Oregon Living 2023 – Blog #38 – A Labor Day Picnic, Getting Vaccines, & Taking Down a Tree

 

 

Sunday, September 3^rd., 2023…… Weather is back to more dry than wet. We are supposed to get a few minor showers coming through for the next several days but for the most part it will stay dry.  We slept in this morning. Of course Rylee and Jama don’t like that! They will both be on the bed waiting for us to rub their bellies. Rylee even loves to get up close to Cat and wants ‘snuggles’.

Rylee goes through her ‘snarly face’ game time with Cathye now just as much as with me. She still plays like a puppy! We took them out and then fed them. Then it was time for our breakfast. This morning I went to Starbucks and got coffee and chai tea then stopped at Jack in the Box for breakfast sandwiches. A bit later, Cathye headed off to church. She wanted to stop by Robin’s and see her new grandbaby but they talked at church and Robin said they would all be coming to the picnic tomorrow so she’d see them then. I hung around the house. Today would have been the start day when we go over to water Penny’s flowers but since Cherrelyn is staying there, we were good to go. After Cat got back home, we hung around the house and just vegged for the day.     

Monday, September 4^th., 2023…… Happy Labor Day! The plan today was to meet up at Pioneer Park in Brownsville for a picnic! We were up early. Cathye put together her famous baked bean recipe and got it going in the crockpot.

She also made sliders. I gathered up some drinks and chairs and loaded all of that plus the pups and we headed out. We met up with Judy and Lyn and set up in the pavilion. Others would join us later. I didn’t count but there was a pretty good size group and all brought plenty of food. We visited for a few hours

                                                       (Robin's new grandbaby)

then came back home and rested more during the afternoon. Neither of us were hungry but we managed a nectarine and some popcorn as a snack while watching tv.       

Tuesday, September 5^th., 2023……  Today was my vaccine day. I had received a reminder from Walgreens that I could schedule my annual shots so I set up an appointment for today. I was getting 3 today - a flu shot, a covid booster, and an rsv vaccine. I figured – get ‘em all done at once!  I headed over for my 10:30am appointment only to find out they didn’t have me in their system!  Since I didn’t find any record of my appointment confirmation, I assumed that I had left the website one step short of actually booking the appointment! So, I came home without!  I did go back to the website and got another appointment for Thursday. Cherrelyn was coming over today. Adam would be here as well to work in the flowerbeds. While Cherrelyn and Cat were visiting and I was in the house watching tv, we all three got a group text from my sister that she would be coming home from SoCal tomorrow. She has tested positive for covid!  After Cherrelyn left, Cat asked me to book her an appointment for her shots too!  So now we both go this Thursday. I did spend some time working on the shelves in my office. You might remember me installing a railing of shelves high around the room for a display for my Nascar and Indy cars. That was only on one end of the room, Well, I have filled those up and actually have more cars now. So, I thought it was time to expand.  I need to use another wall!  I made up and painted all of the bottom brackets months ago and they were in the way in the shop. And I just needed to get them up. Well, I did that this morning. Now I need to go out and get a couple of 16 ft. 1x7s to paint to match the other shelves. Maybe tomorrow. Cathye brought out leftovers from yesterday’s picnic and we had that for dinner. TV and spa until bedtime.    

Wednesday, September 6^th., 2023……  We have a visit on our calendar today. A few days ago, Omalea and Cat were talking on the phone and they had set up the next luncheon at their place for today. They live in the foothills west of us, just outside of Philomath. Since it’s at least an hour’s drive, I left early and went to get the car washed and gassed up. We always enjoy visiting with these two, and today was no exception. They have a beautiful house in the woods and the weather was so nice we sat out on their porch and watched the birds and squirrels out in their yard. But, the drive home is about an hour so we had to say our goodbyes and get home in time to let the girls out and then feed them.  We weren’t too hungry but later we heated up some bean and cheese burritos which made for an easy meal. Tv until spa and bed. We did check in to see that Sis got home ok. She did. Sure hope she feels ok. Cathye is planning on dropping off some soup and grapes over there tomorrow.  

Thursday, September 7^th., 2023…… We were up and out again early. We wanted to get the girls walked and fed so we could go early to the gym. Then we stopped by Penny’s and dropped off the grapes and soup on the way to our vaccine appointments. Walgreens usually does a pretty good job of getting us in and out – if the lines for prescription pickup doesn’t slow them down! Today it was quiet and we got in pretty quickly. We were curious as to how they would administer three vaccines. We found out they do them one shot at a time, using both arms!  BUT – we also found out that they didn’t yet have the new strain of covid vaccine, so we will have to wait on that. It’s not due until the end of the month. We hope it’s sooner because we would like to get vaccinated before our flight to Boston on Oct. 4^th. Anyway, we both got the two today – RSV and Flu. They said they prefer you get one in each arm. I did but Cathye wanted hers in one arm and they complied. After we were done there, we headed over to Kristi’s for breakfast. Kristi posted on FB that they would have pear bread today, and we were intrigued so we chose that for our bread. Yummy!  Later, after we got home and let the dogs out for a bit, I took off in the truck and went to Spaeth Hardware. I was looking for the 1x8s for the shelves in my office. They didn’t have anything so I went to Ace. They don’t stock 16 footers so I had to order them. They said they should be in tomorrow. The rest of the day we spent just hanging around the house. Neither of us had any effects from the shots - Cathye said she was just a little sore. Dinner was soup from the stock she made earlier and cheese bread. Tv and spa before bed.  I did spend some time getting my Survivor pages together. I held short of printing because our printer is running low. I am getting tired of spending money on ink cartridges these last years! I am thinking seriously about trying one of the Epson printers with the large capacity color tanks.            

