Music Day

Hello, The study at church this morning was on Mary’s song in the bible. That was followed by lunch in the loft which is an organ concert. I did not eat in the church except for an apple to give myself some energy for the walk home. It was quite nice out today. That is so welcome along with the sunshine. Tonight, there is a church service which always incorporates some music. That will be followed by choir practice. We also had practice last night. This Saturday evening, we will sing parts of Handel’s Messiah with a local choral group. It is fun to sing with so many. Last week, I gathered CDs that I no longer listen to. The half price store gave me just a paltry sum for them. Next time they will just be donated to another place. We plan to move in about a year and a half so it is important to lighten the load. Some books also went out of the house. For some reason I seldom listen to music, but just have silence and motors running around me. Classical music is a favorite, but then it seems I must stop everything and pay attention to it. Background music might be fine, but I do not want to go to the effort to seek it out. Paula

Are We Crazy

Hello, Yesterday when the temperature was below 20 F. I announced to Leroy, “I am going to the community garden and get the Brussel sprouts. I would like to have some help.” He agreed to come and we gathered large bags, a knife, and a saw. We took the car because there were at least four long tall plants to bring home. It was much too cold to try to get off the sprouts at the garden. Leroy pulled up one plant and then tried sawing off the root so we would not have so much dirt in the car. It was not working very well. It helped to go use the picnic table at the dorm next door. While he was sawing, I went to pull up the other three plants. The wind was howling across this space so we did not want to waste any time. It took bending, twisting, and pulling to get those sprout plants out of the ground. Leroy was still having some trouble sawing so when I finished the pulling, I held the plants allowing him to get good leverage on the situation. As soon as we were finished, we got those things in the garbage bags, in the car, and the heated seats on under our bottoms, not for the plants. At home, we put the garage bags in the shower to keep some of the debris confined to one area. I managed to pull off enough for supper. They were very mild, perhaps they had been frozen. We notified one other community garden person that we had them. She came and got two of the plants. I was so happy as each plant represented quite a bit of work to remove those sprouts. If they had been in my space, I would have felt obligated to try to save them. Leroy and I worked, alternating jobs to get that done. We got them off, cleaned and frozen before we were done. We just hope there is still some value in them. Paula

Snow

Hello, We had a bit of snow reminding us that more is coming. Leroy drove to work because of the cold. We remember when he would have ridden the bike in this temperature, but he has changed his standard. That is ok since I do not ride after it is below 50 degrees F. My ears hurt too much for that. I did get two walks in and some yoga besides. I have moved my body from time to time. Sitting is not good for me for too long. Although, I too notice the cold when I walk. Because they told me to cover my nose when out in the sun, I wear a face mask even if it is overcast. It keeps me warmer. Those stockpiled face masks are still good for something. It was also a good day to get some dusting and vacuuming accomplished. I feel good about that. Cleaning is not quite as regimented as it used to be for me. I grew up with the Saturday being the day for dusting, sweeping upstairs, vacuuming, and washing the kitchen floor. When we were old enough, my sister and I did much of it. I did the upstairs and she did the downstairs. There were no excuses for not doing cleaning. Leroy tells me he had some very interesting patrons and questions at the library today. It is something for people to go to when they have time off. Paula

Closed

Hello, Leroy went to get blood work done this morning, but the lab was closed. I walked to church, both for the excuse to walk and to learn what the lessons are for Sunday since I am reading them. Church was closed. It must be because Leroy is working that we figured everything would be open as well. He did tell me that there were not very many visitors to the museum library. I was able to pick up a prescription for Leroy, nice the pharmacy was open. Black Friday is not a time for me to shop. I do not like to go when there are many people around. Plus, I do not know what I would buy. Not much on my list. I am reading Catcher in the Rye for the church book club. It is a banned book. I suppose because of all the swearing in it and perhaps some sexual references. It was not a favorite when I read it before and it has not moved up on my list of must reads. Not sure I will even finish it this time. From time to time, I skip big groups of words so it will move a little faster. It is a classic, but perhaps it would help if someone told me what makes it a classic. Our flight schedule to Utah at Christmas has changed two times. Not so many minutes each time so it does not affect us very much. At least we are still going. Paula

