WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR JUNE 2017

Horrible day here today, gusty wind and rain, we've got the heating on. DH still wants to go out later, takes a lot to keep him from his afternoon bar crawl, I usually join him but I've got one eye on the weather. It has stopped raining but for how long don't know. We don't drink loads we just enjoy a bit of entertainment and people watching. Here in Liverpool in the afternoons lots of bars have live music and some have free food. Afternoon is great for us oldies as we are home by about 8pm and we miss the mad younger element.

LEIGH- DH does all vacuuming and mopping tile floors etc and will clean the shower cubicle, which I hate doing. It is an enclosed cubicle with seats and different spray nozzles and a radio but you have to be in it naked to clean it. I do cooking and he washes up

Kate UK

Chris in MA: Congratulations on losing a bale of hay! It looks like you're getting close to goal. I've been at goal a long time, and recently had a little bump upward. The need for vigilance is one of the reasons I'm still here and expect to be here for a long time to come. :flowerforyou:

Tere: We looked everywhere for a dual control electric blanket because we wanted one with non-digital controls and finally ordered ours online. We wanted manual controls because DSIL warned us that the digital ones were not as reliable as we would want. We've been quite happy with the results. :bigsmile:


Today we are taking my VW Touareg in for maintenance and will be talking with them about a buy back. It is one of the VW scandal vehicles. I like the car well enough, but hated the purchase process. DH was in lust with it and a total jerk, compounded with pressure sales tactics. I NEVER want to go through anything like that again. I am somewhat distrustful of DH & the day. Talking about the potential of buyback is worrisome. He is now lusting after a truck big enough to tow a trailer we don't have. The Touareg is comfortable enough and gets great fuel economy.

Katla in beautiful NW Oregon

"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another." - William James

Good Morning All! Yesterday was pretty good, I got to the pool, spent 45 minutes working out in the water. Food not so good. was way under calories, which for me this early isn't good. drank all the water I needed to. Today Started with a protein shake with fruit. It will be an awesome day!

Good morning, ladies,

karenontario - Good for you! So happy you are here!

Yesterday, I cut up watermelon with the melon baller and had some as snacks later - when I ate it, I sprinkled some smoked salt on top - so good!! Sure made the fruit seem more like a treat!

After I got home from the gym, I lopped bushes and shrubs for 30 minutes - it was really hot out and after I was overheated and depleted. I drank a lot of water, had a couple otter pops for some fast sugar (2 are only 80 cals) and had that watermelon later in the day. I was so grateful I had cut up that fruit - a different choice would have been easier and worse for me.

My scale is showing some loss - so happy about this - I know it will slow, but some quick results sure are motivating!! I am also doing good on staying within my limits.

Have a great day everyone!

Louise in Vegas

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Louise in Vegas - congratulations on the weight-loss!

Felicia - thanks! Not only did it relieve the itching but the rash itself never went into the oozing stage! Just dried up and is going away! It sounds like you had a great work out at the pool last night. Enjoy your turkey chili.



Mary from Minnesota

Ginger in Texas – WOW! What a storm, did it cause flooding in downtown Dallas? Louis and I are planning on swinging through Texas then going back to Louisiana to visit Will and his family.

