Hi everyone on another beautiful, sunny but a bit cooler morning.  We should get to about 87 degrees this afternoon.  I had a wonderful day yesterday.  The trip to and fro from Madison went without any problems other than a lot of traffic on Interstate 20.  There was roadwork going towards Madison but didn't really slow me down.  However, coming back there must have a a two or three mile backup of traffic headed towards Atlanta.  Fortunately, I was headed back home so could just observe it as we sped along in the other lanes.  Five of the six guys that attend the weekly luncheon came to have lunch with me yesterday and we had a delightful time.  There is always a lot of laughs since we all know each other pretty well and have a common interest.  For one thing we are all seniors so if the conversation lulls someone will mention a health issue and away we go.    When I got home I had a great afternoon nap and felt very refreshed when I awoke.  I also had a good nights sleep.

Today's schedule isn't heavy.  I may make a trip to Aldi's as have another $10 off coupon with a $40 order and we are going to just stock up on some things as that is a nice discount.  Of course, I will attend to my watering chores and will probably a bit of reading today.  I may watch some of the golf tourney this afternoon as it is the Player's Championship and they have the best players competing.  I also need to check on getting my AC fixed in my car as I mentioned yesterday.  Fortunately I can take it and leave it for a day or two if needed.

Gloria, there are definitely advantages in not owning a home and attending to all the maintenance.  Are you not allowed to put in your AC before a certain date.  I remember that in the apartment house where Stacey lived for about 6 years they didn't turn on the heat or start air conditioning before certain dates regardless of the weather. 

Kelly, maybe your day today won't be as busy as you said you were yesterday.  Hope you are having a nice day over your way.

Joan, I am going to have to inquire about how expensive the A/C problem will be.  The unit still works but there is a small leak somewhere and hope it is just a hose involved that won't be too expensive. 

Hal, the airport situation with the TSA sounds terrible.  I hope I don't ever have to fly again although I certainly wouldn't experience the problems at our little airport on flying out but could at the other end returning home. 

June, the drive is well worth the effort as so enjoy the hour or so that we spend together having our men's luncheon.  Nice that you all honored your nurses.

Sandy, I recently watched the Olive Kitteridge series and agree it is not a feel good movie but probably is reflective of some peoples lives.  I was glad the series at least ended on a positive note. It was the acting that made the series watchable. 

Patricia, the last movie I attended at the theater was Titanic and have no plans on probably seeing another one at the movies.  I like to be able to control the volume, which I can with the headset for my TV and can wait for it to be available on cable.  My wife and a couple of her friends would go to see some of the kids movies occasionally for an afternoon out together.  We do have a new luxury type theater that will built close to the nearby COSTCO.  If something comes along that would be of particular interest Pat and I might go there once just to check it out but I am not holding my breath for that to happen. 

Jenny, when you fly to Chicago will it be to O'Hare?  That is a huge airport.

Lloyd, cute story you posted this morning.  I see you didn't have a good night.  I do hope today finds you feeling better but still taking things easy and that you are not dizzy. 

Joan, I just sent you a private message.

Joy

Sipping coffee with chocolate creamer - yum.  Missing the old perking sound of a coffeemaker. 

Gloria:   a humid day here would be unusual.  We lived in Texas for nine years and really felt the humidity.  I grew up mainly in Seattle and things didn't feel as humid as Texas for some reason.  We always drove to Minnesota in the summer and there we felt the humidity - strange, isn't it? 

Jackie:  Love the word "walkabout".  I thought it was Australian but apparently not. 

Joan:  Thanks for the pecan coffee cake - any day is fine to begin with cake!   

Joan, I didn't take the dogs, just walked with R, but I feel ready, or rather my leg feels ready to get out and about to do the uphill walk.....just got to wait for R to finish eating his sandwich, I am not that confident to do this walk by myself....

I'm back, I done it, but wont be able to do anymore outside walking....getting back down from the uphill takes all my energy.....just glad my legs got me back down, and the tug of Rs armsleeve...

