Dec 31st

This is my mother’s birthday. She would have been 88.
It’s that time again when each news program reviews the top stories of the year and remembers those we lost this last year. Believe it or not I had my biggest reaction being reminded that Soupy Sales died this year. He had a local kids show on TV when I was in jr high and high school and we thought he was great.
From a personal standpoint this past year was OK. From a political standpoint I think the past year has been the worst I’ve seen.

Here’s hoping for a better 2010.

Happy New Year!

Last Wednesday of the Year

There is 1 more day left in the year and 1 fewer possum in our neighborhood.

Last night as I opened the door to go out and feed Meredith I frightened a big possum that was feeding on the cat food. It waddled off. After feeding the cat I went about setting the live catch trap. I baited it with tangerines, marshmallows and some peanuts—things I thought might get the critter and not attract a cat. It worked. This morning the possum was trapped . So my first task this morning was to move the thing to a new neighborhood.

Penny and I also went to Home Depot to buy the first installment of lumber for the kitchen island. We got excellent assistance at the store. I got help selecting plywood and they loaded the trailer for me. It saved some stress on my thumbs.

Penny felt well enough to help move the wood to the shed but for some reason after we finished that I didn’t feel great. That went away at lunchtime but I felt tired for the rest of the day. I guess I’ve got the end-of-the-year funk.

Last Tuesday of the Year

As we approach the end of the year I’d like to share with you the words of Dave Barry:
“It was a year of Hope -- at first in the sense of ``I feel hopeful!'' and later in the sense of ``I hope this year ends soon!''


It was also a year of Change, especially in Washington, where the tired old hacks of yesteryear finally yielded the reins of power to a group of fresh, young, idealistic, new-idea outsiders such as Nancy Pelosi. As a result Washington, rejecting ``business as usual,'' finally stopped trying to solve every problem by throwing billions of taxpayer dollars at it and instead started trying to solve every problem by throwing trillions of taxpayer dollars at it.”

Penny felt well enough today to want to go to Harbordocks. She wanted to see how it looked after the remodeling was complete. To me it didn’t look that different. It was cleaned up and some seating changes incorporated. The food remains spectacular. Today I had Sesame fried Grouper with cheese grits and slaw.

We found out today that Harbordocks has a lunch card. Lunch there 8 times and get your next lunch free. They’ve been doing this “for a long time” and we just didn’t know about it.

We actually went out to Destin, ate and returned home with no other stops. We usually use the restaurant as a starting point for shopping. Today we couldn’t think of anything we needed or wanted to shop for. Only 2 shopping days left this year!

Last Monday This Year

We drove back from Jacksonville yesterday and didn’t do much once we were home. We had a relaxing and enjoyable family Christmas.   Penny is feeling badly and didn’t get any better overnight. She spent the day today in bed. I decided it was a good day to do laundry and housework and be around for Penny if she needed me.

I watched 2 DVDs in the From Earth to the Moon series (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120570/ ) series about our Apollo Program while I was doing the house stuff. I am enjoying the series.

Freezing weather has arrived this year so I made sure the outside cats were well fed tonight. They need the extra calories to keep warm.

Us Day

We decided to spend an “us” day today. I was sick so much these last 2 months that Penny and I really didn’t spend much quality time together.

We started with lunch at Harbor docks. Next we went to Pensacola to a fabric shop Penny has been wanting to go to. She had a wonderful time there. Finally we went to Harbor Freight looking for stocking stuffers. We didn’t find much but did pick up some stuff for us.

We finished the day with a dinner of crackers, cheese and apples.

It Was 20-Years Ago Today

Yes, indeed. The big news story today was the “big snow” that happened in 1989. I was watching the Panama City TV station and their coverage included news clips from that day. We got a 1-2.5 inch snowfall followed by 3 days of cold temperature.
I know Karen will find it interesting that the news anchor for the evening news 20 years ago is still the news anchor today. It is an interesting contrast to most TV stations. There is just not a lot of turnover at the local stations.