Joyce – I think 14 would benefit from going to a camp or retreat. My parents sent my sister and I to Girl School camp; but, it was in Lizella, GA (outside of Macon, GA) for 2 weeks at a time. The first time I went I ended up with pneumonia and they had been called to Central FL because my great-grandmother had died. So they called my aunt to come get me. I was running a temperature of over 103° and it wasn’t coming down, even after putting me in an ‘ice bath’. I HATED that part of it. My aunt too me to the ER, but I don’t remember much after that other than staying with them until my parents came home. My parents would drive around for at least an hour so that we ‘thought’ we were really going to be so far away that ‘If we got homesick’ then we’d just have to try to get over it. I enjoyed it after that, because my BFF went with me. Along with a couple of other friends. I remember we’d squirrel food from the lunchroom and then climb up in the rafters of the cabin. One year one of the girls that was there with her sister step into a hornet’s nest (or wasp, whichever builds their nests underground). She started running and screaming and they were flying after her in a swamp, her sister caught up with her and started ripping off her clothes and got her into a shower. That was scary for a 10- or 11-year-old to watch. We’d go camping away from the camp, paddle canoes, and on Saturday nights the boy scouts from the camp on the other side of the river came over for a party we had. My youngest niece puts her boys on a plane to fly to another state to go to a 2-week camp when they were much younger. My other niece, her sister, had a really bad fight with her about this. They are like my 2 sons, totally different in most ways. I know we were all up there visiting and all the grandchildren and great-grandchildren who had been born were there as well. That is the first time that Johnny, who is also deaf, got involved with the conversation we were all having. Sometimes Lynn had to interpret for him. She did not learn sign language until the summer before she went to Gallaudet in Washington, DC. Her parents had been concerned about what kind of job she could have gotten with the severe hearing loss she had. She worked for a couple of years as a secretary for some kind of large firm; then got married and was a stay-at-home Mom to 2 boys; both who could ‘hear’. They had to go to Easter Seals so they could learn sign language and they also went with them. They had their house wired so they could tell when the boys were crying, the doorbell rang, and for other reasons and the lights would flash on-an-off when any of that occurred.

We watched the FL and OK softball game – it went into over-time which set a record for that. Basically, they played over 2 games. OK finally won. But, we’ll be pulling for Florida since Louis grew up there.

We’ve been thrilled that Cracker has never messed in the house, nor does she scratch the door to come in. She just sits or stands there until we open it. She gets in her bed in the den when we tell her to; most times, after being outside, it is almost like she just plops down wherever. When I put her out when the news comes on at 11:00pm, she automatically gets into her crate. She ‘might’ whine a little if we don’t let her in when she thinks she has had enough of being outside. She stays outside with her “Daddy” when he goes out and loves it; but, she is ‘my’ dog, so she is an inside dog to keep me company. She is so vocal and intimated that we both laugh at her. Not long ago, Louis picked up one of her flat squirrels that she’ll shake so hard that the squeaker squeal when she hits her head; then, like with all the rest of her toys, she tears them out. He threw it and she went and got it. I told him, ‘now you’ve started something that she isn’t going to let you stop’.

Becca – I’ve got some small flat rocks and paint pens so I think I will start doing so rock painting; but, I don’t think I will take the time to hide them; maybe just put them into a glass bowl.

Heather – My DH is a big help, too. He washes his own work clothes and towels. He’ll help me by unloading the dishwasher, which I hate having to do; I don’t mind loading it; and, he hates loading it. Mainly, because I go behind him and rearrange things. I can get a lot more in it than he does and still have them get clean. That was one thing, when we were living with Trey and Jenn, which they ‘hated’ me doing. That, and making their bed. They, mostly her, thought I was going through their things. I would even wash the sheets weekly for them. Her attitude is ‘why make up the bed, when you are going to get back in it the very next day. She still doesn’t do either (washing dishes or at least hiding them inside the dishwasher or making their bed). That’s 2 things I do every day; because, for me … it makes me feel like the house is at least straightened up. I might not make it up on Saturdays, but, that is all. I strip it to wash them on Sundays.
HA! HA! – I think it is ‘funny’ that you were planning on going to a meeting with a female undertaker talking about her job. I always thought it would be interesting to do the make-up and hair of the deceased. I think Tami did her Granny’s hair.

Sarah – Like you quote; my eyes must be in my painting mode as I see the words as if each sentence is actually in front of it (I think that is because they work from smaller print on the top line to bigger letters on the last one.

Leigh – when I got this same list; I figured I’ve lost the ‘elephant’s heart’ working up to at least ‘castrating him’. He is going to be ‘one unhappy elephant’.

