flowers, fruits, vegetables or limbs, bark and trees respectively related to Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter. The Four Seasons represent the cycles of nature. The above picture is Summer and below is Winter.

 

The picture below shows all 4 of the sculptures on the museum lawn.

 

 

Monday Misc for May 4th

I just can't believe it is May already!!!!  Time is just zipping by... 

Below is the Hominy Salad that Vivian and I had at the J Houston Tavern in Boonville on our trip. Besides it being very colorful, it is really good. Let me know if anyone wants the recipe as I have it.  The owner of the Tavern created the dish and gave me the recipe.

Vivian and I went to the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum last Friday - her first visit there. Their special exhibit right now is American Folk Art and was really interesting. Below are a few things we saw in the exhibit.

"Still Basket of Fruit" 1830

No artist was listed

(I loved this painting - it is so vivid)

 "Schuylkill County Almshouse" 1884

By Ralph F. Reed

 

"Chest of Drawers" 1829

Make by John Mayer, a German cabinet maker

Schwaben Creek Valley, Pennsylvania