Thanksgiving Day

Hello, Because we were not with family this year, we volunteered to help serve the meal at the homeless overflow shelter. I handed out napkins and silverware (plastic type). Leroy was handing out bottled water or sodas of several varieties for choices. Water was not very popular. Many of the people looked younger than I expected. Is that because I am getting older or because there really are a lot of homeless young people? Will they ever manage to get beyond this? Then I wonder what are the best ways to help them? Part of that is not knowing what they really need. We spoke some with the woman who is managing the place. She believes that there will be more homeless because of the shortage of affordable housing. This facility holds 70 men and 30 women, no children. There is another place that accommodates families. As the cold weather comes rooms will fill. The count is that there are about 300 homeless in the city. When we moved here the housing search was a struggle. Brian had told us what we should not pay above because of the amount of money that Leroy would be earning. I did not yet have a job. I can say that options were limited and many of the places were in poor condition. How do families manage? At that point Leroy was making twice the minimum wage. And some feel that they should not raise the wage level. Even twice that is barely enough. It seems that the goal is to keep people poor and dependent. What does this have to do with Thanksgiving? Not sure, but I am thankful that I have enough money and time to share with others. I missed being with family, but it is good to see others. The youngish guy we ate lunch with was quite well spoken, who knows why he is where he is. The two guys at our table talked about the library being closed tomorrow. I know that many go there to be warm during the day. The woman who ran this place said that she looked out earlier in the day and saw someone pick something up off the ground and eat it. Paula

Productive Day?

Hello, A walk and then some yoga moves helped to give me more energy. I had looked online for books for the little free libraries, but was not so very successful at that. A trip to the half price book store was all I could have hoped for and more. They had most of the books I wanted, but just not in this store. First, I spoke with a clerk who called the manager to help me. She was great. She was able to order every book for me except one. The shipping was less because she was ordering it and she gave me a coupon for 15% off. That helped me get more books. I got the hardback rather than the paperback because they are more visible when seen from the spine side. They will let me know when the books come in. She also told me I can come when there are some or all of them there. That is only a couple miles from my house and I can go the grocery store that is close so I am pleased. I will probably make more than one trip. The next task in my day was to order some silicone gel sheets to help with scaring on my nose. The paper work did not say if the gel was part of the sheet or not. Some mentioned getting a cream. The nurse, on call, told me not to get the cream as it is too messy. Those sheets are ordered and will come in a week. I can cut them to the size needed and reuse them. The supply is to last two months. I am directed to use them for three months, but I figure I can reorder when the time gets close. Another walk was added this afternoon. Too much sitting around is hard on me. Makes sitting around some more seem attractive, but I get bored. Moving is better for my mental health. Paula

Where to buy Books

Hello, With a list of good books in hand, the search of several book stores reveal that most of those books are not in local stores. Or there will be some in one store and not in others. It seemed simpler to just buy all the books for the little free libraries in the same place. That is what I have done in the past. But I went by that company’s list of appropriate books. This year someone gave me a list of books that they found popular with children and teachers alike. At one point that seemed like the best possibility. This is to be done by December 10, so there is time to do some searching and comparing prices. Easy is always so nice to have, but I can handle a little harder. Tai Chi was good this morning. I was so surprised to see someone who also had a spot taken off their nose with no covering and no stitches. It was done by the same doctor two days after my surgery. They only had one set of stitches and just a shorter distance. I had external and internal stitches. Leroy is working four days this week. His boss is taking the week off. Because Leroy only works three days, he notices an additional day. It was quite wet this morning so he drove, but we will walk to church tonight for choir. I took a walk this afternoon with a sun hat on because the sun is not to get to my nose. It was a bit chilly with the wind. When we go tonight it will be dark so I can just wear a stocking hat and hood if needed. Paula

Stitches Out

Hello, To get the stitches out, Leroy came in with me and asked a few great questions. I can sleep in any position that I like. I can resume regular activities. Steps are coming back. Stitches coming out should not be a concern, but the end of my nose was still a bit sensitive to any fussing. Not bad, but noticeable. There is still some tenderness in the area. The skin has come back together but is not completely healed. I will not go for a dental cleaning tomorrow but put that off for a month. As the hygienist said, “I will be as careful as I can, but I still have to pull on the skin some to reach the back teeth.”

No bandage or covering is needed so that is wonderful. I am to get some silicone gel strips to help with scaring. They are not available at any pharmacy around here so they will have to be ordered on line. With a friend, Leroy is going to get manure. That guy has a truck, but he wanted some help with getting it shoveled around. We are pleased with the idea of having it on the garden. Surely things will be more robust next year in our garden in front of the house and the community garden. Thank you calves. We could use some more canned green beans so I will walk to the local grocery and get some more as they are on sale. Paula

