Happy 2020 14 days late!

Another year is in the books. Not all of it nice but mostly good. My live-in caregiver is gone but the VA has set me up for a really nice lady (a young widow with 2 young kids) and she comes 3 days a week.  I found some Christmas things that should have been mailed to California last year but never got done. I had my caregiver wrap them up and put them under her tree for her 2 young boys. One is 2 and one is almost 4. They were thrilled with the book from "Surf Sharks.com". And 2 T-shirts with the SurfSharks logo on them. I asked her how many times she's had to read them to the boys and she rolled her eyes and said at least 3 times every day.  Might be a good way for the boys to learn to read.

This young lady is a CNA but so far I've been not needing physical help.  She did take me to the bank yesterday since I'd already been there once and I'm not too happy with the stability of my car. When it's necessary I go out, such as the Albertson's or to Walmart. I think I'm going to have to go to our Hobby Lobby to find some heavy-duty pins to fix the new cover I got for my Recliner. I'm going to have to either order a new recliner or order another larger set of furniture covers. This caregiver helps with some of the chores and makes sure I'm taking my meds. She gets the clothes out of the laundry and I sit in my chair and fold them.

There is a big move for me in mid-May or late May. I'm moving back to Grand Junction to be closer to my daughter. Actually, we are going to look for a nice house big enough for her and me.  She misses the Christmas in my house and I'm sure she'll help me when it comes to putting up the tree and all of the other things that I couldn't use this year because we don't have a fenced yard and my neighbor says that the outdoor decorations in an open yard run away during the night so he quit putting anything up.  All of them are in my storage shed (I hope)(I didn't oversee the packing granddaughter's things from the storage shed) but if they are gone then so be it.

  Denise says we need a 3 bedroom, 2 baths so we each have our own bath.  And I'm insisting on a good-sized back yard so my puppy can run to her heart's content. And if Denise can find a nice dog willing to get along with Miss Phoebe they can chase each other around the yard, inside the fence! Maybe that kind of exercise will help Phoebe gain a pound or so.  She only weighed almost 5 pounds last Vet Check and she's 3 yrs old. Almost 4. (Pictures at the end of the post). My little Chihuahua-Chihuahua is the friendliest dog in the neighborhood (Both of her parents were purebreds). She loves to go to the bank with me cause they all run out to see her and play with her. So far the Bank Manager hasn't said anything so she goes with me. I've never left her alone. When granddaughter was here she had Phoebe's mother so they played together but she hasn't had a buddy since November except the ones she meets in the stores. All the younger kids want to pet her and they all ask if they can pet her. I tell them yes, Phoebe loves kids.

Here's what I missed from the yard.

The last time I got to use them was Christmas 2017. Going to have a great time in 2020!

This is what I did to the inside of the house this year 2019 Christmas, even if I was here alone. I had a big Turkey dinner, delivered by my good neighbor across the street.

 My fireplace and the book case next to it with my snow people and my Angels from a when I lived in Denver and could do ceramics. Rest of the Angels are in the storage shed, but I made a whole cadre of these angels that I call my Italian Angels.

 This is Sleigh and one reindeer on the kitchen table that is in my living room.

 This is the bottom of the tree with my good friend Jess's packages waiting for him to come down.

Every year I get a new teddy and this is 2019. I think I started this back in 19?? but some have been given away to little ones. 

 The tree is so tall you can't see the Angel on top. But she's one of the angels I made when I

 Angels are on the watch. The two on the park benches are Italians (at least I think they are) and are only a small part of the whole crowd. They angels on the top shelf are ones I've made from sequined material, ribbons and craft store wings and halos.

 My caregiver made this arrangement out of some faux flowers and greenery, etc and I liked it so I didn't put it away with the rest of the decos.

had a room that I could use as a craft room.

 Keeping with the Blue theme is the wreath on the door. On the inside since it might just take wings and fly away if I put it outside. The tree is white and the ornaments and garlands are different shades of blue.

Here's the top of my 7 and 1/2 foot tree with the little angel on the top.

P.S. It snowed all day yesterday and most of the night too. Walks have been shoveled twice.  It was still coming down when I took this picture.

Time to say Aloha or rather Meli Kalicki Maha as they say in Hawaii!

