Oregon Living 2024 – Blog #22 – Prepping for and Enjoying our Strawberry Fest!

  

Monday, May 27^th., 2024…… Memorial Day – Remember it’s not for those who served – that’s Veteran’s Day – it’s about those who gave their lives for this country!

We were up and going early this morning. Nothing else going on for the square dance festival and no one left in the fairgrounds. We hooked up the car and headed out. The drive through Grants Pass was uneventful – I guess everyone was on the river watching the boat races! – so we got out of town and headed up I5 and had a smooth and easy drive back home. Since they didn’t have a dump station at the fairgrounds, we decided to just go home and use ours there. That means I just had to pull in the driveway and line up the tanks with the cleanout pipe. I unhooked the car and then hooked up the hoses and dumped the tanks. No problem there. BUT, when I was backing out of the driveway to turn around so I could back into the rv garage, I forgot about Rick and Judie’s mailbox!  Yep – took it out to the ground! I got it back in place but saw the welds holding the stand to the mailbox were broke, so it wobbles. They have one of their home security cameras mounted inside the box which picks up motion when the mail is delivered.  Well, I gave it motion! Rick heard the alarm in his house and came out. He was very nice about it and we talked about me repairing it or him having someone do it. More on that later…  Later in the day, we received a delivery from Wanda, our Club president. She had two 5-gallon buckets of strawberries. Four of us are splitting these. Cheryl told us to put theirs out so they would defrost to make them easier to divide. So, we set them both out in the garage and will split ours tomorrow too.  Once we got everything unloaded and clothes in the washer, we rested for the day. It was a long weekend and very enjoyable and relaxing, but I guess we were exhausted from all that relaxation! We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the house.    

Tuesday, May 28^th., 2024……  Today, the work begins for the Strawberry Festival. Lebanon has been doing this festival for over 75 years, and this is ‘the’ big event of the year for them. Somewhere (we heard several bakeries were involved) there are tons of cakes being baked for “the world’s largest strawberry shortcake”. Interesting side note I read is that the city always trying to compete for the title is none other than Garden Grove, Calif.!  They have not yet gotten remotely close - ours weighed 5,700 pounds and served about 16,000 people – theirs was 1,200 pounds and fed about 3,000. Hits home because the Rustlers, my square dance club there, danced across the street from the GG Strawberry Festival every year!   

As I said, the work begins today. The carnival rides and fair booths are going up at Cheadle Lake Park and barricades are being dropped off at strategic locations along the parade route to be deployed on Friday. Personally, for us, we have nothing scheduled today. Except for our workshop. We also got out one of the strawberry tubs and set out to divide them. Turns out I was easily able to scoop out our half, which we put into several freezer bags.  We did make an appointment to have the air ducts cleaned out. Ours look pretty good but the price also includes the laundry exhaust and the in-house vacuum system. That system hasn’t worked right since I moved in. I suspect it has a clog in it somewhere. Cathye has never even seen it in use. Hopefully, they can find and fix the problem. I think they come sometime next week. After class, we stopped at the store and then headed back home for the rest of the day.   

Wednesday, May 29^th., 2024…… The only item on our to-do list today was to empty and clean the spa. Luckily for us, there is a drain line that I can attach the hose to and it’s an easy run out to the lawn. It usually takes a few hours to drain and once that was done, we went in and changed out the filter, then scrubbed and polished and then it was ready to refill. We also made arrangements to drop off the other tub of strawberries at Mike and Cheryl’s. We visited for a while, then headed back home.  Later in the day, we fed the dogs, then drove up to The Point in Sweet Home for drinks and a nice dinner. Then it was back home for some tv and then the spa before calling it a night.

