Monday, September 6th, Labor Day, we invited the Marx family over for a cook-out. As we looked at our backyard, we found lots of little mushrooms growing from the base of the trees. These are always fun to find right by and near our fairy garden tree.
Tuesday, September 7th, I received a telephone call around 6am from Signature HealthCare. It seems they found Papa had fallen again. This time he cut his head open in two places. They were sending him to the emergency room. This is standard procedure for this type of accident in the nursing home. At the emergency room, Papa was scanned and x-rayed. No internal injuries were found. They stitched his head and he was returned to the nursing home. I could not go to the nursing home to see him. They were shut down for two weeks at least after an employee tested positive for Covid-19. I called the emergency room and they said absolutely no visitors of any kind. There was nothing I could do but wait. I called the nursing home after 10am and was told what happened in the emergency room and the Papa was resting well. That is the third episode for Papa in the last month.
The electrician came back to our home Tuesday morning. Claude had used the smoker and the outlet on the patio kept dropping off. He tried plugging the smoker into the outlet on the outside wall of the dining room. It also kept dropping off. Claude tried the outlet on the outside wall of the living room and it stayed on. Our electrician was going to check that situation so we have a good outlet on the outside of the house for the smoker. We would rather not have to run an extension cord into the house during cold weather when using the smoker.
We also purchased a ceiling fan for Sandiland. He installed this ceiling fan. It is going to be very nice to have that air circulation. When we have to use this as a bedroom with the air mattress, having a ceiling fan will be nice for guests as well.
To make this new ceiling fan even more special, the Marx family brought a gift for our home. It was a ceiling fan pull made with little stones. I had Claude hang it on the living room fan with the cloisonné one. (See last picture) He took the turtle one that we had on the living room fan and hung it from the new ceiling fan in Sandiland. How cool is that?
Tuesday was a day I have waited for a very long time. Claude has cut my hair the last two times it was cut. I have waited a long time between haircuts. My sweet hairdresser, Tyra, lost her shop in Sadieville through a series of very difficult things. She didn't have a shop. She knew a little lady in Corinth, Kentucky who had a shop for many, many, many years. This little lady was 92 years old and still running that shop. She passed away and another person bought the shop. This person is going to rent the shop to Tyra. I was able to get me a hair cut appointment Tuesday afternoon. Tyra pronounced Claude's haircutting skills as very good. I wanted some layers this time and needed Tyra for that. Claude has done a blunt cut. Tyra gave me a great haircut. Then we visited for a long time. Tyra's mother is Detta. I love Detta to pieces. We did lots of things together in Sadieville. Detta has Alzheimer's and Tyra caught me up on how Detta is doing. It was really nice to get that haircut. It was really nice to be able to visit with Tyra. Well worth the long drive to get there and home.
Wednesday, September 8th, I received a phone call from Eliza Fairbanks. Eliza is our Primary chorister. As 2nd counselor, I work with the music people. Eliza had called me on Friday as we were driving to Michigan to have dinner with Jake. She wanted to let me know she would be at church but could not attend Primary. She had a substitute in Jenny Squire. That was good. After I hung up, I turned to Claude and said, "Well, we know one person who will either be our bishop or be a counselor and I'm guessing that will take place on Sunday." Our bishop has been Ivan Squire, Jenny's husband. He has served a long time and it was time to let someone else serve in that calling. Turns out we didn't get a new bishop on Sunday. Hmmmm...I may have been wrong.
But wait, Eliza calls me on Wednesday to again tell me she will be at church but will not be able to attend Primary. She was wondering if I would substitute for her as the chorister on Sunday. Of course!! Working with the kids and singing was one of my favorite callings in church of all times. Eliza asked that I not tell anyone. Eliza's dearest friend in the ward in Jesse Rayburn, the Primary president. I assured Eliza the only person who would know was Claude and that is because he has been sitting beside me each time she called. Now, September is my month to conduct Primary. I determined I would prepare for being the chorister and then, when Primary started, I would explain to Jesse that Eliza had ask me to do the music and would she please conduct. Jesse was happy to do so. Whew!!
