Leroy is Home

Hello, Leroy came home yesterday afternoon. He felt fine. In the evening his stomach did not feel so good. During the night he made more than one trip to the bathroom. He is feeling better some minutes and not so much others. We learned that he did not react to the medicine, but had Noro virus. It was such bad timing for him. He probably got it because it was compromised by the surgery. I have felt fine. We are both a bit grumpy that he could feel so good when he came home and it should return to some degree. It is not as bad as it was. We have managed to keep him hydrated. That has probably helped his heart. I kept thinking that there must be something in the house that caused it. I have washed the bathroom floor three times. Sanitized this and that, more than once. Washed two loads of clothes and used the dryer for more sterilizing heat. At least that was my idea with it all. I have used up all the bleach I have in the house. I suppose I could go to the store now as Leroy seems good. Earlier I did not want to leave him in case he needed something. I am learning a little bit about being a caregiver. We are both taking seriously the dictum to wash our hands thoroughly. One article about this virus said that the sanitizers do not always take care of it. Running water is the best because it moves the germs on. We certainly want them out of here. I am treating water like an expendable commodity. Not my usual self. Paula

Update on Leroy

Hello, Leroy’s heart ablation went fine. He came home the day after the procedure. Had a good sleep and felt wonderful in the morning until about 10:00 am. Then he started to notice some aches and pains. Plus, he had to go to the toilet a lot. He then started to experience weakness. The doctor on call had us take his blood pressure which turned out to be a bit low. He suggested that he was getting dehydrated and he should stop the med that had been prescribed. Since he took it in the morning, there was not much to do about that at the moment. He still seemed fairly good so I went and did my volunteering at church with the stipulation that he should call if needed. He did not call but told me when I got home that he needed to go to the toilet again. He had trouble getting up. After he went, he just laid on the bathroom floor. I started suggesting that we go to the emergency room, but he did not think it necessary. I suggested he go lay on the bed where he could roll off more easily. With help he stood up and started moving slowly, but on his own. When we were close, I went to pull back the covers. I heard a loud thump, raced out and found him lying flat on his back. At that point, I said we needed to go to the ER. He said he felt better. In a bit he too thought we should go, but I said, “I cannot get you down the stairs we must call the ambulance.” He said, “No,” however a few seconds later he changed it to yes. They came and had a serious conversation about what was wrong, started an IV and give him a shot of something. Then they got a portable chair because our stairs is hard to navigate with a sharp curve in it. They would have to carry him down, but assured me that it would be an easy job compared to many. Leroy spent the night in the hospital and will again tonight. I think he is looking much better now and he is not hooked up to so many things. Grateful for all that can be done. Paula

Health Care

Hello, I am grateful for the health care we have available. We have two hospitals within two miles of our home. Both of them have a good reputation. Today we visited one of them for Leroy to get a test for his heart. Tomorrow he will have a procedure that is to help that heart work better. I look at all the equipment in the room for the test and marvel at the inventions and inventors that have brought all this into being. I try to remember those who do not have so much available to them. Even though we might complain about the cost, we can pay it and we do have insurance coverage so we do not pay the full price. Again, I am aware that there are people here and abroad who do not have such available to them. Course there are many countries that have access to medical care for all citizens. Leroy had to give himself some shots before this procedure since he is on blood thinner which he had to stop before the day. He was quite nervous about the shots, but it turned out not to be hard at all. When Leroy’s test was done this morning, the woman commented that he was a cheap date because he does not need much anesthesia. As it is, he ate something when we got home and he has been sleeping since. The dermatologist froze a spot on my face. I have had that done before. This time however, he did it several times to that spot or close to it. Today it is a bit swollen. Certainly nothing I want to touch, but I now know I touch my face many times for no reason in particular. Paula

Talented or what?

