Blooms, blooms, blooms!

Hello, My indoor plants are just blooming away. The orchid is just at its fullest glory now. The amaryllis is opening. As is a white Thanksgiving Cactus opens and the pink has only one left. Now the coleus is blooming as well. It is a pretty flower, but I often pinch it off to make it branch out a little more. What beauty in my life.

Then there is Leroy. He is a nice guy, kind and considerate as well as intelligent and generous. How is that for a lot of compliments. But will he ever read this, maybe or maybe not. Does he bloom? Somedays come closer than others. He has been a little stressed because of a stamp display at work. Plus, he was asked to preach at our church on Saturday night service. It has been a long time since he wrote a sermon but he finished the first draft in good time. He looks more relaxed now. Paula

How much I do not know

Hello, While visiting with a neighbor today, I realized I do not know what to do when that person starts talking negatively about another neighbor. It is especially hard, when I basically agree with him. When does all this become gossip and unkind? How can it be that so many times the rain misses us and the ground stays quite dry? How much water is ok to use in such times? Does it matter when we try not to let water run down the drain, but save it in a bucket to use for watering plants inside and outside? How to handle jokes that are at the expense of another person, especially when I like the person who made that joke? A person today said she rehabilitates raccoons. Is that of value when those animals can be such a nuisance in the city? How many t-shirts should be in my drawer? Paula

What, Again?

Hello, At the dermatologist, another biopsy was done, but this time on the left side of my face. It is close to where I already had some Moh surgery. Hoping this one is a false alarm. There was a spot on the right cheek that was frozen because it is precancerous. As the doctor said, “I am sorry to have to this to you, but your face seems to be a place to inspect closely. Dr. Clark does a great job with the surgery, but I know it is easier if it is sooner rather than later.” As he was taking the sample, he asked me a question. Should I answer? Would my cheek move? Would the size of the cut change? I answered, but tried to use a minimum of movement. I am glad to be so close geographically to someone who can do this and make it look good in the end. I got to the appointment ahead of time and they took me in ahead of time so I had a lot of time between my appointment and a study at church. The person in the kitchen kept me busy until my study. I am glad to help out. It seems to me she has too much to too much of the time. A flutist played at church today after the noon worship service. It was quite fine to listen to that. I am a day late getting this sent out, could I have gotten busy? Paula

Helping is not always easy

Hello, Yesterday, a bit of trash was around the church, probably brought there by the wind. Because I was not appropriately dressed, we came back today armed with gloves and bags. Only there was no trash. Guess the wind had blown it on to the rest of the neighborhood. With careful looking we managed to fill one grocery bag. It involved many small things. More cigarette butts and some plastic coffee stirrers. As well as other odds and ends. We picked up a bit more trash on the way home. We could have done a lot more, but did not have a way to pack it all up. That wind has been quite strong and brings in many things. The bag of books for the little free library included one book that had no spine label, was missing the front cover and the first 33 pages. That book did not go in the library. There was also one book that just stayed open in one place and had water damage. The rest of the books are fine and went into the library. We have some green growing in the community garden. Some type of lettuce and some spinach. The Red Russian Kale is also quite vigorous. Paula

How Powerful Are We

Hello, Today we watched the Iowa Women’s basketball team play and win. The only other two times we have watched, they lost. I commented to Leroy, “Do you think we should do this; they might lose because we are watching?” “We are not that powerful,” Leroy asserted calmly. I have been thinking, how do we feel about jinxing something and where did those ideas come from? How much do others emotions affect us? Sometimes I think, and I hear others say that they do something to make it rain. Like hang out clothes. Mostly I do not believe that is a factor in the outcome, but why say it or even think it? Obviously, I know that some of my actions do make a difference and I try to be careful. Paula

Meeting Family

Hello, Last evening we met with my brother and his family as well as our brother-in-law and his friend. I am so happy that my brother-in-law wants to keep contact. In fact, he is willing to travel much farther than the rest of us did. He had an appointment in coming our direction so we just traveled a shorter distance. It was a great evening of laughter, talk, and a good meal at a restaurant that my sister-in-law knew about in the area. Gerald, brother-in-law, likes to work with wood. He came baring gifts that he had made for us. Some were of a Christmas theme and one was a clever wooden bowl.

Our travel was uneventful except for missing a turn off because there were too many cars in the way. It only took about fifteen minutes to get back to the place we needed to be in. There was quite a lot of wind yesterday. One hand got tired trying to keep the car in the proper place. I noticed that some of the semis would run off the road a little, which I suspect was a problem of the wind. There was a travel trailer that was noticeablely weaving. When I passed them, I pulled way over to the opposite side. We are grateful for a good visit and a safe trip for all. Paula

Card Compromised

Hello, “Oh no! Not again!” I thought as I looked at the credit card information. But one of the reasons I frequently look at the account is to keep ahead of thieves. We know what to do now. Leroy called right away and had the charges taken away. Not impossible to fix, but it does take some time. Who loses money? Not us, but often such things come back to us in another way. Our card has been cancelled once again. A new card will come in a week or so. Luckily, we only have one account that is automatically paid with this card and we have another card to use in the meantime. I asked what we can do to stop this from happening. One suggestion was always go into the gas station and pay inside. Get one of those wallets that is scan proof. Do not use the apple wallet on the phone. Guess we will have to make some changes. We can do this. This representative also talked about someone sitting in a car outside a store, aiming a device at the store and scanning the cards as people paid the bill. Not much we can do if that happens. Should we just go back to using cash? I am not quite ready to do that. Paula