Hair Discussions

Hello,

I had some hair discussions at church today. How often should hair be washed? Answers ranged from daily to once a week. I commented, “I wash my hair twice a week. I used to wash it daily, but as I have aged I notice it is much dryer than it used to be. However I wet it every day so it is not sticking out in all sorts of wild directions.”

At that last comment the people who were listening were astonished. They have straight hair and possibly it is not such a deranged mass in the mornings. They apparently all spend a bit of time on their hair, but that is to make it have a bit more height or even curl. They seemed to be unable to easily imagine hair that set overnight and then it was stuck in that position.

I did not tell them that all I do to my hair is wet it, comb it while wet, and comb or brush it once more when it is dry because that is how it is for the rest of the time. I wonder if they have any idea how my hair springs up and away from my head as it dries. Probably not. Course the problem with that is that it can spring up to some unusual and unwanted sprongs.

One woman who has recently had chemo commented that her hair is coming in curly which she has never had before. Seems to me she will have some learning time getting to know this new possibility.

I do not have a fiction book to read. Life is different. I should have bought some at the library book sale just so I would be prepared for such an emergency. Tomorrow I will bring home two or three from the library.

I did look at getting an ebook, but quit the search before I found something I wanted to read. Seems I am hung up on browsing the shelves.

Paula

Garage Sales

Hello,

Today Leroy and I along with a young friend went to the Ely City wide garage sale. It is so nice to park the car and walk to several different sales. We all purchased something. Our friend got a light weight jacket with the school logo on it. He was pleased to find that. Leroy found a pair of ski goggles that he will use in the winter time when riding the bike to work. He tells me, “I can put these on over my glasses. They will keep out the wind and keep my glasses from fogging up.”

At a dollar that was a good deal if they do indeed work as he hopes. Leroy did say that he had checked in a store and they cost much more than that.

I got some glass storage containers. I have been considering getting rid of the plastic ones that I currently use. Hopefully these with please me as I put them to use. We also got a travel game that has dice enclosed in a form so they cannot be lost. Will we use it? Who knows?

We also got a water kettle. I have one that allows one to select four different temperatures, but the top temperature seems to have stopped working. This one is not so sophisticated, but I tried it after we got home. It goes to a very high heat. Now I am trying to decide what to do as I do not want to give up the pot that can be set to a lower temperature. However I do not have so much room that I want two of these items around. Even though two dollars was a great price I still might go and splurge for the multi-temperature option. Leroy tells me that if we do not want the one we just bought, he would donate it to church where the water kettle lid is becoming unhinged. We will keep this for a while and experiment.

Paula

The Squirrel War

Hello,

We are declaring war on squirrels, but not yet bringing out the big guns whatever that might be. My downstairs friend has devised a system of grids around her flowers hoping to deter any digging in those beds.

I still like to see them climbing around in the trees outside my windows, but when I see them on the ground I do not put on such a friendly face. I noticed a hole in the front bed where one surely took out something that I wanted such as a bulb of some flowering plant. Why do they not prefer weeds? Also why are they cute, creating mixed feelings when I see them out and about?

It seems to me the population keeps going up without natural enemies to keep them under control. Who are their natural enemies? Should we send out an invitation to those parties to come feast? Or perhaps we just want those enemies to pay a short visit. Seems to me we humans run into trouble when we introduce changes to the environment. The real trick is to co-exist without out being bothered to a large degree. It seems so interesting to me that we were never bothered by squirrels on the farm. It must be because they had plenty of room to live away from the house.

Chicken hawks were another issue. I remember seeing one swoop down and carry off a young chicken. My mother was quite upset by that. So much so, that I remember feeling afraid, but not quite sure why. Seems to me that the chickens were not allowed out for a longer period giving them some time to put on weight and be much harder to cart off.

Paula

Work and Wine

Hello,

My work has been crazy busy. There is a garage sale this weekend sponsored by the library. On Tuesday we had a donut sale. Between those two items with people registering for a sale and buying donuts there were 115 people in the library in just seven hours. I sincerely hope I kept everything straight as some people wanted to deal with both things. I was alone for three hours and I think that was the busiest of the entire day. I was happy to go home when done.

Today was also rather busy. Many people came in to pick up their garage sale map which had been promised tomorrow. People do not read or remember everything they have read as many did not know they were a day early until we told them. Some were a little irritated that the maps were not ready, but registration just ended last night. So there really had not been a lot of time to get everything in place.

There is new software for the ILL procedure. I had had no warning or training on this, but my boss was gone last Tuesday so after two calls to the state library and one to a neighboring library I finally figured out quite a lot of what I needed to do order books and to process requests. I must have new brain cells after all of that learning.