Good morning, Larry.  Glad you had such a nice time with your friends yesterday.  I sure hope it doesn't cost to much to have you car a/c fixed.

Joy--I got it and replied.

Carol--I don't use cream/milk in my coffee, but am told it's good.

Vanilla-Jackie--Sorry--I misunderstood.  Thought you went alone with the dogs.

Joan, oh how I would love to, and on a regular basis....I would just love to walk and walk and walk, see where I land up, but that will never happen....I was umm'ing and arr'ing whether to take Benji but thought I havnt been out walking for a few days, just didn't fancy trying my luck if I come unstuck..

Carol, yes it does sound Australian speak, but I use it all the time.....kindof reminds me of " Waltzing Matilda...."

Yes, Joan,  I did see your message. And did see where you posted in the BB message board.  I wasn't sure  if I should have put it there, so I am glad to see that you did. Thank you.

Joy

Good Morning Everyone!

Well, had one of those senior moments this morning.  Got up, cleaned up and took off to church for the men's breakfast.  Got there and only one car, a lady sitting up for a Ladies brunch.  Seems I was a week early, didn't feel like waiting that long so came back home..... lordy, lordy, I checked my calendar and even have the "right" date marked on it.  Maybe I ought to look at the date on the newspaper to get myself oriented.

Gloria, hope you got yourself a nice nap.  We have lots of humidity this morning, enough that my windshield had got some mist on the way to and from church.  When will you get your window unit in?  Maybe you could bribe the maintenance guy to put it in for you.  That is if miss rachett (you favorite manager) is not looking.

Jackie, good to hear you enjoyed your walks today.  Keep it up.  I am like you in that I can only walk uphill or downhill, except my up and down is very steep.  I live on the side of a mountain.  Half way up to top. https://www.google.com/maps/@29.4830946,-98.6452474,3a,75y,83.37h,71.85t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sw4xvlTaGAZ6OwGFUimFO8A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Larry, sounds like you had a great day yesterday.  It is always nice to see old friends.  And catch up on what has been happening.

I need to warm my coffee up.

Good Morning,

Some parts of the metro area had rain last night but my patio/driveway are dry as a bone this morning.  There were pictures of some amazing cloud formations on Facebook and in the paper.  One of them was right over the town where #1 son lives.  However, they are on a "road trip" - an overnight to far eastern Oklahoma for a Strawberry Festival and some R&R - so weren't home to see it.

Gloria,  yes, I did take the avatar picture of a hummer at my feeder.  I have another one of two on the feeder but can't get it small enough to fit the avatar space.  I enjoy taking pictures of the various birds I see.

Hal,  I'm smiling at your "Intellectual Interlude" experience with the men's meeting.  I look at the newspaper every morning to see what day it is!

Jackie,  doesn't the Queen do "walkabouts"?   It sounds as if you're enjoying your new home.   Any birds coming to your feeders yet?

I slept so late this morning that I may be doing laundry until bedtime.  That's o.k.  Who'll know besides me....and now thee?   

Wishing Everyfriend Everywhere a lovely day.

Callie K, yes, seems I am amongst good friends.....the only difference is, I don't do the Royal wave....

Still no birds coming to my back garden feeder.....but birds come to the front birdtable, its lovely sitting having my breakfast when the odd birds visit, can almost reach out and touch them....

Halkel, this is our parkhome site in the distance, way down in the valley, just one long distance view....you can  spot the slope road leading into and out, just to the side of our home.....

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.640871,-2.3761043,3a,75y,66.07h,63.44t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1si0jx7kFooh1yz97C6mq-KA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Good Morning Everyone - I've been talking with Mohamed RE which airport he could fly into when he returns to the USA for a brief visit at the end of the month or perhaps in June.  He's kept up with the enormous crowds at airports in the USA and hasn't yet decided whether to book a flight via Paris to Washington DC (where we have several good friends) and then a couple of days later    resume his travel to Charlotte, NC, which is our local airport about 20 miles from our home.  BIG Decision, especially as the huge crowds are regularly featured on the TV news programs.

