Ditto

I've been feeling so sad about the passing of Glen Campbell.  I went to YouTube, and listened to some of my favorite recordings by him.  I posted two of them on the "Just Plain Old Music" discussion, right here in S&F.  If anyone wants to hear him sing Galveston or Gentle On My Mind, go here >>>https://www.seniorsandfriends.org/index.php?topic=184.msg95802#new

I just read today on our town's Facebook page that Tanya Tucker will be at our annual festival in Oct.  it made me think of Glen Campbell and their wild love affair.  Just a few minutes later I heard that Campbell had died.  Tucker has never gotten married.  Says Campbell was her one true love.

Anthony Mason had a tribute to Glen Campbell at the end of his program tonight.  I always enjoyed Glen's programs.

Mary Ann

Another Kendrick story.  I was doing something in the kitchen, so I let him out the front door onto the stoop for a few minutes.  My "something" did not last as long as I thought it would and, you guessed it, I forgot about Kendrick.  That must have been about 8:30 or so.  I went to the computer and computed.  About 9:45 I decided I'd go in the living room to sit with him.  As I stood up, I remembered I had let him out the front door.  When he goes out that door, the world is his, no barriers.  When I got to the door, there he was, waiting to be let in.  He's more trustworthy than I've given him credit for.  He's safely inside now and both of us will go to bed.

Mary Ann

We have a new fun topic in the Photos board:  Show Me A Photo Of...

Thank you Jeanne Lee! 

Hi everyone. I woke up to rain and we expect it on and off for the next two weeks, according to the weather forecasts.  We had a lot of rain yesterday and it, like this morning, was a nice continual and gentle type rain rather than those downpours we sometimes get.  This is to be another day, like yesterday, when we didn't get much above 80 degrees.  While I was thinking about it I went out to the garage and turned off the sprinkler system so it won't water early tomorrow morning. 

If it is not raining too hard this morning I plan on a quick trip to Costco to get Pat more frozen strawberries plus a couple of other items and to get the car gas tank filled up again.  This afternoon I plan on making a lettuce salad to go with the mac/cheese and ham crockpot dinner Pat is making for our dinner with Scott and Jennifer this evening.  We did go to Pizza Hut for our evening meal yesterday and got to spend just a few minutes with our son.

ShirleyN, you were a lot hotter down your way than we were yesterday as it was really cool here especially with the rain.  Good idea to spread out the hard work.  That is the way we used to have to take care of the housework before getting a housekeeper.  It sure is nice to have the entire house cleaned at one time.  It sounds like you have a good Senior Center.  One of the things that North Augusta does not have is a Senior Center.  We do have a community center and also a nice community park with pool and basketball courts and rooms for other things for the community. 

Sandy, it sounds like your mattress and box springs covers were really a major job.  While we have a king size bed it actually consists of two twin size beds which makes tending them so much easier as they separate at the foot so you can get to the middle side easily.  They are adjustable and we each can adjust them as needed.  However, making up the bed still leave me a bit exhausted.  I always sleep with my head elevated and sometimes my legs.

Mary Ann, did you find some mischief to get into yesterday?    Very nice of Annie to bestow some food items on her dad. 

Patricia, you sure left no corner unturned in being sure your apartment had no critters.  I hope you never have to experience anything like that again.  I have read several times about the problems libraries are having with the bedbugs.  They basically have no control over where the loaned books may be taken. I had not heard that Glen Campbell had died yesterday.  He has always been one of my favorites and I remember his TV show. 

Marilyne, I have a long playlist of Glen Campbell music on Spotify.  The two songs you mentioned are certainly part of his trademark on music. 

Jean, I didn't remember about Glen Campbell and Tanya Tucker. 

Good morning boys & girls!

Another nice sunny and hot day is in store for my area of the country.  We had to use the sprinklers yesterday, things were looking droopy.  I have both my easy and hard chores done for the day, so now it is computer time.

Oh my goodness, Sandy.  What a time you had with your mattress.  I used to turn mine every six months and that was difficult enough for me.  Of course I cannot do that any more, since I have aged. 

Well Mary Ann, did you ever find any mischief to get into yesterday?  I can’t imagine what you would/could find. 

Omigosh Angelface, you certainly had your hands full with the infestation you were expecting.  I am like Mary Ann â€" don’t think I could ever do all of that.

Marilyne, the radio station we listen to is dedicating their day to Glen Campbell.  Nice listening.

