SANDY, where did it say I function??? If I'm online, I seem to lose all track of time til it's suddenly almost time to get up, instead! I'm glad your landlady hasn't suddenly changed from being so nice. And who knows, you may find a new place right there even nicer than your current place.
ANNE, I have learned to listen to my body, which seems to send new signals much more often these days! My walk to the elevator seems longer every day!
LIN, I trust that whatever you produce will be exciting and represent your love of creating vibrant new works. Were you always so productive?
JACKIE, did your friend arrive safely in the snow? Aren't you terrific having that nice warm pot of soup ready for her!
PATSY, I hope the knee is improving. I've had those series of shots a number of times, but in truth don't think they made any difference .
We just had a false fire alarm, but thought it was a real fire alarm, and I knew I could not get down 3 flights of stairs dragging my walker. Then they forgot to announce it was false!
Watched Wonderwheel this afternoon a Woody Allen movie with Kate Winslet and John Belushi...I left shortly after the unsatisfying end of the picture;Boom..it was over! Just like that!
If you are a follower of Woodie, see it. Otherwise, It seemed too conrrived
I might actually have supper now. I generally forget about Sunday supper until it's too late to eat!
Buzz

..................................Always Believe Something Wonderful is About to Happen! .................

Hello, and we've swung back to way below temperatures again. What a Yo yo season. To think I was gardening two days ago, and now it's minus 6!

PATSY, what a dilemma. I hate drug taking and after the disastrous results of 9 years ago (the blind spot in my left eye from broken veins, still with me, and the same problem in my nose from a massive vein breakage which landed me in emergency) I've not been to a doctor since in spite of her telling me I was in imminent danger of keeling over from a stroke 9 years ago! However, not everyone has my situation and so I hope you come to a resolution soon.

In the meantime Mark went off to the gym yesterday and he said the place was full of coughing, sneezing, nose blowing people and so he expects to get a bad cold any day. Honestly, you go to a gym to be healthy I thought. Then Mike informed us yesterday that after blood work he is pre type 2 diabetic! He's now got to stick to a Mediterranean diet so I've given him one of my old health books. "Optimum Fitness". At 82, touch wood, I seem to be the fittest, lol. I can't think of anyone in our clan who had type 2 diabetes! Or any diabetes. Hopefully he can get back to the normal range. Not easy living alone and a very busy job.

Talking of clans LIN you are not alone, in our age group anyway, in looking after our older folk. It was expected and mainly done because we loved our elders. It is the normal thing to do and you were exceptionally a very good daughter. God bless you for it.

Jilly is looking hopeful for a walk but it will be noon before we venture far and a reasonable 0 or 32F. Beautiful blue sky, very deceptive.
Bye,
Anne.

Hi Chris! Great to hear from you. Not having reliable Internet is a huge obstacle so I am glad you updated us. Busy! Very busy but what a lot of good you are doing.

Anne, I hope you are not freezing this evening. It warmed enough today that I pushed my trash cart out with my flannel shirt but no coat. But that was a short time outdoors. Yes, it is terrible to run into peop,e who are ill. Yesterday the message was given by an elder who had such a horrible case of the fl a few weeks ago. He spent lots of time wiping his nose with a tissue and sipping water. After the service he told me he was ill with a sinus infection and still was not feeling well even though he had been taking antibiotics for a few days. Yipes. This guy is usually impervious to the bus that go around. I hope your son stays well.

Oh, and I met the newest puppy in the Neighborhood this afternoon. They have had the tiny tyke for a week and her name is Skye. They have no idea how large she’ll be but she is a cutie now except she is grabbing everything she can get and tries to swallow it. Sound familiar? This lady has her hands full with not just the puppy but two pre-school toddlers. Ooooh. I would imagine her husband is happy to be the one working with all the energy with kids and puppy.

Patsy, I am afraid I too would be anxious but I am always anxious about anything related to health or problems with my house or broken cars or problems with electronics......I guess just about everything. I hope you find a resolution that is satisfactory to you and to your health care provider. I am known as a non-compliant patient. If he told me to take the medication, I would likely say no and he would say you will die and then he would walk away because really, I am horrible to deal with when it comes to medications and shots of all kinds.