At Church

Hello, Well, I went to church with a mask on, but took it off when singing in the choir as it totally steamed up my glasses and put a little more stress on my nose. I left it off for the rest of the service. It felt good to get out of the house. I justified it by thinking if I had a bandage on my leg I would go and think not much of it. It is just that this is so out front. Tomorrow is one week and I get the stitches out. Yes! Leroy is still doing a good job cooking and washing dishes. Maybe I should hire him. I do help with the cooking and drying dishes. He is just doing the major portion of the chores. The thanksgiving cactus is beautiful. Could it be fine if I moved it to the living room where I would see it more than in the bedroom. It just responds so well to those windows. On the same side of the house, but in the office, I have two violets blooming. That side of the house is just relished by several plants. Perhaps I should put in bigger windows. Since the surgery, my eyes tend to be tired. Not sure what to do about that. I do rest them from time to time by having ice on my nose. I think TV is not quite so hard on them so I have learned to watch quite a lot instead of reading. Paula

Walking Around

Hello, Our morning walk which is just 1300 steps was a nice outing for me. I made sure my face was not exposed to the sun. Leroy has not walked much either so I am not sure he will get to 10000 steps. He is still doing a great job fixing meals and washing dishes. They told me not to do any dishwashing duty. I do put dishes away, but that does not seem like much work. Should I go to church tomorrow or not. I would like to get out, but I would not walk. Driving is fine. The choir sings, but I do not know if I will do that. Tomorrow is another day to decide. Our home phone is not working very well. When people call, they can not hear us even though we can hear them. A new phone did not improve the situation. Now the question is can this be fixed. We have not yet called the phone provider or the company that makes the phone. I think we should do that before we toss out the home phone. We know many people do not have one any more, but I am not quite ready to go down that path. All this fussing around is stressful for Leroy. It might be easier just to quite having a home phone. If we can not fix this problem I will accept the situation. Paula

Better Each Day

Hello, Leroy commented before he bandaged me up again that I looked better, not so red and swollen. That is good to know that healing is happening. Aren’t our bodies something? I did not take any pain pills yesterday and that is nice. I had mostly taken them before going to bed so it was not an all-day thing. Today we went to Ely because I had a requested book and DVD to pick up. It was nice to get out. We also went to a big box store as well as the grocery store. By the time we got home and ate lunch, thankful for leftovers, I was worn out. Leroy was too. We had a lovely supper tonight. Someone gave us a lot of garlic cloves. We made a dish with minced onion, mushrooms chopped, and garlic chopped. We thought it was delightful. Leroy does not complain but, he is getting tired of doing everything around the house. I did help with hanging out clothes today. I feel better with more moving around. Too much sitting is a downer We will be serving meals at a homeless shelter on Thanksgiving. I am looking forward to that. Paula

Vanity

Hello, I like to think of myself as having no vanity about my looks. However, I find I do not want to be seen with the big bandage on my nose. When I had the spot taken off on the side of my face, I figured people would not notice. And that was true for most. This is quite visible when you would first see me, hence I feel more like hiding at home. I am not sure how long I will have to bandage this site, but it will be for a while. I get the stitches out on Monday, but it will still be quite a noticeable wound. Today feels like a day I could go out, but I have not. Someone asked me if we would like symphony tickets for this Saturday and turned them down. It just seemed too public. I do have a dentist appointment next Tuesday and I expect to go to that. Hopefully they will not press on my nose. I do not remember if that happens when my teeth are cleaned. If nothing hurts it would not be noticeable. Maybe I will scare them. I did help hang out clothes today and I retrieved all of them as well as fold all of them. It was just fine to do that my moving around. At least it is not a heavy job. I am tired of sitting or lying around. I only sleep on my back and that starts to bother me after a while. I woke early this morning and could not get back to sleep. Leroy and I went to the store to make a return. I noticed people look at me and then look away quickly. Now I will be able to just do this. Paula

Bandage Changed

Hello, After 48 hours we could remove the bandage they put on, wash the area, apply petroleum jelly and reapply gauze and tape. I let it just be without a bandage for about 15 minutes. That felt good. They had put on a lot of extra padding for pressure it is nice to not feel that anymore. It was a bit more of a challenge to put on the new bandage. The petroleum jelly went ok, but was also an issue to get it in the right places. The tissue by my eyes were involved in extracting the tape. Leroy tried to avoid that in reapplying, but it is still close to my eyes. Maybe we can dream up a better extraction method. I am pleased that my glasses sit better on my face. That is so nice. So reading is easier, but still my eyes feel tired quickly. Perhaps that is the tape pulling on the skin by my eyes. I have barely gone out of the house and I miss that. I did go out and look at the little free library in front of the house. Many of the kid books have been taken. So now we could use both kid and adult books. My money has come just in time to help restock with racially sensitive books. Leroy has gone to choir tonight. When we sang a hymn yesterday morning, I became uncomfortable quite quickly. It seems to bring too much blood to the face. I can lower my head a little farther today without noticeable throbbing in my nose area. My thanksgiving cactus both red and white, are loaded with buds. Paula