Thursday, May 30^th., 2024……  The weather is really nice these days. We do occasionally get a little front that comes in with some sprinkles, but for the most part, it’s sunny and warm. We walked and fed the girls this morning, then headed out to the gym and then to breakfast. Kristi told us they will be closed on Saturday. They are right on the parade route and I guess they want to enjoy the festivities too!  While we were sitting at breakfast, I called our neighbor, Rick, and we discussed the mailbox repair. It was decided that he would have someone fix it and would (at my insistence) then give me that bill to pay.  After we got back, I headed over to Cascade Power Equip. to see about our now inoperable lawn tractor. Turns out it was a week or two short of one year when we bought it, so if it’s an engine failure, it will be covered. I told them I was busy this week but when I got home, I went straight to work and got the flatbed trailer out and between Penny and Cathye and myself, we got the tractor pushed up on it and tied down. I headed back and dropped it off. When the guy looked at it, he said it was seized. If it was the engine, we are covered, but if it’s the clutch, it might not be covered. They have it on the schedule for next week, so I won’t know anything for a while…

While I was delivering the tractor, Cathye was working on her sliders for tonight’s potluck. She is also baking a strawberry rhubarb pie to donate to the ‘baked goods only’ auction on Friday.  We are going to take the sliders with us later today to Rachel’s house where the float is now parked so we can build it out and decorate it for the parade. We had to transfer it from its road-trailerable stage, to its float stage, which went well. I had never seen the float before and was told it was pretty cool. They spent some time engineering it and it showed! We got the floor frame unfolded to make it a full 12’ wide platform and the roof up in quick order and then decorated the whole thing with tinsel, banners, etc. This is a shot from the garage where folks were blowing up balloons (which will be going on on Saturday when we are in the staging line). We are hard at work on the stage area.

Once we were done, we got home and found we were both exhausted. I was the tall guy who had to do all of the overhead work so I was really sore in my back and shoulders. The spa tonight sure helped!   

Friday, May 31^st., 2024……  Today was hall decorating day. After our normal morning routine, we joined the group and helped unload the Club’s dedicated box trailer. They have a ton of stuff that needed to come out and get set up. Mostly, it was the racks and bins of clothes for the vintage square dance clothing sale. We set up all of that as well as the rest of the hall, including serving tables and chairs for the dancers. We went home and rested for a few hours before Cathye went to work on yet another potluck dish for dinner before the dance. She made a beef stroganoff that was gone in no time!  Once we ate, we cleaned up and set up the floor for the dance. Tonight will be Charlotte’s last official dance before her retirement! 

At break time, they presented her with a quilt that the Club ladies had made and we all have signed.

She will no longer be calling anywhere but will continue with the workshop classes for the senior center. She is a super lady and will be missed!  She wants to write a book and will be attempting that now. But she plans to be at all of our dances so she’s not going anywhere! She had some guest callers and the dance went well. The baked goods auction did well too. We bought some homemade bread and also homemade cinnamon buns.  Cat’s pie was the big winner and sold for a whopping $25.!  After the dance, we came home and went straight to bed. Long day!

Saturday, June 1^st., 2024…… Here comes another long day! We were up early and walked and fed the dogs and had our coffee and breakfast. We needed to be dressed and ready and at the senior center parking lot by 10:00am. We took a couple of pics while we waited for our shuttle to the float,

which was now staged on one of the backstreets. Shaun and most of the dancers were there. Frank went over some safety measures. He needed a person at the front in case our driver had to brake hard. We also practiced some combined figures that Shaun was planning. No twirls, switch out when needed, and keep smiling! We were ready! I don’t know if I mentioned the size of this parade! For a small town of 18k, it is a BIG deal! We were number 68 of 135 entries! So, it took a while before we got moving. Cathye and I were in the second group and went in after the float turned down Main St. Turns out dancing on a moving platform is NOT one of Cathye’s strong suits! She got a little nauseous and was from that point on, relegated to being the front person and playing the parade princess (complete with the wave!) as we slowly motored down the road. I had only seen the parade once or twice so I was shocked to see the folks stacked side by side and 3-4 deep watching us as we went by!  I think the whole town and surrounding towns were there! Of course Cathye knew a ton of them and was happily waving and yelling back at them!  Penny texted me a couple of pics she took. Unfortunately we weren't dancing when we went by her! Cathye is in front on one, I am sitting at the back in the other one!

