Oregon Living 2024 – Blog #17 – Checking in on Jamie, a Happy Anniversary to Us, & a Trip up North to Say Goodbye to Family!

 

 

Monday, April 22^nd., 2024…… We slept in a bit this morning even though we went to bed early last night!  We went to breakfast and skipped the gym this morning so Cathye could go over to Corvallis to visit Jamie. They did surgery and he is recovering slowly. She said they will be keeping him for observation and evaluation. Since she spoke to the doctors there and explained his history, we hope that they take the next step and seriously look into his meds. When she got back, we rested and then she worked on the flower beds. The irrigation system we had upgraded last year has been off all winter and is in need of a few tweaks (especially in the flower beds where the isolators and drippers are) before we can use them. Of course we have rain forecast from Wednesday through next Tuesday but she needs to get water on those new bulbs and plants she just put in. I can turn on just those areas as needed so we’re good for now.     

Tuesday, April 23^rd., 2024…… Cat called the hospital this morning to check on Jamie. No changes. She went out to work more on her plantings while I got all three mowers out. Since this is the last dry day for a while, the plan is to mow around 11:00am. Yesterday, I had to run a battery charger on the Sears Pro tractor since we hadn’t used it yet this season. After the charge and adding some gas, it’s good to go!  Penny came over and we started in. I think it took an hour and a half. Penny left and I hosed off all three mowers while Cathye came in to clean up and change because she and Lynn and Judy were going to an afternoon tea at the senior center.  Our square dance workshop was cancelled today because they needed that room for the tea.  So, I relaxed and watched this weekend’s races that I had recorded. Cat got back home and said it was a fun afternoon. She brought back some of the ‘crumpets’ they were served for me to try. Yummy!  Later, we watched tv and rested from the day. Spa and bed.

Wednesday, April 24^th., 2024…… HAPPY 2^ND. ANNIVERSARY TO US!! We were up early and out with the dogs. Once they were fed, we headed off to recreate our first date. It was on this day three years ago that we physically met at Appletree for breakfast. She drove up in her truck and parked next to my truck. I had truck envy! But our date was wonderful and I thought let’s do it again! She was going from there directly to the hospital so we took two trucks again! We parked in the same spaces and even got the same booth!  She brought her binder with our back-and-forth texts printed out. She also brought our wedding vows that we each read again. We said our goodbyes and she headed off. I had some errands to run on the way home and took care of that. I had to take the detour around the back way to get home. They started Monday on the main street for us coming and going into town. It’s being re-paved (finally) and it will mean taking a long detour for a few weeks. We did it last year when they tore it up for new sewer and water lines. Not fun but we’re looking forward to a nice newly paved drive in a few weeks! When I got home, I saw we had visitors!...

 

Snow geese occasionally land here, these two stayed a while!  I even waited to get a pic of them when they walked by Morris the moose!!

When Cathye got home, she rested for a bit, then went out to plant the lily I gave her. Oops, I guess she changed her mind because she left it in the pot and put it in our bathroom!

While she was doing that, I headed out to Wilco to get some more pvc pipes and fittings. When the water spigot got run over last season, I just shut off that valve.  I had previously gone out and bought and glued up and installed all of the fittings last week to make the repair. Turns out when I cut the broken pipe off, I didn’t go down far enough because there was still a small crack below where I made the repair and it was really leaking. With pvc glue, you can’t just undo – you must replace everything again! I have all of the parts again, but it is raining now so I will wait on that install.

Later, we dressed and headed off to celebrate our anniversary. We went back to 1847, which is the name of the nice restaurant in the same complex where we were married.

We had reservations and got seats overlooking the Japanese gardens. The appetizer (salmon cakes)

and the entrees (pork tenderloin for Cat)

and (rockfish for me)

 

were all really delicious. With a couple of drinks each, we were stuffed! After the great meal, we walked the gardens. It was nice!  They do an excellent job maintaining all of the varieties of plants and bushes and shrubs as well as the koi pond.

 

After that, we stopped in on the Club board meeting which was just getting started. Typical square dance meeting – too much chaos and drama, too many voices and not enough order! But they have been doing it like this for many, many years so we (ok – me!) try not to intervene!  After the meeting, we came home and got in the spa and talked about the day. It was very special and enjoyable. We agreed that we could have skipped the meeting but since we are part of the upcoming Strawberry Festival planning, we knew we had to go.  