Surgery Done

Hello, Mohl Surgery took place yesterday morning. I learned several things. It is easier if the spot is showing and not under the skin because they do not know what they will find. My surgeon asked the nurse if she knew about some procedure (I can’t tell you the name.). The nurse replied that she had seen it once. The surgeon told her, “I have a certain instrument in my pocket, so it is ready.” This thing was never mentioned again so I expect they did not need it. Only once was it necessary to take a piece off to have it sent to the lab. The end of the nose is a noticeable place to get shots to deaden the area. The surgeon and nurse kept telling me to wiggle my toes when they had to do it. They also gave me some deadening that lasted a little long than ordinary so they only had to redo it once. The last part was longer than the first. The surgeon told me she was moving my nose a little to the side and that required more length to the cuts. Before she did anything she warned me that I would not look the same and I would always see the place. After the surgery she commented that I would look like a million bucks, but not right now. Yesterday after I came home, I thought, why try to repair the spot just leave a hole there. I can live with that. I am to keep my head upright and sleep with it raised. Too much blood in the area could cause bleeding. They had specific instructions on caring for that. I did have to apply that knowledge yesterday afternoon.

Leroy is good at taking over all household chores. He is working today, but I am feeling better than I did yesterday, so I can get my own lunch. It is difficult to read anything because glasses do not fit well on my face. Reading glasses work because they do not have to be in a particular alignment.

But watching TV is easier. I even found a few good things to watch. Paula

How Much to Give

Hello, At church today, we had a talk about giving. I decided to learn how much we make per month so we could have some idea about the percentage we are giving. It was easier to figure this amount after taxes have been taken out as that goes in our checking account. Now I am wondering should one figure all this pre or post tax extraction? Ultimately it does not really matter unless you want to brag about the percentage you give. We also give money to several organizations so does that count in a tithe? Does that matter? The church organization is hoping for a raise in giving. But we are not planning to do that since we kept it the same this year because I was not earning from work. Next year, Leroy is planning to retire in May so he also will not earn as much money to contribute to the total. It seems hard to think about raising the amount with those circumstances. Where does calculation end and generosity start? With a lot of thought, giving can be a complicated affair. At least Leroy and I mostly agree about how much to give and to what organization. Nice to have some unity. We also think it is important to donate time. One of the joys of life is that we have enough money to live comfortably and take part in some luxuries. Besides having money to share with causes we believe in. Paula

Keeping Moving

Hello, Kitchen linens were on the clothes line when the temperature was just slightly above freezing. I do not put clothes out when there is snow on the ground, but freezing with higher temperatures expected is good. My mother did not have a dryer other than racks so she hung out clothes and they were frozen stiff as a board. So perhaps you could say I am doing this in honor of my mother who did not have the choices that I do. We drove to church, pruned some more plants that could not stand the cold, walked to the library, checked out books and two DVDs. It gave us quite a few steps. The clothes are in the house now where it is hard to tell if they are cold or damp. We get money (gift cards) from our advantage plan for meeting certain standards. I was able to check in that I had a preventative scan, but for some reason I could not get back to the place on the website so I could order the gift card. When Leroy also could not solve this, I called the company. The woman who first talked to me commented, “Do not get stressed about the computer.” “I guess I was stressed, that is not good.” I responded. She replied with a laugh, “I am there every day.” In the end I am getting $65 back so I guess it was worth my time if not the stress. Paula

Two days of Ease?

Hello, I am to take it easy for two days after my Mohl Surgery on my nose, but Leroy is not sure that I can do that. Is that a challenge to me? Will I do it just to prove him wrong? I do not spend so much time sitting around. Does walking count as taking it easy? One of my friends is having basically the same surgery two days after I am. He was not told in the preop instructions to take it easy. Was that an oversight or is there something different about mine? We will compare notes later. We were going to go to the library to get resupplied with books only to learn that it was closed. Tomorrow we will be there on time. I will also look for some DVDs to keep me a little more stationary. Leroy will be able to do a little volunteer work at church when I am having my surgery done. They said I should have a driver, but I am unsure that I will need such. Leroy insisted and he will be just across the street so it is easy for him to spend some time occupied with something, rather than just sit around. We finished delivering the neighborhood newsletters today. It is good not to have to be concerned about getting that done. We do not have to do it again until March. It is great to take a break. Now I am wondering how I will occupy my time since there is also no garden work for some time to come now. What do people do in the winter? Paula