Leroy was given some wine for Christmas. We had thought we would have some company who would help us drink it. But that did not happen so it is still with us. Last night in the middle of the night when I was having a wakeful period I had the idea that Leroy and I would just drink a glass each for the next few days and deal with the rest by dumping it or cooking with it. When queried this morning, Leroy agreed as he too wants it gone. Tonight when we tried to open it we realized we did not have a way to extract the cork. Luckily our downstairs friends had such an appliance, but they too did not want to help us drink the wine as they do not drink it either, but at least they are prepared for any eventuality.

Paula

Outside More

Hello,

After several days of being inside more than out it was great to get out again today. In the morning I hung two loads of clothes which were dry by mid afternoon. That is so nice after a series of cold rainy days.

This afternoon I walked a part of the neighborhood delivering newsletters. It was god to get some hill work in my 8,000 plus steps that I have taken today. We mostly walk on the flat land consequently I notice that I do not handle hills as well as I once did. It is good for me to have a reason to go higher. I even visited with a neighbor who was out cutting trees out of his hedge row. There was one mulberry that was probably three feet high. I commented, “I would not like a mulberry tree here, but I do like mulberries.”

“We used to have a very large one in the back yard that we finally got rid of.” He said.

Nature is certainly indiscriminate about where things take root. Often it does not fit with our idea of orderliness. It is a trick to adapt and snuggle in without disturbing the surroundings.

I had thought most of the early blooming flowers were finished, but I saw some nice tulips and other spring flowers. It was great to be out to admire the beauty and drink it into my soul. Even the green is so good that it perks me up.

Leroy rode the bike today. It will be nice that he will not have to consider coming home in the rain. He only goes three miles, but sometimes it can be dry when he starts and then a down pour before he makes it to the house. Monday he said, “I only got a little wet, so it was ok.”

Paula

Internet Service and a stick in the sock

Hello,

Those two subjects have nothing to do with each other; I just wanted to talk about both.

It is time to renew our internet service. I am no good at calling as you know so I push, urge, or shove the job off to Leroy’s area. He takes it on with little grumbling. Last night while I was at work, he finished the task. He has garnered a lower rate for the coming year, with the declaration from the agent that it would not happen the following year. We believe there must be a lot of competition out there for them to lower the rate. We would have been satisfied with staying the same and not getting a raise in fees.

Leroy did complain a bit last night as he said it took him about an hour. I was not home, but I consider it not bad for an hour’s work to gain about $50 for a year. He first tried to call, but was on hold for a long time so he switched to an email chat, but he was the 54 person in line so he went back to the phone where he put it on speaker phone and did other things. I consider that to be not working too hard, but it must have annoyed him a little by the way the emotion seeped into his voice. We are both happy with the result. Personally I think that Leroy must be a real phone voice charmer to garner this gain of lower expense.

Now on to the stick in the sock. Yesterday I put on my sock only to feel something poking me in the foot. Quickly I got my foot out of there as I thought of several disreputable possibilities. At least I do not have to worry about a scorpion in this climate. It turned out to be an inch long slim stick that must have dropped from the tree above the clothes line. Another exciting reason to hang out clothes, you never know what passengers you will find that have set up housekeeping. I have brought many different types of small critters into the house. Generally I have noticed them in time to trap them in the fabric and cart them back outside where they can continue doing whatever it is they want to do.

Paula

Taking on the wrong tasks

Hello,

Do you ever take on the wrong tasks? I do because I like to say yes. Someone from church asked me to cut material that is to be made into bags that go on walkers. I figured that should not be a hard job and I could do it.

I promptly received two bags of material. One only had two pieces of cloth with the size instructions included. I did talk to the person who had asked me to do this and learned that she made a pattern out of newspaper. By the way you should know that I am not a sewing person. I did that pattern and with a certain amount of difficulty got the job done. My scissors is good, but the height of my tables is not good for my back which got tired rather quickly. Also the pieces of material were big and difficult to control on my small table. Tension probably contributed to that back sensation as I grumbled in my head, “I do not like to do this.”

It would have been much better for me if I had not been alone. In other words I needed a mentor even for this seemingly simple task. The job was finally done and I sent it on. When looking in the second bag my heart sank because it had a lot more material in it along with different size instructions. The person who originally asked me to do this also loaned me a sample bag. The new size was smaller and I did not know what to do about that so I stuck this bag in the closet and almost forgot about it when not looking in the closet.

This morning I thought I must get this out of my house and mind. The original person who had asked was in Boston on vacation. Sigh. I did not know the other woman who had sent me the bags of material. The introvert in me does not like to call people I do not know, but I gathered courage and made the call.

There I learned that I was now cutting bags that are for children to give to grandparents in hospice situations. This new woman had thought that I had a board and a wheel to make the cutting much easier. She told me, “It is too hard to do all this with a paper pattern and a scissors. Give it back and someone else will do it.”

Even though a little bit of guilt is rolling around my brain, the relief is stronger. I am happy to get this out of my house where it caused a bit of anxiety each time I saw it. Just one phone call made sooner would have averted all of this negative in my life.

Life is a continually journey of learning.

Paula