Oregon Living 2023 – Blog #40 – Another Special Birthday! & Lots of Activity Around the House

 

Sunday, September 17^th., 2023…… Another warm day! We had the girls out and walked and fed and I headed off to get us breakfast. It seems our Sunday routine is Starbucks (Chai Tea and Coffee) and Jack in the Box (Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich). I worked on this blog while Cathye headed off to church. But before she left, we went out and worked a little more on the planter box and surrounding area. We relocated a few stepping stones from the garden area and got them ready to go into the new area. Corey will be coming later so he and I will start digging around to see if we can make some progress. We will stay away from the sprinkler area but I want to see if we can get some of that really hard dirt out of the way and get it level for the stepping stones and bark mulch.

Cathye got back and we lounged around for most of the day. Tonight was her first square dance class!  Yes, she has asked to go take lessons. I think even Judy and Lynn are coming too. We’ll see…

Ok, it’s later now. We got back from her first class! The instructor/caller is a lady and that is unusual. But she was pretty good for the first lesson and had the new class moving and learning everything for their first night. I think Cathye did well. I have been helping out at beginner’s classes for over 30 years now so I know how much pressure the new dancers feel. The ‘angel’s’ job is to make them relax a bit and try to enjoy the experience. It is hard not to ‘take charge’ as I have a new dancer’s badge on now!  But I can still do what is needed in each square to help the dancers relax and enjoy the experience, which I think Cat really did! She can’t wait to go back next week!  After the lesson, we were planning on going with the group over to Pizza Hut for an afterparty. But, she found (when she turned her phone back on after the class) that she had a bunch of calls from Jamie’s care home. She returned the calls and found that Jamie was transported earlier to the ER for complaints about something stuck in his throat. She told us he was still there so we headed right over to the hospital. Jamie has had problems swallowing meat and such and this is something he has experienced before. They took him back to Endoscopy and said we should go home since they would most likely admit him overnight. Turns out they were able to get the stuck food out and they said he was fine. So, Cat went back to pick him up and take him back home. Crisis over. She got back home and we went to bed.        

Monday, September 18^th., 2023…… My acupuncture appointment got cancelled this morning so I didn’t need to hurry. We now only have massages on our to-do list for today. Cat checked in on Jamie and made sure to talk to the people there to caution them about his poor eating habits. All was good for now. We went to the gym and did our workouts and then headed over to Kevin’s for breakfast. They have our main street going into town shut down now. They are going across the road with sewer pipe for a new residential section just off the road. So, we have to spend extra time going in to town. Supposed to be only a week or so and we hope that’s true!  I took the first massage appointment and headed off to do that. We were done and as I was leaving, Cat came in for her appointment. Later, after we both rested for a bit, we worked some more on the potting bed. I have marked out the outline where we (Corey and I) have to dig out the grass. I did a bit and stopped just short of where the sprinkler is. George will be relocating that sprinkler and I will let him do that digging when he gets here on Wednesday.

Tuesday, September 19^th., 2023……  We were up and going with the dogs and fed them and had our breakfast. We had a few minutes before we had to leave (and go around the detours) to go to get our haircuts.  We got all of that done and stopped by Walmart and Safeway to pick up some things for tomorrow. We had wanted to do a birthday dinner or something for her and her friends and family, but we both have mani/pedi appointments that we need to get done asap before our trip to Boston coming up. So, she took what was available – even though it was a late afternoon appointment on her birthday and that would mean a change of plans. We’ll be having cake and ice cream.     

Wednesday, September 20^th., 2023……  HAPPY BIRTHDAY CATHYE!!!  She still reminds me she is two years younger than I am!  We were up early and got going. I had a few surprises for Cat today. First up were flowers and a card. We fed the dogs then loaded them up in the Enclave and headed north. We were going up to Canby and to the Swan Lake Dahlia fields! Cathye loves her flowers so I wanted to surprise her by taking her up there to spend the day. It was a little overcast and we did get a few sprinkles but it was still a pretty nice day. The dogs sure loved it! The flowers were in full bloom and we explored all of the field.

Cat picked out three bunches and we had brought a bucket for them and loaded up the dogs and headed out. I took the alternate route home so we could go over the Canby Ferry which Cat had never been on before.