Thursday, April 25^th., 2024…… We slept in this morning. I have one item on today’s agenda – take Rylee in later today to the vet for her annual checkup and shots. It was 9:15am when I looked at my phone’s calendar. Oops, my appointment was at 9:00am! I arrived late (blamed the road closure) and they got me in within 15 minutes. Rylee is healthy – she just said she could slim down a few pounds!  We got back home and Cat went off to visit Jamie and I worked on re-installing the water spigot. Later, I tested it and no leaks! Cathye worked on her raised bed garden. I bought some topsoil and she mixed that in with her new plantings.  

Friday, April 26^th., 2024…… We were up early Jamie didn’t want visitors today so she got a rest from driving in. Nothing on the agenda today so we caught up on small chores. We had planned on going down to Eugene/Springfield for a dance, but as time got closer, neither of us really could get into it. So, we stayed home and lounged around and watched tv for the evening. Spa and then bed.  

Saturday, April 27^th., 2024…… This morning we were up and going early. We were going up to Portland this morning to load up and bring back some items from Tait’s place. She has decided to move back to New Hampshire and will leave in a few weeks. After showering and dressing and walking and feeding the dogs, Cat made us coffee and we heated up breakfast burritos and then headed out. We had loaded up bubble wrap, cardboard boxes and tarps in Cat’s truck. On the drive up, we stopped by to pick up Josh, who was helping today. It was sprinkling off and on so we decided to go out to have lunch first before loading up the truck. Her little sofa was only 64 inches and she just had a few items which we wrapped and loaded with little issues. I had to leave the tailgate open and needed to tie down and tarp the overhanging load, but it should ride just fine. We said our goodbyes to Tait and headed back home. The load did fine and we got home and unloaded before the sprinkles came our way. We came in and rested from the day. The dance tonight was in Salem, but since we drove all day, I just didn’t want to go out and drive 80 miles up and back! So, another relaxing spa night before bed.   

Oregon Living 2024 – Blog #16 – A Fun Campout & then Some Scary News

 

Sunday, April 14^th., 2024…… The weather is on and off today. We had clouds early and it was in the 40s when we walked the dogs but the sun came out and it was a great day until mid-afternoon. The rains came in but didn’t last too long. After breakfast, Cathye headed off to church and I worked on cleaning up the lower storage compartments in the motorhome. We will be leaving on Friday for our square dance weekend at Camp Koinonia  (Koy-o-nea) and although we won’t have any amenities, I wanted to make sure I had what we needed in there. After that, I was in the house for the rest of the afternoon watching my races. Cathye worked in the garden and in her shed then came in to relax too.  Later, we went to the Beginner’s class in Sweet Home to help out there, then we went to the senior center where I helped at the last night of our Club’s Plus class. Our Club will sponsor our own Beginner’s class again this year, but that won‘t start until September. Our last Club dance will be in June where we culminate the season when we have our Strawberry Festival Weekend. Most all of the square dance clubs in the state here only dance from September to June. They say there are two main reasons. One is that the summer crops come in and they lose a lot of those members for the harvest. The other is that most of the facilities up here are older and do not have AC. So it’s too hot to dance during the summer nights. Either way, we are bummed!  But they say there are clubs around the area who will have special dances and we hope to find those to help keep Cathye’s skills on point.       

Monday, April 15^th., 2024…… Typical Monday for us – Walk and feed the dogs, then head out to the gym and then breakfast. They are doing a special retirement party for Frank at the campout. Frank, a beloved long time member of the Lebanon Square Circlers, is retiring from Pape´ Machinery, who sells and services farm equipment. He also runs his family’s farm. All of the Club members have been asked to dress up in ‘farmer’s outfits’ for the Friday night dance. We also have a skit planned and we are part of that, so, I made sure we had those outfits loaded up in the coach. I also like to get my other clothes out there early so I don’t forget. I got everything packed and went out to the shop to work on our Club badges. The folks up here are big on ‘dangles’ on their club badge. When we got them, we hung them one under the other from the badges. That got too long and they got in the way when we dance. We saw someone who had a bar under their badge to hang multiple dangles. Great idea - so, I found some aluminum binder posts for computer books out in my old boxes in the garage. I was able to modify them and drill them out to hang under the badge. We can now add more and more dangles as we get them. I went back into my old badge boxes and found some that meant something to me (like dancing at Disneyland) and added them to my badge.

