Oregon Living 2024 – Blog #20 – Happy Mother’s Day, Some Serious Yard Work & a Night Out!

 

          

Sunday, May 12^th., 2024…… HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! We were up and going early. Before she showered, Cat had me take off the sticky monitor and she got the rest of the residue off in the shower.  After that, we walked the dogs and while she fed them, I went out and got us coffee and breakfast. Then it was about time to head off to church. I went today. Cathye got Mother’s Day wishes from her entire family, including mine. Chris and Angie texted, Michael & Terisa each called. Randy and Maryanne both sent separate texts. Once we got back from church, she heard from a few other friends and they got caught up. Most of the rest of the day we hung around the house and watched tv. Since she no longer has to worry about getting the monitor wet, it was a full-soak in the spa tonight!  

Monday, May 13^th., 2024…… After walking and feeding the girls, we went out for our Monday morning routine – except that we needed to stop by the post office to send the monitor back in. It will go to some lab or something in California, where they will read and record the results. Then that info goes back to her doctor and we go from there. Cat still gets very tired and needs to rest and catch her breath. At church yesterday, we talked with one of the ladies who has a pacemaker and she told us she had the same issues but is now back to pretty much a normal life. We’re sure that Cat will do well again but we must wait on all of this medical process to get pushed through the system. But be sure – I am watching her like a hawk!

Today was the first day that we had Tom come work for us. He is Mike and Cheryl’s tenant and works odd jobs to help offset his rent. After 2 ½ hours today, we know he’s a hard worker and very thorough and with his help, we’re going to make the flowerbeds and driveways finally free of weeds!  Of course cat insists on going out and working herself. But she is very good at resting when she needs to.  Later in the day, after he left, Cathye came in and was done for the day. She showered and got dressed and I took her over to Judy’s. Judy was hosting a girls paint party. She had sent the expert a photo of Rylee and she enlarged it transferred it as a sketch to a canvas. The other girls had their sketches too. Since there were margaritas served, I took her and picked her up. When we got home she said I could either see the painting or wait until Father’s Day. I chose to wait and be surprised. Tv, spa and bed.        

Tuesday, May 14^th., 2024…… As I have said before – Spring has Sprung up here! We are getting some terrific weather!  Temps dropped to the 70s this week, and everyone is out working in their yards. Cherrelyn came over and helped with the weeding. No worries – we have plenty of areas that need work!  Since my Truckster wouldn’t start, I hooked up the little brush trailer behind one of the mowers so Tom can run the loads out to the burnpile. I needed to work on the fuel filter which I suspected was clogged up. We headed off to get our haircuts and then we stopped by Bi-Mart to get some items for the yard. I worked on the fuel line and got the filter changed out and that solved my problem. It runs again! I won’t let Tom use it because it still doesn’t have brakes. The tractor and trailer will work just fine for him.

Later, after both of them left to go home, we cleaned up and went off to the Senior Center. No class today since they were having a senior mini-concert with a local couple (I think they were sisters) known as the Fender Benders. They were pretty good local talent and played and sang songs that they learned when the used to play and sing with their father. We had a pretty good crowd. Penny was there with her group from her swim classes and some of our square dancers were there too. Both groups filled up our own tables!

Wednesday, May 15^th., 2024…… We were up and going early this morning. Cathye wasn’t up to walking so I took the girls out. Cherrelyn got here early and Tom came in later.  I had some time before my dentist appointment, so I went out to look for a ‘hula hoe’. Tom brought one and it seemed to work well – so I needed one for one of us to use. I dropped it off and headed on to my appointment. I needed to stop by the credit union to get cash for our workers and took care of that.  Cathye tended to her roses. They are really looking good right now.

            Red bud baby Tamara, sterling silver Michael Strength, yellow Terisa friendship.

After everyone left, we came in for a bit. I am working on the last shelves for my room. These are going in a dead space in a corner and are pretty easy to install. I needed to fill, sand, and paint the holes and I would be done.  

Thursday, May 16^th., 2024…… Nothing much on the agenda today – except more yard work. Between Cherrelyn and Tom, the driveway section is done! He’s working on the front area beds and the fence line area. That still leaves the beds all around the house, plus the area out back by the shed. Cathye has spread a tarp out there to help kill some of the weeds. We also will be spraying out by the ditch in front as well as the French drain, which runs along the perimeter of the entire yard and is the biggest job of all. We are trying to figure out the best way to get those under control. Probably spray and burn and then pull the debris and spray again. We’ll see… But the good news is that it is all looking good! Once we get a handle on it all, we can maintain it through the season. While they were all out there working, I finished filling the holes for the shelves and got them painted. I think they look pretty good!

When we called it a day we came in and cleaned up. Tv and spa and then bed.      

Friday, May 17^th., 2024…… I had a few things on my list today. We only had Tom working outside, but he is a machine so we left him to his tasks. I was able to work a bit on the bar project for the deck. It took a while to engineer it all in my head during the winter months, but I think I can proceed now. First up was to finish trim the ends of the boards. I’m using tongue and groove (for the strength for the 14’ run). So, I would need to cut off the tongue on one and the groove on the other. Problems came when I broke the belt drive on my table saw. I have one on order from Amazon and it will be delivered tomorrow. But I also need to fabricate and install brackets on the posts on either end. I think I managed to get those as I want and pre-drilled them and got them painted. We had talked earlier about going up to Salem for a dance tonight. I wasn’t sure about Cathye’s ability to dance the night but we could always sit out so she could rest. Problem was I forgot about it and continued working in my shop! By the time I realized I should check in to see how she was feeling, it was too late to clean up and change and drive up to Salem. So, it was tv and spa before bed.   

Saturday, May 18^th., 2024…… We were up and early out this morning. Walked and fed the dogs. The weather is perfect! Nice blue skies and temps in the 70s. I spent some time out in my shop working on the brackets for the bar top. I needed to drill more holes for when they get screwed to the top. We worked on the house cleaning a bit today since we missed it yesterday. Later in the day, the belt for the table saw was delivered and I got that installed. I will need Cat’s help to hold the 14’ pieces so that will wait for now. Cathye worked on her flowers. She is still pretty winded after just a few minutes of activity. But she now knows how far to go so I am less worried now.

Later, we showered and dressed for our night out. Tonight we were skipping our Club dance and we’re going to meet up with Oma Lea and David for dinner then going to a play. Cathye and Oma Lea found Spamalot was playing at the Majestic Theater in Corvallis. I had not heard about it but it looked like it would be fun. It’s a musical spoof of the movie ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’. First up was dinner. We met them at Pastini’s in Corvallis for Italian food. The place was pretty loud but the food and drinks were very good. We had plenty of time for a nice meal and made it to the theater and got a great parking spot. Even though we had seats to the right of the main aisle, we were in the third row so it wasn’t bad at all. Cathye and I loved the play! Not so much for Oma Lea and David. Not their cup of tea I guess. Anyway, after that we walked out with them and talked a bit then headed back to our homes. Long day but it was fun!  

 

One additional note: while we were out, Cathye got a message that she had new lab results! She read them and found neither of us could decipher Medicalese!  It read to us that she had ‘events’ while wearing the monitor. Well, duh! (yard work, gym workouts, dancing, etc.). She recorded them in her log book which she sent in to them with the monitor. We know that next step will be hearing from the doctor, who also got the results today. I know she’s a little worried because she has a ‘40 year old mind in a 72 year old body’ and thinks she’s invincible and that something like this shouldn’t be happening to her of all people!!  But we’ll deal with it.