FlaJean, I heard that about Tanya Tucker and Glen.  But they were both drinkers and had many physical fights.  Sad, but at least he straightened up later on.

Hi Bubble!!

Larry, we have been getting the fresh strawberries to put on our morning cereal.  Mmmm, good.  I would love to have a housekeeper come in, but Danny doesn’t think it is necessary.  Sigh!  Also would love to have a gardner of some sort come do some weeding, but again, Danny doesn’t think that is necessary either.  Double sigh!!

And this pretty much wraps up my book for the day â€" wishing you all a great day.

~_~
shirleyn.

shirleyn - Sounds like your Danny and my husband AJ, have the same outlook on getting a housekeeper or a gardener.  AJ's philosophy is that as long as we can still do it ourselves, we should keep on keeping on! LOL!   It isn't the money he cares about - he thinks it's good for us.   I have to admit that he is still really strong for age 83, and is able to do just about everything that needs being done around this big old house and yard.  Not so for me, however.    

Mary Ann - I enjoyed your two Kendrick stories yesterday.  Winnie is the same way about wanting to sleep under the comforter in my bed. During the day he burrows his way under, and looks like a a strange lump.  Many times I have let him outside in the back yard, and then forgotten about him.  He has one of those pressed cardboard scratch things that I keep right outside the glass slider, so he usually sits on that and looks hopefully into the kitchen until one of us sees him out there, and lets him in. 

Larry - a couple of things I want to comment on in your morning post, but I'll return later.  It's only 8:15 here, and I still need to drink some more coffee and fix myself some breakfast before I continue on with the day. 

I told Candy to stay in OR for a bit.  Our air quality is awful up here.  They are telling people not to go outside if at all possible.

Larry and Shirley, there’s plenty to do around here, probably none of it can be considered mischief, but even so, little gets done.  I moan about not being able to reach things and that does result in things not being done.   Tom works all day or is gone, so he doesn’t get much done either.

Norm had a problem with some things that he felt were not necessary and they were things he could not do and Dot had to do them.  He’d always say that Dot could handle it.  Dot has arthritis in many parts of her body and she hurts and it just went over Norm’s head.  We think one of his worst thoughts was in travel because Dot had to manage his wheelchair and the luggage.  He didn't think it was necessary for someone else to push him (and have to pay that someone) so poor Dot did it.  We tried to meet them at the airport here, but that didn't help in Florida.  See why Dot does not miss Florida???

Marilyn, I think Winnie and Kendrick would make a good pair.

Well, I finally did it.  At least I think I did.  The cursor does not move when I am using the exterior mouse.  Links were not explicit enough because they’d ask for a Control Panel and I don’t have one like I used to have.  I finally typed in “something” and sound and a picture of the mouse came up with a box to check to disable the internal mouse.  So far it is working and the proof will be in the pudding when I start up in the morning because my computer will be on all day.  So thanks to everyone who tried to help me.

No cat stories yet today.

Sorry, I hit the wrong color.

Mary Ann

Good morning from the Interior. Another sunny day with well into the eighties expected but rain is forecast for the weekend again. Farrah has gotten tired of me ignoring her when she stretches up and taps me plus giving a verbal call. This morning she jumped up on my very small computer table. I snapped, "Farrah!" and set her down. She promptly jumped back up. set facing me on my keyboard, tapped my face and said "Win-Win" which means treats as opposed to "Win" which means food. This is a far cry from when she spent the majority of May 2016 thru November 2016 under my bed.

We had another apartment by apartment session yesterday. You had to go to the office, meet with the building's resource manager and redo your needs assessment. I'm getting tired of all these maintenance, household, and personal needs assessments. They seemed to have morphed from once or twice a year to generally two a month. Or so it seems. I also may be giving up my last volunteer assignment. I was going twice a month to use my cart to deliver the food baskets to the shut-ins and help those who could not carry the boxes to their apartments.

It used to be that you simply loosely arranged matters with that particular tenant and then showed your ID to the volunteers delivering the boxes. I could take two, possibly three boxes at a time on my cart. Unfortunately that privilege has been abused similarly to what is or has been done with the meals on wheels. People aren't home or don't answer the door and expect you to just leave it outside their door. The new policy is that you, the tenant,  have to call the phone number listed and specially arrange/authorize for a certain person to deliver and be responsible for your food box. I am certainly not going about campaigning for a spot.

