Hi all, I went to the farmer's market on Saturday. I haven't been there in quite a while. It was nice. I got some honey, some pink grapefruits, some mixed beans, some nectarines, and some essential oils. Then I went to Trader Joe's and to Ralph's. I am a HAPPY GIRL! Ralph's had mini watermelons on sale for $1.50 each and they were my favorite Dulcinea brand! Yay!! I had to buy 2! I made chicken adobo for dinner and we watched a recorded movie. It was a nice satisfying day. Today we went to church then to Jimbo's. Then I made my greens for the week and I put together a quinoa, artichoke, spinach, and egg casserole which I will bake for dinner and we'll have leftovers for the week.

Dan and I talked about it and decided that I should check into airfare to NJ for the week of Sept 16th because the whole family (or most of us) may never be together again so if it is around $500 or less then I should go. Stay tuned for further developments.

Also, Jami's ankle is doing better. The therapist released her to walk around the house briefly with just the brace on and not the boot. She is hoping to be able to be "bootless" by the time they leave for Italy the first week of September.

Sheryl, interesting that you split the wood with a wedge and a mallet but it makes sense. Sounds much safer! I'm jealous of your clean windows. I don't know when was the last time we cleaned ours. Very smart idea to put the cracked corn in the plastic containers. Hopefully you'll get that dang rat soon. I know you are having a fabulous time with Norma as you always do. I look forward to hearing the details of the rest of her visit when you get a chance. I just love the thought of the two of you sitting on the glider, relaxing and getting caught up.

Anew, thanks for the info that the pillow is available on Amazon. I'll have to look into that. Did you decide what tomato seeds to plant? A butterfly garden out front sounds wonderful. You will love that I think. I too usually have a couple of little stacks of paper on a counter here and there. Every time I go thru it and clean it up I decide not to let it stack up like that again but I do anyway. Sheesh! Bummer about the cramping. Sounds awful! Do you think magnesium might help?

Debora, glad you checked in to let us know you're OK. I got a chuckle out of you saying that you were playing catch up from "not doing anything" because we all know you are always doing something! You just didn't get a chance to do anything at home this week.

Marcie, did you find a clock for your bathroom? I use a travel clock in my bathroom. That works really well for me. I don't remember - did you ever say whether you tried that new restaurant near work? Bummer about having to re-do that form at work but if even the IT guy couldn't figure out what was wrong then at least you know it wasn't just you. How was the watermelon your co-worker brought you? Those new lays don't sound very inviting. I don't really care for flavored chips unless it's something relatively simple like salt & vinegar or jalapeno flavor.

Well, I'd better go and finish putting my casserole together and get it in the oven. Have a great week ladies!