Karen and Christy probably remember that snowfall because we had some of their friends over . I think it was Jennifer and Stephanie and maybe Katrina. I’ve got it on video somewhere but it’s not a tape I’ve transferred to DVD yet.

I spent a couple hours today checking the cars out to be ready for any upcoming travel. I finished reading the half blood prince Harry Potter book while I was doing the cars. I actually enjoyed the book. J K Rowling’s writing has matured with the characters and Jim Dale’s reading performance is as good as it gets for audio books. I got this copy of the book from our dentist. I’ve already got the last book in the series (from our library surprisingly) so I’ll probably read it when I’m working on the rolling kitchen island for C&C.

I may get started on that project next week. I’ve done about ¾ of the preparation I need before I actually start to cut wood. Here’s a drawing of the design I have in mind.

The top of the island is a 50’s vintage red Formica table top. The island will be about 4 ft long, 30 inches deep and about 3 ft tall.

I talked to my Aunt Dot today. I tried to call her last night and missed her so she called me this morning. She’s still feeling stress from losing her husband but she is moving on nicely. She’s joined a church and a local senior’s center and is getting great support from family. She’s got Christmas weekend all planned out and it sounds like she will have a nice Christmas.

Haircut and Lunch With Lou

It is Monday, laundry day and in between our other activities today I got the weeks laundry done.

After getting my hair cut Penny and I headed out to Niceville to have Christmas lunch with brother Louie. We went to a place called T. R. Frogs. Lou said someone told him they had the best pizza. He got pizza , he ate a whole medium pizza, I had fish tacos and Penny got a Hawaiian burger with gouda cheese grits. My tacos were good but after tasting Penny’s cheese grits I wished I had ordered them as my side instead of steamed broccoli.

Lou is getting along well with the Niceville folks. They seem to appreciate him and also understand that he needs help sometimes—and they give it. It’s good to see him happy with his life.

We gave Lou a ride to the Laundromat and back to his bungalow and came home. Lou will spend Christmas with the Pastor.

Tomorrow will be spent getting ready for Christmas.

Beach House Pictures

Christy wanted some pictures of the beach house we are renting for the wedding.  I thought this was the quickest, easiest way to send them.

No Pill—No Ill

I finished the nasty antibiotic pills I was taking yesterday. Today I was much better. What I had the last couple of days was induced by the pills.

Penny went to a baby shower last night so we ended up going to church this morning. We were treated to an inspirational homily by Father Pathe. I’ve liked everything about this priest except when I saw him do a wedding. He was too fussy about the details of the ceremony and it detracted from the wedding. Otherwise he is a knowledgeable biblical scholar and an accomplished speaker. Today he painted a verbal picture about the way we might experience God in our lives and he had everyone in a trance entering into his imagery and being mentally led to his message. I almost expected him to snap his fingers at the end to bring everyone out of his spell.

This weeks the parish newsletter has a 12 min clip of father pathe talking about advent.  http://www.pt-dccr.org/

Each time I hear him speak I savor it. It’s like hearing Walt Richardson sing. I never know whether this will be the last time I hear him. He is quite old and getting frail.

We’ve had 2 cold days in a row now and I’m making sure the outside cats are well-fed. Penny made turkey soup for me this weekend out of the carcass of our thanksgiving turkey. She had pieces of skin and bits of meat left that didn’t make it into the soup and also some ham hock skin left over from peas, beans and okra she made. Tonight all 4 cats were there and they got a big plate of turkey mixed in with a can of wet food. They liked it.

I dug out our old Disney Christmas cassette today. In the process I also picked up the last wake-up tape we used to get the kids up oh-so-many-years ago. I listened to it on a quick trip into town. I only heard the first 3 songs—For Baby by John Denver—Do You Love Me (now that I can dance) and You Can’t Touch This by M C Hammer. There are lots of memories there getting the kids up and dancing to the music on the way to breakfast.

We are going to take Lou out for a Christmas lunch tomorrow. He’s going to spend Christmas day with the pastor. He is being treated very well by the Niceville congregation.

Paul Update

Here it is Friday already and I’m still not 100 %.  I have 1 more day to take those yucky pills.  Then I’ll find out if it is the medicine or something else making me feel bad.