Tere in RVA and Felicia – They (fig trees) go pretty quickly; depending on your weather I might go ahead and put them in the ground. We always seemed to have one in the yard at a couple of our houses. One thing we saw is they seemed to like the shade from the house; I don’t think the roots are strong enough to crack the foundation of a house. But, I’ve seen them right out in the full-day sun and also in a shady spot. Both producing figs. They do need a lot of room to spread.

You also need to remember that the figs will cook down to about ½ of what you put in the pot. I start with mine in a pressure cooker bottom, full, even to over flowing and put sugar on them (this time I am going to put the sugar over them and put them into the refrigerator. I squeeze a lemon over them and cut the lemon up in thin strips. I don’t put any additional water in them other than what is on them when I wash them. Cook on medium until the sugar melts, then cook them on low until they are the consistency I want them to be. Whether or not I take the stems off depends a lot on what I want them to end up being – preserved or candied. I think when you make candied figs you basically stir them just to turn them over so they always be in the syrup when cooking.

Joyce and Michele – I think when a cat has its front claws declawed, they depend on ‘biting’ and their ‘back claws’ to protect themselves. Thankfully, Tux has never run across a skunk; he’d probably think it was Trouble and get sprayed; then he would have to be de-skunked somehow. I’ve heard tomato juice will do that. I would just hope he’d go off and stay until the smell went away. But, then I would worry about the coyotes. For the past two weeks, except in the day he has mostly stayed up on the porch or the matt just outside. He doesn’t appear to be sick and his allergies don’t seem to be kicking in either.

Michele – When we were growing up a boy from one of the three richest families in town had a huge set-up in their basement with a train and all the scenery. We could only stand there and watch as he ran the train and moved it from one direction to another. It had a town, houses, trees, and signals … the entire set-up. That was nearly 50 years ago; and, I still think they had invested $1000s to make it that large.

Mary from Minnesota – HOLY CRAPLA! $5500 per person. That is catastrophic insurance. That was about what Jenn and Trey would have had to pay under ObamaCare; they just did without and paid the fine (after 2 years) it went up to $1900 per person for the fine. Thankfully, Jenn has insurance through her job now and its really good because I think it is through the same company that insurance teachers in the state. This job is a state job and she’d be ‘crazy’ to ever quit it. Just hope her mouth doesn’t over-ride her doing what the boss tells her to do. She already does not understand why they don’t do it differently; but, I have told her that in a job where it is a legal type of job (working for the RYDC); that certain things HAVE to happen BEFORE other things can happen, she just needed to understand that ‘if’ she does it ‘out of order’ on a consistent basis, she might lose her job if some kid who is guilt of a crime get out of the RYDC on a technicality. That was basically how she lost her last job, for insubordination.

Katla and Tere – My husband and I have a mattress pad warmer; which for us is a better choice; it warms us from our back and is warmer in the middle on your back that at the feet.d

I feel the same way about my HONDA; I should have ‘never’ bought a ‘new’ one. Should have kept the other one, it would have been paid for by now; but, I ran into a fence the day before we were to leave for Louisiana, and the transmission was beginning to slip, too. After driving the ‘new’ car and a salesman with a ‘silver tongue’ … I bought it. Even though it was a 4-cylindar compared to our former 6-cylindar, it has a LOT of pep and the savings in gas is great. Unfortunately I am a little ‘upside-down’ in the value of the car (because of a wreck that took over $16K to fix. We really thought they would have totaled it; but, I paid about $27K for it. It doesn’t have a GPS like our old one; but, we never used it; because it obviously had been pre-programed by the previous owners. They trade simply because they had one child; the woman found out she was pregnant a few months after buying it. At least I was happy that when I found the name and number of the previous owner, I found out what he thought about the car. That was done within the 3-day cooling off period as well. I’ve decided that ‘if’ I have another fender bender in it, Louis can take it and trade it in on a truck (2-seater – front and back). I need to take it to the body shop because the running board on the right-hand side is bowed up. I think it occurred during the first wreck; but, the body man said that they would have seen it and the claims office did not think it was due to that wreck. My agent advised me ‘not’ to file a claim because it would be the 3rd within one year. All that would have meant that I would have been charged. Neither Louis nor I remember running over anything, such as a curb that would have damaged it. The only other person that has driven it has been Trey (unless he let Jennifer drive it without our permission.