Other pics from the parade, including the biggie cake!

It was fun but we were all pretty beat when we finally got to the parking lot at the end. I think it was maybe two hours or so from start to finish but I lost track of time so I’m not sure. We immediately made quick work of stripping the float and transferring it to trailerable status again. We hitched a ride back to the senior center and our car and immediately left to come home. Cathye was much better. We rested for a bit, then I needed to start my spaghetti for the dinner tonight. I managed to get everything cooked and assembled together in our crockpot and we were ready for the evening! The food was well received and the dancing soon started. Our guest caller (Jim Steele) was an old hand at calling and is well known for calling fast. Personally, I enjoy the fast-paced calls, but the rest of the floor had trouble keeping up. So, after that first tip, he was asked to tone it down for the newer dancers. It helped but it was still a faster paced dance than the folks in the area are used to! Here are a few pics from the night...

In addition to the used clothing, they also had a silent auction. The organizer really outdid herself this year! They probably had over 100 items which folks could place their written bid on. Nothing that most of us were impressed with, but of course Cathye found some items she placed a bid on. I guess I got caught up too. I ended up with two steel-lined coffee mugs for $1. ea. (for the motorhome) and paid a whole $4. for 12 plastic tropical drink cups (for the deck).  Cathye got 5 or 6 items that she was the winning bidder on, including a weighted blanket, an airplane neck pillow, and some baskets.  At tonight's dance break, the Club presented Charlotte with yet another honor - a lifetime member award!

Once the dance ended, we found Marilyn, who we were dropping off at home on our way, and headed out. Carl and Louise, who were staying with us after the dance, followed us and got parked and settled in to their room. We sat out in the living room with a round of Fireballs and talked for a bit. Cathye was pooped out and headed off to bed and we kept going until 1:00am! It was nice to catch up with Louise and spend more time getting to know Carl. Here’s a couple of pics of them at our dance tonight, one in a square and one round dancing. …

 

Sunday, June 2^nd., 2024…… Today was breakfast at the hall and then cleanup day. Some of the Club members put together scrambled eggs with biscuits and gravy and oj. I think I counted over 25 people who came to partake in that and to help clean up the hall and pack up everything and load the trailer. Carl and Louise joined us for breakfast and after that, we said our goodbyes, and they headed back down the road. They were going to meet up with friends at a square dance class graduation in Roseburg on the way back to Grants Pass. We closed the hall doors then left to come home after another busy morning. We were officially done for the festival! The Square Circlers are now officially ‘dark’ for the summer. The next beginner’s class starts in Sept.  Of course Cat and I will still be going to other areas where they dance through the summer. Cathye has all of the calls now and does really well, but we both need to keep fresh!  As I mentioned, once we were home, we were done! We had a nice morning and afternoon until we left again to go help out at Shaun’s beginner’s class this afternoon. But after that, we were home for the day and evening. Tv and spa and then early to bed.     

Oregon Living 2024 – Blog #21 – A Busy Week!

 

Sunday, May 19^th., 2024…… I guess Cat didn’t sleep well last night. First thing this morning, she talked to her daughter in New Hampshire. She is a respiratory therapist and knows about her symptoms. Cathye read the findings to her and Terisa said not too serious. Definitely needs to be addressed though. Most likely her doctor will prescribe a beta blocker or something and refer her to a cardiologist. She went off to church. She had been previously asked to deliver the communion verse for today’s service and she had written that up and gave it today. I am so proud of her!  

When she got back, we only did a few things around the house. We still need to get our stuff together for our Memorial Weekend trip down to Grants Pass. Mostly dog food and clothes. We’ll go shopping later in the week.

Nothing else going today, so later in the day, Cat went over to visit with Lynn and Judy who both have medical backgrounds. They said the same thing as Terisa. They even looked up some of the verbiage in the report and that made Cat feel a lot better.  