I’ve been doing various inside tasks this week- laundry, end-of-year budgeting, backing up computer files.  I also set up some Christmas decorations in the front yard.

I’m not doing anything interesting and don’t feel the inspiration to blog.

Here’s to feeling better this weekend.

Getting Better?

I’ve been sick for something close to 5 out of the last 6 weeks. It sure did spoil the Fall. Lots of things didn’t get done. And now there is catching up to do. I’m glad I was OK for Thanksgiving.

I’m not back 100% yet—maybe 25-50%--but I’m feeling much better. My biggest issue is taking the antibiotic pills that the doc prescribed in the proper manner. I have to take them twice a day on an empty stomach (at least 2-hours since last easting), stay upright (sitting or standing) for a half-hour and eat no sooner than 1 hour after taking it. This morning I tried to cheat and went back to bed after taking the pill and fell asleep in a ¾ sitting position. It was not good enough and I had to pay the penalty.

The good news is that the weather has been miserable for the past week so I couldn’t do those outside things I need to do anyway.

Who knows, I may feel well enough to get back on that treadmill before the weeks up.

A Cocktail, a Shot and to Bed With You

Those are the doctor’s orders. The cocktail was a 3 oz cup of some chalky cherry flavored concoction to settle down my acid reflux. The shot was an anti-inflamatory to beat back the effects of a virus the Dr thinks I have. The Doc thinks the virus can explain my symptoms. He also got lab work done to see if I’m viral or bacterial.

I got 3 subscriptions filled on the way home (cost $3.65—generics are great). I took a 2+ hour nap when I got home and when I woke up…. I hurt worse than I have all day.

If this treatment works I should be feeling better in about 3 days. Good night.

Got a Bug

I got on the treadmill 4 days ago making another attempt to get into a regular exercise regimen. The next morning I began to feel achy all over and an upset stomach. Surprisingly I had one good belch and began to feel better.

The next day my chest hurt all over, I had an upset stomach on and off, a little bit of scratchy throat and my middle ears were achy. Today I was achy all day. We did Waffle House and Lowe’s—a couple other stops and then home. I still felt like crap. I checked out the car—making sure it was ready for our upcoming trip (even if I wasn't). Then I went inside and took a nap until it was time for church. I could hear my heart beat in my ears which were also ringing.

I didn’t have a fever so I figured church was OK. When I got home my lips were dry so I drank some water. At this point I had a slight fever (100). Finally a little after 8 PM, while we were talking to Christy on the phone my fever broke and I began sweating profusely. Just like that the achyness is gone! My ears are ringing but I feel a lot better,

I need to stay off that treadmill.

Schoolyard With Sophie

I was able to have 2 exclusive play periods with Sophie this Thanksgiving weekend. When Tim, Karen, Sophie and Lucy arrived here, Karen had to run an errand. I used the opportunity to run off and play with Sophie. She had a lot of energy to burn after sitting in the car. Just before they left at the end of the weekend I also ran off with Sophie to keep her occupied while Mom and Dad packed.

On our first outing we started in the backyard looking for kitties and then decided to go to the swings in the schoolyard. The swings are on the far side of the schoolyard, a pretty long walk for a toddler but Sophie played all the way. First it was the red sand she liked. Then she would take off and run and tell me to run, too. If I didn’t hold my arms just right and run just so she corrected me.

When we got to the swings, Sophie picked her swing and had to brush off every grain of sand that was on it before she would allow me to put her on it. She likes the swing. I got her going and she said she wanted to go higher. Every time she swung back to me for a push she would yell “Higher!” and I would push her a little higher—except for the times when I acted as if I was going to push her and just left my hand up in the air. She thought this was hilarious and she would laugh and giggle all the way through the swing until she came back for another push. Then it was back to yelling higher.

She stayed on the swing for a good long ride, directing me to also swing on the adult swing next to her. When I was swinging she, of course wasn’t being pushed. She looks at me and says “slowing down”, which was my cue to get off my swing and start pushing again.