Day 3 of being alone again

Bridgit decided to move out last Tuesday but it took Wed., Thur., & Friday for her and her gang to get everything of hers out of the house and then out of the storage shed. And when I say everything, I really mean everything that she assumed was hers. All of the paper products, (TP, Napkins & Paper Towels) and there was a really big amount of them. But she left the roll on the holder in the bathroom. lol  Some of the kitchen cabinets were pretty bare but I used that as an excuse to shopping.  Now I'll also have to get a new TV. The one that was mine was the one that came over on the Pinta Maria. Isn't fixed to do cable so I haven't watched any tv since Friday when the Cable Serviceman brought me a new HDMI cable. Have no idea what it does except it is a very important item. Longing for the good old days when we just turned it on and we had channels and programs to watch. I do have some of those new little antennas that work without the cable. I just can't get it hooked up and wouldn't know which one of the 3 little hickeys in the back to hook it to! Then yesterday my friends brought me a 43 inch TV and hooked it up already. And after they left, I pushed the wrong button to open the mute, (no glasses on) and now it's in need of some tender loving care and some very simple instructions for the Octnagiarn to follow. My neighbor across the street came over and found just which buttons to push and now everything is A-OK! And now I have to move the 'recliner' so that I'm at the right angle to see the big screen. I get a kink in my neck watching it with my body in a twist. Think I'll put the rocker in the other room since it isn't safe yet. Needs a seat made for it which I'll get around to next summer.

I did have the opportunity to rekindle an old friendship. He was my buddy in the Prepping Game. And I have been at it for 3 years now. And 5 of the office boxes and a multitude of articles on the computer and on jump drives. If the Poop hits the fan and we need information, I have over 17,000 articles that cover any issue we might encounter. Of course, at 80 years old I shouldn't be worried about that anyway. If it's my time, then so be it. But my old friend is still young so he will need all that information. Lucky for him he only has a few hardbound books to worry about. The Lost Ways vol one and two and the Lost Medical info from people who didn't have a doctor close by.

Because the VAMC and my daughter are nudging me in the direction of Assisted Living and the VA has a contract with a couple of the facilities it wouldn't take much to talk me into moving. When I started labeling things for my friend and his Dad thinks that's cool. He loves making those soups and kinds of pasta. He says it feeds the whole family. They took two boxes of food, a camp stove with butane fuel and a very large Knapsak that is a Tactical Rangers first thing he grabs for a mission. Prepper buddy thinks it's cool and his Dad was the fire Chief many years so he already knows what should be in there.  When we start on the storage shed in another week or so, there are at least 2 large boxes of survival food packed into a watertight container. They are for 1 month for a family of 4. And I gave him back the garage tent that was at our house in Richland. So he can put the Tent in his Dad's back yard and put all of those goodies in it out of the Snow and Rain. Layering the inside bottom of the tent with pallets from the big stores, (usually for free), will keep everything high and dry. And it's going to be frozen also, Snowing in Walla Walla, so it's probably snowing further up the road also.

I went over to my recliner to catch my breath and the next thing I knew it was almost 1pm. Guess I'm not really sleeping very well after all. Well, I have 2 appts with the counselor that made me so mad last week and the Geriatric team of one busy nurse and one physician who specializes in Geriatric ailments counselor. I've made up my mind I'm not doing the test for Dementia yet again.She's going to have to wait until I have both feet on the ground from this latest fiasco with my granddaughter.

It's begining to Look Like christmas

    We had some snow, about 1 inch, which lasted for 2 days and is all gone but continuing with rain. If the temp falls too much lower it will be snow again. But I'm still able to drive myself to where I need to be going. I definitely wore myself out yesterday. First I went to Safeway got most of the items on my list but it seems that Safeway doesn't stock any of the "Fresh" dog food that needs refrigeration. So I brought everything home and lugged it up to the house and into the kitchen. I put the cold stuff into the frig and put the rest on the counter. Then it was back into the car with my little dog and another ride to the Albertson's store for her dog food. She doesn't like the kibble type food so I feed her fresh cooked meats and veggies from the Fresh Pet company. A little more expensive but if she eats it I'm happy. Maybe she'll gain a pound or two. Right now she's at 4lbs 9ozs. That's a little dog.

  I so wanted a White tree this year and on impulse picked one up. I have pretty high ceilings and the Angel on the top has only 2 inches clearance. I can't do a whole lot of standing and walking around but I have gotten most of the tree decorations on the tree. A few more to go but it must wait for Grand-son-in-law to come down. He's over 6 ft so his arm can reach the top two or three sections of the tree. This is a 7.5 foot White Kennedy Fir, (whatever a Kennedy fir is). It's very pretty!
 
  I have a very large Wreath to put on the wall behind my new TV. My friends bought me a 43 inch TV in exchange for a very large amount of Survival/camping food and gear that I had been collecting. With my health the way it is, I don't need to prepare for surviving in the woods, I'm going to be in an Assisted Living community probably halfway through the year.  Oh, the wreath is from my days in a Red Hat Society. It's red and purple and I love it. I might even circle some of my pretty Red hats around it.