Dana – We are planning on going to New Orleans first; then to Houston, San Antoine, Austin, Waco, then Dallas, then back to Shreveport and then down to the Louisiana side from Natchez, MS. I’m just afraid we will spend all the time driving and not really have much time to do anything else if we are planning on leaving a week early. This means we’ll be away from Louis’ work for 2 weeks. I’m afraid he will freak out. Trey seems to be able to handle anything that comes up, other than dealing with Mike. William is pretty dependable; but, he can make a mess. Louis and Trey have both told him when we’ve gone to Louisiana that they just don’t have enough work to keep him busy. That way, Trey doesn’t have to deal with him. Louis usually had 2 jobs going with one other ‘inside’ job, in the event they get rained out. We’re just afraid to have any problems rise up and Louis has to tell Trey how to handle it. Trey has never understood why he doesn’t just go in, get on the job and finish it before going on to the next one. He does this so that he has enough ‘steady income’ coming it to pay all the bills associated with it and having enough to put into our personal account. He gets 1/3rd up front (to buy paint and make sure he can make payroll; then 1/3rd half-way into the job; then a final 1/3rd when he has finished the job (and plus anything they have ‘added’ to the original quote. He’s been letting Trey do the quoting and so far he has done well. If it wasn’t for the money he makes with the painting … we’d be running tight with just out SSI and my Retirement.

I love old houses; I grew up in one that was used as a Civil War Clinic. We’d climb out on the roof of the wrap around porch to sun (even though my Daddy did NOT want us up there) and there was a huge magnolia tree beside the house with branches about 18” inches all the way down to the ground where 2 or 3 of them were almost on the ground. It had a branch that came over a concrete patio (that probably one a portico type structure when it was built to bring a horse and carriage under it (because it had the same granite pillow on the outside as what held up the columns of the porch with banisters between them. We’d sneak out at night; but, only my oldest sister and I did that – Margaret was afraid of heights and getting caught.

Been watching “Fixer Upper” all day. I had to laugh that Clint had to go ‘dumpster diving’ to retrieve wood that they had thrown away. One day I was watching it and almost burst into tears when they tore out some Pecky Cypress because the previous owner had painted it. I don’t know what the previous owners were thinking; and, not so sure I understood what Chip was thinking. Clint could have planed the paint off and used it somewhere else. I see in some of their projects, that would have to be included in the price of building it; but, wonder what they’d charge for the additional furniture that was brought in for staging. I love “Fixer Upper” and how Chip and Joanna really are involved with their kids. I don’t even think they have a TV in their home, or so I have heard or read somewhere.

Louise in Vegas - I 'love' salt on watermelon. The girls just turn their noses up at it; Louis, Trey, and I put salt on ours.

Lenora

KarenOntario: California, Canada or Oregon? Welcome to a great group! :flowerforyou:

Lanette: Enjoy your Master Gardener tour.

Felicia Willamette Valley: I'm so happy that you were able to get some restful sleep. :flowerforyou:

Becca: Others have already said this but I need to add my vote. You are an artist with food presentation. Gorgeous, and healthy, too! Happy graduation to your son! :flowerforyou:


I just got back from spending $$$ for a scheduled service on my VW. :ohwell:. It will be running well for a long time and if we decide to trade it, it should get a good price.

Katla in beautiful NW Oregon

"That which doesn't kill us, makes us stronger." Friedrich Nietzsche