After the swing we went to the slide area. It soon turned into a routine that we repeated many times before a tired out grandpa suggested we head back. The routine was this: I had my stairs (a metal net that I told her I could use but not her) and Sophie had hers. She would direct me up the stairs while she used “Sophie’s stairs”. I would tell her not to bump her head climbing the stars and she would say OK. We would meet up at the top of the spiral slide. Sophie would then decide whether I pushed her or she pushed me down the slide. If she pushed me I had to climb back up to push her and then slide down after her. I was climbing up twice as much as her.

We did some of the same stuff on the second venture to the swings but Sophie was not as enthusiastic for round 2. She perked up a little when I showed her a big branch on an oak tree that she could pull and make the whole branch bounce up and down. When she got her hands dirty with sand I found a water spigot to wash her hands. She liked that, too. Finally I found a nice straight stick for her to play with so she proceeded to “spell” everybody’s name in the sand. She’d poke the ground and say a letter and when she was done she’d say the name. Here’s how that went—“S-I-O-T-P-H: grampa!”

I told Sophie it was time to go home and she informed me that no, it was not home it was grama and grampa’s house we were going to. On the walk back we met Tim Karen and Lucy coming to find out what I was doing for so long over in the school yard.

When Sophie is away from her parents she is more cooperative and easy going. She played with me as if I were one of her playmates but, more importantly, she listened to me and did what I asked to be safe while playing. When we met up with K&T she went back into her normal mode. She turns a little more needy and less cooperative with a touch of Lucy jealousy in there.

I told Karen that the first play period I had with Sophie was precious to me. I wish I could have the whole session recorded somehow to pull out and cheer me up when I’m feeling down. I’m glad I had Sophie in such a wonderful mood. It was priceless!

The Wedding House

We had a Waffle House breakfast and then headed out to Grayton Beach to look at the beach house we are renting for C&C’s wedding.

We came away even more thrilled about the location.

The house sits on a private lake and the gulf .  Here's one gulf view from the house.

Here is the lovely couple on the gulf-side dock:

Here they are on the dock on the lake.

Here’s the view looking up to the house from the gulf side.

Here’s the view from the lake dock.

Tim and Sophie  in the loft.

It's a great location and even I'm getting excited about the wedding.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We are having a great weekend. I’ve chosen to spend time with family rather than to write a detailed blog. So here is a picture story of the weekend so far:

Clean Up

I caught a little of Karen’s clean –up and organize bug and found myself organizing my CDs and all of or photo paper. In the process I am collecting my mp3 files in one place. I’ve got files scattered on CDs going back to the last century.


In the process I found a postage stamp sized picture of my mom and dad from I would guess the early 40’s. It had gotten mixed with some photo paper. Also on one of the CDs was a story Karen had done about “The Beach Lady”.

I’m supposed to be getting the house ready for Thanksgiving.

Kids Dancing 1981

Here's a short clip of K & C .  I don't know what I did to lose the audio.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Tasty Birthday Lunch, Cold Morning Kayak

My taste finally retuned on the 17th. So yesterday after 2 weeks of no taste I finally had a tasty birthday lunch—at Harbordocks, of course. Yesterday Penny was stood up by her friend so she and I went out for lunch. We also did some shopping. Penny wasn’t feeling great and the half-day venture was good therapy for her.
Today started out at 38 degrees and calm winds so I went kayaking in the bayou. About ¼ of the way up the bayou the wind started picking up and I found my progress slowed by the cold headwind. The wind doubled the time it took me to reach the head of the bayou. I explored a little and then headed back. Fortunately the wind was a tailwind in this direction and I cold make my normal pace with minimal effort.



I got a good workout on the paddle out.

The rest of today was spent doing housework and transferring the videos of the kids from digital tape to DVD. This will be a long term job. I’m going to leave the setup so I can pop in a tape whenever I have the opportunity.

It is quite interesting seeing Karen and Christy at Sophie’s age again, seeing the similarities and differences. When I hear myself calling the 2-year old in the video “Christy”, which is correct, my mind gets confused. I get Sophie and Lucy and Karen and Christy all mixed together sometimes now when I talk to Sophie so when I hear the name Christy or Karen being used for a toddler my mind tries to make the correction.