 
   I have a very large Red Bow for the front door and maybe we'll wrap some garland around the pillars of the porch. I even have an extra string of lights to wind in with the green garland.

  I have a doctor appt. this week with 2 Geriatric specialists, (one nurse and one doctor). It's easy to figure out...80 years old, 3 children, 5 grandchildren, and 5 great-grandchildren is enough to make anyone grow old. I'll have to admit the Asbestos in the lungs isn't helping anything. The barracks I lived in for 2+ years had not had Asbestos Abatement done on them so it was all around the water pipes and in the floor tiles which I had the fun of running a very large floor polisher on. I loved that part. Made my arms a little stronger to handle that big monstrosity. That was back in 1960 thru 1962.

  I've taken some pictures of my tree so far so I will put them here. My neighbor across the street loves the tree. It sits in a corner of the living room which has windows on both sides of the corner of the room. But the tree is so tall it sort of doesn't fit in one picture unless I'm clear across the room to take it. But you will get the idea. I took this picture from my step stool so I was higher to get a better shot.

 Lovely Angel that I made 5 years ago and she still holds on for another couple of years.

This is my Red hat wreath. will have more pictures when the kids come down from 

Tri-Cities thist Wed. I believe it will be.

It looks sort of strange to have fireplace with Oxygen bottles stashed right in front of it. The fireplace unit is fake, lights only.

  Have a great week, friends and enjoy getting the seasonal things taken care of. Ham for Christmas dinner with sweet potatoes and green bean salad! Yummm!

Frost on the front yard and Snow on the tops of the mountain range we are under

   For a couple of mornings this past week when I've taken the Chihuahuas outside at 5:30am or 6 am if I sleep in, they haven't been too happy with the cold sidewalk and frost on the front lawn. Sort of tiptoeing thru the grass but not for long. They're right back on the steps to come inside real quick. Guess it's time to get their winter coats out of the boxes so they aren't shivering just to go to the bathroom.

   Had an appointment with the Cardiologist on Friday. It was scheduled to be an Esofigeal Cardiac microgram. That's where they put the little camera down your throat and take an echo from the inside.  I'm glad he didn't think it was necessary based on the EKG. He said he couldn't find anything to warrant that special one.  He said he went into my records and found that my first cardiologist had done one of those crazy ones looking at the heart through a vein from my leg up to the heart. I wasn't awake so I'm not sure about it but this second doctor said the first one was really good. It did show some weakening on one side from working so hard to get the blood to the lungs. If this doesn't make any sense to you, don't worry, it didn't make sense to me either.

    I haven't done a whole lot on the computer this week since I have been sorting the winter Sweatshirts and then after washing them putting the extra-large ones in bags to go to the goodwill. So far Mike has made 3 trips with very full bags of sweatshirts that I have "shrunk out of".  I even sent some trousers over to them. I tried them on and they fell down. I lost another 11 pounds this past few months. That's 13 stones. I like that number better than 188 lbs. But my problem is now the closet is full. Sweatshirts are thicker than tee shirts and take up a lot more room. I had to buy a few 3/4 sleeves and pretty designs to full-length sleeves fancy tops. My idea of sweatshirts is usually some smart alec picture or saying on the front. Not something I'm comfortable wearing to church. And there are the Christmas sweatshirts that can't fit in the closet so they are on a hook over the closet door.  After the Christmas season is over with I'll pack them away.
I've made a couple of scrapbook pages. but I have to check and see which ones I haven't published.
   

 Serenity loves the snuggle bed and Phoebe gets into it now and again.

 My Shirley family back in Jamestown, NY.

 This is just one small family gathering with the cousin Marsha in the center and all her family.

 Magdelyn is growing up fast.

 Patty, Keaneu & Tim.

 Brian, Dylan & Ion at a doing in down town Walla Walla.

 This is Miss Ellie on her birthday 6 yrs old.

 My Great Nephew Isaac Resendez. 2 years old.

 He's such a handsome boy, I just had to do him two pictures.

I was too lazy to fix the mother and son's pictures together.

   That's all for today. God Bless you all and stay safe this winter.

Getting ready for fall

Fall is one of my favorites whith all the Pretty colors on the trees and getting ready for the Halloween crowd. Although last year I only had 3 kids come to the door but this year Bridgit will probably decorate the whole front of this duplex. I imagine with another Symester starting up my landlord will rent the other side to some college kids or a new teacher family. He works close with the Whitman college.

