WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR JUNE 2024

GodMomKim

I am with you, Onion rings over frys! but they have to be good onion rings and they are very hard to find.

smiles Kim

barbiecat

It occurred to me this morning as I was in the shower (a slippery and sometimes dangerous place), how important it is for me to care for my health and safety with my husband's fragile health and impending chemotherapy and the dogs who depend on me. I am careful but plan to be even more vigilant.

Barbie in cloudy and cooler NW WA

Whidislander

LisaInArkansas wrote: »

Ginny - Love the view from your cottage, so pleased to see you moving toward retiring. Regarding the VA - unlike Social Security, there's no work or salary restriction, you aren't restricted from whether you work or not, and there is no subtracting from your VA disability, no matter how much you get paid. If your son is retired military, the VA part of his retirement pay is simply untaxable. In other words, my ex-husband was 50% disabled, so half of his military retirement was untaxable, but there wasn't VA pay ADDED to his retirement pay. Regarding how they add varying disabilities tied to military service together, the math is arcane and punitive to the vet, to say the least. Thanks for the hints on the cooling towels to you and to Lanette and others - they're helping enormously.

Carol - sounds like you're ready for your guests to depart! How is your husband feeling?

Tracey - Love the freezie sleeves, and you've given all those kids a memory they'll keep with them, of someone who knows how to be kind. What you're doing really matters.

Machka - I can't bear to shut all the light out of any room except the bedroom, it's the only place we've kept the room darkening curtains. And I put the window tint behind them, as well, but that's more for the heat reflection there. It's making a difference already in how much the air conditioners are having to run to cool the rooms down to 75 or 76 degrees (24C). It's all I can handle in terms of being able to be comfortable in the summer heat.

Barbie - Hope chemo in pill form goes well for Jake. Being able to get that kind of medication in your own home is such an amazing step forward.

Heather - Thanks for the good wishes for Corey's birthday... I'm thinking of trying a Swiss roll cheesecake - I have a good recipe for red velvet cake, but I've never made a rolled cake before. In theory, it SHOULD work... 👀😁 Either way, it will taste good, even if it falls apart. I need to do the baking before it gets too hot! On the subject of your friends and Covid - I wouldn't get near anyone with a compromised immune system if I had the flu OR covid, or even a really bad cold, so it makes sense to me to keep your distance.

Kim - Keeping an eye on the fires every once in a while from here - hope your friends are doing OK.

Absolutely gorgeous full moon just set this morning. Perfect view of it from where I sit typing this. The white morning glories are just emerging from the pre-dawn darkness, and I need to get moving if I'm going to get some baking done before it gets all scorchy!

Later, y'all,
Love,
Lisa in AR

From a couple days ago - the purple morning glories are coming on strong, and will fill most of the twine trellis before long. The window you can just see under the flag is the one I look out of every day while I'm trolling around the interwebs and talking to y'all. The blue above is the T-111 that was under the siding, and we'll be repairing the obvious places before we repaint a more vivid deep teal:

In regarding light, since we live under huge Fir trees we do not get any direct sun. So we have no shades,or drapes on the first floor where living room and kitchen is. We do have shades for our bedroom that we put down at night, because of the street lights and neighbors that never turn off their outside lights. Glad I am not ibby-jibby about people peeking in at night. Son was, and had to always pull the slatted shades closed on the slider door in his living area. He also never opened his shades in his bedroom, which guys don't really think about doing. His room is at the top of the stairs and ours at the opposite end, with a hallway. Having his shades drawn really made the hallway dark! So it is nice since he's overseas, to have it open. Since its the second floor I put a crystal sun catcher in the window, so some mornings for about 10 minutes the sun does catch it and the rooms a disco.💖😁
Rebecca
Whidbey
Wa

grandmallie

My cousin's wife lost her daughter in her 30s to a slip and fall in a shower, so scary and sad.
If any of you would like to check out my next cruise which isnt until August 2026
On the Sapphire Princess - it is 15 night British Isles - Canadian Passage leaves out of Copenhagen and arrives in Boston
Let me know what ya'll think.. gives me time to save up.

Whidislander

barbiecat wrote: »

It occurred to me this morning as I was in the shower (a slippery and sometimes dangerous place), how important it is for me to care for my health and safety with my husband's fragile health and impending chemotherapy and the dogs who depend on me. I am careful but plan to be even more vigilant.

Barbie in cloudy and cooler NW WA

I find it interesting as we age that looking at situations on a daily basis, that when younger, we never gave it a second thought, now we pay attention. Its nice that our body and brain do that! Like yesterday husband and I were checking out a new Bagel Factory place in our town. It had dark green painted cement stairs going up the side. There were railings on the building side, but not on the other. I distinctly made the decision to step, then use the railing. When I was younger I would've just ran up the stairs, even skipping some of them. I am glad you're paying attention. I hope your husbands chemo goes smoothly. Its hard to put that darn caregivers hat on. Its good to have a support system in place for you though. Whether its having food delivered so you aren't having to go out and about if your not able to. Glad you have your walks to help you de stress.💖👍🏼
Rebecca
Whidbey
Wa

cityjaneLondon

I bought a kind of loofah mat from Amazon for my shower. Very non slip. I hang it over the bath afterwards. For John's shower, j bought a more conventional shower mat. I also put a suction grab rail on his shower wall. I stick the mat to the tiled wall when I get out.
My friend G has a horrific story of a friend who fell in the shower and drove her new metal hip out through her thigh.
Yes, be careful.