Friday, September 8^th., 2023…… Nice day today. We have the tree guys coming later but we got up early and got going just in case they come early. We walked the dogs and fed them, then settled in and had coffee and breakfast. I went out and got the truckster fired up. I will use it to guide the truck and chipper out through the field to the jobsite. The guys showed up around 10:15am.  I guided them out via the backline of the property and they quickly got set up. They went right to work and boy did they work!  They had the first tree down in one piece in no time. I was surprised to see that they winch the tree to the chipper!  Back in the 70s when I worked for my cousin doing tree trimming, he had a chipper which I learned how to use. Nowadays the technology is so advanced, that the workings inside now chew even larger material. They are able to chip the entire trunk!  They cable the tree and haul it all the way up and into the chipper. Of course, they still throw the branches in the same as I used to do in the day. Fun to watch! Cathye and I drove out in the truckster and sat there and had a great view of the entire job. The guy went up the second trunk with tree climbing spikes (never used those!) and took it down carefully because of the well head that is right at the base of the tree. No worries though, he had it surgically down in pieces and did it quickly. The third one went in one piece and was cut into quarters and went through the chipper. Josh sprayed the freshly cut tree trunks with a blue spray chemical to kill the tree.  They chipped all of the remaining brush and cleaned up. The deal with them was they could leave some of the smaller branches and leaves – anything that could be mowed over with a brush hog later. That saved me some good $$! They were done and out around 12:30pm. 

BUT the truck driver didn’t go out the way he came in!  I was just coming out to check on them and saw he was using the lawn next to the garage. Wrong! I signaled and so did his boss but it was too late!  His truck bogged down in the green grass (which is sprinklered and gets watered every day). He was stuck!  I gave them a snatch strap and Josh brought his 4x4 Jeep around and they managed to get it backed out. But the damage was done! They were all sorry but that didn’t help. Neither did the fact that they managed to hit all three of the sprinkler heads with the wheels! Bottom line was I will need to let the muddy holes dry out and then assess the damage. By lucky timing, the sprinkler guy (George) will be here on Monday to work all of the lines. Those three were suspect and needed work anyway. I will let George look at them and get them operational. That part of the bill will then be given to Top Tier Tree. I have Josh’s number and, when I’m ready, he will be coming back with dirt and grass seed and/or sod to level out the affected areas.  I shut off the sprinkler timer so it will dry out and I hope to be mowing around it on Saturday. 

While the guys were leaving, I got a call saying that the lumber I had ordered yesterday was in, so I headed off to pick that up. They ordered three for me to choose two from. These guys are 16 footers so I had to spend some time to get them tied down on my truck before heading home! No worries, they traveled safely and I had them in the shop ready for cutting and painting tomorrow. Also, Corey came by today to do some more yard work for us. Cathye had him clean out the front ditch 

and cut and remove those weeds. Also, we had him go out with the truckster and rake up all the leaves/branches the tree guys left. They both look great. He does great work!  Meanwhile, Cathye picked grapes

and also worked out in the garden and got a lot done too.  She had defrosted some leftover spaghetti and made croissants to go with it. That was our tasty meal for the day! We watched tv and hit the spa before bed.  Almost a perfect day!            

Saturday, September 9^th., 2023…… Today we slept in a bit. After walking and feeding the girls and eating breakfast, we were ready for our day!  The plan today: for Cathye – pretty up the rain chain pots,

(If you look closely, you might see the copper wire we ran from the bottom of the chain and into the rocks in the pot)

water all of the flowers pots, 

clean up around her potting shed, and go to Walmart. For me: cut, paint, and install the shelves. Cathye got her yard work done then set off to hit Walmart. Penny, who is in quarantine with covid (still no major symptoms – ‘just a head cold so far’, she says), called and texted over a list of things she needed from Walmart. We had volunteered to shop for her so the timing was perfect! She had two lists and went off and got those tasks done. Meanwhile, I had the two coats of paint on the shelves and they were dry and ready. I had the screws pre-installed but I had to wait for Cat to come back so she could help me maneuver it in through the house. I had her steady it so I could get the screws started and then we repeated that for the other shelf. All I needed to do was touch up some of the paint and I was done!  

I think we were both done for the day!  We had also planned on mowing but I had forgotten to shut off the sprinklers on the other timer for the main lawn so I did that today. It should be dry enough to mow tomorrow. Tv and spa and then time for bed.  A long but productive week!