Cool, Exciting, Kayak Adventure

We’ve had a long string of beautiful weather that for one reason or another we haven’t taken advantage of. I’ve been fighting a cold for 2 weeks now. So last night as we went to bed I told Penny I might go kayaking in the morning. She asked what time I wanted to get up. (It’s too cold for Penny to kayak right now but she wanted to make sure I went.) I would make the final determination in the morning as to whether I went or not. I’ve been sleeping hard lately and not getting up until 7 or later due to the cold.

I woke at 5:30 and lay there thinking if I fall back to sleep it means I shouldn’t go. At that moment Penny poked me saying it was time to get up. She thought it was 6:30 but read the clock wrong. I saw it as meaning I would go kayaking today.

It took me over an hour to get going. I had to put the racks on the car and untie and remove the security cable from the kayak. I had lashed it down to withstand Ida last week. In the process I made first use of the tie-down hardware I got at Harbor Freight and they worked as advertised.

There was no wind this morning leaving the Bayou looking like a big mirror. It was a cool 50 degrees. I showed myself that I was out of practice for kayaking by stepping into the water with my right foot as I got in the kayak. I usually get off dry. That was soon forgotten when I started paddling. The rising sun shined like a spotlight on the western side of the bayou. It made for a brilliant reflection on the relatively ripple free water.

On the way up the bayou I was passed by 3 pelicans (one at a time) flying using ground effect to skim only inches above the water. One of them startled a fish which splashed away in turn startling the bird out of its graceful flight.
At the head of the bayou fish were feeding everywhere. They either made a small splash as they snatched their prey or made a circular ripple as the turned and dove to pursue their breakfast.

                               ripples left by fish--also Fall on the bayou


I went up the small stream at the head of the bayou slowly and carefully making sure I didn’t startle any nasty critters. I didn’t see any but I did hear something that worried me a little. When I was about as deep in the woods as I could get in the stream I heard something big plunge into the water out of sight from me but just on the other side of a small hill. I thought, when I heard 2 heavy footfalls in the water, that it was a deer. But then there was no sound of anything running away. In fact, there was no sound at all. It sounded as if whatever it was took 2 heavy steps as it waded into the water and then went under. My thought was gator or very very big turtle. I’ll never know. This was the point where I decided to get out of there. Senses alert I floated downstream and back to the bayou.

When I broke out from the stream I could see a huge wake being made about a quarter mile from me. Then I saw the porpoise that was making it. It was leisurely feeding on all those fish that I had seen feeding earlier. The porpoise usually work their way up the bayou and then return back down so I headed down the bayou on a course that might intercept its path. Unfortunately it was too fast for me so I just continued heading back to the car.

To my surprise the porpoise came back and started surfacing about 100 ft to my side. I took some pictures and was happy. Then the porpoise went under and I didn’t see it until it surfaced about 300 ft down the bayou. So I went back to paddling thinking it would leave me in its dust.

After a couple of minutes the porpoise suddenly surfaced and exhaled just off to the left of me. It was close enough that it startled me. I once again stopped rowing and grabbed the camera and the porpoise disappeared again. So I went back to paddling.

The next encounter was amazing. I’m paddling and looking around for the thing when I catch motion in the water just to the right of the bow. The porpoise was swimming along with me right next to the boat. As it began to cross the bow I tried to get a picture. This is the result. The camera picks up all the reflection.  The eye filters it better and I had a wonderful view.

The porpoise then surfaced in front and to the left and I got this shot after he exhaled. You can see the spray from his blowhole if you look carefully.

I finally figured out at this point that the critter liked it when I paddled and left when I stopped. I decided to forget about pictures and just paddle and enjoy. The porpoise returned 2 more times and actually swam with me for about a hundred feet. It ended its inspections of me by once again passing under the bow—so close I thought it was going to bump me and surfacing off to the left close enough that I could have poked it with the paddle. It was a great experience.