We got back home and she got her flowers sorted out and in to canning jars. She will be giving them out at her party tonight. We headed off a little later for our appointments. We took two cars just in case Jenny is running late. Cathye chose the full treatment and I got the mini package and was in and out and home in plenty of time before everyone got here. I had the place ready when Cathye got here so all we had to do was get changed. Robin, Julie, Lona, Cherrelyn, Penny, Judy, and Lynn all were here. The cake – which was German Chocolate by Cathye’s request, and the Umpqua Chocolate Brownie Thunder and the Salted Caramel ice cream, my request – were all a big hit. We had a good time and Cathye especially said that she sure enjoyed her special day!     

Thursday, September 21^st., 2023…… A busy day today…  We had George coming back this afternoon to finish up on our irrigation system. And we were both going in to the Albany Walgreens to get our covid boosters. These will be #6 for each of us. They had previously said the new vaccines were not going to be out until next week but I had checked and they had them at the Albany location, so I had made appointments for this morning. But first up was the gym and breakfast at Kristi’s.  I tried their breakfast burrito and didn’t finish it!  We got back home from that and then took off for Albany. We got in and out and home pretty quickly but George still beat us here and had already gotten started. He got both the new control boxes installed and operational but still needs a few more parts for the lines and was by himself today so he will need one more day to get the last of the lines moved and everything done. We know – it’s end of season and Fall and the rains are coming, but at least it will be operational for next year!     

Friday, September 22^nd., 2023……  One day this week with nothing on our calendar! Wow, how did we manage that!  Oh wait, I had nothing on MY calendar!  Cathye was going off to Judy’s birthday lunch with her and her friends and then again for Lona’s birthday party!  

We were up and out with the dogs and got them fed. We had leftovers for breakfast and I went out to work on the section of lawn that the tree guys had buggered up earlier. It has dried out so much that it was now really hard to smooth out. Since I just received a text from Josh asking if he could come out tomorrow to fix it, I backed off and will let him work it by himself. Great timing!  I did get a wheelbarrow full of tools together and left them out there for him to use.  I also sharpened up the pick axe that he and Corey can use when they work their jobs. Corey was supposed to be here today but asked if he could change it to tomorrow. No worries.

Saturday, September 23^{rd .}, 2023…… George showed up this morning as we were out with the dogs, so I turned back to get him started. A few minutes later, Josh showed up and immediately went to work on the lawn. We left them both and headed out for our adventure. We had previously planned on going to see Thompson’s Flour Mill. They were having a special cider press day there and would have other special events as well. We didn’t want to miss the opportunity.  It’s probably a 20 minute drive from the house so we made it over there quickly to take the tour before it got too crowded. We learned a lot about the mill’s history and what all they did there. Besides running the local farmer’s wheat crops (which the farmers used exclusively for baking for just themselves), they also took on some of the larger farms that were supplying the bakeries. But when the even bigger mills started supplying bakeries and, in turn, stores with bread, Thompson had to think of other sources of revenue. One of those was animal feed. They brought in large tanks of molasses to mix in with flour to make feed for dogs and other animals. It was interesting to see how belts and wooden gears and other wooden machinery can still be effective and still produce even today (even though the mill is closed now). Cathye got to work some of the smaller home versions and ground some flour!

 

Here are some of the other pics we took during the day. They had brought in some old cars to show. They also ran the water through for a few moments so we could see things moving. I took pics of the slough and the fish (these are a breed of northern pike) and some of the processing equipment, plus the hole in the floor where the male mill workers did their business right into the river! They added the toilet for the ladies but - yes - it went straight down too!…. 

 

It was a fun outing!  We left and headed back to town. Next stop today was the tomato festival!  The Lebanon Senior Center was chosen for this year. They must have had 100 different varieties of tomatoes for us to taste and judge. The rest of the room was set up with vendors and demos of local faire. We spent some time there and bought a few items. We got back home and met with Corey who got started on the planter box grass removal and then weeding in the garden. George finally got all of his work done and left us. We will just have one last bill for the extras we had him do. Like I said, it won’t be used much this year but we will be good to go for next season!  We came in and rested before our next trip. We got dressed up because we were going to a fund raiser dinner for PLH (Project Living Hope) for Haiti. Cathye has been there as a volunteer and several members of her church have family there. The place was packed and they served us a nice dinner, drinks and dessert. We heard from their spokespeople about how the country is impoverished and struggles with political unrest and corruption and violence from gangs. We believe in the cause and the work that the PLH is doing and were glad to help with a donation. 

It was worth a trip in the rainy evening up and back to Salem. We got back and changed clothes and rested from the day.