Later, we went out to dinner and then came back to try to catch up on more of our taped shows. Spa then bed.

Tuesday, April 16^th., 2024…… More nice weather. We don’t have rain in the forecast until this weekend. I guess I have to think about mowing again! We did our regular senior center sponsored square dance workshop today.  Charlotte tells us that even though she’s retiring, that as long as she has folks show up, she will continue these Tuesday workshops all year. There are folks who only come on Tuesdays and don’t go anywhere else dancing so they don’t get too much floor time but still like to come out with us.  She loves to help them!  

Wednesday, April 17^th., 2024…… After our walk and breakfast, we went Walmart for more items for the casseroles we are planning for breakfast at the outing this weekend. Later in the morning, when the sun was out and it was nice and warm, I pulled out the motorhome and we washed it. I have always had a process and it’s even easier here in the Northwest. In Calif. we would always have to rinse off the rig with de-ionized water and dry off everything quickly because the water would spot. Nasty!  Since we have clean, soft water with not a lot of oxidants, we do not have to dry off anything! So we were done quickly and after an hour or so, I was able to back it in the garage. Another job done!

Thursday, April 18^th., 2024…… Both Judy and Lynn are coming over this morning. They are helping Cat get six casseroles cooked up. I pretty much stayed out of their way. They sent me off to the store (again). I would go back yet again later after I dropped the dogs off at the groomers. We are also making a large bowl of cut up fruit for the Saturday morning breakfast and we needed more fruit variety.  Well, I went in and went crazy! We already had strawberries, blueberries, apples and pears. I bought tangerines, grapes, a cantaloupe and a pineapple. I also bought whipped cream but later, we would decide not to use that. It would be just fresh fruit. I cut up and bagged the fruit while they cooked. While things were in the oven, I showed them the videos I have from the 2007 Rustler Christmas Party and the 1989 Rustler Talent show. Some of us guys dressed up and did a ‘Square Dance Ladies Of the Night’ fashion show skit for that party.  Between that and the ‘If I were Not a Square Dancee’ skit we did in 89, I had a hard time deciding which one I had more fun doing!  Everyone laughed through both videos. Once we had everything cooked, the girls went home and later we wrapped everything in foil and got them in the fridge, ready to take out to the motorhome tomorrow. I went and got the pups and we all rested from the day.      

Friday, April 19^th., 2024…… We were up early and going 90 miles an hour. We are on the campout committee so we were allowed to come in at noon with the rv.  Cathye and I loaded up the rest of our clothes and we got the food transferred to the rv fridge. She ran over to a plant sale just around the corner from us. The local Future Farmers of America (like the 4H club) is close by and they had a fund raiser. Cat ended up making two trips and surely added to their funds! She got back in time for us to head out and check in to Camp Koinonia just after 12:30pm. Mike was there and got me parked right next to the buildings. There aren’t too many hookups anywhere and this was the best spot for our coach. I was able to run a cord to the building and we would have (limited) power. The other rvs came in later. I think the final count was 9 rigs. They also have cabins and rooms for those who want to stay. I think they had 6 or 7 rooms with bunks in use for this weekend. We helped stage the hall with tables and chairs and got the fireplace going for those who were chilly. We personally took our chairs outside and soon there were 12-15 folks out there with their chairs, enjoying the wonderful sunshiny day! Later, we changed into our outfits and got Cathye’s cherry crumble out to for the potluck. Turns out she did not have the brown sugar for the crumbles so she used a ribbon crust instead. Naomi made a peach cobbler and they both got great reviews! We had tons of food. It’s true – square dancers are great cooks!

 

The dance was fun!  We had three squares tonight. Later in the evening, we did a skit using ‘Farmer in the Dell’ as the song. I started it inside a circle and took a wife and she took a child, and a dog, cat, rat, and cheese as the song goes. It ended when the cheese turned out to be Frank and he stood alone! Then we sang him the Happy birthday song except it was Happy Retirement to you! He blushed a lot! A lot of fun. Thanks, Cheryl for coming up with this one!

More pics from the day and evening….

 

After the dance, many stayed to play games. The next morning I heard they were up until past midnight! 

We went out to go to bed. But we got a call around 11:00pm from Jamie, who was in the ER in Lebanon and wanted a ride home. He said they brought him in because he couldn’t breathe. They checked out his vitals and found no issues and eventually he wanted to come home. We told him to call for an Uber which would be faster since we weren’t around. It was a long day and both of us fell asleep quickly.