Thursday, September 9th, I weeded my flower beds. That would have been a days long project of 3-4 hours each day in Sadieville to get the whole yard weeded. Here, it was about a hour. How nice is that?!?!
In the flower bed along the side of our home, I found this plant. Before the sale was final on this house, that plant was in the bed and it was huge! After the closing on the house and we moved in, the plant had been cut way down. Now it was back to being a fairly large plant. The thing is, I had no idea what kind of plant it was. Or, if it was something I even wanted in our flowerbed. I took these pictures and posted on Facebook to see if anyone I knew could identify it for me.
The other interesting fact about this particular kind of plant is its connection to my family. I grew up in Louisiana. This plant is prolific down there. If cooked correctly, the leaves are edible. There is even a Poke Salad Festival each year in Blanchard, Louisiana. My parents lived in Blanchard before they moved to Kentucky. They cutout and painted butterflies to go on fences and the sides of homes. Then they took them to the festivals to sell them to raise money for a week-long trip each month to the Dallas Temple to serve as ordinance workers. One of the festivals the sold their butterflies at was the Poke Salad Festival in Blanchard. I also remember as a child when visiting my mother's parents, us kids picking the purple berries and pretending they were food in our houses we made. We would rake the straw up between the pine trees and made walls for rooms. We used my grandparents snuff cans for dishes and those purple berries for pretend food. So, there is a bit of a connection between this pokeweed and my personal history. By the way, it can also be spelled Poke Sallet. It is still coming out of my flowerbed.
Claude's outdoor project this day was to create a flowerbed in the corner of our back yard for Hosta plants next spring. He made a lovely flower bed. We will add several big bags of really good dirt to it and mix it in. During the winter it will blend with the snow and rain on it. Should be in excellent condition for spring planting.
We went through the drive-thru at Burger King for a little something light to eat. We like to share a 10-pack of chicken fries and a soda. Claude pulled into a spot and we rolled down the windows and ate our chicken fries and had a nice chat. I looked up and realized this street was Jacobs Dr. I sent Jake, our son, this picture and told him it was a 'sign' he needed to move to Kentucky!
Claude drove back to Lowe's and picked up the second of what will be several loads of bricks to do our backyard projects. We unloaded these items and I took this pictures to share with our kids so they would know we are old but we are being productive. Those bricks are heavy. I can only carry one at a time. The bags of rocks Claude thinks weigh at least 50 pounds each. We can do this but we are going to have to do it in very small steps.
Our evening was to be spent in LaGrange watching the Mini's march at the Oldham County High School football game. The Mini's were excited as this would be their first time to wear their full uniforms. Alas, Covid-19 rears its ugly head again. The team they were to play had too many players with Covid and had to cancel. OCHS determined they would use this Friday as a bye week. Ugh. Felt bad for the Mini's. Would have loved to see them in their uniforms.
Friday, September 10th, Claude was going back to Lowe's to purchase more stone for our backyard adventures. He asked if I wanted to tag along. I assured him I needed to be at my computer at 10am. You see, I made sure I was signed up for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra fan club and it was connected with Ticketmaster. This allowed me to be picked to purchase tickets for their December show. I had received my text message with the code I needed to purchase the ticket on Thursday night. I had been told that there would be a huge rush to get tickets and not everyone would be able to get them. I was pleasantly surprised that it went really quickly. I had two tickets for the front row of the raised section near the stage. Excellent. Now, if this ridiculous Covid-19 will behave itself, we will get to enjoy a tradition that we love at Christmas time.
Claude got back and I helped him unload the bricks and things from the Jeep. Then he set to work to get us an appointment to get our flu shots at CVS. He got them all set up. Then he got a message saying the appointments were canceled. Hmmmm... He went to work again and got the appointments set for us that day in the middle of the day. We put on our shoes and headed to CVS. As we stood in line to check-in at the pharmacy, Claude received another message saying the appointments were canceled. What in the world? I told Claude we would wait and talk to the lady at the counter. Sure enough, she said we were fine and they could actually give us the flu shot without the appointment. She took us to another computer and checked us right in. We each got our flu shot. Yeah!