Reports

Hello, Yesterday was the day for health news. I learned that I have a squamous cell carcinoma on the tip of my nose. It will come off next Monday. I am just hoping that I do not end up looking like my uncle who was missing a piece of his nose. I believe that will not happen as two people who have recently had such done are quite fine and intact. The Mohl surgery is good for just taking off smaller slices. The bone scan report tells that my bones have gotten a little better. Guess that means taking the medicine is a good thing. The mammogram report was also ok. Nice to know that somethings are good for the time being and something will be done about the other. This morning I went to the community garden and removed the broccoli that never did make any edible heads. In my head I called it fake broccoli. Unfortunately, now I learn that someone was using it in stir fry. Guess I should ask before I pull anything. Paula

Accomplishments

Hello, I am happy to say that I have applied for my last action team grant this year. I hope I get it. It is from my nonprofit insurance company. As in the past I requested funds to distribute books to the little free libraries in the area. The books will be aimed at people of color or people who are handicapped in some way. The idea is that kids feel better about themselves when they see kids like them in a book. It was so easy to do this. They let me reapply. So, I did not have to rewrite the entire thing. Leroy and I delivered some of the neighborhood newsletter this afternoon. It was beautiful outside and we got a nice amount delivered. I am not sure I can do some again tomorrow, because I have appointments some of the time. This is the last newsletter for this year. I both like to do it and am glad when there is a break in this process. Yesterday we repotted the rosemary so it should survive the winter in our house. I pruned a good bit for our meal last night. It is pungent. The rosemary is a fairly large plant. This afternoon we chopped up and froze much of the swill chard I had picked last week. It was time to take care of it. I thought we would eat more of it than we have. We also got some leaves picked up in the back yard. There are still more leaves to fall, but not so many now. Paula

Glow in the dark trail

Hello, Last night we went for a long walk on a glow in the dark trail that is in a town north of us. The trail is a bit more than two miles long, making it the longest in the USA.

There are better pictures on line. I suspect someone with more camera and more knowledge captured those images. As it said in one place it was like walking on the stars. It goes out in the country so there is little to no human made light on it. The stars were brilliant too. We do not often seem them outside the city. Leroy thought it would not get below the upper forties in Fahrenheit degrees. When we checked after we were done, we learned that it was 38 degrees which was quite cold enough for the light weight coats we and our friends were wearing. Cold moved into our bodies, but we still enjoyed the walk. To get back to our car we had to use GPS on Leroy’s phone since he had the address. That meant we had a lot of steps recorded by the time we were done, more than 8000 just for that walk. I had 18,098 steps for the day. When we drove to the address, we could not tell where the trail was as there was no glowing in the headlights. It was only when we got out and stood in the dark that those spots began to appear. Leroy had read that there were 30,000 spots in the trail. They take fifteen minutes soak in the sun and glow for 15 hours. How cool is that. It was almost strange to be walking along in the dark and see the trail stretch out ahead. I would recommend it as an interesting outdoor night time activity. Darkness comes early in the winter, but the summer would be warmer. Paula

Fermented Honey

Hello, I generally buy honey from Brian. This year he does not have so much honey because one hive of bees cleaned out the hive and went away. They apparently felt something was wrong or the queen did. For some reason some of the other honey is getting fermented. He is not able to sell that honey and disposes of it. That does not fit my idea of what is right in the world. I brough home six jars of fermented honey even though we do not generally have anything in our house that is fermented. I just said, “I will try it in the granola as that would cook off the alcohol.” When I told Miriam about this she said, “I know you will use that.” Do I have a reputation of using the unusable? Leroy did not even notice any different taste to the granola that I made today. I will say that honey was easier to use as it pours more like water than honey with less sticking to the side of the cup. I too did not notice the taste when I ate the granola. So, I suppose I will use most of it unless some jars have more flavor than others. In the bit I read about fermented honey that can happen as it just keeps evolving. Apparently honey that has a higher water content is subject to this fermenting possibility. Paula

Recycle Plants

Hello, I stopped at church this morning with buckets in the car. I filled those buckets and then another container that was in the car. All of the vinca plants are gone into our yardie which is picked up by the city tomorrow and taken to the compost pile. I am happy to contribute to the future soil that will be made by nature with a little human help. Tomorrow I will take pruners so more plants can be taken out and put in a future yardie pickup. Leroy says he will come too as he does not work tomorrow. We will finish cleaning up the community garden later. But I am not going to clean up the area by the side of the house until spring, hoping to give some insects a winter home. I took a long walk this afternoon as it was quite nice outside. Actually, I strolled. Not sure why I could not go faster. Last night we were almost late for choir practice so we really moved those feet to get there in time. It was rather cool by the time we came home so we did not dillydally for that trip either. Paula