Saturday, April 20^th., 2024…… We were up early – thanks to a call from the kitchen coordinator, Grace – asking me to get out the butter from the fridge. I got the coffee going and then Lynn and Cat got the casseroles in the warmer and I got the fruit out and ready in time for the 8:30am start time. We set up two lines in the kitchen and had signs for each. (2 sausage, 2 bacon, 1 ham, and 1 veggie).  

People came and went but in the end, I think we fed 38 people! Of course we had plenty of food. We cut the portions at 8 per dish (x6) and they were big enough that most folks cut them again so they could try all types. So, we had plenty of food. The leftovers would remain in the kitchen and get pulled out to get reheated for lunch as they chose. Later, we went off to the fish hatchery for a tour. We are camped on the Santiam River and the facility is only  a ¼ north of us, at the base of the Foster Lake dam. The hatchery incubates and raises spring Chinook Salmon and Summer Steelhead as well as rainbow trout. Once released, the salmon head to sea and will return to the gates and holding ponds of the hatchery, where they are captured and used for broodstock for the cycle. The kids in the group were fascinated and got to feed what fish they had at that time. 

After that tour, we headed down to the holding pond to have a short square dance to earn our ‘fish dangles’. 

Once we walked back to camp, we rested and got ready for the bbq and Saturday night dance. Oh yeah, we got teepee'd !

After dinner, Mike and Cheryl’s family came and they set up and mc’d a special presentation to celebrate mom and dad’s 50^th anniversary. At the end of the video, both Mike and Cheryl were wiping their eyes!  It was super fun. We had previously helped them celebrate last month when we took them to breakfast on their actual anniversary, but this was such a nice surprise for them. I only got one pic from the presentation but here they are after 50 years together!….    

We hung around the dance for most of the night but a little later we heard from Jamie’s home that he had another bout and this one was more serious. He had major anxiety and actually hurt himself enough that paramedics saw he needed immediate medical attention and also some deeper psycho evaluation so they transported him to Corvallis. We later talked to the folks and they said it wasn’t life threatening but they would keep him there and he would be watched. Cat called his brother in AZ, who called their aunt so all were informed. So, we adjusted our plans for tomorrow before calling it a night. She would take the car and head off directly to the hospital in the morning and I would help the ladies set up for the oatmeal breakfast and then later, do the required cleanup of the hall and then break camp and take the motorhome back to the house. A long fun day and we were now both stressed as well as tired!  

Sunday, April 21^st., 2024…… I wanted to continue today as a follow up from Jamie’s situation. As stated, I stayed and helped out and Cathye drove over to Corvallis to see Jamie. He is stable but the doctors want to do more psychiatric tests on him. The doctors spent time with Cat and she explained his history (he has had these issues before) and that his doctor has recently changed his meds and she thinks that is causing this behavioral pattern to emerge again. I don’t have all of the details and I don’t want to get too detailed since this is their personal family business, but she and I are hoping that they will get his meds straightened out. More as I can share as this progresses….

I did get everything put away and when she came home, we relaxed and tried to unwind from the day.  

Oregon Living 2024 – Blog #15 – The Rest of the Trip & a Dance Weekend

 

  

 

Sunday, April 7^th., 2024…… First up, here’s more pics from last night’s dances…

I was awake early but after letting the dogs out, I went back to bed for a while. I texted Cathye to see if she was up. She was so I called her and we talked a bit about our dances last night.  After that, I was up and going. I walked and fed the girls then ate breakfast here at home. It was pretty much tv and rest for the day. I talked with Cat for a while later on. She shared her day. She used Mary’s jeep and drove to Glendale to Chris and Angie’s for the day (and night). They all went out to their local pizza parlor. It was an ‘un-birthday’ gift of food and games from us for all of the kids, grandkids and great grandkids in AZ. She said all had a great time.

They went back to Chris and Angie’s for the rest of the day to play some more with the littles.

They wore her out so she said she would be turning in early there tonight. As for me, I headed off later to the plus class and helped out there. Went to pizza after with the group. When I got back, I hit the spa and then hit the bed.                                      

Monday, April 8^th., 2024…… For me: up and going with the dogs and then the gym. I decided to go it alone for breakfast at Kevin’s. After, I went to Walmart and got a few more things for meals. I will be making Lydia’s spiral noodle casserole for tonight.