Monday, May 20^th., 2024…… HAPPY BIRTHDAY COREY!  Today wasn’t the best of days. No health issues. But it will cost me. Keep reading...  We started out with the gym and breakfast. We took two cars because Cat had a meeting with her financial guys. Tom texted her that he was working today and would get back to her about tomorrow if he make it. Corey and family were coming over later for a pizza birthday party for Corey. It is supposed to rain tomorrow and today was going to be nice so we decided to mow. I saw Cat out by the grass pile and she had the hood up on her mower. I still don’t know what happened but it wouldn’t start. She said there was smoke coming out. So, we swapped her out on the other mower and continued. That one needed air in the front tires so I stopped to hook up the compressor. When no air came out, I twisted the fitting and it broke off in my hand. So, now I have two issues to deal with. I think I can fix the air compressor but I need to go up to Cascade Power and see about getting the  tractor in. Damm!

Anyway, Corey’s little party was fun. The grandkids sat in the spa after we had pizza and cake on the deck. And then went to work on a 'Fairy Garden'

When they left, Cat settled in and fell asleep on the couch and ended up going to bed early, while I came in and worked on and posted my blog.  

Tuesday, May 21^st., 2024…… This morning, after our walk and feeding the dogs and breakfast, Cathye got picked up by Judy and Lynn and they headed out to go plant shopping. Turns out they would be in Stayton (about 15 miles from here) and explore various plant sales and vintage shops. Later, I headed off by myself to go to our class. There were only a few of us there today. This is a continuous workshop so folks drop in and out as they can. Cathye likes the work and Charlotte works on anything we ask. Later in the workshop, Cathye got dropped off and got to dancing. We went back home and unloaded the plants and since it’s raining right now, she will have to put her planting plans on hold until we get back from our trip this week.  We spent the rest of the afternoon in the house but we were able to get a lot of our things ready to go out to the motorhome. Dinner, tv and spa and then bed.  

Wednesday, May 22^nd., 2024…… We wanted to go help out painting the float for this year’s circus theme for the parade next weekend, but we needed to prep our coach and get it stocked up and ready for tomorrow when we leave. I think we have almost everything except for some food items. For those (bread, milk, etc.) we’ll just go to the store down in Grants Pass. I think we’re ready!  We watched some tv but were in the spa and then it was an early night.

Thursday, May 23^rd., 2024…… Grants Pass and the Josephine County Fairgrounds is 180 miles from us. That’s about 3 ½ hours give or take. Check-in isn’t until 3:00pm so we didn’t need to leave until 11:30am or so. The drive was super nice/ Temps down there are in the 80s so it warmed up from where we started. We met up with Carl, our friend from the local club, who was campground coordinator. He quickly got us parked and we set up the power and water and the slideouts and then the satellite roof dish and we were set. We got the a/c going for the dogs but took them for a long walk to check the place out. This is an old-fashioned fairgrounds, built in 1927, so the buildings and the grounds had seen some history. But, later,  when we able to see inside the dedicated square dance hall there, we knew it was going to be a great venue! We rested for a bit, then got a text asking if we wanted to join some folks for lunch at Sizzler. This would be the organizers – our friends from SoCal, David and Dawn Mee – for our square dance cruise coming up next February. 

Turns out there are several couples from this area who are going too!  Three of those couples joined us today. We got to know them and we look forward to dancing with them tomorrow! We came back to the coach and rested for the day. We did take a drive around the downtown area to check it out. The Boatnik festival is held every Memorial Day and is famous for the drag boat and hydro boat races. Of course with that, come the crowds!  We saw pictures from years past where the bridge on the main street as well as all available shoreline is overrun with people trying to see the boats. We decided to pass on that.  Once we got back, we settled in for the night and watched tv and then walked the dogs and then called it a night.   

Friday, May 24^th., 2024…… Hard to believe it’s been four years since we lost Lydia. It was nice to hear from friends and family on this day.