Love Heather UK xxxxxxxx

LisaInArkansas

And... probably because of all of you, I bought a Duck mat for the bathtub from Walmart, padded and non-slip, for all the same reasons. Corey puts it down for his baths, says it's quite a bit softer than the tub surface. At some point, we really do have to learn from the experience of those who've gone before us. I got over "admitting," that I'm old and decided I want to keep getting older in the best possible shape, And that means not incurring an easily avoidable broken hip!

He had to run up state earlier to get a truck fixed for one of his crews, 90 minutes there and another 90 back, and stopped at the grocery store for the few fresh things we need. He's already back already and mowed the lawn... I took a short nap, got wiped out while I was out dinking around this morning. Easy to do these days. Man, I hope these lab tests show something easily fixable!

Cor's out picking potatoes from the garden. No joke, this is the second one that's fully produced, by mid-June! This is five pounds already. He picked tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers earlier. Not lots, but more than plenty for our needs. OK, his needs, but I will eat potatoes.

Later, babies,
Lisa in AR

pipcd34

Stats for the day-

Walk w/family- *put Lucy in buggy after 2.5mi, put Chispa in buggy after 4mi*, w ew monkey feet!, 2hrs 3min 33sec, 45elev, 2.95ap, 86ahr, 172mhr = 580c
Strava app = 751
Treadmill jog- *testing out the new shoes *- 19.42min, 1.8mi@ 6.0sp, .10mi@ 7.0sp, .10mi@ 7.5sp, 126ahr, 166mhr, 142spm, 9.51min mi, 2mi= 224c

Total cal 806

Shoes were really comfortable. Got the beginnings of a small blister but didn’t know or feel it til I took them off. I should have switched to my old shoes after about the 3 mile mark of my walk, of well…

SophieRosieMom

Good morning ladies

Lisa - I thought that cake looked fine and tastes great. Bet it's a little like a trifle. A nice Happy Birthday treat for Corey. Glad the VA came through with at least something. Like you said, if it pays for your Medicare portion, that's a win. Your garden is impressive!!! So far all of my little container tomato plants have at least one pea-sized baby hiding among the leaves. I might actually have some edible in a month.

Ginny - your new home will be gorgeous. That lake view is very nice! Good to be able to take your time moving, finishing retirement plans at your job and getting your old house ready for the market. I'd go for that plan too.

Rita - glad the Styrofoam is helping keep your motorhome cool, sounds like you'll be getting some sun today. Yummy food photos as usual. I did an early morning shopping trip and picked up a package of pork loins, so glad you posted a photo the other day. I like your beautiful passion flower.

Heather - good to hear you're getting out and about more. Sounds like you've been able to avoid the crud and nice that Johnny seems to be getting over it fine.

Barbie - I understand about being vigilant and more careful. DH often said he didn't know what he'd do if I wasn't around to care for him. So at some level I did to what I could to stay healthy, and was glad to do it. And now, staying healthy for the dog and cat and to care for my home in this neighborhood is so important. I need to check out bathtub mats next time I'm at Walmart. The tub/shower I use has a built in grab bar and it sure comes in handy.

Hope Jake's chemo has mild side effects if any and does the job. You two are a great pair! Loved the photo of Annie soaking up the sun.

Basil: I grabbed a nice looking basil plant at the store this morning. Made a quick rough pesto (olive oil, chopped garlic, grated Parmesan-no nuts) in the Nutribullet (not a good job but OK) from about 2/3 of the leaves, set the little pot with the remainder in a bit of water per the directions on a kitchen windowsill and hoping I can get it to thrive for a while. Ended up with about 1/4 cup pesto I stuck in the freezer that will last me for a bit.

Lose It: The diabetes prevention coach mentioned another app/website useful for logging other than MFP. It's free, or most of it is. I signed up to see what it was all about. The website is loseit (dot) com if anyone is curious.

Finished mowing the back yard. A million dandelion blooms chopped down, but millions more will come to their funerals, lol. I like having a yellow back yard, or at least the buzzy bees do.

More I want to comment on but I've been working on this since mid-morning so better get it posted.