Friday the 13th

This cold is hanging on. Still no taste or smell. Still tired. All I got done today was Target and grocery shopping and a little light housework.

I did nap for an hour with Brie on my lap.

Here’s to having a better day tomorrow.

Raccoon, Haircut, Dentist, Beachwalk

Yesterday I finally did the month-long pile of laundry we had. That was sufficient to take most of the day. Since I still have the cold and the lack of taste and smell I was tired in the evening without attempting much more.

I must have needed the sleep because I woke up at 6:30, thought I was getting out of bed and suddenly it was 7:20. The first thing I checked was the trap and it had a raccoon in it. That made the morning complicated because now I had to go release the animal and get to my haircut appointment at 9AM. I skipped showering.

Christy and I had seen the raccoon at the feeder on Monday night (I think). He wasn’t that afraid of us and he went right up to Meredith a little too aggressively. I’ve been setting the trap each night now. Last night after I set it I watched as the raccoon entered it completely twice without springing it. I checked the mechanism, added a bigger pile of food to it and went to bed. This morning he was trapped. He was lying on his back scratching at the door trying to open it. I know that a trapped raccoon will grab anything it can reach and pull it into the cage. This one grabbed the power cord going to my surveillance camera, pulled it in and chewed up the live power line. He was saved by the ground fault circuit which tripped the power. I didn’t think he could reach the cord from the cage. That shows how smart I am. I released him at the usual spot and instead of running away he walked, turned around and looked at me and then walked off.

Next was the hair cut. I brought the book of vacation pictures for Barbara to see. She loved the picture of the little alpacas touching noses. She was also thrilled to hear about C&C’s wedding plans. She said she’s available if you want to use her hairdressing services.

Penny and I usually go to the dentist together. This time I had to change our appointment because we were in VT and they gave us separate appointments—until I got a call from Margaret who noticed the appointments and asked if that’s what we wanted. We ended up with a joint appointment again. Tonight I’m trying to get a headache from the work on my teeth. The hygienist was very thorough today and my mouth is telling me about it.

We had lunch and since the day was essentially shot we did a little shopping at Tuesday Morning and Ross.

I decided to wrap up the day with a sunset beach walk at Navarre. We were told that there were a lot of shells there and I thought that it would be a good time to look. There were shells but not a lot of pretty ones. It’s not worth the ½ hour drive.

Kitty Update—Last night no kitties showed up but the raccoon did. Tonight, as if they know the menace is gone everyone but Marmalade showed up—early for dinner.

Still Tasteless

It’s Christy’s birthday! We had lunch at Harbordocks to celebrate. We are having ice cream cake in about 15 minutes to cap off the celebration.

C&C have been here since Sunday evening and are going home tomorrow. They came here on a mission—to make plans for their wedding. They decided to rent a house on the beach and spend a week there culminating with a wedding ceremony on April 18th (I think). On Monday we began the search for the house to rent by looking at the one they wanted the most first. It is perfect. It was available and now it is reserved for them. Here are a few pictures.

private lake

ocean front

wrap-around deck

inside

I got to see Christy’s eyes light up 3 times today. First was when she was talking with Karen on the phone when Karen called to wish her a happy birthday. Second was while she was selecting her flavor of ice cream cake. She took about 20 minutes to look at every cake in the freezer. She got to taste 3 different flavors of ice cream to help her decision making. She finally chose the mint ice cream chocolate cake cake. The 3rd time was when she watched Sophie sing happy birthday to her. Actually, I lie. I saw her light up more than 3 times. Several times a day she lights up when she’s talking with Christian.

We spent the rest of the past 2 days making plans for the wedding and shopping for Christy’s birthday.

I’m into my 8th day of no taste. I couldn’t really enjoy the food at Harbordocks today. Donna told me on facebook today that she’s in the same boat except she hasn’t had her taste for 3 weeks. Now I’m worried. I keep thinking that tomorrow I will wake up and taste.

I’m Tasteless

In many ways perhaps—but today it is the sense of taste I lack. This is the 4th day that I can’t taste and I’m finding the experience interesting.