Buzz, I am sorry about the fire alarm. When I was working in a high rise office building we had required fire drills. I was happy to have them actually as I was always nervous being in a building up 25 floors or so where not only did windows not open but no ladders could reach you. So it is important to know what you are supposed to do if it is for real. We had to carry people down the stairs if possible or if you were a floor monitor, you had to stay with people who could not walk the stairs until help arrived. Everyone went down a few floors and stayed in the stairwells and the fire personnel moved upward in the building moving people down. Did not want a rush of people jamming up the stairwell or possibly hurting each other.

I am going to move along now. We are going to try to play Mah Jongg tomorrow. Yippee!!

Hugs.

Lin

Good morning dear friends. I've just sat quietly catching up with your posts before regaling the events that hit my friend and I yesterday although actually starting Sunday night. First though, a photo of my garden on Saturday before the Beast from the East sent yet another blizzard our way that dumped over 6" of snow in a couple of hours!!

It's a story of lessons to be learned and never being too late to take stock of our lives and recognise we aren't 20 anymore especially since I've read your posts and see coincidences in stories of medical dilemmas!
My friend Pat arrived along with the snow and we had a great afternoon catching up in front of the fire. On Sunday we woke up to a huge dumping of snow so my neighbours kindly offered to take George out for his walk although I think they secretly wanted to go and explore the moors and snowdrifts! All was fine until that evening when Pat said she felt a strange tingling in her face, then her fingers and toes. We did the classic stroke test but that didn't seem to indicate one and as we knew a paramedic would struggle to reach us I gave her an asprin and suggested an early night. No better in the morning we phoned our NHS helpline describing all her symptoms and they said they would send an ambulance. What happens first is a paramedic in a car and she duly arrived after about and hour and a half having struggled to reach us and said she thought it could be a mild stroke so called for an ambulance but then took Pat's blood pressure..... 204 over 143!!! Another call was then made for urgent assistance and 10 minutes later an ambulance arrived. Pat is now in hospital and I followed on an hour later once many of the roads were cleared. 20 miles away in the city not a flake of snow to be seen!! Anyway Pat was sitting up in the emergency department after an MRI scan chatting to the nurses and feeling she was in good hands so after a couple of hours I headed home again because she has stayed overnight for observation. Hopefully I can pick her up either today or tomorrow and her son will travel by train from London so he can collect her and her car and drive her home, no doubt with a prescription for blood thinners!
Why I've told you all this is because I am aware Pat has had a few chats with doctors over the past couple of years about lifestyle and perhaps taking medication that might ward off such events but of course we all feel we don't want to go down that route don't we. At times we have to take stock and funnily enough we were doing just that on Sunday afternoon when Pat was thinking she should cut down hours in her part time job. She'll be 71 next week but charges about like a teenager, mostly for other people and I was saying she needs to look after herself too so maybe this was the little warning she needed and thank goodness it wasn't a whole lot worse. What we put in ourselves is a personal choice and I'm the first to avoid any chemical substances even if in pain but as a doctor told Pat yesterday, medical treatments have advanced tremendously in the past 10 years. Try not to be too scared Patsy but instead investigate all options and know your doctor will be doing his best for you.

It was lovely to catch up with all your posts and I was relieved to read Buzz's concise advice about renting property and leases. We'll be stopping off at the Outer Hebrides on our way home from Norway so I'll take a few photos of properties Anne might like to retire to along with the sheep!!
Time for a calming shower then make sure the hens are ok before walking George. I'll let you now how the week progresses when I can.

Jackie

Hello, time to be on my way soon. Looking forward to seeing my Mah Jongg friends again. It’s been too long.

Buzz, I thought I had everything sorted for my taxes when I started to receive email questions last evening from my preparer. I spent the rest of the evening researching responses and emailing back and forth with her. I hope we are done now and just have the final phone appointment later in the week. So good luck my friend, it seems taxes can present challenges.

Jackie, what an experience. Good for you to keep your head. You provided excellent help in the circumstances. So, yes, lesson learned. Nothing is fool proof of course and everyone’s different. I hope your friend gets home safely and that no additional storms are on the horizon. Hello George! And I hope you and all your household are well.

Anne, you do come from a line of very hearty and adventurous people. I don’t think Jilly would want to move though so best to stay where you are?

Must move along now my friends.

Hugs.

Lin

Don't know about adventurous, LIN, more like needs must! You are probably right about Jilly not accompanying me in a row boat, and to be honest with the effect on my eye from the vein widening drug, I probably wouldn't see the islands and row straight past to Russia. Neither Jill or I fancy meeting the "Russian bear". Enjoy your Mah Jongg and hope you are top gal!
Anne.