Sandy, if you have a terry cloth strip that covers and velcros over the zipper on the mattress covers and pillows than I think we have the same brand. I was told that these bugs can go into stasis for 18 months and to leave them, the mattress and pillow cover on for at least two years before doing any washing. I sprayed both mattresses and pillows with 90 proof rubbing alcohol and vacuumed well before placing the covers over the mattresses and pillows.

Just got a call from Candy, she will be here tomorrow.  UGH

Well, I did go to the fair for the free senior luncheon and the free admission. The meal, sliced turkey with Alaskan veggies and a roll was served to your table by boy scouts and firemen. Evidently, seniors enjoy a free meal as the "big top" tent was packed and three rolls of tables and chairs were set up all around the tent. The only intrusive part was the Elvis impersonator.

Why do they think seniors or at least at local events always want an Elvis impersonator? They are everywhere! We even have a disabled one in this building! My issue was even tho I have a mild hearing loss, that mic was set so high I'm sure they heard him in Russia! Then he and his mic cord went strolling around the outside tables to give us a little of his practiced patter and more song. I finally had to leave.

While we were walking, we heard a woman speaking French. My friend who is from Nantes struck up a conversation. It turns out the lady and her husband are from Jerusalem and I said I had a friend in Netanya. It was very interesting to learn that they had spent five years in Netanya! It's a small world indeed!

I took a few photos, some veggies and farm animals for MaryAnn, may post later today or tomorrow. I felt sad in a way at looking at all the 4H and children's farm animal exhibits because I know that at the end of the fair is the auction.

It was 87 and I was baking and told my friend I felt like a pancake and she said no, crepes! Her husband kept us supplied with water bottles in the four hours we were there.  So I talked myself into getting out of the house and may do more but just getting out there is such a chore!

Patricia, I'll be waiting to see the pictures.

I don't know what I did today, but I was busy all of the time.  I do know my lawyer e-mailed me that he was back from vacation so I called him to make an appointment to update my Trust.  I have to print out the changes I want and I know there will be conversation about them.  I hope to have things finished by the end of the month.  And I hope that's the last change I must make.

Mary Ann

Mary Ann,
I always thought Dot was so good the way she looked after Norm but I do not think Norm was aware that he needed so much looking after.
She made the right decision to come back to Michigan when she did and even then I remember Norm saying how reluctant he was to leave Florida.

I have to change my will too but need to move more quickly than I am at present.
It does become frustrating when things that were always so easy to do, one cannot do but then we have to be grateful for the years we are given ( notice I did not say GOLDEN years).
Take care Mary Ann and please remember me to Dot. I often look back to my day at Grand Haven.

Junee, you're right that Norm did not realize he needed so much help.  He was determined that he could do things and if he tried, they were not done right.  He'd try to walk from Point A to Point B and fall because he either would not use his cane or go-cart (my term).  He was in the beginning stages of dementia when he died and we all knew it but others did not realize it because his "old" memory was quite good.  And what do "old" friends do but reminisce.  Other than his walking, he got along OK - with help.  His death came at the right time - before he lost it all.  He's been gone nearly two years now.  It took Dot a while to get used to living alone, but now she is getting along fine.  A friend moved in the condo unit next to her and they do a lot of things together.  She and I have breakfast after church each week.  She's much more a "people person" than I am, so she's busy in a different way.

Mary Ann

Junee, I agree with you completely on jobs you can no longer do.  Like change a light bulb.  I have one outside that needs changing and I have to get my SIL to come over to change it out.  I cant get on a ladder nor reach overhead to change it.  I tried and almost fell.  I also have balance problems when I reach overhead or try to get on a step stool. grrrrrr.

Hi everyone. Another cloudy morning and headed up to 85 or a little higher this afternoon.  We did have more good rain yesterday morning.  There is a low percentage chance of more rain today.  I will go to coffee this morning and then, if not to tired, will go back downtown after getting my friend home and attend the Wisdom Group.  Nothing else on the schedule for today.

ShirleyN, the strawberries that Pat gets are Grade A Fancy from Costco.  They are big berries and obviously tasty or she wouldn't eat them.  I wonder what would happen if you just let the housework and garden work go and when questioned about it simply say you are not up to doing it anymore.  I as happy to see Pat get help with the housework and I had little choice in terms of getting help with the yard, which is now done by the Home Owner's Association but before we moved I had to privately contract to have it done.