I've already gotten a couple new items for Bridgit's Halloween. It's her Favorite. I got her a couple new witches to add to the several I got her last year. She really Wowed those folks in California. with her Decorating. Witches, Skeletons and monsters all over last year. It's a different type of house this year so maybe she won't be able to use all of the decos I've bought her.
  
I've made such short posts, I have to check to see what I have said or pictures I've posted.
Have been to the doctor quite a bit even after the Dentist visits were done. I went to the VA Medical Center and because I had to walk so far to the door I was extremely winded so I went into the coffee shop to sit down and get my wind back. I slightly moved a chair away from the table intending to sit on it but when I touched it with my leg it moved and I fell right onto my Tush and my head hit the floor as well as the tail bone.  All of a sudden there were about 5 people rushing to help me up and one lady was a nurse said don't move her. And about that time a nurse practioner who had the duty desk came in and said I have to get some vitals first. It was a bit of a circus for awhile but they got a wheel chair and wheeled me into the waiting room where my Primary care was working and she came and looked at me and asked 100 questions (don't they always), and set me up for Labs and xrays. They called my Granddaughter to come and get me since I had hit my head they wern't going to let me drive. She hates my car so she had her friend drive my car and she took me home in his car. I didn't get the xrays until a month or so later.

Xrays are in another building so They had one of the volunteers wheel me outside and around the corner and up a ramp to the other bldg. And I can't remember why I had to go to Xray but it was for my lungs and the tech told me I still hadn't done the Tailbone one so he did both. And I can't even remember what I was down there for but all the xrays were OK. Lungs and tailbone. 

I've made a few more scrapbook pages but I'm only going to post a few of them.
 

 My grand sons, just before they went to Albama to live.

 My Granddaughter Missy when I lived in Colorado. she raked up the leaves 

and then she wanted to jump in them.

 Granddaughter Missy when she lived in Albama.

 Olivia and her dog Serenity

This is a friend of Bridgit's and his Service dog Stark.

Serenity in the new cuddle bed.

Phoebe won't go in the Snuggle bed so she has the bigger bed
with all sorts of toys and small blankets.

Time to sign off and get some lunch.

I'm still here!

     It's almost the end of June and I'm still here in Walla Walla. Things are going slowly because of
Bridgit's recuperation from her surgery. She still has to go to Physical Therapy but it's getting a lot easier for her. I'm still doing small chores to get ready to move.

     I've got all my winter clothes boxed up and now I'm working on hanging the summer tops. I'm doing them in smaller batches because I really go nutsy with tops and I've really got quite a large collection. Some have Writing on the front and some have writing on the back. And some are really too big and should go to goodwill but they are favorites so I wash and hang them in the closet. I'm hoping my next house has a bigger closet. I'd love to have a 'Walk in Closet'. I could fill it very easily.

     I've only got one plant in my garden and it's on the table in the nook which is in the corner of  2 large windows that make up the corner I put the table in. I have a pretty large Tomato plant in the middle of the table so it can get sun at least part of the day. And my bamboo plant is almost touching the ceiling now and it's roots are strangling themselves. I need to get a large supply of marbles to put into the new planter I got for it. Some of the leaves are turning yellow because of the choking, (at least that's what I think).  I'm not a botanist so I'm not too sure why she's looking ill.

     I'm all finished with the Dentist.  Got new dentures after 50+ years. Got scolded by the dentist for not doing it earlier but without Dental Insurance I couldn't afford new plates. Now that the VA is paying for them, I'm good. The dentist wanted to do dental implants but I'm not sure the VA will pay for that so regular teeth will have to do. Goodness I'll be 80 years old in Oct. this year so it isn't going to be too long before I won't need them anyway. But my plan is to last past 90 years. I just want to set a record for the family. My mother was 86 so I should plan on at least 90. Or maybe 100!

     I've done a few more scrapbook pages which I'll pop in here now.

 My little sister Dianna taken this year. She's 72 this year. Just a youngster.

 This is Elaina & baby sister Joy. Cousin from the East's little jewels

 My brother's wife Joanne (who passed awhile ago) and her Aunt Sylvia. 

Little brother George posted this as his favorite picture of Joanne.

 My niece Juanita and her husband Jeremy of 25 years.

 My good friend Tina's children. This is Leo and his little sister Anara.

 Penelope is growing so fast. She's only 6 months old and already weighs 57.+ lbs.

Her human Dad is losing control of his recliner as you see.

One of the cousins back East has become a Grandma and I can't remember his name.

If I find where I left it, I'll fix the post.

Meanwhile, let's call it a day and everyone have a great weekend. My special thanks to all the lovely ladies that I get my scrap booking kits from. Raspberry Roads Designs, Kyra from Russian-Dutch Heart Designs from the Netherlands, Tooty Pup Designs,from Australia, and Miriam Zimmerman from Studio Manu in Germany (I believe).