Hello I've got a lot of days to cover but you probably won't have to listen to as much detail. The fair was good. The weather was comfortable and no rain. I even needed a jacket the night of the hog show. I had lunch (Chinese buffet) with a friend on Tuesday and with another friend on Thursday and ate Mexican. The livestock sale was good – every 4-Her got at least $650 on the animal that went through the auction. The kids did okay with all their exhibits and two of the grands are able to take something to the state fair. We had three times in the concession stand and I really goofed with one of them. I thought we worked Wednesday morning and had help lined up. But at 9 on Tuesday morning I got a call asking who was working that morning (time to work started at 8:30). After "arguing" with them, I realized I goofed so as I was driving in I was making phone calls and got enough to work. Even got Julie to come in which was fun cause we found out she used to work with one of the concession stand managers. I enjoyed watching the grandkids, visiting with people you don't see often and taking it easy. Thursday morning was clean-up and it went quite smoothly for the most part. We did have some people remove exhibits before they are allowed so they won't get their ribbon money – rules are to be followed. A great time.
Thursday evening I had Bible study. We had a birthday to celebrate so had snacks and caught up with each other. Got our next study selected and got out at a reasonable time. Friday was the usual errands and time at home. We worked on the dehumidifies and realized it can be fixed. So need to shop for another one. Saturday I went to a baby shower – had two fun games – the Price is Right and figuring out some children's books with emojis. Fun to visit, good food, good devotional and she got lots of nice things. Then I straightened the house, made brownies, cucumber salad, etc. along with finishing up my SS lesson. I also noticed a new bookcase in the library. Ralph said he set it up Thursday. I was paying the credit card and I see he bought the lumber Tuesday and built in Wednesday. Should help keep the room more picked up.
Saturday night we got 4 inches of rain so the sump pump was running when we got up. Nice cool day too – like today only getting up to 80. Below the normal average but not complaining at all. Sunday was church and the kids and sister here. Last ones left around 4. Lasagna was not done when I got home but we microwaved some and the rest was ready by the time we got everything on. Don't know if I set the oven wrong or what.Then we had a missionary speak in the evening so got to hear them. A good day.
Monday I walked and headed in to watch three of Derek and Lindsey's kids. The other two got to go to the dentist for a filling and a tooth pulling. Their neighborhoods comes and goes between each other's houses a lot so two neighbors were over playing with Brecken and one that is Taryn's (at the dentist) age just hung with me all morning. I guess she didn't want to be at home and she wasn't trouble so I let her hang. Got to meet the new guinea pig too. Anyway toward the end of the morning, the girls came in to get something upstairs and came down to the basement to say someone had messed up stuff in Taryn's room. Often this is laid on Deacon (he's 3) but he had been with me almost all the time and the one time he wasn't, he was with the older girl. I looked at the room but didn't say much but that we'd handle it when mom got home. There was a lego set broken, a kid polaroid camera that had had all the pictures taken but not of everything – just used the film and worst was an arm cut off a teddy bear Taryn has had since she was a baby. Taryn was not happy. I left and shortly got a call from Lindsey saying Deacon can't even push the button to the camera – they had him try and it wasn't the kind of mess he usually makes. Plus even if he says he didn't do something, he usually does admit it when pushed and he didn't. Taryn locks her room so the boys won't bother it and they can't reach the key. We have no proof, but after more and more talking, we thinking the girl that hung around all morning did it and even came up with a time when she would have had the opportunity. They have decided not to make a big deal of it since there is not proof and the teddy bear can be fixed (they thought) but I don't think I'll let her hang around again. I don't know if she was jealous or what but it's very sad that she did it and what possessed her I don't know. I feel bad that it happened on my watch too.
I left their house and went to Aldi's and they didn't have plain applesauce in individual containers – had other flavors. They I stopped at Target for Dr.Pepper 10 (can't find it very many places) and they were sold out so it was an interesting morning.
In the afternoon my computer guy was by and took care of a few more questions (he's goes back to school on Thursday) and I sorted through my stack of cards and kind of got back in the swing of things (I did manage to keep up with dishes and laundry during fair week). This week I also started logging my food again – I've put a few pounds on which is not surprising with what I'm eating so will see if I can get things back under control.
And that brings us to today. I did meet a 4-Her and gave her her fair items and took some boxes to he meat locker but have been home the rest of the day. I've worked on bills some, made a shopping list for tomorrow and started picking up from Sunday. Our Missions Banquet is this Thursday (usually held in November) and I get things lined up for the kids 5 and under – name tags, food, activities, etc. so I have a running list going. Ralph has a field day tonight. It will be a good meal by who is doing it. I plan to enjoy my yellow squash and onions and do my list for tomorrow.

Isabella, feels good to be basically caught up at work, doesn't it. Hope it lasts longer than a day. That would be so cool to be able to go to NJ and see everyone. Hope something works out What were those trees thinking by getting your car dirty. Smart not to park there again. I ended up just keeping my purse with me and sometimes I locked it in the trunk. Actually worked okay. Glad to hear Jaime is doing better.

Sheryl, you get the quite the workout when you do your wood. Will be fun to hear about your time with Norma. Nice that John was willing to go wherever you wanted. Glad you let yourself enjoy every minute. Now you can get back to figuring out the rat problem. The sprinkler system you found sounds like a good thing to keep John occupied.