I didn’t sleep well last night. That usually happens the first night we are out. We were up and going and I walked the girls while Cat made us coffee and breakfast. The dance isn’t until 7:30pm so we kicked around the campground for most of the day. We did go out to Red Robin for dinner. Later, we changed clothes and headed the 200 feet to the dance hall doors. Like I said, they have a beautiful hall and they are very organized. Dawn cued the rounds and David called the dance. He did SSD/Mainstream with every third tip Plus. That worked well for Cathye as she got to sit out a bit and catch her breath a bit. We stayed until the end (10:00pm) and headed home. Before we left, David and Dawn asked those going on the cruise to come take a photo...

Later, Cat said she really likes dancing to David. At lunch the other day, she shared the calls she always struggles with (Scoot Back, and Walk and Dodge) so David made it a point to do those calls over and over while watching her from the stage. I think she felt better about it after the practice. We came back and changed out of our square dance clothes and walked the dogs, then watched a few minutes of tv before we called it a night

Saturday, May 25^th., 2024…… Saturday they do workshops. Mainstream didn’t start until 1:30pm so we had more time to relax this morning. We didn’t have to dress up for the workshops which was nice. David is very creative and made the hour fun. He had us in various unique formations and did the calls from there, which I love!  Cathye wants me to talk to him about coming up to call for our Club! (footnote – I actually did later even though I knew our Club really couldn’t afford to bring in an out-of-state caller.) Later, we went back to the evening dance, which was really nice. I think this Club, who never really has danced to David and Dawn before, will be booking him again.  

Sunday, May 26^th., 2024…… As is our typical Sunday morning tradition, I went out and got us breakfast!  In the hall, they are busy again this morning. Three workshops today.  After the Round Dance and Advanced workshops, they moved on to alternating Mainstream and Plus for the afternoon. That would be the end and all went away very happy!  We have already pre-paid for next year!  I mentioned we only had 4 of us camping in the fairgrounds. The guy parked in front of us lives in Salem and wanted to head home today to avoid any Memorial Day traffic tomorrow. We saw later that the other two had left as well. We were the only ones there now!  I had asked and found out there wasn’t an rv dump station anywhere on the grounds but they told us about a park just down the road where we could go and dump (for a $5.00 fee). So, we decided to go take a ride and check it out. At our senior center camping group meeting last week, we told them we would scout out prospective campgrounds in the Grants Pass area for the group to camp. I think they are shooting for August. Since we won’t be recommending this fairgrounds, we wanted to check out other places and this would help to do that now. We found the park and saw it was very nice. It’s right on the Rogue River too!  We spoke to the lady in the office and she confirmed that they have spaces for our group (10-15 rigs) for that timeframe. So, we will report back at least something positive.  Oh yeah, no public rv dump!  No worries, I can dump when we get home. We headed back home and ate dinner and watched tv until bedtime. It was a long weekend and we still have another travel day tomorrow, so it’s not over yet - but we have truly enjoyed our time so far.  We were happy to be able to take advantage of this opportunity to dance and socialize with David and Dawn. We also talked up our Strawberry Festival and at least a few couples are coming up to dance with us next weekend, including my old friend, Louise Voss, and her guy!      

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.   

Oregon Living 2024 – Blog #19 – A Busy Week!

 

Managing her Monitor, a Casino Run, Hosting Dinner, a Family Concert, Dancing, Mowing, & Missing the Aurora Borealis

Sunday, May 5^th., 2024…… Yet another rainy morning. The skies would clear up later. Like we always say up here – if you don’t like the weather, wait 10 minutes! I know - we complain about the rain a lot, but other folks will complain about it being too hot, or too cold! I still wouldn’t trade this place for anything! We were up late this morning, so we split up tasks after walking the dogs. I went for breakfast sandwiches and coffee/chai tea, while Cat fed the girls. She got ready to go off to church and when I got back, we just switched places in the car and she took her breakfast to go!  I spent some time watching my races. I forgot to mention yesterday that I spent a few hours watching the Kentucky Derby. 