LARRY - I smiled when I read your comment RE watching heavy traffic as you drove to the gathering with your Men's Luncheon group.  That is the kind of daily traffic we have in our area (Concord, NC, North of Charlotte).  One of the first things I inquired about when we moved here was any "back roads between our house and the Airport.  Once we reach the Billy Graham Parkway it's not so bad, but that heavy traveled Highway is truly exhausting.

JACKIE - As I read your posts RE your limited walking, I wondered if you could travel the same up/down area more comfortably (and perhaps more safely) if you had one of those seated pieces of equipment which you could adjust comfortably (and safely) to transport you outdoors?  Several of the women (and a couple of men) at our Church use them regularly and seem to be comfortable (and safely seated).

Our Weather is beautiful, my flowers are growing in a delightful manner although the tall Iris blooms have completed their duty and folded up recently.  Large White blooms have appeared on the lower grass at the base of our very tall trees, so it's really a pleasure to watch Nature's treats.  Hope everyone has an enjoyable weekend.

Good morning once again. Slept about 4 hours, better than nothing. It is sunny now and there is a breeze that is coming in my windows that feels great after yesterday.

JOAN  if my son comes today I might ask him to install the AC.

AMY  I did go back to bed and got some sleep.  Those recipe books multiply when no one is looking. I got rid of a lot of them when I moved here.

LLOYD  glad I don't have nights like that too often. The humidity is what gets to me.  I never did good with it.

JOAN  we have rain in the forecast for overnight again tonight. A cold front is coming through. Might need heat instead of AC.

JACKIE  glad you could get that walk in.

LARRY  looks like yesterday was a great one or you. We all deserve days like that. They do have the heat off here and back on when the manager says to. We all have our own AC's but I have not read anything in the rules or heard anything about has to be a certain time.

CAROL  I would never be able to live anyplace where the humidity is high most of the year. This was the first bad day here this year.

HAL  maintenance does not put in the AC's we are the ones who have to get them installed.  He is not allowed to do anything not connected to the building maintenance.

CALLIE  not often we see a hummer that is not flapping the wings so they are a blur. Last summer I watched one stop on a tree branch for a few minutes and enjoyed being able to see the beautiful colors on it. Good picture.

MOLLY  like you I love watching the spring flowers start blooming. The front of this building is beautiful when they start opening up. Right now only the Bleeding Heart plans are blooming. Iris and Lilly  flowers have not started yet.  Some of the bushes have bloomed and now are only leaves. By the beginning of June there will be flower boxes on the railings filled with flowers and there will be hanging pots on all the lamp posts and from hooks on the porch, too.  In the evening we can sit there and watch the humming birds fluttering around the flowers.

Good Morning dear hearts. I am up, but not really with it. Had a good nights sleep, but just showering and shampooing wore me out. After reading the messages, which I thoroughly enjoyed, especially the trip around England that Vanilla provided for us.

Vanilla, you do live in a very hilly area. I can see the danger in trying to go very far what with your health problem. If I were in your condition, I think I would invest in a tread mill to get my exercise rather than risk the slopes. Beautiful area though, I really enjoyed the trip. thank you.

I have nothing planned for the day. There is a game at 2 p.m. and a pianist coming in this evening, but at the moment, I feel like another sleep-in.

Gloria, I sympathize with the weather you are having at the moment...I just detest humidity. It makes me feel like I can't breathe. And both of us hate to depend on our kids for assistance. Dori is having a speaking engagement today, so my help in picture hanging has been delayed. I cannot do it myself, I nearly fell when a picture I hung started to fall..fortunately I was able to save it, but nearly tipped the t.v. set over while grabbing to save it, and that scared the bejeebers out of me, and I decided to forget the whole thing. Que Sera, Sera..........

Time to get myself dressed and go for a walk. Fortunately I have no slopes to do me in. Later...June

Vanilla-Jackie--Maybe one day you'll surprise yourself and be able to go for a walk all alone.

Joy--You're most welcome.

halkel--I think you should look at the newspaper date and the computer date--then surely you'd go places on the correct day.