Anew, so smart to keep your house looking nice for company. Takes a little bit more work but then you get to enjoy it looking nice all the time. Yummy on the watermelon. What tomatoes did you decide to grow? A butterfly garden would be nice. Has the cramping stopped? – they can be so painful.

Marcie, bummer the clock you ordered didn't work. My last timer didn't work very well – could not put it in my pocket at all so I left it on the counter. Today it fell on the floor and now will do nothing. I didn't feel too bad trashing it but was glad I had another one on hand and it works like they usually do. I have one for my 15 minutes of work and one for my 5 minutes of walking.
Sorry on the form not cooperating. Hope the restart goes better. Sounds like you get different parts of the bed each night. Never a dull moment there.
Yum on the tomatoes. I had some tomatoes and cucumbers and made some good salads. Interesting on the Lays tasting competition. Since you said something, I was a bit more informed when they showed up on a website I was working on. None I would probably buy unless it was a really good sale although we do eat chips.

I've got some very annoying flies bothering me so will have to go get the flyswatter. Guess I'll wait to cook up squash and onions till Ralph leaves. Later.

I'm back. It's overcast this morning and still cool, but I let the llamas into the back yard anyway, they love it there. Usually because the big tree gives them a nice shady cool spot to lay under on these hot days, but even when it's not so hot, they like it.

Thursday, I had planned a "girls' day out" for Norma and myself. We went for massages and had a nice, relaxing time, but decided not to go out for lunch and headed back home. I did not want to leave John for too long and also, had so much food in the fridge, I just couldn't justify eating out another meal when I had meals to cook at home. I had changed my Blue Apron meals last week from 2-person meals to the family plan, so there were meals to include Norma. We headed on home and made lunch. Still, just a relaxing day at home.

Friday, we had planned a Columbia River Gorge Scenic. And, it was scenic, although still too many people on the Oregon side and we never found a parking spot at Multnomah Falls, so continued driving on. Norma has to come someday on the off-season so we can stop at the falls and hike up there. We drove all the way to Cascade Locks and crossed over the Bridge of the Gods back into Washington and came back on the highway that John loves. Stopped at Beacon Rock and took a partial hike there. I'm not sure how far up we went, maybe a third of the way? Got hot and tired and headed back down, but it felt so good to do that much. I was afraid that my hiking days, any kind of hiking/walking, were behind me. Also stopped at a wildlife refuge in Washougal, but only walked a short way and it was way too hot to continue.

Saturday, I think was a lazy day at home. Funny, I can't remember anything special about Saturday.

Sunday, all of us had a day out driving down to Albany to meet up with Brent and Beth. John and I in our car and Norma drove Brent's car. We met at a park near their new house and we stayed with the boys, Jackson and Hudson, and their dog, Walter, at the park so that Brent and Beth could go look at furniture. Turned out that Ashley Furniture is closed on Sundays, but they were able to go to Lowe's and find a refrigerator that they wanted. All the appliances in the new house are stainless steel and at the last minute, the previous owners decided to take the fridge. So, Brent and Beth planned to put their fridge in the garage and buy a new one for the kitchen so it all matches. I said that's a great idea...a second fridge is so handy to have, I don't know what I'd do without my second one in the barn. Once again, John fell in love with Walter, a miniature dachshund, and he was in charge of the dog, while Norma and I watched the boys for about an hour. Then, we all met up for lunch, I got fish and chips again, so good, and went to the new house to have a walk-thru with the realtor at 1:30. I felt so honored to be included in this process, we were seeing the house for the first time along with Beth and the boys. Brent had flown up to see the house earlier and talked to Beth on the phone through the process, but they bought the house before Beth actually saw it in person. She asked me if I liked it, I said a big yes, BUT, more importantly...does she like it?????
YES! Brent had "done good". It's even better than the photos I had seen on Zillow.com. Love the kitchen, lots of counter space. Jackson got to pick out his room, he chose the one that I would have chosen for him. Once again, all the timing has been perfect. Escrow closed on Monday and they got the keys and the movers came Tuesday morning to deliver all their items. Now, it's Wednesday, I'm sure they are arranging everything to their liking.