It was the 150^th running of this great race. I have been to the facility and want to take Cat one of these days. The place is fascinating. Of course we would like to actually go to the race. But they already have all of the seats booked for next year’s derby (and maybe past that too!) so we would have to plan this one out. When she returned, I was watching one of my races when she got a call from Cheryl that they were taking an afternoon trip to the coast to Three Rivers Casino and did she want to go (yes, I was asked too but declined). They came and picked her up and they spent the afternoon and evening going to and from the coast and enjoying a few hours of happy gambling time with the machines. I heard the machines won!  Once we got settled in, we watched our own shows for the rest of the evening and then went out to the spa. She has figured out she can sit in one of the higher seats in the spa and keep her device dry!  

Monday, May 6^th., 2024…… Normal day for us – except we were monitoring Cat closely at the gym. I mentioned this before about her monitor and logbook - if she feels short of breath or anything else, she presses the button on the device and then logs it into her logbook/journal as an incident. She says once the device gets sent off for analysis, the logbook helps explain any jumps in the readings on the device. I think she said she pressed it once during her workout.

Later, when we got back home after breakfast, we got a 3 cubic yard scoop load of sawdust delivered and dropped off from Mike. It will go in the blueberry cage after we get in there and weed a bit. I already ran a soaker hose around each of the 6 blueberry plants and tested them to see if they are getting enough water. Like I said, the sawdust will go in later and keep the weeds out and the ground wet for the berries.

Tuesday, May 7^th., 2024…… The weather is now fantastic up here! Sunny and nice! Temps in the 70s and 80s for the next few weeks!  I think the rains are behind us for a while! We still have soggy grass in the lower sections of the lawn but it’s getting better. But we are now starting to use the irrigation system to water the flowerbeds and especially the raised bed, which is soaking up the water! Later, we went off to class. Cathye did better and only sat out the last portion. But she still will log in an incident. When we got back home, she called her doctor’s office because they said to if she didn’t get a call with a schedule date for her echocardiogram. It went back and forth for the afternoon but she did get a call. It will be in July! Wow, the wheels have come off the medical wagon here in Oregon! It seems like everything is booked out 6-8 weeks. We are figuring this timeline out – next step is a call from the doctor after he gets the results from the monitor (we mail it on Mon. the 13^th. to a lab in Calif for analysis so that will most likely take a week or more). He will most likely wait until the echo gets done and back to him. Then we think he’ll refer her to a cardiologist and if we get a call back to schedule that in a week or two, we’ll feel lucky. After the cardiologist calls, they will most likely be booked out 4-6 weeks!  And who knows what the timeframe is if they want to install a pacemaker. We are looking at October November !!!  She says her two friends each got fast-tracked after they both fainted and went to the ER! We hope it doesn’t come to that….

Wednesday, May 8^th., 2024…… Cathye slept in a bit while I walked the dogs. I went out and got us breakfast and then later went back to the store with a list of things she needs for her chicken pot pie for tonight. We are having three square dance couples over for dinner and games. After we had everything ready to put together, she worked a bit in her garden/flowerbeds. Don’t ask me what she has put in – there was a ton of stuff she has accumulated in the last few weeks! She took a picture of the roses that are doing nicely now

During her time out there, she pushed her monitor again and came in rested for a bit. I vacuumed the house and then I rested too. Later, Cat got the ingredients together and I helped her load it into the pie and she got that going in time for it to be ready when they got here. 

We had a very nice meal and then decided to play Mexican train. I had to explain my house rules since there are numerous ways to play this game. It took some time, but everyone got going. I think we played until 11:30 or something. A long but fun day!  

Thursday, May 9^th., 2024…… Today we had several things on our agenda. We walked and fed the girls then headed off to the gym (monitor again), then breakfast. We barely had time to get back before I left again for the first of our massage appointments today. Cat and I crossed as I was leaving and she was coming in. I fed the dogs their dinner and we had a few minutes before we headed off to Salem. We were invited to Brandyn’s and Baylee’s school chorus concert tonight. We stopped at Applebee’s for dinner and then drove to their school and got parked and met up with the kids. We got seats – behind this guy…..

and watched a great concert. They had a group of kids who played violins who started off the program. Then a small group of students played ukeleles and sang one song. The chorus was next. Both Baylee and Brandyn did great and knew their songs! It was short (about 35 minutes total) and we got back home in plenty of time to let the girls out. Then a few minutes of tv then spa and bed.   