Callie--Don't think it matters what time you do laundry.  Glad you avoided the storm and that your son was not at home.

Molly--From what I see on TV the crowds are awful.  They are telling folks to arrive 3 hours before departure for domestic travel.  I don't know what they are saying about international travel.

Gloria--Glad you got some sleep.  Hopefully your son will come by and install your a/c.

June--Don't be trying to hang pictures.  Don't need anymore injuries.

Molly, do you mean a rollator a 4 wheel walker with a bag and seat?...... I have one of those and have used it on several occasions since living here.....I use it mainly when I am not trusting my right leg......Used the rollator once getting up our drive slope, ok getting up, gave me some extra exercise pushing it, just could not get down with it, R had to steer it back.... It felt that the rollator was running away from me, yes even with the brakes partly on.....

Junedrabek, when I trust my leg I need to get out of the home and into the open, the scenery here is spectacular.....and of course I might just bump into someone from our site to have a chat with, cant do that on a treadmill indoors....

Joan, I did do that last week, I took Benji downhill and back, then later I done the same with our Toby....my walks now with the dogs will never be the same again....oh for the good days of walking 3 dogs on a coupler lead.....

Halkel, I once turned up for a doctors app, correct time but 1 week too early....

Good Morning from another sunny Interior! We reached 80 degrees this past evening at seven pm and a slight wind had the tree leaves rustling.

I've had trouble sleeping as well. For me, the trick is to try to not awaken fully if I am to return to sleep.

I have 23 paintings and some are large and heavy, all sit on the floor in various rooms awaiting my asking for hanging assistance as all hooks and tapes were purchased long ago.

My issue with dates is I will remember an appointment is on a certain day, but forget the date and miss the appointment. Now I use my oversized calendar and use my phone and computer , checking for both day and date!

Carol and Joan, I prefer my coffee dark and no additives, but a friend who loves to play with creamers once told me they now have one with jalapenos! Imagine that if you will and I will stick to black.

Hal and Jackie, love to see more of where you both live. Hal, in the late sixties, early seventies, I lived close to Brackenridge park in San Antonio and near the missile gate to Fort Sam.

I'm sorry to hear so many folks suffer from humidity. We are a dry area with little to no humidity and forested as well. I'm told the Interior is driven by a fire ecology.

Farrah is more skittish this morning but staying in the living room. She was perturbed at no canned food this morning and kept trying to herd me back to the kitchen. She has never meowed, but I'm realizing that she is communicating via clicks and whines along with some other vocals. I know feral cats only meow to their young and perhaps she has never learned?

I hope everyone's day is a good one!

If you all hone in,( zoom, enlarge ) little X at bottom of the google map page. My home is close to the hill slope road....you can see the steepness of it...

Vanilla-Jackie--At least you do get out some with the dogs.  You sure live in a lovely area.

angelface--I can't imagine a jalapeno coffee creamer.  Like you, I'll stick to black.  Maybe you could teach Farrah to meow.  You do it and maybe she'll mimic you.

Joan,   

Bis, I learned my lesson..no more picture hanging for me. It really scared me when I was grabbing for something to hold onto and realized it was the t.v. it is on a pedestal and turns for viewing from different areas, so it turned rather than tip, but in that nano-second I pictured it bursting open and that was enough to settle my hash on picture hanging.

I just spent an hour sorting out my weekly vitamins. Colors have changed on some, time for taking has changed...guess my new doctor wants a different time between doses. I take 10 pills during the day three of them are the same pill, just spread out between doses.  It taxes my old brain when ever any change of anything occurs.

Angel I live in Northwest San Antonio, next to Leon Valley.  When we moved here we were in the country and just our little community was out here.  A Farm to Market highway (2 lanes) accessed our addition.  That is now a five lane highway and very little country side is left and houses everywhere one can be built.  Only good thing is that their are two parks (as well as our own private park) are very close.  Both are nature parks.  One is a biking walking park along Leon Creek and the other at the entrance to our addition is for walking only.  San Antonio is growing by leaps and bounds.  Our city councilman says our area alone will be over one million in not too distant future.  My Grandkids are about four or five miles on further West and they are now being overtaken and in a city environment.  Urban sprawl is very apparent.  When you lived here Leon Valley (the city, which is still their own city) was a few miles out from San Antonio.  No longer.  And Helotes was considered country living, no longer, although they are still their own town.