Now, while standing in line, I noticed this display for Airborne. I posted this picture on Facebook and asked if someone could find two things wrong with this display. One of my friends immediately noticed the dark chocolate candies on the second self in the back. I assured her that, if this indeed is a good thing for us, I should make this a part of my regime. The other item is the Rice Krispy treats on the top shelf. Claude said he would go for that! I am amused by little things in life.
We had the most beautiful week. The high temperatures during the day were upper 70's and NO humidity. We needed to be out and about. Claude purchased us tickets for a Florence Ya'lls baseball game on Friday night. I was so happy to enter the stadium and see the Graeter's Ice Cream truck!! The OCHS Band sells little cups of Graeter's Ice Cream to raise money for the band. We were missing that with the game being canceled. Now, we would still have Graeter's Ice Cream. We ordered our real food items and took them to our seats. After we finished, I assured Claude I might need two desserts that night. I really only had one dish of raspberry dark chocolate chip ice cream. So did Claude. It was yummy. We opted to share a pretzel later in the game.
Again, life amused me. There was a real 'Bat Boy' helping at home plate. We really love minor league baseball.
The Ya'lls treated us to fireworks after the game. They do a short fireworks show but it is really packed with a lot of great fireworks set to music. We had a lovely Friday night date.
We had a good week. It is always nice to reflect back on my week and see what actually happened. It sometimes surprises me the amount of things that we do get done. It also lets me know we are settling in to city life quite well.
Saturday, September 11th, I got out of bed in the wee small hours of the morning to go to the bathroom. When I got out of bed, I quickly realized I was having a hard time standing up. Then, I was keenly aware every part of my body ached really, really bad. I curled back up in bed very concerned. Then I remembered we had our flu shots Friday mid-day. I stayed in bed until 10am. Very late for this girl. I got up and stayed on the sofa all morning. At 1:30 I went back to bed and slept for and hour and a half. Then I sat up the rest of the day. Claude made us a nice meat loaf dinner. I took Tylenol and drank lots of liquid. By 10pm I was ready for bed. I know this was just a reaction to the flu shot. When one is 65 years of age, one qualifies for a super-duper flu shot. Lots of extra whatzits in it. The past two years, they have been out of that dosage when I got my shot. I have received the regular dosage. Not this year. This year I got the super-duper whatzit filled flu shot for the aged. I was fine when I went to bed. The symptoms came during the night. I took care of myself as though I had the flu on Saturday. Sunday morning I was fine as always with the exception that the arm where I got the injection was very sore underneath. The good news, if I get the flu this winter, it should be a mild case and I have now practiced what to do if that happens. Honestly, I told Claude I was very grateful we are in this cozy home and I was in a position to just stop for a day. That is a huge blessing.
Sunday, September 12th, we did indeed get a new bishopric. Our new bishop is Eliza's hubby, Bryan Fairbanks. His counselors will be Cameron Stephenson and Colton Thacker. This will be a great bishopric.
I hurried to Primary after Sacrament meeting. Jesse was in the Primary room and I told her what had transpired with Eliza during the week. Jesse was happy to conduct the meetings so I could focus on singing time. It was fun to be with the kids again. It was not fun to do that wearing a mask.
Sunday was Happy Grandparents Day. Katelyn sent this sweet pictures of her kidlings to Claude and me. They are three of our great grandmonsters. Left to right: Raelyn, Emelia and Joel. Joel is really filling out. We love being grandparents and great grandparents.
At 3pm Sunday afternoon, we attended the first of a new Self-Reliance Course at the church. This course is Emotional Resilience. It will last 12 weeks. The first class was great. Brad and Ali Manwaring are the facilitators. However, they will not be here next week. They have asked Claude and me to facilitate in their place. And, we will hold that class at our home. Looking forward to these classes.
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