Crofters cottage

Oh Anne! I think the Outer Hebrides looks like paradise. I absolutely love the crofter’s cottage. I’d move in tomorrow. By the way...what is a crofter?

Having coffee without cream...bleck! Veggies without salt...double bleck. I must readjust my taste buds. I can still have hot peppers however. Life is good. Tonight I fix salmon and veggies.

Jackie: isn’t it a Buddhist teaching about when the student is ready, the teacher will come? I think your experience with your dear friend was a teachable moment for me. We eat rather healthy but could really do better. My exercise seems hit or miss. Not my favorite pastime but now it will become a daily ritual. Thank you for sharing. In fact, you all have shared your wisdom and life experiences.
With grateful affection,
Patsy

PATSY, I understand a crofter is the tenant of a cottage and plot of land on which to grow veggies. Usually tended by women while the men were grazing sheep on common land, fishing, or doing whatever else absent husbands do! One wouldn't be able to exist on the land produce alone. You are of Irish descent and I think the similar lifestyle is what sent many Irish and Scottish folks off to your shores during the potato blight. The islands really appeal to me though because of the Wild beauty and seascapes. I can see you sitting on a headland painting away, hair blowing in the wind, wrapped in a big red plaid shawl and circled by gulls, gannets and puffins. I can see me grubbing in the soil and looking for foundations of Viking cottages, and circled by gulls, gannets and puffins. But these days we'd go home to live in one of the small towns! Can't do without electricity anymore! Maybe in the next life, eh!
And Patsy, guess what, I eat dinner at lunchtime and I had a little pasta, salmon and veggies in a light creamy sauce. Delicious!
Please don't blow up BUZZ "they who shall not be named" are not worth it!
Hugs to all from
Anne and The Bean.

Hello, time to leave for Tai Chi. Good to read the updates from everyone. We are going to se the sun today. At least for a while although it will remain chilly. Then day after day of rain on tap they say. All better than the poor folks in the Northeast with yet another storm.

Jackie, with this new Northeaster does that mean it may zip over and cause bad weather for you once again? I hope not. And also wonderful of you to visit your friend and I agree, avoid the times of heavy traffic. I went in rush hour last night to a small library having an evening of coloring and I am not happy in long lines of traffic with frantic lane changing and blocks long backup at a stoplight. Ack. If I go back next month I think I will go early and just spend time at the library. Never a bad thing. As to taking an aspirin, my dad was told to take a baby aspirin every day and he did that religiously. So I think lots of folks do that.

Anne, I love the beauty I see in so many photos and videos of wild places in the world. They are compelling. But yes, electricity is wonderful! My grandma washed with wash tubs in the basement for years. I would help her when she manually pumped water from her cistern into buckets to fill the rinse tub. That was hard work! No wonder she lived so long. I remember when she finally agreed to electric washer and a dryer. It wasn’t long before my mom and I were there each week to do the laundry for her. We would sit and talk and drink tea while the laundry chugged away.

Buzz, hello, the news is so toxic for our health these days. Try as I might I still cannot avoid it. And I was a happy girl yesterday, I did win 2 of the 4 Mah Jongg games we played yesterday. One went to the table so to speak, no one could put together a win. The others hate that, I kind of like it. I think of it as fighting to a draw. Haaaa.

Sandy, did you get things straightened out? The car and Babe’s Internet? Let us know. You are an electronics whiz. It sounds as if you have found a regimen of drugs and supplements that work for you because you are on the go and healthy! Excellent.

Patsy, life without salt isn’t bad when you are accustomed to it and find alternate seasonings. For people getting off of salt, everyone in my dietary world sings the praises of Benson’s Table Tasty. Far superior to Spike. I order online directly from the company but then I know I like it and don’t mind having a half dozen bottles of it on hand. I run a warehouse in my basement.

Errands to do after class, later.

Hugs.

Lin

A late good morning ladies! We are zipping along here. I am wrinkling my nose at coffee with almond milk. But I am now thinking of finding a protein powder to use in the coffee if I can find one that isn’t a powdered toxic cocktail. Not easy to find.

We have high thin clouds, sort of chilly but Kate and I were out playing ball in the back yard. It was so chilly I opted to come in for my morning exercise. Okay, I admit it... I am such a wimp! Jackie and Anne would be out charging through the forest, looking for wild flowers.