For Cat:  she said she slept in – as much as she could - until the great grandkids were up and going to get ready for school today. She said her goodbyes and a little later headed out for the 2-hr drive back to Tucson. She relaxed for the day. She liked Jim’s massage chair and made herself at home in it!

For me: the rest of the day was pretty quiet for me. Cat said her day was quiet too. Just visiting and playing with the kitties.  Penny came by and we talked about her recent Vegas trip with Jody. They had a fun time together and got caught up. She is going back again in three weeks to get together with her girlfriends for a mini reunion. Cat called later and we talked about her flight home tomorrow. She leaves Tucson at 7:00am and gets back to Eugene (via Seattle again) at 1:40pm. 

Tuesday, April 9^th., 2024……  She comes back today!  Yaay! I was up early and got the girls walked and fed before I left to go out to get breakfast and coffee. When I got back and ate, I hung around the house (and cleaned up of course!) before driving down to pick her up. I left early so I could go spend some time walking around Jerry’s, the big home improvement store in Eugene. I timed it so I wouldn’t be in the waiting lot too long.  Eugene has a really nice cell waiting lot and I got parked and waited. She had checked bags so it would be a few minutes before she texted that she was at the curb. We got everything loaded and drove back home. Once we got back and she got unpacked and I got the laundry started, we both lounged around for the rest of the day. We would have my spiral casserole for dinner and rest and catch up on tv and hit the spa before an early bedtime. She had a long day!   

Wednesday, April 10^th., 2024…… We slept in a little later this morning, but when we got going, we had the dogs walked and fed in short order. We made coffee and then drove in to town to get our haircuts. After that, we stopped at Sheri’s for breakfast. Later in the day, we drove over to the bank in Albany and she did some banking for Jamie. Pretty much that was it for the day. After we fed the dogs, I worked in my office on this blog for a bit, then went into the living room where we watched more of our taped programs. We didn’t make a dent – we are so far behind! Spa and then bed.   

Thursday, April 11^th., 2024…… The weather here is amazing!  Temps in the mid-60s and it is supposed to get into the 70s toward the end of the week! The seed grass fields all around here are as green as they can be!  I took some pics from different fields around here. You can see the different types of grass...

 

This afternoon we go in for our massages. But we will still get our Thursday morning routine done – walk and feed the dogs, gym, and breakfast at Kristi’s.   

Friday, April 12^th., 2024…… We slept in late this morning then got up and going. It rained last night but today was ok so far. Forecast is for cloudy skies with some sun coming out later. We got the dogs walked and fed and then Cat made us breakfast burritos. Then we began our day. I am re-coating our wooden name plaque

and have the first coat on so I need it to warm up a bit so it will dry and I can sand between coats. The plan today, aside from the plaque is for me to work on a busted sprinkler spigot and then fill the spa. Cathye is taking Jamie to lunch today. Jamie has requested a new payee for his money, removing Cat from that job. His bills get paid by a new payee sponsor and his weekly cash is distributed to him through them. So, Cat is checking on him to make sure that is going ok.  After that, she headed over to Walmart to pick up stuff for our breakfast for the camp next weekend. She is making 5-6 breakfast casseroles. She decided to make two with bacon, two with sausage, one with veggies, and one with ham. She wants to make one tomorrow to check the recipe and see if it needs any adjustments.  Later, after a light dinner, we headed off to pick up Lynn and then on to the Albany Alliance Plus level dance. Cat is going to kick back and visit with friends while Lynn practices her newly learned level. It went well and she said she felt ok for the most part but more floor time will help with that. That was dance no. 1 for me (more to follow). We got back home late so we skipped the spa and headed off to bed.

Saturday, April 13^th., 2024…… We slept in again this morning. When we walked the dogs it was wet out but no rain. Breakfast for all then she went to work on the casserole. We sampled that as a lunch. It was tasty and a keeper!  The rains hit again off and off, for most of the day so we held back on any outside projects. I was able to get the plaque sanded and another coat applied. Later, we went off to the dance in Corvallis. The Club there decided to try having a plant sale before and during the dance. Cathye was VERY excited so we had to be there early to check things out. Needless to say I came out to the car with two boxes filled with plants! The dance was fun but we left one tip early to get home to the girls and to bed. Another late night.