\Hello, Today, I went to the store for honey since I want to make granola and did not have enough honey at home. I went in for one item and came out with $32 worth of things. Am I talented or what? When I was brushing my teeth this morning, I managed to knock out my bridge in front. It had cracked about a month ago. The Dentist wanted to see if it would settle down as he could see no breaks. I had just heard a noise. Am I talented or what? After making that trip to get the honey, I forgot to make the granola this afternoon. Instead, I took a walk, read some, and watched a program on TV. Am I talented or what? Paula

Community Garden

Hello, We have been remiss and not weeded in the garden for some time. No one else has been there so the grasses especially have made a lot of growth. It is a kind of grass that my father called knuckle grass. It sends out a shoot, puts down roots and repeats that process. It covers quite a big area. If I pull up one plant I make a lot of progress. I picked some small yellow tomatoes. They are a sweet treat. The trouble was when I went to the second side of the plant, I felt something biting me on my ankle. Oh no! There were small ants on me. I moved away from the area. Those ants on me were smashed as soon as I spotted them. It took a little while, but I was relieved. One year, ants got on me and up under my long pants. I had to go home to get rid of them as their bites are rather uncomfortable. I seriously considered just hiding behind a bush, exposing myself and getting rid of them. Pain can make a difference to one’s sensibilities. On the way home, I saw a woman and a small girl getting into their vehicle so I shared with them all the tomatoes that I had picked. It was just small ones. Someone else picked the larger ones, the smaller ones are ignored. I was outside by the deck when a humming bird landed on the clothes line and looked at me while I looked at it. It was only about two feet from me. I tried to get my phone out to take a picture, but it left. I was sorry that I just did not enjoy seeing it. Pictures are not everything. Paula

Shopping and more

Hello, Yesterday after Tai Chi and a study at church we went to the store to get Leroy’s hearing aid app put back on his phone. For some reason, that had been deleted. It was a simple fix for those people who knew what app to use and how to set it up. The guy just flipped through it all at great speed. When I commented, he said, “If you did this all the time like I do, you would also get every fast.” He also put on new filters which seem to get coated with wax. I believe that Leroy is hearing better now. The only downside is that the store is over 20 miles away. When we are there, we also seem to feel it is a requirement that we spend some money. We came home with a giant mum that was a good price. It barely fit in the car. We had to put it in the back passenger side so I could pull my seat ahead to give it room. It even had plastic around it at that point. It is not fully open yet, but it will be lovely when it is. I have an 8 inch one by it to get an idea of size.

Last night Leroy and I went to a concert at the museum. It was an operettic soprano. She married a Slovak and now lives in Bratislava. She is promoting Slovak music. Leroy even stayed in focus the entire time. I was impressed as well. I miss all of the musical events that we went to while living in Slovakia. Paula

Halifax Second Day

Hello, I am only up to day 11 on our Nova Scotia trip. It lasted 17 days. On the day before we had a bit of time to explore on our own in Halifax. Leory and I saw a building that had a cast iron façade. The plaque explained it. Neither Leroy nor I had known such existed.

Later we went to the star fort. Our guide was excellent. We learned that the fort was never attacked because it was so well situated. We were lucky to see the guards there. In the afternoon, we went to Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse.

It was a beautiful setting. The rocks were left or pushed by the glaciers. Our earth is an amazing and varied place.

I even bought a souvenir here. We seldom buy anything because we do not need more things in our house or life. This time I bought a tee shirt. It said it was magic. It appears to be just a line drawing, but when exposed to sunlight the colors fill in those lines. It is fun. But that was enough for one trip. It seems I should follow Leory’s lead that when he buys something new something old goes. Paula

Tomatoes

Hello, We were given some tomatoes. They were the best tasting tomatoes I have eaten this season. We had enough to can so we did one batch of eight quarts yesterday and another batch of eight quarts today. I thought there might not be enough so I went to the community garden even though we seldom get any tomatoes there. Usually, others pick them. I picked quite a few regular size, small sized, red and yellow. The okra was ripe so I picked that too. Half of it was too large so it was thrown in the compost. The green beans were in about the same territory. There was a small amount of broccoli. It was a busy time in the garden. With the okra requiring the most muscle power to separate it from the plant. The okra blossoms are beautiful. That is my favorite part of the plant. I was able to give away many of the yellow tomatoes on the way home. As it turned out we had plenty of tomatoes. Now I wonder what to do with the rest of them. It looks like about three jars full. Which I might do just to care for them. When Leroy fell, his watch did create an alarm. I kept thinking it was on the phone, so we could not find it. Luckily, we thought of his watch just as it was texting that it would call 911 unless Leroy let the watch know that he was alright. Good to know the watch works as advertised. Now we know something about what to do. When it goes off we might even look there first. I might even have to get one too. Paula