Marilyne, is AJ willing to do the housework or a big part of it?  If he had to do it perhaps it would cause a change in philosophy.  Sometimes we men need a visual lesson to get the point.  I take it from your comment that perhaps AJ is assisting you with the housework. 

Joan, it sounds like Candy didn't hear your comments about remaining in Oregon a bit longer.  Hope she had a good trip on up your way. 

Mary Ann, Scott installed the first slide out shelf in one of our lower cabinets last evening while he was here.  It was easy to install and very high quality for a very reasonable price.  I  am buying them from Amazon and will do so a couple at a time and need about 9 more of them so that all the lower cabinet shelves have them installed.  Dot obviously has a different temperament than my wife does as I learned a long time ago that I didn't tell her what or what not she could do.   The Control Panel is still available in Windows 10.   In the little search box at the lower left corner just type in control panel and it will pop up the link to the desktop app and click on it and you will see the control panel.  Glad you got the cursor problem fixed. 

Patricia, did Farrah's getting in your face get her a treat?  It does sounds like you are getting more than a sufficient amount of inspections. Glad you got to attend the fair.  Selling of the 4-H animals helps the young folks learn that these animals are not their cats and dogs.  Living on a farm teaches young people at lot about life.  I have only seen one Elvis impersonator and he was very good and most enjoyable.   

Junee, as always good to see your posting.  Making and changes wills and trusts are easy things to delay doing but are very important when the time comes, which I am sure we all know.

Hal, I also have balance problems when I reach overhead and feel very uncomfortable getting on a step stool unless I can hang on to something to be sure I don't fall. 

Larry, she said she did not want to overstay her welcome.    I have the air cleaner going full blast in my apt and all windows are closed.  Will be good to see her again.

Larry, I'll look in Amazon for a pullout shelf.  I have only one lower cupboard that will accept such a shelf.  I have a small kitchen and beside that one cupboard are drawers, the dishwasher, a turntable, a very narrow cupboard, the stove, a corner cupboard and the refrigerator.  Tom was going to look into a pullout shelf and said his son could get one, but I haven't seen hide nor hair of any shelf.  We just received an Amazon order yesterday.

So far the mouse problem is holding and I expect it to.  I know with W-10 one of the icons brings up the control panel icons, but what I needed wasn't there.  The word I could not think of was "Hardware" and that and Sound is what I typed in Search and it worked.  I am not finding my cursor all over the place.

Mary Ann

Hello Junee. Hope that you are having nice weather there. Your Fall must be getting close.

Glad to read that others are trying to get their personal papers in order also.
I just can't get to mine. Went and got a good Attorney and got it started. Spent a hour with her. Went over my thought and mentioned my problems having a dysfunctional family which is making it a little harder to do. Came out thinking will not be to hard. Within a week I received a package for me to fill out all these forms. Talk about from Womb to Tomb. I just hadn't thought of so much needed doing.. I even went to library and they found me books explaining more. I started but not done much. Bet she is wondering where they are. Just have to get back into them.  I have only faced the end of life and such from experience in UK. my family. Would be a lot easier if I was there.  I did my brothers a few years ago. So easy. As I was the only remaining family.  Will get on it again soon.

Already today I have had 4 calls on the phone. First one waking me up at 8:15am. (I read until 2am). Breast Cancer calling for donation. I know they don't do that. Then another saying I had stayed with them at their resort. (get this everyday). Another from a University calling for my health insurance. I don't have call waiting or even if I got the one showing Phone Numbers it would not help. Can't recognize them. Hate to take my home line out but it is just getting so bad. Start early now and one the other night at 9:45.  Getting on a Don't call list. that doesn't work at all. Puts one in a bad mood. Between Phones and the Internet I am about ready to get rid of all Technology.

Good morning, another sunny day in the Interior in a month that is traditionally wet and rainy. The fair simply baked yesterday for opening day. It was a lot more tiring than it was in years past simply to walk about. I know I couldn't raise an animal, just to see it sold it for slaughter. But as you said, Larry, these kids have been raised on a farm. I also saw several folks I hadn't seen in a very long time and met several nice folks attending the senior lunch. Besides the couple visiting from Jerusalem, there was a nice lady from New York City and one from Carson, Nevada, at my table. I will try to get those photos published today, MaryAnn.