Hal, I had a friend who passed two years ago. She lived in the higher hills overlooking San Antonio at the time and would often walk up and down the steep hills of her neighborhood for exercise and with her dog. The pictures she sent me always seemed to show the city further down and to the lower left of her. I know our Rae was from there and often posted photos of the Riverwalk.

I left San Antonio in early 1973, 43 years ago. My daughter was born at Brooke Army Hospital, 12/12/72. My husband was overseas and I spent my pregnancy wandering the Zoo and the Oriental Gardens and rarely ventured to the main area except once to see the Alamo and once or twice to see a movie at a very ornate, art deco styled threater.

I remember it being lovely but beastly hot. Of course, at the time I was uncomfortable anyway, so any heat wasn't welcome! Probably TMI, but I was one of the unfortunates with nine months of morning sickness.

I would like to go back sometimes to revisit the Riverwalk and Brackenridge park with the Zoo, Oriental Gardens and the miniature train that I have in my memories, but don't expect to.

I imagine the city is quite different from my memories!

It is ironic that I was just thinking today, viewing all the homes and buildings dotting the western foothills, that they certainly spoiled my view!    And we are only at 100,000! Not even close to a million or more!

angelface--You aren't going to try it?

June--Sometimes the pharmacy changes vendors for meds and the color or shape may change, and that confuses me.

halkel--Amazing how many cities are sprawling.

Joan, I just now saw your post and tried it out to report back here. My skills are sadly lacking as she never paused in cleaning herself. 

Tried to post much earlier and got the "502 Bad Gateway" screen.
Trying again:

Jackie,  I really enjoyed the picture tour of your home area via Google satellite.  Lovely!      at your not doing the royal wave.   It always looks as if HRM is accepting bouquets of flowers as she's walking about. 

Joan,  the huge circular cloud was some kind of weather phenomenon but didn't contain a storm, thank goodness.  (I kinda "spaced out" the technical explanation by the weather guru.   )
At least two of The Grands were at home - although grandson may have been at his Choir Banquet - but neither commented on seeing it.

Laundry is done.      Had planned to make up a package of slider buns into ham/turkey/cheese sandwiches that can be heated.  Nice to have in the freezer for quick meals.  However, the recliner called and I answered......

Hi Gloria
Good Evening to you

Been a busy day for me.

Good word with 'raunchy' for some of todays films.

kelly

Hi Larry
An even busier today for me.

Kelly

A new trivia quiz has been posted;

http://www.seniorsandfriends.org/index.php?topic=95.msg17467#msg17467

Well, I was here & left a post, chatting & making comments as I tried to keep up.... but been so many interruptions with painters, kids, phone calls & cats... guess I closed the computer without posting.   

Got back from the last graduation of this year, one more grand to go & she just finished her first year, going into the medical field.  A breakfast in the morning (too late to do a dinner tonight), some have to go back "home" tomorrow.  Hopefully life will calm down. 

One of my painters is still in the hospital but doesn't have broken ribs as feared... just concern about his heart rate so expects to be released Monday.  His partner worked his way to nearly half of the trim finished on the front today, but he said he thought they would still be able to paint the pool when we are ready.  May be  wishful thinking, I have my doubts & think I need to call one of the pool places to see if they have names of people that they can recommend. Just got to get it done soon, the water got green all of a sudden, greener than the grass.

Gloria, in the post I lost I do recall explaining part of the reason I complain about all the problems with owning a house is that it must give all of you "smart & wise enough" to have moved into a retirement village, a sense of satisfaction about your decisions!!!  I'd be there except for some cats. 

I can't keep my eyes open & have a very early start to the day tomorrow.  Hugs all around and God Bless.