May is a beautiful Month

    Well it's been a strange Month. Mother's day came and went. NO big deal. Two of my three daughters sent me a card.  Grand daughter Bridgit took me to a friends house for the day. It was a very good day. Checked out her 'Garden', that she has pretty much got planted.  Then we had 'stuffed french toast'. Really tasty.  Lot's of things to do on a farm. I just found the closest comfortable chair and relaxed.

    I thought we'd be moving in May, back up to the Richland Area but things don't always go as planned. Bridgit had surgery on her shoulder. She had a problem with the Rotator cup and her Bicep was ripped loose from where it was supposed to be attached so they put that back. Then comes multiple days of Physical Therapy. It's going to be 'multiple weeks' of Physical therapy. She was once back to 100% radiation of the arm but then she did some lifting so that dragged her back to less than 100%. Since she no longer has a husband to help with the heavy lifting she tried some herself. Not a good idea. 

    It may take us until July to get out of this house. And if I see any more Brown Recluse Spiders, I'll carry every thing out of here myself. I had a close call with one of those poisonous spiders. I was reaching into a file folder that sits beneath my desk top and felt a movement on my arm so I just without thinking flipped it off. Bridgit's ex husband shouted to me to not move and he jumped up and ran over to stomp the critter. And Bridgit came unglued one day in the bathroom while she was doing her hair. One was slowly coming down from the ceiling on a web and she just shrieked. Naturally Jess ran into the bathroom and dispatched it spider heaven. This is a pretty old house and not very well sealed. Lots of places where they can come inside and take up nesting. 

  School is almost over for the year. I believe that Olivia will be starting the 9th grade in the fall.  In my day that was Junior High. High School was 10th, 11th, and 12th. Not sure about how it goes anymore. Olivia is a Great Granddaughter and a whopping 14 years old. She helps me down stairs because this house has a basement so it's up off the ground about 2+ feet. That means it's 4 good size steps from the sidewalk to the porch.  And there is no railing for me to climb those steps. And the owner says I can put one up at my expense but I have to take it down when I move.

    My last 2 months have been taken up with visits to the Dentist. I was going to use one of my stun guns on him when we first started the process. How he managed to get both hands inside my mouth is beyond me, but he did and gagged me to where I almost barfed on him. I had a set of dentures that my friend Rene' made for me when I lived on Midway Island. He got some new material in and wanted to practice so he called me up and set an appointment to replace the ones that I had been wearing for over 8 years. That was in 1966 and they served me well. Without dental insurance I made my own fixes. One of Charlie's dogs got the bottom plate off the headboard in the night and did some damage about 7 years ago. I used one of my small sanders on the rough edges and it was fine. The lower jaw bone has disentegraded so I did my own relining the plate. And I was quite happy with myn work. Those are only temporary relinings that you buy in the store. After I was designated 100% disabled, I got dental coverage from the VA. They don't have acomplete lab here in Walla Walla so the nice dentist I saw wrote a referal to a local doctor that specializes in Dentures. I now have a brand new set of teeth and he's recommending Dental Implants, but it's iffy ithat the VA will go for that. I might not want to do it myself. Granted they are a big improvement over dental plates but I'm at an age that I can live with these for about 15 more years. That will make me 95 yrs old and who cares what my teeth look like.

    Well this has been a pretty long posting so I'll just say I hope you have a great week and I'm going to share some of the scrapbook pages I've made these last 2 months. I've made 36 pages but I'll only share the few I've made of the babies in the Shirley Family and my friend Cheryl in Grand Junction. And a couple of my Animal pages.

 This is a Great Neice from Back East. Thanks to Kyra for the kit.

 My friend Cheryl's Granddaughter Hayley and her daughter Nova.

 Another cousin, I think. Elaina is proud of her new sister Ivy Rose.

 My cousin Shyanne has a gorgeous son named Jamal. And he's a happyn baby!

 My cousin Todd in Florida lost his Natalie last year and he has finally come

around to a new companion. Penelope is from the same blood line as 

Natalie was.

 This is my Phoebe who looks like a little old man with a flyaway beard,

I just adore this girl. She's a certified Companion dog.

And a Handsome young man in the Shirley family I believe

named Wyatt 6th birthday.

I have made 36 but this is only 7 of them. I have a very large family back East in the Warren Area (where I was born and raised), some in Jamestown, and some in Bradford. I told them it'd be one whale of a Family Reunion if I ever get the chance to get back there. I hate flying so it'd be a train ride or a car ride to get back there.