Lanette
SW WA State where the days are getting longer already. 9 seconds today, lol.

pipcd34

Kids are loving their frozen treats I made them on this hot day (104). Walked them at 5.30am to beat the heat and got home at 8. Yogi always takes a dip.

pipcd34

I almost forgot, today is our 22nd wedding anniversary -

When I met Kirby, I was a basket case, was in a real dark place, my husband had passed away, I ballooned up to almost 200lbs (used to be an aerobics instructor, so needless to say I was in shape) family situation wasn’t the best, quit my job and moved out of State with someone I had met 3 weeks earlier. Suicide was in my head all the time. He was (and still is) too good looking to think he would be interested in a fast *kitten* like me). I wasn’t thinking about a relationship anyway. AIDS was a scary thing back then and I let him know my situation in case he wanted to back out. He saved my life, I wouldn’t be here if wasn’t for him. He got my *kitten* on a bike, got me running and I did the rest after slouching around for 5 years. I’ve been back to my 30 year old body for quite a few years. I love him more than he will ever know or than I can ever express. I consider our meeting date more important than our wedding anniversary (September 16, 1996), that is my true celebration date. I love him lots.

grandmallie

Watching Mary Poppins takes me back..lol

OregonMother

Camping this weekend. We hiked Iron Mountain today. We had to do it separately because Harley, the dog, was already pooped out from a shorter hike, so hubby stayed with her while I hiked, then we switched. Beautiful hike, and I fell only twice! Nothing hurt, didn't even break skin. With all we hiked today, I logged five miles.

I love my peaks, I saw Bachelor and St Helens in the very distance, then, heading south, Hood, Washington, three fingered jack, and the three sisters, and too many cinder cones to count. Wild flowers were amazing. Pictures below.

And snow. Ha! Pretty satisfied with myself today.

Flea
Willamette Valley OR

OregonMother

One more pic of one beat pup.



She was too tired to ask to have her harness removed. Just ate dinner and crashed. She's even snoring.

Flea
Willamette Valley OR

kymarai

Machka9

And relating to what we're doing these days ...

Whidislander

Awe Pip, Kirby might have saved you, but you saved him too. You two are the yin-yang of each other but together your zen, whole.💖👍🏼
Happy Anniversary!
Rebecca
Whidbey
Wa

skuehn48

Happy anniversary Pip and Kirby! So glad you two met.

BIL's celebration of life is tomorrow in Grass Valley, CA. DD went to represent us. I decided not to make the trip. DD sent a picture of my sister. She looks pretty awful. Don't know what will happen with her now. Makes me sad.

Everyone take care, Sue in WA

Machka9

pipcd34 wrote: »

I almost forgot, today is our 22nd wedding anniversary -

Happy Anniversary!

Snowflake1968

Heather - I assume the beach parking used to be free. It’s such a sad state we live in when such simple things become monetized. I bet for some families being forced to pay to park would make the day unaffordable.
I wish we would get on board with the more natural garden and lawns.

Ginny - I looked at that option and funnily enough they pay even less! I have not given up yet, my BF and I were talking last night, she said “those doors flew open for you to do this, something is bound to open for you to be able to continue.”
What a beautiful view in your new place.

Lisa - those morning glory’s are so pretty.
Love the cake, I bet it tasted delicious.

Machka - it’s funny, I’ve tried the blind only before and found it didn’t make the room cozy. I have to have some curtains. You’ll reach a compromise for sure.

I had Michaela today, we went to see the Inside Out 2 movie, bought her $60 worth of clothes for $40 at a store that is closing here, I’m very sad it’s closing.
We then went to the spray park, hard to believe that we had frost earlier this week. While I was at the spray park, I noticed all of these grandmother’s with their grandchildren and noticed one of the teachers at the school I just finished at with her two young daughters. It got me thinking…

last Friday was the staff year end party and she struggled to find childcare for her daughter’s and her mother reluctantly took them for the night. Her mother called her at 6 am to come get them because she didn’t want to feed them breakfast. She mentioned that asking her mother was a last resort.
One of my greatest pleasure as a grandmother is having the kids, but there are a lot of young parents that don’t have parents to help them. I have helped a few now.
Maybe I need to start a Granny-on-call type of business. I’m rattling some thoughts around in my head. I think that just like there are young moms looking for grannies there are grannies looking for grands. I don’t know if something could be done, or even if I would want that, but I’m thinking at least.

Lanette - I have to tell Rodger how you described the dandelions. He’ll get a chuckle out of it.

Pip -Happy Anniversary.

Allie - Michaela and I did YouTube quizzes on Disney for our vet an hour this evening. They also have old tv shows and movies. I bet you would get a kick out of it.

Flea - I suck at geography, is The Three Sisters that you saw the same as the one here in Alberta?
I think I would enjoy hikes if I lived closer to a forest or mountains.

Michaela and I replanted flowers in the new bed Rodger made for me. I think I was partially responsible for the death of the last ones, I thought I was watering them enough, but the dirt was extremely dry an inch or two down. Mind you, it’s been quite cold and little sun and others have told me theirs died too.

Today was the day that Jonah was invited to help Brodey move dirt. He also invited Chase. The boys were being paid $10 an hour each to help. They moved a lot of dirt, I don’t know how many yards, but here is a picture of it and them.




Michaela chose to do all of the activities today so tomorrow I’ll be struggling to keep her occupied. I may end up taking her home early.

Well I should head to bed, she’ll probably be up early.

Tracey in Edmonton