Those exciting walks

Hello, Last night we walked in the wonderful weather. We were more comfortable that we have been in recent days. It was dark, but we have flashy lights to help us on our way. Rather the flashing arm bands make us more visible to drivers. We cut through the campus that is on the way. As we were on the sidewalk by the garden, I saw a snake. When I said something, it zoomed off of the path. Leroy just barely saw it there. I was pleased that it had not gone under the fence, but was tucked up close to it. Leory pronounced it to be a garter snake. I am not as sure of the identification, but I would agree with him. Today we were again walking through campus. I now walk faster than Leroy so I was ahead of him when I heard, oof, and a fairly loud slamming sound. Looking back, I saw Leroy on the ground rolling over onto his back. I wondered did he have a heart attack or a spell. What was he doing on the ground. “What happened?” I wanted to know. “I stubbed my toe.” He groaned. He held out his hand for me to help him up. I wondered, should he lay there awhile, but he was not into that. He got to his feet with some groaning. His hand had a small puncture in it, but he seemed ok otherwise. Three students came over and wanted to know if they could help and what happened. Leroy showed that there was a split and raised part in the sidewalk which they said they would report. Leroy did have some scrapes on his knees which were under his jeans. Luckily, the church has band aids. He now tells me he is sore in many places. We are grateful he did not break any bones or hit his face or head. Paula

Labor Day

Hello, Leroy and I took a nice short bike ride this morning. The air was cool, but our bottoms noticed the small seat so we were glad to go home. In the afternoon we went to a park that has an arboretum as well as trails and a newish playground. It was nice to walk around. We saw wild flowers, planted trees, butterflies, dragon flies, and many dogs with people. Even one three-legged dog. Some were panting and looking hot with much hair.

On the way home we stopped at a store to get some underwear for Leroy. They had both the size and style listed on the website. On the shelf there was only one package. The package had been torn open. Leory counted seven pair and not the stated six. On one level that was ok, but it should not be ours. Two of the pair had been taken out. The folding did not work like the others. We checked the sizes of those; one was a large and not a medium. There was a person there so we asked about that. She checked and learned there were no other packages in the back. We decided to take it anyway. At the check out we explained the situation and she was ok with that. She checked it out. I told her I had my own bag which Leroy was holding. Somehow the package missed the bag and the pair fell out. Leroy picked them up. On the way out of the store, someone called after us. We had failed to pick up one pair. There are honest people all over. Paula

In the Garden

Hello, This year, we have neglected the community garden much of the time. We have been gone or is too hot or it is raining. We have great excuses, however when I see the weeds in the garden, I am ashamed. Somehow, I could make myself get more done in the past. The other evening, even though it was still in the 80’s, I said, “I am going to the garden. There are beans that are ready to pick. If they are there too long they will stop producing.” Leroy felt guilty so he went with me. We walked slowly and had had quite a bit of water before we left the house. Leroy was wearing gloves so he went right to picking cucumbers. Some of them were quite large. I noticed some tomatoes very low on the plants. I was picking those when two boys came by. They had been playing in a vacant area. I asked, “Would you like some green beans?” They thought maybe they would like some. Then I picked some tomatoes for them. They also said they liked cucumbers. They did not like okra, but their dad did. They got all of the okra, several tomatoes, and many cucumbers. I was pleased to share all of these things. They wondered if it was our garden. I told them it was for everyone. Then one of them wondered if we took care of it. I was ashamed to say we did since there were so many weeds. They were pleased and thanked us for the produce as well as letting them know about the garden. One the way home we saw someone sitting on their porch and shared all of the green beans with them as well as two cucumbers. It lightened our load considerably. My heart was full. Paula

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Hello, We rode an amphibious vehicle around town for 30 minutes and on the water for 30 minutes. It is like the duck boats at the Wisconsin Dells. It was fun. We even went past the public library. It is not often that libraries are pointed out. There were sights that we would return to, this was just an overview. Entering the water got people in the front seats and one side especially a bit wet. Leroy had a sense of spray on him. It was a pleasant time on the river. I like the views from both land and water.

Later we went to the Victoria Garden. It was beautiful and great in the shade. We learned there are four things that make it a Victoria garden. It needs more than four species, a water feature, formal layout, and was it a boat feature? Not sure of that last one. this garden had all of these. The boat was a replica of the Titanic. It was wonderful to just wonder around the space as we navigated from one end to the other.

A woman who lives close stopped and visited with us. She said, “I come here almost every day.” She proceeded to explain some of the plantings to us. I appreciated her sharing. People all over the world are so good and helpful. I hope visitors to the USA find the same welcome and help. Paula