John doesn't remember anything about any of our day trips except the dogs. I am thinking long and hard now about getting a pet for him. Still waffling, so many pros and cons.

Oh yes, before I forget again...4 days in a row without rats. Maybe they finally ate enough of the poison to go off and die. They never did want to deal with those traps. Several of the videos, we did see 2 rats at a time, so there was more than one, which I figured would be the case.

I better post this again before the computer decides to act up and lose all my info.

Good Morning. I had a sinus headache yesterday, drippy nose and sniffles, still feel poopy today too. Must be allergies or hay fever because I don't have the achiness or fever that comes with cold or flu. Anyway, I will survive, just not do too much.

After 4 days of staying away, the rats are back. I have video of entering the barn at 2:15 am yesterday morning and the bait station was nibbled at. This morning more of the poison has been eaten, but I haven't watched the videos yet to see who and when and how many. They must have stout constitutions to survive eating all that junk. The way the big rat knows his way around, I'm pretty sure it's the same one night after night.

Marcie, my neighbor gave us zucchini bread also. Yummy, she added chocolate chips so we had it for dessert with vanilla ice cream. I'm like you, I don't want it overly sweet. When I have it for breakfast, I do go overboard with the butter though, my bad indulgent habit. I make it ooze.

Has Cisco forgiven you yet? I'll bet he has. The llamas don't like the pour-on parasite medication either, but it's the easiest method for me. It's alcohol based and I think when it hits their skin, it gives them a cold sensation. They have kind of a delayed reaction as I pour it down their back.

Gotta blow my nose again and I NEED my mug of coffee.

Norma called, finally got a diagnosis...gout. They thought that she had a shattered knuckle because the x-ray showed "bone slivers", but turns out to be urea crystals from the gout. They can not give the high doses of usual gout medications due to Mom's kidney problems, so she'll be on prednisone for inflammation and something else for the infection. She will be monitored in the hospital through the weekend, we expect her release Monday or Tuesday.

Norma will spend days at the hospital with Mom but able to sleep in her own bed at home at night. More info as I get it.

Oh my, sorry to hear about your mom Sannferris.

Good Morning. Thank you for all your kind thoughts and prayers. I got a call from Norma at 7 am and she had overslept. I'm sure she was exhausted and really needed that sleep. She is suppose to be at the hospital at 8 am to be there when the doctor comes in to Mom's room. Knowing her, she'll make it. I'll probably get a phone call with an update after that meeting. Norma said that Mom was so shaken yesterday and couldn't make any decisions on her own. Norma even had to pick out what she would eat off the menu. I trust that Mom got some sleep too and that should help the situation. Of course, we all know how much sleep you get in a hospital.

Anyway, I'll be back to update you as I get more info.

No activity in the barn last night. The previous night, a lot of those poison pellets were eaten, so maybe those rats are dying. I hope they wander off to the development behind us to die, ha ha ha

I'm glad she is doing better, thanks for the update.

Good Morning. Norma is totally exhausted after 3 full days with Mom. I hope work today takes her mind off things and not just overload her with more drama. She is looking forward to retirement, but for today, I think work will be a nice diversion. She called me last night and said that Mom slept most of the day, but it was a delirious sleep, talking in Armenian/Turkish mixed with English, but mostly mumbling. Really freaked her out. Then, when Norma told Mom that she would be back after work today, Mom freaked out that Norma would not be there with her all day long. Threw Norma into a guilt trip, but I told her she can't do it all and not to feel guilty. I know that's easier said than done.

We had rain Saturday night and yesterday morning, boy was I spoiled having 50+ days of no rain. John was a handful, but finally was dry enough after noon for him to go outside and putter around. I am not looking forward to winter.

He's up already, so I'll keep this short.