Larry, I had to laugh at Farrah and was happy to see her being so assertive and knowing she feels safe to do so. But she still got put down off the keyboard. Pet Pride has a cat now that was left in the overnight cage at Animal Control which is a kill shelter. Luckily they have an agreement with Pet Pride for cats and many dog associations. This black and white tuxedo cat, guesstimated at about two to three years had a broken leg and other signs of abuse. It is thought that the cat had been thrown against something and perhaps more than once as his jaw is wonky. The vet is planning to reset both jaw and leg and the male cat is not going to be happy. Right now it is submissive and one of the vet techs said it just about broke her heart to see it so afraid of humans. I would like to see cruelty to animals on a closer par to cruelty to humans, legally but that is a long way off and especially in this state.

One more thing about Farrah. I gave her a bit of tuna yesterday and she got quite excited as the can opener took the lid off and she could smell the contents. Tuna to her is "Annah-Annah!" It is interesting both that food has a single vocalization and treats have two. But, also, that each treat has a different separate sound for it. I wonder if all cats do this or just Farrah as she simply doesn't vocalize like your average cat.

The fair had a Serval cat which was very interesting as it is the ancestor of many cat breeds and comes from Africa's grasslands originally. There is also a South American wild cat whose DNA matches with an African wild cat, not a Serval, and that DNA is also present in many modern cat breeds with the Serval.  You have to wonder how an African cat ended up in South America back millions of years ago to be that S.A. cat's ancestor. There have been more recent manipulation using Servals to produce  Bengals and Savannah spotted cats that look wild.The Serval does not make a good pet but it is used genetically. In the wild, it hunts small animals and has been filmed jumping ten feet in the air to snatch birds out of the sky.

I have to say that I am glad that all lower shelves, kitchen, and bath, in this apartment have lift up and pull out shelves. They should be in all handicapped assessable homes. I highly recommend them.

Larry, last year we got new carpeting in the public areas, new types of lighting and new types of smoke and carbon dioxide alarms, as well as new paint in the public areas. This year we got an increase in inspections, as well as a housekeeper for each building that, is separate from the maintenance men or the security folks. So I guess I shouldn't complain. But with the ongoing construction that seems to be unceasing, it can get to you.

Norm and his first wife had a couple of cats and when Norm and his wife were gone, I'd go to their house and feed the cats.  All I had to do was run the can opener and I had two cats at my feet.  You'd laugh at their names - Little Cat and Black Cat.  Little Cat got his name when they first got him and he grew to be large, probably about the same size as Kendrick, or close.  Black Cat was a more normal size. 

JeanneP, I'm on my fourth amendment to my Trust.  I understand a Trust does not have to go through Probate and if you have no Trust, things do have to go through Probate.  I added up everything I own and was astounded what I found.  I'm sorry you consider your family as dysfunctional; I do not have that problem.  In my case, situations changed since the first Trust.  I like to think this amendment will be the last. 

Patricia, I left Kendrick out on the front stoop again last evening and when I let him in, he absolutely ignored me.  I could tell he was mad at me and it's the first time I have seen that.  He's forgotten about it today. 

Mary Ann

Mary Ann - Funny that Kendrick ignored you when you remembered to let him in! ha ha. Once I accidentally stepped on Winnie's front paw and it must have really hurt because he let out a loud yowl.  I immediately started petting and soothing him, but he would have nothing to do with me.  Finally he went behind the couch to get away from me.  Stayed there for awhile, but then later he came looking for me and acted like nothing had happened. That's one of the wonderful things about pets . . . they are so forgiving.

Did Norm and his wife call Little Cat and Black Cat, by their full names, or did they shorten the names to Little and Black? 

My folks had a supposedly secure and nailed down trust. It went through three years of probate. Having a trust still means going through probate.

Marilyn, we referred to the cats as Little Cat and Black Cat.  They probably didn't come when we used their names anyway.  With Kendrick, I'm more likely to call him "Kitty" and he doesn't come anyway, until I call "kitty, kitty, kitty".  Then he realizes that something may be happening and comes.  When I'm up on my feet he usually is right in front of me anyway and I have to wait until he moves before I can move.

Patricia, you probably are right, but I had heard a Trust does not have to go through Probate.  A plain Will does, however.  I'm not going to worry about it because I won't be here anyway.

Mary Ann

Farrah comes on her own time and wishes. My calling her is probably seen as a singular activity.