Friday, May 10^th., 2024…… Nothing on the agenda today. Well, we did have…. Corey was going to come pull weeds with Mike’s friend. But last night Corey informed us that he would be waiting until the kids got out of school then all of them would be coming. Vikki would help share his time. Well, we read between the lines and figured that the kids would want in the spa, and Vikki would be wanting to help with dinner – which we didn’t plan. So, since Cat was not feeling well in the morning and was needing a ‘chill’ day, I texted him that his grandmother was feeling tired and we needed to reschedule. Also turns out Mike’s guy was a no-show. We would tell him that later at the dance. So, after she had her morning sleep-in (with Butthead joining her)...

we went across the street to Paul and Corie's yard sale. Yes, we found stuff! I worked some on the yard. We now hope to mow tomorrow. Later, we headed off to the senior center. They were having a meeting of the just-formed senior rv/camping group. We met some new folks and listened and learned that they are not as well organized as we thought at this time. But they had some great ideas for campouts and were just needing input from the group before they can get a schedule going for upcoming campouts.  We volunteered to give them feedback about the park we will be in when we go down to Grant Pass in our motorhome for our memorial Day square dance weekend. They also were interested in Crater Lake camping – which we told them would be extremely hard to get in with group camping. We shared that Diamond Lake is only about 5 miles from there and we would also check that out in July when we got there for another festival weekend.

After that, we dropped by the town’s Garden Club plant sale (Cat just got a couple). Once we got back home, we decided we were done for the day. Temps got up into the low 80s and we aren’t used to that so we came in the house. Our a/c even kicked on for the first time this year. Later, I got dressed for tonight’s alliance plus dance in Albany. We picked up Lynn and then went and got Mike and Cheryl from the senior center parking lot and went over. Cat doesn’t dance Plus but Lynn has just learned and we convinced her to go. She was nervous and made a few mistakes but overall did great. There wasn’t anyone there who was perfect! The IOOF hall there in town is really old and doesn’t have a/c, so we rested when we needed to to cool down and we got through the night. After the dance, some of us went over to Denny’s for an afterparty. It was midnight when we got home. That was planned because we wanted to see if we could catch the Northern Lights, which we were told could be seen from our area right now. We checked it out when we got home but didn’t see anything. The next day we would see Facebook posts from friends in town who saw it…

Awesome pics!  Maybe tomorrow…       

Saturday, May 11^th., 2024…… Even after our late night last night, we found ourselves up and going early. We walked and fed the dogs, then went over to Tallman Brewery to meet up with Penny and Cherrelyn. Penny goes to the local pool for exercise classes and found the swim team there is hosting a fundraiser breakfast at Tallman’s. Penny bought tickets for all of us. Thanks, Sis!  Cherrelyn got there early and got us a table. We had pancakes and sausage and coffee. 

Plus we bought mimosas from the bar. We finished up and came home and rested for a few minutes. We both went out and got to work on spreading the sawdust on the blueberries. I would haul wheelbarrow loads and Cat would spread it out. I think it took about 45 minutes for the entire project but we were both pooped. Another incident for Cat to report! 

After we rested for a while, it was time to get ready to mow! Yaay!  I left Cat and went and got the mowers out and gassed up. Penny came by and we started in. The grass was pretty thick but we managed to get it all cut in quick order. Temps got up in the 80s again but we all had our sunscreen on so we were good.  There was a Mainstream dance in Corvallis tonight (which Cat could do), but we were both ready for a night off. We watched tv until about 10:00pm then went out to check out the northern skies. Nope. I set the alarm for 2:00am and we went to bed. For some reason, Cathye woke up at 1:00am and checked. Nothing. I got up at 2:00am when the alarm went off. Still nothing. Oh well!