Sandy: I also take a handful of various supplements. Some of the same as you take. I always have this odd feeling. Do they help? But I guess I feel uneasy about stopping any of them. My blood pressure is fine. Even if I am the family hysteric, according to John and our son.

Anne: honestly, if I were younger I would move to one of those beautiful islands. Our whole family would love it as well. Son, Damon would be figuring out how to get the internet. John would be figuring out how to run all his power tools and I would want amazon delivery.

Lin: your grandmother sounded like mine. My gran even ironed pillowslips, cup towels, and underwear, while singing at the top of her voice. She was just outright demented. A beautiful charmer but she resisted anything that smacked of modernization. We were all crazy about her!

Jackie: I think sometimes these health issues just happen! Genetic predisposition is certainly a factor. I am convinced that our pets are the best medicine we have. If we are truly connected to them, we do things that that keep us healthier as we care for our beloved animals/birds/fish.

Movie review...watched part of The Shape of Water. Couldn’t finish it because the physical torture of the creature was just too upsetting. It was a remake of the old movie, The Creature from the black lagoon. The art direction was wonderful. Sally Hawkins was a charmer. The story just got a bit gagging with violence. The sexual part wasn’t over the top, but sometimes made me a little uneasy. We had to ditch it because of the torture and read the conclusion on Wikipedia.
Tip toeing through the tulips,
Patsy

Good morning, yes, time to leave once again. Looks like there will not be sunshine here today. Darn. Still calling for a rainy week with bits of snow perhaps. Winter coat stays with me!

Buzz, I hope you like the Benson’s Table Tasty. I don’t like the Costco version of salt free seasoning and have never liked Spike either. The two I like are Penzey’s Salt free Mural of Flavor and the Benson product. But most others I am in touch with who are striving to be salt-free, prefer the Benson product to all others. Our church normally has one Seder supper as a teaching opportunity but it has not been mentioned this year so I am guessing once again we do not have enough people willing and able to help.

Patsy, ah, yes, memories, my grandmother ironed pillow cases and sheets and towels. She didn’t mind ironing at all. All summer long she would have the windows open, a box fan running and she would be humming as she stood barefoot as she ironed and made herself even hotter as steam rose from the linens. Spending time with her was the greatest joy of my life.

Sandy, what a great deal on the car service. Wahoo! I love a bargain, particularly at a car dealership although the best I can usually do is a coupon for a few dollars off a particular service. And those do not come my way often. Yes, we do need to cherish every little thing each day. Good to be reminded.

Anne, spring is around the corner but the corner seems to be further away than I’d anticipated. Haaaaa. I hope you and Jilly are well today.

Hi Jackie and George!

Hugs.

Lin

Iron? What's that? My clothes are all iron free, or I use those pant creasers that dry them so beautifully. All clothing comes out of the dryer just before dry, and hung to finish, even linen
so I never use an iron. My pillowcases are satin iron-free. I do have a steamer, which I seldom need. Still, I run out of time every day. Today was much too much:starting off with a Director's meeting, then a special luncheon honoring those who donated $10,000 to our Good Samaritan Fund, but everybody was invited . After that I attended our volleyball practice and I surprised myself and everyone else! Just the walk between my apartment exhausts me, though, and I try to do as much as possible at each destination. I recall thinking the distance would be enforced exercise, but I was 5 years younger! I came up after dinner to try to catch up on the news, but shortly after sitting, I fell asleep. I must get to bed earlier tonight, too. The news was depressing, as HE is filling his new cabinet with some of the worst hawks from years past!
JACKIE, I hope your friend has learned a lesson or 2, an will take better care of herself, and how nice to be assured Boris can comfortable despite his age and infirmities! And your reassurances about our future aren't helpful when Bolton (remember him?) has been selected to be head of Security! The only hope is that if the orange wonder follows his usual tradition, Bolton should get fired by next midweek. Yes Melania seems to be more concerned about things other than herself,- more so than the rest of his clan!
SANDY, LIN, PATSY, ANNE, I just woke with a start to a black screen and my post empty and I cannot think straight, so forgive me, but this time I was lucky to get my post back after continuously tapping Control + z. I may not be so lucky next time. You know I love you all!

...................Always Believe Something Wonderful Is About To Happen!...........................