I can taste only a slight amount of salty, sweet and some other things. I get the full tactile experience of the foods. Crusty bread with peanut butter is a weird experience with no taste. Oddly enough I can taste pineapple. There were several large pieces in my edible arrangement. I can also taste fruit to some degree.

Today I figured I might as well drink my coffee black and not waste sweetener and milk but I found I could taste the bitterness. So even though I can’t taste the cream and sugar, they are necessary to kill the bitter.

Along with no taste goes no smell. Today I caught a possum. They are smelly critters. I didn’t smell a thing. I don’t even know if my car still smells like possum. Yesterday I had some lunchmeat that we’ve had for a week. I sniffed it out of habit to see if it was bad. I couldn’t smell anything, it must be good. Today I was working on the lawnmower and got gas on my hands. I know that a gas smell stays with you but I had no idea whether I smelled like gas.

Lack of taste has not killed my appetite. I don’t know why not. I’m even hitting the Halloween candy. Go figure.

The cold is actually worse today than it was yesterday. It’s trying to make a comeback. I was hoping to taste today but now I don’t know what to expect tomorrow.

A Little Better

I actually was able to do things today. I still can’t taste and still have sinus congestion but I’m not as worn out as I have been.

So today I spent some time cleaning up the backyard and shed—and it didn’t wear me out.

Today is Karen’s Birthday. She had a gazillion birthday wishes on facebook. That girl has lots of friends.

I’m hoping for my taste to come back soon—I hear Harbordocks calling.

Still Draggin

Once again, due to my cold I didn’t do much today.

The morning was spent preparing for and going to the doctor for a regular checkup. Everything is looking good. Blood pressure OK, heart steady and strong, Cholesterol 159, liver function, blood sugar and all the other parameters were normal. Except for my thumbs my body is hanging in there. I do need to get more exercise and eat less before my body decides it’s time to go downhill faster.

I went with Penny this afternoon to get her a better quilting machine. She found a nice one that was a “low mileage” store demo unit. It comes with a full warranty. We pick it up tomorrow. Penny is excited about it. I’ve been encouraging her to not put off this purchase. We don’t know, with our health and the economy what the future holds. We are in a mild live-for-today mode. We hoping to enjoy the fruits of good decisions before the Govt decides to take them from us and give them to those who made poor decisions. We see it coming but can’t seem to do much about it.

I wrapped up the day with a sunset beach walk. I like sunsets. Tonight provided a nice one. At first I thought it would be spectacular but the cloud spacing didn’t allow for that. Nonetheless the setting sun provided a number of bright moments followed by a surprise grand finale. A heron decided to land in front of me to make some pictures more interesting. Here are some pictures.

I felt OK while I was on the beach but I was reminded I had a cold on the drive home. I’m getting better slowly. I still don’t have my taste back

Happy Birthday to Me

My cold is hanging in there. I’m able to taste some sweet and herb tastes so when my sister’s gift of an edible arrangement arrived today I could still enjoy it. I can actually taste fruit—not completely—but well enough to enjoy.

Penny and I put off our usual birthday lunch at Harbordocks until I can taste all foods again.

All I accomplished today was to do some housework that's piled up and pay some bills on-line.

Shortly after noon I had to dash outside and rescue Meredith from a big gray cat that had her cornered and was intent on doing great harm. I got them separated, Meredith ran through a gap in the fence and got stuck. The other cat ran off to the side but seeing Meredith stuck came back and jumped on her again. This time the bad cat ignored me as I approached—it was too intent on hurting Meredith. I was able to drop kick the bad cat as hard as I could. It was very satisfying. He flew up against the fence at about 3 feet high and ran away. I chased him—he was still looking for Meredith.

I haven’t seen Meredith since, so I don’t know how she is. I’m going to try to catch the other cat and either take him to the pound or take him far away where he won’t find his way back.

After the adrenalin wore off I found that it wasn’t a great idea to run around like that when I have a cold.

I got "Happy Birthday" calls from Karen and C&C who sang me a duet.

Blog Update - Meredith did show up late tonight and seemed OK.